Jerry Coyne at BHA 2016—Part 2: NOPE.

(Part 1 is here.)

[CONTENT NOTE: While this post contains no graphic descriptions or images of violence, it does contain discussion of: child sexual assault, abuse and death; suicide; hostility to consent, bodily autonomy and agency; homophobia; sex- and gender-based discrimination.]

Just a reminder: in the intro to Part 1, I noted that while atheist Big Willie Dr. Coyne may communicate some very useful and interesting things in this lecture (and elsewhere) that readers here may find worthwhile, he is exasperatingly prone to poo flinging, and I fully respect the decision of anyone who decides to pay him no attention whatsoever on this basis alone. As I said, FWIW I do not allow Coyne’s poo flinging in the remaining portions of the transcript to go unrebutted.

What Would Jeezus Do vs. What Would Justice Look Like?

[CONTENT NOTE: child death, neglect and abuse at the link; violent vigilante justice fantasies by Your Humble Monarch™ in this very post.]

I read with mounting horror and visceral disgust this investigative report about religious day care centers, which in many states are unregulated or poorly regulated compared with their secular counterparts because Jeezus ‘n FREEDOM® ‘stuff. In practice, what this means is that regulations regarding child-to-staff ratios, child care training, safety certifications (such as CPR) and other common sense rules otherwise required for licensing do not apply, with entirely predictable, avoidable and tragic results. Worse, when parents seek justice, they are frequently denied it. And of course these bastions of state/church separation (when it comes to regulation) are only too happy to rely on our tax dollars in the form of childcare subsidies.

It seems to me that when entirely foreseeable harms occur, those who exploit these special religious exemptions, as well as those who enact the laws that exempt them, ought to be subject to a special form of justice, too.

Biblical justice.

You know: an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, if your hand causes you to sin then you have to rip out your own eye (or something like that – it’s been a while). What would that kind of justice look like?

Well for starters, these fine folks could be left to rot in their own filth until their infected skin bleeds and blisters. Left to lie in their own vomit, and endure high fevers and broken bones without medical intervention. Left to wander a minefield of unknown deadly dangers, like their peers chasing them with butcher knives, and deep pools to drown in. Left restrained in positions that cause them to suffocate, with no one around who can revive them.

That sort of thing.

Come to think of it, this kind of special snowflake justice should also be meted out to all the small government/low taxes shriekers, “religious freedom” defenders and fevered deregulation proponents too, whenever innocent people are killed and egregiously harmed as a direct result of their policies in action.

Have a nice day.

Various and sundry.

[CONTENT NOTE: homophobia.]

I don’t know how other writers’ brains work, but sometimes I ruminate over a subject for a good long while before writing about it. Case in point: the water in Flint. I’ve been following this disaster for some time now, and frankly the post would write itself. I mean, I could just follow the template from virtually any of my previous rants about conservative governance, search and replace a few words, and voilà! Done. For example:

Conservatives ruining lives as usual, this time in Myanmar Flint.

See? Easy-peasy. Maybe that’s a big part of my problem, that these stories are always the fucking same. That is because there is nothing new about conservatives or the ways they operate, ever. All we can really aspire to do is discover the cause of this epic calamity and hope that this will lead us to the cure, and in the meantime of course we can find new and amusing ways of mocking it. Alas, here too I’m running up against my own limitations. I am so utterly saddened and outraged by the entirely predictable and preventable situation in Flint that I cannot find that angle on the story. Yet.

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Speaking of the cause(s) of conservatism…

My friend (and self-proclaimed Loyal Subject™) SJ recently sent me a piece by Charles Simic in the New York Review of Books, entitled The Age of Ignorance. Simic laments what he sees as a dramatic uptick in ignorance and irrationality among the US citizenry over the past several decades, and the litany of specific delusions fervently believed by millions of conservatives: “Christians are persecuted in this country. The government is coming to get your guns. Obama is a Muslim. Global Warming is a hoax,” etc. He notes that:

The ideal citizen of a politically corrupt state, such as the one we now have, is a gullible dolt unable to tell truth from bullshit.

An educated, well-informed population, the kind that a functioning democracy requires, would be difficult to lie to, and could not be led by the nose by the various vested interests running amok in this country…A truly educated populace would be bad, both for politicians and for business.

At the root of all of this, Simic suggests, lies the destruction of public education and the failure of families to carry on a tradition of educating their young, with an able assist from a deceitful corporate media. He concludes that this might not be so bad, were it not for our lack of skill or even desire to verify whatever nonsensical bullshit the powerful vested interests are constantly feeding us. And all of that may be true: for example, a media literacy curriculum from grades K-12 would probably go a long way toward immunizing the populace from the worst excesses (which is precisely why it won’t happen).

But I think Simic misses the big, honking red-white-&-blue elephant in the room: faith. In fact, I think it’s pointless to discuss US conservatism without touching on it. I’m not talking about the specific dogmas of any particular sect—although those are plenty awful. I’m talking about faith as a way of thinking, the unfortunate habit of holding as truth any claim for which there is no evidence—and sometimes believing it all the more strongly when there is overwhelming evidence against it. I told SJ:

The very idea that you can “know” anything based on faith—and worse, that this is somehow indicative of an admirable character—leads to all manner of foolish gullibility and belief in demonstrably untrue nonsense. Conservatives actually fight at the school board level against the teaching of critical thinking (and its cousin, media literacy), for the same reason they gerrymander: because they and their toxic bullshit cannot win without doing so.

I linked to the abstract of a study (behind a motherfucking paywall goddammit) that appears to support my point. Researchers questioned 5- and 6-year-old kids about whether the central character in a story could be a real person. There were three scenarios: (1) “realistic stories that only included ordinary events,” (2) “religious stories that included ordinarily impossible events brought about by divine intervention” and (3) “fantastical stories that included ordinarily impossible events whether brought about by magic [or] without reference to magic…”. From the abstract:

 In realistic stories that only included ordinary events, all children, irrespective of family background and schooling, claimed that the protagonist was a real person. In religious stories that included ordinarily impossible events brought about by divine intervention, claims about the status of the protagonist varied sharply with exposure to religion. Children who went to church or were enrolled in a parochial school, or both, judged the protagonist in religious stories to be a real person, whereas secular children with no such exposure to religion judged the protagonist in religious stories to be fictional. Children’s upbringing was also related to their judgment about the protagonist in fantastical stories that included ordinarily impossible events whether brought about by magic (Study 1) or without reference to magic (Study 2). Secular children were more likely than religious children to judge the protagonist in such fantastical stories to be fictional. The results suggest that exposure to religious ideas has a powerful impact on children’s differentiation between reality and fiction, not just for religious stories but also for fantastical stories.

