Freethought and Fellowship

While a few freethinkers have the benefit of being raised in a secular home, that is not the case for many of us. We grow up in a church, get use to the fellowship of our church community, then realize the folly of it all and venture out into the world with increased knowledge yet less social support.

There have been numerous, mostly failed attempts, at creating atheist/secular/freethought churches both online and off. I can't speak to why most of these attempts have failed but have noticed a few big issues: 1) lack of true direction: you can't build an organization simply around lack of belief in something; it needs community building activities 2) Dictator-like leadership: you can't make freethinkers do anything they don't want to do 5) Preaching: skeptics don't want to be told what to believe at all. Share ideas, don't present them as fact.4)Uncreative: why is it necessary to have the word 'church' in the name?

As a step away from failed 'church' models I am pleased to introduce to you a new community model for freethinkers, the Fellowship of Freethought (aka FoFDallas). It is a young organization but is built by those who have learned from past experience with other models like those listed above. FoFDallas is member-owned, member-run, and open source and boasts a mission statement that most freethinkers would be proud to stand behind:

To create a positive impact on our shared world, our mission is to provide a community that values and promotes a freethinking life unencumbered by the biases of tradition, dogma, and authority and that encourages people to live a reason and evidence-based life characterized by close fellowship, ethical contemplation, critical thinking, community service, and the appreciation of scientific knowledge and understanding of the universe and our place in it.

I am very happy to say that I am one of the founding members of FoFDallas and look forward to our future as a community in Dallas and as an expanded community when others choose to start groups in their own areas. Freethinkers need fellowship; we just don't need the bs that typically comes with it!

You can learn more about Fellowship of Freethought by visiting http://fellowshipoffreethought.org I'll be posting further updates later as I expect you'll find this as interesting of a concept as many others in the Dallas area have already.

(Names of failed freethought church models have been left out so their feelings won't get hurt.)

Memory Walk 2009 @ Dallas Zoo: Team NTCOF

I need everyone to donate just one dollar, if enough people do this I'll reach (or exceed) my $100 goal for the Memory Walk in Dallas on Nov 21. All the money goes directly to Alzheimer's research.

Donate 1 dollar (or more) here: http://memorywalk09.kintera.org/dallas/whpford

I'm walking with a team of Freethinkers, lets show everyone just how generous freethinkers can be!

Camp Quest Texas Fundraiser

What: Camp Quest Texas Fundraiser Dinner, Raffle, and Silent Auction

When: December 10, 2009 6pm to 9pm

Where: Al-Amir in Addison, TX

Cost (includes dinner): $25 adults; $15 (kids 12 and under)

Attendees can register at:

http://campquesttexas.org/register


Camp Quest Texas is a residential summer camp for the children of Freethinkers. We are dedicated to the promotion of critical thinking, the scientific method, ethics derived from human experience and the separation of church and state as protected by the US Constitution, in our children. Camp Quest Texas will provide our children with a place where they will feel welcome, safe and secure. Camp Quest Texas will reinforce the vales we all hold as dear. Camp Quest Texas needs your support to become a reality! Please RSVP today and be a part of the historic creation of Camp Quest Texas.


In addition to supporting Camp Quest Texas you will have the opportunity to participate in a silent auction (including Cowboys v Chargers tickets and a book autographed by Penn Jillette!) and ‘balloon raffle’ for other great services/events while enjoying authentic Mediterranean cuisine and being entertained by a belly dancer. A generous family style dinner prepared by Al-Amir’s chef is included in the cost of the event. Al-Amir will donate ten percent of all food and beverage sales from our benefit to Camp Quest Texas, so show your support the way a Freethinker would-with your heart and soul stomach!


Questions? Please contact campquest@churchoffreethought.org

A Christian Atheist: Why we need Atheist Church

As I was browsing news articles on the Internet I came across the following headline Finding a community as an atheist in church.  This, of course, grabbed my attention.  I wondered what type of church and maybe if more people were trying to start churches like the North Texas Church of Freethought.  Needless to say, I was surprised to read that an atheist UT professor had decided to start attending a Christian church.

