Hi everyone. We'll be meeting at Geeksboro on December 18th at 11 am.
Our central topic to this discussion will be: what are our fears and hopes for the position of atheists, agnostics, et al. in 2017? What do we fear might realistically happen to us? What might we be able to do about it? I hope to see our regular group and anyone new who would like to come. Please RSVP on the meetup site or e-mail me so that I can see if we're breaching fire hazard territory at Geeksboro and can move the venue down the street.
Have a great one!
Saturday, December 17, 2016
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Beginnings and Endings
We are about to bid farewell to 2016. While it's a year that I think most people reading this have had enough of, I look forward to 2017 with a bit of trepidation and, also, hope. Yes, the beginnings and endings of the year are somewhat arbitrary numbers relating to somewhat arbitrary positions of celestial bodies, but they correspond to dates that bring real change - good and bad. And, while it appears that there will be some big challenges in 2017, I think that it is very important for us to remember a few positive things:
1) We have strength in numbers, and we are growing. The number of people in the United States that identify as religiously unaffiliated jumped from 16.1 to 22.8% of the population from 2007-2014, according to the Pew Forum. Of course, this is not to say that these are all atheists or agnostics, but it does mean that there is evidence of people lining up less and less with organized religion. We are still a minority - and not a popular one - but we are growing.
2) Though we have differing opinions, there is more that unites us than divides us. Yes, some of us identify as agnostics, skeptics, secularists, etc. But we have to keep in mind that the world over, religious faiths stand as a unified front and are often capable of pushing their agendas because of it. We are good people. We do good things. We need to get the word out that one can be good without god. Let us never allow our differences to divide us to the point of inaction. Strength in diversity of opinion keeps us different from the dogma of a church, but our strength in numbers only helps if we stand together on the important issues. We are having our last locker assembly and our last Secular Sunday on December 17th and 18th, respectively. This page will be divided into three sections: Meetings - Secular/Science Sunday, Activism, - Volunteering, Politics, etc., and Content - videos, articles, and anything else that our members find pertinent to share. Thank you for your time, good luck in all of your endeavors, and please e-mail me if you have any questions!
1) We have strength in numbers, and we are growing. The number of people in the United States that identify as religiously unaffiliated jumped from 16.1 to 22.8% of the population from 2007-2014, according to the Pew Forum. Of course, this is not to say that these are all atheists or agnostics, but it does mean that there is evidence of people lining up less and less with organized religion. We are still a minority - and not a popular one - but we are growing.
2) Though we have differing opinions, there is more that unites us than divides us. Yes, some of us identify as agnostics, skeptics, secularists, etc. But we have to keep in mind that the world over, religious faiths stand as a unified front and are often capable of pushing their agendas because of it. We are good people. We do good things. We need to get the word out that one can be good without god. Let us never allow our differences to divide us to the point of inaction. Strength in diversity of opinion keeps us different from the dogma of a church, but our strength in numbers only helps if we stand together on the important issues. We are having our last locker assembly and our last Secular Sunday on December 17th and 18th, respectively. This page will be divided into three sections: Meetings - Secular/Science Sunday, Activism, - Volunteering, Politics, etc., and Content - videos, articles, and anything else that our members find pertinent to share. Thank you for your time, good luck in all of your endeavors, and please e-mail me if you have any questions!
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