I'm starting to think this is all a sick joke.

After the recently enacted Louisiana Science Education Act and the Damon Fowler incident at the Bastrop High School graduation (which was especially exciting for me as Bastrop is my hometown), I really thought that I wouldn't hear any more religious controversy in my home state for at least a little bit... but alas! One hour west of my university, a Shreveport, LA weatherman posted a Facebook status about how he hopes Casey Anthony finds Jesus.

But here's the cincher: he was using the news channel's Facebook page to post the status.

Once again, the state of Louisiana is up in arms about Christianity. I'm keeping an eye on the KTBS 3 News page to see if anything else exciting happens.

The Friendly Atheist has all the juicy details.

... This is actually a really exciting state to live in if you're an atheist. Not that I want to stick around or anything. ;]

The atheists are coming...

So, just yesterday a senior at the public high school in my hometown declared that he did not want prayer at graduation... and that he would contact the ACLU if there were prayer. Well, the school has removed the prayer from the program and replaced it with a "moment of silence"... which, I think, is a great substitution that is respectful of the beliefs and non-beliefs of everyone who may be in attendance...

But it's not good enough for the folks of North Louisiana! This student has received multiple threats (some of them death threats). He's also had a terribly biased newspaper article written about him (that made the FRONT PAGE)... The town is in shambles, and many Christians are planning to rally and recite The Lord's Prayer during the moment of silence.

Let me repeat: the student is receiving DEATH THREATS. Christians showing off their "Christian love" once again!

I hate Louisiana. I'm surrounded by people who don't understand (or care about) the Constitution. Also, I've never seen so much hate in all my life. It seriously makes me ill.

Some linkage for you guys:
'Student challenges prayer at Bastrop graduation' - article from our local newspaper (the finest example of nonbiased journalism I ever did see)
Rock Beyond Belief's blog entry about this issue

In other news, my boyfriend has been here for the past few days to shield me from being completely alone with my parents now that I'm out... I'm pleased to report that things are going a lot better than I thought they would. :]

I'll be alone with my parents tonight but my mother's already decided that as long as we treat each other with respect there's no reason to keep talking about it... and I agree!

15-day atheist challenge, day 3.

Are you a more outspoken or more apathetic atheist? Why?

Well for me it really depends on the situation. I'm not completely out of the closet yet so when I'm around my family, my lips are sealed tight. However, when I'm blogging or at a freethought society meeting I tend to be pretty outspoken about my lack of belief. I really don't feel that atheism is something to be ashamed of, but I do know when to keep quiet. Because I live in the Bible Belt, I don't bring it up (or try to argue with theists) in class or at work. Many of my professors are Bible-believing Christians and while they don't proselytize in the classroom, they do bring up their faith occasionally.

It's really a bit of a balancing act, I guess. I'm sure if I lived in a more metropolitan area or further north then it wouldn't really be a big deal... but this is Louisiana and my family is very religious.

I would like to point out that I am in no way apathetic about my atheism. I keep quiet because I have to, but I definitely care. :]

The Best of the Bible Belt: T-Shirt Edition

There is a certain t-shirt company with a prolific following here in north Louisiana... they make shirts using the timeless combination of jarringly bright colors (lime green, hot pink, gouge-my-eyes-out-with-a-spoon orange, etc) and ridiculous, "country girl" catchphrases... Here are just a few:

I'm a 4-wheeler ridin', mud-slingin', camo-wearin' kinda girl!

If I can't wear my flip-flops I ain't goin'!

Pink ain't just a color, it's an attitude!

I'm a Bible totin', Devil stompin', faith walkin' kinda girl!

I'm a cell phone talkin', text messagin', Facebook chattin', southern sassin' kinda girl!

CINDERELLA IS PROOF THAT A PAIR OF SHOES AND A REALLY CUTE GUY CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE OMG LOLZ. (Ok, so the caps-lock and the "OMG LOLZ" is mine--but you get the picture, right?)

Every time I see one of these t-shirts (which is at least a few times a day), I imagine Paula Deen reading the ridiculous sayings plastered on them and then I get all pissy because these shirts are one of the few things that can really set my blood boiling. I know it's totally irrational, but it's just one of my pet peeves. I've never seen less thought put into designing clothing. Their typical formula: I'm a blank blankin', blank blankin', blank blankin' (repeated ad nauseum) kinda girl!


And the worst part is that everyone loves these shirts. Everywhere you go,  these shirts are clinging to girls in ratty flip-flops and Daisy Dukes. Them down-home, corn-fed, Jesus lovin' country girls eat this shit up!

I want to special order one just for me in radioactive cyan blue that proudly proclaims: I'm an evolution lovin', knowledge seekin', deity disbelievin' rational kinda girl (complete with a bedazzled picture of Charles Darwin that looks like a pixie threw up on it)... But somehow that sounds even more ridiculous than the shirts they actually do offer for sale (but just barely).

Okay, rant over. I just needed to get that out of my system haha. :] Console me, and tell me that Louisiana isn't the only state with an overabundance of these terrible t-shirts?