Larry Forrest on the war in Iraq

The writer of this piece, Larry Forrest, is currently living in Norman but has plans to move back to Tulsa.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/072206G.shtml

I am so goddamned tired of this nanny-state bullshit! It's not enough that naughty words be bleeped, but the speaker's mouth has to be blurred so as to keep lipreaders from being corrupted. Worse, our foul-mouthed, hypocritical Prude-in-Chief signed legislation in June that increases the fine to $325,000 for each instance of broadcast indecency.

What insane culture we live in. The whole damn country has a conniption fit over the quickie revelation of one female breast during a Super Bowl halftime show, but we fall for the neocon job that landed us in Iraq, and we allow that illegal, immoral, and irresponsible war to continue. That, my friends, is the real obscenity.

Of course we all know that Dubya cusses a blue streak, and that if he were fined for every expletive he fails to delete he'd be in hock to the FCC for millions of dollars. Yet that son of Bush can sign legislation that effectively chills broadcasters from using his favorite cuss words. Hey, I'm all for little children not being exposed to vulgar language, but that's why parents and channel changers exist. If the former can master operation of the latter, then their children will be spared a life of crime resulting from hearing such shitty words as spurt forth from the mouth of our Pastor-in-Chief. Look, it's just not the responsibility of Uncle Sam to censor every program so that it will [be] acceptable to the most prudish of prudes.

Rather than censor documentaries about war, or the daily coverage of the gory carnage in the Middle East, I think we should show it in all its realistic horror. Show the bloody corpses, show the decapitated heads, show the wounded in hospitals--let's hear their screams of agony (the universal language), let's hear our troops cursing the enemy, the weather, and--yea verily--even our leaders in Washington, DC.

I'm not sure if this is true or not, but I read that somewhere in Iraq a teenage girl was murdered, decapitated, and the head of a dog sown on her neck. If this is so, a photo should be taken and shown on every goddamn media outlet: it should be on the front page of The New York Times; it should be on billboards all across the country; it should be on milk cartons. The caption would read: "This is your fucking war, America! This is what your tax dollars are buying. This is what happens when you go to war with barbarian religious fanatics who are happy to die for their barbarian God and happier still to murder for Him. This is what happens when you don't pay attention to what the hell is going on around you. This is what happens when you allow yourselves to be seduced by all the flag-waving, jingoistic bullshit your "Christian" leaders flummoxed you with. Wake up, you dumbshit assholes, before it's too late!"

Whew! I really went off on a rant there, didn't I? But it's hard not to be blind with anger when you consider the blatant stupidity being practiced right before our unbelieving eyes. As Bob Dole put it during the 1996 presidential race: "Where's the outrage?" Relatively speaking, there was very little then to be outraged about. Now, however, there's a flaming shitload.

Wait a minute: what am I upset about? Maybe the FCC is right. Maybe, in fact, it doesn't go far enough. Concerning the WWII documentary: sure, let's mute the sound and pixilate the mouths of those who swear. But more than that, we shouldn't allow people to see that most common outcome of war: dead bodies. Instead, let's superimpose cute little teddy bears and ducks and bunny wabbits and TeleTubbies on all those ugly corpses. We certainly don't want people to get the impression that war is hell, particularly when it's being fought for a noble cause, like the war in Iraq. Yes, I can see so much better now.

Thank you for inserting the brain probe into the back of my skull, you kind and patriotic FBI agents.

I love Big Brother.

Jingoistically,

Larry

HAT Minutes 7.16.06

There were 16 people in attendance at today's HAT meeting at Hardesty Library. Attending were Stan, Larry Hi, Randy, Polly, Brian, Gail, Ron, Jean, Harold, Mary, Russ, Elaine, Marilyn, Audrey, Don and myself. We gained two new members today: Ron McDaniel and Elaine Liddell. Welcome to you both.

