The Boston Atheists Blog

Looking for Newton atheists!

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:44:00 +0000

From the Secular Coalition for Massachusetts:

There's an event coming up -- the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast -- that the SCMA would like to use as an occasion to talk with various civic leaders about inclusion and SOCAS. If you are a Newton resident who'd be willing to talk with the SCMA about participating in our effort to engage the Mayor's office over this issue, please let us know: massachusetts@secular.org.

In light of the potential fallout from coming forward as an atheist representative or activist, let us assure you that discretion will be afforded you, as well as anonymity if you require it.

Boston atheists needed to engage mayoral candidates on secular issues!

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:42:00 +0000

From the Secular Coalition for Massachusetts:

With the various mayoral candidates' forums coming up, the SCMA would like to know who in Boston would be willing to serve as resident representatives of the local nontheist community. We're going to want to ask the candidates how they intend to represent all Bostonians -- including nontheists -- if they are elected.

If you are a Boston resident, please let us know if you'd like to be part of the team that puts these questions out there. In light of the potential fallout from coming forward as an atheist representative or activist, let us assure you that discretion will be afforded you, as well as anonymity if you require it.

Contact: massachusetts@secular.org.

Psychiatrist loses license after diagnosing "evil spirits"

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:15:00 +0000

From the Religion Clause blog:

As reported by the Boston Globe, on May 8 the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine suspended the medical license of psychiatrist Raymond W. Kam, saying that his conduct in treating a 16-year old patient last year called into question his competence to practice medicine. Kam last year had already signed a voluntary agreement not to practice medicine. Kam, a Boston Children's Hospital psychiatrist, became convinced that the patient was being hurt by "evil spiritual entities." Kam gave the girl a cross to wear in exchange for a different religious symbol she had on. After the girl was discharged from the hospital, Kam, who had withdrawn from the girl's treatment team, obtained permission from the girl's father to act as her spiritual mentor, taking her to his church and exchanging text messages with her. When the girl was kicked out of her house, Kam offered to let her stay at his house on several occasions. He failed to report to authorities an incident in which the girl's mother pushed her down a flight of stairs and tried to asphyxiate her.

The state Board also reprimanded a second psychiatrist who had failed to report the girl's abuse to authorities. Kam could regain his license next year if he completes a psychiatric evaluation and enters a 5-year probation agreement.

BA member Gabe McDonald writes:

There far too many instances where faith healing and religious practices are doled out in lieu of modern medical therapy. It is especially unfortunate when such non-treatments are protected by law. Here is a good example of what the repercussions should be.

Gingrich: MA gay marriage 'outlaws' Catholic doctrine

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Tue, 07 May 2013 12:20:00 +0000

From an article by Zack Ford at Thinkprogress:

In an appearance on Meet The Press this weekend, Newt Gingrich reiterated a claim he’s made many times before that Massachusetts’s legalization of marriage equality discriminated against the Catholic Church’s ability to provide adoption services. In this particular appearance, he offered his most exaggerated description of what happened when Catholic Charities in Boston closed its adoption services, claiming that the state “outlawed” Catholic doctrine.

The essential point of Gingrich's argument: "It is impossible for the Catholic Church to have an adoption service in Massachusetts that follows Catholic doctrine." The essential point of the rebuttal, as put forward by Ford: "Catholic Charities could continue to operate, but if it wants to continue receiving state funding, it has to comply with state laws."

As elsewhere, the supposed cultural conflict between secularization (equal protect and privilege under the law for all persons, regardless of sexual orientation) and religion (here, the Roman Catholic church and one of its charitable initiatives) is a product of misrepresentation rather than irreconcilable values.

Mike Sullivan: Bombing attack a "horrific, cowardly and godless" act

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 19:08:00 +0000

Former United States Attorney Michael Sullivan, a current Republican candidate for US Senate from Massachusetts, told MassLive.com on Tuesday that the Boston bombing was a "horrific, cowardly and godless" act. Thank you to Hemant Mehta for alerting us to the story.

A Secular Coalition for Massachusetts representative spoke with staff in Sullivan's campaign office earlier today, and explained that we'd like to think the candidate failed to realize how his words deepened the hurt of those of us who actually are godless as well as patriotic, ethical, and hurting.

We asked if someone could get back in touch with us by close of business, and emphasized that we're eager to give the candidate the benefit of the doubt. This is hopefully a careless injury, rather than an expression of prejudice, and if that's so it can be remedied with good will, an educational conversation, and a heartfelt apology.

Staffer Bill Rivers told us that the campaign is shut down in light of the today's police activity, and that he doesn't know how long it would take for "a decision" to be made or for that decision to be communicated to us. We'll keep you posted.

How do YOU feel about this comment, and the attitudes it reflects? Let Mike Sullivan know, on Twitter: @MikeSullivanMA. Tag @BostonAtheists and @SecularMass so everyone in our community can join the conversation and lend their perspective.

