SECULAR Center (TM) Blog

Action Alert: Volunteers Needed at Houston Planned Parenthood!

2010-04-21T23:10:00.000-05:00

SECULAR Center Volunteers:
Please read this copied e-mail from Planned Parenthood. They really need volunteer escorts in Houston on Saturday to walk with clients who have to walk across the street from the parking lot into the building among the pro-life protesters. If you can help, please contact Anitra at Anitra.Daniel(at)pphset.org.

Please let us know if you volunteer so that we can keep track of all the great things we've done for our community! Also, don't forget that the Houston Church of Freethought picnic is at 1:00 this Saturday at Bear Creek Park, Pavilion #1.

Thanks for your support!

_______________

We are in desperate need of volunteer escorts this Saturday, all day at 3601 Fannin. Several of our “every Saturday” volunteers will be unavailable and that puts us in a vulnerable position. Can you help us fill the schedule?

Last weekend, the opposition was relentless from 7:30am until we closed the doors. They know that their time to directly harass our clients is winding down and they have amped up their efforts and rhetoric. We really need you…so if you can volunteer for a shift, please let me know as soon as possible.

ALSO:

We need one or two volunteers at Prevention Park, our new building located at 4600 Gulf Freeway (Cullen Exit) from 8:30-10:30am. Our board is meeting there for the first time this Saturday and we need someone to sit in the beautiful lobby to observe for opposition, greet latecomers and direct them to the 5th floor.

If you would like to be considered for this job, send me an email for additional details.

Thank you for your continued support!

Anitra

Saturday
April 24, 2010
7:00a-2:00p

TIME SLOTS
700-900
900-1100
1100-100

Action Alert: Rally to Protest Texas State Board of Education Textbook Changes

2010-04-12T12:17:00.000-05:00

SECULAR Center volunteers are helping to plan a rally to protest the proposed changes to Texas textbooks. American Atheists, among others, is sponsoring the event to be held on May 16th at 11:00 am in Austin, TX. To learn more about the changes, please visit these websites:

Texas State Board of Education (TSBE) Website

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=1156
Media Stories about the Textbook Changes
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/education/13texas.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/13/texas-textbook-massacre-u_n_498003.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/17/AR2010031700560.html

The most important way that you can help right now is to help us find speakers who are teachers, have kids in Texas schools, or are directly affected by the changes in some way (ie textbook writers, etc.). We are looking for most of the speakers to live in Texas. The speakers will each have about 15 minutes.

The SECULAR Center is organizing carpools/buses/shuttles from Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas. If you're interested in participating, please e-mail us! Think about how fun it would be to get hyped up for the rally on a bus with your fellow protesters!

We are also looking for a great, catchy name for the rally! To participate in the discussion, please twitter us @secularcenter or send us an e-mail.

If you're interested in helping to plan in this important event, please contact us!

Godless Group Kicks Off Campaign to Save the Sick

2010-04-08T12:41:00.000-05:00

Our latest press release!

April 6th, 2010 (Houston, TX; Newark, NJ): ’Godless for Good’ is our motto.

SECULAR Center, a godless organization devoted to mobilizing atheists through community service, launched their latest nationwide charitable campaign this past weekend. Over the next five weeks, they will partner with “Be The Match Registry®” to save the lives of patients with leukemia and other life-threatening diseases. The campaign kicked off April 2nd at the American Atheist Convention in Newark, New Jersey and will end on May 6th with the National Day of Reason in Houston, TX.

“Because this life on earth is the only one that we have, life-saving causes are especially important to us” says Noelle George, President of the SECULAR Center. “The SECULAR Center was formed to make a positive difference both in local communities and worldwide. ‘Godless for Good’ is our motto – because we believe that without being good to each other, human beings will not survive and thrive.”

Seventy percent of patients who require bone marrow or cord blood do not have a match in their family. A transplant is often the last option available to save their lives. They depend on the Be The Match Registry® to find a suitable donor as well as raise the funds to help make their transplant possible. The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), a project of Be the Match FoundationSM , tests volunteers DNA and tries to match them with patients in need.

“The Be the Match® program embodies secular values such as compassion, science, and community” says George. “This partnership will allow us to work together to make a greater difference for this important cause. We are very excited about this campaign and look forward to the widespread participation of the non-theist community”

The SECULAR Center is reaching out to non-theist groups nationwide to unite by participating in this program. To get your area involved in the SECULAR Center’s Be the Match campaign, please contact the SECULAR Center at secularcenterusa@gmail.com. You could Be the Match that will save someone’s life!

SECULAR Center in the News!

2010-02-10T15:47:00.000-06:00

Last night, I was interviewed by a Fox News reporter about the Texas Constitution, the misconception that atheists are not good people, and the SECULAR Center. The clip ended up cutting out most of what we talked about, of course, but I wanted to share it anyway.

Hopefully next time I'll have more air time to talk about the SECULAR Center's great activities. In the meantime, look for an update soon about our gathering with Kate last night!

Noelle

Get Involved! The SECULAR Center’s Response to “Pro-Life”Protests at Planned Parenthood

2010-02-05T11:10:00.004-06:00

Last fall, as in previous years, a local “pro-life” group organized a 40-day protest at Planned Parenthood facilities around Houston. Protesters got on their knees and prayed, carried pro-life signs, wore t-shirts with biblical phrases on them, and formed lines along the sidewalks leading to the entrances of the Planned Parenthood centers. These actions made it very difficult for potential clients, who in many cases had to walk through these protesters to enter the building due to the location of parking lots across three streets. These protests can intimidate clients who may or may not be receiving controversial treatments such as abortions and may even result in some clients not receiving the reproductive health care that they can’t get anywhere else.

Abortions are only a small part of the services that Planned Parenthood provides. They also perform wellness checkups, sexually-transmitted disease (STD) tests, free birth control (to those who qualify based on income level), sexual education, vasectomies, and many other much-needed services. Planned Parenthood “seeks a world in which all children are wanted and cared for, all women and men have equal rights and dignity, sexuality is expressed with honesty, equality, and responsibility, and the decision to bear children is private and voluntary.” The mission of Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas is to “ensure the right and ability of all individuals to manage their sexual and reproductive health by providing health services, education, and advocacy.”

From February 17th to March 28th 2010, the same local pro-life group is organizing another 40-day protest to coincide with Lent. In order to support their clients who have to endure this emotional harassment, Planned Parenthood has organized a program in which volunteers escort the clients from parking lots to the entrances of their building. The volunteers do not interact with the protesters; they simply provide a reassuring presence to Planned Parenthood’s clients as they walk to and enter the building.

The SECULAR Center has decided to get involved with the escort program and show that our community supports Planned Parenthood. We are organizing volunteers to be trained to, and escort clients together in groups of three or four, starting on February 20th and continuing on every Saturday and select weekdays throughout the 40-day protest period. If you’d like to get involved, please e-mail us at secularcenterusa@gmail.com. Additional dates will be announced soon through our e-mailing list. If you haven’t signed up for our e-mailing list, please go to www.secularcenterusa.org and enter your information in the form on the home page.

The Planned Parenthood escort program is an important way that our community can show its support for reproductive freedom that is unencumbered by religious ideology and dogma. Please consider joining us in our campaign to assist Planned Parenthood during the Lent “Pro-Life“ demonstrations.

February and March Events, including Darrel Ray, author of "The God Virus"

2010-02-04T20:08:00.000-06:00

The SECULAR Center has a lot going on in February and March!

First off, we have Kate's Gathering on February 9th at a local Cafe Express in Houston.

We have also arranged a speech and book signing with Darrel Ray, the author of "The God Virus", in conjunction with our Planned Parenthood campaign starting in February. Darrel will be speaking at the Planned Parenthood facility in Houston TX on February 19th at 7:00 pm. If you'd like to attend, please RSVP to our e-mail address. The cost is $10 per person.

In March, we'll be participating in the Houston Humane Society "K9 Fun Run" to raise awareness and money for homeless animals, as well as continuing our Planned Parenthood campaign. More about the Planned Parenthood campaign will be in an additional post.

Look for our newsletter to be sent out early in February. If you're not signed up for our newsletter, please visit http://www.secularcenterusa.org/ to sign up!

Thanks!

Kate Update

2010-02-02T21:56:00.000-06:00

To date, we have raised almost $500 for Kate and her family! Every little bit will help, so please consider donating if you can!

One week from today we'll be having Kate's Gathering at Cafe Express at 1101 Uptown Park Boulevard in Houston. Please join us if you can from 7-9pm to meet Kate and show her the support of the Houston secular community.

Thanks for everything!

UPDATE on Cancer Patient Kate

2010-01-31T21:48:00.001-06:00

Within hours of sending out the e-mail about Kate today, we had five responses with offers of a place to stay for Kate. I ran the offers by Kate and she was able to choose the option that best fits her needs.

We have also had an outpouring of support with transportation offers and other offers of donations to help Kate and her family. If you can make a donation to help Kate, please e-mail us and let us know!

We'll be having a gathering on Wednesday, February 10th from 7-9pm so that Kate can meet the Houston secular community and so that we can meet her! If you're in Houston, please come on by! Details will be up on our website calendar within the week.

Thanks for all you do, and thanks to the Houston community for their generosity!

Freethinking Cancer Patient Needs Help!

2010-01-30T11:36:00.001-06:00

This information will also be sent out shortly to the SECULAR Center's mailing list.

___________
Yesterday I received an e-mail message from Megan, a member of Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers. Megan's best friend, Kate, is battling a brain tumor and will be evaluated for an experimental treatment at MD Anderson's Brain and Spine Center from February 7th to the 11th. The Lance Armstrong Foundation is sponsoring her plane fare, but Kate needs a place to stay and transportation while she's here. Kate and her husband are also atheists. Today I spoke with Megan on the phone at length about Kate's situation.

In Megan's words, "Kate is a marvelous woman who volunteers tirelessly to help others in her community. She is witty, smart, and fantastically creative. Her medical care has exhausted her family’s savings, so a hotel room is not affordable. She will be traveling alone, as her husband and three young children will be staying in Iowa. Kate is able-bodied and needs no special assistance. Most people have no idea she has a brain tumor. But after five spinal surgeries, spinal radiation and gamma-knife radiation to her brain (the tumors started in her spinal cord and climbed to her brain), she is running out of treatment options. We are crossing our fingers for MD Anderson’s treatment."

The SECULAR Center is working to find Kate somewhere to stay from February 7th to 11th while she's in Houston. She will be evaluated for the treatment at 1515 Holcombe Blvd, near the Medical Center and it would be great if she could stay somewhere close to there. If not, perhaps someone would be willing to drive Kate to and from her evaluations? We're also hoping to find someone who can pick Kate up at the airport on Sunday and drop her off again on Thursday. If you can't help with lodging or driving, perhaps you would be willing to make a donation towards Kate's medical expenses or toward her travel/food expenses while she's here in Houston? If you're willing to help in any of these ways, please e-mail us!

I have personally checked this out and verified that Kate is a real person, a member of the Freethought community, who needs our help. I would offer my own guest room, but I will be out of town for work that week. Kate's situation is one of the reasons that I founded the SECULAR Center - to help people in need. Kate is in need of our support. Please help us help Kate.

SECULAR Center Volunteer Discussion

2010-01-26T18:49:00.002-06:00

We had a great time at our volunteer discussion event in Houston last Sunday! About 20 people showed up to learn more about the SECULAR Center and discuss secular volunteering. People had some great ideas and contributions and we spent about two hours chatting before everyone headed home.

One of our Houston volunteers, Sally, made a great poster board with information about the SECULAR Center:

One item discussed during the event is a special campaign for Planned Parenthood. Pro-lifers are planning a 40-day protest at a Planned Parenthood location in Houston this February and March. The SECULAR Center is going to organize volunteers to escort patients into and out of this Planned Parenthood location. The first day we'll volunteer is February 20th with a number of follow-up events. Optional training will occur on February 18th, so mark your calendars for these dates!

Thanks for your support!

