DIAL A GAY ATHEIST 05 June 1994 A RUN-DOWN OF THE NEWS This is Dial A Gay Atheist, a commu

                      DIAL A GAY ATHEIST
                         05 June 1994
       
                   A RUN-DOWN OF THE NEWS
      
 
     This is Dial A Gay Atheist, a communications service of
American Gay & Lesbian Atheists. American Gay Atheists, Inc.,
is a non-profit, educational foundation dedicated to
preserving the Jeffersonian concept of separation between
state and church and promoting it as the lesbian and gay
community's most important constitutional ally. Inquiries
should be directed, in writing, to AGLA, PO Box 66711,
Houston, Texas 77266. Opinions are those of the commentator
and do not necessarily represent an official position of
American Gay Atheists, Inc. Contents of Dial A Gay Atheist
are protected under the copyright laws of the United States
and require written permission for reproduction in any
manner. This is Don Sanders for Dial A Gay Atheist.
 
     It's been quite a week for state/church issues and I
would like to apprise you of some of the more notable. Early
in the week, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand the decision of
a lower court involving a Cobb County, Georgia courthouse
which displayed a framed copy of the Ten Commandments. You
might recall that Cobb County, Georgia, is the place whose
county council became the first in the nation to pass a
resolution denouncing homosexuality and homosexual persons as
"evil." Cobb County has also been the site of numerous
protests by lesbian and gay civil rights activists denouncing
the bigoted decree. Cobb County is a suburban county of
Atlanta and will be host to the next summer Olympic games. A
recent news article reports that a California-based group
calling itself Sports Outreach America plans to descend on
the 1996 Olympic games in Georgia in order to win souls for
Jesus. Cobb County is one little Peyton Place for Christ-
insanity in America, but it appears that their Ten
Commandments will have to be removed from the courthouse
wall. What a pity!
 
     Just after the Supreme Court let stand the ruling in
support of separation of state and church, your American Gay
& Lesbian Atheist director addressed a letter to Houston's
city attorney, Benjamin Hall III, to remind him of the ruling
and that the city of Houston needs to remove the religious
placard over the entrance to the Fonde Recreation Center, a
city-owned and park operated facility, located just outside
downtown Houston. On the outside of the building, over the
main entrance, and in large letters are these words:
"Recreation, like religion, should permeate all of life."
It's there, folks, for you to see! [AGLA has sought legal
counsel in this matter and plans are underway to sue the city
to remove the offensive placard. Don Sanders]
 
     On Wednesday, June 8, hearings will commence in front of
the Senate's Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts and
Administrative Practice, to discuss the inclusion of
"religious harassment" among the Equal Employment
Opportunities Commission's guidelines prohibiting
discrimination in the workplace. Senator Howard Heflin will
chair the hearings which are scheduled to begin on Wednesday,
June 8 at 2 PM. Both American Atheists and American Gay &
Lesbian Atheists have contacted Senator Heflin's office as
well as the other committee members to demand that a
representative of the organizations be allowed to present the
Atheist perspective on religious harassment in the workplace.
The religious community of America has mounted a well-funded
campaign to thwart the inclusion of "religious harassment" in
the guidelines against discrimination in the workplace. The
Trinity Broadcasting Network reported the other night that it
was sending a personal representative to hand deliver some
48,000 post cards from Christians in opposition to the
measure. We think this is quite ironic given that Christians,
by and large, comprise the largest number of persons who
commit religious harassment in the workplace. Our
organizations hear constantly from its members about being
prodded, pestered and even threatened with physical harm and
death from Christians with whom they work. We urge you to
contact Senator Heflin's office right away to voice your
opinion on this important subject. The most efficient means
of communication at this point is via Fax at 202-224-3149.
That's 202-224-3149. 

