The Painted Turtle

The Painted Turtle is a non-religious charitable organization dedicated to creating a life-changing environment for seriously ill children in California. The Painted Turtle camp allows sick kids to enjoy camping and related activities in a low risk environment. The camps's efforts have a profound impact on the children they serve. I am impressed with what they do, and all with no religious overtones too.

No child or family pays a dime for their time at the Painted Turtle. There are many ways to help. They accept donations, gifts in kind, lap quilts, and wish list  items needed to help run the camp.

Please help if you can.

Technorati tags: Charities, The Painted Turtle, Children

Do Atheists Need a Church of Their Own?

Sean McManus writes in the April 21th issue of New York Magazine, Do Atheists Need a Church of Their Own?

Many atheist sects are experimenting with building new, human-centered quasi-religious organizations, much like Ethical Culture. They aim to remove God from the church, while leaving the church, at least large parts of it, standing. But this impulse is fueling a growing schism among atheists. Many of them see churches as part of the problem. They want to throw out the baby and the bathwater—or at least they don’t see the need for the bathwater once the baby is gone

Source: Do Atheists Need a Church of Their Own? -- New York Magazine

This is further proof that I have a limited awareness of what is going on in the world around me. I set in front of my PC and pound out a few posts each week. I occasionally attend an Atheist meetup group meeting. I correspond with my fellow atheists, I even promote the cause via the Atheist blogroll. But I'm stumped on this atheist Church thing.

Do I know of the equivalent of atheist churches? Do I hear this topic discusses in my travels or when reading other bloggers? No. Do I want to go to a church for atheists? No. Meetup groups are hard enough to attend. I can't imagin joining a group that meets every Sunday, like a Church. But somebody wants this, or at least that's what Sean McManus tells us. New York City Atheists, a group quoted in the McManus article, seems to aspire to the goal of an atheist church. I just don't understand why. My reaction is like... eww. If the meeting is a well organized exchange of ideas, perhaps with an open bar, then count me in.

BTW - New York City Atheists are proud Atheist blogroll members.

Technorati tags: Atheism, Sean McManus, NYC, Church

Christian Asshat Awards

vjack commented on Asshats - everybody has an opinion. He suggested...

Maybe we should organize the Christian Asshats awards. This could be the first nominee, a panel of judges would be selected, and this prestigious award would be given to the most deserving.

I'm inclined to agree. But need some help. Please take a moment to read the section below and then add your suggestions/ideas to the comment thread.

Here are my suggestions:

The Christian Asshat Awards are designed to highlight the worst of the worst when it comes to anti-Atheist rhetoric. Read this post for an example. We should focus on Christians who choose to attack Atheists directly or indirectly through their use of the spoken or written word.

Nominees can include blog posts, youtube videos, editorials, podcasts, or even sermons. I am even inclined to admit photographs.

Nominations are open each month. Blogroll members can nominate candidates by making a nomination post on their blogs, or by sending me an email. Posts should be marked with the Technorati tag "Asshat". I'll make a post each month which collects all of the candidates together so that our panel of experts can vote on the winner.

Bloggers who nominate sites should make a post which describes why the candidate should be considered for the award. I will link to your posts in any post I make on Deep Thoughts.

Since we will have a monthly contest, it follows that we will have an Asshat of the Year award too.  The winners from each month become nominees for the yearly award.

Judging can be as simple as blogroll members voting in the comment thread of the monthly nominee post. Or as complex as a link to a Surveymonkey survey (I have an account).

Things I need to get this rolling:

• A graphic would be nice.
• Judges
• Nominees
• More ideas

One from the loony bin

I actually don't know what to say. This is stupid.

Steve Kreuscher wants a judge to allow him to legally change his name. He wants to be known as "In God We Trust."

Kreuscher (CROY'-shir) says the new name would symbolize the help God gave him through tough times.

The 57-year-old man also told the (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald he's worried that atheists may succeed in removing the phrase "In God We Trust" from U.S. currency.

Read More...

Kreuscher is afraid Atheist will do what now?

Technorati tags: Steve Kreuscher, Nutballs, In God We Trust, Money, Christians

Asshats - everybody has an opinion

Everybody has an opinion, most are just plain nutty. Take this nominee for a Christian Asshat award.

