You Gotta Fight - For Your Right - To Maaaaaaaarry Children. What?

I know, I know, I live in the Seattle area, typically vote Democrat or even *gasp* third party, I was a vegetarian for a while, I'm a proponent for gay rights AND I'm against child marriage. I'm a walking progressive stereotype. Well one man is fighting the good fight so that skeevy old Muslims everywhere can marry kids in the name of their religion. Thank Mighty Atheismo there's someone out there willing to speak up for traditional religious values and traditional religious marriage.

Nigerian group slams trial of senator over child marriage

ABUJA — A Nigerian Islamic group on Tuesday challenged a suit filed by a government agency against a senator, Ahmed Sani Yerima, under fire over his marriage to a 13-year-old Egyptian girl.

The Registered Trustees of Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria is seeking an order of the Federal High Court to restrain any government agency from interfering with the rights of the senator.

Defendants in the suit are the government-backed National Human Rights Commission, National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP), and senate president and the speaker of the lower house of parliament.

Investigators of NAPTIP last May questioned Yerima, ex-governor of Muslim-dominated northwest Zamfara State, over the marriage.

Yerima, 49, who provided investigators with an affidavit of marriage from the Sharia Court of Appeal in Abuja, slammed the Nigerian Child Rights Act of 2003 which he said "must have been enacted in error".

The lawmaker said that he and his government had rejected the law -- which forbids marriage to anyone under 18 -- when he was governor between 1999 and 2007.

The Islamic body is seeking court declaration that Yerima's rights to privacy and practise his religion have been violated.

"We are saying that the honourable senator, as a Nigerian, fundamentally as a muslim, (that) the constitution guarantees him the right to practise his religion... the way and manner it is prescribed," the body's lawyer, Etigwe Uwa, told journalists after a court session on Tuesday.

"His religion allows him to marry four wives without restriction on age," he said.

Uwa said the section of the Child Rights Act which forbids marriage of a girl under the age of 18 contravenes the country's constitution which guarantees citizen's rights to practise his religion.

Uwa said a Muslim has the liberty to "even marry a child in the womb of her mother."

Judge Adamu Bello adjourned the case till October 21.

The Nigerian Senate has ordered a probe after the national rights watchdog.

Media reports have alleged Yerima paid a 100,000-dollar dowry before marrying the girl.

He faces 500,000 naira (3,270 dollars, 2,680 euros) fine or five years jail term, or both on conviction, NAPTIP officials said.

This freedom of religion bullshit is getting out of control. No. Your freedom of religion does not make it OK for you to marry children. Not in the womb, not when they're 13, not ever. Freedom of religion does not trump basic human rights, and I think the right for a kid to grow up before being bought and made to be some gross old man's wife is pretty fundamental. Now, before all you Jesus lovers start in on how terrible Muslims are and how this very behavior discredits their religion (but not yours) - how is this any different than the Catholic church trying to avoid legal responsibility for the child abuse scandal? I would say moving those priests around and pressuring the kids not to say anything and, oh yeah, trying to seek immunity from being held legally responsible for the abuse in the US is pretty similar to a guy wanting the religious freedom to marry a child. In fact, I'd say the Muslim has more balls because at least he's being open about it.

And that seems to be the Christians main issue with the Muslims. Their tenacity. Their transparency. They have no shame in the archaic and socially reprehensible demands of their religion. Christians are sneaky and two faced about their desire for special treatment. The fundamental ones, like the Phelps, seem to come the closest to real faith and belief and adherence to Christianity as it's written in the supposedly holy book and everyone else dislikes it because it's ugly and cruel. That's what religion is. Religion is the good and the worthless, the saved and the damned, the chosen and the cast offs. It's not hugathons and canned food drives and feeling all high on Jesus at Christmas and Easter, it's segregation, slavery, rape, torture, and simplistic caste system of the ones who are righteous and everyone else, who is essentially kindling for the endless fires of hell.

