I just read an article by Staks Rosch in the Philadelphia Examiner about the FSGP and their Tree of Knowledge. It’s an evergreen tree decorated with book covers (how shocking, how impudent!) from books representing knowledge, education, science, philosophy, morality, diversity and curiosity. (I am so offended! What? No Twilight?! No Dan Brown?!) Here is a complete list of the books represented.

Staks makes some points that I really like: “[The Tree of Knowledge]  is not an attack on religion, but rather an expression of an alternative set of values (i.e. knowledge and reason).”

How horrific! Now I understand why the good christians of the area are so up in arms, vandalizing the tree and organizing call campaigns to get it removed. And why the county is bending to the will of one religion on government property. It’s just so hateful to have a tree decorated with thoughtful, intelligent books. What? Oh? It’s not threatening at all? EXACTLY! WTF!

Staks also says, “Many Christians have claimed that the inclusion of humanist values next to the Jesus Crèche is an attempt to “steal” Christmas. It seems that many Christians are of the opinion that Christians own the winter season. They do not.”

Later he says, “Atheists aren’t trying to “steal” Christmas any more than Christians stole Saturnalia… oh wait, never mind.” Again, I agree completely.

This kind of thing makes me so angry. Religious organizations bully their way into having their cake and eating it too. Politicians and the masses alike bend to that will for what reason? Why do they get to own most holidays? My sister in law is offended when I say happy holidays instead of merry christmas. It’s the classic bully at the pulpit who then cries and runs for the government to protect him when someone brings up that he’s breaking the law or that he’s being a bully.

christians and muslims don’t want to play fair. They want to win. Which is why I am an activist atheist. I don’t want to be forced to pray to a man in the sky that doesn’t exist. I am moral and ethical on my own without being forced into the barbaric false ethics of an iron aged society of goat herders from the Middle East.

I suppose here in Morgantown, if such inequities are occurring, we’ll put up an atheist/humanist display soon too. At this time, I am not aware of any. But I haven’t checked every government building lawn for crèches either.

Keep an eye out in your town. If you see religious displays on government property, take action, form a group. You can then turn it into a community of like-minded people like we’ve got here in our sleepy little town. It’s the most wonderful feeling to hang out with a bunch of freethinkers. But don’t just take things lying down. Don’t let the religious people bully us into giving up our freedoms and our constitutional rights just because we are too apathetic to make a stand for those rights.

EDIT: The Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia has helpful hints for setting up your own Tree of Knowledge.

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Pharyngula wrote about this the other night and noted that the giveaway is now 100,000 books at 100 universities, that Darwin’s text will remain intact, and the 50 page foreword will be rewritten to be more fair to atheists. (Does that mean it will be 50 blank pages?)

Here’s what I would love to see happen:

• Atheists, heathens, skeptics and science lovers go to the universities where these books are being given out, kindly receive the free book and walk away.
• (The next bit is optional) Then meet the other local atheists, walk back to the people giving the books away en masse, and quietly and politely rip out the intro, throw it in the trash and smile.
• (The next bit is also optional) Then get into a friendly debate with the Comfort/Cameron folks, always staying pleasant and friendly, but defeat them with logic, reason and science facts.

This would serve several purposes:

• It would keep the sullied copies of Darwin’s Origin of Species out of the hands of young people who are just learning to think a bit more critically and may not understand that the foreword is complete lies and bullshit
• It would make a statement
• It would show that Atheists CAN unite for a common cause, for one short afternoon, to do a good deed
• If the atheists are polite, friendly and well-spoken, it will show people that we are good, friendly people, not monsters.
• It will really upset Comfort and Cameron, which is great fun.

Here’s what you can do:

• Contact your local atheist/brights/freethinkers/skeptical/science/physics/logic/critical thinker, etc. group and talk to them about getting a group together to meet, receive a book, and perhaps make a statement with it en masse once you all have a copy.
• Help us find out what schools the books will be handed out at so we know where to go. I am not sure how to find this out.
• Go to your university on November 19 and at least get your copy of the book.

