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Volume 2, Issue 10 October, 1999
Long Island Secular Humanists Box 119, Greenlawn, NY 11740 Email InfidelsRe@aol.com
INQUIRER
Visit LISH on the web: http://www.homestead.com/lishweb and also at http://wwwhumanist.com
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LISH MEETING INFORMATION The next regular meeting of the Long Island Secular Humanists (LISH) will be Friday, October 15, 1999, and as always @ 7:15 P.M. at the Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library, 999 Old Country Road, Plainview. Gay, lesbian and women's rights activist, author and singer-songwriter Sandy Rapp will be our guest! The meeting is free and open to the public.
Author of the controversial book "God's Country," a case against theocracy, Sandy Rapp is a grassroots gay/lesbian and women's rights activist. She has been instrumental in the development and passage of several gay civil rights measures and, under the auspices of L.I.'s East End Gay Organization, has conducted sensitivity training for the Suffolk County Police Department and co-chaired an extensive series of forums on AIDS and civil liberties. Ms. Rapp is a musician by trae and gives guitar performances and rights talks. She has an MA from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. Ms. Rapp won a Long Island Pride Press Award and was honored with a Suffolk County Proclamation on April 11, 1999.
1999.________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONTENTS
Humanizing Christianity? By Gerry D
Letters to the Editor
The Bible and Homophobia By Robert Price, Bible scholar
Pope Bars Two from Gay Ministry
A Statement from The Rt. Rev'd John S. Spong on the death of Matthew Shepard
President or Pope By Gerry D
"Dogma" The Movie Set For Release
By Will R
Standard Ten Commandments Update By Gerry D
Help Wanted Update
Update__________________________________________________________________________________________ ______
SECULAR HUMANISM is the philosophy of life guided by reason and science, freed from religious and secular dogmas, motivated by an appreciation of life and the lives of others, seeking to reach goals of human happiness, freedom and understanding on this earth, in this life.
life.________________________________________________________________________________________________
NEW YORK AREA SKEPTICS (NYASk)
The New York Area Skeptics is a terrific organization that should appeal to many secular humanists. The group has monthly meetings and a newsletter that deals with claims of the paranormal, medical quackery and any other topic that calls for a critical examination. They meet at the Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library, 999 Old Country Rd., Plainview, Nassau County. For info call 516 827-9506 or visit the website @ www.liii.com/~nyask.
www.liii.com/~nyask.________________________________________________________________________________________________
Become a Member of LISH
Membership in LISH has its benefits! Membership entitles one to: use of the LISH Freethought library; mailed newsletters; invitations to non-public functions, dinners, and perhaps movies and plays as well! Only members may vote at upcoming elections of LISH officers.
Dues will go to defray the costs of creating and mailing the newsletter and press releases, including outreach to elected officials and media. Forming a chapter of Secular Organizations for Sobriety (SOS), a Secular Singles program, publicizing meetings, forming Campus Freethought groups, developing a youth program, a cable access show and guest speaker costs are other expenses. A long-term goal is the creation of a fund for a Center for Inquiry, Long Island.
Let us grow into the humanist voice of Long Island! Only $35 for full family membership for one year, or $10 per year for the newsletter only. Send a check with your name, address and phone number, to LISH, Box 119, Greenlawn, NY 11740.
11740._________________________________________________________________________________ _______________
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.
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HUMANIZING CHRISTIANITY? By Gerry D
A proposal to "reform" Christianity has been made by noted theologian the Rt. Rev. John S. Spong, and is of particular interest to secular humanists. Why? It is clear that his call for reforming Christianity equates to making it not only more humanistic, but more secular as well! Of course this message has not gone over well with many fundamentalists such as Pat Buchanan who dismissed his ideas in a debate on a "Crossfire" segment on CNN.
