Center for Inquiry - Long Island (formerly Long Island Secular Humanists) INQUIRER Volume 6, Issue 9, September, 2003, Long Island Secular Humanists Box 119, Greenlawn, NY 11740, Email: LISecHum@aol.com. A Thumbs Up Publication Editor: Gerald Dantone, Art Design: John R. Wilmarth Copyright LISH 2000 (All articles in this newsletter may be reprinted by organizations affiliated with the Council for Secular Humanism with a reciprocating reprinting agreement with LISH, so long as the article is used in full and with complete crediting. Edited versions can be used with written permission.) Visit LISH on the web: http://nyhumanist.org/lish.htm
Visit CFI-LI on the web: http://nyhumanist.org/lish.htmTABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Can It Get Worse?
2 Letters to the Editor
3 Origins - Part 10
4 Quickies
5 Making The Rounds With Norm
6 Atheists Need Not Apply, Yes; Catholics Need Not Apply, No!
7 Guest Editorial: The Lesser of Two Evils and the Road to Hell
8 Lurching Towards Armageddon
9 CREEP Turns to CRAPCFI-LI MEETING INFORMATION
KEITH TAYLOR (Dipsey Dumpster)
The 7:15PM Friday, September 19 forum at the Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library, 999 Old Country Road, Plainview, will feature Free Inquiry, Skeptical Inquirer, Navy Times & CFI-LI INQUIRER contributor and Wisdom Society member Keith Taylor. Keith is also a founder and former president of SDARI, a rationalist and humanist group in San Diego, CA. The topic will be “Atheists in Cyberspace.”
Keith is a well known freethinker particularly among the Internet community and an in-demand speaker and writer. A 23 year veteran of the Navy, Keith is well qualified to dispute the idea that there are no “atheists in foxholes.” Don't miss what is sure to be one of the wittier and more down to earth forums we've ever had!
At 7:30PM, October 3, at the Ethical Humanist Society of LI, 38 Old Country Rd., Garden City, the LI Humanist Coalition will sponsor a forum on the subject of “Clean Money, Clean Elections,” featuring speaker John Bartholomew and a video featuring Bill Moyers. FREE!
Coming 7:15PM, Thursday, October 9 at the Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library; JOE NICKELL! Please note the date and make plans to see CSICOP's and skepticism's legendary investigator extraordinaire! DO NOT MISS THIS FREE FORUM![TOC]
CAN IT GET WORSE? Gerry Dantone
“When the President of the United States terrifies the American people in his constitutionally-mandated State of the Union speech with nuclear threats based upon evidence that was universally known to be shoddily forged garbage, no one should calm down.
When he uses that terror to make war on a nation that was no threat to America, no one should calm down.
When over 200 American soldiers and thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians die because of this, no one should calm down.
When that grisly body count rises every single day, no one should calm down…
It has become all too clear that a small cadre of ultra-conservative hawks within the administration led us to where we are today with absolutely no oversight from the rest of the government. By William Rivers Pitt, from Truthout
This is pretty much the whole Iraqi story in a nutshell: No nuclear program, no WMDs (yet), no Al Qaeda link, no imminent Iraqi threat - no nothing, except the removal of Hussein's cruel regime, which was a less than primary reason given for this war! That's a bit more than “16 misleading words” left in a State of the Union speech. It's more like 90% of the rationale for this war has simply not panned out! Let's not even get into the “peace” which has been anything but peaceful.
As consequentialists, humanists must look at the results, and the results, outside of the regime change, so far, are grim. The day to day lives of Iraqis took a step backward, not to mention the tragedy of those civilians who were killed; the US paid a price and is continuing to pay a price in lives as well; world terrorism may be unaffected, and in fact may have been given a hateful boost. Future economic and political repercussions may be very negative. It is amazing but possibly true that the capture or death of Saddam Hussein might gloss over the rest of this gloomy picture in the minds of many Americans. We may soon find out.
Now, in the real world however, North Korea may be developing bombs for the express purpose of selling them to terrorists such as Al Qaeda. This is a real possibility, not one manufactured by ideologues that has been made to conform to their ideology. Is the US ready and able to do something about North Korea now?
Most likely not! If North Korea were to build atomic weapons this could lead to the greatest disaster in American foreign policy ever. Because of the international divide over US actions in Iraq, US motives for everything are now questioned and the reliability of US intelligence claims are doubted if not dismissed around the world.
The US should truly be afraid of N. Korea's nuclear program and be concerned that Bush is doing little (as far as anyone can tell) and perhaps can't do anything about it. Cooperation is tough to come by for this administration these days. Who would believe them now? Where would be the support even in the US for military action if that ever became necessary? What troops would he use? And of course, N. Korea is many times the threat that Iraq ever was or could ever be.
The N. Korean threat is something that cannot be dismissed no matter what kind of dubious adventures the Bush administration has previously engaged the US in. It may be the real imminent threat to American life and safety, even if Bush is the “President who once cried wolf(owitz).” It can all get worse - much worse. And attacking Iraq without international support has made future real threats to the US all that much more difficult to deal with.Can It Get Worse?
[TOC]
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Re: Garbage in, garbage out?
7/5/03 I must say that I take umbrage when you say professor so and so or author so and so said - like they know anymore than me because I didn't go to college. Only God has the answers and he is not telling us now and I believe he will have an even harder time telling us after we're dead. I used the word God on purpose because it is just a word: A word used to describe the things that we can't describe.
I feel that we as humans are flock animals and that birds of a feather flock together. So, we flock to the group we feel comfortable with, whether it meets at a church, temple, mosque or the Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library.
So we will let other flocks survive on their spiritual fodder and we will survive on our non-spiritual fodder. But after the fodder of each group is eaten and digested and discharged from the body we all have exactly the same by-product. Thank you, Tom Callahan, Seaford, NY.