That's why we need to stop regarding freedom of religion as some greater or more sacred freedom than everything else. Freedom of religion does not mean that Christians have the right to discriminate against gays. Freedom of religion does not give adults the right to be child molesters. Religious rights do not trump other rights and it's time we rational, logical, socially responsible people stopped being afraid of the inevitable social backlash and started making some real noise in saying so.

Ask An Atheist Debut Show!

An exciting new atheist talk show is starting up in Seattle on Comcast channel 77 (public access) and streaming live from scantv.org!

It will be airing every Sunday, live at 3pm PST.

This is a project that I am personally involved in as a volunteer, and I am grateful to Mike Gillis, Casey Doran, Sam Mulvey and Jeremy Whitman for their hard work which afforded me an opportunity to be involved in something as special and exciting as this. :D

The show tomorrow will be focused on portrayals of atheists in media and fiction with hosts Mike Gillis and Libbie Mistretta. Make sure to set a reminder to watch, and maybe give the show a call if you feel like contributing to the dialog!

The Westboro Baptist Church To Protest In Portland

If there's one thing almost all people regardless of religiosity agree on, it's that the Westboro Baptist Church is super duper crazy pants.

Evidently the WBC is coming to my area, though they're still too far away for me to go and protest which kind of makes me sad. I would love to emulate the recent reaction to the WBC in other areas by standing across the street with a big sign that says "God Hates Flags" shouting things at passerbys like 'I think you're doing OK!', 'I like your shirt!', and 'You look like a good cuddler!'

Evidently they are coming to the Portland area to picket schools which they feel are too progressive when it comes to treating gay people like, you know, people:

WBC plans to picket outside Grant High School in Portland on June 3, and Heritage High School in Vancouver on June 1. Apparently both schools practice a progressive, humane and tolerant attitude towards the gay and lesbian community, an attitude which the hate group finds abhorrent.

What a delightful bunch.

If you're in the area, I encourage you to go stage a counter protest, and be sure to invite the news as well. Wear a funny hat or a costume, maybe bring some recorders, bucket drums and kazoos and turn it into a party. The worst possible reaction to these people is for anyone to act as though they're being taken seriously. Rather, use it as an excuse to get together with like minded individuals and have some fun at the expense of a group that fully deserves to publicly be made fun of.

Theist Vandals Take Sophomoric Aggression Out On Sign

From this site - quite the petty, insecure reaction to a good deed.

From The Back Pew:
‘Atheists’ sign under siege
By Michael J. Arvizu

Across from me is Roberta Medford. We’re sitting in front of an open window at her Montrose residence.

“What is it about atheists that people just don’t like?” I ask.

“You would have to ask them that. I don’t know!” Medford says with a good-natured laugh.

I visited Medford on Monday evening to get her take on another vandalization of the Adopt-A-Highway Atheists United sign on the Glendale (2) Freeway. This time, the sign on the southbound side had been defaced. The “A” in “Atheists” had been covered in white paint, making it read “THEISTS UNITED.”

“I find it incredibly intolerant, and . . . maybe they should get a life,” Medford said of the vandal, or vandals, responsible.

I’ve driven past that sign many times. Of all the Adopt-A-Highway signs I pass in Los Angeles, that is the only one I pay attention to. That sign has been egged, tagged, and at one point someone took a saw to it, knocking it to the ground.

But it is always restored. The sign recognizes Atheists United for its work picking up trash along the freeway. It is one of many such signs along L.A.’s freeways that usually represent an organization located within a particular route. For example, Warner Bros. in Burbank has a sign posted along the 134 Freeway.

People don’t seem to mind Warner Bros., but atheists are another matter.

Atheism, broken down, means no theology. Atheists simply believe there is no God, or no evidence to support the existence of God. Furthermore, atheists also advocate strongly for the separation of church and state, as defined in the 1st Amendment.

“I looked at the world and realized [that] I don’t see a god there,” said Medford, who became an atheist at 14. “It’s an idea, a human invention. You have to admit, god is a human invention, it’s not a physical object or presence.”

It’s not a bad invention, she says; she just doesn’t share in the belief.

So why do atheists get such a bad rap?