Other Christian commentators have been less kind! The Fundamental Baptist News Service, on March 11, 1996, called Bishop Spong "one of the chief blasphemers of this hour. Spong believes the Bible is merely a collection of myths and religious fables, yet he claims to love God's Word... He believes sexual relations can be holy outside of marriage and that homosexuals can live together in holy unions, yet he claims to believe in biblical morality." An Anglican church newsletter, the St. Stephens Witness, of Athens, Georgia, simply called Spong an "atheist." Yes, and there is something wrong with that, apparently.
Yes, it is encouraging for an influential religious leader to argue that ethics have an intrinsic value whether or not God commands us to be ethical. It is also encouraging that such a theologian also has seen fit to de-emphasize the importance of supernatural beliefs. We're also glad we live in a time and place where he is not burned at the stake for his beliefs.
As science and reason continue to discredit superstition and myth, religion indeed must change or risk becoming even more out of touch with the world as we find it. As people of different faiths interact it also becomes necessary that the focus be less on faith-held beliefs and more on earthly ethics and concern for each other. Although Rev. Spong has not taken the plunge into secular humanism, his approach does allow for a more harmonious pluralistic society. We hope that persons of all religious persuasions take note of his proposal, and that they begin entering into a dialogue with secular humanists. What follows are some highlights, copied from an Internet website. The entire text can be found @ http://www.intac.com/~rollins/jsspong/reform.html.
A Call for a New Reformation By the Rt. Rev. John S. Spong
In the 16th century the Christian Church, which had been the source of much of the stability of the western world, entered a period of internal and violent upheaval. In time this upheaval came to be called the Protestant Reformation, but during the violence itself, it was referred to by many less attractive adjectives.
Martin Luther ignited the Reformation of the 16th century by nailing to the door of the church in Wittenberg in 1517 the 95 Theses that he wished to debate. I will publish this challenge to Christianity in The Voice. I will post my theses on the Internet and send copies with invitations to debate them to the recognized Christian leaders of the world. My theses are far smaller in number than were those of Martin Luther, but they are far more threatening theologically. The issues to which I now call the Christians of the world to debate are these (comments in italics are mine - G.D.)
1. Theism, as a way of defining God, is dead. So most theological God-talk is today meaningless. A new way to speak of God must be found. (In a minor disagreement, I would argue that there is no need to speak of God. - G.D.)
2. Since God can no longer be conceived in theistic terms, it becomes nonsensical to seek to understand Jesus as the incarnation of the theistic deity. So the Christology of the ages is bankrupt. (No argument here. - G.D.)
3. The biblical story of the perfect and finished creation from which human beings fell into sin is pre-Darwinian mythology and post-Darwinian nonsense. (Complete agreement. - G.D.)
4. The virgin birth, understood as literal biology, makes Christ's divinity, as traditionally understood, impossible. (Complete agreement. - G.D.)
5. The miracle stories of the New Testament can no longer be interpreted in a post-Newtonian world as supernatural events performed by an incarnate deity. (Complete agreement. - G.D.)
6. The view of the cross as the sacrifice for the sins of the world is a barbarian idea based on primitive concepts of God and must be dismissed. (Complete agreement, hooray! - G.D.) 7. Resurrection is an action of God. Jesus was raised into the meaning of God. It therefore cannot be a physical resuscitation occurring inside human history. (A minor agreement in a sense, in that a secular humanist would most likely contend that if there were no physical resurrection, there was no resurrection, inside or outside human history. Perhaps that is what is meant. - G.D.)
8. The story of the Ascension assumed a three-tiered universe and is therefore not capable of being translated into the concepts of a post-Copernican space age. (A secular humanist would clarify that the Ascension is incoherent and pointless to talk about. - G.D.)
9. There is no external, objective, revealed standard writ in scripture or on tablets of stone that will govern our ethical behavior for all time. (This statement is at the heart of secular humanistic ethics. Ethics cannot be imposed externally, even if imposed by a deity. It is each person's responsibility to examine the ethics of each decision as they arise. This is as important an agreement as can be. - G.D.)
