Atheists in the military

I found this article on CNN.com, an update on an earlier story I read (that I can't find now).

Some highlights:

Known as "the atheist guy," Hall has been called immoral, a devil worshipper and -- just as severe to some soldiers -- gay, none of which, he says, is true. Hall even drove fellow soldiers to church in Iraq and paused while they prayed before meals.

It is so typical of believers to hate and harass someone because of their non-belief. It doesn't even have to be religious believers, have you ever tried to have a conversation with a UFO nut or other conspiracy theorist? This guy has done nothing to these soldiers.

It eventually came out in Iraq in 2007, when he was in a firefight. Hall was a gunner on a Humvee, which took several bullets in its protective shield. Afterward, his commander asked whether he believed in God, Hall said.

"I said, 'No, but I believe in Plexiglas,' " Hall said. "I've never believed I was going to a happy place. You get one life. When I die, I'm worm food."

The issue came to a head when, according to Hall, a superior officer, Maj. Freddy J. Welborn, threatened to bring charges against him for trying to hold a meeting of atheists in Iraq. Welborn has denied Hall's allegations.

I love the line "I believe in plexiglass"! Awesome!

More on the Welborn thing from the NYTimes:

When Specialist Jeremy Hall held a meeting last July for atheists and freethinkers at Camp Speicher in Iraq, he was excited, he said, to see an officer attending.

But minutes into the talk, the officer, Maj. Freddy J. Welborn, began to berate Specialist Hall and another soldier about atheism, Specialist Hall wrote in a sworn statement. “People like you are not holding up the Constitution and are going against what the founding fathers, who were Christians, wanted for America!” Major Welborn said, according to the statement.

I'm really tired of the misconception that the founders were Christians. Really, seriously, seventh season of Survivor tired of it.

From CBS:

"I just don't have any belief in supernatural, any forces - deities, luck, fate, destiny - that's about it really. It's very simple."

And he says atheism has cost him. After he refused to join in a prayer, he says he was ostracized and passed over for promotion. He sued the Army for discrimination. Then he was threatened when word got out that he had filed a lawsuit.

"They had found out who I was," Hall said. "And I had about six to eight guys following me around in Qatar. And they were saying stuff like, 'atheist ass pirate,' 'faggot,' 'I'm gonna beat your ass.'"

Things got so bad the Army assigned him a full-time bodyguard.

Atheist ass pirate? Beat your ass? It would seem these religious soldiers have an ass fetish. I wonder why that is.

"I will take care of my soldiers. Nowhere does it say I have to pray with my soldiers, but I do have to make sure my soldiers' religious needs are met," he said.

"Religion brings comfort to a lot of people," he said. "Personally, I don't want it or need it. But I'm not going to get down on anybody else for it."

Hall leaves the Army in April 2009. He would like to find work with the National Park Service or Environmental Protection Agency, anything outdoors.

Hall is frighteningly reasonable about the whole thing, too bad the other side can't be as well.

I'm glad he's getting out. If I had any outdoor jobs to offer him (or any job at all for that matter), I certainly would.

Florida License Plates

So it would seem that the Florida legislature is considering offering a Christian license plate.

"This handout photo supplied by Craig Dobson from Faith in Teaching on Thursday April 17, 2008, shows a proposed specialty license plate. The Florida legislature is considering a specialty license plate design that would include a cross, a stained glass window and the words "I Believe". If approved it would be the first state to have a license plate featuring a religious symbol that it is not part of a college logo. (AP Photo/James Moore, Faith in Teaching,HO)"

According to the ACLU (via AP)

The problem with the state manufacturing the plate is that it "sends a message that Florida is essentially a Christian state" and, second, gives the "appearance that the state is endorsing a particular religious preference," said Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.

This is exactly right, but I wouldn't object if they are willing to provide license plates for people of all faiths, including a lack thereof. What do you think are the chances of that?

Bullard, the plate's sponsor, isn't sure all groups should be able to express their preference. If atheists came up with an "I Don't Believe" plate, for example, he would probably oppose it.

I'm guessing he would also be opposed to a license plate for Pastafarians and Jedi.

PZ Myers

In case you hadn't heard, PZ Myers was recently EXPELLED from a viewing of "Expelled", the creationist movie featuring Ben Stein. "Expelled" makes the claim that people are discriminated against and even losing their jobs because they are creationists. PZ, who is featured in the movie wrote about his expulsion in his excellent blog, Pharyngula:

They singled me out and evicted me, but they didn't notice my guest. They let him go in escorted by my wife and daughter. I guess they didn't recognize him. My guest was …

Richard Dawkins.

Dawkins writes about it too, as does Amused Muse (who was there), and Myers posts a follow up. Hysterical!

I could spend lots of time talking about this, but it's all over the place. Check out the episode of Skepticality where they interview Dawkins and Michael Shermer.

Sorry about all of the links, but this is worth following.

