Give Me Jesus On the Line

November 27, 2013 Brianne BilyeuPublic Prayer Booths, Separation of Church and State, Topeka Kansas723 Comments

This post has been deleted by the author because the author is a dumbass and fell prey to a satire piece. While the author is relieved that said piece was, in fact, satire, she’s getting pretty fucking tired of all these damned satire pieces that show up in her facebook and twitter feeds, that she wastes her time reading them, and then has to go back to see if they’re fiction or verified news (she’s looking at you CNN) and whether it’s worth getting her panties in a bundle over them.

Also, she’s depressed that her culture is so effed up that a piece of satire was believable, even though it was unbelievable.

But she does accept that it was her own damned fault for getting all bent out of shape and rageblogging about something before checking to see if it was real or not.

She apologies for any inconvenience.

Also, thanks to commenter Tsu Dho Nimh for letting her know that the offending piece was satire so that the author could remove her pointless rant before spreading this nonsense any further.

And now the author is pissed that Manhattan Transfer’s “Operator” is stuck in her head for no good reason.

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Ohio Holocaust Memorial Controversy

July 29, 2013 Brianne BilyeuCamels With Hammers, Dan Fincke, FFRF, Hemant Mehta, Ohio Holocaust Memorial, Separation of Church and State, The Friendly Atheist3,016 Comments

So this exploded on Friday:

Image shows a Facebook status update by Dan Fincke: “This seriously does not strike me as something that should be a priority for the FFRF. Opposing a star of David in a Holocaust memorial. I mean, really??” A link to the story he’s referencing by Fox News is attached as this link.

This first post by Dan has generated 144 comments as of Sunday afternoon. It has also inspired at least eight more FB posts from Dan, three full blog posts over at his website, Camels With Hammers, and numerous responses and writings on the issue from all over the internet (including this one).

Continue reading “Ohio Holocaust Memorial Controversy” →

Churchy Signs – What're you thinkin' fer?

February 20, 2013 Brianne BilyeuChurch Signs, Louise Kellar, Separation of Church and State514 Comments

Louise has a couple more signs from our favorite church in Indianapolis, Indiana:

Sign reads: “THE DESPISED OF EVERY AGE OF HISTORY HAVE BEEN CALLED CHRISTIANS”

HALP! Our ability to do whatever we want in the name of Jesus is under attack!

That’s what they’re talking about. Christians aren’t despised in the United States, and certainly not in Indianapolis! Christians are the majority and Christian privilege is the norm in many parts of this country. There are places in the world where Christians are systematically persecuted – historically and in these modern times – but here and now ain’t one of them. Signs like this are a fear-based rallying call to Christians who feel that their “way of life” is threatened when we hold the government accountable for observing the separation of church and state.

Sign reads: “RATHER THAN REASONING GOD’S WORK, JUST TRY OBEYING IT”.

Critical thinking – who needs it? Certainly not God’s sons and daughters – just listen to your sky daddy! Okay…so sky daddy hasn’t actually said anything, but the priests and preachers are happy to interpret God’s words for you! And they never get it wrong or have personal biases or anything. Just listen to sky daddy’s representatives here on Earth and it will ALL. BE. OKAY.

Churchy Signs – What’re you thinkin’ fer?

February 20, 2013 Brianne BilyeuChurch Signs, Louise Kellar, Separation of Church and State575 Comments

Louise has a couple more signs from our favorite church in Indianapolis, Indiana:

Sign reads: “THE DESPISED OF EVERY AGE OF HISTORY HAVE BEEN CALLED CHRISTIANS”

HALP! Our ability to do whatever we want in the name of Jesus is under attack!

Sign reads: “RATHER THAN REASONING GOD’S WORK, JUST TRY OBEYING IT”.

6 O’Clock BS: Praying on the Street

June 27, 2012 Brianne BilyeuAtheism & Freethought, Minneapolis, People, Separation of Church and State, Street Preachers548 Comments

Last Thursday night I was approached on the street by four puppy-eager teens. I was getting off of my motorcycle and heading to the 19 Club, a gay bar one block off of Nicollet Avenue and a few blocks from downtown Minneapolis. The four kids were all clean-cut and smiling kindly. One of the girls stepped forward and asked me if they knew of anybody or anything that they could pray for, and if I’d like to pray with them. I asked them to pray for the wall of church-state separation, because it has been weak as of late and it needs all the strength they could lend to it. They looked bemusified as I walked away.

6 O'Clock BS: Praying on the Street

June 27, 2012 Brianne BilyeuAtheism & Freethought, Minneapolis, People, Separation of Church and State, Street Preachers1,195 Comments

Minnesota Atheists at the Stand Up For Religious Freedom Rally

June 10, 2012 Brianne BilyeuMinnesota Atheists, Separation of Church and State, SSA Blogathon, SSA Week365 Comments

On Friday a group of Minnesota Atheists gathered at the Federal Courthouse to counter-protest the ineptly named Stand Up For Religious Freedom Rally. Don’t let the name fool you; it’s run by pro-life groups who want get the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) repealed. Simple as that. No fancy wording needed. They’re calling it the “Stand Up For Religious Freedom Rally”, but what they should really call it is the “We Demand That You Let Us Impose Our Religious Views on You” Rally.

