August 2009 Newsletter 1

God-Free Press

Inside this issue Problem with Atheism .....1 Member Spotlight .............1 Local News .........................2

Vol 1, Issue 3 August 2009

Skeptical Eye .....................3

The Problem With Atheism by Rob Miller, CAA Secretary

The so-called “Eye of God” nebula, correctly known as the Helix Nebula, or NGC 7293, located in the constellation Aquarius. The Helix Nebula is one of the closest and largest planetary nebulas known. A planetary nebula consists of gas and dust expelled from a star at the end of its life. This photograph was made by NASA’s Hubble telescope.

Upcoming CAA Group Events Aug 13: Social Dinner, 7pm (Dilworth N’hood Grill) Aug 20: New Member Gathering, 5pm (Dilworth N’hood Grill)

The word “atheist” has two major flaws. It says nothing about what you do believe and, even worse, is erroneously perceived as a worldview that denies more than just god, but morality as well. For anyone willing to join an atheist group, “I’m an atheist” is the likely answer to “do you believe in god?” But why should it begin and end there? We’re a diverse group with diverse beliefs. Why dig a deeper hole to climb out of. Is the word itself really worth defending? Even Richard Dawkins admits that “critical mass may be harder to achieve than with some non-confrontational euphemism…” If our mission is to put a positive face on atheism, or to be more exact, change people’s perception of what it means to not believe in the supernatural, then leading with “atheist” makes that goal harder to achieve. Sam Harris gave a speech at the

2007 AAI convention in which he called for non believers to stop using the word “atheist” or any other label. According to him, “the concept of atheism imposes upon us a false burden of remaining fixated on people’s beliefs about god…” By appearing to unite against belief in god, we are, to any outside observer, uniting against believers. Christians and other believers take this personally. What church do you go to? We’ve all heard it. It’s a common question in this part of the Bible belt. To a believer, the church you go to says far more about you than just belief in god. There are numerous religions, and within Christianity, numerous churches, both conservative and liberal. A person who attends a Pentecostal church will have very different beliefs than someone who attends a continued on next page

Aug 22: Service Project, 10am (Allenbrook Elementary School)

Member Spotlight: Fernando & Freida Flores

Aug 26: Planning Meeting, 7pm (Dilworth N’hood Grill)

For our third edition of the Member Spotlight column, we’re taking a break from meeting our group officers and instead are learning about some newer members. Say hello to Freida and Fernando, who joined CAA in May of this year.

Sept 13: Group Picnic, 11am (Rush Pavilion at Leroy Springs) Oct 14: Richard Dawkins lecture (Queens College) Please visit charlotteatheists.com to confirm all event details.

Feeback? Suggestions? Vitriol? Email: [email protected]

Q. How long have you been atheist/agnostic? Did you twp share these beleifs/nonbelief when you met, or change to it after you were together? A. Actually, when we met, neither of us was an atheist! We have both been atheists for about four years now. Fernando actually

became a non-believer before me. Q. Were you religious before that/what religion? A. Fernando was raised in the Catholic religion and I was raised a southern baptist. Fernando wasn't forced to practice the religion that strongly while he was growing up. Q. What made you become an atheist? Actually, when we met, neither of us was an atheist! Over the years, we saw how continued on page four

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CAA God-Free Press

August 2009

The Problem with Atheism (continued from page 1)

Atheist Quotes of the Month “How on earth can religious people believe in so much arbitrary, clearly invented balderdash?” --Kurt Vonnegut “Atheism is nothing more than the sounds people make when in the presence of unjustified dogma. It's just reason in action.” --Sam Harris “I give money for church organs in the hope the organ music will distract the congregation's attention from the rest of the service.” --Andrew Carnegie “What is it about faith that makes people eager to commit suicide so long as it enables them to commit mass murder while they're at it?” --Larry Beinhart

Favorite quote you’d like to see in the newsletter? [email protected]

non-denominational mega church. Why should it be any different with atheists?

lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity.”

When asked, I usually tell people I don’t believe in god without attaching a label to it. I avoid atheist, agnostic, humanist, or anything else. I prefer to engage in further conversation before allowing myself to be prejudged. While I do try to avoid labels when the subject first comes up, for the most part I consider myself a humanist. I agree with its basic tenets, but it isn’t dogmatic. Other self proclaimed humanists include Richard Dawkins, James Randi, Eugenie Scott, Michael Shermer, Oliver Stone, Kurt Vonnegut, E. O. Wilson, and many others. The Humanist Manifesto states that “Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical

Whether I call myself a humanist, naturalist, bright, freethinker or something else isn’t important, but being more than just an atheist is. I’m not suggesting that we deny what we are, nor do I expect everyone to agree with me. If there is one thing we atheists value above all else, it’s independent thinking. I am suggesting that we need to be cautious in our approach, and based on the direction CAA has taken over the last few months, I think most agree with me on this point, though we may have varied reasons for doing so. As long as we are perceived as only atheists, we will have a difficult time convincing non believers that we are anything more than anti-religious.

Local News of Interest (and hilarity) By Audrey Barrick, Christian Post Reporter Posted: Sun, Jul. 19 2009 Elevation Church pastor Steven [is] diving in to talk about what many churches aren't. Titled "Cow Tipping," the new series kicked off last weekend at the Charlotte, N.C., church "I want us to be the kind [of church] that will confront anything with the light of the word of God," Furtick told thousands of attendees at the fast-growing megachurch. The church, he says, has many "sacred cows" – things the church doesn't like talking about. "We will not sacrifice truth." Furtick began the series last Sunday with the issue of sexual sin – including divorce, abortion, sexual orientation, cohabitation, and friends with benefits. His motive was not to deliver a sermon explaining the various sexual sins, as he has already done that in the past, but to convey a larger point – hypocrisy. "We (the church) have gotten really good at ... cultural condemnation but not as good at personal repentance," the 29-year-old pastor said last weekend. "We must pass judgment on sin but we need to start with ourselves ... not with groups of people and marginalizing them so that they don't even want to hear the message of Christ that we have to offer," he emphasized. "I want to call your to a higher standard ... a standard of one who's been

forgiven." Elevation Church believes abortion is a sin, marriage is between a man and a woman, any sexual activity outside of marriage between a wife and husband is a sin and divorce is a sin. "The primary problem with sexual sin isn't the sexually transmitted diseases or emotional scars," he noted. "The real problem is that when we live outside of God's established parameters for our lives we preach a false Gospel. "We say that we know Him but we live as if He does not exist." Calling out the Christians, Furtick urged, "If you're naming the name of Christ and continually rejecting his standards for the sake of your own pleasure, judge yourself today and repent." Once Christians begin to follow God's standards and get better at preserving their own marriages, then the rest of the world will more likely be ready to hear what Christians have to say about the laws passed in this country. Moreover, the church will have more credibility and validity, Furtick added. "Don't play the game," he said. "If you're struggling with sexual sin, your real problem is a deficiency of Jesus."

CAA God-Free Press

August 2009

The Skeptical Eye

by William Warren, CAA Member I look forward to taking a vacation all year long. The excitement of visiting an old city, full of beautiful architecture and historic houses, is always palpable. However, there is a sinister side to these wonderful places; a high level of quackery that is better, and more fun, to call “woo”. I knew that my trip to Charleston would not disappoint in this department as the general level of insanity around old southern cities is fairly high. Charleston is an exceptionally beautiful city. Beautiful and humid. Perhaps the humidity is what leads the people to go slightly insane. Aside from the beauty and humidity, there are a horrifying number of ghost stories and new age medicine gimmicks to be found. Walking around the city, I found the usual run-of-the-mill superstitions: ghost tours, haunted graveyards, a spooky aircraft carrier, and one voodoo tour that promised to freak you out all for the low, low price of $25.00. I figured that my money would have been better spent on wishing wells or a donation to the church. After walking through the market for a bit, the right pseudo-science that I had been looking for was staring me in the face. It made me angrier than I thought it would have. The culprit: magnetic therapy jewelry. The claims of magnetic jewelry are many: increased circulation, arthritis relief, and at least one claim of curing cancer. The jewelry is said to interact with the iron in hemoglobin, and it is this supposed interaction that we will be focusing our skeptical eye on, as the other claims are too fantastical to warrant more than a mention. Let us suspend our belief for a moment and suppose that magnets do, in fact, interact with the iron in our blood. With this in mind, suppose your doctor orders and MRI for you. Imagine what would happen to you during the MRI, knowing that an MRI utilizes a large electromagnet. To give you a better idea of what would happen, a little background about magnets: Magnetism is measured in gauss and Teslas. One Tesla is equal to 10,000 gauss. Boring, I know, but necessary to understand why the claims of magnetic therapy are wrong. An MRI puts out between 1 – 1.5 Teslas during high operation. That is 10,000 – 15,000 gauss! The result of an MRI would be a hellacious scene from the mind of Clive Barker. Your blood would be ripped from your body, sucked out of your eyes, nose, ears, even your pores. How is that for a violent death? There is a reason you are told leave your keys outside of the MRI room. By this point, you may be wondering why this doesn’t happen. It’s quite simple, really. The iron in our blood is non-ferrous. If it were ferrous, we wouldn’t have TV’s, MRI machines, or even a refrigerator. The fact that you can walk pass your TV without getting a blood boil should be proof enough. So what’s the harm? It’s all just a bunch of crap anyway, who cares if someone wears a magnetic bracelet? Here is the harm: people will actually forgo proven medical treatment for wishful thinking. I noticed that the magnetic therapy pamphlet said “trade in your pills for magnets!” You are expected to give up proven medicine from a proven science for a refrigerator magnet. This pseudoscience is making medical claims that have killed people. I implore you, dear readers; don’t listen to the “experts,” listen to the experts. Magnets are good for a great many things, but curing cancer isn’t one of them. A whole suit of magnets won’t cure your cancer. So the next time someone asks you “what’s the harm?” cite the scores of people that die from trusting the fantastical over the medically proven. That is the harm.

