-Caveat Lector-
----- Original Message -----
from: AMERICAN ATHEISTS
subject: AANEWS for June 25, 1999
A M E R I C A N A T H E I S T S
#597 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6/25/99
http://www.atheists.org
ftp.atheists.org/pub/atheists/
http://www.americanatheist.org
---------------------------------------------
A Service of AMERICAN ATHEISTS
"Leading The Way For Atheist Civil Rights
And The Separation Of State and Church"
----------------------------------------------
In This Issue...
* N.J. "Creator" recitation proposal sparks walkout
* Picket the Promise Keepers tomorrow in Detroit
* Alabama AG is "Pontius Pilate" for not handling Moore case
* Psychic didn't see it coming...
* Resources
* About this list...
COMMITTEE WALKOUT COULD END QUICK APPROVAL FOR
"CREATOR" RECITATION PROPOSAL IN JERSEY
A proposal to force school children to recite passages of the
Declaration of Independence, including a part which refers to a
"Creator" could be in trouble after two senators stormed out of a
committee hearing on the bill yesterday. According to the Trenton
Times newspaper, "The walkout effectively ended any chance of the
measure being enacted before the beginning of the new school year."
The State Assembly had approved a bill sponsored by Assemblyman
Michael Carrol, requiring all public school youngsters to recite
passages from the Declaration of Independence. This included: "We
hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable
rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted
among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed." Carrol defended his proposal, saying, "These two sentences
are the basis of everything America has become."
While the measure passed 56-10, it ran into problems during
yesterday's discussion in the Senate Commerce Committee after chairman
Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Demarest) claimed that the "education
community" was incapable of teaching democratic principles in public
schools. Cardinale also suggested that the proposal bypass the Senate
Education Committee. At that point, committee members including Sens.
Jack Sinagra and Robert Singer, two Republicans, walked out. Singer
later characterized Cardinale's remarks as "insulting to the entire
education community."
Sen. Garry Furnari (D-Nutley) left the hearing shortly after Singer
and Sinagra, and opined that the bill belonged in the education
committee. Cardinale, in the meantime, is pressuring Senate President
Donald DiFrancesco to post the measure for a full vote sometime today.
Cardinale's version of the bill amends the Assembly proposal and
broadens the list of documents children would be required to recite
from. That has made the legislation more palatable to some officials,
including those who wanted the "all men are created equal" passage and
similar phrases to be amended to "all people." Under Cardinale's
version, schools would be required to provide a historical context of
why certain documents only mention men. No such explanation, though,
is given to the "Creator" reference, and its possible origins in the
Deism of the Enlightenment period.
American Atheists New Jersey State Director Dave Silverman has
characterized the "Creator" recital proposal as a ruse to violate the
separation of church and state. "I think it's pretty obvious that
this is related to the school prayer issue," Silverman told AANEWS
recently. He added that attempts to sanitize certain phrases or
include other documents for recitation were a "smokescreen" to divert
attention from the religious elements of the legislation. "The
intention isn't to talk about diversity or equality," Silverman
declared. "It's to get religion into school any way you can."
The proposal comes just as Congress has passed a slew of symbolic
measures, including one that allows states to display copies of the
Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. Last weekend, though,
comments published in the Newark Star-Ledger newspaper warned that if
the proposal becomes law and is carried out in New Jersey, "a legal
battle would surely follow." Aside from having a growing and
well-organized network of Atheists and separationists, New Jersey is
the focus of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1994 involving Black
Horse Pike Regional High School in Camden County which led to the
prohibition of student-initiated prayer at graduation ceremonies.
Several school district superintendents expressed reluctance to meld
religion into the classroom routine; referring to the Commandments
decree from Washington, one commented "It's just kind of sad that we
are at this point... I'm not crazy about the idea, but in these
times, there is going to be a lot of these ideas."