Response: It would have been helpful to have cited an example of an argument from authority in the newsletter. Also, some fodder might be akin to toxins, which could kill those who eat it, while more healthful “fodder” might benefit those who eat of that brand. True the final discharge may be hard to distinguish but the happiness of those doing the feeding may vary wildly. Yes, we are all dead in the end, but I believe there is much benefit for all persons to become more humanistic in their approach to life and the lives of others before we die. G.D.[TOC]
ORIGINS - PART 10 Oleg Dei, Science Editor
“But I do know that the history of earthly life is the greatest story ever told.” Stephen J. Gould
In The Beginning
The history of evolution of life on the planet Earth had indeed been a spectacular event. Life that had originated in the seas as a simple, single cell remained unchanged for 3.5 billion years. Five hundred thirty million years ago the Cambrian explosion changed everything. Suddenly multicellular forms of every kind flourished in the seas.
The Cosmos became intelligent. Appearing at this time was a tiny aquatic animal called Pikaia. It was the simplest of animals that possessed a notochord.; they were the cousins of the fish. Their descendants in the far future, who would visit an alien world and terraform the planet, would call themselves humans.
The land that was barren for billions of years slowly began to be invaded as life gained a hold on the alien landscape. The army of invaders were led by the bacteria and were soon followed by algae and land plants. The invasion continued, as the arthropods crawled out of the water and made the land their home. These creatures later evolved into insects by the Devonian. Millions of years later the descendents of the fish crawled onto the land and evolved into amphibians.
The Amphibians
The amphibians were the first vertebrates that managed a foothold on land. Their adaptation from the aquatic environment to the land revealed a fantastic design that served them well in both environments. These were the first complex vertebrate designs that colonized and adapted to the land. The amphibians ruled the Carboniferous period 360 to 286 millions of years ago. Nature's greatest accomplishment was flourishing. They spread and diversified-they were the most intelligent organisms at this time.
The amphibians had evolved all sorts of mechanical and load-bearing capabilities to hold them up and move them on land. Changes in the middle ear evolved, giving them the ability to pick up airborne sounds, essential to survival on land. Now the cosmos could hear. The equipment the amphibians developed to perceive sound waves in the air became a new adaptation. The capability of the fish to receive sound through their bodies, amplified in some instances by the resonance of the gas-filled swim bladder, does not work efficiently in air so most frogs evolved eardrums.
While evolving the ability to hear, these animals, the most advanced of the amphibians, developed a voice. Frogs and toads became accomplished singers. Nature's creation, the frogs, became the first musicians. The music of life was now literally sung by the choirs of frogs, who sang their serenades from spring into summer. They blow the air through their vocal chords creating sounds which are amplified by the swelling in their throats or resonating sacs. The frogs became the first serenaders, their singing which was a call to mating, impresses the female much like we humans, where the male serenades the female by courtship. Their next adaptation freed them from their dependence for reproduction in water and gave them the capability to explore the farthest reaches of land, away from the rivers and lakes that spawned their ancestors.
The Reptiles
That next step in the phase of evolution was a critical event-that was what turned the amphibians into a new class of vertebrate-the Reptile. They accomplished this by evolving the cleidoic or the amniote egg. This egg evolved a membrane that protected the embryo that was inside. The cleidoic egg has a semi-permeable shell that holds a complex combination of membranes, fluids and food to allow the organism to develop in a safe environment before it hatches. The shell of the egg is usually hard and calcareous, although snakes, some lizards, and some turtles have eggs with leathery shells. The cleidoic egg allowed the reptiles to move further inland, away from waterside habitats and complete the invasion of the land.
Reptiles also evolved scaly waterproof skins to prevent the evaporation of water through the skin as can happen with amphibians. Reptiles developed the capability to conserve water by producing nearly solid urine, an ability later inherited by the ancestors of the dinosaurs-the birds.
In the cleidoic egg, the developing embryo takes its food from the yolk sac and passes the waste materials into another sac called the allantois. The important evolutionary adaptation of the reptiles was to reproduce away from the aquatic environment; eggs no longer had to be laid in the water.
Furthermore the eggs became larger, and well stocked with food, eliminating the intermediate aquatic larval stage like the tadpoles. Reptiles lay fewer eggs than fish and amphibians, because much more reproductive energy is invested in each egg insuring a higher probability of survival.
By contrast, amphibians and fish lay many more eggs while the male of the species eject their sperm in the direction of freshly laid eggs, a wasteful technique that had to be modified on land.
Nature devised a much more efficient and direct technique on land-during mating the sperm were delivered directly and economically, by injecting it straight into the female. The cosmos finally invented sex!
The Carboniferous-360 million years ago
The early reptiles appeared in the Carboniferous about 350 million years ago. The first reptiles had lightly built skeletons but retained the sprawling limbs and the hip girdles of the amphibians. It is probable that the first reptiles used their sharp teeth to eat insects. Their high skull and new muscle groups that pulled the lower jaw inward toward the palate would allow them to grapple with struggling insects, some of them quite large-the evolution of more complex organisms was on the way.
Amphibians, on the other hand, lacked a strong grip, sharp teeth and posessed weak jaws. In analyzing evolution the fact that all living reptiles-lizards, turtles, snakes and crocodiles developed the cleidoic egg means that they represent the same phylogeny grouping, indicating that this egg evolved only once. Hylonomus and Paleothyris were the first primitive reptiles-they and their descendents evolved and survive to this day.
The Evolution of Reptiles
The evolutionary lines of the reptiles were indeed complicated, especially when three separate major lineages developed. One branched off and became the mammal like reptiles, now extinct; their ancestors took the path that would lead to the mammals and ultimately humans. The second line led to the present day reptiles represented today by lizards, snakes, and crocodiles while still a third evolved to produce tortoises and turtles.
The members of the group can be identified by the presence or absence in their skull of a feature called the temporal fenestrae. These are the openings that are located behind the eye sockets in the cheek area at each side. This would economize in the development of the bone structure and save energy in the evolution of the skull.
