Ocassional Thoughts of an Independent Progressive Atheistic Humanist
I’ve been part of the non-religious community for 20 years and one thing is constant, we have many different groups to support us and it seems new ones show up regularly. Case in point is ‘Openly Secular’, a ‘new’ coalition of several large secular groups. Its mission of drawing attention to discrimination of non-religious people is needed but I’m disappointed in the fact that they named the group ‘Openly Secular’ instead of ‘Openly Non-religious’.
Dr. Kent Brantly, one of two American aid workers stricken with Ebola, walked out of an Atlanta hospital Thursday. He did thank the medical staff for treating him but gave all the credit to God for his survival. How does Brantly know God wanted him cured?
Two recent news stories illustrated what happens when people who have gained some popularity either nationally or in their community make a poor choice. Supporters of that person bring in a lot of emotion and defensiveness with the intent of protecting their ‘hero’. It might not seem fair, but we must not base our judgement just on personal experiences with the person but on the facts and evidence that are revealed. A higher standard of behavior is required if the popular person deals with students.
On July 24th, The Ohio State University fired their Marching band director Jon Waters for not doing enough to change a culture that was “sexualized”. Basically he was fired for dragging his feet when sexual assaults and harassment were reported to him and didn’t do enough to end suspect practices like Midnight Ramp and vulgar activities during band trips.
After reading the story about Rep. Paul Ryan’s false ‘no free school lunch’ story he told at CPAC and the general feeling among conservatives that kids need to work for their free lunches, I wanted to tell my free school lunch horror story. Yes, when I was a kid I had free school lunches and it made me feel so ashamed, but not for the reason you might think.
While growing up my family was on and off public assistance. It was during the 70s and early 80s. Being on public assistance made me eligible for a free lunch at school. It usually consisted of a punch card just like the ones used by kids whose families paid for lunch in advance so unless I told someone, no one would know my card was free to me. That isn’t my horror story.
One of the old tropes used by the GOP and their complaint corporate media drones is that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will ‘destroy’ a health care system that we were told wasn’t that bad. Opponents to the ACA want us to forget why the ACA was proposed and passed in 2010. Even with the ACA taking full effect there are still examples where the health care system needs further reform for the poor due to lack of funding, red tape, and yes even high costs. Bob’s story shows why this particular conservative argument against the ACA is full of crap.
Watching someone without dental insurance trying to get emergency care is exactly what it was like for all people without health care insurance before the ACA.