Farewell, Hitch
December 16, 2011 1 Comment
The world is now less articulate.
Out of the Closet Virtual Billboard Campaign
May 5, 2011 Leave a Comment
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is running a virtual billboard campaign asking nonbelievers to declare themselves out of the closet. This is in conjuction with the “Out of the Closet” actual billboard campaign started in Raleigh, NC by FFRF and the Triangle Freethought Society. You can make your own virtual billboard by visiting ffrf.org/out . Mine just got approved; here it is:
FU Friday: Newt Gingrich
March 31, 2011 Leave a Comment
Today’s FU Friday comes on a Thursday—deal with it.
Former House Speaker and Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has been saying some awful and just plain strange things about non-Christians lately. Here is John Stewart’s take:
In case you’re outside the U.S. and can’t watch the video, here’s what Newt said:
I have two grandchildren — Maggie is 11, Robert is 9. I am convinced that if we do not decisively win the struggle over the nature of America, by the time they’re my age they will be in a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists and with no understanding of what it once meant to be an American.
A week or so before expressing his worries about atheist jihadists, Newt was already barking at the same tree. He conducted an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network to speak about his past indiscretions, the coming presidential race and the threat to “Judeo-Christian society.”
FU Friday: Newt Gingrich, posted with vodpod
I’m pretty sure you can all see that video. If not, let me know.
I’m not sure why he seems hell bent on associating atheists with Islam. I’m pretty sure the two groups have as much contempt for each other as they do for Christianity. Yet he wants to include Jews in his club with the meaningless term, “Judeo-Christian.”
Let’s be honest here, Newt. If your contention is that America has a “Judeo-Christian civilization” because it was founded that way, you’d be wrong, but you’d also have to drop the “Judeo”; I don’t think there were a whole lot of Jewish founders and, more importantly, our founding documents don’t say anything about Judaism (or Christianity for that matter).
If your contention is that Jews and Christians make up a majority of Americans, fine, but you’re forgetting about the non-religious who make up more than 10% of the population compared with the minuscule 1.7% Jewish, according to Pew Forum statistics.
Or perhaps you include Jews because they have similar values—they share one of your holy books and worship the same god. Well guess what, Newt—those Muslims you hate so much share with you two books and a god!
Bottom line is you can say, “Deio-Christian,” “Atheo-Christian,” or my personal favorite, “Judeo-Christo-Islamic,” and still make some sort of sense, but not, “Judeo-Christian.”
The Confession
March 28, 2011 Leave a Comment
Last week I was invited onto Thinking Unenslaved, a live podcast hosted by Synthaetica. We had some good discussion. One of my blog posts we discussed as about House MD, which led to a conversation about atheist characters (or lack thereof) on television. Now we have one more.
Kiefer Sutherland’s The Confession is a 10 episode web series, the first three of which debuted today, exclusively on Hulu. Each five-minute webisode stars Sutherland as a hitman relaying his stories to a Catholic preist, portrayed by John Hurt.
Sutherland’s character, listed only as “The Confessor” on IMDB in the credits, expresses an atheistic or agnostic view point in the first webisode. He goes on to paint himself as a sociopath seeking to understand good and evil, and forces the preist to help him through philosophical and theological discussion.
Now, I certainly don’t like that it reinforces the misconception that atheists lack moral integrity, but that’s more in the eye of the beholder. Someone with that belief will see a cause and effect relationship between his behavior an lack of faith. Someone like me will understand that he behaves badly because he lacks empathy—he could just as easily be a Catholic or Muslim sociopath. Though, it would be nice to get an atheist character someday that isn’t narcissistic, malevolent, or a social outcast.
That being said, I find The Confession to be very entertaining. The Confessor can be thought of as the anti-Jack Bauer. It takes a certain type of person to be able to torture and kill people, whether it be for the greater good or for a paycheck. Bauer and the Confessor both have the necessary traits to do similar jobs on opposite sides of the law. They differ completely in terms of empathy and values—Bauer cares deeply for those around him and is ashamed of some things he’s done to protect them, while the Confessor feels no guilt, no remorse—yet they use they same means to achieve their very different goals.
Well, that’s my take. You can watch the first three chapters right here if you’d like:
‘A’ Week: Getting Out
March 26, 2011 Leave a Comment
As ‘A’ Week 2011 comes to a close, I thought this would be a good time to stop procrastinating. I’ve been and out atheist for over a decade now, though I wasn’t always as “out” as I am today. So I decided this year I should get out of something other than the closet—the Mormon church.
For many years I didn’t give it much thought, but in recent years I’ve decided I don’t want my name associated with Mormonism any longer—even if it is nothing more than a procedural matter from my perspective.
