Secular Humanism's topics - tribe.net

The Worst Religion

2008-09-17T04:42:29Z

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, there are six organized religions on Earth, with over 10,000,000 members. These are:

Christianity
Islam
Hinduism
Buddhism
Sikhism
Judaism

I would like to do a survey of the members here, ranking them from worst to best. Criteria are your own. Please don't argue over criteria, or even explain, so as not to bog this down.

Here are mine. Remember, worst on top, best at the bottom.

Islam
Hinduism
Sikhism
Christianity
Judaism
Buddhism

Yes, there are others, Baha'ism, Confucianism, Jainism, Shintoism, etc. But, I had to stop somewhere, and the above is where I did.

posted in Secular Humanism - 107 replies

Enter a cage, but a bigger one.

2008-09-14T02:33:52Z

I am an optimist, but my optimism has a small radius--it never extends too far out in the future, since it's so unpredictable.
I adore my confusions and the feelings of lost, misguided, misunderstood.
I often think that we are never actually free, we just shift from cage to cage--and define those cages with nice, vogue names that can entertain a coffeehouse crowd or some who use books/ideas/theory as source of strength (could it be I?) and seek/find connection that way.
Many words like those have "ism" at the end.
I consider myself a humanist--possibly secular in my own way. The magic word here is "OWN." Yet I can easily see how secular humanism can take the shape of another form of religion, another raft for "seekers," who are trying to catch the truth, "DEFINE" truth. So, I prefer simply "humanist." as my sub-title--without even being fully aware of it, of course.
There was a time when I argued about everything religious, superstitious. Don't get me wrong, I am still skeptic about a lot of things, and I do not have any religion. But I think secular humanism is another cage we like to enter, but we cannot see it's edge, since it is so large and covers so many things!
I am not afraid of the cage. I just fear the idea that we may not be able to acknowledge that a cage is a cage.
It can be argued, but someone once said, "if one does not need freedom, he is always free." Well, who knows?

posted in Secular Humanism - 12 replies

Afghanistan: Journalist Sentenced to Death for Blasphemy

2008-08-04T01:56:24Z

Declare Your Strong Support for Immediate Release of Young Afghan Journalist Parwiz Kambakhsh

http://www.rawa.org/events/parwiz_e.htm

Parwiz Kambakhsh
Galileos are still being interrogated in the disastrous courts of ignorance
Young Galileos are crying
Oh You! Darkness lovers:
We will not be frightened of burns and fires
We are the everlasting flames of history

Sirus Tabristani, an Iranian Poet

The criminals who are in power in Afghanistan have imprisoned Parwiz Kambakhsh, a young journalist, since October 2007 in Balkh province - Northern Afghanistan. He is threatened to be hanged by the dark-minded and ignorant judges in the medieval courts of Afghanistan. The accusations are so ridiculous and injudicious that they make any freedom-loving person want to stand and say enough is enough. Mr. Kambakhsh is accused of printing/distributing an article from the Internet, which points out controversial verses of the Quran regarding women’s rights. The book “Religion in the History of Civilization” (by Will Durant) taken from his living room has been kept as an evidence against him in the court!

In a country where for the last six years there are many claims regarding “democracy”, “human rights”, and “freedom of press”, the religious fascists have their grip on justice and try every possible way to mute anyone who criticizes or comments about the Northern Alliance criminals.

Imprisonment of Parwiz Kambakhsh is not only for his enlightening articles in a local newspaper, Jahan-e-Now (The New World), but also because of his brother Yaqub Ibrahimi, who is a well-known, brave and realistic reporter and exposed many criminal faces from Jehadi mafia in Northern Afghanistan to the world public.

The Jehadi criminals, who could not silence Ibrahimi, now try to pursue a traitorous agenda by unlawfully imprisoning his brother in order to hush him.

The Religious Scholars Council of Balkh province who have never condemned the criminal acts of the fundamentalist warlords in the north, now disgracefully issued a verdict for the execution of Parwiz Kambakhsh.

Above everything, the shocking detention of Mr. Kambakhsh is a great disgrace for Mr. Karzai and his Western patrons who decorated the notorious criminals in pants and ties and brought them in power under the guise of “democrats”. Now Mr. Karzai says he is not as powerful to control them.

Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) kindly asks all freedom-loving individuals and organizations who believe in human rights and democracy to stand up against the unjust imprisonment of Parwiz Kambakhsh, and ask for his immediate release. Only your strong support for justice and freedom can stop the mediaeval acts of the Afghan government and its allies, which are in the style of the brutal Iranian regime.

Please email your protest letters to:

Presidential Office:
president@afghanistangov.org

United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)
spokesman-unama@un.org

The Supreme Court of Afghanistan
aquddus@supremecourt.gov.af

You may also send protest letters to Afghan embassy in your country.

Here is an additional article from the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/world/middleeast/24afghan.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

posted in Secular Humanism - 7 replies

Weigh in... your opinion, that is

2008-06-09T03:10:42Z

Discuss some interesting topics on CreateDebate like these:

http://www.createdebate.com/debate/show/Does_modern_Christianity_miss_the_mark
http://www.createdebate.com/debate/show/Faith_is_ignorance
http://www.createdebate.com/debate/show/Jesus_Christ:_Fact_or_Fiction
http://www.createdebate.com/debate/show/Has_evolution_been_scientifically_proved
http://www.createdebate.com/debate/show/Would_the_world_be_a_better_place_without_religions
http://www.createdebate.com/debate/show/Is_prayer_nonsense
http://www.createdebate.com/debate/show/Should_religious_doctrine_be_required_reading_in_high_school
http://www.createdebate.com/debate/show/Is_Scientology_a_cult
http://www.createdebate.com/debate/show/Are_Mormons_Christians
http://www.createdebate.com/debate/show/Do_you_believe_in_God_2
http://www.createdebate.com/debate/show/Can_god_be_omniscient_and_omnipotent_Someone_lied
http://www.createdebate.com/debate/show/Thoughts_on_child_indoctrination
http://www.createdebate.com/debate/show/Are_better_educated_people_less_likely_to_be_religious
http://www.createdebate.com/debate/show/Does_belief_in_God_constitute_a_delusion

posted in Secular Humanism - 6 replies

Washington Voters: Support I-1000 Death With Dignity

2008-06-04T15:50:14Z

Currently gathering signatures--I-1000 will give residents the same right to self-determination that Oregon residents have had for a decade. The right tried all sorts of scare tactics in Oregon and not even one of them turned out to be true. (except a much welcome weakening of church authority)

link www.itsmydecision.org/

posted in Secular Humanism - 0 replies

Take the Profit Out of Global Warming and War, Nationalize the Oil Industry

2008-05-24T22:50:24Z

Take the Profit Out of Global Warming and War, Nationalize the Oil Industry

Global Warming, the Biggest Threat to Humanity and Other Living Things

By STEVEN ARGUE

In Myanmar the death toll from a cyclone is, according to the Red Cross, between 69,000 and 128,000 people, with many more deaths possible from disease and starvation. Adding to the ferocity of the storm’s impact has been the fact that much of the mangrove habitat that had protected the Myanmar coast has been cleared. In addition, with strong parallels to Bush’s refusal to accept thousands of well trained and well equipped aid workers who would have saved lives in New Orleans, the repressive capitalist government of Myanmar has hindered the ability of international aid workers to do what needs to be done to save lives in Myanmar.

Last year, China had their worst cyclone in over 50 years. Around the world, warmer oceans are increasing the frequency and severity of hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons. This is happening because the world’s warmer oceans feed more moisture into these tropical storms. As a result, computer models of global warming also project hurricanes in places that haven’t had them in known human history. One of these projections was that hurricanes would form in the South Atlantic. Fitting predictions, the first ever known South Atlantic hurricane made landfall on southern Brazil in 2004.

Last year Tokyo had a warm winter, with no snow cover for the first time in recorded history.

California is having the driest spring in 150 years, with regular water shortages in the long-term projections as a result of global warming. Already, on May 22, a wildfire started in the Santa Cruz Mountains, burning thousands of acres and destroying homes. That fire has yet to be contained. With wildfires starting this early, there is reason to fear this upcoming fire season in California.

The Santa Cruz area has a Mediterranean climate. These climates are characterized by winter rainy seasons and dry summers. Places with Mediterranean climates around the world are facing dryer weather with more wildfires. This is also happening in Greece and Australia. Forests and chaparral are burning up as habitats are changing and adjacent deserts are expanding.

The ice sheets in the arctic are disappearing at an ever increasing rate, and some of the latest predictions now project the potential of northern summer ice sheets completely disappearing within six years, bringing on the extinction of the polar bear and other species. As the white ice and snow disappears, dark ocean absorbs more of the sun’s heat, and escalates the rate of global warming even further.

In 2005 the Amazon River basin faced a drought never seen in recorded history. For the first time in recorded history a stretch of the Amazon River went completely dry in 2005, with causes attributed to a combination of less rainfall, smaller glaciers in the Andes (as a result of melting), and deforestation. Computer models predict that the rains that are necessary for the continued flow of the Amazon River will dry up due to the warmth of the Atlantic Ocean, causing moisture to fall directly as rain into the Atlantic rather than being blown inland. In addition to these projections saying that the Amazon River will dry up as a result of global warming, they also say that the Amazon rainforest will begin a regression first to grassland ending with the massive desertification of the Amazon Basin within the next one-hundred years. This, and other processes of desertification around the world, will, like rising oceans, cause starvation, massive refugee crisis’s, and also cause mass extinction of plant and animal species. Presently, the trees of the Amazon Forest remove greenhouse carbon from the atmosphere, but as climate changes and the forest disappears, this process will reverse itself, and the region will be adding carbon to the atmosphere.

Today, every national academy of science of the industrialized world recognizes human caused global warming as a fact. These include the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences who explicitly use the word "consensus" on the issue.