I think if possible (and yes, I know I’m publishing this to my blog), we would best be served if we kept this a bit quiet, at least for now. But spread the word, tell all your evolution-loving, blasphemous, hell-bound heathen friends and family about it.

We can disseminate information through here for now, so let us know if you have any ideas, suggestions and updates about the event, as well as if anyone can find out at which schools the books will be given out.

EDIT: Here is the pdf of Comfort’s 50 page foreword. I think this is the original one. When his revised version comes out, let me know so I can link it here!

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This nice man found HDC and my story and just thought that atheists like me and my husband should have more children. You know, he’s right, in a way. I mean, if you can do it, and you’re a freethinking atheist, then yes, you should consider having a kid or two. Like he said, it would bring a bit more sanity into the world.

Unfortunately people who are more educated, intelligent and rational might think it’s a bad idea. But the movie Idiocracy does make a good point. Mostly people who are sheep, who follow the crowd, who think having unprotected sex is ok because, if they get pregnant it was “meant to be“! (my idiot neighbors told me this… they can’t afford their meager bills and the wife told me she doesn’t even like her husband, but he is “hers” so they might as well have a kid.. OMFG don’t even get me started on those two idiots… they believe drinking Mountain Dew is a good method of birth control! Seriously, WTF!)

I don’t have any specific numbers, but it seems that educated, intelligent people are having less children in Europe and America. While less educated, (more religious?),  lower income people (I don’t know a politically correct term that would be better to use. So try not to be offended, ok?) are having more kids. I know that Europe has been dwindling in population, especially in Germany, Italy and other countries. And muslim people are filling up the ghost towns, then immediately going on the Dole over there. That’s what I’ve heard, but I don’t have hard data. (that’s from NPR, from a year ago, so maybe things are different now. But I don’t listen to NPR anymore). Pat Condell is always talking about such things too.

I never saw the movie, Idiocracy. It looked really dumb, but the concept is what I’m talking about. It’s more about I.Q. though, and I’m also talking about education and belief systems. If more atheists raise their children to be freethinkers and critical thinkers, imagine what the next generation would be like instead of what I see when we go out these days?

Since when did it become “cool” to be ignorant? That makes me stark raving crazy mad. I know of only 2 teenagers who seem to value intelligence and they are in my family. Maybe I sound old and crotchety, I don’t know. It just seems that teenagers are having babies, and that everyone is purposefully embracing ignorance and mindlessness.

In my day… (just kidding… but seriously, in my day, it wasn’t like this!)

Ok, it’s getting a bit late, the weekend has been really long, and I’m tired. But I wanted to thank the man for thinking I’d make a good parent. I know I’d raise my kids to be freethinking individuals, even though it’s not very cool.

Maybe you out there can chime in. Are you raising your children to be critical thinkers? How is that going? I imagine with the societal influences and poor education system it must be tough. Then again, am I just out of touch since I’m not a parent? Or did you do what my husband and I did? Did you decide for whatever reason that it would be best not to have kids? As always, I look forward to your thoughts!

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Have you ever listened to a pseudoscientist hyping their product? They do the same thing. They tell you they have a secret that only they know. They say everyone is against them, that THEY are holding back information that you can purchase for only $49.95, or 3 easy payments. They make themselves out to be the victims when in fact they are victimizing every poor fool that buys their stupid crap.

The religious do the same. They claim they’re oppressed, downtrodden, victimized. When in fact they are the oppressors, the victimizers, the ones with jackboots on the necks of sheeple. Hypocrisy is vile and repugnant, and they use it like it’s gold.Why is it so offensive to people of faith that some people come to realize there are no gods? Why do they feel the need to use so much energy to lash out at atheists and freethinkers?

Are we really a threat? And if so, why? For instance, this blog is really for people who have a believing problem, who are atheists or agnostics. This blog is for Freethinkers. It’s to help people who already question religious dogma. I don’t try to change anyone’s belief system. Occasionally a religious person comes along and leaves a nasty comment.

