The Moral Atheist
 
May-June 2013
 

Culture_Wars by Marie Alena Castle

 

Here is the Cover page (PDF) of this issue with the Table of Contents.

If you are not on our mailing or PDF list and want a complete copy, send contact info to Communications Director. We give 3 issues free to those who want to know more about Atheist For Human Rights before deciding whether we are worth the few bucks it takes to join. See the new, easy-to-use SUPPORTER BENEFITS & SIGN-UP FORM here!

Meanwhile, this issue focuses on our newest publication, Culture Wars: The Threat to Your Family and Your Freedom.

How many of you know that your entire life from pre-conception to death is controlled by laws based SOLELY on some church's ancient dogma that makes no sense today if it ever did?

How many of you know WHY we are ensnared in a culture war that is screwing up our entire political system?

Very likely, none of you. This is not the stuff the media like to publicize, but Culture Wars does, with solid facts and plenty of endnotes. And those laws have NO secular justification. NONE. That includes every law related to gay rights, women's rights, end-of-life decision making, and all the laws that make religion a tax exempt, unaccountable, and profitable sacred cow, no matter how much social harm they cause. Culture Wars explains that harm in detail.

This book is not only informative, it's entertaining to read, pulls no punches, names names and all such good readable stuff. Get it from Barnes and Noble and from Amazon.com.

All profits go to our AFHR Moral High Ground project.

WHAT REVIEWERS ARE SAYING ABOUT CULTURE WARS

 
  • Illustrating the pervasive impact of religious doctrine on U.S. law, this boldly stated study lambastes the current system and provides secular alternatives. Culture Wars exposes the failure of the Constitution to protect our First Amendment freedoms. It explains how U.S. citizens are unwittingly compelled to live "and sometimes die" by the beliefs of others when restrictive laws are derived solely from theology. This analysis acknowledges these beliefs, strongly challenges them, and shows why the system cannot be altered without destroying the religious institution supporting it. Strategies for overcoming the assault from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Protestant fundamentalists are detailed.
    — Barnes and Noble online pre-order review.
  • Ms. Castle made me think hard about the topics she writes about. I was amazed and entranced by her breadth of knowledge, her passion and compassion, and her clear-headed, strong convictions.
    — Arvonne Fraser, former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Commission on the Status of Women.
  • Over the years I have read many books on this subject, but Marie Alena Castle's Culture Wars stands head and shoulders above the crowd. This book is clear, clever and written with an optimism that reflects a well-reasoned and pragmatic assessment of where we are now and where we need to go to protect religious minorities from being bullied by the tyranny of majority rule. Libraries should consider this book to be a sensible supplement to the "new atheist" books by Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris, and a strong balance to the angry right-wing political screeds by Bill O'Reilly, Laura Ingraham, Glenn Beck and Ann Coulter.
    — Earl Lee, author of Libraries in the Age of Mediocrity, From the Bodies of the Gods, Raptured, and other works.
  • This book emphatically, persuasively, and readably blows the whistle on what zealots do to undermine church-state separation and personal liberty.
    — Sanford Berman, author of Prejudices and Antipathies, co-author of Alternative Library Literature, contributing editor to The Unabashed Librarian.
  • Culture Wars is an engaging, compelling and important book. The public is so unaware how fragile our constitutional rights are. The book reminds me of our military men and women who return to the states as amputees and then speak strongly against intolerance because they understand that's what the fight was all about.
    — Andrew Dawkins, attorney, former Minnesota state legislator.
  • The author's grasp of theology and understanding of its irrelevance to how we live are impressive. This is rare in books about religion, making Culture Wars a valuable contribution to discussions of the role of religion in public life.
    — Kirk Buchanan, former Roman Catholic priest.
  • Culture Wars is brilliant, readable, to the point, and thorough. The guiding lights of the American Revolution saw that real freedom required that governmental rule making be decoupled from the dictates of religious authority. Marie Alena Castle, a long-time champion of Jefferson's "wall of separation," has given us a timely book that deserves a wide and serious readership.
    — Cecil Bothwell, Asheville NC councilmember, author of The Prince of War: Billy Graham's Crusade for a Wholly Christian Empire.
  • Culture Wars is brilliant and the logic is solid. Marie Alena Castle links a logical chain of reasoning about the dangers of religion in society and then uses it to thrash the notion that religious beliefs are harmless personal philosophies. She makes the case that passive atheists should become assertive against religious extremists and I agree.
    — Chris Edwards, author of Spiritual Snake Oil: Fads & Fallacies in Pop Culture.
  • Marie Alena Castle writes in a straightforward style that is easy to read, yet conveys a lot of valuable information. In Culture Wars, she quotes much useful material and cuts through a pile of misinformation, obfuscation, euphemisms and hypocrisy to highlight the sometimes hidden pernicious influences of religion in the U.S.
    — William Sierichs Jr., religious history researcher, award winning investigative reporter and editorial writer.
  • Culture Wars is superb. I was concerned about reading it at first because troubles that are too big for me to solve tend to depress me, but this book covered the area so richly and full of scholarship, that I had to read, not just scan as I would normally do. As for the quality of the writing, I am such a snob about it, and Culture Wars is so fine. The chapters are beautifully organized, the bits of humor really cute — and necessary. Ms. Castle has written a book that is both powerful and important.
    — Lee Vizer, journalist, volunteer editor for Final Exit Network publications.