Due to the annoyance of the music at Border's on 81st St., those who attended the Humanist Study Group meeting on July 9 at Border's decided to change the venue for the next several HSG meetings to Hardesty Library. Polly took the initiative of reserving a meeting room at Hardesty for the HSG. I can't recall if the meeting time is the same or not, but I will check with Polly and get the word out about the change.

[Polly says the new meeting time is 1pm.]

There is also a change in venue for the Food & Fellowship gathering this Saturday, July 22. Originally set for Furr's Cafeteria, the F&F venue will now be a Chinese restaurant on 71st St. I think the name of the restaurant is Hong Kong, but I will have to check with Polly, who is reserving a meeting room there for us, to get the correct name and address.

[Polly says, Hong Kong on Memorial at 73rd.]

Following the F&F, Stan is hosting a showing of a film produced by the ACLU. The showing will be at the Tulsa Central Library. More details will be sent to members as they become available. As of now, Stan is still trying to obtain a copy of the video. He has ordered a copy, but it has not arrived yet.

I read a short piece at the meeting by William Falk, editor of The Week, a newsmagazine. The jist of the piece is that there have always been crackpots predicting the end of the world, but now some of today's crackpots have access to weapons which could kill hundreds of thousands of people. I also read a satirical piece by George Carlin from his book When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?

Randy will not be able to host Movie Night on Saturday, August 5. We are looking for a volunteer to host that Movie Night. Anyone willing to host it should contact either Randy or Dan.

The program was presented by Harold Dundee. It was a chapter by chapter overview of the book The Naked Mind by Shelton Gottlieb. It was quite an interesting presentation, made even moreso thanks to Harold's personal acquaintance with the author.

As always, feel free to emend these minutes by adding your own commentary using the comments option. I try to be complete, but I usually forget to include something that was talked about.

Freethought Events for July 2006

July 2006 Activities of Interest to Freethinkers

Sat., July 1, 7pm
Movie Night at the Bradleys, 6705 E. 54th St.

Sat., July 8, 10am
Secular Singers at the Bradleys. All are welcome. If you play an instrument (lightweight and portable), bring it.

Sun., July 9, 2pm
Humanist Study Group at Border’s, 81st & Yale. Topic: American Theocracy by Kevin Phillips. Discussion leader: Dan Nerren. Read chapters 5, 6, and 7.

Sun., July 16, 1pm
HAT Monthly Membership Meeting at Hardesty Regional Library. Speaker: Harold Dundee on The Naked Mind by Sheldon F. Gottlieb.

Wed., July 19, 11:23am
ALGAE (A Little Group of Atheists Eating), luncheon at White River Fish Market, 1708 N. Sheridan.

Sat., July 22, 11:30am
Food & Fellowship at Furr’s Cafeteria in The Farm shopping center.

Sun., July 23, 2pm
Tulsa Atheist Rendezvous/Tulsa Atheist Meetup Meet at Border’s Bookstore on 21st St., second floor. (Go to www.atheists.meetup.com to sign up for meetups.)


Questions? Call Dan at 798-3629

About the Nonviolent Communication Training Course

I am hoping that sometime later on this year HAT and TPF can present this course at the Tulsa Peace House. The course is recorded on nine audio CDs. Here is a little about each disc:

Disc 1. ORIGINS OF NONVIOLENT COMMUNICATION
The purpose of NVC
Compassionate giving
A radical transformation of language
Refraining from criticism making demands

Disc 2. APPLYING NVC WITHIN OURSELVES
Four friends: anger, depression, guilt, and shame
Becoming literate in a “language of life”
From self-judgment to self-forgivness

Disc 3. A RADICALLY DIFFERENT KIND OF HONESTY
Evaluation without blame
How to make clear requests
How to choose the right strategies for getting your needs met

Disc 4. EMPATHICALLY CONNECTING WITH OTHERS
The dynamics of empathy
Connecting in the now
How to respond with NVC when you are judged

Dics 5. MEETING OUR NEEDS IN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS
The difficulties of expressing the need for love
How to use NVC to declare your intimate needs
Communicating about sexuality
Vulnerable self-expression

