from guest blogger Blue Gal

The idea is to post at least once from Friday to Sunday Easter Weekend, April 6-8 ... The post will be against theocracy, in favor of our Constitutional guarantee of separation of church and state ... there are a LOT of issues tied to this, as is pointed out in the First Freedom First website:

No religious discrimination.
PRO End-of-Life Care (no more Terri Schiavo travesties)
Reproductive health decisions made by individuals, not religious "majorities"
Democracy not Theocracy
Academic Integrity (like, a rock is as old as it is, not as old as the Bible says)
Sound Science (good bye so-called "intelligent" design)
Respect for ALL families (based on love, not sexual orientation. Hellooooo.)
And finally,
The right to worship, OR NOT.

So take your pick and write your post(s). Really, the wider variety of topics makes it all the more interesting. I can't wait to read what Pharyngula has to say about sound science, or what some of you will have to say about reproductive choice as it relates to church/state separation, or how a religionist blogger feels about their own freedom to worship and how that is compromised by state sponsored religion. (That's my topic, fwiw.)

There is an interesting back and forth in Neural's comment thread involving yours truly...someone commented that it was hard for him "to imagine that religionists can separate church and state. Religion, no matter which flavor, is at the root of their belief system and subsequently their reality and expectations of the world around them."

Part of my reply:

Lots of agnostics and atheists are surprised to learn that a great many financial contributors to Americans United for the Separation of Church and State are regular churchgoers. I am. Among the big supporters of that group are Christian Scientists and Seventh Day Adventists (I would imagine Quakers too, Dave?) who know for a fact that as outsider Christian groups, they are first up against the wall if the Dobsons and Falwells get their way.

...As a self-professed Christian, and that's really all I can lay claim to, my own sins keep me busy 24/7/365. I'm either doing 'em or repenting 'em, and hopefully the good outweighs the bad.

A significant number of religionists actually GET IT that the freedom to practice their religion comes from the glorious gift of the First Amendment to the US Constitution. And actually, separation of church and state goes back farther than that. There was this old timey Jewish preacher who said something once about render unto Caesar...

I'm so excited and supportive of this blogswarm, I can't tell you. And what is most exciting is the participation of atheist and science bloggers, who are smart and thoughtful and well, I'm just honored to be doing something with them.

I really hope this blogswarm does more than just let the world know how we feel about the separation of Church and State. I hope it improves and awakens how we feel about each other. I may be a "believer" whatever the heck that means, but I can't have too many smart, funny, and fascinating, atheists, scientists, agnostics, GLBT bloggers, etc. etc. around here. Who did JESUS hang out with, anyway? I don't think if he were here today, Jesus would have a beer with some hypocritical preacherman, even if the preacherman was buying. MY God is Love, and Mind, and Truth. And this blogswarm is all about those.

Tengrain of Mock, Paper, Scissors designed the amazing logo [above]... and is among the best. So is Neural Gourmet, who has turned this wee idea into a huge, huge movement. And Liz at I Speak of Dreams has also done an amazing job with logos. Use whichever you want.

Thanks for participating.

Blue Gal is a great friend of First Freedom First, and one of our best supporters.

Be sure and add the following tag to your post(s) -- Technorati Tags:blog against theocracy