Evangelicals and Atheists Have Something in Common

I was at work yesterday when the tornado siren went off. We had a tornado warning in the Hattiesburg area, and people are clearly taking these more seriously after all the damage seen recently in other areas. While searching the web to see what I could find about the likely duration of the warning, I ran across something unexpected on a local TV station website (WDAM): Being 'born-again' linked to more brain atrophy.

Evidently, the same Christian god who was sending tornados my way wanted me to find this article about a scientific study linking religious experiences and atheism to brain dysfunction.

According to the study, people who said they were a "born-again" Protestant or Catholic, or conversely, those who had no religious affiliation, had more hippocampal shrinkage (or "atrophy") compared to people who identified themselves as Protestants, but not born-again.

It sounds like the researchers interpreted the findings as being due to "holding religious beliefs that fall outside of the mainstream." In other words, both evangelical Christians and atheists may experience added stress (known to affect the brain) from holding unconventional beliefs.

"One interpretation of our finding -- that members of majority religious groups seem to have less atrophy compared with minority religious groups -- is that when you feel your beliefs and values are somewhat at odds with those of society as a whole, it may contribute to long-term stress that could have implications for the brain," Amy Owen, lead author of the study and a research associate at Duke University Medical Center, said in a Duke news release.

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Bastrop High School Goes Ahead With Graduation Prayer

In spite of Damon Folwer's brave efforts, the advice of an attorney the school consulted, and a prior agreement to cancel plans to pray, prayer did in fact occur at the Bastrop High School graduation ceremony last night. Here's the video:

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Louisiana High School Student Ends Graduation Prayer

Something will be different about the graduation ceremony tomorrow night at Bastrop High School in Louisiana. Prayer will not be part of the ceremony.

According to the Bastrop Daily Enterprise, an atheist student emailed the principal to complain about prayer taking place at a public school graduation. He indicated that he would contact the ACLU if the school proceeded with the planned prayer.

Evidently, the principal consulted an attorney and realized that the school had no legal ground upon which to stand. They agreed to cancel the prayer.

I'd like to make two observations here. First, schools are supposed to model appropriate behavior for their students. Continuing to engage in an illegal practice simply because nobody has complained about it yet is unacceptable. Second, this shows that even a single atheist can make a difference. If we want to change our world for the better, we must find a voice. Kudos to this atheist student for doing just that.

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Congress is Not Supposed to Represent Only the Religious

This post was written for Mississippi Atheists by PK ATHEIST.

The state has not the right to leave every man free to profess and embrace whatever religion he shall deem true.

-- Pope Pius IX, Dec. 8th, 1864 [Source: p. 116, Upton Sinclair, The Profits of Religion].

This seems to be the attitude of Rep. Palazzo and such was the attitude of his predecessor, Gene Taylor. Often when people have not wanted to elect members of the Roman Catholic Church to public office, it has been the well-grounded fear that this would be the attitude.

We should continue to ask our congress critters to do right by ALL of us, not just those who agree with their particular religious dogma. I applaud my fellow blogger for asking Palazzo about his position on women's reproductive rights.

When I was still a wee preschooler, my minister father warned me that as a woman I must never to go to a Catholic hospital as they would, per their religious beliefs, let the mother die any time there was a question of whether to save the mother vs. the fetus. Now, of course, we aren't getting that choice as the fundamentalist Protestants and Roman Catholics have joined together to try to prevent abortions and now (with the coming "personhood" amendment) they are going after birth control.

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Steve Schlict: A Mississippi Atheist With Much to Teach Us

As some of you know, Mims Carter is the Biloxi Skepticism Examiner, bringing the light of reason to the dark reaches of Biloxi, MS. In this post, I'd like to bring your attention to a recent article he wrote about Steve Schlict, another member of the reality-based community in Biloxi. Mims provides an in-depth profile of Steve, a true role-model for atheists in Mississippi.

Steve has clearly given a lot of thought to the subject of secular morality and makes some excellent points about how it compares with the sort of morality based on belief in supernatural entities. I appreciate his willingness to share his perspective in such a public forum.