**
AMERICAN ATHEISTS TO PROTEST PROMISE KEEPERS "SOLEMN
ASSEMBLY," TOMORROW, JUNE 26 IN DETROIT
American Atheists will hold a peaceful protest at the Promise Keepers
rally in Detroit, Michigan tomorrow, Saturday, June 26, 1999. The
demonstration will take place outside the Joe Louis Arena, from 10:00
a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Appropriate signs and banners will be provided in
keeping with the theme of this demonstration, and members and
supporters of American Atheists are cordially invited.
We'll meet on the ground level sidewalk across the street from the
main entrance ticket office, ground level. This is a peaceful
demonstration, which emphasizes the American Atheist opposition to the
Promise Keepers agenda, and a defense of atheist civil rights and
First Amendment separation of church and state.
Parking is available at the Joe Louis Parking Garage, or the nearby
Cobo Hall parking facility. Expect to pay an hourly rate. After the
picket, we will gather at a nearby restaurant -- details at the
picketing.
Visit the Michigan Atheists web site at
http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/affilmic.htm for more information,
or contact AA State Director Henry Morgan through [EMAIL PROTECTED],
or (734)-326-5794. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow, June
26th in Detroit!
**
PRYOR COMPARED TO PONTIUS PILATE, PASSES ON
PROSECUTION OF JUDGE ROY MOORE
For once, Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor did the right thing.
He's even receiving praise from his traditional legal foe, the
American Civil Liberties Union, and is being compared to Pontius
Pilate -- the fellow who supposedly passed on judging Jesus Christ --
by his former supporters.
This week, Pryor announced that his office would not conduct an
investigation and possible prosecution of Etowah County Judge Roy
Moore in connection with a legal fund which was set up to help Moore
in his case involving courtroom religious practices. Moore has become
a magnet for controversy on account of his display of a Ten
Commandments plaque above his dais, and the policy of opening judicial
proceedings with an invocation. When supporters of the judge
organized the Save Our Commandments group and staged a huge rally at
the state capitol, Mr. Pryor was one of the speakers urging the crowd
to back Moore's cause of public religiosity and continue their assault
on the wall of separation between government and religion.
Pryor has stated that one reason he became a lawyer was so he could
"fight the ACLU."
Earlier this month in a 5-0 decision, the Alabama State Ethics
Committee found that Moore had violated guidelines in connection with
the defense fund set up to defend his courtroom antics in legal
challenges. In addition to soliciting money, the Save Our
Commandments group also raised funds by selling replicas of the stone
Ten Commandments. More than $100,000 has been raised. According to
news reports, the commission found that while Moore had not personally
stolen money, the fund had apparently paid out monies "for things
other than legal defense."
Carol Faulkenberry of the Alabama Freethought Association -- a group
that sued Moore four years ago over the Commandments courtroom display
-- immediately expressed concern that Pryor's office could conduct an
impartial probe into Moore. "Referring the Moore case to Pryor is a
joke," she told AANEWS, citing Pryor's attendance at the Save Our
Commandments rally, and his antipathy for the ACLU.
Earlier this week, though, Pryor announced that he wished to
"eliminate even the appearance of any potential favoritism," and was
passing Moore's case on to St. Clair District Attorney Van Davis.
It's now up to Davis to decide whether or not charges should be
pursued. The decision by the Attorney General drew an immediate
rebuke from Moore's lawyer, D. Stephen Melchior, who accused Pryor of
caving into political pressure from the American Civil Liberties
Union.
"This is the same thing that Pontius Pilate did 2,000 years ago,"
Melchior told reporters, "for what appears to be the same reason. I
am just extremely disappointed in Bill Pryor, that he would bow to the
implied threat of the ACLU."
Melchior described Pryor as "a fair man," adding, "he can handle this
thing aboveboard. He didn't have to hand it off."
Martin McCaffrey of the Alabama ACLU praised the Attorney General.
"We certainly think it's the right thing ... and we congratulate him
for doing it."
**
THEISTWATCH SHORT SHOTS
We have made it a policy in AANEWS to not launch personal attacks, or
make jest of the misfortune of others. We have also been scrupulous
in observing the standard that a person is innocent until proven
guilty, which is why we do not carry a regular, tabloid-style account
of priests accused of pedophelia or other transgressions. But
something needs to be said about Madam Bell, who downed earlier this
week in Atlanta, Ga.
