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Well, at least he’s not doing anything useless… wait…
Last week marks the end of an era: Pope Benedix XVI delivered his final public blessing, according to CNN Breaking News.
The Pope said he will continue serving the church by, according to the article, “taking up a life of prayer and meditation.”
Um… what?
How is this serving anyone or anything?
Meditative prayer has been linked to things like reducing stress and lowering blood pressure, but let’s not kid ourselves here: The Pope is not serving anyone by taking up a life of prayer. What is a life of prayer, anyway? That’s essentially saying, “I’m done contributing to the world.” There has never been a proper double-blind study that has shown any statistically significant effect of intercessory prayer. Not one.
At best, the Pope is no longer doing damage as leader of an organization which rails against condom use, abortion, stem-cell research, gay civil rights, women’s rights, etc, etc, etc.
Roy Speckhardt, Executive Director of the American Humanist Association, made an excellent point in a Huffington Post article that I think bears repeating: A new pope, regardless of whether he is more liberal or more conservative, will be a good thing for rational people. If the new pope is liberal, he will work to enact policy changes that are better for stem-cell research, AIDS prevention, abortion access, women’s civil rights, LGBTQ civil rights, and relations with secular people. If the new pope is conservative, he will drive even more “C&E” Catholics (Catholics who only care about their religion on Christmas and Easter) away from the Church and toward the wonderful world of reality in the 21st century.
Until next time,
Dave
Dave Muscato is the Public Relations Director for American Atheists based in Cranford, New Jersey. An atheism activist, blogger, and public speaker, he is also a board member of MU SASHA. He is a vegetarian, LGBTQ ally, and human- & animal-welfare activist. Dave posts updates to the SASHA blog every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday; twice monthly for the Humanist Community at Harvard, and monthly or more on SkepticFreethought.com. His website is http://www.DaveMuscato.com
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My Book, Your Book, Their Book, No Book: Exploring Secularism (panel discussion)
Hello all!
Last Wednesday, February 13th, several SASHA members, plus Dr. Dennis Kelley (Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Missouri) participated in a panel discussion at Mizzou called “My Book, Your Book, Their Book, No Book: Exploring Secularism.”
The panelists were (from left to right) me, Dr. Kelley, Katie Huddlestonsmith (undergrad and SASHA officer), Robbie Curran (undergrad and SASHA officer), Theo Tushaus (undergrad, SASHA member, and President of TriCo), Tony Lakey (undergrad and President of SASHA), and Jeremy Winn (doctoral student and SASHA member).
Video of the panel is now live on YouTube. Enjoy!
The panel was organized by the University of Missouri Chancellor’s Diversity Initiative with the help of the student ambassadors and Charlie Parker, Jr of the CDI office. We’re very grateful for their help with this!
If you like it, please feel free to share on Facebook/tweet to spread the word if you like it! You can also upvote it on Reddit.
Until next time,
Dave
Dave Muscato is the Kansas/Missouri-Area Volunteer Network Coordinator for the Secular Student Alliance. He is also a board member of MU SASHA. He is a vegetarian, LGBTQ ally, and human- & animal-welfare activist. A non-traditional junior at Mizzou studying economics & anthropology and minoring in philosophy & Latin, Dave posts updates to the SASHA blog every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday and twice monthly for the Humanist Community at Harvard. His website is http://www.DaveMuscato.com
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The SSA has met its $250,000 match challenge – with 11 days to spare!
The Secular Student Alliance, with whom I’m interning this summer, received a very generous challenge match offer from Jeff Hawkins (inventor of the Palm Pilot & Palm Treo) and Janet Strauss. We intended to meet this challenge by August 1st. As of 6:40 PM today, July 20th, a final donation of pushed us to $250,015.39, meaning the SSA will receive the $250,000 doubling!
