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Radio Freethinker Episode 203 – Who Killed JC Edition

Posted by Don McLenaghen on March 19, 2013

murder_julian_cesar_b

This week:
- Who killed JC?,
- What are the Ides and are they only in March?,
- Faith and Crime,
- New Pope with baggage, and
- Atheist Discrimination vs Religious Freedom

Download the episode here!

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Who killed JC?

hre0009lWe all probably have heard the quote “BE WARE THE IDES OF MARCH” and the ensuing assassination of Julius Caesar (JC). Was Brutus the real killer or was he a patsy for a deeper conspiracy…listen and find out.

Find out more:

What are the Ides and are they only in March?

enan337lWe have heard about the Ides….but what the heck are they? Don gives a history lesson about who the Romans tell time during the month.

Find out more:

Faith and Crime

rcln381lDon reviews new research that shows how active criminals use theology to enable/excuse/validate their criminal activities

Find out more:

New Pope with baggage

dewar cartoon march 17 2013 col.jpgThe Catholic Church has a new Pope, who is he? Does he come with come darker baggage? Is he the right person to rescue the church form its current troubles. Poster Pope or A Pope on a Poster?

Find out more:

Atheist Discrimination vs Religious Freedom

religious-freedom-cartoonThe UN so far has resisted appeals from atheist and non-believers to be identified in the UN charter of rights as a group that is specifically targeted for discrimination and persecuted because of their non-belief.

Find out more:

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Skeptical Highlights:

Priorities for the Second Obama Administration

U.S. consul general Anne Callaghan gives the next lecture in the Diplomatic Circle series where she gives the unfiltered (but always slanted) position of Obama and the USA administration. Take with a grain of salt, but straight for the horses as…er, mouth.

When: March 20, 2013 @ 4:30

Where: Fairleigh Dickinson University, 842 Cambie, Vancouver

Cost: Free

Harper Monologue: The Politics of Hate and Fear

Rage Resist Rebel presents a dramatic performance linking a fierce artistic critique of Harper’s policies to a clear reminder of the power of resistance. Cosponsored by the SFU Women’s Centre and SFU’s Out on Campus.

When: March 21, 2013 @ 7:30

Where: SFU Harbour Centre, Vancouver

Cost: by donation

International Socialist Conference: Ideas to Change the World

Discuss alternatives to the current system, the ongoing Egyptian revolution, and Canada’s Idle No More movement.

When: March 23, 2013 @ 11:30

Where: Langara College, Vancouver

Cost: Free

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The Atheist Church?

Posted by Don McLenaghen on March 17, 2013

atheist

There has been a movement lately to establish a ‘church’ for the atheist community. No, these are not attempts by the Christian community to convert atheist but atheist themselves, and mainly apostate, who miss the community that comes with a church life.

Web-Banner-2A pair of well-meaning comedians setup the first British Atheist Church in an old Anglican Church in London and there are plans afoot to set up other churches in other cities across the isle. At the UK branch, there is singing…Stevie Wonder, Queen, etc…there are lectures on topics like ‘the origin of anti-matter’…public reading of works like Alice in Wonderland…and other communal activities.

Although officially called the Sunday Service, the title Atheist Church has stuck and seems to be welcomed the participants or ‘parishioners’.

There is a Calgary Secular Church, which meets in a theater once a month. Which, to quote…”allows like-minded people the chance to get together, to fellowship, to share stories, to enjoy beautiful music, to have their children get excellent ethical and rational instruction, to be enlightened, and most importantly, to know they are not alone!”

Now there are a number of interesting things about this movement. A lot of those who are members are emphasizing the community aspect of it. To quote another ‘parishioner’: “I think people need that sense of connectedness because everyone is so singular right now, and to be part of something, and to feel like you are part of something. That’s what people are craving in the world”

Now, of course I have some issues with this. First, the term ‘church’ is explicitly a Christian term from Greek meaning “belonging to the lord” and they don’t mean the Lord of Downton Abby. A better term would be Congregational.

Yes, there are religious groups who use that term but at root it just stands for a gathering of people…which is really the whole point of this movement.

Now, the term religion is perhaps worse…not in its definition, but its long-term implications.

pknn937lReligion is defined as “A particular system of faith and worship”, but as skeptical or scientific atheists, you would never adhere to a system of faith. Faith of course is believing in something without evidence.

And the idea of worshiping anything should strike, at least the skeptic, as anathema. There is an aspect to the concept of worship that implied blindly following ….always right …a surrender of will.

The irony is such ‘churches’ at least as communal support groups already exist around the world. There are the Skeptics in the Pub phenomena…and no, not all of them are in Pubs, which just goes to show how this idea has stretched its original form. It is in the processes of transforming from a drinking club into a skeptical community center.