SECULAR Center Volunteer Discussion & Other Events

2010-01-23T11:58:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow at 2:30 pm the SECULAR Center will be gathering together volunteers in the Houston area to discuss our events calendar for this year and encourage people to get involved in volunteerism. The event will be from 2:30-4:00 at the Cafe Express in Uptown Park. We will have information about the SECULAR Center, show our 'About SECULAR Center' Video, and have SECULAR Center personnel on hand to answer questions and hear feedback.

In February we're sponsoring Darrel Ray, the author of The God Virus, as well as holding a volunteer event at Planned Parenthood. Look for our monthly e-mail on February 1st with more details. If you're not signed up for our e-mails, please go to our website and sign up!

Please join us at these exciting and fun events if you can! Feel free to e-mail us for more information!

Thanks!
Noelle

Jesus Saves and Table Manners in Mississippi

2010-01-20T19:55:00.000-06:00

So, I just got back to Houston from traveling for two days through Mississippi for my new engineering job. I went to some pretty rural places, including Lumberton, Tylertown (population about 2000), and Liberty. I stayed overnight in Hattiesburg (population 45,000). You might think over a two day trip for work that religion didn't come up, but you'd be sadly mistaken. First of all, we couldn't drive a mile without seeing a church or a sign saying 'Praise Jesus!' or 'Jesus saves!' and so on.

Last night when I was at the hotel, I went down to the lounge for a free drink and ended up talking to some really nice folks. Of course, religion came up - it is the south after all! So, I gritted my teeth and said that I am an Atheist. Oh my goodness did I regret that! One guy got so mad he had to get up and leave the table. He kept saying, 'How can you believe that nothing happens after you die! You've never known nothingness!' I kept starting to say things back to him, but then he would interrupt me and say the same thing again. Then he said, 'That just pisses me off' and he left for a while. At least I didn't get the 'How can you be a moral person without God?' That one is really annoying. Other than during the religion talk, I really enjoyed talking with these two guys, but I hope someday that telling someone I'm an Atheist will not scare them or make them so mad that they have to leave the table.

Today at lunch, we ate at a home cooking place that has big tables with a lazy susan in the middle. The tables seat about 15 people and you sit with whoever comes into the restaurant at the same time as you. There are large dishes of food, and everyone turns the lazy susan to the dish they want and serves themselves. This was at McComb, MS, population about 13,500. I guess it's not so strange in a small town where everyone knows each other, but can you imagine eating at a big table with a bunch of strangers in New York, Los Angeles or even Houston? Needless to say, it was a little uncomfortable for this big city girl. It didn't help that as we all sat down, one older gentleman asked who was going to 'thank the Lord' for our meal. At least no one offered to do so, and thus I avoided an even more uncomfortable situation than eating at a table with strangers.

"About SECULAR Center" Video Up!

2010-01-18T19:38:00.001-06:00

The "About SECULAR Center" video is now up on our YouTube account and on the front page of our website! We made the video for people who are wondering why they should volunteer with the SECULAR Center, and to let you know how you can get involved! Please check it out and let us know your thoughts!

SCUSA Submits its First Grant!

2010-01-15T20:58:00.000-06:00

Last night at 10:30 pm CST, the SECULAR Center submitted its first federal grant on behalf of SMART Recovery, a secular addiction recovery program, and Atheist Alliance International (AAI). The grant proposal is titled: The SMART Recovery/AAI Substance Abuse Treatment (SASAT) Project.

The grant was almost 75 pages long and detailed the SASAT Project's plan to expand SMART Recovery meetings into 15 areas in the United States over three years, reaching an additional 500 participants per year. The non-religious community has offered its overwhelming support of this program through letters of assistance from SCUSA, AAI, and the American Humanist Association. Year one target expansion areas are Los Angeles, Houston, Washington DC, Kansas City, and Madison, WI.

As part of the SASAT Project, SCUSA has agreed to help recruit volunteer Meeting Facilitators and several paid positions including Program Facilitators for each year one target area, as well as a Project Manager based out of one of the five target areas. So, if you're interested in learning more about this exciting project, please e-mail secularcenterusa@gmail.com.

Happy Solstice and more!

2009-12-21T17:51:00.000-06:00

Today I want to wish everyone in the Northern Hemisphere a happy Winter Solstice and everyone in the Southern Hemisphere a happy Summer Solstice! Sometimes we forget that the Southern Hemisphere is celebrating the Summer Solstice while the Northern Hemisphere is celebrating the Winter Solstice. So, today I want to include everyone around the world by saying, 'Happy Solstice!'

On that international note, I would like to announce that the SECULAR Center now has over 300 supporters in almost 10 different countries around the world! We really appreciate everyone's support and are working hard to ensure that your donations, volunteer hours, and other forms of support are going toward important and much-needed secular charity programs.

To date, we are working with other communities in Texas such as Dallas and San Antonio; as well as Ames IA, Portland OR, Kansas City KS, Los Angeles CA, and more to get SECULAR Center programs underway and coordinate non-theist volunteer and charitable efforts. Look for some exciting announcements about these programs after the New Year!

In Reason,
Noelle

And We're Back!

2009-12-16T23:04:00.000-06:00

Wow, I can't believe that it's been almost a month since I have blogged! So much has been happening both with the SECULAR Center and in my personal life. I got married on November 27th to my partner of 3 years, Keith. We had a small secular ceremony on the Star Cruiser Yacht out of Kemah, TX. Our families traveled from Washington, Ohio, Italy, Massachusetts, Washington DC, and New Mexico to be there and we all had a wonderful time. If you're interested in seeing pictures, friend me on Facebook.

Lots of exciting things have been happening with both the SECULAR Center and the Houston/Texas freethought community. I'm going to separate out the news into different posts and backdate some of them so that they are relevant, so expect to see quite a few posts from me in the next few days. For now, I will tell you that we are wrapping up editing on the new SECULAR Center video! It's a one minute and thirty second video that talks about the SECULAR Center and what we do. As soon as it's up on our website, I will blog with more info about how to find it.

My new husband and I leave tomorrow for Seattle for 10 days for the holidays. I hope all of you are having a great holiday season full of laughter and joy. Please don't forget to give whatever you can during this season since there are so many in need out there.