I can’t begin to tell you what amazing news this is for skepticism and the secular movement as a whole. Some figures show that 1/3 of people under 30 doubt the existence of a god, and this is especially true for students. The SSA’s work in helping students find a sense of community, engage in activism, find a secular outlet for service & volunteer work, and a secular place to educate themselves and the public is second to none. I am so inspired every time I think of the SSA and the work they are doing.
If you’re not familiar with the SSA, please check out their website. Get to know the staff—they are AMAZING people—and like their Page on Facebook. Look at the services they offer to student groups—both high school and college—and the library of resources, as well. I speak from experience in saying that I know that our student group would not be nearly where it is without the SSA’s direct help in every step along the way.
The work the SSA are doing is so important. If you care about secularism and secular issues, become a supporter. As secular activists, this is where our attention should be, and I join the rest of us at the SSA in thanking you for being behind us.
Follow @secularstudents on Twitter for the latest updates! And if you’re not yet a member, join us!
Keep up the great work, everybody!
- Dave
Dave Muscato is the 2012 Writing Intern for the Secular Student Alliance in Columbus, Ohio. He is also Vice President of MU SASHA. He is a vegetarian, LGBTQ ally, and human- & animal-welfare activist. A junior at Mizzou studying economics & anthropology and minoring in philosophy & Latin, Dave posts updates to the SASHA blog every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday and twice monthly for the Humanist Community at Harvard. His website is http://www.DaveMuscato.com. Opinions posted here do not necessarily reflect the views of MU SASHA, the Secular Student Alliance, nor the Humanist Community at Harvard.
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We are like birds
Hello all,
One of the questions we get asked often at our Ask an Atheist table is, “Why get together?”—Why have a group at all? So we all don’t believe in the same thing – so what? Why not get on with our lives and do something else with our time?
The answer, at least on some level, is that getting on with our lives means living our lives, and part of living, for humans, means being part of a group. It’s very important for us, as people, to know that we belong somewhere, that we have friends we can count on to understand us and be there for us.
We are social animals, just like dogs, just like elephants, just like birds. We need each other to be happy and be fulfilled. But even more fundamental than that, we need each other to live. Take birds as an example: Why do birds fly in formation?
Canadian geese flying in a V-formation
Research shows that, while evolutionarily unintentional, bird flight formations are not random: Flying in a formation of 25, each bird can increase its range by 71% (!) versus flying alone. This works because each bird (except the front one) flies in the upwash from the wingtip vortices of the bird ahead of it. Migrating birds rotate which bird takes the front position so that none are unfairly doing all the work of holding up the formation. Military aircraft also fly in formation because—aside from the advantage of maintaining visual contact—formations improve fuel efficiency.
As social animals ourselves, we get similar advantages by living in a group. Some animals, like cats, get along just fine living alone, hunting and finding shelter on their own. But we found a different evolutionary niche, and as a result, we’re able to accomplish so much more than cats. Cats will never walk on the moon unless we bring them there. Cats will never explore the bottom of the ocean, or know what stage fright is like before giving a talk in front of a group of their peers.
In his beautifully-written book “The Origins of Virtue,” which I highly recommend to anyone reading this, Matt Ridley tells us that evolutionary self-interest—survival of the fittest—and mutual aid are not at all incompatible. As the publisher puts it, “Our cooperative instincts may have evolved as part of mankind’s natural selfish behavior–by exchanging favors we can benefit ourselves as well as others.” But this is not a cold and calculating process. Natural selection has favored authenticity as a virtue, and we are quite adept at recognizing and regulating those who seek to benefit by keeping too-close track of who owes what. Indeed, as Mizzou anthropologist Craig Palmer puts it, a virtuous act is nearly synonymous with a pro-social and selfless act, and an non-virtuous act with a selfish and antisocial act.
Milton Friedman, the famed Nobel Prize-winning economist, based on an essay by his friend Leonard Read, used a pencil a symbol of human cooperation—not just for the sake of taking handwritten notes, but for the sake of harmony and even world peace:
The reason that atheists get together is that we can accomplish more by doing so. Not just in terms of activism and education—although this is also true—but because, like birds, we need each other. Sometimes there is nothing more useful in the world than a hug, or just being in the presence of people whom you know won’t judge you for not believing in an imaginary friend. Sometimes all you need is a smile from someone who understands what you’re going through. And that is what SASHA is.
