St. Paul, MN, April 21, 2010 -- Minnesota Atheists, a positive atheist organization that actively promotes secular values through participation in public affairs, educational programs, and social activities, plans for the fifth consecutive year to celebrate a Day of Reason as a secular alternative to the religious Day of Prayer event to be held simultaneously on the front capital steps.  As an educational event for legislators and the public, Day of Reason will be held on Thursday, May 6 from noon to 1:00 pm in the Rotunda of the State Capitol.

By George Kane

On March 11, Michael Newdow suffered two setbacks in the type of church/state separation cases that have made him famous. A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 in the first suit that the words “In God We Trust” are constitutionally permissible on coins and currency, and later ruled 2-1 against him in his second suit against the pledge of allegiance in public schools.

Fundamental in my search for answers has been to turn to science and philosophy. Science provides the evidence, and philosophy provides the reasoning strands that bring the evidence together for answers. In Thomas W. Clark’s book, Encountering Naturalism, you will find one rational answer through the philosophical school of naturalism. Clark’s presentation is a simple introduction to naturalism. For a more challenging approach, I would recommend Richard Carrier’s book, Sense and Goodness Without God (2005) and the website: www.centerfornaturalism.org.

For our March 7th Reel and Meal, fifteen intrepid atheists journeyed to the Rosedale 14 Theatre in Roseville, Minnesota to see Martin Scorsese's recently released film Shutter Island. This homage to film noirs of old seemed a natural choice for us, promising both suspense and fine performances by a number of distinguished actors, including Ben Kingsley and Max von Sydow. Later, over pizza and hoagies at a nearby Davanni's, the consensus was that while none of us were disappointed on either count, the film was not quite what we expected.

In an interview during the Vancouver Olympics on February 24th, bobsledder Lyndon Rush took advantage of his position as an Olympic athlete to tell the world that he doesn’t believe atheists exist. He went on record stating that there are no atheists at the top of bobsled runs, arguing: “Maybe they're not in a period of their life where they believe in God, I guess. I don't know. I don't really believe in atheists.”

The public elementary school I attended had a no homework policy on Wednesdays. This policy was implemented to assure schoolwork didn’t interfere with church activities which were commonly held on Wednesday evenings. I was one of the many children who experienced the weekly indoctrinating, mind conditioning, brain washing AWANA classes (Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed) held at a church. Back then I believed in God but I didn’t want to learn about Him on Wednesday nights, especially when The Fall Guy was on TV!

The highway clean-ups for Rice, MN and Lakeville, MN are set.  The Rice clean-up will be on Sunday, April 25. We will start the clean up at 1:00 pm. Some will gather at noon for brunch at the Old Creamery Café in Rice, at 405 Main Street, just west of the stoplight on Highway 10. Contact Deb at 320-253-5422, or Steve Petersen at 651-484-9277. Steve can also be reached via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

By August Berkshire

While I am not in favor of atheist evangelists who, as atheist comedienne Paula Poundstone joked, would go door-to-door with a book full of blank pages, I am in favor of us doing more to meet the second goal of our organization: Educating the public about atheism.