Blasphemy and Other Fun Stuff

I'm feeling better and better about our forthcoming move to Lexington. Yesterday was our first day of classes at a secular homeschooling co-op and it was AWESOME! The kids had fun, learned a lot, and got to hang around lots of other kids without any focus on religious beliefs. They are counting down the days until returning next week. We'll enjoy it even more when it's a short drive from our new home instead of the hour plus we have to drive each way now.

And speaking of new home, were getting closer to our actual move, as we now have both a buyer for our current house and a contract to purchase a home in Lexington. Now we just work through the processes to get both sales closed within the next couple of months.

Our family is excited to be more active in the growing humanist/freethinker community after we move. We're particularly looking forward to next month's first annual Kentucky Freethought Convention. Check out this list of amazing speakers lined up to speak! I still kind of can't believe an event like this is coming to Kentucky, and I can't wait to be in a whole building full of freethinkers and skeptics.

Though Lexington itself is far from nonreligious, it offers our family a network of other secular families and individuals who recognize that religious faith is not necessary for morality, who place value on critical thought, education, and reason rather than on faith (i.e. belief without proof), and who know that rights and respect belong to human beings, not to ideas and beliefs. 

This concept of rights belonging to human beings rather than to ideas and beliefs is very relevant in the aftermath of the US Embassy killings and continuing unrest in the Middle East in protest to a blasphemous movie. Let's reword that a little bit. People are being killed because other people's religious faith is being offended. Human beings are dying because someone offended an idea. A myth. A story. And anyone who thinks Islam holds some kind of monopoly on this kind of behavior needs to read a history book or two.

Long live blasphemy. The Onion does a wonderful job of it here. (Image not safe for work. Or kids.)

Science in the Bluegrass

Not everyone in Kentucky is an ignorant hillbilly, but there are some GOP lawmakers in the Bluegrass State who have done their part to help perpetuate that particular stereotype by suggesting we lower our academic standards in science. In other words, they want creationism to be taught alongside evolution in biology, and they want it stressed that evolution is "just a theory."

Sigh.

The last thing Kentucky students need is to have their science education standards lowered. They deserve a chance to be on a level playing field with kids from other states and countries. When I hear comments on this event by those outside of Kentucky, asking things like "what else would you expect from a state with a Creation Museum?" it makes me incredibly defensive. But it's kind of hard to defend my home state when some of our lawmakers actually want our students less educated than the national standards dictate.

This morning I watched this very timely video by Bill Nye (the "Science Guy"!) in which he expresses his views on teaching evolution.

Nye pleads, "And I say to the grownups, if you want to deny evolution and live your life in a world that's completely inconsistent with everything we observe in the universe, that's fine. But don't make your kids do it because we need them. We need scientifically literate voters and taxpayers for the future."

Amen.

Funny Stuff, Followed by Sad Stuff

I've got sibling troubles on my brain, so rather than a (hopefully) well-thought out piece of writing, I'm going to share more funny nonreligious stuff I've seen lately. Laughing at someone else's expense makes me feel better. I'm mean like that.

Ok. This one is the bomb, and it really shows the absurdity of the entire creationist worldview. Click the picture to see it full-sized, and be sure to read all the comments on the bottom.

And here's one from an article about the dependence of religion on dysfunctional societies. This is only one of the graphs, but all of them are funny and not exactly surprising. (Seriously, look at all of them.)

Sorry. My heart's just not in it.

This morning my aunt watched the boys so that I could run errands that included going to the bank, checking the mail, picking up a gallon of milk, and dropping by the jail to schedule a visitation with my little brother. I was planning on visiting him today, but apparently it has to be scheduled in advance. I love learning new things!

My kids are all concerned about their uncle. I can't believe some of the questions Jack has come up with, though of course they escape my mind as I type this. He and Fred have been "playing jail," locking their stuffed animals up behind pretend bars for imagined crimes.

Me, I just want my little brother back. The one who doesn't tell lie after lie and break laws to support a horrible drug addiction. I see Fred and Jack playing together everyday, the same way my brother and I did (I don't mean playing "jail", just playing in general), and it breaks my heart. Where is that sweet, intelligent, caring, sensitive little kid? Maybe, hopefully, he will turn up in that cell.

Funny Stuff

When I first came out as an atheist, I kind of went crazy posting anti-religious stuff on Facebook. I suppose I'd kept certain opinions to myself for too long, and it felt really good to be open about my religious views. I pissed some people off, and even had some people unfriend me. After the novelty wore off, I kind of realized I don't want to be only posting anti-religious stuff on there, but would rather just go back to posting things about my kids and homeschooling and just, you know, life. And maybe, just maybe, sharing that very normal stuff while having "atheism" clearly listed under my religious views would do more to open people's eyes that we atheists aren't evil.

But I still run across hilarious atheist posts and pictures on the internet, and sometimes it kills me not to share, so here's some of the stuff I have found particularly funny lately. Enjoy!

I keep laughing every time I look at this one. I know it's bad, but it does a great job of pointing out some of the inherent hypocrisy in the Christianity I see every day. You cannot claim a blessing by a god without necessarily making a statement about this wheelchair-bound kid, little starving children in Africa, and people with cancer. If he gets credit for the good stuff, he gets credit for the bad stuff. Otherwise, all-powerful probably isn't the adjective you're looking for to describe him. The whole article on the Onion is funny,  but I really just love the picture.

Anyone else wonder why a god doesn't give a clear, undeniable sign of his existence that is not dependent on completely subjective interpretations of ancient texts and faith? Don't think tsunami, think gravity disappearing for like two seconds. Or instead of a tornado, how about some modern-day walking on water or raising of the dead? Eddie Izzard's quote here is fantastic and so insightful.

This one really captures the current complaints that the religious right has about Christianity being oppressed in this country. Because when you think "fair" is your belief system having special treatment, then concepts like "Separation of Church and State" have to be targeted as religious attacks. But this is what it looks like to the rest of us:

Anyone else get a headache when you hear some try to explain the concept of free will or the Fall? Or when someone talks about how undeserving they are of god's love? If a parent behaved toward his or her children the way god behaved toward humankind throughout the Bible, we'd reasonably demand the parent be placed in prison. I love the bottom quote by Gene Roddenberry here.

Lest anyone think I unfairly pick on Christianity, believe me it's only because I am surrounded by it. I assure you my lack of respect extends equally to Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and all the other world religions! (Except ancient Greek mythology. I love that stuff.) And while I would never claim to be blessed to live in the U.S., I am incredibly lucky to live here and to be able to actively mock the suggestion that beliefs and ideas should ever be above reproach and satire, or somehow "sacred." Long live blasphemy!

Anyone else have some funny gems to share?

Pro-Choice is NOT Pro-Abortion

After being wall bombed on Facebook a few times by well-meaning relatives who think they need to educate me about abortion, I just have to say a few things. Yes, I am pro-choice. No, that does not mean I like abortion or that I am ignorant about abortions. Yes, it's entirely possible to carry all of those views at the same time. And finally, hypocritical anti-abortion talk by those who oppose sex education and access to contraception really doesn't make for a persuasive argument.

For the record, I don't need to watch little films about aborted fetuses, or about abortion doctors who changed their own stances after years performing abortions. Neither do I need analogies between a woman's right to have access to safe abortions and a man's right to rape a woman. (Really?) I also don't need education on the "rhetoric" used by the pro-choice movement. My mom was a strong anti-abortion activist, and I held my own very one-sided anti-choice views for a number of years. I even attended Right to Life conferences! I guess what I'm getting at is that my relatives are not "teaching" me anything that I wasn't indoctrinated with taught in my youth.