Disc 6. EXPERIENCING AND EXERCISING AUTHORITY
Authority, fear, and respect
Influence vs. control
The person behind the title
How labels affect behavior
Standing up to authority

Disc 7. HEALING, MEDIATION, AND RECONCILIATION
How empathy supports healing
Mediating “impossible” conflicts
Reconciliation and harmony through NVC

Disc 8. HOW NVC SUPPORTS SOCIAL CHANGE
How to make powerful requests
The protective use of force
Restorative justice in action
Beyond punishment and reward

Disc 9. LIVING COMPASSIONATELY WITH CELEBRATION AND GRATITUDE
Creating the conditions for compassionate giving
Gratitude you can trust
Recognizing opportunities to give and receive sincere gratitude

HAT Minutes 6.18.06

The June HAT meeting was held at Randy and Dawn Bradley’s house. Charcoal hamburgers were served to the ten people in attendance: Brian, Harold, Bea, Phil, Gail, Marilyn, Polly, Dawn, Randy, and myself. Phil was a first-time guest at our meeting. Phil mentioned, among other things, the excellent freethought programming available at www.pointofinquiry.org.

We ate in the backyard underneath the shade trees. The Bradleys’ son, Patrick, assisted in serving the food. Following the hamburgers, we ate watermelon and brownies.

A lot of the conversation dealt with this question: Are we too focused upon our atheism? Are we turning people off because we talk about atheism? Most present expressed this idea: the role HAT serves is to bring together like-minded people, which gives us the opportunity to give and receive love from each other. No one objected to this idea. I read newsletters and web sites from other freethought groups. You can pick up from these sources what other groups find important to them. For some it is combating the Religious Right; others focus upon philosophy. The focus of our group seems to be on loving and supporting one another.

Gail mentioned that she likes the oral reading of freethought writings. I concur; the oral reading of freethought writings is probably the best way of keeping them alive.

Harold mentioned that he would be moving to Baton Rouge, although I don’t recall if he said when this would happen.

I informed the group that Susan Singh of the Tulsa Peace Fellowship has offered to loan us the Nonviolent Communication Training Course. I am hoping we can work in conjunction with the Tulsa Peace Fellowship and offer the course (one day per week for nine weeks) to HAT and TPF members. I will cooperate with Susan to see if we can set up the course at the new Tulsa Peace House.

I forgot to mention at the meeting, although I may have mentioned it in an e-mail, that supporter Larry Forrest (presently in Norman) has given us a DVD which we will view at an upcoming Movie Night. The DVD is “A Vision Shared: A Tribute to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly.” It runs 72 minutes – about the ideal time for a Movie Night presentation. Larry intends to move back to Tulsa soon. Larry, an excellent wordsmith, was an integral part of HAT when he lived in Tulsa in the 1990s. He moved to Norman to become caregiver for HAT member Patti Reames who was stricken with MS. Patti died last December.

As always, if I failed to mention something I should have, feel free to add your own comment in the comment section.

HAT News

Last Saturday, Bea, Randy, and I met at Randy’s house for the monthly Secular Singers get-together. Randy baked cinnamon rolls, and the three of us selected twelve songs for a “standard” presentation. The songs chosen will be worked up and serve as a core repertoire. Randy will send a list of these songs to all members of Secular Singers by e-mail. Meanwhile, I will make a list of all songs the group has performed in the past. This also will be distributed by e-mail to those on the Secular Singers e-mail list. If you are not already on the Secular Singers e-mail list and would like to be added, please let me know.

Then last Sunday, six HAT members took part in the monthly Humanist Study Group which met at Border’s Bookstore on Yale. Attending were Richard, Randy, Larry Hi, Marilyn, Mary, and myself. The focus of the discussion was chapter four of American Theocracy by Kevin Phillips. We were a small, but intimate, group. The camaraderie was palpable. Perhaps that explains why we stayed so long – a full two and a half hours. The group wishes to continue with this book at the next HSG in July. We will talk about chapters five, six, and seven. The group also called upon me to again lead the discussion.

