Atheist sues to have his child removed from Catholic school

A Catholic mother wants to send her son to Catholic school but the atheist father wants to send the son to public school because he doesn't want his child indoctrinated:

According to Kagin, when Ryan and his wife got divorced, a judge ordered their son continue attending a Catholic school.

[...]

Kagin said part of Kentucky’s constitution reads, "Nor shall any man be compelled to send his child to any school to which he may be conscientiously opposed."

Kagin said going by the law, the judge's decision should be easy, but he doesn't know how much the judge will consider Ryan’s son's wishes on the matter.

OK, so let me get this straight, if the father doesn't want the child sent to Catholic school, then the state should force the child to go to public school even though the mother wants him to go to Catholic school (and possibly the son wants to go). What is this? The constitution only protects the father's rights? Not the mother's rights? What about the part that says "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof?" The state doesn't have the right to stop her from sending her child to Catholic school. I think this case is in constitutional limbo :-)

BTW, the Friendly Atheist states that if the law is followed, this should be an open and shut case. Do atheists really believe that the father's rights supersede that of the child and the mother? Or is that only in the case where the mother is a Catholic and the father is an atheist?

Crosswalk.com hacked by atheist

On Sunday:

Instead of the largest Christian website in the world (2.5 million views a month; 200,000-plus subscribers), people who visited www.crosswalk.com this morning found a single, crudely designed static page featuring cheesy-looking burning crosses and a message from the hacker directed to “Christian sheep,” talking about how Christianity sucks and is nothing but lies believed by idiots and so on. The message was maybe 50 words long. (It was also about impossible to read, since, as the hacker/author readily admitted, English is not his first language. He’s from the great country of Finland.)

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Maybe Huckabee should run a Happy New Year ad next

So that he can keep everyone happy since he's getting knocked because he didn't wish the atheists a "Happy Holiday." Sheesh!

Satanists turn in youth who threatened to kill his grandparents

OK, this is what the atheists get for being funny or ironic or whatever. How was this kid to know that the Church of Satan was actually an atheist front? Their church is named after the "father of lies," a "murderer from the beginning" (John 8:44) and evil personified, how was the kid to know that they would turn him in for an action that would have been acceptable to the evil one?

A teenager was arrested after a leader of the Church of Satan turned over to the FBI an e-mail the high school student had written to the sect in which he threatened to kill his grandparents, authorities said.

Andrew Culver, 18, told police the e-mail detailing his intention to kill his grandparents and steal their money and car was a joke, said Bazetta Township Police Chief Charles Sayers.

According to police, Culver wrote he had access to an arsenal of weapons and wanted to "kill in the name of our unholy lord Satan."

[...]

Gilmore said members of his group are atheists who believe Satan is a symbol of freedom, not evil. "To the Satanist, he is his own God," reads a statement on the group's Web site from Gilmore.

If they only knew how right they are.

The Four Horsemen

Hmmmm...nothing says hubris like a dogmatic atheist (you know, the kind who want to take my kids away cause they think I'm abusing them by telling them about God). Does this sound like this:

Revelation 6:1 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, "Come!" 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer. 3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword. 5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!" 7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" 8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

No, they're not the conquerors, they're more like those who see others beset by great disasters and yet they still refuse to acknowledge God.

Rev 9:20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk

And those who ignore the warning in their own life when disasters come:

Rev 16:8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9 They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory. 10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish 11 and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.

Now, I have to decide if I want to sit through 2 hours of obsessive, bitter, Christian bashing and arrogant elitism. I'll let you know if I decide to waste my time.

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Update: Sorry to those atheists who have a live and let live attitude, I should have qualified the hubris comment and made sure that you know I didn't have you in mind. Whenever I mention atheists on this blog, you should realize that I'm generally not talking about you.

The religious right don't want atheists to see "The Golden Compass?"

That doesn't sound right, does it?

Take a Stand Against Censorship! Go see “The Golden Compass” at a movie theater near you.

Because the religious right doesn’t want you to see it. And some media commentators are saying that that’s reason enough.

Let's check for ourselves:

The Catholic League wants Christians to stay away from this movie precisely because it knows that the film is bait for the books: unsuspecting parents who take their children to see the movie may be impelled to buy the three books as a Christmas present. And no parent who wants to bring their children up in the faith will want any part of these books.

No, it doesn't look like they've mentioned the atheists. I wonder if free-thinking atheists will be dubbed into going to see a kids' movies because they were mislead.

I'm actually going to see it when my finals are done (I'm not into boycotts and my daughters would not read the trilogy), I'll be going alone since it's PG-13. I want to see if I can tell if it's anti-Christian. I'll tell you what I find out.