It's not like I just sat down one day and decided that I love abortions or that there is anything easy about choosing to have one. However, through expanding my exposure to those with other worldviews at college, (Yes, Santorum is right. College is evil!) and through experiencing the pregnancies and births of my own children, I have come to realize that 1.) not everyone holds the same view on abortion that I do and 2.) my subjective views on abortion do not give me the right to make personal healthcare decisions for other women.

What absolutely prevents me from respecting the pro-life movement is the parallel campaign against sex education and access to contraceptives. Looking at it from the point of view that abortion is murder, these simultaneous stances make no sense. Shouldn't those opposing abortion throw everything they have into reducing the need for them?

I'm halfway through the eye-opening book The Purity Myth, which is about America's obsession with virginity and the stifling weight hefted onto the shoulders of women and girls in this country to be "sexually pure" until marriage. After I finish the book, I'd like to talk about some of the ideas it presents and the way they relate to my mom's firm "abstinence only" talks with me, as well as why it's so important that I don't repeat that pattern with Bonnie. Author Jessica Valenti says, "Abstinence-only education seeks to create a world where everyone is straight, women are regulated to the home, the only appropriate family is a nuclear one, reproductive choices are negated, and the only sex people have is for procreation." (Valenti 111.)

The above sentiment is at the very heart of the anti-choice movement as well. Otherwise there is no way these people would not advocate for a sexually educated population. Bottom line, abortion is evil but not as evil as recreational sex, right?

I Don't Pledge My Kids' Allegiance to a Flag

Many homeschooling families begin their days with a recital of the Pledge of Allegiance. As I don't see anything beneficial to forcing my kids to swear an oath to a piece of cloth, we don't do it here.

I believe a promise as big as swearing allegiance to something should be made from an autonomous person who has made the choice to do so. Now I cringe with memory of myself and other little robots reciting the Pledge each morning in my public elementary school. What was the purpose?

I'll admit I have much more respect for the Pledge as originally written in 1892, by a Baptist minister no less:

I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Though better, it's still an oath, and if my kids are going to recite it, it won't be because I make them. The American and parenting ideals that I value do not include making little kids swear blind oaths to anything. To me, that's the opposite of encouraging freethinking, independent thought.

Anyone else have strong feelings about kids reciting the Pledge of Allegiance?

The Logic of a Four Year Old

On a very long car ride today, I had a discussion with my four year old about gum. He wanted a third piece (in less than 10 minutes) and I didn't think it was a good idea. He would not let it go after I listed all the reasons why he could not have another piece. His logic reminded Kelly and me of discussions with religious believers who think they are being rational when they defend their supernatural beliefs. This "discussion" continued for half hour, but I will spare you and summarize.

Fred: It's not fair that Bonnie and Jack have gum. (I believe Jesus Christ is our savior, the son of God sent to redeem us if we only believe in him. The Bible tells me this.)

Me: Actually, you've already had one more piece than they had, so that's not fair, is it? (The only "evidence" you have are bad copies of copies of Bronze Age texts. Those don't seem like valid sources for an entire belief system to me.)

Fred: It's not fair that Bonnie and Jack have gum and I don't. (I believe Jesus Christ is our savior, the son of God sent to redeem us if only we believe in him. The Bible tells me this.)

Me: But you still have the gum in your belly. It's not good to swallow so much gum. (You already said that. You dismiss much of the Bible yourself, how do you choose which parts to believe?)

Fred: I accidentally swallowed it. Both times. I promise I won't swallow it if you give me another piece. (The Bible is written by man, and only inspired by God, so of course you can't take it literally.)

Me: But that's what you said last time. (But how do you decide which parts to believe?)

Fred: It's not fair that Bonnie and Jack have gum and I don't. If you don't give me a piece of gum, I won't like you. (I believe Jesus Christ is our savior, the son of God sent to redeem us if only we believe in him. The Bible tells us this. Faith is a virtue!)

