Blasphemy Rights Day

This is a picture of Muhammad wearing a bear costume, from the cartoon South Park. This episode garnered death threats from radical Islamic groups. Why should someone be threatened with murder for drawing a picture? Any picture?

Discrimination

Polls show that the least trusted group in the United States are atheists. Want statistical evidence? I've got that.

First, there's the study from Minnesota:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1786422&page=1

http://atheism.about.com/od/atheistbigotryprejudice/a/AtheitsHated.htm

And then there are statistics on public attitudes about atheists in general: http://atheism.about.com/od/atheistbigotryprejudice/a/AtheistSurveys.htm

Christians constitute a full 81% of the country (and are, therefore, a very large majority). The largest group of Christians, according to Pew, are the evangelicals, comprising 26.3% of the American religious public (to be compared with the roughly 2% who are atheists, based on most estimates.)

I found this comical little quote from Pat Robertson:

And, despite being a member of the 2% who are atheists and belonging to one of the most hated groups in the United States, I feel bad for all the Christians that we liberals have whisked off to death camps. I mean, we really shouldn't be exterminating the Christians en masse.

Wait....... what the....???

An Atheist Goes to a Cru Meeting

Last Thursday (September 15th, 2011), I attended my first Cru meeting. For those not in the know, Cru is what was formerly known as "Campus Crusade for Christ". They're an interdenominational, conservative Evangelical, youth ministry that operates on many college campuses across the country. To their credit, they're actually one of the largest Christian organizations in the US. Being a Northern bred, scientifically minded, atheistic liberal, I fully expected to witness an entirely different culture -- and therefore was looking forward to the experience with excitement and anticipation.

Obligatory 9/11 Post

On this day, 10 years after the attack on the twin towers, there are a few things that are worth keeping in mind. First and foremost, is that those who suffered personal losses that day have my passionate sympathies. I didn't lose anyone that day, and would not be so arrogant to think that whatever feelings I have about it are even within an inch of the agony of those who did lose someone. Nonetheless, they have my sincere sympathies. If I were religious, I would be praying for them.