J ames Hardwick (left) and Randy Word, Metroplex Atheist

Vice Chairman (right) joined protesters in Austin. The Texas

State/Church Separation Rally was held on Saturday, Sep-
tember 15, 2007 from noon until almost 3pm on the South
steps of the Texas State Capitol Building. It was organized by
J oe Zamecki, Texas State Director of American Atheists.
The rally had four goals: to speak out for the civil rights of non-
religious Americans, to vocally promote the separation of gov-
ernment from religion, to show support for the Croft family in
Carrollton who have sued over the moment of silence in their
public school and to protest the flurry of religious bills, now reli-
gious laws, coming from our current Texas State Legislature.
These goals were certainly met by a wide variety of speakers
and their viewpoints expressed from the podium of the rally.
Plans are being made to make as many speeches as pos-
sible available on youtube.com.
A
T H E I S T
V
O I C E
BIMONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF THE METROPLEX ATHEISTS
SEPTEMBER 2007, VOLUME 5, NUMBER 4
T H E
SOCAS
State Pledge rally draws Atheists to Austin
AMERICANUNITED
A political pastor in California has urged
followers to pray for the demise of staff
members of the religious liberty watchdog
Americans United for the Separation of
Church and State.
Americans United asked the Internal
Revenue Service to investigate the First
Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park,
Calif., for a potential violation of federal
tax law barring electioneering by non-
profit groups. Dr. Wiley S. Drake, pastor of
the church, issued a press release on
church letterhead endorsing Republican
presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and
subsequently offered the endorsement on a
church-affiliated radio show.
Instead of responding to Americans
United's concern of illegal activity, Drake
issued yesterday afternoon a plea to his
supporters to join in imprecatory prayers
(curses) every morning for Americans
United and its staff.
The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans
United executive director, said it is telling
that Drake declined to respond to his
group's charges of tax law violations.
Instead of addressing our concerns of
illegally melding religion and partisan
politics, Dr. Drake has launched an out-
landish attack on us, said Lynn. Call-
ing for curses on us might distract
Drake's supporters, but it won't help him
with the IRS. I trust the tax agents will
investigate Drake's use of church
resources to endorse a candidate for pub-
lic office.
Drake's attack included some florid rhet-
oric.
In light of the recent attack from the
ememies (sic) of God I ask the children of
God to go into action with Imprecatory
Prayer, Drake said, in an Aug. 14 press
statement issued from the First Southern
Baptist Church of Buena Park.
SOCAS
Pastor prays for demise of AU staff members following IRS complaint
Continued on page 7
2 SEPTEMBER 2007
EDWALLACE
Looking back on the Civil War, most of
us think about the great and horrendous
land battles, such as Bull Run or Antietam,
Gettysburg or Sherman's march to the sea.
But, with the exception of Rhett Butler's
admission of being a blockade-runner in
the movie Gone With the Wind, about the
only thing we're taught of maritime war-
fare is about the battle between the Moni-
tor and the Merrimac, both ironclad ships.
And even in that case, those sea battles
were fought close to shore.
However, most Americans don't realize
that our Civil War was fought around the
world, or that when it finally drew to a
conclusion, we would end up suing other
countries for their active participation in
our personal, private fight.
Now, most understand that shortly after
the start of hostilities, the Union Navy
established a blockade around most of the
important Southern ports. The idea was
that this would block the sale of Confeder-
ate cotton overseas, denying the South the
funds to purchase consumer goods, medi-
cines and of course, lots of war materiel.
But, at the outbreak of the war, the nation's
Navy had just a few dozen vessels - not
enough to even fight the war, much less
fight and blockade the South. So the Union
Navy commandeered 600 vessels from our
Merchant Marine fleet.
This is interesting: Legally, America
believed in the right of the open seas pol-
icy, which is fundamentally what we
fought the War of 1812 for. But, no matter:
In the Civil War, our hard-won standard for
the recognition of international waters was
thrown out the window.
The South, just to even things out, com-
missioned warships to raid Northern ship-
ping, and here is where it gets really
interesting. Two of the most successful
Southern raiders were the Florida and the
Shenandoah; however, it wasn't our own
Southern gentlemen, now in uniform, who
commanded or even crewed those ships.
No, for the most part, the Confederacy was
more than happy to make do with British
sailors, who were thrilled with the chance
for higher wages and promises of rich
rewards if the South won the war.
In J uly of 1862, the powerful warship the
290, renamed the Enrica,
sailed down England's
Mersey River, having left
Liverpool on its first trial run
at sea. At least, that was the
public announcement: Once
in open waters, the ship
sailed to a predetermined
point just off the Azores,
where it was boarded by
Confederate Admiral
Raphael Semmes. It also
took on English supplied
arms, provisions and coal
and a new name: Confeder-
ate States Ship Alabama.
Admiral Semmes took the
Civil War to the Union Navy
and commercial ships, from
New York to J ava, capturing
or sinking no fewer than 82
Union vessels between 1862
and 1864. In fact, British-built ships like
the Alabama were so successful worldwide
that the Union was forced to reflag many
of our Merchant Marine ships as foreign
vessels to keep them out of harm's way.
That also hurt the Union cause in the long
run; once the war was over, those
reflagged vessels could not be returned to
United States registry.
Now, again, the Alabama had already
done in 82 Union ships, but it didn't meet
its end off the coast of North America. No,
in 1864, right there in the English Channel,
the Alabama met up with the ironclad
Union ship, the Kearsarge. After a 90-
minute battle, Semmes surrendered the
Alabama to the Union Navy and returned
to the South.
The point being made, how many of you
knew that Civil War battles were fought
worldwide, much less that one took place
in the English Channel?
Which brings up the next point, the seri-
ous problem between the
United States and England
over their building these
ships for the Confederacy.
It was dealt with by no less
than the Assistant Secretary
of the Union Navy, Fox.
Finally, during the Alabama's
worldwide reign of terror,
Fox ordered the Union Navy
to stop at all hazards the
Laird ram ships coming out
of England.
Now, that in itself would be
a violation of international
commerce. But the adminis-
tration felt that England
would dread any possibility
of a war with the States. So
an aide was dispatched to
England bearing the message
that Any further fitting out
of ships for the Confederacy would com-
plicate the relations between the two coun-
tries in such a manner as to render it
difficult to preserve friendship between the
two countries.
The threat was unmistakable: Any more
ships, and it's war.
Making matters worse, our Congress
passed a privateering bill; it actually made
piracy legal again on the open seas - as
long as the captured goods flowed to the
North. Many British ships were boarded
and looted by U.S. law.
THE BACKSIDE OF AMERICAN HISTORY
Why Canada did not get Alaska
Most Americans
don't realize that
our Civil War was
fought around the
world, or that when
it finally drew to a
conclusion, we
would end up suing
other countries for
their active
participation in our
personal, private
fight.
Do you know of any Church/State separation violations?
Some things to look for are the posting of the ten commandment in public (government) buildings including
public school buildings, city parks, municipal buildings, and libraries.
