Reason Prevails in Rhode Island Prayer Banner Controversy

Jessica Ahlquist, 16, prevailed in a heated state/church lawsuit challenging a prayer banner at her high school in Cranston, R.I. Yesterday, the school board there took the right, rational and fiscally responsible action, by voting not to appeal the Jan. 11 ruling by U.S. District Judge Donald Lagueux. The judge had ordered the removal of a large prayer inscribed on a banner in the auditorium of Cranston High School West, beginning, "Our Heavenly Father" and ending "Amen."

Ahlquist, 5 feet tall and only 16 years old, was targeted by many in her state and community, including by her state representative, who publicly labeled her "an evil little thing." She had become such a persona non grata in the overwhelmingly Catholic community that four local florists refused to deliver flowers Freedom From Religion Foundation had ordered after her January federal court victory.

Jessica will be a headline speaker at the upcoming Reason Rally on the National Mall in Washington D.C., on Saturday, March 24. (Read more here.)

"Jessica is part of a long line of freethinkers who have stood up for rights of conscience, and made legal history in defending the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. She epitomizes the significant role that freethinkers continue to play in moving society forward," said Dan Barker, FFRF co-president.

AHA Presents Oral Arguments in Massachusetts Case Challenging "Under God"

On February 13, 2012, the American Humanist Association argued in Massachusetts Superior Court that the state’s constitutional equal rights amendment should bar the practice of public schools conducting a daily flag-salute exercise that utilizes the version of the Pledge of Allegiance that includes the phrase "under God."
This case, Jane Doe, et. als. v. Acton-Boxborough Regional School District et al, is particularly unique and important because the state’s constitutional equal protection guarantees are the basis of the suit, not the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. This same strategy could be replicated in other jurisdictions.
"The daily recitation in public schools of a pledge declaring that the nation is 'under God' is discriminatory toward atheists and humanists," said David Niose, president of the American Humanist Association and lead attorney for the plaintiffs in the case. "No child should go to school each day to have the class declare that her religious beliefs are wrong in an exercise that portrays her and her family as less patriotic than believers."
Currently, Massachusetts law requires public school teachers to begin each day with a classroom recitation of the Pledge for the purpose of instilling patriotism and love of country. On behalf of the plaintiffs, the American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center is asking for a court declaration that daily recitation of the "under God” version of the pledge is discriminatory. They also seek a court order that other, nondiscriminatory means should be used to instill patriotism.
The plaintiffs are not trying to discontinue patriotic exercises, but seek only to make those exercises inclusive and nondiscriminatory. The federal government added "under God" to its wording of the Pledge in 1954, at the height of the McCarthy era during the Cold War, whereas before that the Pledge simply declared that the nation was "one nation indivisible.” Plaintiffs are requesting that this inclusive version be used once again in Massachusetts, and/or that other means of instilling patriotism be used, such as reading about important historical figures and events. The original version of the Pledge, written in 1892, is completely secular and inclusive of all Americans.
The suit was originally filed in November 2010. In denying the defendants’ earlier motion to dismiss, the judge on May 25, 2011 wrote in part: "The daily affirmation to children that America is ‘one nation under God’ cannot be characterized as just a meaningless ceremony, for in the context of daily public school recitation (accompanying the salute of the national flag) such a statement becomes the equivalent of official State doctrine – far from meaningless…"
The court took the motions for summary judgment under advisement and did not indicate when a ruling could be expected.

Practical Humanism Online Course Offered 3/1 - 4/30

This two-month, eight-module course will focus on the practical life skills Humanists use, and that anyone can benefit from regardless of their beliefs. Topics to be discussed will include: what Humanism is, the Humanist approach to happiness, Humanist ethics, freethought techniques, reality-based decision making, and personal responsibility.

For details and registration: http://action.centerforinquiry.net/site/Calendar?id=102361&view=Detail

Center for Inquiry Urges Obama Administration Not To Retreat Any Further on HHS Regulation

The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is pleased that the Obama Administration has continued to hold firm to the principle that employees must have access to contraceptive services as part of any employer-sponsored health plan and has decided to keep in place the substance of guidelines that require health insurance providers and organizations providing health care plans to cover preventive health services without charging a co-payment. Nonetheless, CFI is concerned that the administration has apparently felt obliged to modify its proposed regulation in the face of pressure, especially from the Catholic Church.

It's certainly understandable that CFI would pretty much automatically oppose whatever the Catholic Church is for, but what do contraceptive services have to do with preventive health services, except for women for whom pregnancy is contra-indicated?  Pregnancy, while always a risky proposition, is not a disease. Aren't we spending enough on health care as it is?


