REGARDING FRANCE

Another day, another terrorist attack. Although only given lip service when it effects the Middle East, it's another story when it is in a Western Country. Already the hawks are out in force, already the talking heads are calling for the heads of all muslims; they are a threat to the world you know.

Even though millions of muslims are decrying the brutality and events in France, their voices will be muted. Terrorism by small groups, the whining and screaming of conservative christians; these are the voices we will hear for the coming weeks as sanity is thrown into the back of the bus. We know critical thinking, logic, and any other reasonable attempt at understanding, will be sanity's company as the god-botherers go ballistic.

Which is sadly funny, since god is also bothered constantly by the opposition. 

I've already started replying on the social threads concerning death to all muslims. I'm looking forward to the outcry because I've turned around the discussions to examples of christian terrorism. I am counting the minutes until the first "not a true scotsman" fallacy is unleashed. 

The joy of understanding religious humans is a sick joy.

Regardless, everyone that wishes to know about France and the attacks has already read and seen the story, so I'll let you decide on what you think about it. Maybe you'll even share those thoughts with the rest of us. The following is what I wrote a few days ago for the Sunday Planet discussion, interesting enough it seems to be even more relevant today than it was on Thursday. Religion will not be eliminated in our lifetimes, so how shall we deal with it?

AN AMERICAN ATHEIST

Being an atheist in America is a constant battle. It is not a war, war usually includes death, but it is still a battle for acceptance, a battle for community, a battle for reason. 

Not that I'm claiming that all atheists are reasonable, or have a need for community, or could give a shit less about what someone else thinks of them. Yet I would think for most of us, these desires, or possible needs, do go on a rampage obliterating the peace that usually dwells in our minds. I do not speak for others, but I'm sure I'm not alone; after all, humans we are.

Community is a need that we all share. We visits sites like AU, we chat with like-minded friends and family, and we seem to always be searching for more, for a larger community. We are a tribe, a clan, a family, and we want the support from those of our ilk. The reality is though, that we want to have a local community, not just an online community, as well. Some live in areas where atheism may not be the atrocity some would have us all think, and some live in areas where atheism is not just frowned upon, but where it is an evil that needs to be eliminated. How do we survive without becoming hermits? 

Living in a small conservative town like I do, it is difficult to establish community while openly being anathema. The way I find some community is by finding the minority of progressives in town; usually they are a little more accepting, especially since they are in the minority. Even with those though, I have to give a little.

As an example, one of my, and my wife's, favorite locals is a lovely lady entering middle age. She works at the local pub and her family has lived in this town for generations. We find her knowledge helpful in dealing with a small town's craziness. She's had a troubled life, drugs and alcohol and all kinds of raising hell, yet is one of the sweetest people we know. She's no longer living by a thread, she's cleaned up her act, she is doing what she needs for her family. Although liberal, and accepting of my family's lack of faith, she is god's friend. With the crazy in her mind - and one could say she traded one crazy for the other - she has to find something that my wife and I find meaning in that is spiritual; she just can't help herself. That is the way she has found peace, and although I don't respect the institution that gives her that peace, I do respect her and her fight to be the mother she needs to be. So I give a little when she questions. 

She asks if I believe in god, I say no. She asks if I'm spiritual in some way, I say no. Almost hopelessly she continues to question trying to find a bond in an area of life that is important to her, while I know what I think contradicts who she is. She finally comes up with "nature." Yes I say, I do find peace in nature. Not spiritual as she may think, but it's enough to form a bond. It is enough for her to feel we have some common ground. It is not a lie on my part, but not what she thinks I mean by finding peace in nature. 

Maybe that's wrong, but works for me.

Hey, I like people, forgive me or not. Isolation is not part of being human. I cannot allow myself to withdraw from the diversity that humans express in their personal lives. I think that by struggling to find a common denominator that can be used as a base to expand upon is the only route a human can take to live in peace. I would rather try to change minds, even if slightly, than to ignore my fellow humans. I mean, if my voice is unheard, there will never be any understanding. We continue down the road of intolerance.

I drink beer with the conservatives and am happy to give them as much shit as I take, after all, conservatives are not what the very vocal, whiny, conservative christian base is; it is extremely varied and I work on them as well. Do I believe in family values? Hell yeah, I just expand that to include everyone. Do I think hard work is a good thing, again yes, but still knowing that there some of us that are not capable of work. Life goes on, there are things that we can all relate to, and I work to find them.

