Gator Freethought is a registered student organization at UF that provides freethinkers of any religious background the opportunity to discuss religion and nonreligion alike.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
IDEAL and Seminar of Interest
The CSI is holding its fall semester IDEAL Student Organization Fair on Wed Sept 13 and Thur Sept 14 (the Student Activities Center is now The Center for Student Involvement). I signed our organization up to participate in the event on Wednesday. The location is the Reitz Union Colonnade, and the hours are 9 AM - 3 PM. Our group will be able to attend to a table and present our information, and we will get a lot of attention and interest, I'm sure. Please help out by just showing up there to stand at the table and support our group, even if you can only be there for 30 minutes during that timeframe.
Remember that we have a meeting planned for Thu, Sept. 7th at 7 PM. Details shortly to follow.
Also, Asha B passed along a seminar of interest to our group:
Remember that we have a meeting planned for Thu, Sept. 7th at 7 PM. Details shortly to follow.
Also, Asha B passed along a seminar of interest to our group:
The first departmental seminar of the fall semester will be next Tuesday, Sept 5, at 4:00 p.m. in Rm. 2316 Fifield Hall. The speaker will be Dr. Leslie S. Jones, Valdosta State University, and the title of her seminar is "Deciphering Creationist Resistance to Evolution: Clarifying the Nature of Science for the Public."
There will also be a reception with light refreshments and a chance to visit after the seminar.
Sandy Jones is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA. She has an M.S. in Animal Sciences and subsequent research experience in animal reproductive physiology at The Ohio State University. She then obtained a M.A. and Ph.D. in Science Education from The Ohio State University, and served as a faculty member at the University of Northern Iowa, where she instructed several different biology and interdisciplinary science courses, as well as undergraduate and graduate education courses related to teaching science. She began her current position at Valdosta State University in 2004; more information and a list of publications is available from the following web page:
http://www.valdosta.edu/biology/jones.htm
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Technorati tags: AAFSA
There will also be a reception with light refreshments and a chance to visit after the seminar.
Sandy Jones is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA. She has an M.S. in Animal Sciences and subsequent research experience in animal reproductive physiology at The Ohio State University. She then obtained a M.A. and Ph.D. in Science Education from The Ohio State University, and served as a faculty member at the University of Northern Iowa, where she instructed several different biology and interdisciplinary science courses, as well as undergraduate and graduate education courses related to teaching science. She began her current position at Valdosta State University in 2004; more information and a list of publications is available from the following web page:
http://www.valdosta.edu/biology/jones.htm
________________
Technorati tags: AAFSA
First Day of Tabling
Andrew and I went out and tabled on Monday from around 1:30 to around 4:30. We used the poster as you saw it at the last meeting, but hope to be able to put it in final form shortly. We just stood by the poster, holding the little business card cutouts, and talked to a lot of people. We gave away some CFI materials, and some CSH materials.
We didn't push the cards on people, and in fact basically waited until they asked for more information before offering one, yet still managed to give away the whole stack (~25). The campus preacher who was out there at the time, Joey Johnsen, gave us some attention during a few of his sermons. I think he did us more good than he meant to though, as quite a few people came up to our table and said something along the lines of, "Guys like him make me want to join your group."
Andrew said he may write up some more details on this later, so I'll leave the rest for him.
Some good news/notifications: 1) Andrew Duncan is the new VP; 2) Sam Justyn is the new treasurer; 3) Brandon Smock is our historian. We're now at 76 persons on our Facebook group! Thanks for making AAFSA what it is, and for moving it towards what we all know it can and will be.
A side note: yesterday, I spent about an hour arguing with a new campus preacher I'd never met before about young-earth creationism arguments. He threw out all the good old YEC canards, from moon-dust thickness, to "mountains should be worn down by old-earth erosion rates", while the moon-dust arguments (and others) are so bad (dishonest) that they are even rejected by OTHER CREATIONISTS! I strongly suggest you familiarize yourself with the resources here, where nearly every creationist claim is presented and mercilessly refuted with scientific data and publications (see complete list here). I just bought the paperback version of this compilation, and I think you'll not regret it if you choose to do the same. I plan to bring it out with me whenever it arrives and hurt some peoples' feelings. ;)
________________
Technorati tags: AAFSA
Andrew said he may write up some more details on this later, so I'll leave the rest for him.
