GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Aussie Rugby Star Dismissed Over Religious-Based Homophobic Comments

Israel Folau, a star rugby player in Australia has repeatedly made multiple homophobic comments on social media that are religious-based (they usually involve a statement that "homosexuals" will go to hell if they do not "repent" or "God's plan for homosexuals was hell"). Interestingly, Rugby Australia has announced that it intends to cancel his lucrative playing contract for violations of its "code of conduct":

“At its core, this is an issue of the responsibilities an employee owes to their employer and the commitments they make to their employer to abide by their employer’s policies and procedures and adhere to their employer’s values. 

“Following the events of last year, Israel was warned formally and repeatedly about the expectations of him as player for the Wallabies and NSW Waratahs with regards to social media use and he has failed to meet those obligations. It was made clear to him that any social media posts or commentary that is in any way disrespectful to people because of their sexuality will result in disciplinary action. 

“All professional Rugby players in Australia are bound by the Code of Conduct and there is a process in place for any disciplinary matter. We appreciate that this particular matter will attract significant interest, but due process must be followed.”

The Rugby Australia code of conduct includes a provision that prohibits denigrating people on social media based on their "gender, gender identity or sexual orientation" so I presume this is one reason for the dismissal. Folau has announced that he is appealing his loss of a $4m contract so the controversy may continue for quite awhile.

Curious how different people can read the same religious text and come to completely different conclusions about whether it endorses anti-LGBT views. It's almost like the text is just a pretext for beliefs and ideas they had anyway and wanted a reason to express.

Godless Wednesday: Top 10 "Bible-Minded" Cities

A report from the Barna Group has a list of the most "Bible-minded" cities in America. If my city was described as Bible-minded I would take it as an insult. The definition used by the report (which was commissioned by the American Bible Society) is "individuals who report reading the Bible in a typical week and who strongly assert the Bible is accurate in the principles it teaches are considered to be Bible-minded."

The Top 10 urban markets with the highest percentages of people who are "Bible-minded" are:

1. Knoxville, TN (52%)
2. Shreveport, LA (52%)
3. Chattanooga, TN (52%)
4. Birmingham, AL (50%)
5. Jackson, MS (55%)
6. Springfield, MO (49%)
7. Charlotte, NC (48%)
8. Lynchburg, VA (48%)
9. Huntsville-Decatur, AL (48%)
10. Charleston, WV (47%)

Unsurprisingly, I have only visited one of these cities (Charlotte for a mathematics conference way back in the mid 1990s). All of these cities are in the South and are considered red states.

Of course, here at Godless Wednesday we are more interested in the least Bible-minded cities, and those are:

1. Providence, RI (9%)
2. Albany/Schenectady/Troy, NY (10%)
3. Burlington, VT (16%)
4. New Haven/Hartford, CT (16%)
5. Portland, ME (16%)
6. Boston, MA/Manchester, NH (16%
7. San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, CA (16%)
8. Phoenix AZ (17%)
9. Cedar Rapids, IA (18%)
10. Buffalo, NY (18%)

Interestingly, also tied a 18% are Las Vegas, NV and New York, NY with Salt Lake City, UT coming in at 19%. Let's see, I have been in Providence twice, most recently just a few months ago in November 2012. I spent eight years in the "Capital District" of Albany/Schenectady/Troy as an adult going to college (and earning three degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute). Of the top 10 I have only not been to Cedar Rapids and Burlington.

Godless Wednesday: Is Atheism A Religion? Hell, No!

The New York Times has an interesting online debate forum based around the question "Is Atheism A Religion?" Of course, my response is "Hell, no!" but I think Penn Jillette, a famous atheism also known as one-half of the comedy duo of Penn & Teller, writes a brilliantly incisive essay in response:

Religion cannot and should not be replaced by atheism. Religion needs to go away and not be replaced by anything. Atheism is not a religion. It’s the absence of religion, and that’s a wonderful thing.

Religion is not morality. Theists ask me, “If there’s no god, what would stop me from raping and killing everyone I want to.” My answer is always: “I, myself, have raped and killed everyone I want to ... and the number for both is zero.” Behaving morally because of a hope of reward or a fear of punishment is not morality. Morality is not bribery or threats. Religion is bribery and threats. Humans have morality. We don’t need religion.

Religion is faith. Faith is belief without evidence. Belief without evidence cannot be shared. Faith is a feeling. Love is also a feeling, but love makes no universal claims. Love is pure. The lover reports on his or her feelings and needs nothing more. Faith claims knowledge of a world we share but without evidence we can share. Feeling love is beautiful. Feeling the earth is 6,000 years old is stupid.

This is simply beautiful writing and does an extremely good job of explaining why I'm perfectly proud to declare myself an atheist.

FILM REVIEW: Life of Pi

The day after Christmas, the Other Half and I decided to see Ang Lee's adaptation of the Pullitzer-prize-winning book Life of Pi written by Yann Martel. Even though the film is released in 3-D and 2-D versions we saw it in the standard 2-D format because we basically believe that most of the time 3-D is nothing more than a gimmick to increase ticket prices.

Despite the fact that the plot of the book always struck me as too incredible to be even worth reading (a boy is stuck on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean with a tiger!?) the movie is very engaging and an absolute visual feast.

It is true that the story involves teenager Pi Patel, played by newcomer Suraj Sharma, who is in a ship carrying his family's zoo animals to North America when there is an awful storm that ends up with Pi surviving on a lifeboat that has a Bengal tiger, a hyena and an orangutan on board. I know how ridiculous that sounds but somehow if you watch the movie it looks absolutely believable. The fact that it does so is testament to Lee's directorial prowess and story-telling strength.

The story is told in flashback by an older Pi Patel (played by amazing veteran Indian actor Irfan Khan) so we as the audience know that Pi survives his ordeal, although even with this knowledge the movie is suspenseful, because the situation he is in is so dangerous and harrowing. Both Sharma and Khan do an excellent job making Pi seem like a very real person and one that the audience can empathize and sympathize with. The real star of the film is Sharma, who astonishingly had never acted before, and only went to the audition for the part because he was accompanying his older brother! He is in the vast majority of the scenes of the movie and he is always able to carry the attention and interest of the viewer.

There's not much more I want to say about the plot except to say that the last 5-10 minutes of the movie are very important and place the events of the previous 2 hours into a perspective which depending on how you choose to interpret them, can greatly skew how you view the entire film.
Essentially, the audience has to make a choice which of two realities to believe in, and the author links those two choices to the choice of whether God exists (i.e. logically unexplainable, supernatural things--also known as miracles-- can happen) or whether God does not (and all events must be logically explainable).

Despite being a godless person myself, I found the movie impactful, and overall it is very entertaining piece of filmmaking.

Title: Life of Pi.
Director: Ang Lee.
Running Time: 2 hours, 7 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated PG for emotional thematic content throughout, and some scary action sequences and peril.
Release Date: November 21, 2012.
Viewing Date: December 26, 2012.

Writing: A-.
Acting: A.
Visuals: A.
Impact: A+.

Overall Grade: A (4.00/4.0).

Godless Wednesday: The Growth Of the Nones

NPR's Morning Edition  is exploring the rise of the "non-religiously affiliated" population in the United States in  a week-long series called "Losing Our Religion: The Growth Of The Nones." Nones is the term that was coined by Barry Kosmin, who was the founding director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society. Kosmin explains his thinking about how the term "none" became commonly used:

“Nonreligious” was a possibility. So was “non-faith” and “non-affiliated.” 

But Kosmin rejected all of these. The “non” part bothered him. “Non-affiliated” would be like calling people “non-white,” he said. “We didn’t want to suggest that ‘affiliated’ was the norm, and every one else was an ‘other.’” 

“Nomenclature,” he added, “is quite important in these things.” 

So Kosmin began calling this group the “nones,” a shortened version for “none of the above” — which is what people often said when asked to name their religion. He never thought the term would stick.

In the NPR story they highlight how the fraction of people who are now labeled "nones" has been growing.

In 2010 the number has reached 16% of all respondents, and among younger cohorts of the population (18-29 years-old) 32% of respondents gave responses aligned with the "none" category in 2012.

Ahhh, more and more godlessness. It's a wonderful thing!

Hat/tip to Friendly Atheist

GRAPHIC: Faith+Politics+Money=Religion

Interesting images posted at Facebook.com/LordYHWH.

Godless Wednesday: 1 in 5 Americans are Irreligious

A new Pew poll shows that the number of religiously unaffiliated people in the United States has grown rapidly, reaching nearly 20% of Americans. The executive summary says:

 The growth in the number of religiously unaffiliated Americans – sometimes called the rise of the “nones” – is largely driven by generational replacement, the gradual supplanting of older generations by newer ones. A third of adults under 30 have no religious affiliation (32%), compared with just one-in-ten who are 65 and older (9%). And young adults today are much more likely to be unaffiliated than previous generations were at a similar stage in their lives.