Finding total acceptance is difficult. That's why I can be found at atheist/humanist meetings every so often. It is why I can be found lurking on the internet for atheist companionship. We all want to be accepted, though in different manners. We're not hermits, we cannot seal ourselves away from the world, we cannot live alone. This is why community is so important to us, and why we'll give a little, we will bend our thoughts a little, just to have that companionship.

Lets be clear about this, by no means are atheists inherently more reasonable than any other group you may find. When Bill Maher goes on a rant about the evils of vaccinations, I cringe. Here we have an atheist in the spotlight of the American public who shows time after time that reason is not his to be had in all things. I think we can easily ascertain that at least most of us are unreasonable at times, regardless of religious beliefs, or non-belief.

So where does that leave us? To some degree we want to be accepted, to some degree we need community, and to some degree we can be totally unreasonable. To me that speaks volumes. That says we are all human. That says we have to figure out how to not only get along, but to respect those who do humanity good regardless of what hides in the weird corners or their minds. 

This American Atheist is always sticking his head into the midst of possible trouble, I just can't help myself. There is meaning to life, the meaning we give to it, so what is yours? How do you take care of basic human needs, or do you not feel the desire for community? Are atheists different than theists in that we don't have that need for community and acceptance, or are we as human as the next guy? 

Do extremists control what we think of each other?

AMERICAN ANGST

Polls have been bewildering lately, showing one candidate up, then down, then up again in a whirlwind of data. The polls I found most upsetting were the ones showing that women are splitting their vote over the candidates for president.

A reminder is called for.

Republican Representative Paul Broun Jr. of Georgia introduced H.R. 212 in January 2011 called The Sanctity of Human Life Act; "To provide that human life shall be deemed to begin with fertilization."

Republican Representative Ron Paul of Texas introduced H.R. 1096 in March 2011 called the Sanctity of Life Act 2011; "To provide that human life shall be deemed to exist from conception, and for other purposes."

Republican Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi introduced S. 91 in January 2011 called the Life at Conception Act; "A bill to implement equal protection under the 14th article of amendment to the Constitution for the right to life of each born and unborn human person."

Republican Representative Duncan Hunter of California introduced H.R. 374 in January 2011 also called the Life at Conception Act; "To implement equal protection under the 14th article of amendment to the Constitution for the right to life of each born and preborn human person."

Republican Senator Mike Johanns of Nebraska introduced S. 314 in February 2011 called the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act of 2011; "A bill to ensure that women seeking an abortion are fully informed regarding the pain experienced by their unborn child."

Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah introduced S. 2103 in February 2012 called the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act; "A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to protect pain-capable unborn children in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes."

Republican Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio introduced H.R. 3805 in January 2012 called the Ultrasound Informed Consent Act; "To ensure that women seeking an abortion receive an ultrasound and the opportunity to review the ultrasound before giving informed consent to receive an abortion."

Republican Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota introduced H.R. 3130 in October 2011 called the Heartbeat Informed Consent Act; "To ensure that women seeking an abortion receive an ultrasound and an opportunity to review the ultrasound before giving informed consent to receive an abortion."

Republican Representative Jeff Duncan of South Carolina introduced H.R. 3802 in January 2012 called the National Pro-Life Waiting Period Act of 2012; "To require an abortion provider, before performing an abortion, to wait for a period of at least 24 hours."

Republican Senator David Vitter of Louisiana introduced S. 3290 in June 2012 called the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA) of 2012; "A bill to prohibit discrimination against the unborn on the basis of sex or gender, and for other purposes."

Republican Representative Bill Huizenga of Michigan introduced H.R. 5646 in May 2012 called the Homeland Security Respect for Life Act; "To prohibit funds appropriated for the Department of Homeland Security from being used to pay for an abortion, and for other purposes."

Republican Representative Randy Neugebauer of Texas introduced H.R. 6173 in July 2012 called the Pro-Life Act; "To amend the General Education Provisions Act to prohibit Federal education funding for elementary schools and secondary schools that provide on-campus access to abortion providers."

Republican Representative Christopher Smith of New Jersey introduced H.R. 3 in January 2011 called the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act; "To prohibit taxpayer funded abortions and to provide for conscience protections, and for other purposes."

Apparently fifty percent of women in the country our good with this.

In Arkansas, a gentleman running for the state Representative job thinks children should be put to death for misbehaving. Charlie Fuqua quote:

"The maintenance of civil order in society rests on the foundation of family discipline. Therefore, a child who disrespects his parents must be permanently removed from society in a way that gives an example to all other children of the importance of respect for parents. The death penalty for rebellious children is not something to be taken lightly. The guidelines for administering the death penalty to rebellious children are given in Deut 21:18-21."

"This passage does not give parents blanket authority to kill their children. They must follow the proper procedure in order to have the death penalty executed against their children. I cannot think of one instance in the Scripture where parents had their child put to death. Why is this so? Other than the love Christ has for us, there is no greater love then [sic] that of a parent for their child … Even though this procedure would rarely be used, if it were the law of land, it would give parents authority. Children would know that their parents had authority and it would be a tremendous incentive for children to give proper respect to their parents."

He also thinks liberals and muslims are teaming up because both hate christianity.

GOD'S GREATEST

Reverend Stoney Shaw weighs in on legitimate rape Akin:

"Some of my family was -- my children: Dad, you're not going to support him, are you? Everybody is turning against him. I said, well, there was another guy that everybody turned against, Jesus Christ. But he prevailed."

Akin and Jesus, apparently both incredibly lame.

Terry Jones, the pastor known for his desire to burn as many Korans as it will take to inflame muslims around the world was barred from entering Canada. Though Jones' allies are crying freedom of speech, we all know the real reason. Canada wants nothing to do with his hate speech. Canada is not the only country that wants nothing to do with the hate monger, Germany and the United Kingdom want nothing to do with the gentleman as well. Free speech is something we should protect in this country, but we cannot impose are view on other countries, just as they cannot stop our expressions here.

I'm all for free speech, I'll be in Florida in a couple of months, anyone want to join me in a little bible burning in the pastor's backyard?

As those who have been watching are aware, "religious freedom" is a buzzword being thrown around by those who wish to impose their beliefs on the rest of us. The Affordable Care Act is being attacked by those who think their beliefs are being challenged by the state. So far these attacks have come mostly from the Catholic hierarchy, but now it appears that private enterprise is using the same tactics. O'Brien Industrial Holdings out of Missouri is suing the Feds for the same reason, religious freedom. Even though a private company, and that employees pay for their health insurance, the company doesn't want their female employees to have access to paid birth control. 

National Organization for Marriage religious liaison William Owen's recently stated that not only is Obama not a christian, but the entire democratic party is a demonic entity. I like, keep up the crazy and atheism will be the default status of the country.

Free speech under attack by the usual culprits. In Britain thousands of muslims are protesting Google for allowing The Innocents of Muslims to remain on youtube. They would like to see protests against Google across the world and the organizer actually believes that "this insult to mohammed will not be allowed." Anyone want to volunteer to give him the bad news?

I think the perceived insults should not only remain, but that all religions should be taken to task for the incredulous and harmful claims they make.

EDUCATION ENEMIES

Normally I would point out where religion is trying to insert its ideology into the American secular public school system, but that seems to be minor this week when considering the horror that is the taliban.

Last Tuesday a Pakistani young lady, Malala Yousefzai, was shot while on a school bus that should have taken her home. Malala has been an outspoken advocate of education for girls and was nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize last year.

The taliban decided her work was obscene.

Malala was shot once in the head and once in the body, and is now in Britain for rehabilitation and surgery.

The taliban has been, and still is, a repressive regime when the subject centers on women and education. Arguments are made by muslims that islam promotes education for all as a duty and that the taliban lack of concern for women is not an islamic value.

The usual debate between progressive and conservative theists seems to be the same around the world. 

In 2009 Mala started writing a blog about life under the taliban regime, interesting reading that describes a world that is unfathomable by western standards. I'm surprised that fundamentalists have not been driven from civilization wherever they make home, including the U.S.

Religion is the enemy of education in every country, city and town that this planet nurtures.

American Angst

This week a fine officer of the law out of the District of Columbia made comments about shooting the first lady. Apparently he even showed a picture of the gun he would use. The officer has not been named yet and the Secret Service will follow up. Bad enough that there's a gentleman that's been hired to "protect and serve" who's decided to do the opposite, but reading comments at sites that have picked up the story once again shows how belittling and ignorant some followers of the right wing machine are.