I will try once again to prepare a list of discussion questions. I will send out the questions by e-mail. (Due to a lack of time, last Sunday’s questions were distributed on paper at the time of the discussion.) Two of us at the meeting had recently read Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism by Michelle Goldberg. We recommend this book for a future HSG.

In other news, the HAT Board decided to purchase “The Nonviolent Communication Training Course” by Marshall Rosenberg. The course comes on nine one-hour audio CDs. We hope to offer this course to all interested persons at the new Tulsa Peace House in partnership with Tulsa Peace Fellowship.

We also talked about some movies we would like to view at our monthly Movie Night. Three that were recommended were An Inconvenient Truth, A Prairie Home Companion, and Neil Young: Heart of Gold.

Minutes of HAT meeting, 5.21.06

Attending the HAT meeting today at Hardesty Library were Brian, Harold, Dana, Marilyn, Randy, Mary, Paula, Don, and myself. There are now 19 dues-paying members in HAT. The HAT treasury stands at $1,186.76.

I received an e-mail from the Colorado Coalition of Reason (COCORE) seeking support for the distribution of a DVD the group has produced. It is my understanding that all money donated toward this project will be applied to mailing the DVD to high schools. I inquired of them if we could select high schools to receive the DVD. They responded by e-mailing me a list of all public schools in Oklahoma and inviting me to designate which schools we would like to have receive the DVD.

Someone asked: If we pay the postage to have a DVD mailed to a school, what are the chances the DVD will actually be shown to students at that school? That’s a good question. I guess we will never know. However, COCORE is willing to pay for the production of the DVDs. I would like to see us spend a little toward the distribution of the DVDs.

The DVD runs 38 minutes and will be shown at the June HAT meeting.

The outline of the DVD from its storage case is as follows:

1. Definitions of basic terms about nonbelievers.
2. Are there different kinds of atheists.
3. The secular humanist’s view of space.
4. Don’t freethinkers fear hell?
5. Doesn’t ID prove that God exists.
6. Where do you think we came from?
7. Isn’t America a Christian nation?
8. Do nonbelievers believe in good and evil?
9. Isn’t atheism a religion?
10. Comments about school harassment.
11. An end-of-life view from a freethinker.

The June HAT meeting will be held at Randy’s house and will be combined with a celebration of the Summer Solstice. The date of that meeting will be Sunday, June 18 – a few days before the actual solstice.

Also discussed was a request made earlier by Polly that we talk about atheism versus agnosticism. Each person who would like to speak to this subject will be given time to do so at a future meeting. We talked about doing it in June, but I don’t think any firm decision was reached on when it would be. Brian also had a proposal to address certain other questions.

After the Summer Solstice Celebration/cookout at the Bradley’s and the COCORE DVD viewing, there will not be much time remaining for any other activity, I would guess.

Among other ideas discussed was the preparation of press releases by the board on an ad hoc basis to be distributed to local media outlets whenever some issue that is of interest to our group is in the news.

Following the business meeting Brian Hill gave a descriptive talk on the book You’re Wearing That? by Deborah Tannen.

I have most likely overlooked something about today’s meeting. If you were at the meeting, let me invite you to add your own observations by appending a comment to this posting.

A Little Group of Atheists Eating

Question: What HAT member hopped a freight train back in 1934 in order to be able to go to Chicago and see the World’s Fair? Answer: It was Howard Kelley. This was the first of many freight train rides Howard took back in the days of his youth. Howard entertained us with stories of riding the rails at today’s ALGAE luncheon.

In addition to Howard there was Larry, Dana, Julia, Mary, Gail, Jan, and myself. It was good to see so many friends once again. Other topics of discussion included the book The DaVinci Code, the book Who’s Who in Hell, church camps and homesickness, the Girl Scout camp murders, authors and geographical places associated with them, the treatment of books, Civil War markers and monuments, and The Hobo’s Hornbook.

