31-year-old Stanley Huang, a hip-hop singer and former member of the band LA Boyz, will release an album titled Atheist Like Me on December 29. The title track contains lyrics such as:

I hope we can be happy forever and never separate/
But I cannot go to heaven, so I cannot be with you/
Eternity doesn’t exist, (I) don’t believe in god/
Death is not the end, I won’t stop missing you/
Can’t kiss your face, no matter how I miss you.

Huang goes on to say he also doesn’t believe in reincarnation.

What does Huang believe in?

Love.

Apparently, that doesn’t cut it for religious people, who have protested the record company, forcing a temporary shutdown of its website. This is all according to the China Times, which also reports on the more than 100 protest phone calls and additional protest emails the company has received.

That’s right… how dare a song promote love!

Seriously, the song is on the radio. Just change the station.

What exactly is anyone protesting? The mere mention that someone doesn’t believe in God? Do these protesters understand they can disagree wth Huang?


[tags]Stanley Huang, LA Boyz, Atheist Like Me, atheism, love, God, China Times, religion[/tags]

The LA Times published an article written by Sam Harris today in which he discusses 10 myths and truths about atheism.

The 10 Myths:

1) Atheists believe that life is meaningless.

2) Atheism is responsible for the greatest crimes in human history.

3) Atheism is dogmatic.

4) Atheists think everything in the universe arose by chance.

5) Atheism has no connection to science.

6) Atheists are arrogant.

7) Atheists are closed to spiritual experience.

Atheists believe that there is nothing beyond human life and human understanding.

9) Atheists ignore the fact that religion is extremely beneficial to society.

10) Atheism provides no basis for morality.

It’s still surprising to me that anyone can believe atheists are “dogmatic” (What’s dogmatic about being rational? Beats me) and that atheism “provides no basis for morality.” But there you go.

Nice to see this type of article in a major paper on Christmas Eve, especially as recent polls point to the fact that over 80% of people actually believe in angels. (While more educated people have less of a tendency to believe in them, it’s still an embarrassingly high percentage.)

I’m looking forward to reading the response to Harris’ article.


[tags]LA Times, Sam Harris, atheism, Christianity, atheist, Bible, Koran, science[/tags]

The National, a show on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), has a segment titled “Seven” where reporter Mark Kelley “tries on a different lifestyle and a different point of view” for one week.

This week, he spent “seven days with God’s army.”

Watch the clip (25 minutes):

What does God’s army talk about?

Porn. They’re obsessed with the porn.

And the dangers of “rap, rock, [and] MTV.”

More of God’s army:

“It’s time to tune out and to tune off the terrorists in our living rooms.” (Presumably referring to “unwholesome” TV content)

Kelley rips on a lot of the movies/TV productions because they’re not entertaining instead of what he should be doing– criticizing the actual information. But for this segment, it’s outside the scope of what he’s trying to do: Understand where the Evangelical Christians are coming from.

He does come to a (shocker of shockers!) revelation, though:

“I gotta say this isn’t entertainment… it feels more like propaganda!”

His revelations aren’t necessarily anything new. But for those younger people– the ones the Christians in the segment are trying to reach– viewing this aspect of Christianity for the first time, I have to believe it’s a turn-off. One of the high points of the piece is simply to show the sheer dullness of the entertainment the Christians here try to promote. That’s not to say we *have* to show sex or violence to have something be entertaining– but the way you hear it in this segment, Christian-themed media is entirely drama-free. Unless of course, the “tolerance police” come to get you for thinking the Bible is Truth.

Similarly, when you hear the students’ overall message about how they are part of God’s army, they come off as just plain creepy instead of thought-provoking about why they deserve to be heard.

Richarddawkins.net has a good thread going on this, but feel free to comment here, too.


[tags]The National, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, CBC, Seven, Mark Kelley, God’s army, porn, atheist, atheism, evangelical, Christian, Christianity, MTV, Bible, Richard Dawkins[/tags]

It always manages to end up like this, doesn’t it…?

Keep up the good fight, Opus.

And work on your arguments. “Accident” is a bad word choice. There’s an important distinction to be made between random chance playing a role in the very non-random process of evolution.


[tags]Opus, Intelligent Design, Christianity, atheist, atheism[/tags]

As noted earlier, today is the tenth anniversary of Carl Sagan’s passing. Bloggers everywhere are honoring him by writing about their memories of Sagan (thanks to Joel Schlosberg for organizing it all).

