News

From Common Sense Plus:

Fayetteville Arkansas and the University of Arkansas campus were paid a visit this evening by a member of the Seattle based creationist group, Discovery Institute; speaking staffer Casey Luskin almost took us by surprise.

Here's more proof that non-rational thinking is NOT without it's costs. It does matter what you believe.

Several Children's Hospital of Philadelphia employees were fired for refusing to get the seasonal flu vaccine.

The people who were let go said this year is the first that the hospital has mandated flu shots.

"I never thought that not getting a flu shot would result in the loss of my job," said Tyrika Cowlay.

Cowlay and her husband, Gary, whom she met while working at Children's Hospital, were among those fired for failure to get the shot.

"Our seasonal flu vaccine policy is stronger than most hospitals in our region – and it should be, because we care for the sickest of sick children," read a statement from CHOP. "Many of the children in our care have never had a chance to have a seasonal flu vaccine themselves so we have to do it for them. Many of our patients are either too young or their immune systems are too weak."

The Cowlays said they refused to get the shot for religious reasons.

"I am a Christian, and my religion prohibits me from receiving vaccines," said Tyrika Cowlay, who was a lab technician. 

From NWAOnline.com:

LITTLE ROCK — An atheist group’s display marking the winter solstice will join the traditional Nativity scene on the state Capitol grounds as a result of a ruling by a federal judge Monday.

U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright granted a preliminary injunction in favor of the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers, who sued Secretary of State Charlie Daniels after he refused to grant permission for the group to put up its display, dubbed the Box of Knowledge.

“We liked the outcome,” said Mark Love, an electrical engineer who is the registrar for the society. “We wanted to be included and to be able to express our message. It looks like it’s going to happen.”

Link

From USA Today:

Woe is me: If you want to be all things to all people, remember that many are called but few are chosen.

If those phrases have a familiar ring, they should: They come from the Bible and have entered the secular lexicon. The nation's left-right culture wars have heightened such use of biblical phrases as rivals try to invoke heavenly punch and challenge your Bible IQ.

For one, President Barack Obama has said that opponents of his health care proposals are "bearing false witness" against his ideas, recalling the commandment against lying.

That gave Obama's rhetoric a dose of divine imperative, according to Timothy Beal, a college religion professor who has written a book connecting popular references to biblical stories. Biblical Literacy: the Essential Bible Stories Everyone Needs to Know was published in October.

"I think you can't be culturally literate without being biblically literate," Beal said in an interview in his snug, book-lined office at Case Western Reserve University.

"These biblical stories and even images are pervasive in our language, they are all over our culture, from high culture to low culture, from Michelangelo to the Simpsons."

From the Examiner:

A federal district court ruled Tuesday that a special Christian license plate mandated by the South Carolina legislature violates the constitutional separation of church and state.

U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie held that the plate, which was to feature a large yellow cross, a stained-glass window and the words “I Believe,” clearly gives favored government treatment to one faith. In a summary judgment ruling, she ordered state officials not to issue the plate.

Dinesh D'Souza explains to Christians how you should talk to an atheist. The fine tuning argument makes an appearance!

http://apologetics315.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-to-speak-to-atheist-mp3-audio-by.html

[via Apologetics315]

The Secular Coalition for America says it is “thrilled” that the House of Representatives has decided to remove language found in all three draft bills that would require private and public health care plans to cover the spiritual needs of individuals with religious objections to medical treatment.

Via [The Freethinker]

From the Morning News:

Only rarely do I encounter someone who will admit to being an atheist in Northwest Arkansas.

On those infrequent occasions I have found the non-believer to be sincere, cordial and respectful of my faith. Often I will respond to the atheist's contention that there is no God by responding, "Tell me about the God that you don't believe in."

Click 'Read More' to see the rest.

Interesting segment on NPR about whether or not atheists should be respectful to the religious.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113889251

This kind of ignorant predjudice is exactly why I want to raise awareness.

A reader — let’s call her Jane — is part of a message board where members discuss marriage and family.

Jane recently posted that she and her husband needed marriage counseling because of communication problems. Some of the forum members suggested church counseling and Jane declined. She said she was an atheist and faith-based counseling wasn’t for her.

That led to this unbelievable response from one woman: