Sam Harris’ bestselling book The End of Faith ignited a worldwide debate about the validity of religion, and his combustible February presentation at TED is still fueling that fire. Now Harris, author of The Moral Landscape, tears down the wall between scientific facts and human values, showing that we know enough about the human brain and its relationship to events in the world to say that there are right and wrong answers to the most pressing questions of human life. Presented as part of Seattle Science Lectures, with Pacific Science Center and University Book Store. Series sponsored by Microsoft. Series media sponsorship provided by KPLU.

Tickets are $5 through Brown Paper Tickets.

P.S. PZ Meyer is in town tonight (check pharyngula for details).

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 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.”

He adds, “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.”

Check local listings and http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/

Due to budget cuts at libraries, we’ve had to make changes to the format and location of our bi-monthly membership meetings.

First, we will no longer meet at the Greenlake Library, which is now closed on Sundays. We’ll be holding out meetings in a variety of places, throughout the greater Seattle area. This allows our members who have limited transportation options to get the chance to attend occasionally.

Since we’ve grown so much in the past two years, membership meetings are typically packed. We’re looking for larger venues.

Finally, we’ll be serving snacks and light refreshments after the speakers, so that you will have an opportunity to network with other atheists and agnostics.

We hope you will like the changes, and ask that you bear with us as we try to communicate those changes with you. We will post the most current meeting information here on this website, so stay tuned.

Thanks for your continued support as we try to better serve you!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Paul Case
President of Seattle Atheists
P.O. Box 283, Seattle, WA 98111-0283
(206) 826-0770
president@seattleatheists.org
www.seattleatheists.org

SEATTLE ATHEISTS TO OBSERVE NATIONAL DAY OF REASON

SEATTLE — On May 6th, members of Seattle Atheists will observe the National Day of Reason by donating at Puget Sound Blood Centers.

The National Day of Reason is the secular response to the National Day of Prayer. It is intended to inspire secular Americans to be visible and to set an example through actions which directly benefit the community. It provides a positive and visible alternative for the non-religious to the unconstitutional National Day of Prayer.

Seattle Atheists chooses to set an example on the National Day of Reason by donating blood. We wish to provide real, tangible benefits to our community, rather than engage in fruitless appeals to invisible authority figures.

The National Day of Prayer being promoted by the federal government is in violation of Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution. It asks federal and local government entities to set aside time and space to engage in religious ceremonies. This is supported by tax dollars.

The Supreme Court has ruled that state-sponsored prayer in schools is exclusionary. A nationally-sponsored day of prayer is equally exclusionary. The National Day of Prayer is geared toward a specific segment of religious practice, and is clearly outside the bounds of proper governmental authority. Indeed, the National Day of Prayer excludes other faiths in the United States, including Quakers, Muslims, Jains, Buddhists, and Jews.

For those who do not pray, the National Day of Prayer is exclusionary and elitist. And, those Americans who do pray don’t need the government to remind them to. Government has no business telling Americans to engage in religious practice, or in how they should do it.

“Its not the job of the federal government to encourage and validate religious activity,” says Paul Case, president of Seattle Atheists. “It’s illegal for them to give de facto endorsement belief over non-belief.”

“Millions of Americans are atheists, agnostics and non-believers,” says Paul Case. “On May 6th, we’re asking them to join us not by appealing to an invisible authority figure, but to do some real good in their communities.”

Seattle Atheists is a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to serving the atheist community in the Seattle area. We strive to promote understanding and respect toward all freethinkers by providing information, creating a sense of fellowship, actively opposing discrimination, and above all, emphasizing reason, critical thinking over supernaturalism and the separation of church and state.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Paul Case, President of Seattle Atheists, (206) 826-0770, president@seattleatheists.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Paul Case
President of Seattle Atheists
P.O. Box 283, Seattle, WA 98111-0283
(206) 826-0770
president@seattleatheists.org
www.seattleatheists.org

SEATTLE ATHEISTS CONDEMNS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH’S COVER-UP OF CHILD RAPE AND DISMISSIVE ATTITUDE TOWARD ITS VICTIMS

SEATTLE — Seattle Atheists would like express its sympathy for the pain suffered by the victims of rape and abuse by Catholic priests, and its disgust at a callous global organization which has enabled and covered up that rape and abuse for decades.