This site isn’t for the religious. That’s pretty clear. So why do they feel the need to attack when they aren’t even being addressed? Why do they go all over the place, on tv or wherever, and spout forth lies about atheists? Why don’t they just leave well enough alone?

If there’s a war on religion, or a war on christmas, it wasn’t started by the atheists. It was clearly started by the religious as a preemptive strike against people who think for themselves.

Is it a numbers game? Are they afraid we’re so clearly right that they worry we’ll empty their pews with simple logic and common sense? And empty pews mean less free money to the church. That might be part of it.

I have no idea. To me it’s a complete mystery. As an atheist, I basically believe in the idea of live and let live. Do your thing, believe whatever you like. Even feel free to share your beliefs with others. Go to church, if you like. I don’t care. But give everyone else the same courtesy. And if anything you do is harmful to others, then it’s not acceptable.

This is where I get really upset about parents indoctrinating their kids into religion. It’s so cruel to teach a child she will burn in hell if she thinks an impure thought. (I was so terrified of burning in hell when I was young, I went to 3 different churches and got baptized in each of them.)

Anyway, if you try to impede society with your limiting and crazy beliefs, that’s unacceptable. So creationists, if you’re so worried that your precious children might learn real science and actually open their minds to evolution and (gasp) reality and common sense, homeschool your kid. I don’t like it, but that’s your right. But trying to get the government to teach your kids creationism or intelligent design (which is the opposite of intelligent and we all know it), that’s insidious to society and weak and lazy on your part.

I still haven’t answered my question. Mainly because I’m not a religious nut who feels the need to proselytize and bend others to my will and put their heads under the same jackboot I’m under. I’m a simple atheist with simple ethics, one of which is to NOT be a hypocrite. So I don’t have the answer. If you do, please feel free to comment.

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I’ve been an atheist for around 8 years, most of which I’ve spent in the religious closet, so to speak. Before that, I was an agnostic, searching constantly for answers but not positive that there wasn’t some kind of god out there that created everything.

In all that time, I kept my godlessness relatively private, telling very few people. Mainly I wanted to avoid confrontation. I didn’t really know how to debate or defend myself, so I felt it was a personal issue and kept it to myself.

In the last 8 years though, I’ve watched this poor country polarize itself in politics and religion to an alarming degree and wallow in gross ignorance. I’ve realized relatively recently that being in the closet wasn’t helping anything.

I couldn’t be myself when talking to people because being a skeptical atheist is a huge part of my life. I guess when I fully and finally sloughed off the dead weight of god, religion and superstitions, I also lost a large part of the foundation of my belief system. It really rocked me. I realized a lot of what I believed was nonsense and lies.

So I’ve had to rebuild what I believe in, my atheist worldview, so to speak.

The thing is, being in the religious closet has only served to isolate me from other people of like mind, as well as keep ideas limited to just what I read or experience personally. Then I discovered the atheist and skeptical world. I realized I wasn’t alone, and I finally came out of the damned closet.

This is a lot of what Heaving Dead Cats is all about. A coming together of people asking tough questions, searching for real answers, sharing and growing and learning, and hopefully having fun in the process. It’s also about coming out and being proud to be an atheist.

There’s nothing wrong with being an atheist. In my opinion, if you’re smart and if you think for yourself, it’s a natural progression. Of course religious people are quite threatened by godlessness, so it does mean that there will be conflict.

There definitely is a terrible stigma attached to atheists. I think it’s easier to be gay in most places than godless. But if we all hide away and let the religious automatons run this country into the next dark ages, it’s our own damned fault.

Not everyone has to go the full “Dawkins” path, but if theists realize there are many more atheists and freethinkers out there, if they have to defend their nonsensical lies and bullying tactics of manipulation in politics and society all the time, in every walk of life, maybe as a whole we can get things back on track.

We can’t expect the Four Horsemen to do all the work for us. We can’t expect a select few thinking people to defend our rights all alone. We have to take personal responsibility for ourselves. We have to stand up and be proud that we use our brains to think and reason.