Atheist Sunday School

So, after going on and on about how Christians are indoctrinating their kids and not allowing them to think for themselves and forcing them to learn about God against their will (which they consider child abuse), the atheists have discovered the benefit of indoctrinating their children. Little Damian thinks that there might be something to the Christian God, better indoctrinate him in "free thinking" to inoculate him against any Bible-toting Christians.

But some nonbelievers are beginning to think they might need something for their children. "When you have kids," says Julie Willey, a design engineer, "you start to notice that your co-workers or friends have church groups to help teach their kids values and to be able to lean on." So every week, Willey, who was raised Buddhist and says she has never believed in God, and her husband pack their four kids into their blue minivan and head to the Humanist Community Center in Palo Alto, Calif., for atheist Sunday school.

[...]

The pioneering Palo Alto program began three years ago, and like-minded communities in Phoenix, Albuquerque, N.M., and Portland, Ore., plan to start similar classes next spring. The growing movement of institutions for kids in atheist families also includes Camp Quest, a group of sleep-away summer camps in five states plus Ontario, and the Carl Sagan Academy in Tampa, Fla., the country's first Humanism-influenced public charter school, which opened with 55 kids in the fall of 2005. Bri Kneisley, who sent her son Damian, 10, to Camp Quest Ohio this past summer, welcomes the sense of community these new choices offer him: "He's a child of atheist parents, and he's not the only one in the world."

Kneisley, 26, a graduate student at the University of Missouri, says she realized Damian needed to learn about secularism after a neighbor showed him the Bible. "Damian was quite certain this guy was right and was telling him this amazing truth that I had never shared," says Kneisley. In most ways a traditional sleep-away camp--her son loved canoeing--Camp Quest also taught Damian critical thinking, world religions and tales of famous freethinkers (an umbrella term for atheists, agnostics and other rationalists) like the black abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

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So, maybe you might think that a logically consistent atheist who said this:

The first question we must ask is whether there is such a thing as a Christian child, Muslim child, etc. I think that Dawkins is correct in answering that there is not. No child is born into the world with an established set of religious beliefs. These beliefs are acquired through a lengthy process of indoctrination. Thus, it is accurate to say that all children are born atheists because one cannot believe in something of which one has never heard. Of course, most children do not remain atheists for long, especially in America.

As the process of indoctrination unfolds, the child acquires religious beliefs. These beliefs are rarely questioned prior to adolescence - just as most parental messages are not seriously questioned during childhood. Throughout this pre-adolescent stage, we do not have Christian/Muslim/Jewish children but children of Christian, Muslim, or Jewish parents. This is a very important distinction.

Would come out strongly against this school. Isn't it child abuse to indoctrinate them in their parents' beliefs? I guess if they're atheists, not so much:

The children learn about secular values and how to deal with the god-delusional majority, receive support for their disbelief, have their secular values reinforced, and gain a sense of community from spending time with like-minded people. Intellectual curiosity and critical thinking are fostered.

I guess atheism is natural and religion is learned? Children are naturally atheistic and these parents are only reinforcing their atheism? Or are these children just following in their parents footsteps the way Christian children follow in their parents' (according to the atheist).

Is it child abuse to put a blindfold on a child so that he doesn't see God revealed in his creation and put earplugs in his ears so that he doesn't hear the sound of the voice of God speaking through his word? Is it child abuse to foster "free thinking" only until the child expresses thoughts of God? Freedom ends when the child mentions God and then it's off to Sunday school to learn "critical thinking skills."

I guess we're a lot more alike in our beliefs (and yeah, since you can't disprove God with science you take a leap of faith in stating that there is no God) than the atheists want to admit. A Christian could describe Sunday school in a very similar way:

The children learn about Christian values and how to love those who hate them for their belief in God, receive support for their belief, have their Christian values reinforced, and gain an understanding of the body of Christ by spending time with other Christians. Intellectual curiosity and critical thinking are fostered as we study the word of God and understand the maker of heaven and earth.

You can't force a child to believe in God and you can't force them not to. You can share your love of God with them but one day they'll leave and live out their own beliefs.

Thankfully we live in a country where I can teach my kids about God and not have them taken away from me. I hope that it remains that way for their kids.

So, what do you want us to do?

When I see something like this I wonder what people expect us to do? Stop believing what the Bible says so we don't hurt their feelings? The Bible's pretty clear:

2 Peter 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. 4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. 17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: "The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire."

I'm more hopeful, I hope those I love will become believers before they die so I don't think any of my friends and family are going to hell :-)

An Atheist Christmas Ornament

A flying spaghetti monster ornament. Um...where would they stick it? I can't see an atheist putting up a Christmas tree. Is it meant to be a slap in the face of a loved one? A ridicule of their celebration? Is it meant to be stuck on mom's tree? The wife's tree? And isn't $33 a steep price just to be snotty?