If you take away one thing from this post, let it be this: If you’re an “internet atheist,” know that Reddit is great, blogs are great, YouTube videos are great, philosophy books are great. But if you’re reading this, you’re human, and being part of a group is really where we shine our brightest. Join a local group. If you’ve been to a local group meeting and it wasn’t for you, tell the group or group leaders why. We want to be here for you. If you want a group with more women in it, say so. If you want a group with more people your age in it, say so. If you want a group that does different activities besides Skeptics in the Pub, say so. There are lots of types of groups and lots of varieties of groups, but the most important thing is to be part of one. There are benefits to you that you might only begin to realize if you’re not a regular member, most of them emotional, or to reclaim the word from the religious, spiritual.
If you need help finding a local group, you can leave a comment with your city and I’ll do my best to help you find one. The Secular Student Alliance has a list of groups here. American Atheists also maintains a list of over 1,000 groups here, and the Center for Inquiry has a database of centers in the US and around the world here.
I hope that you’re having a good day!
Until next time,
Dave
Dave Muscato is the 2012 Writing Intern for the Secular Student Alliance in Columbus, Ohio. He is also Vice President of MU SASHA. He is a vegetarian, LGBTQ ally, and human- & animal-welfare activist. A junior at Mizzou studying economics & anthropology and minoring in philosophy & Latin, Dave posts updates to the SASHA blog every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday and twice monthly for the Humanist Community at Harvard. His website is http://www.DaveMuscato.com. Opinions posted here do not necessarily reflect the views of MU SASHA, the Secular Student Alliance, nor the Humanist Community at Harvard.
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Are you scientifically literate? A quiz from CSM
Hey all!
The Christian Science Monitor has posted an interesting quiz about scientific literacy. It’s really more about scientific trivia, but nonetheless, I had a good time taking it. I got 41/50, but I guessed on a few, and really appreciated my background in Latin & Greek! Haha. There are quite a few questions about cosmology, particles, chemistry, and some other great topics.
Are You Scientifically Literate?
William & Mary professor Elizabeth Harbron displays vials with merocyanine and rhodamine dye in her lab in Williamsburg, Va. (Steve Helber/AP) – from the quiz page
Post a comment and let us know how you did!
Until next time,
Dave
Dave Muscato is the 2012 Writing Intern for the Secular Student Alliance in Columbus, Ohio. He is also Vice President of MU SASHA. He is a vegetarian, LGBTQ ally, and human- & animal-welfare activist. A junior at Mizzou studying economics & anthropology and minoring in philosophy & Latin, Dave posts updates to the SASHA blog every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday and twice monthly for the Humanist Community at Harvard. His website is http://www.DaveMuscato.com. Opinions posted here do not necessarily reflect the views of MU SASHA, the Secular Student Alliance, nor the Humanist Community at Harvard.
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Congratulations to our writers! And, a religion quiz from Christian Science Monitor
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Two things today!
Firstly, we recently celebrated posting our 200th blog article with a post by our president, Tony Lakey. When our blog passed 100 articles last year, we had a party with cake. We will likely be doing that again once we reach 250 articles in the fall!
Our 100th Blog Article Celebration cake. We asked the decorator to put a baby on it, and he obliged.
Early this morning, we also passed another benchmark: 150,000 views on our blog! We’re currently sitting around 150,250 views, for a straight average of about 730 views per article, and a total of about 750 comments since we started the blog in April of 2011. Wow! Not bad for a student group 
I think blogging is one of the best ways to 1) stay informed about current events, 2) get practice writing and 3) get your name out there, especially if you are interested in taking a leadership role in a student group, or doing your own talks. I highly recommend getting into blogging if you are passionate about secularism and have an interest in writing or speaking, whether you’re in-the-closet about your atheism or not. If you would like to submit a guest post to this blog, we are always willing to consider new writers, whether it’s a one-time thing or more than that! We have several recurring guest writers currently, some of them Christians, also.
