Sunday School for Atheists

Time magazine published an article this last week on a program, started at the Humanist Community of Palo Alto in California called Sunday School for Atheists. This is the kind of program we need and I think the success of this ground-breaking program is testament to a growing non-theist world.

Check out the article.

Mentioning Atheism

I've had a few recent encounters where I mentioned either atheism or being without religion and got some interesting responses.

One was in an a casual business meeting with a couple of women. We got to talking a little about my book and I said it had to do with parenting without religion and her immediate response was "why would you want to?". I could have taken offense at it or gotten belligerent, but after a moments thought, I smiled and said, "well, there are many people out there who are not religious and some of them are parents or want to be parents." She at least agreed with that and so we could talk about the topic from a theoretical standpoint. We continued with the conversation for a few minutes, though we could all tell she was distinctly colder after that.

Another was with my Uncle. I'm recently separated and in the middle of a divorce. While I'm not too interested in dating right now, I will be at some point and my uncle asked me if it would be hard to find a woman who would go out with me if I'm atheist. Interesting idea and unfortunately it has some validity. The percent of non-believers across the population in the U.S. is small. But, fortunately for me, the percent among the intelligentsia is much higher. Numbers vary, but roughly 93% of scientists don't believe in a God. Since I'm in a high-intelligence industry (computer software), I find the percent of people who are non-theists to be quite high.

The other one was on the airplane coming back from Portland, OR last night (to Colorado). I got to talking to the woman in the seat next to me about Humanism. As always, I presented it as separate from religion and that there are many people that are Humanist and of a specific religion. At the end though, I said I was of the Humanist Atheist sort and you could see her face go blank. The conversation dried up fairly quickly, she put on her ipod-headphones and didn't talk to me the rest of the flight.

I've commented before on this Blog about how the world is changing to be more accepting of the non-theists, but I still encounter this kind of bias frequently. As a Humanist and an Atheist, what is different for me today from the past is that I'm ignoring that ignorance and am speaking out anyway. Maybe in speaking out, I'll sow some seeds of doubt or at least make the person think.

Good Definition of Humanism

SumoGirl posted a nice article on a definition of Humanism she found. See Definition of Humanism. She actually refers to the Progressive Living website, which is site about Confucianism. It is a really nice definition of Humanism that I didn't see when i did my previous post on definitions.

Humanism is an anti-authoritarian philosophy that emphasizes the importance of reason and the indispensability of both evidence and compassion for others in the formation of values. Contemporary humanistic morality judges acts primarily on the basis of their affect upon other human beings. Humanists believe that the purposes of life are found in the meeting of human needs -intellectual, emotional, and spiritual-and in the fulfillment of human capabilities, mental and physical.

The definition is a little long for me, but I really like the first half.

Nice find SumoGirl!

Humanism and Homosexuality

I recently gave a talk on Humanism and Contemporary issues that covered an overview of Humanism along with various contemporary topics and how Humanists might view them. The talk went well except for the section on Homosexuality. In it, I presented a view that came from research for my book Humanism for Parents. In that view, there have been various types of homosexuality throughout history and they included:

• Egalitarian where the partners are equal


• Gender-based where the two partners take on male or female roles


• Age-based where there is a wide discrepancy in ages

The audience was upset (mildly at the talk, but vehemently later) about my including age-based homosexuality with either of the first two. Most of my point was that this has been an accepted practice in some past societies (e.g. Rome). They baulked at this saying that it was pedophilia (paedophilia) and not homosexuality.
I'm interested to hear opinions on this and (hopefully) references so that I can look into it. The research I did was pretty clear, but I can't read everything and so I'm interested in reputable references to read in this area. Opinions are also welcome of course.

Some HS students think being Christian is "odd"

Thought you all might like to hear this.

My daughter, who started 9th grade this year at an IB school here in Denver is in a Computer Science class and was on a team project this last week. The subject of religion came up in casual conversation and one of the students said he was a Christian. All the other students in the group looked at him and said something link "Really, that's odd".

She (my daughter) has been trying to convince me for a long time that the attitude about religion is changing. In her mind, HS students are either not religious or just don't care. She said there are always a few odd ones that still believe, but not many.

I think the next 50 years with the cultural changes that appear to be happening will be an interesting and exciting time.

Cherry Creek, CO Schools Illegally Urging Churchgoing

Sara Burnett of the Rocky Mountain News reports on this local Colorado story...

The Freedom from Religion Foundation has filed a federal lawsuit against Cherry Creek Schools, saying a project aimed at helping students reach their full potential illegally encourages going to church.

The complaint, filed on behalf of two parents who have children in Cherry Creek schools, accuses the district of violating laws regarding the separation of church and state.

Tustin Amole, spokeswoman for the district, said today the district is confident the project is not illegal because it does not mandate participation in any religious activity.

Known as the 40 Developmental Assets, the project is promoted to families as a way to help students grow into "responsible, confident and healthy young people," according to a newsletter sent to parents.

The document says research has shown students with 30 or more of the assets are more likely to exhibit positive behavior.

Among the assets is having family support, doing at least one hour of homework each day and telling the truth, "even when it's not easy."

Recommendation number 19 — which prompted the lawsuit — is "religious community." It suggests young people spend one or more hours each week in activities at a religious institution.

The project, which was created by a private research group and is used nationally, has been in the Cherry Creek district for 18 years, Amole said.

The complaint asks the court to order the district to stop endorsing Developmental Asset 19. It does not specifically seek damages, but asks for any other relief the court deems proper.

Sigh of relief re: Left Behind series

Previously I posted an article about the Left Behind book series. The first few books actually frightened me.

Well, I'm now almost done with the sixth book and am much less scared. The series has turned more and more fictional, complete with monsters and magic and so has become much more just fun reading and less serious material with vast conversion potential.

What a sign of relief.