As the list of charges grows, and more victims find the courage to speak out, the Vatican’s attitude towards its victims has grown more cynical and flippant. Pope Benedict recently referred to growing evidence that Catholic priests raped children in their charge, covered up the abuse, and protected the abusers, as “petty gossip.” At the Good Friday service attended by the Pope, Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa compared media scrutiny to the persecution of the Jewish people — doubly offensive given the Church’s centuries-long history of anti-Semitism and their complicity in the Holocaust.

The New York Times reported that the Pope has personally played a hand in internal investigations of abuse against its priests. They reported that he squashed an investigation against Lawrence C. Murphy, who may have abused and raped as many as 200 deaf children under his charge in Wisconsin from the 1950s to the 1970s. Murphy died as a priest and was never punished for his crimes. Church officials in Germany recently admitted that Rev. Peter Hullerman, transferred to an archdiocese led at the time by Pope Benedict, could have been committing sexual abuse since the 1970s. And, in Ireland, Bishop John McGee resigned, apologizing that he failed to respond to allegations of abuse within the church.

“The sexual abuse of children is terrible enough,” says Paul Case, president of Seattle Atheists, “but to actually cover it up, silence the victims with confidentiality agreements, and pass on the priest to a batch of new potential victims is just unforgivable.”

The decades it took to bring these crimes out into the open, and the callous responses by the Pope and the Vatican, clearly illustrate what Seattle Atheists feels is the privileged role that religion gives to an organization that holds itself up above criticism or scrutiny.

“I can’t imagine that a CEO whose employees sexually abused children would be shameless enough to cover it up and have the audacity to play the victim,” Case says, “especially an organization that claims to be the arbiter of morality.”

Seattle Atheists bears no ill will toward the millions of moral Christians and Catholics. We share their outrage with the growing evidence of wrongdoing, and offer our support to the victims and their families. To remain silent is an insult to the secular conscience.

Seattle Atheists is a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to serving the atheist community in the Seattle area. We strive to promote understanding and respect toward all freethinkers by providing information, creating a sense of fellowship, actively opposing discrimination, and above all, emphasizing reason, critical thinking over supernaturalism and the separation of church and state.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Paul Case, President of Seattle Atheists, (206) 826-0770, president@seattleatheists.org

American Atheists 2010 Affiliate of the Year Presented to Seattle Atheists

Seattle Atheists received this great honor at the American Atheists National Convention in Newark, NJ this April.  Congrats to our Board, our members, our participants, and everyone who has helped make Seattle Atheists great during 2009-2010!!  Below is the official notification from Blair Scott, American Atheists National Affiliate Director:

American Atheists is honored to present the Seattle Atheists with the 2010 Affiliate of the Year Award. Over the past year Seattle Atheists have shown outstanding dedication to activism, community support, and the advancement of a positive view of atheism.

The personal drive of the leadership and members of Seattle Atheists, their dedication to activism, community support, and a positive view of atheism, their unselfish application of time and talent, are a great credit to themselves, atheist groups across the United States, and atheists everywhere.  Bravo Zulu and Well Done!

Each year, American Atheists gives away the Affiliate of the Year award at the American Atheists Convention. Affiliate of the Year is not a random award: it actually means something. It means the Affiliate earned the award through hard work and dedication. The criteria looked at for consideration of Affiliate of the Year is:

• Activism for the separation of church and state and civil rights of non-theists (protests, demonstrations, letter-writing, action alerts, etc)
• Events, activism, or programs that promote a positive image of atheists and atheism (public events, parades, editorials, etc).
• Events, activism, or programs that advance science and reason (Darwin Day, etc.)
• Provides a social outlet for local atheists (in addition to regular monthly meetings – unless they are exclusively social)
• Charitable works, community outreach, or some other social programs or events (such as blood drives, feeding the homeless, donations, etc.).  Please note that as a policy, American Atheists does not participate in charitable works or social programs. While American Atheists certainly does not discourage affiliates group from participating in charitable works and engaging in social programs, such activities are by no means required or expected of Affiliates.

It is our hope that their activism and community outreach promotes the same in Affiliates across the nation and American Atheists encourage all Affiliates to increase activism and outreach! Blair Scott, the National Affiliate Director for American Atheists is available for questions or advice at bscott@atheists.org or by phone at (256) 701-6265.

In his Jan. 20 letter to the Tacoma News Tribune, Brad Elken asks of the crisis in Haiti, “Where are the atheists?”

Atheists are precisely where we’ve always been: giving what help we can to people who need it. Countless atheists and free-thought organizations have united under the aegis of Richard Dawkins’ Non-Believers Giving Aid, a multi-organizational drive to raise money for the people affected by the terrible earthquake in Haiti. Together, we’ve already raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for two admirable secular organizations: the International Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders.