I posed the question to atheists Sharon and Bill Weisman of Glendale. The couple are well-known in the community and involved in a variety of local projects. I hoped they might be able to shed some light on my question, but that wasn’t the case.

“We’re puzzled. We don’t understand the motive,” Sharon Weisman said. “For some reason, religious people don’t have a problem disrespecting atheists.”

Bill Weisman calls it an irony that someone would destroy something their very tax dollars are paying for.

“It’s motivated by hatred, motivated by anger,” he said. Bill also finds it ironic that such an act might be committed by a person whose religion is based on tolerance, acceptance and love.

Maybe the people involved feel that atheism is offensive to them because it goes against the very notion of their belief system — the existence of God, or some other deity. Atheism says no, there is no god, so the vandals, perhaps, say, “How dare you make such a statement. For that, I’m going to vandalize your sign tonight!”

Why is not believing there is a god any less valid than believing in God?

Following up on Medford’s suggestion, I ask those responsible for vandalizing the sign: Tell me, what is it about atheists that you dislike so much? Come forward; explain yourself. Tell me your side of the story.

Was an atheist unkind to you once? Or are you doing this simply because you think it’s funny?

Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!

Today is Everybody Draw Mohammad Day! I only took a few minutes with MS Paint to make my image of Mohammad, I'm hoping some others out there are a bit more creative with their drawings.

I invite everyone out there who is a fan of free speech and refuses to allow a belief structure they don't adhere to dictate their actions and freedoms even a teeny tiny bit to join me in this symbolic protest of Islamic extremists who would rather kill you than ignore the fact that you, a person who does not willingly participate in their group, draw a picture.

Jesus In Lodi, California

In Lodi, California there has been a controversy brewing ever since a secular minded individual questioned the council's prayer before the meeting began which specifically invoked Jesus. The council had a pre-existing policy which limits prayer to non-sectarian and non-denominational.

On Wednesday of this week the council voted to move the meeting regarding this issue back to September 30th but that didn't stop the protesters, the majority of which were Christian, from coming out of the woodwork to voice their concerns.

Out of about 400 people marching outside the council meeting, 300 - 350 were members of various christian faiths who had converged to voice their outrage at what they misguidedly cited as the reduction of christian freedoms in America:

While holding a sign quoting Colossians 3:17, Lodi resident Angela Lopez said she is tired of freedom being taken away from Christians.

Where do I start? The issue is about a pre-existing rule regarding prayer which was put in place to assure that no citizen was excluded - christian or otherwise. It would seem that these people feel that being fair to everyone is somehow taking away christian freedoms, but it's not. It's just being fair.

"It's becoming harder and harder for the Christians. ... It's only because we support God that our country is as blessed as it is," Lopez said.

Her son, Eddie, also held a sign and a Bible.

"I came just to support Jesus," Eddie Lopez said. "Just for him to know I was here to support him."

Ms. Lopez's statement is a common one among christians - we made this country great, we should be able to pray to Jesus no matter what. It's the 'you owe us' mentality but the problem is, it doesn't hold up. I would argue that the stregnth of the constitution - a secular document written in large by non christians - has had a large hand in why this country is as 'blessed' as it is. While everyone is entitled to their opinion, it should be noted that the 'god did it' position is based entirely on faith and factless belief while my position is entirely based on historical evidence, though I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise that evidence isn't held in very high regard by these kinds of people.

Also in regard to Eddie, I have to ask - would your jesus really be so petty as to care about this issue? I don't think so, and a few local pastors in the area have been quoted as agreeing with me:

While standing between the two rallies, senior pastor Tim Stevenson of Horizon Community Church in Galt said he came to watch and listen.

"God's pretty big," he said. "I don't think he needs us to defend his name."

He wishes the energy spent by both groups at the rally could go toward bigger problems facing Lodi and the world, like the people standing in front of Salvation Army or the thousands of children who die daily from preventable diseases.

"There are too many things around the world that God told us to go out and do," Stevenson said. "We got our priorities in the wrong place."

Though in attendace as a minority, there were voices of reason at the rallies, people who came to point out the obvious to the christians who are evidently too concerned about their particular god getting first billing to do the christian thing and consider the position of others.

