Sunday School for Atheists?

In Palo Alto, California, my part of the woods, a strange thing is happening...atheist parents want what church-going families have...but without God.

Most parents who don't believe in God spend Sundays at their kids' soccer game, or shopping for the wekk, or just taking the day off. But some think they need something more for their children.

Time Magazine reports:

"'When you have kids,' says Julie Willey, a design engineer, 'you start to notice that your co-workers or friends have church groups to help teach their kids values and to be able to lean on.' So every week, Willey, who was raised Buddhist and says she has never believed in God, and her husband pack their four kids into their blue minivan and head to the Humanist Community Center in Palo Alto, Calif., for atheist Sunday school.

An estimated 14% of Americans profess to have no religion, and among 18-to-25-year-olds, the proportion rises to 20%, according to the Institute for Humanist Studies. The lives of these young people would be much easier, adult nonbelievers say, if they learned at an early age how to respond to the God-fearing majority in the U.S. "It's important for kids not to look weird," says Peter Bishop, who leads the preteen class at the Humanist center in Palo Alto. Others say the weekly instruction supports their position that it's O.K. to not believe in God and gives them a place to reinforce the morals and values they want their children to have. The pioneering Palo Alto program began three years ago, and like-minded communities in Phoenix, Albuquerque, N.M., and Portland, Ore., plan to start similar classes next spring."

Is this for real? Or is it part of the new atheism's 'Coming Out' strategy?

doubleplusundead writes about this:

"Richard Dawkins Calling On Other Atheists To Wear a Unifying Symbol In New Campaign
*Welcome to doubleplusundead, HotAir Readers! Feel free to comment and look around, got lots of great stories and posts*

Interesting...almost like a cross, six pointed star, or even a star and crescent, but even better! A big scarlet "A." Get it, because they're persecuted like Hester Prynne. Also like the Scarlet Letter(or anything written by Hawthorne), Evangelical Atheists are also tedious and annoying as hell.

Sorry, but if you can sit there and tell me Evangelical Atheists aren't trying to build the functional equivalent of a religion at this point, you're in denial. This brand of Atheism IS a religious movement, if you're one of these types of Atheists, you need to quit acting like the NYT and just admit what you're agenda is, I don't even care that you are Atheists, just admit its a religious movement."

Watch, just like the gay community...new atheism will move mainstream.

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Hotels Replace Bibles with 'Intimacy Kits'

Well, the latest trend in hotels evidently is removing Bibles from guest rooms, and replacing them, not with Korans or another 'spiritual' books, but with "intimacy kits" and "One Night Stand" packages, as well as "romance concierge" personnel, according to a new report in Newsweek, and reported by WorldNetDaily.

Roya Wolverson writes in the report, "Marriott spokesman John Wolf says the Bible question [whether to include them in guest rooms] is premature for the new boutique hotel venture, which he describes as 'cutting-edge,' 'more urban' and 'less values-oriented.' (huh? what is a 'less values-oriented' hotel?)

While there are no Bibles in the trendy rooms of the Soho Grand Hotel in Manhattan, there are iPod docking stations, flat-screen TVs and company of a live complimentary goldfish. Lori DeBlois told Newsweek, adding Bibles to rooms would mean she "would have to take care of every guest's belief."

Edgier hotel chains provide 'intimacy kits' with condoms in the minibar, while New York's Mercer Hotel supplies a free condom in each bathroom. Neither hotel now has Bibles.

The Sofitel Hotel in Arizona offers ‘lovers' games, and 'One Night Stand' summer packages. Their 'romance concierge, Daniel Etenberg says, "Sofitel's brand is taking a new direction."

Newsweek reports the reason for the removal of the Bibles is due to increasing leisure travel and decreasing business travel.

Okay, hotels can do what they want...free enterprise...right? And what this is is just another example of the valueless trend happening culturally worldwide. But, can anyone out there help me connect the dots on the last line there? -- The reason for the removal of the Bibles is due to increasing leisure travel and decreasing business travel. Sounds more like an excuse than a valid reason to me.

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Saudi Billionaire Sues 'Funding Evil' Author

Two years ago our guest,Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, told us how she was ordered to destroy all copies of her book, "Funding Evil - How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It," after a Saudi billionaire Sheikh sued her for including him in the book.

