Atheism & Freethought

I Did This Today

Brianne Bilyeu, , , , , , , , , , 673 Comments

This was just a typical day for me, hanging out with Phil Ferguson (Skeptic Money), Greg Laden (X Blog), Jen McCreight (Blag Hag) – that’s me next – and Stephanie Zvan (Almost Diamonds). 

Back story: The Atheists Talk radio show had Jen in the studio for a live interview. Greg, Stephanie, Jen and myself chatted about our blogging, our activism and Freethought Blogs. Phil Freaking Ferguson – which is how he introduces himself* – from Skeptic Money happened to be in town, so he stopped by the studio to watch the show and ended up letting us drag him on the air for a few moments. And we took this snazy photo afterwards.

And then this afternoon I attended the Minnesota Atheists monthly meeting. Jen was the guest speaker; she gave a talk called “God’s Lady Problem”. By my estimation the talk had major three parts: Religion-based discrimination against women and a thought-provoking God-as-abuser analogy, the current War On Women that we’ve been fighting against in the US in recent months (the Catholic church birth control hubaloo, transvaginal ultrasounds, Terry England’s “women-slash-livestock” speech, etc), and lastly the lady problems that we run into in our own atheist communities. It was a solid, engaging, well-attended talk and the Q&A took up all of the allotted time and then some. Jen will be in Indiana for three more speaking engagements in this next week leading up to the Reason Rally. If you’re in the area, I’d recommend stopping by.

So this was a pretty dandy way to spend a Sunday, right?

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*Not intended to be a factual statement.

I Did This Today
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JT Eberhard at U of MN

Brianne Bilyeu, , , , 1,838 Comments

Wow, that JT guy really is mean. Check out all of the things he said* last night at a meeting of  the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis’s student group, Campus Atheists, Skeptics and Humanists:

Truly, this is the face of EEEVIL.

“Punch them in the FACE!”

“I put a baseball bat near the front door of my house.”

“I would vote for Lucifer!“

“We should be fanatics!”

 

*All quotes are partial statements taken extremely out of context. It’s scary how good I am at quote mining, akshully.

Do you want to know what he really said last night?

Continue reading “JT Eberhard at U of MN” →

JT Eberhard at U of MN

Exciting Atheist Speakers in Minneapolis!

Brianne Bilyeu, , , , , , , , 521 Comments

There are a couple of exciting events coming up, especially if you’re in the Twin Cities and interested in atheism and science.

TONIGHT JT Eberhard from FreeThought Blogs WWJTD will be speaking at the University of Minnesota for the student group CASH – Campus Atheists, Skeptics and Humanists. He’ll be giving a talk called “Activism and Why Atheism Rocks!”. Tonight, 7pm at Smith Hall, Room 231, 207 Pleasant Street SE, Minneapolis, MN. There’s talk of pizza and karaoke at nearby Campus Pizza afterwards.

SUNDAY I’m hosting the Atheists Talk radio show and podcast and we’re interview some guy who’s going to be talking about some stuff, which would be pretty meh except the guy is fricking Dr. LAWRENCE KRAUSS and the stuff he’ll be talking about are the wild ideas in his newest book The Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing. You can read my write-up for the event at the Minnesota Atheists Atheists Talk radio web page. And if you’re not local, the website will also tell you how to stream the interview and call or email with questions during Dr. Krauss’s visit.

And this one’s a bit farther out, but another FreeThought Blogger, Jen McCreight, the author of Blag Hag will be speaking at the March public meeting of Minnesota Atheists on March 18th. She’ll be giving her talk “God’s Lady Problem”. More details like time, location, etc. can be found at the Minnesota Atheists Meetup page for this event.

 

Exciting Atheist Speakers in Minneapolis!

Atheist Billboard Celebration

Brianne Bilyeu, , , , 1,023 Comments

Yesterday a group of Minnesota Atheists gathered at The Public House restaurant for an evening of socializing and celebrating the two billboards that are nearing the end of their month-long run. There was one couple who was attending this as their first MNA meetup; they had donated to the billboard fund and wanted to gather for the last hurrah.

I sat next to a group that discussed  the joke that was Darrel Issa’s hearing on the constitutionality of the HHS rules on contraception and the now infamous aspirin as contraception quote from Foster Friess (aka, keep your legs shut you filthy sluts), then we chatted books. One of the guys tried to keep us on track about the “serious” books we were reading, but then someone mentioned the Hunger Games and all was lost (ohmigawd – only a little over one month until the movie comes out!). We were also sitting next to the producer of Atheists Talk, the MNA radio show that airs every Sunday morning at 9am on KTNF AM950, so we talked about some of the upcoming guests – it’s quite the lineup!

