I Don’t Discriminate Against Gays But…
Man, that “but” speaks volumes. During the debates in New Hampshire on Saturday, Mitt Romney was asked “How have you stood up for gay rights and when have you used your voice to influence Republicans on this issue?” Mitt wanted to make it very clear he does not discriminate. He appointed a gay person to his cabinet in Massachusetts. He nominated people to the bench regardless of their sexual preference. But if gay people want to get married, they are SOL. In fact, he wants to create a three tiered approach to marriage. Mitt supports a constitutional amendment that would create a complex three tier system of marriage – maintaining marriage rights for straight couples, allowing gays who have already married to remain married, but barring future same-sex marriages. In this video of the NH debates, Mitt and the rest of the GOP keep saying marriage is a three thousand year old sacrament of marriage between a man and woman with express religious rights. I do not see how such an amendment would be legal when dealing with a separation of church and state.

At least Mitt is no Rick Santorum. Rick wants to add the same amendment that Mitt likes then abolish all marriages between gay people that have already taken place. What’s next? Vaporizing the couples a’la Star Trek?

Who Needs a God to Form a Religion?
A new religion was recognized by the Swedish government recently. The Missionary Church of Kopimism is based on the the search for and circulation of knowledge as something sacred. They feel the power of CRTL+C and CTRL+V strongly but never a twinkle of a god. Once word reached the good Bishop Peter Ingham, head of the Catholic Diocese of Wollongong in Australia, he had a few pointed remarks for the fledgling group.

There should be some measuring stick against what you call religion. In my mind, if religion has nothing to do with God – or what people perceive to be God – then it’s a sham. It looks like it’s just a way of getting around the law of piracy and copyright. How could a religion promote illegal activity?

Out of secular charity, I used his entire quote but I will be focusing on the first two lines. Does he know he insulted a large segment of the world’s population? Religions like Buddhism and almost every eastern belief have no god to worship. And, why am I – an atheist – getting upset with backbiting like that? Maybe it’s because I finally found a system of belief that I could get behind. 😉 — (Link to the American Church of Kopimism)

You Can’t Fix Stupid
Caleb Horner, a former police officer in Missouri, just filed a federal lawsuit a few days ago against his department because of religious discrimination. What horrible thing did the Lee’s Summit Police Department do to poor Caleb, you might ask? After his common law wife Misty Horner gave birth to a stillborn infant at their house, Caleb and Misty refused medical care for 31 days – choosing prayer to heal Misty. After a month of pleading by police officials, friends, and family to let Misty see a doctor, she died. That is when Caleb called in the prayer squad. They attempted to raise Misty from the dead for 14 hours until Tina Moore, a childhood friend of Misty’s, came by to visit but found the group praying over her corpse. Caleb was later fired for not promptly calling the medical examiner.

This asshat is suing his former employer for damages somewhere over 25,000 dollars. Why isn’t he in jail for negligent homicide at the minimum? Since no criminal charges are being brought up against Caleb, Misty’s parents are suing him in civil court. Want something to rage over? Getting every state to remove any religious exemptions for medical care is a perfect start.

I hope to see each and every one of you at the Northwest Freethought Convention in Seattle, Washington in a couple months!

~Wesley

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