I’m very proud of all of our writers, and I hope that all of our readers have enjoyed the ride! Let’s keep it up for another 200! We will probably celebrate our 250th article with a party in the fall semester as well.
I have something else for you today: The Christian Science Monitor has put up a 32-question quiz about religion from the Pew Forum. They say that atheists score an average of 20.9 correct answers, with Jews averaging 20.5, and Mormons 20.3. Protestants got 16 correct answers on average, while Catholics got 14.7 questions right.
I got 31 out of 32 (missed the one about the First Great Awakening) – how did you do? Let us know in the comments below, and share this/tweet this! We are curious about the engagement and knowledge of you guys!
Until next time!
- Dave
Dave Muscato is the 2012 Writing Intern for the Secular Student Alliance in Columbus, Ohio. He is also Vice President of MU SASHA. He is a vegetarian, LGBTQ ally, and human- & animal-welfare activist. A junior at Mizzou studying economics & anthropology and minoring in philosophy & Latin, Dave posts updates to the SASHA blog every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday and twice monthly for the Humanist Community at Harvard. His website is http://www.DaveMuscato.com.
Follow Dave on Google+
Follow Dave on Twitter
Helpful resources:
Godisimaginary.com – Iron Chariots Wiki – Skeptics’ Annotated Bible / Skeptics’ Annotated Qur’an – AtheismResource.com – TalkOrigins.org
YouTubers: Evid3nc3, Thunderf00t, TheAmazingAtheist, The Atheist Experience, Edward Current, NonStampCollector, Mr. Deity, Richard Dawkins, QualiaSoup
Blogs: Greta Christina, PZ Myers, The Friendly Atheist, WWJTD?, Debunking Christianity, SkepChick
and don’t forget… other SASHA members! We are here for you, too!
Ask an Atheist: What’s the point of living if there is no god?
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The following is my personal opinion and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Secular Student Alliance.
Hello all!
My group does an “Ask an Atheist” table pretty regularly, I’d say roughly once a week when the weather is suitable. This question is at least among the top 10 we get. I’m going to give you my answer.
Seth & James at the Ask an Atheist table last spring
In a word, it’s “transcendence.” In 1500 words:
Tuesday is a pretty special day for me. My favorite musician, Fiona Apple, is putting out her new album. It’s been 7 years since her last release.
I’m myself a musician, and I listen to all kinds of music— I like everything from radio pop to classical/art music to funk to mid-20th-century jazz to rock. Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Hindu classical music. My all-time favorites besides Fiona Apple are Metallica, Ani DiFranco, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Dave Matthews Band, Billy Joel, Wah (the Sanskrit/Hindu mantra group, not the rock band), Bramble, and Gooding. I’ve taken several classes at Berklee College of Music; I taught private lessons myself for years, and I made my living as a musician for several years, too. So when I say she’s my favorite, I’m just saying that I want you to know where I’m coming from.
In philosophy, there’s a subfield called “aesthetics.” It’s not something I’ve ever studied formally so I’m not going to try to get into that. I am going to say why I think music in particular draws so many atheists AND so many religious people, and how this ties back in to the point of living.
I was talking to my boss recently about something strange in our office: A very large proportion of the staff at the Secular Student Alliance has a background in music, my boss included (she has 2 degrees in it). Several of us are former professional musicians out of a staff of 12 + 2 interns. She also mentioned that campus music departments are surprisingly good places to put up atheism group posters, in addition to the old stand-bys of philosophy departments, computer science departments, and so on.
I hypothesized that this might be the case because musicians are accustomed to feeling transcendence in day-to-day life—getting “lost” in the beauty of music—and they understand that it’s because of thousands of hours of practice, effort, energy, and dedication, and not because of anything else.
