Reason to Believe: Does God Exist?

• Existence of God: Ontological Argument
• Problem of Evil I
• Problem of Evil II
• Pascal’s Wager

Rationality and Belief

• Ethics of Belief: Evidentialism v. Pragmatism
• Racism and Belief
• Stereotypes and Belief
• Scientific Reason or Scientific Faith?
• More on Science and Faith

Mind and Body

• The Mind-Body Problem 1
• The Mind-Body Problem 2
• Robots and Functionalism

Freewill, Determinism, and Responsibility

• Hard Determinism
• Compatibilism I
• Compatibilism II
• Libertarianism

Morality and Right Conduct

• Moral Variation Across Cultures
• Utilitarianism
• Ethical Egoism
• Famine

In glancing over the different notes, I noticed they build on each other, so it might be best, if we’re interested, to go in order. There are other titles listed on the page, but they don’t have any links to pdf files, unfortunately.  Is anyone interested? If so, what meetings would we have for these subjects? Your thoughts are welcome.

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~ Update: This was interesting. We had a good turnout with 2 new people! Welcome! We all shared our information on Scientology. We still had a lot of questions though, but really, only a high level scientologist could answer those questions. Dinner afterward was at Los Mariachis.

~

We are going to talk about Scientology. Everyone bring in 2 or 3 wacky Scientology facts. I suppose if you have any sensible Scientology facts, that would be interesting as well.

We can’t find a Scientologist who would be willing to come talk to us, or better yet, an EX-scientologist, so we’ll have to just make do ourselves and see what we can dig up.

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~Update: We had a rather small meeting since several members were galavanting about the globe. It was an interesting discussion, though, and the Lavender Cafe was delicious as usual.

~

Topic of the evening is honoring and remembering great leaders in our country – our Founding Fathers – and in science. Bring along someone you admire from science, history, politics, skepticism or any other field to share with us.

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~Update: We talked about the 4 gospels and ended up with some questions, such as:

When did the Pharisees move into Jerusalem where Jesus was hanging out? I remember reading somewhere that the Pharisees weren’t in Jesus’ area until around 50 or 70 CE, long after Jesus’ death, so it brings into question all the interactions they have with him.

~

We are reading God Hates You, Hate Him Back: Making Sense of The Bible by CJ Werleman.

We will be going over the Gospels, pages 182-229:

• Intro to the New Testament section
• The Gospels (lumped together for a more cohesive narrative)
• Summary of the Gospels

Since it’s all lumped together, and this is the most important 4 books of the Christian bible, please consider bringing other sources like your bible. We’ll mainly use CJ’s book as a jumping off point for deeper discussion into the gospels.

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Update: We had a great time at Daniel and Ivy’s. Daniel is a great BBQer and Ivy puts on a fantastic spread. Everything was delicious, the company was awesome, the conversation was interesting, and overall I think it was just wonderful. The weather was perfect too!

~

Update: The Morgantown CoR is gearing up for our worthwhile cause, the West Virginia Botanic Garden. On April 11 from 2-4pm, the WVBG is having a Volunteer Orientation. See the post for details. We’ll meet at 2pm at the park and then go directly to Daniel and Ivy’s afterward for a bit of an early meeting and BBQ!

For the Topic of the Evening, the floor is yours! We are having an Open Topic, which means you get a few minutes to talk about anything that interests you. Suggestions for your topics:

• freethought
• atheism
• philosophy
• science
• skepticism
• history

Feel free to comment and let us know what you’ll be talking about, or keep it as a surprise!

Ivy and Daniel’s place:

486 Hite St.
Morgantown, WV
It’s off of Dorsey Ave. A few blocks up from White Park and the skating rink.
A house with a blue door.

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~

January 17 Update:

We had a nice meeting. We talked about the book, current events, the evolution of language, and much more.

~

We are reading a funny fiction book for this meeting. (Read the entire book for Jan 17)

The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror by Christopher Moore

From Publishers Weekly
Hilarity abounds in Moore’s latest satirical gem. Sleepy Pine Cove, Calif., is abuzz with Christmas spirit, but Lena Marquez is fed up with her despicable ex-husband, Dale Pearson. On his way home from playing Santa Claus at the local lodge, Dale spies sneaky Lena uprooting his Monterey pines; he pulls a gun on her, she lashes out with a shovel and—oops!—kills him. Seven-year-old Josh Barker, thinking he’s just seen the murder of Santa, prays for a miracle to save Christmas. To Lena’s rescue comes Tucker Case, a slimy, reformed Casanova and DEA pilot, who gives her an alibi and sweeps her off her feet. The marijuana-cultivating town constable, Theo Crowe, suspects foul play, but Tucker intervenes with a blackmail scheme to keep the crime buried. Meanwhile, there’s a new arrival in town: the glowingly blond Archangel Raziel (last seen in Lamb) has come “dirtside” on a “miracle mission” involving Josh’s wish and reviving the town’s dearly departed. Pine Cove’s biggest challenge surfaces as comically reanimated zombies begin to rise and feast on the living, and a huge El Niño–induced storm swirls. This little slice of perverse Christmas cheer is enough to make even the most cynical Scrooge guffaw.

The next 3 books after this one will be:

• February: The God Virus: How religion infects our lives and culture by Darrel W. Ray
• March: God Hates You, Hate Him Back: Making Sense of The Bible by CJ Werleman
• April: Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe by Greg Epstein

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~  Update:

Everyone brought in a wide range of books. Here’s the list:

Next month’s book: The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror by Christopher Moore

• The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
• Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter
• The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification by Julian Montague
• Why I Became an Atheist: A Former Preacher Rejects Christianity by John W. Loftus
• Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe by Greg Epstein
• Then Why Do I Have Toenails?: How To Be The Best Atheist You Can Be by Thom Phelps
• The God Virus: How religion infects our lives and culture by Darrel W. Ray
• Microcosm: E. Coli and the New Science of Life by Carl Zimmer
• God Hates You, Hate Him Back: Making Sense of The Bible by CJ Werleman
• The Atheist Camel Chronicles: Debate Themes & Arguments for the Non-Believer (and those who think they might be) by Dromedary Hump
• The Courage of Their Convictions: Sixteen Americans Who Fought Their Way to the Supreme Court by Peter Irons
• Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
• Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
• How We Believe, 2nd Edition: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God by Michael Shermer
• Flock of Dodos: Behind Modern Creationism, Intelligent Design and the Easter Bunny by Barrett Brown
• The Wisdom of the Native Americans by Kent Nerburn
• 101 Myths of the Bible: How Ancient Scribes Invented Biblical History by Gary Greenberg
• Society without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us About Contentment by Phil Zuckerman
• Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich
• Religion Explained by Pascal Boyer
• Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism by Susan Jacoby
• Don’t Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle by Daniel L. Everett
• Out of Eden: The Peopling of the World by Stephen Oppenheimer

Please leave a comment below with your three choices, in order of first favorite. Please comment this week so that you don’t forget and we can get the list set.

~

This meeting will be a bit different.

Bring along some appropriate books you would like to share with the group.

To clarify, bring books you’d like to share for either a possible book for us to all read, or just books you think we might find interesting. They might be books you’ve already read that you just want to share, or something you haven’t read yet but you think we’d all like to read it together.

We’ll share our books with everyone and talk about them.

Some ideas of what to bring:

• nonfiction, textbooks or even fiction
• secular or religious studies
• critical thinking
• science

If all goes well, someone will bring along a great read that we’ll then choose for our January meeting.

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Chapters 12-17, pages 153-222

We each took a chapter and presented it to everyone.

• Chapter 12: Neece
• Chapter 13: Tim
• Chapter 14: Gerald
• Chapter 15: General discussion
• Chapter 16: Brent
• Chapter 17: Neece

This book was quite helpful and I would recommend it. Feel free to comment with how you liked the book and what you got out of it.

This will be our third meeting for Nonsense: Red Herrings, Straw Men and Sacred Cows: How We Abuse Logic in Our Everyday Language by Robert J. Gula. This should be great for helping us to think and converse more logically.

We had some good discussions and a lot of people showed up.

Here are some general principles and some great advice by Robert Gula, the author (from chapter 1 and 17).

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The October Theme was: My Personal 10 Commandments.

Make a list of 10 (or less) New Personal Commandments. These are 10 rules or virtues you set for yourself that you might hang on your wall, keep on your desk, or wish to teach to others. These 10 Commandments are like your personal creed for living. Write them down and bring your list. We’ll share them at the meeting.

Remember to keep each commandment succinct. It will be easier to remember.

Also, call it whatever you like. You certainly don’t need to call them commandments. That’s just used for familiarity.

EDIT: I found this and thought it might help you: A List of Virtues. It seems interesting for at least looking at a list of virtues that you might connect with.

SUMMARY: Last night’s meeting was interesting and fun. We had 11 people and it was quite lively.

If you shared your 10 “commandments” last night, please email them to me if I can include them on this page. Or, feel free to leave a comment with your list here to share with us! I think it would be nice to have them all written down for people.

Personally, I got a lot out of listening to others share their principles and rules for living.

Butch’s Codex

1. Be passionate about something.
2. Never give in to a bully (make a stand) and never be a bully.
3. Be as honest as possible, never fear the truth.
4. Do not fear things just because they’re different.
5. You are no better than anyone else, but you are as good as everyone else.
6. There is humor in all things, it is up to you to find it.
7. Neece’s Platinum Rule: Treat others as they want to be treated, in their best interest.
8. Learn as much as you can and as many different things as possible. Use empiric methods to improve your knowledge.
9. Never accept things at face value; think for yourself.
10. There will be disappointments in your life. Get over them and move on.
11. Accept the consequences of your actions!

~

Neece’s Principles

1. Golden Rule: Treat others as you would like to be treated.
2. Silver Rule: Do not treat others as you would not like to be treated.
3. Platinum Rule*: Treat others as they want to be treated, *in their best interest.
4. Learn from your mistakes, and when possible, learn from the mistakes of others.
5. Be pragmatic. Choose your battles. Be responsible.
6. If it harms no one, do what you like. (do no harm)
7. Think critically. Think for yourself. Be skeptical. Question everything.
8. Learn as much as you can. Never stop learning. Be curious. Wonder. Use the scientific method.
9. Strive to be your best, and to improve yourself whenever possible.
10. Laugh often. Have a great sense of humor.

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Fred Edwords is a public speaker well known to humanists, freethinkers, and religious liberals, and a specialist in media and PR areas. He is the head of UnitedCoR.

The seminar  was 4 hours and was both informative and extremely helpful to our organization as we grow and move forward. It will also be helpful to us as individuals in our chosen fields.

Brent and I took a lot of notes, and Fred gave us several useful handouts. We then went to dinner at Mi Pueblos which was delicious, as always. Fred and his lovely wife Mary are great company.

Thank you, Fred, for the excellent seminar and the great conversation over dinner!

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