Mr. Kagin noted:  “While not illegal (unless the entity is the government), it is bad business to inject the most divisive issue in the world into a work scenario, because it can only lead to a loss of cohesion in a diverse group. Minorities automatically feel like second-class workers because the employer officially recognizes a religion other than theirs, and the religious people immediately see who is religious, and who is not, and are encouraged to ’save.’ …the chaplain is a minister, not a trained social worker. It is fallacious to think the minister is there to do anything other than that for which he was trained — preach and convert.”

He adds, “Anyone can pray any time they wish. They have cubes, homes, and they have oh-so-many churches in which to do so. They do not need official places to pray when they are working.”

Check local listings and http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Paul Case
President of Seattle Atheists
P.O. Box 283, Seattle, WA 98111-0283
(206) 826-0770
president@seattleatheists.org
www.seattleatheists.org

SEATTLE ATHEISTS TO OBSERVE NATIONAL DAY OF REASON

SEATTLE — On May 6th, members of Seattle Atheists will observe the National Day of Reason by donating at Puget Sound Blood Centers.

The National Day of Reason is the secular response to the National Day of Prayer. It is intended to inspire secular Americans to be visible and to set an example through actions which directly benefit the community. It provides a positive and visible alternative for the non-religious to the unconstitutional National Day of Prayer.

Seattle Atheists chooses to set an example on the National Day of Reason by donating blood. We wish to provide real, tangible benefits to our community, rather than engage in fruitless appeals to invisible authority figures.

The National Day of Prayer being promoted by the federal government is in violation of Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution. It asks federal and local government entities to set aside time and space to engage in religious ceremonies. This is supported by tax dollars.

The Supreme Court has ruled that state-sponsored prayer in schools is exclusionary. A nationally-sponsored day of prayer is equally exclusionary. The National Day of Prayer is geared toward a specific segment of religious practice, and is clearly outside the bounds of proper governmental authority. Indeed, the National Day of Prayer excludes other faiths in the United States, including Quakers, Muslims, Jains, Buddhists, and Jews.

For those who do not pray, the National Day of Prayer is exclusionary and elitist. And, those Americans who do pray don’t need the government to remind them to. Government has no business telling Americans to engage in religious practice, or in how they should do it.

“Its not the job of the federal government to encourage and validate religious activity,” says Paul Case, president of Seattle Atheists. “It’s illegal for them to give de facto endorsement belief over non-belief.”

“Millions of Americans are atheists, agnostics and non-believers,” says Paul Case. “On May 6th, we’re asking them to join us not by appealing to an invisible authority figure, but to do some real good in their communities.”

Seattle Atheists is a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to serving the atheist community in the Seattle area. We strive to promote understanding and respect toward all freethinkers by providing information, creating a sense of fellowship, actively opposing discrimination, and above all, emphasizing reason, critical thinking over supernaturalism and the separation of church and state.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Paul Case, President of Seattle Atheists, (206) 826-0770, president@seattleatheists.org

This effort is part of a coordinated nationwide campaign that began last year. In December it included billboards in Baltimore, Houston and Tulsa. Each billboard is sponsored by a local, multi-organizational coalition of non-theistic (atheist and agnostic) groups.

“The point of our national campaign is to reach out to the millions of humanists, atheists and agnostics living in the United States,” explained Fred Edwords, national director of the United Coalition of Reason. “Non-theists sometimes don’t realize there’s a community out there for them because they’re inundated with religious messages at every turn. So we hope this will serve as a beacon and let them know they aren’t alone.”

But reaching out to the like-minded isn’t the only goal of the effort. “Our message is also to let people know that we belong to the larger community,” added Ron Renard, coordinator of the Northwest Freethought Coalition. “Whether you know it or not, we’re your family members, friends, neighbors and coworkers. We’re just like you, except we don’t believe in a supreme being. Now we think it’s time we were as free as you to be open about our views.”

The United Coalition of Reason launched eighteen similar ad campaigns across the country in 2009. Each involved billboards or public transit ads.

You do not, under any kind of decent moral standing have the right to target children with your ads. The idea of using a child fantasy such as Santa Claus to attract their attention is just as moral as Camel cigarettes using Joe the Camel to sell their garbage.

I am all for your free rights of speech. You have a right to push your ideas. Just as I have a right to push what I believe in. But, SHOVING your NON beliefs down the throats of children that have other cultures is unacceptable.

I just read your news release. Using the founding fathers as you are, if you have legitimate proof of their religious standings is one thing. But having a giant Santa Claus to get little childrens attention is very immoral. What were you thinking?

Then again, religion is often the foundation of teaching morals, so maybe that is what has happened with your decision making ability?

How would you like me to stand somewhere your child/grand childre, or someone in your organizations young people, and tell them you are a liar? Just as your ad says to our children? Would you like your child to pass such contradiction of what you teach? Maybe I should put some ads out there with, I don’t know, a super hero,with a big ad as ignorant as yours, stating, “I got all my powers from God”

Everyone in this world has a right to believe what they do, and to raise their families the way they find to be the truest in their hearts.
What this ad is trying to accomplish is the very thing you are supposedly fighting!

You attempt to brainwash people! Leave MY children alone.

Any serious problems with the content of the comment will be left as an exercise for the reader. However, I would like to point out a couple of things which might be important to people:

1. The Santa Claus bus signs on the outside were contracted by the Freedom from Religion Foundation, and are completely independent of our signs on the inside of the bus.
2. That whole part about “How would you like me to stand somewhere your child/grand childre, or someone in your organizations young people, and tell them you are a liar”? That happens. A lot.
3. Atheism is apparently as bad as smoking.
4. I’m also pretty sure that the whole super hero thing she’s talking about already exists. Just sayin’.