She forwarded the following to me, about appearing in a short-form documentary film, "The Libel Tourist," which documents the true story of how she, an American-Israeli author, was ordered to destroy all copies of her book in a country where it had never been published -- England -- after the notoriously litigious Saudi billionaire sued her in a British court. Ehrenfeld's book accuses the Saudi billionaire of funding of terrorism.

We aired segments from the film and an earlier interview with her on Monday, in light of Saudi Arabia calling the shots at Tuesday's 'peace' conference in Annapolis this week.

The new film tells of how Dr. Ehrenfeld is fighting back, countersuing the billionaire, Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz, in the New York courts to defend her and our First Amendment rights.

The Sheikh filed more than thirty-six lawsuits in London against various media and publishers, many of them American. Mahfouz couldn't sue Ehrenfeld in the United States, where libel cases hinge upon the truth of the allegations. Instead, he arranged for twenty-three copies of her book to be bought online and shipped to the U.K., where he used the plaintiff-friendly libel laws to sue her.

Ehrenfeld, an American-Israeli who holds a Ph.D. in criminology, lives and works in New York. She refused to acknowledge the authority of a British court over her freedom of speech. When she lost the case by default, she was ordered to pay a substantial fine, as well as Mahfouz's legal fees. She was also ordered to destroy all copies of her books in the U.K. and to publish an apology to bin Mahfouz in major newspapers.

She refused. Instead, she countersued bin Mahfouz in a U.S. federal court. She hopes to set a precedent that would prohibit any foreign court from having authority over an American author. The Federal Court of Appeals agreed to hear her case, and on November 15th, 2007, the New York State Court of Appeals heard arguments on jurisdiction.

Families of 9/11 victims are also sueing the Shiekh, waiting to see how Ehrenfeld does in court.

Hear the show online now (See 11/26/07)

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A Day to Give Thanks

Dear Friends,

While for many, Thanksgiving is a time of turkey and the start of the Christmas shopping rush, historically, Thanksgiving was about much more, and not just to the Pilgrims.

During his first year as President, George Washington issued a proclamation calling for a day of 'public thanksgiving and prayer' declaring, '"It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits and humbly to implore His protection and favor."

And in 1863 during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln created an annual day of thanksgiving: "I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens."

This, from a man who at the age of nine, his mother died. His sister died in childbirth. At age twenty-four he found himself in deep debt when a store he invested in failed. At twenty-five the woman he loved died causing him to sink into deep depression. Only one of his four sons lived to adulthood; one died just short of age 4, one at age 11, one at 18. In spite of his loss, his sorrow, his failings, he chose to express gratitude to God and lead our nation to do the same.

May each of us continue this legacy...and lead others to do the same in our circles of influence.

And may your Thanksgiving be filled with Happiness,

Duane and Sharon Hughes & All of us at
The Center for Changing Worldviews

Tune in today to hear our Thanksgiving Special
with William Federer, Author of "America's God & Country"

Hear the show online now (See 11/21/07)

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Abraham Lincoln: Proclamation of Thanksgiving

October 3, 1863 - Proclamation of Thanksgiving

"I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States,
and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands,
to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of
Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.
And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to
Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble
penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His
tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or
sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged,
and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds
of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine
purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union."
Abraham Lincoln

On Monday's Show: Kathleen Willey, Part 2

Kathleen stayed with us for part 2, and talked about her concerns regarding Hillary Clinton winning the White House, because of her personal experience of hard tactics by Hillary when Kathleen was testifying regarding Bill Clinton's sexual assault on her in 1993.

Her book, "Target: Caught in the Crosshairs of Bill and Hillary Clinton", tells all and is a very interesting read.

You can hear both shows online:

Part I
Hear the show online now (See 11/14/07)

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Part 2

Hear the show online now (See 11/19/07)

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Don't miss my interview with Kathleen Willey!

My guest on Wednesday's show was Kathleen Willey, former White House aide and the author of the new book, "Target: Caught in the Crosshairs of Bill and Hillary Clinton." You can hear it online here if you missed it on the air.

Kathleen is one of several women who accused Bill Clinton of sexual harrassment during his presidency. And now nearly 15 years later she is renewing her allegations, and making new ones in her tell-all book.

Kathleen, whose husband was found dead in the Virginia woods in 1993 of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound now suggests that the Clintons may have had something to do with his death.

