Conservative theists love to merge religion and state. Even in a predominantly Christian nation such as the U.S., many conservative Jews and Muslims advocate promoting government-sponsored expressions of love for the Deity from non-sectarian points of view.

Theists have long maintained that non-theists have not contributed anything great to the world, especially in the way of goodness. Let’s examine that ridiculous claim, shall we?

Recently, the Atheist Alliance of America held a conference in close proximity to the Women of Color Ministries. Mandisa Thomas, a leading Black atheist activist, attended the conference. She and other atheists were confronted by some of the nice Christian ladies from the other group. These women essentially accused Thomas of being a sellout with a slave mentality, essentially accused the White atheists of being demons, and confidently proceeded to pray the demons away.

Some Christians can be quite smug in their knowledge of so-called pagan beliefs and practices embraced by other Christians. For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses oppose the celebrations of Christmas and Easter because of their pre-Christian origins. Members of the Worldwide Church of God reject Christmas, Easter and many other beliefs and practices embraced by mainstream Christians.

Mental illness has long had a stigma among African Americans. Churches do not address it very well, and many African Americans are squeamish about discussing it. However, as bad as the problem is in the Black community of the U.S., Black Africans have it much worse. People suffering from mental illness in many African nations are literally chained in Christian prayer camps. Some of them wander the streets completely nude. Many African Christians believe they can cure mental illness through prayer.

Great moral teachers, religionists and teachings from “sacred” texts have long promoted altruism, sympathy and empathy as some of humanity’s greatest virtues. But there has been very little said or written by great moral teachers about the many ways in which people exploit kindness as a weakness.

As a result, she temporarily left the area to get away from the abuse and to clear her head. When she returned, she was again subjected to abuse. This time a Bills fan walked in front of her, proudly displayed his Bills shirt, and told her, “I hope you get raped!”

Even if the woman had been a convicted child killer, no decent person would have wished rape upon her. However, this was a freaking football game! If something as innocent as a football game could provoke this kind of vile hatred, one can just imagine how such viciousness could erupt in men that resent women’s success.

There is no shortage of theists claiming that a belief in God is absolutely necessary if one expects to achieve and maintain sobriety, win at sports, be happily married, and so on. However, this view is not only insulting to non-theists – and utterly wrong – but it can be dangerous.

At most weddings, preachers dogmatically insist that marriages cannot last unless couples put God first. However, it seems more sensible to urge that couples put each other first. Indeed, there are many nonreligious couples that are ecstatically happy doing just that. The late, great secular humanist Paul Kurtz and his wife Claudine were such a couple. Kurtz wrote and spoke eloquently about the commitment that married couples should have with one another; and more importantly, he “walked the walk.” (Moreover, Kurtz helped popularize the call for humanist weddings, funerals and other ceremonies.)

Muslims in France are running out of mosques. Their mosques are overcrowded and, in some cases, many Muslims have to pray _outside_ their mosques because there are too many other Muslims inside. Some French Muslims have come up with what seems to many like a sensible answer to the problem. They have suggested that, because there are so many empty churches in France, they could be converted into mosques.

The latest Jurassic Park movie _Jurassic World_ has sent many Christians into a tizzy. They find it difficult to enjoy the film because it lends credence to the theory of evolution, which for creationists and Intelligent Design theorists, is far more frightening than any tyrannosaur could ever be. (Indeed, many of them refer to it as _eviloution_.) How ironic that, for them, they cannot enjoy science fiction because of the good science behind it!

On May 31, 2015, my brother Dave Allen and I attended the second international conference of the Philippine Atheists and Agnostics Society (PATAS.) The organization was founded on February 14, 2011 by former leader Marissa Torres. (Torres has founded and leads another group known as the Humanist Association of the Philippines International, or HAPI, some of whose members attended the second PATAS conference.)

Someone once said, “You cannot sit on the lid of progress. If you do, you will be blown to bits.” This statement has never been more obvious than it is today with seemingly revolutionary changes taking place across the U.S.

One of the biggest mysteries in life is how otherwise intelligent people can have incredibly stupid beliefs. All non-theists are not perplexed that so many people believe in a Supreme Being. However, some of the beliefs that accompany theism are unbelievable indeed.

Perhaps I could be of some assistance in this regard. The Bible not only condones aggressive and combative behavior, but it is much worse than that. Freddie, how about this sexist/genocidal gem? “Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.” (Numbers 31:17-18.)

It has always been absolutely clear to me that theodicy is a complete waste of time. The problem of evil simply cannot be solved. How could evil exist if a perfectly good, all-powerful, all-knowing God exists? Evil cannot come from that which is perfectly good. Therefore, God could not have created evil. (Moreover, evil could not have originated outside God, because God is everywhere. A perfectly good God would have recognized evil and destroyed it at its inception.)

In recent weeks there have been disturbing stories in the news about people using religion to make life miserable for others. There is the story of certain Ultra- Orthodox Jewish men on numerous flights from New York to Israel refusing to sit next to women because it is allegedly against their religion. These religious fanatics, not surprisingly, insist that everyone must respect their deeply cherished religious values.

March is Women’s History Month in the U.S., England and Australia. March 8th is International Women’s Day. What better time to discuss the roles that religion and humanism have played in women’s pursuit of human rights?