Why I Would Never Be Elected to Public Office

Although I have no intention of ever running for public office, the thought occasionally crosses my mind that I would have no chance as someone who has publicly acknowledged his atheism. The problem would be compounded if my otherwise anonymous blog were connected with my name and the media presented some particularly damning quotes as sound bites. As an intellectual curiosity, I have gathered a selection of the most anti-theistic quotes from Secular Planet and present them here in reverse chronological order.

Today is Blasphemy Day International!

If Yahweh, Jesus, or Allah really existed, as portrayed in their respective scriptures, they would be absolutely evil and worthy of every ounce of contempt and derision we could muster toward them.

Foolish Wager

This is why religion is evil.

Know Thy Enemy

I consider religious dogma my enemy...

Buckle Up With Jesus

[T]heir best friend is imaginary, but pretending they have a magical sky daddy watching over them must make them feel better.

Atheism as Medicine

Religion is indeed a mental disease...

Why Religious Belief Matters

Religion gives bigots moral cover...

Reverse Stupidity

All of this suggests the devil is highly incompetent and poses no threat to anyone with half a brain, but I suppose that's not the church's target audience.

The Importance of Religious Literalism

[T]he message of the bible is essentially tyrannical and barbaric...

Perpetual Adoration

As is typical with religion, it's just absurdity upon absurdity.

Hell: The Evilest Doctrine

Whenever I hear Jesus referred to as loving or merciful, I wince. While the gospels do contain some benevolent teachings, these are completely overshadowed by Jesus' recurrent threat of unending torture for anyone who fails to accept his message. One cannot expect praise for preaching love while simultaneously executing divine blackmail.

No Sacred Cows

Most people think the message [of the gospel] is love and forgiveness whereas it's actually, “Believe or fry!”

The Necessity of Doubt

I simply cannot respect anyone who claims to have never doubted their beliefs.

Religious Justification for Bigotry

[A]s is often the case, it's primarily religion that's hindering social progress. Whether religion actually creates bigotry or simply provides hypocritical justification for it, irrational belief is the enemy of human advancement.

Not Following Jesus

The key to understanding this divergence is to realize that Jesus' ministry as portrayed in the Gospels was essentially an apocalyptic cult.

Scrupulosity, OCD and the Doctrine of Hell

The Christian God was a monster in my eyes whom I grew to fear and despise more and more over the years.

Religion and My Life

[R]eligion is the principal virus of irrationality in our world, affecting the majority of people around the globe and in my own country. This irrationality often leads to poor decisions, injustice and misery...

Why I'm No Longer A Catholic

The Bible is full of stories of violent injustice of all types committed by God, commanded by God, rewarded by God, or looked favorably upon by God: wars of conquest, slaughter of innocent men, women, and children, divine plagues, looting, slavery, death penalty for minor infractions, and a worldwide flood.

The Bible is full of material which suggests it is the work of humans and not of God: contradictions, failed prophecies, scientific errors, religious intolerance, misogyny, racism, sexual perversion, and blatant absurdities.

Eventually, however, I mustered the courage to say to myself, “If there exists a deity who will punish me forever for rejecting something as absurd, implausible, and disgusting as Christianity, then so be it.”

Experiences of an Apostate

God was never my friend and I didn't mourn his passing.

Reflections on Two Years Without God

Nevertheless, I celebrate my atheism for liberating me from the chains of religion and granting me the freedom to truly live in the light of reason.

The Muslim Immunity to Irony

I have since learned that Islamic scriptures are no less violent, intolerant, and hypocritical, simply more tedious and disorganized.

Rental Capsules vs. Neutral Spaces

Religion is the disease and secularism is the cure.

Three Church Signs

I believe every religion is false...

Of course, there are several other reasons why I wouldn't run or have any chance of being elected, but it was still interesting compiling this list. I know most atheist blogs have more virulent criticism than mine, but I consciously avoid being inflammatory for its own sake and I still end up disqualifying myself as a political candidate many times over simply be discussing what I believe in a relatively measured manner. Such is life in the United States.

Deity Replacement Therapy

I don't remember where I first encountered the idea of replacing God and Jesus in your mind with other names whenever you encounter them spoken or written by believers in order to remove any associated emotional baggage and to remind yourself how absurd religion sounds from the outside, but I would like to present my own list of common expressions having done exactly that. I have selected Zeus and Apollo as the father and son deities to replace God and Jesus, not because their mythology most closely matches Christian mythology – Osiris and Horus are probably the best fit – but because Zeus is the probably the best known pagan god and the name Apollo sounds better to my ears and can't be confused with the homophonic name Horace.

