KENTUCKY ATHEISTS NEWS & NOTES

I just got this newsletter from Edwin Kagin, who is the director of American Atheists in KY. I wanted to post this since I think it's both very interesting and troubling. And because he gave clear permission and encouragement to post in blogs :)

KENTUCKY ATHEISTS NEWS & NOTES Date: August 02, 2007

Kentucky Atheists, P.O. Box 48, Union, KY 41091; Email: ekagin@atheists.org

Phone: (859) 384-7000; Fax: (859) 384-7324; Web: http://www.atheists.org/ky/

Editor's personal web site: www.edwinkagin.com

Editor’s personal blog: http://edwinkagin.blogspot.com

Edited by:

Edwin Kagin, Kentucky State Director, American Atheists, Inc.

(AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for nonbelievers; works for the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.)

ATHEISM IS A CONCLUSION NOT A BELIEF

To Unidentified Recipients:

FOR WIDEST POSSIBLE DISEMMINATION. POST TO ALL LISTS, BLOGS, CHAT ROOMS, WHATEVER.


The report below is forwarded from the Military Director for American Atheists, Kathleen Johnson who is currently serving on active duty in Iraq.

This report is about an issue in Iraq. I don’t think there will be any surprises in this report for most of you because this is the reason American Atheists exists. Just the same, it still has quite a bit of impact. This is the battle we are fighting and sometimes it can be tough. Not all of our battles are this hard, but they vary by degree only.

I’m including the article in Stars and Stripes that Kathleen mentions in her report below at the bottom of this email. As per Kathleen’s request, please send any emails of encouragement to the brave young soldier who is mentioned below by using Kathleen’s email which follows.

Kudos to this brave young soldier for having the courage to stand up for his beliefs and right to express them freely in the face of such drastic opposition. Kudos to the other brave soldiers who had the courage to participate. And Kudos to Kathleen Johnson for leading our cause in such a hostile environment. They all deserve medals for bravery. Not just for standing up for their beliefs, but also for being in Iraq in the first place. Whether you agree with this war or not, our troops deserve at least that much.

It’s my personal opinion that if all Atheists stood up for their beliefs and were as vocal as these soldiers we would not be facing the discrimination we are facing today. We would be perceived as a much larger majority that should not be trifled with. I’m proud to be a part of the national organization that fights for the civil rights of Atheists in the face of this discrimination.

Kathleen’s report follows.

Bart Meltzer,
Director of State and Regional Operations,
American Atheists, Inc.
bm@atheists.org

(AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for nonbelievers; works for the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.)

Bart,

Thought you'd be interested in this report of the first-ever meeting of Atheist service-members in Iraq under the umbrella of the MAAF-Iraq chapter of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers. This meeting was put together by the same young MAAF member who recently had his second letter published in the Stars and Stripes.

One of our members, a young Atheist enlisted soldier, thought he would like to see if he could generate some interest in MAAF meetings at his Forward Operating Base (FOB) here in Iraq (not the base I'm at, by the way). He got things coordinated and started hanging flyers, and after weeks of having to re-hang his flyers almost daily because some vandal kept tearing them down, he finally succeeded in having a small MAAF meeting. I wasn't there because the meeting wasn't on my FOB, but I knew he was holding it and was expecting to hear from him after the meeting. Keep in mind that this young soldier did everything right - he went through the Chaplain's office and jumped through all the hoops it takes to legally hold meetings that are religiously or philosophically based. Four soldiers attended this meeting - all of them very junior enlisted soldiers with the exception of one Major (an O-4), who claimed to be a "freethinker".

Well, to make a very long story a little shorter, the Major turned out to be a fundamentalist Christian who verbally berated the other attendees, accused them of plotting against Christians and disrespecting soldiers who have died protecting the Constitution, and threatened them with punishment under the UCMJ for their activities (said they were "going down") and said he would do whatever it took to shut the meetings down. Keep in mind that by this point, he had two of the attendees (one soldier fled when the shouting started) standing at the position of attention so that he could yell at them, berate them, and humiliate them. This apparently went on for several minutes at which time the Major shut down the meeting by saying he wasn't some "push-over Chaplain" and that he would not tolerate the meetings to continue.

The young MAAF member who hosted the meeting is absolutely freaked out about what happened, but he said he's going to continue with the meetings and isn't going to be bullied by the prayer warriors. I've advised him to immediately notify the Chaplain sponsor of what happened to get guidance while I try to figure out what to do next. I should hear something back from him tonight sometime and there's even a small possibility I might be able to score a mission to his FOB and attend one of his meetings in the next few weeks (if I do, I'll meet with the Chaplain in person).

As for immediate action, he's going to get me the names of his Chaplain sponsor and the name of the officer who disrupted the meeting. My intent right now is to make a formal report to the most senior Chaplain I can find along with possibly an Equal Opportunity complaint against the officer if we can get him fully identified. I may not be eligible to make that complaint because I wasn't there, but I can at least smooth the way for this young troop to make one if he elects to. At the very least, I can make the EO office formally aware of what happened there.

More info will follow when I get it, but right now, feel free to disseminate this information since I've intentionally sanitized it for names and locations. I will be happy to forward any words of support to him if they get mailed to my milatheist@aol.com address - he could really use some encouragement right now, I think.

Kathleen

Kathleen Johnson,
Military Director,
American Atheists, Inc.
kjohnson@atheists.org

(AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for nonbelievers; works for the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.)


http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=47626

Read the Constitution

It seems to me the author of “Atheist revival bad …” (letter, July 13) needs to read the Constitution he swore to uphold and defend, and study some American history.

Our nation was not “founded under God, upon Christian principles.” The first settlers of the new world were seeking, among other things, escape from religious persecution, not to form a faith-based colony. As Americans, we are granted the freedom of religion, which includes not having one, not the freedom to choose which form of Christianity we follow.

The author seems to think Camp Quest is somehow dangerous to our country and our youth, when in fact it’s people exercising their right to free assembly. The number of religious-based summer camps far outweighs the atheist ones, and those based on a system of beliefs will prove to be more of a “training ground” than any that encourages free thought.

I highly doubt any of the children at Camp Quest would be chastised if they thought a higher power might exist. On the other hand, what would happen if a child at a Christian retreat voiced doubt that Jesus was the son of God?

Atheists come from every walk of life and many are educated about several faiths. As a child I was fortunate enough to be allowed to attend many churches. By the third grade I knew there was no God, and still educated myself by attending a variety of services. This is common with a lot of atheists. Many people force their children into the family religion and shun other beliefs, that’s the true “brainwashing.”

There is no atheist revival, we’ve always been here as a silent minority, most just choose to live their own lives and let you live yours.

Staff Sgt. Gene Horrigan
Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar

----------------------------------------------------------

Camp Quest is legal

After reading “Atheist revival bad for U.S.,” I couldn’t help but laugh. Does no one research anything for themselves anymore? Or do they just repeat what they heard from someone else?

The writer complains how atheist children have their own summer camp (Camp Quest). And that someone else is actually happy about it. Well, it’s 100 percent legal, because of the U.S. Constitution.

It’s just as legal as any other private organization, such as Bible camps and churches. The next thing that bothered me was the claim that the U.S. was founded “under God.” And that it was based on Christian principles and values. Well, that just sucks for a lot of people, doesn’t it?

Since America is a Christian nation, I guess everyone else is just second-rate! Sorry (insert religious minority here), you’re not good enough. Nowhere in the Constitution is there a mention of a God. Religion is referenced as exclusionary. Such as stating that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust.” (Article VI) That sounds secular to me.

The U.S. is a free nation. The First Amendment applies to every private citizen. And that includes us atheists. It is the individual freedoms that make our nation great.

Spc. Jeremy Hall
Camp Speicher, Iraq

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……..

Here is the letter referred to above. http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=55297&archive=true

As the author observes, “…a nation that forgets what made it great is destined to fail.”

Perhaps he, and the un-American Major discussed above, would be happier in the army of some other country.

Do you feel safer knowing that these persons are in the Army of the United States of America?

Why do they hate our freedom?

Edwin.

Atheist ‘revival’ bad for U.S.

I have to say that I was very disturbed to read the article “Atheists are happy campers at Ohio retreat” (July 8). From just looking at the picture next to the article with the children playing together, you would think that they were just at an outside function participating in a fun activity. But when I read the article, I found there is a lot more to it than that.

The author of the article seems to be overjoyed and ecstatic about young teenagers being at a summer camp where the existence of God is happily denied and refuted, speaking of a revival of atheism and Camp Quest (the name of the summer camp) being a training ground for the atheist movement. How sad to see yet another example of God being kicked out and pushed aside in our society, and young kids being taught — or, in my opinion, brainwashed — to do it.

I wonder how long it will be before America becomes a completely secular society when I see and read things like the Camp Quest article. We already have people fighting daily to remove God from our money, the Pledge of Allegiance and more. As one girl who was quoted in the article stated, “This year, I stopped getting up and saying the pledge,” because it includes the words “under God” in it.

Like it or not, our nation was founded under God, upon Christian principles and values, and yet it seems people, such as the ones who founded Camp Quest, continue to ignore and defy it and encourage others to do the same. It seems to me a nation that forgets what made it great is destined to fail.

Spc. Matthew B. Cravens
Hanau, Germany

Saint?

I'm sure there are plenty of good, even saintly selfless people out in the world, but I don't think Mother Theresa should be our example...

YouTube - What is faith?

YouTube - What is faith?

YouTube - The Atheist's Nightmare - 6 Proofs God Created Everything!!

I find this amusing. Thanks to the Friendly Atheist for finding this :)



YouTube - The Atheist's Nightmare - 6 Proofs God Created Everything!!

I'm proud of myself :)

I went to Bernhiem Forest today to enjoy some of the nice weather and get some ideas for the 'Dragonflies and Damselflies' theme for the exhibit I'm putting together.
While I was there I meet up with a couple friends who are also in the Naturalist-In-Training program and we went on an impromptu hike and were going around identifying trees and that sort of thing. When we were done we hung around for a while and just chatted at the trail head and one of them asked me what the symbol on my necklace was. It was my American Atheist necklace and for half a moment I wondered what to say, but then decided to just be straight forward about it. I told them that it is the symbol for American Atheists and then explained the iconography of the symbol (see: http://www.atheists.org/visitors.center/logo.html). I was a bit worried for a moment how they would react--as I didn't really feel like fielding questions about why I don't believe in god at the moment. But as it turned out we pretty much just went on to the next topic after I told them. I had a long and good conversation about belief and experience with one guy who turned out to be a relatively open-minded and enlightened Christian. So all-in-all it was a good experience.

I'm just proud to say that I'm finally getting to be bolder about telling people about my symbol for Atheism when they ask me. This was a big step, as I normally sidestepped the question when it came right down to it. I'm getting braver.

A subtle difficulty with being an atheist

I've had an epiphany about something. I just got my copy of God is not Great in the mail yesterday and started reading it that night. And I've noticed that in all the latest books on atheism (The End of Faith, The God Delusion, Letter to a Christian Nation, Breaking the Spell) the authors come to their topics with their own styles, their own attitudes, and their own vast diversity of knowledge and experience. Indeed, I can't read any of Dawkin's or Harris's, or Hitchen's or Dennett's books without being enriched by a lot of knowledge and wonder that go beyond merely arguing that god doesn't exist. I'm already convinced of that and I don't need to constantly reinforce it like I had to do with my faith when I was a Christian. But, to get to the point, while I was reading God is not Great last night I realized a difficulty I'd always had in being an atheist even though I never realized it.

A lack of atheist role models.

It seems perfectly obvious now. I grew up with a notion of how atheists are. Atheists are supposed to be angry at God, rebellious, selfish sinners--at least this is the image I grew up with. And I knew no atheists personally, at least no one who admitted to it. No wonder that for a long time after I realized that I didn't believe in god, I'd had trouble with calling myself an Atheist. Now I've finally been exposed to so many different and rich images of what it means to be an Atheist. It is perfectly right and consistent for an Atheist to be ethical and caring and smart. Even tolerant and tactful and diplomatic. And, of course, smart and rational. I've finally recognized this void in my former life--thanks to all of my role models out there. Thank you!

The Declaration of Independence

Happy Forth of July! I was inspired this morning to go online and find the Declaration of Independence. I've lived and been educated in this country for a whole 27 years now, and just realized that I don't think I've ever actually read this foundational document. I've just heard the main two quotes from it.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.— That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Now I hear this was a new thing: A government "deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed", not from the authority of a god. Even if it contains an appeal to "Nature and Nature's God" the God of the Deists, of course, it does not claim that it's authority comes from him. But that makes sense, given that all the arguments in the document are based on reason, not on faith or some claim to divine revelation. Quite the departure from the usual European ways at the time. Amazing.

And there is not even the slightest mention of Jesus Christ, not even in passing. I think it bears saying that this concept of the governing power coming from the the governed is in contrast, if not complete contradiction, to what is said in the Bible regarding the "governing authorities". As to the people who say the Declaration of Independence is a Christian document because it has the three letter word G-o-d in it--I think they do not know what they are talking about. The founders of America were doing nothing if not rebelling against the governing authorities!

Romans 13:1-7 NIV

1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. 6This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. 7Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Ok, now for the conclusion of the Declaration:

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Now that hits home, when you think that when these men signed the Declaration, they really were risking their lives and liberty if they would have been captured, or failed in their endeavor.

Well, this should be required reading for all Americans--and this is the perfect day to read it on.

The Declaration of Independence

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

Faith

Faith is a word
Seldom understood but often heard
Is it to hold fantastic beliefs dear
In an attempt to stave off fear
Of the dark?
Is it the mark
Of an non-rational mind
With hopes of a supernatural power
In which to take refuge as in a strong tower?
Or is it a compulsion
To bring strong towers to the level of the ocean
To bring judgment on those who show distaste
For the dogmas of your own dictatorial Faith?