…

Personally, I’m sad to say I didn’t read Cosmos until about a year ago. And when I first saw the movie Contact, I was still unfamiliar with the Sagan book that inspired it. Needless to say, I wish I had read both books earlier in life.

But when I now think of Carl Sagan, my thoughts immediately turn to a charter school in Florida: the Carl Sagan Academy (CSA). The Sagan Academy opened its doors in 2005 to middle-school children and is going strong in its second year of existence. Interestingly enough, the CSA meets inside a church building.

The CSA was chartered by the Humanists of Florida Association (HFA). The HFA’s board of directors is led by Jerry Lieberman, who spoke with me about the Sagan Academy’s mission, the ups and downs of running a charter school, and the support the school gets from unexpected places.

Hemant Mehta: Briefly, what is the Carl Sagan Academy?

Jerry Lieberman: It is a public charter school serving a middle school student body in an impoverished neighborhood near Tampa. It received its charter from the Hillsborough County School District. There is no tuition or fees. Any child living in the district is eligible to attend for free. It is the first publicly funded humanist school in the United States.

HM: What does the Carl Sagan Academy provide students that other schools do not?

JL: The school has considerable flexibility. It determines what the curriculum is, criteria for employment, standards of conduct and has its own governing board appointed by its founding organization, the Humanists of Florida Association. Innovation and experimentation are encouraged. Bureaucratic rules and regulations that apply to non-public charter schools are not required.

HM: Besides the name of the school, what is the connection between Carl Sagan and these students?

JL: Carl was a world renowned educator. He brilliantly presented science to the broadest population possible. CSA serves a predominantly low-income African-American population that transferred from other public schools where science and mathematics was often not presented in an exciting and stimulating way. The population CSA serves is benefiting from smaller classrooms, modern technology and the philosophy and pedagogy associated with Carl Sagan to the extent possible.

HM: Ideally, what are the hope for graduates of this school?

JL: They will grow intellectually and be more aware and caring of the environment in which they live. They will also be better prepared and motivated to continue their education and have a greater sense of community and civic responsibility.

HM: Is there ever a conflict between the school and religious students?

JL: The conflict has been minimal and isolated. The parents and their children are most interested in a learning environment that is welcoming and effective. Instead of conflict, there is more appreciation for the fact that humanists have taken the initiative of opening a school in a community that severally lacks infrastructure and resources to make a strong difference in the lives of the children and their families that largely have been the victims of discrimination and poverty. Humanists have done this with the support of the local community and the approval of the deacons and pastors of a largely African-American Baptist church. Another elementary public charter school that also largely consists of an African-American population, but has its own charter with the school district that I helped them to get seven years ago, is one of the feeders for CSA.

HM: Are parents ever concerned their children are being proselytized about atheism?

JL: There were a couple of parents that asked if it was true that Carl Sagan was an atheist. This is after we were very careful to make clear that we were secular humanists (not basing our values on religion and the belief in a deity) and distributed literature about ourselves and Carl Sagan. We didn’t want anyone to be surprised. I think it became clear we were not opening the school to convert children to atheism. We were there to provide the best education possible and respected we were guests in the community. The church and the residents became increasingly comfortable with us and support the school in many ways. We are in our second year and no one has suggested we are trying to proselytize about atheism. We are proselytizing about evolution, the scientific method, human rights, critical thinking and a greater understanding of the world they live in.

HM: What are the short and long term goals for CSA?

JL: We need this year to demonstrate we can offer a progressive learning environment and also attain better results on the high stake state tests.

Another short-term goal is to find a more suitable facility for the school.
This is a critical year for evaluation and building the capacity of the board and staff.

We would like to expand the school to serve more students and begin a high school program.

We hope to have schools all over the state once it is demonstrated a model has been created for replication.

It is our desire to share our experiences to with other humanist organizations around the nation and the world.

There is a great opportunity to incorporate excellent programs developed by the contacts we have met through [Sagan's widow] Ann Druyan.

HM: What have been the successes you’ve seen in the first couple years?

JL: There has been significant academic progress. Improvement in reading, comprehension and math rank as one the highest of any middle school in the district. There has been broad acceptance by the community. The school’s governing board is very dedicated and competent. Numerous donations in support of the school have taken place. There is a partnership with the state university’s medical school. The press coverage has been very favorable. The membership of the Humanists of Florida Association is very supportive and excited about CSA.