These groups are divided as follows:
Anapsids: Reptiles with no temporal opening-a primitive condition seen in fish, amphibians and the early reptiles such as Hylonomus and Paleothyris as well as their descendents, the turtles.
Synapsids: These were the reptiles with a single pair of temporal openings. This included the mammal-like reptiles, the extinct group that later was replaced by the mammals.
Diapsids: This group of reptiles with two pairs of temporal openings, one above, the other behind each eye socket, this group is represented today by lizards, snakes and crocodiles. Their ancestors later evolved into two other groups, the giant dinosaurs, that were killed off by a giant meteor and their surviving descendents became what we humans call birds.
Euryapsids: Became a fourth group of reptiles that featured a single smaller pair of facial openings. These included an extinct group of marine reptiles called the nothosaurs, plesiosaurs, placodonts well as ichthyosaurs.
Nature is filled with extinct species of animals that perished eons ago. There is no plan to evolution, only those that are best adapted pass their genes to their offspring, and there is no guarantee that the species who call themselves humans are destined to live forever-our extinction is guaranteed, the question becomes only when?
Reptilian Characteristics and Habitats
The evolution of the reptiles allowed life to leave the aquatic environment. This does not mean they abandoned their aquatic ancestry. Turtles, the oldest of the reptiles, live in different habitats. Tortoises have evolved the ability to survive in the harshest and driest desert environments, while other species of turtles returned to the water, back to the home of their amphibian ancestors.
Some returned to fresh water such as lakes, rivers and ponds, while some of the larger species returned back to the safety of the seas. Turtles are the most archaic of reptiles, possessing no teeth, they have razor like jaws. Lizards also evolved the capability to survive in dry environments while their cousins, the marine iguanas that live in the Galapagos Islands flourish on land and sea.
Lizards are much more numerous than other reptiles and are represented today by lizards, skinks, monitors, and iguanas. Crocodiles meanwhile evolved to become an efficient predator-their design has not changed in millions of years.
These reptiles represent a return back to the water and they are the perfect predators. They hunt anything from fish, insects, and mammals to birds as well as bats. Their encounters with humans in the future would prove to be deadly as both sides would take heavy casualties. Crocodiles today are the largest of living reptiles.
Males of saltwater species grow in excess of twenty feet, while their cousins the alligators live in freshwater environments. Crocodile mothers invest much time in their young, and as the babies hatch, they are carefully dug out of their hatcheries and carried safely to the water via the mother's mouth. This became an example of parental care, the cosmos was evolving love.
Throughout the lifecycle of various lizards, they possessed a tendency to lose their legs. Examples of this are the various skinks. Their ancestors evolved 100 million years ago to become the most recent reptiles-the snakes. The loss of the limbs seems to be connected with the life of burrowing; by going underground one does not need the use of legs. In addition living underground one risks the chance of damaging the delicate drums of the ears and furthermore hearing is not needed, so burrowers in the past lost their ears. No snake alive today has any eardrums and the bone that in other reptiles that transmits vibrations from the ear drum is connected instead to the lower jaw so that the snakes are virtually deaf to sound waves that are transmitted through the air. They can however detect vibrations that travel through the ground. The eyes of the snakes are representative of the burrowers; they are indeed quite different from other reptiles.
The evolution of snakes has given them the ability to live in various environments ranging from desert like terrains to jungles, swamps, and oceans. Today the primitive like snakes are represented by boas and pythons-they kill their prey by coiling themselves around the victim and finish their prey by tightening their coils so the victim cannot expand its chest to breathe. The more advanced snakes kill not by constriction but by poison that is delivered by specially adapted fangs.
Since snakes were the last reptiles to develop, their function was simple, they hunted the evolving mammals-and their greatest adaptation became a threat to human evolution, both in the past as well as the present.
The Permian-286 Million Years Ago
The Permian epoch was certainly a spectacular time period on the planet Earth. The two super continents of Laurasia and Gondwana were moving closer together and assembling into a single gigantic land mass call Pangaea. The planet was beginning to take a modern appearance.
The colorful blue skies were alive with insects flying about the seas were a rich ecological environment consisting of fish, sharks, rays, mollusks and crustaceans. The once barren land became a colorful kaleidoscope of various greens as vegetation covered the land.
Life was flourishing everywhere. Lakes, rivers and ponds were supporting a rich ecosystem consisting of amphibians, reptiles and many other organisms. The invasion of the land was complete. With the evolution of the reptiles, the land had been colonized and they were beginning to evolve. The Permian saw the proliferation of mammal like reptiles who were now beginning to resemble dinosaurs. Their jaws and teeth were evolving and these creatures now supported huge sails on their back to aid in the regulation of body temperatures as they were in the process of evolving into warm blooded creatures. This period saw the appearance of the moschops-these huge herbivores were 16 feet long, life was indeed becoming complex. The menagerie of the landscape featured numerous animals as evolution was flourishing, producing larger and more complex animals.
Meanwhile, on the horizon, dark clouds were assembling as the harbinger of death was coming. As the clouds of death gathered, the smell of extinction was everywhere. Mother Earth was dying.
Research Material:
The Book of Life, edited by Stephen Jay Gould
Life on Earth, by David Attenborough
In the next Origins, Part 11, The Great Permian Mass Extinction - the Time the Earth Died, we will explore the massive and catastrophic blow to the evolution of life on Earth.[TOC]
QUICKIES Gerry Dantone
Item: MSNBC fired right-wing talked show host Michael Savage after he called a gay caller to his radio show a “sodomite” and said, “you should only get AIDS and die, you pig!” Savage's parting remark to the caller was “go eat a sausage and choke on it.” MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines said, “The decision to cancel the program was not difficult.”
