On Monday night the Tucson Atheists Meetup.com group met at the Denny’s on Speedway. We meet there on the third Monday of the month at 7:00 PM. It was an eclectic mix of regulars and new people. Roughly one half of the attendees were women. The oldest attendee was mid-70s, while the youngest is below the legal age to drink. A couple never believed, but most came from a religious background. Two members were former Muslims. It was a pleasure to see five current students from the University of Arizona attending and three of them were women. We currently have 627 members and 11 organizers. Five of the organizers are women. The secular/freethinking community in Tucson is a diverse group that reflects the heterogeneous nature of Tucson. It is important to hear these facts, particularly when all that is heard about the freethinking movement is that it is dominated by old white males. Once in a while it is good to get the word out that there are many other people in the movement besides the old, white males and that they are also in positions of leadership.

There are times when it seems all the news is bad. It seems to run in cycles. At the meeting, we have a segment in the program called “Atheist News.” Normally, we have three or so news items of interest to the attendees. On Monday, we had three news items—2 current and one 50 years old.

The first news item was about an Atheist Monument that was being installed in Florida. It is touted as the first Atheist monument on government property as it is located in a “free speech” area in front of a court house in Northern Florida. The “bad news” is that the American Atheists were not able to get the recently installed 10 Commandments monument removed. Our consolation prize, the “good news,” is that we were able to erect our own ¾ ton Atheist monument right across from the offending ten. The American Atheists monument contains quotes from the Treaty of Tripoli, Madalyn Murray O’Hair, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams. The quotes remind the observer that the government was in no way founded on the Christian religion, that Atheists are interested in reducing suffering during this life, that religion should be self-supporting with no help from the “civil power,” and that the U.S. Constitution was not a “God inspired” document.

The second news item was about the failed amendment to add non-religious military chaplains to the military. The amendment failed in committee and it also failed when introduced by Rep Jared Polis (D-CO) to the entire house. The vote failed 274-150. The “good news” is that the amendment got 150 votes! Also, for us Arizonans there is further “good news.” Five of our nine representatives voted for the amendment. Voting for the amendment were: Sinema, Pastor, Grijalva, Barber, and Kirkpatrick. Voting against the amendment were: Franks, Schweikert, Salmon, and Gosar.

The third “news item” was about something that happened 50 years ago. Fifty year ago on June 17^th in 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Abington Town School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203, barring bible reading in public schools. The case, brought by Ed Schempp and his family, challenged a Pennsylvania law requiring that “at least ten verses from the Holy Bible shall be read, without comment, at the opening of each public school on each school day. The good news was that the 8-1 decision helped start the American Atheists during the same year. The bad news is that it’s been 50 years and we still have a long way to go.

Q. Do you know the difference between an Irish wedding and an Irish wake?

A. One less drunk.

Not everyone is an Atheist but everyone dies. The subject of the last meeting of the Tucson Atheists at The Shanty on the first Sunday of the month was Atheism and death. Fifteen members and guests tackled the subject with gusto and more than a couple pints of beer. Opinions were varied. One of the random questions was, “What is your death plan?” My plan is to put that particular activity off as long as possible. As far as what happens after that, I’ll probably be beyond caring. I won’t even know when I’m dead. Do you want to know why? It’s because I’ll be dead. Burned, rotisseried, stuck in the ground, spread on the ground, or shot into space it’s really all the same to me. I don’t even care if the Mormons baptize me, after I’m dead. If it keeps them busy and off door steps, so much the better. However, it would be nice if my friends and what’s left of my family would gather for a celebration and talk about me. I’d want them to throw a bash that people will be talking about for decades. According to Banksy—a graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter—“…you die twice. One time when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time.” Unless you’re someone like Julius Caesar, both deaths are inevitable. Consider that there are people coming up in the world that don’t know the names of the Beatles.

