The Gaytheist Agenda

Considering most of us have presidential primaries coming up:

Courtesy of First Freedom 1st

When I was in the 5th grade I recall getting out of school one day and encountering a Gideons representative handing out lime-green New Testaments on the sidewalk. Flash forward more years than I care to count and Gideons International is still giving miniature Bibles to 5th graders. Of course they’re well within their 1st Amendment right to do so provided they’re doing so on public property. However that wasn’t the case in the South Iron School District of Missouri.

For more than three decades, the South Iron School District in Annapolis, 120 miles southwest of St. Louis in the heart of the Bible Belt, allowed representatives of Gideons International to give away Bibles in fifth-grade classrooms.
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The district altered its policy, saying the Gideons and others were still welcome to distribute Bibles or other literature before or after school or during lunch break, but not in classrooms.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry ruled both practices were illegal and granted a permanent injunction.

The purpose of both practices “is the promotion of Christianity by distributing Bibles to elementary school students,” Perry wrote. “The policy has the principle or primary effect of advancing religion by conveying a message of endorsement to elementary school children.”

Mathew Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, a Florida-based law group that represented the school district, said he would appeal.

“I think the current policy creates an open forum that allows secular as well as religious persons or groups to access the forum to distribute information,” Staver said. “The court has clearly misread the First Amendment and the cases regarding free speech.”

Technically the policy allows secular and other religious groups to access the forum to distribute information. We’ve seen before where that goes.

Some teachers in the Albemarle School District in Virginia are rebelling against their managers’ orders to hand out to students as young as kindergarten a promotion for a summer camp that advocates for “Atheists, Freethinkers, Humanists, Brights, or whatever…”

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It was the same school district that WND earlier reported was distributing publicity about a “Pagan Christmas ritual” being held in the community.

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The earlier advertisement was from a group called NatureSpirit from the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church, a Unitarian Universalist congregation that also teaches “Exploring Islam,” “Women Weaving Wisdom,” “Discovering the Healing Power of Dreams” and other religious subjects.

Yes, they want religion promoted–but only their religion. If they get the tiniest whiff of any other religion (or freethinking) being promoted all hell breaks loose.

Kudos to District Judge Catherine Perry. Let Gideons International hand out their little Bibles in church or on the streets. Children shouldn’t be indoctrinated on the taxpayer dime.

PEKIN, Ill. - A woman accused of killing her autistic daughter testified Friday that she attempted to suffocate the 3-year-old with a pillow three days before she succeeded with a plastic garbage bag.

Karen McCarron said she couldn’t go through with it using the pillow. When prosecutor Kevin Johnson asked her how long she held the bag over the toddler’s head soon after, she replied about two minutes — until little Katie stopped struggling.

In a videotaped confession played in court Thursday, McCarron said she began having thoughts of hurting her daughter a year before the May 2006 slaying but put them out of her mind. On the day of the killing, though, the thoughts were stronger than ever.

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McCarron, a former pathologist, testified she felt responsible for Katie’s autism because she allowed the child to get vaccinated. Some people believe autism is caused by a mercury-containing preservative once used in childhood vaccines.

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Karen McCarron said she killed her child hoping to “fix her” and give her peace in heaven.

“Maybe I could fix her this way, and in heaven she would be complete,” she said on the tape.

Karen McCarron said on the videotape that she took her daughter’s body back to her own house and put her in bed. She then went to the store, bought ice cream and returned to her mother’s home to get the garbage bag because, “if things get bad, their house would be searched.”

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McCarron told police she felt like a failure because of the child’s autism and was sad and hurt because the child couldn’t interact with her very well.

“I loved Katie very much, but I hated the autism so, so much,” McCarron said. “I hated what it was doing to her. … I just wanted autism out of my life.”

As if that’s not enough:

Karen McCarron wished her autistic daughter was dead, said she’d rather have a child with cancer and even refused to call the girl by name before killing her, McCarron’s mother in-law testified Wednesday.

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Witnesses have said she constantly criticized her daughter’s progress and the team of family members, therapists, teachers and care providers hired to help her.

