Glenn Beck: Pluralism is a competition!

According to Raw Story, Glenn Beck says that “forces of spiritual darkness” (at CNN) arranged to have Wolf Blitzer ask an atheist tornado survivor if she thanked the Lord for sparing her life. The question was just part of a plan to give atheism more airtime, you see. And of course if that's how the atheists are going to be play, well, Beck wants Christians to fight back by showing that they can out-do us in the nice department:

Beck insisted that he liked atheists, but Christians needed to prove that they were better.

“Have I done anything this week, have you done anything that would make anyone say, ‘Wow, what is it about them? I want to be like that. I want to be able to provide hope to others in dark times,’” the radio host said. “If you haven’t done anything different than what an atheist can do this week then your light is not shining very bright at all.”

(Emphasis mine.) Beck's inducement to Christians to prove they are better than atheists is ludicrous... but it sounds even more ridiculous if you trade the terms "atheists" and "Christians" for any pairing that puts mainstream Christianity in the position of underdog, and gives the place of privilege to any other worldview:

Sonja Eggerickx insists that she likes Christians, but says Humanists need to prove that they are superior.

Miroslav Gavrilović insists that he likes Christians, but says the Catholics of the Serbian Orthodox church need to prove that they are superior.

Zachary Bos insists that he likes Christians, but says the secular citizens of Massachusetts need to prove that they are superior. 

Hey, I like that last one! Let's see how much further we can take it:

“Have I done anything this week, have you done anything that would make anyone say, ‘Wow, what is it about those Atheists? I want to be like that. I want to be able to provide compassion and reason to others in dark times,’” Zachary Bos continued. “If you haven’t done anything different than what a theist can do this week then your Atheism is not shining very bright at all.”

I like this game; it is both easy and subversive. Let's keep doing it! Here's how:

1. Find a piece of sectarian writing that is blind to the privilege of its position
2. Swap the privileged identity with the underprivileged identity
3. Share with friends

What do we call this? #tradingprivilege? #POVswap? #flipthebias? 

Looking for Newton atheists!

From the Secular Coalition for Massachusetts:

There's an event coming up -- the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast -- that the SCMA would like to use as an occasion to talk with various civic leaders about inclusion and SOCAS. If you are a Newton resident who'd be willing to talk with the SCMA about participating in our effort to engage the Mayor's office over this issue, please let us know: massachusetts@secular.org.  

In light of the potential fallout from coming forward as an atheist representative or activist, let us assure you that discretion will be afforded you, as well as anonymity if you require it.

Boston atheists needed to engage mayoral candidates on secular issues!

From the Secular Coalition for Massachusetts:

With the various mayoral candidates' forums coming up, the SCMA would like to know who in Boston would be willing to serve as resident representatives of the local nontheist community. We're going to want to ask the candidates how they intend to represent all Bostonians -- including nontheists -- if they are elected. 

If you are a Boston resident, please let us know if you'd like to be part of the team that puts these questions out there. In light of the potential fallout from coming forward as an atheist representative or activist, let us assure you that discretion will be afforded you, as well as anonymity if you require it. 

Contact: massachusetts@secular.org.

Psychiatrist loses license after diagnosing "evil spirits"

From the Religion Clause blog:

As reported by the Boston Globe, on May 8 the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine suspended the medical license of psychiatrist Raymond W. Kam, saying that his conduct in treating a 16-year old patient last year called into question his competence to practice medicine. Kam last year had already signed a voluntary agreement not to practice medicine. Kam, a Boston Children's Hospital psychiatrist, became convinced that the patient was being hurt by "evil spiritual entities." Kam gave the girl a cross to wear in exchange for a different religious symbol she had on. After the girl was discharged from the hospital, Kam, who had withdrawn from the girl's treatment team, obtained permission from the girl's father to act as her spiritual mentor, taking her to his church and exchanging text messages with her. When the girl was kicked out of her house, Kam offered to let her stay at his house on several occasions. He failed to report to authorities an incident in which the girl's mother pushed her down a flight of stairs and tried to asphyxiate her.  

The state Board also reprimanded a second psychiatrist who had failed to report the girl's abuse to authorities. Kam could regain his license next year if he completes a psychiatric evaluation and enters a 5-year probation agreement.

BA member Gabe McDonald writes:

There far too many instances where faith healing and religious practices are doled out in lieu of modern medical therapy. It is especially unfortunate when such non-treatments are protected by law. Here is a good example of what the repercussions should be.

Gingrich: MA gay marriage 'outlaws' Catholic doctrine

From an article by Zack Ford at Thinkprogress:

In an appearance on Meet The Press this weekend, Newt Gingrich reiterated a claim he’s made many times before that Massachusetts’s legalization of marriage equality discriminated against the Catholic Church’s ability to provide adoption services. In this particular appearance, he offered his most exaggerated description of what happened when Catholic Charities in Boston closed its adoption services, claiming that the state “outlawed” Catholic doctrine. 

The essential point of Gingrich's argument: "It is impossible for the Catholic Church to have an adoption service in Massachusetts that follows Catholic doctrine." The essential point of the rebuttal, as put forward by Ford: "Catholic Charities could continue to operate, but if it wants to continue receiving state funding, it has to comply with state laws."

As elsewhere, the supposed cultural conflict between secularization (equal protect and privilege under the law for all persons, regardless of sexual orientation) and religion (here, the Roman Catholic church and one of its charitable initiatives) is a product of misrepresentation rather than irreconcilable values.