Some good news/notifications: 1) Andrew Duncan is the new VP; 2) Sam Justyn is the new treasurer; 3) Brandon Smock is our historian. We're now at 76 persons on our Facebook group! Thanks for making AAFSA what it is, and for moving it towards what we all know it can and will be.
A side note: yesterday, I spent about an hour arguing with a new campus preacher I'd never met before about young-earth creationism arguments. He threw out all the good old YEC canards, from moon-dust thickness, to "mountains should be worn down by old-earth erosion rates", while the moon-dust arguments (and others) are so bad (dishonest) that they are even rejected by OTHER CREATIONISTS! I strongly suggest you familiarize yourself with the resources here, where nearly every creationist claim is presented and mercilessly refuted with scientific data and publications (see complete list here). I just bought the paperback version of this compilation, and I think you'll not regret it if you choose to do the same. I plan to bring it out with me whenever it arrives and hurt some peoples' feelings. ;)
________________
Technorati tags: AAFSA
Monday, August 28, 2006
There IS Reason to Hope
Two recent articles from the National Secular Society (UK) filled me with hope for our own country's future this morning: Australian Youth Follow The Secular Trend, and Spanish Youngsters Have Had It With Religion, Too. From the articles (also see here):
Australian Youth Follow The Secular Trend
Aug. 11, 2006
Less than half Australia’s young people say they believe in a god, and many believe there is little truth in religion, a new study has found. The three-year national study, a joint project between Monash University, the Australian Catholic University and the Christian Research Association, found many young people live an entirely secular life.
The study, The Spirit of Generation Y, found just 48 percent of those born between 1976 and 1990 believed in a god. Dr Andrew Singleton of Monash University, a co-author of the study, said they were surprised by the findings. "It’s well known that there has been a turn away from church attendance and participation in young people," he said. "But we thought there was going to be a move towards alternative spiritualities. There are still a number turning towards it, but not as big as you would have thought."
Religious identity will be among the questions contained in this year’s Australian census. We see the same effect in this census as in the UK census, when 72% of people said they were Christian, even though every other survey and poll showed this to be vastly over-stated. This was because of poor wording of the question.
The Australian survey found 20 percent of young people did not believe in a god and 32 percent were unsure. It also found just 19 percent of those who identify themselves as Christian was actively involved in a church (attending services at least once a month). More than 30 percent of Generation Y was classified as "humanists," rejecting the idea of a god, although some believed in a "higher being."
Dr Singleton said it was a trend that was likely to continue. "We live in a very individualistic and self-orientated society and I don't see a lot of things challenging that," he said. “One of the many predictors of whether we become religious is our parents, and unless there is a massive cultural shift, I see that the trajectory will continue as it is."
Spanish Youngsters Have Had It With Religion, Too
Aug. 11, 2006
A poll of 1,450 young people in Spain shows that most believe that religion is of little importance and has no place in schools. The survey of people aged 15 to 29 shows that attitudes have changed radically since the era of the dictator Franco. Then, homosexuality was banned. Now gay marriage is legal, with 80 percent of those who were asked agreeing with the change in the law.
More than two thirds of those polled said they were in favor of abortion (legalized in Spain in 1985) and 76 percent said they approved of euthanasia "to help someone suffering from an incurable disease if they asked for it." A third declared themselves non-believers, with the majority of the remainder stating that religion had little relevance in their lives.
Although this will be good news for the socialist government of José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, it will cause yet more angst among the Catholic hierarchy who have traditionally held enormous power in Spain.
________________
Technorati tags: Secularism
Aug. 11, 2006
Less than half Australia’s young people say they believe in a god, and many believe there is little truth in religion, a new study has found. The three-year national study, a joint project between Monash University, the Australian Catholic University and the Christian Research Association, found many young people live an entirely secular life.
