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Pamphlets on Atheism Placed in 11 Florida High Schools

There was some heartening news in Florida yesterday, on the National Day of Reason.  After 15 weeks of negotiating with the Orange County school board, the Central Florida Freethought Community has been permitted to place pamphlets containing information about atheism and free thinking in 11 Florida high schools.  The group started working toward this goal after another group was allowed to place Bibles in the school back in January.  David Williamson of the Central Florida Freethought Community said, "We want to make sure that we have an opportunity to distribute our materials and everyone else does as well, so this is not about the Bible, this is about equality." 


As I posted to one of my Pinterest boards
I think it is great to see a school board actually do what the constitution intends - allow for the representation of more than one thing. Many public schools allow Christian religious themes, but when another group wants equal representation they are harassed with paperwork or lawsuits until the moment has passed, or they can't/won't fight any more. Now, I can only judge by the names of the pamphlets here because I can't find them to read online, but that seems pretty harmless to me. If they are explaining what it means to be a thinker rather than a believer, the myths about atheism that are rampant (such as they just haven't heard enough about god, they are angry, etc.), and describing that the ten commandments are mainly societal rules that have been around long before the invention of the Christian god (with a few added to ensure the us vs them mentality of religion) then I don't know why there should be a problem. As long as it is truth, and not propaganda, where is the harm? It is not "forcing" a belief. I don't see atheism as a belief but as a way of interpreting belief systems through a lens of critical thinking.




4 comments:

  1. "David Williamson of the Central Florida Freethought Community said: this is about equality."

    Secularism is what needs to be boosted. Secularism protects all minorities. If you argue for equal access rather than secularism you are playing their game and you will lose.

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  2. ITA, Anonymous, the end game should be secularism. My idea of a perfect world is total secularism. In absence of that utopia, equality is a step in the right direction.

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  3. Thanks for sharing our story! Unfortunately, there were several of our materials that were unreasonably censored so we are considering legal action. Stay tuned to the story at www.facebook.com/cflfreethought

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  4. Thank you, David. I am following the story expectantly. Can you direct me to some of the other materials you submitted? Because I hear so much misinformation about what was included, I am interested in seeing as much of it myself as I can. From what I have seen, it looks like good, nonjudgmental information - just laying out the facts - which is exactly what is needed to assure people are making informed decisions regarding a belief system.

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Comments are moderated. I will not censor a comment because it is contrary to my opinion. However, I will not allow any comment that is hateful, disparaging, or foolish.