While I understand the need for community, I wonder why Jensen, that's his name, didn't look into the many atheist/free-thought groups that are operating quite strongly in many parts of Texas; including Austin where UT is located.  The article does not touch on if he tried atheist or free-thought communities prior to joining the Christian church; but does offer the following quote from Jensen:

I joined a Christian church to be part of that hope for the future, to struggle to make religion a force that can help usher into existence a world in which we can imagine living in peace with each other and in sustainable relation to the non-human world. Such a task requires a fearlessness and intelligence beyond what we have mustered to date, but it also requires a faith in our ability to achieve it.

That's why I am a Christian.

An atheist-Christian?  I can't help but find this odd at best and foolish at worst.  References to "deeper meaning" in the reference article lead me to think that Jensen was searching for a sort of atheist spirituality that simply doesn't exist and found that personal need filled by liberal Christianity.  But I don't want to discuss what it means to be a Christian here or if Jensen made a good decision.

What I do want to comment on is that this demonstrates a need to form stronger communities as free-thinkers so that we do not miss out on the social network and support provided by a religious church.  However, at the same time, when discussing attending free-thought groups with fellow non-believers many of them seem unsure about attending.  Many of these people are the same people who complain about not having anyone to talk to that isn't religious.  So, I'll end this blog by asking a few questions of my fellow non-believers.

What do you think about Jensen's calling himself a Christian while he is an atheist?  Is there something about spirituality that fills a need secular communities cannot fill?  Do you personally feel the need for community?  If so, how do you fill that need?

Social Networking - Are you out as an atheist online?

With today's Internet culture what you put online could be viewed by virtually anyone. A good example of this is Wigglez's wife having his blog viewed by a Christian employer.

Knowing this, many of us are hit with a personal (maybe even moral) decision...should be be out online or not? I say that maybe it is a moral decision because I have been told by fellow atheists that it is immoral for me to hold back on being completely outed online. However, I'm honestly not sure if I should consider it a moral choice.

Yes, I do want to support the atheist cause and help to further our progress in being accepted as normal. That's actually one of my main goals...one of Happy Atheist Forum's main goals. But, I'm also pragmatic; if what I say online ends up keeping me from being hired and keeping a job and potentially does the same to my husband (who is a teacher) then that is going to end up harming the efforts I am currently taking since so much of it requires frequent Internet access.

So, I filter what I do online that is associated with my full name verses what I do online that is just associated with my first name. I don't shy away from posting my picture on atheist related sites, but I also don't make my picture my main image on most of them. My profile on MySpace is an atheist profile (which I honestly neglect updating as regularly as I should) where I can post anything without any worry of an employer associating it with me. However I also have a Facebook profile, which won't link here for reasons stated, that is mostly just my IRL friends (some of whom are also atheists) and I don't post any controversial atheist messages there. I also have two twitter accounts...but that's because one of them is potentially for business and shouldn't have any atheist content on it (@HappyAtheist).

So, what do you think? Do you also feel conflicted on this issue; probably in daily interactions too? Is this a moral question or just a personal choice?

Feel free to post your comments on the related Happy Atheist Forum thread: http://www.happyatheistforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3403

Explaining God to a Child

Little, 7-year-old Timmy: "Hey, Mr. Will. What's God?"
Will: "That's a good question. I suppose that depends on who you ask."

Timmy: "I'm asking you!"
Will: "Alright, hand me that scotch and I'll tell you. Good. Do you ever play with toys, Timmy? Maybe little action figures, legos, and trucks?"

Timmy: "Of course."
Will: "When you play with legos and trucks and things, do they act like trucks or do they act like people?"

Timmy: *thinking* "What do you mean?"
Will: "When you're playing with the toys, do they talk and think like people?"

Timmy: "Yeah!"
Will: "Why do you think that is?"

Timmy: "I dunno. Why?"
Will: "Hand me that airplane glue and I'll explain my theory. People—human beings—are social. We have to team up in order to get things done a lot of the time. Most of the time, throughout our history, we've lived in groups of people, not alone. Think back to what you learned in school about cavemen. They lived with family and friends, and everybody had to help out just so they could survive."

Timmy: "Like Democrats!"
Will: "You've got it. Well, because we had to all work together so much, people had to learn really early how to understand other people. It's hard to communicate and get something done if you don't understand the person or people you're working with. Well, this skill grew in humans very early. The better people were at understanding other people, the more likely they all were to survive. This trait became a survival trait. Before too long, most if not all people were pretty good at sympathizing with other people, understanding other people's thought processes, and using teamwork to get things done. And we were really successful. We spread out of a small place in Africa into the Middle East, then South Asia and even Europe. Before too long, we were the dominant species on the whole planet."