HM: What have been the hardest moments?

JL: The delay in finding a place for the school and the rush to open under less than desirable conditions. High staff turnover. Grossly inadequate facilities. The fact that our students came to us with very low scores and the difficulty of passing the state high stake exams when the performance gap is huge. There were also significant start-up problems associated with personality conflicts, issues of trust and a new board going through a learning curve.

HM: Is there anything else you would like to add?

JL: A great deal has been learned by us through this initiative. This knowledge will serve us in the future and is something we will gladly share with our fellow humanists. It would have been much easier and safer to publish our newsletter, debate the believers, defend attacks against us and remain reactive and isolated. This effort was a giant change, one fraught with risk as well as opportunity. Humanism has much to offer, but if it is not proactive and willing to make a contribution ‘here and now’ to the betterment of society, how will people get to know more about us and what we have to offer?

…

If you haven’t seen the videos, Carl Sagan was interviewed by Charlie Rose in 1995 and 1996. You can see those appearances here and here, respectively.

[tags]Carl Sagan, Joel Schlosberg, Cosmos, Contact, Carl Sagan Academy, Humanists of Florida Association, Jerry Lieberman, Friendly Atheist, Tampa, Hillsborough County School District, humanist, atheist, atheism, African-American, secular humanists, Ann Druyan, Charlie Rose, blog-a-thon[/tags]

Ted Haggard stepped down from New Life Church for sexual misconduct…

And then came Paul Barnes…

And now comes another guy from Haggard’s church. Christopher Beard had been heading a youth ministry at New Life Church. That is, until his recent resignation after admitting sexual misconduct.

What is in the communion wine in Colorado churches…?

Even more amazing is the way New Life announced this resignation to its staff, almost as an afterthought. Look at the email they sent (emphasis is mine):

Dear Staff,

Wow, what an amazing week! Wonderland [New Life Church's Christmas program] was attended by more people this year than ever before. Sunday morning was an incredible display of how God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

In the midst of all the extra effort we’ve been putting forth, I hope each of you were able to attend at least one service this weekend to worship God and be spiritually refreshed. I loved hearing from our head Overseer, Brother Larry Stockstill, on video reinforcing his confidence in us and the on going process.

Pastor Ross reminded our congregation this morning that, after the Overseers permanently removed Ted, we asked them to further assist us to ensure that we as a staff are all rightly ordered as the church moves forward. So far, they have interviewed many of us on the pastoral staff, beginning with the senior leaders. As a result, Christopher Beard has resigned his position as director of Twentyfourseven. It is apparent that he has displayed poor judgment in some leadership decisions, in addition to one instance of sexual misconduct several years ago. That misconduct did not involve Ted. Twentyfourseven will continue this year under the direction of our college pastor, Aaron Stern.

Christopher has served New Life for over nine years, and we are grateful for his faithfulness and dedication. We love him and his family, and we stand with them as they walk through this difficult time.

If you have any questions about the Twentyfourseven leadership transition, please feel free to contact me directly at ext. 103. Please continue to pray as we seek God’s will in this vital season of our church.

Excited about our future,

Pastor Lance Coles

I’m not sure what Beard did, but the misconduct happened years ago and did not involve a minor. It involved an unmarried adult (guy or girl, they don’t say…) and this was before Beard was married. What could this guy possibly do that’s immoral when both parties are of legal age and single?

So much for forgiveness.

At what point do these church leaders take responsibility for their own actions? Why does it take a Board of Overseers for Beard to admit his mistakes? Why did Haggard wait for Mike Jones to reveal the truth to the press before admitting any wrongdoing? For that matter, why do the Catholic priests wait until they are accused of molestation before they try to make amends?

When will these churches admit they are fostering hypocrites?

When will the people that attend the churches in question admit their leaders have been lying to them?

What’s most upsetting is that men like Haggard, Beard, and Barnes decide to work in churches, acting as moral leaders and role models. In the back of their minds, they know they’ve acted immoral enough to warrant stepping down from the church. And yet, they still take on the positions while condemning others who do the same thing.

If the church is teaching the value of forgiveness, then they shouldn’t be letting these people go. Either support them, or do your research before hiring them in the first place.


[tags]Ted Haggard, New Life Church, Paul Barnes, Christopher Beard, Larry Stockstill, atheist, Christian, atheism, Ross Parsley, Twentyfourseven, Aaron Stern, Lance Coles, Mike Jones[/tags]