God » Zeus

• Zeus bless you.
• Zeus bless America.
• Zeus is love.
• Zeus works in mysterious ways.
  
• Zeus doesn't believe in atheists.
  
• With Zeus, all things are possible.
  
• In Zeus we trust.

Jesus » Apollo

• Apollo loves you.
  
• Apollo saves.
• Apollo is lord.
  
• Apollo is the answer.
  
• Real men love Apollo.
  
• You've got a friend in Apollo.
• No Apollo, no peace. Know Apollo, know peace.
• What would Apollo do?

I find it remarkable that a similar yet distinct effect results if you simply use the somewhat more proper but less familiar names Yahweh and Yeshua. The former brings a very abstract concept back to its origins as a historically provincial deity and the latter reminds you that Jesus was not the sanitized, westernized version many people imagine as their best friend.

If you think of any common expressions containing references to either God or Jesus, please leave me a comment and I'll consider adding them to the list. Thank you!

Theocracy vs. Liberty

This letter by Marcia Holliday was published on December 16th under the heading, “Nativity: No respect.”

I couldn't believe what I was seeing when I turned on a program and saw a piece about Willie Nelson mocking the Nativity with a song about bringing "pot" to the baby Jesus. And what was sadder is to see that people thought it was funny to mock our Lord's birth. Why do we forget that our country was founded on a belief in God and His divine protection? Forgive us, Lord. We need you more now than ever.

Ms. Holliday has the right to express her disapproval of the broadcast, but no more than Willie Nelson has the right to sing any song he pleases or anyone else to listen to any song they please. This nation certainly wasn't founded on theism; it was founded on individual liberty! I find her prayer within the letter rather presumptuous.

Goals & Accomplishments

Throughout most of this decade, I've approached the new year with a certain amount of dread. It seemed I had made another trip around the sun without doing anything important, without taking any steps to making my dreams come true. This year is quite different as I've chosen a new, promising career path and found the love of my life, so it seems especially appropriate to reflect on what has happened and what is yet to happen.

Here are my major accomplishments of 2008 (in chronological order):

• got accepted to law school
  
• got married
• moved out of old apartment

Here are my goals for 2009 (in chronological order):

• begin law school and study hard
• help wife obtain green card
  
• find new apartment

Happy New Year 2009!

Newspaper Problems

Two years ago, I started checking the opinion section of the local newspaper, The Florida Times-Union, daily for editorials and letters about religion and irreligion and responding to each of them here. It's been many months since my last entry of this type, and it appears it may be even more until my next. I don't subscribe to or otherwise purchase the paper version of the publication, so I'm dependent upon the online version, but the opinion section of the website hasn't been updated since December 4th. I've sent the newspaper multiple e-mails and received multiple responses, but it's still not updating. I know The Florida Times-Union, like all newspapers, has been struggling in recent years – they've resorted to the dangerous practice of having people stand in the medians of busy intersections selling copies to commuters stopped at red lights – and has been forced to cut back their staff, and I suspect this may be the issue. I know there have been numerous interesting pieces over the past month due to the annual discussion about Christmas, and I intend to write about them when they finally become available.

UPDATE: The issue has been resolved. It seems that the newspaper re-designed their website without re-directing the old addresses, so my bookmark was taking me to the old section which is no longer updated.

Happy Festivus!

I would like to wish all of my readers a Happy Festivus! For the rest of us! A donation has been made in your name to the Human Fund (“Money for People”). Please note that I display a Festivus pole year-round on this blog between the menu and the main text. If you want to air your grievances against the author, please leave a comment!

Ask the Author

This is your chance to pose a direct question to the author of Secular Planet outside of the framework of the regular blog entries and reasonably expect a direct response! I'd like especially to encourage questions on philosophical, theological or political topics, but I intend to answer all questions provided they're not too personal, revealing or absurd. If I decline to respond to a query, I'll explain why and at least acknowledge its receipt. In some cases, I may even choose to respond in a new blog entry devoted to your question. Anonymous questions are welcome!

