By Eric Jayne
A group from Minnesota Atheists visited the Church of Scientology this past Memorial Day weekend. It was the second time we toured their building after first visiting shortly after it opened in 2011. Just like last time, the church members were hospitable, but a little unclear.
By Eric Jayne
It was initially discouraging when the state of Indiana passed their discriminatory Religious Restoration Act. The law gave religiously faithful people increased power and special privilege which was used to legally justify refusal of service to gays, lesbians, and genderqueer people. Discouragement didn’t last long though since the response in Indiana and the rest of the nation was quick and mostly condemning. It validated my confidence in the United States trending toward irreligious, secularism.
Sports teams have been holding faith and family nights for many years, but in 2012 the St. Paul Saints became the first ever professional sports team to feature atheists night in what was billed “A Night of Unbelievable Fun” (sponsored by Minnesota Atheists and American Atheists). Even though the morning show hosts at Fox & Friends told their viewers to pray for a rainout it turned out to be a beautiful, sunny evening.
By Mike Haubrich (Reprinted from apexofludicrous.wordpress.com with permission)
An acquaintance unfriended me on Facebook a few weeks ago because I had hit the “Like” button for a story in which a cop had been killed by a criminal. He assumed that I had hit the “Like” button because I hate cops so much that I am happy to see that one is killed in the line of duty. So, I tried to explain that since Facebook only has a Like button to acknowledge a story without comment, this was my only choice for saying “I see this, but I have no words and no comment.” He still unfriended me, and I was actually very angry at him for assuming that I was so hateful to cops, and to anyone at all for that matter, that I would celebrate their death or murder.
By Heather Hegi
Hooray for spring! What better way to celebrate it than to walk in the May Day Parade with Minnesota Atheists.I really enjoy walking in the parade and holding signs representing secular values. It makes your day when you overhear someone from the crowd reading one of our signs exclaiming “Hug an Atheist”, and instead of coming out to hug one of us they hug the person standing right beside them. We truly do feel welcome at this parade, we get lots of cheers and everyone is in a festive mood.
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