National Day of Reason

Today is the National Day of Reason. Go sign up as an individual endorser if you agree with the Statement of Principles:

• Reason and the scientific method continue to be used to advance humanity and are worthy of recognition;
• The National Day of Prayer is an exclusionary, government-funded religious observance that violates the First Amendment principle of separation of church and state;
• Overtly and exclusively Christian prayers in government sanctioned events discriminate against those of minority belief systems as well as those without religion;
• Government funding of religious activities, programs, and personnel is unconstitutional, and constitutes an inappropriate use of taxpayers' money.

Indeed. It almost makes me feel like shouting, "Amen!" Well, almost.

Check out this thoughtful editorial on atheism from a Tuscon podiatrist:

Atheists have observed that the deeper the religious belief the more there is a lack of intellectual integrity.
Whereas atheists would change their position the minute there was evidence for a god or for the supernatural, religionists are so hard-wired and vacuum-sealed in their beliefs that they freely admit that their position is not even open for discussion.
Atheism is the liberating view incorporated in the philosophy of secular humanism. Its central theme is that man alone is solely responsible for his destiny on earth. Morality has been shown to be a product of human development over thousands of years; no deity is necessary to counsel us about right and wrong.
Atheists are continually amazed that Americans can reason with such clarity and critical thinking on most aspects of life except when it comes to God and religion.
God, faith, religion, and the supernatural are, in the atheist's world view, the causes of the delusional wishful thinking that has at best, wasted man's time and at worst, been responsible for his most awful behaviors.

Along those lines, a recent e-book, Kosmos: You Are Here, is being sold by DailyKos to raise profits for their [progressive] conference, YearlyKos. Whether you agree with their politics or not [I'm moderate], the book is worth checking out, with essays on cosmology and evolution, a foreward from renowned science writer Carl Zimmer, and illustrations from world-renowned Carl Buell. It's $18 directly from DailyKos [a bit pricey for an e-book...IMHO].

On a much less serious note, check out The Onion's parody of Pedro Martinez' (baseball) religion:

In an interview following his 200th career win Monday night, Mets pitcher Pedro Martinez said he never could have reached this milestone without the aid of his lucky midget, the Egyptian sun god Ra, and every person and thing who helped him along the way, including an enchanted necklace, former British prime minister Arthur Neville Chamberlain, and a talking whale who lives off the coast of his native Dominican Republic that only he can communicate with.