Great American God-Out!

I have been so busy with seminary that I almost forgot to post on the Great American God-Out! It's a day when we should live "as if there is no God." We would have to pretend wouldn't we? Isn't that what they are saying, "as if?"

THE GREAT AMERICAN GOD-OUT is a newly demarcated holiday wherein like "The Great American Smokeout"* individuals are encouraged to combine their supportive efforts to help prevent and cure disease. Even if just for one day--people will live as as if there is no god; people will live as if there only exists the goodness of self and others to sustain healthy living!

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Because we all know there is a God but one day of the year let's live "as if" there isn't one.

So, how will you be spending your day apart from God? I've already blown it because I acknowledged him when I work up this morning by thanking him for getting me up early and I thanked him for getting me to school early and during my prayer group time, I praised and thanked him and went to him in prayer. Plus, I listened to a lecture on his church during the time of Ambrose. And when I get home today, I have to prepare for a Bible study tomorrow on Revelation 22. So, I think my day is too saturated with thoughts of the Creator of the universe and his word to ignore his existence as the atheists would have us do.

But even if I had remembered, my heart wouldn't have been in it because I know that the God of the universe sustains us and if he ceased to exist, so would we.

Tags: Great American God-Out

In God We Trust can be on our dollars but not our license plate?

A Reasonable Atheist is upset over this license plate:

Because it mentions God:

Wait. In God We Trust? Um. So.. my tax dollars paid for this? How did this ever make it through into a law without somebody calling out for separation of church and state?

Tax dollars that looks like this?

No one is forcing anyone to buy the plate, there are plenty of other plates to choose from. The money is being used for a good cause:

Specialty license plate supporting senior citizens’ home-delivered meal program provided by Arkansas Senior Citizen’s Centers.

So why would anyone be upset over something that really doesn't effect them at all? It's obvious of course, atheists are theophobic and want God name removed from our public discourse.

Maybe Arkansas should make a plate like this for the atheists:

I wonder which one would be the biggest seller :-)

Tags: Arkansas license, senior citizens

Nothing says bah humbug....

Like this.

You know, atheists you are still acknowledging the holiday that we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of man, who was born in the humblest way possible. You can ridicule it but evidently, ya just can't ignore it because try as you might to annihilate him from your life, ya just can't do it. He is a part of our society and every time you write a check or check your calender it's there, the acknowledgment that his birth changed the world. Pretty good for a Jew who was born around 2,000 years ago in a stable.

And every year our federal government and most businesses take the day off to celebrate the day of his birth. Pretty good for a man who died an ignominious death.

Luke 2:8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. 10 And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

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But here you go atheists, a blast from the past to get you in the right mood for writing you atheist Christmas cards. (BTW, I'm one of the informed Reformed and know all about the banning of Christmas because of the pagan accouterments. I think I stand closer to the early church when they appropriated the pagan accouterments and used them in service to celebrate the birth of our Savior. This will make more sense after you've read Hitchens' rant about Christmas.)

Tags: atheist Christmas cards, holiday cards,

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue Plans Service to Pray for Rain

Uh-oh! The atheists are not going to like this at all! But I think it's a great idea. I've been praying for them ever since I read of the drought becoming so serve.

What to do when the rain won't come? If you're Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, you pray.

The governor will host a prayer service next week to ask for relief from the drought gripping the Southeast.

"The only solution is rain, and the only place we get that is from a higher power," Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said on Wednesday.

Perdue's office has sent out invitations to leaders from several faiths for the service, set for Tuesday.

Perdue has several times mentioned the need for prayer - along with water conservation - as the state's drought crisis has worsened. Over the summer, he participated in day of prayer for agriculture at a gathering of the Georgia Farm Bureau in Macon, Ga.

[...]

The prayer service will be held outside the state Capitol on Tuesday. Unless, of course, it rains.

Catholic League calls for a boycott of "The Golden Compass"

It's anti-God and anti-church. In fact, in the last book of the series God is killed and the people are happy because they can do whatever they want.

The film focuses on a young girl's journey to free children from an evil organization. Critics claim the evil organization is a thinly-disguised comparison for the Christian church.

"The Golden Compass" is based on a children's book of the same name by author Philip Pullman. However, some fear the message is anti-God.

[...]

Philip Pullman is a self-professed atheist. The author has gone on record saying his trilogy of books, called "His Dark Materials," promotes his lack of belief in God. He said it's his response to "The Chronicles of Narnia."

[...]

Leading the charge against Pullman's work is the Catholic League, which has called for a boycott of the movie because it believes "the film is bait for the books." The Catholic League said the movie has been watered down to fool parents into thinking it's safe to buy the books for their children.