[emphasis added.]

The problem with “religious ideas” is not that they provide only a limited epistemology; it’s that faith-based thinking provides no way of ascertaining truth or reality at all. For some reason, more rational and reality-based people continue to scratch their heads at conservatives’ blatant hypocrisy, illogical contradictions and feverish falsehoods when faith-based thinking precludes none of that. It guarantees it.

Of course the ruling class does not see any of this as a problem; quite the opposite, in fact. And you can bet that we will see no public funding for studies that build on such research, for the same reason the CDC is forbidden by law from studying gun violence: this knowledge is decidedly not in conservatives’ interests.

By the way, Simic’s piece was published in March 2012, but could just as easily have run today for the relevance it has to the Republican’s scary clown show. Nothing’s changed in 4 years, and I’m not even convinced anything’s changed much in 40. And that’s just it, isn’t it? It’s the same fucking story, always and forever Amen.

 __________

Speaking of new and amusing ways of mocking conservatives…

A friend on Facebook linked to this:

Pastor: ‘I would smear feces all over myself if my son married a man’

While speaking at the National Religious Liberties Conference last weekend, Pastor Kevin Swanson told the crowd that he was “not kidding” when he said he’d smear feces all over himself if his son were ever to marry another man.

…

“I’d sit in cow manure and I’d spread it all over my body. That’s what I would do and I’m not kidding! I’m not laughing!”

“I’m grieving!” Swanson screamed, tears of rage running down his cheeks. “I’m mourning! I’m pointing out the problem!”

Now remember kids: it’s women who are more emotional and irrational than men. FYI.

“It’s not a gay time,” he continued. “These are the people with the sores! The gaping sores! The sores that are pussy (sic) and gross and people are coming in and carving happy faces on the sores! That’s not a nice thing to do! Don’t you dare carve happy faces on open, pussy (sic) sores!”

Now how the fuck does one even mock that? It mocks itself.

If conservatives keep this shit up—and of course they will, because always the same fucking story—I’ll soon enough be out of a blog. :|

__________

Here is something cool:

New evidence suggests a ninth planet lurking at the edge of the solar system

Astronomers at the California Institute of Technology announced Wednesday that they have found new evidence of a giant icy planet lurking in the darkness of our solar system far beyond the orbit of Pluto. They are calling it “Planet Nine.”

Their paper, published in the Astronomical Journal, describes the planet as about five to 10 times as massive as the Earth.

Naturally, the question that immediately arises is: when can we launch the conservatives there? Now, I’m no astrophysicist, but I’m pretty sure the spacecraft can easily be powered by thoughts-‘n-prayers.

__________

IRIS ♥︎ JILL.

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Via Glenn Greenwald on Twitter comes this link:

Diplomats, national security officials blast Sanders on Iran normalization, ISIL*

“Senator Sanders’ call to ‘move aggressively’ to normalize relations with Iran — to develop a ‘warm’ relationship — breaks with President Obama, is out of step with the sober and responsible diplomatic approach that has been working for the United States, and if pursued would fail while causing consternation among our allies and partners.”

OH NO NOT CONSTERNATION! From Saudi Arabia? Israel? My god. The horror.

The bloc of former diplomats called on Sanders to address issues with Russia, China, U.S. allies and nuclear proliferation, before concluding, “We need a Commander in Chief who sees how all of these dynamics fit together — someone who sees the whole chessboard, as Hillary Clinton does.”

The signatories include Ambassador Wendy Sherman, former under secretary of state for political affairs; Jeremy Bash, former chief of staff to the CIA director and defense secretary; Rand Beers, former deputy homeland security adviser to the president; Ambassador Daniel Benjamin, former U.S. ambassador-at-large; Ambassador Nicholas Burns, former under secretary of state for political affairs; Derek Chollet, former assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs; Kathleen Hicks, former principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy; retired Lt. Gen. Donald Kerrick, former deputy national security adviser to the president; James Miller, former under secretary of defense for policy; and Julianne Smith, former deputy national security adviser to the vice president.

Yes indeed: these are exactly the “sober and responsible” people we should all be listening to about our foreign policy that has been working so well.

____
*This news story political advertisement was brought to you by Lockheed Martin, Boeing, BAE Systems, Raytheon, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman 4 Hillary PAC. HAHAHA I’m kidding! They don’t need a fucking PAC!

__________

Ever? How about every day?

__________

Well, that’s all I got. We now return to our regularly scheduled malaise.

Have a nice day.

Barry Lynn Is a Kick-Ass Warrior in the Battle Against Creeping Theocracy

-A review of Barry W. Lynn’s new book God and Government, by Don Ardell.

Preface

I don’t think the Religious Right understands that religion thrives best where government takes no sides and offers no ‘help.’ There are two thousand different religious groups in the United States and tens of millions of Americans who choose no spiritual path. We all live in relative harmony. Look at Iran; look at Northern Ireland; look at Afghasastan  – state-sponsored religions and the wars against other faiths it engenders should teach us all that we have a pretty good thing going here. In fact, the separation of church and state is probably the single best idea that our two-hundred- year experiment in democracy has engendered.

Barry W. Lynn, “God and Government, p. 61.

Introduction: Barry W. Lynn

Barry Lynn once confessed, though not, I suspect, with heavy heart, that the Reverend Jerry Falwell does not like me. That was about as caustic and mean-spirited as Barry can manage but, oh my, how incisive, informative and entertaining he can be defending and advancing church/state separation. Make no mistake—this book is timely, for such a defense is vital at this time in the nation’s history. God and Government demonstrates as well as the landmark books by Dawkins, Harris, Dennett and Hitchens, if in a nice and velvet glove way, that secularists are in a serious battle against a home grown Right Wing ISIS-of-the-mind religionists whose passions extend well beyond denying evolution, science, climate change, women/gay and unbeliever liberties and the human right to be free from religion. They want what they have long and falsely claimed the founders of this country wanted America to be—a Christian nation.

Were it not for Barry Lynn and others like, if not quite the equal of him, we might be such a society already.

