Here's what Carl said in his e-mail:

For veterans or memorial day, I really want to organize a group to march in a parade h onoring atheists in foxholes and see what the reaction is. Of course, first we need to find some atheist vets WILLING to march."

The video was provided by Sarah Murray of Prospect Heights, Illinois.

Also noteworthy is a comment posted by "SpeckinSpace" in yesterday's article, which said,

"This kind of 'in your face' expression is the wave of the future. THANK you for trailblazing and being willing and proud to stand up and say 'We are here...so... DEAL WITH IT !'

"Most of us who are Atheists understand the motive that fuels your actions. Also; feel free to ignore, insult, and generally dismiss the comments of people like vintage05. I, for one, will understand perfectly: You can't whisper to a rino."

Christians have repeatedly pointed out to me that their bible makes the bigoted, anti-atheist proclamation, "The fool says that there is no god." They never apologize for that. In fact, they are quite proud of that bit of ridicule against people who are different from themselves. However, when an atheist speaks up and politely affirms a different opinion on the subject, without attacking anybody else, all of a sudden it's unacceptable for me to publicly state that I'm proud of who I am.

And as for those fake accusations that I supposedly beat up my son, the former Buffalo Grove cop who concocted the scheme is the same police officer who wouldn't allow my son to join the police department's youth education program when Rick was 15 because the cop had a policy of "No atheists allowed" in his program. When I sued on that one and won, he retaliated, a short time later, by accusing me of causing bodily harm to my son. Bodily harm is defined by the Illinois Supreme Court (for all you lawyers out there, see People v. Mays , 437 N.E.2d 633, 636 (1982)), as "physical pain or damage to the body." When I demanded to know what bodily harm he was accusing me of supposedly causing my son, his answer was, "I don't have to tell you." A cop who doesn't allow atheists into his government funded and government operated group, arresting his town's most prominent atheist, but is unable to articulate any reason for the arrest? Can you spell "conflict of interest?"

I, of course, have never caused physical pain nor damage to the body of anybody, including my son. What was remarkable was that, when I received a copy of the Written Complaint (the charging document), it didn't even accuse me of doing either of the two necessary elements to sustain a charge of causing bodily harm. It merely accused me of violating the bodily harm law, without accusing me of doing anything that violated the law. The legal phrase is, "The facts alleged are insufficient to support the underlying charge." Here, no facts were alleged to support the underlying charge.

The prosecution was turned over to a Cook County Assistant State's Attorney who, it turned out, was also the chairman of the Warren Township Republican Party. This was at the same time that the slogan of my radio talk show was, "Bringing America coverage of the Democratic Landslide of 1998." I asked the prosecutor, repeatedly, what bodily harm I had supposedly caused my son and the answer was the same: "I don't have to tell you." The Chairman of the clearly anti-atheist Republican Party, prosecuting a prominent Democratic Party activist who is also the best know atheist in the state, yet the prosecutor is unable to articulate any reason for the prosecution? Can you spell "conflict of interest?"

During the trial, when I cross-examined my son on the witness stand, I asked him just what was his accusation against me? The prosecutor immediately objected to him answering the question. The judge over-ruled him and allowed Rick to answer. Rick said, "I don't know. It was the police officer who made the accusation against you, not me."

At the conclusion of the trial, the judge entered a finding of guilty, but didn't find that I had done anything, in particular, that violated the law, so I said to the judge: "Now that you've entered a finding of guilty, just what is that I supposedly did that you found me guilty of doing?"

The judge responded, "You don't understand, Mr. Sherman. Now that I've entered a finding of guilty, you have lost your presumption of innocence. Therefore, you have to tell the Court what it is that you did that violated the law." So, that's the method which the House of Fraud uses to get around the Fifth Amendment protection against coerced false confessions.

When I refused subsequent demands by the Associate Judge to commit professional suicide by creating a false accusation against myself and confessing to it, the Poster Boy for Judicial Fraud attempted to commit professional homicide against me by sending me to jail, not for committing a crime, but rather for "failing to cooperate with the Court's efforts to help me" by creating a false accusation against myself and confessing to it.

It's now eleven years later. I still have never done anything that violates the law, nor have I ever been accused of doing anything that violates the law. Rick, now 27, and I get along great. We talk to each other and see each other all of the time, including having lunch at Le Titi de Paris last week in Arlington Heights. We're going to have dinner this week at Louie's Chop House in Shorewood.

Meanwhile, the same Associate Judge was forced to admit, during the League of Women Voters Candidate's Debate for Judge on February 29, 2004, that his standard operating procedure is to corrupt the governmental process and render false decisions to help his friends. This Associated Judge, who was running as a Republican for a full Judgeship, used to be a prosecutor in the same office of the Cook County State's Attorney as that of his Republican Party Chairman friend who prosecuted me. Can you spell "Massive Conflict of Interest at Every Phase of the Process?"

I'm not only proud of being an atheist. I'm also proud of my spotless, flawless reputation. I've never committed a crime. I've never even been accused of doing anything that violates the law. Indeed, I never would have risen to be the host of Morning Drive on the highly regarded WJJG, nor been regularly included in the Chicago Sun-Times Radio Highlights, nor, for that matter, been offered a very prestigious spot at Chicago Now, had that fake accusation against me had even a scintilla of truth to it.

None of that matters, however, to Christians, who love to proclaim that "Sherman was convicted," even though I was convicted of the crime of nothing, as alleged by nobody, in a blatantly obvious scheme that was concocted by one extreme political enemy, prosecuted by another extreme political enemy and tried by a judge with a long track record of corruption.

That Associate Judge, by the way, lost his 2004 election bid in a landslide due to widespread outrage in the community about his blatant and systematic dishonesty. What is that guy doing today? He's still sitting on the bench as an Associate Judge in the House of Fraud. We can't seem to get rid of him, even after voting him down by a huge margin, five years ago.

And you wonder why Illinois has a reputation for the most corrupt court system in the world.

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