As for me, I’ve no use for Faith
I’d rather be guided by Reason.
Better to keep an open mind,
And embrace superior ideas in their season.
The blindness of Faith leads to intolerance, and bigotry
To both theological divisions, and the most terrible tragedies of history.
Give me science and reason and the freedom of my mind
And we will leave the dark superstitions of the past far behind!

YouTube - Disturbed - Remember

Since I'm on a Disturbed kick right now...Here is a song by them that really helped me a lot during my early atheist days, when I was first making the escape from Christianity. I listened a lot to that Believe album during that time. Thanks Disturbed!



Sensation washes over me
I can't describe it
Pain I felt so long ago
I don't remember
Tear a hole so I can see
My devastation
Feelings from so long ago
I don't remember

Holding on, to let them know
What's given to me
To hide behind
The mask this time
And try to believe

Blind your eyes to what you see
You can't embrace it
Leave it well enough alone
And don't remember
Cut your pride and watch it bleed
You can't deny it
Pain you know you can't ignore
I don't remember

Holding on, to let them know
What's given to me
To hide behind
The mask this time
And try to believe



Blind your eyes to what you see
You can't embrace it
Leave it well enough alone
And don't remember
Cut your pride and watch it bleed
You can't deny it
Pain you know you can't ignore
I don't remember

If I can
Remember
To know this will
Conquer me
If I can
Just walk alone
And try to escape
Into me

YouTube - Land Of Confusion Disturbed

Cool animated music video! I love this song, and the video really have something to say about war and the greed behind it--both in Iraq and elsewhere. The animation makes me want to see some Pink Floyd too :)

YouTube - Land Of Confusion Disturbed



Ah, speaking of Pink Floyd.

I've been tagged!

Stardust has tagged me with a new meme. Here are the rules, in my own words.

1. First post the rules.
   
2. Post eight (8) random facts/habits about oneself.
3. Anyone who is tagged needs to write a new blog entry including the rules and their eight (8) facts/habits.
   
4. Tag eight (8) other people with blogs to participate in the meme, and list their names at the end of the blog post.
   
5. Leave a comment at each of the tagged blogs and let them know they have been tagged. Refer them to your blog post so they can read and find out what you are talking about.
   

So, here are my 8 random facts/habits:

1. I ride the bus to work, and ride my bike from home to the bus stop and then from the last bus stop on to to work.
2. I have a picture of Darwin posted in my computer/reading room.
3. I have a current obsession with kayaking, and have shopped a lot for my own kayak. But I'm torn on how much I'm able to spend and where in my apartment I'd store the thing if I bought one.
4. I'm a vegetarian, since April this year. I have not really even been tempted to go back to eating meat, much to my own surprise.
5. I seldom listen to radio other than NPR anymore, and that is only when I'm in my car. Which is not often during the work week anymore.
6. I am volunteering at Bernheim Forest and working though their Naturalist-In-Training program and learning all about how to connect people with nature. And I've been learning how to identify lots of locally native plants--It's been really fascinating!
7. I get really pee'd off when someone still doesn't get that global climate change is an issue that needs to be addressed. And I need to learn to pick my battles!
8. A lot of the times when I find a bug in my apartment, or elsewhere in a living place or car or something like that, I'll look closely at the bug and decide that it's actually really cool and I'm not going to kill it. I take it out if I can. Unless it's a tick, mosquito, or gnat--these can expect no mercy from me.

Alright--now I need to see if I can find eight other bloggers who have not already been tagged! It looks like pretty much the whole atheist blogroll has been infected already.

1. Star of Star's Journal of Random Thoughts
2. Contemplative Activist
3. Action Skeptics

Ok, this is a lot of work. I think this meme has been very effective already--I'll add the other 5 later if I find any more willing hosts.

A camp they can believe in | Chicago Tribune

Man! I wish I could have gone to these when I was young! Maybe I'll volunteer at the next one, who knows?

A camp they can believe in Chicago Tribune

A camp they can believe in
Ohio's Camp Quest lets young atheists enjoy summer fun with like-minded children

By Ron Grossman
Tribune staff reporter

June 27, 2007

CLARKSVILLE, Ohio -- At the same time youngsters at Bible camps across the nation are reciting, "Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray the Lord my soul to keep," kids at Camp Quest are climbing into their bunks, confident there is no one out there to hear those prayers.

Proudly proclaiming the motto "Beyond Belief," Camp Quest bills itself as the nation's first sleep-away summer camp for atheists. Founded in 1996, it has inspired four similar camps across the nation for children whose parents are either opposed or indifferent to religion.

Much of what goes on here, amid the cornfields of southwestern Ohio, is little different from any other camp. Campers canoe on the Little Miami River, practice archery skills and go on nature hikes.

To be sure, they also engage in some unusual rainy-day discussions of philosophical issues. Children who barely come up to an adult's waist toss around terms such as "circular logic." And those nature hikes focus on the beauty of evolution, unaided by any unseen hand.

Atheism has been experiencing a revival, as it were. Some national surveys show the numbers of non-believers growing. Books hyper-critical of religion are best-sellers. The biologist Richard Dawkins argued in "The God Delusion" that religion is just that. Faith as the source of all evil was explored with burning passion by Christopher Hitchens in "God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything."

But more than a training ground for a movement, Camp Quest is a place to set down the burden of being different.

Children who grow up in Christian households have the emotional security of being in the nation's majority. Members of religious minorities have similarly minded friends and relatives. But coming from a family that does not believe in God often sets a child on a lonely road.

Frieda Lindroth, a first-year camper, recognized that her first day at Camp Quest.

"'Wow!' I said to myself, 'I'm not alone,'" said Frieda, 12. She recalls being an atheist since the 2nd grade.

For its inaugural season, Camp Quest drew 20 campers. This year, it enrolled 47 young people, ranging from 8 to 17 years old, for its weeklong session at a campground rented from a 4-H group. About 100 others will attend Quest's daughter camps in Michigan, Minnesota, California and Ontario, Canada.

A Harris Interactive survey in 2003 found that 9 percent of Americans don't believe in God, while another 12 percent are uncertain about the issue. Even if their numbers are lower, the Secular Coalition for America calculates that the ranks of non-believers are larger than the combined number of religious Jews, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Presbyterians, Hindus, Muslims and Eastern Orthodox Christians.

Camp Quest's founder, Edwin Kagin, thinks non-believers have become more outspoken as a reaction to the religious right. School boards have inserted "intelligent design" into their curricula almost as fast as the courts can veto such measures.

Kagin and his wife, Helen, founded Camp Quest out of frustration with what they saw as a forced march to theocracy. His father was a minister in a family line of Presbyterian clergy tracing back to John Knox, the great Scottish reformer.

"But I went to college and started reading books my father had preached against," said Kagin, 66.

