The Season of Reason is upon us once again and the last days of the Gregorian calendar are quickly approaching. What better way can there be to observe this spectacle than to join some of your fellow non-theists for a late breakfast, or an early lunch, or ... let's just call it Sunday M.A.S.S.
A group of Christian law students seeking to exclude homosexuals from its ranks at the University of Montana is appealing a federal judge's ruling that upholds UM's decision not to recognize the group as a registered student organization.
The First Amendment case was brought in December 2007 when the local chapter of the Christian Legal Society sued the law school, arguing that UM violated its rights to free speech when the Student Bar Association refused to fund the society.
The Student Bar Association says it refused funding because the group's mission is at odds with a non-discrimination policy requiring student groups to be “open to all members of the school of law.”The Christian Legal Society, a national faith-based organization, requires members of its individual chapters to sign a “statement of faith” pledging to uphold “sexual morality standards.” Those standards ban homosexuality, adultery and extramarital sex.
Filed in U.S. District Court in Missoula, the lawsuit names UM Law Dean Edwin Eck, Student Affairs Director Margaret Tonon and the executive board of UM's Student Bar Association as defendants.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull ruled that UM's Law School did not violate the rights of the Christian Legal Society when it refused to recognize the group as an official student organization.
All students enrolled in the School of Law automatically become members of the Student Bar Association and pay mandatory student activity fees. The Student Bar Association then determines funding to student law groups.
Last Friday, the Christian Legal Society filed notice that it would appeal Cebull's decision with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Briefs in support of the appeal must be filed by July 28.
According to the suit, the Christian Legal Society encourages Christian law students to grow in their faith as they learn the law. To protect the Christian message, the organization says it requires all voting members and leaders to agree with the statement of faith.
“Christian student groups shouldn't be discriminated against for their beliefs. All student groups have the right to associate with people of like mind and interest,” CLS attorney Casey Mattox said in a statement. “For example, the Environmental Law Group at UM seeks to promote certain views of global warming. Should it be forced to accept members and officers who hold to views that undermine the group's purpose? Similarly, religious groups should be allowed to select officers and voting members from those who share their views to ensure that their message and whole reason for being is not lost.”
Many who value the separation of religion and government have sought an appropriate response to the federally-supported National Day of Prayer, an annual abuse of the constitution. Nontheistic Americans (including freethinkers, humanists, atheists, agnostics, and deists), along with many traditionally religious allies, view such government-sanctioned sectarianism as unduly exclusionary.
A consortium of leaders from within the community of reason endorsed the idea of a National Day of Reason. This observance is held in parallel with the National Day of Prayer, on the first Thursday in May each year (May 7th in 2009). The goal of this effort 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 intrusion into the private sphere of worship.
The Day of Reason also exists to inspire the secular community to be visible and active on this day to set the right example for how to effect positive change. Local organizations might use "Day of Reason" to label their events, or they might choose labels such as Day of Action, Day of Service, or Rational Day of Care. The important message is to provide a positive, useful, constitutional alternative to the exclusionary National Day of Prayer.
We had a great brunch today at Finnegan's, and it looks as if that may be the de facto location for our monthly Sunday M.A.S.S. events for the foreseeable future.
Discoverer of dinosaurs on five continents and leader of dozens of expeditions, Sereno's field work began in 1988 in the foothills of the Andes in Argentina, where his team discovered the first dinosaurs to roam the Earth - the predators Herrerasaurus and the primitive Eoraptor, the "dawn stealer." These expeditions revealed the most complete picture yet of the dawn of the dinosaur era, some 225 million years ago.
In the early 1990's Sereno's research shifted to the Sahara, and the search for Africa's lost world of dinosaurs. Expeditions to Niger and Morocco resulted in Sereno's team discovering and naming: Afrovenator, a new 27-foot-long meat-eater; skeletons of a 70-foot-long plant-eater he named Jobaria; a bizarre fish-eating dinosaur named Suchomimus, with huge claws and a sail on its back; and the 45-foot-long plant-eater Nigersaurus. Sereno and his team also discovered the most fleet-footed meat-eater, 30-foot-long Deltadromeus, and the skull of a huge, T. rex-sized meat-eater Carcharodontosaurus. Besides new and unusual dinosaurs, Sereno's team stumbled on the world's largest crocodile, the 40-foot-long Sarcosuchus, dubbed SuperCroc.
In 2005, a Bush-appointed judge brought the “intelligent design” movement to a halt - yet another case lost by creationists. Decidedly not an activist judge, John Jones wrote, “(t)his case came to us as the result of the activism of an ill-informed faction on the (Dover, Pa.) school board.”