The study, The Spirit of Generation Y, found just 48 percent of those born between 1976 and 1990 believed in a god. Dr Andrew Singleton of Monash University, a co-author of the study, said they were surprised by the findings. "It’s well known that there has been a turn away from church attendance and participation in young people," he said. "But we thought there was going to be a move towards alternative spiritualities. There are still a number turning towards it, but not as big as you would have thought."
Religious identity will be among the questions contained in this year’s Australian census. We see the same effect in this census as in the UK census, when 72% of people said they were Christian, even though every other survey and poll showed this to be vastly over-stated. This was because of poor wording of the question.
The Australian survey found 20 percent of young people did not believe in a god and 32 percent were unsure. It also found just 19 percent of those who identify themselves as Christian was actively involved in a church (attending services at least once a month). More than 30 percent of Generation Y was classified as "humanists," rejecting the idea of a god, although some believed in a "higher being."
Dr Singleton said it was a trend that was likely to continue. "We live in a very individualistic and self-orientated society and I don't see a lot of things challenging that," he said. “One of the many predictors of whether we become religious is our parents, and unless there is a massive cultural shift, I see that the trajectory will continue as it is."
Spanish Youngsters Have Had It With Religion, Too
Aug. 11, 2006
A poll of 1,450 young people in Spain shows that most believe that religion is of little importance and has no place in schools. The survey of people aged 15 to 29 shows that attitudes have changed radically since the era of the dictator Franco. Then, homosexuality was banned. Now gay marriage is legal, with 80 percent of those who were asked agreeing with the change in the law.
More than two thirds of those polled said they were in favor of abortion (legalized in Spain in 1985) and 76 percent said they approved of euthanasia "to help someone suffering from an incurable disease if they asked for it." A third declared themselves non-believers, with the majority of the remainder stating that religion had little relevance in their lives.
Although this will be good news for the socialist government of José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, it will cause yet more angst among the Catholic hierarchy who have traditionally held enormous power in Spain.
________________
Technorati tags: Secularism
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Atheists...Few and Fools?
Unfortunately, a large percentage of the American populace is ignorant of the number of atheists in their midst. They also are guilty of both mischaracterizing the quality of these persons, and holding undue prejudice towards them. Evidence to support my premises can be found in this study showing the amount of prejudice against atheists, the video that is embedded below the fold, these statistics reflecting the number of atheists out there, and Doug Robeson's collection of famous/well-known unbelievers.
Video: (or get it here)
Here is Doug's list (8-26-06):
[Doug Robeson's List of] Well Known Atheists and Agnostics
Here is Doug's list (8-26-06):
[Doug Robeson's List of] Well Known Atheists and Agnostics
Atheists:
Noam Chomsky - MIT linguist.
Michael Newdow - brought Pledge case to Supreme Court and is working on taking "In God We Trust" off our money.
Margaret Sanger - early birthcontrol advocate.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton - worked with Susan B. Anthony for women's right to vote.
Leon Trotsky - Russian revolutionary.
Mao Zedong - Chinese leader.
Woody Allen - Writer/director.
Marlon Brando - Academy Award winning actor.
George Carlin - comedian/actor/writer.
Adam Carolla - comedian, originally of The Man Show.
Katharine Hepburn - 4 time Academy Award winning actress.
John Malkovich - actor.
Marilyn Manson - weird singer.
Penn and Teller - magicians.
Christopher Reeve - Superman, stem-cell usage advocate.
Gene Roddenberry - created Star Trek series.
Ted Turner - owns the Braves, CNN, TBS, TCM, TNT, donated $1 billion to the United Nations Foundation, launched the Goodwill Games, and most importantly, created Captain Planet.
Douglas Adams - wrote the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.
Ambrose Bierce - notable American author.
Dave Barry - American author.
George Gordon Lord Byron - British author/poet.
Ernest Hemingway - Nobel Prize winning author.
James Joyce - poet/author.