Any really incredible musician, in my experience, has talent, but they also have skill. They are not synonymous. You are born with talent, but you develop skill by practicing a lot. Not everyone has the neurology and dexterity necessary to be an excellent musician. Of those who do, the ones who actually develop expert levels of musicianship invariable practice constantly.
I’m currently reading Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking Fast & Slow, which I highly recommend and will be reviewing at some point on this blog. He talks about two “systems” of thought, System 1 and System 2. System 1 is the impulsive, intuitive, heuristic-guided system. System 2 is the critical-thinking, rational, slower system—the “upper” system.
There’s quite a bit more to it than that, but one example is driving a car. Most people can hold a conversation while driving. The exception is new drivers (who have not yet gotten the skill down to an automatic procedure), and drivers who are attempting something difficult, something that requires “System 2″ thinking (merging into heavy traffic, doing a U-turn, etc).
Musicians, after lots of practice, are able to go into a state of “flow” while playing their instruments—relocating the concentration required to play from “System 2″ to “System 1.” It certainly takes a level of brainpower to play an instrument, but a musician who has gotten to the point of not having to think about playing can simply let loose and allow emotion and passion to take over, since she doesn’t have to “think” (even though, of course, we are ALWAYS thinking on some level). It’s like driving down a highway with no cars around. You can sing if you feel like it, and you don’t have to worry about crashing your car, because driving is second nature.
Scaramouche! Scaramouche! Will you do the
Fandango?! (I bet none of you are getting this reference.)
Musicians are accustomed to feeling transcendence. It is part of what we do. Because of this, we know that it’s available on tap. When you can do something at will, it takes some of the mystery out of it. That doesn’t mean it’s any less powerful to watch or experience, I think, but it does effect your thoughts on transcendence.
In my experience, there are basically two ways you can respond to this “transcendence-on-tap” thing, as a musician. One is to recognize that you are causing it through your effort and practice. The other is to throw up your hands and say, “I can’t explain this, therefore God.” I have seen a lot of musicians go that route, basically calling it a “God-given talent” or a “blessing” or a “gift” or even a “ministry.” We can explain perfectly well where these things come from – it’s a combination of genetics and hours put in – but some people just refuse to accept that, or just don’t know, or just don’t care.
I first heard Fiona Apple’s music when I was 12. It was the first time I remember feeling transcendence. The song that did it was “Never is a Promise,” which was track 7 on her debut album, “Tidal.” If you want to listen, here’s the video. That song is what made me realize I had to become a musician, rather than becoming a writer, which was what I had always wanted to do up until then. I listened to is at least hundreds of times when I first heard it. I taught myself to play it on my parents’ piano, and later I got out my dad’s dusty old guitar and arranged it for guitar, too. It was an unbelievable experience for me, having music move me like that for the first time.
Meeting my musical hero, Fiona Apple, for the first time – March 24, 2012
Over the years, many other things have caused me to feel transcendence. Art is a major one. I have a modest art collection, but I don’t tend to look at my art—most of it is actually wrapped up rather than hanging—because it can be overwhelming for me. I have a very clear memory of seeing an installation piece in the St Louis Art Museum when I was 16 and nearly passing out from it. I had to leave the room and find a place to sit down, and my heart still flutters a bit when I’m typing this now thinking about it. It was a huge roped-off display of broken glass pieces arranged all over the floor, taking up nearly the whole room, and also sticking out in gigantic pieces from the wall. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but that was the first time I realized art could make me (involuntarily) feel the same transcendence I felt from music.
When people ask me, “What is the point of living if there is no God?” my reaction is generally one of puzzlement. What difference does is make if there is a god or not?! There is so much beauty in the world; what more do you want??
I think that when people ask this question, what they are usually really asking is, “What am I supposed to do with my life if not worship some god, if there is no afterlife?” These are pretty different questions. According to Islam, the purpose of life is to submit to God’s will. According to Christianity, the purpose of life is to give glory to God. (If you disagree, tell me why in the comments).
