Our thoughts are with the Japanese people, the families of those who have lost loved ones, and with the agencies, governments, and international aid organizations that will shortly be on the scene to help a nation remember its lost and rebuild itself for the future.
You can find a list of aid organizations, as well as Google’s People Finder to help reunite family and friends displaced by the disaster, on the Seattle Atheists website.

Secular and Humanists Aid and Relief Efforts (SHARE)

Humanist Charities

Richard Dawkins Foundation

Save the Children

International Red Cross

AmeriCares

We begin with the evolution of the human mind.  Of course, it is effectively impossible to directly chart the evolution of the mind, but since the mind is the product of electrochemical interactions between brain neurons, it is reasonable to assume that the mind evolved in parallel with the evolution of the brain which can be charted by following the development of the skull since the brain occupies most of the volume of the brain. Reference 1 Fig 14-1 is a graph, which traces brain capacity from the 500 cc A. afarensis brain, 2.5 MYA to the first appearance of Modern man’s brain, 1350 cc, 100 – 200 MYA. Since Modern man produced sophisticated stone tools and had mastered fire, it’s reasonable to assume that the mind produced by this brain was fully capable of curiosity regarding itself and its surroundings.

Unfortunately, since the only observational tool available at this time was the human eye – not a particularly useful investigative device, this mind had to contend with the existence of five illusions:

1. The apparently solid earth; caused by the inability of the eye to see atoms and molecules.
2. The apparent motion of the sun and planets around the earth, caused by the Earth’s rotation which is undetectable without proper instruments such as a Foucault pendulum.
3. The apparent same size of the sun and moon and the apparent closeness of both the sun and moon, due the lack of a proper reference for distant objects.
4. The apparent motion of the stars around the earth, and the apparent closeness of the stars, again due to the rotation of the Earth and lack of proper references.
5. The apparently unchanging physical and biological feature of the earth, due to the glacial slowness of geological processes such as erosion and biological processes such evolution.

I term Illusions 2, 3, and 4 the “astronomical illusions” because they involve phenomena that occur above the earth.

As might be expected, these illusions led to decidedly incorrect conclusions.

The astronomical illusions led to the incorrect belief that humans were at the center of a rather small universe that revolved around the earth.

The apparently unchanging earth features led to the incorrect belief that the earth was probably not very old.

The solid earth illusion did not apparently cause any problems at this time.

The two incorrect beliefs then led logically to three questions: how did the earth, sun, moon, and stars originate (i.e., where did they come from?), what or who controls the various earthly phenomena, such as the cycle of the seasons, the sun and moon, and how did life originate?

The initial answer to these questions was the incorrect, but perhaps reasonable under the circumstances, belief that all powerful, but unseen, supernatural entities called Spirits or Gods, that “created, inhabited, and controlled everything.”

This belief system was discovered by the British Anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor (1832-1917), who made in-depth examinations of early cultures in the mid-1800s. Tylor published the results of his examinations in several publications, but his most influential was Primitive Culture, published in 1871 Tylor’s examinations revealed that all of the earliest cultures had strong beliefs that a soul or spirit existed in every object, even if the object was inanimate. Tylor coined the term Animism as a name for these beliefs, where animism is derived from the Latin word anima, meaning “breath” or “soul”².

Although Tylor lacked more modern information such as the graph in Reference 1, he correctly concluded that Animism to be the first religion, a religion which persisted for thousands of years and was orally transmitted from generation to generation. With the advent of writing, Animism was written down and is the logical source of first verses of the book of Genesis. Animism ultimately morphed into polytheism which further morphed into monotheism

Thus, it follows that, since animism was essentially the first religion, the need to explain the unexplainable is an essential aspect of the origin of religion.

In a more recent treatment of Animism, Sara Wenner confirms that another term for “spirit” is “god.” As she points out, “Animistic gods often are immortalized by mythology explaining the creation of fire, wind, water, man, animals, and other natural earthly things³.^”

This description could equally apply to the book of Genesis. So once again, it is clear that supernatural gods or god was the invention of the human mind that was desperate for explanations of the unexplainable. Voltaire is supposed to have remarked, “what if he [God] didn’t [exist]? Well, we would have to invent him.⁴”

Regarding creationism, if we compare the dictionary definition of creationism—“Belief in the literal interpretation of the account of the creation of the universe and of all living things as related in the Bible,” with the descriptions of Animism, it is clear that creationism is essentially a modern, monotheistic version of Animism.