Yet there are a few voices who claim that human caused global warming is a myth. Among these is the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a foundation funded by ExxonMobile. Under pressure, ExxonMobile declared they would no longer fund such groups. Yet, a study of ExxonMobiles tax returns showed they were lying and that they were still funding 14 other similar groups. Among these is the organization “Frontiers for Freedom” who recently issued a report that was dedicated to attacking Al Gore and global warming science.

The problem of global warming is one that will, and is, devastating the planet’s environment, causing mass extinction of species while also destroying agricultural and habitable land through rising oceans, more severe hurricanes, droughts, more unpredictable weather, increases in tropical diseases, the slowing of ocean currents causing year round freezing weather with a potential ice age in the northern hemisphere combined with higher temperatures closer to the equator, and the potential of runaway global warming with the melting of the ocean’s methane hydride that could actually cause the extinction of the human species as well as most other species on the planet.

The United States is still the biggest contributor to global warming in the world. Per capita, China has much lower carbon emissions than the United States. Likewise, historically their output is also much less than the United States. No country outdoes the extreme per-capita output of US consumerism, nor do they outdo the historic US output, output which stays in the atmosphere for a long time and continues to contribute to global warming today.

China needs to deal with their pollution too, but their carbon footprint per person is much, much lower than the United States. In addition, the growing output in China is, to a large extent, being done by US corporations who have moved to China, so once again, US capitalists are largely to blame, even for Chinese carbon output. Yet, the Chinese Communist Party’s abandonment of socialism, and lack of true workers democracy under one party Stalinist rule, is also part of the problem.

Despite the severity of this problem and the key role the United States has played in creating it, the U.S. government and corporate leaders do worse than nothing, and have blocked and sabotaged all potential solutions for the past fifty years up until the present.

The United States needs an emergency program to dramatically lower carbon emissions. Without it we are doomed. Yet both ruling capitalist parties in the United States have been in the back pockets of big oil and coal, and have refused to do anything. A first step to save the planet and end imperialist wars, once the people gain power, will be the nationalization of the energy industries.

The first scientist to discuss global warming was Swedish Chemist Svante Arrhenius, a chemist who made many discoveries essential to modern chemistry, who in 1896 warned that a doubling of the world's atmospheric carbon dioxide would increase the world's temperatures by five to six degrees Celsius. With catastrophic implications, this is very close to current predictions. By 1957, scientists Roger Revelle and Hans Suess at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in California put out the first warnings about human caused global warming that were taken seriously by the scientific community. Yet, despite this information being readily available for fifty years, the U.S. government and U.S. corporations failed to act in a favorable way at that time, and presently they continue to be an obstacle to action on global warming.

The current lack of action is due to the massive profits that continue to be made by the big oil corporations, and the political strength they have in being able to buy the politicians in Washington. Nothing short of nationalizing the oil industry, a move that would take corporate profit out of continued greenhouse gas emissions, will break this country from its suicidal drive towards profits at the price of the destruction of the entire planet. Yet the nationalization of oil will not take place within the current power structure of a nation ruled by two capitalist parties that are only elected through the support of massive contributions from the extremely wealthy and the backing of the corporate media. Although there will be a hard struggle ahead, only a revolutionary democratic socialist movement that comes from below can achieve the transformations of the power structure needed to nationalize oil and save the planet.

Today, the full extent of the problem of human caused global warming is the focus of considerable scientific research. World temperatures have already increased significantly and are rising at an alarming rate. As global temperatures have risen, ice shelves and glaciers in the Arctic, Antarctic, and mountains have been rapidly melting. So much ice has melted and dropped in the Ocean that the maps of Antarctica have had to be redrawn. In Greenland, it has been found that the increased layer of melted water between glaciers and the ground below is in fact greatly increasing the speed in which glaciers slide into the ocean.

All of this increased water in the world’s oceans is causing sea levels to rise. The Pacific island nation of Tuvalu is projected to be the first island nation to be completely submerged by global warming. Rising saltwater has already destroyed crop land and is contaminating their ground water. As a result, Tuvaluans now only drink rainwater and have to import a much greater portion of their food than they did in the past. The nation of 9,300 has already begun a program of evacuating 75 people per year from their islands, with 3,000 Tuvaluans already living overseas. Not only is Tuvalu taking the question of global warming seriously enough to begin evacuation of their islands, their tiny poor nation has decided to spend the $1.5 million per year necessary to be members of the United Nations in order to advocate world action against global warming. While what is happening to Tuvaluans is alarming, the coming elimination of Tuvalu from the planet is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the human and environmental crisis that will be caused by rising seas. As the trend continues, much of low lying nations such as Bangladesh and Vietnam are projected to be swallowed by rising waters, creating millions upon millions of refugees, and destroying some of the most productive crop land in the world, bringing with it a massive humanitarian crisis of refugees and starvation as well as the extinction of many species. In addition, low lying areas of the United States, such as Manhattan and Florida, will be submerged as well.

One disturbing theory regarding global warming makes the seemingly contradictory projection that global warming will trigger a new ice-age. Yet a large and growing body of scientific evidence does back this prediction. It is based on the fact that ocean currents in the Atlantic, including the Gulf Stream, are expected to disappear as a result of large amounts of fresh water melting and disrupting ocean currents. These currents move cold water from the north Atlantic south as well as warmer water north, mitigating what would be the extremes between both northern and southern climates. Twenty thousand years ago, at the height of the last ice-age, a reduction of ocean currents by two thirds drastically decreased the temperatures of the northern hemisphere and plunged much of North America and Europe into year-round winter. Already, measurements of ocean currents off of Greenland indicate that ocean currents there have decreased by 20%. The transformation of most of North America and Europe into frozen wasteland will, like rising oceans and desertification, cause mass starvation, a massive refugee crisis, and also cause mass extinction of plant and animal species.

Much of global warming is proceeding at even faster rates than original dire predictions, due to what are called positive feedback loops. These are phenomena that are caused by global warming on the one hand, and are accelerating global warming on the other. Among positive feedback loops is the melting of ice and snow. As more ice melts, warmth from the sun that was reflected back out of the atmosphere by light colored snow and ice; is more readily absorbed by newly exposed darker colored ground and ocean water. This is why the arctic is currently heating up at a much faster rate than anywhere else.

Carbon sinks, things that take global warming causing carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, are also being destroyed by global warming. Fossil fuels (when they aren’t burned) such as oil and coal are the ultimate carbon sinks, where prehistoric carbon was moved out of the atmosphere through photosynthesis and buried in the ground. Unfortunately, as these fuel sources are burned, their carbon is now being released back into the atmosphere. Some other important carbon sinks are forests and peat bogs, where these plants take carbon dioxide out of the air and convert it into sugars, carbohydrates, and cellulose. While direct human destruction of forests and peat bogs for lumber, fuel, and cropland is destroying these important carbon sinks, so too do phenomena such as global warming caused desertification.

Another important carbon sink, caught in a global warming related positive feedback loop, are the activities of the ocean’s forams, tiny organisms that, in their massive numbers, use up vast amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide as it passes freely between the atmosphere and the oceans. When forams die, much of the carbon they’ve converted drops with their shells to the bottom of the ocean. Yet, this process is now being interrupted by the increased acidity of the oceans caused by the increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and oceans. Forams are unable to function properly under these conditions of higher acidity and are thus removing less carbon from the atmosphere.

So a number of causes have been identified where increased carbon dioxide and increased global warming cause even more atmospheric carbon dioxide and more global warming. In addition, the most dire predictions dealing with positive feedback mechanisms is the melting of methane hydride on the bottoms of the world’s oceans. As the oceans heat up, the melting of this material will release methane gas into the atmosphere. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is even worse than carbon dioxide. A leading theory on the cause of the Permian extinction 251 million years ago, an extinction episode that killed off 95 percent of all species on earth, is that the extinction episode was first triggered by carbon dioxide spewed into the atmosphere by Siberian volcanoes for an extended period of time that led to global warming that reached temperatures high enough to melt methane hydride on the bottom of the oceans.

The combination of high carbon dioxide and methane gas concentrations in the atmosphere then dramatically increased the temperatures of the oceans, causing them to become anoxic. The oceans became anoxic because as water gets warmer it holds less oxygen. In addition, warmer ocean waters circulate less, moving less oxygenated water from the ocean’s surface deeper into the ocean.

Anoxic waters no longer support most advanced plants and animals, but they do support a number of species of bacteria that are adapted to such conditions. These bacteria include species that produce hydrogen sulfide as a waste product of their metabolism. Hydrogen sulfide is poisonous to humans and other organisms dependent on oxygen. It is thought that large amounts of hydrogen sulfide from the world’s heated anoxic oceans entered the atmosphere and killed off almost all life on land during the Permian Extinction. Human caused global warming today, if it is not stopped, may well set in motion the same series of events, and wipe out most species on earth, including the human race.

As U.N. secretary-general Ban told delegates at the December 2007 U.N. climate conference in Bali, "We are at a crossroad, one path leads to a comprehensive climate change agreement, the other to oblivion. The choice is clear." Yet despite a willingness on the part of a number of nations to take some action, and despite overwhelming scientific evidence, the United States, the worst polluter of gasses causing global warming in the world, refuses to sign on to international agreements limiting greenhouse gas emissions. While most environmentalists agree that these Kyoto protocols are not enough, the United States signing on to them would at least be a step in the right direction. If the United States continues to do nothing in regards to global warming except participate in denial while spewing the worst per-capita carbon emissions in the world, the human and environmental catastrophe of global warming will become much worse, and human extinction becomes more and more likely.