 
ArticlesTop of Page

About UsTop of Page

American Atheists Local Partner

 

Atheists For Human Rights is a national, ethics-driven organization upholding an atheism that is confidently held, morally active, and vigorously opposes religions that are politically and socially predatory or harm innocent people.

  • We are committed to making atheism visible in the community as a rational, responsible voice for secular morality.
  • We sponsor well-advertised public forums regularly with well known speakers on topics related to the common good and maintaining a secular government.
  • We run high-visibility "bold & proud" ads for our activities in mainstream newspapers and on radio.
  • We produce atheist videos for our website video outreach project and also make them available on CDs.
  • We submit letters and commentary articles to the media that are frequently accepted.
  • We meet with media people to discuss our concerns and encourage fair and balanced coverage of atheism.
  • We meet with public officials to make them aware of the secular community and express our concerns about the intrusion of religion into legislative action and to stress the importance of state-church separation
  • We wrote a proclamation declaring 4 July 2002, "Indivisible Day," which was signed by Gov. Ventura on our behalf, causing an uproar by "Christian nation" fundamentalists that was front-page news in the St. Paul and Minneapolis papers.
  • Our visibility generates invitations to debate religious-right radio talk show hosts on their political/social agenda and state-church separation.
  • We are unique among atheist organizations in that, as a matter of official policy, we oppose the religious right's assaults on our freedoms and come to the aid of its victims. We do this with reason, civility, pride, and a passion for truth and justice.
  • We provide a strong and effective voice for human rights within the atheist community and are developing a national network of citizens who seek the social and political right to be religion-free. We walk the talk. Our board consists of activists willing to help with the tasks of our organization. Our bylaws impose a high level of ethical standards. We operate openly and honestly at all times.
  • Membership is open to all who reject supernatural beliefs and support the principles and policies of this organization. We thrive on new ideas and welcome everyone who shares our goals.

Our Philosophy
 
Atheism accepts the natural world as all there is. To live without god beliefs is intellectually stimulating. To find one's own purpose and be responsible for one's own life is exciting. To be free of the imagined surveillance of good and evil spirits is liberating. To seek a peaceful world through work and friendship and civic action is life-affirming.
-- MarieAlena Castle, March 1994
 
It is the role of unbelievers to force religions to be benign.
-- Martin Marty, Lutheran theologian, Minneapolis MN, 28 April 1998
 
Let us become post-religious, post-national Universal Humans.
-- Lavanam, Atheist Centre, India

Moral High Ground Project

The Moral High Ground project has chosen the following funds to provide support and protection for these groups and to counter the efforts of religious zealots to impose their religious doctrines through law (other funding mechanisms may be added as resources increase):

Philanthrofund scholarship

Like the other Moral High Ground funding projects, it is unique in the freethought community. Each year since 2002 AFHR has donated $500 to be awarded to a GLBT openly atheist student at Pfund's major awards ceremony. This has created visibility and respect for AFHR within the GLBT community.

Grants to poor women to help pay for abortions

At least $200 each is given annually to funds such as the Women's Medical Fund, administered by Anne Nicol Gaylor from Freedom From Religion Foundation in Madison, Wisconsin, and through the North Dakota WIN (Women In Need) Abortion Access Fund, administered by the Red River Women's Clinic in Fargo. These funds serve poor women in areas where religion-generated abortion laws are irrationally restrictive and punitive.

Support for physician aid in dying

As opportunities arise, we support efforts by physician-aid-in-dying organizations so the terminally ill who want to die with dignity on their own terms have the legal right to do so.

Protection for children harmed by faith healing

As opportunities arise, we support the efforts of CHILD (Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty) to protect children from harm where state laws define faith healing as healthcare and exempt parents from prosecution when they allow children to die by substituting prayer for medical care.

Outreach Activities

Atheists for Human Rights is focused primarily on reaching out to the public in morally active ways to advance the atheistic worldview.

Charitable Outreach

We donate to secular charities that help young people and the homeless.

Highway Cleanup

In 2005 we took on an Adopt-A-Highway cleanup project. The work is done three times a year in spring, summer and fall. Large highway signs identify AFHR as the cleanup crew for a 4-mile stretch of highway in Lakeville that passes many churches.

Minnesota Alliance Of Peacemakers

We joined MAP and have participated in several of their events urging peaceful solutions to world conflicts. MAP is a coalition of churches and secular organizations working together in the cause of peace.

Interfaith Dialogue

AFHR is represented by invitation at regular interfaith gatherings hosted by Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, to find common ground in our common humanity to address the causes of social conflict and stress.

