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THE FOCUS
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centerforatheism.org
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April 04, 2008
Volume 6, Issue 14
Published by the Center For Atheism (CFA)
Editor: David Birnkrant
==================================================================== See CFA Programs (end of page) Gift for Life (Blood Donation Event) response to the National Day of Prayer - May 1, 2008. |
Featured Articles
Praying parents' other 3 kids removed
By ROBERT IMRIE, Associated Press Writer
WAUSAU, Wis. - The three siblings of a girl who died of diabetes that went untreated...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080328/ap_on_re_us/daughter_s_death_prayer
Praying parents' other 3 kids removed
By ROBERT IMRIE, Associated Press Writer
WAUSAU, Wis. - The three siblings of a girl who died of diabetes that went untreated...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080328/ap_on_re_us/daughter_s_death_prayer
Athiest Goes To Court To Keep Son Out Of Catholic School
WLKY - Louisville,KY,USA
The father is an atheist and doesn't want his son to attend a religious high school. But the child's mother says there are several reasons their son should ...
http://www.wlky.com/news/15776331/detail.html
Darwin Was Right: Natural Selection Speeds Up Speciation
Science Daily (press release) - USA
... has come up with strong evidence for one of Charles Darwin's cornerstone ideas -- adaptation to the environment accelerates the creation of new species. ...
http://wwwsciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402071538.htm
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News Articles
(Some publications may require that you sign up for membership to view their article.) ATHEISM Atheist, Christian lawyers debate God in gov't OneNewsNow - Tupelo,MS,USA It wasn't the showdown at the OK Corral, but a recent debate between two lawyers -- one atheist and one Christian -- did shed some light on the debate about ... http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=74113 Richard Dawkins: 'Growth in creationist beliefs a problem for schools' Scotsman - United Kingdom .. of school students in Britain who believe in creationism is becoming a growing concern for science teachers, according to Professor Richard Dawkins. ... http://news.scotsman.com/education/Richard-Dawkins-39Growth-in-creationist.3937567.jp In reason we trust? Daily Cardinal - Madison,WI,USA As an organizing member of AHA, the UW-Madison organization for Atheists, Humanists and Agnostics, Nick Jikomes hears arguments against atheism all the time ... http://www.dailycardinal.com/article/2568 Former Soviet leader still an atheist Monterey County Herald - Monterey,CA,USA Soviet leaders were supposed to be atheists ruling over a godless society, but Gorbachev used perestroika to loosen restrictions on religious worship. .. http://www.montereyherald.com/religion/ci_8739423 Fort Riley soldier alleges new threats over lawsuit NTV - Kearney,NE,USA Hall says he faces the animosity because he is an atheist and is suing the Department of Defense. He alleges it permits a culture that pushes fundamentalist ... http://www.nebraska.tv/Global/story.asp?S=8114739 Coming out of the [Atheist's] closet Daily - University of Washington - Seattle,WA,USA This is not the case for atheism. We have no churches, and our population is low enough that communities are small and disjointed. ... http://thedaily.washington.edu/2008/4/3/coming-out-atheists-closet/ BOOKS, FILM, THEATRE, TV, YOU TUBE
Lionsgate Puzzles Over 'The Last Equation' Cinematical - Santa Monica,CA,USA It's all based on "the mystery surrounding Pandora, Albert Einstein's last equation. It had the potential to solve the world's energy problems, ... http://www.cinematical.com/2008/03/29/lionsgate-puzzles-over-the-last-equation/ Coral: A Pessimist in Paradise Cosmos - Sydney,Australia By Steve Jones Steve Jones is a big fan of Charles Darwin. In an earlier book, Almost Like A Whale, he took on the extraordinary task of updating The Origin ... http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1800 Everything Old Is New Again Vision Insights and New Horizons - USA It is no surprise that Charles Darwin began what he called his “one long argument” for natural selection with so clear evidence of the malleability of ... http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=4752 Imagine no religion Manila Times - Philippines By Rome Jorge, Lifestyle Editor BIOLOGIST Richard Dawkins is a zealous atheist, as fiery as his dogmatic religious. But unlike them, he declares that if ... http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/apr/04/yehey/life/20080404lif1.html EVOLUTION, CREATIONISM, I.D. National scientists push for including evolution lessons Dallas Morning News - Dallas,TX,USA By KAREN AYRES SMITH / The Dallas Morning News Texas students must receive a strong science education that includes important lessons on evolution if they ... http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-sciencetalk_02met.ART0.State.Edition1.46a1e9f.html SCIENCE Evolution of animals was delayed Times of India - India NEW YORK: Scientists claim to have uncovered evidence that the evolution of animal life on Earth was delayed by almost two billion years. ... http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Evolution_of_animals_was_delayed/articleshow/2908402.cms When Evolution Tends To Maximize The Diversity And Functioning Of ... Science Daily (press release) - USA In the current context of the erosion of biodiversity these results, published in Nature, underline the importance of evolution as a structuring force for ... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080330212514.htm Beetle genome opens the door to developmental research News-Medical.net - Sydney,Australia ''Charles Darwin harboured a passion for beetles and now nearly 200 years later his insights into evolution by natural selection have been used to ... http://www.news-medical.net/?id=36713 Fastest-Evolving Creature Is 'Living Dinosaur' FOXNews - USA The team found that although tuatara have remained largely unchanged physically over very long periods of evolution, they are evolving — at a DNA level ... http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,343908,00.html Study Questions 'Cost Of Complexity' In Evolution Science Daily (press release) - USA 31, 2008) — Higher organisms do not have a "cost of complexity" -- or slowdown in the evolution of complex traits -- according to a report by researchers at ... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080331172503.htm The evolution of Venus: first too fast, then too slow Science Centric - Sofia,Sofia Town,Bulgaria As a result of the loss of water, the geological evolution of the surface of Venus slowed right down because it was unable to develop plate tectonics like ... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/08040229.htm Innovative Atom Trap Catches Highly Magnetic Atoms, Cools Atoms To ... Science Daily (press release) - USA Laser cooling combined with specially arranged magnetic fields--a so-called magneto-optical trap (MOT)--has enabled the creation of Bose-Einstein ... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402100014.htm Advanced LIGO Project Funded by National Science Foundation Space Ref (press release) - USA Albert Einstein predicted the existence of these gravitational waves in 1916 in his general theory of relativity, but only since the 1990s has technology ... http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=25096 Landmarks: Laser Cooling of Atoms Physical Review Focus - Washington,DC,USA The work led to the creation of a new quantum form of matter called a Bose-Einstein condensate and to modern atomic clocks, as well as at least two Nobel ... http://focus.aps.org/story/v21/st11 10 impossibilities conquered by science New Scientist (subscription) - UK On 29 December 1934, Albert Einstein was quoted in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as saying, "There is not the slightest indication that [nuclear energy] will ... http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn13556-10-impossibilities-conquered-by-science.html Biologists Take Evolution Beyond Darwin — Way Beyond Wired News - USA Nearly 150 years after Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species , evolution has been widely accepted by scientists -- and, except for a few ... http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/04/beyond_darwin SEPARATION CHURCH / STATE Separation of church and state debated at Springfield 8
News-Leader.com - Springfield,MO,USA Ozarkers join First Freedom First's effort to increase discussion of separation of church and state issues at simulcast at the Springfield 8. ... http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008803290330 Appeals court OKs 10 Commandments monolith in Everett Seattle Times - United States By Diane Brooks A Ten Commandments monument outside Everett's former City Hall does not violate the constitutional separation of church and state, ... http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004311590_commandments28m.html Florida Folly: Taxation Commission Targets Constitutional Safeguards Americans United - Washington,DC,USA Americans United for Separation of Church and State and other freedom-minded groups and individuals have urged the commission to leave the state ... http://blog.au.org/2008/03/31/florida-folly-taxation-commission-targets-constitutional-safeguards/ 'E pluribus unum' sought by Thomas East Tennessean Online Edition (subscription) - Johnson City,TN,USA The unfinished work that Thomas, a minister and a lawyer, referred to is the need for a separation of church and state in the United States. ... http://www.easttennessean.com/news/2008/03/31/News/e.Pluribus.Unum.Sought.By.Thomas-3293082.shtml State House to hold hearing Wednesday on why school received grant ... Chicago Tribune - United States "It appears that as lawyers cautioned to be extra careful about avoiding church-state separation issues, they focused on the school that was housed at .. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-pilgrimapr02,0,5141791.story Interim victory in California creationism case National Center for Science Education - Oakland,CA,USA Dover, cases in which teaching "creation science" and "intelligent design" in the public schools were ruled to be unconstitutional, he continued, ... http://www.ncseweborg/resources/news/2008/CA/774_interim_victory_in_california__4_1_2008.asp Separation of church and state equals freedom for all SDSU Collegian - Brookings,SD,USA People need to connect the dots and realize that separation of church and state assures religious equality for all, no matter what their views of the cosmos ... http://www.sdsucollegian.com/home/news/2008/04/02/OpinionEditorial/Separation.Of.Church.And.State.Equals.Freedom.For.All-3298788.shtml MISCELLANEOUS
SEEING THROUGH THE HAYES: Flying Spaghetti Monster exposes myth of ... Crossville Chronicle - Crossville,TN,USA In other words, the spaghetti monster concept was created to undermine the credibility of Intelligent Design as an alternative theory to Darwinian evolution ... http://www.crossville-chronicle.com/opinion/local_story_092184403.html?keyword=topstory Playboy, Minus Nudity, Makes Debut in Philippines By Francisco Alcuaz Jr. April 2 (Bloomberg) -- The Philippines gets its own version of Playboy magazine today without..... http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aQuhPeCV33J8 The thug Pachino Hill and former Chicago Police Officer Michael ... Chicago Tribune - United States A violent guy has been cut loose, but so far there are no angry liberal protests complaining about the separation of church and state. Why not? ... http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-kassfriapr04-column,1,117662.column |
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CONVENTIONS / MEETINGS / EVENTS
Madalyn Murray O'Hair April 13, 2008
(Birthday)
Atheists Alliance International Sept. 25-28, 2008 Long Beach, Ca.