I encountered an interesting question while checking resources, “How did the same concept, Animism, develop approximately simultaneously in all cultures without the help of God?” The answer to this question is easy, it didn’t. Animism largely developed while humans were still living in Africa.  When Modern humans dispersed out of Africa approximately 80,000 to 100,000 years ago ⁵ they spread Animism wherever they went.

References:

1. Lawrence H. Wood, 2010, Evolution and the Future of Mankind, IUniverse, Bl., IL, Fig. 14-1
2. Wikipedia, Edward Tylor,
3. Wenner, Sara. (2001) Animism
4. Everything2.com IfGoddidnotexist,itwouldbenecessarytoinventhim
5. Patterns of Hominid Dispersal, http://www.handprint.com/LS/ANC/disp.html

The board is now reconsidering that rule. Soon after the rule went into effect, pro-life pharmacists filed suit, and the judge has put the suit on hold to see if the board will reconsider the rule.  It is possible that the board will replace this rule with one that will allow the pharmacist to refuse to dispense the drug if they first tell the patient that another pharmacy has it and is willing to sell it (see links below for details).

This, of course, brings up quite a few issues.  My first response is outrage at the thought that some random pharmacist could pass judgment on patients and refuse to sell them medications based on religious beliefs.  By definition, a religious belief could be anything.  What if Pastafarians were to object to antibiotics? Could Pharmacist followers of the Flying Spaghetti Monster refuse to sell antiobioitcs? What about Christian Scientist pharmacists?! Christian Scientists refuse all medicines for themselves.  Would it be ok for them to become pharmacists and refuse to dispense any medication?

Will business owners be the slaves of any and all religious demands? What if a Muslim woman applies for a job as a stripper but refuses to dance because her religious modesty forbids? Does the company have to keep her employed? What if a fast food restaurant is hiring for the weekend and evening shifts, but an applicant refuses to work on Sunday because it is the Sabbath? Could that person sue the company?  Maybe there are some jobs you simply choose not to take because of your religious beliefs.

Once my thoughts calm down a little, though, I can see this in a broader sense.  Does the government have the right to force any store owner to sell any product? Could they force a prudish mall owner to rent space to Victoria’s Secret?  That seems a bit overreaching.

Pharmacies are different from other types of businesses, though.  They are key contributors to the medical infrastructure, must be licensed, etc.  It seems that if a business owner wishes to run a pharmacy, then it is reasonable for the state to provide some guidelines, one of which could be that no religious/irrational moral judgments will be allowed to interfere with patient access to medication.

This also seems like an opportunity for moving the ‘debate’ about abortion rights into the realm of facts.  As a staunch pro-choice advocate for many years, and as a recent student of Sam Harris’ writings, it has become clear to me that pro-life advocates are not looking at the facts.  As Sam writes in Letter to a Christian Nation when addressing the controversy about stem cell research, a human blastocyst (a fertilized egg about 3 days old) has roughly 150 cells.  An adult fly has over 1500 cells in its brain.  A blastocyst has no brain, no nerves – nothing which would allow it to feel pain.  So, for those of us basing morality on suffering, ending the growth of a blastocyst causes no harm, and we should be more concerned about squashing flies.  Pro life folks base their morality on religion. They tend to believe that the fertilized egg has a soul we ought to care for.  However, roughly 25% of pregnancies end in miscarriage before the woman even knows she was pregnant.  So, even without Plan B, many fertilized eggs do not develop into pregnancies or babies, so if there was a soul, then it is gone.

The only way to truly move forward on issues like abortion, stem cell research, and this upcoming decision by the Pharmacy Board is to keep government policy, if not the minds of Pro Life advocates, squarely on the facts.  A blastocyst has roughly 150 cells.  Ending its growth causes no harm and no pain.  Business owners, and certainly our secular government, can not be made to consider any religious beliefs when considering policy.  There are just too many, often conflicting, beliefs out there.

As the great Christopher Hitchens once wrote, that which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.  Which again leaves me furious that any time is being spent debating this issue; there’s no evidence of a soul or for harm being  done.  End of story.  Get back to work or find a different job.

