Free Republic

When Students for Free Thought, a group at Lawrence University, attempted to screen the documentary Can We Take a Joke? on their campus late in the Spring, they discovered that their classmates were not a particularly light-hearted , free thinking bunch. "Can We Take a Joke? includes footage of incidents where outraged college students shouted down speakers they disagree with," the film's director, Ted Balaker noted in a column distributed by the James C. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. "Ironically, that's pretty much what happened at the Lawrence screening. Some students shouted at the screen, then a dispute erupted; one...

Back in January, I noted how Paul Agne of Clark University's "Freethought Society" wrote that there's nothing wrong with mocking Christianity, asserting that, "Even if we do criticize/mock Christianity, there is nothing wrong with that. If I see irrational dogma, bigotry, intolerance, etc it is not exempt from criticism/ridicule just because it is someone's religious (or political/cultural/etc) belief. And furthermore, as Christianity is the dominant religion in the US, and inserts itself into our lives daily it will of course be more relevant to us, and we will have more to say about it than, say, Jainism." For Mr. Agne...

...Much of what passes for "Freethought" and "Freethinking" today is, in reality, atheism wearing a very thin disguise....In that case, it is clear that what is meant by Freethought is adhering to absolute materialism. If a Judeo-Christian cannot be a freethinker then freethought is not freethought but demands adherences to certain restrictive parameters. Yet, since the Judeo-Christian can think beyond, for example, materialistic parameters we can be true freethinkers. Atheists who have commandeered the term Freethought complain that Christians cannot be Freethinkers because they adhere to the Christian worldview. Yet, they commit the same alleged fallacy by adhering to atheism...

American blacks who are affiliated with the Republican Party are vigorously vilified by Democrats, especially black Democrats. Uncle Tom, sell-out, Oreo -- the list of slurs is long. But it is not only insults. I am the founder and director of a unique, progressive homeless facility in downtown Los Angeles, known as the Dome Village. Yet the 35 men, women and children and their pets who call the Dome Village home are being "evicted" from privately owned property after 12-and-a-half years -- apparently on account of my political beliefs and activities. You see, though I am a leading homeless activist,...

The American Atheists organization says President Bush should stop urging prayer for Hurricane Katrina victims because it violates the Constitution. Ellen Johnson, president of the group said Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Bush "should not be violating the Constitution by telling people to pray for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. It's unconstitutional for government officials to be promoting religion; and besides, judging from the speed of some relief efforts, officials should be busy working instead of preaching."

Source: AsiaTimes HONG KONG - As China further tightens state controls over Internet use, overseas rights groups are criticizing US software giant Microsoft for agreeing to censor politically sensitive terms such as "democracy" and "human rights" from personal online diaries - known as blogs - written by Chinese citizens. The Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it had confirmed that certain key words were now being censored from text posted by Chinese users to blogs hosted by Microsoft's MSN Spaces service. "When a Chinese blogger attempts to post a message containing terms such as 'democracy', 'Dalai Lama',...