Comment: Exactly when did it dawn on the geniuses at MSNBC that Mr. Savage was a homophobe? I guess the venom has to be especially blatant for those at MSNBC to notice it. And since Savage was a particular darling of the extreme right, does this say anything about the underlying hatefulness of their ideology? Anything at all?
Item: Liberian leader Charles Taylor, accused of crimes against humanity by the UN, and called a bloody dictator by George Bush, was defended in the media by Pat Robertson who said, “So we're undermining a Christian, Baptist president to bring in Muslim rebels to take over the country.” Taylor is a lay Baptist minister who once prostrated himself on a stage at a Robertson-backed revival meeting and declared, “I am not your president - Jesus is.” In his statement, Robertson did not mention, according to media reports, that Taylor's regime gets a cut of the profits from a Liberian gold mine that Robertson sank $8million into in 1999. Robertson called Taylor's war crimes indictment “nonsense.” Taylor has been reported to command a squad of 10-year-old boys who hack the heads and limbs off his political opponents.
Comment: Remember, one does not get to heaven by doing good deeds - it is grace through faith that does the trick, and in the long run, Taylor will be laughing at the dead, headless, limbless Muslims and other non-believers while sipping afternoon tea with Pat Robertson and Jesus in heaven.
Item: (NY Times, 7/13/03) The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has distributed $6.2billion in charitable work since its founding less than four years ago has pledged 50% of that total to more work toward improving health in the developing world in the future. The foundation's impact rivals of the World Health Org., and Unicef. Mr. Gates estimates that his philanthropy will have touched more than 1,000,000 persons by the end of the decade and his goal to is to help millions more. His vaccine program has delivered 180million doses, saving more than 100,000 lives.
Richard T. Mahoney, professor at Arizona State U. and experienced in health issues in poor countries says, “Bill Gates is going to be remembered more for what he did for international public health than what he did for the world of computers.”
Comment: This extensive article in the Times makes one feel better about Mr. Gates, his software and his corporation. Although one may curse on a daily basis the Windows OS, and/or the business practices of Microsoft, perhaps overall Mr. Gates is a boon to humanity. He certainly has applied a rational approach to his charitable work - he has sought to get the best life-saving bang for his buck, and he may be succeeding in doing so. As a secular and non-religious person in his private life, he and Ted Turner seek to help humans live better in the here and now; the contrast may be a Mother Teresa who sought to use her donated (and occasionally ill-gotten) wealth to recruit nuns, campaign against choice in divorce and birth control and to fund hostels as places where poor dying persons could be converted so that their souls, but not necessarily their lives, could be saved. Typically, the article failed to mention Mr. Gates non-religious humanistic motivation. Says, Mr. Gates, “But really, the thing is that you get to save the first child, the second child, the third child. You can just feel good about that.”
Item: Weeks after a stoning attack on a young pregnant unmarried woman which left her comatose, Turkey's government passed a sweeping human rights law that abolished a provision that often reduced sentences of murders committed in the name of “family honor.” The woman, possibly a victim of rape, died two days later.
Comment: You must hand it to Turkey: Despite the problems of primitive cultural traditions which have become entwined with religion, they are trying to bring a more just secular legal system into actual practice. They have realized that the only way to achieve justice in society is to separate mosque and state; if only our own President and much of the rest of the world would take note. In an absolute sense, there is much work to do in Turkey regarding human rights; in a relative sense, they are far ahead of many of their neighbors.
Item: (From Americans United) Incensed by the Lawrence v. Texas ruling, which stated that gays “are entitled to respect for their private lives,” Pat Robertson is seeking divine help in restructuring the nation's top court. To achieve that goal, the religious broadcaster is sponsoring a 21-day “prayer offensive.”
Last week, Robertson e-mailed an “Urgent call for prayer” letter to Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) viewers, exhorting them to pray for the retirement of several of the high court's justices. He noted that one “justice is 83 years old, another has cancer, and another has a heart condition.”
“There is something ghoulish about praying for the removal of some the Supreme Court's justices while noting their age and health problems,” Barry Lynn of AU said. “This shows how desperate Robertson and his Religious Right allies are to remake the high court.
Comment: Although he didn't explicitly say it, Robertson is implying that his viewers pray for the death of relatively liberal Supreme Court judges. I'm sure he'd wash his hands clean in the event some follower decides to become an “instrument of God.”
Item: (Newsday) An Amityville, Long Island minister who ran an empire of homeless shelters has been charged with stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars meant to house poor women and children. Prosecutors say she stole $570,000 of her agency's $1,000,000 revenue from the county in 2000 by obtaining reimbursements for expenses she did not incur. She has denied all wrongdoing.
Comment: Anyone for more faith based services at taxpayer expense?
Item: (Newsday) On March 20, 2003, Rev. Cajetan Uchendu was at Winthrop University Hospital to administer last rites to patient Charles Miller when the discussion turned to the scandal over priests who molest children. At some point Miller, who was in intensive care receiving chemotherapy, became upset and the priest left without giving the final sacraments. The Priest claimed it was Miller, who sang in a church choir and taught religious education, who “lost faith” and refused the sacraments. Eventually another priest, Rev. Behan, administered the rites, and said that Mr. Miller was sincere. Mr. Miller died the next day.
Mr. Miller's wife thought he may have had a problem in forgiving molesting priests, though it did not affect his beliefs. A cousin of the deceased wrote to Bishop Murphy about the incident and in an April 14 response, the Bishop apologized. In addition, the Bishop added he was sending the visiting priest, Rev. Uchendu, back home to Nigeria. Instead, the priest continued on until his contract ran out on June 24.
Comment: What a shock! A priest who cares more about the reputation of priests and the church than the welfare of parishioners? And a promise broken? Who would believe it? Answer: Everyone.
Item: The roommate of missing Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy, Carlton Dotson, was arrested and charged with Dennehy's murder. Dotson's attorney told the NY Daily News that “It is my understanding… that Dotson has exhibited very bizarre behavior over the last few days. He's been walking around the house with a bible in his palms, open face up and quoting scriptures.”