Timmy: "Cool. But what does this have to do with trucks?"
Will: "Stop interrupting and hand me that salvia. Whoa... Anyway, because humans were so smart, we were always trying to learn and understand everything around us. The problem, though, was that we didn't have thousands of years of science to built on like we do today. There's no way a hunter-gatherer from 8,000 B.C. could understand that the sun was made up of a nuclear furnace, burning hydrogen so hot that it turns into helium, nearly 100 million miles away. How could they? Astronomy was still in its infancy, and real nuclear physics wouldn't be along for nearly another 10,000 years. But that didn't stop them from being curious... so they guessed."

Timmy: "Are you okay? You look dizzy and you keep licking the couch."
Will: "Yeah, salvia's a hell of a thing. So how do you think they explained the sun?"

Timmy: "I dunno."
Will: "They did what they'd learned how to do over thousands of years; they gave it a personality so they could relate to it."

Timmy: "But the sun's not a person! It's a fireball!"
Will: "You know that and I know that, but they had no idea. All they saw was a warm ball that rose and fell every day, and they knew it was very, very important. The knew the sun was necessary for warmth, for growing crops, for telling when the harvest season was going to end, and even just telling what time it was during the day. The sun was important! So what happens when you combine these? What happens when you combine a great natural phenomena with a personality?"

Timmy: "God!"
Will: "Basically, yes. They figured that this very, very powerful personality was something to revere, so they started worshiping the sun. And because the sun isn't consistent—some days are hot, some days are cold—they assumed that their behavior could influence the sun god. Appeasing the sun god was thought to have positive results and angering the sun god was thought to have negative results."

Timmy: "But that's not how it works. The sun does what it does because of other reasons."
Will: "You're absolutely right. Because of that, the response to their praise and worship wasn't consistent. You can pray to the sun one day and have it sunny, and you can pray to the sun and have it cold the next. This is when something pretty bad happened. Because people thought they could communicate with the sun, they thought that somehow that gave them a supernatural importance, and people got kinda addicted. The people that were the most addicted became priests and shamans. These were spiritual leaders that were expected to be authorities on what the sun wanted or how the sun thought. As time went on, other natural phenomena were also given personality, and eventually they were just assigning gods to whatever. There were wind gods, and ocean gods, and sky gods. And then people with one set of gods would meet other people with another set of gods. This generally didn't go very well. Inevitably one group would try to convert the other and they'd either succeed or they'd both fight."

Timmy: "That's stupid!"
Will: "Yes. We're still doing it today, though."

Timmy: "Wait, I mean the Christian God."
Will: "I'm getting to that. Hand me that tequila and I'll explain it. Eventually, it was the gods and not the phenomena that were important to people. God wasn't the sun god, Ra, anymore, it was king of the gods Zeus, for example. Zeus did throw lightning, but that wasn't why he was praised anymore. Religion had gone from being the predecessor of science to being something that dominated society. Then came the Jews."

Timmy: "Like John Stewart?"
Will: "Sort of. Around 2000 B.C., a man named Abraham had a vision, like what I just had with the salvia, and thought he saw angels. He was scared, but because he got his wife pregnant he believed it was true. He gathered together old myths that had been handed down from some of his ancestors and then started a religion that we now call Judaism. He passed down the religion to his sons, and they added a bit more, and then their sons added a bit more. Before long—maybe 600-700 years—they had a lot of followers. They were all over the area we now call Israel. Anyway, they ruled for a while, were conquered a few times; normal religion stuff. Somewhere along the way, priests and "prophets" discovered one of the best ways to keep people believing in a religion, they and others found, was to make vague prophesies. These were just guesses about what might happen. If they came true, and they usually did because they were so vague, they could use that as evidence that their faith is real. Judaism had prophecies, too, about a savior coming from their god to usher in some new age. Anyway after a while, according to Christianity, a man came along. His name was Yeshua bin Joseph but most people now just call him Jesus or Jesus Christ."

Timmy: "Jesus Christ!"
Will: "Yes. This part is a bit of a mystery, because we're not really sure if there was a real Jesus or not."

