Atheist News. Swallow the Leader. Atheist Coming Out Party. Weekend in Hell

KENTUCKY ATHEISTS NEWS & NOTES Date: July 11, 2008

Kentucky Atheists, P.O. Box 666, Union, KY 41091; Email: ekagin@atheists.org

Phone: (859) 384-7000; Fax: (859) 384-7324; Web: http://www.atheists.org/ky/

Editor's personal web site: www.edwinkagin.com

Editor’s personal blog: http://edwinkagin.blogspot.com

Edited by:

Edwin Kagin, Kentucky State Director, American Atheists, Inc.

(AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for nonbelievers; works for the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.)

IT’S OKAY TO BE AN ATHEIST

To Unidentified Recipients:

This is just too wonderful to be true. But it seems that it is true.

Just what part of the purloined “Body of Christ” does Catholic League President Bill Donohue think is being desecrated?

And if this cracker is really thought to be a hunk of Christ’s body that has been spirited away instead of being properly eaten in solemn ceremony within the confines of the Mass, along with the drinking of Christ’s blood, then how can the charge of cannibalism be refuted?

If eating the body of Christ and drinking his blood is not cannibalism, how would it look if it was cannibalism?

Is the mystery of the Eucharist, the consumption of the body and blood of Christ, to be observed only in-house?

Is there no take-out available under the rules for those who wish to “Swallow the Leader?”

There is help. Now you can come out.

And you can also go to Hell and back.

Details follow.

Edwin.

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http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/faith/24313139.html?location_refer=Gophers

Communion wafer held 'hostage' raises holy heck

Star Tribune

Last update: July 11, 2008 - 7:15 AM

A Minnesota university instructor and avowed atheist is jousting with a national Catholic watch dog group over a smuggled communion wafer, which the associate professor dismisses as a "frackin’ cracker."

Paul Z. Myers, who teaches biology at the University of Minnesota, Morris, on his blog this week expressed amazement that a Florida college student who briefly took a wafer "hostage" from a church ceremony has been receiving death threats for an action that was characterized "a hate crime" by the Catholic League.

Under the headline, "It’s a frackin’ cracker!" Myers wrote in an at-times profane blog entry: "Crazy Christian fanatics right here in our own country have been threatening to kill a young man over a cracker. This is insane."

He added: "Can anyone out there score me some consecrated communion wafers? ... I’ll show you sacrilege, gladly, and with much fanfare. I won’t be tempted to hold it hostage ... but will instead treat it with profound disrespect and heinous cracker abuse, all photographed and presented here on the web. I shall do so joyfully and with laughter in my heart."

Myers, in an interview today, explained that the blog entry is more "satire and protest" than an actual threat to defile the Eucharist.

His blog entry has collected nearly 1,000 comments since it was posted Tuesday.

The Catholic League, a civil rights group that challenges any instances it sees as an afront to Catholicism, said today that it is calling on the university to act against Myers, noting that Myers’ blog can be accessed through a link on the university’s website.

"It is hard to think of anything more vile than to intentionally desecrate the Body of Christ," Catholic League President Bill Donohue said in a news release. "We look to those who have oversight responsibility to act quickly and decisively."

Myers, who was raised Lutheran and now considers himself a card-carrying atheist, said he’s been getting a "few death threats" since the conflict began, "but I don’t take them too seriously."

His opponents, he said, describe him as a "strident, militant atheist" because of his activism in the debate of evolution vs. creationism.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482

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ANNOUNCING ATHEIST COMING OUT PARTY

Tired of it all? Tired of pretending? Tired of putting up quietly with those who think YOU are wrong for not believing their nonsense?

Come Out!

Here is an opportunity to do so

From Reader Ashley:

The first annual Atheist Coming OUT Party, sponsored by American Atheists, will be held

in Columbus Ohio,

on August 2nd, 2008 from 12:00 pm-5:00 pm

The purpose of this event is to provide a setting where freethinkers from across Ohio and beyond its borders can network with each other. There will be tables set up so people can leave literature for their groups and organizations. Speakers include Edwin Kagin and Hemant Mehta.

Entry fee is $5.00, and food is potluck style. Bring a dish if you plan on eating.

To RSVP and find out more information, go to http://healthyaddict.googlepages.com/home.

Ashley Paramore
Secular Student Alliance Board Member
Students for Freethought at Ohio State Chair
419-631-1255

"Men think epilepsy divine, merely because they do not understand it. But if they called everything divine they didn't understand, why, there would be no end of divine things."
~Hippocrates

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And here is an idea whose time has come.

From reader Len:

Camp Quest

it’s beyond belief!

Camp Quest of Michigan, P. O. Box 656, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48303

“. . .Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company. . .”

Responding to popular demand, this summer I’ve decided to try to organize a family camp for those intrepid and fearless individuals willing to go to Hell and back.

A number of sites with water & electric hookups have been reserved for our “Weekend in Hell” at the Hell Creek Ranch in Hell, Michigan for the weekend of August 9-10.

Hell Creek Ranch

10866 Cedar Lake Road

Hell, MI 48169 (Pinkney)

734-878-3632

· This is a 100-site campground, 40 "rustic" and 60 sites with water & electric.

· There is a playground, game room, horseshoe pit, volleyball, vending (including ice), in-ground pool and bath house.

· The ranch offers horseback riding, and they are adjacent to 1000 acres of trails on state land.

· Canoes can be rented nearby.

· Buy wood for campfires at the ranch only--due to continuing problems with the emerald ash borer, do not bring your own firewood.

· The village of Hell is about 10 minutes away (consisting of a post office, restaurant and ice cream parlor -- yes, you can get ice cream in Hell!)

Check in Friday evening, check out Sunday afternoon (unless you'd like to stay longer). Site fee for water & electric hookup is $25 per day. A weekend family pass to use the pool is $15. Those interested in horseback riding must make reservations in advance by calling 734-954-0500. Canoeing can be arranged through Screams Ice Cream Parlor at 734-878-2233.

Hell Creek Ranch is located in South Eastern Michigan's most beautiful countryside, in the heart of the Pinckney Recreation Area. Seventeen miles of beautiful hiking trails weave thru the Hell area, the same trails used by the Potowatomi Indians a century ago.

The Pavillion and Pond area is away from the campground area, offering a semi-private setting with plenty of space for outdoor activities. The Pavillion has picnic tables and a grill available for cookouts, and there is a bonfire pit near the pond.

Check in Friday evening, August 8 – check out Sunday afternoon August 10.

Ask for the Camp Quest Family Camp reserved for Len Zanger.

For more information, please contact me at campquest-mi@comcast.net or phone 248-330-5061.