Kagin has a full beard, a rolling gait and a sardonic delivery reminiscent of Mark Twain, as played by Hal Holbrook. He became active in atheist causes but was frustrated by lawyers hired to fight them. So he got a law degree and became the legal director of the activist group American Atheists.

In the 1990s, the Boy Scouts, a chief sponsor of camping in America, began excluding atheists and gays from its leadership. That prompted the Kagins to create an outdoorsy alternative for non-believers.

"We wanted a camp not to preach there is no God," said Kagin, "but as a place where children could learn it's OK not to believe in God."

Many Camp Questers have wrestled with that issue on their own, among them Sophia Riehemann, a 9th-year camper. She long avoided the words "under God," during recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance at school.

"This year, I stopped getting up and saying the Pledge," said Riehemann, 16, who, like other campers, reports that it is taxing constantly negotiating with the world of believers. "Here at camp, that little barrier is finally down."

Like many campers, Riehemann comes from a home that stresses a scientific explanation of reality in place of the biblical account. Similarly, the dining room walls at Camp Quest are hung with portraits of notable free-thinkers and scientists, ranging from Darwin and Einstein to Woody Allen, honored for giving comedic expression to religious skepticism.

Riehemann notes that a secular perspective takes away childhood joys other kids have, such as Christmas. But that doesn't bother her. "They have Santa Claus," she said, "and we have Isaac Newton."

Like Riehemann, other campers report the painful experience of publicly declaring their lack of religious belief. Like gay people, they call it "coming out."

Allison Page, 9, read a book of Bible stories and decided they "were just silly." When her classmates found that out, they called her names and threatened her. That prompted her parents to home-school Allison. They sent her to camp so she would have summertime playmates.

Allison reports finding the Bible incompatible with her experience of life. An only child who'd like to have siblings, she was stumped by the story of Cain and Abel.

"It just doesn't make sense," Allison said. "A brother wouldn't kill his brother."

Sheridan Scott, 10, encountered hostility on the front lines of atheist activism. He and his mother are part of a group of Florida atheists that raises the banner for non-belief in public places.

"As a hobby," he explained. "But some people are so hostile, yelling at us: 'You will go to Hell.'"

Ed Golly, a camp counselor, belongs to the Florida atheist-activist group. When members saw Christian revivalists preaching on the streets of a Tampa night-club district, they mounted counterdemonstrations.

"We hold up banners saying, 'Jesus is not Coming' and 'No Prayer in School,'" said Golly, 55, a volunteer like all the staff.

A small-craft pilot, Golly flies his airplane to camp and takes campers up in it. They gleefully report that, at least as high as a Cessna can go, there is no evidence for a God in the sky.

Much of the learning at Camp Quest is similarly non-directive. Atheism isn't so much advocated as set alongside traditional belief systems. There are meal-time talks on various religions. Campers debate questions such as, "Would the world be better off without religion?"

Many of the young people come to more measured conclusions than Dawkins and Hitchens, acknowledging religion has some virtues, like providing some people a sense of community.

But at the final campfire, it was obvious how most Camp Questers come down on the question of belief. The young people giggled and laughed through skits and songs, savoring for one last moment being just one of the gang.

For the concluding act, Edwin Kagin stood in front of the crackling flames, pounding an oversized walking stick worthy of a biblical prophet. He broadly impersonated an evangelical preacher, exhorting his congregation to believe in the unseen.

"Who needs proof, if we have faith?" he asked.

All around the campfire, young hands went up.

----------

rgrossman@tribune.com
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune

Lewis Black - The Devil's Handiwork - ExChristian.Net - Articles

Funny and very gratifying. That is, if you are sick of creation pseudo-science. Enjoy!

Lewis Black - The Devil's Handiwork - ExChristian.Net - Articles

This world is my home . . . - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

This world is my home . . . - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

This really brings back some memories for me. It's a post to Ex-Christian.net that I wrote in October 2003, just a few days after my Mom had finally found out that I was an infidel. I sent in an essay that I'd written to Mom, at her request, explaining just why I rejected Christianity. It still resonates with me today.

What happens when you try to believe two contradictory things at the same time? Such as the belief that the universe is ruled by the laws of science and that the universe is controlled by a supernatural being. Or that I am a good and worthwhile person and also that I am so horrible that I must lean on God’s mercy to avoid hell. Or “creation-science”? A few years ago while I was still a Christian I read _1984_ by George Orwell and was introduced to this notion of “double-think.” The book is not really about religion (at least not that I remember) but when I read about double-think I couldn’t stop my mind from making the connection to religion – even though at the time I refused to consider the implications.

I was an agnostic for a long time before I realized it or was willing to admit it. I prayed and nothing happened, I went to church and nothing changed. During revivals I kept going to the altar and genuinely expected God to work changes in my life and to guide me, but nothing ever happened. And nothing happened in the churches I went to that was not brought about by pure human effort – however much they “gave God the glory.” I longed for a “personal testimony” so I could tell people what God had done in my life – but I couldn’t think of anything that would convince me, much less anyone else. I was always afraid of witnessing although I was well versed in my faith and in the bible. But at the same time I felt I had to witness—if I didn’t tell them about Jesus and warn them of hell, I didn’t really care and I would be held responsible for not warning them of eternal consequences. I had read Christian apologetics like Mere Christianity, by C. S. Lewis and More Then A Carpenter by I don’t remember who. I could talk and debate with other Christians about what the bible said, because we all believed in the bible. But when it came to trying to convince an unbeliever that the bible is reliable, I was clueless. None of the arguments were convincing to me! Even though I accepted them because I already believed.

Eventually double-think can wear a person down, and it made me depressed for a long time. I went to a church school for my first two years of college and after the initial high (I thought it was because of God that I was able to attend there, and thus had something to say about what God had done in my life) I found myself in low spirits most of the time. What was being said in the chapel services was not what was taught in the academic courses on religion I was taking. In class I was learning about how the bible was put together by councils, and how Isaiah 53 was not even a messianic passage. I also learned about the multiple schisms and disagreements about basic tenants of Christianity in the early Christian church. Things like how much is Jesus god and how much is he man! I had thought there could not have been a question about this at all! I remember being close to tears in the library as I studied and pondered this on more than one occasion. If god could not have been more clear in his revelation of the truth back then—as to avoid all the schisms and disagreements on disputable passages—what kind of clarity can we expect today?

Then I discovered science. I transferred out of the Christian college (for various reasons) and enrolled in a secular university near my home. And one of the first courses I took was Introduction to Astronomy, since it covered a natural sciences requirement and because I’ve always been fascinated with the night sky. In the first secular science class I had since middle school I learned about the evolution of stars and cosmology and the cosmic background radiation—predicted (!) leftover of the Big Bang. (WOW! An actual acurately fufilled prediction! This is more then religion ever delivered!) Later, this lead me to read a bit about the theory of evolution and realize that all branches of science are connected—deny one of them (like creationism does to evolution) and you might as well throw all of them out. The evolution of the cosmos and that of life on earth are closely connected, after all. Also, I realized that in science, theories and hypothesis are made and tested and if they do not describe reality as we know it they are thrown out. This is the self-correction of science; ideas that are false are eventually displayed as false and discarded. Unlike religious dogma, which is not open to challenge and has perpetuated error for centuries at a time. I decided that natural explanations of the world were superior to supernatural ones, and by this time I was on my way to agnostic-atheism. This naturalistic view made sense to me, and didn’t require me to force absurd beliefs on my mind.