Here’s part of why the MN Atheists were there. From our meetup.com announcement for the event:

This rally is to support the First Amendment and the restrictions placed on our government from using religious dogma as a basis for any U.S. law, including religious exemptions to the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

The First Amendment is currently under attack by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church and other conservative religious groups that are seeking to redefine the concept of religious liberty to guarantee them religious privilege and freedom from accountability.

Religious freedom does not include the right to interfere with the rights of others. Religious institutions have the right to participate in our society on the same basis as all other institutions. They do not have the right to dictate the rules in which they get to participate.

To reinterpret the First Amendment to grant privileges and exemptions to large religious institutions would mean the depriving of the exercise of personal religious conscience by individuals who do not share the religious dogmas of those institutions but who nonetheless are employed by or use the services provided by those institutions.

I was able to chat about the event with Chris Pederson via Facebook today. She gave me permission to use some of her photos here on the blog.

Chris said that most protesters were wearing buttons for the MN Catholic anti-gay marriage group and that they were also using the opportunity to passing out stickers in support of the voter ID laws.

She reported that the mood was very confrontational and that her interactions – mostly with men – were hostile. One older woman tried to rip Chris’s sign out of her hand as she tried to join the MN Atheists group. There was a lot of talk about sex being sinful and a moral issue. To this Chris said “What an awful way to think about your body and sex.”

I wasn’t able to be at the counter-protest. Thank you to everyone who was able to be there.

This is post 44 of 49 in the SSAweek Biodork Blogathon. Donate to the SSA today! Read more about my reader challenges here.

Dinkus of the Day: Pastor Charles Worley

May 25, 2012 Brianne BilyeuGLBTA, Intolerance, Pastor Charles Worley, Providence Road Baptist Church, Separation of Church and State649 Comments

For your viewing displeasure – two minutes of bigotry.

I’m again’ this video.

“Build a great big large fence… put all the lesbians in there… Do the same thing for the queers and the homosexuals and have that fence electrified so they can’t get out…”

“…And you know what, in a few years, they’ll die out… Do you know why? They can’t reproduce.”

*clears throat, raises hand*

Continue reading “Dinkus of the Day: Pastor Charles Worley” →

Reader Question: Same Sex Marriage

February 26, 2012 Brianne BilyeuGay Marriage, GLBTQA, Reader Question, Separation of Church and State762 Comments

I received this email from a reader:

Here in Minnesota, people will be voting on an amendment to ban same-sex marriage in November. Considering the fact that most voters are religious, isn’t voting on how other people have sex, or who other people can marry, an instance of forcing people to obey religious tenets that they don’t believe in?

What are your thoughts on this?

Continue reading “Reader Question: Same Sex Marriage” →

Sean Faircloth: Attack of the Theocrats

January 17, 2012 Brianne BilyeuAtheism & Freethought, Atheists Talk Radio, Attack of the Theocrats, Politics, Sean Faircloth, Separation of Church and State923 Comments

Atheists Talk radio show is interviewing politician and church-state separation activist Sean Faircloth this upcoming Sunday, January 22nd. Starting in 2009 Sean Faircloth was the Executive Director of the Secular Coalition of America, and in 2011 he became the Director of Strategy and Policy for the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science.

I’m hosting Atheists Talk this weekend, so in preparation and interest I have started reading his newest book, Attack of the Theocrats, and watching videos of his speeches. I think I’m going to connect with his message that secular activists need to focus first on the real human harm that results from religious privilege, and not get lost in symbolic battles that stoke theistic ire and strengthen resistance to secular activism.

From Attack of the Theocrats:

…the secular movement suffers from a noble flaw. Secular people tend to have an almost religious faith in statistics and dry arguments and abstractions as the proper method by which to carry the day. This has made it difficult to connect with the broader American public, particularly when many of our battles emphasize symbols – and not the numerous religious laws that harm real people.

Secular Americans remain a sleeping giant, a huge demographic that has thus far failed to flex its own muscle, much less galvanize the general population. We ignore people suffering under religious privilege while shaking our fist at a slapped-together manger with a plastic baby Jesus in the town square at Christmas time. While symbols are meaningful and these particular symbols on public grounds do violate Madison’s Constitution, Secular Americans must do better to reach all Americans. We must explain the human story – the human harm and the outright abuse of our tax dollars that result from religious privileging in law.

In the video below Mr. Faircloth outlines for the audience a few of the cases from Attack of the Theocrats, and lists his proposals for how secular activists can direct our efforts to focus on religious privilege that is enshrined in laws, and which are causing real human harm and waste of tax dollars.

Video first seen at RDF.

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