Thanks and Happy Holidays!
Noelle

SCUSA has been invited to the HEADS Meeting

2009-12-09T00:52:00.020-06:00

The SECULAR Center has been invited to the HEADS Meeting in Washington DC this January! This meeting gathers together all of the leaders of the US National Freethought organizations such as the American Humanist Association, Atheist Alliance International, Atheist Nexus, American Atheists, Freedom From Religion Foundation, Center for Inquiry, and others. The meeting is January 8th-10th 2010. Can you believe we're almost at 2010 already!?!

It's important for SCUSA to attend the HEADS meeting so that we can continue to form partnerships with national organizations. This will help us further our goals, because we want to coordinate all non-theist volunteerism and charitable efforts. Please feel free to send feedback to me at secularcenterusa@gmail.com if there's any ideas or comments you would like me to bring to the table with these national organizations.

Texas Freethought Convention

2009-11-18T23:35:00.001-06:00

The SECULAR Center attended the Texas Freethought Convention on November 14th in San Antonio! The convention was great fun and included interesting speakers such as Stuart Bechman from AAI, Dan Barker from FFRF, Dr. Victor Stenger, and others.

The SECULAR Center had a table set up at the convention and collected over 30 new signups for our e-mailing list! There was also a lot of interest in starting volunteerism and charitable activities in Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin. We're starting to discuss possibilities with members of those communities, and I may travel to Dallas in January to speak at the North Texas Church of Freethought about working together for volunteerism and charitable causes. They are already doing some great things up there including adopting a highway and more!

We now have almost 300 supporters who are signed up for our newsletter and e-mail list. This support is crucial to our goals, because when we apply for grants we have to show that the atheist community is behind us. If you haven't signed up for the e-Newsletter list, please do so today on our website at http://www.secularcenterusa.org/. Thanks!

SECULAR Center on Chariots of Iron Podcast!

2009-11-16T22:36:00.001-06:00

The SECULAR Center's President and Executive Director, Noelle George, is on this week's Chariots of Iron podcast at http://www.chariotsofiron.com/. Check it out and see how she did! Post a comment and let us know what you thought!

They Think; Therefore They Know? Part 5 of 5

2009-11-09T14:44:00.000-06:00

Here is the closing portion of our first weekly series:

So we come to line three, the last and final option in the list of possibilities: Is god both able and willing to prevent evil? Then why does evil exist? This is an issue often debated and the answer from the religious is that god loves us and wants us to grow and learn. In other words, we can’t become better people if we have no challenges. Let’s apply question one to that statement: Is this true all the time? Is there ever a time when we become better without a challenge facing us? Can we learn and grow without challenges? I think we definitely learn more quickly when there is a challenge present. But, that is my opinion. It’s not based on repeatable scientific evidence because it’s not really testable. Therefore, it’s not a fact because it can’t be confirmed or denied.

Let’s move on to question number two: What’s the evidence? Is it provable that evil exists? Well, we know that bad things happen whether or not choose to call them ‘evil’. So yes, evil does exist. But how can we know that god wants us to grow and learn because of evil? Does it say that in the Bible, the source of the Christian religious stories? Not that I know of. In fact, the Bible is not fact either because it doesn’t pass the two questions to distinguish fact. It’s not true all the time; there are many stories and instructions in the Bible that we know not to be true. So how can we know that god wants us to learn from evil? We don’t – it’s not a provable fact, it is opinion.

If only the religious community could distinguish between fact and opinion, I think I could probably have some fun and intelligent discussions with the believers. Until then, I will continue to challenge their confusion between what will continue to be improvable opinion versus provable scientific facts. I hope that you will do the same whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Thanks for reading the first SCUSA weekly series! If you liked it, please let us know so that we can continue and do others! If you didn't, please let us know as well!

SECULAR Center Press Appearances

2009-11-06T15:09:00.000-06:00

The SECULAR Center's visit to Seattle in September has been summarized in an article in the Humanists of Washington Newsletter. Check it out at http://how.artisticconnections.net/archives/fall09.pdf. We are on page 10 of the Newsletter.

We also spent the afternoon last Monday filming the first SCUSA commercial! Since I've never been on camera before, it took me a while to get warmed up to the idea. But, after some coaching from the wonderful Margaret Downey and from our fantastic videographer Chris Moyer, I think we got some good footage! Look for the commercial on YouTube and our website later this month.

Yesterday I had a great conversation with Brian from Atheist Volunteers about partnering with them and we discussed some activities SCUSA can plan for next year. Look for that in a post later this weekend, where I plan to solicit feedback about our ideas.

Thanks for your support of SCUSA!
Noelle

Tell Your Volunteer/Charity Story!

2009-11-05T08:32:00.000-06:00

The SECULAR Center is compiling information about non-theist volunteerism and charitable activities for the 2009 year. We want to be able to say that, for example, non-theists donated 2000L of blood in 2009, or adopted 50 miles of highways, or contributed 2000 cans of food to the hungry.

If you group or you as an individual have volunteered in 2009, we want to hear about it! Please e-mail us at secularcenterusa(at)gmail.com and share with us! You can also write up an article for our newsletter telling us about your activities. The article should be 500 words or less and should detail how you've made a difference.

This weekend I'll be in Kansas City for my bridal shower, so I don't know if I'll be able to post much, but I'll see what I can do. Have a great weekend all, and I'll 'see' you when I get back.

Thanks for supporting SCUSA!
Noelle

They Think; Therefore They Know? Part 4

2009-11-02T08:59:00.001-06:00

Last week, we ended with a quote from Epicurus. I have reposted it here for your reference, along with the first part of the analysis:

"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.

Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?"
- Epicurus; Greek philosopher, 341 BCE to 270 BCE

This quote is a very logical exploration of the four possible scenarios of how god handles evil, which is often debated between theists and non-theists. We can explore each of the four lines in the context of our society’s labels and the definition of god as explained above. There are no other scenarios other than the four described above and each says something about god.

God by definition is omnipotent and omniscient – it knows everything, can see everything, and can do anything. Therefore, god can prevent evil if it wants to. So, we rule out lines one and four because god supposedly can prevent evil. If god can’t prevent evil, then the definition of god is null and void.

