Atheists with Christian Donors.

It’s a kind of man bites dog headline, don’t you think? Avowed atheist Patrick Greene recently found out that he had contracted a disease that could leave him blind. Some would call it the Hand of God, others would call it karma, and others would shrug their shoulders and say “tough luck.”

But Greene recently learned that the Christian group that he openly opposed in Henderson County, Texas, a group that wanted to put up a nativity display on government property, had taken up a collection among the members and donated $400 toward his healthcare costs to treat his condition.

A Christian Act if ever there was one.

An act that belies the baser intents of “Christians” who want to dominate the lives of non-believers and use laws to regulate morality along strictly Christian religious beliefs.

This is special. This is different. This is truly Christian.

And despite the fact that the atheist group that Patrick Greene represents donated $500 toward his treatment, edging out the Christian donation by $100, I still see the meaning and intent of these good people to turn the other cheek and to love their enemy.

It’s nice to see the teachings of Jesus, as told to us by the Apostles, still have an impact on actual human conduct, rather than what you typically see.

Blind hypocrisy.

The Atheists are Coming! The Atheists are Coming!

So I was looking at the news of the day at the Houston Chronicle’s website today wondering what could have happened today that I might want to write about, and beyond finding out that Amanda Knox, the American expatriate student living in Italy that was accused of killing her roommate, has been totally exonerated because of questionable DNA evidence, there was nothing really newsworthy.

But if Amanda Knox doesn’t write a book and a screenplay and become deliriously rich over this, I’ll eat my hat.

Then I happened on this headline: “Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins speaking at atheist event in Houston.” Now this, in and of itself, is not very newsworthy. Both Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins are world-renowned atheists with many books under their belts. It would actually be more newsworthy if one, the other or  both were not going to be speaking at an atheist’s convention.

So no, not very newsworthy. Mostly ho-hum. But what is newsworthy that they are going to have an atheist's convention in Houston, Texas. Here in the Bible Belt. Here, where Rick Perry had a pray-in this past summer praying for rain and stuff (and got fires instead).

Here, in Southeast Texas where movies that have alternative views of the Christian Gospel get picketed.

Are. You. Kidding?

So I suspect that rather than The Chron making a big thing about Hitchens and Dawkins coming to Houston to speak, what they really wanted to put out there was that the atheists were coming to town.

Ho boy. If I had my preferences, I’d rather watch this thing unfold outside the Hyatt Regency at 1200 Louisiana St. in downtown Houston than inside (yes, they not only made the location known in the article, but also provided the link).

I’m bringing a lawn chair and popcorn.

Atheists Sue Perry for Promoting a Single Religion

I didn’t know that there were any here in the Bible Belt, but apparently Houston area atheists have filed suit against Rick Perry for sponsoring The Response, Rick Perry’s call to Christian prayer and fasting so that the Christian god, or gods, may help us through these troubling times.

Their case? Weak. In summary, here is what they have against Rick Perry’s participation in this planned event, from the Austin American-Statesman:

“Perry’s participation in the Aug. 6 event amounts to government sponsorship and endorsement of religion in violation of the First Amendment.”

“Prayer and fasting, the Wisconsin-based organization said in the lawsuit, ‘are not only an ineffectual use of time and government resources, but which can be harmful or counterproductive as a substitute for reasoned action.’”

Now there is some basis for the first argument. Rick Perry, under color of law as a governor of the state, is holding a Christian-only prayer event, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, B’hai, or Jews need not apply. This runs counter to the Establishment Clause of the 1^st Amendment.

They have a point.

Where the argument falls apart is the judgmental claim that a prayer meet-up can be harmful or counterproductive. That is a value judgment, almost as religious a claim that prayer brings help from on high.

No, if I were going to file a lawsuit against this event I would definitely concentrate on the fact that the organizers of the event is the hate-filled American Family Association, who, despite their innocuous name, has, through its issues director, alleged “that gays caused the Holocaust—and are planning on doing it again; that gays should be banned from holding public office; that homosexuality should be criminalized; that foreign Muslims should either be converted to Christianity or subjected to lethal force; that American Muslims should be deported; that there should be a permanent ban on mosque construction in the United States; and that Muslims should be prohibited from serving in the armed forces.”

Not that their beliefs are illegal, they have a perfect right to hold lunatic ideas like that. But that Rick Perry, as governor of Texas, endorses these rightwing extremist notions. Taxpayers should not have to be made to support this kind of extremism.

New Laws in Texas: Now They Are Getting Serious

You really have to live in Texas to appreciate what a dysfunctional legislature it has running things, some would say running things into the ground. Now granted, this has a lot to do with the fact that nothing was going to move through the legislature while there was a threat of passing a Voter ID bill, something that did not happen.

Jesus was apparently looking out for Texas, and the legislature failed to pass regressive anti-minority legislation to restrict voter access to the polls. But in doing so, Satan did have his way with Texas as can be attested by a review of some of the new laws that went into effect last Friday.

A veritable cornucopia of laws that corrected vast wrongs across Texan society.

Take for instance the gem that finally, once and for all, bans children under 16 from getting artificial UV rays from tanning beds in Texas tanning salons. A long time in coming, I say. The law even goes further to require children between 16 and 18 years of age to provide parent permission slips.

Or what about that law that requires landlords to provide smoke detectors to alert hearing-impaired tenants (I would guess using light rather than sound) upon their request.

College freshmen entering a Texas public university, and wishing to live in school-provided residences will need to produce proof of vaccination against bacterial meningitis (a law that has been on the books in other states for 2 decades now).

And then there is the new law that requires cigarettes to be “fire-safe” in that they have to go out all by themselves when tossed on the ground by your average careless Texas smoker. My thought is that they should go one step further and make cigarettes sold in Texas completely noncombustible.

Wouldn’t THAT save more than a few lives?

Then there is HB 8, a bad news bill for school districts who typically benefit from annual reappraisals of property values. Those appraisals are now to be every two years, suggesting to me that the rate of appraised property value rise will be even more out of step with the actual resale value of real property.

But I guess everything is relative. We could be living in Ireland, after all, which has a new law on its books that makes Texas look positively like a radical lefty state.

Ireland has a new anti-blasphemy law that went into effect on January 1st. No, you read that correct. Anti-blasphemy.

To wit:

Blasphemy is defined as “publishing or uttering matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters sacred by any religion, thereby intentionally causing outrage among a substantial number of adherents of that religion, with some defences permitted.”

So I guess, in Ireland, that guy who drew those cartoons depicting the Blessed Prophet Mohammed as an angry Arab with a bomb in his turban would be brought up on charges, huh?

After all . . .

Atheists in Ireland are all up in arms and have published a list of 25 blasphemies in order to challenge the legality of this law.

But really, the story somewhat ambushed me with an idea that I had not considered before, leaving me to ask this one question:

You mean there are atheists in Ireland?