In spite of what a lot of believers think, I am not actually allergic to going into a church from time to time. Which, when you think of it, should actually be considered some kind of proof that God does not exist, since I haven't been struck down by lightning or anything on these occasions. But anyway, I'll go into a church for weddings and funerals, for public events, even just to enjoy the architecture and artwork.

Now I've found a new and much better reason, however: beer.

Yup, I have seen the light at The Church Brew Works. From their website:

By far, the most breathtaking element is the position of the brew house on the altar. Because the altar was built as a centerpiece of the church, the steel and copper tanks gleaming in the celestial blue backdrop is nothing less than captivating. This extraordinary view is only paralleled by the quality and taste of our beer.

Amen, Brothers & Sisters! Amen!

Too damned bad it is in Pittsburgh. Or I'd be a regular church-going fella.

"It's OK if you are a Christian."

What is? Well, this:

Ky. school trip included baptisms

LOUISVILLE — A mother is angry about a trip led by the head football coach at Breckinridge County High School. The coach took about 20 players on a school bus late last month to his church, where nearly half of them — including her son — were baptized.

Michelle Ammons said her 16-year-old son was baptized without her knowledge and consent, and she is upset that a public school bus was used to take players to a church service — and that the school district's superintendent was there and did not object.

* * *

But Superintendent Janet Meeks, who is a member of the church and witnessed the baptisms, said she thinks the trip was proper because attendance was not required, and another coach paid for the gas.

Meeks said parents weren't given permission slips to sign but knew the event would include a church service, if not specifically a baptism. She said eight or nine players came forward and were baptized.

The 125th Edition of the Carnival Of The Godless has been posted over at A Nadder! Hark! Verily I say unto you, go, and read of the scripture there. Ramen.

I've probably asked this question before, but I was just thinking about it again today. What do you do or say, if anything, when you or someone around you sneezes? We are a thoroughly godless family, so "God Bless You" just doesn't ever happen. Nor does "Gesundheit", because, you know, we don't speak German. If anything, we'll say "Good one!", if it's a particularly good sneeze. Or maybe, "get a tissue!" More often it is politely ignored.

But most folks feel the almost pathological need to acknowledge your sternutation by asking an imaginary superfriend in the sky to "bless" you with his magical sneezetastic anti-nose-demon ray - or something like that. I'm a little hazy on the details, to be perfectly honest.

So, what is your sneeze-acknowledging ritual, if any?

In spite of how it might seem sometimes, I'm politically independent - I tend to support specific policies (and to a very limited degree individuals), not this or that party.

And one thing I have long objected to has been the existence of an 'American Royalty' within our political system. Here in Missouri we just got rid of one Republican governor who is the son of a long-term US Congresscritter. On the Democratic side, the Carnahan family has held or currently holds several important political offices.

Nationally, it's even worse. Look at the Bush family, and the debacle of having W rise to power almost solely on the power of his father & family. Al Gore is the son of a Senator. The Clintons have long operated as a family unit, sharing power and position.

And then there are the Kennedys.

Hey, remember the story of the nice Christian teacher who liked to impress the kiddies with the Power of the Lord by branding them with crosses?

Well, gee, guess what - the school district that used to employ him had to settle with one of the branded students:

District Settles With Student Who Accused Freshwater

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio—A Central Ohio school board has approved a $121,000 settlement with the family of a student who said his teacher burned the image of a cross on his arm.

School board members in Mount Vernon agreed Wednesday night to resolve a federal lawsuit by paying $5,500 to the boy and his family and $115,500 to their lawyers.

The family still has a similar suit pending against the eighth-grade teacher, John Freshwater.

So, we now know the cost: $121,000. Well, that and a small thing called the Separation of Church & State.

Oh, and just for extra fun: guess who else is suing the district? Yep:

Yup. No longer do you have to stand by and watch as the religious leaders fleece their flocks. You don't have to shake your head as the poor suckers hand over their hard-earned cash for "prayer rugs".

You, too, can cash in on the gullibility of the religious crazies - and the best thing about it is that you can do so in a completely above-board and honest fashion, maintaining your dignity and identity as an atheist.

How?

