I reject the Pledge of Allegiance for two primary reasons: the stereotypical atheist’s “under god” and the line about “with liberty and justice for all”. Both these statements amount to nothing more than bullshit.

Let’s start with the under god part. It wasn’t even originally there. I’ll even quote the original incarnation of it:

I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

No reference to God. I mean the United States isn’t even founded on religious principals. Other than that issue, this form of the pledge is almost okay. Almost. Except for that one inaccuracy. Liberty and justice for all? When did that happen? It clearly is not in effect in America. We still have race issues, sexism, and bigotry. The greatest example of this in justice is the ban on gay marriage. How is that encompassing everybody’s right to liberty and justice? It isn’t. So I choose not to say the Pledge.

Some people say that my refusal to recite what is loosely a public prayer is anti-american. That simply is not true. I am proud of my country (generally) and I always stand up. Those who refuse to even stand when the Pledge is being recited are being disrespectful and rude. Instead I just stand there in silence whenever the oppurtunity occurs. Maybe one day we will have a society that not only promotes, but has liberty, justice and equality for all its citizens. On that day, I’ll be happy to say the Pledge. Minus the Under God of course.

I’m sure many of you heard about Uganda’s plan to kill homosexuals who have aids. Well Rwanda is taking a page from their book.

The change would have article 217 of their code say this:

Any person who practices, encourages or sensitizes people of the same sex, to sexual relation or any sexual practice, shall be liable for a term of imprisonment ranging from five (5) to ten (10) years and fine ranging from Two Hundred thousand Rwanda Francs (200.000 RwF) to one million (1,000,000)Rwanda francs.”

Nice. Notice the part I bolded. Especially the encourages part. So basically just standing up for somebody in the LGBT community can get you in trouble with the law. This is a major setback in human rights and free speech. Take action and spread this news to everbody you know.

I thought today would be the day that New York would become the sixth state to legalize gay marriage. I mean the movement practically started there right? Sadly it did not happen.

The New York measure needed 32 votes to pass and failed by a wider-than-expected margin, falling eight votes short in a 24-38 decision by the state Senate. The Assembly had earlier approved the bill, and Gov. David Paterson, perhaps the bill’s strongest advocate, had pledged to sign it.

This is getting ridiculous. Just because you hold the Bible as YOUR moral code, does not mean you can judge everybody with the same set of beliefs.Senator Eric Adams said it best:

But Sen. Eric Adams, D-Brooklyn, challenged lawmakers to set aside their religious beliefs and vote for the bill. He asked them to remember that once even slavery was legal.

“When I walk through these doors, my Bible stays out,” Adams said.

That is how it should be. Basically ALL the Republicans voted against the bill. Why? Why don’t other people have the right to be happy? Even more interesting, this verdict does NOT represent the majority of the population.

A Marist College poll released Wednesday showed 51 percent of those who live in New York state support same-sex marriage, while 42 percent oppose it.

This situation cries out with shocking similarity to the whole Maine debacle. Hopefully the bill will be presented again, or put up for a public vote.

I saw this over at Pharyngula today. The FUCK Uganda? Here is what is being proposed:

According to Clause 2 of the Bill, a person who is convicted of gay sex is liable to life imprisonment. But if that person is also HIV positive the penalty — under the heading “aggravated homosexuality” — is death.

The Bill has not been endorsed by the Ugandan government but it has allowed it to proceed, and some top officials are said to have praised it.

Yes you read that correctly. As if life imprisonment for being who you are is not totally batshit crazy enough, you put them to DEATH if they have HIV? There is already suggestions that AIDS is on the decline. The bill also spits in the face of free speech as well. More insanity follows:

The Bill proposes a three-year prison sentence for anyone who is aware of evidence of homosexuality and fails to report it to the police within 24 hours. And it would impose a sentence of up to seven years for anyone who defends the rights of gays and lesbians.

Basically this blog post would constitute a seven year jail sentance for me. Just for defending my fellow humans. I’m sure some of you are writing this off because Uganda is still a developing country and all that shit. Let us look at the origins of the bill. A group of AMERICANS known as “The Family“. Hell I’m sure I could walk to the corner of Main Street and Wall Street and sell this idea to plenty of my eager countryfolk. Spread the word about this, it is absolutely fucking nuts.

Apparently the School Board in Indianapolis has forgotten that the Constitution applies to them. The FFRF has sent a letter to them in complaint of this. And of course here comes the kicker, you can still visit Christian sites.

This policy does not prohibit or even mention religious views such as Christianity. A website like FFRF.org, which educates on freethought and nontheism, would, however, be blocked under this policy. This promotes religion over nonreligion, which is forbidden under the Establishment Clause.

Christianity is obviously the religion of the good, faithful, conservative American. Those evil atheists are unacceptable though. It does block other various sites though. According to the policy, atheistic views, Satanism, Witchcraft, spells and the like all fit into this category. Although as long as you direct your spells to Jesus and call them prayers, it is a OK. I see another flaw in this too. Wouldn’t Christianity be a form of mysticism? Google gave me this definition: “a religion based on mystical communion with an ultimate reality”. I’ll assume you can probably still visit the Methodist Church’s homepage though. For another kick in the crotch, they have also banned all LGBT sites. Hopefully this will be resolved without a trial, but if it goes that far the school will most likely lose. It is a pretty clear violation of the Establishment clause and of freedom of speech. Ridiculous.

That’s right. Something as simple and compassionate as arranging funeral rights for somebody you love is bad. I don’t get it.

according to Governor Donald L. Carcieri of Rhode Island, bestowing this small but vital legal right to gays and lesbians will somehow “degrade” traditional marriage.

I wish somebody could explain to me exactly how that is. Here is what the legislation had to say:

The legislation defines a domestic partner as someone who was in an “exclusive, intimate and committed relationship” with the deceased and had lived with him or her for at least a year prior to the death; is at least 18, not married to anyone else, not related by blood and who was financially “interdependent” with the deceased as evidenced, for example, by a joint mortgage, shared credit card or domestic partnership contract.

What the hell is up with that one year requirement? This whole “domestic partnership” thing is bullshit. It is not even close to an actual marriage. It is just another way to prevent gay couples from having the same rights as straight couples.

he believes a “one year time period is not a sufficient duration to establish a serious bond between two individuals…

Where is the waiting period in a marriage before we count it as real?

As far as I know there is not any. I wish America would just legalize gay marriage, I mean who in the FUCK are YOU to decide what love is? Who are you to decide what somebody else should be able to do? If you don’t like gay marriages, don’t get one. That in no way means you are allowed to prevent somebody else from being happy. Ignorance and bigotry shouldn’t stop somebody else’s pursuit of happiness. This argument is not even about gay marriage in particular. It is about something as simple as burial rights. It is just an attempt to further undermine the rights of American citizens who love and care about each other. I cannot understand this type of thinking at all. The bill will probably end up for a public vote, but I am concerned as to how that will turn out. It will probably be a mixed vote and not end up getting passed.

“If the General Assembly believes it would like to address the issue of domestic partnerships, it should place the issue on the ballot and let the people of the state of Rhode Island decide.”

This is just a way of getting out of the situation. Carcieri is just being plain heartless and malevolent. Why shouldn’t LGBT people have the same rights? They are human beings and deserve to be treated equally. Fuck you Carcieri.