Whenever I hear from Mims or Steve, I can't help feeling a bit more optimistic about atheism in our state.

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Rep. Palazzo Opposes Reproductive Rights for Mississippi Women

As promised, here is Rep. Palazzo's (R-MS) response to Mims' letter about HR 3:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the rights of the unborn. As your Congressman, I am committed to putting the needs of Mississippi families first. Knowing your views and ideas on federal legislation is critical in order to best represent you in Congress. Your comments and ideas are always appreciated.

I have steadfastly supported the rights of the unborn and will continue to do so. This issue touches not only the issue of abortion but also stem cells, cloning, embryo research and partial birth abortion. I believe that the right to life is the most important right anyone has. Please be assured that I will support pro-life legislation when it comes to the floor of the House.

Again, thank you for contacting me and helping me better understand the concerns of Mississippians. If there is anything else I can do for you, please do not hesitate to contact me.

It does not appear that Rep. Palazzo can be counted on to support reproductive rights for women in Mississippi.

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Urging Our Representatives in Congress to Support Reproductive Rights

What follows is a letter written by Mims Carter to Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-MS). Mims wrote the letter to urge Rep. Palazzo to vote against HR 3 and other anti-woman legislation. I will post Palazzo's disappointing response next, but I wanted you to see Mims' letter first.

Dear Congressman Palazzo,

If the right to life is the most important right we have, how do you feel about US forces taking the life of Osama bin Laden? Like many of us, I am sure you see it as a justifiable taking of life. So this idea of the right to life obviously has some nuance, or we would never take a human life. Given this, we often take in to account the quality of the life in question. Would you make exceptions for abortions in cases where the well-being of the mother, a woman of child-bearing age, with the aspirations and hopes of a human adult, over the life of an embryo or fetus, with no aspirations, no consciousness, no ability to feel pain? In other words, a pregnant woman and the embryo she carries may sometimes have an adversarial relationship. Should the embryo's rights always take precedence over the mother's? In which cases would they not? As to embryonic stem cell research, would you rather have frozen embryos stored until they are disposed of, or used to advance medical knowledge that can be used to decrease suffering to an unimaginable degree. I am a biologist, and I have heard all the arguments that we don't need embryonic stem cells to advance medical science. This is not true. We do.

Hattiesburg Mayor Uses Office to Promote Religion

Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny Dupree is running for state governor as a Democrat. It seems that he is counting on Christian voters to make him competitive and does not mind alienating secular Mississippians in the process.

According to the Hattiesburg American, Dupree celebrated the National Day of Prayer this week with a prayer breakfast.

"This is about petitioning God and asking him for the things he can do for us," DuPree said. "This is a special day for Hattiesburg."

Really? Are you sure it isn't about getting elected and pandering to Christian voters?

Among Dupree's invited guests was Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Mike Espy. Espy, also a former U.S. representative from Mississippi, pushed the need to more prayer in Mississippi as an answer to the many problems we face.

"We have to stop and remind ourselves of our turmoil and troubles," Espy told the crowd. "We have to stop and say, 'No matter what, Lord, you're still in control.'

While neither Dupree nor Espy came right out and said that the recent tornados in our state were the result of our "sin," this does seem to have been implied. Instead of working with Mississippians who lost property and family members to help them access aid services, these men chose to exploit the vulnerable by pushing their religion.

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Happy Mother's Day, Mississippi

I like Mother's Day. Yes, it has been turned into a "Hallmark holiday" a bit much for my tastes, but this has to be balanced with the fact that it is one of the few holidays that doesn't end up becoming all about Jesus. At least, it never did in my family of origin. That doesn't mean we never went to church on Mother's Day - we did - but it was never the main focus of the day.

Mothers have to put up with so much that it is good to have a day to honor them, a day when the rest of us stop being ourselves and try to behave for a change. Of course one day a year isn't enough! For me, Mother's Day always served as an occasion to reflect on why I was such a pain in the ass and how I could find ways to express my appreciation for more than just on that single day.

To all the mothers out there, I hope you have a wonderful day, that you feel appreciated for a change, and that your family takes this opportunity to find ways to continue the pro-mother vibe for longer than just today.

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