My Mother Thinks I'm Going to Hell

Since my deconversion over four years ago, my Catholic family has never given me any trouble about my atheism. Outside of one occasion a long time ago during which my mother asked me a few simple, polite questions about what I believe now, they never even raise the topic of religion with me. They do talk about church activities around me, but it has nothing to do with my presence. They also pray before meals, but they've done that forever and I've never considered objecting, especially since it's quick and they're giving me free food! They never give me any flack whatsoever and never treat me any differently than they ever have, so the following episode surprised and hurt me.

A few weeks ago, my mother told me a story about my niece. My older sister regularly babysits two children of her neighbors who happen to be Buddhist. One day one of the neighbor kids heard something about Jesus and asked, "Who's Jesus?" My four-year-old niece told her, "You'd better know who Jesus is or you're not going to heaven!" My mother told me this story somehow thinking I would be amused, but I didn't laugh at all. I struggled to tell her I found it disturbing a little child has been taught to divide the world up into us versus them and tell people they're going to hell. She didn't seem to understand my viewpoint as she just thought it was funny a child would say something so adult-like. We talked and my mother expressed the (heretical from a Catholic perspective) opinion that it doesn't matter what religion you believed since they all lead to God. I asked her about the rest of the people and reminded her about me. She didn't say anything at first and said my beliefs are my own business.

So in the end, my mother who loves me very much and would do absolutely anything for me thinks I'll be damned to hell by her god who is supposedly all-loving for simply disbelieving in extraordinary claims without any evidence. In her view, it apparently doesn't matter what religious belief you have or why you believe it, you're still better than someone who looks at religion critically and decides it's simply not true. The dissonance between her belief and actions is remarkable. I thought about writing her a letter to express my thoughts, but I haven't done so. I see no need to risk adversely affecting our relationship over this evil belief which she doesn't talk about or act upon. It just bothers me that my family could possibly think I truly deserve to be roasted alive for all eternity. It makes me even more grateful for my new godfree wife whose love for me isn't obscured by systematic irrationality.

Home for Solstice

With the winter solstice approaching, I have a few choices of holidays to celebrate this year. Living in the United States and having a Catholic family, I will of course celebrate Christmas by visiting and exchanging gifts with my relatives on December 25th. While my family is rather religious, they have never asked me to accompany them to church since my deconversion and my own celebration will be entirely secular with the exception of listening to some carols which explicitly refer to Jesus. The rest of the traditions I observe have either secular or pagan origins, and I never bother decorate my home with a tree, wreath or lights because it's simply not worth the trouble to me.

Last year I wrote about my personal celebration of Humanlight, the relatively new Humanist winter holiday honoring reason, compassion and hope, but this year I don't feel as interested. I don't have any newfound objections to artificial holidays or to adding more around the winter solstice – I say the more, the merrier – but I've come appreciate that they can't be properly celebrated in isolation; they require some sort of community. As I'm not currently involved with any Humanist or freethought groups and I don't have any friends who've even heard about Humanlight, I'm going to forget about it this time around the sun and see what happens next year. My new wife shares my Humanist values, but we've never talked about Humanism explicitly, and this is her first year celebrating even a secular Christmas, so there's no need to overwhelm her with anything else simply to accommodate me.

I've also considered celebrating the winter solstice itself as it's the purely natural event which prompts or anchors all the other celebrations, but I realize that I'm already essentially observing it through them and I don't need to add any new practices. Let's all celebrate this time of year, whether we call Christmas, Yule, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Saturnalia, Sol Invictus, Humanlight or Festivus!

Influx of Readers

This blog has enjoyed an usually high number of readers over the past week and I'm scratching my head trying to figure out why. I haven't done anything to promote it in a rather long time and I don't suppose any of my previous efforts have just now shown such remarkable results. If you don't mind, please consider leaving me a comment telling me how you came here. Thank you!

UPDATE: Since multiple readers have commented they have found me through StumbleUpon, I have added a button for it and other bookmarking services to the end of each post to encourage more ratings and reviews.

Who is a Christian?

