The following is the testimony of Richard S. Russell to the School Board of the Madison  Metropolitan School District.

     Good evening. My name is Richard S. Russell, I'm 56 years old, a citizen  of Madison, and a member of Atheists and Agnostics of Wisconsin, although I am here tonight as a private citizen and not as a representative of AAW.  I am  also here as a former Boy Scout. In all, I spent 10 years in Scouting — 3 in  the Cub Scouts, 3 in the Boy Scouts, and 4 in the Explorers.  During the last  half of that decade, I considered myself to be an atheist.

     My best friends in Scouting — the guys who always shared a cabin in the Lone Pine campsite at Camp Phillips — were a religious hodgepodge.  There was  Eric Seawell, the Southern Baptist kid; John Whitney, the Roman Catholic kid;  Alan Deutch, the Jewish kid; and me, the atheist kid.  We'd have lights-out  discussions long after Taps, during which time we learned more about each  others' heritage and also learned that the differences between us weren't as  important as the fact that we all got along OK.

     You may wonder how I could have kept a straight face while taking the  Scout Oath, which goes "On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God  and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times;  to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight."

     Well, it was pretty easy, actually. I figured God was nonexistent, and  therefore my duty to God was nonexistent, so that was probably the least  onerous and most easily accomplished duty I was ever going to face in the  Scouts.  That part about being "morally straight"?  That meant that I wouldn't  lie, cheat, or steal — which I didn't.  Nobody ever said anything about it  forbidding me from loving some other person.

     I also learned the 12 points of the Scout Law: a Scout is trustworthy,  loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty,  brave, clean, and reverent. Tonight I'd like you to consider these official explanations, straight from the Boy Scout website, for half of these points:

LOYAL: A Scout is true to his family, Scout leaders, friends, school, and nation.

HELPFUL: A Scout is concerned about other people. He does things  willingly for others without pay or reward.

FRIENDLY: A Scout is a friend to all. He is a brother to other Scouts.   He seeks to understand others.  He respects those with ideas and customs other  than his own.

COURTEOUS: A Scout is polite to everyone regardless of age or position.    He knows good manners make it easier for people to get along together.

KIND: A Scout understands there is strength in being gentle. He treats  others as he wants to be treated.  He does not hurt or kill harmless things  without reason.

CHEERFUL: A Scout looks for the bright side of things.  He cheerfully  does tasks that come his way.  He tries to make others happy.

BRAVE: A Scout can face danger even if he is afraid. He has the courage  to stand for what he thinks is right even if others laugh at or threaten him. 

     When I was in Scouts, nobody cared whether someone was an atheist or gay;  all that mattered was whether you were a boy. Unfortunately, the Scouting  movement has fallen under the sway of moralizing bigots who do seem to care,  and who have now decided that Scouting must discriminate against atheists and  gays.

     And that's bad enough in itself.  But it gets worse.  They are teaching the  rest of the Scouts to be hypocrites — to selectively choose which parts of  the Scout Law to obey.  A Scout may be loyal to a friend who happens to be  gay, he may be kind and treat an atheist as he himself would wish to be  treated, he may cheerfully try to make others happy even tho they are  different from him in some way.  Are these Scouts respected for their  adherence to the Scout Law?  They are not.  If a Scout is brave and stands up before the world and says "I'm gay" or "I'm an atheist," is he revered for  his bravery?  No, he's drummed out of the corps.

     The bigots running the Boy Scouts are trying to convince boys and young men to live by a wonderful code of ideals — a code that I myself was proud to  claim as my own when I was in Scouting and which I still hold up as a  standard of behavior now that I'm an adult. But they themselves do not adhere  to that code.  They are not helpful, friendly, courteous, or kind.  If they  claim they are, they are lying, as their actions make plain.

      The Boy Scouts of America is a private organization — even tho it  operates under a special charter from Congress — and is therefore free to  discriminate on the basis of religious preference or sexual orientation.  The  Supreme Court has said so, and under the American system of justice that  pretty much settles the issue. I wish they wouldn't, but they legally can.  However, the Madison Metropolitan School District doesn't have to  sanction the discriminatory practices of these hypocritical bigots by  subsidizing their activities in the tax-supported schools of our community.  And tonight I ask you to stop doing so.

     Because one of the other things I learned in Scouting was to always leave  your campsite in better condition than you found it.

     Thank you for your time and attention.

      Dear freethinker / atheist ,

      I know that not all atheists feel the need for regular communication with other people of the same persuasion but there any many who would like to do so, but lack the contacts or the facilities.   In July 2000 we started therefore the Freethinkers' forum, a forum website  with a very wide range of interesting subjects for freethinker/atheists.  The  forum is open to all, allowing a variety of views and ideas.  There are many forums, all combined in sections : 

 1. The freethought section with forums on freethought, atheism,  skepticism, religion, and science~religion.

2. The human interest section with forums on gender, health, politics, and world history.

 3. The philosophy and worldview section with forums on life and the  reason for existence.

 4. The science section with forums on general science, astronomy and  cosmology, computers and technology, geo-science and on "science friction."

 5. The society section with news from all continents.

 6. The secular section with one forum for the Secular Student Alliance and three forums for Secular Web masters training.