But if you’re neither of these, what’s the purpose of life? If you don’t believe in an afterlife, why not give up when all seems hopeless?
Because you never know what will happen next, and this is the only life you know you’ll have. And that makes it special, because it’s unique. I value my life more than any Christian or Muslim values his. I can say this because I know how incredibly, ineffably lucky I am that the atoms that make up my body have come together in such a way that I am able to experience my existence consciously. Most atoms don’t get to do that. It’s very unlikely that all the atoms in my body will get to do that again, or even most of them. There is an ancient Buddhist proverb made famous by Carl Sagan that says, “We are the universe experiencing itself.”
Say you had always loved the idea of Paris, and went to visit for a vacation, knowing it would be your only time there. Would you appreciate that trip more, or less, than if you knew you were going to retire there someday? I would appreciate it more. I wouldn’t sleep the whole time. I would enjoy every moment of it, every breath of it. I would meet as many people as I could and see as many sights as I could and buy as many little Eiffel Towers for my friends as I could. You’d have to physically force me to leave.
But if you believe you’re going back to live there in 20 years, what’s the hurry? What even bother soaking it in other than some cursory touristy stuff? Vacations are for having fun and catching up on sleep, right? So you spend 1/2 your time there in and around your hotel. You’re going to live there someday! What difference does it make?
It makes a huge difference.
What makes you feel transcendence? Is it kissing your boyfriend? Is it tucking your children into bed at night? Is it listening to music, or playing it? Is it making the perfect Julia Child strawberry tart, as I suspect it is for my mother?
My mother loves Julia Child and I really think that making these gives her one of the greatest joys in life. This picture is for you, Mom.
Is it praying? For some people, it truly is. It was for me when I used to believe in a god. I can still feel the same thing when I meditate, which I still do on occasion—it’s good for your blood pressure. But the thing is, you can get the same feeling of transcendence from meditation (inward “prayer”) that you can from “actual” prayer. The transcendence is in you, not “out there.”
Daniel Dennett said it very well in this video: “The secret of happiness is: Find something more important than you are, and dedicate your life to it.”
You just have to find makes you feel alive. There is something in your life worth living for. Gods are not needed. If what makes you feel alive is your belief that some agency is out there, watching over you, then let me say I’m glad have found what gives you transcendence. But I hope that you realize that I said “your belief,” not that there is actually someone watching over you.
I think that really, the major difference between theists and nontheists is that nontheists have found something better to live for, and realized that it doesn’t make sense to live for something that may not really exist. For me, the meaning of life is writing, it is art, it is music. For some people, it is family, or cooking, or photography. But whatever it is, find it, and live for it. No gods necessary!
Until next time,
- Dave
Dave Muscato is the 2012 Writing Intern for the Secular Student Alliance in Columbus, Ohio. He is also Vice President of MU SASHA. He is a vegetarian, LGBTQ ally, and human- & animal-welfare activist. A junior at Mizzou studying economics & anthropology and minoring in philosophy & Latin, Dave posts updates to the SASHA blog every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday and twice monthly for the Humanist Community at Harvard. His website is http://www.DaveMuscato.com.
Follow Dave on Google+
Follow Dave on Twitter
Helpful resources:
Godisimaginary.com – Iron Chariots Wiki – Skeptics’ Annotated Bible / Skeptics’ Annotated Qur’an – AtheismResource.com – TalkOrigins.org
YouTubers: Evid3nc3, Thunderf00t, TheAmazingAtheist, The Atheist Experience, Edward Current, NonStampCollector, Mr. Deity, Richard Dawkins, QualiaSoup
Blogs: Greta Christina, PZ Myers, The Friendly Atheist, WWJTD?, Debunking Christianity, SkepChick
and don’t forget… other SASHA members! We are here for you, too!
Is the Secular Student Alliance indoctrinating high-school students?
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Disclaimer: I’m an intern for the Secular Student Alliance. This blog article, posted here on the MU SASHA blog, represents my own opinions and does not necessarily reflect the views of the SSA. I receive a stipend for my internship; however I am not being paid nor receiving anything for writing this article on the SASHA blog.