Freedom From Religion Oct. 10-12, 2008 Chicago
Gift for Life Day Nov. 4, 2008
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CFA Program
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For Immediate Release
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Atheists to Counter ‘National Day of Prayer'
with Blood Donations
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Positive Life-Saving Action, Not Passive Prayer, Is the Message
NEW YORK, March 31—What do you do on May 1, 2008, the “National Day of Prayer,” if you are an Atheist, do not believe in prayer and are opposed to the observance of a prayer day being imposed on all American citizens?
Some Atheists have come up with an answer: Do something positive, something active, something that may save lives and point out to the nation that there are alternatives to silently beseeching a deity to perform miracles.
The Center for Atheism, a New-York-City-based nationwide informational and activism group headed by Kenneth Bronstein, came up with the idea of nationwide blood donations by groups of Atheists on that day to demonstrate the power of rational thinking.
“We want to make a public statement about how nonreligious people can observe that day, which we have re-named The Day of Reason, and at the same time, let America know that there are millions of us who think that prayer does not work--but that medical science does,” says Bronstein. “We are offering a positive alternative to prayer, something that will reflect the life-affirming ideas of nonbelievers.”
Thus, on May 1st, groups of Atheists in scores of American cities will go to their local Blood Banks to donate blood and sign up for organ-donor programs—a tradition that Atheists in Manhattan have observed for four years.
Last year, New York City Atheists celebrated our Day of Reason by donating blood at the New York Blood Bank in upper Manhattan. A group of Atheists arrived together to donate their life-giving blood and then celebrated together in a small anteroom with coffee, juice and light refreshment supplied by the Blood Bank.
“We called our blood donation program B.L.O.O.D., an acronym for Benefiting Lives of Others Donations, and we intend to do it every year on what we have renamed The Day of Reason,” added Bronstein.
If you want to start a B.L.O.O.D program in your locale, it’s simple. Here’s what you do:
1) Find your local blood bank by accessing wwwamericasblood.org
(Bottom left corner, type in your zip code to find your local blood bank.)
2) Phone the blood bank to make arrangements for a group donation.
(You will find them amazingly supportive and accommodating.)
3) Notify your local newspaper, TV and other media that your group is
doing this and why. It’s important to alert them ahead of the event.
It's simple, it's positive, it's effective. Come on, Agnostics, Atheists, Freethinkers, Humanists, Secularists, Non-believers, Separation of Church and State advocates, join us in our positive protest against the Day of Prayer! Show the world that while religious people are on their knees, Atheists are on their feet and giving a part of themselves for the good of humanity!
For further information, contact Ken Bronstein at firebell1@aol.com or 212-535-7425
Some Atheists have come up with an answer: Do something positive, something active, something that may save lives and point out to the nation that there are alternatives to silently beseeching a deity to perform miracles.
The Center for Atheism, a New-York-City-based nationwide informational and activism group headed by Kenneth Bronstein, came up with the idea of nationwide blood donations by groups of Atheists on that day to demonstrate the power of rational thinking.
“We want to make a public statement about how nonreligious people can observe that day, which we have re-named The Day of Reason, and at the same time, let America know that there are millions of us who think that prayer does not work--but that medical science does,” says Bronstein. “We are offering a positive alternative to prayer, something that will reflect the life-affirming ideas of nonbelievers.”
Thus, on May 1st, groups of Atheists in scores of American cities will go to their local Blood Banks to donate blood and sign up for organ-donor programs—a tradition that Atheists in Manhattan have observed for four years.
Last year, New York City Atheists celebrated our Day of Reason by donating blood at the New York Blood Bank in upper Manhattan. A group of Atheists arrived together to donate their life-giving blood and then celebrated together in a small anteroom with coffee, juice and light refreshment supplied by the Blood Bank.
“We called our blood donation program B.L.O.O.D., an acronym for Benefiting Lives of Others Donations, and we intend to do it every year on what we have renamed The Day of Reason,” added Bronstein.
If you want to start a B.L.O.O.D program in your locale, it’s simple. Here’s what you do:
1) Find your local blood bank by accessing wwwamericasblood.org
(Bottom left corner, type in your zip code to find your local blood bank.)
2) Phone the blood bank to make arrangements for a group donation.
(You will find them amazingly supportive and accommodating.)
3) Notify your local newspaper, TV and other media that your group is
doing this and why. It’s important to alert them ahead of the event.
It's simple, it's positive, it's effective. Come on, Agnostics, Atheists, Freethinkers, Humanists, Secularists, Non-believers, Separation of Church and State advocates, join us in our positive protest against the Day of Prayer! Show the world that while religious people are on their knees, Atheists are on their feet and giving a part of themselves for the good of humanity!
For further information, contact Ken Bronstein at firebell1@aol.com or 212-535-7425
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Special Notices
There are no special notices this week. |
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Comments, suggestions, and subscriptions: focus@centerforatheism.org
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