By George Kane
Separation of Church and State was back on the front page when the Department of Health and Human Services announced the employer mandates for the rollout of the new health insurance reform. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops screamed that the rules violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment by forcing the Catholic Church to pay for coverage for contraceptives.
Their claim was debatable, but in an election year the Republican presidential candidates were quick to denounce Barack Obama for declaring war on the Catholic Church. Under Obama’s plan, the Church itself was given an exemption from the requirement to provide health insurance to employees that includes, without copayment, preventive reproductive services. That exemption was not applied, however, to the businesses operated by the Church, such as hospitals, universities and charities.
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Read more: News and Notes
By Eric Jayne
The first ever foray into billboards for the Minnesota Atheists turned out to be a success that exceeded expectations in many respects except one: generating donations for other Minnesota Atheists campaigns. But before I get into that, let’s celebrate some of the successes that came from our billboards.
The goal was to promote and reach out to local freethinkers and make them aware of our organization. We wanted to do this with a clever design and a positive, pithy message that the majority of atheists could get behind..
Read more: Successful Billboards! Now Let's Fund Other Projects
By Steve Petersen
In February, we recorded two episodes for our TV show.
With the anti-marriage constitutional amendment proposal appearing on the ballot this November, there has never been a better time to discuss the state of GLBT rights in Minnesota. In the first episode, host James Zimmerman interviewed GLBT activist Arthur Schultz on the ballot measure, including the exact wording and what will change if the measure passes or fails. Schultz offered reasons why atheists, agnostics, Humanists, and other freethinkers should be concerned about the rights and freedoms of the GLBT community regardless of whether they themselves are gay or lesbian. Arthur noted that the current legislative bias against the GLBT community has its roots in religion, and he offered rebuttals to common objections to GLBT rights. After giving details about the GLBT population in Minnesota, Schultz provided resources for how freethinkers can assist in the cause and learn more.
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Read more: February Atheists Talk Cable Show Report
God’s Lady Problem: Breaking Up With Abusive Supernatural Beings
Why are women more religious than men when most religions are so anti-woman? Jen McCreight will address this paradox, make the case for why it’s time for women to leave religion, and discuss why skepticism and atheism are empowering for women.
Jen McCreight is a lifelong non-theist, but became vocal about her atheism when she started college at Purdue University. Surprised and alienated by the highly religious atmosphere, she co-founded the Society of Non-Theists for like-minded students. During this time she also started to blog at Blag Hag.
The blog became infamous thanks to “Boobquake,” Jen’s response to an Iranian leader who said women’s immodest dress caused earthquakes. On April 26, 2010, Jen dressed to show off as much cleavage as possible, and invited other women to do the same, to see if there would be an increase in earthquakes that day. The event made international news.
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Read more: March Meeting featuring Jen McCreight
By August Berkshire
Why is it that whenever the Religious Right gets power, they always go after gays and women first? Is it because their faith is basically a fertility cult, and so all sex must be procreative and women must be submissive?
If there is a genetic component to being susceptible to believing in gods, then this might explain why very religious people tend to have more children than atheists.
Scientists, who are mostly atheists, do not study “god” – there is nothing tangible to study. Instead, they study god-belief. One of the main questions they ask is whether the propensity for god-belief evolved as a primary trait or a secondary trait.
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Read more: President's Column: God, Gays, and Genes