[...]

In addition to religious behavior, the way that Americans talk about their connection to religion seems to be changing. Increasingly, Americans describe their religious affiliation in terms that more closely match their level of involvement in churches and other religious organizations. In 2007, 60% of those who said they seldom or never attend religious services nevertheless described themselves as belonging to a particular religious tradition. In 2012, just 50% of those who say they seldom or never attend religious services still retain a religious affiliation – a 10-point drop in five years. These trends suggest that the ranks of the unaffiliated are swelling in surveys partly because Americans who rarely go to services are more willing than in the past to drop their religious attachments altogether.

[...]

With their rising numbers, the religiously unaffiliated are an increasingly important segment of the electorate. In the 2008 presidential election, they voted as heavily for Barack Obama as white evangelical Protestants did for John McCain. More than six-in-ten religiously unaffiliated registered voters are Democrats (39%) or lean toward the Democratic Party (24%). They are about twice as likely to describe themselves as political liberals than as conservatives, and solid majorities support legal abortion (72%) and same-sex marriage (73%). In the last five years, the unaffiliated have risen from 17% to 24% of all registered voters who are Democrats or lean Democratic.

This is fantastic news! As Joe.My.God reports, organized non-religionists are also thrilled:

“Though the ‘unaffiliated’ are not entirely made up of nonbelievers, the fact that one in five Americans have rejected traditional religion means that the enormous influence religion has had over policy and culture will continue to wane,” said Ronald A. Lindsay, President and CEO of the Center for Inquiry. “Furthermore, thanks to the high percentage of ‘nones’ among the younger generations, these numbers tell us that we are closer than ever to realizing a society in which religious dogma has no significant influence on public policy—that is, a society based on reason and science rather than myth and superstition.”

And the news gets even better as one looks at the trends which may give a hint at what the future may hold. Generally, younger people are even less likely to be religiously affiliated than older people.

Praise Zeus!

Godless Wednesday: MO Passes Right To Pray Amendment

Atheist and progressive circles are buzzing about the overwhelming (82.8% yes) passage of a ballot measure  in Missouri on Tuesday August 7th which purports to inscribe (and "defend") the right to pray in that state's constitution.

The measure was formally known as State Constitutional Amendment 2 but was informally known as the "right to pray" amendment. Here is the actual text of the Amendment (which did not appear on the ballot that voters saw)

That all men and women have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences; that no human authority can control or interfere with the rights of conscience; that no person shall, on account of his or her religious persuasion or belief, be rendered ineligible to any public office or trust or profit in this state, be disqualified from testifying or serving as a juror, or be molested in his or her person or estate; that to secure a citizen's right to acknowledge Almighty God according to the dictates of his or her own conscience, neither the state nor any of its political subdivisions shall establish any official religion, nor shall a citizen's right to pray or express his or her religious beliefs be infringed; that the state shall not coerce any person to participate in any prayer or other religious activity, but shall ensure that any person shall have the right to pray individually or corporately in a private or public setting so long as such prayer does not result in disturbance of the peace or disruption of a public meeting or assembly; that citizens as well as elected officials and employees of the state of Missouri and its political subdivisions shall have the right to pray on government premises and public property so long as such prayers abide within the same parameters placed upon any other free speech under similar circumstances; that the General Assembly and the governing bodies of political subdivisions may extend to ministers, clergypersons, and other individuals the privilege to offer invocations or other prayers at meetings or sessions of the General Assembly or governing bodies; that students may express their beliefs about religion in written and oral assignments free from discrimination based on the religious content of their work; that no student shall be compelled to perform or participate in academic assignments or educational presentations that violate his or her religious beliefs; that the state shall ensure public school students their right to free exercise of religious expression without interference, as long as such prayer or other expression is private and voluntary, whether individually or corporately, and in a manner that is not disruptive and as long as such prayers or expressions abide within the same parameters placed upon any other free speech under similar circumstances; and, to emphasize the right to free exercise of religious expression, that all free public schools receiving state appropriations shall display, in a conspicuous and legible manner, the text of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States; but this section shall not be construed toexpand the rights of prisoners in state or local custody beyond those afforded by the laws of the United States, excuse acts of licentiousness, nor to justify practices inconsistent with the good order, peace or safety of the state, or with the rights of others.