Another worry I have about the Atheist Church, is that its members are not necessarily atheist but “no-religion’. That is, they believe in a higher power or some form of spiritualism that is not founded in reality. Why this becomes troublesome is some of these types are actively pushing to make this church a real religion in the traditional sense.

One petitioner stated: “It will become an organised religion. It’s inevitable. A belief system will set in. There will be a structure, an ethical outlook on life”

mlyn1447lTo show signs that there may be dogma in dem-der atheist pews, there are a number of “10 commandments” for atheist popping up. This set is from writer Alain de Botton’s Atheist Manifesto and the default commandments of the UK Atheist Church:

1. Resilience. Keeping going even when things are looking dark.

2. Empathy. The capacity to connect imaginatively with the sufferings and unique experiences of another person.

3. Patience. We should grow calmer and more forgiving by getting more realistic about how things actually tend to go.

4. Sacrifice. We won’t ever manage to raise a family, love someone else or save the planet if we don’t keep up with the art of sacrifice.

5. Politeness. Politeness is very linked to tolerance, the capacity to live alongside people whom one will never agree with, but at the same time, can’t avoid.

6. Humour. Like anger, humour springs from disappointment, but it’s disappointment optimally channelled.

7. Self-Awareness. To know oneself is to try not to blame others for one’s troubles and moods; to have a sense of what’s going on inside oneself, and what actually belongs to the world.

8. Forgiveness. It’s recognising that living with others isn’t possible without excusing errors.

9. Hope. Pessimism isn’t necessarily deep, nor optimism shallow.

10. Confidence. Confidence isn’t arrogance, it’s based on a constant awareness of how short life is and how little we ultimately lose from risking everything.

fullNot to be left out, the Calgary Secular Church has their own set of commandments which are taken from activist writer Adam Lee:

First Commandment: Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you.

Second Commandment: In all things, strive to cause no harm.

Third Commandment: Treat your fellow human beings, your fellow living things, and the world in general with love, honesty, faithfulness and respect.

Fourth Commandment: Do not overlook evil or shrink from administering justice, but always be ready to forgive wrongdoing freely admitted and honestly regretted.

Fifth Commandment: Live life with a sense of joy and wonder.

Sixth Commandment: Always seek to be learning something new.

Seventh Commandment: Test all things; always check your ideas against the facts, and be ready to discard even a cherished belief if it does not conform to them.

Eighth Commandment: Never seek to censor or cut yourself off from dissent; always respect the right of others to disagree with you.

Ninth Commandment: Form independent opinions on the basis of your own reason and experience; do not allow yourself to be led blindly by others.

Tenth Commandment: Question everything.

Again, Commandment is an edict that must be obeyed…skeptics do not obey, they follow the evidence.

So, I think that as a minority community in a greater society there is a longing to connect with ‘our kind’ in the same way that religious or ethnic groups form inner-communities. There have been many attempts to form these inner-communities and will be more in the future. I worry that this particular experiment carries dangerous baggage but a good skeptic believes in the experimental method, so maybe we try it out and see where it goes.

Adam Lee’s – The New Ten Commandments
Calgary Secular Church
10 new virtues for atheists: Alain de Botton unveils new manifesto
Good without God: Atheist churches offer non-believers community and ritual without faith
What happens at an atheist church?
The Sunday Assembly

Posted in Don's Blogs | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

The Secular Battleground of British Columbia

Posted by Ethan Clow on February 6, 2013

The once comforting assertion that secularism was in no real danger because most people in BC held the “meh” opinion is quickly fading. What we’re seeing is that because so many people in BC held apathetic thoughts about secularism and religion, the sneaky power brokers with theocratic leanings have managed to quietly worm their way into policy making positions.

This puts us, the apathetic citizens of this province in an interesting position. Sure, we aren’t bombarded with pro-life billboards and pro-religious demonstrations and in-your-face proselytizing… but with our laissez faire attitude to religion, we have ceded the debate to those dedicated enough to work behind the scenes to advance their agenda.

This “meh” attitude does little to help us understand the issue of secularism because we’re basically extending the Vancouver feeling of apathy to the rest of the province, which is a mistake.

Recently we’ve seen the outcome of such thinking. News has been made over the question of distributing Gideon Bibles in Chilliwack. Additionally, the BC Humanists have started a petition to get the Chilliwack school board to stop distributing the bibles. (If you haven’t signed the petition yet, do so! Currently there are 252 signatures)

I was in Chilliwack not too long ago, a local MP was holding a town hall meeting on faith and secularism which was aptly titled “Beyond Secularism” We discussed this on the show in Episode 193. The panel was moderated by Gwen O’Mahony, and the panel itself featured three Christian apologists. I was there with some representatives of CFI Vancouver and we pointed out, you have a panel called “beyond secularism” with a poster that features five or six religious symbols, yet you have no one representing a secular point of view on the panel and the only religion you have represented is Christianity.

