Non-believers in religion urged to come out of the closet

Here's a Guest Opinion by my wife, Laurel, that is in the current issue of Salem Weekly -- our city's alternative paper.

In it she plugs the May 26 Portland Atheist Festival. Laurel and I are signed up to be some of the people who will speak for two minutes about why they're proud to be atheists.

Non-Believers Come Out of the Closet
by Laurel Hines

If you are one of the ever-growing numbers of people who don’t believe in a religion, you are “a-theist” (not part of a religion). If you don’t like the religious dogma that Ted Cruz and others hope to inflict on the nation, you must come out of the closet and declare your “a-theism”. If it worries you when legislators make policies based on religion instead of modern science, you must come out of the closet and declare yourself as “a-theist”!

A Pew Research survey recently found that 23 percent of the U. S. population is nonaffiliated, and a third of Millennials identify now as non-religious. Yet few are willing to declare themselves as atheist or even agnostic (uncertain about God’s existence). Yet politicians will continue to ignore secular Americans until they are convinced that there is a price to be paid for doing so.

The Catholic, Evangelical, and other religious lobbies, meanwhile, have significant influence in our government. The non-believers avoid the atheist label because of the tendency of people to assume only the religious are moral and good people. Yet those of us who are atheist/non-believers know that is hog-wash, and that actually the opposite is true ( atheists are under represented in prisons; some churches are awash in child molesters in the clergy).

Morals are inherent in social beings, and religion is not necessary for moral behavior.

Secular non-believers need to assert that our numbers are growing and significant, and that we vote. But it takes joiners to create a lobby!

Freedom of conscience for all – which exists only in secular democracies- should be a top concern for the non-religious.

Unless we non-believers accept a label and unite under a label, and join organizations that take action by fighting to keep our government secular (like Atheists of America or Freedom From Religion), we face legislation based on religious morals and beliefs,  and not science, reason, or facts.

On Thursday, May 26th, from 11 AM to 2 PM, the first ever Portland Atheist Festival will be held in Pioneer Courthouse Square (https://www.facebook.com/portlandatheistfestival/).  Come and meet an atheist, or come and declare your atheism! We need to come out of the closet and show the world who we really are. The success of LGBTs in the past couple years shows that coming out of the closet and demanding to be heard can create major change for oppressed groups. Atheists are oppressed because we don’t declare ourselves and we don’t unite.

So let’s do it! Come to the Atheist Festival May 26th.

Laurel Hines is a retired clinical social worker/psychotherapist. She now volunteers at Willamette Humane Society, is an active animal advocate, and champions reality that can be supported by science and reason. She is part of a growing group of Salem Freethinking Atheists.

Comments

[777]

Hi Brian
before the reunion May 26 , it would be good to have your definitions straight
if not some Salem citizens will do

A NON-Religious individual often believes in God or an intelligent source of creation
I think most of them have a deeper insight than the flat-rate book based genre

An Agnosticus is somebody who isn't interested in this theological stuff and avoid the feel and discussion

An Atheist has a definite believe that no God or Source exists, which is non-scientific, . . denying the basic laws of Energy

When the Buddha declares : There is no God
He is definitely right which His explanation that
There is only Laurel Hines and She ( Laurels's deeper temporal unknown to Her Levels - )
has/ have created everything that exists
For better understanding and while this goes for each Soul , there were times_moments_environments were/when we did this in UNISON , together !
Many people don't like The Buddha's stand point because it implies that You are responsible for ugly things on earth c q in the universe and there is nobody else to blame

Next There is Hindu PolyTheism with its many Deities ( corresponding with catholic Saints, symbolising psychological needs ) which is also created and correct
and the same as Buddha's standpoint because
the "devoties" have made these Deities in existence
when they still had power to do this

Read the Bardo Todol, the tibetan book of the death describing hundreds of boddhisatwas ( psycho-needs-attachments -) - The book urges NOT to fall in these "such psycho structures"
which are so strong at death-time
but to concentrate on the Flame ( joti ) or Light at the end of a crooked tunnel ( aka NDE s )
Nice occasion here to repeat the exact middle of the Bardo Todal , the chapter that states:
"Only those who have during their lifetime- practised meditation under the guidance of a Saint, don't need these advices , because They have already detached themselves and will be drawn in to the light immediately"

Great Sound an Light for the Salem Society and I hope this will help to prepare

I think what Laurel want to state is that She just doesn't know
but that Religions often represent the devil and ugliness
as said by Krishnamurthy story here , two days ago

I completely sympathise with that and Laurel's opinion

A story Charan Told when I was in Beas :
A black man sadly on the lawn outside local church in tears
an old man joining him and asked what the problem was
the black : They don't allow me to come in and pray - no membership for me
The Old Man :
Don't be sad, . . I'm God and they deny me entrance too ( quickly paraphrased )

777
-

[Jim]

Brian--- Check it !https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbkgj5J91hE

[Brian Hines]

Jim, that You Tube link is about Eben Alexander's ridiculous claim that he almost died and went to heaven. That extremely dubious assertion has been debunked in four blog posts I've written about Alexander. The bottom link has the most damaging evidence that Alexander isn't telling the truth.

http://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/2012/10/heaven-is-not-real-no-matter-what-eben-alexander-says.html

http://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/2012/10/brain-damage-can-convince-you-of-christian-bullshit.html

http://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/2013/04/more-reasons-to-doubt-eben-alexanders-heaven-and-god-claims.html

http://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/2013/07/eben-alexanders-proof-of-heaven-has-been-disproved.html

[Upsetter]

Actually, as far as I'm concerned, God loves atheits most.

But....I'm not an atheist. Nobody is, in my eyes, who ever engaged in any kind of conscious so called spiritual practises. Everybody believes in something or someone anyway, right?

For example: Socialists are not atheits, communists are not atheits, social democrats (like I am) are not atheists, even existenitalists are not atheists, only PURE a-theists are real atheists. What does that mean? It means: IF you NEVER engaged in any kind of religious/spiritual/political so called path, you are a pure atheist. Else you are just not. Else you are, if you deny theism, you are an ANTI-Theist, which is a more accurate term for those who are utterly dissatisfied with theology, politics and other beliefe systems, as something of some value. A mere (pure) atheist is just someone who never even bothered in dealing in anything like that, whatsoever.

Be proud to be an ANTI-Theist and go for it. But don't confuse it with being an atheist.

Did I made myself under/overstandable so far?

[Upsetter]

And to make it more clear what I was driving at regarding the difference between being an A-theist and being an Anti-theist:

An ANTI-theist is someone who did (indeed) engaged in some sort of so called spiritual practize, like I did. And it either worked out the way that was intended or not. In my case it did AND did not. In my case theism couldn't spoil me (my original stance on things) in the long run.

An A-theists is someone who never did engage in any kind of religious/spiritual practize, ever. Someone who is just living his or her life in this realm by doing what can not not be done by those kind of fellas. "Seelig sind die geistlich armen."

An A-Theist, in that definition, is what you can all innocent. They do not know better.

An ANTI-Theist is what you can call a warrior fighting AGAINST theism by knowing what it is all about.

That is the difference.

You want me to elaborate on what is utterly wrong with the Bhagavad-Gita? Just tell me and I'm happy to elaborate on that one.

I'm an ANTI-Theist! And I definitely know why I am opposing such crap as theisim. THAT you can bet on.

[Cassiodorus]

This is an odd "discussion"? Faith in electron flow? The irony is delicious.