The next question addressed was, “Does belief in religion and life-after-death increase or reduce the value of life as we know it?” Once again opinions were varied. Some believe that religion helps those that struggle through life to endure knowing that there will be a celestial reward at the end. In fact, there were those that believe the whole reason for the introduction of an after-life was to quell the masses and make people accept the toils of a hard life for the promise of a big glorious reward at the end. The benefit to the well-off is that they can be secure in the knowledge that people will be content with the promise and may not be as motivated to take their stuff.

Finally, we know that religion helps people accept the seemingly meaningless deaths that take away friends and family. Without religion we have to rely on the cold ungodly laws of probability. For Atheists, there is no “Divine Plan” because there is no “Divinity.” That can be a cold dose of reality but most Atheists accept the reality and in fact prefer it to the fantasy that religion supplies.

Everyone, almost everyone, agrees that death sucks. We’d all like to live longer and someday, we may get to the point where we can extend our lives. Already, life expectancy has doubled in the last 200 years. In 1810, you could expect to live to 40, now it is close to 80. It wasn’t religion that made the difference. It was science. It was science that reduced infant mortality and immunized us against small pox, polio, and other killers. My own life was saved at 50 through the skilled hands of a surgeon, a fluoroscope, a catheter, and a couple of high-tech, drug eluting stents. I didn’t thank God; I thanked the surgeon, his staff, the hospital, and the ambulance crew that scooped me up and took me to the hospital. The priest that came in to check on me, while he meant well, had NOTHING to contribute to the process.

As far as we can tell, this is the only life that we’re ever going to get. No one, I mean no one, has the evidence to refute that claim. It’s best to make the most of what we know we have.

Atheists who are active in the community often hear “Pascal’s Wager.” The reasoning says that it’s best to believe in God since there is an infinitely happy after-life to gain and our current life is finite. Wagering our finite life on the chance of infinite happiness is a bet worth making. Ignoring for a minute all of the problems with that bet, and there are many, Marcus Aurelius says, “Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”

Every other week, on Thursdays, some of the Tucson Atheists meet at the Fronimos Greek Restaurant near the corner of Country Club and Speedway. We have a designated discussion topic unlike the free-for-all discussions we have at the Drinking Godlessly events held at the Red Garter Bar and Grill across the street on the alternate Thursdays. The topic for the 3oth was “Religion in the Military.” The 23 attendees were very eclectic. A few had military experience. There was an active duty member from Davis-Monthan AFB, one retired military member (that would be me), and a couple of more that served at different times in different services. The conversation was light and lively but there was a concern that having paid chaplains serving in the military may be a violation of church/state separation. If there is any unifying principle in the Atheist/freethinking community it is that church/state separation is a good thing that must be maintained.

Those that have served in the military, even Atheists, know that the chaplains are important. They are a key element in the social support of deployed and garrisoned troops and they serve religious and other important functions. Not all people serving consider religious belief as an option. The military assigns people to locations far from their community support, and sending along a religious leader to tend to the religious is necessary. There are about 2,900 active duty chaplains in the military. In addition, the chaplains provide counseling of individuals regardless of religious affiliation and the sessions are considered privileged communication. You can say anything to a chaplain and be confident that the chaplain will not share what you say to your boss, coworkers, or anyone in your chain of command. The same cannot be said about discussions with a psychologist, for example. Leaders, Atheists or not, often direct their troops to seek out chaplain counseling.

However, when individuals enlist they agree to certain limitations and chaplains also have similar limitations. Chaplains are forbidden to proselytize to unaffiliated military members. They cannot participate in political demonstrations in their uniform. There are times when a chaplain’s religious beliefs and opinions conflict with the requirements of the duties and restrictions. Service members and chaplains alike must recognize that occasionally their “free speech” may be limited by military regulation. Air Force chaplain Lt. Colonel Garland L. Roberson was drummed out of the service for using his rank and position when he questioned the wisdom of using military force in Iraq in the Abilene Reporter-News in January 1991. Had the chaplain published his complaint as a private citizen, the decorated combat veteran of the Vietnam War, would have not been dismissed.

For a gathering of Atheists the phrase; “Religion in the military” contains two emotionally charged trigger words but a rational discussion which included personal experiences led to a pleasant informative meeting. You can join in on the fun by signing up with the Tucson Atheists Meetup.com Group.

Secular Coalition for Arizona

Invocation for Opening of AZ House of Representatives Session

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Most prayers in this room begin with a request to bow your heads. I would like to ask that you not bow your heads. I would like to ask that you to take a moment to look around the room at all of the men and women here, in this moment, sharing together this extraordinary experience of being alive and of dedicating ourselves to working toward improving the lives of the people in our state.

This is a room in which there are many challenging debates, many moments of tension, of ideological division, of frustration. But this is also a room where, as my Secular Humanist tradition stresses, by the very fact of being human, we have much more in common than we have differences. We share the same spectrum of potential for care, for compassion, for fear, for joy, for love…

Carl Sagan once wrote, “For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love.” There is, in the political process, much to bear. In this room, let us cherish and celebrate our shared humanness, our shared capacity for reason and compassion, our shared love for the people of our state, for our Constitution, for our democracy–and let us root our policymaking process in these values that are relevant to all Arizonans regardless of religious belief or nonbelief. In gratitude and in love, in reason and in compassion, let us work together for a better Arizona.

Juan Mendez, serves in the State House of Representatives and represents District 26 which includes north Tempe, northwest Mesa, and a large portion of the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community. Yesterday during his inclusive opening “prayer,” he appealed to the legislature to represent ALL the people of Arizona regardless of religious belief and base their decisions on reason and compassion. According to Jonathan Turely, “Arizona had an extraordinary moment.” He’s right of course. The moment was “extraordinary.” It made national news and the dust hasn’t settled yet. The echoes of the last word of this secular invocation hadn’t died out before the story was picked up by USA Today, The Huffington Post, The Raw Story, azcentral.com, and of course Jonathan Turley. There are probably others covering this news item. This should not be news worthy. It should not be an “extraordinary event” when someone comes out and appeals to a legislature to represent ALL of the people it represents. Recent polls show that one in five Americans do not affiliate with a religion. If one looks at only the young people under 30, fully one third of them are unaffiliated—one in 3! Of course, that’s a nationwide survey. NPR did a story back in January about the growth of the nones. In the article they state that religion still rules in America. There is only one openly “none” in the current Congress and that is Kyrsten Sinema who is also from Arizona. Statistics state that the average American is slightly more religious than the average Iranian. Really? Wow!

Evidently, the CAP (Center for Arizona Policy) hasn’t noticed what occurred yesterday. It will and it’ll start lining up candidates to run against Mr. Mendez. However, the CAP could be a little distracted by the fact that a bill it sponsored making abortions illegal after 20 weeks was struck down by Judges in Ninth Circuit Court. CAP may be too busy trying to figure out how to spin the murder conviction of the Pennsylvania abortionist to its advantage or counting the money it made on the $250 per plate CAP Family Dinner with Ben Carson held earlier in the month. Or perhaps CAP is busy playing ghost writer for legislative bills and resolution such as the resolution to maintain the Boy Scout’s “Don’t ask don’t tell” policy.

The Secular Coalition for Arizona is the only group in the state that can seriously impact the CAP and its legislatively imposed policies but we are seriously out gunned. Currently, we only have one professional lobbyist while the CAP maintains a constant presence at the state legislature. Even so, this year we’ve moved from a strictly defensive posture to one that is actively trying to reverse the damage caused by the CAP and 114 bills that have been signed into law since they formed in 1995.

The Secular Coalition for Arizona (www.secularaz.org) is a 501(c)(4) lobbying organization that represents 17 organizations in the Arizona nontheistic community — a vibrant and growing community of Arizonans who self-identify as Atheists, Agnostics, Humanists, Freethinkers, and other labels of personal choosing to elected officials in and from Arizona.

Psst…The Secular Coalition for Arizona does accept donations…

Over the past couple of years Jim Wilson has been a major contributor to this blog. Yesterday, he headed out of town on a one way ticket to Australia. Well…that’s not exactly true. He headed out to town in a car to visit friends and relatives before making the trip to “down under.” Jim’s blog posts have been the most popular and most controversial. His youthful enthusiasm was apparent in all of his posts as he tackled subjects sexual and political. He might continue to contribute in the future. Perhaps he’ll be able to reach out from OZ with some new, fresh perspectives. I hope so. In any case, bon voyage, my friend.

“Religion – religion, at best – at Best – is like a lift in your shoe. If you need it for a while, and it makes you walk straight and feel better – fine. But you don’t need it forever, or you can become permanently disabled. Religion is like a lift in the shoe, and I say just don’t ask me to wear your shoes. And let’s not go down and nail lifts onto the natives’ feet.” – George Carlin, October 11, 1975 on the first episode of Saturday Night Live.

I just returned from Austin, TX and the 50^th Anniversary of the American Atheists. It is normally held on Easter weekend as it was this year. Activities began on Thursday and ended on Easter Sunday. This year there were 938 attendees. It was a diverse group, too. That’s not too surprising given that the American Atheists was started by a woman.

Madalyn Murray O’Hair is responsible for the creation of the organization in 1963. She was in Austin, TX at the time. Then, she was “the most hated woman in America.” People hated her but she got needed things done and was outspoken and controversial. There were a lot of firsts associated with Madalyn. She was the first guest on the Phil Donahue show. On another appearance on the Phil Donahue show in a debate with “The Chaplain of Bourbon Street,” Bob Harrington, she said, “If America wakes up, what America will do is kick Christianity out.” Additionally, she tried to straighten out the preacher on the definition of Atheism but Bob continued to talk over her. Her cantankerous manner got her an interview in Playboy along with appearances on Merv Griffin and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. However, her most famous “first” was the fact that she was to first to address the United States Supreme Court as an Atheist. She started her opening statement with, “Your petitioners are atheists…” Also included in her statement was the following excerpt which was silk screened on the back of this year’s convention T-shirt:

“An atheist believes that a hospital should be built instead of a church. An atheist believes that a deed must be done instead of a prayer said. An atheist strives for involvement in life and not escape into death. He wants disease conquered, poverty vanquished, war eliminated.”

In 1963, the justices of the Supreme Court voted in favor of her petition 8 to 1—a decisive victory for the separation of church and state.

Madalyn Murray O’Hair was born on April 13^th, 1919. She was a World War II veteran who served in the field of cryptography. She was college educated and trained in law. She worked as a psychiatric social worker for 17 years and was a supervisor at the Baltimore city public welfare department in 1960. Her Atheist activism started with a lawsuit against the Baltimore City Public School System for requiring her son to participate in Bible readings in the school he was attending. Her case reached the Supreme Court in 1963. Please note, she was not the only one that filed suit against such practices. Her case was combined with Abington School District v. Schempp and school prayer was previously eliminated by the court’s ruling on the case Engel v. Vitale in 1962. However, she was a lightning rod for controversy and unapologetically outspoken. She created the American Atheists and her “empire” had its own printing press and a loyal following.

In 1963 in an interview, Madalyn said that it would take one crazy person to end her life. That crazy person turned out to be David Waters, an ex-convict who served as the American Atheists office manager. He had been caught stealing from the organization and was fired. He took revenge on Madalyn, her younger son, and granddaughter by kidnapping them and squeezing what he could out of the American Atheists bank accounts. After 30 days of holding the family, he strangled them and disposed of the bodies. Ultimately, the disappearance of the trio would be solved but their bodies—dismembered, burned, and sealed in barrels—would not be found for five and a half years. The entire story can be found here. It is estimated that Madalyn Murray O’Hair was brutally murdered on September 29, 1995.

I didn’t know Madalyn but I know people that knew her. Some of the current leaders of American Atheists knew her well. Most that knew her, respected her. She was remembered by many. She knew that, “There is no God. There’s no heaven. There’s no hell. There are no angels. When you die, you go in the ground; the worms eat you.” The people that searched for her, found her, and attended her burial expressed the deepest sorrow for her. She got her wish when she said:

”I hope I live my life in such a manner that when I die, someone cares – even if it is only my dogs. I think I want some human being somewhere to weep for me.”

– Madalyn Murray O’Hair

 …and they did.

This weekend is going to be great, in spite of the weather. The Tucson Festival of Books will be on the University of Arizona Campus, Roy Zimmerman will be performing in town, and the Skeptics of Tucson meetings return to the regular Denny’s restaurant on Speedway. There is plenty to look forward to this weekend.

This year FreeThought Arizona will be at the book fair. Thanks to the dedicated work of the members, we’ll have booths 351 and 352 right in front of the library. The bestselling author Chris Mooney will join with our own local celebrities to sign books. We have freebies to hand out and plenty of literature that visitors can take away. Books, magazines, and pamphlets will be at the booth. Members of FreeThought Arizona will be there to answer questions and engage in conversation and there will be information on the FreeThought Arizona, Tucson Atheists, Skeptics of Tucson, The Secular Student Alliance at the U of A, and American Atheists—all part of the Tucson FreeThinking Community.

On Sunday at 7 PM after the book fair, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson along with the Tucson FreeThinking community is sponsoring a concert by Roy Zimmerman. Tickets, which can be purchased at the door, are $15 for general admission and only $10 for students. He’s calling his tour the Wake Up Call and is sure to appeal to progressive thinkers with folk style songs in the same vein as Joni Mitchell and Tom Lehrer. In fact, Joni Mitchel says, “Roy’s lyrics move beyond poetry and achieve perfection” and Tom Lehrer himself says, “I congratulate Roy Zimmerman on reintroducing literacy to comedy songs. And the rhymes actually rhyme; they don’t just ‘rhyne.’” Progressive comedy and satire available here in Tucson without a two drink minimum, how can you miss that?

Finally, on Monday, the Skeptics of Tucson Meetup Group returns its meetings to the Denny’s on Speedway just west of Alvernon. This month we’ll have discussion on articles posted on the Doubtful News webpage. The meeting begins at 7 PM and ends at 9 but people show up early for light conversation prior to the meeting.

Here is a summary of the important links contained in this blog entry:

FreeThought Arizona (associated Meetup Group)

Roy Zimmerman

Skeptics of Tucson Meetup Group

On March 10^th the Tucson FreeThought Community (Freethought Arizona, Tucson Atheists and Skeptics of Tucson), will be hosting a performance by humorous singer/song writer Roy Zimmerman.  The performance will take place at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson Located at 4831 E 22^nd Street.

Roy has been performing satirical folk music since the early eighties, as both a solo artist and a member of the Fore (a group who had the distinction of playing the national conventions of both major parties in 1996).  Roy’s music focuses on political and social issues, and his songs about religious topics have made him quite popular in the FreeThought Community.  Here are a few examples:

1.  Jerry Falwell’s God
2.  I want a Marriage like they had in the Bible
3.  Creation Science 101

Zimmerman’s lyrics often come from an admittedly liberal or progressive point of view and may alienate some more conservative listeners. However, Roy’s performances are fun, enjoyable and often hilarious. The Tucson FreeThought Community is proud to sponsor this fine entertainer along with other entertainers and speakers from a wide variety of view points.

Come and join us for this fun night of song with Roy Zimmer on March 10^th at the Unitarian Universalist Church.  Hope to see you there!

It has been a busy week! Brother Jed just finished his first week of evangelizing on the University Of Arizona Mall. The newly formed Secular Student Alliance at the University of Arizona had a rough start but finished well. On Monday on the way to the Alumni Plaza, a box dropped off of the hand cart that was transporting the table and supplies. The box that dropped off contained all of “Brother Jed” Bingo cards printed up for the occasion. All 850 cards disappeared out of existence along with a box of highlighters and some twirly helicopter toys but it turned out OK because the weather made the first day a very short. More cards needed to be printed up AND there was Skeptics of Tucson meeting on superstition that night. Both were accomplished and Tuesday turned out to be a better day. Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, was an even better day still and included some expected and unexpected excitement. A student group planned on taking the stage from Brother Jed and performing the Harlem Shake. Brother Jed caught word of the plan and had a counter plan. Everyone’s plans were working out when, in all the excitement, a young man dressed in a Penguin suit fell on the grassy hillside and Brother Jed fell on top of him. No one was hurt and everyone involved including Jed and the Penguin chalked it up as an accident. Some people that weren’t involved and some that weren’t there might claim otherwise, however. Some claim that the kids should be ashamed of themselves for pushing over a 70 year old man and some claim that Jed “tackled” the Penguin. Brother Jed believes that the Penguin fell first and pulled him down. In any case, the show must go on. Preaching and heckling continued throughout the rest of the day on Wednesday and on Thursday and Friday as well.

The Secular Students Alliance of the University of Arizona manned the table, passed out prizes, distributed, and collected Bingo cards all week. They plan on continuing throughout the coming week. After Brother Jed leaves, someone that played Brother Jed Bingo will receive a board game called “Blasphemy” (a $100 value). Brother Jed is a great recruiter for the Secular Student Alliance, a group that is meant to provide community for the non-religious students on campus. The FaceBook page for the new group indicates that there are now over 100 members. The founder and current president of the group announced that regular meetings will begin on Wednesdays at 7 PM on the campus at a place that has yet to be determined. She also indicated that there will be other activities including social events and community service activities. If the logistics can be worked out, her group will be hosting Roy Zimmerman on the campus for some funny songs about ignorance, war, and greed on the 10^th of March.

Tucson Atheists and FreeThought Arizona are sponsors for the SSA of the U of A.

FreeThought Arizona will be having lectures on Sunday, the 17^th at the UMC DuVal Auditorium starting at 10 AM. The first lecture by Dr. Jay Quade, a professor at the U of A, will be on, “Evolution in Honor of Darwin Day” which was on the 12^th of February. The remaining lectures will start at 1 PM. Roy Speckhardt, the Executive Director of the AHA (American Humanist Association), will speak on, “Building a Non-theist Rights Movement” followed by Maggie Ardiente, the Development Director of the AHA, will speak on “An Update from the American Humanist Association.

The Tucson Atheists will be having their monthly meeting at the Denny’s near the corner of Alvernon and 22^nd at 7 PM on Monday the 18^th. The subject of the meeting will be: Is Modern Science due to Judeo-Christian Influence?

Of course, you can still catch Brother Jed and play Brother Jed Bingo throughout the upcoming week. His last planned day at the university is Friday, the 22^nd.

This is the 500^th post of the FreeThought Arizona Blog on the Tucson Citizen.

Last night the Skeptics of Tucson met to discuss superstition. There were only twelve of us at the meeting. Normally we have a few more but with the rainy weather and the change of venue from the Denny’s we usually meet in, twelve is a good turnout. We had a lot of fun with the subject. The Super Bowl was not long ago and people that follow competitive sports often participate in superstitious rituals. However in researching the subject, I came across something so ironic that I had trouble believing it! Did you know that the Catechism of the Catholic Church makes superstition a sin?

2110 The first commandment forbids honoring gods other than the one Lord who has revealed himself to his people. It proscribes superstition and irreligion. Superstition in some sense represents a perverse excess of religion; irreligion is the vice contrary by defect to the virtue of religion.

Superstition

2111 Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer the true God, e.g., when one attributes an importance in some way magical to certain practices otherwise lawful or necessary. To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior dispositions that they demand, is to fall into superstition.

The Free Dictionary defines Catechism as 1) a book giving a brief summary of the basic principle of Christianity in question-and-answer form and 3) a body of fundamental principles or beliefs, especially when accepted uncritically. To be a good Catholic you MUST accept the Catechism uncritically but Skeptics can’t accept ANYTHING uncritically so let’s get critical!

Dictionary.com defines superstition as: 1) a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like and 4) irrational fear of what is unknown or mysterious, especially in connection with religion and 5) any blindly accepted belief or notion.

Here’s the mind blowing part: The Catholic Church through its Catechism which is something that Catholics must believe with no other reason or knowledge and blindly accept is telling its followers that to believe in anything with no other reason or knowledge and blindly accept—is a sin. How ironic!