This is what we tweeted from the Boston Atheists account:

@MikeSullivanMA, we're concerned you don't know how your comment about Monday's 'horrific, cowardly and godless' attack deepens our hurt.

The Secular Coalition for Massachusetts is also alert to the situation:

@MikeSullivanMA Please don't associate nontheism with terrorism. The godless people of MA are hurt and grieving too.

Humanist asks: "Am I not a resident of this city?"

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 21:35:00 +0000

From a Patheos post by James Croft, a Research and Education Fellow at the Humanist Community at Harvard:

At times such as this, when a spirit of solidarity and mutual support is essential, it is critical that any publicly-sanctioned expression of grief, any public ritual to heal the psychic wounds of terror, be completely inclusive of all people. Any public response which privileges one religious view above any other, or which excludes anybody due to their beliefs, could add insult to injury, making them feel other, not part of the society which is struggling to put itself together again. [. . .] there is no excuse – no excuse whatsoever - for the divisive, exclusive, and insulting “interfaith” service which President Obama today attended alongside the dignitaries of Boston at Holy Cross Cathedral. The program is almost exclusively Christian, with nods given to Jewish and Muslim representatives. All the readings are from the Judeo-Christian tradition. There are prayers aplenty. The Processional is Praise to the Lord, Almighty.

I am not one of those atheists who is allergic to religion. In fact I often find religious ceremonies moving and powerful. Often, I am happy to attend. But this is a publicly-sanctioned, widely-reported service advertised by the State as “an opportunity for the community to come together in the wake of the tragic events at the Boston Marathon”. It is being attended by the Governor and the President himself. It is the symbolic response to the attacks: the seal of the state adorns the program, and the service is called “Healing Our City”. Yet it completely excludes many Bostonians: those who are not religious, and those whose religions are not represented in the program. This is not a service I would choose to attend even given my love of ritual and ceremony, and my deep need to process what has just happened: I wouldn’t feel safe there. I wouldn’t feel respected. Nothing on that program speaks to me, makes me feel I’m wanted as part of this society. Am I not a resident of this city? Am I to be denied healing?

On why we couldn't have been invited to the Boston Marathon interfaith service

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 20:27:00 +0000

A statement from Josiah Van Vliet, President of the Boston Atheists:

This week a secular event in a very secular city was visited by a terrible human tragedy. And in response to this nationally significant event a service was coordinated; a service where the representatives of many different belief systems would be given the chance to speak to their own people and on behalf of their perspective. At this service the non-theistic perspective was not given voice. And I think it is our responsibility to fix what made this outcome inevitable.

It should be noted that the representatives of the secular perspective did every bit of outreach they could have to get us a seat at the table. I know personally several of the people who worked on this and there is no additional amount of leg work that could have made a difference. What we (as non-theists) needed was to have had different relationship with the country at large. And there are two things that I think we need in place for next time.

First we need to have a creed that outsiders can understand. I mean creed here like mission statement, not an object of faith. We need a few sentences that sound nice that can be “what we are about”. These few sentences would be public relations and not gospel. It would be important to get them right, to have them be something that we feel comfortable supporting, but not something that needed to be perfect. It would serve as the greeting card from atheism to the country; something to help us introducing ourselves to people who still just think that we are satanic communists.

Secondly we need representatives. We need people that our community has endorsed, who speak for us and to us in times of tragedy and celebration. Again we can’t wait for the perfect person who everyone got along with about everything, but someone to say what many of us are thinking, so that we can feel that we are heard. These representatives would not be telling the world what we as individuals think, we the represented would not be obliged to agree with, believe, or follow what is said. But like having a politician you voted for speak, they would be our stand in for the public conversation

Having such a public persona and publicly understood mission statement would have made our representation at the upcoming interfaith service possible. Without establishing our public presence in a “day in day out” way, any time we want to be included is going to look like a shocking introduction that will make our inclusion about us “suddenly” being included. We need to be talked about as just another identity of Americans in an ongoing basis so that people get used to us being out and proud. And having a recognizable secular persona who isn’t known for confrontation would make that person’s inclusion in an interfaith service make sense. Someone needs to be out there talking about our community’s perspective in a way that gives us voice without making us look like bomb throwers. Hitchens, Dawkins and Harris are great and have done great things for the Atheist position, but I’m not sure they have done much good for the atheist community.

We have enough debaters; I think we need a communicator.

So what I am suggesting here is that we start to put ourselves forward in a positive way. I am not saying that we forcibly retire Dawkins, or cease to criticize where criticism is necessary. Just that we also start to engage with the majority of our country, which is religious. Religions and religious people are here to stay, but so are we. And when tragedy strikes, it would help if we were already seen as the important part of the American fabric that we already are.

Boston secular groups join community response to tragedy

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:10:00 +0000

From http://bostonatheists.org/news.

Boston’s nontheists have been working to help those affected in Monday’s bomb attack. The Secular Coalition for America, the Boston Atheists, and the HumanistCommunity at Harvard are local sponsors of a secular fundraising effort with the group the We Are Atheism, which has raised over $20,000 to assist victims. $10,000 of this money has already been pledged to the One Boston Fund.