Comment: Hey, it wasn't me that said carrying a bible and quoting scriptures was “bizarre”.
Item: (Skeptical Briefs - CSICOP) At least 25 people suspected of being witches have been killed in Akwa Ibom state in southern Nigeria. The killing of suspected witches started after some members of the Christian Pentecostal churches accused their congregation's parents and relatives of allegedly practicing witchcraft and being responsible for poverty, diseases, business failure, infertility and other calamities. In one community the village had to shut down churches accused of making anti-witchcraft prophecies and pronouncements.
Comment: Nigeria has been in the news recently on the basis of the imposition of Islamic sharia law in some of its northern states, where a young woman has been sentenced to death by stoning for becoming pregnant. This is a reminder that all religiously and dogmatically held beliefs can be dangerous, not just Islamic ones.
Item: (NY Daily News) Depression and the devil drove Juan Batista to hang his 22 month-old son the suspect's mother said after the killing in a Queens, NY motel in July, 2003. “God would not make him do something like that. I believe he fell to the Devil's temptations,” she explained.
Comment: How can a person be so sure that something is either the work of the Lord or the Devil? Isn't the Devil adept at making it seem he is the Lord? How can one ever know the difference? And how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?[TOC]
MAKING THE ROUNDS WITH NORM Norm Roscoe
In the middle of July, I attended two memorial services of two prominent Humanists.
On Monday July 14 in Patchogue at the Ruland Funeral Home I attended a memorial service for Charles Hession. He was a leading Unitarian Universalist lay leader from Bellport who for many years provided valuable leadership for this fellowship. He held many offices and maybe most of all spearheaded the "Wednesday Night Discussion Group" which persisted for more than twelve years providing truly a philosophical haven for free thinkers. From my perspective this was the ultimate "academy". This group spawned many services and workshops over the years from late 1970's to the early 1990's. Charles Hession was 92.
New consulting minister Alison Cornish on very short notice took over and did a wonderful service. This was a short 45 minute memorial as a prelude to the trip to the cemetery. As with many humanistic memorials the life was "celebrated." We expect to have a more comprehensive memorial in about six weeks.
On Wednesday July 16, I attended a memorial service for Morris Sukenik. Morris was a Madrikh , which is another form of Jewish leadership. The Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island was the site of this wonderful service, conducted very well by the team of Anne Klaeysen and Arthur Dobrin. This service was attended by a rather large number of family and friends. The life of Morris was honored and celebrated by not only the leaders but folks from the floor who came up to speak. Many folks expressed fond memories and pointed out the wonderful achievements of this outstanding Humanistic Jew. Mr. Sukenik was from the Queens Society for Humanistic Judaism as well as the Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island. Morris was 81.
How do we look at rites of passage rituals? We do go through stages in our lives. Are these rituals a part of secular humanist life? As a former Humanist Counselor, I have conducted a number of these rituals from naming ceremonies, Coming of Age, wedding or partnering services as well as memorial services. It seems that as part of a community of reason we can also see the place for these practices in our secular humanist life. I know that some of us attended friend's memorials even as they are from other traditions as we support those members of our community. Often times we go for the sake of family unity and caring.
Finally, I look upon these services as time for reflection and evaluation of the impact people have on the lives of others. We show gratitude for knowing those who just died and learn and benefit from their participation in our community.
LISH Forum, Friday July 18, 7:15 Plainview Public Library: On this day we heard from Jennifer Hecht author of "The End of the Soul." Ms. Hecht related to us what might be a forerunner of our secular humanist movement; The Society of Mutual Autopsy." This group existed in France in the late nineteenth century. This was a group who upon death would donate their brains for research to prove that the soul does not exist. Other members would dissect the brains to find out other things such as intelligence, abilities and other features of the deceased members. By affiliating with a rather acceptable group, an anthropological society, these folks managed to avoid some considerable backlash from the establishment. It is noted that membership included men and women. This group is seen as a rather dogmatic materialistic group; though I felt that they were just confident in their method of research. They simply depended on the empirical way. A number of famous people were involved such as Emile Zola, Margaret Sanger and Arthur Conan Doyle.
In hindsight we can see some difficulties they could see then without the benefit of more advances in science, such as their use of Lamarckianism before the advent of the discovery of DNA. We also find it surprising that materialists were searching for non-material items (souls). Nevertheless we can admire these folks who undertook these efforts. We can maybe see that our research with neuroscience will accomplish what they were not ready to do at that time; however, I doubt if we will find any souls today either. Ms Hecht did a wonderful presentation and fielded many questions effectively.
Sunday July 20, Bay Shore UU Fellowship 10:00 AM: On this day Laura DeSario presented a service on the latest Unitarian Universalist controversy. This comes about as a result of a speech delivered by UU president William Sinkford. It involved the use of more reverential language in the UU movement. It appears that a news reporter for a Dallas newspaper inserted the word "God" where Rev Sinkford was only using the more nebulous term "reverence."
Of course this led to a rather heated response from many Unitarian Universalists, especially from the Humanist members. Ms. DeSario made a careful study of what happened and pointed out the media error. She then went on to deal with Reverend Sinkford's terms themselves. The UU president decried the language on the UU principles as failing to show this "language of reverence." There were also quotes from a UU theologian, David Bumbaugh about the use of reverential language.
Our speaker directly pointed that the current principles were quite effective as currently laid out. She showed how they did evolve but that they were quite appropriate for a liberal tradition. Language continues to be a challenge in most of our coalition partners. We seek out the most effective ways to communicate and must continue in this effort.