The Christians would say “This world is not my home” because they are expecting to go to a home in heaven in the end. But as for me, I am a natural part of the universe, and I belong here—not as an artifact placed here by some god, but as a natural phenomena in my own right. This world, this universe, free of angels and demons and heaven and hell, is my home.


Sex: Female

URL: HomePage

State: Kentucky

Country: USA

Became a Christian: Not sure, raised into it from a very young age.

Ceased being a Christian: Gradual deconverson over about 4-5 years. . . started considering myself an atheist at age 23 (this year).

Labels before: Nazarene

Labels now: agnostic-atheist, bright, skeptic, humanist

Why I joined: raised that way

Why I left: Continually asked myself why I believe and decided eventually that there are more good reasons not to believe.

A letter to my mother:

Why I Don't Believe in Christianity

First I want to thank you for your patience and ask you to continue to be patient with me. I am sorry that my attitude has not been the best around you - but this, I suppose, is a consequence of trying to hide my thoughts and feelings about what I know you hold very dear to your heart. Lately I have seen where I have been wrong and I've been trying to behave better. I've been afraid for a long time that you would find out about my disbelief, and have thought long and hard about how to break it to you. Of course, now that you have figured it out, I no longer have to worry about that.

(By the way, I have never heard of an organization called "the church of the infidels." [She originally confronted me about my unbelief--after she found www.infidels.org in the family computer history and connected this with my recent disregard for church-- by asking why I choose the "church of the infidels."] When you first used the term I was shocked that you brought up the subject and took it to mean that you know that I am an infidel, unbeliever, apostate, or whatever words you with to use. I prefer to think of myself as a skeptic. But when I got over the initial shock, the term offended me very much. This is only to say that I would like for both of us to avoid emotionally-charged language when talking to one another on the subject of religious beliefs. Even if you think you are simply saying it "the way it is." It only leads to hurt feelings, and that can't do any good at all.)

Before going in the reasons for my disbelief, I want to point out what my reasons are not. First of all I did not do it to try to hurt anyone or to break away from the family. Once when I was looking into the Catholic Church you said something about me disregarding my family heritage. Personally, I think the reasons for the religious beliefs of a person must go beyond simply what they were brought up to believe. You know this. "God has no grandchildren," as they say. Another reason that is not why I left Christianity is because I want to indulge in some new sin without worrying about the consequences. Besides not going to church, my lifestyle has not changed--nor has my sense of morality (for the most part, my morals have not been based strictly on religious doctrine anyway). I have not indulged in any sin except perhaps the "sin" of disbelief, of which I have tried to repent of many, many times before I gave in. I wish I had a dime for every time I prayed "Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!" and "Keep me from falling." Something about my mind simply will not accept belief (without doubt) of things of which I am simply not convinced.

Actually, for a long time I was convinced of the truth of Christianity. I'm not sure where my doubts began, perhaps gradually with the continuous replacement of supernatural causes with natural ones the more I learn about the world and about science. I'll do my best not to embellish my memories - the human mind can work wonders at interpreting events when trying to make a point! Remember the W.O.W. [Wisdom of the Word, a Bible study program] meeting where we were going around the table and talking about experiences/situations where we have seen God (or, more appropriately, seen God at work)? When you came to me my mind drew a complete blank. I was not playing games, but was taking the exercise very seriously and did not want to make anything up. I could not think of a single thing that I could attribute to God, nothing at least that I could not much more simply attribute to human or natural causes. I figured that I was just inexperienced or not looking hard enough. But I still can't think of anything I could attribute to God that I could not more easily attribute to more natural causes.

For a while my faith was based totally upon the Bible. If you could have shown me that the Bible said something, I would believe it. After all, there were all those prophesies that Jesus fulfilled. But which of them were really intended as prophesies in the first place? I remember learning from my Introduction to Biblical Faith class that I took at [name of church-sponsored school] that my personal favorite prophesy, Isaiah 53, was not even considered to be a messianic prophesy by the Jews. (I wish I still had my book-I don't trust my own memory very well in this.) And it doesn't all fit Jesus either-"He shall see his seed" (Isaiah 53:10) -what does this mean? I take "seed" to mean descendants (it does say "offspring" in the NRSV)-but Jesus had no children. And where in the Old Testament does it say that the messiah must be killed and then be raised to life on the third day?

I know that you are a lot more studied in Biblical prophecy than I am, and if you want to pick out a few prophesies and write a paper to demonstrate how they are genuine messianic prophesies and not after the fact coincidences that parallel the life of Jesus as portrayed in the Gospels, then I promise I will read it. I am skeptical, but open to evidence. (In fact, if I wasn't open to evidence I wouldn't be skeptical but rather dogmatic.) Saying that the Gospel writer cited it as a prophecy is not sufficient. Nothing would point to the authenticity of the Bible like a few genuinely specific fulfilled prophesies. However, in the absence of such prophesies I can see no evidence of the Divine Revelation in scripture-and thus no reason why I should believe in the Bible as containing the one and only Truth.

You asked for two paragraphs? I didn't think I'd be able to squeeze all of this into two paragraphs. But here is what you asked for specifically-the benefits of non-belief. These are totally subjective, of course. And, of course, whether or not religion or disbelief makes me feel more comfortable or not is irrelevant to the truth of it all. You may have these things within the framework of faith. I didn't.

• The ability to be honest with myself about my doubts-freedom from the guilt I felt about my honest thoughts.


• Ability to stop worrying compulsively about the state of my salvation. Among other things (not including the behavior of other church members-they really are wonderful people!), this made me extremely depressed during and after church services, and that is the main reason why I stopped going to [name of church deleted] and didn't want to go back.


• Now able to live more in the present moment--life before death is worthy of my full attention.


• Not feeling like I have this huge responsibility to push Christianity on all my friends (I nearly drove [name deleted] completely away because of this one. He is still a believer, by the way. I haven't tried to "de-convert" him.)


• Freedom from the feeling that I am really a horrible person (would go to hell if not for the mercy of God, deserved to be on the cross, etc) but that God just loves me for some completely unimaginable reason. (It was never said like this in so many words, but my mind couldn't help but draw this conclusion.)


• Confirmation. A naturalistic worldview has the advantage of verifiability. Though some scientific theories cannot be tested directly, they at least spin implications (hypothesis) that can be tested. Scientists have been wrong before (used to think the Earth was central to the universe, for example), but ongoing discovery and testing tend to correct those mistakes. It's an ongoing, progressive learning process. For this reason, I accept a scientific worldview as being more reliable than a religious one.