If you missed the gathering today, you will have an opportunity to be with your humanist friends this Sunday, 1:00 PM, at Hardesty Library.

See you there.

May Activities for Freethinkers

Sat., May 6, 7pm Movie Night at the Bradleys, 6705 E. 54th St.

Sat., May 13, 10am Secular Singers at the Bradleys. All are welcome.

Sun., May 14, 2pm Humanist Study Group at Border’s, 81st & Yale. Topic: Leo Strauss. Discussion to be led by Randy Bradley. Read material to be distributed by e-mail.

Wed., May 17, 11:30am ALGAE (A Little Group of Atheists Eating), luncheon at White River Fish Market, 1708 N. Sheridan.

Sun., May 21, 1pm HAT Monthly Membership Meeting at Hardesty Regional Library. Program: Brian Hill will speak on the book You’re Wearing That? by Deborah Tanner.

Sat., May 27, 11:30am Food & Fellowship at Panera Bread, 5601 E. 41st St.

Sun., May 28, 2pm Tulsa Atheist Rendezvous/Tulsa Atheist Meetup Meet at Panera Bread, 5601 E. 41st St., near Southroads. (Go to www.atheists.meetup.com to sign up for meetups.) Randy Bradley will be leading this rendezvous/meetup.


Questions? Call Dan at 798-3629

Info from Harold

Harold Dundee sent the following information.

The AARP Bulletin v.47, no. 4 (just arrived) carries an article about a
Florida pharmacist who says most prescription drugs are completely safe to use long after the stated expiration date. He says manufacturers set dates short so that they can make more sales. He has gotten the Florida
Legislature to tell the Florida Board of Pharmacy that it could no longer
require phamacists to use discard-after dates on prescription labels as it
had done since 1993.

The US Food and Drug Administration has determined that many drugs remain effective, often for many years after the stated expiration date. FDA does, however, warn against drugs stored in steamy bathrooms or hot cars. [I am aware of the recommendation that drugs be stored at temperatures below 76 degrees F. Accordingly, when I travel I keep my medications in a small styrofoan box with a bottle of ice in it so that the drugs will stay cool--HD]

I learned from my second wife who was a pharmacist that with aspirin, you can tell when it has aged beyond reliability. Sniff the bottle of aspirin. If it smells of acetic acid (vinegar smell) then it has lost much of it
efficacity.

Later Harold added this:

The recommendation is to keep drugs under 86 degrees F., not 76 as I
stated. Of course the cooler, usually the better.

One response that I had said, "When I have an expired medication I call
the pharmacist and he/she tells me if it can be used or not. I had some
things that were 10 years old and still good, just had to use a double dose because they weakened with time.

Music, videos, and wine

HAT held its first monthly Movie Night at the Bradleys last Saturday, April 1. About a dozen of us were there. We began with a piano duet. Gail and I played a Sonatina by Czerny.

Among the principles listed in The Affirmations of Humanism is this one: "We are engaged by the arts no less than by the sciences." Quite often in the past, we in HAT have neglected the arts, prefering instead to focus on the sciences. I would like to bring some emphasis to the arts within HAT. Performing piano duets is just one way of doing this. Another way of putting this principle into action is through the oral recitation of poetry. After hearing Mary McAnally's message Sunday at Church of the Restoration, I am inspired to bring more oral poetry readings to HAT events.

Following the piano duet, we listened to a portion of an audio program produced by The Center for Inquiry in Amherst, New York. We heard Daniel Dennett being interviewed by D. J. Grothe. The interview focused on Dennett's most recent book Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon. We briefly talked about some of the points addressed in the interview. The book is to be discussed more thoroughly at this Sunday's Humanist Study Group.

Next we moved to the Bradley's media center where we viewed two episodes from the Penn & Teller Showtime series "Bullshit." One episode focused on the question of the accuracy of the Bible; the other looked at the creationist movement. Oft times the best way to deal with bullshit is just to laugh at it.

Being flexible and open to change, we substituted the Dennett interview and the Penn & Teller programs for the movie we had planned to show. But the movie is still available for showing at a later date.

