Church State Separation

No You Can’t Refuse Service

Brianne Bilyeu, 1,079 Comments

Hey everybodyyyyyy!

I was jumping online to do a blog post about this convention that I’m attending this weekend, but it has to wait because I have to tell you about This Other Thing That Is Really Awesome!

H/T to Niki for pointing me in the direction of Michael Stone’s article Appeals Court Rules Pharmacies Cannot Cite Religion To Deny Medication

In Washington state it is no longer legal for pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception based on the justification that to do so would violate their deeply held religious belief that slutty women should literally bear the consequences of their sluttiness. Well, a clarification: These pharmacists can refuse to fill prescriptions… as long as they are on duty with a coworker who acknowledges that women are sentient life forms capable of making medical decisions about their own bodies, and who will fill the prescriptions.

This is huge! Not just for reproductive rights, but for putting a slight damper on the creep (tidal wave) of religion into public life and government.

Stone cites a statement by The Washington, D.C.-based Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty: “The government has no business punishing citizens solely because of their religious beliefs.”

No. If you refuse to provide professional assistance to someone because they don’t share your political beliefs, then you are the one who is doing the punishing.

And thanks to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this kind of petty-minded punishment is not going to be tolerated. Pharmacists no longer get to decide that they know better than the doctors who prescribe emergency contraception and the people who are choosing to take it. They no longer get to use their professional status as an opportunity to prostelytize and pass moral judgments that have very real consequences to their clients. They no longer get to be the gatekeepers of this type of medical care.

You know, at least in Washington state.

No You Can’t Refuse Service
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No You Can't Refuse Service

Brianne Bilyeu, 2,505 Comments

Hey everybodyyyyyy!

I was jumping online to do a blog post about this convention that I’m attending this weekend, but it has to wait because I have to tell you about This Other Thing That Is Really Awesome!

H/T to Niki for pointing me in the direction of Michael Stone’s article Appeals Court Rules Pharmacies Cannot Cite Religion To Deny Medication

In Washington state it is no longer legal for pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception based on the justification that to do so would violate their deeply held religious belief that slutty women should literally bear the consequences of their sluttiness. Well, a clarification: These pharmacists can refuse to fill prescriptions… as long as they are on duty with a coworker who acknowledges that women are sentient life forms capable of making medical decisions about their own bodies, and who will fill the prescriptions.

This is huge! Not just for reproductive rights, but for putting a slight damper on the creep (tidal wave) of religion into public life and government.

Stone cites a statement by The Washington, D.C.-based Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty: “The government has no business punishing citizens solely because of their religious beliefs.”

No. If you refuse to provide professional assistance to someone because they don’t share your political beliefs, then you are the one who is doing the punishing.

And thanks to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this kind of petty-minded punishment is not going to be tolerated. Pharmacists no longer get to decide that they know better than the doctors who prescribe emergency contraception and the people who are choosing to take it. They no longer get to use their professional status as an opportunity to prostelytize and pass moral judgments that have very real consequences to their clients. They no longer get to be the gatekeepers of this type of medical care.

You know, at least in Washington state.

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No You Can't Refuse Service

Give Me Jesus On the Line

Brianne Bilyeu, , 723 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.

Give Me Jesus On the Line

Ohio Holocaust Memorial Controversy

Brianne Bilyeu, , , , , , 3,016 Comments

So this exploded on Friday:

Dan's First Post

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” →

Ohio Holocaust Memorial Controversy

Mjolnir On Military Headstones

Brianne Bilyeu, , , , , 1,779 Comments

Huh. On the way home from work I learned that a) there are only certain symbols that are approved to be etched on the tombstones of soldiers killed in the line of duty (which applies, I would assume, only if the solider wants to be be buried with a government headstone), b) that Mjolnir is one of these approved “emblems of belief” and c) that there are symbols for atheists and humanists on the list.

Here’s the link from PRI’s The World if you want to listen to the story:

While I was doing some digging for this post, I learned that Americans United for Separation of Church and State played a part in gaining equal religious representation on government headstones, and participated in the fight to allow a Wiccan pentacle to be placed on the gravestone of Sgt. Patrick D. Stewart, a soldier who was killed in Afghanistan in 2005.

Mjolnir On Military Headstones

Thank you, Representative Mendez!

