Progress, and Back to the Bayou

Next Sunday, I’m going to be in Baton Rouge, LA speaking at Reason on the Bayou alongside Zach Kopplin, Rob Boston, Jerry DeWitt, and a whole horde of other secular notables. If you are in the area, you should absolutely register and come out to this awesome free event, it is sure to be a rockin’ time!

This is going to be quite a full circle situation for me: back in 2009, my first brief run in with organized secularism was during my Freshman year at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA. Now I’m rolling into my second year working for the Secular Student Alliance, about to trek through Mississippi and Louisiana to some familiar stomping grounds from those days. The whole situation has me thinking back on the last few years with the Secular Student Alliance, the Southeastern Collegiate Atheist Alliance, Alabama Atheists and Agnostics, and that short-lived Tulane Atheists group.

Despite the unfortunate (and still somewhat mysterious to me) fate of the Tulane student group, since that time I have seen immense cause for optimism nearly everywhere I have been. Travelling the breadth of the south over this last year as an SSA Regional Campus Organizer, I have seen countless secular student communities taking form, growing, and thriving. I recall meeting the Secular Student Alliance of The University of Central Florida way back at the March 2012 Moving Secularism Forward conference in Orlando, FL, just mere months after their founding. Just a handful of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to table with the group at the UCF campus, and got to see first-hand the stalwart paragon among secular student groups that they are today.

serious folk there at UCF

Likewise, I recall my first of many run-ins with the Atheists, Humanists, and Agnostics of LSU back at the Texas Freethought Convention in 2011. Since that time, the AHA at LSU group has gone through nothing short of a renaissance, culminating in this stacked Reason on the Bayou event (done in cooperation with a number of their fellow affiliates from around the state, which is worth noting because there is a good handful of them now).

a renaissance that has inexplicably featured adorable pandas.

I could ramble on countless more examples like UCF and LSU from across the south, which dramatically outnumber the negative cases (like the fate of the Tulane Atheists) that I have seen. The strength and number of secular student groups is growing, even down here, and I’ve been able to feel it in the pulse on the ground. I wish I could show people what I see in all of those coffee shops, libraries, and student centers around the south: the settling foundation blocks of thriving communities-to-be, the passionate individuals with driving visions for secular groups at their campuses, and the bustling events of organized groups of secular students meeting en masse.

These past few years since the sputtered attempt of the Tulane Atheists has been a whirlwind for me, with my progress and position in secularism escalating at a rapid pace. What has particularly stood out to me, as I head back down to the bayou today, is that the rise of the secular students over these past few years makes my personal progress since 2009 seem miniscule. I see all of this growth in the numbers (and in person) as an excellent sign of progress, and gives me serious cause for optimism in the future.

I remember what it was like trying to find a community, what it was like to see one fail, and what it was like to finally find a place in one. The more of these student groups that exist and thrive, the better for us all. It’ll mean more Reason on the Bayous, more community centers for secular service and advocacy around the country, and more Zach Kopplins if we are lucky (how is cloning technology these days?).

I haven’t set in stone exactly what I’ll say on the stage at Reason on the Bayou, but that’s probably a pretty decent preview!

“Atheists, Seculars, and Nones: Oh My!” Non-belief Labeling and Identity

A few weeks ago, I found myself sitting in a small office, tucked away at the far end of a corridor on the campus of the University of Tennessee – Chattanooga. There’s some particularly interesting work being done in that small office; work of relevance to all non-religious Americans.

Sitting in that office, I had a long conversation with two university researchers: my old buddy Tommy Coleman and UTC professor Christopher F. Silver. The two are part of a team working on a study of identity and labeling among non-religious Americans. If you’ve ever participated in an online forum or in-person discussion on atheism / agnosticism; there’s a good chance that you’ve gotten into semantic arguments on what those terms mean. You could ask 15 different people what “atheism” means and get 15 different answers. Even internet demigod Neil Degrasse Tyson found himself under heavy criticism for his views on what “atheism” means.