10. Prayer cannot be a request made to a theistic deity to act in human history in a particular way. (Complete agreement. - G.D.)
11. The hope for life after death must be separated forever from the behavior control mentality of reward and punishment. The Church must abandon, therefore, its reliance on guilt as a motivator of behavior. (Complete agreement. Of course a secular humanist might add that there is not even evidence of a life after death. - G.D.)
12. All human beings bear God's image and must be respected for what each person is. Therefore, no external description of one's being, whether based on race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation, can properly be used as the basis for either rejection or discrimination. (A secular humanist would alter this slightly by saying "since no one can reasonably claim to bear God's image," this cannot be used as a basis for rejection or discrimination of others. - G.D.)
So I set these theses today before the Christian world and I stand ready to debate each of them as we prepare to enter the third millennium.
John Shelby Spong, scholar, author and bishop, is the most published member of the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church in the United States. He has also been president of the New Jersey Council of Churches.
Churches.________________________________________________________________________________________________
Letters to the Editor
8/31/99 Allow me to begin by voicing my admiration for what you (apparently single-handedly) have done with Long Island Secular Humanists and the LISH Inquirer. I'm especially taken with the latter, the quality of which is virtually unheard of for a local publication.
No, I haven't agreed with everything, but that's not to be expected with an open-ended forum of ideas. However, the essay "Dogma Kills" (July) contains a distortion that is an affront not only to the truth, but also to the Inquirer's own standards. In the piece, you discuss the World church of the Creator, a perversely named white supremacist organization that, unlike its Christian Identity counterparts, is "atheistic and anti-Christian." Evidently trying to make some sense of the group you come up with this: "Despite the aberrational nature of the WCOTC, to be honest, if one were to omit their racist portrayals of history and science, they may be seen as some kind of Objectivists or libertarians, no offense intended. They do not value altruism, and they see survival of "their kind" (white people) as the ultimate value."
Where to begin? Exactly why omit the WCOTC's racism, i.e., its essence? And in its insistence that the individual is subservient to "the race," the WCOTC does indeed "value altruism" (in Ayn Rand's sense.) And as for the issue of "ultimate value, "Rand stated that for Objectivism it was the life of each individual as a rational being. This ha nothing to do with one's "kind" or "white people." Gerry, you have failed to demonstrate even a superficial resemblance. Barry Loberfeld, LI Liberty Coalition
Response: In no way did I intend to demonstrate that the WCOTC was an Objectivist group or show that Objectivism is unethical in any way. In fact my only intent was to show how a dangerous and reprehensible philosophy might share some philosophical similarities to productive philosophies on account of a quirky foundation. The similarities that are shared are atheism, simply having an "ultimate" value involving survival and certain ideas on altruism. This does not make them Objectivists or degrade Objectivism in any way just as it does not degrade atheism, reason or science because the WCOTC professes to promote those values as well.
Also nowhere did the article declare that Objectivism was anti-humanistic, and it is widely held that Rand's ideas are very related to secular humanism. The whole thrust of the article was a call for humility for all non-religious persons because of the ease with which a philosophy can run off the rails of good sense!
The fact remains that there are many areas of agreement between humanists and Objectivists. What might be useful is a concise explanation of Objectivism (and other relevant secular philosophies) for a future LISH issue. You are certainly invited to contribute! G.D. _______________
9/10/99 I wish to thank you for sending me a copy of your Inquirer of last August. I have read it top to bottom several times, each time enjoying it more. Naturally, I wish to subscribe to continue to enjoy Inquirer, its' targets deliciously exposed.
With sincere congratulations and best wishes, Piero D., M.D., Garden City, NY
Response: Thank you very much. As you will see, the Inquirer has evolved quickly and a great deal since the initial issue that was basic information and just groping for a format and purpose. Hopefully the improvement will continue. G.D. _______________
9/22/99 In his "Moral Animal" Robert Wood posits the existence of a preservation of the species gene; a gene which causes an organism to sacrifice self for the preservation of its kind. On its surface this idea seems in contradiction to Ernest Becker's contention that heroism/self-sacrifice is an expression of the fear of death and its accompanying drive for immortality. Both may be right. Genes for both species preservation and individual fear of death probably exist within us simultaneously.