Seattle’s Atheists Speak Out: A new public service campaign lets local nonbelievers come out of the closet

When I was growing up in Seattle in the 1970s, religion was still a mostly behind-closed-doors matter. Heated faith debates were as rare, and frowned upon, as indulging in political rants or gossiping about the divorced family in the neighborhood. It simply was not done. Not in polite company, anyway.

In those days, Seattle was famously regarded as one of the most unchurched cities in America. Today, much like any other major metropolitan area, megachurches are prominent here, and religion is overtly in our mix—from political figures (such as U.S. Representative Dave Reichert, who openly advertises his faith) to insomniac telecasts by local evangelist Casey Treat and town hall debates featuring charismatic Christian preacher Mark Driscoll of Seattle’s Mars Hill Church. This relatively new forthrightness of faith can be a social hazard for the uninitiated (like myself). For example, the time at a business lunch when a middle-aged companion suddenly became prostrate over his plate; fearing a cardiac episode, I worriedly inquired of his health only to learn he was in solemn pre-appetizer prayer. I couldn’t have been more startled.

I was even more surprised when Metro buses bearing overtly atheistic ads began touring the city in April, and this traditionally groundhog population suddenly popped into view. For eight weeks, some 80 ads in the form of pointed historical quotations were delivered up for public consumption. One ad quoted Susan B. Anthony: “I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.” (Imagine the bus-stop chatter that provoked.) The tagline by the ads’ sponsor, Seattle Atheists (seattleatheists.org), was “We Believe in You!” For polite, albeit progressive, Seattle, this mass-media atheism campaign was exotically in your face. (In keeping with the economic constraints of the day, however, it was exceptionally cost-conscious; the ads only cost about $400.)

It seems that our city has joined the nation’s growing atheism-empowerment movement. Although the number of avowed atheist Americans is small, according to a recent New York Times story on the trend, those admitting to a no faith base has almost doubled from 8 percent in 1990 to 15 percent in 2008, with an increase noted in all 50 states; during that same period, the tally of self-identifying Christians dropped from 86 percent to 77 percent. Also on the rise are local and national faith-free organizations, charitable donations to them and increasing public displays of disbelief, such as the bus ads, which began in London in January and quickly migrated to Canada and the United States. Widely credited for helping to bring the atheist message into the mainstream have been best-selling atheistic works by authors such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens.

“Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear.”
- Thomas Jefferson

“I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.”
- Susan B. Anthony

“If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.”
- Albert Einstein

Our president, Paul Case, was interviewed about the bus campaign by KOMO News, and you can get the story here: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/41618287.html

The response from Christians (especially Bill O’Reilly!) to the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s Winter Solstice sign in the Washington state capitol in Olympia has been over-the-top negative and intolerant, to the point of theft and vandalism. In addition to recognizing the winter solstice, the real reason for the season, our sign says “There are no gods, no devils, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.” Although a small minority of educated believers, while disagreeing with our message, does support our freedom to express our views, the overwhelming majority considers our message to be an inappropriate affront to their celebration of the holidays and want to see it removed.

It’s almost the opposite with the atheists and agnostics we hear from. Based on the emails and phone calls I receive from nonbelievers, the support for our sign is about 95% positive. Annie Laurie, who sees more responses than I do, says it is 99% positive. Many FFRF members have asked for a replica of the sign that they can frame or display in their own yards. The Foundation has been signing up hundreds of new members as a result of this one controversy alone.

A small minority of atheists and agnostics (not all members of the Freedom From Religion Foundation) think the wording on our sign should be changed. Some think it is too strong. Others think it is not strong enough!

That wording was written by FFRF founder and president emerita Anne Gaylor, which offers a nice balance of celebration and criticism. Any one of the 13,000 members of the Freedom From Religion Foundation might have come up with a different wording, but Anne’s lovely version has stood the test of time. For the 13th year in a row, those exact thoughts have appeared in the Wisconsin capitol building, and although there was some early theft and vandalism, it has stood virtually unmolested for most of that time. We have heard that it has become a tourist attraction!

Our sign is an “equal time” protest. It would not be there if there were not religious signs and symbols in those buildings in the first place. If believers are going to use state property to promote their views, then we nonbelievers insist on a place at the table. We are not destroying their symbols or interfering with their private freedom to worship or express their views. We are simply reminding the country that there are millions of good Americans who do not believe in a god or celebrate Christmas. Christians do not own the month of December. This season of the year is a natural occurrence, the winter solstice being the day of shortest sunlight in the northern hemisphere. Long before Christianity, humans have celebrated this time of year with festivals of light, feasts, evergreens, songs, and family gatherings. Christians don’t own the franchise. We are happy to share it with them.

Some people think our sign is an insult, and that we should avoid hurting feelings this time of the year. But if our measured criticism of religion is inappropriate, then certainly the Nativity Scene, which suggests that we are so evil that we need a Savior in order to avoid the tortures of hell, is a much deeper insult to human nature. If they insist on attacking us, we will defend ourselves. If they will remove their creches and religious messages from state property, we will be happy to remove our sign.

Ultimately, what we all want is a world with less violence and more understanding. The Freedom From Religion Foundation is taking advantage of our wonderful American freedoms to educate the public about how we can achieve that, by resisting religious divisiveness and advising: “At this season of the Winter Solstice may reason prevail.”

The only man never to be redeemed is the man without passion.