Going into that discussion, I was a little nervous, thinking that we would be in hostile territory and we would probably be run out of town. But I was surprised by the number of people who got up to provide strident defences of secularism. (Including an Arch Bishop for the Russian Orthodox Church, who gave a passionate statement about the importance of secular politics.)

Perhaps this is demonstrating that we are starting to wake the population up to the importance of secular activism. This is in no small part to the hard work of organizations like the BC Humanists, CFI Vancouver and the other skeptical activists across the province like CFI Okanagan and CFI Kamloops.

Our work is far from over.

Last night several of us from CFI Vancouver went to see the Premier of BC, Christy Clark discuss the role of faith and politics. (The event was live tweeted by CFI Vancouver here)

Christy Clark

Christy Clark

The event unfolded the way I thought it would, however; Clark managed to surprise me a few times. I’ve seen cartoonishly bad characterizations of secularism before, but Clark really upped the ante this time.

Starting off on a bad foot, the organizers announced they would only take written questions. A cowardly decision in my opinion. Clark had a audience of supporters, there’s no reason she should be afraid to talk unchallenged to them. This only made her constant repetition of how she’s a heroic maverick for talking about faith and politics all the more ludicrous. Clark responds to people criticizing her for speaking about faith and politics by presenting an event where she talks on these, so call forbidden topics, and shuts down an open Q and A.

And of course the event, which was supposed to start at 5pm didn’t get going until 5:30pm.

The event was put on by City in Focus, a faith based organization concerned with the “soul of the city” as they put it.

Clark started the evening off by remarking on the strangeness of faith and politics. Talking about the negative feedback she’s gotten for publically discussing her faith and religion. And how this is indicative of the change in society. She mentioned this specifically in reference to the number of atheists in British Columbia.

They key highlights (lowlights?) that are worth pointing out include the following:

Clark believes government should spend public money on faith based organizations because those groups are the ones doing the good work in society. Helping the poor etc. (Perhaps she’s not aware of the all the good work being done by secular groups like Insite, the Vancouver Food Bank, or Unicef)

Clark also stated that the most important part of her faith is practicing it. This means going to church to be reminded on why she needs to be a good person. Yes, the whole ‘religion makes people be good and not evil.’ Perhaps someone could inform Clark that atheists and non-believers learn to be good people without religion. It’s actually totally possible.

She also remarked that it’s tragic that more people don’t go to church.

One of the irritating assumptions she frequently made throughout the evening was assuming we were all God fearing people who attended church regularly. Oh and reality TV is bad. Damn meanies.

All of this is ironic because she admits that political discourse isn’t polite either. So it’s nice to know that we as a population are being held to higher standards than our politicians. (Who then draft policy to correct our so-called bad behavior)

When she got to question time, she remarked how she was surprised there was no open Q and A. (FAIL!)

Most of the questions were softballs lobed at her and she took her time knocking them around. A few interesting points that came out include:

Secularism is bad because some religious groups do nice things. (I’m paraphrasing there)

I was floored when she started talking about her plans for hospital proselytizing. She wants to make is so private information about patients in hospitals can be given to religious leaders so they can come into the hospital to preach to the patients. On the surface this sounds like a nice gesture but let’s deconstruct this for a moment. What she is saying is that if a patient is terminally ill, and stuck in a hospital bed, this persons condition should be given (how?) to local religious leaders (which ones? All of them?) Hospitals don’t do this because this is a huge invasion of privacy. Patients have rights, you see. So how does this work? Do hospitals have to ask permission first? Do they just tell churches? If someone is terminally ill do they just send out a newsletter to all the religious groups in the area “there’s another terminally ill patient in room 25″

What if the patient is a lifelong atheist who hates proselytizing? And now, in their final time on earth, they need to put with some priest coming to tell them about heaven and hell?

If a patient wants a religious person to come see them, they can tell hospital staff to call one up. Hospital staff should not be over stepping their authority and assuming a patient wants a theological lecture.

Think about the implications. What if you get some pushy religious person telling the patient to leave their estate to the church to get into heaven? No, this cannot be allowed. The current system of having the patient make the call (or requesting a call on their behalf) is the way this should work.

Just a terrible terrible idea by Clark.

Another question brought up the topic of bullying. Clark made the following statement “there are some things about bullying…you know…some things are hard to eliminate.”

Homelessness? It’s a complex problem she said. She also told a story about how she made a friend who was homeless.

When she was asked about making decisions based on the Bible she responded by acknowledging that the Bible contradicted itself. “It’s not static” She replied. “It’s a teaching document.” It’s a debateable thing.