I read with interest your recent story about 23-year-old U.S. Army Specialist Jeremy Hall who calls himself an atheist and feels harassed because his superiors challenged him in his ability to lead people of faith in combat conditions.

This young man's convictions and character must be very weak if he had to resort to a lawsuit and a lawsuit in a time of war. Atheist means simply "no god." If he feels this is a fact, why argue? It should be moot to him.

I suspect, however, that this young man doubts his atheism and senses that there may indeed be a God with whom he must reckon with and the fight is not with his superiors but his heart in this matter.

We need military leaders at all levels who can respect the beliefs and convictions of the ones they lead. If, in the case of this young man, they profess no faith, respect them, too. We cannot, however, suspend any discussion of faith or our chaplaincies because of a small number of insecure atheist who should really say they are agnostic.

A dishonest atheist is just as annoying as a dishonest believer.
Walter Jackson
Millbrook

Source: Montgomery Advertiser - Maybe soldier doubts atheism

First he gets the facts wrong. Then he attacks Jeremy Hall's convictions. Next he takes a leap of faith and turns Jeremy Hall from a courageous young soldier standing up for his rights, to a weak-kneed seeker, secretly longing for Jesus.  His big close... ignore the needs of the atheist. They are just sneaky liars anyway.

Walter Jackson - you are hereby awarded a Christian Asshat award for your utter stupidity.

Technorati tags: Walter Jackson, Christians, Asshats, Jeremy Hall

Sodomy - the fringe pastor's new tool

That's right. If you can't minister to lost young souls with the good book, why not minister with your smelly little... you get the idea.

The pastor of a small southwest Missouri church is charged with statutory rape and sodomy for allegedly having sex with a 16-year-old girl in the church office.

Forty-nine-year-old Randall Danny Russell of Act II Church in Neosho also was charged Wednesday with child abuse.

Source: UPDATED: Pastor charged with sex abuse of 16-year-old girl | KSPR News | Local News

Randall Danny Russell appears to be a fringe pastor making it up as he goes along. is he a real pastor?  No. Randall Russell is a self proclaimed pastor in a country where anyone can be a pastor.

Russell’s accuser says he had her disrobe in front of him in a church office after services on a Sunday under the pretense that it would help her get “closer to God,” according to authorities. He then allegedly photographed her while she was naked.

The alleged victim says Russell later began forcing oral sex and sexual intercourse on her, usually on Sunday afternoons after services, according to authorities.

“He’s a self-proclaimed pastor,” Sheriff Ken Copeland told the Globe. “He’s not affiliated with any denomination as far as we can tell. But they all call him pastor, and he claims to be a pastor.”

Source: Another fringe-church, sex-abuse case surfaces w/ Randall Danny Russell probable cause affidavit

My prediction is that Randall Russell is going down. Police found nude pictures of the girl on his computer. Nude picture of an underage girl on a church computer... What the hell?

Technorati tags: hypocrisy, pedophilia, pedophiles, Randall Russell, clergy sexual abuse

Arson at Valley religious sites

I may not be a Christian, but that does not mean I wish them harm. Peaceful co-existence is a reasonable goal. Yet someone is lobbing Molotov cocktails at religious institutions in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley.  I would love to know why.

And a $75,000 reward was offered for help in nabbing the arsonists. "Crimes against religious institutions are crimes against all of us," said Councilman Richard Alarcón during a news conference in front of the Panorama City Church of the Nazarene, whose steeple was attacked and desecrated April 20. "When one faith is firebombed, all faiths are firebombed.

Source: Attacks on Valley religious sites assailed - LA Daily News

I don't buy the "when one faith is firebombed, all faiths are firebombed" line. History teaches us that when one faith is firebombed, another faith is usually throwing the firebomb.

Technorati tags: Firebombing, hate crimes, Los Angeles, intolerance

Artis Caver gets 16 Years For Stealing From Church

Only 16 years...

The Rev. Artis Caver stood silently before a judge as the former pastor of Harvest Missionary Baptist Church received a sentence of 16 years in prison.

But church members were not silence; they spoke openly in the case of the pastor who stole from the church, reported NewsChannel5.

People spoke for both sides, all referencing religious scripture. Some called for mercy, while others contended "what a man soweth," he gets.

