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Randy
SFN Regular
USA
1990 Posts |
 Posted - 12/20/2008 : 13:55:45
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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-atheists15-2008dec15,0,5277535.story
"Reporting from Denver -- Bill Ritter Jr. was not the first governor of Colorado to declare the first Thursday in May as a day of prayer.
But he was the first to attend a celebration of the National Day of Prayer at the state Capitol, joining a crowd of several hundred Christians in 2007. His appearance at the event caught the attention of a Wisconsin-based atheist group, which has mounted a campaign its leaders hope will dissuade him and other governors from participating again."
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"We are all connected; to each other biologically, to the earth chemically, to the rest of the universe atomically."
"So you're made of detritus [from exploded stars]. Get over it. Or better yet, celebrate it. After all, what nobler thought can one cherish than that the universe lives within us all?"
-Neil DeGrasse Tyson |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 12/21/2008 : 04:23:38 [Permalink]
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Pray in one hand, piss in the other, then observe which fills up first and record the results on the fly leaf of your Bible (Torah, Quran, whatever).
I have long thought that the Christians were/are yearning to borrow a page from Islam's book on this Prayer Day nonsense. Muslims are required to pray some 5 times a day (thereby wasting 5 times the time) whilst they are not required to pray at all. But of course they do, or at least their leaders do, to their great if indiscernible benefit. They trumpet those imaginary benes from every roof top they can climb upon. However, to their consternation & disgust, the rest of us have better & more productive things to do, not just on Prayer Day, but the rest of the year as well.
And there's not a damned thing they can do about except piously squeal like hogs at the abattoire, for, you see, unlike Iran and Saudi Arabia and other theocratic dungeons, they can't legislate it. Hell, even officially picking a special day for prayer is open to Constitutional challenge if it is not inclusive of everyone including, heh, atheists.
It is to be hoped that the Freedom From Religion Foundation's lawsuit is successful.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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| Edited by - filthy on 12/21/2008 04:24:58 |
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Zebra
Skeptic Friend
USA
354 Posts |
Posted - 12/21/2008 : 21:01:13 [Permalink]
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From the link:
| The suit is part of a broader campaign by the group [FFRF] to overturn the 1952 law designating a National Day of Prayer and mandating an annual proclamation by the president. |
Good for them. Go FFRF. (I joined as a life member recently, after the whole signs-near-creches-on-government-property thing hit the news.)
Of particular interest to the foundation, its leaders said, is the role of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, a private organization in Colorado Springs that advocates for participation in the annual observance.
The task force -- whose chairwoman, Shirley Dobson, is married to James Dobson, founder of the evangelical Christian group Focus on the Family -- comes up with biblical themes and quotes for each day of prayer and lobbies vigorously for governors across the nation to use them, said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of Freedom From Religion.
This year, Ritter, a Democrat, used the quotes suggested by the task force.
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The proclamation, said Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer, "is nothing more than what it says -- a recognition of a personal choice to pray." |
Yeah...the personal choice to pray, by a public official in a public manner, using prayers selected by one narrow group steeped in one particular version of one religion. Duh. |
I think, you know, freedom means freedom for everyone* -Dick Cheney
*some restrictions may apply |
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Atheists have an answer to prayer day