Members of the Harvard Humanists have additionally played a lead role in raising over $140,000 for a fund to help two individuals with ties to their community who suffered severe injuries.

Josiah Van Vliet, President of the Boston Atheists, said “I want to reach out to all those who do not have a church or a pastor, to tell them: You are not alone, and that there are others like you out here. We are also upset, and scared. Although your viewpoint may not be expressed at a prayer vigil, it is one that it shared and sympathized with throughout the country.”

Georgina Capetillo, Boston Atheists Director of Diversity, agreed. “In the wake of tragedy, it’s important that atheists be included in a positive way. We are all part of one community, and we sympathize with the victims of the attacks no less than any Americans.”

Scott Romanowski is an organizer with the Atheists of Greater Lowell, one of the partner organizations of the Secular Coalition for Massachusetts. He said, “In tragedies like this all Americans, secular or not, come together to help each other. We can work to prevent such violence, we must also be ready to respond in a unified way when our community suffers a tragedy like this.

“Our hearts go out to the victims, their families and to all of those affected by this senseless act of violence,” said Edwina Rogers, Executive Director of the Secular Coalition for America, of which the Secular Coalition for Massachusetts is a state chapter.

Plans are being made for a secular memorial service—a gathering for those disinclined to attend an event organized under a religious or inter-faith banner—to take place in Boston this weekend. An announcement with the time and location will be posted to Secular Coalition for Massachusetts social media pages.

Local interfaith efforts profiled in HuffPo

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 22:16:00 +0000

From an article by Jaweed Kaleem, profiling a few of the ways Boston's ethical communities are responding variously to the Monday attack, with prayer vigils, special services, fundraising, and so on: B

In Boston, home to some of the nation's oldest churches and one where a stroll on any given street block often includes passing historic Protestant congregations, churches have also reported opening for shelter to house displaced residents or out-of-towners visiting for the marathon, as well announced plans to offer counseling. The Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center has said it has relief volunteers and counselors available, while Temple Israel of Boston, a Jewish congregation, will also open Tuesday for a prayer vigil.

The Boston Atheists and the Secular Coalition for Massachusetts have also voiced their support for victims, saying that although "prayer isn’t for us an option," differences in religious beliefs "pale in comparison to what brings us all together as members of the community."

"Victim in bomb attack humbled by ‘raw humanity’"

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 22:08:00 +0000

A small bit of uplifting testimony, from an article in the Boston Herald quoting a victim of Monday's bombing:

“Raw humanity at the core has the ability to be kind and helpful if we would just let it” [...]

Erickson was lucky to have not one, but two guardian angels on her side. A woman at the Mandarin Hotel comforted Erickson until medics were able to get her to treatment. That woman later texted a touching message.

“Helping me, helped her, and it was just amazing,” said Erickson. “That happened all over and it’s very humbling. It’s very humbling, and I hope we all can learn from this.”

#ActForBoston

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 18:36:00 +0000

In order to help facilitate the participation of our members in the larger community response, we are encouraging Twitter users to use hashtags like #ActForBoston rather than #PrayForBoston. We're further more emphasizing the need to set aside divisive topics so that we can all focus on the matter at hand: the need to act in solidarity, and with compassion, to react constructively to this act of senseless violence.

A vigil tonight at Harvard

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 21:08:00 +0000

A vigil has been organized this evening for the Harvard-wide community, at 8 PM on the steps of Memorial Church in Harvard Yard. Members of the larger community, beyond Harvard, are welcome to join the vigil.

This is an opportunity to stand in solidarity as members of a united community. Even when our searching doesn't come up with an explanation for the kinds of violent and tragic events as our city saw yesterday, the act of coming together can bring us comfort.

Share the event link on Facebook and Meetup.

Atheists -- from Boston & elsewhere -- raise money for support fund

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 20:30:00 +0000

Over 150 people were injured and 3 died in yesterday's tragic act of violence. The secular community, like all segments of society, has expressed its wish to help; the team at We Are Atheism has set up a fund under their Atheists Giving Aid program, to help us do just that.

Atheists Giving Aid exists to respond in tragedies like this and provide a resource for non-believers (and others) to give money that will make it to the victims and their families without passing through religious affiliated organizations. You can safely donate knowing that no religious condition or message will be associated with your act of charity.

Atheists Giving Aid raised over $25,000 from secular donors for the victims of the Sandy Hook Massacre, in Newtown, CT; this time, monies will be disbursed to parties who were affected by the violence in Boston.

Americans are resilient. We'll be okay. But, bills still have to be paid. This is where you come it. Give what you can. Share this page: http://www.weareatheism.com/donate/atheists-giving-aid-boston-marathon-tragedy. Let people know there is a way they can give.

The organizers of We Are Atheism are actively pursuing their 501(c)3 status so your donations ARE tax deductible. Help those affected by this while also showing that atheists care as much or more than any religious group out there. We don't give money to churches every week, so let's dig deep in your pockets for this cause.