“ ... (P)roponents of ID make a bedrock assumption which is utterly false ... that evolutionary theory is antithetical to ... religion.” On the contrary, “evolution represents good science, is overwhelmingly accepted by the scientific community, and ... it in no way conflicts with ... the existence of a divine creator.” (Google Kitzmiller v. Dover for the complete text.)
Unwilling to make themselves knowledgeable about why the board’s actions were unconstitutional, good Christians sent death threats instead. Turning Christian against Christian, Pat Robertson tells Dover: “If there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God. You just rejected him from your city.”
Thoroughly contrived, fundamentalists maintain the debate by distortion and compulsory ignorance of what evolution is, or is not. And the Dover school district paid a huge price for it ($1 million). Yet, the ignorance doesn’t have to be.
One can begin with Humes’ “Monkey Girl,” a well-written overview of the Dover trial. But, additionally, this year is the 150th publication anniversary of Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” and the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth. The first edition of “Origin” is a great read.
I have read the Bible; you read “Origin.” If that is too intimidating, read Quammen’s “The Reluctant Mr. Darwin.” Even this month’s Scientific American is dedicated entirely to evolution: past, present and future.
Making one’s self better informed about the inanity of this endless debate - which has less to do with God than faulty ideology - may require some reading outside the box. But, after all, can more Dovers be the answer?
W. Bennington, Polson
Vrede wrote on Jan 9, 2009 9:00 AM:
" Darwinists argue that species evolve through the natural selection of populations with advantageous mutations.
Alternatively, creationists claim that some species could only have arisen through "intelligent design." This is the 'God is a Practical Joker Theory,' since she/he left so much evidence supporting natural evolution.
I agree that any opinion, no matter how lacking in evidence, should be presented in science classes. So, I demand that my own 'Theory of Stupid Design' be taught in our schools.
Evolution would never have led to the arrival of a species that destroys its own habitat, wrecks the climate and threatens mass extinction through nuclear irradiation. This contradicts evolution's tendency towards survival and would have already led to all species' elimination.
Further, "intelligent design" could not have resulted in humanity selecting as our leaders George Bush, Pat Robertson and some of the nation’s school boards. Nor could "intelligent design" have led to the most powerful nation on earth believing that, after 1,000 years of failure, a white, Christian occupation of Iraq would work this time.
It's just common sense to realize that our planetary situation could only arise if someone really dumb were calling the shots. It's too far-fetched to be an accident. "
Lucky wrote on Jan 9, 2009 9:24 AM:
" Nice try W., but you don't really expect the whackos to actually read books do you? As to your question "...can more Dovers be the answer?". It looks like the answer is a resounding Yes. Oklahoma is trying to pass the "Scientific Education and Academic Freedom Act", designed to address "scientific controversies" like evolution and Mississippi wants another stupid textbook sticker. And of course there is also the Louisiana "Academic Freedom Act" which Bobby Jindal signed into law. So,I don't really see a lot of progress since Dover.
I would also add to your list "Evolution: What the Fossils Say & Why It Matters" by Don Prothero. To everybody else: Please gather all your friends, seek out and attend local Darwin Day (Feb. 12) events. At least try to get some facts before making stupid remarks. Vigilance! "
Mulligan wrote on Jan 9, 2009 4:55 PM:
" Amen, W. The "good" Christians don't practice what they preach very often. Instead of turning the other cheek, they'd rather kill those who disagree.
I like Vrede's Theory of Stupid Design, too. That would explain a lot, wouldn't it?
I'd add that people could Google Richard Dawkin's website and find out quite a bit about evolution science. "
Gene Johnson wrote on Jan 10, 2009 11:58 AM:
" Here's another easy-to-read thin book as an introduction: WHY DARWIN MATTERS: THE CASE AGAINST INTELLIGENT DESIGN by Michael Shermer (2006).
Lucky, I agree about getting more public awareness of the Feb 12 Darwin Day. In Oregon a skeptic group makes quite an educational day of it.
I would like to see several communities (certainly Polson) have monthly discussion get-togethers on this and related topics. And then occasional larger combined meetings for interested people. There are a lot of people in Montana who think like Mr. Bennington - but very few speak out or write letters. Too bad. By default, religion just goes on and on and on. Daniel Dennett's book, BREAKING THE SPELL, gives a compelling explanation of why religion sustains so well - great book...but not one theists would enjoy. It would make a fantastic "book club" discussion. Anyone interested? "
The Missoula Area Secular Society is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization fostering a community of atheists, secular humanists, agnostics, skeptics, and other non-theists in and around Missoula, Montana.
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