As the Lopez's gathered to sing prayer hymns, Lodi resident Steve Weiner said he wanted to make sure the council knew there were two sides to this issue.

"We have Muslims, Sikhs, atheists and people of various faiths, and they can feel excluded and intimidated at council meetings if there is a prayer to one God, Jesus," Weiner said.

And this is the whole issue isn't it? There is no such thing as a completely christian town and regardless of the size of the minority, the majority should never be given special privileges simply because they are a majority. The United States is not a democracy but rather a democratic republic - it is justice and representation for all, not just for the group with the most participants. When you have people who can't stand to hear a prayer without aggressively inserting their personal deity's name -

At the end, he said "Amen," which was followed by some members of the crowd yelling "in Jesus' name." During the Pledge of Allegiance, some members also shouted the words "one nation under God."

Then the question in my mind isn't why you can't say jesus in a prayer, but rather what about your faith is so weak that you have to force jesus into every prayer?

The Charitable Atheist - Not At All An Oxymoron

(This was written specifically for Tacoma Atheists but I felt it was also worth posting here)

"Philanthropist" is a word which, translated from Greek, literally means "lover of humanity". There is no caveats attached to this term which dictates that the lover of humanity must also believe in a god or gods, but it would seem that some religiously affiliated and atheist warry folks would ignore that lack of inclusion as an overlooked but understood truth. Those people are certainly misguided - it is only the religious who feel that religion is needed in order to be a charitable person.

Something which should be a point of pride for all atheists - especially when you're being told by someone who knows little about you besides the fact that you're not a believer that you're the reason babies die and the elderly lose their ability to do cartwheels - is that the two biggest charitable contributions in American history can both be attributed to non believers: Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.

But charity is not and should not be a game of tallying which side has done more and then declaring a winner. Is shouldn't be about who wins - the focus should be on helping people whether you're religious or not. I have been told more than once by religious people who were disturbed by my atheism that if there were no god fearing, good people on this earth there would be no hospitals, no orphanages, no clothing and food drives, no helping hand for anyone. In this bleak and truly apocalypic atheist future, everyone is looking out for themselves and the very idea of helping others is perverse and uncessesary. Help out your fellow man? Heh, who's gonna make me?

The fact is that there are plenty of secular institutions already in existance that provide every kind of charitable resource you could imagine - and they provide these things without the common "Are you really thankful for our help? Well then you should probabaly believe in this god." attitude which is often found when participating at religiously affiliated institutions and events. I remember specifically helping an older woman who's husband had died. A big group of us were there cleaning her house and fixing up her yard. I was helping the woman sort through clothes and she started talking about how wonderful the Catholic organization was that had set up the work we doing and by proxy, how wonderful we all were. I thanked her, and I didn't correct her assumption that we were all Catholics doing good Catholic work because I felt that the work we were doing was important, not the details of who was doing it to be nice and who was doing it because of god. However, I personally realized that in a lot of cases people do assume that charity work is being done in the name of some holy organization.

The only way I can see to change the public perception of atheists and to help change the common assumptions being made about charitable work is for atheists to get involved with their communities as atheists so that we can show by example that we are upstanding citizens who are interested in philanthropy in it's purest form.

Below is a list of secular charities and aid-based organizations which would be worth looking into if you are looking to donate some time or money to your fellow human beings. This is by no means a complete list and does not include many local organizations which are always looking for volunteers. Remember, while donating money is always appreciated and needed, what a lot of charities need even more is your time and physical involvment. If we all tried to get involved or if those of us who can't get involved were willing to support those who are even a little bit, we could do a lot to change the commonly held and entirely unfair position that atheists are selfish, mean people who don't have the capacity for compassion that religious folks have. It's not at all fair to have to do so, but it's up to us to prove them wrong.

DonorsChoose.org
a simple way to provide students in need with resources that our public schools often lack.

Kiva.org
lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world.

The Union of Concerned Scientists
The leading science-based non-profit working for a healthy environment and safer world.

