The Moral Atheist
January-February 2010

Here is a PDF of the cover of the January-February 2010 issue of The Moral Atheist, and a PDF of p. 3, which tells you something of what AFHR has been doing. For three free introductory issues of TMA mailed to your home, just ask.

Because the article on Challenging Religion-Based Laws and Theocratic Power is so important, we are providing it in full below. We intend to pursue this idea as best we can. It's time we got religious beliefs out of our laws and public policies! Ask your elected representatives where they stand on this and let them know they have a duty to uphold the Constitution, not the Bible or canon law. Thank you!

Challenging Religion-Based Laws and Theocratic Power: A Hill Worth Dying On?

Events Calendar

Articles

Secularist, humanist, freethinking nontheists, and atheists
are coalescing into a movement with a real agenda. More =>

The god idea has no foundation in reality. Reality is the stuff that doesn't go away when you stop believing in it. More =>

"It is ironic that several of these individuals, who so staunchly and proudly touted their religious convictions in public, would time and again lie to cover their tracks and disguise the real purpose behind the ID Policy." -- Judge John E. Jones More =>

Respect for religious beliefs is such that protecting the "deeply held beliefs" of parents takes precedence over protecting their children from injury, illness and death as a result of those beliefs. More =>

Amicus curiae brief submitted by Michael Newdow to the US Supreme Court, arguing that it should strike the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. [PDF file] More =>

In late June [2003] a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the phrase "under God" was "an impermissible government endorsement of religion." More =>

Surveys consistently show nonbelievers to be the least popular demographic group (with the possible exception of neoNazis and the Ku Klux Klan). More =>

This pamphlet summarizes what religion costs YOU in terms of your money, your personal freedom, your health, and sometimes even your very life. More =>

Is This the Face of Jesus? Of course not, and the Pope knows it, and so do the media. More =>

Religion is a powerful force. When human consciousness arose into awareness of the grim realities of life, it brought solace. It produced a magical world of created realities full of powerful gods that could protect, avenge, reward and comfort. It was a unifying force against outsiders, a rallying point for collective action ... and vulnerable to only one thing -- doubt. More =>

Our Philosophy

Statement of Principles

Atheists For Human Rights advocates for religion-free governments that support rational moral standards uninfluenced by sectarian dogma. We are motivated by our evolution-driven compassion and reality-based worldview. We define ourselves as valiant atheists. As such, we take an adversarial but morally positive stand against religious doctrines that harm innocent people. We join with liberal religionists who share this moral sense. We seek a peaceful world where life for all can be good.

Traditional religious morality is notorious for the astounding number of ways it hurts people. On a short list are: human sacrifice, slavery, subjugation and reproductive control of women, persecution of homosexuals, religious wars, cruelty to children, torture and execution of heretics, denial of end-of-life self-determination, and opposing every advance in science and medicine. It has truthfully been said that religion has inflicted more misery on humanity than any other idea.

Atheistic morality, being human centered, focuses on reducing misery. his rational basis produces moral standards that support the common good, individual rights and liberties, critical thinking, intellectual freedom, and scientific progress. Liberal religions now support such standards, but do so (to their credit) by denying 2,000 years of inhumane theology.

Godless ethical systems generally uphold rational moral standards, as do democratic nations where religion is weak. Any nation that adopts rational moral standards requires a democracy that keeps religion out of government. No dictatorship, religious or atheist, can maintain rational moral standards. It inevitably tyrannizes its citizens because autocratic power -- always and everywhere -- corrupts those who wield it.

One's personal morality has never depended on religion, regardless of claims that it does. As Nobel laureate and physicist Steven Weinberg said, "Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."

Join Us!

Atheists For Human Rights is proud to be among those people identified by 2008 Nobel Prize winner in Economic Science, Leonid Hurwicz, as "interveners" in society -- those who behave ethically simply because it is the right thing to do. Our unique Moral High Ground project stands uncompromisingly in support of the victims of inhumane religious doctrines. We find no "gray area" that justifies the harm done to women, gays, children, the hopelessly ill, and human progress by dogma-based laws and policies.