To voice your concerns, please email the Metroplex Atheist Director:
[email protected]
3 SEPTEMBER 2007
METROPLEX
ATHEISTS
Of f i c er s
Terry McDonald Chair
Randy Word Vice Chair
J ohn Hattan Secretary
Colin Sewards Treasurer
Boar d of Di r ec t or s
J ohn Hattan
Colin Sewards
J ames Hardwick
Richard Dick Hogan
Li br ar i an
Linda Sharlow
Edi t or
Edward Penton
Member shi p Chai r
Shelly Hattan
Ser geant at Ar ms
J ohn Hattan
AAI Repr esent at i ves
Colin Sewards
Larry McHam
About
Metroplex Atheists is affiliated with
both American Atheists and Atheist
Alliance International and is
organized exclusively for charitable,
educational, and scientific purposes,
including, for such purposes, the
making of distributions to
organizations that qualify as exempt
organizations under section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
Code, or the corresponding section
of any future federal tax code.
In this case, with the situation spiral-
ing out of control, the British govern-
ment on April 5, 1863, ordered the
seizure of the Alexandra, yet another
raider ship destined for the South.
Want some more fun stuff? At the time,
Great Britain and Russia were
involved in what was termed the Great
Game, a virtual pre-play of the 20th
century's Cold War. That's right, Russia
and Britain were playing international
political chess, parrying and blocking
each other's moves into sovereign
countries all over the world.
And in this period, Russia thought,
Well, if England is giving ships to the
Confederacy, we'll help out the Union
cause. In September of 1863, a num-
ber of Russian warships under the
command of Rear Admiral Lisovskii
arrived in New York Harbor for their
new assignment, while a squadron
under Rear Admiral Popov put into
San Francisco just a month later. And
the only thing that kept Russia from
becoming a fighting ally with the
North in the war was that England,
playing the Great Game, got France
and Austria to tell the Russians to bug
out, or risk a war with them.
Russia took the cue and left in April
of 1864. Of course, one day the war
ended, as all wars do. And immedi-
ately American ship owners, the
same ones whose vessels the Union
Navy had confiscated and in many
cases lost, started screaming for
financial restitution, not from our
government but from England. One
told the New York press, These
raiders were build of English oak in
an English yard, armed with English
guns, manned by English crew and
sunk in the English Channel.
On April 13, 1869, with tempers no
cooler, Senator Sumner of Massachu-
setts delivered a speech in Congress
demanding $2 billion in compensation
for the damages done by British-built
ships during the Civil War. This was
totally out of the question, and the
British Navy and Army were actually
stronger than ours in that year, but
England decided to go to arbitration on
the issue. At the Geneva Tribunal of
1872, Britain agreed to pay us $15.5
million for its transgression.
And that, my friends, is the story - of
how Alaska came to be part of the
United States. Remember, England and
Russia were in the middle of the 19th
century's version of the Cold War. We
were mad at England for building ships
for the Confederacy. So, when Alaska,
then known as Russian America, was
up for bids, England would have been
the logical choice to purchase the land.
After all, it would have completed
Canada from coast to coast.
But Russia wasn't about to let Eng-
land have Alaska. They were in the
middle of the Great Game, vying for
territory; and so it was logical for Rus-
sia to offer Alaska to us, as we in turn
were having our own problems with
Britain. One of Seward's underlying
thoughts in making this purchase was
to keep England from packaging it into
Canada.
And that's how we came to buy
Alaska, because the Civil War was
really fought all over the world.
Metroplex Atheists
New Business Meeting Time
METROPLEX ATHEISTS HAS MOVED THE TIME OF ITS REGULAR
BUSINESS MEETING TO 1:00 P.M. THE MEETINGS ARE STILL HELD ON
THE THIRD SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH AT HUMANIST HALL.
HUMANIST HALL IS CURRENTLY LOCATED AT:
7100 BOULEVARD 26 (GRAPEVINE HIGHWAY), SUITE 304,
RICHLAND HILLS, TX
4 SEPTEMBER 2007
William McEwen
METROPLEXATHEISTS
It's been revealed that Agnes Gonxha
Bojaxhiu, better known as the revered
holy Mother Teresa, (1910-1997) was not
the person we thought she was. The
woman known as the goodest of the do-
gooders seriously doubted the existence
of the god she so diligently served.
Mother Teresa repeatedly lamented the
lack of god's presence in her life, and
referred to J esus Christ as the absent
one.
This is all documented in Mother
Teresa: Come Be My Light, a collection
of her letters to friends, just published by
Doubleday.
In one letter, Mother Teresa tells a
friend of a speech she gave: I spoke as if
my heart was in love with god - tender
personal love. If you were [there], you
would have said, 'What hypocrisy.'
The book's editor, Rev. Brian
Kolodiejchukis, is director of the Mother
Teresa of Calcutta Center (www.mothert-
eresa.org) and was a longtime friend of
Mother Teresa. With friends like Rev. K,
who needs enemies? Mother Teresa
wanted these letters kept private, and
asked that they be destroyed after her
death. They weren't.
Rev. K's motivation is confusing, since
he is at the front of the line of those push-
ing for Mother T's sainthood. With spin
worthy of American politicians, Rev.
Kolodiejchukis told The New York Daily
News that Mother Teresa's strong doubts
make her an even bigger saint.
It's possible that Rev. Kolodiejchukis
wants to jump on a popular bandwagon.
With freethinking books breaking out as
big time best sellers - atheist authors
Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens,
and Sam Harris are often at the top of the
charts - perhaps the reverend and the
Catholic Church want to get in on a new
trend. Atheist thought makes profits in
today's America.
Come Be My Light is blockbuster
stuff, containing 40 letters covering 66
years. In a letter addressed to J esus,
Mother Teresa confessed, I have no
faith. (I'm wondering how many
stamps were placed on that
envelope, and whether it was
delivered.)
When I speak to religious
groups, they are sometimes
surprised when I tell them that
disbelief in gods is not a
choice. I cannot believe the
Christian (or any other) god
exists any more than you can
believe the family dog will rise
from the floor, fly about, and
sing Let it Be in Portuguese.
In the book, Mother Teresa
covers similar ground: If
there be god - please forgive
me - when I try to raise my
thoughts to heaven - there is such con-
victing emptiness.
There's no there there. Like so many
other non-religious people, Mother
Teresa tried to believe, but couldn't.
With this new information, I'm strug-
gling with who Mother Teresa was. An
agnostic? An Atheist? And further, are we
non-believers ready to claim her as one
of our own? Not easily. We could rule her
out by some sort of height restriction
(Mother Teresa was 4' 10), but that would
be dishonest.
It is much easier to rule her out by her
actions. Though she wasn't filled with
Christian spirit, her actions were guided
by her interpretations of the scriptures.
We are concerned about Mother
Teresa's long list of crimes committed in
the name of religion. Yesterday, a
Catholic friend told me, We Catholics
are all about the suffering.
Yes. Problem is, Mother Teresa thought
suffering was noble. She demanded no
relief whatsoever for the suffering. No
pain killers for the dying patients in her
musty, dirt-floored clinics. When sick
herself, however, she jetted off to the
western world, where she was treated in
the finest hospitals.
Yes, Mother Teresa was a
woman of double standards.
She campaigned for Ireland to
continue its laws against
divorce, yet in the same year,
she told The Ladies Home
J ournal that she was happy her
friend Princess Diana had
divorced out of an unhappy
marriage.
Mother Teresa doubted, yet
she continued to live her life
in service to the Christian god.
Did her doubts disqualify her
from an in invitation to
heaven? She herself wrote, in
1962: If I ever become a saint - I will
surely be one of darkness. I will continu-
ally be absent from heaven.
Do the revelations of Mother Teresa:
Come Be My Light lead us to conclude
that since her death in 1997, the diminu-
tive nun has been burning in the fires of
hell, serving the dark master?
