DIAL A GAY ATHEIST 28 February 1994 A BANNER WEEK FOR RELIGION This is Dial A Gay Atheist,

                     DIAL A GAY ATHEIST 
                      28 February 1994
                  A BANNER WEEK FOR RELIGION


     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
keeping state and church separate and promoting it as the gay
and lesbian community's most important constitutional ally. 
All inquiries should be addressed, in writing, to AGLA, PO
Box 66711, Houston, TX 77266.  Contents of this recording may
not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without permission
from American Gay Atheists, Inc.  This is Don Sanders for
Dial A Gay Atheist.

     Well, it's been a banner week for religion!  The top
headline grabber has been the story of the Zionist radical
marching into a religious shrine, a shrine considered holy to
both Jews and Muslims, and opening fire upon a group of
praying Muslims, bowing in supplication to Allah during
morning Ramadan prayers.  Gee, you'd think that with all of
Allah's faithful followers in one place, with their lips
kissing the floor, that Allah would have offered a bit more
protection from their Jewish assailant.  Oh, well, Allah
misses again! 
 
     So much for the efforts at bringing peace between Islam
and Judaism in that religious-torn area.  And it's been
interesting to watch the radical followers of Jahweh line up
in support of the massacre.  This incident will be sending
shock waves throughout that region for a long time.

     Then, earlier in this week, Il Papa, the great
medievalist who rules over Christendom from his palace in
Rome, issued a terse statement in condemnation of the
European Parliament's approval of a resolution which states
that homosexual couples should be accorded the same legal
rights as those enjoyed by married heterosexuals.  I don't
see that the pope, nor any of his so-called celibate
henchmen, have a right even to voice an opinion on matters of
human relationships, be they homosexual or heterosexual. 
These people have chosen to abandon typical human conduct and
forsake all types of interpersonal human relationships in
exchange for one with a god for whom there is no historical
evidence.  John Paul's hood, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo,
president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, told the
Italian Catholic newspaper, "Avvenire," that he hoped such a
resolution which offers equality of recognition to lesbian
and gay relationships would fail.  Of course, we all know
that the Roman Catholic Church is not just content to simply
express its religious opinion.  That church works in every
manner possible to actually influence legislation and
judicial decisions in as many countries as possible. The
Roman church wields so much political power that it is
actually allowed to section off the entire United States of
America into its own feifdoms, called dioceses.  

     Here in the United States, a group of scientists who are
experts on reproduction and its effects on the environment
meeting in San Francisco, issued a statement saying that
unless humanity does something to curtail the massive
explosion of population, that the consequences will be
extremely devastating to both planet and inhabitants.  In
fact, the scientists stated that the population numbers must
drop within the next 1/2 century or else the entire
ecosystem, etc., etc., will likely crumble.  

     In the meanwhile, Roman Catholics, like Mother Teresa,
are busy encouraging the production of more and more children
to be born into abject poverty, misery and abuse, all for the
glory of god.  And speaking of Mother Teresa, did you hear
that she recently filed an _amicus curie_ brief in a court
case dealing with abortion which is being considered before
the U.S. Supreme Court?  Has anyone asked the simple
question, "How the hell is Mother Teresa filing a "friend of
the court" brief when she is not even a citizen of the United
States?"

     In the meanwhile, the Christian nuts in this country
literally sabotaged the House of Representatives during the
final week of February over an issue concerning a proposal to
require schools which receive federal funds to employ
teachers who are certified to teach.  It didn't matter to the
Christian nuts that the provision would not even affect their
own Christian indoctrination camps and home schools!  

     Right-wing Christians, like Pat Robertson, through his
daily 700 Club broadcasts, so completely distorted the actual
intent of the bill which was designed to improve conditions
in the nation's public schools that he and others like him
convinced the sheep (who are nothing more than brainless
automatons anyway) that the provision would put an end to
their so-called "home schools."  So they swamped the Capitol
switchboard so much that the entire House of Representatives
capitulated, at the expense of and to the detriment of the
public school students of America.  Hey, the real goal of the
religious nuts is simply to "dumb down" the schools so damn
much that no one can learn anything unless it relates to
blind faith.

     Another thing that has riled the Christian Brownshirts
to no end is President Clinton's recent letter to the Gay and
Lesbian Victory Fund in which the president stated his
revulsion of the efforts of the Christian fascists to
legalize discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. 
In the letter, Mr. Clinton wrote: 

      "Those who would legalize discrimination on the basis
of sexual orientation or any other grounds are gravely
mistaken about the values that make our nation strong."  

     This remark was made in response to the nationwide
attempt by Christians to actually legalize discrimination
against sexual minorities by placing anti-gay language into
state and local constitutions and laws.  On a recent "Talk
Back" show with right-wing zany Bob Larson, Larson and his
guest spent an almost 2 hours calling the nation's Attorney
General a "dyke" and "a drunken lesbian whore."  And, of
course, the mouthpiece of the right-wing and religiously
conservative, Rush Limbaugh, spouts distortions and lies over
hundreds of radio stations for 3 hours every day. 

     What is going on in America is truly frightening.  The
20th century has witnessed an unprecedented expansion of
knowledge and understanding about ourselves, our bodies and
our universe.  But as the century is coming to a close, the
forces of religion --- the forces of regression --- are
busily at work, doing everything possible to take us
backward, to discredit science, medicine, education and the
overall expansion of knowledge.  The "dumbing down" of
America, and of the world, is the real goal of religion --
not just of Christianity, but also of Judaism and Islam.  

     Here in Texas where I live, it is also a time for
elections, a time when we select candidates who will fill
some very important positions of public trust.  It is
incumbent upon each of us to carefully examine the agenda of
each and every person seeking a political office. There are
many who intend to usurp a secular office with the intent to
foist their religious ideas upon all of us.  Not
surprisingly, many local churches are up to their pious
asses in political meddling.  I took photographs this very
week of one with the political campaign sign of a candidate
for U.S. Representative right in its front yard.  Hey, that
photo is going to the IRS, for what good it will do.

     Help us in the fight -- no, in the war!  The lines are
clear.  Which side will you be on?  The side of superstition,
repression and censorship.  Or the side of reason and
openness.  American Gay & Lesbian Atheists invites you to
write for a free sample copy of our newsletter.  Your
contributions help to keep this service operating.  The
address is AGLA, PO Box 66711, Houston, TX 77266.  

     In Houston, watch the American Atheist Television Forum
on your community access cable channel Wednesday, March 2, at
4 PM and on Wednesday, March 9 at 7:30 PM.  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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