American Red Cross
The American Red Cross, a humanitarian organization led by volunteers, guided by its Congressional Charter and the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross Movement, will provide relief to victims of disasters and help people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies. The USA's premier emergency response organization, over 91% of Red Cross spending is on charitable services.

American Civil Liberties Union
The mission of the ACLU is to preserve all of constitutional protections and guarantees relating to First Amendment rights, including the freedom to practice religion and the freedom not to have religion rammed down our throats, equal protection, due process, and right to privacy.

United Nations Children's Fund
UNICEF mobilizes political will and material resources to help countries, particularly developing countries, ensure a "first call for children" and to build their capacity to form appropriate policies and deliver services for children and their families. UNICEF provides emergency and disaster relief.

Doctors without Borders
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international independent medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural and man-made disasters, and exclusion from health care in nearly 70 countries.

Amnesty International
AI’s vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards.
In pursuit of this vision, AI’s mission is to undertake research and action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses of the rights to physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and expression, and freedom from discrimination, within the context of its work to promote all human rights.

Oxfam International
Oxfam International is a confederation of 12 organizations working together with over 3,000 partners in more than 100 countries to find lasting solutions to poverty, suffering and injustice. The Oxfams operate in over 100 countries worldwide working with local partners to alleviate poverty and injustice.

The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the diversity of life on Earth. An environmental group that protects natural habitats and the wildlife within them. Focuses on "science-based" initiatives.

Population Connection
Population Connection is the national grassroots population organization that educates young people and advocates progressive action to stabilize world population at a level that can be sustained by Earth's resources. Works against faith-based policies that are supported by the Religious Right.

DefCon: Campaign to Defend the Constitution
DefCon is an online grassroots movement combating the growing power of the religious right. It includes a blog on religious freedom issues, action alerts, and in-depth articles on scientific, religious, and legal issues of the day.

The SEED foundation
National nonprofit that establishes urban public boarding schools to prepare students from underserved communities for success in college.

Project Peanut Butter
Project Peanut Butter is a therapeutic feeding program for malnourished children in Malawi and Sierra Leone, on the continent of Africa. It was founded by Professor Mark Manary, M.D., a pediatrician at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and a professor of pediatric medicine at Washington University School of Medicine.

Electronic Frontiers Foundation
When our freedoms in the networked world come under attack, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is the first line of defense. Blending the expertise of lawyers, policy analysts, activists, and technologists, EFF achieves significant victories on behalf of consumers and the general public. EFF fights for freedom primarily in the courts, bringing and defending lawsuits even when that means taking on the US government or large corporations.

Mercy corps
Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities.

Seva
Our programs serve people who have been economically, politically, or otherwise marginalized. We change our program approach to relate to their culture and circumstances, reaching out in very different ways, for example, to nomads in Tibet, women in Tanzania, or indigenous Mayans in Guatemala. Our aim is to build a bridge of compassion between our donors and the people we serve — people around the world who have the fewest resources.

International Peace Institute
The International Peace Institute (IPI) formerly International Peace Academy is an independent, international institution dedicated to promoting the prevention and settlement of armed conflict between and within states through policy research and development.

Memory Walk to AIDS walk - Joining Forces For A Stronger Presence

I had previously posted my intention to try to start an atheist walking team for the Memory Walk being held in Seattle in September. I have since decided to abandon my efforts to start up a team for the Memory Walk and instead join the already formed atheist group that is getting involved in the Pierce County AIDS Walk.

The main reason for giving up on the Memory Walk completely is the fact that both walks are happening on the same day. Also, in trying to recruit my group of atheist friends, I found that a good deal of them will be out of town or have otherwise pressing commitments which can't be altered in favor of participation in the walk.

I had not given up on the Memory Walk but was somewhat disillusioned by this new information when I ran across a twitter from Tacoma Atheists promoting their participation in the AIDS Walk. I was immediately interested in joining this group and though saddened to learn that both walks were scheduled for the same day, decided to join forces with an already established group with a pre-existing list of participants. I feel that it is more important to create a solid presence in a single event than to show a weaker presence in two separate events.