There was a fun 10-question quiz about religion, atheism and separation of church and state. One of the new attendees ended up winning the free Minnesota Atheists t-shirt prize. The shirts were also available for sale – $6.66 each. And then we all trooped outside into the brisk Minnesota weather to take a group photo under the billboard. I haven’t seen the photo posted up on the meetup site or mnatheists.org yet, but here’s a pic that was taken earlier this month when the sign was being put up:

Billboard by Minnesota Atheists

Billboard in Minneapolis by Minnesota Atheists. Photo by Lynn Fellman.

I can’t properly describe to you how this photo doesn’t do the billboard’s SCREAMING YELLOW!!! justice, especially at night when the board is illuminated by three powerful lights. I’ll post the photo that we took last night when it become available.

Both billboards – this one and the one in Saint Paul – come down on Monday. They’ve been up for the month and the committee overseeing the billboards are very pleased with the reception, the media attention, and the increase in people who have signed up on the MNA meetup group. And from the water cooler gossip being tossed around last night, it sounds like this might be something that MNA is interested in doing again in the future.

Atheist Billboard Celebration

Coffee With Bernie

Brianne Bilyeu, , 146 Comments

A gentleman named Gary DeSomber sent me a video short that he wrote, produced and appeared in (he plays Boppa). He created Coffee With Bernie for an atheist film festival. It won 1st place in two film festivals, Cedar Rapids Iowa and La Jolla, California and was shown in two other fests.

Gary knows that I’m posting his video today, and I’ve invited him to browse the comments for any feedback y’all might have. He is about to start filming a longer production (30-35 minutes), and may even attempt a feature length film one day soon. He’s active in one of his local Freethinkers groups, and plans on taking “lots of jabs at organized religion” in his upcoming works. He has a website where you can watch his other short film and learn more about him. If you have any constructive criticism on Coffee With Bernie, or ideas for future productions for Gary, I invite you to write them below.

Coffee With Bernie

Awesome Reason Rally Promo

Brianne Bilyeu, , 412 Comments

The Hubby is an atheist. We’re on the same level when it comes why it’s important to keep religion out of government. We agree that the objections against gay rights, women’s rights, abortion, stem cell research, etc. are mostly rooted in religious ideology. We differ on activism, though. The Hubby is pretty private when it comes to his beliefs, and while he supports others who speak out about injustices and fight for equality, he’s not usually on the front lines. That’s fine; we all contribute to the things we find important in different ways.

So I was a little surprised when the Hubby agreed to come to the Reason Rally in Washington D.C. with me. Now, I’m fully aware that one of the reasons he decided to shell out extra $$$ for a second plane ticket is because he’s never been to D.C., and my guy is a bit of a history buff. Also, he knew that I would like his company on the trip. And as an atheist he supports the idea of the rally even if doesn’t feel the need to be present at the actual event. So there were several thoughts that played into his decision to join me in D.C., but he wasn’t as freaking insanely excited to participate in the Reason Rally as me.

Until I showed him this:

And now he’s all like:

Thanks, The Thinking Atheist!

Awesome Reason Rally Promo

Jesus vs. Doctor Who

Brianne Bilyeu, , , , 3,319 Comments

Heh. A kickass atheist, nerdy, Doctor-loving coworker forwarded this to me. It’s copyright 2007, so I’m assuming it’s made the rounds in the past, but I’ve never seen it and it made me lulz lots, so I thought I’d pass it on.

Seen at Unholy Office. Original material in two posts from Home on the Strange.

 

Jesus vs. Doctor Who

Sean Faircloth: Attack of the Theocrats

Brianne Bilyeu, , , , , 923 Comments

Atheists Talk radio show is interviewing politician and church-state separation activist Sean Faircloth this upcoming Sunday, January  22nd. Starting in 2009 Sean Faircloth was the Executive Director of the Secular Coalition of America, and in 2011 he became the Director of Strategy and Policy for the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science.

I’m hosting Atheists Talk this weekend, so in preparation and interest I have started reading his newest book, Attack of the Theocrats, and watching videos of his speeches. I think I’m going to connect with his message that secular activists need to focus first on the real human harm that results from religious privilege, and not get lost in symbolic battles that  stoke theistic ire and strengthen resistance to secular activism.