Hello, Dave here.
This morning, Jesse Galef, the Communications Director for the Secular Student Alliance, appeared on CNN in a segment about “Millennials” and their growing doubt about a god’s existence. The interviewer, Carol Costello, made this comment to Jesse:
Well, some Christians might argue that because such groups are in high schools, you’re indoctrinating students in a time when that’s not proper, because they’re not old enough to really handle questions like that.
Let’s break down what she’s saying here: Some Christians (what about Jews? Hindus? Sikhs? Muslims?…) might argue that high school is an improper time (what is the proper time?) to introduce students to critical thinking, because they’re not old enough to handle questions like the existence of gods. (She was contrasting this with college groups at the time).
I think Christians are perfectly welcome to argue that if they want to, but I want them to understand how ironic and hypocritical such an argument would be. It’s ironic because, as a fellow Redditor points out, religions do this more-or-less from birth. In some cases, the indoctrination begins with genital mutilation; in other cases, with deliberate near-drownings. As the bumper-sticker says, “A religion is just a cult with more members.”
I’m sure this baby feels the power of the Holy Spirit right now. Yeah, that is what’s going through his head.
The SSA advocates critical inquiry, the process of asking digging questions using logic, reason, and evidence; Christians (and other religious groups) are actually the ones indoctrinating students. Indoctrinate comes from the Latin word doctrina, -ae (teaching), which even the most passingly-interested etymology fan will recognize as the root of “doctrine.” We expressly advocate asking questions instead of teaching doctrines. What we do is as far a polar opposite of indoctrination as one could possibly argue.
The “old enough” part is really what bothers me, though. Go to YouTube and search for “child preacher” and see how many videos come up. Many of these young people clearly have no idea of the meaning behind their words; they just enjoy the attention of the congregation. Their parents have simply coached them in what to say.
Four-year-olds ask these questions. Is Carol Costello really saying that high-school students aren’t old enough for the answers—that according to logic, reason, evidence, and science, there is probably no god?
Is Costello arguing that students should wait until college to learn about critical thinking? Really?
Does she really believe that teaching someone how to ask questions—how to think critically (and self-critically)—counts as indoctrination?
Here is the video:
Jesse Galef on CNN about Millennials and doubt, with Carol Costello interviewing.
http://cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2012/06/14/nr-millenials-belief-in-god.cnn.html
What are your thoughts?
- Dave
Dave Muscato is Vice President of MU SASHA. He is a vegetarian, LGBTQ ally, and human- & animal-welfare activist. A junior at Mizzou studying economics & anthropology and minoring in philosophy & Latin, Dave posts updates to the SASHA blog every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday and twice monthly for the Humanist Community at Harvard. His website is http://www.DaveMuscato.com.
Follow Dave on Google+
Follow Dave on Twitter
Helpful resources:
Godisimaginary.com – Iron Chariots Wiki – Skeptics’ Annotated Bible / Skeptics’ Annotated Qur’an – AtheismResource.com – TalkOrigins.org
YouTubers: Evid3nc3, Thunderf00t, TheAmazingAtheist, The Atheist Experience, Edward Current, NonStampCollector, Mr. Deity, Richard Dawkins, QualiaSoup
Blogs: Greta Christina, PZ Myers, The Friendly Atheist, WWJTD?, Debunking Christianity, SkepChick
and don’t forget… other SASHA members! We are here for you, too!
Columbia, Missouri-area named 22nd “Brainiest City” by The Atlantic
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Hello all, Dave here!
Universities tend to draw in brains, and the University of Missouri is no exception.
Jesse Hall, University of Missouri-Columbia
What makes Columbia different is that, for a Midwestern town, we’re very liberal: We’re a city of about 110,000 with a Planned Parenthood clinic, a strong LGBTQ advocacy presence, and lots of other great stuff. Around 50% of adults in Columbia have bachelor’s degrees, and about 25% of adults have master’s degrees. Go 20 miles in any direction and things are very, very different. According to our Wikipedia page, we’re known as “The Athens of Missouri,” which is weird, because there actually IS a small town called Athens, MO. I’ve never heard anyone call us that in person, but it fits, I think. We’re a blue island in a sea of red.