Ms. DeSario did a great service in this endeavor; she found terms that were maybe not reverent but were respectful, were those of honoring and sought the retention of awe and wonder. This lay leader is on a par with some of the best professionals in the area; she would not call herself a Humanist but is a loyal Unitarian Universalist.[TOC]
ATHEISTS NEED NOT APPLY, YES; CATHOLICS NEED NOT APPLY, NO! Gerry Dantone
The hypocrisy of our Congresspersons is well documented. However, the fact they have always been hypocrites is no excuse for their continuing to be hypocrites.
The Senate has been debating the nomination of William Pryor, a religiously extreme Catholic judge from Alabama to the Federal Court system. His pre-determined views on abortion, church-state separation, civil rights and other major issues clearly make him unsuitable for a position of such responsibility. The Senate is divided along partisan lines, Republicans for, Democrats against, regarding his nomination.
Remarkably, organizations supporting his nomination, the Committee for Justice and the Ave Maria List, created an ad campaign featuring a photo of a judicial chamber with a sign on it that said, “Catholics Need Not Apply.” This has insulted many Democrats, many of whom are Catholic themselves, who are opposed to the Prior nomination, particularly since the nomination is supported by many Protestant Republicans! Some Protestant Republicans have admonished Catholic Democrats for not obeying Catholic teachings.
Besides the obvious hypocrisy of many Republicans dismissing their own church's teachings on the unjustness of the war on Iraq, or the death penalty, as examples, there is much more.
Since George W. Bush became president the Republican Party's primary domestic program has been to pass laws ALLOWING the very kind of discrimination they are now bemoaning. At the core of every “faith-based initiative” is the Federal government giving the right to religious organizations to discriminate on the basis of religion in employment and servicing clients while using Federal tax dollars!
President Bush himself has said publicly that he would only nominate judges that agree with him that this is one nation, “under God,” saying, "I believe that it points up the fact that we need common sense judges who understand that our rights were derived from God. Those are the kind of judges I intend to put on the bench."
Bush's public statement of his intent to discriminate on religious grounds in nominating judges makes a mockery of the US Constitution. Article VI states “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
Religious discrimination is what Bush and the Republicans are all about. It is the height of hypocrisy for Republicans to complain about Catholic Democrats discriminating against Catholics nominated for public office.[TOC]
GUEST EDITORIAL: UNJUST, UNWISE, UN-AMERICAN, FROM THE ECONOMIST
THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS AND THE ROAD TO HELL Joe Brooks
In youth there is a great tendency to define thoughts, events, etc., in terms of being black and white. But, as we grow older and mature, these shades become blurred, and blend into shades of gray. Such is life-and we start to perceive peoples behavior, and circumstances, in shades of gray, i.e. not totally good, or evil. Thus we are confronted with the "lesser of two evils" dilemma. As Humanists, our main concern should be how our actions impact on the lives of people.
A vote for other than the "lesser of two evils" indicates distaste for either choice, however; when the vote may seriously impact negatively on peoples' welfare, such a vote may prove to be more evil than the "lesser of two evils." Those that voted for 3rd party candidates as Nader, etc., made possible the election of George Bush.
The Bush regime has done or intends to do the following: 1) beat the war drums re: Iraq with possible dire consequences 2) give tax reductions which overwhelmingly benefits the rich, and which threatens the viability of Soc. Sec., Medicare, and other social programs 3) impinge on our civil liberties 4) may try to reduce the effectiveness or try to overturn Roe vs. Wade 5) seek to appoint very conservative or reactionary Federal judges.
Granted there are some similarities in both the Democratic and Republican programs; however the examples above which could profoundly impact negatively on the populace at large would very unlikely have occurred under a Democratic administration.
To achieve one's goals, it is sometimes necessary to take a step backwards. Unfortunately, many 3rd party voters were more concerned with trying to make their points, than concerning themselves with the consequences of their decisions. This attitude only re-enforces the old adage, "the road to hell was oftimes paved with good intentions."[TOC]
LURCHING TOWARDS ARMAGEDDON pt 2 Gerry Dantone
Sometimes it seems what is obvious is invisible to the oblivious. In the March 2003 newsletter we quoted a 2002 speech by Sen. Inhofe in which he said, “I believe very strongly that we ought to support Israel; that it has the right to the land. This is the most important reason: Because God said so. As I said a minute ago, look it up in the book of Genesis... In Genesis 13:14-17, the bible says: The Lord said to Abram, “Lift up now your eyes, and look from the place where you are northward, and southward, and eastward and westward: for all the land you see, to you will I give it, and to your seed forever… Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it, for I will give it to thee.” That is God talking…. This is not a political battle at all. It is a contest over whether or not the Word of God is true….”
This along with other statements by other extremist religious conservatives was evidence that government policy was becoming more and more influenced by the delusions created by literal readings of the bible. And they're proud of it.
At long last, the Bush administration has begun an initiative to promote peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. To further peace, the US has to lean on and pressure not only the Palestinians, but Israel. The religious extremists are concerned.
As reported in Newsday, many Christian conservatives view support for Israel “as an obligation flowing directly from biblical prophecy.” “They make it more difficult for the administration to move toward more centrist policies, and they make it difficult to hold to the president's determination for a two-state solution…” according to the Middle East Institute, a Washington think tank.
Rep. Tom DeLay's comments in the summer of 2003 were “widely interpreted as a cautionary message to Bush that he will pay a political price if he presses Sharon for concessions” according to a Newsday story, and that Bush was less critical of Israel's actions, which included building a “security fence” within West Bank areas.
Religious extremist Gary Bauer believes pressure from conservative Christians has caused the White House to temper critical comments on at least two occasions and that DeLay's comments have “softened” the President's tone.
All in service of helping Israel regain the land that “God gave them,” so that Armageddon could erupt, leading to the conversion or death of the Jews, and the “End of the World.”
A recent Pew Research poll found that 79% of Americans believe that there is either “the right amount” or “too little” reliance by President Bush in policymaking. I guess “the End of the World” is a more popular scenario than one would expect.[TOC]
CREEP TURNS TO CRAP Dipsey Dumpster, (aka Keith Taylor)
The following story is as true as most anything coming out of the White House nowadays.