To donate, visit the support fund page at WeAreAtheism.com.

As of the time of this posting, the current fund total is over $8,500, of which more than $500 came directly from Boston Atheists members (including Howard S., Bill S., Maria G., Andre B., Turner H., Nick G., Jenni K., Jim B., and others...).

The Boston Atheists are the local contact for this We Are Atheism campaign; the campaign is also being sponsored by the Secular Coalition for Massachusetts and the Humanist Community at Harvard.

How to help in times of disaster

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:30:00 +0000

In response to inquiries from our members as to how to respond constructively when events like this happen in our community, we offer the following suggestions:

Offer to babysit for friends or neighbors who because of today’s events would be helped by such support
Sign up for the Red Cross aid appeals mailing list
As requested by the Boston Police Department, call 1-800-494-TIPS if you have relevant information
Prepare yourself and your family for unexpected crises. Be informed, make a plan, build a kit: www.ready.gov
Train to help yourself and others. CERT training and First Aid/CPR Training are great ways to build up your tool kit so that you can productively contribute when an emergency, large or small, arises

If you have more time, talent, or resources to contribute, you can find a national-level organization to volunteer with that compliments your situation:

Check with your state and local volunteer fire department, law enforcement, or emergency management office for more opportunities. Thanks to Lt. Col. Edward Bos, Emergency Services Officer, Alaska Wing CAP, for his advice in compiling these suggestions.

Concerning the Marathon Monday tragedy

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:29:00 +0000

For public distribution. Tuesday, 04/16/2013 -- 9:00
from the Boston Atheists news page (pdf)

A statement following the tragic events of the Boston Marathon explosions, from the leaders of the Secular Coalition for Massachusetts and the Boston Atheists.

"We know that we’re not alone among atheists and other secular people in wanting to show sympathy and support in response to today’s tragedy. Although prayer isn’t for us an option, we are ready to help by working with the Red Cross and other emergency and community organizations in any way possible.

"Leaders of local secular organizations like the Boston Atheists and the Secular Coalition for Massachusetts have been diligently monitoring communications for any opportunity to respond constructively to the tragic events of the day. We may have a different religious perspective, but on days like today, those differences pale in comparison to what brings us all together as members of the community.

"Our thanks go to the first responders and other support staff who came to the aid of the victims in Copley Square today, and who have been working since then to protect our safety. Above all, our thoughts and compassion are with the victims and their families."

Signed,

Zachary Bos
Co-chair, Secular Coalition for Massachusetts
Massachusetts State Director, American Atheists
Immediate past president, Boston Atheists

Ellery Schempp
Co-chair, Secular Coalition for Massachusetts

Josiah Van Vliet
President, Boston Atheists

About the BA: The Boston Atheists is the largest atheist membership organization in New England, and one of the most active secular organizations in the Boston area. We provide opportunities for friendship, education, and community for hundreds of local atheists and, as a local affiliate of American Atheists, advocate for the advancement of reality-based worldviews. Twitter | Meetup

About the SC-MA: The mission of the Secular Coalition for Massachusetts, a state chapter of the Secular Coalition for America, is to increase visibility of and respect for nontheistic viewpoints, and to pstrengthen the secular character of our government as the best guarantee of freedom for all Americans. Facebook | Twitter | Webpage

Zachary Bos: zbos@atheists.org, 617-935-4951
Ellery Schempp: massachusetts@secular.org, 781-483-3100
Josiah Van Vliet: president@bostonatheists.org, 617-512-2768

That guy in the subway with the sign and the Chick tracts

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 05:48:00 +0000

From the Boston Phoenix, a 2006 article by Camille Dodero about one of Boston's most widely seen street ministers:

Bob Whetstone may be the most famous man in Boston whom nobody knows. A lanky 57-year-old with oval glasses, a flat-brimmed trucker hat, and the perpetual tan of someone who works outside, he was so recognizable loitering on Brookline Avenue this past Friday that in just 30 minutes at least five different fans heading to the Red Sox game responded to Whetstone with a riot of pointed fingers, disbelieving guffaws, and I-see-him-everywhere whispers. Said one passerby in a pre-game-partying slur: “It’s that Jesus guy!”

Whetstone is a walking advertisement for Christian salvation — or, more precisely, a bipedal fire-and-brimstone anti-advertisement for not choosing said salvation. A congregant of the First Baptist Church in Chelsea, Whetstone doesn’t yell, shout, or preach — although his hat does scream heaven or hell/it’s your choice! Instead, he roams the streets wearing a large, vibrant sandwich board that indelicately illustrates the transition between earthly life and eternal life, complete with a pristine cross-shaped bridge traversing the scorching depths of hell and leading to the bright, happy-looking land of heaven.