In light of Darwin's and all his successors' work, evolution is undeniable fact. So the current American hysteria against it and for "creationism's" claim that the universe is less than ten thousand years old invention of God can be nothing less than nonsense. And the jerry-built phrase "Creation Science" is a flimflam by ultraconservative fundamentalist theologians. That millions so desperately need to "believe" the drivel is tragic...and self-damaging, intellectually and economically.
The simplest definition of science might be "most probable." "Creation Science" ought properly to be defined as "least probable," laughably so. Lee D., Glen Cove, NY
Response: It seems unbelievable that some people actually want to introduce "magic" and the "supernatural" to science classrooms! Science is precisely the opposite - it's the search for the best non-magical explanations for the way things are. If one accepts a magical explanation, one is precluded from ever searching and finding the natural explanation. We could never learn anything in that case! G.D. ______________
Re: LISH Question of the month: Does the bible promote homophobia?
9/13/99 I can't say that I've ever read the bible, but: I've read and heard many arguments against homosexuality by people who quote all sorts of bible passages which they claim support their anti-gay beliefs. I'm coincidentally reading a book right now called "Barrack Buddies and Soldier Lovers - Dialogues With Gay Young Men In The U.S. Military" by Steven Zeeland.
In this book there is an interview with a young gay lieutenant, Matt, who is "severely troubled by his homosexuality, who vacillated between wild forays into gay Frankfurt nightlife and self-recriminating withdrawal into fundamentalist Christianity, which he believed could make him heterosexual." Matt explains to the author "This is in Corinthians 1 6, verses 9 through 11. And it says, 'Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexual offenders. Nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers will inherit the Kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were!'"
Sounds like a load of crap to me but to poor Matt this is proof to him that his homosexuality is wrong and unacceptable to "God". Again, I don't read the bible, but I think it depends on who's reading it to interpret what its meaning is. On the web page for "Harvest Discussion Forum" at http://www.harvestmcc.org/Harvest-disc/disc8_toc.htm there is a Rev. Colleen Darraugh who repeatedly claims that there is no evidence in the bible which claims homosexuality is a sin and she gives quotes to back up her opinions as well. I'd say that as long as there is negative talk of homosexuality in the bible it will only serve to reinforce societal homophobia. Yes- I believe the bible promotes homophobia. Jeff via Internet
Response: You would think that a person who is gay and religious would expect to find solace in their holy book. Instead they may find torment instead. It is sad. G.D. ______________
9/14/99 In actuality, the bible is so diverse, diffuse and ambiguous that it serves as something of a projective test for people - like a giant "Rorschach" or a "Thematic Apperception Test." Since the bible was written by a multitude of people over a span of more than a thousand years and contains numerous statements which directly contradict one another, it gives the reader a chance to fish out those phrases which seem to support those statements which suit his or her already-formed beliefs. An individual who is homophobic will find support for that. The key is the seeker's intentionality.