H. L. Menchen - author/journalist/social critic.
Arthur Miller - Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, married Marilyn Monroe.
Ayn Rand - author of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, founded Objectivism.
Ron Reagan - president's son, stem-cell advocate.
Salmon Rushdie - Booker Prize winning author of Midnight's Children and The Satanic Verses.
Camille Saint-Saens - French classical composer.
George Bernard Shaw - Irish playwright, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Percy Bysshe Shelley - British poet.
Kurt Vonnegut - American author.
Jeremy Bentham - British all around smart guy, came up with Utilitarianism.
Albert Camus - French/Algerian Nobel Prize winning author.
Auguste Comte - French philosopher, founder of sociology.
Marquis de Sade - early erotic writer.
Denis Diderot - compiled the first rigorous encyclopedia.
Karl Marx - political philosopher.
Friedrich Nietzsche - philosopher.
Bertrand Russell - British mathematician, won Nobel Prize for Literature.
Jean-Paul Sartre - French Nobel Prize winning author.
Isaac Asimov - science/science ficiton author, has a book for every classification of the Dewey Decimal System.
Richard Dawkins - really smart British biologist.
Sigmund Freud - psycologist.
Alfred Kinsey - that sex study guy... go watch the movie Kinsey.
Carl Sagan - astronomer/physicist/writer of Contact, et al.
Burrhus Frederic Skinner - came up with Behaviorism.
James D. Watson - DNA double helix biologist, won Nobel Prize.
Francis Crick - DNA double helix biologist, won Nobel Prize.
Steven Weinberg - Nobel Prize winner in physics.
Anaxagoras - old Greek smart guy, 1st person to put forth the idea of evolution around 600 BC.
Richard Branson - rich guy owner of Virgin enterprizes.
Warren Buffet - richer guy... 2nd richest man in the world, just donated $37 billion to fight AIDS and illiteracy.
Andrew Carnegie - original rich benefector.
Larry Flynt - 1st Amendment rights advocate.
George Soros - rich guy.
Lance Armstrong - cancer beating, super fundraising for fighting cancer, 7 time Tour de Franch winning guy.
Rodney Dangerfield - comedian/actor.
George Clooney - actor.
Angelina Jolie - actress.
Marilyn Monroe - actress, old school hottie.
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov - Russian composer of Flight of the Bumble Bee.
William Shatner - "We've.... got to.... try." Captain James Tiberius Kirk.
Uma Thurman - actress who killed Bill.
Arthur C. Clarke - sci-fi author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, et al.
Joseph Conrad - author of Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, et al.
Christopher Marlowe - author.
Leonid Brezhnev - Russian leader.
Giuseppe Garibaldi - Italian revolutionary.
Mikhail Gorbachev - Russian leader.
Lenin - Russian leader.
Jawaharlal Nehru - Indian leader.
Josef Stalin - Russian leader.
Che Guevara - Latin American revolutionary.
Marie Curie - chemist/physicist who won 2 Nobel Prizes.
Richard Feynman - Nobel Prize winner in physics.
Paul Dirac - Nobel Prize winner in physics.
Pat Tillman - left NFL to fight in army and was killed by 'friendly' fire.
Stephen Jay Gould - biologist/author.
Agnostics
Clarence Darrow - lawyer in the Scopes Trial, defending Scopes.
Charles Darwin - did some science stuff and wrote some book.
Helen Clark - Prime Minister of New Zealand.
Emile Durkheim - philosopher, wrote Suicide.
Matt Groening - Simpson's creator.
Bill Maher - comedian, has his own show.
Protagoras - 450 BC said the existance of god is unknowable.
Matt Stone - South Park creator.
Mark Twain - Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn author.
Margaret Atwood - author of The Handmaid's Tale.
Antonio Banderas - Zorro bitches.
Lewis Black - comedian.
Richard Dreyfuss - actor in Jaws and Mr. Holland's Opus.
Umberto Eco - author of The Name of the Rose, et al.
Bill Gates - just donated over $30 to charity.
Larry King - CNN interviewer.