Assuming that hell hasn't frozen over
since the book was published, probably
not. In J une, Monsignor Michael Servin-
sky of Pennsylvania was interviewed by
USA Today to defend the Catholic
Church practice of keeping men and
women on the rolls indefinitely, still
counting them as Catholics even after
they leave the church. Servinsky said:
You may not practice, you may not
believe. You may not belong to a parish.
But technically, you're always a
Catholic.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Mother Teresa Is she one of us?
Are you searching for Atheists on the internet?
J oin in the discussions at the DFWAtheist Talk group.
groups.yahoo.com/group/DFWAtheistTalk/
If there be
god - please
forgive me -
when I try to
raise my
thoughts to
heaven - there is
such convicting
emptiness.
Mother Theresa
5 SEPTEMBER 2007
Terry McDonald
METROPLEXATHEIST
The following is a transcript of the mes-
sage I delivered at a SOCAS rally in Austin
on September 15th.
Good afternoon non-believersand
believersand those who have not yet
determined whether they believe or not.
My name is Terry McDonald and I have
the distinct honor and profound privilege
of being the Chairman of Metroplex Athe-
ists, a grand bunch of men and women
atheists, both formal and informal, who
each Wednesday evening creates a sooth-
ingly stimulating oasis of rationality in a
otherwise vast desert wasteland of blind
faith. Would those members of Metroplex
Atheists representing our membership who
couldn't be here today please stand, hold
up your hands and be recognized.
We Metroplex Atheists seek to educate our-
selves so that we can clear our minds of those
persistent bits of phony supernatural culture
most of us were indoctrinated with at an early
age and with which we have been constantly
bombarded throughout our lives. We do this
so that we can experience more clearly, and
more fully, the wonder and the magnificence
or our 100% natural world.
And we work to educate other truth-seekers
that visit us or join us, about what it means to
be an atheist. Because while people of faith
appear to prefer comfort over truthmany
atheists know that in seeking truth, comfort
comes to usalmost uninvitedand as we
reflect on that comfort, other things begin to
creep injoy, wonder, reverence and respect
for the natural worldand we begin to expe-
rience that world in a way that a believer in
the supernatural just can't begin to under-
stand or appreciate.
So we reach out to those believers to edu-
cate them about who we are and why we
embrace the concept of a natural universe.
We want to show them that we are, except
for our naturalist worldview, just like them.
We lead normal lives as patriotic citizens,
workers with families to support, moral peo-
ple who are as good hearted and generous as
any religious population. Oh, and no, we
don't have horns and we don't have pointy
tails. And as we seek acceptance from
believers, we also extend our acceptance to
them. Because this is the United States of
America and we are all free to embrace that
which we have accepted is true.
These are the things that our noble band
of Metroplex Atheists doand we do all
these things under the stealth illusion that
we are simply sitting around, sipping beer
And yet at the top of the purposes of our
organization, our "to do" list as it were, is
to educate ourselves and the general public
about the nature and vital importance of
separation of governments and religions as
required by the first amendment of the
United States Constitution.
Because some of our brothers and sisters
in this country who are believers in the
supernatural (and I hope what I am about to
say doesn't apply to anyone here), they
won't read history to learn of the truly awful
things that happen to governments and to
religions and to people when the church
begins to control the state. Or perhaps they
read the history but won't see past their
beliefs to accept the lessons that history
teaches. Or perhaps their hearts have
become so hardened by the hate their faith
has taught them that they don't care who
gets hurt, only that their own belief-centered
intolerance becomes the law of the land.
What we'd like believers to learn is that,
although they see no harm in "under god" in
our pledge or "in god we trust" on our coins,
we view these things very differently.
Where they see school children saying
simple prayers, we see intimidating indoc-
trination. Where they see an innocuous
bow to their alleged creator, we see insidi-
ous propaganda moving us slowly towards
disaster. Where they see a smooth wall of
uniformity, we see the hole in the dyke.
And we know, without someone putting
their metaphorical finger in that hole, it
will grow, through the ignorance and apa-
thy of the general population, through the
error and disrespect of a misguided judici-
ary and through the active expanding of
the hole by those who want the dyke
destroyed, so that we will all become inun-
dated with the religiousness that is sup-
posed to, according to Thomas J efferson,
remain on the other side of that wall.
Another thing we would like believers to
become aware of is that when religion takes
over, the heretic is treated no better than the
atheist. It is fortunate for us that many, per-
haps most, believers realize and understand
this. Many recognize that the question then
becomes, whose church will rule the state.
But some say "It can't happen here." When
I hear that, I am reminded of a scene in
Katherine Anne Porter's book "Ship of
Fools". On a German ship before the Second
World War, a group of German Jews are dis-
cussing their alarm at the rise of Nazis. One
of the older, wealthy merchants laughs as he
asks, "What can Hitler do, kill us all?" Those
of us who read history and take it seriously
never say, "It can't happen here".
So we, at Metroplex Atheists, seek to
meet with believers who share our con-
cerns, so we can put aside our differences
and work together to keep our beloved
country free for all, religious or not. And
we seek to alert believers, and perhaps
even non-believers, who can't see the
alarmingly increasing size of the hole in
the dyke. And we seek to educate every
one about the history of profound suffering
experienced by all people when religious
law becomes civil law.
And if history is ignored we have but to
look in the present to see and hear of the
abuses experienced by citizens of those
countries where religion is law. The ques-
tion then becomes, whose church law cre-
ates heretics to be persecuted by the state.
Our founding fathers created a document
that has served us well for over two hun-
dred years. They were well aware of the
dangers of holy wars because the recent
history of their own homeland was one of
destruction, suffering and death caused by
religions sects trying to gain and hold
political power. (Sound familiar?)
They joined together to create freedom. Let
us join together to maintain that freedom.
Our Metroplex Atheists banner says it all:
Religious Freedom for AllSe pa rate
church and state.
Thank you for inviting us today and
thank you for your attention.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Chairman addresses crowd at State Capitol Mall
6 SEPTEMBER 2007
Metropl ex Athei sts:
No fi re and
bri mstone requi red
www. met ropl exat hei st s. org
John Hattan
METROPLEX ATHEISTS
The following appeared as a guest col-
umn in the Saginaw (Michigan) News,
Aug. 20, 2007.
The Dallas/Fort Worth-based Metroplex
Atheists is watching the antics of Saginaw
County Board of Commissioners member
Patrick Wurtzel, after being alerted by for-
mer Saginaw resident William McEwen.
In your Aug. 9 story, Religious fight
looms, Wurtzel said he wants to post the
10 Commandments at the Saginaw County
Governmental Center because they form
the historical foundation of the criminal
justice system.
We're disappointed that you didn't ask
Wurtzel a few obvious questions, such as
how each commandment works into our
laws.
The first commandment (presuming the
most commonly used Protestant set) is
Thou shalt have no other gods before
me, but the U.S. Constitution and Bill
of Rights clearly state that Congress
shall make no law respecting an estab-
lishment of religion and that no religious
test shall ever be required as a qualifica-
tion to any office.
Furthermore, I can find no laws in effect
or under discussion that require worship of
the J udeo-Christian god. How exactly can
a commandment be considered a founda-
tion of the criminal justice system if it is
clearly contradicted by our own Constitu-
tion and cannot be enforced as a law?
The second commandment forbids the
creation or worship of any graven images.