I have to agree. I remember when I was trying to learn math in school. The formulas constantly changed, answers were never the same, sometimes 2 +2 was 5… it was fucking great.

No but seriously. The bible is a horrible teaching tool. It’s not ‘not static. It’s dogma. It hasn’t changed in a long time. What has changed is the mental gymnastics you go through to justify how in one part of the bible where it tells you to stone your son for disobeying you (Deuteronomy 13:5-10) what it really means is that families are nice.

To wrap things up, she did say a few good things. On the subject of genetically modified foods, she noted that humans have been doing this for 10000 years already. She’s right about that. She also said she supports same sex marriage (but doesn’t want to make religious people uncomfortable)

Our Premier Ladies and Gentlemen!
clark2

Posted in Blogs, Ethan's Blogs | Tagged: , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Here’s a Picture of the Pope Blessing Uganda “Kill the Gays” Bill Proponent

Posted by Ethan Clow on December 14, 2012

Here’s a picture of the Pope blessing Uganda’s Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga who is also a “Kill the Gays” bill proponent, which she is trying to force through Uganda’s parliament.

popekillthegays

Sick to your stomach yet?

In more hopeful news, it appears that the “Kill the gays” bill has been delayed until February 4th, 2013. More time to bring as much pressure on Uganda (and the fucking Pope) to stop this.

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Radio Freethinker Episode 183 – Islamic Bomb Edition

Posted by Don McLenaghen on September 25, 2012

This week:

- Prayed to death,
- Religious intolerance on the rise,
- Iran and the Bomb, and
- The Black Death

Download the episode here!

Prayed to death

Not funny but true!

Yet another couple who killed their child with prayer gets a slap on the wrist. We discuss the Oregon parents who received 5 yrs probation for allowing their child to suffer an extremely painful death from appendicitis because they believed prayer was a better healer than REAL medicine.

Find out more:

Religious intolerance on the rise

We have talked the new report from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Affairs which shows greater intolerance as religion is used as a means of authoritarian control in nations across the world. The world is become a much more repressive place to live and religion is the shackles of its enforcement.

Find out more:

Iran and the Bomb

There has been much talk about the looming threat of the Islamic Bomb. We cast our skeptical eye on the reality of Iran developing nuclear weapons. And for the record, we in NO way support nor endorse any nation attempting or achieving nuclear weapons status, just in case it seemed unclear in the show.

Find out more:

The Black Death

Reports have flooded the internet about the ‘discovery’ of the body of Richard the III in a parking lot in England…well, under the parking lot…and the only evidence its Richard is curved spine body badly beaten to death. We talk about how they plan to ‘firm up’ the identification and the ulterior motives of some to promote this ‘discovery’.

Find out more:

Skeptical Highlights:

Beneath the Sands of Egypt

Archaeologist and Egyptologist Donald P. Ryan will share some of the discoveries from the Pacific Lutheran University Valley of the Kings Project. The Project has excavated several of the small, little-known, undecorated tombs in the Valley, some of which have revealed fascinating surprises and controversial mummies (Hatshepsut? Relatives of Tut? A mass grave?).

When: 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM, Thursday, September 27, 2012
Where: Alliance for Arts & Culture – 938 Howe St, Vancouver
Cost: FREE

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Radio Freethinker Episode 176 – Olympic Cyborg Edition

Posted by Don McLenaghen on July 31, 2012

This week:

- Olympic Cyborg Sprinter,

- Olympic Measles Pandemic?,

- Politics, Religion and Economics at the Olympics, and

- Naturopaths conquer Alberta

Download the episode here!

Topics:

Olympic Cyborg Sprinter,

For the first time in Olympic history a cyborg…part human part machine…will competing at the Olympics. Or put another way, for the first time in Olympic history a disabled sprinter will compete in the regular Olympics with the aid of prosthetics legs. Good or bad?

Find out more:

Olympic Measles Pandemic?

The recent front page of the Georgia Straight warns Canadians about the imminent and probably deadly threat to our lives from the nuclear fallow from the Fukushima reactor accident arriving in the form of radioactive fish. Don takes a critical eye to this story and exposed its bias and unscientific slant.  

Find out more:

Politics, Religion and Economics at the Olympics

Saudi Arabia is sending women for the first time to the Olympics, but may pull out because the women will not be able to compete with their traditional hijab.
Lebanese athletes refuse to train in the same area as Israeli athletes because of the ‘crimes’ Israel has done to Lebanon.
London seems dressed down compared to the Queen’s jubilee thanks to the sponsorship police, who has ensured NO one but sponsors are allowed to ‘raise the rings’.