Dave Matthews - singer/songwriter.
Bill Nye - the science guy... Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill.
Keanu Reeves - "woah"
James Taylor - singer/songwriter.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Tabling
Update: Fall 2010
Gator Freethought will be tabling extensively in the opening weeks of the Fall 2010 semester, specifically outside of Turlington and on the Reitz Union Colonnade. More specific dates and times will be posted as they become available.
Updated 9/8/2009:
Gator Freethought will be tabling outside Turlington all day Monday, September 14th, from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM. Want to learn more, or lend a hand? Come out and talk to us!
We will be doing our best to appear at the Student Organization Fair on the Reitz Colonnade, which will be September 10th and 11th from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Reitz Union Colonnade. More specific details of when Gator Freethought will be there are forthcoming. We could use all the help we can get, so come on out and support the group when you've got some downtime between classes. If you're interesting in stopping by to help educate and promote, please let us know. Thanks!
Gator Freethought will be tabling extensively in the opening weeks of the Fall 2010 semester, specifically outside of Turlington and on the Reitz Union Colonnade. More specific dates and times will be posted as they become available.
Updated 9/8/2009:
Gator Freethought will be tabling outside Turlington all day Monday, September 14th, from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM. Want to learn more, or lend a hand? Come out and talk to us!
We will be doing our best to appear at the Student Organization Fair on the Reitz Colonnade, which will be September 10th and 11th from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Reitz Union Colonnade. More specific details of when Gator Freethought will be there are forthcoming. We could use all the help we can get, so come on out and support the group when you've got some downtime between classes. If you're interesting in stopping by to help educate and promote, please let us know. Thanks!
Monday, August 21, 2006
Freethought Stuff
The 47th edition of the Carnival of the Godless is up at Coralius' place. I especially enjoyed the Atheist Ethicist tackle the meaning and usage of the word atheist. It's a topic many have written about before, but it is integral for those who are "new to godlessness", whether personally or indirectly, to avoid equivocation. The article couples well to this by Lowder, as well as this lengthier exposition by Grange.
I also especially enjoyed this take on Christian Nihilism.
Also in godlessness, check out the new 90-minute documentary, The Exodus Decoded, using natural causes to explain the events described in the book of Exodus. I've heard the explanations before, using the rains in Ethiopia to explain red silt in the river, which killed the cattle, coupled to the cycle of the locusts, etc., etc. Personally, I think they lend too much credence to the story by trying to explain the myths. I'm more inclined to see it the way Finkelstein and Silberman do -- as a myth central to the identity of an assimilated peoples:
Long gone also are the serious scholarly attempts to trace archaeologically the progress of the Exodus of 600,000 Israelites across Sinai toward Canaan. The Bible offers us a powerful expression of liberation, peoplehood, and covenant painted in the most searing Hebrew prose and poetry the world has ever known.Sort of loses its power when we go and try to make the event real and natural, doesn't it?
In general religious issues, check out talk2action's blog, as well as Faith in Public Life, two group blogs always putting out good stuff on that most interesting of intersections: faith and culture.
In sharper thinking, check out Paul's seven tips/rules to help us learn how to...think!
And finally...(drum roll)...your quote of the week:
“Left Behind” series co-author Jerry Jenkins said he welcomed the controversy surrounding complaints about the game’s content that made headlines.Wow. Not more violent than this? Not more violent than a God whose Bible records 2,038,334 confirmed kills, without including the Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, or the Egyptians...which would at least add a few hundred million more (mostly from the Noachian event). Clever for Jenkins to use the OT as a basis -- Christians can't doubletalk their way around calling a video game violent if that implies their cherished book (and many beliefs) is as well, now can they?
“(The controversy) makes you examine your motives, success (and) what you’re doing,” he said. “I looked at the violence for the game to be in the (Christian retail) market. It’s not more violent than the Old Testament,” Jenkins added. [link added, bold mine]
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Technorati tags: COTG
Sunday, August 20, 2006
The Fall Semester is Upon Us
AAFSA Affiliates,
I just sent out the following as an email to the 70 of you I have in my contacts list, as well as a few of you who haven't joined our Facebook group. If you didn't receive it, besides reading below, please email me and let me know that you want to be on our mailing list, and/or make sure you put my email addresses in your "safe list" to keep it from being spammed.