I spent some time today drafting my letter of resignation, which the LDS Church requires before name removal. Parts of my letter were taken from samples at ExMormon.org and MormonResignation.com with more than a little of my own input. Here is the full text of my letter, which you can feel free to use as a template if you’d like:
[YOUR FULL NAME]
Membership Record No.: [xxx-xxx-xxxx]
DOB: [YOUR DATE OF BIRTH]
Date of baptism: [YOUR DATE OF LDS BAPTISM]
[CURRENT ADDRESS]
[TODAY'S DATE]
Member Records Division, LDS Church
50 E North Temple Rm 1372
SLC UT 84150-5310
This letter is my formal resignation from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and it is effective immediately. I hereby withdraw my consent to being treated as a member and I withdraw my consent to being subject to church rules, policies, beliefs, and “discipline.” As I am no longer a member, please remove the name “[YOUR FULL NAME]” ([MEMBERSHIP RECORD NUMBER]; [DOB]; [DATE OF BAPTISM]) from the records of the LDS Church immediately.
I understand fully the “consequences” of name removal as outlined in Handbook 1: “it cancels the effects of baptism and confirmation, withdraws the priesthood held by a male member, and revokes temple blessings … a person can be readmitted to the Church by baptism and confirmation only after a thorough interview.” (6.14, 2010). I will not be dissuaded and demand that my name be removed immediately, without announcement, and with the 30-day waiting period waived, as required by section 6.14 of Handbook 1.
I find the bulk of theistic doctrine and teachings, including LDS, to be morally repugnant and intellectually bankrupt. I no longer wish to be associated with the LDS Church or any other religion for these and other reasons.
Furthermore, I object to having ever been considered a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on the grounds that membership forced upon me as a child at the age of eight—well before a person is able to competently make decisions of this nature and well before the legal age of adulthood (18) in the U.S. This letter is written out of necessity due to the unfortunate procedures and policies set forth by the LDS Church, therefore I expect this matter to be handled promptly, with respect and with full confidentiality. This matter is not to be discussed with members of my family, friends, or anyone inside or outside the LDS Church who is not crucial to the process of name removal.
Sincerely,
[NAME SIGNED]
[NAME PRINTED]
You’d probably fine with only name and DOB, but the member number and date of baptism might help avoid hiccups if you have that info.
Also, thanks to some message board, I was able to download a pdf of the church’s updated handbook here (password: martin).
Now I’m off to mail this thing!
Dear Red Cross,
February 21, 2011 2 Comments
Here is a short article from the Associated Press, found on this website:
Red Cross seeks to provide kosher meals for disaster victims
When the next disaster strikes, whether you are religious, atheist or just a vegetarian, the Red Cross will have a meal for you.
By The Associated Press
The American Red Cross has been looking at ways it can improve its response to the next disaster and it’s found some surprising answers. Joel Sullivan, CEO of the Middle Tennessee chapter of the American Red Cross, said changing demographics have led to a demand for food that meets the specific cultural and religious needs. The Red Cross is looking for vendors that can supply vegetarian, kosher and halal meals.
The Tennessean reports that Muslim leaders have also asked the charity to look into providing separate spaces for men and women at their shelters.
Dear Red Cross,
I commend you for your efforts to provide appropriate meals for victims with “specific cultural and religious needs.” I hope you will consider accommodating my beliefs as well, should I be in the unfortunate position of requiring your aide.
As a follower of the religion of Atheism, I require that my meals contain only meat that comes from tortured baby humans. Torturing is essential in preparing my meals. There are also very important rituals that must be performed, including the dancing of the Macarena by all those involved in the raising of the mini humans or the preparation and handling of the tiny baby human meat. Oh, and I require ice cream cake with every meal.
And see if you can’t make separate spaces for old, white, male intellectuals and those who are not old, white, male intellectuals in your shelters—we wouldn’t want any mixing of ideas going on.
Thank you for your time,
Concerned Atheist
Secular Survey
February 9, 2011 Leave a Comment
Just wanted to pass on a survey I was directed to via the Cleveland Freethinkers. Christopher Garneau, a graduate student at the University of Nebraska, is conducting a study on stigma and secular individuals in the Midwest. Click here to participate. Keep in mind, this survey is intended only for Midwesterners.
Here is a message from Mr. Garneau:
Thank you for taking the time to read this research request. I am a graduate student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and I am conducting a research study on stigma and secular individuals (atheists, agnostics, humanists) located in the Midwest for my doctoral dissertation. I invite you to contribute to this research by taking part in my web-survey. The survey should only take about 30 minutes to complete. I want to ensure you that I do not have any means to connect your personal information or IP address to your survey so your participation will be anonymous. The data collected in this survey may be used for future research projects as well. I also ask that you forward this email to other secular (atheist/agnostic/humanist) individuals you know. This is a population that is hard to find and I need as big of a sample as I can get.
This research is important because it provides more information about a highly understudied group. It also contributes to identifying seculars as a religious minority in the U.S
Now enjoy this picture of Japanese Snow Monkeys chilling in a hot spring.
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