By promising to save their pets when the rapture comes:

Eternal Earth-Bound Pets, USA

You've committed your life to Jesus. You know you're saved. But when the Rapture comes what's to become of your loving pets who are left behind? Eternal Earth-Bound Pets takes that burden off your mind.

We are a group of dedicated animal lovers, and atheists. Each Eternal Earth-Bound Pet representative is a confirmed atheist, and as such will still be here on Earth after you've received your reward. Our network of animal activists are committed to step in when you step up to Jesus.

Buddy of mine sent me a link to an excellent article that I'd missed. It's an opinion piece from the UK paper The Independent, and is trying to explain to the average Brit the hows and whys of the health care debate happening in this country. It's usually insightful to see how others see you, and this piece in particular is quite good. An excerpt:

Johann Hari: Republicans, religion and the triumph of unreason
How do they train themselves to be so impervious to reality?

* * *

Following up to this post, a news item:

Pilot pleaded to evacuate stranded passengers

MINNEAPOLIS – Continental Express Flight 2816 smelled like diapers. It had no food and a full toilet. Its 47 passengers had been stranded on a tarmac in southern Minnesota since after midnight.

"They are getting really upset — you know, with the plane," the captain told her dispatcher just before 3 a.m. on Aug. 8.

Recordings released Friday of conversations among the captain, dispatcher and staff for another airline at the Rochester, Minn., airport expose a breakdown that kept the plane sitting on the tarmac for almost six hours — for no clear reason — and triggered a Department of Transportation investigation.

I hadn't heard that the DoT was involved. Good for them. Anyway, here's some more from the news article:

the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s."

Seems like some Christians could stand to re-read their bible:

School brass facing prison time for luncheon prayer

Two Florida school administrators face contempt charges and possible prison time for saying a prayer at a school luncheon.

Frank Lay, principal of Pace High School, and Athletic Director Robert Freeman are accused of violating a consent decree banning employees of Santa Rosa County schools from endorsing religion.

They face a non-jury trial September 17 before U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers. The statute under which they are charged carries a maximum penalty of up to six months in prison, subject to sentencing guidelines.

Of course, the folks at Liberty U, who are backing the accused, say that this is an infringement of their 1st Amendment rights:

Yeah, OK, I know I'm more cynical nowadays, but I think that even in my most charitable moods I would tend to see this as nothing more than a case of the Christian nuts being mercenary:

$6 million budget shortfall forces Focus on the Family to drop Ex-Gay program

Citing a “serious budget shortfall” the conservative Christian group, Focus on the Family has been prompted to issue a special fundraising plea, and has also decided to hand over control of its contentious “Love Won Out” Ex-Gay program to another religious organization, a FotF spokesman said Tuesday.

Focus on the Family is looking at a $6 million short fall in its $138 million budget for this fiscal year- a budget larger than all national and regional gay-equality organizations combined.

From the Love Won Out website:

Ayup:

Republican mayoral candidate Anna Falling said Tuesday that putting a Christian creationism display in the Tulsa Zoo is No. 1 in importance among city issues that also include violent crime, budget woes and bumpy streets.

"It's first," she said to calls of "hallelujah" at a rally outside the zoo. "If we can't come to the foundation of faith in this community, those other answers will never come. We need to first of all recognize the fact that God needs to be honored in this city."

Falling, who has founded several Christian nonprofit groups and is a former city councilor, also said the next mayor needs to appoint people to boards, authorities and commissions who will "honor God."

"We will also look for people who want to characterize the origins of both man and animals in a way that honors Judeo-Christian science that proves God as the creator," she said.

Man, it must be nice that everything is so rosy in Tulsa that getting a creationism display in the local zoo is public priority #1.

Sheesh.

Jim Downey

(Via BalloonJuice.)

Best. Humpday. Song. Ever.

(Tip of the ballcap to William Hodge.)

OK, bad news first (though I'm sure some out there will see it otherwise): I'm not going to be posting as much here or on my own blog for the next couple of months.

The good news? Well, a publisher is interested in my novel, and I need to do some revisions. Not a lot, actually - they really like it - but it is work that needs a fair amount of attention.

And things were going to be a bit tight anyway, because I am pushing to get another book done in the same time frame.

And I have a ton of conservation work that needs doing (this is a very good thing, actually).