The freedom to create a graven image
would clearly fall under the freedom of
expression clause of the First Amendment
of the U.S. Constitution. And worship-
ping a graven image is, as I pointed out in
my statement about the first command-
ment, not forbidden but is a right guaran-
teed to us.
If I purchase a slab of marble at my local
rock shop and carve upon it the image of
Quetzalcoatl, I have broken no laws, yet
the second commandment states that this
should be absolutely illegal, what with it
being the foundation of the criminal justice
system.
The third commandment forbids the tak-
ing of the name of the lord thy god in vain,
but such a commandment also runs afoul
of the First Amendment, specifically the
guarantee that Congress shall pass no law
abridging the freedom of speech.
Best I can tell, I am free to take the name
of the J udeo-Christian god (or any other
god or spectral being) in any spirit I choose
without running afoul of any law, despite
this commandment being foundational.
The fourth commandment forbids work-
ing on the Sabbath. While there used to be
some laws forbidding the sale of certain
products on Sundays, those laws appear to
be gone save for a couple of relics regard-
ing liquor and car sales in some states.
Even so, I am aware of no law requiring
me to rest on Sunday or any other day that
should be declared the Sabbath. How
exactly can such a commandment be con-
sidered to be foundational to our laws if
there are no laws that require it to be
respected?
The fifth commandment requires us to
honor our fathers and mothers. While
respect for parents can be considered hon-
orable in the case of good parents who
deserve respect, it's certainly not some-
thing that has translated into law. We have
laws on our books that require restaurants
to post Braille signs outside their bath-
rooms, but we have no laws requiring us
to honor parents despite it being suppos-
edly foundational to our criminal justice
system.
The sixth commandment forbids killing.
While we certainly have well-enforced
laws on our books forbidding the killing of
people, we also have laws on our books
that detail the methods by which the gov-
ernment itself can kill a person who has
committed a heinous crime. This appears
to be a double-standard regarding enforce-
ment of the sixth commandment. We for-
bid it for private citizens, but we allow it to
be done by the state. Is the government
itself immune from having to uphold the
commandments that are claimed to them-
selves be the foundation of our criminal
justice system?
The seventh commandment forbids adul-
tery. While avoidance of adultery, like
respecting parents, is a good guideline, it
hardly can be considered to be founda-
tional to our laws. Have you ever seen a
bill introduced in Saginaw County that
forbids adultery? How many citizens
charged with adultery are in Saginaw's
jail?
The eighth and ninth commandments
forbid stealing and perjury. And, finally, I
think we can declare that we've found a
couple of commandments that are foun-
dational to our laws. Although I really
don't think that burglary and armed rob-
bery suddenly would be legalized if we
found a really old version of the Bible
that showed the do not steal clause to
be a misprint, and I doubt that stealing
and perjury were considered acceptable
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Commandments run afoul of justice system
7 SEPTEMBER 2007
behavior before the 10 Commandments
were written.
Finally we get to the 10th and most puz-
zling commandment, the prohibition
against coveting. Setting aside the fact that
wives and slaves are included in the list of
property, this commandment is not only
unconstitutional but it also runs counter to
the very principles about which our coun-
try is founded.
In December 2006, when President Bush
stated I encourage you all to go shopping
in order to keep our economy strong, he
was encouraging us to covet. If my daugh-
ter wants a Nintendo Wii, it's because she's
played it over at her friend's house and
wants one of our own.
If I covet my neighbor's shiny new Hum-
mer H3, it encourages me to purchase one
of my own. If not for coveting, capitalism
is an ideology without worth. Societies
that view coveting as a vice are societies
that embrace the communist ideal where
coveting is considered obsolete in favor of
people being taken care of according to
their needs and not their wants.
Anyone who thinks that coveting a
neighbor's goods is some kind of ideal
clearly is not in tune with the American
dream. And such a commandment can only
be considered anathema to the criminal
justice system, not a cornerstone of it.
Of the 10 Commandments themselves,
only 2-1/2 of them (specifically the prohi-
bitions against killing, theft, and perjury)
are in any way enforceable as laws. The
rest are divided among the unenforceable
(the prohibition of adultery and the
requirement that we honor parents and rest
on the Sabbath), the unconstitutional (pro-
hibition against worshipping other gods,
graven images and using the lord's name in
vain) and the ones that run absolutely
counter to the capitalistic ideal (the prohi-
bition of coveting).
Historical foundation of the criminal jus-
tice system? Best I can tell, they are about
the farthest things from it.
Especially against Americans United
for Seperation (sic) of Church and
State.
The righteous have dominion,
Drake said, but only through impreca-
tory prayer against the ungodly.
Drake singled out two Americans
United staff members whose names
appeared as contacts on the press
release. The pastor's missive said the
imprecatory prayers should specifically
target Americans United Communica-
tions Director Joe Conn or Communica-
tions Associate Jeremy Leaming.
They are those who lead the attack,
Drake said.
In a message left in Lynn's voice-
mail, Drake said he had been urging his
supporters to take similar action against
Lynn for many years and would con-
tinue to do so.
In a section of his press release called
How To Pray, Drake includes a long
list of biblical citations that call on God
to smite enemies. For example, the
alleged enemies of God shall be
judged, condemned, and his days be
few. Additionally, supporters should
pray that the enemy's children be
fatherless, and his wife a widow, and
his children be continually vagabonds,
and beg; let them seek bread also out of
their desolate places.
Let there be none to extend mercy unto
him, Drake quoted, Neither let there be
any to favour his fatherless children.
AMERICANSUNITED
The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington
is looking to the District of Columbia to
turn eight of its financially draining
Catholic schools into public charter
schools.
It's a move that, if agreed to by D.C.
Mayor Adrian Fenty and the city's charter
school leaders, would further burden the
city's already deeply troubled public
school system while helping to ease the
Catholic archdiocese's money woes.
The Washington Post reported that Arch-
bishop Donald W. Wuerl was told last year
that the archdiocese's inner-city schools
were no longer financially viable. After
months of contemplation, he decided to
pitch the idea of stripping the most finan-
cially troubled schools of their religious
identities and turning them over to the city
to be operated as charter schools.
It's heartache to know that we wouldn't
have these schools any longer, Wuerl told
The Post.
But that heartache is likely to be soothed
by the conversion of the schools to tax-
payer- supported charters. According to
the recommendation, which Wuerl has pre-
sented to the mayor and the chair of the
D.C. Public School Charter Board, the
eight ailing schools would receive operat-
ing and facilities funds from the District
and the charters would remain in the arch-
diocese's buildings and pay rent to the
church. Additionally, the archdiocese
would select the secular entity to operate
the charter schools.
Church officials told the newspaper that
although specific religious references
would be yanked from the schools' curric-
ula, the schools would still offer strong
values.
The chairman of the D.C. charters board
told The Post that the board was open to
the possibility.
D.C. public school officials should pro-
ceed with great caution. As noted by the
Chicago public schools chief, Arne Dun-
can, turning religious schools into secular
ones can be difficult. Duncan said there
are church-state issues, but they can be
overcome if officials try to be innovative
and think outside the box.
D.C. is not the only city that the Catholic
hierarchy has turned to for help. For an
array of reasons, the church's parochial
schools have seen years of declining
enrollments and in a number of cities some
of their schools have closed. If Wuerl's rec-
ommendation to convert a number of the
Washington archdiocese's schools into
charter schools proceeds, it's likely that
similar recommendations in other cities
will be forthcoming.