In advocating something be done, American environmentalists often point to many individual things people can do to slow one’s personal impact on global warming. These include driving less and generally using combustion engines less, recycling, becoming a vegetarian or vegan, consuming less, using solar or wind energy, planting trees, avoiding cutting down trees, and saving forests and peat bogs. All of these things are positive in reducing greenhouse gasses, and should be encouraged, but without the problem being tackled on a wider societal level, such individual actions amount to a mere drop in the bucket as petroleum and auto-industries sabotage wider solutions, and millionaires like Arnold Swartzenegger try to make up for what they apparently lack in their pants by driving around with his fleet of eight gas-guzzling hummers.

One wider societal solution would be converting the United States to electric cars, and making them more efficient with hybrid technology while also cleaning up the grid by converting more power sources to solar and wind generated power. This should be combined with providing much greater subsidies to mass transportation. Yet, the oil industry and other major corporations of the United States, along with their subservient politicians in both the Democrat and Republican Parties, have blocked every major step towards this kind of progress over the last 50 years.

As Alexandra Paul from Bay Watch stated in a PBS interview, “[…] power as in ‘the power structure’ is why we are still using gas in cars.” In the interview she described how GM decided not to re-lease her electric car, nor any other that they had leased out, and instead took all of these working cars back from their customers in 2002 and crushed them. Toyota also took similar actions destroying their electric vehicles in California at the same time. The only reason these companies ever produced and leased these cars was that they were forced to do so by a California law passed in the 1990’s. The law was inspired by the fact that cities like Los Angeles are over-polluted, largely due to combustion engines, and electric cars with energy coming from power plants produce fewer smog and greenhouse gas pollutants. Yet, when these companies were no longer legally forced to put out electric cars in order to do business in California, they stopped doing so and destroyed the ones they had already produced. When electric cars were on the market, they were available only for lease except a few that Toyota agreed to sell under public pressure. So, when the car manufacturers were no longer forced to have their popular electric cars out on the market, they not only stopped producing them, they took back the ones that were actively being leased and destroyed them.

The auto manufacturers claim that these cars were unpopular, and that is why they stopped producing them as soon as they could. Yet, when the cars were being leased there were waiting lists for the cars that were longer than what was available. The various manufacturers, in taking these vehicles off the road and destroying them, did so in order to destroy their very example as an alternative. This lets us in on a very important secret. Through their hostile actions against the electric car they have informed us that they are wed to the interests of the oil companies. This could be, in part, due to the fact that the planned obsolescence of cars with combustion engines is harder to engineer into electric cars. So these cars apparently didn’t break down enough to promote auto sales and auto parts sales. So the auto industry is involved in what amounts to, in terms of ethics, a criminal conspiracy to rip-off consumers and destroy the future of this planet in order to achieve short-term profits.

Just as capitalist ownership is blocking the production of electric cars, so to does capitalist energy ownership block the development and production of wide-scale wind and solar energy. As Monica Hill stated in the Freedom Socialist Newspaper:

“[...] it takes a great deal more labor and energy to harness wind and solar power, at present, than to extract oil. Oil men are clear on the subject. "Renewable energy," said former Exxon Mobil CEO Lee Raymond in the British newspaper Economist, is "a complete waste of money." When Raymond retired last December, Exxon Mobil reported profits of $36.1 billion — the largest in U.S. history. Raymond personally raked in $400 million that year. Clearly, when wind and solar power finally get developed, it won't be thanks to capitalist industry. There is no solution for skyrocketing consumer costs and plunging planetary health as long as control of the energy industry remains in the hands of the monster oil industry and its kindred financial and industrial monopolies.”

With the production of wind and solar, once again, capitalist ownership and capitalist profits are the barriers to the steps needed to save the planet.

Just as big oil profits from the destruction of the planet, they are also a major influence in the drive for war against countries that have eliminated private ownership of oil wealth. U.S. intervention against the popular democratic governments of Venezuela and Bolivia is increasing because these countries have nationalized their energy industries and are using oil profits for things such as education and healthcare, instead of that money going directly into the pockets of multi-national oil corporations. Similarly, oil was nationalized under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein and oil revenues were used, in part, to benefit the Iraqi people. Now, under a U.S. imposed puppet government in Iraq, there have been attempts to privatize Iraqi oil fields, but resistance from Iraqi workers has so far prevented it. Once again, the drive for higher corporate oil profits is a destructive force for the world’s people and environment.

While the United States government has no right to intervene in other countries to tell them what to do with their own resources, especially when those countries are making better use of resources than would be done in the hands of U.S. and British oil companies, the U.S. also has no right to destroy the entire planet for the profits of a few oil companies. This, combined with the overwhelming corrupting power big oil has on U.S. politics leads one who is interested in the future of this planet to one inevitable conclusion. The oil industries of the United States need to be nationalized under the democratic control of the people.

While taking the profit out of war and environmental destruction through the nationalization of oil and other energy industries may sound logical to most people, inevitable questions naturally arise in people’s minds.

A common myth promoted by those who have profits to gain through private ownership is that private ownership is more efficient. Yet an honest look shows public ownership is always better. A good example is socialized medicine in Europe, which is much cheaper and better than American healthcare, resulting in giving countries like France, Germany, and the United Kingdom longer life expectancies and lower infant mortalities than the United States. Ending capitalist profit, a form of theft to line the pockets of the wealthy in the first place, is just plain more efficient.

Even public ownership of energy, on a small scale, isn’t without precedent in the United States. Electricity in Los Angeles is publicly owned. Because it is publicly owned, money isn’t being siphoned away in the form of profits going to shareholders and CEO’s. In addition, the bottom line is not the profits of shareholders and CEO’s. As a result, electricity is provided at rates much cheaper than in the rest of California, and it is done in a more environmentally friendly way. In fact, since electricity is publicly owned, people in LA were able to put an initiative on the ballot to shut down their nuclear power plants. The measure succeeded, and people in LA, while they are still forced to pay for the nuclear plants that were constructed and shut down, they still pay less for electricity due to the superior efficiency of ending corporate profit through public ownership.

In the United States, public ownership of the oil industry would not only take away profit incentives for war and environmental destruction, but money made from such enterprises could go towards human and environmental needs such as saving the environment, and towards healthcare and education, as nationalized oil money is used in Venezuela.

Yet Venezuela is also facing a crisis, both because the United States is hostile to what the revolutionary Chavez government is doing there with oil money, but also because there are still capitalists that control much of the Venezuelan economy. Through that control they are able to sabotage other sectors of the economy in their attempts to overthrow the Chavez government. Capitalist interference in food distribution has been one of the most recent acts of sabotage, where capitalists have had food stuffs that they were refusing to put on the shelves for sale. How Chavez deals with this, and other capitalist sabotage of the economy, will determine whether or not the Venezuelan Revolution survives.

Immediately after the Cuban Revolution, Castro and the rest of the Cuban revolutionary leadership was tested in a similar way. The first nationalizations by the Cuban revolutionary leadership were in agriculture. Before the revolution, under the U.S. backed Batista dictatorship, much of the Cuban land was owned by the American capitalist Rockefeller family through the United Fruit Company. Peasants worked for low wages on this land during the on season, and starved during the off-season. Immediately, upon taking power, the Castro government carried out their promise of land reform and United Fruit Company land was expropriated. Resources from sugar production were no longer used to only enrich the Rockefeller family, but instead used to bring food, education, and medicine to peasants and their children. Yet, the United States and American capitalists never forgave this intrusion on capitalist property, and American capitalists sabotaged production in other sectors of the economy, including by refusing to refine oil. In response, the Castro government nationalized the entire economy and announced the building of a socialist economy in Cuba.

This necessity of socialist revolutions to carry out sweeping nationalizations in order to stop capitalist sabotage of the economy was first recognized in 1905 by Leon Trotsky in his work “Results and Prospects” and later developed further in “The Permanent Revolution”.

It is through the Cuban nationalization of the entire economy that the Cuban revolution has not only been able to survive, but they have been able to implement socialist energy policies that are not based on profit, but are instead based on human and environmental needs. While Cuban socialized medicine has brought about a medical system that has produced a higher life expectancy and lower infant mortality than the United States, Cuba’s planned economy has also benefited the environment. It is as result of those policies and priorities that the World Wildlife Fund has said that Cuba is the only country with passing environmental policies in the world. Yet, those policies on one tiny island nation will not be enough to save the planet. As Fidel Castro stated at the U.N. in Rio in 1992:

“An important biological species is in danger of disappearing due to the fast and progressive destruction of its natural living conditions: mankind. We have now become aware of this problem when it is almost too late to stop it. It is necessary to point out that consumer societies are fundamentally responsible for the brutal destruction of the environment.”

Here, Castro is right, and Cuba does serve as a model. Yet, when we look at the Cuban model of socialism, we must pick and choose what aspects are healthy and which aspects should not be copied by other socialist revolutions.

While the Cuban socialism has achieved much, one key ingredient for a healthy society is missing. That ingredient is democracy. A similar observation was made of the Soviet Union in 1918 by German socialist leader Rosa Luxemburg. While being supportive of the Russian revolution, she was at the same time opposed to the dictatorial methods of the leadership of Lenin and Trotsky in the Soviet Union. Rosa Luxemburg instead advocated revolutionary democratic socialism.

The Bolsheviks, under the leadership of Lenin and Trotsky, were swept to power in a popular revolution that called for an end to the war with Germany, land reform, and socialism. Besides the betterment this revolution meant for the workers and peasants in general, including access to healthcare and education, giant strides forward were made for oppressed nationalities, Jews, women's rights, and gay rights. Before the revolution, under Czarist rule, Jews were routinely slaughtered in the thousands in government-sponsored pogroms. Peasants were the property of feudal landlords, and huge numbers of drafted young peasants were dying in the inter-imperialist war with Germany. This all ended with the Russian Revolution. In addition, gay rights and the right to abortion were legalized for the first time in any country with the birth of the Soviet Union and backward anti-woman practices such as bride-price and forced marriage were made illegal. Priorities were made of literacy and meeting the basic needs of the people. These were huge advances made by a revolution that had inherited a poor economically backward nation, soon to be further devastated by civil war and the invasion of many imperialist armies.