True to the message of the holiday sign we placed outside of the Capitol building this past year, Seattle Atheists extends its resources and thoughts to those suffering, regardless of creed, belief, or religion. For the past several years, we’ve raised thousands of dollars for Seattle Children’s Hospital, we donated a large sum of money after the 2005 tsunami, we organize a year-round blood drive, and a year-round SeasonLESS Food Drive, which provides food throughout the year — not just during the traditional holiday giving season. We have a project underway now to donate books to our troops overseas with Operation Paperback.

Unlike the religious groups mentioned by Mr. Elken, these organizations do not proselytize or use tragedies as an easy opportunity to convert vulnerable people. Christian organizations are exploiting the situation in Haiti by distributing solar-powered talking Bibles. The Haitian people don’t need bibles — they need clean water, food, and shelter. They need doctors, medicine, engineers, and aid workers to rebuild their country. They do not need faith-based opportunists who are already using the crisis as if it were a fire sale for religious conversion and salesmanship. They don’t need organizations that use charity as a Trojan horse to spreading their beliefs to vulnerable people.

The earthquake in Haiti was a tragedy, not an opportunity. Access to the country is limited right now. Every evangelist getting off the plane takes the place of a doctor. Every Bible is crowding out medical supplies.

Let’s be good for goodness’ sake.

The Board of Seattle Atheists

To ensure rapid response to this tragedy, we would like our readers to donate immediately to any of the following charities working right now to help the people of Haiti:

Humanist Charities Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund

We urge all members of the humanist and freethought community to join us in the relief effort. You can make a donation to the Humanist Charities’ Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund online, or by calling 1-800-837-3792.

The Center for Inquiry

CFI is accepting disaster-relief donations through its S.H.A.R.E. program to support those providing care to the survivors of the magnitude-7 earthquake. 100 percent of all donations will be sent directly to the secular aid group Doctors Without Borders, which suffered the loss of all
three of its medical facilities and is working against difficulties to provide the basics of first-aid care and stabilization.

Please make your contribution to S.H.A.R.E. here. All funds sent to S.H.A.R.E. are tax
exempt in the United States.

Red Cross

Donate to the American Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund here:
http://american.redcross.org/

Additional charites:

MADRE
Partners in Health
Doctors Without Borders
Americares
International Relief Teams
Mercy Corps

Over the past year, Seattle Atheists has been undergoing a phenomenal amount of growth. We’ve gained new membership (our membership has increased 100% over last year alone!), garnered tons of positive press, started new programs, revamped the organization, and done lots of charity work in the community. Atheism in Seattle is truly flourishing.

Here’s a recap of what Seattle Atheists has done this year, since Dec. 2008:

• Gained 82 dues-paying members in one year. A year ago, we had 143 members — now we have 225.
• Run two sets of bus ads, which have garnered national and international media attention
• Placed a holiday greeting sign on the state capitol grounds
• Welcomed new Members-at-Large Wendy, Mike, Randy, Sam, and Layton, and our new Secretary, Rebecca, to the Board. They are all doing an absolutely phenomenal job!
• Started new giving programs, including Operation Paperback and the SeasonLESS food drive
• Adopted a new mission and vision, and reorganized our committee structure
• Launched our first-ever fundraiser mailing for a new bus ad campaign
• Hosted free public talks by Dr. Valerie Tarico, Chris Rauch, Jim Corbett, comic Jeremy Whitman, and Matt Griscom
• Raised more than $1,000 for Childrens hospital
• Had our new and improved Flying Spaghetti Monster featured on Venganza.org, and the FSM Wikipedia page
• Begun planning for exciting new events, like the winter gala, a film series, and a cable access show
• Celebrated Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday
• Donated more than 35 pints of blood

All of this is only possible because of you, our members, supporters and volunteers.

It’s been so gratifying to be a part of this organization, to meet all of you, and to take even a small part in making the atheist community in Seattle grow! The board would like to extend its appreciation to everyone who donated their time, money and hard work to our programs, and we hope to see even more of you in the coming year.

Happy solstice, and a very happy, healthy and fulfilling new year to you all!

Sincerely,

Amanda Banerji, Vice President of Seattle Atheists

In this holiday season let us remember that kindness, charity and goodwill transcend belief, creed or religion. Happy Holidays, Seattle Atheists”