Atheists demand Texas town remove 'Jesus Welcomes You' sign

The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FRF) in Wisconsin has threatened legal action against the town of Hawkins, Texas for erecting a sign on city property that says “Jesus Welcomes You to Hawkins.”

The town of Hawkins, about 75 miles east of Dallas, installed the sign four years ago, and it was supported by the city council, the Chamber of Commerce, and numerous residents. Students from the local high school’s shop class helped make the sign. According to The Tyler (Texas) Morning Telegraph, FRF sent a letter to the city asking them to remove the sign and “refrain from displaying any messages that endorse religion or non-religion in the future,” arguing that it is an “unconstitutional religious display on government property.”

“It is inappropriate and unconstitutional for the city of Hawkins to display the sign, because it conveys both a government preference for religion over non-religion and prefers Christianity over other religions,” an attorney for the foundation wrote in the letter.
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Mayor Will Rogers said a recent public meeting showed overwhelming support from residents in favor of the sign, which is maintained by private funds and volunteers, not the town. Although Hawkins town officials have not decided how to respond to the letter, Mayor Rogers believes the city will win if they go to court to keep the sign.

H/T: The Tyler Morning Telegraph, PoliticalIllusionsExposed.com

Angie's List opposes religious freedom in Indiana

Angie's List, the wildly popular website featuring reviews of local businesses, recently stepped into the debate over the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) in Indiana by announcing they were not following through with a $40 million expansion of the company in the state, in protest of the new law. They joined several companies who planned boycotting the state of Indiana over the law, which they say allows for discrimination against gays. Supporters of the law say it merely protects many from violating the tenets of their faith.

Now, The National Organization for Marriage has started a campaign against Angie's List for their intolerance of the Christian faith. They have started a website, DumpAngie.com, to organize a protest. Organizers posted this statement on the site:

Angie's List has announced that they are halting a $40 million expansion of their facility in Indiana to protest passage of the common sense religious liberty bill. Angie's List thinks that attacking the rights of Christians and other faiths is smart business, so we're showing the business community the real effects of attacking religious liberty. Join us in dumping Angie's List!

Organizers ask that Angie's List customers leave a final review, stating they are cancelling their subscription because of the company's stand against religious freedom. They also ask that supporters sign a petition which they will deliver to Angie's List. In the first few days of the petition drive, over 1,000 signatures had been collected.

Teacher fired for giving student a Bible finally gets justice

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has ruled in favor of a New Jersey teacher who was fired for giving a student a Gideon Bible. Walt Tutka, a substitute teacher at Phillipsburg Middle School in the Phillipsburg (New Jersey) School District, was fired in early 2014 after he gave a Gideon Bible to a student who asked about the Bible and told him he didn't have one. You can the see the original story about the firing by clicking here.

In its ruling, the EEOC ruled that there was sufficient cause to believe the school district discriminated against Tutka on the basis of his religion, and retaliated against him for it. Todd Starnes of Fox News uncovered an email from Phillipsburg Middle School assistant principal John Stillo that showed he was hostile towards the Gideons, even to the point of sending police after them. "It has been brought to the administration's attention that Gideons may be near our campus to distribute literature to our students," Stillo wrote in the email memo sent to school staff members. "Please make sure they DO NOT step foot onto our campus at any time. There will be added police and security presence at dismissal."

Tutka, a member of the Gideons Society, was told he violated school district policy after giving a student a Bible, even though Tutka did not initiate the discussion about the Bible. An inquisitive student continually asked him about a Bible verse, and when Tutka showed the student a Bible with the verse in question, the student remarked he had no Bible. In response, Tutka gave him the Bible in hand. The EEOC ruled Tutka did not violate policy and was well within his rights. "You can't just fire people because they happen to hand a Bible to somebody while they are at work," attorney Hiram Sasser of the Liberty Institute (who represented Tutka) said.

With the ruling, the Phillipsburg School District must now reach out to Tutka to make amends. If they do not, the EEOC will assist Tutka in seeking restitution from the district.

Source: Liberty Institute 

Obama Phone provider advertises on "Black Jesus"

"Black Jesus," the Cartoon Network/Adult Swim show that has been criticized as being both blasphemous and racist, has had trouble finding advertisers, but that did not stop SafeLink, the leading provider of Obama Phones, from supporting the show by purchasing advertising time during a recent episode. However, pressure on advertisers by family groups and Christian advocates have had a dramatic effect.

Safelink is owned by TracFone, and its CEO is F.J. Pollak, who is a strong supporter of President Obama, having donated and "bundled" hundreds of thousands of dollars to his campaign. Safelink provides millions of Obama Phones to individuals on public assistance, although they refuse to release specific numbers on how many phones and how much profit they earn on them.

Safelink first advertised during the August 14 episode of "Black Jesus," but even they have felt the pressure from the American Family Association and One Million Moms, who have organized a nationwide protest against the show's advertisers. Very few advertisers continue week to week, with most bowing to pressure and announcing their intent not to continue buying ad time. Safelink did not buy advertising during the most recent episode (September 4, in an episode in which Jesus and his followers grow and sell weed out of a community garden).

