Mambo Chicken

The day before my trip to Alcor in Phoenix a week or so ago, I spotted Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition at Half-Price Books. It turned out to be an appropriate choice for reading on the flight as it documents the early history of Cryonics in an entertaining style. I had the chance to say hello to Hugh Hixon and Mike Perry, both mentioned in the book, while I was there touring Alcor.

I also finished up Rapture: How Biotech Became the New Religion. Although written by a different author, it could be the sequel to the Great Mambo Chicken book, picking up the story of the progress of the Immortalists some thirteen years later. I was pleased to see that it included an interview of my friend from the Humanist Fellowship Randy Wicker. I recommend both of these books to anyone interested in Cryonics, Extropianism, Transhumanism, and, of course, Optihumanism.

Alcor Interview

My friend Chana de Wolf recently posted on her webzine "Depressed Metabolism" the article Interview with Alcor member David Croft. I submitted my article questionnaire responses about a year ago so some bits are out of date but it has been edited to reflect that I now have five children instead of four.

The picture included in the article was taken of me at the Alcor conference back in 2006. If you look closely, you can see the reflection of the photographer in the glass behind me, Regina Pancake. I recommend her interview on the same website as she tells of a dramatic brush with death: Interview with Alcor readiness coordinator Regina Pancake.

Theodore Bernard Croft

Theodore Bernard Croft was born on 2009 April 18th Saturday at 19:20. He weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces.

Sham

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the moment of silence law is constitutional. Their conclusion states:

While we cannot allow a "sham" legislative purpose, we should generally defer to the stated legislative intent. Here, that intent was to promote patriotism and allow for a moment of quiet contemplation. These are valid secular purposes, and are not outweighed by limited legislative history showing that some legislators may have been motivated by religion.

This ruling cites as evidence of secular intent the fact that one of the sponsors of the bill stated, "for purposes of legislative intent, this is not a prayer bill". This ruling permits any religious law to be passed so long as the legislators deny that the intent is religious while simultaneously presenting a sham secular purpose.

I have posted the ruling on my Moment of Silence webpage along with links to news covering the ruling. Some of those news stories erroneously state that we launched the lawsuit because a schoolteacher told my son's class that the moment of silence was a time for prayer. The correction is that we had already decided to pursue the lawsuit before we discovered what the teacher had said. The teacher merely stated what everyone already knew.

Appeal Trip

I went to New Orleans earlier this month. On February 3rd, our attorney Dean Cook argued before a three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit for our moment of silence case. You can listen to the recording of the oral arguments. I posted links to the news stories covering the event on my Moment of Silence webpage.

Illinois Heroes

My congratulations to high school student Dawn Sherman and her father Rob Sherman for getting the moment of silence law in the state of Illinois struck down as unconstitutional. In response, Illinois legislators are already maneuvering to again amend the law to remove the word "prayer" from the statute in the hope that the court will no longer conclude, as Judge Gettleman did in his recent ruling, "that the amendment has no clear secular purpose, and that the stated purpose is a sham."

Whether the text mentions prayer or not, everyone knows that moment of silence laws in this day and age in America are about getting state-sponsored prayer into public schools. To state otherwise is analogous to claiming that the primary purpose of poll taxes just after the Civil War was to increase revenue to the States.

As far as our moment of silence case here in Texas goes, our attorney Dean Cook is headed to Louisiana in a couple of days to present oral arguments to a three judge panel as part of our appeal. A story covering the details of the case including an interview with Mr. Cook is currently featured on the website Texas Lawyer.

Previously I uploaded appeal briefs written by Mr. Cook. Today I uploaded to my Moment of Silence webpage the appeal brief presented by the State.

Optihumanist Holidays

I have put together a list of Optihumanist Holidays.

My family and I have successfully transitioned to celebrating HumanLight instead of Christmas. You can listen to a recent National Public Radio (NPR) audio report on this new holiday, HumanLight: December's Secular Holiday.

Appeal Reply Brief

I have uploaded a reply brief written by my attorney Dean Cook for our Moment of Silence case appeal. Oral arguments are tentatively scheduled for the first week of 2009 February.

Antitheism

I finished reading god Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens. If you are looking for a book that enumerates the sins of supernatural-based religions, this is it. Keep a dictionary handy when you read it.

Along with Dawkins, Dennett, and Harris, Hitchens is considered one of the New Atheists. In watching the first DVD of The Atheism Tapes, however, I noted that one of the interviewees described himself as an antitheist. This struck me as more descriptive and I read now that Hitchens has used that term to describe himself in the past.

Pledge Excusal Letter

At the beginning of each school year, we submit a letter to the teachers of our school children excusing our children from standing for the pledges to the U.S. and Texas flags. The letter cites the appropriate section of the Texas law that permits parents to do so. I have provided a template version of the letter at my State Pledge webpage for parents to download and reuse.

During the recitation of pledges in our public school classrooms, you will see some students choosing to remain seated while others stand. What does this mean to our one nation indivisible? It means religious laws divide us.