They said the topic of every conversation with her revolved around curing Katie’s autism. Negativity and hatefulness were ceaseless when she discussed the child, who they say she never hugged, kissed or praised after she was diagnosed with autism.

“She looked at Katie as a problem, and she got rid of her problem,” Jennifer McCarron testified. “There’s nothing more to it than that.”

This is disturbing to me on so many levels.

Antivaccine nuttery helped lead a mother to feel guilt for her child’s autism. Religion helped pepetuate the nonsense that Katie would be “perfected” and “better off” in heaven.

Nonetheless Karen McCarron acted on her own. Whether she had/has a mental illness she cruelly murdered her three-year-old daughter with premeditation and took pains to both move the body and hide the evidence. Whatever societal influences and health conditions played a role, she must face the penalties for her actions. Katie already has paid the ultimate price.

A proposal in St. Charles MO would ban swearing, table-dancing, profane music and drinking contests in bars.

Buy Print Here

City officials contend the bill is needed to keep rowdy crowds under control because the historic downtown area gets a little too lively on some nights.

City Councilman Richard Veit said he was prompted to propose the bill after complaints about bad bar behavior. He says it will give police some rules to enforce when things get too rowdy.

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A meeting to discuss the proposal is set for Jan. 14.

Hey, I’ve got a better idea. Why not close down the bars altogether and send everybody to church instead? There won’t be any worry about things getting “too lively” then.

Aye caramba.

Cross-posted from Lavender Newswire

But when they’re perpetuated by our so-called supporters I get completely frustrated. PlanetOut now presents us with A Car for Every Gay Stage. This, ostensibly, is supposed to suggest vehicles for GLBT people to buy at each juncture of their age and/or relationship status. So I took a look at the article.

Those who are “Young, single and on the prowl” are offered the 2008 Volvo C30 (Base price $23K ) and 2007 Jeep Wrangler (Base price $22K). Couples move up to the ‘08 Cadillac CTS($31K and up) and Lincoln MKX ($35K+). If you’re Partnered for Life you might want the Mercedes-Benz GL ($53775-$77750 ) or the Buick Enclave ($32K and up). Finally for The Golden Years you can retire in style with an Audi S5/A5 ($39K+) or a Lexus LS 600h L which “starts at a mere $104,000″.

Wake up, PlanetOut! The L-Word, Will & Grace and Queer as Folk are TV shows. We don’t all have six-figure jobs, live in expensive Manhattan (or L.A.) apartments and wear designer clothes. Many (if not most) of us work at blue-collar jobs, struggle to pay the bills and live in everyday neighborhoods. We’d appreciate car recommendations that recognize the fact that not all of us (or even many of us) can afford the most expensive cars in America. We would also like GLBT publications to not perpetuate RW stereotypes. Is that too much to ask?

Dawn Sherman is only 14-years-old but she’s working to overturn her state’s new Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act in court.

“My rights were being affected because, first of all, the teacher is being made to stop teaching, and I’m being [made] an audience to something that is heavily suggestive in the direction of prayer because of the title of the act. It’s called the student prayer and silent reflection act,” she says.

On Nov. 14, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman issued a preliminary injunction barring Arlington Heights-based Township High School District 214 from observing the moment of silence, calling the law too vague and “likely unconstitutional.”

Likely unconstitutional? There’s no likely about it. Anything called the Student prayer and silent reflection act is unconstitutional on its face. Religion does not belong in public schools.

“This was never about trying to require prayer in the schools,” Rep. Will Davis (D-Homewood) has said in published comments. “This is a way for teachers and students to [start] their day off in the right way.”

I have a few questions at this point:

1. If this was never about trying to require prayer then why is the word “prayer” included in the act?
2. What is the “right” way for students and teachers to start off their day?
3. If so-called “moments of silence” aren’t meant to be used for prayer then why is it that advocates for prayer in school are the ones who stomp and scream loudest when anybody tries to have them put to an end?