If god is able, but not willing to prevent evil, then he just doesn’t care. In this case, why worship a god that doesn’t care about its own people? God would be malevolent and this contradicts the very nature of many of the stories in the Bible, including god caring enough about the Jews to lead them out of slavery and sending Jesus to save man from his sins. This brings us back to question number one – is this true all the time? If god is malevolent, then some of the stories in the Bible are not true, including that of Jesus, and therefore none of the stories can be relied upon. They are opinions, so line two is ruled out.

Check back next week for the end of this series and the remainder of the analysis of the quote: a detailed analysis of line three and a question that is often debated among theists and non-theists.

Thanks!
Noelle

Monster Mash Fun Run

2009-10-31T14:00:00.036-05:00

Today 6 SCUSA volunteers attended the Monster Mash Fun Run in Houston, TX. There were three events: a kids run, a 5K, and a 10K run. Even though we all had to get up at an 'ungodly' hour, the event was lots of fun and we got to see some great costumes!

Picture: Rob, Lynne, Noelle, Keith, Malika, Mathias.

Our volunteers helped set up the drink station at the finish line as well as staffing the one mile drink station for the 5K and 10K races. After the event, we went to IHOP and had brunch. Pictures of some of the great costumes will be up soon on our website. Thanks to the volunteers for their contributions!

The highlight of the day was the sumo wrestler (see picture) staffing the drink station with us. He kept us entertained by adapting popular R&B songs to our task, which was to call out 'Water' or 'Gatorade' to the runners.

The lowlight of the day was at the start of the 5K race when, after a moment of silence for those in uniform, we were subjected to a prayer. We were very surprised when this happened but perhaps we shouldn't have been, because it is Texas after all! I personally felt uncomfortable and excluded during the prayer and I thought that it was inappropriate because of the diverse crowd. Some of the other volunteers seemed to feel uncomfortable as well. I think I will write a letter to the organizers of the race to let them know how their prayer made me feel - not on behalf of the SECULAR Center, because that is not really part of our mission, but just as an individual.

Thanks again to all the great volunteers and we hope to see you at future events!

Noelle

They Think; Therefore They Know? Part 3

2009-10-26T12:10:00.002-05:00

As non-believers, there are at least two questions we can (and do!) ask ourselves to distinguish whether something is fact or opinion:

1. Is this true all the time? Math will always give you the same answer, and so will chemical reactions. Those are proven facts. But opinions can change with time, personalities, and other factors.

I think that astrology is interesting and fun. But does astrology predict someone's entire personality and attitudes based on the date and time of their birth? Astrology has exceptions, which doesn’t make it fact.

2. What's the evidence? Is this thought provable time and time again through experimentation or analysis of data? Is the evidence secondhand, like stories passed down through generations? We don’t allow for hearsay in our court system, so why should we when evaluating religion or the existence of god?

The Native American stories and African creation myths may tell how the rabbit got his twitchy nose or the turtle got his shell, but we know that they are not fact. It's the same with the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic myths about god. There may have been a person named Jesus who lived 2000 years ago, but is there proof that he came from an omnipotent, all-knowing god? Only stories – no scientific facts.

These thoughts bring to mind a quote that will be featured in the next SECULAR Center Newsletter:

"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?"
- Epicurus; Greek philosopher, 341 BCE to 270 BCE

Check back next week for an analysis of this quote according to the questions proposed above!

Atheist Blogroll & Winter Solstice Party in Houston

2009-10-25T21:28:00.002-05:00

SCUSA's blog has been added to The Atheist Blogroll. You can see the blogroll in our sidebar. The Atheist blogroll is a community building service provided free of charge to Atheist bloggers from around the world. If you would like to join, visit Mojoey at Deep Thoughts for more information.

Also, we had a very productive meeting today regarding the Houston Freethought Alliance Winter Solstice Party in December. We are working on finding a venue for December 12th! Please save the date, and contact SCUSA if you'd like to help plan the party! We have various committees you could participate on including Entertainment, Food/Drink, Logistics, Fundraiser (for Camp Quest), and Decorations.

Thanks for supporting SCUSA!

Social Networking

2009-10-24T21:57:00.004-05:00

Yesterday and today we joined some social networking sites including Twitter, Digg, YouTube, and we made a new fan page on Facebook. We also added a page to our website for social networking so that people can see everywhere we are and everything we are doing in one easy place!

This isn't related to volunteerism, but today I also watched a fascinating talk by cosmologist Lawrence Krauss on YouTube from the AAI 2009 Convention. If you have any interest in dark matter, how our universe was formed, and how the universe will die, please watch it! It's quite long, about 1 hr, but it was totally worth it. H/T to Brother Richard's Life Without Faith blog for mentioning it.

Thanks for your support of SCUSA!

Atheist Nexus Conversation

2009-10-22T14:05:00.003-05:00

Recently I read a blog post on Atheist Nexus from an atheist in Sweden who expressed that "I do not understand why there is such a grand hullabaloo about being an atheist'. He went on to express that it shouldn't be a big deal, that we should focus on other parts of our personalities, 'the important parts'. Here is a link to the blog post: http://www.atheistnexus.org/profiles/blogs/atheist-since-birth-in-the

This post disturbed me and I wrote a lengthy response detailing my experiences with being an atheist in Houston. I was never active in the atheist community until I moved here, but now I am extremely active and I encourage others to be active as well. I would like to share with you some of the reasons why I am active by copying my response to the blog post:

"In the USA we don't have the luxury of atheism as part of the culture, especially where I live in the Bible Belt state of Texas. People assume that I am religious and go to church. When I first moved here 5 years ago, people would ask me which church I attended as a matter of conversation. Usually this would happen at work in a professional environment.

I run an organization called the SECULAR Center. We do volunteer work in our community, and we are non-theists. A few months ago we called a nursing home to offer our help, and they told us that only Christians could volunteer there. There is such a pervasive mistrust of atheists here that they didn't even want us to perform harmless activities like playing games with and reading books to the senior citizes of the home. I explained several times that we don't discuss religion while we provide our assistance, but they were not willing to have us.