Mr. Lynn has for decades been the Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU). I’ve listened to him in person on several delightful and inspirational occasions. (I refer to him with the Reverend deliberately omitted — I don’t care to utilize the Reverend prefix, even though he has earned and never abused it. I try to avoid use of all religious titles, including Father, Your Excellence, Your Holiness, Your Eminence and so on. If Mr. Lynn desired it, however, I’d make an exception in his case, and for other heroic figures with clergy credentials. I’m still a little flexible. For now, I prefer The Most Right Honorable and Highly Esteemed Sir Barry Lynn.)

Like millions of others, I’ve enjoyed Mr. Lynn’s articles and countless media interviews and appearances before Congressional committees. (His description of an encounter before a committee chaired by the god-addled Republican Congressman from Texas, Louis B. Gohmert, is hilarious. You can find that on page 289.)

Mr. Lynn is a lawyer and minister in the United Church of Christ. The latter background is, no doubt, a big boost for his effectiveness with Christians and others who still have some respect for faith-based thinking, despite the superstitions that attend the dogmas, grotesque policies and deviant behaviors professed and/or exhibited by many religious figures.

Real Wellness and Religion

Liberty is one of the four dimensions of REAL wellness: separation of church and state helps preserve our secular democracy. This is more important than ever now at a time when the Protestant Religious Right and the Roman Catholic hierarchy seek a Christian nation agenda. While I believe most Christian leaders favor an American theocracy, this goal is rarely expressed publicly. Of course, to a regrettable extent, America is already something of a theocracy, given In God We Trust on our money, in courtrooms, in the Pledge of Allegiance and with enormous tax exemptions for religions and on and on. If there were a god that controlled everything, as most Americans seem to think, I’d thank him, her or it for Barry Lynn, who among other stalwarts for secularism works tirelessly and effectively to keep American ununited in church and state. So far, they are succeeding, if just barely.

Religion and REAL Wellness Are Incompatible

Reason, the R in REAL wellness, and religion represent two distinct ways of thinking. One trusts in revelation (i.e., assertions based on authority); the other is found upon critical thinking, evidence and an objective search for understanding the true nature of reality. Religion does not blend well with democracy, freedom, human rights, joy, happiness, wellness orgasms or other states that secularists seeking well-being of the mind and body associate with quality of life pathways. Religion is antagonistic to reason. Religious authorities insist that the faithful submit their wills to a higher power (whose wishes only they can interpret). They demand belief in religious dogmas, adherence to rituals and respect for all of these things from the rest of society that has and seeks no part of any of it. They make a virtue of faith (aka believing what you know ain’t so, as Mark Twain put it) which, by definition, means lacking evidence or other rational bases. Religions have no use for such life-affirming, reason-based democratic principles as expressed in the Affirmations of Humanism, or in the U.N’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

While there is no connection with the A (athleticism or exercise and nutrition), the E (exuberance) and L (liberty or personal freedoms) dimensions are equally incompatible with the toxicity of religion. Thus, it seems entirely legitimate and reasonable if not imperative for REAL wellness enthusiasts to address religion in the context of describing the nature and dynamics of living a healthy, happy and meaningful life guided by reason and freedom that facilitates exuberance.

Thus, Barry Lynn’s God and Government could be and in my view is a REAL wellness worthy publication. One needs not be a history professor to know that religions have not displayed much enthusiasm for or tolerance of qualities associated any one of these three dimensions.

God and Government

Mr. Lynn’s latest work, published by Prometheus Books, contains ten chapters that represent a mix of his columns, testimony and speeches over the course of two and a half decades. The book contains extensive notes (references) and an index. Hundreds of the author’s encounters with Religious Right theocracy-promoting activists are described with wit and humor. Among my favorite sections are those dealing with these critical church/state issues:

• School prayer and prayer everywhere else.
• Taxpayer-subsidized vouchers for religious schools.
• Creeping religious beliefs into the public sector (e.g., preventing end-of-life choices, promoting censorship and so on).
• The imposition of religious beliefs by legislators into policies and laws.
• Opposition to science in a broad sense and evolution in particular.
• Attempts to proselytize by including religious content into public educational curricula.
• Religion in the military, the court system and local governments.
• Tax preferences for clergy; subsidies for chaplains, etc.
• Criminal clerics.
• Encounters with nice and strange famous people while fighting the battle of church and state.
• Descriptions of historic events that shaped the current standoff so far preventing the loss of our right to freedom from religion.

Five Stars

I fully agree and endorse what comedian Lewis Black, author Frank Schaeffer (Crazy for God), Feminist Majority president Eleanor Smeal and filmmaker Jill Soloway wrote in blurbs for God and Government, respectively:

• No one is more on top of the challenges facing the first amendment than Barry Lynn…with intelligence, wisdom, humanity and a devilish wit, Lynn makes the issues come alive.
• This book is literally a defense of freedom against the theocratic illness.
• Barry Lynn knows all the tricks, twists and turns of those who want to turn the clock back several centuries.
• Barry Lynn has the extraordinary ability to demonstrate how religious fundamentalism poisons almost every public policy debate that matters.

To paraphrase Bruce Springsteen’s tribute to Robert Green Ingersoll, Barry Lynn’s God and Government demonstrates what he has done for equality, education, progress, free ideas and free lives, against the superstition and bigotry of religious dogma. We need men like him today more than ever. His writing still inspires us and challenges the ‘better angels’ of our nature, when people open their hearts and minds to his simple, honest humanity. Thank goodness he (is) here.

The most delicious tears.

My cup runneth over.

[h/t Elyse]

Freethought Women Pioneers of REAL Wellness

Introduction

In a new book on WOs (Wellness Orgasms), Dr. Grant Donovan and I take note of the fact that many of the greatest minds in history have taken a rational, WO-filled view of life. We believe the sheer number of luminaries who favor science over religion is encouraging to freethinkers. Perhaps, in time, reason will overtake faith. When and if that ever happens, our species will better appreciate and look after the Earth’s extraordinary natural wonders. What’s more, we all will better appreciate the wonder of our chance existence.

Women Luminaries

One section of our book is devoted to people past and present that we chose to celebrate as “Luminaries of REAL Wellness.” We take a walk down what we call our “REAL Wellness Lane of Luminescence” with short bios of our heroes. There are 18 women and men selected as favorites who have contributed multiple WO-inspiring perspectives. Some are living, some not. We offer a few of their words for the insights they evoke and to encourage you to explore more of their life work.