The story is hearsay so far, and conservatives are screaming it's a political move. Guess we'll find out soon.

Michelle is being attacked by the right. Something as simple as planning an event at a Florida high school is more than they can handle. They don't want political events in schools, even though the high school in question allows anyone to rent the facility, it isn't costing Florida's taxpayers any money and school is out for the summer.   

A reminder for those not paying attention, Romney endorses the Ryan budget plan. If he is elected, everyone who is 55 or younger will lose. "The Path to Prosperity" would eliminate Medicaid by 2022. All those who were born after 1956 would end up on a voucher system that would benefit the usual suspects; corporations and the rich. The federal government would save over time since each state will receive a block grant that is less than what the feds would spend on the current system. Meaning the states will have to come up with more income, or start shutting down other services. The nice part is that in 2022 the feds will reduce the block grants by excluding payments for acute care services for the elderly. The plan is that the elderly will supplement their coverage with a personal medical savings plan.

Who's killing Grandma? Apparently Alan Grayson was right on the mark when he explained the conservative's plan for health care. Part one, "Don't get sick," part two, "if you do get sick, die quickly." I miss Alan.

The plan also talks about closing tax loopholes, but doesn't designate which loopholes will be closed. Maybe one of those loopholes will be your mortgage tax deduction?

It has not been a good week for Romney. Apparently the Bain Capital argument that the democrats have been pushing has finally found a foothold; Romney says he left in 1999, the books show he was the CEO and getting paid up until 2002. Bain, who has been called the, "pioneers of outsourcing," will not be the campaign highlight that he was hoping for.

The wait in Wisconsin is over. A month after the recall elections democrats finally are in control of the Senate. State Senator Van Wanggaard finally has admitted defeat after a recount and a threat to sue. At least one part of Wisconsin's legislature is now  out of tea party hands.

Snap Socialism

I've mentioned the Farm Bill in the past, but did not dwell on the statistics and what they mean to low-income Americans; hopefully this will put it in perspective.

On Thursday the House Agricultural Committee approved 16.5 billion in funding cuts affecting 45 million Americans. The number of Americans using the program has seen recent jumps in numbers due to the recession. Think about this; when we need help, our government turns their back. Being unemployed for the majority is not a goal or a scam; it is the direct result of too big to fail banks and their friends on Wall Street that gambled and lost with many of the unemployed's hard earned wages. Since I haven't seen the rush to prosecute CEO's for the crime, I take it this is the new America.

Remembering that this effects children, the elderly, single parent families and even veterans is a big part of the discussion. 2 to 3 million individuals will lose their benefits entirely, another 500 million households will have benefits cut and 300,000 children will lose school lunches. 

The SNAP payouts equal $1.50 a meal for recipients. 

Not a pleasant thought for many of us, but Charles Krauthammer from FOX news explains the conspiracy to us all; "the president feels it is a success to get as many people dependent on the government as possible." He goes on saying, "he, (Obama), is trying to get people to accept handouts and not be so proud, destroying our national aversion to handouts."

Yes sir, starving Americans would rather watch their children die than take any government handouts. We've worked, paid taxes, contributed to welfare for the rich and now you can bury us.

American Exceptionalism all the way.

Education Enemies

Innovative attacks on educating children continue. Romney has stated several times during his campaign that when elected he would end public funding for PBS; they should get their money from advertisers like everyone else.

Nice move. If this seems harmless in comparison to all the other social needs we face, think about it this way. PBS has children shows. Shows that do not advertise and only teach. The benefit to this is that you as a parent don't have to listen to your children expressing their thoughts on what cereal they want for breakfast, what clothes they should be wearing to school, what toys they need to have and so on. You have a safe haven, a place where children can watch Sesame street and learn how to read or do simple math; or even more importantly, how to interact socially. All without corporate america's influence.

That's what the problem is of course, cartoons and children's shows on other networks are homes to corporations; where the most important thought to be taught is consumerism.

Childhood Cancelled

Two words, "Zero Tolerance." Laws that have been put in place over the recent years are helping the school to prison pipeline. Taking advantage of disadvantaged children, zero tolerance laws let young ones get a taste for jail early on in life. 