I think the picture accurately reflects his opinion on the subject

If you follow the frequent Gallup and Pew polls on religiosity in America, you’ll notice that classifying the non-religious can get a bit tricky. The ever-growing “none” category is one that is often used as a catch-all, but if you ask Christopher Silver, that isn’t nearly precise enough.  Even the somewhat more accurate “non-religious” label doesn’t meet the Silver standard for classification:

Researchers assume they are qualified to speak on behalf of a group of people that they are not a part of…too many times social scientists lump atheists and agnostics together — even just lumping atheists together, there are so many different “types” of atheism. There’s a large psychological spectrum in atheism. They lump them all together as ‘those damned heathens over there’. You wouldn’t lump all Christians together, so why lump all atheists together? We need a term (for academia) that is different from just non-religion. They are not all, for lack of a better term, “enlightened” to the complexities of the labels in this population that they are not a part of; we need to be more accurate to the group of people than that. It all goes into the politics of identity.

I was curious as to what the motivation for this study was, and asked Mr. Silver if his background with the Chattanooga Freethought Association provided the spark for the work. I was a little surprised to hear that it was his academic experiences that motivated him more than what he saw in the nonreligious community:

It disturbed me how blatantly perverse the labeling was, being on the other side as an academic (in regards to how seculars are labeled in studies). Human beings want a cookie cutter everything. Why not do what a good social psychology person does: let’s go and own it. Instead of letting them get stigmatized, let’s own the identities and prevent a blanket term that doesn’t represent our diversity of thought. For instance, back in the 40s and 50s, the term “cult” wasn’t stigmatized. It was a sociological term for a new religious movement. Then the media got a hold of it, and new religious movements lost ownership of the term. We don’t want someone who is not authorized to use a term owning it, and using it to stigmatize those labeled people.

Sounds reasonable enough, but what about when we don’t agree on the terms among ourselves? Neil Degrasse Tyson’s Big Think video pointed out some issues with how different people define “atheism” as I mentioned earlier, and you can get 10 different definitions for “agnosticism” from 10 different philosophers. How does Silver plan to deal with these issues in the study?

We are going to look for definitional continuity. How people describe themselves is agreed upon, even if they don’t agree on the terms. People don’t always agree with the labels themselves, but they agree on a definition that defines them. We are going to work with the definitions, and find the label that works best based on our interviews and surveys and how they correlate to the participants’ definitions.

If you are interested in participating in the study, the second phase is going to launch this month. They are looking for as wide a base as possible, so don’t hesitate to volunteer! They want to see full spectrum of non-belief in the US, and want the study to represent the population as accurately as possible.

Unlike the first phase, which consisted of detailed interviews; the second phase is in the form of a survey written up based on the phase 1 interview responses.

It may turn out that the definitions we used based on (the phase 1 interviews) are ultimately wrong, but even then we’ve learned something. Instead of sitting in a room and forming these labels and definitions like typical academics, we’re basing it on the interviews we’re doing with participants. We’re basing the labels and their definitions based on feedback from the actual population we’re working with as best we can.

I rather like that sentiment.

You can find more information on the research and updates at www.atheismresearch.com and Non-Belief Research in America on facebook.

Touchdown Jesus?

There’s a football thing happening tonight, for those who are unaware. Notre Dame is playing Alabama for the BCS national championship, which means there’s going to be plenty of Jesus to go around after the Gatorade baptism regardless of who wins the game.

Notre Dame is obvious enough.

Jesus always gets the best seat

However, do you know what Alabama QB (and last year’s title game MVP) A.J. McCarron will be wearing under his jersey? If you guessed “a poorly tattooed weeping Jesus surrounded by poor font choices,” then you have seen A.J. McCarron’s chest tattoo before.

I don’t have any other comment, I just want the whole world to know about that tattoo. I think if there is anything people of all faiths and belief systems can agree on, it is that A.J. McCarron made a poor call on his tattoo artist.

It all makes Tim Tebow seem so very meek and mild.

Scopes-ing in Dayton, TN

As many of you know, I do quite a bit of travelling with my Secular Student Alliance work. Sometimes, I get some down time to check out the finest of local gas stations and scenic Waffle Houses.

The view from 70% of my hotel rooms

However, it just so happens that yesterday’s route from Knoxville to Chattanooga took me right near one of the most famous battlegrounds in the history of the evolution/creation debate: Dayton, TN.

Rhea County Courthouse, Home of the Scopes Trial

Admittedly, there isn’t much more to it than a plaque and a half-hearted museum in the basement, but it was pretty cool to see the famous courtroom from the trial. To my surprise, the building is actually still the county courthouse, and the famous courtroom is still used to this day.