You might think by my experiences that I live in a small town in the country, but I don't. I live in Houston, TX. We are the 4th largest city in the USA, last I checked the listings. This kind of attitude is pervasive here and us atheists struggle every day being confronted with religion and religious assumptions in our communities. Atheists are the most mistrusted group in America, according to a recent report that I linked to and discussed on my blog at www.secularcenterusa.blogspot.com.

There is an e-mail going around cyberspace that I've received about taking away 'Under God' in our pledge of allegiance. The subject line is 'If you Agree, Forward. If you don't, Delete'. The e-mail goes on to list reasons why it's good to have 'Under God' in the pledge and discuss religious reasons for doing so. At the end of the e-mail, it says something like, Anyone who complains that we shouldn't have God in the pledge should just SIT DOWN and SHUT UP!!!. Imagine how you would feel if someone told you to sit down and shut up for expressing your opinion. To me, it doesn't feel very good - it feels like my opinion does not matter at all.

I really wish that atheists around the world, whether we live in areas that we are a minority or whether we live in areas that we are fully accepted, would come together to further the atheist movement. We form communities around atheism here because it helps us feel less alone and it allows us to discuss our viewpoints and ideas in an accepting environment. It is encouraging to know that somewhere in the world, atheists don't face a daily struggle to be accepted as ethical and contributing members of society. "

Humanists of Houston Meeting and HFA Newsletter

2009-10-21T10:46:00.005-05:00

This weekend I attended the Humanists of Houston Gathering. Bob Finch, a former professor of Mechanical Engineering, gave a talk about Darwin's life. It was both interesting and informative. Did you know that Darwin took about 20 years to publish his 'Origin of Species'? Also, the death of his daughter from scarlet fever is one of the events thought to have solidified Darwin's lack of belief in god.

While I was at the HoH meeting I met with Jim, who has been editing and publishing the Houston Freethought Alliance Newsletter for the last few years. Jim would like to transition the responsibility to someone else, so SCUSA has agreed to take over the newsletter. We thank Jim for all his hard work on the newsletter! If anyone has any submissions for the newsletter, please send them no later than a week before the 1st of each month. We are excited about continuing all the great content of the newsletter while giving it a SCUSA twist and including pictures, comics, and other interesting additions.

By the way, I've finally figured out how to add the option for people to subscribe to the blog by e-mail. Yay! This means that you don't have to have a google account to follow the blog.

Thanks for supporting SCUSA!

They Think; Therefore They Know? Part 2

2009-10-19T10:44:00.003-05:00

‘The context of our society’ is important because we label things to help us understand them. For example, we know that 2+2=4 because we choose to, but even if we were to change the names, 2+2 would always be 4. We know that water is made of one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms. We could call them different names, but the equation would remain the same.

The religious have defined a being that is omnipotent and omniscient and call it ‘God, Allah, Yahweh’ and many other names. The vast majority of people in modern society understand this definition when we speak about a god. A god can perform any task and knows everything there is to know. This is a definition in the context of our society, but is it fact or opinion?

There is a very real difference between facts that are provable using the scientific method and other experimental methodology and opinions, which can change from moment to moment and person to person. The religious community has mistaken their opinion about the existence of god as fact - there must be a god because I believe there is? Not likely and not provable as fact (even though certain religions have people dedicated to skewing scientific evidence in order to try).

Atheists Overwhelmingly Mistrusted in America

2009-10-17T07:23:00.005-05:00

According to this article, from Psychology Today, Atheists are still the most hated/mistrusted group in America. The article is dated August 2009 and quotes the most recent survey about this subject (from the American Sociological Review).

I think the primary reason we should volunteer in our community is because it's fulfilling and gratifying to know that we are helping others. Assisting someone less fortunate than ourselves makes us feel good because we can provide something for them that they wouldn't otherwise have. It also reminds us that we are fortunate to have a roof over our head, food to eat, a good education, or a family that cares about us. Some lucky few have all of the above.

But as Atheists, Humanists, Freethinkers, and other non-believers, there is a side benefit to getting out in our community and talking about it. We can combat the perception that we are amoral and evil. We can combat the perception that we can't be trusted. We can combat the perception that we only care about ourselves. We can combat the perception that all we care about is attacking religion and religious beliefs.

We can do all this by simply getting out into our community and making a difference for those in need. We don't have to brag about it or advertise it, but we can share our contributions with our community. We can make a difference in the world.

Calling all Artists!

2009-10-15T11:25:00.003-05:00

SCUSA is holding a contest for our 2010 secular calendar! We are looking for photographs, drawings, cartoons, and other 2D media submissions. All qualifying page ideas will be entered into a drawing to win a free copy of the calendar. Submissions from kids are welcomed! We want this to be a very diverse, fun, and entertaining calendar so don't be shy (but please do make it family friendly)!

Please submit ideas to secularcenterusa@gmail.com no later than October 25th. Artists will receive credit for their submissions on the calendar if they would like.

Thanks!

An Atheist's Thoughts About Counseling

2009-10-14T17:45:00.005-05:00

Today one of my friends on Facebook posted something about going to pre-marital counseling with their Priest. It got me thinking about counseling in general.

My semi-Catholic partner and I have also been going to counseling prior to getting married this fall. I say semi-Catholic because he identifies as Catholic, but only attends church when his mother is in town, he doesn't think everything the Pope says is correct, and he doesn't believe I am going to hell for being an Atheist. Since we are not religious, we see a secular counselor. We have discussed financial expectations (ie how we will spend money), child-rearing expectations (ie teaching kids about religion), and marriage expectations (ie whether we have any preconceived ideas about marriage).

The point is, I started wondering how many people think that counseling is only for the mentally ill or for couples with serious problems? I realized that I haven't told many people that we are going to counseling for fear that they will think we are having issues. Of course, we do have issues, but there is nothing to be ashamed of about that. Every couple has things to work out at one time or another, and a counselor can be a great way to faciliate. It doesn't mean that the couple can't do it themselves and it doesn't say anything about the viability of the couple.

Counseling is not just for the mentally ill. Pre-marital counseling is not just for the religious. Perhaps if more people aired their differences and expectations in pre-marital counseling sessions it would help combat the high divorce rate. And wouldn't that be a much more logical solution than turning to religion or god? In fact, I might go so far as to hypothesize that maybe one reason religious folks have a lower divorce rate is because of their pre-marital counseling. Now there's a religious-based idea that may make sense!

Halloween Run/Walk Volunteering

2009-10-13T08:31:00.003-05:00

Please join the SECULAR Center from 6-10am on Halloween morning for our most fun event yet! We will be volunteering at the Monster Mash Fun Run in Sugar Land - they need our help with the following activities: manning the registration table, running course setup, runners aid stations, handing out water, and cheering the runners/walkers on at the finish line.

The great thing about this event is that for each of you who donate your time at this event (up to 30 people) the hosts will make a donation to SCUSA. We could be eligible for up to a $500 donation! This is a wonderful way that you can help us begin our own atheist volunteer programs in the Houston community such as tutoring students, computer education, and support groups for those who have recently joined the Freethought movement.

The best part about the run is: you can dress up! Volunteers are encouraged (but not required) to dress up in family-friendly Halloween costumes for the event.

Please visit our Events page for RSVP details.

They Think; Therefore They Know? Part 1

2009-10-12T11:03:00.002-05:00

Have you ever had a discussion with a religious person who simply assumes that because he or she believes in god it is a proven fact? The conversation does not include ‘I believe’ or ‘I think’ - it’s all about ‘God says’ and ‘God does’. It’s important and healthy to challenge the assumption that a belief is a fact. This will help remind believers that not everyone sees things the way they do. In this article, I will provide a method for critical analysis of a statement in order to determine whether it is provable scientific fact or opinion. I then apply this logic to a famous quote about god.

In today's world, fact and fiction are two very different things. We understand that television and movies are fictional, except for documentaries and perhaps reality shows. But fact and opinion are also widely different - in the community of people free of supernatural belief. The definition of fact for the purposes of this article is “a pragmatic truth, a statement that can, at least in theory, be checked and either confirmed or denied”. In the context of our society, what we know as provable facts are very different from individual opinions.

Check back next week for Part 2!

Freethought Day, etc.

2009-10-12T10:19:00.003-05:00

Happy Freethought Day! Freethought Day is celebrated by secularists to mark the end of the Salem Witch Trials. For more information and history about the holiday, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freethought_Day or http://www.churchoffreethought.org/library/36-lectures-and-sermons/288-a-holiday-for-facts-and-reason. In honor of the day, I am going to start a series of posts of an article about critical thinking.

Each week on Monday, I will post a part of the article. I will continue this for 5-7 weeks until the article has been posted in its entirety. The article is titled, They Think; Therefore They Know? The title is an adaptation of a famous quote, by Rene Descartes, usually translated in English as "I think, therefore I am".

SCUSA, HCOF, and Camp Quest Texas

2009-10-11T19:46:00.005-05:00

Today I went to the Houston Church of Freethought monthly service (www.hcof.org) along with several others who are involved with SCUSA. Several presenters told stories of different creation myths including several Native American myths, a Norse myth, a Hindu myth, and others.

Representatives from Camp Quest Texas were at HCOF today to announce a T-shirt contest and kick off Houston fundraising efforts. SCUSA will be organizing fundraising in Houston for Camp Quest, so if you would like to donate or have any fundraising ideas, please contact us! Soon we will have a link to Camp Quest on our webpage as well as information about the fundraising activities. We are going to be competing with Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin to see who can raise the most funds for CQTX. Please check back for more!

Tomorrow is Freethought Day! In honor of the day, I am going to start a new series of weekly posts which will explore critical thinking and will analyze a specific quote which will be featured in the next SCUSA newsletter.

Thanks!
Noelle

SCUSA Media Appearances at AAI Convention

2009-10-08T11:28:00.001-05:00

While at the AAI Convention, I was able to participate in several press events to talk about SCUSA and AAI. It was my first experience in front of cameras, and once I got over the nervous jitters I was excited to talk about SCUSA and AAI.

The first media event was a short interview on Friday afternoon for a documentary about Atheism. The documentary's goal is to show Atheists as normal people who are good, moral, and tries to combat the misconceptions about Atheists, which is very much in line with SCUSA's mission and vision. During the interview, I spoke about SCUSA's purpose, what we are trying to accomplish, and why we are needed. I'm not familiar with a website or title for the documentary yet, but once I get more information I will post it.

The second interview I did was with Joe (moJoe) from Atheist Nexus and the Chariots of Iron podcast. We discussed AAI and the Ambassador Program for about 1 minute before the conversation deteriorated into them teasing me about zombies (which I strongly dislike). You can view the video on the Atheist News page at www.atheistnexus.org.

Finally, I participated in the Dogma Free America live feed on Saturday night during the Atheist News party. People go online and ask questions to the interviewees live and we answer them. There was more teasing about zombies, but I did get a chance to get some good information out to the public.

Thanks!

AAI Convention Follow Up

2009-10-06T11:10:00.004-05:00

I attended the AAI Convention this weekend in Burbank, California and had a great time! The weekend was packed with great speakers including Richard Dawkins, Bill Mahr (who received the Richard Dawkins award for Religulous), PZ Meyers, Jerry Coyne, Eugenie Scott, and many others.

My main role during the conference was as the Ambassador Director and Texas Ambassador for AAI, so I met many members of AAI and members of AAI's Affiliate groups. I also met with most of the other AAI Ambassadors and we had some great times getting to know each other as well as a productive meeting on Sunday to discuss the Ambassador Program.

However, I also had the chance to get some visibility for SCUSA and to make some important headway for our organization. AAI has agreed to partner with SCUSA, which means that we now have an important and well-known international organization in our corner! AAI will be promoting us as an Atheist charity and we will have visibility on an international level.

I'm looking at getting a booth for SCUSA at the AAI conference in Melbourne, Australia next March which will be our first international conference. Stay tuned for more on this as I work out the details! Thanks for your support of the SECULAR Center!

Nursing Home Volunteering

2009-09-21T09:21:00.003-05:00

We had a great time this weekend socializing with several seniors at a West Houston nursing home. The activity? Bingo. The prizes? Candy. Who won? Everyone! We all left with heaps of candy and some great new memories. The nursing home residents were entertaining, funny, friendly, and sweet. Our volunteers were wonderful examples of caring nontheists who did their best to ensure the residents had a great time.