We discuss these issues and whether the Olympics should be above these topics or used as a means of global communications on issues.

Find out more:


Naturopaths conquer Alberta

We discuss the recent decision by the Alberta Ministry of Health to give the College of Naturopathic Doctors of Alberta the same regulator, accreditation and self-governance powers as College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta. Thus providing Naturopaths the same legitimacy as real doctors.
Find out more:

Skeptical Highlights:

SO you want to be an Astrobiologist!

The University of Edinburgh is offering a free online five week course called “Astrobiology and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life”

Over two thousand years ago, the ancient Greeks wondered if other worlds were habitable. In the coming years this question will be experimentally tested. This course is an introduction to astrobiology. It explores the origin and evolution of life on the Earth and its potential to exist elsewhere. Astrobiology addresses compelling questions of wide interest such as: How did life originate on the Earth? Is this an inevitable process and is life common across the Universe? Astrobiology is an interdisciplinary science that bridges fields as diverse as astrophysics, biology, geosciences and chemistry.

In this course one will explore what we know about life’s ability to live in extreme environments on the Earth…look at different hypotheses for how it originated. You will look at some of the missions to search for life in our own Solar System and on planets orbiting distant stars. Discuss some of the extreme environments on the Earth that help us understand the limits of life and how life has adapted to cope with extremes. Explore the possibility of intelligent alien life and some of the implications of its detection. The course will provide a foundation in astrobiology and introduce students to concepts in a diversity of scientific fields.

Have I got you hooked? Well, you can sign up now but you will have some time to do prep work; classes start in Jan 2013. Assuming we survive the Mayan apocalypse of course.

Google Labs

Google has set up an exhibitionist in the Science Museum in London. In true Google style it was not intent to have a ‘traditional’ display so they have combined the exhibition with Google Chrome to launch Google Web Lab. Where virtual visitors from around the world will be able to interact with the displays and perform 5 different experiments from the comfort of home. The exhibit includes: Universal Orchestra, Data Tracer, Sketchbots, Teleporter, and Lab Tag Explorer.

Google’s Web Lab website

NASA’s Curiosity rover will land on Aug. 5

Plan a landing party and enjoy what NASA is calling the most frightening 7 minutes in space exploration history.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html

Humanists in the Pride Parade

Join the BCHA for its third year marching in the Vancouver Pride Parade. For the past three years the BC Humanists have invited all local humanists, atheists, agnostics, skeptics, and other freethinkers to march in the Vancouver Pride Parade. This year we hope to have a bigger and more fabulous entry than ever!

DETAILS – Marchers should plan to arrive by 12:30 PM. Our staging area is designated EN4 and will be on the North side of Robson Street between Burrard and Thurlow. You can only enter the staging area from Burrard Street. Please plan on walking/biking/transiting downtown as there is very limited parking and many road closures..

Humanists in the Pride Parade

Cafe Inquiry: Limits to Growth

Café Inquiry is a monthly casual discussion group run by CFI Vancouver. Come along and enjoy morning tea and stimulating discussion with fellow freethinkers on a variety of topics. Our speaker is Patrick Walden, and will discuss are there limits to growth, and will our endless drive to continually expand hit a wall? Will our civilization collapse in the 21st century? Pat Walden is a research scientist at TRIUMF Cyclotron laboratory at UBC.
Saturday August 18th at 11am at SFU Harbour centre (room tba)

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An Atheist Behind Bars

Posted by Ethan Clow on June 29, 2012

One thing freethinkers should be thankful for is that they don’t live in Indonesia. That’s because you can go to jail for being an atheist there.  And that’s what happened for Alexander Aan, a 30-year- old civil servant and a self-confessed atheist, who has been sentenced to two-and-half years in jail for being an atheist.

The really sad thing? He’s better off in jail where he’s safe from beatings and attacks.  Aan was convicted of hate crimes for posting on Facebook that he was an atheist and saying such horrible things like “god does not exist.” He also posted controversial pictures of Muhammad, which as we all know is totally unforgivable. In addition to his hateful unbelief, he will also have to pay $10000 in damages to society.

Once word of this spread, radical Islamist groups tracked him down and attacked him, they dragged him around and beat him, his attackers did not face legal consequences for this.
Ironically, Aan was convicted on charges of blasphemy. Instead the court ruled that he was inciting hatred. (ironically hatred he was the victim of but never mind…)

There’s an article called Is there room for atheists in Indonesia? and it seems to come to the grim conclusion that no, there isn’t. It’s a haunting thought to wonder if atheists have the right to exist in Indonesia, and more importantly, if they are considered as being outside the constitution, can they expect state protections just as all other citizens?

In the Preamble to the Constitution of Indonesia, it is stated as an important principle to “Believe in the One Supreme God”.  Later in article 28 of the Constitution is a guarantee of freedom of religions, of course this does not mean there is freedom not to believe in any religion or even in the existence of God.

By government regulation, there are only six religions — Islam, Christianity, Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism — that are recognized by the state. So there is freedom of religion, freedom to choose one of those six. And by “freedom to choose one of those six” we actually mean you’re free to chose Islam or radical groups will attack you and beat you in the streets.

Even local human rights organizations, which had been vocal in defending the freedom of religious minorities, have largely remained silent throughout Aan’s case.

Indonesia’s record on freedom of religion has come under international scrutiny in the past year following a series of attacks by radical Islamic groups against religious minorities. At the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva last month, Indonesia had to answer questions from other governments about the treatment of some religious minorities and the lack of protection from the state.

All this taken together paints a rather dim picture of just how “free” religion is in Indonesia.

We in the secular west often take our secular societies for granted. There are lots of cases where being a public skeptic and atheist has resulted in egregious violations of human rights.

A Kuwaiti man was sentenced to 10 years of hard labour in prison after he was convicted of endangering state security by insulting the Prophet Mohammad on Twitter.

The judge found him guilty of insulting the Prophet, the Prophet’s wife and companions, mocking Islam, provoking sectarian tensions, and misusing his mobile phone to spread the comments.

Fortunately for him a new amendment to the criminal code in Kuwait did not take effect. Earlier this year the Kuwaiti parliament overwhelmingly voted for the death penalty for blasphemy. The emir rejected the amendment but can be overruled by a two thirds majority, so check back on that one.

In Pakistan last year, Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs, was killed by gunmen in Islamabad as he was travelling to work, a few weeks after he had vowed to defy death threats over his efforts to reform Pakistan’s blasphemy laws.

In India, In 2007, the police in Pune arrested four Bangalore-based software-engineers for posting on the Internet an quote obscene profile of Chhatrapati Shivaji, a sixteenth-century Maratha warrior king, clad in female underwear.

In 2007, the authorities charged ninety-one-year-old Maqbool Fida Husain with hurting religious sentiments by painting Mother India as a naked woman

And of course, Sanal Edamaruku, president of the Indian Rationalist Association was charged with blasphemy for proving that a weeping statue wasn’t a miracle but a hoax on national TV.

If you are interested in helping out Alexander Aan, here are some ways to support him. Atheist Alliance International has launched an appeal for donations to help pay for Aan’s legal costs and to support the Aan family’s living expenses while he is in jail, at http://www.atheistalliance.org/support-aai/donate(Legal/Support Fund for Alex Aan).

CFI Transnational wants to make the voices of those who support Alexander loud and clear to the Indonesian government. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is organizing a letter-writing campaign on Alexander’s behalf, and CFI urges you to take part. They have created a custom letter which you can sign or add to and add your voice to those fighting for Aan’s freedom.

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Most Unbelieving Place on Earth? East Germany

Posted by Ethan Clow on May 17, 2012

Where in the world would you find the least religious people? If you said East Germany, you’d be right. Of course since East Germany doesn’t exist anymore, you’d be wrong but still, at least you tried.

No but seriously, apparently the geographic area of Eastern Germany is home to the least religious people in the world. This according to a new study out of the University of Chicago, by sociologist Tom Smith.

You can view the study in PDF here.

What sociologist Smith did was look at survey data on belief in God in 30 countries between 1991 and 2008. (Canada wasn’t included) What he discovered was that the citizens of the former German Democratic Republic have by far the highest rate of atheism at 52.1 percent. The Czech Republic is the most atheist currently existing country at 39.9 percent. They’re followed by the French (23.3 percent), the Dutch (19.7 percent), and the Swedes (19.3 percent). Japan is the country with the lowest percentage of people who say they “know god really exists and have no doubts about it.”  (4.3 percent.)

The most religious country in the survey was the Philippines, where 83.6 percent of people are sure God exists and only 0.7 percent are atheists. The United States, not surprisingly has only a 3 percent rate of atheism and 60.6 percent sure that God exists.

This study is based on The international Social Survey Program (ISSP) which asked three questions – do you believe in God (and ranked them on a 6 point scale) and has your believe in God changed over your life? And finally a ‘agree or disagree’ question about a personal God who cares about human life.

The ISSP Religion studies covered 18 countries in 1991 (counting East and West Germany and Northern Ireland and Great Britain separately), 33 countries in 1998, and 42 countries in 2008.

So this isn’t original research in that Smith devised new methods for documenting religious belief or anything like that. It’s a meta-study where he used existing information and compiled it and hypothesized on why the results came out as they did.

