====================================================================== MITAAH News -- Volume #2 / Issue #3 -- September 19, 1997 (sent sporadically to mitaah@mit.edu mailing list) Pseudo-random samplings of information that may relate to atheism, agnosticism, humanism, freethought, or church-state separation issues. Please send any promising material to reagan@mit.edu. http://www.mit.edu/~mitaah/ ====================================================================== General Meeting: Tuesday, September 23 room 54-923 (9th floor lounge, Green Building) Agenda: Group planning, outreach activities, November retreat Discussion Topic: "Religion at MIT" ====================================================================== In this issue: * Upcoming events * AAH-GCF lunch forums * Retreat update * Mailing list update * News and views * It's a joke, son. ====================================================================== Upcoming Events --------------- Monday, September 22: Publicity: Drop Poster Painting and Free Food! 7:30 p.m., 4th floor of Student Center Tuesday, September 23: General Meeting and Discussion: Religion at MIT 7:30 p.m., 54-923 (9th floor, Green Bldg) Tuesday, September 30: Guest Speaker and Discussion--Harvard Humanist Chaplain Tom Ferrick will lead a discussion on Humanism, location TBA Tuesday, October 7: General Meeting and Discussion: topic TBA Wednesday, October 15: Publicity: Infinite Corridor Panel Decorating and Free Food! Friday, October 17: Council for Secular Humanism/Campus Freethought Alliance conference: TBA Wednesday, October 22: Publicity: Drop Poster Painting and Free Food (Change Infinite Corridor Panel?) Veteran's Day Weekend November 8-9: MITAAH Retreat, Intervale, NH ------------------------------------------------------------------------ AAH-GCF Lunch Forums off to a great start! Our first meeting (9/17 at noon) was a great success, with about a dozen people stopping by to discuss morality, memetics, ethical dilemmas, and why brains in vats should avoid driving trolleys. It was great seeing diverse opinions and ideas from both the theistic and non-theistic members of the forum. The forums will continue, moving to every other Thursday, 12-2. The next topic looks to be "Christianity and Science," with a focus on the evolution/creation debate and how theistics resolve conflicts between science and faith. Watch the mitaah mailing list for times and rooms! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Now taking reservations for the retreat! We are ready to begin organizing the big event. We've set a flat-rate cost of $25 for the weekend, which includes lodging, dinner, plus some subsidies for transportation. In case you haven't heard, here are the details once again: The First Annual MITAAH Fellowship Retreat November 8-9, 1997 -- Intervale, NH A weekend of god-free, human-centered outdoor entertainment to provide fellowship, friendship, and support to humanists, skeptics and non-believers at MIT. Location: MITOC Intervale Cabin (near North Conway/Jackson) Departure: 9-10am Saturday Return: 8-9pm Sunday (don't worry, Monday and Tuesday are MIT holidays!) Cost: $25 (includes lodging, dinner, breakfast, and gas money) Contact: reagan@mit.edu The cabin is located on top of a hill about 1/2 mi. from the nearest road. It's a real wilderness home, with gas heat, gas stove, gas lighting, and no electricity or running water. The grounds include several acres of woods, a spring, and a (recently rebuilt) outhouse. Activities: * Sightseeing in the White Mountains * Fun activities with the group * A big home-cooked dinner * Philosophizing around the campfire * A Sunday trip: either sightseeing, shopping, or backcountry hiking What you need to bring: * Lunch/snacks for Sunday afternoon * Some kind of water bottle * Backpack to carry stuff * Sleeping bag/pillow (and whatever else you need for comfort) * Warm clothing (lots of comfy layers!) * Sturdy footwear We have room for up to a dozen people in the sleeping loft, with additional space on the couch, on the floor, in the yurt (yurts are cool), or in the woods (winter camping is fun!). We need to start taking reservations, because there is a limited amount of (indoor!) space available. To reserve a place, bring your $25 to Matt Reagan in 66-038 (zwrite reagan to see if I'm in, usually 9-5 M-F). With your reservation you'll get an info packet with all the details about what to bring and what to wear. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mailing Lists We have the following lists for your reading pleasure: mitaah Official announcements mitaah-discussion Free-form discussion mitaah-gcf-forum AAH-Graduate Christian Fellowship discussion forum To add/remove yourself from any of the lists, use the following command from your athena% prompt: 'blanche $USER' Switches are '-a' to add, '-d' to remove. Your request will not be processed until 2am the next morning, so there may be up to a 26 hour wait for changes to take effect. Please do not send requests to the list itself, and remember that you are responsible for your own list maintenance. Other AAH lists include: mitaah-officers Feedback to the officers mitaah-planning Feedback to the planning board -------------------------------------------------------------------------- News and Views Excerpts from mailing lists and news sources From CFA News: "God Is Relevant" > If we believe the pollsters, the United States is largely a > "Christian" nation. An phenomenal four out of five American adults > claim to be Christians. > > That self-described (though undefined) faith seems to be widely > represented at all demographic levels. George Gallup, Jr., notes: > "The United States is unique in that it has one of the highest > levels of formal education in the world, and at the same time, one > of the highest levels of religious faith." > > Not surprisingly, most Americans have a high view of the > Christian faith. According to the Barna Research Group, eighty- > five percent of American adults think Christianity has a positive > impact on society. Even among non-Christians, seventy-seven percent > have a favorable opinion of Christianity. > > Sadly, other religious faiths were not as highly regarded. The > percentage of respondents to the Barna survey who had a positive > view of Jews, only fifty-eight percent; of Buddhists, forty-five > percent; of Mormons, forty-three percent; of Muslims, forty > percent; and of atheists, thirteen percent. > . . . > > Atheists, of course, get the worst rap. They always have. Plato > suggested atheists comprise such a grave danger to society that, if > convicted twice of "impiety," they should be executed. > > John Locke argued against granting equal civil rights to > unbelievers since lacking any fear of God or future judgment they > seldom abide by "promises, covenants, and oaths, which are the > bonds of human society." > > In both Britain and the United States, Locke's argument was used > for years to prevent individuals from taking public office or > testifying in court. > . . . > God Is Relevant (c) 1997 by Luis Palau ----- From AANews #332: "Oh, my!" RELIGIOUS TALK SHOW: DEATH PENALTY FOR GAYS An Orange County Christian radio talk show host is charged with calling for the death penalty for homosexuals, according to reports from at least one gay rights groups. Gene Elder, Archive Director of the Texas-based HAPPY Foundation, charged in a press release issued this past weekend that Rick Agozino, host of "Crosstalk" on radio station KBRT-AM "urged callers to write to their state legislators asking them to enact laws that would punish homosexuality according to biblical law, meaning capital punishment..." Elder says the remarks were uttered in Agozino's August 29 show. "Lesbian love, sodomy are viewed by God as being detestable and abominable... Civil magistrates are to put people to death who practice these things," Agozino allegedly said. . . . American Atheist Press correspondent Dave Kong tried to contact Mr. Agozino for a response. "When I identified myself and who I represented, the receptionist could only say, 'oh, my!'" . . . Agozino's remarks are typical of an extreme fundamentalist religious position, and that espoused by a small but growing and influential movement known as Christian Reconstructionism. Reconstructions seek to reconfigure society along "Bible Law," Old Testament lines. The movement's patriarch, R.J. Rushdoony, is the author of numerous turgid books and pamphlets, and maintains that the Bible prescribes the death penalty for over a dozen transgressions, including sodomy, blasphemy, witchcraft, murder, abortion and even disrespect to parents. ----- Silly, but true, religion news, from the James Randi Newsletter: BOMBAY, India: A Hindu cult near Bombay is worshipping a pet dog as the "reincarnation" of a holy man who died many years ago, a newspaper said Wednesday. The "Asian Age" said a two-year-old white Pomeranian, named "Sai" after the holy man, was the object of worship at Panvel town. On Thursdays, devotees gather for "blessings" from Sai, who is fitted out with saffron cloth. The Age said the dog worship had its roots in a legend, according to which Sai Baba, the Hindu holy man, appeared before his devotees in the form of a dog in order to test them. Sai, the dog, sleeps in an air-conditioned room. His teeth are brushed once in five days with a special, soft bristle-brush and toothpaste imported from London. Twice a week he is bathed with soap and an assortment of 22 shampoos also brought from London. There are special towels for his use. The dog is fed imported vegetable "bones," butter and chocolates from a silver bowl, the Age said. MOSCOW, Sept 7 (AFP) -A Russian Orthodox priest has warned one can go mad or become suicidal from attending the shows of US magician David Copperfield, currently on tour in Russia. "Your participation and even your presence as spectators during such occult performances have spiritual and physical consequences that can lead to madness and suicide," Father Tikhon, the head of the Sretenskiyi monastery in Moscow warned in an interveiw with Itar-Tass news agency. He said Muscovites do not realize they risk becoming spiritually dependent on dark, evil forces simply by attending a Copperfield show. The magician is to give his first of several performances in Moscow Sunday evening as part of closing celebrations for the 850th anniversary of the city. Tickets for his shows -- some up to 600 dollars apiece -- sold so quickly that organizers decided to add two shows to the three already scheduled. Copperfield, who has astonished spectators by making the Statue of Liberty or one of the wagons of the Orient-Express disappear, said Saturday he always ensured that he could make reappear anything that vanishes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All in good fun Jesus Haploid Christ? "Among mammals, a virgin birth (parthenogenesis) can only produce female offspring, for chromosomal reasons. Messiahs are mammals. Therefore, Jesus was... On the other hand, among turkeys, the chromosomal situation is such that all products of virgin birth are males. So if Jesus was a male, he might also have been..." (Zindler's own punctuations) Frank Zindler, in a note to the debate Does god exist? with John Koster ----- Blasphemous? This is from "News of the Weird": WEIRDNUZ.493 (News of the Weird, July 18, 1997): In May, the Convent nightclub opened on Armitage Street in Chicago, a traditional dance club but themed after the Catholic Church. The non-Catholic owners, sisters Surita and Shar Mansukhani, feature restrooms labeled Hymns and Hers, house drinks called "Holy Water" and "Confessionals," waitresses in typical Catholic schoolgirl outfits (plaid skirt, white blouse, knee- high stockings), and bartenders in priests' collars. The VIP rooms are Heaven (upstairs) and Hell (lower level). Said Surita, "We're certainly not intending to be sacrilegious in any way." ----- The new MITAAH theme song? Plastic Jesus (by The Gold Coast Singers, c. 1969) Hello, friends and neighbors, How do you do? We're here to pick and sing And we hope we bring Some happiness to you! --- I don't care if it rains or freezes 's long as I've got my Plastic Jesus Glued to the dashboard of my car, You can buy Him phosphorescent Glows in the dark, He's Pink and Pleasant, Take Him with you when you're travelling far. It makes no difference if we hit a bump, he's held on by a suction cup, sittin' on the dashboard of my car. I can even go a hund'rd miles-an-hour, as long as I've got that dee-vine power, sittin' on the dashboard of my car." You can buy a Sweet Madonna Dressed in rhinestones sitting on a Pedestal of abalone shell, Goin' ninety, I'm not wary 'Cause I've got my Virgin Mary, Guaranteeing I won't go to Hell. (All together now!) I don't care if it rains or freezes 's long as I've got my Plastic Jesus Glued to the dashboard of my car. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------