I heard the news when I called my mom to let her know that we’d gotten home from L.A. where we had been for my sister-in-law’s wedding.
Rather than try to come up with something coherent when I’m tired and waiting for Daniel to go down for his nap (so I can go down for one too), I’m going to give you three links to amazing women who sum up my sentiments: Elizabeth Esther, Jackie, and Leah.
I went long in my last post so now we’ll address…
On Churches Allegedly Being State-Supported Institutions
Churches are classified by the IRS as “501(c)3 religious organizations” which puts them in the same class as charities and foundations, making all donations tax-deductible. They are this way as a result of LBJ trying to shut them up. How does this “shut them up”? Well, churches cannot preach against anything the government deems “legal” such as abortion, homosexuality, the war in Iraq, or tell their parishioners how to vote. Doing so can jeopardize their 501(c)3 standing. Recent examples include a church in southern California who either lost their standing or were threatened with it for preaching about the idiocy of the war in Iraq as well as the petitions that went around trying to get the LDS’s 501(c)3 status revoked after their efforts to get Prop 8 passed in California. (This wouldn’t happen because the LDS has a HUGE presence in Washington with the delegations from Utah, Idaho, and Nevada.) Another example would be Catholic churches denying the Eucharist to those who vote for pro-choice politicians — it’s a sneaky way to get around the 501(c)3 issue. (Not trying to pick on Catholics or Mormons here — I’m citing examples that I know of that have been in the media.)
There is also the issue of how one would tax a church because the government has no jurisdiction over them due to the separation of church and state. Clergy are self-employed — we pay our own FICA, taxes, and such instead of having payroll taxes. Unless we are eligible for food stamps or Medicaid or WIC, the government does not give us any money or assistance. Clergy salaries come from the churches they serve just as the salaries of employees for a charity or foundation come out of donations to that organization.
Having said all that, I fail to see how religion is state-supported fiscally because the state has no jurisdiction over churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples.
There is another aspect however. There’s the National Prayer Breakfast, the National Day of Prayer, Governor Rick Perry asking Texans to pray for rain… These are things that fall under what are referred to in church polity as “local options”, meaning that observances happen as local custom dictate.
The Republican presidents tend to hold gatherings for the National Day of Prayer whereas the Democrats don’t. (The wiki article even talks about the lawsuits associated with it.) I don’t think I have ever participated in it for the simple reason that it’s usually on a Thursday morning and I have other things to do. I’ve seen and heard of occurrences where faiths other than Christians participate and this would honestly be the best way to do it IMHO. However, how it is done really does depend on the culture of the place where the occurrence is taking place. If it’s a place like the Midwest or the South, it’s going to be all the Christian clergy there unless there’s a synagogue or mosque in town. I have never lived in a place where attendance has been required of all citizens and where it’s the only thing on the radio, so I really don’t know how it’s government-imposed religion. (I just saw this which shows a good atheist alternative to that day.)
The National Prayer Breakfast is actually pretty benign and has a social justice focus rather than a “praying for the infidels in the nation” one. [/tic] The focus is more on addressing the problems of the nation and the world and truthfully, it’s not one of those battles that atheists/non-theists should fight. You *want* our government to address social issues and this is a means to that end.
As far as Governor Rick Perry asking Texans and the rest of the country to pray for rain, it’s another place where local customs dictate the response. Is God going to magically produce rain because the people prayed? Not necessarily but it probably wouldn’t hurt and it gives people something that they can do. Is it the government forcing religion on the atheist communities in Texas? I wouldn’t say that the governor is forcing religion on them — they have the option to say “screw this!” and roll their eyes.
I know that one argument of some atheists reading this is that I have no right to address this because I’m in the majority. Actually, I’m not. Other than living in the rural Midwest and Ohio, I’ve never necessarily been the majority. Even when I lived in Newark, only 50% of the town actually identified with a particular church. Most people would probably be classified as culturally Christian or may identify with a faith group but not attend worship services.
I’m sure my argument is probably circular and not all that great but I’m writing this late at night to try and get myself tired enough to sleep. My contention is this: religion is not state-supported. The only way it could be truly stated that the state supports it is if we had a national church like the Church of England and one paid church taxes.
The next post will be on the contention that atheists have no morals (which I don’t believe) and why atheist politicians have a hard time being elected.
CNN.Com: 12 killed in Afghanistan amid protests over reported Quran burning
Most news outlets in the U.S. downplayed the burning so as not to give that idiot pastor in Florida any more publicity. However, Pastor Jones’ actions caused protests in the Muslim world and twelve people were killed in Afghanistan because of his bigoted actions.
Guess what, moron? YOU JUST PROVED THEIR ASSERTION THAT AMERICANS HATE MUSLIMS. Granted, people used the burning as an excuse to be violent (and thus proved Pastor Jones’ point) but the idiot gave them the ammo to do it.
This man makes me ashamed to be Christian. I wish I could tell Muslims across the world that WE’RE NOT ALL BIGOTS LIKE HIM!!!!!
On the other hand, security costs for his 60-member church are so high that he had to put his church building up on Craigslist. (Heard via Nightline)
It’s probably good that I’m taking part in the Simple Woman’s Daybook Continue reading
It’s come out that Karl Rove and his minions have been behind a bunch of attack ads put on by shell organizations like “The US Chamber of Commerce” that is attacking Barbara Boxer here in California. Oh… and apparently Obama is singling them out for outrage.