So, I need to back off on how much time I spend here and elsewhere online. I won't be disappearing altogether, but I will be around a lot less.

Keep fighting the good fight.

Cheers -

Jim Downey

. . . why when I travel to Pittsburgh in a month, I'm willing to drive the 12 hours rather than fly:

47 trapped on 'nightmare' flight to the Twin Cities

Security and rules kept passengers confined all night in a small plane at Rochester due to thunderstorms.

When Link Christin boarded a Continental Airlines flight from Houston to the Twin Cities on Friday night, he expected to be on the ground in about three hours and ready for a comfy bed.

Instead, he was among 47 passengers who spent the night trapped inside a small airplane, parked at the Rochester airport, complete with crying babies and the aroma of over-used toilets.

* * *

The airline crew on the plane reached their maximum work hours in the air, so another crew had to be flown in. The alternative of chartering a bus didn't work out. And letting the passengers into the Rochester airport was not possible because they would have to go through security screening again, and the screeners had gone home for the day.

Mrs. Inscrutable and I will be heading up to the cool pines in Flagstaff this weekend to participate in the American Cancer Society's Climb to Conquer Cancer walk. My mom is a cancer survivor, and we're doing it for her and all of the people who can still beat this thing with the additional research and whatnot that can be achieved with our donations.

Now, I'm not an exercise-y sort of guy. I walk - to the couch. And I "exercise" when I mow the lawn, weed-wack the backyard, take a ride around the galaxy neighborhood on Starship Rasmussen at a leisurely warp 2, or head down the road to recover the day's mail from the mailbox. But I don't exercise in the traditional sense.

So, I have been thinking about my choice of shoes to wear while walking up the mountain in Flagstaff - 7 miles uphill! I mean, I wear flip-flops 350 days out of the year. I asked Mrs. Inscrutable, seeing as she is a former high school and college track star, and predictably she says, "Wear your running shoes."

Gah. My "running shoes", as she puts it so delicately, are an old pair of Reeboks that I got from the bargain rack at The Sports Authority for 11 dollars about 5 years ago. I bought them because I needed shoes that I could trash while working on a friend's roof re-shingling job. They have seen better days, in other words. And, because this seems to be an very important point in my consideration of potential footwear, I have to mention that I have never really walked anywhere in them. I've stood around on a hot rooftop in Phoenix, and lugged buckets of tar and nails across said rooftop in them. Climbed up and down a ladder. Driven in them. But never "walked" walked.

I actually thought about wearing my flips. I am used to them, they are comfortable, and like I said, I wear them all the frickin' time. But that'd be stupid I guess. Sure, I have walked a lot more than 7 miles in them, but never all at one time, uphill. And they have no arch support. (Hell-oo flat feet in a few more years! Woo!)

I about to conclude that I was going to need to make a trip to the shoe store and get a new pair of comfortable walking shoes when it hits me...

I hunt about twice a year. In my hunts I walk, and walk, and walk, and walk, etc., ad infinitum, for miles. Up the mountain, down the mountain, through rushing rivers, over rocks and boulders, on dirt roads, and pavement sometimes - in my hunting boots. Perfect! They are comfortable, broken in, have arch support, and fit my feet like a, um, a shoe I guess. :) (I was about to say "glove", but that didn't sound right at all. Heh.)

So, if you happen to be at the Climb to Conquer Cancer walk this weekend in Flagstaff, keep an eye out for me. I'll be the ugly redneck in shorts, a tshirt, my cowboy hat, and my calf-high camo hunting boots.

I have gotten a late start in my fundraising this year, and my personal goal is to try to donate a minimum of $500 to the organization. I have already kicked in 40 bucks, and my good friend Dave De Neui contributed $200 (thanks again Dave!). If you would like to contribute (no matter how large or small - even a buck will help!) and help me achieve my goal, please go to:

1. http://main.acsevents.org/goto/brentrasmussen
2. Click the "DONATE" button and make your donation.
3. Win. (heheh)

Once you have donated, it will add to my (and our team's) total goal.

We will be walking with the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant Team and supporting this wonderful cause. With the current economic downturn, we need to try a little harder this year to raise the money that is needed to continue the treatments and research that our peers, colleagues, friends, or family needs.