April Activities for Freethinkers

April 2006
Activities of Interest to Freethinkers

Sat., Apr. 1, 7pm
Movie Night at the Bradleys, 6705 E. 54th St. Featured film is Heart of the Beholder. The American Dream that became a holy nightmare. Prior to the running of the movie, the duo of Gail Storey and Dan Nerren will entertain at the piano.

Sun., Apr. 9, 2pm
Humanist Study Group at Border’s, 81st & Yale. Topic: Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by Daniel C. Dennett. See discussion questions distributed by e-mail.

Sun., Apr. 16, 1pm
HAT Monthly Membership Meeting at the Bradleys, 6705 E. 54th St. Due to the Hardesty Library being closed because of Easter, we have had to change the venue for this meeting.

Wed., Apr. 19, 11:30am
ALGAE (A Little Group of Atheists Eating) luncheon at White River Fish Market, 1708 N. Sheridan.

Sat., Apr. 22, 11:30am
Food & Fellowship at Tekei’s, 1616 S. Utica.

Sun., Apr. 23, 2pm
Tulsa Atheist Rendezvous See www.tulsaar.blogspot.com closer to the date of meeting for venue and agenda.

Secular Singers will not meet in April.

Questions? Call Dan at 798-3629

Humor from Harold

Harold Dundee sent in the following:

Of this poem I consider that we secular humanists are taking a stand, but it is a stand contrary to that inferred in the poem. When I was a youngster one saying was that if you kept claiming that the moon was made of greenish cheese, people would eventually come to believe that it was true. If we keep offering our views and are tenacious about them we will eventually get believers to wake up. We will leave huge footprints, footprints of rationality.

FATE OF ATHEISTS

One night I had a wondrous dream,
One set of footprints there was seen,
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the seaboard.
But then some stranger prints appeared...
And I asked the Lord,"What have we here?
"Those prints are large and round and neat,
But Lord,they are too big for feet."
"My child," He said in sober tones,"
For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait."
"You disobeyed, you would not grow,
The walk of faith you would not know...
So I got tired,I got fed up,
And there I dropped you on your butt."
"Because in life there comes a time
When one must fight, and one must climb,
When one must rise, and take a stand,
Or leave their butt prints in the sand."
--Author Unknown

Good Crowd at Today's Food & Fellowship

The March Food & Fellowship was held today at The Royal Dragon restaurant. The Food & Fellowship gatherings have proven to be HAT's most popular event. There were 14 people at today's F&F. Present were Mary, Polly, Dawn, Randy, Sharon, Brian, Audrey, Jan, Marilyn, Howard, Barbara, Dan, Larry, and Harold.

Today's gathering was the last HAT event for this month, but if you like gathering with freethinkers please consider coming to the Tulsa Atheist Rendezvous tomorrow (3/26/06) at 2pm at Barnes & Noble on 41st (cafe area). It is my desire to give life to freethought writings by having them read aloud in public settings. I intend to read Philip Appleman's poem "Noah." If you would like to read something, please bring it.

The next HAT event is set for Saturday, April 1 (a week from today). This is a new event we are adding to our monthly calendar. It is a Movie Night at the Bradleys'. Randy and Dawn Bradley will be hosting a monthly movie night on the first Saturday of each month in their home starting at 7:00 PM. Saturday's movie will be announced later.

Minutes for HAT meeting, March 19, 2006

Today was a chilly, wet day. Nine people turned out for the HAT meeting. Present were Howard, Harold, Polly, Brian, Marilyn, Stan, Randy, Jan, and myself. We divided into two teams and played a quiz game. Brian officiated the game.

We talked a bit about brochures HAT recently purchased from the Council for Secular Humanism: "The Affirmations of Humanism: A Statement of Principles." The brochure was first brought to my attention a few months back by Harold Dundee. We have a hundred of the brochures, but as of yet we have no plan on how they are to be used. I expect we will mail the brochure to inquirers who contact HAT.