I ask her the tough questions. Her answers may surprise you.

We talk about the identity of the person who threatened her just prior to her testimony against Bill Clinton in the 90’s, and the house burglary this past Labor Day that found only a manuscript of her book gone. Willey believes the break-in and theft were prompted by teasers of the book's contents published that same week in U.S. News and World Report and the New York Daily News.

Like Gennifer Flowers, Monica Lewinsky, Juanita Brodderick and Paula Jones; she was inconvenient; she was embarrassing, and is once again, especially now since Hillary is running for President.

Hear the show online now (See 11/14/07)

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Nonie Darwish & "Now They Call Me Infidel"

If you haven't read her book yet, I recommend that you do, to get a real 'insider's' perspective on the war on terror.

Nonie Darwish is a woman who left the culture of Islamic Jihad to support American liberty and tolerance. In her book, "Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror" she shares her story, and why so many Muslims embrace jihad and support al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.

As Standing Up to Jihad reports: "When she was eight years old, her father died while leading Fedayeen raids into Israel. Her family moved from Gaza back to Cairo, where they were honored as survivors of a "shahid" --a martyr for jihad. She grew up learning the same lessons as millions of Muslim children: to hate Jews, destroy Israel, oppose America, and submit to dictatorship.

But Darwish became increasingly appalled by the anger and hatred in her culture, and in 1978 she emigrated to America. Since 9/11 she has been lecturing and writing on behalf of moderate Arabs and Arab-Americans. Extremists have denounced her as an infidel and threatened her life.

Darwish writes that the only hope for the future is for America to continue waging its War on Terror, seeding the Middle East with the values of democracy, respect for women, and tolerance for all religions."

See the book.

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Bill Maher's Latest Rantings on Religion and Politics

Tim Graham over at NewsBusters gives the account of the latest coming out of the mouth of atheist/leftist/comedian Bill Maher on religion and politics. Speaking to Rolling Stone for their 40th anniversary magazine:

"ROLLING STONE: What’s your best case scenario for the future?

MAHER: First of all, some Democrat better win it in 2008. Then that person should go for broke and say to the people, "Now I have to tell you the truth. I couldn’t do it when I was running, because you are a bunch of babies who can’t take the truth, and you know damn well you wouldn’t have voted for me if I said that. But we’re going to take these painful measures."

The sad part of it is, the money is there to do almost anything we want. It’s not as if you’d have to raise taxes so much. If you took the money being wasted on Iraq, corporate welfare and the drug war, you would have trillions of dollars to work with. That’s the core of it. Whoever is the next president has to get at this corporate state we’ve found ourselves living in.

Spoken like a true timecard-puncher for Time Warner/HBO. Then there was the hatred-of-religion section:

ROLLING STONE: Speaking of religion, do you see people getting more or less rational in the coming years?

MAHER: Both. People are finally catching on that religion is childish and dangerous....Europe is over religion. They’re religious in name only. So the older, wiser continent, they’ve moved beyond that. But of course, much of the world has not....

ROLLING STONE: What about religion in this country? Is it becoming less of a political force?

MAHER: I really feel like there’s a movement building. This is the issue of the day, and people are beginning to understand that religion is the problem. Now, when the president shows up at a disaster site and says he’s going to pray, it means nothing. He might as well show up and say, "I’m going to hope. I’m on it – I’m going to wish it were so." It’s meaningless at best. It’s difficult to steer the ship of state toward some sort of safe harbor when at least half the people in this country essentially think we should do that by splitting open a chicken and reading its entrails. I’m suggesting we use a compass.

That sounds fairly in sync with the Edwards campaign and its tendency to hire bloggers who rage against Bush's "wingnut Christofascist base."

Rolling Stone interviewer Mark Binelli also asked if Maher was optimistic or pessimistic about the future:

You know, one man’s pessimist is another man’s realist. People say to me, "Why are you so cynical?" And I say, "I wouldn’t be so cynical if you weren’t so f—ing stupid." I’m pessimistic because I see multiple looming icebergs that we’re sailing toward, and Captain George Bush is the guy in the crow’s nest of the Titanic. He doesn’t see the iceberg. Or he sees it and thinks it’s Jesus or some s–t. There are environmental, religious, and financial disasters looming. What if they all go down at the same time? It’s not like we’re getting our s–t together on any of this stuff."