Whetstone stands outside nearly every local professional sports game and every major concert, quietly brandishing these signs and passing out literature. He plans his music schedule by, uh, reading the Phoenix. “I mark all the concerts on a calendar — I got them all lined up for a couple months in advance,” he says. When there isn’t a special event during the day, he’ll roam around the subway or wander around Faneuil Hall. “I do anything with a crowd — doesn’t matter what it is.” When there are competing events, Whetstone will pray to the Lord, “Which do you want me to go to first, second, third?” He does this six days a week — at least. “Sometimes I don’t go on Monday if there’s not much going on,” he says. “You gotta take one day and slack off if you can.” Whetstone goes to Miami Beach every winter, he says, and stands outside clubs with a nine-volt-battery-powered hat that lights up the word repent. In the summer, he hangs around Hampton and Old Orchard Beaches.

Whetstone calls this his “mission.” His only boss is God. But God doesn’t pay him in the traditional sense. “I live by faith,” he claims. “I have no income, nothing from anybody — churches, government, anybody. Zero, absolutely zero.”

How do you —

“I pray to God,” he interrupts.

What about dinner tonight?

“When I go down to Quincy Market, there’re Christians down there,” he says. “They want me to eat there. They actually ask me to eat there.” Whetstone wants it known that he is no beggar. “I don’t ask for anything. You can follow me around for ten years and you’ll see I don’t ask for a penny. God brings everything to me.”

He says God brought him a car. His glasses. The Old Navy sweatshirt on his back. He’s vague about the details of how, exactly, God provided him with these things — and equally vague about where he lives, though he talks about having resided in churches and vans. And so while it seems almost unbelievable that a man can survive in Boston without a consistent paycheck — never mind that he winters in Miami Beach — he does wear that same Old Navy sweatshirt again and again.

Whetstone says that in June of 1993 the Lord told him to quit his job as a security guard on the North Shore to minister on the streets full-time. Previously, after having been born again at age 29 and moving to Massachusetts from Pennsylvania for Bible college, he’d worked as a chaplain and spent years rounding up people on buses for Bible classes on the North Shore. But he wasn’t initially thrilled about this new divine assignment. “I argued with God for two weeks before I finally started doing it,” Whetstone admits. “If I didn’t do it, then I was disobeying Him, and I don’t want to disobey God —”

“I keep seeing you!” interrupts a male passerby.

“Jesus loves you,” says Whetstone, offering a tract. “This is Good Friday, the day Jesus died for our sins.”

Whetstone says that the most difficult part of his “calling” is being single. “I could’ve got married a couple times. But if I’m going to be a husband, I can’t just have a woman put some food on the table and not be there.” He pauses. “That’s been the only thing, really, that’s been hard for me. Because, you know” — he swallows hard — “I’m a normal man.”

Right now, Whetstone is undertaking the normal-man act of checking his watch. He’s late for Faneuil Hall, then he’s coming back here to catch Sox fans leaving the game, then hitting some theaters “if I have time.” But right now he really has to go. When your boss is God, being late is not an option.

Globe letter: 'atheists’ activism not evangelism'

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 22:49:00 +0000

Susan C. Pinsky of Acton writes:

I find it odd that the Associated Press, and, by association, the Globe assume a peculiarly Christian-style motivation (i.e., evangelism) for the atheists in the short news item “Christmas display fight goes to court” (Daily Briefing, Page A2, Nov. 19).

Atheists set up signs, including the Thomas Jefferson quotation “Religions are all alike —–founded on fables and mythologies,” next to a 14-scene Christian diorama on public land. And the AP reporter characterized the members of this group as “eager to get their non-beliefs into the public square as never before.”

I would suggest that atheists are not proselytizing non-belief, but rather illustrating, by the notion that turnabout is fair play, that religious displays on public land are, at best, insensitive and inappropriate and, at worst, prejudicial and dangerous.

There is no atheist evangelism here, only a challenge to blurring the separation of church and state. No one’s religious freedom is safe if government is in the business of celebrating religion.

Video from "An Ethic of Truth"

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 16:50:00 +0000

Spurred by his lifelong interest in and study of philosophy, BA member Josiah Van Vliet recently committed himself to the work of developing a secular ethics toolkit, in the form of workshops, essays, heuristics, and mnemonics devised for adult and youth audiences. On Thursday, October 4th, he accepted an invitation from the Humanists of Boston University to present his first workshop dealing with these subjects.

Speaking to an audience of about twenty participants, Josiah began by referencing a noteworthy principle that Enlightenment philosophe Denis Diderot found in the writings of Horace: "Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulce," 'Supreme merit to him who combines the agreeable with the useful'. Josiah's challenge to us was to figure out how the two concepts of "agreeable" (or, pleasurable) and "useful" can substitute for the somewhat more problematic concept of "ethical" when dealing with questions of moral goodness. In other words, when we're asked why we think it is true that something is morally good, we might answer by explaining that something is morally good if it brings about an increase in both pleasure and usefulness. A neat sleight-of-hand, this trick, since it changes the terms of moral consideration from "good vs. bad" (which as concepts are opaque, subjective, and private) to "useful vs. impeding" and "pleasurable vs. painful" -- terms that much more transparent, and negotiable, than the usual vocabulary of ethical value.

