Message from Christopher Hitchens to all American Atheists

I'm still on vacation, so here's something to fill the gap. It's an amazing and courageous message from Christopher Hitchens, who is dying of cancer. If ever there was any doubt about Hitchens' atheism, this should put it to rest. He's trusting to science, not magic, and says:

"[We] affirm life over the cults of death and human sacrifice and are afraid, not of inevitable death, but rather of a human life that is cramped and distorted by the pathetic need to offer mindless adulation, or the dismal belief that the laws of nature respond to wailings and incantations."

Hitchens demonstrates once again that atheism is a life-affirming view of the universe, one that puts real life above an imagined promise of the afterlife.

Child Denied First Communion Because of Cerebral Palsy

I'm on holiday this week, so I'll leave my faithful readers with this article.

Child Denied First Communion

The child has cerebral palsy, and Catholic law says that the person receiving communion must have "sufficient knowledge" of Christ. The priest decided that the child didn't qualify. It seems to me that anyone with "sufficient knowledge" of the story of Jesus would know that it's all a bunch of mythology anyway. But hey, I don't make the rules.

Philip Spooner - 86 Year Old Vet Speaking for Gay Marriage

An amazing speech by a true American hero. Pass it on ...

Koran Burning Preacher Wants to Protest Muslims - With a Gun in his Pocket?

The news about Terry Jones, the Qur'an-burning Baptist preacher, just gets better and better: now there's a "gun incident" for our amusement. Except that Jones isn't a very amusing guy.

This morning, Terry Jones was in court in Dearborn, Michigan trying to convince a judge and jury that the city of Dearborn should be forced to give Jones a permit to protest Sharia law outside a local Muslim mosque.

Can you imagine what the judge and jury will think when Jones tells them the "gun incident" isn't important?

Gun incident?? What gun incident? Why, the one where

Paranormal Explorers: Serious Ghost Hunting!

Here's a bit of amusement for today: Paranormal Explorers. These guys are apparently serious. Got a ghost problem? Give 'em a call!

The site speaks for itself, so I'll say no more.

Muslim Women Not Allowed to Question Veils -- In Britain!

We're quick to criticize Muslim men in the Middle East for their terrible oppression of women. Women are denied educations, forced into marriages, not allowed to work, and occasionally even murdered with no consequences. In the most conservative Islamic countries, women aren't even allowed to be seen by any man but their husband.

But that's only in third-world countries far, far away, right? Surely Muslims in America and Britain don't subscribe to such sexist, oppressive nonsense. Right?

Wrong.

The Muslim Council of Britain has stated women must wear veils. Better yet, they're not even allowed to debate it. It is a "shortcoming" for a woman to show her uncovered face, and any Muslim who disagrees is rejecting Islam.

The Council cites a statement from the Holy Qur'an:

New Republicans: Tearing Down America

I'm short on time for a blog today, so I'll leave you with this must-read editorial from the New York Times: The New Republican Landscape:

"Six months after voters sent Republicans in large numbers to Congress and many statehouses, it is possible to see the full landscape of destruction that their policies would cause ... [Mr. Ryan's] bill would end the guarantee provided by Medicare and Medicaid to the elderly and the poor ... [the elderly] would be cut adrift ... cut food stamps ... increase hunger among the poor. ... And it would do all that while preserving the Bush tax cuts for the rich, and even expanding them."

Read the whole article. It's scary.