So, there you have it. There's no mystery about what the liberal atheists think and who they support. They talk very openly about what they believe. The mystery is why does anyone seriously listen to them? I take that back. It's no mystery. It's about what sells papers and magazines and television...and the postmodern, relativistic, swirled views of our day.

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What Did the Founders Mean by the Pursuit of Happiness?

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness..."

-Sigmund Freud said the pursuit of happiness is tied to human love and to creative work and play,

-Others say happiness meant far more than self-gratification; it implied both self-realization and equality

-And others say that it's a myth today as it was three centuries ago. All men and women aren’t created equal and don’t have the same right to life, liberty, and happiness.

On Friday's show William Federer, author and modern-day historian, talked about what the Founders really meant by the term Pursuit of Happiness, as well as being 'created equal'. Did they intend to separate church and state?

Conservative or liberal, you will probably be surprised to hear the correct answer.

Hear the show online now (See 10/16/07)

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Check out WOMANTalk's E-Zine portion of website

At WOMANTalk we talk about the issues and all the areas of a woman's life. Some of the articles you'll find in our E-Zine portion of WOMANTalk's webiste are:

Enterprising Woman
Your Civic Responsibility

Woman of Action
Support Our Troops by this Weekend

Women of Compassion
Buy a Net to Save a Child

Woman & Relationships
Holidays & In-Laws

Woman at Home
Fall Indoors & Out

Woman - Body, Soul & Spirit
How Self-Conscious are you?

Recipes:
Say Cheese Mashed Potatoes

In addition to Check them out here.

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On Tuesday's Show: Controversial Endorsements

Pat Robertson has endorsed Rudy Guiliani, and many are scratching their heads, others are upset, and some shrug it off.

Matthew Cullinan Hoffman writing for LifeSiteNews.com talked about some of the social conservatives who have criticized Pat Robertson's endorsement of Rudy Giuliani.

Randy Thomasson, president of the the pro-life Campaign for Children and Families, told the Christian Post that "Pat Robertson is leading pro-family voters astray by abandoning moral standards for government," and, "This shocking news is a 180-degree turn by the founder of the Christian Coalition."

Randall Terry, the founder of Operation Rescue, announced that a protest would be held outside of Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network offices in Washington, D.C., stating that "I am literally sick to my stomach over Dr. Robertson's decision. He wrote a forward to my book, Operation Rescue, I have been on the 700 Club, I have spoken at Regent University, CBN helped me get started in radio, and the attorneys of the ACLJ have been heroic advocates for our pro-life mission. This is what happens when a leader puts party ahead of principle; it corrupts ones ability to reason consistently."

Another highly influential conservative political activist, Paul Weyrich, released his endorsement of Mitt Romney just before Robertson came out with his announcement. Weyrich recently told Newsmax, I'm not for Giuliani. I want to try to stop him from getting the nomination."

Here's the endorsement:

Robertson:
It is my pleasure to announce my support for America’s Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, a proven leader who is not afraid of what lies ahead and who will cast a hopeful vision for all Americans. Rudy Giuliani took a city that was in decline and considered ungovernable and reduced its violent crime, revitalized its core, dramatically lowered its taxes, cut through a welter of bureaucratic regulations, and did so in the spirit of bipartisanship which is so urgently needed in Washington today.

Giuliani:
I am very encouraged by Pat’s support. His confidence in me means a lot. His experience and advice will be a great asset to me and my campaign.

So, what is your take on this? I'd like to hear it.

All I can say, is that this is 'trouble in river city' for the religious right. Suppose to have a united front, this shows a division, and before the world's media, to boot!

On Monday's Show: Code Pink's Hate Crimes

Not just pesky peaceniks dressed in pink, Code Pink's latest hate crime is defacing military recruiting stations. Claiming to support our troops, they instead abuse them, through what they call 'positive social change and creative protest'.

My husband and I went to the movie last night and was happy to see a very positive, several minutes long film-ad by the National Guard, recounting it's service over the decades right up to today, fighting during wartime, and coming to the aid of Americans during natural disasters. We were so impressed with the quality and message, and commented to one another that it is a great answer to the increasing anti-ROTC and military recruiting on school campuses.

