By Greg Laden

“Whenever the people are well informed,” Thomas Jefferson wrote, “they can be trusted with their own government.”

With this quote, Shawn Lawrence Otto, author of the newly published book "Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America," opened his talk before the Minnesota Atheists gathered at the Southdale Library on January 15th. Shawn's talk was a rousing and inspiring critical look at the large and growing gap between science knowledge and public policy, which is very alarming given that most of the major problems facing this country at the national level are science related. Stating that science is never partisan, but that scientific findings always have political consequences, he noted that science is also anti-authoritarian and in this way, ironically, resembles the early days of European Protestantism.

When John Kennedy ran for president, Shawn noted, he was obliged to state that his Catholicism would not be interjected into his governing. Today, many politicians seem obliged to not only promise to interject their religious beliefs into their work as elected officials, but often do so as an explicit contrast to science, and even go farther to make strong and noxious anti-science statements.

Read more: Shawn Lawrence Otto Explores the Dismal State of Science Policy in America

Several years ago, three same-sex couples, collectively known as the organization “Marry Me Minnesota,” went to court in Hennepin County to apply for marriage licenses.  They were refused. 

They then went to Minnesota District Trial Court, suing for the right for same-sex couples to get married in Minnesota and for their own marriages, which had been legally obtained outside of Minnesota (in Vermont, Iowa, and Canada), to be recognized as valid in our state. They lost their case.

Then they went to the Minnesota Appeals Court last year.  It was at this point that Minnesota Atheists, which had been following the case, stepped in, becoming the only organization to file a friend-of-the-court brief on their behalf.

The Appeals Court handed down its decision on January 23, 2012. Below, items in quotes are excerpts from that decision. My opinions are in brackets and italics and have my initials.

In short, the Appeals Court ruled that it was proper to sue Hennepin County but not the State of Minnesota, though the appellants should have also sued the Attorney General; the appellants’ freedom of religion was not violated; but the rest of the case will be sent back to the District Trial Court to be re-judged using different standards.

Read more: President's Column: Marry Me Minnesota

Anti-science and creationist rhetoric, coming from organizations like the Discovery Institute, often paints Darwin as handmaiden to the Nazis and founder of racist biology. The eugenics movement of the early twentieth century is uncritically melded with Darwin’s writings that touched on race, and the genetic determinism of certain aspects of modern biology is uncritically melded with Darwinian theories.

In this talk, Greg Laden will address Darwin’s racism (or lack thereof) and explore the relationship between concepts of race and racism and evolutionary biology of Darwin’s day as well as that of the twenty-first century.

Darwin was a nineteenth century gentlemen who benefited greatly from his position in a world colonial empire, but it was his exploration of that world that led him away from religious dogma and soured him on certain racist concepts. He was the founder of much of the theory that was later to be used in rather nefarious ways, but those uses were never based on good biology. This talk will directly address the relationship between modern biology and modern race theory.

Greg writes and teaches about anthropology, race and racism, the biology of gender, evolution, human evolution, nature, birds, and open source operating systems. He is an active member of the skeptics community and an unabashed progressive liberal. He often interviews guests for Minnesota Atheists’ Atheists Talk radio program.

Read more: February Public Meeting: Darwin, Evolutionary Biology, and Race

What do Billy Graham, Charles Darwin, Paul the Apostle, Mother Theresa, Richard Dawkins, and YOU have in common?  They, you, and everyone were all born without beliefs in any god (Yahweh, Allah, Vishnu, Gilgamesh, Zeus, Poseidon, Odin, Baal, Thor, Anu, etc.).  Of course we are all born without knowing a whole lot of things like who has been president, how to do math, speak a language, and grasp science, but unlike these useful fields of study that help us understand and navigate through our shared corporeal experience, myth-based beliefs are learned strictly by insulated indoctrination.

Many of us have been indoctrinated as young children into believing a variety of god-myths via religious institutions.  Our parents and/or other family members may have taken us to Sunday school and church every Sunday.  Perhaps you attended a synagogue, mosque, or temple of some sort.  Some of us were required to attend summer Bible school, Bible camp, religious youth groups, ministry programs like AWANAS, or confirmation classes.  Whatever our indoctrinated experiences may have been, the good news is we are all capable of being de-programmed from the mind manipulating instructions that were forced upon us as young, impressionable children. We can all become “born-again” atheists!

Read more: We Are All Born Without Belief In gods. Learn How To Be A Born-Again Atheist

By Eric Jayne

On Saturday, December tenth, several local atheists gathered with their gift donations at the Green Mill restaurant in St. Paul. Their mission:  to donate and wrap presents for patients at Children’s Hospital of Minnesota. After enjoying a feast, accompanied by nontraditional Christmas music, we wrapped the many donated gifts. They consisted of gift cards, Legos, toys, books, games, puzzles, and clothes. There were so many donations that one of the attendees volunteered to run to Target for more gift bags.   

Children’s Hospital provided a list, appropriately called Wish List, of desired items for patients - infants up to teenagers. The atheist donors referred to this list when purchasing gifts and let others know what they were bringing so they didn’t buy too much of one item or over represent a particular age group.

The following week Jack Caravela, Dianne Caravela, Caroline Brunner, and I delivered the gifts to the Children’s Hospital in St. Paul. Each gift had a laminated tag attached to it with the Minnesota Atheists logo and the message: “Happy Holidays from your friends at Minnesota Atheists.” 

Read more: Our Gift Donation to Children's Hospital of Minnesota