Category: Positive - Page 6

July 1, 2013

Atheist Monument At Florida Courthouse Just The Beginning

On Saturday, American Atheists unveiled a monument to atheism on the lawn of the Bradford County Courthouse in Florida. The monument is a bench and marker inscribed with quotes, concerning the relationship between church and state, by the founders, a quote by American Atheist founder Madalyn Murray O’Hair, and some Bible quotes showing the punishment for breaking the Ten Commandments. Also at the event American Atheists President David Silverman announced that more monuments will be erected around the country. While the public square should be free from symbols from any particular belief, if such symbols are allowed then ALL such symbols should be allowed.

Here is a quick refresher: American Atheists filed a lawsuit against Bradford County in Florida to have a Ten Commandments monument removed from the court house grounds. The county asked the group, Community Men’s Fellowship, who donated the monument, to remove it but the group refused. The county, not wanting to lose the lawsuit and not wanting to spend its own money to remove it settled the lawsuit by making the grounds officially a public forum, allowing any group to install a display. American Atheists took them up on the offer.

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June 17, 2013

Fifty Years After Abington School District v. Schempp, Church & State Still In A Struggle

Ellery Schempp – His protest of required Bible reading in his High School lead to the case Abington School District v. Schempp being decided in 1963

On June 17th 1963, the US Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision that supported the separation of church and state in public schools – Abington School District v. Schempp. Even 50 years after the decision, we seem to have to fight the same battle over and over again. That is what happens in the struggle for civil rights. You have to be vigilant or they can be taken away. We need to celebrate dissenters like Schempp and we all need to try and emulate his activism.

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June 1, 2013

In Twist, American Atheists To Erect Monument On Florida Court House Lawn

Bradford County, Florida Ten Commandments Monument

Usually American Atheists files a lawsuit to have a religious symbol removed from government property. But in a historical first, the resolution of a 1st Amendment lawsuit will include the erection of a monument celebrating atheism on the lawn of a court house in Florida. If a public space is really going to be open to all points of view then the atheist monument should appear along side other monuments and symbols for the religions.

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May 7, 2013

Brunsman Wants Every Student To Know They Can Opt-Out Of The Beliefs Of The Cultural Mainstream

August E. Brunsman IV, Executive Director of the Secular Student Alliance

I have known August Brunsman, Executive Director of the Secular Student Alliance (SSA), for at least 13 years through my Humanist group in Columbus Ohio. I got to watch from the front row as SSA hatched and grew into the premium secular student group in the United States it is today. SSA, as a group, has little drama and they seem to do things right. I conducted an e-mail interview with August asking a range of questions from when his first act of religious dissent was, what is a major issue facing secular students today, and his feelings on the current and sometimes fiery debate over sexism in secular groups.

August graduated Phi Beta Kappa from The Ohio State University in 2001. While at OSU he co-founded Students for Freethought at the Ohio State University. He has also volunteered over the years for Camp Quest, serves as Secretary for the board of the Humanist Community of Central Ohio and served as Secretary for the board of the Secular Coalition for America. August is a registered humanist celebrant and performs nontheistic weddings, naming ceremonies, and memorial services.

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May 2, 2013

National Day of Reason – For Everybody

graphic with words National Day of Reason

National Day of Reason: May 2nd 2013

The first Thursday in May is the National Day of Reason. It was created as a response to the National Day of Prayer held on the same day. the National Day of Reason is to celebrate reason – a concept all Americans can support – and to raise public awareness about the persistent threat to religious liberty posed by government when it takes sides.

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April 29, 2013

Secular Student Alliance Week 2013

The student freethought group Secular Student Alliance (SSA) is holding their annual SSA Week to both celebrate the work their affiliates do and to raise money to continue the outreach to college and high school students. During the week some bloggers and other online voices will be posting special content to ask people to donate to the group. The SSA does special work and needs your support so please donate if you can.

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