Eight of the luminaries are women. In this essay, all of the women freethinkers who advanced the prospects of REAL wellness via reason, exuberance and liberty are highlighted. Enjoy these brief overviews of remarkable people to whom we all owe much.

Madalyn Murray O’Hair (1919-1995)

Madalyn Murray O’Hair – Madalyn Murray O’Hair was a champion of secularism. Time magazine called Madalyn Murray O’Hair the most hated woman in America during her reign as a leading secularist in the second half of the 20th century. Her unyielding and, to most, abrasive defense of the wall separating government from religion was as effective as it was controversial. She relished every opportunity to provoke the faithful and challenge public officials who illegally granted religion special privilege in American life. School prayer was the first of many issues that brought Madalyn to public attention when she objected to Bible readings in the Baltimore public schools.

O’Hair founded American Atheists and debated religious leaders on a variety of issues across the land. She annoyed nearly everyone, including fellow religious skeptics and her life truly was an unhappy mess. She is credited with helping put a halt to plans that would have had astronaut Buzz Aldrin staging a televised communion on the moon. She also blocked a Texas law that would have required public officials to affirm belief in a Supreme Being. O’Hair tried, like many other atheists since, to get “In God We Trust” off coins and to prevent the pope from saying mass on the Mall in Washington, D.C. She also took legal action in efforts to put a stop to tax exemptions for churches.

Memorable quotes:

* I’ll tell you what you did with atheists for about 1500 years. You outlawed them from the universities or any teaching careers, besmirched their reputations, banned or burned their books or their writings of any kind, drove them into exile, humiliated them, seized their properties, arrested them for blasphemy. You dehumanized them with beatings and exquisite torture, gouged out their eyes, slit their tongues, stretched, crushed, or broke their limbs, tore off their breasts if they were women, crushed their scrotums if they were men, imprisoned them, stabbed them, disemboweled them, hanged them, burnt them alive. And you have nerve enough to complain to me that I laugh at you?

* This religion gives you goals which are outside of reality. It enriches your fantasy life with ugliness. It fills you with ideas of guilt over the most common human experiences — usually related to sex. In this room, right now, each of you, in your own lives, has agonized over the fact that you have masturbated. Masturbation isn’t sinful. If it feels good — do it. You have my blessing, and you yourself know how it relaxes you.

* People say, ‘So what? It’s just a little cross.’ What if it were a little swastika?

* Atheism may be defined as the mental attitude which unreservedly accepts the supremacy of reason and aims at establishing a lifestyle and ethical outlook verifiable by experience and the scientific method, independent of all arbitrary assumptions of authority and creeds.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali (1969 – present)

Ayaan Hirsi Ali – A Somali-born American activist, writer and politician, Ali is known for her views on Islam, female genital mutilation, women’s rights and atheism. Author of two bestselling books, Infidel: My Life and Nomad: from Islam to America, she was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2005. Ali has several other distinctions and awards, including a free speech prize from the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, the Swedish Liberal Party’s Democracy Prize and the Moral Courage Award for commitment to conflict resolution, ethics and world citizenship.

Memorable quotes:

* All life is problem solving. There are no absolutes; progress comes through critical thought. Reason, not obedience, should guide our lives. Though it took centuries to crumble, the entire ossified cage of European social hierarchy – from kings to serfs, and between men and women, all of it shored up by the Catholic Church – was destroyed by this thought.

* When a ‘Life of Brian’ comes out with Muhammad in the lead role, directed by an Arab equivalent of Theo van Gogh, it will be a huge step forward.

* Tolerance of intolerance is cowardice.

Anne Nicol Gaylor (1926 – present)

Anne Nicol Gaylor – As editor of the Middleton Times Tribune, Anne Nicole Gaylor editorialized from 1997 for legalized abortion. Requests from pregnant women in desperate straits led Ms Gaylor into volunteer activism for feminist rights. She founded the ZPG Abortion Referral Service in 1970, which resulted in 20,000-plus referrals for birth control, abortion and sterilization over an initial five year period. Two years later, she co-founded a charity to assist low-income women seeking abortions; a service that helped 14,000 women over a 32 year period. In 1976, Ms Gaylor and two others, including her daughter Anne Nicole, created the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) for the promotion of free thought and separation of state and church. Today, FFRF has over 21,000 members and a distinguished record of legal actions.

Memorable quotes:

* Nothing fails like prayer.

* There were many groups working for women’s rights but none of them dealt with the root cause of women’s oppression – religion.

* There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.

Wendy Kaminer (1950 – present)

Wendy Kaminer – A graduate of Smith College in 1971 and Boston University Law School in 1975, Kaminer spent her first years practicing law before switching to journalism in 1991. Her eight books include Sleeping with Extra-Terrestrials: The Rise of Irrationalism, Perils of Piety and Free for All: Defending Liberty in America Today. She has received many recognitions of a major nature, including the Extraordinary Merit Media Award from the National Women’s Political Caucus and a Guggenheim fellowship. The focus of Kaminer’s work includes atheism and state/church issues, the harm of religion’s influence on politics, civil liberties, psychology and the law.

Memorable quotes:

* Atheists generate about as much sympathy as pedophiles. But, while pedophilia may at least be characterized as a disease, atheism is a choice, a willful rejection of beliefs to which vast majorities of people cling.

* The magical thinking encouraged by any belief in the supernatural, combined with the vilification of rationality and skepticism, is more conducive to conspiracy theories than it is to productive political debate.

* I don’t care if religious people consider me amoral because I lack their beliefs in God. I do, however, care deeply about efforts to turn religious beliefs into law, and those efforts benefit greatly from the conviction that individually and collectively, we cannot be good without God.

Matilda Joslyn Gage (1826-1898)

Matilda Joslyn Gage – Ms Gage distinguished herself as a suffragette, abolitionist, Native American activist, secularist and feminist. She worked closely with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton as an eloquent spokesperson for the then outrageous idea that women had a natural right to vote. Matilda served as President of the National Woman Suffrage Association and in 1890 organized the Woman’s National Liberal Union devoted to separation of church and state. Over a century ago, Gage identified the church as the root cause of the oppression of women and also warned about a danger that confronts the country today, namely, a union of Catholics and Protestants attempting to put God in the Constitution and attack secular schools.

Memorable quotes:

* It is the church and not the state, to which the teaching of woman’s inferiority is due: it is the church which primarily commanded the obedience of woman to man. It is the church which stamps with religious authority the political and domestic degradation of woman.

* There is a word sweeter than mother, home or heaven. That word is liberty.

* In order to help preserve the very life of the Republic, it is imperative that women should unite upon a platform of opposition to the teaching and aim of that ever most unscrupulous enemy of freedom – the Church.

* During the ages, no rebellion has been of like importance with that of woman against the tyranny of the church and state; none has had its far reaching effects. We note its beginning; its progress will overthrow every existing form of these institutions; its end will be a regenerated world.

Butterfly McQueen (1911 – 1995)

Butterfly McQueen – A dancer turned actress, Thelma “Butterfly” McQueen is best known for playing Prissy in “Gone with the Wind” (1939). She acted in twenty other movies and television into the 1950s. During World War II, she made many appearances on the Armed Forces Broadcast Jubilee as a comedienne. Butterfly was a nearly lifelong atheist. She retired from acting because studio executives felt she was insufficiently deferential for a black woman and so she often worked in service jobs including, ironically, as a maid, as a salesperson at Macy’s, a taxi dispatcher, running a snack shop and as a seamstress. She graduated in 1974, at age 64, from New York City College with a bachelor’s degree in political science.

Memorable quotes:

* As my ancestors are free from slavery, I am free from the slavery of religion.

* I’m an atheist and Christianity appears to me to be the most absurd imposture of all the religions and I’m puzzled that so many people can’t see through a religion that encourages irresponsibility and bigotry.

* They say the streets are going to be beautiful in heaven. Well, I’m trying to make the streets beautiful here…When it’s clean and beautiful, I think America is heaven. And some people are hell.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815 – 1902)

Elizabeth Cady Stanton – Elizabeth Cady Stanton is viewed as the founding mother of the feminist movement. Her issues were women’s subjugation and religion’s role in keeping women subordinate. A suffrage plank she introduced at the historic Seneca Falls convention in 1848 won endorsement and galvanized women for the next 72 years. In her diary, she noted that her beliefs were “grounded on science, common sense and love of humanity, not fears of the torments of hell and promises of the joys of heaven.” She described how “the bible was hurled at us from every side” in a history of the early movement. Nearly every speech Stanton wrote condemned religious dogma. She is also fondly remembered by contemporary secularists for writing “The Woman’s Bible” in 1895.

Memorable quotes:

* The Church is a terrible engine of oppression, especially as concerns woman.

* I have endeavored to dissipate these religious superstitions from the minds of women and base their faith on science and reason, where I found for myself at least that peace and comfort I could never find in the Bible and the church. . . the less they believe, the better for their own happiness and development.

* For fifty years the women of this nation have tried to dam up this deadly stream that poisons all their lives but thus far they have lacked the insight or courage to follow it back to its source and there strike the blow at the fountain of all tyranny, religious superstition, priestly power and the canon law.

Vashti McCollum (1912 – 2006)

Vashti McCollum – Vashti McCollum endured the wrath of the loving faithful, including death threats, harassed children, murder of the family cat, job loss and more, for challenging school prayer in the public schools and eventually winning the Supreme Court case that put a stop to religious education in public schools in America. This 1948 ruling remains in force to this day. Her book, One Woman’s Fight (1953), was a best-seller and propelled her career as a free thought leader. Ms McCollum served two terms as president of the American Humanist Association and she was featured in a PBS documentary entitled, The Lord Is Not on Trial Here. The title was inspired by an incident during court hearings when a Bible-toting man confronted the school board’s attorney, announcing that he was there to testify for the Lord. The attorney replied, “The Lord, sir, is not on trial here today.”

To their credit, the Baptist Joint Committee submitted an amicus brief to the Court in support of McCollum, saying, “We must not allow our religious fervor to blind us to the essential fact that no religious faith is secure when it meshes its authority with that of the state.”

Memorable quotes:

* Between being praised and persecuted, condoned and condemned, I might understandably have become bewildered, particularly at the brand of ethics sometimes displayed by the staunch defenders of Christianity. But of one thing I am sure: I am sure that I fought not only for what I earnestly believed to be right but for the truest kind of religious freedom intended by the First Amendment, the complete separation of church and state.

* As long as the public school is used to recruit the child or to segregate the children according to religion or to use the truancy power of the public schools to make them go to religions classes, I’m against it.

That’s an overview of our female freethinker heroines—hundreds more could be identified who have done wonders for the spread of reason, exuberance and liberty for everyone and all deserve our gratitude and respect.

In the course of researching the facts on these and other luminaries, varied sources were examined. However, special appreciation goes out to the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s (FFRF) Freethought of the Day feature, particularly to Anne Laurie Gaylor, Bill Dunn and Sabrina Gaylor.

Be well and look on the bright, luminescent side of life.

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For information on obtaining our new book about this concept entitled, Wellness Orgasms: The Fun Way to Live Well and Die Healthy by Exploring the Secrets of REAL Wellness, write Dr. Donovan at grant@perceptionmapping.com

New post at Secular Woman Salon.

I’ve posted my first piece for Secular Woman Salon, entitled “PROJECTION: It’s Not Just For Movies” [CONTENT NOTE: f*-bombs]. It’s about the religious right’s psychological projection and what we can can glean from the implications of that. SPOILER ALERT: those implications are both amusing and terrifying.

I am finding this writers group to be as talented and sharp as they are helpful and supportive, which is to say wonderful. Please check them out if you’re so inclined.

Strangely, no one has commented on my post’s accompanying image. I can’t imagine why, since it clearly stands among my finest works to date:

“Pig vs. Ass”
Iris Vander Pluym (2014)
Oil on canvas. 20 ft. x 50 ft.
minimum bid: $10,000,000.00

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Since Feminist Hivemind is no longer online, I think in the coming days I might post here at least some of the material I wrote exclusively for that site, if for no other reason than to have it archived where I can access it and link to it. (I will note the source information at the top of these posts, including the original publishing date as far as I can ascertain it.)

Obviously, none of the Hivemind pieces will be anywhere near as brilliant as ^that graphic, though. So don’t go getting your expectations up or anything.

HAPPY WEEKEND!

Announcements + Acquisitions.