It is also interesting to note that many Catholic-backed plan cover Viagra (as do Medicare and Medicaid). I would think this would be more controversial than it is. You only hear about it now in connection with the birth control bru-ha-ha. But think about it: why should the society pay for the elderly poor to have sex? Paying for contraceptives certainly makes more sense if you believe Freakonomics' premise that unwanted pregnancies give birth to criminals. Still, it would be cheaper to use condoms, especially with all the side effects of birth control pills.

A Jewish Politician Accuses a Jewish Rival of Ties/Links to Hate Groups

Lew Fidler and David Storobin are running for the State Senate seat vacated by Carl Kruger, who pleaded guilty to corruption. The election is on March 20. While both are Jewish, Fidler, a Democrat, accused Storobin, a Repubican of "ties" (later changed to "links") to neo-Nazis.

Later at a press conference in Brooklyn, where he was endorsed by Senator Chuck Schumer, Fidler, a Democratic city councilman, tried to explain his comments.  "I never, ever, ever did or would have called David Storobin a neo-Nazi," said the 56-year-old Democrat.  He explained that he is "not so Internet-savvy," and he should have used the word "links" instead of "ties."

"I have never once raised this in public," said Fidler, when asked about the issue after the endorsement. "He [Storobin] continues to raise it in public, call himself insulted and ask for an apology."

Substantively, Fidler said that if he, like Storobin, interviewed a white separatist "not once, but twice," that "people would know that I had found the views of a white separatist to be so repugnant that it wouldn't be linked on Stormfront."

Politicker's Colin Campbell challenged Fidler's assertion that he wasn't raising the issue publicly, noting his campaign sent out a press release about it.

"It was a response to a press conference that he held," Fidler said. "He's responding to comments I had made to a group of young Democrats at a rally at a bar, alright, where I thought we were in a private room, and the term I used" was inaccurate.

Fidler's campaign has accused Storobin of hiding behind the issue to avoid talking about more substantive matters, like access to affordable housing and tuition tax credits.

Government-Subsidized Kashrut

On January 30, Newt Gingrich slammed Mitt Romney over the then-Massachusetts governor’s 2003 veto blocking Jewish nursing-home residents from getting $600,000 in additional funds earmarked for kosher meals.

“He eliminated serving kosher food for elderly Jewish residents under Medicare,” Gingrich charged, referring to an article in Friday’s Post.

Gingrich, stumping in Jacksonville, Fla., ahead of today’s primary, called Romney’s Massachusetts health-care law as hostile toward religious beliefs as President Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

“The more we dig in, I understand why George Soros in Europe yesterday said that it makes no difference if it’s Romney or Obama, that ‘we can live with either one,’ ” Gingrich said.

A Romney spokesperson noted that Romney issued hundreds of vetoes during a fiscal crisis and that the Legislature restored the kosher funds.

What's next?  Vegetarian meals for Jain residents? Halal meals for Muslims?

Sex Cells: The Market for Human Eggs and Sperm

Sex Cells?  Well, if you’re reading this, then you can be certain that there were exactly two involved in your making.  However, technology for human reproduction—including gamete and zygote selection—is racing forward, while our society’s cultural norms, medical ethics, and state laws have struggled to keep up.  Rene Almeling, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at Yale University will give a talk on the market for human eggs and sperm as part of the 4^th Annual Darwin Day Dinner celebration to be held at 6 P.M. Saturday evening, February 11, 2012, at the Inn at Longshore, in Westport.

Rene Almeling specializes in gender, markets, medicine, and genetics.  Her book, Sex Cells: The Medical Market for Eggs and Sperm was published in Fall 2011.  The project received the Outstanding Dissertation Award from the American Sociological Association.  After receiving her PhD in Sociology in 2008 she was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Scholar in Health Policy Research.  She is currently researching genetic testing, genetic counseling, and in vitro fertilization.

Darwin Day is an international celebration of science and humanity held on or around February 12th, the day that Charles Darwin was born in 1809. It celebrates the discoveries and life of Charles Darwin—the man who first described biological evolution via natural selection with scientific rigor. More generally, Darwin Day expresses gratitude for the enormous benefits that scientific knowledge, acquired through human curiosity and ingenuity, has contributed to the advancement of humanity.

To reserve your place, print out the flyer with REGISTRATION FORM (pdf format) and mail to:
CT Darwin Day Committee, 249 Chestnut Hill Road, Norwalk, CT 06851-1412
 For questions contact John Levin at (646) 371-9280 or jlevin@tfm-llc.com, or Craig Tomarkin at ctomarkin@aol.com.