I just sent out the following as an email to the 70 of you I have in my contacts list, as well as a few of you who haven't joined our Facebook group. If you didn't receive it, besides reading below, please email me and let me know that you want to be on our mailing list, and/or make sure you put my email addresses in your "safe list" to keep it from being spammed.
First, we have a meeting coming up this Thursday in CLB 414 (details). I hope as many of you can attend as possible. I hope to find a suitable venue for our meetings other than the conference room in my building later on (possibly Library West...), and if you have any suggestions or ideas, please feel free to pass them along.
The new semester is upon us. I am working on getting together materials to use for presentation of our group at a table display (Turlington Plaza
Our Facebook count is now up to 70 (all of you I'm emailing...minus me, of course), yet due to the late start last spring semester, and subsequent summer hiatus, I have yet to meet many of you. I'm looking forward to changing that.
Our activities this semester are going to include hearing great talks at our meetings, having open discussions at other meetings, possible debates, possible (passive) demonstrations or advocacy [such as sign-holding and handing out fliers], special campus-wide event speakers, and participating in some much-needed dialogue with those I typically dub our "cultural competitors" (such as, but not limited to, Turlington preachers, religious campus groups, and political advocacy groups which threaten religious liberties). Your part is simple: get involved if you want anything to do with this.
Most of us are aware of the cultural stigma attached to our secular worldview, which I wrote a bit about on the blog a while back (see here , here and here). What is needed are more smiling, friendly faces willing to talk to people with whom we may disagree, and attempting to come to at least some semblance of understanding and tolerance [mutually]. It is still unbelievable to me that so much of the American public can be so ignorant of the vast number of, the spectrum of views held by, and the moral equality [at least insofar as the practice and rational basis of our ethics being equal to, or superior to, that of theists] of atheists, agnostics, and nonreligious persons.
We have to work towards changing this cultural ignorance and misinformation, and attempt to work against those who disseminate it. Groups like AAFSA are at least a start, if not the solution.
Our cultural problems as nonbelievers all along have been exacerbated by the serious lack of organization [we don't have churches], coupled to a hell of a lot of apathy [typically] and a strong individualistic outlook [we don't need support groups, the typically concomitant groupthink, and are quite reasonably wary and skeptical of both]. That is, in large part, how politics and religion have come to the place where so many people distrust us and disparage us publicly (I can name numerous remarks made by politicians and public figures, but need I?).
Most importantly, we have to define a sense of purpose, a mission for, and assign value to, this group. If you see it as "just" a response to religion, or a group centered on negatives − what we don't think and don't agree with, then I fear we will be rather limited in our affectivity. We need to coalesce around the core values of individualism, rationality, science, and religious freedom (for all), as well as the positive aspects of our outlook and ethics, as diverse as these may be. Even though we will almost surely disagree on many things, we will likely all agree on the necessity to carefully develop a coherent worldview, including our views on morality, politics, etc., via reason, and without a god-based referent.
The new semester is upon us. I am working on getting together materials to use for presentation of our group at a table display (
Our Facebook count is now up to 70 (all of you I'm emailing...minus me, of course), yet due to the late start last spring semester, and subsequent summer hiatus, I have yet to meet many of you. I'm looking forward to changing that.
Our activities this semester are going to include hearing great talks at our meetings, having open discussions at other meetings, possible debates, possible (passive) demonstrations or advocacy [such as sign-holding and handing out fliers], special campus-wide event speakers, and participating in some much-needed dialogue with those I typically dub our "cultural competitors" (such as, but not limited to, Turlington preachers, religious campus groups, and political advocacy groups which threaten religious liberties). Your part is simple: get involved if you want anything to do with this.