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2012/06/americas-brainiest-cities/2132/#
I was born and raised in Columbia, and although I also lived in Philadelphia and travel a lot, I think it’s a great town and I keep finding myself ending up back there. What makes Columbia so different? It has a strong secular mindset, even if all its citizens aren’t nonreligious. It has a lot of scientists and a lot of doctors, people who value and are good at critical thinking. And this are very positively linked with brains.
I’m glad Columbia made the list!
- Dave
Dave Muscato is Vice President of MU SASHA. He is a vegetarian, LGBTQ ally, and human- & animal-welfare activist. A junior at Mizzou studying economics & anthropology and minoring in philosophy & Latin, Dave posts updates to the SASHA blog every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday and twice monthly for the Humanist Community at Harvard. His website is http://www.DaveMuscato.com.
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Helpful resources:
Godisimaginary.com – Iron Chariots Wiki – Skeptics’ Annotated Bible / Skeptics’ Annotated Qur’an – AtheismResource.com – TalkOrigins.org
YouTubers: Evid3nc3, Thunderf00t, TheAmazingAtheist, The Atheist Experience, Edward Current, NonStampCollector, Mr. Deity, Richard Dawkins, QualiaSoup
Blogs: Greta Christina, PZ Myers, The Friendly Atheist, WWJTD?, Debunking Christianity, SkepChick
and don’t forget… other SASHA members! We are here for you, too!
Is this even legal?
Hello all,
I came across this great website called Fiverr.com. Similar to Facebook’s “What’s on your mind?”, Fiverr asks, “What are you willing to do for $5?” The ideas is that you can hire someone to do some task for $5. Examples include drawing a custom logo in Illustrator, recording a custom 30-second jingle for your company, brainstorming business names, drawing a caricature of you for your website, etc. I imagine this is especially useful for underemployed people who want some extra income, or for self-employed customers on a budget who need a quick turnaround and artistic skills they don’t personally have.
One particular offer stood out to me enough that I wanted to blog about it. For $5, this couple will “send positive thoughts to whoever [sic] you want,” for “a whole day.” Wow, what a deal! Positive thoughts for a whole day from TWO people, for only $5! That’s like 31 cents an hour! Surely there are laws against that kind of slave labor…
Until next time,
Dave
P.S. I’ve just discovered that the same couple has ANOTHER Fiverr offer available! For an additional $5, they will send positive “healing energy” TO YOUR PET throughout the day! Wow-ie! It’s so cheap, I feel a little guilty! I sent them this message: “Hi, I have some questions about the healing energy for pets. Does this work? Do you have any training in this area? Thank you for your time!” I’ll let you know when I hear back from them.
Dave Muscato is Vice President of MU SASHA. He is a vegetarian, LGBTQ ally, and human- & animal-welfare activist. A junior at Mizzou studying economics & anthropology and minoring in philosophy & Latin, Dave posts updates to the SASHA blog every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday and twice monthly for the Humanist Community at Harvard. His website is http://www.DaveMuscato.com.
Follow Dave on Google+
Follow Dave on Twitter
Helpful resources:
Godisimaginary.com
Iron Chariots Wiki
Skeptics’ Annotated Bible / Skeptics’ Annotated Qur’an
AtheismResource.com
TalkOrigins.org
YouTubers: Evid3nc3, Thunderf00t, TheAmazingAtheist, The Atheist Experience, Edward Current, NonStampCollector, Mr. Deity, Richard Dawkins, QualiaSoup
Blogs: Greta Christina, PZ Myers, The Friendly Atheist, WWJTD?, Debunking Christianity, SkepChick
and don’t forget… other SASHA members! We are here for you, too!