Before city officials offer to tap public
school budgets to help out the Catholic
Church's ailing system, they should ensure
that church-state separation principles will
be followed.
SOCAS
Archbishop seeks to convert catholic schools to secular charters
IRS From page 1
8 SEPTEMBER 2007
Looking for speakers to discuss Atheism?
To arrange a speaking engagement, please email the Metroplex Atheist Director:
[email protected]
Lee Carter
ATHEISTALLIANCE
In the days of the Roman Republic, the
calendar was numbered from the found-
ing of the city of Rome-which according
to the present calendar, would be 753
BC. And March 15th-the Ides of March,
was designated as New Year's
Day. However, this was a luniso-
lar calendar of only ten moons,
or 'months-which totaled 355
days. So unless otherwise cor-
rected, the months would have a
tendency to rotate throughout
the year and get completely out
of sync with the seasons. Conse-
quently, an extra month was
inserted from time to time, so
the calendar would bear some
relation to the position of the
sun. Unfortunately, the insertion
of these intercalendary days was
left up to a committee of politi-
cians, so it was rare for any two
years to be exactly the same
length. And specific days of the
year bore only a tenuous rela-
tionship to solar time.
Greece, and all of northern
Europe, operated on a solar cal-
endar, with the new year starting
on the winter solstice. When the
Romans invaded Greece in the
5th century BC, they realized the
advantages of a solar calendar.
In 153 BE, New Year's Day was moved
to J anuary first, since J anus was an
important god in the Roman pantheon,
and the god of doorways and new begin-
nings.
Finally, in 46 BC, J ulius Caesar
switched from a lunar to a solar calendar.
He divided the year into 365 days, with
twelve months, which alternatively had
30 or 31 days, except February, which
was considered an unlucky month, so it
had only 29 days. But every four years it
lengthened to a full 30 days. This gave
an average year 365 1/4 days. New Years
were still left on J anuary first. One of the
new months was named J uly, in honor of
J ulius Caesar. But when J ulius died, he
was succeeded by the superstitious and
egocentric Augustus Caesar, who named
the extra month after himself, and then
ruined the logical arrangement by declar-
ing that his month should have just as
many days as J ulius' month. And the
unlucky month of February had more
days than necessary. So he shortened
February to 28 days and extended
August to 31 days. Then to avoid having
three months in a row with 31 days, one
day was taken from September and
November and given to October and
December.
The major festival of the year, in
ancient Rome, was called the
Saturnalia, and it centered
around the winter solstice.
According to the Roman Repub-
lican calendar, it began on
December 17th and lasted eight
days (one Roman week). But
since the Republican Calendar
varied in length, it seems proba-
ble that the actual solstice usually
fell sometime between the middle
of December and the first of J an-
uary. When J ulius instituted his
first calendar in 46 BCE, the year
had crept as much as 80 days out
of step with the sun. So he added
a total of 90 days. According to
William M. O'Neil (Time and the
Calendars, 1978), this set
December 25 as the winter sol-
stice, March 25 as the vernal
equinox, J une 24 as the summer
solstice, and September 24 as the
autumnal equinox.
But the J ulian calendar had an
error of eleven minutes and a few
seconds. The tropical year is
actually shorter than the 365 1/4
days he had established - which would
cause the four celestial corners of the
year to slip backwards by one day every
130 years.
In the third century AD, the Emperor
Aurelian established another official hol-
iday called Sol Invicti - meaning
unconquered sun, in honor of the Syrian
EDUCATION SERIES
How the calendar got that way
9 SEPTEMBER 2007
sun god, Sol, and also in honor of him-
self, since the emperors were regarded as
the divine incarnation of Apollo. This
holiday was held on December 24 and
25, and it more or less established
December 25 as the official solstice.
All other religions that worshipped sun
gods also accepted December 25 as a
fixed date for their celebrations. The ear-
liest Christians assumed that Christ was
born and, many years later, was resur-
rected on the same day - March 25 -
which was assumed to be the vernal
equinox.
Later Christians celebrated the birth of
Christ on J anuary 6, along with the festi-
val of Isis. By the fourth century, many
Christians were referring to December
25 as the day of the unconquered son,
in defiance of the emperor, and J anuary 6
was then called Epiphany, when either
the magi were supposed to have visited
or Christ was baptized, or maybe both.
In 325 AD, which is when the Catholic
church was officially organized, it
decreed that the resurrection of Christ
should b e celebrated at the beginning of
spring, when all life was renewed. And
the beginning of spring was determined
by the vernal equinox. But they noticed
that, by then, the equinox had crept
backwards from March 25 to March 21.
So they re-established March 21 as the
new, official equinox.
That, in turn, would set the date for
Easter - named after Oestre, the god-
dess of fertility. This means that the
other four corners of the year would also
have crept backwards by four days. And
the winter solstice would then have
shifted from December 25th to the 21st.
However, it was another 25 years
before Christmas was established. In 350
AC, Pope J ulius I decreed that the nativ-
ity should be celebrated on the same day
as all other sun gods, namely, December
25.
Certainly he would have realized that
the solstice no longer fell on the 25th.
But by then the celebration of the nativ-
ity on the 25th had already become a
well-established tradition in Rome.
Many other churches, however, did not
want to be associated with the pagan
religions; and to this day the Eastern
Orthodox church celebrates the birth of
Christ on J anuary 7 - the day after
Epiphany.
In the fourth century, Emperor Con-
stantine established our seven-day week-
based on J ewish tradition.
In the sixth century, Pope J ohn Counted
backward to the presumed date of
Christ's birth, calculated from the reign
of Pontius Pilate, and renumbered all the
years in history as BC and AD (Before
Christ and Anno Domini, meaning
In the Year of Our Lord). The year 753
AUC (ab urbe condita, meaning after the
founding of Rome) was then called 1
AD. BC and AD are now being replaced,
at least by non-Christians with BCE
(before the common era) and CE (of the
common era).
Throughout the early Middle Ages,
most of Europe disregarded Roman prac-
tices and continued to start the year with
the presumed equinox - March 25. Eng-
land, however, retained the practice of
starting the year on the presumed sol-
stice - December 25.
To t he At hei st s i n f ox hol es
pr oudl y ser vi ng t he Uni t ed St at es:
Thank you f or your unsel f i sh
sac r i f i c e so t hat we may
al l l i ve i n a saf er wor l d.
WWI I & Korea:
James Har dw i ck (Ret ), Navy
Korea:
Chr i s Gr egor y, Ai r For c e
I raq:
Br i an Mc I nt osh (Ret ), Mar i nes
Shaw n Ruzek , Mar i nes
Deanne Di c e
w w w . a t h e i s t f o x h o l e s . o r g
10 SEPTEMBER 2007
John Blanton
NORTHTEXASSKEPTICS
This article appeared in the August 2007
issue of the North Texas Skeptic. It is
reprinted here with the kind permission of
John Blanton and the North Texas Skep-
tics.
Skeptics, this isn't fun anymore.
Rosemary Hunter contacted us by e-mail
and claimed she could win our $12,000
Paranormal Challenge award for a demon-
stration of paranormal abilities. Among
other things, she claimed that God spoke to
her mind and would enable her to know
what words I might write on a piece of
paper. Naturally we were skeptical.
Rosemary was eager to come to Dallas
for a preliminary test, which we require
before we will engage in a formal test for
the prize. We do this so we don't have the
experience of setting up a carefully-con-
trolled test and writing out a $12,000 check
in advance, only to have a claimant show
up empty handed.