Source: Ex-Pastor Gets 16 Years For Stealing From Church - News Story - WEWS Cleveland

I was betting on 70.

Read more...

Technorati tags: Hypocrisy, Bad Baptists, Baptists, Artis Caver

A pastor's date rape

I came across this May 1st police blotter post for Denton County, Texas.

600 block of East Hickory Street — A woman reported Tuesday that on Friday she visited the home of her child’s youth pastor believing she would be watching a movie with the pastor and his wife.

The wife was not at home, she said, but she had been alone with the pastor before and she wasn’t alarmed. He gave her something to drink, she said, that tasted like grape-flavored water. He told her it would “relax her joints,” but it made her woozy, she said, and then she blacked out.

She said she came to two or three times and he was sexually assaulting her. The next time she came to she was driving home, she said.

She did not want to press charges but said she wanted to document the incident in case someone else had the same experience.

How can this woman not press charges? It makes no sense. That's Texas for you. I guess it's not rape if a pastor is the perpetrator.

Technorati tags: Rape, Texas, Date Rape, clergy sexual abuse

Blogroll Update: We shrink. We grow.

We shrink:

• globeLinkCircadian (inactive)
• Genesis-fel (gone)
• Hayleys Paranormal Blog (gone)
• http://lecontestataire.blogspot.com/ (gone)

We change:

• izzwold dot org (new url)
• Ian's Brain - Busted Neurons (new url)

We grow:

• Because No One Asked
• Resurrecting Reason
• Black woman thinks
• Let go - forget god
• Maximum Likelihood
• The Arrogant Atheist 
• Bruin Alliance of Skeptics and Secularists

We have 684 active members. We add a few every week. I can see our blogroll hitting 1000 before the end of the year.

A special thanks to Religion is man-made. Keep sending those dead links my way.

Technorati tags: The Atheist Blogroll, Blogging, Atheism

Blogroll Update: Atheist Stories

The Atheist Blogroll continues to grow. We reached 680 blogs over the weekend with four more bloggers waiting to join. One of our newest members in Atheist Stories & Testimonials. The author has been kind enough to write an introduction.

In his own words:

Hi! My name is James Tracy.

I am the creator of anatheist.net. I am an atheist. Are you an atheist or an agnostic? Can you just plain not bring yourself to believe in a god or any religious creed? If yes, then great! Not only are you not alone, but there are many of us out there and we all come from a diverse set of backgrounds. If not, then that's okay, too. Maybe you are on the fence. Or maybe you simply cannot understand why anyone would be an atheist, agnostic, or unbeliever in the first place!

Whatever the case may be, I have created this website to allow anyone that identifies as an atheist (or an agnostic or an unbeliever) to share with the rest of the world his or her story of unbelief.

If this sounds interesting to you, please read more and learn how to contribute on the Share page.

Or, you can read a sample testimonial posted by one of our contributors.

Technorati tags: The Atheist Blogroll, Atheism, Blogging

What if Conway were an Atheist?

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham is writing a letter of clemency on behalf of Phillip Miles. Graham thinks the hapless pastor should get a pass for smuggling ammunition into Russia.  I wonder, if Miles were an Atheist, would Graham care? Would anyone care? My guess is no.  Senator Graham would not care, nor would the press, nor would anyone else. If Miles had been an Atheist this issue would not make the press at all.

Why is this issue in the press? Because Phillip Miles is a Christian pastor and we all know, pastors can do no wrong. Except, they do plenty of wrong, and we all know that too. So why does everyone seem to care for what befalls this man?

Those of us who travel know the rules, leave your weapons, explosives, ammunition, and pornography at home. Countries like Russian and China (ask me about the fun I had in China with a hand held GPS a few years ago), have little or no tolerance for violating their laws. Miles should have known better.

Does Miles deserve special treatment? No! He should serve his time like a man, or his family should pay the appropriate bribe to secure his release, or his family should allow the State Department to work out some deal with Russia. Who knows, maybe he could serve his time back in the USA?

I am curious, what do my fellow Atheist think on this issue?

Technorati tags: Lindsey Graham, Phillip Miles, Atheism, Russia

How many years for Artis Caver?