Josiah spent 20 minutes laying out his rubric (see the video of his talk appears above), and then broke the audience into groups that were assigned the task of figuring out whether his example scenarios -- e.g., a mother who for the sake of his son's health denies him candy, though it makes him miserable to go without! -- would fall into one of four quadrants: useful and pleasant, useful and painful, impeding and pleasant, and impeding and painful. The conversation in our group (and for all I could tell, in each of the groups) was probing, engaged, and fun.

If last night's workshop is representative of what we can expect in the other two sessions to take place this year, and of the ambition of Josiah's larger project, we have a lot to look forward to.

To learn more about his work with secular ethics, visit Josiah's blog at metabelief.blogspot.com.

Shelley Segal in Harvard Square on 10/9

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 12:49:00 +0000

The BA has booked Australian songstress Shelley Segal for a show at The Loft in Tommy Doyle's, Harvard Square. She'll be playing her unique style of thematically secular music infused with folk/blues/jazz influences, as well as material from her 2012 release "An Atheist Album."

Shelley is a popular and increasingly prominent voice in the secular movement (she was one of the featured speakers at the Reason Rally in DC this past March!), and talented, sensitive performer... for an Atheist, she's got a hell of a lot of soul. Don't miss this act! And please help to spread the world; this is a show our folks are not going to want to miss.

The Loft at Tommy Doyle's
96 Winthrop Street, Harvard Square
9-11 PM, Tuesday October 9, 2012 / Sets at 9:30 and 10:30
$5 at the door / All proceeds go to the artist / All ages

PLEASE SHARE these Facebook event links:
http://www.facebook.com/events/156616787813172 http://www.facebook.com/events/434629486573103

Check out Shelley's music:

And if you're on Twitter, tell the folks @tommydoyles that they've booked a great show!

Dave Niose speaks about a secular life

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 20:48:00 +0000

Dave Niose, speaking with Chris Johnson of The Atheist Book project, makes a persuasive, rational, disarming case for living a secular life. Niose is the author of Nonbeliever Nation and president of the American Humanist Association.

Why I Am An Atheist #24: Mistral

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 17:41:00 +0000

Boston Atheists member Mistral writes:

Though my family was more of the "spiritual-but-not-religious" variety, lingering bits of my mother's British convent-school education and my father's upbringing in a "good Christian home" filtered down to me in bits and pieces throughout my youth. Neither mom nor dad pushed these beliefs on me -- indeed, they encouraged me to explore my own ideologies and philosophies, but it is hard not be affected by these threatening superstitions when you are young and impressionable (hellfire and damnation for even thinking bad thoughts is not taken lightly at five years old...).

I had my own silent doubts growing up (conversations with religious friends routinely turned into nonsensical arguments with nonsensical "explanations", which left me frustrated and confused), but it wasn't until I reached college, in which I studied international relations, economics, and history, that I was completely convinced I was not -- that I could not -- be religious. The more my knowledge of religion grew, the less sense it all made, and the more I studied the history of the world, the more apparent it became that religion was too often the justification for mass murder, torture, hatred, greed, bigotry, and suffering. I wanted no part of it.

Most importantly, I found myself perfectly capable of living a moral life, full of kindness and compassion, without the pressures of ancient and irrelevant fairy tales to shame me or threaten me into acting "properly". It became easier, as I continued to shed the layers of superstition, fear, and distorted tradition, to take responsibility for my behavior; think critically about the world around me (and my place in it); treat others better; and lead a more fulfilling, productive existence.

*

This post is part of a series, in which members of the Boston secular community explain how they came to the decision to identify as atheists. To read more posts in the series, click here. To submit your own story, email bostonatheists@gmail.com.

Why I Am An Atheist #23: Jasmine

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 11:33:00 +0000

Boston Atheists member Jasmine writes:

I haven’t believed in a god since my youth, but my journey to declaring myself an atheist was a long one. The best description of myself before 2006 was probably a passive anti-theist. In 2006 I started to call myself an atheist. It was also at that time I felt it was okay for me to chime in when friends and others were discussing religion and/or spirituality. Before that date I would stay out of religious conversations. If anyone asked me about my religion...I would either say I was not religious, or that I wasn’t spiritual and leave it at that. In 2006, I decided there was nothing wrong with stating to people that I didn’t believe in a god.

My decision came in a moment similar to listening to two friends talking about how great the new star wars movies were...giving all sorts of crazy and irrational reasons why the new movies were so much better than the old trilogy. I know everyone has their own tastes and opinions, but you can only listen to that type of talk for so long before saying, "Wait...are you crazy? What are you talking about?" It was a moment like that...just another regular old moment of overhearing irrationality... that made me officially state that I was an atheist.