Yet, Rosa Luxemburg, while praising the advances made by the Russian Revolution, did not excuse the lack of democracy in the Soviet Union. She saw the Marxist concept of the "dictatorship of the proletariat" in a completely different way than Lenin and Trotsky. She saw this simply as the toiling majority becoming the dictators over the capitalist minority that once held power. For that majority to actually be in charge, however, they would need democratic organs, universal suffrage, and democratic rights. For Lenin and Trotsky, the concept of the "dictatorship of the proletariat" fit more into bourgeois models of individual dictatorship by those in power. As Rosa Luxemburg states in her 1918 work, the “Russian Revolution”:

“Without general elections, without unrestricted freedom of press and assembly, without a free struggle of opinion, life dies out in every institution, becomes a mere semblance of life, in which only a bureaucracy remains as the active element. Public life gradually falls asleep, a few dozen party leaders with inexhaustible energy and boundless experience direct and rule [...] a dictatorship, to be sure, but not dictatorship of the proletariat [...].”

A different position by Lenin and Trotsky, more in league with that of Rosa Luxemburg, could have produced a much better and more open society that would have made Stalin's type of rise to power through skullduggery, corruption, and terror within the ranks of the party much more difficult.

Rosa Luxemburg did not see this question as being counterpoised between bourgeois democracy (democracy for the rich as we have in the United States) on the one hand (defended by fake "socialists" who had betrayed socialism and become administrators of capitalist exploitation and war), and dictatorial communism on the other. Instead, she rejected both and fought for a socialist society with nationalized industries where the working class has democratic control. It is this essential banner of revolutionary democratic socialism that must be fully revived in order to not repeat the mistakes of the past, and in order for people to take our movements for environmental survival and socialism seriously and want any part in them.

It was a very unfortunate error of history that the first socialist revolution was carried out with the anti-democratic errors of Lenin and Trotsky. Stalin amplified those errors for his own personal gain. Due to the influence of the Russian Revolution, both morally and financially, the undemocratic errors of the Russian Revolution were copied by most socialist revolutions after, including the Cuban revolution. While recognizing the advantages of the Cuban socialist model over U.S. imposed dictatorship and a corporate controlled economy, it is important not to repeat their undemocratic errors.

Yet, there is nothing inherently democratic about a private economy. As was shown in the example of publicly owned power in LA, with the ability of the people to shut down unsafe nuclear power plants, public ownership is more democratic than private ownership. Private ownership allows a few extremely wealthy people to control not only industrial policies where public input and control is essential for a healthy environment, but their private control of vast financial resources also gives them control of the two established political parties in the United States. Public ownership on a wider scale, with a broadly socialized economy, tied to full democratic rights and universal suffrage, will allow the United States to become a much more democratic country than it is today, and will allow the people of this country to begin the measures needed to save the planet.

Yet, while all of this may seem reasonable, it does beg the question, “How do you propose to gain such a far reaching goal in a country that has an entrenched power structure that is more engaged in privatization than nationalization?” This is the hardest question. It will take the organization of a revolutionary party firmly committed to these goals that is not interested in compromise with the current power establishment. The goal of such a party must be for power, but history has also shown that such parties and movements can become powerful enough at times to scare the power structure into making some of the needed reforms. Even relatively small parties that stick to radical convictions that seem to be on the very fringes can, in times of discontent and sudden revolutionary turmoil, become the majority. As issues worsen in the United States around war, environmental destruction, lack of healthcare, and a possible coming economic collapse, the possibilities of a sea-change in the relatively passive U.S. population becomes more and more likely.

It is with these understandings that the first steps are being taken to establish the Cool Earth Party on the principles of revolutionary democratic socialism, which includes the following demands:

1. Immediate action to save the planet by cutting greenhouse gas emissions!
2. Nationalize the Oil Industry, Other Energy Industries, and the Auto Industry!
3. U.S. Troops Out of Iraq, Afghanistan, Colombia, and the Philippines!
4. End US Military Aid to Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, and All Other Oppressive Governments in the World!
5. End US Imperialism!
6. For Socialized Medicine!
7. No to Racism, Sexism, and Homophobia!
8. For proportional democracy with guaranteed equal time for parties in the media, outlaw big campaign spending, and outlaw electronic voting machines (which are presently used to rig American elections).
9. For Class Struggle Methods to Achieve these Goals, Including Strikes, Mass Protests, Alternative Media, Acts of Conscience and Rebellion Within the US Military, and the Building of a Revolutionary Democratic Socialist Party.
10. Towards Revolutionary Democratic Socialism in the United States!

Such a party will necessarily start small. But, I think, time will tell that such an organization is not only essential for the survival of the planet, it is also an idea that can become popular quickly because it is an idea whose time has come.

Join the Cool Earth Party
http://tribes.tribe.net/coolearth

This is an Article of Liberation News, Subscribe Free:
https://lists.riseup.net/www/info/liberation_news

posted in Secular Humanism - 0 replies

The Muslim World Throws a FITNA - Again

2008-05-24T20:40:20Z

March 24, 2008
The Muslim World Throws a FITNA - Again

"Once again, the Muslim world has gone into a state of apoplexy and thrown a fit, or FITNA, as the case may be. What else is new?

For those who haven't heard, "FITNA" is a movie by Dutch politician Geert Wilders exposing the connection between the Islamic holy text the Koran/Quran and the violence found abundantly in the Muslim world for the past 1,400 years or so.

This movie - which, we are constantly reminded, no one has ever seen - is so powerful, apparently, that the entire Muslim religion will be destroyed by it in a heartbeat. At least, that's the impression given by the incredible frantic knee-jerk reaction that had the unprecedented affect of shutting down the film's website before anything of substance was even posted there!"

Read the full blog - http://tbknews.blogspot.com/2008/03/muslim-world-throws-fitna.html

;

posted in Secular Humanism - 2 replies

A Sunday Sermon

2008-05-23T18:39:27Z

(more of an anti-sermon really)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5JtxrR6msg

posted in Secular Humanism - 0 replies

ZEITGEIST Companion Guide Part 1 e-book

2008-05-09T22:34:53Z

I thought folks here would like to know that "The Companion Guide to ZEITGEIST, Part 1" has come out as an e-book.

http://www.stellarhousepublishing.com/zeitgeist.html

What are your thoughts after reading this e-book?

;

posted in Secular Humanism - 2 replies

"Losing Our Spines to Save Our Necks" by Sam Harris

2008-05-06T18:47:03Z

"Losing Our Spines to Save Our Necks" by Sam Harris

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sam-harris/losing-our-spines-to-save_b_100132.html

Geert Wilders's "Fitna: The Movie"
A Review by Acharya S
http://www.truthbeknown.com/fitnareview.html

The Fitna video is included towards the bottom of the review. Basically, Wilders provides quotes from the Koran along with current video footage of heinous crimes against humanity to demonstrate the truth behind the so-called "religion of peace" and that we may continue to expect more of the same.

http://islamwatchers.blogspot.com

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posted in Secular Humanism - 8 replies

Cyall

2008-05-04T19:20:07Z

Well, today I saw that, after almost a week of silence, there was 1 new post on this tribe. Before clicking on it the tribe button, I told myself "If this post is more of Chopper's anti-islamic prop, I'll drop the tribe". Well, it was. So, although I doubt it really matters to most of yall, I'm going to take my leave. At least it's 1 less ear for Chopper to bend. If at any point this tribe devotes itself to Secular Humanism instead of selective religious prejudice, I will gladly return.

posted in Secular Humanism - 0 replies

The Truth About Islam

2008-05-04T17:31:51Z

The Truth About Islam

We hear so much folderol these days about Islam being a "peaceful religion." The fact is that Islam is anti-human and anti-woman - the most anti-human and anti-woman ideology on the face of the earth today. We need merely repeat a number of quotes from the Koran itself in order to prove these points. Anyone who claims the opposite is either willfully ignorant or despicably dishonest - and there are far too many people making such erroneous or deceptive assertions.

Let's start with the idiocy that Islam is "peaceful." In the first place, the record speaks for itself: Horrendous barbarism and atrocity repeatedly carried out in the name of Islam, wherever it can be found worldwide over a period of many centuries. Let us examine one of the worst examples of modern history: The horrors perpetrated in Bangladesh. No civilized human being could possibly participate in such atrocities.

http://tbknews.blogspot.com/2006/03/new-wineskins-old-vinegar-mankind.html

3 million deaths and 200,000 rapes - these are the fruits of a "peaceful religion?!"

Fast forward to the millions of foaming-at-the-mouth ranters killing and threatening people worldwide over some cartoons - cartoons that accurately lampooned this hideous ideology. These are the fruits of a "peaceful religion?"

The list of atrocities done in the name of Islam is VERY LONG and includes the ongoing torture of women. Let's proceed with the fallacy that Islam is "peaceful." Here is a quote from the Koran that puts to rest that lie once and for all:

"Prophet, make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites and deal rigorously with them. Hell shall be their home: an evil fate." Q 9:73

I repeat, anyone asserting otherwise is simply ignorant or a purveyor of falsehood, to say the least.

The treatment of women within Islam is absolutely ABYSMAL - and is contrived to be so, through the manmade set of "laws" found in the Koran, a book with the psychotic qualities of the Bible but none of the "entertaining" stories. It is as if the writers of the Koran set out to chronicle the most atrocious concept of God ever developed. Here is what the Koran says about women:

"Men have authority over women because God has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient." Q 4:34

PLEASE read the other quotes at: http://www.truthbeknown.com/islamquotes.htm

This article ranks no. 1 in the world when "quotes from the koran" is googled, along with a number of other keyphrases.