What voters actually saw on their ballot was:

Official Ballot Title:Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to ensure:

• That the right of Missouri citizens to express their religious beliefs shall not be infringed;

• That school children have the right to pray and acknowledge God voluntarily in their schools; and

• That all public schools shall display the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution.

It is estimated this proposal will result in little or no costs or savings for state and local governmental entities.

Fair Ballot Language:A "yes" vote will amend the Missouri Constitution to provide that neither the state nor political subdivisions shall establish any official religion. The amendment further provides that a citizen's right to express their religious beliefs regardless of their religion shall not be infringed and that the right to worship includes prayer in private or public settings, on government premises, on public property, and in all public schools. The amendment also requires public schools to display the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution. 

A "no" vote will not change the current constitutional provisions protecting freedom of religion.
If passed, this measure will have no impact on taxes.

The measure passed by 780,044 to 162,497 votes. One of the provision [that I bolded above] allows school children to not participate in school assignments which violate their religious beliefs. As melanie at the Friendly Atheist remarks, this looks like a "get-out-of-science-class-free card."

The ACLU is suing over the provision which actually reduces the rights of religious expression of those incarcerated in Missouri jails and prisons. Of course, it is truly doubtful that proponents of this measure were willing to support the expansion of religious rights for all people of faith in Missouri. It will be interesting to see how certain disfavored religions like Muslims, Sikhs and Scientologists uses these provisions, assuming some enlightened federal judge doesn't strike down the entire kit and caboodle first!

POLL: Utah Voters Trending (Slowly) Towards Equality

A new poll from Utah demonstrates that even in this deep red, almost theocratic state, popular support for legal recognition for same-sex couples has been increasing over time. The figure above illustrates the shift in responses to the "tripartite question" which offers voters to choose between gay marriage, civil unions and no legal recognition for same-sex couples. What the figure demonstrates is that there has been a sharp drop in the number who choose the most homophobic and discriminatory option (no legal recognition), falling from 54% in November 2004 to 29% in February 2012. While that was happening the percentage in favor of full marriage equality has barely budget from 21% support to 28% now.

This is Utah we are talking about, so the influence of the Mormon church, a.k.a. the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or LDS Church is a large factor. The graphic below demonstrates opinions on marriage equality separated by religious belief and membership in the LDS church.

Note that among LDS support for marriage equality has been consistently below 10% for the last 8 years, while nearly three-quarters of non-religious folk now support full marriage equality.
One should take note that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is a member of the LDS church, and these numbers may explain his fervent opposition to marriage equality and can help predict how a Romney administration would address the issue of legal recognition for same-sex couples by the federal government. (HINT: it's not good!)

Hat/tip to TowleRoad

(UPDATED) Black, Lesbian, Veteran, Pastor Wins NV Primary

Patricia Spearman has (and has had) lots of titles: Minister, Military Policeman, Veteran, Black Lesbian. But after, Nevada's Primary Election on Tuesday, she will soon have another: State Senator. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Progressive Democrat Patricia Spearman scored an upset victory Tuesday over two-term incumbent state Sen. John Lee in the Senate District 1 primary.

Backed by liberal-leaning groups, Spearman, who is black, gay and an evangelist minister, had attacked Lee for being too moderate and not doing enough to help constituents. She picked up 63 percent of the vote, compared with 37 percent for Lee, a 15-year legislator.

"This was a victory for the people," said Spearman, who is expected to win the Democrat-dominated district in North Las Vegas in November. "I am so humbled by the people's response and the confidence they placed in me. I commend my opponent for a spirited campaign and wish him the best in his future."

Spearman became the first openly lesbian person elected to state office in Nevada, and one of the very few openly LGBT and African-American people elected to a state legislative seat in United States' history! She would be the 4th openly lesbian, Black legislator to be serving, after Mary Washington in Maryland and Simone Bell and Keisha Waites in Georgia. Marcus Randall of North Carolina, Rashad Taylor of Georgia and Gordon Fox of Rhode Island are the only openly gay Black men currently serving in state legislatures.

hat/tip to Rod 2.0


UPDATED 06/14/2012 08:01

Daily Kos Elections points me to some more information about Spearman's astonishing win: She was out-raised by a 15:1 ratio and her opponent had the endorsement of Nevada's top Democrat, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The Las Vegas Sun reports:

Democratic state Sen. John Lee was defeated in a stunning upset Tuesday by political newcomer Patricia Spearman despite having a huge money advantage and the backing of the Democratic establishment.

