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’.
It’s common knowledge that Governor John Kasich wears his religious beliefs like a suit and inserts them into his speeches and remarks when he can. Democrat challenger Ed FitzGerald rarely talks about his faith because he feels religion is a private matter. Contrary to the ‘no religious test’ words in the US Constitution, the Columbus Dispatch ran an article about the public religiousness of each man.
The conservative propaganda machine is trying like mad to minimize the Hobby Lobby court decision. One argument is that women can still get contraceptives, they just have to pay for it. I wish it was that simple. Kind of like the decision some elderly people have to make – either pay for their expensive medicine and eat cat food or die from untreated medical conditions. It’s a ‘Sophie’s Choice‘ and one where conservatives show they have no heart. The decision covers ALL forms of contraception and includes talking to your doctor about them.
One attempt at conservative spin is to claim that women still have access to birth control but they would have to pay for it themselves.
Tuesday, May 20, is ‘Draw Muhammad Day’ which is used to point out the restrictions on free speech and open dialogue concerning religion that exist in many countries. Blasphemy is a victimless crime. Blasphemy laws, however, harm real people for having different ideas about religion and faith than their governments allow. Criticism should never be a crime.
Here is my contribution:
Thursday May 1st was the National Day of Reason (and for theists it was the National Day of Prayer). Since the majority of people observe the Day of Prayer, our local newspaper had a story about the God pep rally held on the west plaza of the Ohio Statehouse. A building meant to govern all people was turned into a church and the minister was Ohio State Auditor David Yost. The photo with the article made me ill. Elected officials shouldn’t be preaching their religion when acting in their official capacity and government buildings shouldn’t be used as churches.
Here is a screenshot of the front page of the Columbus Dispatch on its website: