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By Bjorn Watland
Atheist, humanist, secular humanist, Bright, freethinker, secularist, naturalist: these are all words I've heard people use to describe themselves. I recall the diversity of identifiers used at the Atheist Coming Out Day last year. I was reminded of this diversity when an issue came up with the newsletter for a secular organization: Should "humanism" be capitalized?
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 By George Kane
Our February Meeting opened with the election of officers for the 2010 year. All of the candidates were unopposed, and were elected by voice acclamation: President, August Berkshire; Associate President, Laura Hutt; Chair, George Kane; Associate Chair, Steve Petersen; Treasurer, Brian Knoblock; Secretary, Rick Rohrer; Directors-at-large Karen Burke, Mike Haubrich and Cody Peterson.
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Beyond Errancy:
How to Use Bible Contradictions to Refute Christianity
When you discuss religion with Christians, do you just end up talking past each other? Most of us have had such encounters, where our arguments from science and reason are rebutted by biblical myths. We walk away from these discussions dismayed by our adversary’s shortcomings in reason, while they leave shaking their heads at our ignorance of the Word of God.
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 By August Berkshire
I’d like to begin where our previous president, Jeannette Watland, left off last month, by highlighting three more women who have made extraordinary contributions to Minnesota Atheists. I join Jeannette in encouraging more women to step forward as atheist leaders.
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By Greg Peterson
A week after Vic Chesnutt's death by intentional overdose at Christmas, I wanted to do a little homage to the musician at a gathering of friends and family. I was the real fan...not everyone there knew him. So I put on one of his recent albums, Skitter on Takeoff, and poured a round of drinks for the circle. From the music coming from the speakers, I think everyone understood my affection for this singer. His voice has a broken, emotive eloquence, and his lyrics are evocative and poetic.
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By John Robinson
I recently had a conversation on the subject of gay marriage with an acquired relative who is proudly, loudly Catholic. It is her adamant opinion that gay citizens should accept only civil union status and that the term “marriage” is entirely out of bounds for homosexuals. Curious about how she could defend a policy of “separate but equal” I continued to debate her despite my prescient knowledge of where the conversation would lead.
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By Eric Jayne
Predicting the future has been as popular throughout human history as sex and war. The problem with most prognosticators, however, is that their predictions are so vague that just about any significant event can be interpreted as a validation of said predictions. My following predictions for the next decade might be many things, but “vague” is not one of them. I have taken a more audacious approach by injecting specificity, so take that Nostradamus!
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By George Kane
Our first public meeting of the decade got off to a rocky start as members and interested newcomers arrived at the Ridgedale Library. The meeting room there, it turned out, was booked for a local Democratic Party meeting. A phone call over to the Southdale Library discovered that we were, in fact, booked there instead. The group was forced to move the presentation by State Representative Phyllis Kahn to the Southdale Library, but first Chair Jack Caravela convened a business meeting, in the hall outside the Ridgedale meeting room. There we conducted the nomination of officers for the coming year, as required by our constitution. The candidates’ campaign biography statements appear beginning on page four.
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By Jeannette Watland
If someone were to ask me four years ago what my happy place was like, the answer would be very different than what it is today. I have never been a fan of the outdoors. I'm not athletic and have never been camping. Camp Quest of Minnesota has completely changed my perception of ‘happy.’ I'll even be so bold as to say that it has completely changed my life.
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 By Jeannette Watland
It's a familiar scenario. You go to an atheist event and walk into a room full of men. There may be a few women, but in many cases men make up the majority of atheist groups. Why is this? There is no original sin in atheism. There is no book telling us women are inferior. We don't force our women to cover up for religious reasons and women can hold office in these organizations with no questions asked. Atheism seems like it would be the perfect platform for empowerment. So why is it that these groups have such a hard time attracting more women?
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There are groups in Minnesota that are busy tearing down the wall that separates church and state. These groups are well staffed, well organized, and well funded. They are also highly motivated. When their activities go unchecked, the religious freedom of all Minnesotans –believers and non-believers alike – is slowly eroded. It’s time for us to fight back.
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