I grew up in a very religious family. As a young child I went to church, attended vacation bible school, was a member of sparks (a religious centered boy/girl scouts like club where you earned jewels on crowns for reading and memorizing bible passages), played bible board games and read bible children’s stories. I had religious friends who believed what I believed... and I believed in what I was taught about god, religion, and the bible. Then, suddenly, my world changed. My parents decided they were no longer going to go to church or be a part of any religious group or organization. They didn’t decide to do this to become more rational...they did it to become more irrational. They decided churches were becoming too liberal and open and started doing their own bible study before I was 10. They were on a path of isolation, discrimination, and believing only they and a few select others were interpreting the bible correctly and on the right path. When this happened I started to wonder why all the people I was friends with were now wrong, and how things that were drilled into my head since as early a I could remember had now changed so quickly. I spent countless hours in the library reading about other religions while trying to figure out if what my parents were telling me was correct.

I discovered science while studying religion (a subject my parent avoided in my home school curriculum other than general nature studies and stargazing) and stopped believing in god as a young teen. I still considered myself spiritual as a youth and even went through a natural/organic/spiritual hippie like phase in my young twenties. I started calling myself an agnostic in my mid to late 20s....then finally started calling myself an atheist six years ago in 2006.

The switch I made in my mind to comfortably call myself an atheist is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. As much as I’m against labeling myself to align with a particular group...It is a label I’m happy to use and feel proud of.

Someone once said to me they feel sorry for me because I live for the now and have an, “Earth-only view of life” while they have an, “Eternal view of life.” For me, living for the now is what makes life so special. Knowing that all there is to life is what is here and what we make of it...that’s what makes me want to live. That’s what makes life so beautiful and not a thing to waste or destroy.

*

This post is part of a series, in which members of the Boston secular community explain how they came to the decision to identify as atheists. To read more posts in the series, click here. To submit your own story, email bostonatheists@gmail.com.

Why I Am An Atheist #22: Robin

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 20:25:00 +0000

Boston Atheists member Robin writes:

My atheism story: I don't have a conversion story because I was brought up with no religion whatsoever. There was no discussion and the idea of God never came up. My mother had been brought up Catholic but after reflecting on all the senseless things the church believed, especially the misogyny, she decided that she couldn't put her own daughters through that. I think it all started with the fact that at the time, the church would not let girls serve at the altar, and she thought that was silly because she would have been the best altar kid ever. She doesn't think that religion has anything to do with gender.
Despite this, she did send me to Sunday school at a non-denominational protestant church down the street from where we lived so that I might have an awareness of what religion is about, kind of like a survey course, because she didn't want me to be culturally ignorant. I also went to Mass with my Catholic grandparents occasionally. At no time, however, did my mother say I should believe. We never talked about religion. (I do know that she has watched the original "Star Trek" when it first came out in 1966 and continues to watch its many incarnations, if that's any suggestion of her belief system.)

Nonetheless, I thought maybe I should believe, like a lot of people, because it seemed like there might be some merits, and I liked being in churches, especially big old musty ones with large stained glass windows and booming pipe organs, but I could never make sense of it. I recall one Sunday school class in the 4th grade when they were teaching the idea that God is everywhere--omnipresent, about which I asked, "If God is everywhere, why do we need church?" The instructor didn't have a reply that made sense. I said, "Well, I don't believe in God anyway." Even in the 4th grade, religion wasn't adding up. None of it. It seemed to me to be a bunch of unconnected, very odd stories from this book written in a strange form of English which meant nothing to me, even when people tried to explain them. I thought the Abraham story was just wacky (how does this show that God is good, exactly?), and the Cain and Abel situation could have been resolved with a little diplomacy. And I didn't get Roman history at all, so the whole crucifixion thing made no sense, that it wasn't really about belief at all and one guy taking the fall for everyone when in fact, it was all political. And the resurrection? Well, maybe he wasn't really dead and was just in a coma or something and the people at the time had no way to know. Then I thought if they didn't know any better at the time, then what else didn't they know about? I never believed that the earth was created in 6 literal days as we know them. The characters in the Bible just behaved stupidly and there didn't seem to be any good examples to emulate. It was all about Not Being Bad but there was no Good to counteract it so no one really knew what Good is. I was a rational, logical child and none of it made sense and no one telling me that there's this imaginary paternalistic figure to punish me when I did some imaginary wrong thing was going to deter that. I especially didn't believe in fairy tales and stopped believing in Santa at the age of 6. (No, I wasn't traumatized; I was mildly perturbed with my parents for duping me about Santa's existence, actually.)

As I got older, maybe in junior high school, especially with respect to Christianity and all these various Christian groups each claiming they have The One Way to Salvation, I thought, well, which one would be correct? What gave one person more religious authority over another or made one point of view more valid than another? Anyone could make this stuff up and be their own religion, which is when I really decided that it was all made up. I also thought that if there were a God, he'd have better things to do than to micromanage every human that ever existed. Fortunately, my entire extended family is non-religious, so as a non-believer, I don't have to worry about family relations. After reading some of the other stories, I thought that I almost have it too easy with my non-belief. I also wonder if my atheism has as much to do with my upbringing as someone's devout religious belief because my environment supported non-belief more than religion.