Keep up the good work. I'm enjoying my membership, even though I'm at a geographic disadvantage. Leslie, Weston, CT via Internet
Response: Your remarks might be right on target. You would think, however, that a deity would have foreseen the confusion and negative impact of a book he supposedly inspired. Omniscience isn't all it's cracked up to be I guess. G.D. ________________
9/14/99 LEV. 18:22 "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is an abomination"; LEV. 20:13 "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death"; JUDGES 21:11 "...Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man"; 1 KINGS 14:24 "And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel"; 1 KINGS 15:12 "And he took away the sodomites out of the land...."; DEUT. 23:17 "There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel"; ROM. 1:26-27 "For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use (a degrading word--Ed.) of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly...."; 1 COR. 6:9-10 Mod. Lang. "...Be not misled; neither profligates, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor partakers of homosexuality...will inherit the kingdom of God"; 1 TIM. 1:9-10 NASB "...the law is not made for a righteous man, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners...and immoral men and homosexuals...." Gabe E., Brooklyn via Internet
Response: Why give opinions, when you've got evdence? Good work, Gabe. G.D. __________________
9/14/99 Not only does the bible promote homophobia, the bible, and perhaps the other "holy" books, are the ONLY sources of homophobia. Jay M., San Francisco via Internet
Response: This is a sweeping and monumental accusation, and as such requires a high standard of evidence. What is clear is that many homophobes claim the bible as the source of their ethics, and in fact claim the bible to be the (very debatable) source of ethics for our country. Even if the bible is not the only source of homophobia, it would still seem to have much to answer for. G.D. __________________
9/17/99 The bible promotes what ever one wants it to promote. Four H via Internet
Response: Even a religious person would likely admit this. It should therefore point out the danger in considering anything above question and sacred. Even if it were "God's Word" it would then be filtered through human reason and thus subject to error. G.D. __________________
G.D.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
LISH Newsletter, part 2
The Bible and Homophobia By Robert Price, Council for Secular Humanism
I have for some years read and thought much about the question of the Bible and homosexuality and homophobia. I have taught and written on the subject a number of times. In case my perspective as a New Testament scholar may be helpful, I offer an abbreviated version of it.
First, it seems to me that there are but 3 relevant passages, and two of these are pretty much duplicates. They are the twin prohibitions of "a male lying with a male as with a female." Such actions, adjacent to several other so-called "abominations" in Leviticus (20:13) such as women lying with beasts, wearing different fibers, interbreeding cattle, etc., are not precisely moral violations as they are considered as violations of the categories of creation. All cultures have these, and Mary Douglas has explained the matter better than anyone else (see her "The Abominations of Leviticus" in her book Purity and Danger). What we are dealing with, when we approach the Bible as an artifact of an ancient culture is simply a set of mores and sanctions alien to our culture. To try and bring them to bear on modern American culture on the arbitrary assumptin that the Bible that contains them is the timeless Word of God is the source of the mischief.
The New Testament speaks of homosexuality in one place, as far as I can tell, Romans chapter 1. Here the author imagines homosexuality, as many ancient philosophers did, as a violation of nature, though this assumption seems gratuitous to me. The other supposed mentions of the subject, in 1 Corinthians and 1 Timothy, are ambiguous, since the words used may or may not refer to homosexuality, whether in general or in reference to certain types of homosexual prostitution. One may attack homosexual prostitution without thinking all homosexuality is wrong, just as those who attack heterosexual prostitution do not condemn all heterosexuality at the same time.
In my view the story of Sodom and its lynch mob has not a thing to do with homosexuality. As far as we know no one ever thought it did refer to it till a Pseudepigraphical text called the Testament of Naphtali (about 100 BCE/CE) refers to "Sodomites" as effeminate, etc. Before that all references to Sodom in both OT and NT refer to oppression of the poor, pride, and xenophobia as the damning sin of Sodom.
Strangely, there is something of a parallel with the gun control issue here. The Bible itself contains certain ancient strictures we would not take seriously enough to be upset about--except that certain dangerous nuts want to wield it as a weapon to hurt others.
others._______________________________________________________________________________________________
POPE BARS TWO FROM GAY MINISTRY From various press reports
The Vatican has ordered an American priest and a nun to end their 22 year old ministry to gays and lesbians because they refused to condemn homosexuality as intrinsically evil. The Rev. Robert Nugent and Sister Jeannine Gramick are barred for life from ministering to gays and lesbians, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said Tuesday.
The congregation is a toned-down and modern version of the institution that carried out the Inquisition, which rooted out heresies, moral infractions and challenges to church authority from the 13th century to the 19th. The congregation said Nugent and Gramick "have caused confusion among the Catholic people and have harmed the community of the church."