We didn't discuss religion. We didn't debate politics or healthcare reform. We just had a great time playing a fun game with some new friends. Pictures of the two hour event are on our website at http://www.secularcenterusa.org/. Thanks so much to the volunteers that came out and enriched the lives of some Houstonian seniors!

Animal Shelter Volunteering Event

2009-08-20T20:34:00.002-05:00

Over 20 volunteers participated in the SECULAR Center's August 15th event at a local no-kill animal shelter.

We took care of their cats by giving them some needed love and attention and cleaning their living spaces. After doing some touch-up painting, office work, yard work, storeroom reorganizing, and completing some special projects, we got to visit with the cats and kittens! The animal shelter provided us with drinks and snacks and were grateful to have the extra help.

There was something for everyone to do, including kids! Overall we got a lot accomplished and felt really good to help some animals in need. Check out our website for pictures!

Over 1/3 of Volunteers Are Associated With Religious Groups

2009-08-13T13:35:00.003-05:00

This is one reason why it's important for the godless to volunteer! Check out this article from the Houston Chronicle which says that over 1/3 of nonprofits get their support from religious groups. The Houston Chronicle has started an online community called HoustonBelief.com. HoustonBelief.com aims to facilitate a dialog about beliefs, values, faith and religion.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/6563306.html

Statistics like those quoted in this article further the perception that only religious folks do good in their community. To get involved with the SECULAR Center and volunteer in your community, please visit www.secularcenterusa.org and sign up for our e-mailing list.

Thanks!

Freidenkers - Anniversary of the Nueces Massacre

2009-08-10T10:00:00.001-05:00

On August 10th, 1862 in Kinney County, TX a violent massacre of German Freethinkers (Freidenkers) occurred. Freethinking German Texans immigrated to Central Texas and some settled in Comfort, TX. The community was organized "along cooperative lines" and no church was built there until 1892.

These early Freethinkers sided with the Union and objected to the Confederacy's draft. They were fleeing to Mexico when they were overtaken by the Texas Confederate cavalrymen on the Nueces River. To read more about this historical event, and to find out who is the oldest autonomous Freethinking Society in the United States, go to http://www.exulanten.com/ansdrag.html.

Please take a moment today to remember the German Freidenkers who lost their lives 147 years ago.

Nursing Home Refuses SECULAR Center's Services

2009-07-30T06:47:00.006-05:00

Several of the SECULAR Center’s (http://www.secularcenterusa.org/) supporters in Houston have asked about volunteering at a nursing home or senior center. On July 29th I called a nursing home in the Westchase area to ask about volunteer opportunities. The volunteer director I spoke with, a woman, asked about our group. I told her that we were a group of non-theists who volunteer at different locations around Houston. She commented to me that most of the people at her nursing home were Christians.

I explained to her that we just want to do volunteer work in our community. She then said, “I prefer people with Christian beliefs to volunteer here.” I again explained that we were not trying to convert anyone; we just wanted to visit with the seniors, or host a fun activity for them. The volunteer director told me that we would have to talk to the Administrator of the home about it because she wasn’t going to be responsible for making that decision.

I spoke with a friend who is familiar with discrimination laws and he said that it’s perfectly legal for them to discriminate against us if they are a privately owned company. I was very surprised to hear that and thought that everyone else might be also. I think I will talk to the Administrator and ask him to let the SECULAR Center volunteer there, and if he doesn’t agree, I may write them a strongly worded letter and I might send it to the local newspaper as well. What are your ideas for handling this situation? Post a comment, or e-mail secularcenterusa@gmail.com and let me know!

Maybe you think that there’s no reason to get out into the community, but this just proves that people are so afraid of Atheists that they won’t even let us volunteer there. You might say that you don’t care what the general public thinks, but living in Houston TX is like living in a church every day. People assume everyone is religious like people used to assume everyone is straight. I never felt like I could correct them without being discriminated against just like in this situation.

I’m tired of it, and that’s why I and two others started the SECULAR Center – so that the godless can do good works in the community and maybe someday even have a facility of our own to gather at. Please strongly consider getting involved in secular community volunteering in your own area, or go to http://www.secularcenterusa.org/ and support us here in Houston. We have 185 supporters all over the world so far and would like to continue growing in spite of discrimination in our community.

About the SECULAR Center Blog!

2009-07-26T17:13:00.005-05:00

Welcome to the SECULAR Center's blog! This blog is for SECULAR Center news and updates, as well as local and world news relating to the community of people that are free of supernatural beliefs. Free of supernatural beliefs primarily means that we don't believe in a god or gods. This includes Atheists, Agnostics, Humanists, Brights, Freethinkers, and whatever other names we choose to apply to ourselves.

The SECULAR Center (http://www.secularcenterusa.org/) stands for Secular Education Community of Understanding, Learning, Activism, and Research. What does that mean? It means that we are building a community of nonbelievers to participate in community events and activism such as volunteering at local nonprofit organizations. Our long-term plan is to develop and execute our own educational community service programs such as tutoring students, computer training, and parent education. We hope this will also help to educate the general public in regards to the morals and ethics of the godless, as well as give us a community center to meet and socialize at. There is a great misconception out there that Atheists and Freethinkers are amoral - a 2002 Pew Poll showed 66% of people in the south view Atheists unfavorably. Let's change that!

If you agree with our mission or want to support our efforts, please visit our website at http://www.secularcenterusa.org/ and sign up for our newsletter! We are also in the process of refining and further developing our vision and mission, so if you have any input to that effect, please e-mail us at secularcenterusa@gmail.com or comment on this post!

As of this first post, the SECULAR Center has 185 supporters in 10 states and 4 countries around the world! We have had two community volunteer events in Houston and are having a social event in Houston this Thursday, July 30th at 6:00 pm at a local bar. E-mail secularcenterusa@gmail.com for details if you'd like to attend!

Thanks!
Noelle
President
SECULAR Center USA
"Godless for Good"
http://www.secularcenterusa.org/