• I still retain humility at all the things I know that I don't know. I don't have the answers to the world's problems and I don't pretend that I do.

You might say that I have misunderstood what I have been told about Christianity and that my trouble is simply the result of the devil messing with my mind. If this is correct, then I should simply stop thinking for myself at all and follow blindly the teachings of the church. I would also have to blindly believe that there is a devil in order to accept this line of reasoning in the first place. Same with original sin, a concept that gave me difficulty from the first time I heard it. You have to believe the teaching of Christianity that we are born guilty in order to believe that Christianity can save us from that innate sin. It goes in one big circle.

Perhaps all I have to say comes down to this: I can't prove there is no God and you can't prove there is a God. But I am deeply suspicious of a claim that cannot, by its very supernatural nature, be proven nor disproved--especially a claim that demands that I devote my entire life to it.

I encountered a misunderstanding of atheists yesterday.

As I'm on the topic of atheism and conflicts with others over this topic (see my last post from a bit earlier today), I guess I'll mention what happened yesterday. I'm taking Naturalist in Training classes at Bernhiem. (For more info on that see my other blog, Naturalist in Training). Anyway I was having a relaxed conversation with another guy in the program, mainly about a book called "The Time of Man" he was reading. Another regular in the program joined us and we where just sitting about talking. Something about religion came up and the other guy made a comment that anyone who sees the wonders in the world around them (and he gestured toward some of the natural wonders around him) must believe in God or else they are just soulless. This irritated me quite badly and I quickly pointed out that I happen to be in that group that he just called soulless (I actually just lifted my hand and said "I guess that's me then"). Then he says something to the effect that if I have any sense of wonder I would believe someday (He actually used a lot more words than that.) I just looked at him thinking "you don't know what the hell you are talking about" and I'm sure it showed in my face. I resisting telling him that I used to be a believer, and I did tell him that I see all the wonder around, I'm affected by it, I just don't call the source behind it "God". (Not those exact words but that was the point.)

Even as I type it out now, I'm still offended. But I didn't want to fight about it, so I soon joined the rest of the group and didn't bring it up again.

And just to head off the expected comments saying that I don't believe in a soul anyway, so why should I care? I don't believe in an eternal supernatural soul, that is true. But the soul being talked about in context was that core of personality and feeling that everyone has, regardless of their belief about supernatural things. And for anyone to suggest that I, as an atheist, don't have one of those is deeply, deeply offensive.

A slight altercation

I had an interesting experience today, in hindsight. As usual I went to Grampa's house today and ate lunch with the family. All well and good. When it got interesting is when my aunt started talking about how she had looked some into Native American cultures and discovered that the Cherokees she talked to seemed to be very private about their religious beliefs. She said she thought that it could be because when the white folks took over they tried to assimilate the Natives into their culture--and make them stop following their religion and telling their native stories. As a result, a lot of the old native stories and traditions were lost, and they are struggling to hold on to what they have left. (I'm not claiming to know anything about Native American tradition, just showing the line of the conversation.) Something was said (I don't remember if this was my aunt's own words, or if she was quoting someone else) that though the white people came here seeking religious liberty, they didn't intend to give that liberty to anyone here following the indigenous religions.

Somehow this lead to the topic of what kids should be taught about religion in the schools. (Had something to do with the transmission of culture to the kids, I think.) I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but Mom started going on how evolution shouldn't be taught in school. This got me started and I started going on about 'of course evolution is science', and how you can't teach biology without teaching evolution. Of course she disagreed on both points and said she didn't like my attitude toward Christianity. Which was puzzling in a way since I never said a thing about religion or Christianity (except a brief mentioning that no discoveries ever came out of creationism.) I even brought up that there are people who believe in both Christianity and evolution, even if I don't. Yet at the same time it was not puzzling in that it really got to the heart of what was bothering her.

Of course the argument had nothing to do with a scientific theory. To her it was my atheism and what she perceived to be an attack on her religion (starting with the conversation about how Christians oppressed the Native Americans and drove their religion underground). It seemed to me my Aunt was perplexed over why Mom was getting so upset when all she was doing was talking about historical matters. I got upset about Mom's apparent condemnation of evolution when I'm quite sure she has never studied it and didn't know what the hell she was talking about in claiming that it's not science. And her idea that it shouldn't be taught in schools--while I'm quite convinced that a person has not been education worth beans as far as science goes until they have a basic understanding of evolution. And this lead to a rather noisy altercation that ended in me stepping out for a walk around the block to cool off.

So, as I've suspected all along, there is definitely some tension between us remaining about this atheism vs Christianity thing. Driven underground in the effort to keep the peace but still there. I spoke to her later about how it was silly of my to get so heated over a scientific theory, and tried making some peace that way. But the tension does still linger...

Pale Blue Dot

This is a beautifully done video. Makes all the wars and battles and all the things we fight over seem a bit, well, insignificant. Sure they matter for the moment, but in the long run, and in the big scheme of things...well, just watch :)

YouTube - I'm Gonna Be

I absolutely love this song. And I had no clue who it was or what the song was called until I saw it on VH1 just a few minutes age. And of course I had to look it up on YouTube.

Enjoy!

Improvement of an old Christian Rock song

I don't remember how the rest of the song goes, but this was pretty popular during my Christian youth. I'm not going to name the song right here, just to see if anyone here knows what I'm talking about. I'll look up the rest and see if I can adapt it properly :)

What will people think when they hear that I'm an atheist?
What will people do when they find out it's true?
I don't really care if people label me an atheist,
'Cause there ain't no disguising the truth! Oh! Oh! Oh!

NPR : Loving Decision: 40 Years of Legal Interracial Unions

Wow this story is fascinating. And note the Virginia judges reason for upholding the conviction of Richard and Mildred Loving for being an interratial married couple:

Cohen and another lawyer challenged the Lovings' conviction, but the original judge in the case upheld his decision. Judge Leon Bazile wrote: "Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, Malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. ... The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix."

Interesting what people use religion to defend, huh? Another good reason that appeals to God should be banned from the courtroom, I think.

NPR : Loving Decision: 40 Years of Legal Interracial Unions

WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY :: Man in wheelchair takes wild ride after getting lodged in truck's front grille

This is something you'd expect to happen in a movie not in real life. Pretty funny, and good thing it didn't end in disaster!

WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY :: Man in wheelchair takes wild ride after getting lodged in truck's front grille

YouTube - The Creationist Museum - Part 2 - Inside the Museum

Some video from inside the creation "museum". Along with some refutations of claims made there. A good watch.

What’s So Dangerous About Darwin?

Nice Unitarian sermon on Darwin. Even with quotes from Richard Dawkins. That just makes me feel all warm inside for some reason :)

What’s So Dangerous About Darwin?