[CONTENT NOTE: ableist language; slut-shaming.]

Lest you worry that we have been ignoring you, beloved Loyal Readers™, fear not! Behind the scenes we have been working furiously, as ever, toward a better Palace, a better Internet and a better world. We have been away this week on a Sooper Seekrit mission, which is not yet ready for Palace prime time. Stay tuned.

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If you’ve been asking yourself what the Internet is missing, I am confident that you have already come to the same conclusion I did: more Iris Vander Pluym. To that end, I am honored to announce that I have accepted an invitation to write regularly for a new project at Secular Woman called The Secular Woman Salon, “a new outlet on our website for the latest in opinion, think pieces, and news for secular women, as well as anyone interested in advancing the cause of social justice with a secular lens.” Opinions! Think pieces! News! OMFG I haz them! 

This opportunity came along at the right time for me, as I’ve lately found myself really missing writing for the (now-defunct) Feminist Hivemind. It’s not that I don’t post secular/feminist-centered pieces at the Palace—of course I do—but my participation in an online community, one focused specifically on intersectional feminism and social justice through a secular lens, kept me not only inspired and informed, but also challenged me to bring my A-game to writing about these issues. Both the critical feedback and camaraderie were invaluable to me, and made the Hivemind an extraordinary experience; I am excitedly looking forward to learning from and working with a new group of talented writers at Secular Woman. Check them out here, and if you are so inclined, please give us a shout-out via your social media. My first post there will probably appear in the next week or so, and I will link it here when it does.

Loyal Readers™ may be amused to find there a three-quarter head shot of Your Humble Monarch™, the first ever posted. Because of the unremitting harassment, vile threats and horrific abuse to which feminists (and their loved ones) are routinely subjected for the unconscionable crime of saying feminist things on the Internet, I have deliberately kept a pretty low profile as far as my image and visibility are concerned. So when Secular Woman asked me for a head shot, I gasped audibly. To their credit, they graciously said they would permit me to use any image or avatar instead—they totally get it—but after I thought about it, I took it as an opportunity to take a teeny, tiny, baby step in the direction of…well, I don’t know what. But now that it’s out there and there is no way to take it back, I feel like I’ma just roll with it, and see how it goes.

Readers who have met me in person will probably have a good laugh at this. (Believe me, so did I.) My goal was that you would recognize me from this picture if you already knew me, but you wouldn’t necessarily be able to pick me out on the street very easily if you did not…

Behold, the face of Iris Vander Pluym:

Heh. None of this will stop dedicated haters, of course. But at least I had fun: picture me sitting on the floor in front of a full-length mirror holding my iPhone over my head, against a glamorous backdrop of hotel bedding strung from the mini-kitchen. And trying desperately not to giggle, without much success. (“Hey, you’re a serious writer, dammit! Stop laughing right now! *makes a serious face* “Oooh, VERRRY SEERYUS.” *giggles uncontrollably*. It was a looong day.)

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Here are some recent Palace Library acquisitions you may find infotaining, including a few for our fabulous annex in the Bedroom.

PLEASE NOTE: Linking does not imply the Palace’s 100% endorsement of content.

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FISA court judges buying Verizon stock as they approve NSA surveillance. RT.com (Jul. 2014).

Top 10 Things to Say When You Meet a White Person. Indian Country Today Media Network (Jul. 2014). (“I learned all your people’s ways in the Boy Scouts.”)

Ladies who don’t use contraception have had it with you 99% that do, you dirty girls. Marcotte, A., Raw Story/Pandagon (Jul. 2014). (“Considering how few women don’t use contraception, they appear to have managed to get a quote from each and every one of them.”)

Texas open carry advocates fume after ‘skanky topless libtards’ disrupt pro-gun rally. Kaufman, S., Raw Story (Jul. 2014). (“Boobs for peace.”)

How I Overcame My Soul-Crippling, Deep-South Addiction to Whiteness in 5 Steps. Odell, J., Alternet. (“In Mississippi, the drug of choice is racial superiority. But there are ways to kick the habit.”)

Anti-abortion fanatics invade a church service. Where’s the outrage? Abcarian, R., The Los Angeles Times (Jul. 2014).

Expel Palestinians, Populate Gaza with Jews, Says Knesset Deputy Speaker. Abunimah, A., Global Research (Jul. 2014).

It Turns Out Hamas May Not Have Kidnapped and Killed the 3 Israeli Teens After All. Zavadski, K., New York Magazine (Jul. 2014). (“Israeli intelligence is also said to have known that the boys were dead shortly after they disappeared, but to have maintained public optimism about their safe return to beef up support from the Jewish diaspora.”)

Dead Gazans Missing From Senate Endorsement of Israeli Invasion. Kelly, A. R., Truthdig (Jul. 2014). (“On Thursday, all 100 U.S. senators—including progressives Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Al Franken and Sherrod Brown—voted to pass an AIPAC-drafted resolution supporting the Netanyahu government’s military invasion of the Gaza Strip.”)

Decrying “Brutal Operation Taking Place in Our Name,” Israeli Military Reservists Refuse to Serve. Democracy Now! (Jul. 2014). (VIDEO: Amy Goodman interview of Yael Even Or. Transcript available at the link.)

Woman’s ‘Cards Against Harassment’ Campaign Fights Everyday Chauvinism. Sola, K., Mashable (Jul. 2014).

Rust Devastates Guatemala’s Prime Coffee Crop And Its Farmers. Kahn, C., The Salt (Jul. 2014).

THE BEDROOM:

Adult Material.
You must be 18+ to hang out in the Palace Bedroom.
(if you are not 18+ and looking for resources on sex and sexuality, go here.)
Some links = NSFW.

Hair does not make the woman, Sarah Ditum. Melby, M.A., The TransAdvocate (Jul. 2014).

Unwanted arousal: it happens. Nagoski, E., Medium (Jul. 2014). (“what science says about those times when your genitals respond to stories of sexual violence.”) (TW: sexual violence.)

Why I’m Still a Butch Lesbian. Urquhart, V. V., Slate (Jul. 2014).

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Happy weekend!

Obama Is No Defender of the Wall of Separation: He Has Aligned with the Religious Right to Destroy It

Introduction: The Great Disappointment

I would expect this from Reagan, both Bushes and even Clinton, who could pander with the best of them. If McCain/Palin or Romney/What’s His Name? had prevailed in 2008 or 2012 respectively, yes, of course, this position would have been no surprise. But, how many Barack Obama enthusiasts, those with hope for a new era, those who knocked on doors, contributed money and otherwise promoted his watershed election would have expected Obama to back prayers at government meetings?