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Promote yourself! Have a business, service, talent, or product, or looking to hire someone? This space is designated for YOU. When you buy from an atheist, at least you know you’re not paying a 10% surcharge as a tithe to someone’s church! Whether you want to promote your business, swap services with another member, or just give a shout-out to someone, consider this a little bit of free advertising, available to all members of CAA. Email [email protected] with the details for publication in future issues.

Want to contribute an article or other content to the Newsletter? Email:

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CAA God-Free Press

August 2009

FLORES (continued from page 1)

New Member Sign-ups at CAA Website July: 18 June: 14 May: 22 April: 22 March: 22

hypocritical the religious people are and we chose not to be involved in any type of religion. As time went by, even though we were not completely out of the closet atheists, we started wondering why God would let so many wrong things happen in the world, two people are in a car accident, one dies and the other lives. You hear the family of the living person thanking God for watching over their loved one; why wasn't the person that they call God watching over the person that died. Religious people are very selfish! After weighing all of these things (and a lot of other things), we decided that there must not be a God, and if there is, we wanted no part of a God that was that cruel. Children are scared into believing in God and Satan. I remember when I was little, when I would do something wrong, my parents would tell me that the devil was going to come and drag me out of bed. I tried to be good, but on those "rare" occasions when I wasn't, I went to bed scared! I waited for lightning to strike me when I finally admitted that I was an atheist.

I actually told the people that we weren't into religion and that they were wasting their time. The finally quit coming. We were very happy to find CAA where the are people with whom we can share intelligent conversation; not fairy tales. We're very happy to have found CAA. Q. What are your interests outside of atheism? A. We love the beaches and the mountains; we also love to travel. We also love to go to the symphony. I also write the newsletter for our homeowner's association.

Freida and Fernando

K NOW ANY LOCAL ATHEISTS W HO AREN ’ T CAA MEMBERS ? P LEASE FORW ARD THIS NEW SLETTER TO THEM ( A ND

Q. What made you join CAA? A. I told Fernando that I was going to do some research on the internet to find out if there was such a thing as an atheist group here in the Bible belt. When we first moved here, I think every church in Charlotte came knocking on our door to invite us to church.

Want to put the Atheist Spotlight on someone in particular? Email: [email protected]

ENCOURAGE TH EM TO JOIN THE GROUP AS W ELL !)

Charlotte Atheists & Agnostics www.charlotteatheists.com [email protected]

THE END

Erik T, Editor [email protected]

Jan 1 2000 – Dozens of Christian cults predicted the turn of the millennium would coincide with the Second Coming of Christ and the end of the world. Concerns that the Y2K computer bug would collapse computer systems stoked an atmosphere of impending doom. But, as ever, life went on as normal. Carlos Roa, the Argentine goalkeeper who declined to negotiate a new contract at his Spanish club because he was convinced the world would end, returned later in the season. (www.telegraph.co.uk)