The protest against the show's advertisers has had a dramatic effect. For the September 4 episode, the show only featured one commercial break, while most 30-minute shows feature two. Instead, Adult Swim featured just as many promotional spots for other Adult Swim shows as they did actual commercials. Among the advertisers for the September 4 episode were the following (contact information for each advertiser, where available, is included):

*20th Century Fox Movies (advertising the film "The Maze Runner"). Click here to contact Fox Movies through Facebook, and click here to contact them through Twitter.

*Playstation/Bungie (advertising the video game "Destiny"). Click here to contact Playstation through Facebook, and click here to contact them through Twitter. To contact Bungie (the developer/publisher of "Destiny") click here to contact them through Facebook, and click here to contact them through Twitter.

*Hydroxycut (who has advertised over multiple episodes). Click here to contact them through Facebook, and click here to contact them through Twitter.

*Columbia Pictures, a division of Sony Pictures (advertising the film "The Equalizer"). Click here to contact them through Facebook, and click here to contact them through Twitter.

*Southern New Hampshire University. Click here to send them feedback through their website, click here to contact them through Facebook, and click here to contact them through Twitter.

Even with the dwindling advertiser support, the show continues to pull in viewers. The premiere episode had 2 million viewers, and while the audience has shrunk, "Black Jesus" still ranks in the top ten cable shows for the night, with just under 1.5 million viewers.

Bealls stores support "Merry Christmas"

With so many companies too gutless to say "Merry Christmas," it's nice to see a company step up and actually use the term. In this case, Bealls, part of the Stage Stores chain of department stores, sent out an email with the graphic seen here. While it doesn't invoke the religious aspect of Christmas, we appreciate the fact that they said the word.

If you'd like to send them a thank you for standing up for "Merry Christmas," click right here to send them an email through the Stage Stores website. We cannot confirm if other non-Bealls stores in the company chain (including Palais Royal, Peebles, Steele's, and Goody's Family Clothing, among others) also used the term in their advertising, so be sure to point out it was from a Bealls email ad.

Lockheed Martin shoots down the Boy Scouts

It seems military defense contractor Lockheed Martin is taking a cue from the anti-Christian rhetoric of the U.S. military. The company has announced it is pulling support of the Boy Scouts over their ban on gay scout leaders.

According to a story in the Marietta (GA) Daily Journal, Lockheed spokesman Johnny Witaker said the withdrawal of support "includes all company monetary contributions and company-sponsored employee activities with the Scouts like facility tours, on-site Scouting activities and events, service on the Atlanta Council’s executive board and employee volunteer activities on company time.”

Lockheed also announced the disapprove of the Boy Scouts' ban on atheists as Scout Leaders.

To contact Lockheed Martin to voice your disapproval, click here to visit their contact page and send an email.

Give a kid a Bible, lose your job

A New Jersey middle school substitute teacher has been fired after he gave his Bible to a student who asked him about it. The teacher, Walter Tutka, was a long-time substitute teacher for the Phillipsburg School District, and filed a wrongful termination complaint against the district Thursday with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Tutka was fired in January after an October 2012 incident in which one of his students inquired about the phrase "the first will be last and the last will be first." After learning the phrase came from the Bible, the student inquired about it with Tutka over several weeks. After the student told him he kept forgetting to look up the verse, Tutka showed him the verse in the Gideon New Testament he had in his pocket. When the student stated he didn't have a Bible, Tutka offered him the Gideon.

Despite protests from members of the community and friends, Tutka lost his job for passing out religious material on campus and not being neutral on religious issues. Tutka is now being represented by Hiram Sasser, director of litigation at the Liberty Institute, who stated “What’s next – are they going to ban Shakespeare because his plays have Bible quotations?” He also pointed out that Tutka only responded to the intellectual inquiries of a student, and did not proselytize.

UPDATE (1/2015): The EEOC has ruled in favor of Tutka in his complaint, They found the school district showed bias and retaliation based simply on Tutka's faith. Click here to read more.

Why did the Army list Christians and Catholics as extremists and hate groups?

The picture above is real - it's an actual slide from a Defense Department presentation listing Christians as religious extremists, ahead of Al Quaeda. To find out exactly how this happened, and the response to it, click right here to get the full story.

If you think that was an isolated incident, think again. An Army officer sent out an email to his staff calling several Christian organizations, including the American Family Association, hate groups. You can read our report about it right here.

Easter sends liberals off the deep end

Liberals can't stand Easter, despite the fact that Jean Claude Van Damme apparently finds it awesome. When the holiday rolled around this year, the hate was in full effect.

The liberal pastor whose Easter service Obama attended took the opportunity to call the religious right "bigots," which will likely not win him any brownie points with St. Peter. You can read about it by clicking here.

Meanwhile, Ricky Gervais went on an Easter twitter rant of his own. Kinda weird to see an atheist go on Twitter and argue with a Deity he doesn't actually believe in. To read more about it, click right here.

MSNBC, O'Donnell let their bigotry show

MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell assured his place in hell recently when he went on a rant against the use of the Bible during the Obama Inauguration. What else do you expect from MSNBC's golden boy? To find out exactly what his problem was, click right here to read my column at Examiner.com.

Bill Maher gets a cold reception to his religious hatred

Bill Maher has been a shameless religious bigot for years, and when he tried his schtick attacking Christians on the Jay Leno Show, the audience did not take it well. Click here to read all about their reaction.