I will not even go into the horrid mistreatment of boys within Muslim communities - it is a revolting aspect indeed. I have written about this awful psychopathy within Islam for many years, but many still do not know about it. Even though it is unfortunately not widely known, there is an unending epidemic of child abuse - specifically sexual abuse - within Islamic societies, starting, of course, with Mohammed's rape of his 9-year-old "bride." These facts should not be let slip by lightly, as they are the root of much of the sociopathy we are facing with the encroachment of Muslim cultures in the U.S. and elsewhere. With that increase in the U.S., we also have record numbers of emergency-room visits by little girls with their genitals hacked off, a recent case of the psycho in Georgia who cut off his 2-year-old daughter's clitoris with a pair of scissors. Fortunately, this
demented moron received 10 years - because female genital mutilation is illegal in the U.S., as it should be in any CIVILIZED country.

In my opinion, the spread of this fanatically violent and misogynistic ideology is a great threat that we all need to take very seriously. It does not bode well for the civilized world that the purveyors of barbarism are freely trampling over the term "truth." These individuals should NOT be allowed to get away with their spurious and disgraceful assertions but should be loudly called to the carpet.

posted in Secular Humanism - 128 replies

Obvious Bias

2008-04-26T14:58:50Z

I am confused. I joined this tribe to read and discuss Secular Humanism. Now, it seems to be hijacked into discussing anti-muslim sentiment. And it's not just a single topic...it's several. Am I wrong? Please let me know. While some childish part of me enjoys ridiculing theist religions, I imagined this tribe would primarily discuss humanist attitudes and ideas. If this tribe is only about slamming islam, I'll peacefully leave.

Not that I'm pushing this agenda, but we had to cut Chopper from the atheist tribe for the same behaviour.

posted in Secular Humanism - 7 replies

Join the “Cool Earth Party” tribe

2008-04-18T19:36:05Z

Join the “Cool Earth Party” tribe

The Democrats and Republicans are the paid agents of the oil, armament, and insurance industries. Their continued rule of America will assure a future of more imperialist war, a healthcare system that doesn't work, and no meaningful action on global warming (the single biggest threat to the future of humanity and a healthy planet).

The Cool Earth Party is being established on the principles of revolutionary democratic socialism. We call for an end to the dictatorial power of the wealthy through the nationalization of major industries and for the establishment of a planned economy run to meet human and environmental needs. This socialist society must be established within the framework of full democratic freedoms and multi-party proportional democracy. To be truly Democratic all parties running in elections will be legally guaranteed equal time in the media, big campaign spending will be outlawed, and electronic voting machines (which are presently used to rig American elections) will be eliminated.

Upon taking power the Cool Earth Party will establish a system of socialized medicine for the United States, end all U.S. military occupations of other countries, end U.S. military aid to repressive governments, and nationalize the auto and energy industries to carry out immediate emergency measures to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Cool Earth Party
http://tribes.tribe.net/coolearth

posted in Secular Humanism - 0 replies

"Muslim Takeover of Europe and America?" blog & VIDEO

2008-04-13T18:03:06Z

"Muslim Takeover of Europe and America?" blog & VIDEO

"The following video records a Muslim leader - Libya's Qaddafi/Gaddafi - discussing the 100 million Muslims now or soon to be in the European Union, and how Europe will be an Islamic state within "a few decades." Gaddafi also relates the plot to overtake America as well, saying: "Europe is in a predicament, and so is America. They should agree to become Islamic in the course of time or else declare war on the Muslims."
http://tbknews.blogspot.com/2007/05/muslim-takeover-of-europe-and-america.html#links

Taqiyya & Jihad (Deception & Islam)
Surah 4:101 "And when ye go forth in the land, it is no sin for you to curtail (your) worship if ye fear that those who disbelieve may attack you. In truth the disbelievers are an open enemy to you."
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=14c_1179358550

Jihad in America
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=97b_1179470543

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posted in Secular Humanism - 14 replies

Christian Gene Isolated

2008-03-28T14:22:50Z

www.glumbert.com/media/christiangene

posted in Secular Humanism - 0 replies

The Big World Gathering - Take Your Power Back

2008-03-15T00:19:29Z

THE BIG WORLD GATHERING
http://www.worldgathering.net

What is The Big World Gathering?
The Big World Gathering is happening now wherever you are by you sharing with others what you really feel and think about life today, and by distributing information you believe is important. At a later stage, perhaps soon to happen, all our individual actions may help lead to something quite surprising; a major world change.

"Awake, awake, the world is young,
For all its weary years of thought.
The starkest fights must still be fought,
The most surprising songs be sung."
~ James E Flecker

Surprising Songs for The Big World Gathering ...
The Big World Gathering Theme Tune 1 ~ (5+ mins):
http://www.worldgathering.net/wwwmp3/wg1.mp3
The Big World Gathering Theme Tune 1 ~ (1+ mins):
http://www.worldgathering.net/wwwmp3/wg2.mp3
Big World Gathering Love Song ~ Time ~ (2+ mins):
http://www.worldgathering.net/wwwmp3/time.mp3
World-Action Big Gathering Theme Tune ~ (1+ mins):
http://www.worldgathering.net/wwwmp3/wa18.mp3

Special Images for The Big World Gathering:
http://www.worldgathering.net/logos.html

Subscribe to the BWG NEWS List at Google:
http://groups.google.com/group/worldgathering

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'THE GATHERING' by Sitting Bull

It is very important that as many people as possible, in different places, should take part in the Gathering. Decide where and when and how to gather. Your participation is needed.

This is the beginning of the break we are all waiting for; for you all on Earth and ourselves out here. This is the beginning of the turn around. We have waited so long for the change. It is time. This is the beginning of the end of the old ways; the turning of the tide.

State what you believe is true. Courage is the ability to go beyond the familiar. Exchange the information and hopes you have. Always in the world, a change starts with a few people. These few speak the feelings and thoughts of a multitude. They speak the heart of humanity's soul.

The people and ETs who will come together shall ring in a return, a turn around. There will come a flow on Earth which will burst the dark energies surrounding you and your planet. That which you believe is true must be stated. The truth is the key.

May strength and vision be yours as you establish the new. Follow your hearts. Let your inner light be your guide. Realise the beauty and greatness you have within yourself and step ahead. This is the time so many have waited so long for. Never doubt it has started.

The young of all nations are looking for a new direction. It is time to light a beacon to show the way for all humanity. Let your feelings, thoughts and beliefs be your guiding light. The power of the moment. The wishes of the people. The good times ahead.

It is time for the gathering.

Tatanka Yotanka - The Sitting Bull
(This message is through a clairvoyant in Holland, Europe, in recent years)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Special Words for The Big World Gathering:
~ The Rainbow Dream Vision of Hope: "This prophecy is a dream and vision that is a potential reality for mankind. It is not an ultimatum. But it is ours to behold and to create if we only dare to create it together." ~
~ A Central American Mayan Elder: "Human beings must come together in support of life. At present, each person and group is going his or her own way. There is hope if people can come together and unite." ~
~ E F Schumacher: "We must do what we conceive to be the right thing and not bother our heads or burden our souls with whether we will be successful. Because if we don't do the right thing, we will be doing the wrong thing and we will just be a part of the disease and not a part of the cure." ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'The Gathering' by Matthew

Last night I had a gathering for all my departed friends
I asked Jim Morrison where he'd been
He just laughed and smiled,
Spoke of what he'd seen

He said "I've been to the end of the rainbow"
He said "I've seen supernovae burst"
But before I could ask a question,
He said "Let me finish first"

He said "I have something to tell you",
This really is the MASTER KEY
ONLY! ONLY LOVE!
Will set this planet free

He then spoke ok Atlantis,
And what has come to pass
In an alien war of genocide,
He and his friends escaped the blast

* * *
Now these ones are returning,
They see our hearts are burning
The Universe is yearning,
For us to break on through

Well now you see here is my request,
The letter to your heart
Will you join us now,
Let the healing start

First there came THE question,
Then I found THE door
Now I have come through it,
A stronger man for sure

I will ask you the same question,
I can lead you to this door
If you will walk through it,
You will be Wiser than before

Yes now I have this question to put to you
Are you going to resist,
Will you break on through?
Will you break on through?

I am waiting for you...

The Gathering

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Special Images for The Big World Gathering:
http://www.worldgathering.net/logos.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Subscribe to the BWG NEWS List at Google:
http://groups.google.com/group/worldgathering
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Big World Gathering is happening now wherever you are by you sharing with others what you really feel and think about life today, and by distributing information you believe is important. At a later stage, perhaps soon to happen, all our individual actions may help lead to something quite surprising; a major world change.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Big World Gathering ~ http://www.worldgathering.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

posted in Secular Humanism - 8 replies

Hypocrites or Murderers?

2008-03-15T00:08:20Z

Even the most devout theist can't deny that many have been killed in the name of religion. We also know that although certain mass-murdering dictators were Atheist, they weren't killing in the name of Atheism. Yet it remains that one of the most useless and endless debates is whether religion or atheism is more dangerous. As if it's a contest in how many have been killed.

If we read the popular religious texts like the Bible and Qu'ran, we see that believers are encouraged to kill unbelievers, yet most people who claim to belong to those religions don't go around killing. A good many of them are even nice, understanding, tolerant people. I may completely disagree with their beliefs, but I can still recognize their humanity.

In return, hopefully more religious people can see that very few, if any Atheists sing the praises of Pol Pot. They can see that the vast majority of we unbelievers are also not killers.

We may point out that it is indeed hypocritical when one claims to be an adherent to a particular religion and that they adhere to the teachings of a specific book, yet they ignore certain portions of it. We are fortunate that they do. I'd rather deal with a majority of hypocrites than a majority of murderers.

Just a note to both sides of the Atheist/Theist debates. We're still all together in this thing called life, whether we like it or not, so we'd better start finding ways to get along with each other.

posted in Secular Humanism - 4 replies

Secular humanist ceremony?

