Islam Creates Saudi Tragedy Fifteen school girls were killed on March 11 when Saudi Arabia's much-feared religious police reportedly forced them back into a blazing school because they were not wearing Islamic headscarves and black robes. Saudi media reported a scuffle between firefighters and officials with the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, who tried to keep girls inside the burning building in Mecca. The police stopped bystanders trying to help the girls, warning, "It is sinful to approach them." A witness was quoted saying he saw the religious police beat young girls to prevent them from leaving the school for not wearing the abaya. A father of a dead girl claimed the school watchman refused to open the gate of the locked school to let the girls out. Students are routinely locked in schools to ensure segregation of the sexes. Most of the dead schoolgirls were killed during a stampede. An additional 50 girls were injured in the school of 800. "Lives could have been saved had they not been stopped by members of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice," editorialized the Saudi Gazette. British press called the public criticism of the mutaween highly unusual. Yates & the Religion Connection Letters sent by notorious street preacher Michael Peter Woroniecki and his wife to Andrea Yates, 37, contributed to her downward spiral, according to Suzy Spencer, Texas author of Breaking Point. Yates, convicted of first-degree murder in March and sentenced to life imprisonment after drowning her children in the family bathtub last June, suffered from extreme post-partum depression and schizophrenia. The prayerful couple had five children in eight years. Russell Yates encouraged Andrea to have "enough boys for a basketball team" and to homeschool the children--ages 7, 5, 3, 2 and a baby--even after hospitalizations for severe mental illness. He told Time magazine (Jan. 28) that the "devil prowls around looking for someone to devour . . . Andrea was weak, and he attacked her." A psychiatrist who interviewed Andrea in jail testified the defendant herself believed she had been marked by Satan, and that killing her children while they were young was the only way to save them from hell. "Rusty" Yates, who met Woroniecki while a student at Auburn University, considered the preacher a "spiritual adviser" and sent money to support his ministry. Spencer said some of the letters written by the Woronieckis to Andrea told her "all women are descendants of Eve, and Eve was a witch," calling women who worked outside the home "wicked." In 1998, Rusty bought a GMC 350-foot bus from Woroniecki, living in it with Andrea and their two children until her parents insisted Rusty buy a house following a suicide attempt by Andrea. Defense attorney George Parnham put into evidence Woroniecki's newsletter "The Perilous Times," lamenting worldly mothers and asking, "What becomes of the children of such a Jezebel?" Houston psychiatrist Lucy Puryear told the jury this idea was what Andrea Yates' "delusions are built around." Puryear and forensic psychiatrist Park Dietz contend that when the Yateses copied the Woroniecki family lifestyle of homeschooling children and living in a bus, it precipitated Andrea Yates' suicide attempts. Happiness . . . Is No God? Researchers into happiness announced in January their findings that happiness is not linked to behaviors some researchers have assumed created general well-being. In their study involving about 100 college students, Dr. Ed Diener, of the University of Illinois, and Dr. Martin Seligman, of the University of Pennsylvania, found that the happiest among them did not attend church services more frequently, exercise more or get more sleep than unhappier counterparts. Madison Scouts Pull Out of United Way The Four Lakes Council of Boy Scouts of America pulled out of United Way of Dane County, Wis., following continued turmoil over its bigotry against gays and atheists. The council will forego its annual $75,000 in funding, but will still be eligible to receive donations earmarked specifically for BSA. Last year, such donations totaled more than $60,000.

This issue of Freethought Today debuts a new column. You will meet some people in uniform who allegedly do not exist--the atheists, agnostics and freethinkers among the men and women who serve in our armed forces and work for our fire and police departments throughout the country. We hope this column will put to rest the polemical claim frequently heard in times of national strife, that: "There are no atheists in foxholes!" It was on a Sunday around 11 a.m. when my fire department engine company responded to a teenage female having difficulty breathing. When we arrived, there were about fifteen people, mostly teenagers, crowded around a girl who was sitting on the porch hyperventilating. I was able to determine, from her presentation and history, that she was not having an asthma attack or other serious respiratory compromise, but an anxiety attack. For the next 20 minutes I sat with this girl, coaching her breathing, speaking calmly, holding her hand--just basic TLC. Success! Her breathing returned to normal, after which she felt a little tired, so we had her lie down on a sofa inside. As she lay down, the girl suddenly told me, "You know, you should come to my church with me!" Now, as a person in a position of trust, I have to be careful about what I say to people while on duty. I also knew it wouldn't take much to rekindle this girl's anxiety attack, so, smiling, I replied, "Uh, I don't think that would be a very good idea." I then attempted to change the subject back to her breathing, but she persisted, adding, "No, really, you should come to my church with me! It's a wonderful church, it's New Life . . ." I had to call in a report to my base hospital, so I took this moment to do so. While I was in the next room on the telephone another girl said to me, "Yeah, we really would like to have you at our church!" After this second invitation it dawned on me that we had walked into a Christian group meeting! This wasn't to be the end of it, however. When I returned to the first girl to give her some final instructions about "controlling her breathing," she continued with her mission: "You know, you really do need to come to my church." And then, putting her hand on my arm, she added, "It's OK, I used to be a bad person too!" I was stunned by this insult and asked her if I was a bad person because I don't go to her church? She immediately responded that she "hadn't meant it that way." Maybe. In either case, I told her that I have already been where she is, and have no desire to go back; and that she has much to learn and I hope one day she comes to understand that. What disturbs me most about this event is not what the girl said about me, but what she said about herself--that she "used to be a bad person," but now that she accepts Jesus, she's suddenly "good." Nonsense! She was undoubtedly a "good person" to begin with, and she would be so regardless of the religion she professed, if any at all. While the particular religious beliefs of these young people may be a great source of happiness for them, it is a shame that their church leaders teach them that anyone not believing as they do is "bad" or in need of "saving." We should also ask why, in accordance with Mark 16:17-18, the "laying-on of hands" by her Christian friends didn't help this girl, but the care provided by a heathen humanitarian did resolve the problem--no miracles required. Colorado Foundation member Bruce Monson is a professional firefighter-paramedic and former Baptist turned freethinker. He promotes religious tolerance, rational thinking, and the separation of church and state. For more information see his website at www.freethoughtfirefighters.org.