It was certainly a nice stop-off to make, and a cool piece of history to see. However, I was more amused by how the courthouse is involved in the current “War on Christmas”, given it’s history as a battleground on the supposed “War on Christianity”.

Here is a wreath hanging on the main floor of the courthouse.

Here is a message placed at the foot of a fully decorated Christmas/Holiday Tree perhaps three feet away from the above wreath.

I joked on twitter that the Rhea County Courthouse is trying to play Walder Frey in the War on Christmas. (Just wait and see who winds up winning the War on Christmas, and then pledge for their side after the battle is over; for you non-GoT/SoIaF people)

“I’m dreaming of a Red Wedding…”

But really, how do you play both sides in this? Understandably, it seems like the decorations were from different people, but it is a bit of a mixed message. I’m surprised primarily that locals aren’t up in arms about the “Happy Holidays”, although I’d love to see local atheists complain about the wreath. Don’t you bet that would be on FOX news in half a heartbeat?

In any case, it was a nice drive through Tennessee and fascinating to see how little Dayton has changed over the years. In case you haven’t seen it, here is Ed Helms (then with The Daily Show) doing a special report on Dayton a few years ago.

A Happy Hug and Charity Work

So here’s something awesome:

from St Johns River State College Media Club facebook page

Doesn’t that guy look happy? As you can probably guess, he is particularly excited about that novelty-sized check he’s holding. You’d be happy to hear that the check is the sum result of a collaborative effort of student groups at St Johns River State College to raise money to support his local nonprofit, which notably help students in Haiti get a suitable education. Cool stuff, right? Doing good things for people is pretty cool in my book anyway, and I love when student groups can work together for something positive.

The “hug-ee” in that picture is the leader of the Secular Student Alliance at Saint Johns River State College, a group who had their first ever meeting barely two months ago. They have raised 200 dollars for the charity since the time of their formation through the execution of a “Stone-an-Atheist” event, and from selling apple pies for Sagan Day (awesome). Those efforts ultimately put them in second place of all of the student groups on campus in total funds raised.

There’s a lot of reasons I really like this situation. Not only did a new SSA group at a small college wind up running a successful charity fundraiser campaign within months of their formation, but they proved to be one of the most successful fundraising groups on their whole campus. They’ve contributed to an organization that works towards positive change, exposed their group to the campus in a positive light, and apparently had quite a bit of fun along the way.

The last thing that makes me happy about this scenario is the fact that there was no controversy in accepting funds raised by an atheist organization. Despite the charity being religious, there wasn’t any hesitation to accept a donation of heathenous funds (the charity fits into the category of a”non-proselytizing, progressive religious charity” from what I understand. More focused on school supplies than shipping bibles).

With all of that business with the American Cancer Society / Relay for Life last year, it is nice to see accepting smiles without reservation or hesitation towards atheist charity. The fantastic efforts that SSA groups made in cooperation with Foundation Beyond Belief and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society immediately come to mind as well (specific shout-out to the group at Presbyterian College, who broke $3,200 in donations on their own). The fact that the LLS was so enthusiastic about working with the nonreligious was a good sign, and some great work was done through the cooperation.

In my opinion, this is how the shift happens. If we want to get to a point where atheist/nonreligious money isn’t controversial money, we have to keep chipping at the misconceptions and negative associations by staying active and doing good where we can. The SSA at Saint Johns River College is certainly doing their part.

Busy…

I’ve been pretty crazy busy these days. My schedule has been packed tight between work, sleep, and the expanses of nothing I do in between those two things. In any case, I’m back with another quasi-frequent update!

First off, my trip up to North Carolina was a blast. The North Carolina Secular Student Leadership Summit (now officially shortened to Carolinas Secular Student Summit) was quite the shindig, and I can’t recommend it enough to students up in that neck of the woods. I’m looking forward to attending the second one at North Carolina State University next year!

Apart from the summit, the journey was a blast in its own right. I got to hang out with student groups and leaders all over Georgia and South Carolina, and visit many a luxurious back roads gas station along the way (Oh the confederate flags I saw!). I think the squidhats at Georgia Southern and the Blob at UGA were the biggest standouts; though I found some bad-ass coffee shops in Auburn, Columbia, and Greenville that could give such eccentricities a run for their money. I also ran across an ent-Jesus carved thing in Savannah that I spent a long time watching for movement.

Of course, I have plenty to come now that the NC trip is out of the way! The Alabama Freethought Convention is just around the corner in Montgomery, and after that I have another grand endeavor up to Skepticon 5, winding through lovely(?) Arkansas along the way!

This will be my first venture to Skepticon, but I have heard many positive and glowing testimonials. In any case, this is all sure to keep me plenty busy for a while (there’s plenty waiting around the corner after them as well…). I’m going to try to update as often as I can, but I’m actually toying with shifting gears to a video project. It fits in with my schedule a little bit better, and I get to really let the MS Paint shine.

…and who doesn’t want that?

I’ll be back with more stuffs when I can. Peace be with ye, Heathens!

-King Heathen

Cons Around the South

Howdy blogees! As some of you know, I have a lengthy trip on the docket for next month that will take me to North Carolina and back over the course of 10 days, with the apex being the North Carolina Secular Student Leadership Summit (which looks to be a splendid local conference). I’m not sure just yet how that will affect blog production honestly, but we will soon see.

On the subject of local cons specifically, there’s a surprising number of other conferences around the South over the next few months, so I thought I would spotlight a few of them in particular.

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Carolinas Secular Conference – Charleston, South Carolina – September 28th – 30th 2012

Features: This one strikes me as being a conference particularly focused on local relevance. The panel discussions all seem quite interesting and motivating, and the talks (particularly “From Student Activist to Nonprofit Professional”) look to be quite intriguing.

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Kentucky Freethought Convention – Lexington, Kentucky – October 6th 2012

Features: KFC, heh. I also love the logo to this one, featuring a gloriously be-bearded Darwin. Anyway, this one has a lineup headlined by Seth Andrews, Jen McCreight, and Edwin Kagin. However, what most strikes me about this one is the inclusion of an entire panel of former ministers. That is going to be something to see for sure. For a max of 10 dollars (free for students), this one is well worth it for heathenous Kentuckians and nearby secularists.

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Alabama Freethought Convention – Montgomery, Alabama – October 13th 2012

Features: I’m looking forward to this one quite a bit. Of course, I might be a bit of a homer on this one. Still, this is an intriguing lineup and certainly worth the day trip. I’m particularly interested in the Secular Teens panel and the always fantastic Jamila Bey, but the whole schedule looks pretty solid to me. I’ll be tabling at this one for sure reppin’ the SSA; so make sure to poke me if you are planning on being there.

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Reason in the Rock – Little Rock, Arkansas – October 27th 2012

Features: I really like this lineup – Seth Andrews, Jerry DeWitt, Teresa MacBain, and JT just to name a few. This sounds like one hell of a conference to check out if you are in Arkansas, and is likely a more practical alternative to CSI for the thin-walleted of that neck  of the woods.

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CSIcon 2012 – Nashville, Tennessee – October 25th – 28th 2012

Features: Once again features an outstanding lineup of skeptics, and is bound to be a good conference. Last year in New Orleans was quite a blast, and I’m hoping I’ll make it to this one. The price tag is perhaps a bit high, but I dare say it is well worth it when you consider the quality of the event. Also, it is about as central as you can get in the south, and I’d say well worth the trek from any of the surrounding states.

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Those are the current highlights that I have seen, but let me know if I missed any! I’m going to try to get back to a consistent trend of posting, but I’m not making any promises.

Ah, a new semester…

Howdy blogees! It has been a while, but I’m back just in time for a new semester!

Just like every new semester, this one brings new stories and new players. However, once again just like every new semester, it somehow all seems eerily similar.

First off, we have two brand new SSA groups storming out of the gate. In Chattanooga (remember that place?), a handful of students are at the grindstone starting a secular group at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. And, as if challenging the authority of the big J.C. wasn’t enough, they are also helping take on the one true religion of the south: college football. Or rather, they are taking them both on together.

I’m starting to think that if Tim Tebow were a place, that place would be Chattanooga.

The Freedom from Religion Foundation sent a letter dated May 15 asking Chancellor Roger Brown [of UT-Chattanooga] about what group Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor described as “unlawful university sponsorship of Christian prayer.”

- link

Goody! I get to cover Chattanooga local news indefinitely!

I’ve seen their record. There was no divine influence to be seen.

Elsewhere, in another unsurprising turn of events, a new secular campus group is having its advertisements repeatedly torn down. Honestly, this happens all of the damn time, and there aren’t very many effective ways to combat it. Worth noting is that it rarely matters what the content of the promotional materials are: AAA had chalk erased pretty consistently regardless of the message, even if it was as innocuous as “Good without God”. In a few odd cases, the most firebrandy messages weren’t erased. Don’t ask me why that is. Anyway, here’s the flyer in this case, put up by Auburn University – Montgomery’s forming secular student club:

 

By the way, those numbers are now out of date. That aside, that seems pretty mild – particularly for a Harris quote. The group is combating the tear-downs in the best way I know how: put them back up. A lot. Maybe if it continues, campus media will pick up on it; and then they’ll have their promotion with bonus in spite of efforts against them. I can speak from experience that if that happens, there will be bitter people. I was featured on the cover of the Crimson White once for AAA, and it started a lovely chain of letters to the paper claiming we had no right to coverage. Because, like, Jesus or something.

Anyway, it looks like a riveting start to the year. I’m looking forward to seeing groups get stuff done throughout the year, and I’m keen on bumping into a bunch of them in my heathenous travels.

Until next time, peace be upon ye Heathens!

-King Heathen

Back in the South, Ready to Get Going!

Well, I’m back.

After two months in the relative utopia of Ohio, I’m back in fires of Alabama. This, of course, means it is time to get to work for the coming semester. And work I doth have.

I have a handful of speaking engagements for the semester slowly trickling in as my travel plans are solidifying. In particular, I’m quite excited to be sharing the stage with my boss (and overall awesome person) Lyz Liddell at the first ever North Carolina Secular Student Leadership Summit.

 

The NCSSLS is going to be taking place at the campus of East Carolina University in Greenville, NC on September 14th/15th.  The event itself is totally free, and will feature all sorts of valuable information for aspiring and current secular student leaders alike. If you plan on attending, you just might be able to wrangle your way onto one of the conference panels to talk about your experiences as a leader in your group.

I’m also looking forward to the first Alabama Freethought Convention, hosted by the Secular Coalition for Alabama to take place in Montgomery come October. The speaker list is certainly enviable and bound to lead to a fantastic event. It happens to include the notable likes of Shelley Segal, Jamila Bey, David Niose, and Blair Scott. Can’t speak for Shelley or David personally, but Jamila and Blair are both fantastic and ever the life of the party. I can say for sure that this one is bolded on my calendar.

Last but not least, next week I’ll be in Chattanooga to watch the next chapter of the Hamilton County Commission prayer epic unfold. I’ll probably need to de-stress afterwards, so I’ll likely hit up their way kick-ass aquarium as well.

It really is pretty awesome.

I’ll keep my travels updated here as they occur. I’m bound to run into some fantastic billboards and prayer tracts along the way, and I can assure you that you’ll see them here first.

Peace be with ye, Heathens!

I Need This

Recently, one of my old AAA peoples posted a picture of a particularly interesting thrift store find.

Only 1.99? How can I deal this most holy of bargains? Thou Shalt not Steal, after all!

I NEED THIS. I NEED THIS SO BAD.

For those not in the know, Bible Man was an atrocious Evangelical children’s show that pretty much only existed to brainwash a generation. It didn’t do that very well, but it is incredibly hilarious for atheists to watch in college.

The entire show was basically Power Rangers crossed with a Chick Tract, with an extra sprinkling of racism on top. I also seem to remember an episode where he battles the internet. Good stuff.

The Venture Bros. did a pretty excellent job of mocking the infamous armor sequence, the original of which you can see below.

There are tons of clips and full episodes up on Godtube.com (yeah, really). Here’s a full episode on google video if you are particularly bored or filled with self-loathing at the moment.

Anyway, I am dying to know what is in that book. I’m hoping for horrendous footnotes and “moral advice” from the B-man, but I’m pretty amused by the fact that the show has a branded bible at all. In any case, I want it on my book shelf. Even if it isn’t hilarious…well…there’s no way it isn’t hilarious.

…there was other merchandise too? Awesome!

Well, that’s enough talk of BibleMan. I’ll be back with another post just as soon as I watch every single episode I can find. Again. Might as well throw a couple more Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter viewings on top as well.

Peace be with ye, Heathens!