A brand new group has been formed to ensure that the current occupant of the White House stays there through 2008. The press release said that by 2008 a complete theocracy will be formed and elections will no longer be necessary. Bush will by then be taking his orders directly from god, or he might even be giving orders to him.
Spokesman for the new group called "Committee for the Re-Appointment of the President" (CRAP), John Poindexter, conceded, "Keeping Bush in office (or even in Washington for more than a week or so) will be a tough job, but we're up to it. After all we have a couple key players who have been there and done that-G. Gordon Liddy and Jeb Stuart Magruder. Both were members of a similar group in the Nixon administration. That was called 'CREEP.'"
A reporter asked Poindexter, "Admiral, is this one of the times you are telling the truth."
Poindexter, last found guilty of perjury on April 7, 1990, replied, "Absolutely."
The Admiral waited for the laughter to subside then acknowledged that the president had made himself out to be a complete idiot on almost every major issue -- the economy, the national debt, tax cuts, the environment, states rights, his appointments, those weapons of mass destruction, and his utter inability to pronounce nuclear.
"But all those things are in the past and we will simply order… er, ask everybody to forget them and concentrate on how nifty the President looks in that flight suit. Then we'll go with what works best, the President's charming and unique use of the English language," said the Admiral. "After all, how many presidents have come up gems like 'Put food on your family,' 'Is our children learning,' or 'Our intelligence is darned good?'"
Poindexter's special assistant for diplomacy and tact, Ann Coulter, added, "Yeah, who wants wimpy comments like 'A day which will live in infamy' or 'Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.'"
Then Ms. Coulter added, "You know, of course the guys who made those statements were traitors, don't you?"
Poindexter, settling into his new job after being fired from DARPA for himself being an idiot, appealed to the public for help. "If you can think of something really stupid to say, please send it in. We will work it into a speech somehow as long as it doesn't have words too large for the president to pronounce, like 'nuclear.'"[TOC]
From the ASPCA:
[TOC]
LOOK FOR THE "CERTIFIED HUMANE" LABEL
More than eight billion animals are used annually in food production in the United States, and the majority of them suffer on factory farms--where animals are considered to be not sentient beings but "units of production." To help consumers choose meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products that come from animals raised according to humane standards, Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC) has recently unveiled the "Certified Humane Raised & Handled" labeling and certification program.
Proponents of HFAC's efforts include the ASPCA, HSUS, and a number of regional and local animal-welfare organizations. "The 'Certified Humane' label is based on strict animal handling standards, rigorous on-site inspections of farms in the program and the United States Department of Agriculture's verification of the entire process," says Lisa Weisberg, ASPCA Senior Vice President, Government Affairs and Public Policy. "The ASPCA is a strong supporter of this program because of its cutting-edge efforts to genuinely improve the quality of life of animals raised for food in the United States." Under the system, added growth hormones are prohibited, and animals must be raised on an antibiotic-free diet.
Excerpts from the Economist
[TOC]
Unjust, unwise, un-American
YOU are taken prisoner in Afghanistan, bound and gagged, flown to the other side of the world and then imprisoned for months in solitary confinement punctuated by interrogations during which you have no legal advice. Finally, you are told what is to be your fate: a trial before a panel of military officers. Your defense lawyer will also be a military officer, and anything you say to him can be recorded. Your trial might be held in secret. You might not be told all the evidence against you. You might be sentenced to death. If you are convicted, you can appeal, but only to yet another panel of military officers. Your ultimate right of appeal is not to a judge but to politicians who have already called everyone in the prison where you are held “killers” and the “worst of the worst”. Even if you are acquitted, or if your appeal against conviction succeeds, you might not go free. Instead you could be returned to your cell and held indefinitely as an “enemy combatant”.
This newspaper (The Economist) firmly supported George Bush's battles against the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. But the military commissions the Bush administration has set up to try al-Qaeda suspects are still wrong-illiberal, unjust and likely to be counter-productive for the war against terrorism.
The established procedure is to pass special anti-terrorism laws, altering trial rules somewhat to handle terrorist cases, but not abandoning established court systems, and trying to retain the basic rights of those accused as far as possible. Britain and Spain have done this. There is no reason why America's own civilian courts, which have successfully tried plenty of domestic and foreign terrorists (including Mr. Lindh), could not be adapted to this purpose.
Mr. Bush could have asked Congress to pass new anti-terrorism laws. Instead, he is setting up a shadow court system outside the reach of either Congress or America's judiciary, and answerable only to himself. Such a system is the antithesis of the rule of law which the United States was founded to uphold.
The Center for Inquiry is a transnational nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization that encourages evidence-based inquiry into science, pseudoscience, medicine and health, religion, ethics, secularism and society.
[TOC]
Become a Friend of CFI-LI
Join CFI in challenging unreason and promoting the scientific outlook. Become a Friend of the Center today. Levels are available to suit every family and budget:
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Friends of CFI-LI gain use of the CFI-LI Freethought library (contact librarian Bill Mohrman, 516 795 3318; for a catalogue and requests, or if you want to register a book for others to borrow); voting rights for the CFI-LI advisory board; mailed newsletters; invitations and discounts to local non-public functions, dinners, and perhaps movies and plays as well!
All Friends of the Center receive:
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Send a check with your name, address and phone number, to CFI-Long Island, Box 119, Greenlawn, NY 11740, or call 516 742 1662 with your Visa, Mastercard or Amex card ready.
All articles in this newsletter may be reprinted by organizations affiliated with CFI, CSICOP, Council for Secular Humanism, American Atheists or the American Humanist Association, with a reciprocating reprinting agreement with CFI-LI, so long as the article is used in full and with complete crediting. Edited versions can be used with written permission.
