Terahertz

First, most atheist-blog readers have probably heard the story about the American military using gun sights with references to Bible passages on them in Iraq and Afghanistan. What Canadian readers may have missed was that our troops are also carrying an unspecified number of these sights in Afghanistan.

While this isn’t as constitutionally-questionable here as in the USA, it is definitely in really bad form to try to establish a democratic government in a predominantly Muslim country while carrying Christian-endorsed weapons.

Luckily it sounds like there is agreement within the Canadian military that the inscriptions ought to be removed (now hopefully they actually do before it insights further aggression against our soldiers).

Second, an anti-abortion group in Kelowna, BC (the bible-belt of the otherwise secular province) has gotten together to put the following (American religious) ad on local television, featuring the severed hand of an aborted foetus:

The ad ends with “May our hearts be broken enough for God to enter and stir us to action to defend their lives.”

I reluctantly support their right to show this ad, as free speech is a right that I generally support.

Nevertheless, the positive result here is that this made me realize that following the wildly successful atheist bus ads, we ought to target another venue, perhaps television (especially in a cheaper market like the BC interior which can still yield earned press) could prove equally fruitful.

Finally, to end positive, the Saskatchewan Skeptics have written a letter to Premier Brad Wall to declare February 12 as Darwin Day. Provincial and local proclamations are often made for special-interest groups, and there is precedent for Darwin Day proclamations. Unfortunately, February 12th marks the opening ceremonies for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, so I foresee very few proclamations being made on that date in this province.

Nevertheless, it may be a cause worth submitting to a few city councils and media outlets.

Update: I just saw an anti-abortion ad on A Channel Vancouver from “The Signal Hill” which provided a website that offers a lot of myths and outright lies about abortions. Although this one was not explicitly religious (and neither is their website), it still demonstrates the size of their budget base.