Timmy: "What?! Why?"
Will: "The thing is, they didn't start writing the Bible until like 70 years after Jesus was supposedly born. And the accounts of Jesus’ life aren't consistent going from author to author. The worst part is that evidence outside of the Bible that we have now usually came from the Bible at one point or another or was made up. We'll probably never know for sure if he was real or just a combination of other religious figures."

Timmy: "Fuck!"
Will: "Whoa, watch the language. No more HBO for you."

Timmy: "So god is just people believing in nothing? Wait a second, we already know about how the sun works, though. We know how a lot of things work. Why do people still believe in god?"
Will: "A few reasons. First, when you're really little, you tend to believe what your parents and other adults tell you. It's another survival trait. Back in the caveman days, if your mother told you to stay away from wolves, you had better stay away from wolves. Those kids that didn't listen were probably delicious, and they were eaten before they could reproduce. Another reason has to do with the way people interact. There's something called groupthink. Because humans have done so well when we cooperate, it's become a part of us to want to cooperate, to get along with and agree with others. Unfortunately, sometimes this can go too far, and we'll agree with a group of people even if what you're agreeing with is bad or doesn't make sense. But the big two reasons are easy: the carrot and the stick. Smarter animals, like humans, can be conditioned through rewards and punishments to do and think pretty much anything. In religion, generally there is a promised reward for believing and a stern punishment for not believing. Ask a Christian about hell if you want to know about their punishment. It's basically torture for all of eternity. Pretty scary right?"

Timmy: "So they think you're going to be tortured forever?"
Will: "Most of them do, yes."

Timmy: "Why don't you believe?"
Will: "I'm not afraid of something for which there's no evidence and I'm not motivated by something for which there's no evidence."

Timmy: "Okay, Entourage is on I've gotta go."
Will: Zzzzzzzzzz

No Reason to Fear

I have noticed that I have no issues telling anyone that I am non-religious. I know they know that means that I don't go to church and don't practice any standard religion. No one reacts badly to my saying non-religious; at most they'll ask why. How I explain why depends on the person, I try to respond in a manner that I think they can listen to instead of tuning out due to extreme disagreement. For instance, if the person is very religious I start out by talking about being tired of how so many religious people are hypocritical. By the time I get around to saying anything that offends them they have agreed with at least half of my reasoning. With everyone else I just say that my reasons are quite complex but that the main reason is there simply is no evidence that any one religion has figured things out. If you get this far with someone; you can say 'atheist' pretty easily without them freaking out

I would never just walk up to someone at work or family gatherings and make a point to tell them I am a Christian back when I was one. Why would I do it now that I am an atheist? However, I do find it difficult to not be afraid to just come out and say atheist if I am in a situation where it is appropriate to be discussing religious views. In this part of the country a lot of, otherwise fairly reasonable, believers associate atheism with Satanism/evil. I don't know if this is something they picked up from church or if it is just a Southern misguided view based on lies circulated by evangelicals. But, it is something I have to keep in mind if I want to be able to discuss my views with someone in a calm manner.

I would use the term freethinker, but a lot of people don't know what that means and could be offended if you can't explain what it means before they jump to the conclusion that you are implying their mind is not free (which might be your view anyway). Nonetheless, you don't want to offend someone just by stating your views. I understand it is the other person's problem if they can't accept the existence of differing viewpoints. However, if I can control the conversation in such a way that I can speak freely without the other person getting offended; I prefer to do so. I think the more we can have a calm and open dialogue with theists the faster they will accept atheists/freethinkers as just another approach to viewing the world rather than something to fear due to false perceptions.

Basically, if you are around reasonable people...what is there to fear? You might have to lead into stating your views in order to create a foundation for the other person's understanding. But after doing so there shouldn't be any issues. The only people who would truly freak out are the fundamentalists and I'm pretty sure average religious people already think fundies are crazy anyway. Try not to let all the jerks/trolls/insane people on the Internet affect your view of how people react in the 'real' world.

I think that for most of us, our fear to be open about our views is unreasonable. I can tell people that I am pro choice in public without anything terrible happening. And this is during a time when, to many people, that is the same as saying I'm pro murder. If I can safely be pro-choice and pro-teaching evolution in this society, why should I fear being an atheist? With the exception of those who live in very backwards parts of the country, our fear to be open is not based on reason. As most freethinkers pride themselves on making decisions based on logic rather than emotions; I think we all need to objectively reevaluate why we think there is a reason to fear being outed as an atheist.