This precaution has proved beneficial in
the past. Readers will recall that four years
ago Russell Shipp told us he could move
small objects with his mind.* Russell lived
in New Braunfels, Texas, a 250-mile drive
from Dallas, but he was willing to come up
to Dallas, twice, to show his stuff. He
attended one of our monthly meetings and
gave us a quite unconvincing demonstra-
tion. A compact disk (CD) suspended by a
thread didn't seem to us to obey his mental
commands.
We arranged a more controlled test for a
later date, and Russell returned for a fol-
low-up. This time the results were more
conclusive. A CD suspended by a thread,
but also enclosed in a transparent container
to allow viewing but to block air currents,
did not move at all. If only the stock mar-
ket were that stable. Based on this test we
dismissed Russell from further considera-
tion for the prize.
Evaluating Rosemary promised to be
more daunting. She lives in Cleveland,
Ohio, more than a 250-mile drive, for sure.
Even so, she was eager to come to Dallas
and test for the prize. To make matters
more challenging, I'm not in Dallas. I'm
out in Salt Lake City on an extended busi-
ness trip, making it problematic for me to
meet Rosemary in Dallas.
No problem. Rosemary agreed to come to
Salt Lake City for a test. It turns out she
already had plans to come this way. She
was also scheduling a test with J ames
Underdown of the Center for Inquiry-West
in Los Angeles, and we planned to have
her stop over for a few hours in Salt Lake
City.
Rosemary originally proposed that I
write 10 words on paper. She would then
speak the words in sentences. Call me
skeptical, but this proposal seemed suspi-
cious. If Rosemary spoke the words to me,
then she could judge my reaction and pos-
sibly home in on the correct choice of
words. My counter proposal was for Rose-
mary to write her guesses on paper outside
my view. So, the deal was struck. Rose-
mary's flight would stop over in Salt Lake
City, and we would meet at a McDonald's
restaurant. Then I had time to consider.
What could possibly go wrong? Maybe
this was an elaborate hoax, and Rose-
mary didn't really exist. For a long time
following we would endure Rosemary's
boasts on the Internet and elsewhere. The
headlines would be something like, Stu-
pid skeptics fall for the old 'Your shoe's
untied' scam.
It could be worse. Rosemary could be a
skilled magician set to fool an unwary
skeptic with a standard mind reading trick.
Or she could be completely unhinged and
prone to violence against evil skeptics
when she does not get her way.
The day of destiny arrived, and I pre-
pared for the worst.
Apparently I have become too cynical in
my old age, because Rosemary turned out
to be a refreshing surprise. Rather than a
scheming sharpie set to scam us of the
prize, she is a pleasant, unpretentious
woman of 35, and she honestly believes in
her powers, which she says come from
god. Sitting with Rosemary at a McDon-
ald's booth, I briefly probed her for her
beliefs and motivations.
Did she try this at home before coming
all the way to Utah?
She had, and she had been completely
successful. She had no concerns about her
abilities. She was 100 percent accurate.
It occurred to me to run a simple test
before I got down to writing 10 words on a
piece of paper. Rosemary was agreeable,
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Will gift from god hold up to a simple test?
TEMPTED?
www.metroplexatheists.org
11 SEPTEMBER 2007
so I got out my pen and cupped my hand
over my pad of paper. This would not be an
ultimate test, because it provided the great-
est opportunity for defeat by a skilled
magician. I gave it the college try.
As Rosemary watched, I poised my pen
behind my free hand and wrote. Knowing
a little about some magicians' tricks, I pre-
tended to write more letters than I actually
wrote. That's OK. The rules didn't prohibit
it. When I finished I had written WALK.
Then I clapped my hand down on the word
and kept it there. For as long as it took.
Rosemary took her on pen and paper pad
and concentrated. While she concentrated I
fixed my gaze elsewhere-anywhere besides
toward where Rosemary was writing.
Skeptics, I have to say I got very familiar
with the rental company's sign outside
McDonald's window.
Finally, Rosemary was done, and she
showed me. She had written McDon-
ald's.
What made her think of McDonald's I
will never figure out. Anyhow, she had
showed me hers, so I showed her mine.
She was dumfounded. Obviously this
was completely unsuspected, and she told
me so. She said she had never experienced
a failure in this kind of demonstration.
Two times is a charm, so I offered her
another chance, and she agreed. I went
through the same process, this time writ-
ing OCEAN. We skeptics like to keep it
simple.
Once again Rosemary concentrated and
wrote, and I began to fall in love with the
rental company sign.
Rosemary finished her word, and I
showed her mine. She scratched out her
word and wrote on the pad I Can Not
Believe This. I could.
At that point Rosemary conceded defeat
completely. No, she did not want to waste
my time doing a test with 10 words. She
was done and she apologized for wasting
my time.
Actually, Rosemary did not waste my
time. I reminded her that this is what we do
in the NTS. Members, including the Chal-
lenge underwriters, readily commit them-
selves to considerable time and expense
exploring issues relating to the paranor-
mal. She was the one who made the ulti-
mate commitment by flying out to Utah
(and California) to work with us skeptics.
We had some time to kill, so I used the
opportunity to get behind her story.
She said she had done this test back in
Cleveland. And she had 100 percent suc-
cess.
Who did she work with before? Were
these friends or relatives?
Two friends-people she has known for
about a year and a half. No they did not go to
the same church. Rosemary attended the
Word Church, a spiritual church back in
Cleveland, and her friends were spiritual, but
they did not necessarily attend a church.
Cynic that I am, a concern began to form
in my mind. How could she have complete
success with her two friends but fail
equally completely under real-world con-
ditions?
Delicately, I inquired, did her friends see
Rosemary's words before they showed her
their responses? It's possible that's how it
went. I envisioned a hoax too cruel for
words. Would two otherwise civilized peo-
ple employ tricks to convince an acquain-
tance she had paranormal powers? Would
two such people be in for a real butt-kick-
ing afterward?
Rosemary and I parted, and she contin-
ued on to Los Angeles. I later contacted
J ames Underdown to inquire about her test
with him. He finally got back to me. Rose-
mary went to Los Angeles, but something
came up, and she had to skip out on the
test. I'm thinking she has gone back to
Cleveland to look up some old friends.
See Mind over matter in The North
Texas Skeptic, May 2003:
www.ntskeptics.org/2003/2003may/may2
003.htm#mind
Rosemary
Hunter (left)
came from
Cleveland, OH
to test for the
North Texas
Skeptics
Paranormal
Challenge. J ohn
Blanton (right)
met Ms. Hunter
in Salt Lake
City, UT for a
preliminary
interview.
JohnBlanton
12 SEPTEMBER 2007
Chuck Nor r i s: Too many bl ow s
t o t he head?
In a J une 11 column for World Net Daily,
Texas resident and B-actor Chuck Norris
said if he were president, he would tattoo
an American flag with the words 'In God
We Trust' on the forehead of every atheist.
What a classy guy.
Pai ne an at hei st ?
Michael Medved -- talk show host,
movie critic, and wanna-be historian, got
it wrong on his Aug. 21 show. While
interviewing author David Klinghoffer,
Medved claimed that America's founding
father Thomas Paine was an atheist.
Medved appears to have trouble making
the distinction between atheist and deist.