What a grievous letdown.

It’s bad enough that Obama continued and even expanded the ghastly faith-based office in the White House that distributes tax monies to religious organizations. It’s awful that he can’t conclude a speech to the American people without intoning a ritual, “God bless you and God bless the United States of America.” That’s gross, particularly in that we have no way of knowing if God ever does bless us. What would happen if he/she/it did, even once? We have no idea – and nor does Obama. For that matter, there is zero evidence that there is a god. It’s just weird that a president of a modern country in 2013 talks like this. Sure, the fundamentalists want god-talk in their politicians, but this is America. In this land, with a secular Constitution, a significant (20%) segment of the population would be grateful if he’d stop it.

Still, my greatest disappointment with our president is that he has chosen to align with Congressional Republicans and the Religious Right in an action that could tear down what’s left of the wall separating religion from the business of governing.

Background

In 2012, the town of Greece, N.Y. was found to have violated the 1st Amendment’s ban on an “establishment of religion” by a federal appeals court. Specifically, Greece’s practice of having Christian prayers at monthly town council meetings was judged to be “an endorsement of … a Christian viewpoint.” The town appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which accepted the case.

At the present time, case law handed down by the highest court has established these guidelines:

• Governments must not be seen to “endorse” religion.

• Public property must not be used to display the TenCommandments, Nativity scenes or religious statues.

Even the Family Research Council (FRC), the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and other fundamentalist, Republican/Tea Party extremists were surprised by their new ally—the Obama administration. Barry Lynn, long time leader of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, termed the administration’s position “doubly disappointing” while observing that “a town council meeting is not like a church service, and it shouldn’t be treated like it is.” (Source: Sarah Jones, “Prayer Push: Clergy Demand Sectarian Invocations Before Government Meetings Despite Legal Risks,” Americans United – Wall of Separation, Aug 22, 2013.)

Official prayers reminiscent of a church service in public schools have been unconstitutional for decades, in part because judges have ruled that such rituals marginalize non-Christians or non-believers. But, that fact matters little to Republican politicians who know that Americans overwhelmingly support public references to God. Furthermore, no less than 60 percent of voters favor the clearly unconstitutional National Day of Prayer. This flagrant violation of the Constitution, wherein religion is promoted by the state, came about because religion-based interest groups persuaded the Congress half a century ago to proclaim an annual day of prayer. This was seen as a way to give a one-finger salute to godless Commies, with whom we were having a cold war.

Today, the same salute by Christians goes to secularists who resist religion in the public square. At last count, no fewer than 85 House and 34 Senate members, along with 23 state attorneys general, are lined up with briefs supporting government prayers.

As the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) has noted, prayer in government is running amok. One absurd situation involves a “prayer caravan” involving 29 public schools organized by the Cullman County, Alabama school superintendent. What justification does this public official offer for violating the separation standard? In his own words, he does so because “the bible admonishes us to pray without ceasing.” Lovely.

And why does the Alabama governor support the superintendent’s prayer caravan? Because “I personally believe that one of the problems we have in this country is taking God out of, not only our lives, but out of government.”

Have there been studies to determine if any god is in or out of any government, with or without politicians praying? I have not seen such research. Wouldn’t it be interesting to examine the methodology that might be created to explore such a presumed relationship.

If the president and other government leaders were more committed to the Constitution they promised to uphold than they are to popular prejudices, flagrant violations like Greece’s council prayers, national days of prayer and Alabama school caravans wouldn’t have a prayer of being sustained by any court in the land.

The Outlook

If the Constitution were being written today with the entire Republican Party devoted to both religious determinism and anti-scientism, there probably would be no recognizable First Amendment, no separation provision between the state and religion. And the result might well be battles between Christian sects and varied religions and, of course, the godless secularists. This is the norm in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world.

One U.S. Supreme Court justice, Antonin Scalia, is an outspoken advocate for a more theocratic America. He wants U.S. politicians to promote God because “God is the divine authority behind government, the source of its moral authority.” No, Scalia never explains how he knows this, or if he believes we are the only country so favored by the invisible deity.

A recent article cited a book written by David Domke and Kevin Coe called, “The God Strategy” that describe the pandering to faith-heads since the Reagan presidency. Whereas Johnson, Nixon and Carter invoked God only 61, 26 and 25 percent of the time, respectively, in their talks to the nation, Reagan did so 96 percent of the time. And Reagan’s successors have sustained this cynical tradition: Bush I (91 percent), Clinton (93 percent) and Bush II (95 percent). The figures are not in for Obama but I’m guessing he’s got a disgraceful 100 percent percentile rating. (Source: Mugambi Jouet, “Hey Candidates: Atheists Vote, Too—So Stop Pandering to God! Politicians from Obama to Bush just can’t resist the God strategy,” Salon, August 23, 2013.)

Maybe Secularists Should Not Be So Surprised

In his first inaugural, Obama made these unsupported claims:

• “God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.” When did God do that, I wonder? Is destiny not uncertain for every country, every human being? Besides sounding good to the uncritical Christian, what the hell was Obama talking about?

• “Let it be said [that] with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.”

Are “eyes fixed on the horizon” the best strategy? What about events and other variables nearby, like the steady erosion of Constitutional safeguards? Those are not coming from any horizon. And what’s new or useful about thinking, “God’s grace is any more on us” than anyone else. Hey, didn’t the Nazis have “Gott mit Uns” (literally “God with us”) on the Wehrmacht and SS belt buckles?

Maybe the Gestapo focused their eyes on the horizon, too – a quasi-religious horizon that somehow looked like a 1000-year Reich.

Of course, all Obama really wanted to suggest, without saying it aloud (as that would be too brazenly obvious an association of the Deity’s support for his election), was that he was God’s choice for president and God would be part of his administration. If that were the case, some high level Cabinet shuffling might be in order, given how things are going to hell in his second term.

What To Do?

The best way to turn the theocracy tide is for citizens to express their contempt for pandering and demagogy.

Obama is no more a favorite politician or servant of God than anyone else in public life and he probably knows that. Unfortunately, he does not think most Americans know that, so he acts accordingly with god-talk and support for prayers at government meetings, tax funds for faith-based charities, disaster aide for religious buildings and so on.

Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-presidents of FFRF, constantly urge politicians who pander with prayer to “get off your knees and get to work.” Robert Green Ingersoll once put it this way: “Hands that help are better than lips that pray.”

In another context, near the end of his famous 1890 address entitled, “God in the Constitution,” Ingersoll offered these words on the topic:

In 1776 our fathers endeavored to retire the gods from politics. They declared that ‘all governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.’ This was a contradiction of the then political ideas of the world; it was, as many believed, an act of pure blasphemy — a renunciation of the Deity. It was in fact a declaration of the independence of the earth. It was a notice to all churches and priests that thereafter mankind would govern and protect themselves. Politically it tore down every altar and denied the authority of every ‘sacred book, and appealed from the Providence of God to the Providence of Man. Those who promulgated the Declaration adopted a Constitution for the great Republic.

I wish Obama would read that speech. It might bring him to his senses, no matter the political cost, if any.

What’s There Not to Love About Indulgences On Offer by the Catholic Church?

Introduction: Blue Light Specials for the Afterlife

The church’s Crazy Uncle role in society is great fun for secularists. However, Church doctrine is taken quite seriously by the devout, fervent majority of Catholics. The latest manifestation of the Catholic Church’s Crazy Uncle tradition is an offer of time off on after-life tortures. This is a reference to painful horrors that believers are conditioned to expect awaits them after death in a hell-hole called Purgatory.

Now along comes a Vatican court ruling that Catholics can gain some time off the frightful things a loving god does to Catholics in Purgatory through the gift of indulgences.

The latest indulgence on offer is available simply for following the Pope on Twitter.

While this sounds like a send-up from the comics at The Onion, the source of the story is actually a serious exemplar of the journalism trade. (See Tom Kington, Vatican offers ‘time off purgatory’ to followers of Pope Francis tweets, The Guardian, July 16, 2013.) The story is for real.

Indulgences from the Fires of Purgatory

As in the Middle Ages, indulgences entail the promise of some vague level of less torture after you die, unless of course you find yourself sentenced to hell. Then you are doomed to unspeakable, eternal miseries beyond imagining. Indulgences do no good for the souls cast into the ghastly holocaust of holocausts. While details are not available as to how much less burning in Purgatorial flames is associated with most indulgences now on offer, any time off Purgatory for good behaviors seems desirable.

I think all will agree that following the tweets of Pope Francis is a good way to catch a break from the hellish agonies of third degree burns which await those sinners that the Catholic God determines need a good going over by his devoted enforcers.

Purgatory is officially termed a period of purification before a soul moves into heaven. That’s like calling waterboarding a nasal spray. No less a church authority than St. Augustine described Purgatory as a place offering pain more severe than anything a man can suffer in this life. Thanks to the Inquisition and other religious infamies, we know that pains more severe than those humans can and have inflicted upon each other must indeed be beyond belief – and here’s St. Augustine saying, in effect, you ain’t seen nothin till you get to Purgatory.

The Mystery of Time in the Catholic Purgatory

Time in Purgatory is not necessarily the same as time on Earth. A second here could be a year there, and vice-versa. Thus, an indulgence might count for seconds, minutes, days, weeks, years or centuries as we understand these intervals – nobody knows, not even the Pope. But, just to be on the safe side, if you are Catholic and believe in Purgatory, why take a chance? The flames are just as hot in this temporary dungeon of agony as in the eternal fires of Hell itself. (I know this because the nuns told me so over the course of eight years in grade school at St. Barnabas in Philadelphia from 1944 to 1952, and the nuns were experts on punishments.)

So indulgences for reading a few bloody tweets seem like a pretty good deal. Alas, as with most marketing schemes, there are a few catches. You have to read the fine print. You only get the indulgences, according to Mario Celli, head of the Vatican’s social media department, if the Pope’s tweets bear authentic spiritual fruit in your heart.

I have no bloody idea what that means, or how it works or who will check the crops in your heart, but that’s a condition if you want torture time off. You also must be in good standing with the church and be truly penitent and contrite and carry out prayers with requisite devotion. I’m not sure but there might be an expectation of love offerings involved in this, as well.

Indulgences Take Many Forms

If you are not on Twitter, don’t worry. There are other ways to suffer less in the afterlife before being sufficiently purified to enter Heaven. You might prefer to climb The Sacred Steps in Rome. If you do that, the agents of a loving God will subject you to seven entire years less torture. Wow. If I were a true-believing Catholic, I’d be up and down those steps all day, day after day, until dead from exhaustion.

But, let’s say you’re not into exercise, even for such a good cause (i.e., less torture). You can reduce the time given over to the agonies of Purgatory and speed your way into the ecstasies of heaven if you attend Catholic World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

If the costs of doing that are out of your range, still no need to worry. A Vatican court called, and I’m not making this up, The Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary (SAP), exists solely to promote the forgiveness of sins. The good SAP Court offers torture indulgences for those who simply follow the rites and pious exercises of Catholic World Youth Day on television, radio or through social media.

It seems to me the Catholic Church is really going out of its way to cut back on the tortures of Purgatory. However, I would caution stay-at-home World Youth Day viewers not to overindulge in drinking beer and eating chips or dozing off or otherwise observing the proceedings in a less than reverent and pious manner. Otherwise, your heart might not bear authentic spiritual fruit.

Political Force for Theocracy

I love it when the Church acts like somebody’s crazy uncle. When it’s issuing indulgences, making saints, confirming miracles and acting crazy, it’s not working through its cardinals and bishops and priests and Catholic zealot organizations to lower the wall separating religion from government, and thus seeking to separate the American people from their liberties.

I’d much rather read about the latest miracles attributed to dead popes and other catholics and indulgences for the Pope’s tweeting than have to combat its relentless efforts to restrict the rights of gays to marry, women to exercise their reproductive rights, employees to access the birth control provisions in the Affordable Health Care Act and to subject us all to funding parochial schools and rebuilding their churches damaged by acts of their own God, religious symbols on public property, “under god” babble in the pledge of allegiance, in God we trust on our national currency, commandments on public property and prayers at civic functions.

And that’s just a sampling of what the Church does to advance its agenda of a more theocratic America.

Sometimes, it’s hard not to appreciate a crazy uncle.