Me: Well I will still love you! (There is no logic whatsoever in anything you are saying, but I still love you.)

Fred: Give me GUM!!! (Jesus is our savior! The Bible tells us so!)

Me: I'm sorry, but you've already had your share of gum, and you can't have any more. (You've already mentioned that. Do you have any reason for your beliefs other than indoctrination?)

Fred: But it's not fair that Bonnie and Jack have gum and I don't. If you don't give me a piece of gum, I will be mad at you. (I believe Jesus Christ is our savior, the son of God sent to redeem us if only we believe in him. The Bible tells us so. Belief is the only option if you don't want to go to Hell. God is loving.)

Me: [No comment.]

And my four year old's final "argument" for receiving a third piece of gum?

Fred: It's not fair that they have gum and I don't! If you don't give me gum, I will fart and not say 'excuse me.'

You know what? I do have faith... in my four year old eventually learning how to argue logically. For now, he's a great source of entertainment, as well as occasional exasperation, such as when we are trapped in a car with him from Toronto to Kentucky.

Interesting Response to My Book Suggestions

Last week I wrote about three books I recommend for skeptical kids. Apparently Dan Porter didn't particularly care for my inclusion of The Magic Detectives, because he believes it incorrectly portrays the mystery behind the Shroud of Turin. I think his blog speaks for itself, but I just want to address a few things he mentioned. Here's one thing he said:

[The book was written in] 1989. One of the things I wanted my kids to learn was the value of fact checking. Much has happened since 1989.

First, I find it somewhat comical for a man whose faith is based on the Bible to criticize me for giving my kids a thirteen year old book. Much has happened in the past two thousand years, Mr. Porter.

But, mom, check out the factual content of this book as it pertains to the shroud.

As it turns out, I don't need any more information about the shroud. I've learned enough to know there is not sufficient evidence to prove it's authenticity, as has Porter. In fact I agree with his statement about the shroud on his own blog: 

We simply do not have enough reliable information to arrive at a scientifically rigorous conclusion. 

Of course he continues with some circular logic to justify his belief in the shroud despite the above statement:

Years ago, as a skeptic of the Shroud, I came to realize that while I might believe it was a fake, I could not know so from the facts. Now, as someone who believes it is the real burial shroud of Jesus of Nazareth, I similarly realize that a leap of faith over unanswered questions is essential.

The burden of proof must always be with those asserting the claim, and not with those seeking to disprove it. Why is this often a difficult concept for people of faith to grasp? Just because one person believes something, or even if a million people believe something, it does not mean it's true. If a "leap of faith over unanswered questions" is essential to make an argument, it's a crappy, unsupported, illogical, bad argument.

Oh, and he closed with some special advice for me in response to my request for other skeptical children's books suggestions:

Mom, go to Amazon.com. Click on Children’s Books. In the search box enter the word Skeptic for 6 books, Atheist for 16 books, etc.

Thanks! But those search parameters were not really helpful, as they only came up with one children's book,  Maybe Yes, Maybe No: A Guide for Young Skeptics, which I already have. I really enjoy reading it with my ten year old, but I was looking for something for my four and five year old sons in particular.

The One Thing They Say About Catholics Is...

I read an article this afternoon about a man in France who is fighting the Catholic church to be "un-baptized." I've never given this much thought, but I too was baptized into the Catholic church as a baby, and I suppose the church still recognizes me as Catholic as well.

It's interesting to read the comments on this article. As with most discussions involving religion, there are fairly strong opinions demonstrated. I have to admit that though I hadn't thought much about it before, I sympathize with this gentleman and his desire to be stricken from the church records as a Catholic. I never gave my consent for this so-called sacrament, and it's purely a matter of geography that I was born into a family that practiced Catholicism (at the time.) Why should the church still consider me a member all these years later, when I most certainly am NOT a Catholic?