Lori Lipman Brown and Secular Coalition of America Part Ways

Lori Lipman Brown started at the Secular Coalition of America in 2005 as their only lobbyist. Since then the SCA has grown to a staff of six and is expecting further growth. People like Lori help to keep a secular voice in a government which all too often, conviently, forgets that this nation was not founded on Christian principals. The time has come for Lori and SCA to part ways. We can expect that Lori will continue to be a rising star in the daunting task of spreading the light of reason.

If you would like to learn more about the SCA or Lori, please visit: http://www.secular.org/

Happily Free Thinking

There is probably nothing more satisfying than being able to think about life's great questions without the restrictions created by religion and other superstitions.  If someone inquires about your views, you have an answer.  If you don't have an answer and are at fault, you can easily adjust your personal philosophy to better fit with reality.  There are no imaginary chains. 

Religiously minded people will often ask how someone can be happy without a belief in a god.  Any atheist reading this blog can relate to how confusing that question can be.  In our minds not believing in a god is like not believing in Santa.  Thoughts of Santa filled many of our childhood minds with joy but we were only sad for few moments when we realized or found out Santa is not real.  Religious views of god is just Santa for adults.  Thoughts of god make many people happy, but that doesn't mean they would be forever sad if they found out god is imaginary. 

I also find the question confusing because belief in god doesn't make everyone happy.  It seems that for quite a few that belief just gives them a reason to carry on a life they don't like in hopes that when it is all over they'll be rewarded in another life.  That's actually a very sad existence if you think about it...this life is not about this life but is about the next.

"When I finally came out of the closet and allowed myself the freedom of being an atheist, it was like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis. I could read anything I wanted. Ask any questions I wanted. Challenge anything that didn’t make sense to me. And after being the equivalent of a worker ant for so long, this was heady stuff indeed! I am still exhilarated by it. A chained intellect, as demanded by religion, is a pitiful thing. A free intellect is a thing to be treasured.- Judith Hayes - The Happy Heretic

While many things cause joy for individuals,  if there is anything specific to freethought that makes people happy it is what was described in the above quote.  The complete freedom to simply be the person you want to be without worrying about conforming to pre-packaged views is a lasting happiness. 

The Last Thing We'll Ever See

"I saw a bright light, and I walked towards it. I saw everyone I ever knew and was overcome with a feeling of peace."

Pretty powerful stuff. I would imagine that's been used to comfort a lot of people nearing the end of their lives. The idea that hearing that kind of verification of their faith can bring peace is all too common. Even from an atheistic perspective, one could be fooled into thinking this is an act of mercy, like when you tell people who don't know you're an atheist that you'll pray for them. But you're actually hurting them.

Ignorance has never nor will ever be blissful. Ignorance brings with it immense fear and uncertainty, and anyone that's ever reflected on the human condition knows well that fear and uncertainty that come from ignorance always results in either sadness or anger. By supporting this kind of sentiment, you're enabling an empty understanding of life and death.

If you're presented with this kind of response from someone trying to keep proselytizing even as someone sits on his or her death bed, and you have the opportunity to help, maybe explain the truth:

When the body is dying, the brain undergoes neurophysiological processes which can present as fascinating experiences. Many people go through a rapid reliving of life events, or a "life flashing before one's eyes"; this results from the firing of neurons in the brain activating memories. Many near-death survivors report a feeling of extreme peace or even ecstasy; this is a result from synchronized neuronal activity, where there's a symmetrical firing of neurons (something normally only seen in seizures). Each of these also can cause an invididual to see the "bright light". Why are neurons firing in such abnormal ways? Hypoxia. As one is dying, generally the bloodflow to the brain decreases, cutting off the brain's supply of oxygen. As the brain shuts down, neurons go from active to inactive, firing off.

Ancient cultures recorded near-death experiences and interpreted them the best they could, applying them to whatever superstitions or religions were present. We don't need that crutch anymore. Perminant death brings unparalleled meaning and significance to the little time we have alive. Allowing people the opportunity to look at life objectively—looking back on a beautiful life instead of looking forward to a religious fantasy—is the ultimate act of mercy.