TRANSCRIPTS!
We now have a number of transcripts available of CFI-LI forums at the Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library and other locations.
Among the available transcripts are “Darwin, the Other Great Emancipator” by Elof Carlson; “Don't You Believe in Anything?” by Ron Barrier; “Darwin Before the Penny Dropped,” by Hugh Rance; “Misconceptions on Evolution and Creationism” by Kieran McNulty; “What Is Separation of Church and State?”, “Media Infidels” “Why We Need a Humanist Coalition on Long Island,” “The Ten Commandments in Public Facilities,” “James Madison and Separation,” “Why Be Good?” and “Science and Creationism,” by Gerry Dantone.
CFI-LI Friends ONLY can call 516 742 1662 or email GDantone@CFIMetroNY.org to request a copy. [TOC]
Book Discussion Club!
If you are interested please email us @ LISecHum@aol.com for locations & directions!
All meetings are at 8 PM unless otherwise noted.
Date: 12 September 2003, Place: Commack. NY, Book: Antonio R. Damasio, "Looking for Spinoza: joy, sorrow, and the feeling brain"
Date: 10 October 2003, Place: Patchogue, NY, waremmy@optonline.net Book: Eric Schlosser, “Fast Food Nation.”
Date: 14 November 2003, Place: Massapequa, NY skeptic1@optonline.net Book: Morma Khouri, “Honor Lost: Love and Death in Modern-Day Jordan.”
Date: 12 December 2003, Place: Amityville, NY OMIcharlotte@aol.com Book: Eric Alterman, "What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the News."
Date: 9 January 2004, Place: Oakdale, NY normRhum@aol.com Book: Kurt Vonnegut, "Player Piano".
Date: 13 February 2004, Place: To be determined, Book: Richard Ellis, "The Empty Ocean: plundering the world's marine life."
Date: 12 March 2004, Place: To be determined. Book: Jon Entine, "Taboo: why black athletes dominate sports and why we're afraid to talk about it."
Date: 9 April 2004, Place: To be determined. Book: Michael Moore, "Stupid white men: -- and other sorry excuses for the state of the nation!"
Date: 14 May 2004, Place: To be determined. Book: Patricia Daniels Cornwell, "Portrait of a killer: Jack the Ripper case closed".
Date: 11 June 2004, Place: To be determined. Book: Jared Diamond, "Guns, germs, and steel : the fates of human societies". [TOC]
The Science Club
The Science Club will be providing LI Humanist Coalition members the opportunity to view outstanding science videos and participate in discussions. Call for schedule of guest speakers! A schedule of videos, all to be shown at Warren & Mary Jane's home, in Patchogue, 631 363 8216, as follows:
Sept. 9 - Cosmos 13 - Who Speaks For Earth?
Sept. 23 - Origins: Battle for the Planet
For further info or to confirm the location or schedule episodes contact Norm Roscoe at normrhum@aol.com or Oleg Dei @ odei@palmbayimports.com This series is open to all Humanist coalition members. Hope to hear from you soon. [TOC]
TIME TO GROW SOS!
Recent NY State court decisions have created an extraordinary opportunity for SOS to grow in New York State. Secular Organizations for Sobriety (SOS) must move now to create an infrastructure to enable it to expand and meet the demand created by these decisions.
In Stefano v. Emergency Housing Group, the court ruled that no government-funded social service bureau or other agency in NYS can require clients to attend AA meetings due to their religious nature. Overnight, the only way NY treatment centers could hang onto their AA groups at all was by having SOS groups right down the hall as a secular alternative! New York can be the first state where SOS stands on equal legal footing with AA. Unlike AA, SOS is appropriate for all persons regarding beliefs or non-beliefs. The priority is sobriety not piety at SOS.
The Council for Secular Humanism is requesting donations specifically for SOS programs administration.
Send your donations to:
CSH, PO Box 664, Amherst, NY 114226, and note that the gift is for SOS - NY.
The home page of SOS is http://www.secularsobriety.org This web site has much information for downloading on running SOS groups
7:15PM, Fri., Sept. 19, Keith Taylor @ Plainview-Old Bethpage Library
7:30PM, Oct. 3, “Clean Money, Clean Elections @ EHSLI, Garden City
7:15PM, Oct 9, Joe Nickell@ Plainview-Old Bethpage Library
SOS (Secular Organizations for Sobriety/Save Our Selves), a support organization for people recovering from alcohol and drug abuse, has added a new local group. Meetings will be held Thursdays at 7:30 P.M. at, 280 Suburban Avenue, #F, Deer Park, Suffolk County, NY. Open to all persons who need sobriety in their life. For info about this planning meeting or directions, contact Drew @ 631 242 2498. [TOC]
WBAI 99.5 FM Radio
EQUAL TIME FOR FREETHOUGHT!
Listen to the show for and by humanist, freethinkers, atheists, agnostics, etc. on Sundays @ 6:30 PM, WBAI FM, 99.5 on the dial.
Be Sure to Watch
"Humanist Perspective" hosted by Joe Beck, on Cablevision Public Access, can be seen Wednesdays @ 7PM PM on Channel 20 on the Woodbury, Hauppauge and Brookhaven systems.
CFI-LI ON CABLE!
“What is Secular Humanism?”
This is a CFI-LI one-hour self-produced show and will be shown on the Woodbury Cablevision system, @ 7PM Mondays and on the Hauppauge & Brookhaven Cablevision systems, Tuesdays @ 7:00 PM, on Channel 20.
New show from American Atheists!
Atheist Viewpoint
Featuring Ellen Johnson and Ron Barrier, it will be seen Tuesdays @ 7PM on the Woodbury system and Mondays on the Hauppauge and Brookhaven systems @ 7PM, on Channel 20. [TOC]
Editor: Gerald Dantone
Design: John Wilmarth
A Thumbs Up Publication
Copyright LISH 2003[TOC]