Now, just to be clear, I don't have a bigger problem with Catholics baptizing their babies than I do with other Christians who indoctrinate their small kids with Sunday school and Bible camp and then claim their seven year old children "choose" to accept Jesus. Obviously neither scenario involves choice on the part of the kids. That said, I think it's pretty ridiculous for the Catholic church to refuse this man's request to be removed from their records, and it speaks a lot for this particular religion when a member has no right to leave said religion.

And on that note...

Highlights from a Creationist "Science" Book

I ran across this amusing/sad list yesterday that highlights some interesting excerpts from a creationist science textbook. Anything published by Bob Jones University Press will be entertaining, and this book doesn't disappoint. I especially love the section on electricity, which is number ten on the list. Can you imagine giving this explanation to a school-aged child in science class? "Electricity is a mystery. No one has ever observed it or heard it or felt it ... We cannot even say where electricity comes from." 

In some ways, what I find most interesting about this list is the author's commentary at the end. He says that, while he has no problems with creationist parents teaching their kids that God made everything, he does have a problem with books like this that essentially "trick" kids into a certain belief. "It's not only disrespectful to [children], it's disrespectful to your beliefs. It's a tacit concession that you don't think your beliefs can hold up in the face of a counter-argument... or that you don't think you can properly impart your beliefs to your children in an above-board way."

I'm in agreement with him except that he seems to miss the fact that "science" books like this and other propaganda are the very foundation for teaching creationism to children. Saying something like "If you want to teach your children that everything was created by God, I also have no problem with that at all," doesn't really mean anything if the only way to teach them that is by using the type of tool you thoroughly and awesomely lambasted.

I believe that it would be difficult to read this list and not interpret it as "anti-creationist," yet the author spends much time trying to convince us that it's not. What's seemingly at play here is the silly notion so many of us have that beliefs in and of themselves deserve respect. As human rights activist Maryam Namazie often says, "Respect is for people not for religions and beliefs."

I Heart Secularism

So I started this blog with the idea of chronicling funny and interesting things in our family's day to day life as we homeschool and live the country life. Pretty quickly I started throwing in opinion pieces, because, well, I have a lot of opinions about a lot of things. As a secular homeschooler, one thing I have particularly strong opinions about is religion, for several different reasons.

The main reason that I talk and think so much about religion is that I continue to be confused by the respect given to it. Since I do not believe religious faith is in any way necessary for morality and I don't believe in the supernatural, I don't think religion is necessary at all. Coming from that point of view, every single atrocity committed in the name of religion is unjustified. (The Crusades, World Trade Center attacks, witch burnings, stonings, child abuse and rape by priests...You get the idea.) When people point out the good things that have been accomplished in the name of religion, I instantly recognize that those things were done out of humanistic love for each other. Is it your bible or your humanity that makes you donate your children's outgrown winter coats to the local shelter, or that makes you sick to your stomach when you see pictures of abject human poverty in third world nations?

When I read this article that discusses the Pope's recent trip to Germany and his focus on "fighting secularization," I was somewhat amused. Here is one of the most powerful men in the world, with millions worldwide looking up to him for spiritual guidance. He had one short meeting with five victims of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests, and the rest of his time was spent discussing ways to fight secularism. Why do he, other religious officials, and many conservatives insist on saying "secular" and "humanism" like they are bad words? Here's a hint: it's not because secularism and humanism lead to immoral activity like Fox News would have us believe. On the contrary, they lead to the realization that morality is entirely possible without religion. And just to spell it out a little more clearly, little free thinking children rarely grow into tithers.