I know this is another Bad Baptist post, but I wanted to treat Artis Caver differently. his crimes were not against innocent young teens. No, his crimes were against his fellow Baptists and involved money, so the penalty will severe.

Caver was found guilty Thursday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court on 25 counts of money laundering, perjury and theft stemming from accusations he stole nearly $400,000 from the church's bank account

Source: Harvest Missionary Baptist Pastor Artis Caver convicted of money laundering, theft- cleveland.com

How many years will Artis Caver be sentenced to when he goes back to court on Wednesday? He could face 120 years in prison. My guess is that his sentence will be 70 years. Please post your guess in the comments.

Technorati tags: Hypocrisy, Bad Baptists

Bad Baptists

My goodness, what are the Baptists drinking these days? They seem to be going nuts, or at least their leadership is going nuts.

James L Walls Jr., mayor of District Heights and associate pastor at Forestville New Redeemer Baptist Church was busted for soliciting sex from an undercover male police officer. I guess Walls was after some of that down-low quickie action. Or, maybe he's just gay? Can you be gay and a Baptist pastor? Maybe Baptists don't consider oral sex to be "real sex". I know you can be gay and the mayor of any town in the USA (except maybe for towns in Texas).

Walls has a Wiki entry. I am sure this seemed like a good idea when he was a rising star in the Democratic party. He might want to reconsider his wiki resume strategy. With his future in question, it may well document his decline.

James L. Walls Jr., 30, was arrested at 12:30 a.m. at Sixth and F streets NW, near Verizon Center. He was charged with solicitation for lewd and immoral purposes, police said. He was issued a citation and released.

Walls, who is single, was known as a rising star among young Democrats in Prince George's County. He was the youngest person elected mayor of District Heights -- a community inside the Beltway with a population of about 6,000. He was elected mayor in May 2006; his term runs until 2010.

Source: District Heights Mayor Arrested in Sting - washingtonpost.com

Jon Moore is creepy. He is an assistant to the pastor at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Colorado Springs. Jon was arrested for sexually assaulting a teenaged girl.

Moore had been a member of the church for nearly four years.  Carroll says he didn't see the need for a background check.  NEWSCHANNEL 13 checked and the sexual assault offense was the only one to come up in the state of Colorado.  Carroll says now, the church is being much more cautious about who it hires.  Moore's next court date is May 19.

Source: Pastor Assistant Charged in Sexual Assault Case

The Moore case has it all. Shock and disbelief, stand by your pastor, and not doing background checks. My guess is that Moore is in for a little prison time.

And finally, convicted sex offender and former Baptist pastor Edward E. Greene's name was in the press this week. His victim filed a civil suit alleging members of Marquette Manor Baptist Church knew of the abuse but did nothing to protect her.

"The leadership of the church knew things were going on, knew they had people engaging in inappropriate sexual contact with minors, but didn't call police," said the woman's attorney, Marc Pearlman. "Instead, they handled it 'internally,' which solved nothing."

Source: Downers Grove church sued in sex assault case

Get your wallets out boys, this one is going to hurt.

Technorati tags: Baptist sex offenders, pedophiles, pedophilia, clergy sexual abuse, hypocrisy

Nutball alert: Teacher John Freshwater

If you are a Christian science teacher, placing your personal bible on your desk for all to see can be written off as eccentric. When you preach from that same bible, you cross from eccentric into nutball land. When you place the ten commandments in your classroom and preach from the bible while asking your students to convert to Christianity, you become a dangerous nutball. When you add branding your students with a cross, you become a fucking fundie nutball (the highest level on the nutball scale).

John Freshwater - you are a fucking fundie nutball.

According to a parent complaint, John Freshwater used an electrostatic device to burn crosses onto students' arms. One of the students said the pain was so severe it prevented him from sleeping at night.

Source: Mt. Vernon officials to investigate teacher allegations

The Bad Science Blog  has a good write up on the wacko.

Pharyngula has a great post on this issue - Fire John Freshwater... for the right reason.

I've added Pass the Salt Ministries to my fundie watch list. "Coach Dave" is John Freshwaters primary supporter. He has organized at least one demonstration outside of the school where John Freshwater still teaches. I am sure he will continue to use Freshwater's antics to draw attention to his asinine cause.

Technorati tags: Fundies, nutballs, John Freshwater, Christians, Coach Dave