A rescue mission in Kansas City has barred atheists from helping to feed the homeless for Thanksgiving this year, even though the group has volunteered the past two years. The Kansas City Atheist Coalition announced the bad news on their website on Saturday that the Kansas City Rescue Mission had turned down an offer to assist with this year’s Thanksgiving event.

“Kansas City Rescue Mission has decided to use the meals they deliver as a chance to proselytize to its recipients by inserting religious literature into the meals,” the coalition noted. “They informed us that we ‘would not be a good fit’ (emphasis theirs) for volunteering with them, and declined to respond to any further inquiries.” President Josh Hyde pointed out that the group had about a dozen members show up to volunteer at last year’s Thanksgiving Outreach.

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The Kansas City Rescue Mission website notes that “hunger affects hundreds in Kansas City and KCRM wants to make it easy for you to reach out to our neighbors in need.”

“We’re counting on your help to supply the hundreds of pounds of food needed to provide 2,400 meals for hungry, poverty-stricken and homeless men, women and children through our three Thanksgiving community outreaches,” the mission says.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/11/christian-rescue-mission-bans-kansas-atheists-from-volunteering-at-thanksgiving/

One does not associate church with Hepatitis A, most of the time church is the least expected place to contract the virus. Surprisingly, hundreds of people may have been exposed to Hepatitis A while taking communion. The exposure happened in late September and early October in North Dakota.

While Bishop John Folda served communion, he exposed hundreds of parishioners to Hepatitis A. Bishop John Folda served the communion at five different churches in Fargo, Grand Forks, and Jamestown. He acquired the virus in Italy while attending a conference. He did not have any knowledge of contracting the virus, he stated “I wish I had known I was ill so I could immediately refrain from participating in public activities.” North Dakota state Health Department issued an advisory of exposure for anyone who attended the services. Bishop Folda issued a statement saying “I sincerely apologize to the people who may have been exposed to the virus.”

Hepatits A can cause serious liver problems. Signs and symptoms include fatigue, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, and yellowing of the skin or eyes. Vaccinations are available for Hepatitis A, though they are usually given to people who are at high risk of exposure. The Hepatitis A vaccine may be prevented if the vaccine is given within two weeks of exposure. Unfortunately, the parishioners learned of the exposure too late to get the vaccine.

The director of communications for the Diocese of Bismark says Catholic churches and institutions have been very careful during communion ever since the 2009 outbreak of the H1N11 flu. North Dakota Catholics may pass up communion, washing hands and keeping good hygiene is important to help prevent Hepatitis A. Currently, Bishop John Folda is completely recovered and has been cleared by the doctor to resume normal activities.

http://www.goddiscussion.com/114390/possible-hepatitis-exposure-from-north-dakota-bishop/

Professor Jim Al-Khalili, a theoretical physicist and science broadcaster, said Monday at The Cambridge Union Society that Christianity had commandeered humanistic values.

In his presentation, Al-Khalili said he believed in the Golden Rule: One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself. The ethical maxim is often attributed to Jesus Christ.

Echoing the thought of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, a member of the audience said it seemed like secular humanists had “killed God” but were “still doing what he said” by adhering to Christian morality and values.

Al-Khalili responded by saying the situation was actually reversed. Christianity had hijacked human values. "For me, that is what defines me as a human, that I have the capacity to love, to empathize, to sympathize, to be kind,” he explained.

“Yes, those were values that were taken up by the Abrahamic religions and rightly so, because [it was] back at a time when people needed to be told those are important human values. For me, I don’t think I need to behave in a certain way because I want to seek the reward of God or because I fear the punishment of God. I do them because I’m a human being.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/10/15/professor-jim-al-khalili-christianity-hijacked-human-values/

American Biblical scholar Joseph Atwill will be appearing before the British public for the first time in London on the 19th of October to present a controversial new discovery: ancient confessions recently uncovered now prove, according to Atwill, that the New Testament was written by first-century Roman aristocrats and that they fabricated the entire story of Jesus Christ. His presentation will be part of a one-day symposium entitled "Covert Messiah" at Conway Hall in Holborn.

Although to many scholars his theory seems outlandish, and is sure to upset some believers, Atwill regards his evidence as conclusive and is confident its acceptance is only a matter of time. "I present my work with some ambivalence, as I do not want to directly cause Christians any harm," he acknowledges, "but this is important for our culture. Alert citizens need to know the truth about our past so we can understand how and why governments create false histories and false gods. They often do it to obtain a social order that is against the best interests of the common people."

http://uk.prweb.com/releases/2013/10/prweb11201273.htm


Interesting....

“It's now very common to hear people say, 'I'm rather offended by that.' As if that gives them certain rights. It's actually nothing more... than a whine. 'I find that offensive.' It has no meaning; it has no purpose; it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. 'I am offended by that.' Well, so fucking what.”
― Stephen Fry

Today, we filed suit in federal court on behalf of Jennifer Maudlin, a single mother who was fired when her employer learned that she was pregnant. Jennifer's employer – a religiously-affiliated community organization called Inside Out – says that it fired Jennifer for violating its unwritten rule against non-marital sex.

What happened to Jennifer amounts to discrimination based on pregnancy status and gender. Why? Because Inside Out learned about its workers' sexual lives by looking at its women workers' bellies. In fact, Jennifer and other women workers who became pregnant had to hide their bellies for as long as possible because they were terrified of being found out and fired. Unmarried men who had sex, and even those who became fathers, had nothing to fear, because – of course – their bellies wouldn't give them away. In Jennifer's workplace, pregnancy became a "scarlet letter," marking unmarried employees for termination.

The treatment of women workers at Inside Out also subjects women workers to mistreatment based on sex stereotypes. When a person can be thrown out of work because she decides to – or must – take on motherhood alone, what are we as a society saying about her? That she's unworthy of any further association with her coworkers? That she's unfit to participate in economic life? That she doesn't deserve to be able to eat, or pay rent, or buy gas?

https://www.aclu.org/blog/womens-rights-religion-belief/taking-stand-against-21st-century-scarlet-letter