Randy announced that he will be hosting a monthly movie night at his house starting Saturday, April 1. These gatherings will take place on the first Saturday evening of each month beginning at 7:00 PM.

If I have left anything out, feel free to add your own comments.

On the problem with Muslims

Take five minutes and listen to this brave woman speak on the problem with Islam:

http://switch5.castup.net/frames/20041020_MemriTV_Popup/video_480x360.asp?ai=214&ar=1050wmv&ak=null

Today's luncheon plus new event coming

We had another great ALGAE luncheon today at White River Fish Market. How good it is to have a meal with friends! Wish more of you could have been there.

In attendance today were Keith, Dave, Gloria, Bea, Warren, Dan, Larry, Jan, and Sharon. Conversation was wide-ranging. In addition to the usual topics of religion and politics, we also heard about the dangers of underground natural gas pipelines and an upcoming production of Wagner's Ring Cycle in Paris, which one of our lucky members will soon take in.

I find it to be an uplifting experience to be with my fellow Humanists, whatever the occasion. If you are not yet attending HAT events, I would like to invite you to do so. Experience these highs for yourself.

There will soon be another event added to our monthly calendar. Randy told me that he will be having a monthly movie night at his house, probably on a Saturday night. We will watch a movie and talk about it, as we sip wine or whatever your beverage of choice happens to be. Randy says that if you drink so much wine that your driving ability is impaired, you are welcome to stay over. Now that's real hospitality.

I love you guys and gals and look forward to seeing you again this Sunday (3/19/06) at 1pm at Hardesty Library for our regular monthly HAT meeting.

Atheist Jokes from Harold

Harold Dundee sends these jokes:

I once wanted to become an atheist but I gave up. They have no holidays.
~~Henny Youngman
---------------
Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
------------------
Three atheists are lost in desert and have run out of food and water. One
says, "Guess the is the end, guys." But another says maybe we should try
prayer.

"Prayer," snorts another guy, "we're atheists. We don't know how to pray."

"Well," says third guy, "I used to live next door to a church and have some
idea of how it goes. First you bow your head, I think, then start reciting
no. 7. number 54, no. 62."
-------------
Steven Wright ~ Can atheists get insurance for acts of God?

OCCJ presentation lacked strict separationist viewpoint

I attended the third session of the OCCJ Trialogue series today. Also attending from HAT were Marilyn Clarke and Brian Hill. The theme of this year’s Trialogue was “Jefferson’s Wall: The American Separation of Church and State.” It was disappointing that none of the three presenters was a strong supporter of church/state separation.

In the question and answer session which followed the presentations, written questions from the audience were addressed by the speakers. My question was chosen as the first one to be addressed. I asked: Do you expect to see further erosion in the wall separating church and state? The gist of the responses was: What erosion?

Daniel G. Gibbons, Professor of Law Emeritus at OU, who continues to teach a Church-State Relations Seminar, responded by saying he thinks the wall metaphor, while it may have been useful when it was first employed 200 years ago, is now out of date and no longer useful. Presenter Deron Spoo, pastor of Tulsa’s First Baptist Church, who otherwise struck me as a progressive sort, said things are fine and sees no disturbing trends regarding church/state relations. I don’t remember exactly how Msgr. Gaalaas of St. Benedict Catholic Church responded (I was still stunned by the responses from the first two), but it was along the lines of the first two.

It would have been nice if the OCCJ would have invited a strict separationist to be among the presenters today. The OCCJ’s motto is “We open minds.” I didn’t find anything mind opening in today’s presenters’ (accommodationists all) hostility to church/state separation.

Library Donation Received

Our donation of $100 to the Tulsa Library Trust has been received and acknowledged. Once the library is built, "Humanist Association of Tulsa" will appear on the "Donor Wall." The library will be connected to a new community center. The joint facility will have several meeting rooms.

The new Kaiser Library will be built in the northeast section of LaFortune Park. This area might be more centrally located for our membership, and we may wish to move our 3rd Sunday meetings to the new library.