Religion at Its Worst

Recently, I received an email article evidently being circulated widely on the internet, and I’m madder than hell. It was written and read by Ben Stein on his CBS Sunday Morning Commentary recently.

In the article, he quoted Billy Graham’s daughter as saying in an interview that “for years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives...” Stein, a Jew, agreed with her, blaming it chiefly on Madeleine Murray O’Hare, and saying that it was no wonder our children don’t know right from wrong. It is hard for me to believe that a man of his probable education and experience knows so little about non-believers.

There are at least five major places where religion is not only permitted, but entirely appropriate:

1. In the home.

2. In the church or other house of worship.

3. In a religious school.

4. In public school, (hopefully for all) teenagers, the history and tenets of all religions and beliefs, including those of non-believers. It is extremely important that this is taught by people who know what they are talking about and ubiased about their subject. Indoctrination is not OK in such a class.

5. And most important, by the way their parents live their lives.

Non-believers do not flaunt their values, but do not confuse and equate them with those who have no values at all.

Help for the Hurting

There have been numerous TV interviews following the devastating fires in Southern California with members of religious congregations regarding the charity work they have been doing with fire victims. This is laudable.

As an atheist, I would like to point out, however, that religious groups are always interviewed, while probably few members of the public are ever aware of the donations of time and treasure made by the many nonbelievers in this country and this world to those in need. In fact, we outcasts undoubtedly contribute to a far wider circle, because we include animals, birds, fish and even insects and earth and water and air in our moral and spiritual values.

The Fire This Time

I do so hope that Bush will come out for a number of photo-ops, especially in San Diego and Orange Counties. They mean so much.

An Appreciation Of Al Gore

Wangari Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Laureate, is founder of the Green Belt Movement, a member of Kenya’s Parliament and the author of Unbowed: A Memoir (Anchor, 2007)

Here is
her testimony
to
Al Gore's contribution.

Pete Stark's Remarks

My congratulations to Congressman Stark for telling it like it is. It’s about time someone in our government had the courage to stand up and say what needs to be said.

This president is a mediocre man with the values so popular among his supporters, those who espouse freedom and the value of all human life, while this nation, under his rule, is destroying life on an incredible scale.

It is time that those who are our leaders dispensed with the niceties of polite language and began to speak to the citizens of this nation about the dangers facing us as a nation at the hands of a man who can think only in terms of “winning,” no matter the cost.

Remember This Story the Next Time You're Wondering

If you should acquire a pet and wondering if it should be a dog or a cat!



Dog saves owner's life after cat starts fire!


October 12, 2007

GREENVILLE, Maine -- Thumper, a black Lab, is getting credit for saving a Greenville man when a fire swept through his home.

When a fire started Sunday in Roland Cote's converted two-story garage, Thumper grabbed him by the arm to wake him.

Cote said the fire investigator believes the blaze was started when Princess, the family cat, tipped over a kerosene lantern.

Cote says he and his pets escaped safely, but he says Princess did get her tail singed by the flames.

AP

Killing Unborn Babies Ethic

Killing Unborn Babies Ethic

If Bush is so adamant in his belief that killing unborn babies in the womb is against God’s will, why is it OK with him that he is responsible for the following:

1. Killing the unborn, as well as the born, children by the thousands as long as they are associated with the enemy and qualify as “collateral damage?”

2. Killing the “children” of any age by the hundreds of thousands as long as they also qualify as “collateral damage?”

3. Killing as many as possible of “the enemy” by the untold thousands as possible, regardless of the fact that his will is surely superceded by the will of his God?

4. Subjecting thousands of his own citizen soldiers to death and/or horrific physical and psychological injury to satisfy hia personal view of what the citizens of this country really want and his standing in his own mind as our Leader and Decider.

Surely he and his evangelical supporters profane the House of God each and every time they enter therein.

Rumsfeld Called it "Old Europe"

The Republicans would like Americans to think that everything in Europe is falling apart, but too bad the truth doesn't quite match up to their stories. Compared to other regions in the world, including the US, Europe is looking pretty good.

Here are 5 myths about sick old Europe:

1. The sclerotic European economy is incapable of leading the world.
2. Nobody wants to invest in European companies and economies because lack of competitiveness makes them a poor bet.
3. Europe is the land of double-digit unemployment.
4. The European "welfare state" hamstrings businesses and hurts the economy.
5. Europe is likely to be held hostage to its dependence on Russia and the Middle East for most of its energy needs.

Read the rest.