In The Age of Reason, Paine's scathing
book about organized religion, on the first
page, Paine wrote: I believe in one god
and no more, and I hope for happiness
beyond this life. I believe in the equality
of man, and I believe that religious duties
consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and
endeavoring to make our fellow creatures
happy. We have e-mailed Medved
repeatedly about this error, and at press
time, we are still awaiting a response and
a correction.
Ah, i sn' t i t good, Nor wegi an
nut
In August, Norway's Princess Maertha
Louise opened a school for students who
want to learn how to get in contact with
angels. For $2,100 per semester, the self-
proclaimed clairvoyant's school will teach
students how to contact angels, and also
allow them to explore alternative medical
therapies. Responding to criticism, the
princess said, I'm glad I wasn't born 200
years ago, because I surely would have
been burned at the stake long ago.
Ex hi bi t i oni st pr i est
In J une, Father Robert Whipkey was tick-
eted for jogging nude at a public high
school track in Frederick, Colo. The
Catholic priest, who also walked home
without putting on any clothing, told
police that exercising nude is more com-
fortable since he is overweight.
It has also been revealed that in 1999, the
priest was seen naked at summer camp by
11-year-old boys. Catholics claimed it was
all an innocent incident, but the archdio-
cese of Denver said Whipkey immedi-
ately entered therapy regarding his
personal issues, and that therapy contin-
ued for several years.
Pot t y-mout hed pr i est r esi gns
Geoff Baron resigned
Aug. 15 as dean of
St. Patrick
Cathedral in
Mel bourne,
Australia. His
resignation follows
a fury of contro-
versy after he was
caught on tape insult-
ing and swearing at
teens who were skating
at the cathedral entrance.
Baron's resignation does
not impact his standing in
the Catholic church. He is
free to serve at other
churches and still perform
mass. The popular video of the potty
mouthed priest in action can be seen at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQAfalqo340
Shoe-bomber ex pec t s hel p
f r om god
Remember Richard Reid? He's the
Moslem to blame for all of us having to
remove our shoes at airports. Reid is serv-
ing a life sentence in a Colorado prison for
trying to blow up an American Airlines jet
in 2001 with explosives hidden in his
shoes. In August he told the British news-
paper The Daily Mirror, I had a couple of
good dreams about my situation changing
for the better, and that god will set him
free.
Let ' s ALL pr ay t o Al l ah?
Catholic bishop Martinus Muskens wants
muslims and Christians to get along. On
Aug. 16, Muskens was quoted by the Asso-
ciated Press, saying, Shouldn't we all say
that from now on we will name god Allah?
What does god care what we call him? It is
our problem. We'll keep our eyes on
Bishop Muskens. Who knows what he'll
suggest next? Sunday Mass at mosques?
Why di dn' t god suppor t
HomeBanc ?
Atlanta-based HomeBanc Corporation, a
mortgage lender, filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection in August. The com-
pany was a 100 percent
faith-based oper-
ation. Accord-
ing to The Wall
Street J ournal,
execut i ves
opened company-
wide gatherings and
internal meetings
with Christian
prayers. Every
branch office kept a
chaplain on call.
Most of HomeBanc's
450 loan officers had
no prior experience in the
business. Many were local
church leaders or family mem-
bers and friends referred by Home-
Banc staff.
A day after bankruptcy filing, HomeBanc
fired most of its 1,100 employees, closed
its 22 branches, and shut down its 129 self-
serve kiosks.
Patrick S. Flood, HomeBanc's CEO,
left the company in J anuary with a $5
million severance package. He plans to
start a similar business. When J esus got
on the cross, people at the time thought
that he failed because he died and the
ministry ended, Flood told The Wall
Street J ournal. But people around him
have cascaded it into the greatest move-
ment in history. The company being a
financial failure doesn't mean the work
has ended.
Anot her mi ni st er pi l f er s
of f er i ngs
Round Rock, Texas pastor Donald
Roddy Clyde, 48, turned himself in to
authorities on Aug. 15. According to the
Austin American Statesman, Clyde con-
fessed to stealing at least $500,000 from
Nuts in the news
13 SEPTEMBER 2007
Fellowship at Forest Creek church. Clyde,
who had been senior pastor of the church
since 1992, admitted using the church's
bank accounts and credit cards to purchase
land, horses, and vacations. He resigned
from the church on Aug. 13.
Chur ch deac on char ged i n bar
f i ght
KXAS-TV in Dallas reported that aggra-
vated assault charges were filed in Okla-
homa in August against Allen Beckett.
Beckett is a church deacon, and apparently
a die-hard University of Oklahoma fan.
Beckett didn't take kindly to Brian
Thomas, who had the audacity to wear a
University of Texas T-shirt in a bar where
Beckett was present to, according to his
attorney, play darts.
Beckett's attorney, Billy Bock, claimed
Beckett said something in joking fashion
to the guy about his Texas T-shirt. Words
were exchanged, then Beckett attacked
Thomas. Warning: It gets graphic here:
According to the police report, Thomas
ended up with a torn scrotum with partially
exposed testicles.
Dog k i l l er pul l s a Par i s Hi l t on
On Aug. 27, NFL quarterback Michael
Vick pleaded guilty to charges he engaged
in illegal dog fighting and killing dogs.
After the hearing, Vick apologized on live
television and added, Through this situa-
tion, I found J esus, and I asked him for for-
giveness and I asked to turn my life over to
god and that's the right thing to do as of
right now.
(The as of right now business is inter-
esting. Once the populace has turned to
other things, and forgotten about Vick's
crimes, he'll be back on the gridiron, and
have dropped J esus quicker than Tara Ried
will be dropped by her next boyfriend.
Vick wins football games, and that places
him almost as high as J esus in many peo-
ple's esteem.)
Loui si ana senat or pul l s a Par i s
Hi l t on
David Vitter first denied being a client of
a Washington D.C. area prostitution ring.
In J uly, when the Washington Post
revealed Vitter's telephone number
appeared in phone records of Deborah
J eane Palfrey, known as the D.C. Madam,
Vitter's office issued this statement: This
was a very serious sin in my past for which
I am, of course, completely responsible.
Several years ago, I asked for and received
forgiveness from God and my wife in con-
fession and marriage counseling. Out of
respect for my family, I will keep my dis-
cussion of the matter there - with God and
them. But I certainly offer my deep and
sincere apologies to all I have disappointed
and let down in any way.
I s Mot her Nat ur e a Cat hol i c
nun?
The Catholic Church and the Greenpeace
activist organization joined forces for a
bizarre project unveiled at the Waveney
Greenpeace Fair in Suffolk England in
September. Confessional booths made out
of recycled doors allow patrons to confess
their sins against the environment to
priests. Father Anthony Sutch told the
Times of London, It is not, I hope, blas-
phemous to do this.
Pope Benedict has made it clear he wants
his 2,000 year old religion to return to
some of its longtime traditions. That's why
it is a surprise to see the church embrace
the popular green fad.
Nepal ai r l i ne sac r i f i c e
Nepal Airlines experienced maintenance
problems with one of its Boeing 757 air-
planes in late August and early September.
Local media reported the problem as an
electrical fault.
Airline officials were quick to take
action. They sacrificed two goats on Sept.
2 in front of the airplane in an effort to
appease Akash Bhairab, the Hindu sky
god.
Senior airline executive Raju K.C. told
Reuters, The snag in the plane has now
been fixed and the aircraft has resumed its
flights.
Let's all praise Akash Bhairab.
Pr oj ec t i l e Chr i st i ans
Mariposa County (California) supervisor
Brad Aborn is scratching his head over the
local New Life Christian Church after
members requested the use of 15 acres of
public land once a month.
According to a Sept. 3 story in the Contra
Costa Times, After church on the third
Sunday of every month, a group of teens
and adults from New Life cook up a big
meal of hot dogs, give testimonies about
J esus in their life, suit up in camouflage,
and grab donated paint-shooting guns.
Aborn's reaction: Maybe I'm missing
something. Paintball for J esus? God help
us all.
Spec i al di st i nc t i on: Met r opl ex
Chr i st i ans
Numerous Christians of the Metroplex
have recently turned to The Dallas Morn-
ing News to express their woefully wacky
opinions. Here are a few letters to the edi-
tor:
Barbara Miller wrote: Believing that
you were once a monkey whose ancestor
was a fish, whose predecessors was slime,
well, now that takes faith.
After learning that Ma Teresa had serious
doubts about the existence of the Christian
god and J esus Christ, J im Mersky wrote:
She has strengthened my faith.
Get a load of this one, written by David
Calvert: I just asked NASA to please have
one of their scientists send me a quick e-
mail showing exactly how you use evolu-
tion to calculate the orbit of the space
shuttle, or how you use it to build a Mars
rover.
Do you know of any Church/State separation violations?
Some things to look for are the posting of the ten commandment in public (government) buildings including
public school buildings, city parks, municipal buildings, and libraries.
To voice your concerns, please email the Metroplex Atheist Director:
[email protected]
14 SEPTEMBER 2007
Busi ness Meet i ng
REGULARMONTHLYMEETING:
What: Meeting to decide general
business of the group and to
discuss current events
Date: Third Sunday of the month
Time: 1:00 PM 2:00 PM
Place: Humanist Hall
Soc i al Meet i ngs
DALLAS/ PLANOATHEISTMEETUPDAY:
What: Meet with other local
Atheists to talk about your
beliefs
Date: Every Tuesday
Time: 7:00 PM
Place: TBA; For locations near you
visit: atheists.meetup.com
MAATHEISTMEETUP:
What: My dinner with Atheists,
social time with a bunch of
heathens
Date: 2nd, 3rd, 4th, (& 5th)
Wednesday
Time: 6:30 PM 9:00 PM
Place: J . Gilligans Bar & Grill
(Meet on the grill side)
400 E. Abram Street
Arlington, TX
MAATHEISTMEETUP:
What: My dinner with Atheists,
social time with a bunch of
heathens
Date: 1st Wednesday of the Month
Time: 6:30 PM 9:00 PM
Place: Blue Danube
2230 West Park Row
Pantego, TX
To have your event s list ed
email:
The Atheist Voice Editor at
[email protected]
U p c o m i n g E v e n t s
Are you searching for Atheists in the metroplex?
J oin in the discussions at the DFWAtheist Talk group.
groups.yahoo.com/group/DFWAtheistTalk/
Atheists are Coming to a Restaurant Near You
Since you can't come to a Metroplex Atheist event, why not have Metroplex Atheist events come to you?
We now have a Metroplex Atheists Meet-up Group on www.meetup.com. Over the years we've had many folks lament
that they couldn't come to a MA social event because of time/location of our normal Wednesday get together.
Why not start one of your own?
If you have a good meeting place and you're willing to show up to be
somewhat of a host, then just contact Metroplex Atheists and we can put an
announcement out on the web.
All it takes is for you to say, Hey, why don't we meet at X? and show up!
We'd like to have a number of social groups that meet informally (because,
let's face it, the business meetings are only just so much fun). The real fun lies
in meeting other like minded people.
So, where do YOU want to meet up?
Fr ee st uf f f r om pr eacher s
Franklin Graham's book The Name, pub-
lished in 2002, is available free for the asking.
Here is the publisher's description of the
book:
In days of religious confusion and cultural
relativism, Franklin Graham reminds us that
there are absolutes in the kingdom of god. The
Name explains the significance of names in the
Hebrew culture, centering on the meaningful-
ness of the name J esus. Chapters focus on the
different aspects of power in the Lord's name,
such as Healing in the Name and Salvation in
the Name.
To that, we add, Yada yada yada.
When a preacher sends something to an athe-
ist, he is giving up something precious. Perhaps
two lobster tails, maybe a drop of cleaning fluid
for his Rolex, or possibly a few seconds worth
of fuel for his business jet.
If all atheists order this book, we might make
Graham's plane have to land early.
It's yours free, just call 800-476-5917.
And if you plan to make a quick killing by
eBaying it, forget it. There are quite a few avail-
able on eBay, and even at the price of one
penny, they aren't selling.
15 SEPTEMBER 2007
THE ATHEIST VOICE is a bimonthly publication of Metroplex Atheists.
For more information, please visit our website: www.metroplexatheists.org
To submit an article or letter to the editor, please email us.
The Atheist Voice Editor: [email protected]
September 2007
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1
2 DFWEF 3 Labor Day 4 Atheist
Meetup Day
5 Blue Danube 6 7 8
9 EF Brunch
EF Study
10 11 Atheist
Meetup Day
12 J . Gilligans 13 14 15
16 Reg. Meeting
DFWEF
17 18 Atheist
Meetup Day
19 J . Gilligans 20 21 22
23 24 25 Atheist
Meetup Day
26 J . Gilligans 27 28 29
October 2007
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
30 1 2 Atheist
Meetup Day
3 J . Gilligans 4 5 6
7 8 9 Atheist
Meetup Day
10 J . Gilligans 11 12 13
14 15 16 Atheist
Meetup Day
17 J . Gilligans 18 19 20
21 Reg. Meeting 22 23 Atheist
Meetup Day
24 J . Gilligans 25 26 27
28 29 30 Atheist
Meetup Day
31 J . Gilligans
Halloween
November 2007
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3
4 5 6 Atheist
Meetup Day
7 J . Gilligans 8 9 10
11 12 13 Atheist
Meetup Day
14 J . Gilligans 15 16 17
18 Reg. Meeting 19 20 Atheist
Meetup Day
21 22 Thanksgiving
Day
23 24
25 26 27 Atheist
Meetup Day
28 J . Gilligans 29 30 31
16 SEPTEMBER 2007
THE ATHEIST VOICE
c/o Metroplex Atheists
7100 Boulevard 26 , Suite 304
Richland Hills, TX 76180
Deliver to:
W H Y D O W E F I G H T ?
B e c a u s e w e m u s t . B e c a u s e w e h a v e t h e c a l l . B e c a u s e i t i s n o b l e r t o f i g h t
f o r r a t i o n a l i t y w i t h o u t w i n n i n g t h a n t o g i v e u p i n t h e f a c e o f c o n t i n u e d
d e f e a t s . B e c a u s e w h a t e v e r t r u e p r o g r e s s h u m a n i t y m a k e s i s t h r o u g h t h e
r a t i o n a l i t y o f t h e o c c a s i o n a l i n d i v i d u a l a n d b e c a u s e a n y o n e i n d i v i d u a l
w e m a y w i n f o r t h e c a u s e m a y d o m o r e f o r h u m a n i t y t h a n a h u n d r e d
t h o u s a n d w h o h u g s u p e r s t i t i o n t o t h e i r b r e a s t s .
I s a a c A s i m o v , w h e n a s k e d w h y h e f i g h t s r e l i g i o n w i t h n o h o p e f o r v i c t o r y