From Attack of the Theocrats:

…the secular movement suffers from a noble flaw. Secular people tend to have an almost religious faith in statistics and dry arguments and abstractions as the proper method by which to carry the day. This has made it difficult to connect with the broader American public, particularly when many of our battles emphasize symbols – and not the numerous religious laws that harm real people.

Secular Americans remain a sleeping giant, a huge demographic that has thus far failed to flex its own muscle, much less galvanize the general population. We ignore people suffering under religious privilege while shaking our fist at a slapped-together manger with a plastic baby Jesus in the town square at Christmas time. While symbols are meaningful and these particular symbols on public grounds do violate Madison’s Constitution, Secular Americans must do better to reach all Americans. We must explain the human story – the human harm and the outright abuse of our tax dollars that result from religious privileging in law.

In the video below Mr. Faircloth outlines for the audience a few of the cases from Attack of the Theocrats, and lists his proposals for how secular activists can direct our efforts to focus on religious privilege that is enshrined in laws, and which are causing real human harm and waste of tax dollars.

Video first seen at RDF.

Sean Faircloth: Attack of the Theocrats

Upcoming Show: Atheists Talk with David Silverman

Brianne Bilyeu, , , , , 446 Comments

Imma be on the radio again tomorrow! I’m actually pretty excited to sit in on this interview; we’re speaking with David Silverman, the current president of American Atheists. He’s going to talk about the upcoming Reason Rally in Washington D.C., which is an event that the Hubby and I are considering attending next March. From the Reason Rally website:

The intent is to unify, energize, and embolden secular people nationwide, while dispelling the negative opinions held by so much of American society… and having a damn good time doing it! It will be the largest secular event in world history. There will be music, comedy, great speakers, and lots of fun… and it’s free!

The three main goals of the rally are:

  • To encourage attendees (and those who can’t make it) to come out of the closet as an atheist, or at least a supporter of secular values.
  • To dispel stereotypes – there is no one “True Atheist” no matter what your pastor or parent may tell you. We will have non-theists from all political persuasions, ethnicities, genders, and backgrounds. We will show that there are atheists in every American demographic.
  • Legislative equality. We want to show the country that atheists can run for office and adequately represent theists, just as theists in office can represent atheists proudly and openly. We deserve a seat at the table just like theists, and we hope this rally can put our values in the radar of American voters, who may one day elect an atheist to public office.

The 2008 American Religious Identification Survey estimates that 12% of Americans identify as atheist or agnostic. According to google.com/publicdata there are 307,006,550 people in the United States. 12% of that is 36.8 million people who identify as atheist/agnostic.

That number sounds large, but it still seems pretty lonely being a non-believer when I’m outside of the internet or my close circle of friends. I feel a bit sad when I hear coworkers talking so freely about going to church on Sunday or going to a Bible study this or that evening, while I hesitate to share the exciting news that I’m a radio show host! because the next comment is “Really? For what?” And then there’s that sinking feeling when I realize that I’ve just shared a secular viewpoint that is not appreciated by the majority of people in the conversation. Also, there are the often innocently asked but ultimately silly or annoying or frustrating or laughable or offensive questions revolving around my atheism. Like the question I received from someone at work when I told them that I had visited Asissi, Italy. They looked confused and asked “But why? You’re an atheist. What did you do there?” 

I know a handful of people who think that they don’t know any atheists (hah!). Heck, I spoken to atheists who think they’re the only atheist they know!

If we can get a large enough number of people to the Reason Rally, not only do we have a fun time at a secular event with other non-theists, but we show the world that there are more of us around than they may think. We show them that people they know are atheists. We show them that we’re happy, healthy and not afraid or ashamed to tell the world that we don’t need a god to make us good, moral, upstanding human beings. We show them that we can know joy, exhilaration, peace and love without any sort of supernatural presence or interference. We show them that there is an entire group of us who are willing to fight to keep religion out of our government. And I imagine we’ll suprise the heck out of ourselves when we look around the mall that day and think…oh wow – there really are a lot of us!

So yeah.

Reason Rally. David Silverman. This Sunday, 9am on 950AM KTNF. You can listen to the show live or find us on iTunes under “Atheists Talk”.

Upcoming Show: Atheists Talk with David Silverman