Opening up about my beliefs here has had a positive impact on my ability to be open in my day to day life. A couple weeks ago, Bonnie and I were in a coffee shop having a nice conversation with the owner about homeschooling and the current school systems and so on. All was fine until the lady started talking about the A Beka curriculum and other religious education materials, and I told her "I'm actually not a Christian. I'm an atheist." She was visibly taken aback but then recovered and went back to talking about non-religious aspects of homeschooling with me. A year ago I would have smiled and nodded and not admitted that I didn't share her world view, and then probably would have tried to back pedal with Bonnie in private, maybe saying something about "not wanting to offend" the woman with my beliefs. When we got back in our car, Bonnie said she was glad the woman didn't get mad at me when I said I wasn't a Christian, which made me realize that I need to show my kids a lot more that I'm not ashamed to talk about my beliefs with anyone. (Bonnie was seven the first time a peer told her she was "going to Hell", so she's reasonably leery of making herself too vulnerable in discussions of faith.) I can't help but think the interchange must have been good for the shop owner, who had her basic assumptions about homeschooling challenged.

Being secular and enjoying every single minute on this earth is important to me, and my secular humanist world view shapes most aspects of my life. As the Pope and other religious officials all know, religion and secularism are in direct opposition of one another, therefore part of being secular for me is also being "anti-religious." I know that sometimes my anti-religious discussions are agitating, especially since diversity in my area of the world is having more than one Baptist church. When Jack told his soccer team mate last week that he doesn't believe in any gods, I'm guessing that was the little boy's first experience even hearing that it was possible not to believe in god. I stumbled across this beautiful speech by Robert Green Ingersoll today, written in 1887 and perfectly descriptive of why I think secularism is a beautiful, beautiful thing, and why have no problems raising my kids to be "good without god."

SECULARISM
     Several people have asked me the meaning of this term.
     Secularism is the religion of humanity; it embraces the
affairs of this world; it is interested in everything that touches
the welfare of a sentient being; it advocates attention to the
particular planet in which we happen to live; it means that each
individual counts for something; it is a declaration of
intellectual independence; it means that the pew is superior to the
pulpit, that those who bear the burdens shall have the profits and
that they who fill the purse shall hold the strings. It is a
protest against theological oppression, against ecclesiastical
tyranny, against being the serf, subject or slave of any phantom,
or of the priest of any phantom. It is a protest against wasting
this life for the sake of one that we know not of. It proposes to
let the gods take care of themselves. It is another name for common
sense; that is to say, the adaptation of means to such ends as are
desired and understood.
     Secularism believes in building a home here, in this world. It
trusts to individual effort, to energy, to intelligence, to
observation and experience rather than to the unknown and the
supernatural. It desires to be happy on this side of the grave.
     Secularism means food and fireside, roof and raiment,
reasonable work and reasonable leisure, the cultivation of the
tastes, the acquisition of knowledge, the enjoyment of the arts,
and it promises for the human race comfort, independence,
intelligence, and above all liberty. It means the abolition of
sectarian feuds, of theological hatreds. It means the cultivation
of friendship and intellectual hospitality. It means the living for
ourselves and each other; for the present instead of the past, for
this world rather than for another. It means the right to express
your thought in spite of popes, priests, and gods. It means that
impudent idleness shall no longer live upon the labor of honest
men. It means the destruction of the business of those who trade in
fear. It proposes to give serenity and content to the human soul.
It will put out the fires of eternal pain. It is striving to do
away with violence and vice, with ignorance, poverty and disease.
It lives for the ever present to-day, and the ever coming to-
morrow. It does not believe in praying and receiving, but in
earning and deserving. It regards work as worship, labor as prayer,
and wisdom as the savior of mankind. It says to every human being,
Take care of yourself so that you may be able to help others; adorn
your life with the gems called good deeds; illumine your path with
the sunlight called friendship and love.
     Secularism is a religion, a religion that is understood. It
has no mysteries, no mumblings, no priests, no ceremonies, no
falsehoods, no miracles, and no persecutions. It considers the
lilies of the field, and takes thought for the morrow. It says to
the whole world, Work that you may eat, drink, and be clothed; work
that you may enjoy; work that you may not want; work that you may
give and never need.
                         The Independent Pulpit, Waco, Texas, 1887.