With about 90 percent of the precincts reporting in Senate District 1, Spearman, a gay minister, had more than 60 percent of the vote to top the incumbent from North Las Vegas,

Lee raised more than $200,000 for his re-election bid, dwarfing Spearman's estimated $13,000 fund-raising take.

But he was targeted by environmentalists and conservationists upset over Lee's sponsorship of 2011 bill that paved the way for Nevada to withdraw from a partnership with California that governs development and environmental regulations at Lake Tahoe.

Lee, who has served in the Senate since 2004, also ran afoul of the more liberal members of the Democratic Party for opposing a 2009 domestic partnership law that extended rights to cohabitating gay and heterosexual couples. Lee also opposed a failed Democratic plan last year to raise taxes.

Wow, what a piece of work: an anti-gay, anti-environment, anti-tax corporate Democrat gets taken out by a progressive, openly gay female minister! LOVE THIS!

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: "Faith-healing" Parents Who Watched Son Die Avoid Jail Time

17-year-old Zachary Swezey is dead because his parents
believed faith could heal his appendicitis. It didn't.

This is a jaw-droppingly nauseating story about the real-life deadly effects of belief in "God." In Okanogan, Washington two parents Greg and JaLea Swezey were charged but ultimately acquitted in the death of the 17-year-old son from a ruptured appendix (what an awfully painful way to die!)

Friendly Atheist has the perfect reaction:

Imagine this scenario: A father and mother take their child to a park and the child falls into a lake. The parents can swim, but their child cannot. Despite this, they do nothing and watch the child drown.

What should happen to the parents? Immediate arrest? Removal of all their other children? Jail time for manslaughter? Some combination of those options?

How about letting them take advantage of a law that allows them to let their children die and a plea deal that allows them to avoid prison?

Insane? Yes.

Immoral? Absolutely.

Washington State has a law (RCW 9A.42.005) that allows treatment by a “duly accredited Christian Science practitioner in lieu of medical care” but the Swezeys are members of the Church of the First Born, not Christian Scientists. The Swezeys have now accepted plea deals which will allow them to completely avoid jail time for their complicit inaction which resulted in the death of their child.

The Swezeys were acquitted of second-degree murder after a four-day trial in mid-May, but the jury could not agree on whether the Carlton couple should be convicted of second-degree manslaughter. 

On Thursday, rather than face a retrial on manslaughter charges, JaLea Swezey pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal mistreatment on Thursday, and Greg Swezey signed papers agreeing to plead guilty to the same crime after two years, if he follows court orders and commits no felonies during that time.

The bizarre part is that the attorneys for the Swezey wanted to appeal the ruling to get the exemption in the law that only applies to Chistian Scientists to apply all religious people who want to use faith instead of medical treatment.

Back to Friendly Atheist:

I agree the law should be changed, but in the other direction.

This monstrous carve-out must be wiped out. Religious exemptions are bad. Religious exemptions that cost children their lives are an outrage to human decency.

What he said.

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Now In Arabic & Hebrew

Joe.My.God noticed that The Friendly Atheist mentioned the above billboards, which are part of a campaign to publicize the Reason Rally (March 24th) and the American Atheists National Convention (March 25th-26th) which will be happening in the Washington, DC area.

MadProfessah would love to attend these event but I will be in Los Angeles that weekend, attending the FUSION LGBT People of Color film festival instead.

Apparently the big symbols in the billboard are, respectively Hebrew for "Yahweh" and Arabic for "Allah" which are those two languages' name for "God."

And that's Godless Wednesday for today!

Fight Over Fort Worth Atheist Bus Ads Escalates

Joe.My.God has been doing an excellent job of following the fight over pro-atheism bus ads in the Fort Worth area which say "Millions Of Americans Are Good Without God."

The ads ran on four buses and sent ministers up the wall. They resorted to following the buses around with a truck which had a pro-religious message and now the transport authority has said that they are banning all faith-based ads:

Chart of the Day: Atheists Are Strongest Supporter of Marriage Equality

Here is a chart from the October 11th edition of The Economist which indicates that atheists/agnostics are the strongest supporters in America for marriage equality, citing Pew Research Center polling data.