Michigan and Florida

As the people in Florida and Michigan flail about whining and moaning about being disenfranchised, let me point a few things out.

As a US citizen, you have no right to vote in a party primary. In some states the state party officials may decide it is an open primary, and in some states it may be a closed primary. But ultimately, it is up to the party to decide how they will choose their candidate and they lay out a system of rules so everyone knows how it will be done.

Now we are faced with two states that broke the rules and they want to either have the votes counted or to have a redo. Personally I think they lost their vote when they broke the rules. If they have been disenfranchized, and I would argue they have not, then they have been disenfranchised by their state officials and not by the Democratic National Committee. The DNC is simply enforcing the rules that everyone agreed to before the whole thing got started, and if they cave in now they will not be able to enforce any rules in the future.

I say no redo. But you know, if they want to have a re-vote fine, that's not my decision. The DNC should not pay one penny for it, because this is a situation created entirely by state officials. Make the states pay, and if the states choose to pass the costs on to the taxpayer then citizens should be doubly pissed, first for not getting their votes counted originally and second for having to pay for another election. Let the Florida Democrats pay for it, or even better, make the Governor's pay out of their own pockets since they are the ones who created this situation by signing the bills in the first place. If the DNC pays for it, the message that is sent is that the states can do whatever they want and in the end the DNC will clean up the mess. That's totally unacceptable.

But even if you have a redo and get the delegates seated at the convention, the super delegates from Florida and Michigan should get no vote. As party officials and the people in power, they had the ability to stop this craziness before it even started. They could have stopped the bills from getting passed in the first place, but they did nothing. This falls at their feet.

So while an argument can be made that the people of FL and MI should have their voices heard by a re-vote, the super delegates forfeited that right through their inaction. They allowed this to happen, they should be held accountable.

Spitzer

I keep hearing all of these pundits talk about Spitzer, calling him a "dirty politician". How ridiculous. If it turns out he used government funds for his affair with the prostitute then yes, that is dirty. If not, then he is not dirty. Well, maybe he's "dirty" in the kinky sexual sense, but not in the political sense.

Oh, but what about his wife and his family? That's not really any of our business. Maybe his wife doesn't care, as long as he is safe and comes home to her. We have no idea, nor should we, it is a private matter.

As far as legally, what did he do wrong? Oh I know, he broke the law, but isn't it time we examined these laws to see if they even make sense? Why is prostitution illegal? Who is the victim?

Yes yes, I know, the women are exploited. I don't think anyone would argue that the prostitutes working the trash-strewn corners of the inner city so they can buy rock are not being exploited, but that is hardly what we are talking about. Do you think the women working the ranches outside of Vegas feel exploited? That is what legalized prostitution gets you, liberated women who can choose a vocation and make good money "doing it". It is safer for the men, the women, and society.

Oh yeah, let's not forget that he is a hypocrite for cracking down on prostitution and he has betrayed the trust of the people who elected for him. His job was to crack down on prostitution and corruption, and by all accounts he did an excellent job. Perhaps he disagrees with the law and thinks that prostitution should be legal, we don't know, but he did his job and did it well.

What he did with his private time is private, and I for one do not give a crap if he was poking multiple consulting adults while his wife watched.

Texas and Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island

The recent results in the recent primaries (and caucus) were interesting on a number of fronts. It would seem that the Clinton campaign's tactic of throwing everything at Obama to see what sticks has been effective to some extent, and I have to say I am disappointed. Disappointed because they fail to attack on anything of substance, but distort and misstate, mislead and misrepresent.

The Obama campaign on the other hand, seems to take the high road. They play some defense, responding to the attacks of the Clinton campaign, but raise valid questions about her foreign experience among other things.

Personally, I am disgusted by the attacks of the Clinton campaign and her mocking tone when speaking of dreams. Her speech in Rhode Island epitomized this attitude, when she said

Now I could stand up here and say, 'Let's get everybody together, let's get unified, the sky will open, the light will come down, celestial choirs will be singing.' And everyone will know we should do the right thing, and the world will be perfect.

Apparently, she is so out of touch with reality that she has missed that the American people need that sense of hope. That this country was built by dreamers who dared to imagine a better life for them and their families, and who did whatever they could to achieve their goals.

She has apparently forgotten that if you do not dream great things, you can not achieve great things.

I don't want a President who has such a negative view of things. We can work to make our country a better place while maintaining a firm grip on reality. Working together we can change things. We don't want things done for us, we want to participate. We want to contribute, to give back to our country, and Obama has tapped in to this reservoir of energy in the American people. With him leading, we are ready.

Me

I am an atheist, I make no apologies for this.

If you think I am mistaken regarding the existance of any particular god, feel free to make your case. But the concept of some supreme being watching over us to see what we do, a being that punishes us if we don't do the "right thing", a being for which there is simply no evidence, is absurd.

I'll write more about my feelings on a variety of subjects, mostly religion and politics, but here is something to think about: religion is un-American.