I don't always agree with JT Eberhard, but...

... he occasionally says something that absolutely knocks it out of the park:

“The good news is that this life you lucked into is your own, and the only rewards or punishments, the only real heaven and the only true hell, are the results of your own actions between now and when you die. You have an opportunity to live in a way so that when your time is up you will have discovered heaven long before you found death.”

Drawing by Jen McCreight

If that isn't a positive message that atheists can rally around, I don't know what is.

Giving thanks, the humanist way

As an atheist, I don't have a god to thank for the "blessings" in my life.  There are many things I'm fortunate to have in my life: living in a region with abundant natural resources, dwelling in a relatively safe area without the daily threat of violent crime, and having good general health that's at least partly due to my genes, to name a few.  Absent belief in any higher being that chose these circumstances for me, I have to chalk them up to a mere accident of circumstance.

What I can be thankful for are the actions of other people that have had a positive impact in my life.  Some have done great gestures of generosity; others, small acts of kindness.  Some have done nice things for me intentionally; others have indirectly helped me while helping themselves.  Some have given material aid; others have given kind words, or a smile, or even a challenge for me to meet.

I give my thanks to every person whose actions have helped me get to where I am today: the family that raised and provided for me, the friends who were there for me throughout school, the teachers who challenged me to learn and think critically, the co-workers who brave the proverbial trenches by my side.  I give my thanks to my wife, who has helped me learn as much about myself as I have about her.  I give my thanks to the strangers who invented the tools I use to express myself, the generations of our civilization who have preserved free speech, and the soldiers who stand ready to protect this society.

Last month, my fellow HCCO member Derrick posted this Dial-A-Humanist message on the HCCO blog, discussing the benefits of adopting an "attitude of gratitude" (cheesy slogan, yes, but accurate).  It's something I thought about this evening as I sated myself with slow-cooked turkey breast, stuffing, yams, and pumpkin cheesecake.

We humans have one another thank for every good thing we have in our lives.  We're the ones who keep one another safe from danger.  We're the ones who work to secure food and resources for one another, and carve niches for one another in the economy.  We're the ones who challenge one another to succeed and help one another in times of need.  We're the ones whose kind words and companionship keeps one another happy.

Happy Thanksgiving, my fellow humans.

"On the vilification of secular humanists" - post at Skeptic Freethought

My first post at Skeptic Freethought went up yesterday!  I revisited the topic of ridiculous claims made about secular humanists by the Religious Right.  This time I took a more serious tone compared to my earlier sarcastic rebuttal.  I also examined why the "good without God" message of secular humanism would be so alarming to a religious fundamentalist.

Is this message so threatening that it warranted vandalism?

To sum up my thoughts on the matter:

It’s because, framed within a worldview in which a sly Devil seeks to trick gullible humans into abandoning faith for worldly concerns, a friendly and inviting godless philosophy is far more dangerous than an aggressive militant adversary.

Is the slogan "Good Without God" controversial?

The series of billboards around Columbus showing the smiling faces of friendly neighborhood atheists doesn't seem to have generated any notable controversy until just now.  It turns out that one of the billboards happened to go up on a church's property on the East side; it appears that the church was leasing the land to the billboard company, and must not have been aware of the new content being displayed there this month.

The church didn't take kindly to a billboard on their premises proclaiming that people don't need what they're selling, so they complained to the billboard company and the ad was moved to another site.

To be fair, a steakhouse probably wouldn't want an "I'm good
without beef" billboard displayed in their parking lot either.

So, a billboard got moved.  Not censored, not stolen, not vandalized, just moved.  I have to say that it's an improvement over what's befallen similar ads in other places (and I must give thanks to Hemant Mehta for diligently calling out such acts of sabotage).  If this is the worst thing that happens, then I'd say this was a pretty successful campaign.  People know that we're here and they seem to be wising up to the fact that we're not evil.  I sincerely hope that one day atheism will be such a non-issue in public life that we won't need to announce our presence like this; perhaps these billboards and even atheist-themed blogs will one day be a thing of the past because they've served their historical purpose.

On a related note, I decided that I'm not sure how well I like the "Out of the Closet" banner that I made previously on the FFRF website, so I made a new one:

I'm still not a big fan of the font they use for these, but eh. ~shrug~

I think that I like the new one better, but the old one has its merits too.  Any thoughts, my tiny band of loyal casually interested readers?

Service, sacrifice, and atheists in foxholes

Today is Memorial Day in the United States, designated for the remembrance of Americans who lost their lives while serving in the military.  I may not always agree with the decision to go to war, but I recognize the fundamental necessity for a free society to maintain a strong, committed military to defend itself and its interests.  Essential to such a military are individual human beings willing to risk life and limb in defense of their society, a sacrifice requiring an extraordinary amount of bravery.

There are atheists in foxholes!

One group within the military that seems underrepresented are the atheists, agnostics, and secular humanists who serve fully aware that no Valhalla awaits them if they are killed in action.  Military service in general takes guts; I personally think it takes a great deal more for godless soldiers to knowingly risk the only life they have to fight for the things they do believe in.

The foxhole atheists don't go entirely without recognition. The Freedom From Religion Foundation put up a monument (pictured) to nontheistic servicemen and servicewomen, and the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers keeps a roster of open atheists in the military.  People like Sgt. Justin Griffith stand up for other nonbelievers in the military amid the heavily religious culture our country perpetuates.  I hope that the atheists in our military continue to gain recognition for their service.

Why don't I join up, then?

Last month, writer and atheist soldier K. Syrah posted a thought-provoking entry on her blog about the hypocrisy of able-bodied people thanking soldiers for their service while being reluctant to serve themselves.  As I think today about what this holiday represents, I can't help but have K's post come back to mind.  What kept (and still keeps) me from serving in the military?


I wasn't deluded by any notion that I'm somehow "too good" for it; I know servicemen/women who were better students than I was in high school.  It wasn't even my opposition to the invasion of Iraq; I still supported the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan and supported the military in general.  Was it simple cowardice?  Is it still cowardice today?


I would like to think that there's more to it than that; perhaps I never felt the military was my calling in life, though I have yet to figure out what my calling is.  Maybe it's not so much my fear of dying on the battlefield that has kept me out, but rather the fear that I'd be out of my element and thus a weak link in the chain.  Maybe I'm making excuses.  I'm still young, and I shouldn't rule out military service while I figure out what I want to do with my life; someone has to do it, after all.

Can you get up off your knees?/Are you brave enough to see?/Do you wanna change it?

Tomorrow, many members of our nation's Christian majority will "observe" their National Day of Prayer (status as a government holiday in dispute) by doing something their Bible says they should also be doing the other 364 days of the year: dropping to their knees, clasping their hands, and talking to the god they believe is listening.  The NDoP Task Force has even been gracious enough to invite members of all religions to do the same (they do have to pander to the religious left, of course), though their instructions are specifically tailored for praying to Jesus.


Good for them.  Their praying does me no injury, and I would strongly oppose any measure to restrict it.  What I do oppose is having a legislative mandate for the President to lead it.  Obama can lead it if he wants to - that's his right as an American, and he can say whatever he wants to the country when he has a microphone in front of him.  It should be his choice, just as it's his choice to acknowledge other religious holidays throughout the year.

While the judicial battle over this event's status as a government-recognized holiday carries on, many atheist and secular humanist groups throughout the country are organizing "National Day of Reason" events in protest.  Many are dedicating the day to volunteer projects to show that two hands working are worth a hundred million clasped in prayer.  Atheists in New York City are organizing to donate blood, which I would have arranged to do tomorrow had I not just done so last week.


I'll be spending the day on the job, so volunteer work is probably out of the question.  I'll make an effort to use my brain to solve a difficult problem, though that's something I try to do every day.  To be honest, I don't think reason needs a special day, and it shouldn't have to be seen as an antithesis to a federal law.  Here's hoping that the courts rule to privatize prayer and take this silly mandate out of our law books for good.

No Hell below us, above us only sky

I was recently asked for my feelings on the idea of evil going unpunished in the atheistic view; without a final Judgment for our actions, doesn't it seem unfair that we all end up equal in death no matter what kind of life we lead? The fact that the world's two largest religions teach that people are judged by God on their adherence to the faith rather than their deeds alone notwithstanding, this is an interesting question.


Heroic actions often get the hero killed in action. Humanitarian workers sometimes die at the hands of the very people they are trying to help. Many murderous dictators have stayed in power until their natural deaths. Some vicious serial killers live out the rest of their days without ever being caught. Would it be comforting to believe that people who do good deeds in life are eternally rewarded, and those who perpetrate evil are eternally punished?


I personally don't think so, but I understand the sentiment. I understand wanting to live in a universe where the good guys win in the end and the bad guys get what's coming to them. I understand wanting to believe that death is neither an escape for the wicked nor an indignity for the righteous.


But I disagree.


Without an afterlife, people who prey upon their fellow humans for material gain or sadistic pleasure aren't just making a futile gesture in an ephemeral life before eternity; they are depriving other human beings of life, liberty, and dignity in the only brief existence their victims have. It should give us a moral imperative to stop injustice while the people involved are still alive instead of waiting for an almighty judge to condemn the perpetrators after death.


Without an afterlife, people who risk their lives or donate significant time and money to improve the world for their fellow humans aren't just trading ephemeral resources for eternal favor; they are using their brief existence to help improve or protect something they believe in and making an impact which may well outlive them. It should inspire us to pay good deeds forward and help them have a greater impact instead of taking for granted that they will be rewarded after death.

You are here.

Ultimately, the universe doesn't seem to care what we do to each other on this mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. We humans are the ones who care, and in the end, whether we spend our lives selfishly preying upon others or striving to make a positive impact on human society, we all die and rot. I'd personally rather give people of the future something positive to remember about me; after all, the legacy I leave behind is the only thing about me that will survive death.