2008-03-11T05:01:50Z

Hey guys,

Have you ever seen a secular humanist wedding ceremony? The emphasis is on "ceremony" as in something meaningful, not just signing marriage paperwork in front of a judge.

So, what does a secular humanist wedding ceremony look like? What do they do/have/say?

:)
Feiruz

posted in Secular Humanism - 3 replies

World Gathering For Truth

2008-02-20T01:57:12Z

WORLD GATHERING FOR TRUTH http://www.worldgathering.net

Subscribe to WGFT Newsletter at Google: http://groups.google.com/group/worldgathering

The Rainbow Dream Vision: "This prophecy is a dream and vision that is a potential reality for mankind. It is not an ultimatum. But it is ours to behold and to create if we only dare to dream it together."

Revelation: "I saw an angel standing in the sun who cried in a loud voice: 'Come, gather together'... before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language."

Hopi Elder, Dan Evehema: "We will see a MIST as a warning telling us people of all colour must unite and arise for survival, and we must uncover the cause of our dilemmas."

Central American Mayan Elder: "Human beings must come together in support of life. At present, each person and group is going his or her own way. There is hope if people can come together and unite."

Many Spacecraft and UFOs over Scotland, and UK:
http://www.worldgathering.net/scotland
http://www.worldgathering.net/world2/sightings.html

All sections of the World Gathering For Truth website have been improved during the past few weeks, and an overall guide and index to all resources and ideas is here: http://www.worldgathering.net/menu.html

Sections at World Gathering For Truth:

WORLD-ACTION
Homepage: http://www.worldgathering.net/world
Menu: http://www.worldgathering.net/menu.html#wa

STOP CHEMTRAILS
Homepage: http://www.worldgathering.net/stop
Menu: http://www.worldgathering.net/menu.html#stop

INSPIRING TIMES
Homepage: http://www.worldgathering.net/times
Menu: http://www.worldgathering.net/menu.html#times

WORDS WAKEN WORLD
Homepage: http://www.worldgathering.net/words

WINDS OF TRUTH
Homepage: http://www.worldgathering.net/winds

CELTIC ISLAND
Homepage: http://www.worldgathering.net/celtic
Tour: http://www.worldgathering.net/celtic/z001.html

WORLD-ACTION 2
Homepage: http://www.worldgathering.net/world2
Menu: http://www.worldgathering.net/menu.html#wa2

SLIDESHOW Videos
http://www.worldgathering.net/menu.html#video

SOUNDS and MUSIC
http://www.worldgathering.net/menu.html#audio

SPACECRAFT in SCOTLAND, UK
http://www.worldgathering.net/scotland
http://www.worldgathering.net/world2/sightings.html

"We must do what we conceive to be the right thing and not bother our heads or burden our souls with whether we will be successful. Because if we don’t do the right thing, we will be doing the wrong thing and we will just be a part of the disease and not a part of the cure." - By E. F. Schumacher - Author of 'Small Is Beautiful'

Subscribe to WGFT Newsletter at Google: http://groups.google.com/group/worldgathering

World Gathering For Truth: http://www.worldgathering.net

posted in Secular Humanism - 0 replies

Atheist sees Big Bang in toast

2008-02-15T06:54:02Z

http://duggmirror.com/comedy/Atheist_Sees_Image_of_Big_Bang_in_Piece_of_Toast/

This is simply brilliant.

Forget that religious shyster with her toast.

Which shyster is that? All of them!

posted in Secular Humanism - 0 replies

$19M Mandir

2008-02-08T20:32:26Z

Forgive me the crosspost.

I wrote a rant on the construction of a $19M temple that was built here in Georgia. I got it published in a local magazine, who ran it as a point/counterpoint with views presented by the temple themselves. Here's the link to both pieces, if you're into this kind of thing:

http://tinyurl.com/2okc3e

I am somewhat intrigued and satisfied by the temple's response. The temple writers got to read my piece before writing theirs, and I think it’s obvious they did. :-)

They include an email address at the bottom for comments, and I hope you'll write in with whatever reaction you may have.

posted in Secular Humanism - 0 replies

Project Chanology, Anonymous hackers, and taking down Scientology

2008-02-08T08:28:14Z

Taking down Scientology isn't just important... it's fun!!!!!

http://www.partyvan.info/index.php/Project_Chanology
the hackers have a lot of explanation above.....

http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10609174
the economist article about the DOS attacks on Scientology, and the real world protest 10th Feb.

Guys... you could be part of bringing a religion down during your lifetime. You can help destroy a dangerous cult. Read up, think about it, and offer your services where you can.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full Text of Economist Article:

Scientology
Fair game

Jan 31st 2008
From The Economist print edition
An online onslaught against Scientology

A VICIOUS cult run by cynical fraudsters, or a sincerely held religious belief persecuted by zealots? That is the long-standing row about Scientology, founded by the late science-fiction writer, L. Ron Hubbard. In some countries, such as Germany, the group is watched by the security services. In others, such as America and Australia, it has won charitable status as a religion.

Until now the fight could mostly be seen as one-sided. Scientology's lawyers are vigorous litigants. The group argues that its internal materials (which claim, among other things, that expensive courses of treatment can help rid people of infestation by alien souls from an extinct civilisation) are commercially confidential and protected by copyright. They react sharply to any perceived libel.

As a result, public critics of what they derisively term “$cientology” risk expensive legal battles. For example, a new unauthorised biography of Tom Cruise by a British author, Andrew Morton, contains detailed and highly critical material about the film star's involvement in Scientology. It is a bestseller in America but has not been published in Britain. The publisher, St Martin's Press, has even asked internet booksellers not to ship it to foreign customers. Though Scientology representatives vehemently deny breaking any laws, critics have claimed that they experience intensive harassment and intimidation.

Now Scientology is under attack from a group of internet activists known only as Anonymous. Organised from a Wikipedia-style website (editable by anyone) and through anonymous internet chat rooms, “Project Chanology”, as the initiative is known, presents no easy target for Scientology's lawyers. It is promoting cyberwarfare techniques normally associated with extortionists, spies and terrorists. Called “distributed denial of service attacks”, these typically involve using networks of infected computers to bombard the target's websites and servers with bogus requests for data, causing them to crash. Even governments find this troublesome.

Anonymous is also hoping to galvanise public opinion with a mass “real-world” protest outside every Scientology office worldwide on February 10th. But its best weapon may be ridicule. The group got going in reaction to efforts to ban an internal Scientology video of Mr Cruise that leaked onto the internet. The star appears to discuss his beliefs with a degree of incoherence and exaggeration that might lead some to question Scientology's effects on its adherents' sanity. A Scientology spokesman says it has been selectively edited. Several internet sites have taken it down after threats of lawsuits. But it keeps popping up.

posted in Secular Humanism - 5 replies

Moderate, Democratic Christianity, Islam?

2008-02-04T17:23:28Z

Moderate, Democratic Christianity, Islam?

What yard stick can we use to determine if a religion is truly moderate and democratic or not? What is the standard against which a religion can be measured. In this case, Christianity and Islam.

I'm just gonna toss out a few thoughts off the top of my melon just to get us started:

* First, we would need to have agreement on the definition of moderate and the same with a definition of democratic.

* Second, we need to separate the texts which we have not really changed, from society and people who do and have changed.

* Third, check the scriptures for words from God or Jesus pushing for a moderate, democratic Christianity vs. scriptures declaring the opposite. Maybe this will help us out a bit, we'll just need to find all of the moderate and democratic scriptures and tally them up -

"Which is more violent, the Bible or the Quran?"
http://dwindlinginunbelief.blogspot.com/2006/06/which-is-more-violent-bible-or-quran.html

* Fourth, has Christianity made necessary adjustments and corrections in scripture where it was found to be non-authentic?

* Fifth, the areas to begin our investigation to see if any moderate or democratic changes have occurred would be the popular long-time tenets of the faith. Such as the Nicene Creed, 10 Commandments, and End Times prophecies which we are told predict the mass genocide of 2/3rds of the planets human population i.e., all of the non-believers.

* Sixth, where is the observable and verifiable evidence demonstrating Christianity or Islam as a whole to be moving in a moderate, democratic direction? Where is the evidence demonstrating that God, Jesus, Allah and Muhammad have asked them to do so?

Anything else to add? I'm sure there is but so much could be left up to interpretation. Lets try to keep it as simple and scientific as possible.

posted in Secular Humanism - 0 replies

"God Bless America" Response to pass around

2008-02-03T15:16:23Z

"God Bless America" Response to pass around

"God Bless America"
http://www.pearlharborsurvivorsonline.org/html/GOD%20BLESS%20AMERICA.htm

I get things like this once in a while in a fwd from family members usually around election time. Such is the case here. The last time I saw something like this was around the 2004 elections. After I received it in 2004, I organized a response which still holds true since what they are passing around hasn't changed at all. It's essentially exactly the same - even this:

"It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God. Therefore, it is very hard to understand why there is such a mess about having the Ten Commandments on display or "In God We Trust" on our money and having God in the Pledge of Allegiance. Why don't we just tell the other 14% to Sit Down and SHUT UP!!! "

Here's an opportunity for me to update what I did 4 years ago. Here's what they don't seem to be aware of, THE FACTS:

First of all, the first six US Presidents never finished any public speech with "God Bless America."

The fact is that the words "under God" weren't part of the original pledge. They were added in 1954. Supporters of the new wording said it would set the United States apart from godless communism. The original Pledge was published in 1892. It was written by Francis Bellamy, a socialist, thirty-seven year old, ex-Baptist Minister. The original pledge read as:

"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all"

After a few small changes ("my Flag" to "the Flag of the United States of America") the Pledge stood for a half a century. Then, in 1954 the Cold War started moving into its most intense period. The United States' deep hostility toward communism caused the "Red Scare" to pervade our society. Seizing the opportunity, Senator Joseph McCarthy spearheaded what is now recognized as one of the most shameful epochs of our history. McCarthy looked to demonize any and all whom he disliked by branding them communists. Then, as often happens when pounding the drums of patriotism, religious piety gets mixed in with being a true patriot.

