The genuine compassion of nonbelievers around the world is with you.

Mike Celizic puts it bluntly:

I’m dying.

The lymphoma we’d thought we’d beaten into remission back in May came roaring back last month. We threw some really nasty chemo at it. The cancer ate it up and came back for more.

And so I’m going to die, and not in four or five months. I’ve got probably a couple of halfway decent weeks left. Then the lymphoma will take over my bloodstream and kill me.

Two things strike me about this story, aside from the obvious admiration and respect garnered by this man's approach to death. One is the disgusting nature of those Christians who pounce on every opportunity to prop up their superstition, almost as though they can't face their own doubt and fear.

Another is the invigorating honesty of the nonbelievers who come to the dying man's defense, and the real, beautiful morality they possess. It's that sense of the moment and all it offers that makes the naturalistic outlook so appealing to me.

Thank you for the reminder, Mike.

Read the rest of Mr. Celizic's story

ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- A national organization promoting marriage between a woman and a man brings its summer tour to Minnesota and Wisconsin this week.

And, at least one group is already planning a counter rally.
The National Organization for Marriage is traveling to Madison, Wis., on Tuesday, St. Paul on Wednesday, St. Cloud Thursday and Rochester Friday. The group plans to stop in 23 cities in 19 states before wrapping up with a rally in Washington on Aug. 15.

Granite City Baptist Church Pastor Dennis Campbell tells WJON radio that the organization contacted him about bringing the rally to St. Cloud and he agreed to host because it has a message he supports.

The group, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays is planning to counter demonstrate in East St. Cloud Thursday with a "Rally for Marriage Equality."

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=861268&catid=14

More at MPR

Special thanks to Doug Peterson for spearheading this project and seeing it through. We're proud to be contributing to our community.

Central Minnesota Friends Free of Theism, a St. Cloud area organization of humanists, rationalists, freethinkers, atheists and agnostics, has funded a scholarship sponsoring a student to attend a one-week at Camp Quest in Minnetrista this summer. Central Minnesota Friends Free of Theism made a donation of $395. There is a waiting list annually that has children who want to attend camp but can’t afford the fee.

Camp Quest of Minnesota (minnesota.camp-quest.org) is affiliated with National Camp Quest (www.camp-quest.org) of Ohio, the first secular summer camp for youth in the history of the United States. Camp Quest was specifically designed for children of Unitarians, atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, humanists, or whatever terms might be applied to those who maintain a naturalistic, rather than supernaturalistic world view.

Read the rest of the release at sctimes.com

Greetings from the Red River Freethinkers,

The Red River Freethinkers are excited and proud to announce that we will be hosting Fargo’s first non-theistic conference! “Project 42: 2010 Valley Freethought Convention” will be on Saturday, September 18, 2010, at the Fargo Civic Center in downtown Fargo, ND. The event will include five world-class speakers

: - Brian Keith Dalton: Producer and star of Mr. Deity, the increasingly popular on-line comedy series that takes a look at the universe with incredibly witty insights.

- PZ Myers: Author of Pharyngula, one of the most acclaimed science blogs of all time, a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.

- Dan Barker: Co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and author of several books, his most recent being Godless: How An Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists.

- Annie Laurie Gaylor: Co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, author, and executive editor of Freethought Today.

- August Berkshire: A well-known and respected speaker on atheism for comparative religion classes in high schools, and to community and Christian colleges. In 1984 he co-founded and was the first president of the Twin Cities Chapter of American Atheists (which became Minnesota Atheists in 1991). His website is www.augustberkshire.com.

Because this event is a first for the Red River Freethinkers (RRF), we could really use your help getting the word out about this convention. Please tell your group members, friends, family, clergy, dry cleaners… anyone you can about this exciting first-of-its-kind event in the Fargo-Moorhead area. This section of the country has gone far too long without the voice of reason being heard.

We feel that, with your help, not only will this event be a smashing success, but it will make it possible for the Red River Freethinkers to host an even bigger and better event of this type in the future. Thank you!

The website for the convention is: www.Project42Convention.org. It has speaker and ticket ordering information, as well as where the name “Project 42” comes from.

For further questions, please contact us: Jon Lindgren, RRF President This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it