Brianne Bilyeu, , , , 1,231 Comments

Pheonix News Times Blogs reported about Arizona Representative Juan Mendez‘s secular humanist delivery during today’s opening session:

From PNT:

Most prayers in this room begin with a request to bow your heads,” Mendez said. “I would like to ask that you not bow your heads. I would like to ask that you take a moment to look around the room at all of the men and women here, in this moment, sharing together this extraordinary experience of being alive and of dedicating ourselves to working toward improving the lives of the people in our state.

A visible atheist in Arizona politics??? A visible atheist in American politics??? Praise FSM!

He also quoted Carl Sagan’s “For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love.”

Thank you to Rep. Mendez from this secular humanist atheist. Thank you for the god-free invocation, for being a role-model for other politicians who might wish to be more open about their lack of religion but who feel unable to do so in our current religulous political climate, and for upholding the constitution of the United States.

If you feel like thanking Representative Juan Mendez for his support and representation, his email is [email protected]

Thank you, Representative Mendez!

Out In Droves – Arguing Same-Sex Marriage

Brianne Bilyeu, , , , , , , , , , 1,015 Comments

House Bill H.R.1054 was up for a vote in the Civil Law Committee on Tuesday. On that day the committee took testimony from any and all citizens who wanted to share their views on the bill. Many presented their own views and some introduced themselves as representatives for a group.

I don’t often watch political committee discussions (but when I do…), but this is a topic of great interest. H.R.1054 is a bill that, if passed by the MN Congress, would give same-sex couples the right to get married in Minnesota! I also wanted to watch because August Berkshire was scheduled to speak on behalf of Minnesota Atheists. August live-Facebooked the event. Fellow MN Atheist members Greg Laden and Stephanie Zvan also blogged about the committee meeting.

Continue reading “Out In Droves – Arguing Same-Sex Marriage” →

Out In Droves – Arguing Same-Sex Marriage

Churchy Signs – What're you thinkin' fer?

Brianne Bilyeu, , 514 Comments

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

STFU2

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.

STFU1

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?

Churchy Signs – What’re you thinkin’ fer?

Brianne Bilyeu, , 575 Comments

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

STFU2

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.

STFU1

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?

Hazrat Ali Shah – Another victim of blasphemy laws

Brianne Bilyeu, , , , , , 1,335 Comments

Ugh. Rights activists in Pakistan must have their hands busy. Asia Bibi, Rimsha Masih, Malala Yousafzai. Here’s a list compiled by FP.com of ten women who have – for the most part – been high-profile victims of human rights abuses in Pakistan (Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy is an exception on the list; she made a movie about victims of human rights abuses in Pakistan). The Human Rights Watch website on Pakistan and the HRW 2012 Report on Pakistan make me want to go back to bed and pull the covers over my head.

These are just the abuses that make it into the news.

And now this: Hazrat Ali Shah is a 25 year-old man who has been convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to imprisonment and death by a judge in Chitral, a city in the northwestern region of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

iOL News is reporting that he was charged in March 2011 after insulting the Prophet Mohammed and the Qur’an during a fight. He was tattled on reported by fellow villagers, who later provided the “evidence” of Hazrat Ali Shah’s blasphemy at his trial. According to TheHindu.com, his family has distanced themselves from him as well.

Imprisoned, sentenced to death, no support from his family.

Has freedom of speech ever looked so good? We have had so much evidence just in the past year for why we need to reject measures such as resolutions to condemn defamation of religion in the UN. Well, not enough for this guy. If he had his way, this self-righteous, delusional prat, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai, would have blasphemy laws enforced:

The Catholic patriarch says Christianity is often a target. He mentioned that Jesus, the Church and the Bible are attacked and insulted in movies and documentaries. To prevent this, he wants the UN to intervene with a resolution.

He argues, the UN needs to take action, since world peace is based on respect for God and all religions.

No disrespect in movies and documentaries!!!??? Well isn’t that swell? I wonder who gets to be on the board that screens movies and documentaries to make sure they measure up to the patriarch’s definition of “respectful”?

Bechara Rai’s idea of world peace is based on all of us having respect for his God and his ideas for how other religions should be. Protip: Not all religions share this ideal of mutual respect for other religions. The COEXIST bumper sticker is a lie.

Blasphemy laws don’t lead to peace. They lead to state-sanctioned murder of hot-headed 25 year-olds like Hazrat Ali Shah who shoot their mouths off in the wrong place and the wrong time.

Hazrat Ali Shah – Another victim of blasphemy laws