 7. And of course there is a section with communication forums, to  comment and/or provide personal views. 

     We hereby like to invite you to our freethinkers forum! 
     You can find us on the following:  www.freethinkersforum.com/

     Although everyone can visit the forum, please note that to post in the forum  you need to be registered first.

     As a special service the forum offers a free linking page, where members  can promote their freethought -- or related -- websites by placing a link with  description of their site.  We plan to add several other features to this  section, like a quiz and a humor site.   You can reach this section using a  link at the bottom of every forum page.

     Please note that all members use a self-selected handle, and that your  wish for privacy will be honored! 

     No names or e-mails addresses will ever be passed to other parties! 

     Well, we hope to meet you soon in the freethinkers forum!

     With kind regards,

      John van Zelst
      e-mail: john@eec.co.za
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     "The board's proposal [Bible Course in Florida Schools] has divided Lee  County for nearly two years, leading to lengthy school board meetings  punctuated by heated arguments and emotional discourse.  In the process, the growing Gulf Coast county, whose largest city is Ft. Myers, has become the  latest example of the unpleasant fallout that follows a Religious Right  takeover of a public school board."

     "Robinson, the Unitarian Universalist minister, says the board has its  priorities confused. Noting that only 125 of 13,500 Lee County high school  students have expressed an interest in taking the Bible course, he said,  'It's catastrophic.  This is a school system that does not have enough  textbooks. Yet they have spent $500 per student for this elective [Bible  Course].  It has caused us to spend hours at school board meetings over  something that has no business being there instead of figuring out how to  improve the classroom situation."

     "The Lee County drama sounds familiar to watchers of the Religious Right.    In recent years the Christian Coalition and allied Religious Right groups have succeeded in gaining majorities on a handful of school boards around the country.  Once seated, the Religious Right operatives waste no time attempting to implement a far-right, fundamentalist agenda -- be it textbook censorship, the introduction of creationism in science classes or attacks on sex education.  Inevitably, chaos and community backlash have ensued."

     "The Council's board of directors and advisory panel are studded with  far-right activists, including at least two Christian Reconstructionists -- Howard Phillips and Rus Walton. (Christian Reconstructionists advocate  turning America into a theocracy with all 
civil law based on a fundamentalist  reading of the Bible.)"

     "...during the election, Moore [the Religious Right board member] usually  kept his ties to Religious Right groups under wraps.  However, on at least one  occasion...  Moore did admit to being a Coalition member but insisted that the group 'is just like the Rotary Club.' Moore won, Holzinger [Moore's  challenger] says, by mobilizing members of MacGregor Baptist Church and  outspending her.  According to his final financial disclosure statement, Moore  spent $67,195 on the race. Holzinger spent under $14,000, the normal range  for school board candidates in the county." 

     "The board is already moving on  other Religious Right fronts.  It has taken  steps to implement 'abstinence only' sex education in the schools and there are signs that a creationism battle is brewing." 
from Michael Koller 
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[excerpted from Church & State magazine, January 1998.  Editors' note: this violation of church-state separation was abandoned by the school system after a legal suit was filed]
 

     Al Denson has a "character" program for assemblies in public schools, (re: www.aldenson.com) which is really an effort at Christian evangelism.  Part of his program for public schools includes, in part:

     "...an evening evangelistic concert for students in the area. Celebration Ministries will provide a second booklet entitled When Tragedy Strikes -- The Hope and the Healing which gives biblical answers to dealing with tragedy.

     According to one page on his web site, www.aldenson.com/ school/whoareyou/, "Al and Co. are reaching tens of thousands of students through the 'Who are
You in the dark?' School Assembly Program. We've traveled to hundreds of cities and High Schools across America with the message of character and the life changing message of Jesus Christ..."

     The site has a list of important positive character traits: courage, honesty, (positive) attitude, respect, abilities (developing one's talents to the fullest and a commitment to excellence in all areas of life), compassion, trust, endurance (persistence), responsibility.  He saves the part about being saved through Jesus for the end of the program.

     WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW:

     Send a press release exposing the program as being pervasively religious, and pointing out that the character traits described on the website are not the exclusive domain of Christians, that non-Christians including atheists and agnostics have character too and that character can be taught without the religious references.

     Thank you!

 This joke by Emo Phillips was voted by a jury of American comedians as #44  out of the "Best 75 Jokes Ever" in GQ Magazine. To do it justice, imagine the two  participants becoming increasingly enthusiastic and animated as the conversation progresses.   -- Richard Russell

    I was walking across a bridge one day and I saw a man standing on a ledge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said, "Stop! Don't do it!" 

    "Why shouldn't I?" he said. 

    "Well, there's so much to live for." "Like what?" "Well, are you religious?"  He said yes.   I said, "Me too! Are you Christian or Buddhist?"  "Christian."  "Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?"

    "Protestant." "Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"

    "Baptist." "Wow, me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?"

    "Reformed Baptist Church of God." "Me too. Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1789 or Reformed Baptist Church of God, 1915?"

    He said, "Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915."

     I said, "Die, heretic scum!!" And pushed him off the bridge.
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One is that God loves you and you're going to burn in hell. 

The other is that sex is the most awful, filthy  thing on earth. And you should save it for someone you love.