"In god we trust" on the U.S. $1 -

In 1955, Congress passed a law requiring that "In God We Trust" appear on all U.S. coins and currency. The first paper currency with the motto appeared in 1957. This was right after the McCarthy era, during the early Cold War, when no congressperson would dare be seen voting against "God." "In God We Trust" did appear occasionally on a few coins, starting with a 2-cent piece in the 1860s, in an attempt (it is surmised) to put "God" on the side of the north during the Civil War. In 1956, an Act of Congress adopted "In God We Trust" as a national motto. The original motto, "E Pluribus Unum" ("out of many, [come] one,") celebrating plurality, still appears on the Presidential Seal and on some paper currency.

"14%" - Freethinkers, all together, out number any one religious denomination!

"86%" - We have laws that protect minorities from any Tyranny of any majority. No one has any right to tell anyone else to sit down & shut-up. That would be breaking the First Amendment, which includes the Freedom of Speech.

All too often, people misunderstand "separation of church and state" & the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, what it is, what it means & why it was created in the first place.

First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances"

The U.S. Constitution is a wholly secular & legal document. It contains no mention of Jesus Christ, Christianity or god. In fact, the Constitution refers to religion only twice –in the First Amendment, which bars laws "respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," and in Article VI, which prohibits "religious tests" for public office. Both of these provisions are evidence that the country was not founded as officially Christian (which version or denomination out of thousands?).

Our nation was founded as a secular government, based on the authority of "We, the People," not a god, king, or dictator. The U.S.A. is the first nation in history to separate church and state. And for very good reasons too.

Separation of church and state is the only principle that can ensure religious and philosophical freedom for all Americans. Church-state separation does not mean hostility toward religion. Rather, it means that the government will remain neutral on religious questions, leaving decisions about God, faith and house of worship attendance in the hands of its citizens.

The results of Americas policy of church-state separation can be seen all around us: Thanks to separation of church and state, Americans enjoy an unparalleled amount of religious freedom. In some nations, churches remain dependent upon government for support and aid. Religious life in these nations is often devitalized, and many churches are near empty on Sundays.

Other countries merge religion and government into theocracies. Religious liberty cannot flourish under that system either; attempt by the government to enforce a version of religious orthodoxy foster only repression. By contrast, religious liberty has flourished in America and separation of church and state can take the credit.

Today we are an open and free society of nearly 300 million Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Atheists, Agnostics, Freethinkers, Pagans, Secular Humanists, American Indians and many others. All live side by side in harmony. All have the freedom to proclaim their views. All enjoy the right to worship or not worship unmolested by government officials or state-appointed religious leaders. All are equal in the eyes of the government.

To oppose the separation of church & state is therefore to oppose the First Amendment, the US Constitution & is thusly, one of the most UN-American, unpatriotic, hypocritical things one could do as an American who supposedly values Freedom & Democracy.

Theocracy is another weapon of mass destruction.

It's time that people know the facts. Here's some recommended reading.

Please take the quizzes:

1. Separation of church & state quiz
2. The Bible quiz
http://www.ffrf.org/quiz/

Enjoy these must see VIDEOS

1. "Life and Liberty for All Who Believe"
2. "The Rise of Dominionism"
http://www.theocracywatch.org/audio-video.htm

Other Great websites:
http://www.au.org/site/PageServer

"The United States: A Country founded on Paganism"
http://www.nobeliefs.com/pagan.htm

U.S. Treasury Department FACT SHEET "in god we trust" - History
http://www.ustreas.gov/education/fact-sheets/currency/in-god-we-trust.html
http://history.vineyard.net/pledge.htm Pledge History
http://restorethepledge.com/

Senator Joseph R. McCarthy - audio
http://www.gpo.gov/congress/senate/senate12cp107.html
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/welch-mccarthy.html

The U.S. Constitution, The Declaration of Independence & The Bill of Rights:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/constRedir.html
http://thomas.loc.gov/
http://www.cato.org/ - Get your pocket Constitution before it's to late.

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This website suggests that because Moses is placed in an architectural embellishment of the Supreme Court it means America is a Christian nation.
http://www.pearlharborsurvivorsonline.org/html/GOD%20BLESS%20AMERICA.htm

The fact is that there are actually 18 lawgivers: Menes, Hammurabi, Moses, Solomon, Lycurgus, Solon, Draco, Confucius, Augustus, Justinian, Mohammed, Charlemagne, King John, St. Louis, Hugo Grotius, William Blackstone, John Marshall, and Napoleon.

The tablets Moses is holding are blank. The oak doors inside the court only contain roman numerals. Not one time are the actual words of the 10 Commandments reproduced in the Supreme Court building in full. No sign anywhere that the Judaeo-Christian religion is above any other. http://candst.tripod.com/tnppage/arg8a.htm

About the 10 Commandments fiasco

A Constitution that conforms to Biblical Law will rely on the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament as its guiding source. Dominionist lawmakers are trying to pass legislation in various state legislatures that would allow government posting of the Ten Commandments in public buildings.

The first four Commandments are theological directives-they have nothing to do with morality or ethics and are unconstitutional. What is the real motivation behind the Ten Commandments campaign? The Ten Commandments are the foundation of Biblical Law, so placing them in public buildings has great symbolic value to Christians. It represents the supremacy of the Bible over the U.S. Constitution. The principle of religious liberty has become the legal tool used to make the U.S. Constitution conform to Biblical Law.

http://www.theocracywatch.org/biblical_law2.htm#Ten

Also there are 3 versions of the 10 Commandments - Hebrew, Catholic and Protestant. http://www.positiveatheism.org/crt/whichcom.htm

"Why The Ten Commandments Shouldn't Be Posted In Government Buildings"
http://www.au.org/site/PageServer?pagename=resources_faq_10Cs

"What's Wrong With the Ten Commandments?"
http://ffrf.org/nontracts/10comm.php

“When you consider that God could have commanded anything he wanted--anything!--the Ten [Commandments] have got to rank as one of the great missed moral opportunities of all time. How different history would have been had he clearly and unmistakably forbidden war, tyranny, taking over other people’s countries, slavery, exploitation of workers, cruelty to children, wife-beating, stoning, treating women--or anyone--as chattel or inferior beings.”
~ Katha Pollitt

"A profession that we are a nation "under God" is identical, for Establishment Clause purposes, to a profession that we are a nation "under Jesus," or a nation "under Vishnu," a nation "under Zeus," or a nation "under no god," because none of these professions can be neutral with respect to religion."

~ Judge Alfred T. Goodwin, 2002 the Ninth Circuit Court, in Newdow v. United States Congress

posted in Secular Humanism - 0 replies

tom cruise indoctrination video

2008-01-24T01:50:44Z

http://defamer.com/344987/the-tom-cruise-indoctrination-video-scientologists-dont-want-you-to-see?autoplay=true

holy cow

posted in Secular Humanism - 3 replies

huckabee.... yup. Whether you believe in creationism is importnat...

2008-01-16T06:52:39Z

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/01/evolution-is-no.html

I don't say this about guys who have slept with Ann Coulter... but go BILL MAHER!

posted in Secular Humanism - 18 replies

Defeat House Resolution #888 -

2008-01-13T04:15:13Z

Whether new age, popular, or arcane.... all of your religion is fettering and binds your mind.

http://ga1.org/campaign/HR888?rk=a73zPZ91MAxeW

Defeat House Resolution 888

Pending before the House of Representatives is H. Res. 888, which proposes to designate the first week of May as “American Religious History Week.” The title is ironic because the resolution distorts the history of religion in the United States by citing various events out of context in order to create the misleading impression that this country’s foundation was religious in nature.

For example, the resolution mentions the fact that the constitutions of the various states refer to God, while neglecting to point out that the United States Constitution contains no reference to God and expressly forbids any religious test for public office. After pages of misleading statements about our history, the resolution then proposes that the House of Representatives expressly recognize “that the religious foundations of faith on which America was built form the inseparable foundation for America’s representative processes, legal systems, and societal structures.” The resolution thus repudiates the secular foundation for our nation.

Moreover, the resolution states that its distorted version of history should be reflected in “our Nation’s public buildings and educational resources.” Although the resolution will not have the force of law, it will undoubtedly be cited by those who are continually seeking to undermine the separation of church and state and to suppress the rights of the nonreligious.

Paul Kurtz, Chair of the Council for Secular Humanism, has stated that “House Resolution 888, through its Orwellian rewriting of history, represents another effort by religious fundamentalists to subvert religious freedom and deny equal status to nonbelievers. It provides official recognition for the falsehood that law and society are based on religion. This resolution would set a dangerous precedent.”

We urge you to contact your representative and ask him/her to vote NO on this religiously-inspired measure.

posted in Secular Humanism - 1 reply

"Z" Day Worldwide March 15th 2008

2008-01-09T09:23:58Z

"Z" Day Worldwide March 15th 2008

The makers of Zeitgeist are calling March 15th 2008 "Z" day worldwide. Enjoy the open letter...
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/zday.htm

Zeitgeist Movie - http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com

part 1 starts at: 9:45

part 2 starts at: 37:00

part 3 starts at: 1:11:11

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

"The Companion Guide to ZEITGEIST Part 1" E-Book
http://www.stellarhousepublishing.com/zeitgeist.html

Part 1 video based largely on Acharya's work. Acharya has nothing to do with parts 2 or 3.

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posted in Secular Humanism - 3 replies

secular humanism

2007-12-18T12:11:19Z

http://www.izak.co.za/UBUNTU.htm

Ubuntu

by Izak Labuschagne

Secular Humanism

Humanist Manifesto II

"First Authoritarian religions that place revelation, god, ritual, or creed above human needs and experience do a disservice to the human species"

"Sixth We believe that intolerant attitudes, often cultivated by orthodox religions and spiritual cultures, unduly repress sexual conduct.. Moral education for children and adults is an important way of developing awareness in sexual maturity.."