There is the old question of why, if one's stock broker is so good, he
or she is not already a millionaire. Why can psychics supposedly tell
us who we are going to marry, or what days of the week to stay in bed,
while providing these services out of a store front in the low-rent
district? A few seem to hit the jackpot themselves, of course, but it
takes the marketing genius of a Walter Mercado, or the predatory
entrepreneurial instincts of the fellow who ran the Psychic
Friends-Whatever-Club-Network. But back to Madam Bell.
It seems that Madam Bell, a mainstay in town for 35 years, and popular
for her late-night television commercials, was found floating face
down in a shallow reflecting pool behind a hotel. Authorities have
eliminated foul play as the cause of her demise. Her purse, which
included cash for a bank deposit, was resting on a bench along with
her shoes, and nearby was her 1999 Mercedes 500-S. The coroner ruled
her death an accidental drowning, and speculated that Madam Bell --
apparently not employing her psychic talents to divine the evening's
pitfalls -- decided to wade into the pool perhaps to cool her feet,
and likely slipped and fell.
According to the Atlanta Constitution newspaper, Ms. Bell was not
always on target with her predictions. She had divined that in the
last elections the voters would send President Clinton back to
Arkansas, and that the Falcons would win the Super Bowl. As for her
death, though, a fellow psychic told the paper, "What you see for
others you cannot always see for yourself."
**
In June, 1969, the movement for gay rights "came of age" in what has
become known as the Stonewall riots. It all started in the early
morning hours of June 28, 1969 when cops decided to raid the Stonewall
Inn located on Christopher Street in the Village section of New York
City. Nothing new here; both the mob and the police targeted gay bars
and their patrons, and for years the owners of such establishments
learned the need to keep the appropriate thugs or government officials
rolling in cash as a simple cost of doing business. On that day,
though, the patrons began fighting back. The ensuring four nights of
riots and demonstrations sounded a new chapter in the battle for civil
rights.
On Monday, the Stonewall Inn was officially placed on the National
register of Historic Places. Kim Kearns of the Greenwich Village
Society for Historic Preservation declared, "It was the heat of a
summer's night here at Stonewall that led to the creation of a new
civil rights movement for America. For laws that would call our love
perverse, that hold our sacrifice of life in the service of our
country any less dear and that conclude that by our very existence we
are somehow inferior, are not laws founded in truth."
While gays and lesbians are celebrating, the religious right is, well,
almost ready to start its own riot. According to the Washington Times
newspaper, Gary Bauer's Focus on the Family group sees the inclusion
of the bar in the National Register as another example of the Clinton
administration's "endorsement of homosexual advocacy." A
representative of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality -- the folks
that run those ads in the paper urging gays to "convert" to Jesus and
straight sex (but only the married flavor, mind you!) babbled about
going into a nearby bookstore and seeing people engaged in "sex
cruising." Incidentally, how would HE know?
**
RESOURCES FROM AMERICAN ATHEISTS...
* For information about American Atheists, send mail to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Please include your name and postal mailing
address.
* For a free catalogue of American Atheist Press books, videos and
other products, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Kindly include
your postal mailing address.
* The American Atheist Magazine is now on the web! Check out select
articles from the current or back issues, as well as special web-only
features. Visit us at http://www.americanatheist.org
* If you are a current member of American Atheists, sign up for our
e-mail discussion group, aachat. We have over 120 participants who
discuss topics such as Atheism, religion, First Amendment issues and
lots more! Contact Margie Wait, the Moderator, through
[EMAIL PROTECTED] or send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
ABOUT THIS LIST...
AANEWS is a free service from American Atheists, a nationwide movement
founded by Madalyn Murray O'Hair for the advancement of Atheism, and
the total, absolute separation of government and religion.
You may forward, post or quote from this dispatch, provided that
appropriate credit is given to AANEWS and American Atheists. Edited
by Conrad Goeringer, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Internet Representative for
American Atheists is Margie Wait, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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