As my criticism of Christianity often focuses on the belief in a place of eternal punishment for nonbelievers and other sinners, sometimes I receive the response that not all Christians believe in hell. Since they cannot deny that in the gospels Jesus frequently spoke of hell and threatened his listeners with damnation for failure to follow him, they offer various explanations of these texts: he never said anyone will actually be damned, he was speaking metaphorically, he just meant you have to be a good person, he just meant you have to believe in something, he didn't really say this, he never really existed or even God doesn't exist! (Most often, however, they offer no explanation whatsoever and simply ignore the question completely, giving it no thought at all.) We find each of these views held by self-identified Christians, but how can one label apply to people with such disparate opinions and still retain any useful meaning? I'm well aware of the danger of falling into the No True Scotsman fallacy, but it seems we need to draw the line somewhere. There are perhaps as many different Christianities as there Christians in the world, but as for me, whenever I present criticism of the religion in this blog, I implicitly refer to the basic theology shared by Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism unless otherwise stated. I'm arguing against a specific collection and system of beliefs, not the label “Christian,” which can be and has been applied indiscriminately to almost anything. If I criticize a belief which you yourself don't hold, then you can ignore it and move on.

Levels of Control: Christianity vs. Atheism

I recently removed the Obama bumper sticker from the back of my car since the election is over and I decided that I don't want to give people controlling very heavy equipment at very high speeds an extra reason to feel any antagonism toward me on top of their general disdain for humanity. Despite this, earlier today I was pondering what the theoretical reaction might be to a sticker which read, “Smile! There is no hell!” I think the response would be less negative than to most anti-theistic messages, but I'm sure some people would think it's an evil lie intended to deceive people and lead them into hell although its actual purpose is quite the opposite: to help people free themselves from the control of manipulative institutions teaching an evil untruth! This led me to ponder the stark contrast between religion and irreligion with respect to control, and I've complied a short list of differences between Christianity and atheism on this matter:

Christianity

• We demand ten percent of your money.
  
• We demand at least one hour per week of your time.
  
• We demand total allegiance.
  
• Don't think for yourself.
  
• Obey all of our rules, even if they're absurd or evil.
  
• Only vote for candidates of whom we approve.
  
• If you disagree with us, you will be roasted in the flames of hell for all eternity.
  
• People on the other side are either knowing or unknowing agents of the devil.
  

Atheism

• We don't want your money.
  
• We don't want your time.
  
• We don't want your allegiance.
  
• Think for yourself.
  
• Live as you see fit.
  
• Vote for whomever you want.
  
• If you disagree with us, nothing bad will happen to you.
  
• Most people on the other side are good people who are simply mistaken. 
  

I used Christianity as an example since I know it better than any other religion, but most of the points could apply to the majority of religions with little to no adaptation. Atheism offers us freedom from religious tyranny, but it's our responsibility to use it wisely.

Atheism as Medicine

Although I have strong reservations about the Freedom from Religion Foundation's choice of venues for posting that “religion is but myth and superstition which hardens the heart and enslaves the mind,” I certainly can't disagree with the message itself. Religion is indeed a mental disease, and one which in my case was literally almost fatal. Critics of atheism often argue that it doesn't offer anything inherently positive or constructive and that it only tears down religion. They're correct, of course, but they're entirely missing the point. If religion is a disease, atheism is the medicine. It doesn't offer anything beyond canceling out superstition in exactly the same way that most medicine doesn't offer anything beyond canceling out sickness. We don't dismiss chemotherapy for just treating cancer but not offering any benefit to those who are already healthy! It may even be argued that I'm missing the point because atheism doesn't need to offer us anything whatsoever in order to be true.

The Day My Life Changes Forever

Today is my wedding day. My atheist bride and I are having a very simple ceremony at the courthouse this afternoon with only my parents and her grandparents in attendance and a modest wedding reception on Sunday afternoon to celebrate with the rest of our family and friends. Then we're ready to spend the rest of our lives together! For the longest time, I thought this day might never come, but my soon-to-be wife came into my life almost seven months ago and has since surprised me with her affection, devotion and love. I hope to prove myself worthy of her and make her happy each and every day that I'm fortunate enough to find myself with her. This is, of course, a very happy time for me, but I still have time to reflect on the influence of religion on marriage.

My younger sister is also engaged to be married and she and her fiancé are currently doing the pre-marriage counseling with a priest at her parish. When she mentioned to him earlier this week that I was getting married rather quickly, he asked whether anyone had talked to me about my decision. If someone who knew me well had suggested this, I would be open to listening to them. If someone who doesn't know me well but who has plenty of marital experience suggested it, I would be slightly annoyed but not upset. But for someone who doesn't really know me and who has voluntarily vowed never to have any romantic relationship to presume give me unsolicited advice about marriage is absurd. This is a man who believes that he can never have sex, masturbate nor even entertain sexual thoughts without incurring the wrath of his supposedly all-loving god and he thinks he's qualified to advise me about the woman I love simply because he's studied ancient mythology and received an official title. I'm a proud apostate and I resent the church's attempted interference in my life.