"Ninth: The separation of state and separation of ideology and state are imperatives"

“Twelfth We deplore division on nationalistic grounds... we look to the development of a system of world law and world order based on transnational federal government.. we thus reaffirm a commitment to the building of world community.."

"Humanists still believe that traditional theism, especially faith in the prayer-hearing God, assumed to love and care for persons, to hear and understand their prayers, and to be able to do something about them, is an unproved and outmoded faith. Salvationism, based on mere affirmation, still appears as harmful, diverting people with false hopes of heaven thereafter.."

Professor Harold J Berry, an authority on the subject says that 'The Humanist Manifesto I' states that:-

"Humanism... does insist that the way to determine the existence of any and all realities is by means of intelligent inquiry and by the assessment of their relation to human needs"

This, he says,

“is situation ethics - that right and wrong depend on the situation. Everything is relative.

John Whitehead says:

“Under ‘relativism', the concepts of truth and non-truth become blurred. As a consequence, people, once they accept relativism, by definition cannot know what the truth is. Instead, they can only guess as to the best course to follow. Thus it becomes easier to sell non-truth to such a society'"

Professor Berry states further that:-

"Secular Humanism is a closed system. As such, it will eventually seek to eliminate alternative viewpoints. The secular state wants no competition in the arena of ideas. Furthermore, let there be no misunderstanding. Secular Humanists in key positions of leadership in government, media and the public education system will do all they can to stamp out biblical Christianity."

Last year I wrote a paper that circulate through the country following the ANC/SACP suggestion that S.A become a secular state:-

It is therefore important that 'The Humanist Manifesto', not be confused with a 'Declaration of Human rights', as this will result in the situation where one religion is given license to breach the fundamental rights and freedoms of others. Moreover it creates the possibility where religious beliefs can become doctrines in state policy and in law, which doctrines will lead to the oppression of others.

This is amply supported by the fact that the believers in Secular Humanism have, inter alia, all but banned all writings of Creation Scientists from public schools, and instead propagate, only the theory of Evolution as if it were a fact. All evidence of Noah's Ark is also virtually banned from our educational institutions. Why? Why this selective propaganda?

Ruled a religion

The United States Supreme Court ruled in 1961 in the case of Torasco v Watkins that Secular Humanism is a religion.

posted in Secular Humanism - 4 replies

Sunday School for Atheists

2007-12-14T16:57:10Z

Sunday School for Atheists

Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2007
By Jeninne Lee-St. John / Palo Alto

Sunday morning at The Children's Program at the Humanist Community of Palo Alto, California.

Kathrin Miller for TIME

On Sunday mornings, most parents who don't believe in the Christian God, or any god at all, are probably making brunch or cheering at their kids' soccer game, or running errands or, with luck, sleeping in. Without religion, there's no need for church, right?

Maybe. But some nonbelievers are beginning to think they might need something for their children. "When you have kids," says Julie Willey, a design engineer, "you start to notice that your co-workers or friends have church groups to help teach their kids values and to be able to lean on." So every week, Willey, who was raised Buddhist and says she has never believed in God, and her husband pack their four kids into their blue minivan and head to the Humanist Community Center in Palo Alto, Calif., for atheist Sunday school.

An estimated 14% of Americans profess to have no religion, and among 18-to-25-year-olds, the proportion rises to 20%, according to the Institute for Humanist Studies. The lives of these young people would be much easier, adult nonbelievers say, if they learned at an early age how to respond to the God-fearing majority in the U.S. "It's important for kids not to look weird," says Peter Bishop, who leads the preteen class at the Humanist center in Palo Alto. Others say the weekly instruction supports their position that it's O.K. to not believe in God and gives them a place to reinforce the morals and values they want their children to have.

The pioneering Palo Alto program began three years ago, and like-minded communities in Phoenix, Albuquerque, N.M., and Portland, Ore., plan to start similar classes next spring. The growing movement of institutions for kids in atheist families also includes Camp Quest, a group of sleep-away summer camps in five states plus Ontario, and the Carl Sagan Academy in Tampa, Fla., the country's first Humanism-influenced public charter school, which opened with 55 kids in the fall of 2005. Bri Kneisley, who sent her son Damian, 10, to Camp Quest Ohio this past summer, welcomes the sense of community these new choices offer him: "He's a child of atheist parents, and he's not the only one in the world."

Kneisley, 26, a graduate student at the University of Missouri, says she realized Damian needed to learn about secularism after a neighbor showed him the Bible. "Damian was quite certain this guy was right and was telling him this amazing truth that I had never shared," says Kneisley. In most ways a traditional sleep-away camp--her son loved canoeing--Camp Quest also taught Damian critical thinking, world religions and tales of famous freethinkers (an umbrella term for atheists, agnostics and other rationalists) like the black abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

The Palo Alto Sunday family program uses music, art and discussion to encourage personal expression, intellectual curiosity and collaboration. One Sunday this fall found a dozen children up to age 6 and several parents playing percussion instruments and singing empowering anthems like I'm Unique and Unrepeatable, set to the tune of Ten Little Indians, instead of traditional Sunday-school songs like Jesus Loves Me. Rather than listen to a Bible story, the class read Stone Soup, a secular parable of a traveler who feeds a village by making a stew using one ingredient from each home.

Down the hall in the kitchen, older kids engaged in a Socratic conversation with class leader Bishop about the role persuasion plays in decision-making. He tried to get them to see that people who are coerced into renouncing their beliefs might not actually change their minds but could be acting out of self-preservation--an important lesson for young atheists who may feel pressure to say they believe in God.

Atheist parents appreciate this nurturing environment. That's why Kitty, a nonbeliever who didn't want her last name used to protect her kids' privacy, brings them to Bishop's class each week. After Jonathan, 13, and Hana, 11, were born, Kitty says she felt socially isolated and even tried taking them to church. But they're all much more comfortable having rational discussions at the Humanist center. "I'm a person that doesn't believe in myths," Hana says. "I'd rather stick to the evidence."

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1686828,00.html

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posted in Secular Humanism - 4 replies

Harpur's "The Pagan Christ" documentary aires this week

2007-12-01T18:01:57Z

Harpur's "The Pagan Christ" documentary aires this week

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation will broadcast on Dec. 6 a documentary based on Tom Harpur's The Pagan Christ.

"THE PAGAN CHRIST Thursday December 6, 2007 at 9pm on CBC-TV
repeating Saturday December 8, 2007 at 10pm ET on CBC Newsworld

So, what if it could be proven that Jesus never existed? What if there was evidence that every word of the New Testament – the cornerstone of Christianity – is based on myth and metaphor? Harpur discovered that the New Testament is wholly based on Egyptian mythology, that Jesus Christ never lived, and that – indeed – the text was always meant to be read allegorically."

http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/paganchrist.html

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posted in Secular Humanism - 0 replies

jesus camp

2007-11-28T20:10:51Z

saw this last night, and at the point I saw them screaming "Righteous Judges" I realized, for the first time in my entire life.... admitted to myself that rationalism and logical discourse really will not solve these problems.

A friend of mine truly believes the final war will be between the secularists and the believer's of every crazy sect of religion. I thought that would be ridiculous. Then I realized....

It will be the final SECULAR war. The religious nuts have enough brainwashing and credulity to outlast the most even of people.

Anyhoo.. I am scared. Atheists gotta start fighting dirty. I don't mean that of course.... but sort of do. I would never endorse it, as it is illogical.... but maybe that is what Col. Kurtz was talking about in the Hearts of Darkness... who has more "strength". I am not endorsing this idea... but I now understand the below quote a bit more. Why he saw it as a thing of beauty... being able to be ammoral in times of war.

"I... I... I cried. I wept like some grandmother. I wanted to tear my teeth out. I didn't know what I wanted to do. And I want to remember it. I never want to forget it. I never want to forget. And then I realized... like I was shot... like I was shot with a diamond... a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I thought: My God... the genius of that. The genius. The will to do that. Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure. And then I realized they were stronger than we. Because they could stand that these were not monsters. These were men... trained cadres. These men who fought with their hearts, who had families, who had children, who were filled with love... but they had the strength... the strength... to do that. If I had ten divisions of those men our troubles here would be over very quickly."

in the end ethical relativism doesn't fly, but still..... we need to regroup.

posted in Secular Humanism - 4 replies

Liberals (and freethinkers) need to stop respecting Islam!! (Sam Harris video)

2007-11-28T19:14:43Z

Liberals (and freethinkers) need to stop respecting Islam!! (Sam Harris video)

"Sam Harris nails it in this video. The problem with so many liberals is that they get so tied up in opposing Christianity and oppression in America, that they actually start to defend Islam and oppression in the middle east (which are actually a lot worse). These liberals need to rise above this dichotomy though and oppose both Christianity AND Islam, and western oppression AND middle eastern oppression.

I've made this plea to fellow atheists before, and I'll make it again. You've managed to avoid being suckered in by other types of harmful ideals., So please don't be suckered into political correctness and respecting religions that are actually much worse than Christianity just because you have the misguided notion that foreign cultures are quaint and should be preserved or that backward countries should have the right to govern their countries however they see fit. The truth of the matter is, Islam is a bigger threat to rationality than Christianity is, and countries like Iraq and Iran are far more oppressive than America is. So wake up, atheists, and stop sticking up the bad guys."

"Sam Harris on Tucker" VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBOGQckaF0U

"The End of Liberalism?" -

Head-in-the-Sand Liberals: Western civilization really is at risk from Muslim extremists.
By Sam Harris
http://www.samharris.org/site/full_text/the-end-of-liberalism/

* This comes from a person on myspace named "crocoduck" http://www.myspace.com/crocoduck

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posted in Secular Humanism - 51 replies