However, anti-military recruiting is not just seen on campuses, but also outside military recruiting offices. Such as CBS reported a couple of weeks ago:

"Marine Captain Richard Lund recruits college students and graduates as candidates for officer positions in the marines. But carrying out that job in Berkeley is not always an easy task.

He has listened to a variety of complaints from members of the anti-war group Code Pink in recent weeks.

'We are so shocked and horrified that the Marines have come to Berkeley to prey on our children,' said Zanne Joi, a Code Pink member.

Last week, the Code Pink group protested by defacing the recruiting center and calling the recruiters liars."

The pro-troop organization, MoveAmericaForward also reported:

"The past few weeks, anti-military activists led by Code Pink have been vandalizing the U.S. Marine Recruiting Center in Berkeley, California. They've harassed the staff, new recruits, called the officer in charge, Captain Richard Lund, a "liar" and a "traitor," and are pressuring the landlord to kick the Marines out.

This follows a wave orf anti-military actions in the Bay Area you might have heard about (the most recent was when Oakland International Airport officials classified a planeload of Marines returning from Iraq as "cargo" and would not let the Marines de-plane in the passenger terminal, because of their disdain for the military).

Local governments banned Jr. ROTC from schools; the city of San Francisco prohibited the Marines from filming a commercial in the streets if Marines would be in attendance; an airplane full of Marines returning from Iraq to Oakland International Airport were classified as cargo and prohibited from being allowed in the passenger terminal because of disdain for the military; an effort was made to ban the Blue Angels from flying overhead during Fleet Week because the super-skilled pilots are deemed too militaristic.

Now the rabid anti-military organization Code Pink has vandalized the local Marine recruiting office in Berkeley, Calif. They're staging vigils at the recruiting center where they harass new recruits, deface the building and insult the staff. They called Capt. Richard Lund of the office "a traitor" – an insult reminiscent of MoveOn.org's attack on Gen. David Petraeus as 'General Betray Us.'"

Mom was right: Actions do speak louder than words.

I don't care what the 'peace' movement says about how much they support our troops. their actions prove they are lying. And for those of said movement who don't do these kinds of shameful deeds, they are supporting them when they don't speak out against them.

Hear the show online now (See 11/12/07)

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On Tuesday's Show: Endorsements by Terrorist Leaders

Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades

For Election Day we talked about ballot measures, candidate positions, new polls and some very controversial endorsement.

Such as:

Terrorists endorse Hillary Clinton for President

Terrorists invite Rosie O'Donnell on a 'fact-finding' visit

Terrorists ask for Sean Penn to be their spokesman

Speaks louder than words.

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On Monday's Show: Cyber Terrorism Attack Planned - November 11th

My interview with Erick Stakelbeck, CBN Correspondent/Terrorism Analyst, aired on Monday, about the fleets of computer savvy, Russian, Chinese and Al-Qaeda cyber-hackers that are actively using electronic espionage, attempting to attack our financial infrastructures and technology-based companies in order to steal information, and cripple us economically.

ie: Ayman al-Zawahiri said, "We will also aim to continue, by the permission of Allah, the destruction of the American economy."

Fox News recently reported about a planned attack on November 11th:

Al Qaeda plans to launch an electronic Jihad on Nov. 11, attacking "Western, Jewish, Israeli, Muslim apostate and Shiite Web sites," according to an unconfirmed report.

The report comes from DEBKAfile, an Israeli online military intelligence magazine, which said on Oct. 30 that its counter-terror sources had picked up a special Internet announcement in Arabic.

According to DEBKAfile, Osama bin Laden's followers announced on Oct. 29 that on "Day One they [would] test their skills by launching cyber attacks against 15 targeted sites" and would expand the e-Jihad thereafter until "hundreds of thousands of Islamist hackers are in action against untold numbers of anti-Muslim sites."

DEBKAfile's sources told the news outlet that American intelligence agents, in their eagerness to track the sites, wound up crashing al Qaeda's sites shortly after the first announcement.

On Oct. 30 the sites were back up, reportedly claiming that their Islamic firewalls had shrugged off "infidel assault."

Al Qaeda also reportedly boasted of an "impenetrable" e-mail network for volunteers to sign up and receive instructions that would slip by "security agencies in their respective countries."

See Fox Cybersecurity page for the latest on cyber terrorism, and safety.

Hear the show with Erick Stakelbeck online here (See 11/5/07)

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