My hope is still to recruit people into participating as atheists in this walk in order provide an example of atheists doing charitable, good work. I hope I can get at least two more people on board with me - that would be an admittedly small victory but one worth being proud of.

If you wish to sponsor me or our group on this walk, please visit my personal page and donate, or just leave a comment if you wish to show some support. Either would be tremendously appreciated.

Memory Walk Atheist Team - An Experiment

My atheist friends and I have had several talks about the stereotype of the 'soul less' atheist. The common opinion among my friends seems to be that it's ridiculous to presume that people need a god to tell them to be good people and that atheists are just as good of people as anyone else. Not shockingly, I passionately agree.

I have previously made the point that it's unfair to generalize any group in regard to disposition because disposition is affected by immeasurable factors - some of which might be commonly shared within a group but still should not be defining characteristics of the group. It's a fact that atheists tend to be intelligent and intelligent people tend to be more skeptical and skeptical people tend to be more morose. From this line of reasoning you cannot say that atheists tend to be more morose because by saying that you are reversing the flow of the line of reasoning and in doing that, you could very well make assumptions which are incorrect when considered in the opposite way. For example - intelligent people tend to be skeptical, but it is correct to then assume that skepital people tend to be intelligent? Not necessarily.

Regardless, I have decided to do an experiment with my atheist friends to see if they're willing to put their money - or rather their time and energy, if only for a day - where their mouths are.

One of the biggest fears I have with growing old (though not yet being 30 I have quite a while to really worry about old age - I'm human and I still consider it) is Alzheimer Disease. I don't know why this is the one disease I'm really concerned with, but maybe I'm concerned by it because it's degenerative and causes the person suffering from it to forget, to lose knowledge. The other day I saw an advert for something i had no idea existed, the Memory Walk which is sponsored by the Alzheimer's Association in order to "raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer care, support and research". When I saw this advert, I automatically thought, that's what I'm going to organize to show people atheists care about helping people just as much as any other group.

I've already called a few people and discussed the idea, and I've written to Seattle Atheists to make sure they already don't have something in the works with this. The hardest part of this project will be recruitment of team members, but not because atheists don't care. These kinds of fund raising activities require people to something which most people dislike doing - asking for money. I hate doing it, and I can see a good deal of my friends declining to participate because of an aversion to this kind of thing as well. Also, while I may deem Alzheimer's research an important cause, that doesn't mean my friends will agree that it's a cause worth applying work and time toward.

This will be an interesting experiment to say the least, and I will keep this blog informed in regard to the successes, failures, and lessons learned along the way.

A Plan of Action

The other night I was at work (I work seasonally at a Drive In theater) and I was talking to a friend of mine about something silly and the subject of atheism came up. I was happy that not only was the conversation not derailed by the subject, but that my friend responded with ease "yeah, people think we..." letting me know without being terribly obvious that he too was an atheists.

After the requisite baby eating jokes and the like, we started talking about what we might be able to do in order to improve the image of atheists since what we were joking about was funny, but also unfortunately grounded in actual opinions people hold of my friend and I simply because of our beliefs.

The idea came about that it might be interesting to go around with a camera and do random favors for strangers for no reason at all - and at the end of the interaction mention that we are atheists and see what kinds of responses we get. Now, this kind of project would do very little to prove that your average atheist is a compassionate and kind person (which in my experience has been the case 95% of the time - but keep in mind that is mere anecdotal information) since the random acts of kindness would be completely motivated by an agenda that is not completely charity based. However, I do think these kinds of projects are important and if more of us took these ideas and transformed them into actual projects, we would all be doing a little something to, at the very least, provide the public with a more realistic view of what an atheist is.

So, I offer that idea up for you to mull over and in return I would ask to hear your ideas - have you ever conceptualized any kind of activity such as the one listed above and if so, did you follow through with it and what happened. If you didn't follow through with it, what's holding you back? I think it's important to remember as well that not everyone lives in an area where open and activist level atheism would be peacefully received. That's one of the reasons I feel compelled to take advantage of living in the liberal pacific northwest and trying to organize people who are interested in and willing to participate in these kinds of demonstrations.

Let me know what you think!