Another thing to consider about this study is that it doesn’t measure how secular a country is, only what the citizens in those countries believe. I think this is an important distinction. If we consider how the United States has secular wording enshrined in its founding documents we might get the assumption that it is a very secular nation, of course, as this study shows, the citizens of the United States are overwhelmingly religious.

What’s also interesting is how this data compares to what many of us have thought about previous demographics regarding religious belief. Many of assumed that the Scandinavian countries were the most atheist but Sweden is fifth on the list of general unbelief.

In general, reliable studies seem to indicated a general downward trend of worldwide religious belief, especially in the industrialized west. For example, global poll conducted by Angus Reid in 2006 found that over the past twenty or so years, religious belief has become less important, especially for Canadians and Europeans.

Sweden is interesting because religion there functions a fair bit differently than we might expect. A Gallop poll in 2009 found that only 17% of Swedes consider religion an important aspect of their lives. Despite the fact that about 70% of the population of Sweden are members of the Church of Sweden. What this would imply is that religious membership serves more as a cultural or even community service and seems to have less effect on the decisions people make.

Given the difference in polls and surveys (Phil Zuckerman writes that some figures range from 17% to 85% of Swedes might be atheists) we can probably assume some general things about religious belief for the Swedes, and since the new study by Smith doesn’t include new research we will have to take those numbers with some skepticism as its apparent that any of these figures are estimations and subject to change.

One thing that we should be curious about is why is Eastern Germany so full of atheists? One could make the argument that it’s the combined influence of National Socialism and Communist control over the area for the 60 or so years from the 30’s to the 80’s. Arguably, this is a good answer. When you combine the wartime horrors by the National Socialists (some of the worst which occurred in Eastern Europe) it could explain why a pessimism for religion fostered. And then when you add the Communist repression of religion to the mix, it actually makes perfect sense.

But researchers also suggest that many Slavic and non-Orthodox communities present in the area since the Middle Ages were nonreligious; that the secularization movements during the Weimar Republic (1918-1933) were particularly strong in the states of Thuringia and Saxony; that the resistance of most DDR dissidents to the church was not seen, unlike the way it was perceived in Catholic Poland, as specifically religiously motivated.

Meaning, the people who have lived there for thousands of years were never fully converted. Or at least, we might say never drank the kool-aid.

Another potential explanation would be the historic tug of war Catholicism and Protestantism had over Germany. To this day the country is fairly evenly split down Catholic and Protestant lines. During the Reformation, Protestantism appealed to many of the local authority figures as a way to steal power from the Catholic Church and centralize their own power base. While this process didn’t exactly help the secular humanism angle, it did in a way help by breaking down the imperial nature of Catholicism.

By having a religion that was essentially localized to your community and nation and not beholden to a Pope in a far off place, people were able to take a more direct and active role in religion. One of the first steps in moving towards secularism is breaking that spell of subservience to a higher power. Certainly the Reformation broke that spell in relation to the subservience to Rome and the Pope.

And let’s not forget the devastation of the wars of religion that erupted because of the Reformation. Having three decades of warfare can sour you on belief in God when everywhere you look someone is waiting to kill you for not believing in their version of God.

 

 

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Radio Freethinker Episode 166 – SkyTrain Fare-ness Edition

Posted by Don McLenaghen on May 15, 2012

This week:

- Apostate Norway,
- A most atheist country ,
- Religion and sports don’t mix,
- The Vatican Bubble,
- SkyTrain Fare-Gates.

Download the episode here!

Topics:
Apostate Norway

Norway this week moved to change its constitution by removing reference to Norway as a Christian nation and cutting links between the state and the Church of Norway. A vote to happen Monday is expected to pass easily because even the Christian Democrats and the Conservative party supports this move.

Find out more:

A most atheist country

We discuss the recent meta study that showed the strength of atheism and religion among nations with some surprising discoveries

Find out more:

Religion and sports don’t mix

We give a brief overview about a controversy in Arizona where a catholic charter school refused to play the championship game because there was a girl on the opposition team.

Find out more:

The Vatican Bubble

The Vatican has recently asked board members of its BioEthical committee to resign because the dared to ask scientific advice from non-catholics.

Find out more:

SkyTrain Fare-Gates

We discuss the controversy regarding the soon to be installed fare-gates at SkyTrain stations with the aim of reducing ‘fair evasion’. We discuss how cost effective this tactic is, who is its target and ultimately are there better solutions to the issue of funding public mass transit in the GVRD.

Find out more:

Skeptical Highlights:

Vancouver Earth Run

The 2012 Vancouver Earth Run will focus on the oceans. All proceeds will go to nonprofit organizations in the Vancouver area that work toward better understanding and management of our marine resources.

