Daylight Atheism » Choice

Take Action: Speak Out on "Conscience Clauses"

Ebonmuse — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 00:17:10 +0000

The other day, I got this action alert from FFRF that I thought was worth passing along:

As you may know, on August 1st, 2011, the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Labor, and Department of Health and Human Services jointly announced new guidelines for access to preventative care. The new regulations greatly expand access to preventative care under the new health care ... [visit site to read more]

Tax Breaks for Ignorance

Ebonmuse — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:49:42 +0000

As you doubtless already know, America is suffering through an unprecedented economic disaster. With millions of people jobless and millions of homeowners underwater, the economy is stagnant and its prospects are dim. Which is why, in these hard times, nothing is more important than shoveling more taxpayer dollars into the gaping maw of the fundamentalist carnival sideshow:

A group ... [visit site to read more]

Dispatches from Future America: Nation Ratifies Reproductive Rights Amendment

Ebonmuse — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 10:42:11 +0000

[Editor's Note: The last dispatch I received in this ongoing series was particularly bleak. As if on cue, I got another message the other day, this one apparently originating from a very different, and much rosier, future. I get the strong impression that these two possible worlds are, in some manner, competing against each other.]

JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI (August 6, 2037) — The Thirty-fifth ... [visit site to read more]

The Natural Law Argument Against Procreation

Ebonmuse — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 10:57:13 +0000

"Nobody has the right to harm others. Yet, homosexuality is a harmful behavior. It is obviously harmful to its practitioners — the clinical evidence for all manner of psychological and physical problems created by acting on homosexual impulses is well established. Homosexuality is destructive to self because it uses the human body in ways that it simple [sic] was not intended to be used by nature and nature's God."

In the visit site to read more]

Religious Gas-Lighting

Ebonmuse — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 10:52:10 +0000

By Sarah Jane Braasch-Joy

In loving memory of my baby brother, Jacob Michael Braasch (01/28/86 – 02/02/10)

Religionists are those who wish to make religious law the law of the land and impose their personal interpretations of religious law upon others. They come in many flavors, be they Christianists, Islamists, or what have you. The Republican Christianists in the US are a particularly vile sort of religionist.

See, we have a little thing called the First Amendment ... [visit site to read more]

6 Ways Atheists Can Band Together to Fight Religious Fundamentalism

Ebonmuse — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 10:48:40 +0000

This essay was originally published on AlterNet.

If atheists were as politically organized as the religious right, we could accomplish a world of good in combating theocracy and standing up for human rights and secularism. But whenever an atheist political alliance is ... [visit site to read more]

Pro-Family Christians Support Child Kidnapping, Continued

Ebonmuse — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 10:43:25 +0000

I never thought I'd say this, but I think the Catholic church is actually relieved to be dealing with a scandal that, for once, doesn't involve priests raping children with the protection of their higher-ups. How else to explain their abject contrition over the discovery that, in Australia, they abducted tens of thousands of children born to unwed mothers in ... [visit site to read more]

Dispatches from Future America: Government Increases Budget for Christiancare Program

Ebonmuse — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:40:01 +0000

[Editor's Note: After the two strange messages I received earlier this year, I thought the wormhole, or whatever it was, had closed forever. Evidently not. This past week, as fighting over the debt limit reached a fever pitch, I found a new e-mail from the future in my inbox. Elaborate hoax? Frightening warning of what lies ahead? You be the judge...]

NEW YORK CITY (July 24, 2037) — Mayor Harold Ford Jr., along with a group of civic dignitaries, was on hand for the gala ... [visit site to read more]

The Republican Party Still Hates Women

Ebonmuse — Fri, 06 May 2011 11:01:48 +0000

This week, the House of Representatives voted for HR 3, one of the most vicious and horrendous anti-choice bills ever conceived. This bill revokes all federal tax credits for any health insurance plan that includes abortion coverage - in effect, it raises taxes on private employers who offer insurance to their employees that covers abortion, and even on ... [visit site to read more]

The Religious Right Hates Women

Ebonmuse — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 11:54:59 +0000

Last month, I wrote about the awful callousness of Catholic hospitals when a woman arrives needing an emergency abortion. As long as there's a fetal heartbeat, the clergy-run ethics committees of these hospitals often deny doctors permission to operate, even if the woman is hemorrhaging and dying before their eyes. Some doctors end up struggling desperately to keep their patient alive until the fetus ... [visit site to read more]

Eliminationists on the March

Ebonmuse — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 11:57:15 +0000

After the horrific Arizona shooting in which six people were killed and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was gravely wounded, we came close to civility in American politics, at least for a few days. Unfortunately, our public discourse is already returning to normal, as you can tell from reading this front-page post on the leading conservative blog RedState (HT: visit site to read more]

Abortion Care at Catholic Hospitals

Ebonmuse — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 11:46:06 +0000

"When There's a Heartbeat: Miscarriage Management in Catholic-Owned Hospitals." American Journal of Public Health, vol.98, no.10 (October 2008).

While writing my recent post about how the Catholic church ordered a hospital to let a pregnant woman die, I came across this ... [visit site to read more]