*

This post is part of a series, in which members of the Boston secular community explain how they came to the decision to identify as atheists. To read more posts in the series, click here. To submit your own story, email bostonatheists@gmail.com.

Why I Am An Atheist #21: Barbara

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 20:18:00 +0000

Boston Atheists member Barbara writes:

Several years ago, I started on a quest for god, I questioned everything around me, and I was a believer at the time, but evidently not, I started to read everything and listen to everything I could on religion. I wanted god in my life but couldn't find him; I visited many churches, synagogues, never got to a Muslim temple though. The role of women in that religion immediately turned me off. I thought about changing religions, maybe that was it, not the right way to pray or to be religious in the right way, maybe that was my problem in my quest to find god.

I found that if one steps back and really understands what is going on within religion it makes it very clear that religion is made by man for men, for control over other men and especially women.

Women were not considered important enough to be at the top of the pile, we didn't have the right stuff, testicles and a penis. We had one thing going against us and one thing for us and that was a womb. That was our great asset but also our great detriment. Besides all the guys wanted the power and control for themselves, even as it is today, they did not want to share in this big world I call the sandbox. Men do not want to share in the sandbox. They would rather kick sand in your face and keep all the toys for themselves, usually it's sexual, the most powerful urge in their lives. They will do anything for orgasm, kill children, perversions., etc. We see it every day. Not too many whorehouses around for women. Most children who have been killed for sexual release are killed by men. Men will even fly to foreign countries for forbidden sexual pleasure they cannot get legally in this country, for instance the sexual abuse of young children or boys.

Every religion was created by man for men. Some of the ancient religions had goddesses, but not too many, and that died out with time, Catholicism honors Mary for being the mother of god. Not for anything she did on her own but merely for being a vessel for the life of the supposed son of god. Generally women were left out altogether and only given a passing glance, there are a few in the bible, but not too many, all the ‘begats’ are of male names. Women have not and still are not important to the male world except in a sexual way. Funny they couldn't do all that begetting without us, but the women are not mentioned. Fuck them. Even our swear words give homage to the male ego.

In the Christian religions we are childbearing handmaidens. Now having children is not a small task, but being the handmaiden for the men who run the church/temple, synagogue is another thing altogether. This seems to be the attitude religious men have toward women. Many religions hide the women in the house because this is the temple for male orgasm. Not to be trusted on her own, for she will betray the man. The Arab mind states it like this, they feel when a man and woman are alone in a room, non-related, that the sex act is already committed even if nothing happened. Because they feel that the couple knows they should not be there in the first place, so the actual act of sex is moot. They are punished as if they actually did something.

Women are nothing more important than a womb, a vessel for man's sperm. To be kept pure for their sperm, once that barrier is broken we are no longer that pedestal person. This realization, this epiphany came like a train wreck to me as a young woman, that this is how men see us on an unconscious level. No matter what the situation is, it is sex which drives the male emotions and ego, and once a woman loses that sexual attraction, men see you as nothing useful: as something expendable.

The understanding that women had been slaves to the male ego for all of time, slave to the male testosterone for all of history came as the most shock.
Women have not started one war, yet our children were sent to slaughter for male ego in charge. The majority of deaths by violence in the world today are all male genesis, and the one thing that truly shocked me was that man, that men are controlled by their hormones much more than they realize, all of this war and bombs and killing is male testosterone in control, testosterone controls everything they do and they don't even know it. We even today spend billions to protect ourselves from other male testosterone. Want to see testosterone in action? Look at any military in the world.

Bombs are just bigger rocks, guns bigger sticks. Better ways to kill. To control land for land will attract females and what are females, if not sex. Ancient built in attitudes. This controls our society even today.

So you can see how my thinking went and why I am an atheist today. Today’s religions are run by men for men and there is no place at that table for me.

[Signed,]

A woman.

*

This post is part of a series, in which members of the Boston secular community explain how they came to the decision to identify as atheists. To read more posts in the series, click here. To submit your own story, email bostonatheists@gmail.com.

Why I Am An Atheist #20: Adam

noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Bos) — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 20:14:00 +0000

Boston Atheist member Adam writes:

I've got some of the same reasons for becoming an atheist as Vlad does [see the "Why I Am An Atheist" post of June 20, 2012]. I think that most self-pronounced atheists probably had very religious childhoods. Most people who weren't raised around religion don't seem to think it's as important to announce that they don't believe. Critical thinking, Science, Philosophy, etc. But I have a sneaking suspicion about another cause. Early infestation of Toxoplasma gondii.

I haven't been tested yet, so it's just a pet (pun intended) theory, but... I bet a disproportionate number of us atheists are infested.

(I only half kid.)

*

This post is part of a series, in which members of the Boston secular community explain how they came to the decision to identify as atheists. To read more posts in the series, click here. To submit your own story, email bostonatheists@gmail.com.