Let’s see… funneling MASSIVE amounts of cash into tax-deductible organizations to do your dirty work. How is this not morally wrong?
I should have known that the Prince of Darkness (not Dick Cheney) would be behind this!
Oh yeah… I’ve already voted so could we please get the freaking attack ads off the TV here in California? NOW!!!! Please?
Jen of Blag Hag had an interesting post on being the token atheist at a grad student gathering for her program. (Why yes… I’m a fan of the blog of an avowed and vocal atheist. Is there a problem here?)
I don’t have to purposefully hide parts of my life because I’m afraid it’ll alienate people from me. Last night I was sure as hell not going to mention how most of my blogging is about atheism and as aggressive as Dawkins, or that I founded a club for atheist students, or that I was on the board for the Secular Student Alliance. And when someone asked how I had met Richard Dawkins, I didn’t mention how we’re being published together in the same book about atheism. I lied by omission about something I’m incredibly proud about.
Immediately afterward I felt bad for not being true to myself, but these are going to be my coworkers for the next five years. I don’t bring up religion or my atheism in class or at work because I don’t want it to be an issue, just as I try not to bring up politics. But when it is brought up, I’m not the type to stand there and take it. And thus I feel like the odd woman out.
I can relate to her situation in that I dealt with similar situations when I was in college because I’d be the token Christian at a gathering or in one of my classes. I had more than one class where people would criticize me for believing the way I did and in a few cases, the professor encouraged it! I had people tell me that I was a fundamentalist, that everything I believe is intolerant of others, and that I shouldn’t be in my degree program (at that time Biology) because I obviously didn’t believe in evolution. (Actually, I see no problem between Genesis and evolutionary theory.) There were times when I just kept my mouth shut because it just wasn’t worth the aggravation to try and correct people and tell them what I *actually* believe and that their stereotype didn’t quite fit me. For example, I’m respectful that not everybody believes the same way I do. My parents aren’t Christian and while my dad is very passionately anti-religious, my mom raised me to be respectful of the beliefs of others. While I do hope in my heart that my words and actions reflect Christ, I can also talk shop with pretty much every other faith group there is.
Jen’s issue was that she brought up that she’s a fan of Richard Dawkins who is pretty outspoken about his atheism. I can understand people being turned off by him just as I can completely understand people being turned off by the late Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson. When people make derogatory remarks about other faiths and are aggressive about it, it can really turn people off even if they do happen to share a belief system. I have to deal with the crap that “fundamentalist” Christians pull which include all the stupid remarks about Islam made after 9/11 as well as being lumped into the same group as the moron in Florida who wanted to burn the Qur’an on 9/11, endangering US troops in Afghanistan and created a really negative view of the US in the eyes of Muslims abroad. It’s the problem with militancy — Muslims are branded as terrorists because of the actions of a small minority, any pro-life Christian is viewed to be in league with those who bomb abortion clinics or shoot doctors, and atheists are viewed as intolerant because people like Madalyn Murray-O’Hair were that way. Militants make the rest of us look really bad.
Jen goes on to talk about how she was totally comfortable with the people who are part of Seattle Atheists because she could just be herself. Truthfully, I’m a little jealous because I don’t always have that luxury when I get together with a group of Christians, even those who are Episcopalian or Lutheran. There always seems to be something wrong with me like I believe homosexuality is a sin, I wear too much black, I don’t believe that all Muslims are terrorists (I’ve been treated better by Muslim groups than I have by churches I’ve attended), or I’m not what people envision a pastor’s wife to be. (There’s another post topic — unreal expectations for clergy spouses.) I think the only gatherings where I’m comfortable and able to be myself (though I don’t mention my blog) are the stitch n’ b*tch groups I’ve been part of.
It’s also kind of interesting that Jen would run into that problem (being the token atheist) in her program because she’s in the Genome Studies program at the University of Washington — a program where you’d expect there to be a number of non-theists and in a state (and city) where you wouldn’t find a massive evangelical Christian presence like you would in Indiana where Jen is from. Washington is the most unchurched state in the nation — you’d think *I* would be the minority, not her.
I guess my point is this: stereotyping hurts people just like militancy does. They create a false image of what people may look like and makes it harder for those who don’t fit that mold. Jen and I are polar opposites in a lot of ways but we both want a place where we belong and those who represent their faith in seemingly intolerant ways make it harder for us to find those places.
Jen, you’re totally welcome at my blog. I’ll even let you skip over any entries on faith.
I wouldn’t be a proper Californian blogger if I didn’t bring up Prop 8 being overturned.
My thoughts: I could honestly care less.
I know, I know. I’m a conservative Christian and I’m not flipping out about how it’s an abomination and all that. Thing is… it doesn’t change my life either way. It’s not like Jon is going to have to start performing same-sex unions (it’s one of those things in our denomination where it’s up to the pastor and the church) and it’s honestly not harming anything. Will I go to the weddings of my gay friends? Probably not but I also haven’t managed to attend the weddings of most of my straight friends either.
The other thing: I’ve got four burners on which I can deal with things. They’re being taken up right now with Daniel, Jon, job-hunting, and finances. (My father-in-law gets put on when one of the last two can be taken off and stirred.) I don’t have the mental and emotional energy to put toward being righteously indignant about this.
One of my friends who is pissed over Prop 8 being overturned asked on Facebook about “what one does when something one has voted for is thrown out”. I really had to force myself not to tell her to ask those who were disenfranchised under our ex-president about that.