Regardless of the ultimate outcome of this case, I offer a round of applause for Dawn Sherman.

Stephen Baldwin, the far-less talented brother of Alec Baldwin , is memorable for movies like Bio-Dome and Threesome. Or maybe not.

In recent years Baldwin became a Born-Again-Christian. He apparently was inspired to do so following the conversion of his wife, Kennya.
 

After Baldwin and his wife moved back to New York, Kennya started attending a charismatic church, praying and reading the Bible twice a day. He noticed a change in her that he found inspiring.

“She became more gentle, she became less judgmental, she just changed,” he said.

Now I’ve read about this before. People say they decide to follow in the path of others who have become Christians because they see how becoming Christian “changed” the other person by makng them calmer, happier, nicer, etc. So why is it that after they convert they are something akin to Jake Busey in Contact?

Needless to say, Stephen has become quite a different person. Where he once acted in movies that contained nudity and sex scenes, he has reportedly begun crusading against them. Most recently he announced his endorsement of Mike Huckabee for president and disapproval of same-sex marriage.

I don’t believe that gay marriage is in line with God’s Word, which is found in the Bible. So, what I think doesn’t matter; what I believe is what’s in the Bible and the Bible says that gay marriage is not acceptable.

Says Bill Browning of The Bilerico Project:

So again, it’s okay to show nudity in his own movies, but he has to protest movies with nudity that have more of a plot than “Bio-Dome”. (Remember that one? With Pauly Shore? You know it’s good if Pauly Shore is your co-star!) It’s okay to rub another man’s hand all over your naked ass as long as you don’t, you know, want to marry him.

Then again, he converted after 9/11. Seriously. I’m surprised he’s not backing Guilliani since that candidate’s stump speech consists of a noun, a verb, and “9/11.” So maybe it used to be okay to mess with guys and girls and let your ass hang out for all to see, but if you do it now, the terrorists win.

I’ve had it with these nitwits who sow their wild oats, find Jebus, then become the Morality Police for the rest of America (“Dr. Laura” Schlessinger, anybody?). Religion should be a guide for one’s personal path, not a weapon to wield over others. But the “Christian Nation” types can’t seem to distinguish the difference.

I discovered via Pam’s House Blend that the psycho-spiritual terrorist group Exodus International is on a crusade to recruit 10,000 churches to their army.

Prominent ‘Ex-Gay’ organization Exodus International has set up an outreach network for people “struggling with same-sex attractions,” Family News in Focus reports.

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The plan includes a liaison in each participating branch. “The vision,” says Thomas, “is that there would be churches that people struggling with same-sex attraction could go to where they could learn how to be Disciples of Christ.”

“Struggling” with same-sex attractions, eh? Funny how nobody is ever described as “struggling” with opposite-sex attractions. But then maybe that’s because straight people don’t experience a full-frontal assault on their right to be with who they love, to have equal protections under the law, to be considered Christian (for those who believe) and even on their very value as human beings.

According to Pam:

They’re off to a chugging start as Exodus has managed to sign on a mere 70 churches to build its 10,000-institution pray-away-the-gay network.

70 down, 9,930 to go. While I fervently hope there aren’t that many hate-filled churches in America, I’ve been let down many times before. The hate and lies of the RRRW have oft proven stronger than the truth and love of the left. But ultimately only time will tell.

Comic courtesy of Cetic,

Anti-vaccine woos will likely not be convinced by yet another piece of evidence via Science Daily that mercury does not cause autism. This one comes from The Golden State:

Autism cases continued to increase in California after the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal was eliminated from most childhood vaccines, according to a new report.This suggests that exposure to thimerosal is not a primary cause of autism.

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“Young children receive immunizations in the period preceding the typical manifestations or diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders,” the authors write. “Increased exposure to thimerosal, a preservative that contains 49.6 percent ethylmercury by weight, has been postulated to have contributed to the upswing in reported cases of autism spectrum disorders.” Thimerosal was eliminated from most vaccines by 2001. A 2004 report by the Institute of Medicine cited the lack of data supporting thimerosal as a cause of autism, but recommended that trends in autism diagnoses be observed as exposure to thimerosal decreased.