Atheists For Human Rights welcomes you to join us! Membership is open to all who reject supernatural beliefs and support the principles and policies of this organization. We thrive on new ideas and welcome everyone who shares our goals. We have a long history of atheist activism, both as founders and charter members of freethought groups. We are a member society of American Atheists.

We publish a regular newsletter, The Moral Atheist, with informative articles and information about our meetings and activities.

LETTERS AND ARTICLES WELCOME!
Send them to the email or postal address below.

Call or email today for the current printed version or PDF file. You get three introductory issues free to give you a good idea of what we are all about. Mail membership coupon to the address below. If you are using PayPal and want to receive any gifts listed below, you may email us your selections.

AFHR
5146 Newton Ave. N.
Minneapolis MN 55430-3459

Email: Communications Director

Phone: 612-529-1200 (Twin Cities area) or 1-866-ATHEIST (toll-free long dist.)

Our dues are minimal to enable as many as possible to become involved; however, they cover only basic operating expenses. Because our outreach projects are sometimes quite expensive, but extremely important, we must rely on additional donations from those who can afford it. We have no paid staff, so all income goes to office expenses and visibility projects. It's a pay-as-you-go system. We can do only what our supporters enable us to do. Please be generous. You can make payments here with PayPal. It's fast, free, and secure! THANK YOU!

Our gift to you

Donate at least $50 to AFHR and you may choose UP TO FOUR of the following DVDs and/or booklets below. Check the item(s) on the membership coupon, and mail it to the following address:

AFHR
5146 Newton Ave. N.
Minneapolis MN 55430-3459

If you are using PayPal, email your selections to Communications Director.

DVDs

"Evolution Made Easy" explains evolution in an entertaining and easy-to-understand way. A great DVD to show anyone who is unclear on the concept, including hard core religionists, "cafeteria" religionists, and atheists new to the controversy.

"The Truth about Religion" totally demolishes any credibility religion is thought to have historically or philosophically or even applying a little common sense.

Biologist PZ Myers' illustrated presentation on evolution at our July 2006 Public Forum.

Michael Newdow's entertaining, informative presentation about his challenge to "under God" in the pledge of allegiance at our November 2006 Public Forum.

Andy Dawkins' (former Minnesota State Rep.) speech about civic projects legislation and the necessity of atheism at our March 2007 Public Forum.

Cong. Keith Ellison's (first Muslim elected to Congress) forceful speech in defense of state-church separation at our July 2007 Public Forum.

Dan Barker's speech, "Beyond Iraq: The Threat to Freedom of an Imperial Presidency," at our November 2007 Public Forum.

Arvonne Fraser's (civic leader and internationally known feminist) speech on "The Common Good: Human Rights for All" at our March 2008 public forum.

Dr. Goparaju Vijayam's (executive director of one of India's leading social reform organizations, Atheist Centre) three-part series of talks, taped while Dr. Vijayam was here for a June 2008 public forum.

Richard Dawkins' BBC film, The Root of All Evil?

Sam Harris' discussion of his best seller, The End of Faith.

Booklets:

"India's Atheist Centre: Where Atheism Works", an 8" x 11" full color account of "the crown jewel of atheism," honored by the Indian government for its extensive social reform projects and educational work in science and critical thinking.

"May the Farce Be With You", April Pedersen's 20-page booklet, a humorous look at religious claims, with many illustrations and cartoons.

"All About Gods", our own illustrated, full color, 36-page booklet, a concise, entertaining presentation of facts to challenge religious mythologies. Includes bibliography.

[I sent this to the Strib, which will, of course, not print it.]

Your Jan. 30 Letter of the Day wondered why prochoice groups would complain about a Super Bowl ad featuring a woman who chose not to have an abortion. As long as abortion is a legal medical procedure, women will always make whatever decision is best in their circumstances. They don't need an ad to tell them what to do and that is not the ad's purpose. The purpose is to persuade citizens that abortions are never justified and so should be made illegal. Just to balance things, perhaps the prochoice groups could run an ad featuring some of the tragic outcomes of a pregnancy misguidedly brought to term.

Ken Herman's Dec. 30 article questions why women aren't treated the same as men regarding Selective Service. It's because women are not free citizens; they are essentially social property because of their role as childbearers. Keeping them from full participation in military service preserves the availability of that property to society by reducing their exposure to combat injuries and death. Even so, for women in the military, their role as childbearing property is protected to the extent that they have no effective legal protection from rape and are denied the right to abortions. More =>

One special interest that should not be involved in the debate on health care reform is religion. Yet provisions are proposed that exclude abortion to accommodate religious belief in such things as single-celled persons, and others that disadvantage equitable coverage for same-sex partners out of ignorance of sexuality and its variations. More =>

If Gov. Pawlenty had stated in his Sept. 18 Washington speech that his conservative values included marginalizing racial minorities, the uproar would be worse than what we have over health care reform. Yet, he shamelessly marginalized the majority of Americans who are non-Christian, liberal Christian or nonreligious by advocating that our laws and public policies be based on his fundamentalist version of Christianity. More =>

The plan to etch "In God We Trust" and the "under God" version of the Pledge of Allegiance on the Capitol Visitors Center in Washington D.C. is not harmless civic piety. Yes, it is an unconstitutional establishment of religion, as the Freedom From Religion Foundation's lawsuit charges, but in some ways it is far worse. It is as much an establishment of bigotry as Jim Crow laws, differing certainly in degree, but not in kind. More =>

Gov. Pawlenty's budget cuts affecting local government are certain to require property tax increases to maintain essential services. If this burden is to be shared equitably, perhaps religious institutions, which are exempt from taxes, should be asked to contribute by paying a fee for the city services they receive at no cost. More =>

On April 28, 1998, at a Minneapolis symposium on religion in public life that I attended, Lutheran theologian Martin Marty said in his keynote speech, "It is the role of unbelievers to force religions to be benign."

That's what we atheists try to do. The liberal Marty would probably be at odds with Katherine Kersten's uninformed opinion of atheists in her June 7 op-ed column. Traditional religious morality, which Kersten, at least for the most part, supports, is notorious for the astounding number of ways it hurts people. More =>

Regarding the murder of Dr. George Tiller, the anti-abortion zealots would like everyone to think late-term abortions are performed in the last couple of months of pregnancy, and never for a good reason. More =>

David Lebedoff's April 5 Opinion Exchange piece was strikingly uninformed in its assumption that those who do not believe in a heaven and hell necessarily have no moral constraints and live only for pleasure and to accumulate material things. More =>

So now the Catholic hierarchy is upset because Pres. Obama is removing restrictions placed on abortion, same-sex marriage and stem cell research by the Bush Administration. They accuse Obama of being "anti-Catholic" for not wanting to make Catholic doctrine the law of the land. More =>

Ever wondered why atheists rank at rock bottom in public acceptance? Even below Muslims right after 9/11? Blame the media and their religious reporting. A fine example is the Minneapolis Star Tribune, whose weekly Faith & Values pages consistently promote faith only, never secular values. More =>

Michael Gerson's March 12 column is a fine example of human imagination running amok. His opposition to Pres. Obama's reversal of the Bush administrations abortion-related restrictions on funding for family planning and stem cell research is based on the bizarre premise that there are such things as single-celled persons and that to destroy a microscopic cluster of 150 undifferentiated cells (blastocysts) containing human DNA is tantamount to murder. More =>

The debate over whether climate change is happening, and whether nature or people are causing it, is beside the point. Either way, the climate always has and always will change. We are in trouble today because of overpopulation. More =>

The Star Tribune's January 26 article on bioethics, "Let's talk about science," would have been more useful if Susan Wolf had identified the opposing viewpoints accurately. The issue is not Republicans vs Democrats but religion vs science. More =>

It is absolutely despicable that these anti-abortion letter writers (the latest being Hale Meserow on Jan. 2) get so misty eyed over the abortion loss of an unfeeling, unthinking, partially formed fetus, yet dismiss the fully sentient woman as a self-centered airhead acting only out of "convenience." More =>

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