It called their teachings "erroneous and dangerous" and ordered them to refrain permanently from "any pastoral work involving homosexual persons." Pope John Paul II endorsed the congregation's decision in May, it said.
The church has been investigating Nugent and Gramick, who are based in the Maryland suburbs of Washington D.C. for years. They repeatedly have defied Vatican demands to retract their teachings and to publicly condemn "the intrinsic evil of homosexual acts," the congregation said. James Cardinal Hickey, archbishop of Washington, said the Vatican's decision was not made lightly. "The Holy See was very careful and very patient in undertaking such a serious action," Hickey said. "Both were given numerous opportunities over the past 20 years to clarify their beliefs and to assent to the church's full teaching on homosexuality."
homosexuality."________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ten Commandments Update By Gerry Dantone
As of this writing, a press release announcing the creation of the George W. Bush inspired Standard Ten Commandments (STC), introduced in the August LISH Inquirer, along with a copy suitable for framing, has been sent to over 200 major media outlets, including many local reporters and columnists. Every US Senator and many local elected officials have also received the package. Additionally, numerous humanist and freethought groups around the country have also received this release and have praised the Commandments in content and intent as well.
The ultimate intent is twofold. First, the STC is a superior ethical model than the primitive biblical versions or their derivatives, and second, it is notice that some Americans take the First Amendment seriously. It is hoped that the "Defense of the Ten Commandments" act never becomes law, but if it does at least we have placed our hats in the ring with a tolerant, Constitutionally sound and ethically superior set of Commandments.
Commandments.________________________________________________________________________________________________
Center for Inquiry Seminar in NJ A relatively affordable all day seminar featuring Paul Kurtz, Tom Flynn and bible scholar Robert Price will be held Holiday Inn in Totowa, New Jersey, on Saturday October 16, 1999. Beginning @ 9:30AM and running until late afternoon, you may call 1-800-458-1366 for information and to register. Only $49 per person, donations above that accepted.
accepted.________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Dogma" the Movie Set For Release by Will Richard
Film-maker Kevin Smith's (Clerk's, Mall Rats and Chasing Amy) new film "Dogma", a religious satire,will open in theaters November 12, 1999.
Dogma is the story of two angels, Loki and Bartelby, banished by God to Wisconsin, trying to make their way back home (Heaven) by way of a loophole in Catholic dogma. If they are successful God would be proven wrong and a major paradox would occur and all life and reality would unravel.
This movie has a fine cast featuring Ben Afflect (Bartelby) and Matt Damon (Loki) as the fallen angels, Chris Rock as the long-lost 13th apostle, Salma Hayek as an ex-muse, Linda Fiorentino as Bethany and George Carlin as Cardinal Glick. Other cast members include Janeane Garofalo, Jason Lee and Alanis Morissette as God. We must not forget the characters Jay and Silent Bob, played by Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith (writer/director/editor of Dogma), the prophets who must help stop Loki and Bartelby.
Originally Miramax was going to distribute the film, but corporate parent Disney indicated it was inappropriate for release by one of its subsidiaries. Miramax founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein personally purchased the film in order to shield Disney from any controversy or protest that may arise from its release. Lions Gate Films acquired the North American rights to Dogma and set the upcoming release date in 1,500 theaters nationwide.
As expected the Catholic League has expressed their displeasure with the upcoming release of Dogma and plans protest and boycott requests. Kevin Smith calls himself a "life-long Catholic" and has said in an interview with the Toronto Sun (September 7, 1999) regarding the movie being tasteless, "That's subjective, but to say that either the movie or myself is anti-Catholic is just downright f...ing insulting! If anything, I think I'm pro-Catholic and I think the movie proves that." Having seen and enjoyed Kevin Smiths other films, I find it hard to believe this movie is going to be "pro-Catholic" to the satisfaction of the Catholic League.
