An actual official meeting at the White House will happen on Friday February 26th between representatives of non-theistic groups and President Obama’s staff. While not as splashy as a meeting with the President it is important for those of us non-believers who feel we were ignored during past administrations.
Tag: church and state
The case of John Freshwater, the Mount Vernon Ohio teacher who tried to teach his religious beliefs in his 8th grade class room is still going on more than a year since the news broke. They are currently finishing up direct witness testimony for an employment hearing that has lasted 14 months and cost has cost the school district more than $500,000 in legal fees.
Here is a clip of a 1939 Porky Pig cartoon about the Pledge of Allegiance. The interesting bit is that the phrase “under God” is no where to be found since it wasn’t added by an act of Congress in 1954. Our country didn’t implode when the phrase wasn’t in the pledge and it won’t when it is taken out.
It was announced on Wednesday that the board of PBS (the Public Broadcasting Service) had voted to prohibit religious programing on PBS stations. I have already seen the faux outrage in the conservative religious community – the ones who believe the government should shove Christianity down everyone’s throat. What the truth in the ban is that PBS stations aren’t allowed to broadcast church services.
May 5th was the so-called National Day of Prayer. It is an ad hoc “day” sponsored by the religious right front group Focus on the Family to misinform us all about the erroneous claims that fundamentalist Christians are being persecuted in the United States. President Bush made a public spectacle of the “event” but President Obama only continued the proclamation part. That is a good sign, but there are other reasons to drop the National Day of Prayer.