If you saw us at the AIDS Walk and are visiting the webpage for the first time, please also check out our Facebook page and our Meetup.com site for info, discussion, pics, and events.  That means YOU, young lady from the nacent Secular Student Union at UPS!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Coming_Out_Day

GLBT folk are encouraged to “‘take your next step’ in living openly and powerfully on October 11th,” and we encourage all non-believers to do the same.

How do you do this?

1) Wear an atheist t-shirt on October 11th
2) Post something on Facebook
3) Post an atheist flyer in a public place
4) Host a dinner at which coming out is on the agenda

The winner will receive a Tacoma Atheists t-shirt (the new good kind with front and back). Voting ends at midnight, so vote early and often!

The Northwest Freethought Coalition (NWFC) is celebrating Independence Day and the arrival of summer with its 5th annual potluck picnic. NWFC group members, friends, and area freethinkers are invited to this all-day event on Sunday, July 4, 2010. Last year’s picnic drew about 200 people. The family-friendly picnic begins at 1 pm and runs into the evening. There will be a raffle and games, including bocce. Food served from 1 to 3 pm; cleanup starts at 5 pm. Bring your family, some frisbees, a blanket, sunscreen, and a picnic-friendly dish to share!

NWFC member groups include Humanists of Washington, Seattle Atheists, Tacoma Atheists, Humanists of North Puget Sound, University Unitarian Humanists, Ethical Culture Society of Puget Sound, Secular Jewish Circle of Puget Sound, Freethinkers’ United Network, Eastside Atheists/Agnostics Meetup, and various Atheist, Humanist and Brights Meetup groups.  Humanists of Washington is leading the event planning. Please contact HOW president Jerry Schiffelbein if you would like to volunteer.

Mr. Kagin noted:  “While not illegal (unless the entity is the government), it is bad business to inject the most divisive issue in the world into a work scenario, because it can only lead to a loss of cohesion in a diverse group. Minorities automatically feel like second-class workers because the employer officially recognizes a religion other than theirs, and the religious people immediately see who is religious, and who is not, and are encouraged to ‘save’ (the preacher won’t do it directly, instead send forth the sheep to do the job for him). There’s all sorts of bad potential there.

On the flip side, the chaplain is a minister, not a trained social worker. It is fallacious to think the minister is there to do anything other than that for which he was trained — preach and convert. If the company wants to provide a liaison, they should hire a professional liaison, not a professional preacher. The liaison would provide better service to all employees.

Anyone can pray any time they wish. They have cubes, homes, and they have oh-so-many churches in which to do so. They do not need official places to pray when they are working. The ones who DO need corporate chaplains are the chaplains themselves, who use the captive audience to woo new church members (and that’s THE reason they are there).”

NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams
Check local listings and http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/

Well, Glenn’s about to face the wrath of the man from high atop the thing — the man being the Reverend Jim Wallis, and the thing being perhaps one of the few respectable religious organizations in America, Sojourners. Testify, Jim!

Christians Urged to Boycott Glenn Beck – The Caucus Blog – NYTimes.com

This week, the Rev. Jim Wallis, a liberal evangelical leader in Washington, D.C., called on Christians to leave Glenn Beck.

“What he has said attacks the very heart of our Christian faith, and Christians should no longer watch his show,” Mr. Wallis, who heads the antipoverty group Sojourners, wrote on his “God’s Politics” blog. “His show should now be in the same category as Howard Stern.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself. Of course, it would be better if it came with less Sky Cake (caution: NSFW language), but we still that you’ll help us make common cause against Beck.

Sex-Abuse Scandal in the German Church Touches Pope Benedict XVI’s Archdiocese – NYTimes.com

BERLIN — A widening child sexual abuse inquiry in Europe has landed at the doorstep of Pope Benedict XVI, as a senior church official acknowledged Friday that a German archdiocese made “serious mistakes” in handling an abuse case while the pope served as its archbishop.

The archdiocese said that a priest accused of molesting boys was given therapy in 1980 and later allowed to resume pastoral duties, before committing further abuses and being prosecuted. Pope Benedict, who at the time headed the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, approved the priest’s transfer for therapy. A subordinate took full responsibility for allowing the priest to later resume pastoral work, the archdiocese said in a statement.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said he had no comment beyond the statement by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, which he said showed the “nonresponsibility” of the pope in the matter.