It's going to be interesting to see how this movie is perceived by the critics and, more importantly, by the public. I'm looking forward to seeing Dogma. For more information on Dogma check out the web site www.newsaskew.com.
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Help Wanted Update
Response to the first LISH Help Wanted plea was gratifying. LISH member, Jessica F has taken the lead in forming a Secular Organization for Sobriety group in Syosset and Jim D will be placing "Humanist Perspective" on local cable systems. Bill W has inquired about assisting in the cable TV access project for the Riverhead area. Attention Smithtown and Brookhaven residents: We still need someone to come forward to sign an application for cable access for the Hauppauge Cablevision system.
It is possible that Ms. F could use some assistance in forming the SOS chapters. Ultimately these programs are self-supporting and self-perpetuating. All help would be appreciated!
A person to investigate the forming of a Secular Singles group would also be helpful for the humanist community. Anyone interested? Don't be shy!
Hayo B and Paul L have come forward to assist in the distribution of newsletters and other mailed materials. The newsletter is the glue for LISH!
Another exciting opportunity would be for some volunteers to begin Campus Freethought groups on Long Island colleges. Once again the work may be significant at first but then the groups become self-operating.
Seriously, if you have never been an activist, the pride one feels when helping the community is startling and real. Email us at InfidelsRe@aol.com.
President or Pope? By Gerry D
Does the presidential campaign ever cause you to scratch your head in wonder? Does it sometimes seem as if the candidates are running for some type of religious office as keeper of American souls as opposed to running a country of physical human beings?
Candidate Steve Forbes is facing stiff compettion in the race for America's highest spiritual office, so he's responded desperately! At a suburban High School, talking to students he said "If you went to, say, a country that has the Muslim religion and you got to a school you might expect to see the Koran there, you wouldn't be surprised. It's part of their culture. It's the same here."
Remarkable! Is Mr. Forbes envious of the culture this kind of co-mingling of religion, in this case Islam, and government has reated? You know, the kind of culture where women have second class rights, if any rights at all, and harsh Koranic punishments are dealt out to those who transgress. And oh yes, where freedom of religion, including freedom to practice Christianity, is almost non-existent in some of those cultures! What insight from would-be president Forbes!
However, not to be outdone is Pat Buchanan. In a Buchanan Issue's Brief it is stated that blame for our "stunted and sick society" lies with "Secularists armed with the proposition that God is dead. They preach a hedonistic dogma where man is the highest authority and his whim is the only absolute. They claim that God has no place in our courtrooms and his name no place in our classrooms. Their governing axioms reduce faith to superstition and traditional morality to quaint nonsense. No fixed standards of right and wrong, beautiful and debased, health or sick. If it feels good, do it."
Of course, the sad part is that America hears more about Secular Humanism from Pat Buchanan and his ilk than from Secular Humanists. No wonder we are reviled!
Let us rebut Mr. Buchanan concisely: Most secular humanists do not think God is dead - they are unsure of what God is or whether God ever existed if it can be defined coherently enough. Dogma is what we strive to avoid - dogma is what lies beyond question. Secular humanists encourage and welcome all inquiry into all matters. Nothing is taken on faith.
Hedonism is a charge that the religiously faithful love to toss at secular humanists. What do they mean by hedonism? Somehow are they implying that one should not do what one wants to do? Are they against all enjoyment in life, or just some certain amount of enjoyment? Should life be enjoyed or not, Mr. Buchanan? I suspect not. I suspect, as my Catholic Catechism teaches, this life "really doesn't matter" - all that matters is gaining heaven.
Further, if man is not the highest authority, I suspect Buchanan means to say that God is the highest authority - as preached by man. It does not seem to matter that we cannot get man out of the loop!
Is whim the only absolute for a secular humanist? Does Preacher Pat mean our near obsession with evidence and the scientific method is really a cover for our whims and that instead, faith is the thoughtful and non-whimsical approach to living life? This is news to me!
Is faith, which is belief in the supernatural, and other things for which evidence is lacking, a form of superstition? If not, is it claimed this is a scientific approach? I don't think so. Is Faith and biblical morality quaint nonsense? Well, maybe it's not so quaint!
Finally secularists are accused of having no standards of any kind, a common charge. Consider that humanistic ethics are standards based - they judge an action by the effect on human well being. In contrast consider that typical religious ethics lack all standards save one - whether God commanded them. If God demands it, it is good, no matter what. In other words, if it feels good to God, we must do it.
It may turn out that the pretenders to the succession are nearly history. Mr. Buchanan, in particular, has written a book that, among other things, expresses regret that the US had to be involved in fighting Hitler. It was Pearl Harbor, he writes, according to published reports, that justified our entrance into the war. Although the country at large may have been at fault in looking the other way during Hitler's rise to power, it is not because we were ignorant of his hatred for Jews - that was plain for many years. At least most Americans, in hindsight, have seen the error of our ways. Mr. Buchanan, I suppose, has not received the appropriate commands from God on this subject just yet and in the process may have forfeited his chance in the coming elections. It must be God's will at work!
work!________________________________________________________________________________________________
A Statement from The Rt. Rev'd John S. Spong on the death of Matthew Shepard October 22, 1998 - Trinity and St. Philip's Cathedral, Newark, NJ
When we proposed to conduct this memorial service for Matthew Shepard, we asked a statewide gay and lesbian organization to assist us in planning and promoting this event. To our surprise they declined stating that Christianity had killed Matthew Shepard. When we protested this charge and said that this was only the religious right, they responded by quoting the resolution passed by the Anglican/Episcopal bishops of the world at last summer's Lambeth Conference which proclaimed by a large majority that homosexual persons are sinful, and voted to continue to exclude them from full membership in the life of the Church. Despite my personal opposition to that resolution, I was forced to admit that my church worldwide had sent a very negative message to the gay and lesbian people of the world, a negativity that they have almost come to expect from religious sources. Public statements made by the pope, John Paul II, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, the Rev. Pat Robertson, the Anglican bishops and a wide variety of other Christian voices proclaim that homosexuality is not normal, that it is a deviation, that all homosexual practices are to be condemned, that God is opposed to homosexuality and that the Sacred Scriptures condemn it. All Christians must live with the judgment of the homosexual community on the Church because, as painful as it is to realize, their charges are accurate.
Words shape consciousness and therefore words have consequences. When religious voices claim to speak for Christ suggest in their prejudiced ignorance that homosexual people are sinful, abnormal, unclean or subhuman, we do nothing less than to sow the seeds that are used to justify hate, and even murder. These words embolden those religious voices that believe that they speak for God when they oppose extending hate crime laws to include gay and lesbian people. Christianity does have bloody hands. We did contribute to the murder of Matthew Sheprd.
That is why we gather in this Cathedral today as Christian people to mourn the death of this innocent victim and to pledge ourselves in a public way to stand against the rampant homophobia that the Christian Church has helped to create and to encourage.
May I say to my Christian friends as powerfully as I can, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is about love not hate, acceptance not rejection. It celebrates the essence of one's humanity. It calls people beyond the prejudices of tribe, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. It challenges those who have elevated their religious convictions to the realm of infallible or inerrant truth. But even more powerfully it calls those of us who claim to be disciples of this Christ to stand at the side of those our world would victimize, to counter the rhetoric of religious prejudice, to risk our lives for justice, and to do it quite publicly.
So through this public service today I call upon the congregations of this diocese, and on Christians everywhere, to look deeply into their own hearts and to expunge the sin of hate, ignorance and intolerance from their personal lives and from the lives of their congregations. I call upon the members of this diocese and Christians everywhere, to speak up and speak out against intolerance and violence wherever we find it.
We must live what we claim: The Body of Christ is and INCLUSIVE church, were all are welcomed and all are honored as God's own.
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A Thumbs Up Publication Editor: Gerald D Art Design: John R. W Copyright LISH 1999