Thank you in advance for anything you may be able to give and feel free to let others know how to donate. Although the donation is under my name, I am just the messenger who will hopefully deliver a large amount from all of us.

Thanks again! :)

So, I'm curious - who here saw the movie Religulous, and what did you think?

I watched it last night (I had added it to my NetFlix queue some time back, it finally surfaced) for the first time. It was better than I feared it might be, since I'm not that big a fan of Bill Maher (he's OK in small doses). I liked that it wasn't all just him pointing and laughing at the absurdity of the different religious beliefs he looked at - rather, he'd let the advocates for those beliefs hang themselves, just prodding and poking enough to elicit a response.

Some of the editing decisions were uneven, and the choice to go with a Fahrenheit 9/11 - style "counterpoint" text during some of the segments seemed just too easy. But then, it was probably better to do that in an effort to communicate to a wider audience.

I was recently in a neighboring town, about 15 miles away from my little town, doing some business with the local irrigation collective. I decided to stop and eat at one of the lunch cafes instead of driving all the way back. [Hey, I was hungry! :)]

In any case, I chose a small coffee shop/cafe, and entered. It was pretty full, but seemed OK, and there was one table open in the back where I could set up my laptop and work while I waited for my meal. So, I sat down and opened the menu and was surprised to see not food on the first page of the menu, but bible verses. There was also a bible verse collage in one of those plastic table-stand deals that they usually display the lunch special in.

I was a little uncomfortable, but decided I'd stay and eat anyway. The sandwiches looked pretty good.

So, about ten minutes go by and no waitress. I mean, she's there, flying around between all the tables, but she has yet to stop and even ask me if I wanted coffee. I take another look at the multitude of bible verses staring me in the face, then at the waitress who is now obviously trying NOT to even make eye contact with me, and decide that I'll walk next door to the calzone place and try that instead.

I close my laptop -- and realize that I've got a red Out Campaign 'A' sticker dead-center where a computer logo should be. I had forgotten all about it.

Shaking my head and smiling a bit, I walked out through the front. The girl behind the register, who had not seen me yet since I came in through the side entrance, said brightly, "Hope you enjoyed your lunch!".

"Never got one," I said, and walked through the door, across the little parking lot, and into the restaurant next door where a delightfully profane Italian chef made me the best calzone I've had in a long, long while.

My point? We can indeed "formally" fight for our civil rights all we want. However, like the "whites only" lunch counters of the last century, it'll take a long, long time before regular religious folks accept us without us having to pretend to be something we're not.

(Tip of the ballcap to VJack at Atheist Revolution.)

Gee, this is *so* surprising:

DART: Controversial Bus Ads Pulled

Atheist advertising signs on Des Moines Area Regional Transit buses that created a storm of controversy when they first went up on Aug. 1 have been taken down.

And what did these offensive, despicable, inflammatory advertisements say? Did they mock the absurdity of Zombie Jesus, or point out that the Mormon magical underwear was just silly? Did they cite conflicting verses of the Bible, or run a tally of how many people God killed in the Old Testament? Maybe show chanting kooks at soldier's funerals or members of the Taliban beheading some infidel?

Of course not.

What they did was say this: "Don't believe in God? You are not alone."

And then give the name of the group sponsoring the ads: Iowa Atheist and Free Thinkers. Here's their comment on the whole absurd thing:

Time now for another great episode of the Christian Crusader in "Huntin' Ragheads!":

To that end, Mr. Prince intentionally deployed to Iraq certain men who shared his vision of Christian supremacy, knowing and wanting these men to take every available opportunity to murder Iraqis. Many of these men used call signs based on the Knights of the Templar, the warriors who fought the Crusades.

Mr. Prince operated his companies in a manner that encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life. For example, Mr. Prince's executives would openly speak about going over to Iraq to "lay Hajiis out on cardboard." Going to Iraq to shoot and kill Iraqis was viewed as a sport or game. Mr. Prince's employees openly and consistently used racist and derogatory terms for Iraqis and other Arabs, such as "ragheads" or "hajiis."

OK, what the hell am I talking about? That the founder of The-mercenary-army-formerly-known-as-Blackwater (now called "Xe") was more 'dirty' than you may have suspected. From The Nation: