Atheist review, 2008 and the next year...

[Thor]

So its been a while since I posted my thread asking our CP heathens their thoughts on some questions, this time I thought it would be a neat thread to sum up 2008 with some of my recolections and of course from what you remember most.

I think the biggest hope for us in North America is the end of the Bush era, hopefully a more secular government with Obama, and the joy of hearing even Bush doesn't take the Bible seriously was great entertainment at the end of his reign.

It was another year of great entertainment from the Vatican, with ridiculous and backwards beliefs still mocking contraception in the world, even Africa where that means thousands, if not millions of deaths... Its the recent comments on Homosexuality that remind us again how backwards and harmful these men in dresses and big hats can be to the naive of the world.

It was a great year for science, I'm going to miss a lot but evolution has added some great advancements this year and of course the more we learn in all sciences the more we see no hand of a magical being involved. But again I think the biggest reason for cheer for Science is the fact the Bush administration is leaving, and there is some optimism again in the USA for proper funding and support from its government.

The Athiest bus campaign, starting in the UK as a small idea in response to an AD on the transit system quoting a bible verse with a link to a website, where that website spoke of accepting jesus or burning in hell. In response the Secular humanist society of the UK and invidual donations have created a massive campaign with the slogan on UK buses stating "There probably is no God, so relax and enjoy life." Along with some famous Atheist quotes from the ages in static tube bannners/ads.

The neverending battle (it seems) of creationists in the USA trying to get intelligent design into schools continues, albeit the ID movement is much weaker in 08 than in previous years, recently Mississipi's government added a disclaimer to books that teach evolution with a very obvious attempt to argue or at least put doubt in evolution. The south continues its proud tradition of backwards beliefs, resistance to science and change. Texas recently added a top man at the Discovery Institute responsible for much of the modern ID movement to a position in the state education board.

The strategy of the creationists has gone from ID is a real science, teach it... To now, 'Teach the Contraversy' or 'Academic Freedom' ... Both so far are again obvious and failing in the vast majority of the US to gain any ground, except in the south and of course smaller towns/cities that elect creationist representitives to their school/state boards.

It was the year of Expelled, a critically slammed film, and the year of Maher's Religilous. After the success of both, more so with Maher, might we see more in North America? Dakwins has a host of documentaries shown in the UK, not shown here, but maybe we'll see more counter religion programing in the US/Canada.

I think ultimately 2008 was a good year, the godless had way more media attention, and for once the media even mocked a vice presidential candidate for her religious views.. The backlash against Palin was refreshing, the backlash for the fruitfly comments were great/proper and even recently to remind us how backwards McCain and some of his counterparts are by brining this fact up again.

I hope that 2009 is a turning point for the US, moving away from close ties of religion/state with Bush to a secular and very pro Science White house. We know the UK is going very strong with secularism, nordic countries leading the way of course, and much of Europe increasing in its secular politics and eventually of course social secularism.

My hope is that in the next 10 years, the US becomes like the UK where if a polititian is asked about religion, they do what UK polititians say "we dont do religion in politics."

Here's to a happy godless 2009, and to all my fellow heathens on CP a special hizzah for this year.

Would love to hear some of your high/low moments of 2008 when it comes to the debate.

ps Had to add my favorite book of the year for us secularists, which was a topic debated here on CP earlier this year: "Society Without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us About Contentment" By Phil Zuckerman. Discusses mainly the most secular nations in the world, Sweden and Denmark, which flip the US stats of belief in god under 20%.

[flylock shox]

What an interesting post.

I think the end of the Bush era will be the best thing to happen to the world in 2009, allowing of course for the potential spontaneous combustion of Ann Coulter (although science suggests SC is a myth, so we should probably just celebrate the change we can be certain of).

Religion will continue to play a major role in the world, and hopefully atheists and agnostics alike can keep their heads down, avoid trouble, and smash things together in the hadron collider with interesting results. At the very least, I expect a new pizza topping out of that thing.

Of course, I also expect atheists will continue to struggle with the distinction between religion and spirituality, the latter of which is an important component of the human experience, the former of which is its oft unfortunate expression. I expect this will lead to another unfortunate expression some time this year: the increasing organization of atheists under some form of collective banner. Which probably won't be so bad, so long as there isn't a damned newsletter we'll be expected to read.

And, with any luck, the US will pass legislation certifying what we've all known for years: God, were He to exist, would be black.

And a woman.

And would be named Oprah.

Which is what (S)He was supposedly trying to say when S(H)e introduced her/himself to mankind but which, through a mouthful of cookies, came out as "Jehovah."

[HPLovecraft]

*Puts a hex on the both of you*

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by Thor

My hope is that in the next 10 years, the US becomes like the UK where if a polititian is asked about religion, they do what UK polititians say "we dont do religion in politics."

Good luck with that.

I hope so too, but seriously, good luck with that.

We are a LONG way from that level of separation in the states. Optimistically I'd hope to see it in 30 years, and even then, only if things go well.

[Cheese]

Excellent post Thor...its heartwarming to see such an educated post by the young people of today.
You are 100% correct in everything you post, Atheists are beginning to get noticed and thats due to the fact we are organizing better. Religions LOVE to label us as religious now due to this organization. A group I belong to here in KW has about 85% of its members 30 and under, so the youth of today are getting it with more knowledge at their fingertips.

More news headlines from this year....

Scientology reared its ugly head in many different ways which caused people to notice. I dont think the feedback was positive.

The U of A moved to eliminate religion from its convocation speech.

An atheist Billboard in Ontario, California was removed due to complaints from the local churches. The billboard simply stated "Imagine no Religion" taken from a famous John Lennon song. Local churches are still able to broadcast and promote themselves in any way they see fit.

Women are still being burned alive for being suspected of witchcraft.

Muslim scientists are battling with creationists!

Theres Probably no God.

and lastly...the Mormon polygamists are finally being washed out of the woodwork. Nothing but great news for children being abused by fanatical theists.

[MJK]

I would just like to quickly add, I really hope this does not turn into a Atheist vs Religion thread. There is some great info here already and the last thing I want to see is a bunch of rebuttal's from the religious folk.

Cheese, I was also going to post about the Scientology "phenomenon". It does seem like it took another beating this year. Tom Cruise did a world of hurt for them and now there are new rumors surrounding the John Travolta family and the death of his son.

[MJK]

I have a little story to share. I live in a small town in Nunavut where everyone is a catholic. Why are they Catholic? It's pretty simple, they were brainwashed.

About 100 years ago, people were living their lives here, believing in what they always believed in. Their beliefs were primarily shaped by Shamans. One day, Catholic priests and nuns decided that they needed to come to the North and save everyone. They managed to convert most people and built a church. The nuns ran the school while the priest did his thing at the church.

Were are now in 2009 and most people here are still Catholic. Most people still go to Church every Sunday and prayers are always said before community feasts and events. I am probably the only one who does not cross themselves.

Here's the kicker. Every year, everyone who went to school here, while the nuns were 'teachers', receives a cheque. The cheque is compensation for the abuse the students suffered at the hands of the nuns.

Today we have no nuns but their work here obviously paid off and people have ignored the abuse I guess.

If the Catholic church did not force their way up here some 100 years ago, these people would still have their own set of beliefs. I do not teach religion and never will. I teach my kids to have an open mind and believe in whatever they want too. I try to show them that there are all kinds of different things to believe in and it is ultimately up to them.

[Nage Waza]

I agree with pretty much all you say, but want to add a few points:

The democrats also like to talk about god and church, and make sure everyone knows where they go to prey. Who will be the first to say they don't prey to anything?

I think religion is often used to cheaply summarize assorted conflicts, and thus lessen peoples views and opinions since it is 'religious'.

The last point is I think the world is potentially the worst off it has ever been due to religion, coming from threats of Islamic extremism. I worry about a nuclear reactor or something like that getting damaged and leaking and poisoning hundreds of thousands.

[troutman]

Feb 12th is the 200th anniversary of Darwin's Birthday. SHIC may be organizing a Darwin Day party.

http://calgaryhumanist.ca/index.html

[Five-hole]

I read Dawkins' "The God Delusion" this year, re-affirming atheism that had fallen slightly to the wayside in favor of a rather diplomatic, limp-wristed "well God could mean many things" kind of philosophy.

[peter12]

I switch between some sort of limp-wristed atheism and the more mystical agnosticism of say, Sam Harris. Actually, I've found Dawkins and Hitchens to be incredibly UNsatisfying. I respect their criticisms of organized and fundamentalist religion, but I think that's all they excel at. I've got more of a mind to the benefits of mysticism then they do, but that's not to say that mysticism gives you an excuse to push superstition etc... upon others.

In the end, I have to say that I dislike religion, organized religion. I dislike the Catholic Church and the untold damage done by them to free-thinkers and innocents alike. I dislike how religious people have a free pass during discussions of any sort. I dislike the twisted moral authority forced upon people by twisted clerics.

However, that's not to say that I don't find a touch of transcendence or "divinity" in the going-ons of the human experience.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Nage Waza

I agree with pretty much all you say, but want to add a few points:

The democrats also like to talk about god and church, and make sure everyone knows where they go to prey. Who will be the first to say they don't prey to anything?

I think religion is often used to cheaply summarize assorted conflicts, and thus lessen peoples views and opinions since it is 'religious'.

The last point is I think the world is potentially the worst off it has ever been due to religion, coming from threats of Islamic extremism. I worry about a nuclear reactor or something like that getting damaged and leaking and poisoning hundreds of thousands.

I think it's less important that someone stand up and say I don't pray to anything than it is for those who do pray, or meditate or whatever to not talk about it.

It doesn't matter.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Nage Waza

The last point is I think the world is potentially the worst off it has ever been due to religion, coming from threats of Islamic extremism. I worry about a nuclear reactor or something like that getting damaged and leaking and poisoning hundreds of thousands.

The world is always the worst off it's ever been. Humanity can't control a system's natural progression toward entropy. Especially in a system as diverse and layered as Earth.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

The world is always the worst off it's ever been. Humanity can't control a system's natural progression toward entropy. Especially in a system as diverse and layered as Earth.

It's the silly progressivism of this new atheist movement that really annoys me. It's just a silly re-hash of every utopian movement that eventually fizzles out.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Cheese

and lastly...the Mormon polygamists are finally being washed out of the woodwork. Nothing but great news for children being abused by fanatical theists.

I think what happened in Waco has really delayed this from begining and slowed down the pace with which it will be carried out. But it has to happen and normal Mormons I imagine support it wholeheartedly.

[flylock shox]

The issue of polygamous relationships, and in particular polygamous marriages, is set to hit the front-burner this year. It is an issue which could be separated from its most common manifestation: more extreme Mormon sects. Is there really anything wrong with polygamy, per se? It might be interesting to see how various religious groups (and atheists) weigh in on the issue.

Some more about where this is heading, and where it's been.

[photon]

Good question. I guess you could say polygamy is wrong because it undermines the family unit, but that argument seems hollow, and the family unit undermined itself already with divorce rates.

Traditionally polygamy might be bad because it was based out of male power female submission etc.. if you allow polygamy how do you make sure that's not coming back? Or do you need to? Or do you want to?

I like seeing a more active role of atheist thoughts in the public domain.. atheism is a large group of the population who usually don't "get a spot at the table" simply because they aren't an organized group. There's way more atheists than Jews in North America for example. But it seems to be totally acceptable for people to run anti-atheist ads, whereas if that same person ran a commercial saying "Don't vote for this person, they associate with Jews", there'd be hell to pay.

Changing the social consciousness so that atheism is an acceptable thing to think is a worthwhile goal isn't it?