Norbert Capek and Unitarian Universalism

Today's church service was special to me. It was the day that I, among a group of 10, was recognized in front of my congregation as a new member. As I've mentioned before, I attend First Unitarian Church in Louisville, Ky--the only church I've found where I can both participate fully and remain true to my own beliefs.

It was also a very inspiring service, honoring Norbert Capek, whose birthday was today. He was a Unitarian minister from Czechoslovak who founded a Unitarian church there. He had aspired to the Catholic priesthood but later as a Baptist minister. He had problems with the creeds and symbolism of each of these churches. So he left both of them in turn and joined the Unitarian church, eventually becoming a minister there. And he came up with the Flower Communion, which we celebrated at my church this morning.

"It is my ideal," he wrote, "that unitarian religion in our country should mean a higher culture. . . new attitudes toward life and practically a new race. . . . In short, unitarian religion should mean the next advanced cultural level of a certain people." The church's task, he felt,"must be to place truth above any tradition, spirit above any scripture, freedom above authority, and progress above all reaction."

(from http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/norbertcapek.html)

Tragically, he was arrested by the Nazi's and ended up spending the last years of his life in Dachau prison. He wrote this before he died, attesting to the strength of the hope he had found:

It is worthwhile to live
and fight courageously
for sacred ideals.

O blow ye evil winds
into my body's fire
my soul you'll never unravel.

Even though disappointed a thousand times
or fallen in the fight
and everything would worthless seem,

I have lived amidst eternity --
Be grateful, my soul --
My life was worth living.

He who was pressed from all sides
but remained victorious in spirit
is welcomed into the choir of heroes.

He who overcame the fetters
giving wings to his mind
is entering into the golden age of
the victorious.

You can read more about Capek at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norbert_Capek
and
http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/norbertcapek.html

What kind of atheist are you?

You scored as Scientific Atheist, These guys rule. I'm not one of them myself, although I play one online. They know the rules of debate, the Laws of Thermodynamics, and can explain evolution in fifty words or less. More concerned with how things ARE than how they should be, these are the people who will bring us into the future. Scientific Atheist 100% Spiritual Atheist 92% Militant Atheist 83% Agnostic 33% Apathetic Atheist 25% Angry Atheist 17% Theist 8% What kind of atheist are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Socrates Meets Jesus

This is a great read. Long, but very interesting. Jesus is portrayed as giving the answers that Christians often do give to these sorts of questions. So it's really a sort of philosophy vs. Christianity discussion. Like I said, very interesting.

Socrates Meets Jesus

Back from the Rally for Reason

The rally was great! I'm glad I decided to go. Someone who was there recorded and posted this video on YouTube, and it give a pretty good picture of what went on. Enjoy:

The Rally for Reason

I'm going to the Rally for Reason tomorrow! I've just finished my signs-not bad for a beginner, IMHO :)

I made an announcement at my church and I'll see who comes. I got a lot of support from folks even though most of them had prior commitments to other sorts of activism or family activities (since tomorrow is Memorial Day).

Anyway, I'm excited!

Here is a link if you want to know more about the Rally for Reason.

This is just too funny!

First time I heard this guy I was listening to Freethought Radio and the song was called "Fuck the Creationists". The profanity in the song just made it funnier. This is not actually Steven Hawking (LOL) but last I heard he took it as it was intended, as a joke. I think it's a rather funny one, too.

http://www.mchawking.com/

Answers in Creation Site

Interesting, a old-earth Christian rebuttal to the young-earth Answers in Genesis people. I don't agree with them all the way (needless to say) but it's still a nice breath of fresh air to find some Christians who are not totally cut off from scientific fact.

Answers in Creation

I have a page on MySpace now

www.myspace.com/mikayla_starstuff

No More Hornets: Atheist Jokes

LOL These are good:

No More Hornets: Atheist Jokes

Could the eye have evolved?

I'm pretty familiar with this claim by creationists that Darwin admitted that the eye could not have evolved. I used to believe them, but I grew up and wizened up and read The Origin of Species for myself. Darwin was only preempting this objection to his theory, but of course the creationists don't mention that he addresses the issue. I'm still shocked at the shamelessness and total dishonesty of creationists who tell impressionable kids (like I was) stuff like this.

It is because of things like this that I'm planning to go to the Rally for Reason and protest that monstrosity of a "Creation Museum."

If you'd like to know more about it, click the banner I have added at the top of my blog, or go to http://www.rallyforreason.com/

Pale Blue Dot

This is a cool video inspired by one of my heros, Carl Sagan. Enjoy!

Interesting video

The music is a good choice. You can just feel the irony.

Vegetarianism

I've tried being a vegetarian before, but living with omnivorous family and my former roomate made that very difficult to do. However now that I'm living in my own place, I have decided to give it another chance. For the past week and a half I've eaten no meat other than seafood, and that only when I'm at a restaurant with friends where there are no fully vegetarian meals that appeal to me. Expect for a bit of sushi at lunch the other day :)

So why am I doing this? The latest motivational push came from watching An Inconvenient Truth. Meat processing consumes more energy and feeds less people than does using the grains and plants to feed people rather than cows. I am convinced that global warming is a real issue, and I want to help do something about it. Eating less meat is one of the suggestions on the AIT website, and I think that is a great thing for me to do.

Of course, there is also the issue of eating less fat and cholesterol. Then there is the horrible treatment of animals in the mass meat industry. All good enough reasons for me to go veg.

Someday I might even give up fish and go fully vegitarian, but not until I've figured out where a few more veg friendly restaurants are around here, and convinced my family and friends to go there when we go out.

If anyone out there has any good and quick vegitarian recipes send them my way!

Controversial chocolate Jesus exhibit canceled - CNN.com

This chocolate is my flesh...?

Honestly, I can't believe they even tried this.

Controversial chocolate Jesus exhibit canceled - CNN.com

Quiz: What's Your Spiritual Type?

These are my results from this quiz on Beliefnet. Interesting...my result is in bold below.

25 - 29		Hardcore Skeptic -- but interested or you wouldn't be here!
30 - 39		Spiritual Dabbler -- Open to spiritual matters but far from impressed
40 - 49		Active Spiritual Seeker – Spiritual but turned off by organized religion
50 - 59		Spiritual Straddler – One foot in traditional religion, one foot in free-form spirituality
60 - 69		Old-fashioned Seeker -- Happy with my religion but searching for the right expression of it
70 - 79		Questioning Believer – You have doubts about the particulars but not the Big Stuff
80 - 89		Confident Believer – You have little doubt you’ve found the right path
90 - 100		Candidate for Clergy

Might be a quarter life crisis, who knows?

First heard of this concept in a John Mayer song on a CD I used to listen to constantly while I was in college just because I related to so much of what he was singing about.


Never thought I'd encounter the phrase anywhere else, but check this out. Bit scary actually, given some of the thoughts I've had in the last few months.