Where: Jericho Beach, Vancouver
When: Sunday, June 3, 2012
Cost:

$25 for the 5K run/walk
$35 for the 10K race

Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs
At Pacific Science Center in Seattle – May 24, 2012-January 6, 2013
The exhibition features more than 100 objects from King Tut’s tomb and ancient sites representing some of the most important rulers throughout 2,000 years of ancient Egyptian history. Tickets range from 24 to $27 depending on when you go.

Skeptics in the Pub – Down-town

Join us on Tuesday, May 15 at 7:30pm for another evening of skeptical fun, food, drinks, and conversation in the Railway Club’s back bar. Come out and discuss skepticism-related activities in Vancouver with your fellow science enthusiasts, rationalists, and critical thinkers, and maybe meet some new friends. As always, if you arrive late and they’re collecting a cover charge at the door, just tell them you’re with the skeptics’ group to get in for free.

Where: The Railway Club, 579 Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver
When: Thursday, May 15, 2012, 7:30 pm
Cost: Free

Skeptics in the Pub Richmond

Skeptics in the Pub is a casual social event for local science enthusiasts who value critical thinking and skepticism.

Join us for drinks and food in a friendly atmosphere. It’s a great place to meet local skeptics, make new friends, and get involved and informed about new events and activities.

Where: Legends Pub in Richmond, 6511 Buswell Street, minutes from the Brighouse Skytrain station and Richmond Centre
When: Thursday, May 24, 2012, 7:30 pm
Cost: Free

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Math the Gateway Drug to Atheism

Posted by Ethan Clow on May 4, 2012

Are you good at math? You might be an atheist. At least in theory. I’m terrible at math and I’m an atheist.

But a new study is making the rounds these days regarding your ability to do math and whether or not your an atheists. Or to put it more accurately, how likely you are to be a non-believer. The study produced out of UBC by Psychologist Will Gervais, the author of the study about trusting atheists which we discussed in a previous episode.

image

This new study which Gervais conducted with fellow psychologist Ara Norenzayan, posed some analytical math questions to subjects. The hypothesis was that people who answered with more analytical answers, opposed to more innate and intuitively which would predict a religious believer.
example:

If a baseball and bat cost $110, and the bat costs $100 more than the ball, how much does the ball cost?

The wrong answer — the one you come up with when you don’t put any thought into it or simply go with your gut, which is what I would do, so don’t feel bad. — would be $10.

The right answer — which requires a bit of analysis — would be $5. (The bat costs $105.)

The study has certainly caught the public’s attention with numerous write up in science blogs and newspapers.

The study, which looked at 179 Canadian undergraduate students, showed that people who tend to solve problems more analytically also tended to be religious disbelievers. This was demonstrated by giving the students a series of questions like the one above and then scoring them on the basis of whether they used intuition or analytic logic to reach the answers. Afterward, the researchers surveyed the students on whether or not they held religious beliefs. The results showed that the intuitive thinkers were much more likely to believe in religion.

Now being good skeptics, what do we have here? Correlation but do we have causation? Turns out we do.

To test for a causal relationship between analytical thinking and religious disbelief, the researchers devised four different ways to promote analytic thinking and then surveyed the students to see if their religious disbelief had increased by the interventions that boosted critical thinking.

Basically they tried to see if they could prime subjects for analytical thinking which would then increase the subjects disbelief. Subjects would be shown various images which previous psychological studies had shown a connection to increasing performance on analytical problems. Sort of like the way listening to classical music or certain kinds of art can prime the viewer to behave a certain way.

Subconscious suggestions about thinking apparently gets the cognitive juices flowing and suppresses intuitive processes. The researchers confirmed this effect but also found that the self-reported religious disbelief also increased compared with subjects shown a different image before being tested that did not suggest critical thinking.

The same result was found after boosting critical reasoning in three other ways known to stimulate logical reasoning and improve performance on reasoning tests. This included having subjects rearrange jumbles of words into a meaningful phrase, for example. When the list of words connoted thought (for example, “think, reason, analyze, ponder, rational,” as opposed to control lists like “hammer, shoes, jump, retrace, brown”), manipulating the thought-provoking words improved performance on a subsequent analytic thinking task and also increased religious disbelief significantly.

So okay, what about all the non-believers like me out there who are saying “hold on, I suck at math” Of course the thing is, math is only one area where one can be analytical. As I’m sure we can all agree, sitting down and thinking rationally about a topic, math, history, science, art… that will stimulate the cognitive juices and this effect of decreasing religious belief would be seen as well, regardless of the field of study.

What’s also interesting about this, especially with all the press its getting, is the reaction from various religious groups and people. I saw one interview where the religious proponent suggested this wasn’t an issue of science vs religion because science can only answer questions of what is, compared to religion which provides a moral compass to civilization. Not surprisingly I rather disagree with that assessment.

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