Most of us are aware of the cultural stigma attached to our secular worldview, which I wrote a bit about on the blog a while back (see here , here and here). What is needed are more smiling, friendly faces willing to talk to people with whom we may disagree, and attempting to come to at least some semblance of understanding and tolerance [mutually]. It is still unbelievable to me that so much of the American public can be so ignorant of the vast number of, the spectrum of views held by, and the moral equality [at least insofar as the practice and rational basis of our ethics being equal to, or superior to, that of theists] of atheists, agnostics, and nonreligious persons.
We have to work towards changing this cultural ignorance and misinformation, and attempt to work against those who disseminate it. Groups like AAFSA are at least a start, if not the solution.
Our cultural problems as nonbelievers all along have been exacerbated by the serious lack of organization [we don't have churches], coupled to a hell of a lot of apathy [typically] and a strong individualistic outlook [we don't need support groups, the typically concomitant groupthink, and are quite reasonably wary and skeptical of both]. That is, in large part, how politics and religion have come to the place where so many people distrust us and disparage us publicly (I can name numerous remarks made by politicians and public figures, but need I?).
Most importantly, we have to define a sense of purpose, a mission for, and assign value to, this group. If you see it as "just" a response to religion, or a group centered on negatives − what we don't think and don't agree with, then I fear we will be rather limited in our affectivity. We need to coalesce around the core values of individualism, rationality, science, and religious freedom (for all), as well as the positive aspects of our outlook and ethics, as diverse as these may be. Even though we will almost surely disagree on many things, we will likely all agree on the necessity to carefully develop a coherent worldview, including our views on morality, politics, etc., via reason, and without a god-based referent.
I am anticipating some great conversation, new friends, and generally broadening my horizons…as well as a few parties, although this is not a major component of our group, and you should go join a frat if you want more of that. I am looking forward to this semester, and what I hope we can accomplish and learn from each other.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you may have any questions, suggestions, or constructive criticisms. All of my information is available to be viewed by Facebook friends, including phone and address. Please feel free to join as a blog contributor, and you can read the guidelines for that here. If you haven’t received an invite to join the website, please email me. Please check in on our website, and comment often, as well as the discussion board on our group page at Facebook.
________________
Technorati tags: AAFSA
Meeting 7: Thu Aug 24, 7 PM, CLB 414
Slight modification of the schedule -- originally I planned for us to meet this Tuesday, but due to unforeseen circumstances, I'll have to postpone until Thursday. I hope to see as many of you as possible there. Until then...
Always check the Meetings page and/or the Fall 2006 Schedule page for the most reliable and up-to-date information on when and where we'll see each other.
CLB 414, 7 PM
Always check the Meetings page and/or the Fall 2006 Schedule page for the most reliable and up-to-date information on when and where we'll see each other.
CLB 414, 7 PM
Friday, August 18, 2006
30 Days: Atheist Visits Evangelical Xian Family
Those of you who are unawares, you ought to check out the recent 30 Days episode (#3, official website) in which an atheist, Brenda, lives with an Evangelical Christian family, the Shores, for a month. Reviews of the episode are available from Gi4S, Atheist Revolution, Friendly Atheist (aka Hemant the Ebay Atheist), Atheist Mama, and the Disgruntled Chemist. In general, it appears that Brenda came off quite well, and that the Xian hubby did not, and the Xian wife started to realize that "atheists are people too"...