Minor offenses are now treated as punishable by law. Take the fairly current case of Salecia Johnson, a 6 year old charged with assault. Yeah, you heard me right, 6 years old. Salecia was going to be charged with a felony assault until someone pulled their head out of the sand and decided that might be going to far. Still Salecia ended up being expelled for the year.

Salecia had a temper tantrum in school. Her tantrum included tossing a shelf and hitting the school principal in the leg. Besides the assault she was also charged with damaging school property. The police were called, and when they arrived they found Salecia on the floor crying. They went over to her and she "resisted" their help. She was handcuffed and taken away.

A 6 year old having a temper tantrum hauled away in cuffs, amazing.

I've heard different reports on young ones being hauled away. Sometimes they are so small that they can't handcuff their wrists because of how small the children are; they move the handcuffs up to their upper arms to get a fit.

Conservative laws make us barbarians.

Jesus Juice

Watching conservatives trying to legislate god and country is a full time job. So many bills that try to remove the separation of church and state, you'd think it was all we had to worry about. 

In Florida, Governor Scott signed a bill allowing prayer at graduations, sporting events and assemblies. The legislation is called the Inspirational Messages in School bill. Proselytizing in public schools is the law of the land. 

Romney has been considering pledging support for an amendment or legislation on putting god back into schools. Ten commandments hanging everywhere, crosses up and down the roads, god in our history books and whatever else that would entail after getting rid of the first amendment. Conservatives really only like parts of the constitution, just like their bibles.

There is only one reason why god needs to be in any school. Since there are churches everywhere that will teach you more than you wanted to know about the magic bastard, and parents can teach their children about the magic bastard as well, the only purpose is to proselytize.

Religion is slowly losing its hold on America. There are a few Facebook pages on bringing god back into schools, yet even on that massive social network, the "children for putting god back into school" has only 54 likes, and their adult counterparts has only a little over a thousand. Not going anywhere with the general public it would seem. 

Suicidal Soldiers

More soldiers are killing themselves than are being killed in combat. This year soldiers are killing themselves here at home every day. In the first 155 days of the year, 154 soldiers have died. Forty seven percent of these losses are under the age of 25.

Dismal statistics. Even if you hate war, it is hard to dislike the children that fight them.

Apparently soldiers who have returned home have problems even driving down the streets. Years of waiting for a roadside bomb to go off seems to permanently reside in their minds, even while back in the states.

Besides the memories of war, the military's self-reliance training appears to get in the way of finding help for these men. 

Final Fixation

Voting Misconceptions:

A constant refrain in many posts here, and elsewhere, deals with this question; "why do voters vote against there own best interests?" Possibly I don't understand what is being stated because believe me, people do not vote against their best perceived interests.

Whenever the statement is made, it seems to pertain mainly to the poor. Yet statistically, if you are talking about the poor, 86% or so are minorities. They are not voting against themselves. The vast majority voted for our current president, and will do so again.

You may think this is about race, and to a certain point it is, but even race did not keep poor whites from voting for Obama. In 2008 sixty percent of white voters making under $50,000 voted for Obama.

So who is voting against themselves? 

I can not find any evidence that people generally vote against their best interests, they do at times, but not always. Even in the $50,000 to 100,000 income levels, Obama managed to split the white vote. 

You could say that 50% of middle class white America voted against their best interest, if you think the middle class is better served by democrats. The only real part race plays is privilege, and it does play a large part. Whites have it good in this country; they tend to have better lives because of that privilege. Better jobs and education, and they want to keep it that way. Yet still, you could also say that 50% voted against that thought, thinking correctly that it will serve them best to vote against the rich. 

I think we should start looking at this differently. Conservatives have framed the discussion in the last several election cycles as us against them. Workers against the freeloaders, workers against the unions, theists against the secularists, family against the LGBT community; and they are losing support every cycle.

Whites are increasingly voting for democrats, and even a black candidate is not enough to stop the surge of middle America against the rich. I've enjoyed seeing bumper stickers supporting Obama on cars being driven by older white gents and ladies; we're not all crazy.

So even though we dislike the local elections that come out of rigged districts, I think we should be encouraged that as a whole, Americans are getting the message. It is only a majority of the rich that totally embrace conservatism, and though that may be enough to defeat Obama because of Citizen's United, I think not. 

Lets face it, though there are pockets of enraged white idiots, we seem to be coming around nicely, albeit slowly.