It’s not an easy choice. I have to be honest, I am not aggressive when it comes to being an atheist. But I do walk the walk and talk the talk. I don’t get in peoples’ faces when they talk of their faith. But I don’t lie or try to hide my godlessness. I try to appropriately address issues with reason and common sense.

It doesn’t always work. But if we ALL do it, ALL the atheists, agnostics and freethinkers, it makes it easier for ALL of us, lessens the burden, helps us all share the workload.

Honestly, we can not afford to stay in the closet any longer. I am not suggesting that when everyone bows their heads in prayer at christmas dinner that you should stand up and say, “WAKE UP, YOU SHEEP! RELIGION IS BULLSHIT!” No, but be honest with yourself and be honest with other people appropriately.

Religious people need to see that we’re intelligent, thinking, ethical, rational people who still love life. They need to see that we are everywhere, that there are more of us than they realized. They need to hear even small snippets of reason when they spout out lies. It doesn’t have to be a huge amount of information. It can just be a tiny dose of reality and common sense in the face of their crazy nonsense.

You’re not alone. We don’t have to be alone anymore.

So there is this Survey for Atheists. It is open till December 31, so take it today. It says it takes about 20 minutes, but I think I finished in less time than that. Dr. Tom Arcaro from Elon University wants to know about “coming out” of the religious closet. Once this survey is done and analyzed, it will be published in a trade journal but also online and in a magazine for all of us to see. When it’s published, I’ll be sure to let you know.

We can all make a difference together. So please take the survey if you’re an atheist. Share it with other atheists, and if you are still in the closet please consider coming out soon. It doesn’t have to happen all at once, but we all need each other to make a difference.

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I wrote a transcript because it’s so awesome:

Will you fight? “No, we will run! And we will live.”
Shame on you!
This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you’re gonna let it be the worst.
And I guarantee a week won’t go by in your life you won’t regret walking out, letting them get the best of you.
Well, I’m not going home.
We’ve gone too far!
And I’m going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause.
A day may come when the courage of men fails, but it is not this day.
A line must be drawn here! This far, no further!
I’m not saying it’s going to be easy.
You’re going to work harder than you’ve ever worked before.
But that’s fine, we’ll just get tougher winning!
A person grits his teeth, and shows real determination.
Failure is Not an option!
That’s how winning is done!
Believe me when I say,
We can break this army here.
And win just one for the giver.
But I say to you what every warrior has known since the beginning of time.
You’ve got to get mad.
I mean plum mad dog mean.
If you would be free men then you must
Fight to fulfill that promise! Let us
Cut out their living guts.
One inch at a time.
And they will know what we can do!
HOO!
Let no man forget how menacing we are. We are Lions!
Like a big bear, man!
This is Your time!
Sieze the day.
Never surrender.
Victory or death!
That’s the Chicago way.
Who’s with me!?
Clap. Clap! Don’t let Tink die! Clap!
Alright!
Let’s Fly!
And gentlemen in England now abed
Will Know my name is the LORD when I
Tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take
Our Independence Day!

Found at Infidelicacy, Thanks!

Freethinkers, Atheists, Agnostics, all people who cherish their rights and freedoms, we must unite! We must find common ground and common cause. We must eschew apathy as the evil it is and rally for justice, common sense, reason, science,  skepticism and critical thinking!

It’s happening, slowly. We must encourage and nurture this brave cause against the enemy of mindless, hypocritical religious bullies.

Will you be the problem? Will you wallow in apathy and ignorance? Will you let the senseless automatons controlled by their religious leaders keep you in the dark shadows under their jackboot of fear, repression and false morals?

Or are you part of the solution? Will you stand tall and proud? Free of gods, myths and fairy tales, free to think clearly and independently? The choice is yours.

In that vein I would like to have one symbol, an atheism logo or a freethinking logo that would encompass the whole idea, to help us come together and make us all stronger than we could ever be alone. Maybe an atheist creed, or a freethinking creed. Something we can all get behind. I wonder if such things are possible. I would like to think they are. Suggestions, ideas and comments are Always welcome.

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