When we saw the trailer for the movie we were looking forward to seeing it but I found out that it was anti-God and the makers of the movie were trying to downplay that aspect of the film. I was debating taking my daughters to the movie but not telling them about the underlying message unless it was blatantly obvious until my 15 year-old told me that she didn't want to see the movie because they kill God in the book (her grandma sent her an email alert about the film). She turned her sister against the movie and now neither of them want to see it. If I want to see it, I'll have to go by myself (which is a little pathetic, going to a children's movie by myself) or wait to the DVD comes out (she'll only watch it if we rent it from Redbox since it's only $1 -- she doesn't want them to profit from their anti-Christian movie). I would be interested to see if it was obvious that the movie is anti-Christian and what a message of the rejection of God looks like. I thought my daughters would benefit from engaging other points of view and I wanted to see how they would react to a challenge to their faith.

Yeah, I'm not afraid of the film or losing my faith and I'm not afraid that it will cause my kids to lose their faith (atheists, your view of the world is just not that convincing):

Terry McDonald is chairman of the Metroplex Atheists. McDonald is thrilled that there's finally a voice for his beliefs.

"The fear that they have seems to indicate a bit of insecurity about one book or one movie, and maybe that insecurity points to doubt about their own beliefs," said McDonald.

It's not insecurity or doubt, it's the desire to respect God and not participate in mocking him. Sarah was filled with righteous indignation, not fear :-)

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Spiritual Secrets

Manya Brachear of The Seeker posts some of the spiritual secrets from PostSecret. I'm not sure I buy this one:

"I’m an editor for a large online atheist newsletter--and I believe in God."

If it's true, I wonder if he/she doesn't want to give up his/her connections and income now that he/she no longer believes in atheism (and yeah, as much as you protest it, it is a belief system, that's why it's been categorized as a religion). I wonder how many Christians do the same thing.

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The New Atheist Symbol

It looks like a capital @. It would make an interesting necklace. If I were an atheist, I would wear it.

Atheist China Vows to Encourage Religion

Not buying it. China, one of the main persecutors of Christians, promises to make religious services available during the Olympic Games. Probably in one of their state run churches.

China has promised to offer religious services to foreigners at the 2008 Olympic Games and to have religion play a positive role in the future of the officially atheist country, the top religious affairs official said Wednesday.

A large number of religious athletes and tourists are expected at the Games and Beijing will “make sure” their religious needs are met, Ye Xiaowen, director-general of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, said to reporters at the ruling Communist Party’s 17th Congress, according to Reuters.

“Here I can promise that religious services we offer will not be lower than the level of any previous Games,” Ye said. He did not say, however, if China will allow proselytizing like other Olympic hosts.

Ye also urged the Vatican to establish diplomatic ties with China, where there are some 10 million Catholics either in state-approved churches or “underground” churches.

Catholics in state-approved church respect the Pope as a spiritual figurehead but do not recognize his authority as those in the “underground” church do.

Since 1949, China has not had diplomatic relations with the Vatican following the Communist revolution. There has been significant tension between the two powers because of differences on issues such as the authority to appoint bishops, the recognition of the pope, and the Vatican’s relationship with Taiwan.

[...]

Chinese religious affairs head Ye also dismissed accusations that China restricts the printing and sales of Bibles, saying the Bible is only distributed through [state-run] churches and not through bookshops.

They make them available in the state run churches because they want to control the distribution.

I just bet their parents forced them to preach

Child abuse, yeah that makes sense. Can't you just see the parents with the wooden spoon telling their kids, "Preach or we'll beat you black and blue and withhold dinner, too."

BTW, I'm not advocating kiddie preachers -- I believe that those who teach should be trained. I don't think Paul had them in mind when he said this:

1 Timothy 4:12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

The Freethought Radio Program on Air America

Too bad it's on Air America it wouldn't reach too many people. Did anyone listen to it this weekend? If you missed it, you can listen online here.

The liberal talk radio network Air America announced this week it will launch a nationwide show focusing on atheism. The first national show will feature Christopher Hitchens, author of "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything."

The Freethought Radio Program, hosted by the co-presidents of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, has been airing on Air America's Madison, Wis., affiliate since April 2006.

On Saturday, Oct. 6, the show will begin airing on 14 other affiliates from Palm Springs, Fla., to Eugene, Ore., and on XM Satellite radio.

[...]

Gaylor said the program "offers irreverent views, news, music and interviews," including a regular news feature called "Theocracy Alert."

Atheism Defined?

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BTW, the comments to this post are pretty funny. The atheists are objecting to the word "magically" but what other word fits for a belief that the world suddenly came into existence without the benefit of a Creator. I especially liked the comment by the guy who said that "Time, in mass quantities of course" was the answer. Um, how many years do you think it would take to create something from nothing?

Update: This seemed appropriate: