Rationalist Society of St. Louis

From The Guardian:

The internet’s war with Scientologists has stepped up a gear, after Wikipedia administrators decided to ban the church from making changes to its site.

After a long debate, the online encyclopedia has decided to block anyone using an internet connection linked to the church from making changes to Wikipedia pages - in order to prevent propaganda changes and what it calls “sock puppet” attacks.

Scientology has had a long and difficult relationship with the web, as it struggles to control and contain its carefully-wrought image. According to insiders and security experts, Scientologists have been conducting concerted campaigns for more than a decade to remove online information critical of the organisation.

Read the full article at The Guardian site.

Edward Current takes on the recently discovered 47 million year old lemur fossil.
Check out his other videos at YouTube.

From Americans United:

Americans United for Separation of Church and State today asked the Internal Revenue Service to review the tax-exempt status of Liberty University in the wake of the school’s decision to yank official recognition of a student-run Democratic club.

Last week, Liberty officials informed the president of the Democratic club that it is no longer eligible for university recognition, including funding through student activity fees. The goals of the Democratic Party, school officials insisted, are contrary to Liberty’s evangelical Christian outlook.

The Lynchburg, Va., school was founded by controversial TV preacher Jerry Falwell, and his son Jerry Jr. currently serves as its chancellor.

“Liberty University is a tax-exempt institution and isn’t allowed to support one party over another,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “If the school insists on pushing policies that favor Republicans over Democrats, it should have to surrender its tax exemption.”

In a letter to the IRS today, Lynn officially requested a review of Liberty’s tax exemption. The letter notes the recent flap and argues that by giving official recognition and student funding to a Republican club but not a Democratic one, Liberty has run afoul of the tax code.

Liberty’s Republican club endorses candidates for public office and works on their behalf. It can do these things with university recognition and student funding, which are denied to the Democratic club.

“Liberty University has no right to do partisan proselytizing and still retain a tax exemption,” Lynn remarked. “I urge the IRS to act swiftly to correct this injustice.”

The Falwell family has a history of misusing tax-exempt institutions for political ends. In 1993, Jerry Falwell’s “Old Time Gospel Hour” had to pay the IRS $50,000 and lost its tax exemption for the years 1986 and 1987 for engaging in political activity.

Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.

And, yep, I am batsh@t crazy.

From Boston.com:

TITLE: Consecrated virgins: not nuns, but married to Jesus

PUBLISHED: Thu, 21 May 2009

DESCRIPTION: (Boston Globe) Meet a consecrated virgin from Dedham, one of about 100 in the US. By Scott LaPierre. Narrated by Ann Silvio

From Americans United:

The Senate Judiciary Committee should thoroughly question Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor to determine her views on church-state separation, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

President Barack Obama today announced the nomination of Sotomayor, currently a judge on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, to the high court. It appears that Sotomayor has not written widely on church-state issues, meaning the committee has an obligation to ascertain her views.

“We hope Judge Sotomayor turns out to be in the mold of retiring Justice David H. Souter – a strong champion of separation of church and state,” said Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “The American people deserve no less.”

Research by Americans United has turned up only a few cases by Sotomayor that touch on the separation of church and state. Lynn said AU’s research on the nominee is ongoing and will include examination of other public statements beyond court rulings.

“Americans United looks forward to working with the Judiciary Committee to draft a series of questions for Judge Sotomayor,” said Lynn. “We hope the coming weeks shed more light on her views on important religious liberty issues.”

Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.

Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.

From American Atheists:

An Atheist public policy group today called upon Congress to investigate the unauthorized distribution of bibles by U.S. military troops in Afghanistan.

The incident was revealed on the Al Jazeera television network, and consisted of video shot by a U.S. filmmaker. It shows military chaplains at Bagram Air Force base planning distribution of bibles printed in the native Pashto language to Muslims. Such an act reportedly violated regulations.

Kathleen Johnson, Military Director for American Atheists says that the year-old video footage is “a public relations disaster for the United States.”

“This film depicts our troops as modern-day ‘crusaders’ who are out to proselytize and convert Muslims,” said Johnson. “We’re supposed to be fighting terrorism and helping the Afghanis build a new civil society that educates women, protects human rights and brings economic development. Religious conversion is not and should not be on our government’s to-do list.”

Dave Silverman, Communications Director for American Atheists, said that Congress needs to investigate. “We’ve been told that the Bibles were destroyed when the Al Jazeera documentary came to light; what we don’t know is whether this practice is continuing, and we can’t trust the military brass on this issue.”

“We already know that the chaplains were trying to cover-up the incident when they claimed that the bibles — printed in a foreign tongue — were for ‘personal use. That doesn’t make sense.”

Silverman also cited a sermon by Lt. General Gary Hensley, chief of military chaplains in Afghanistan, preaching that troops were followers of Jesus Christ and should “be witnesses for him.”

“This is mixing private religion with an official military mission. No branch of our government, including the Pentagon, should be promoting religion, especially when Islamic fundamentalism is one of the major problems in Afghanistan.”

AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for Atheists; works for the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.

American Atheists, Inc.

This lemur fossil has been called a missing link in human evolution. While not all scientists–the credible ones–agree that it is a missing link in human ancestry, it it a great find nonetheless.
From Sky News:

The discovery of the 95%-complete ‘lemur monkey’ - dubbed Ida - is described by experts as the “eighth wonder of the world.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

A federal judge has ruled that a Mission Viejo history teacher violated the First Amendment by telling students that creationism is “superstitious nonsense.”

In a ruling issued Friday, U.S. District Judge James Selna says James Corbett’s comment in the classroom has no “legitimate secular purpose.”

A Capistrano Valley High School student sued the history teacher for making what he contends were anti-Christian comments during a 2007 lecture. The lawsuit claimed Corbett’s remarks violated a clause in the First Amendment that prohibits the government from promoting religious intolerance.

Nice to see the mainstream media pick up on Biblical criticism and report on it in an unbiased manner.

Read the full article on CNN:

Ehrman, a best-selling author and a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is a biblical sleuth whose investigations make some people very angry. Like the fictional Robert Langdon character played by actor Tom Hanks in the movie “Angels & Demons,” he delves into the past to challenge some of Christianity’s central claims.

In Ehrman’s latest book, “Jesus, Interrupted,” he concludes:

Doctrines such as the divinity of Jesus and heaven and hell are not based on anything Jesus or his earlier followers said.

Ehrman says that no one accepts everything in the Bible. Everyone picks and chooses . He cites some New Testament’s references to the role of women in church as an example.

In the first book of Corinthians, Ehrman says, the Apostle Paul insists that women should remain silent in church (1 Corinthians 14:35-36).

In the 16th chapter of the book of Romans, Paul’s attitude is that women could and should be church leaders — and he cites women who were serving as deacons and apostles in the early church, Ehrman says.

From Atheist Cartoons