     Perhaps you saw Thursday's USA Today in which right-
winger and telecommunications mogul Pat Robertson presented
an editorial entitled, "Let Our Youngsters Pray." The paper
famous for presenting both sides of an issue at the same time
did not present the opposing view. Of course, Robertson is
honking his horn about prayer in the schools, saying in the
editorial that "School prayer is not about imposing one's
religious beliefs on another." Well, Pat, tell us then what
it is about? To put it bluntly, Pat Robertson is a gawd-damn
liar and he knows it. His burning desire to have children use
the facilities of the public schools for organized prayers
has everything to do with spreading the gospel of
Christianity. The Godsters want to use the mandatory
attendance laws and the imprimatur of the public schools to
expose everyone to Christianity at an early age. Funny, isn't
it, that one never hears Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs and other
minority religions clamoring for the "right" to have vocal
prayers in the public schools? This vexatious complaint seems
only reserved for Christians. Of course, the right of any
child to pray in school has never been taken away. They may
pray to themselves at any time and at any place. What they
may not do is exactly what the Pat Robertsons want: To return
organized Bible reading and prayer recitation so that all
children may be exposed to Christianity. Again, Pat Robertson
simply lied in his USA Today editorial of June 2. Our friends
at American Atheists have demanded rebuttal space. Be
watching, but don't hold your breath.
 
     Also this week, American Atheists approached the Texas
Education Association and the Texas bureau of prisons to
demand that a copy of the Bible Handbook be placed on the
shelves of every Texas school library and prison library
which maintains a copy of the Christian Bible.
 
     The Bible Handbook is a 370-page book compiled in
England in 1899 by G.W. Foote and W. P. Bell, and is composed
of five sections: Bible Contradictions, Bible Absurdities,
Bible Atrocities, Unfilled Prophecies and Broken Promises of
the Bible, and Bible Indecencies, Immoralities and
Obscenities. The handbook is meant to be a companion book to
the Bible, and does not push the Atheist position. It is
simply intended to foster critical thinking. Thus far, TEA
officials have done a song-and- dance routine about the
request. What else might one expect? 

     And there was a juicy front-page article in the June 1
Wall Street Journal exposing the strife and violence which
plagues the Hasidic Jewish village of Kiryas Joel in upstate
New York. You may recall this is the same little religious
Peyton Place from which is coming the next big Supreme Court
debate over the issue of state/church separation. Everyone
who lives in the town belongs to a radical, right-wing fringe
of Judaism, one of the nastiest religions ever to be
concocted and unleashed upon humankind and from which spun
off the two other blood-thirsty and savage religions of
Christianity and Islam. The Supreme Court case coming before
the Court will investigate whether the village's public
school for the handicapped should be allowed to receive
federal and state funding as a public school. The Wall Street
Journal article of June 1 exposes some very elaborate scams
by the rabbis who run the town and dictate every activity of
its citizens. Most of these scams have involved defrauding
several federal and state agencies out of millions of
dollars, using the public funds to funnel back into building
programs for their church. Wow! What an expose. If you have
not seen that article, I highly recommend it. 

     Folks, the papers are full of stories of religious
abuse, intimidation, and harassment. Not only can these
stories be found in the mainstream dailies around the nation,
they proliferate in the many lesbian and gay oriented
weeklies and monthlies produced and distributed around the
nation. And, practically every abuse of gays and lesbians has
a root running back toward religion. Yet, the single largest
gay and lesbian institution remains a church. 
 
     American Gay & Lesbian Atheists has its finger on the
pulse. We write about much of it in our newsletter, a copy of
which can be yours simply by writing and making your request.
The address is AGLA, PO Box 66711, Houston, Texas 77266. This
telephone line also brings as much information as it can.
Donations to AGLA are tax-deductible and help to keep our
services operating so that more and more people may enjoy the
ultimate freedom -- Freedom FROM Religion. 

     At the tone, tell us from where you're calling and
what's on your mind. We love to hear from our callers. And,
of course, call this American GAY Atheist again, anytime.


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