Speakers Bureau

Since 2004, about three times a year, we have been invited to give presentations on atheism to educational and social service agencies for their diversity training programs.

Fireside Chats

These monthly discussions about atheist issues are occasions for socializing as well as developing ideas for further activism.

Public Forums

This major outreach project was begun in June 2006 and continues. The purpose is to show the public how atheists support our constitutional freedoms, seek rational solutions to issues of civic concern, and promote the common good. These events are heavily advertised in local newspapers and on Air America radio.

Videos of all speakers here.
Contact UsTop of Page

Location:
The Hub of Atheism
5146 Newton Ave. N.
Minneapolis MN 55430-3459

If you need directions,
call:
612-529-1200
or
1-866-ATHEIST

or email: Communications Director.

Email:

Letters and articles are welcome!

 

Leave us a voicemail by calling:

612-DAMN-Y'ALL

612-326-6925

Phone messages may be used
on our website.

 
The Hub of AtheismTop of Page

The Hub of Atheism
Welcome to the Hub of Atheism!

Atheists For Human Rights has a geodesic dome as its headquarters. This unique architecture was developed by Buckminster ("Bucky") Fuller (1895-1983), an atheist, architect, environmentalist, and inventor. His ambition was to use science to help solve human problems and to find ways to do more with less.

Hub meeting room, viewed from the top of the stairway

The tragic death of his young daughter inspired him to find "what a single individual can contribute to changing the world and benefiting all humanity." The epitaph on Fuller's tombstone says, "Call me trimtab," referring to a small but critical aircraft part that holds a stabilizing component in position.

Hub meeting room, viewed toward the front entrance

Much of Fuller's philosophy is expressed in the goals and strivings of Atheists For Human Rights.

Contact, location, & directions:
Hub of Atheism

CalendarTop of Page

EVERY MONDAY:
5 - 6:30 PM

Happy Hour
Location: Ol' Mexico Restaurant
On Lexington, two blocks north of Larpenteur, Roseville
Terrace level, right behind reservation desk.
Contact:
Paul Craven: 763-788-8918

1ST & 3RD MONDAYS:
6:30 PM

Toastmasters
Location: Larpenteur Estates Party Room
1276 Larpenteur Ave W, St. Paul
Contact:
George Kane: 651-488-8225

1ST TUESDAYS:
11:30 AM

Lunch Social
Location: Old Country Buffet,
County Rd B2 (east of Fairview), Roseville
Contact:
Bob/Marilyn Nienkerk: 612-866-6200

3RD WEDNESDAYS:
11:30 AM

Charley French Memorial Lunch
Atheists and Humanists get together to socialize and exchange opinions.
Location: Dragon House restaurant
3970 Central Ave NE, Columbia Heights
Private Room
Contact:
Bill Volna: 612-819-2580 (cell: leave message)

3RD FRIDAYS:
6 - 9+ PM

Fireside Chat

Always free food and beverages.

17 May: The DVD is actress Julia Sweeney's "Letting Go of God," her popular monologue about religion in all its absurdities. As one reviewer said, she "makes something funny that has no business being funny."

NO FIRESIDE CHATS IN JUNE, JULY, AUGUST.

ALL-FREETHOUGHT
POTLUCK PICNICS:
Sundays: Noon to 3 PM

9 June, 21 July, 18 August
Location: Columbia Park, off Central Ave., in Columbia Heights.
Contact:
Call 612-588-1597 or email Communications Director for more info.

MEETUPS

Twin Cities Meetups
Email Scott Muir, Video Manager
Or visit Twin Cities Atheists
Southern Minnesota Meetups
Email Crystal Dervetski

MEMBERS/SUPPORTERS MEETINGS

Local: Ad hoc discussions at social events.
National: Announcements and discussions on AFHRbod Yahoo Groups, first 10 days of the month. To get on the list, just give us your email address. Significant issues discussed are covered in The Moral Atheist for reader feedback. It's all open, with decisions, if needed, formed by consensus if possible.

TWIN CITIES PUBLIC ACCESS

Our videos are played in Minneapolis and St. Paul on public access stations.
In Minneapolis, they are on MTN Ch. 17, Saturdays at 8 PM, and Fridays at 8 AM.
In St. Paul, they are on SPNN Ch 15, Tuesdays at 6 PM, and Wednesdays at 1 AM and 11 AM.
Thanks to Paul Craven and Bruce Hurtley for handling this.

Links

American Atheists

 

American Freethought

 

Americans United for Separation of Church and State

 

Atheist Foundation of Australia Inc

 

Atheists For Humanity

 

Atheists of Silicon Valley

 

Born Atheist

 

Campus Atheists & Secular Humanists (CASH)

 

Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty, Inc (CHILD)

 

Euthanasia World Directory (ERGO)

 

Final Exit Network

 

Freedom From Religion Foundation

 

Friends Free of Theism

 

IBKA Political Guide

 

Minnesota Atheists

 

Pharyngula

 

The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science

Top of Page