Quarter-life crisis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Characteristics of this crisis are:

• feeling "not good enough" because one can't find a job that is at his/her academic/intellectual level


• frustration with relationships, the working world, and finding a suitable job or career


• confusion of identity


• insecurity regarding the near future


• insecurity regarding present accomplishments


• re-evaluation of close interpersonal relationships


• disappointment with one's job


• nostalgia for college life


• tendency to hold stronger opinions


• boredom with social interactions


• financially-rooted stress


• loneliness
  
• desire to have children


• a sense that everyone is, somehow, doing better than you

I guess at least I know I'm normal, if that's any consolation. I can relate to almost every one of those points. I this on Grey's Journal, a website linked to the article:

While I was happy at the job and in the flat, a nameless unease grew within me. It took a long time to realize that I had passed a fundamental divide in my life without noticing: from always working toward the end of something -- be it high school, college, summer jobs or teacher training -- to having no end in sight, save that of retirement and death.

Anyone have ideas for how to deal with this?

Thankful to feminism for...

hell’s handmaiden » Blog Archive » Five for Feminism

I have been tagged by hell's handmaiden to list the file things I can thank feminism for. This should not be hard :)

1. Women's suffrage! I never miss a national election.


2. I can work in a field that is typically dominated by men, and no one thinks anything of it.


3. I have freedom to express myself sexually without feeling dirty.
   
4. I'm not under pressure to just get married and have kids as soon as I'm old enough.


5. Feminism has shown me that I deserve respect equal to that which is due to any of my male friends.

I could go on, but no doubt this is my top 5.

I have tagged Beep Beep It's Me .

WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY :: Baptist leader sparks furor with "Is Your Baby Gay?" article

You have got to be kidding me. What would be considered "prenatal treatment to reverse gay orientation"? More religious craziness...

WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY :: Baptist leader sparks furor with "Is Your Baby Gay?" article

(NEW YORK) -- The president of the leading Southern Baptist seminary has suggested that a biological basis for homosexuality may be proven. He also says prenatal treatment to reverse gay orientation would be biblically justified.

The Reverend Albert Mohler has been attacked by liberals and conservatives for his views. Mohler is president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

Proof of a biological basis would challenge the belief of many conservative Christians that homosexuality is a matter of choice.

Gay rights supporters are upset by his assertion that homosexuality would remain a sin even if it were biologically based.

An article on Mohler's personal web site published earlier this month was titled, "Is Your Baby Gay? What If You Could Know? What If You Could Do Something About It?"


(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

South Park Personality Quiz

a lot of pennies from Heaven

Did this guy really think people would fall for it?

WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY :: Man who tried to cash $50,000 check from God arrested

The stinkiest stinker

I am re-reading Richard Dawkin's The God Delusion and I came across this passage that I think is totally hilarious. This is from Chapter 3, "Arguments for God's Existence" and Dawkins is reviewing a few of Thomas Aquinas's most famous arguments.

Let's move on down Aquinas' list.

4. The Argument from from Degree. We notice things in the world differ. There are degrees of, say, goodness or perfection. But we judge these degrees only by comparison with a maximum. Humans can be both good and bad, so the maximum goodness cannot rest in us. Therefore there must be some other maximum to set the standard for perfection, and we call that maximum God.

That's an argument? You might as well say, people vary in smelliness but we can make the comparison only by reference by a perfect maximum of of conceivable smelliness. Therefore there must exist a pre-eminently peerless stinker, and we call him God.

LOL

atheist gratitude

It can be hard to be an atheist in the United States. I read about it in stories on the Internet, talked about it in the extian email list, seen it on ExChristian.Net, talked about it in the local Atheists Meetup group, etc. I've contributed my share of material to these sources to share the fear, religious pressure, fights with my parents, etc, that went along with the discovery within my family that I was not a Christian anymore. Some of that you can read on this blog from the last few years.

However, things have smoothed out since then, and I am very grateful for that. Religion is no longer a source of open conflict between my Mother and I--and I think that this is more to her credit than it is to mine. Maybe it is because she knows that she is not going to bring me back to her church by arguing with me, so she has toned down a lot. Maybe it is because I'm at least going to a church now, even though it's not really a Christian church. Better Unitarian-Universalist than totally heathen :) Could also be that she is seeing that I have not really changed my basic values much after embracing my atheism. What I do know is that she loves me, religion or no. Dad too, of course, but there was never much conflict between us. And I am grateful for all of that.

Another area where I have been incredibly fortunate is in my workplace. I work as an IT Programmer/Analyst in a moderate sized company in Jeffersonville, right across the river from Louisville. One of the striking things about this this working environment is the incredible amount of open mindedness and diversity. I have co-workers there from many different national and religious environments, and religion has never been brought up yet in conversation as anything but a cultural interest. And there is no prostelization and no pressure of a religious sort that I hear that atheists encouter all to often in office settings. And I am very greatful for that.

There are other areas which I'm also greatful, my Unitarian-Universalist church, the internet which gives me the ability to share my thought and communicate with people from other parts of the U.S. and the world about this stuff, and many things that I'm just not thinking of now, for sure.

Dang, I almost forgot to mention that I'm even dating an atheist. How sweet is that? :)

Five Favorite Quotes Meme

I've been tagged by Stardust [I stand corrected :-p] to list my five favorite quotes (of the moment). So here goes :)

1. "I have steadily endeavored to keep my mind free so as to give up any hypothesis, however much beloved [and I cannot resist forming one on every subject], as soon as the facts are shown to be opposed to it."
   
   Charles Darwin (Freedom:Quotes and Passages from the World's Greatest Freethinkers


2. "Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?"
   
   Douglas Adams (Pulled from Positive Atheism's List of Quotations)


3. "There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened."
   
   Another one from Douglas Adams (from The Quotations Page)


4. "When he looks into his hand, he can see thousands of generations before him and thousands of generations after him. He can see that he exists not only in the evolutionary tree branching along the axis of time, but also in the network of interdependent relations. He told me that he never feels lonely."
   
   Thich Nhat Hanh (from Peace is Every Step)
   


5. "If we long to believe that the stars rise and set for us, that we are the reason there is a Universe, does science do us a disservice in deflating our conceits?"
   
   
   Carl Sagan (from The Quotations Page)

I have tagged Luminous Phenomena and Contemplative Activist.

Life Quiz

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	7
Mind:	7.2
Body:	8.4
Spirit:	7
Friends/Family:	3.2
Love:	6.9
Finance:	7.1
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

Dance classes

This is something that I've really always wanted to do since I was a kid--I have started taking dance classes. While doing an internet search, I found a fairly new dance studio in town that offers dance classes for not a whole lot of money. I got a $40 a month membership so I can take as many of the classes as I want, and I've been going for a week now.

I enjoy this a lot because it means that I'm learning some new skills--which makes it challenging--and I'm getting exercise. And it's a great social activity, especially since this is ballroom dancing, with a partner.

So far I've learned the basics of the tango, salsa, waltz, and samba. With a bit more practice I might get really good at this :) I figure that this is a prime time in my life to pursue these interests, while my time after work and on the weekends is still free.