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Technorati tags: Atheism
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Technorati tags: Atheism
More Chain-pulling for the Anti-Intellectualist Right
A free marketplace of ideas doesn't bode well for orthodox Christian beliefs. An article in the American Family Association Journal, "Colleges Turn Left, Students Think That's Right," concludes:
what students and parents don’t realize is that today’s campuses are functioning as an indoctrination into the realm of liberalism. As early as the 1790s, Yale college students were openly disavowing Christ. Despite periods of revival, the denial of Christian beliefs and the acceptance of secularism have persisted and gained strength through the years.Surely not! Surely being in a place which encourages rational thinking and critical examination of evidence and truth values is good for Christianity, right? Apparently not:
J. Budziszewski wrote,
The trial everyone has heard about – but most people underrate – is the sheer spiritual disorientation of the modern campus...Methods of indoctrination are likely to include not only required courses, but also freshman orientation, speech codes, mandatory diversity training, dormitory policies, guidelines for registered student organizations and mental health counselingMy favorite take on how these things endanger and indoctrinate students in an anti-Christian way comes from PZ Myers:
Mental health counseling, though, I can see as dangerous to born-again Christians. It might make them sane.All Budziszewski has done is spread more of the "Religious Liberty for Me, but not for Thee," approach. That is to say that since universities encourage students to tolerate the views of others, Christians benefit (they are tolerated and allowed to exercise religious freedom) but decry the benefit being given to the Muslim, Buddhist, atheist...etc.
Given the fact that universities are flooded with Christian campus groups and often are set in college towns which contain at least 1-10 Christian churches per thousand people ratio, I find it hard to believe that people like Budziszewski could be so dense as to cry that attending a university "indoctrinates" you. As if university students are isolated from family and friends, or are not allowed to attend as many worship services a week as they want, and pray as much as they want, and read their Bible as much as they want, etc.
In point of fact, this belies the weakness of the value system Budziszewski wants to protect: these students choose to lay aside the faith of their childhood to explore the world of ideas they discover. Some find the world too large for the narrow mind they brought with them to college, and grow out of it. Big surprise...
American students (esp those raised in Christian homes, which is who this article is about) are basically surrounded by Christianity and Christian culture from birth. The truth is that Budziszewski knows this, and he knows that the "disorientation" he declaims platitudes over is really "exposure to different thinking." Well, sorry, but that's the function and purpose of a university. The reason this exposure is so deleterious in the view of Budziszewski and Focus on the Family and others is the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of many of these selfsame Christian beliefs and values -- they are easily shown as such.
If you want your kiddies "safe" from the "dangerous" ideas, then you'd better not just homeschool them for high school, but "home college school" them too. There's no better way to ensure the survival of your religious views than to isolate your children from reality, such that the indoctrination of views you've exposed them to since birth is never challenged by competing worldviews. This article really underscores the saddest thing -- these people can't see that the fact that university education frequently leads to a deconversion, or change in views, is quite telling of their childrens' views in the first place. If your kids are brought up believing ignorant things, and you want them educated, then what in the hell do you expect?
If you don't want them to question the logic of basing their entire lives on the reliability of a dusty set of scrolls of unknown origins, you'd better not send them somewhere that encourages serious rational thinking. The college you pick had better not teach them modern chemistry, physics, biology, etc., or else they may start to be a bit incredulous about axe heads floating on water, global floods and bathtub arks, and people raising from the dead (just like in other myths they learn as myths). Perhaps Patriot University ("Dr." Dino's alma mater), or Pacific International University ("Dr." Baugh's alma mater)?
Another funny note is that the public universities suffered a reversal in this trend since the '80s, whereas Christian colleges cause more deconversions since the '80s.
(HT: PZ)
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Technorati tags: Culture Wars
Friday, August 11, 2006
Blogger Invite - Contributors
I just sent out an invite to everyone's email address from Facebook who has not already joined the blog as a contributor. Please accept the invitation, and feel free to sign up for an anonymous account if you'd like, or use your real name. I really want to see this group become more egalitarian in practice than in theory. Read over some of the archives to get a sense of the sorts of posts that have been put up regarding news and blog articles germane to freethought/atheism/humanism. Check out the formatting guidelines HERE.
If you don't receive an invitation, email me, and I'll resend.
And, most importantly, start posting! (Especially to those of you who are already contributors) Anything you've written for a class, on your own website, etc., please share here if it is relevant to our group and focus. Thanks!
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Technorati tags: AAFSA
If you don't receive an invitation, email me, and I'll resend.
And, most importantly, start posting! (Especially to those of you who are already contributors) Anything you've written for a class, on your own website, etc., please share here if it is relevant to our group and focus. Thanks!
________________
Technorati tags: AAFSA
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