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“The estimated prevalence of autism for children at each year of age from 3 to 12 years increased throughout the study period,” the authors write. Per 1,000 children born in 1993, 0.3 had autism at age 3, compared with 1.3 per 1,000 births in 2003. The highest estimated prevalence–4.5 cases per 1,000 births–was reached in 2006 for children born in 2000. “Although insufficient time has passed to calculate the prevalence of autism for children 6 years and older born after 2000, the prevalence at ages 3 to 5 years has increased monotonically for each birth year since 1999, during which period exposure to thimerosal has been reduced,” they continue.

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“Parents of autistic children should be reassured that autism in their child did not occur through immunizations,” Dr. Fombonne concludes. “Their autistic children, and their siblings, should be normally vaccinated, and as there is no evidence of mercury poisoning in autism, they should avoid ineffective and dangerous ‘treatments’ such as chelation therapy for their children.”

The question is, will the antivax crowd continue to ignore the facts or will they search for a new scapegoat? If they’re anything like the RRRW it could be either–or both.

Anybody who follows newspapers, Internet message-boards or Blogs is likely familiar with the recent trend among pharmacists to refuse to dispense birth control pills and emergency contraception to customers. They do so claiming (wrongly) that said medications are abortifascients and therefore violate their religious beliefs as pro-life Christians. Some chain stores such as Wal-Mart have refused to stock oral contraceptives and EC altogether. South Dakota permits pharmacists to refuse to dispense any medication if there is reason to believe it would be used to “destroy an unborn child”. That gives the pharmacist a great deal of latitude in determining what s/he believes a pregnant (or potentially pregnant) woman should take, and allows him/her to pass judgement on the intentions of the customer as well.

Naturally this trend spiraled once the grandstanding moralists began to feel their power. We now had to contend with physicians who refused to prescribe birth control, Muslim cab drivers who would not transport passengers who were carrying alcohol, and cashiers who wouldn’t scan pork products.

In an interesting turn of events an atheist in Lebanon, ME, is suing Wal-Mart claiming he was wrongfully fired last month for refusing to wear a Santa costume.

(Christopher) Nolan, 27, had worked at Wal-Mart for three years, most recently as a bicycle assembler.

n his complaint, Nolan said he thought it was a joke when he was asked Dec. 8 to fill in as the store Santa Claus at the Main Street Wal-Mart. He said his co-workers were laughing.

Nolan, who described himself as an atheist who doesn’t believe in Christmas, said he laughed as well and then declined. “I said, ‘Uh, no way,’ ” he said in an interview last month.

Nolan said he was surprised when his supervisor called him later to say that Nolan had an hour to change his mind. When Nolan again refused to don the Santa suit, he said, his boss brought him into his office and told him he was fired.

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Nolan’s lawyer, Chad Hansen of the firm Peter Thompson & Associates of Portland, said he sent the complaint to the Maine Human Rights Commission on Monday.

Under Maine law, people alleging discrimination must file a complaint with the commission before filing a lawsuit.

The commission will assign an investigator to look into Nolan’s allegation. The investigator will issue a report for the full commission, which will then vote rule on whether there are reasonable grounds to conclude that Nolan was discriminated against. It can take up to two years for the commission to decide if Nolan’s rights were violated.

So here is an atheist who refused to perform a requested job claiming it violated his lack of belief. That in and of itself is a unique twist.

This is also somewhat different than the above cited cases in that playing Santa wasn’t part of his routine duties. It may fall under the “other duties as assigned by a supervisor” clause that so often is tossed into wage-slaves’ job descriptions. But nonetheless it wasn’t one of his distinct job functions in the way that dispensing prescribed medications is for a pharmacist, scanning groceries is for a cashier, or transporting passengers is for a cab driver. Accordingly I can grant Mr. Nolan a bit more leeway in his situation than the others.

It will be worth watching the case to see how it works out, particularly considering the inherent bias against atheists in America.