Since my bride doesn't yet have permanent residency in the United States, right now the primary advantage of getting married is that she can apply for a green card fairly easily once our marriage is official. At this time, I think of people who don't enjoy this right: same-sex couples. When opponents of gay marriage make the argument that homosexuals don't really need legal recognition of their relationships, I will always think of this clear example that shows them how mistaken they are. Same-sex couples in our situation more often end up separated by oceans because they have no way to ensure they can be in the same country. This is just another instance of religion causing needless suffering.

I'm looking forward to sharing all of my future joys and sorrows with my godfree wife. It will be easier to nurture our marriage working strictly within the parameters of reality, without any concern for fairy tales and sky spirits.

Why Religious Belief Matters

Whenever someone criticizes religious belief, almost invariably they're confronted with the question of why they care what other people believe. The best response to this is that beliefs often translate into actions. Sometimes religious belief motivates benevolence such as charitable activities – and even that is frequently tainted by proselytism – but it can equally well motivate malevolence such as holy wars, inquisitions and terrorism. While these evils are almost completely absent from modern Christianity, a week ago in the United States we witnessed the very real power that religion still wields to inflict suffering on society with the passage of more laws against same-sex marriage across the country, most notably Proposition 8 in California but also Amendment 2 in Florida, which won by a twenty-four percent margin in a swing state carried by the supposedly most liberal Democratic presidential candidate in history.

I have clear political opinions on many different topics, but my strongest views generally relate to those issues in which religion is a major component to one side's arguments: same-sex marriage, sex education and church-state separation. Note that I don't necessarily think these are the most important issues, just the easiest to decide which side to support. Other issues I care strongly about, such as universal healthcare, are complicated matters about which people can disagree for purely secular reasons. But the above issues only exist because of religion.

The nonreligious community, for example, overwhelming supports same-sex marriage, for there are no good secular arguments against extending full rights to every person to marry whomever they wish. Undoubtedly, there are some bigots who would voice opposition to same-sex marriage even in a world without religion but not enough to matter politically. Religion gives bigots moral cover and even pressures otherwise liberal-minded people to align with them. When I was devoutly religious, I fell into the latter category. I had nothing against homosexuals in general – even if I felt somewhat uncomfortable around the most open of them – but from what the Catholic Church teaches, I believed God demanded I oppose it or risk eternal damnation! Upon my deconversion, I immediately changed to support civil unions and very soon after to full same-sex marriage. I believe that most opposition to same-sex marriage would dissolve immediately if religion were to magically disappear, especially since churches are behind almost all the organized opposition.

That will never happen, of course, but if we can convince people to stop believing altogether, to adopt more liberal religious beliefs or simply to take their beliefs less seriously, then the result would probably be a freer, more equitable and most just society. I don't recommend that you begin criticizing religion unless you want to, but if you enjoy it like I do, then don't let anyone convince you that you're wrong to do so.

Sex, Race, Religion and Ideology

I don't know whether the same or similar patterns hold true in other countries, but I've noticed three facts about American political and religious demography which, when considered in conjunction, puzzle me:

(1) White males are statistically more conservative than the general population.
(2) Atheists are statistically more liberal than the general population.
(3) A disproportionate number of atheists are white males.

I don't have even a conjecture to explain these seemingly incongruous statements. I'm really just wondering out loud. If you have any ideas, please leave a comment.

Election Reflections

I'm very pleased the country and Florida went blue. Part of northeast Florida even turned purple while the rest ended up a slightly lighter shade of red. Duval County was essentially even, with McCain winning by only a single point after Bush carried it by sixteen points twice. I'm greatly relieved we avoided the national disaster waiting to happen with Sarah Palin anywhere near the White House.

I'm equally disappointed the “marriage protection” constitutional amendment, which bans same-sex marriages and civil unions even though it's already outlawed by four statutes, passed 62 percent to 38 percent, breaking the sixty-point threshold necessary for adoption. I'm not surprised it received a majority, but I was hoping it would fall a few points short. There are still too many bigots in this state and the rest of the country. This is the biggest reason I hate religion.

Congratulations to President-elect Barack Obama!

Yesbama

Today is the first day of early voting in Florida, so this morning I went to the tax collector's office, stood in line for twenty minutes, chatted with some elderly folks behind me and cast my ballot. I've voted early in the past, but I don't think I went on the first day and I certainly don't remember standing in line. I was primarily excited to vote against McCain/Palin and against the “Florida Marriage Protection Act,” but I voted in every partisan race and on every ballot measure. I didn't vote on the retention of any judges because I know absolutely nothing about any of them. Everything went perfectly smoothly, but I was disappointed I still have never gotten a chance to answer an exit poll. As I left, I attached the “I Voted Early” sticker on the Obama sticker on my car. Now I have fifteen more days to wait for the final results.

Blasphemy Will Have to Wait for DVD

Today I was disappointed to learn that no cinema within at least fifty miles of Jacksonville, Florida, is showing Bill Maher's new anti-religion film Religulous. I had been planning on watching it for months and I thought it was notable that its release coincided with the fourth anniversary of my apostasy from the Catholic Church. I suppose that the local cinemas may have simply concluded they wouldn't make enough money from it, but perhaps they feared generating a backlash from religious groups. This seems especially plausible given that most cinemas today have eighteen to twenty-four screens and benefit from showing as many different films as possible. Now I will have to wait until it's released on DVD.

Ever since the film was announced, I've wondered why it's not spelled Religiulous. I can't think of a single word or even name has a soft G without an E or I following it. I thought it was pronounced with a hard G until I watched the preview!

Godfree for Four Years

Today is the fourth anniversary of my apostasy from the Catholic Church. Recently I've noticed it's becoming increasingly difficult for me to remember what it was like to really believe everything I now consider nonsense. My status as a former devout Catholic seems less important to my identity as time passes. Indeed, my status as an atheist seems less important than it did just a few months ago. Sometimes I consider discontinuing posting here, visiting forums, reading blogs, listening to podcasts and buying books because it often feels pointless to spend so much energy on the non-existent. But religion was my primary hobby, as it were, for more than a decade and irreligion has taken on that role for the past four years. There's no topic that interests me so intensely. Religion simultaneously attracts and repulses me, and I always want to discuss it even if there's nothing new under the sun. So until further notice, the pursuit of my fascination continues.

This year the date of my apostasy has additional personal significance: it's the birthday of my girlfriend of two months, who also happens to be an atheist. Since she was raised without religion in a socialist country, her experiences are very different from my own; religion doesn't really interest her at all!

Prayer at the Obama Rally

Yesterday I attended the Obama rally at Metro Park here in Jacksonville, Florida. It was the first campaign rally I've ever attended, so I didn't know exactly what to expect, but I was greatly disappointed by how it began: the very first speaker was a Christian minister who delivered a public prayer! What's more, it was explicitly Christian and partisan because he prayed “in Christ's name” and asked for blessings specifically for Obama and not the other candidates. I immediately wanted to boo to express my objection to this religious invocation at a supposedly secular political event, but I was afraid of the consequences of such vocal opposition, so I just kept my head raised, crossed my arms, frowned and looked around for others who shared my disapproval. I found some who didn't seem to be participating, and later a friend of mine told me she also had problems with the prayer. I know we weren't alone in our discomfort with it. Perhaps I will contact the Obama campaign today to register a complaint.

For me, the prayer put a damper on the entire event, though not enough to ruin the full experience. I got see and hear Obama in person as well as Senator Bill Nelson and few other political figures. The rally was certainly a success in terms of turnout: there were approximately twelve thousand people in attendance and another eight thousand who were turned away because there was no more room in the park! I just wish the Democratic Party would stick to the issues rather than pandering to the religious and sacrificing their commitment to secularism.

Reverse Stupidity

Yesterday I was driving down the road when I saw a red billboard with the outline of a horned head, a clawed hand and a pointed tail sticking beyond the basic rectangular shape. As I got closer, I realized it was an advertisement for a fundamentalist Christian church, one which combines reverse psychology and ancient scare tactics into a lethally idiotic mixture. It read, “Boycott New Life Fellowship” with “-Satan” in the lower right and the church's website address in the lower left. (I don't have a photograph and the image I found online is presumably a variant.) Beyond the absurd theology, the entire set-up raises several questions: If the devil wants you to know his feelings about the church, then why is he hiding behind the sign? Why doesn't he know how to use proper capitalization and punctuation? Why did he let the church deface his sign with their website address? Why did he hack their website but fail to remove their content and simply add graffiti? If on the other hand he doesn't want you to know his feelings, then why did he put his message on a billboard in the first place? All of this suggests the devil is highly incompetent and poses no threat to anyone with half a brain, but I suppose that's not the church's target audience.

Florida Supreme Court to the Rescue

In my last entry, I discussed a pair of destructive amendments to the state constitution on the November ballot here in Florida. This morning I heard some good news: the Florida Supreme Court has removed three education-related amendments to the state constitution, including one that I mentioned! Amendments 5, 7 and 9 have been removed because the texts on the ballot weren't clear enough for the voters to properly understand. Amendment 5 concerned property taxes and school funding, amendment 7 would have allowed the state to distribute money to religious institutions – including schools – and amendment 9 would have directly reversed a legal precedent against vouchers. It's good to see these issues off the table for now. I only wish they could remove amendment 2, which would ban same-sex marriage and civil unions, on the same grounds, but the language of its text is unfortunately crystal-clear.

The Florida Supreme Court is an admirable group of judges. Remember that if their decision hadn't been overturned by the federal Supreme Court, the recount in 2000 would have continued, Gore would have become president and the world would have been spared eight years of Bush!

Religion on the Ballot

My home state of Florida has earned a very negative reputation, some of it completely warranted, for electoral ineptitude. Most of the country is only aware of the issues in presidential elections, but there's a more serious problem with the general electorate and the amendments to the state constitution we vote on as ballot initiatives. Florida has passed the highest percentage of ballot initiatives of any state in the union. It seems the residents of the state are even less skeptical than even the average American and will approve almost any measure that doesn't immediately appear like a bad idea. The majority of initiatives concern taxation issues because the state legislature doesn't want to risk passing an unpopular measure which will hurt their constituents' wallets, and they have learned that Floridians foolishly tend to vote yes by default when they don't understand a proposal rather than demanding a clear explanation before they change the state's supreme law. The problem has become so bad that in 2006 we passed an amendment that requires a sixty-percent majority for all future amendments, ironically with only a 57.8% majority. I'm afraid that even this new threshold won't prevent two very destructive amendments on this year's ballot from passing.

Amendment 2 would explicitly ban same-sex marriage and civil unions:

Inasmuch as a marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.

Florida already has a statute against same-sex marriage, but proponents apparently want to make it even more difficult for homosexuals to be granted equal rights. Although there are indeed secular arguments against same-sex marriage, this is undoubtedly a religious issue. The secular arguments hold almost no sway among the nonreligious, primarily only among those who want rationalize their opposition based on either faith or simple bigotry. Every poll I've seen shows that the nonreligious support same-sex marriage by overwhelming margins.

Amendment 7 would repeal the constitutional prohibition on granting money to religious institutions:

An individual or entity may not be barred from participating in any public program because of religion and to delete the prohibition against using revenues from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution.

I don't really know what the first clause entails, but it must sound good to most voters, so it may only be there to distract them from the main issue: school vouchers. This amendment was created after an earlier voucher program was thwarted in state court precisely on account of this law. Perhaps proponents even have in mind a state “faith-based initiative” program like the federal program. Whatever the case, it's very clear this is a step in the wrong direction.

With taxation amendments, the problem is that voters don't understand the meaning of the text and vote for them anyway. With these two amendments, citizens will have little difficulty understanding. It's their failure to appreciate the importance of church-state separation that will be the problem. I predict that both will pass in November, but I hope I'm proven wrong. Wherever you live, take the time to vote and make your voice heard!

Atheism and the Internet

For those of us who became adults after the advent of the internet, it's sometimes difficult to imagine how anyone found any information without this very powerful tool. Almost every day I look up something online that I would have been unable to find otherwise and it makes finding everything else much faster and easier. This is especially true with respect to atheism. Indeed, the internet makes it easier to become and to live as an atheist.

When I began investigating my doubts four years, I bought a few books critical of religion, but most of skeptical materials that I read were only available on the internet. Since my deconversion, the internet has facilitated almost all of my interaction with other atheists. The vast majority has happened directly online through forums and blogs. All the groups that I've met or visited in person I first learned about online. I listen to atheist podcasts online. I find most of my atheist books online. Other atheist products I can find only online. If it weren't for the internet, I would be almost totally isolated from other atheists and would feel very alone. I sympathize with all the millions of atheists throughout history who had to struggle without any help whatsoever from fellow nonbelievers simply because they didn't know any and didn't know how to find them. It's still not easy to be an atheist in religious society, but the internet has certainly helped.