A High Technology Encounter in Georgia—the AUVSI International Aerial Robotics Competition

Posted on August 9, 2014 by AZAtheist

For the 23rd year in a row, several university teams have come together to do the impossible with autonomous aerial vehicles. This was the first year of “Mission 7” which tasked collegiate teams to build a system that used unmanned air vehicles to avoid moving obstacles and direct free running iRobot Create robots, based on the Roomba floor sweeping models, across a goal line and prevent them from leaving the 20 meter by 20 meter field. A complete description of the contest and the rules can be found at: http://www.aerialroboticscompetition.org/. This is an international competition. The teams that competed in Georgia were from Canada and the U.S. while almost simultaneously there was a separate venue running the competition in China with teams from China, India, Iran, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Spain. None of the teams successfully completed the mission this year, as expected. The missions created by Rob Michelson are very challenging. Rob’s intent is to have a contest that pushes technology to its extreme limit just beyond the current capability of most of the competition teams.

The contest has always focused on autonomous systems. It is not a contest of the eye hand coordination of the operators but their ability to make a system that can perform the various tasks without human intervention. Of course, there are “operators standing by” with kill mechanisms to bring down the flying vehicles immediately if there is a problem and they have been needed from time to time.

This year the vehicles were required to navigate a 20 meter by 20 meter field in a building where GPS assistance would not be available. The vehicles had to avoid moving obstacles that were as high as 2 meters and interact with free running autonomous robots (iRobot’s Create robots—similar to the Roomba vacuum cleaners). The goal is to herd robots across a green boundary line and prevent the robots from exiting out of the other three sides.

This year one team at the U.S. venue and two teams at the Chinese venue flew completely autonomous. Those three were the only teams that could accrue points in the competition. Autonomy is a fundamental requirement. Even so, the points are meaningless except for bragging rights. No team successfully interacted or changed the trajectory of the free-running robots which means next year everyone is at the same level. The team that successfully herds the most robots across the green boundary while demonstrating intelligent navigation and obstacle avoidance will win the first phase of Mission 7 and be rewarded with a prize of $30,000. Once that happens, the top teams will be invited to compete in the second phase where teams will be pitted against each other in an elimination contest thus demonstrating the ability for autonomous systems to sense and avoid competing robots.

Each year I look forward to spending time with Rob Michelson and his wife Denise, along with their two sons, who I’ve watched grow up from elementary school to college graduates, along with the other judges. I’m especially looking forward to seeing the advances these young people make as they attempt the impossible for the second time. For more information on the contest and the other IARC Missions, please check out http://www.aerialroboticscompetition.org/index.php, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Aerial_Robotics_Competition.

Posted in Science and Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

TAM (The Amaz!ng Meeting)

Posted on July 20, 2014 by AZAtheist

This July, the JREF (James Randi Educational Foundation) put on their 16th TAM (The Amaz!ng Meeting). For us, this was our 8th and it was every bit as enjoyable as the first one we attended in 2007. The theme this year was Skepticism and the Brain. George was once again this year’s very capable and talented master of ceremonies. He kept the talks on time and flowing along with introducing each speaker with an original limerick. While not all of the presentations were thematic, most were. Every year I look forward to TAM and catching up with old friends in Skepticism. This year, many of the friends did not attend but instead there were many “First Tammers” to get to know.

TAM is first and foremost a Skeptical event and Atheism is not a required prerequisite to attend or enjoy the conference. In the past, the organizers consciously decided to distance themselves from Atheistic discussions. This is as wrong as making it all about Atheism. In the world of Skepticism, religion is just another thing to be skeptical about just as UFOs, 911 conspiracies, ghosts, and homeopathy. It is not right to treat it differently and give it special treatment. Skepticism is about critical thinking and is more methodical than positional. Here in Tucson we have a Meetup.com group, Skeptics of Tucson. The end of our mission statement says, “We don’t advocate WHAT to think, just to THINK CRITICALLY.”

The Amazing Meeting is supported in part by Atheistic supporters such as; The American Atheists, The Ardent Atheists Podcast, and Penn Jillette. Other sponsors include: John W. Carson Foundation, Skeptics Society and Skeptic Magazine, Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, Australian Skeptics, Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, Foundation Beyond Belief, Independent Investigations Group, Institute for Science and Human Values, New York City Skeptics, Secular Coalition for America, Secular Student Alliance, Skeptic Ink Network, and Skeptics Guide to the Universe. Individuals that sponsored this year’s TAM include: Michael Shermer, Barbara Drescher, Edward Clint, Max Maven, Sara E. Mayhew, Greg Stikeleather, Brian Walker, and Toni Van Pelt along with many other supporters.

TAM is one of two conferences that I attend each year. The other one is the American Atheist conference. While I consider attendance at the AA conference part of my job as Regional Director for American Atheists, I attend TAM simply because I want to and I know I’ll have a great time. I enjoy hanging with like-minded Skeptics from literally around the world and there were over 32 countries represented among the 1100 or so attendees.

Our annual trip to Las Vegas and TAM is personally demanding. It has been two weeks since my last posting because it has taken till today for me to muster up enough energy to report on it. After our drive to Vegas, we hit the ground running and don’t stop for the four days of TAM. We don’t leave the South Point Hotel. I get a seat near the front and watch every presentation. That means getting out of bed and to the convention room before most everyone else. I know I’ll be missing out on sleep because the evenings and nights during the convention are also full of activity. At least for the 4 days of TAM, I’ve found that 4 or 5 hours of sleep are enough.

If you missed it or want to see them again, the presentations will available on line and on a DVD but you can see George Hrab’s opening HERE.

The conference ends right after the “Million Dollar Challenge.” This year the applicant believed that he could emit energy from his hand that could be felt by another person. The subjects of the test were screened by the applicant as sufficiently sensitive to feel the energy and there were to be 9 trials. The subject and the testers were double blinded to the testing activity. To meet the challenge, the applicant would be successful in 8 out of 9 attempts. The testing protocol and success criteria were negotiated ahead of time. After two trials and two misses, the challenger failed to demonstrate his power. In the interview after the test, the challenger claims he’ll return to take the test but he’ll have to wait for a full year according the Million Dollar Challenge policies.

On Monday after TAM, we drove home and I conducted a meeting of the Skeptics of Tucson immediately after the drive …then I slept…

If you’re in Tucson, there is no need to wait an entire year to get involved in Skepticism. Check out the multiple activities held each month by the freethinking community in Tucson, especially Skeptics of Tucson.

Posted in Skepticism, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Supreme Failure

Posted on July 6, 2014 by AZAtheist

In the last blog entry, I talked about a Supreme Court decision and gave them the benefit of the doubt. It was a unanimous decision after all and needed the extra attention to find the thread of logic that united the nine disparate judges in their decision to declare the Massachusetts statute unconstitutional. The thread was there and the decision was based on the importance of one of our basic liberties—our freedom of speech. There is no excuse for the June 30th decision to allow the religious convictions of an employer to override the life choices and freedoms of their employees! NO EXCUSE!

In a recent Tucson Weekly article reactions from Ron Barber and Martha McSally are compared. Congressman Barber’s reaction is short and to the point—the decision allows the corporations to trample the rights of its employees. Yes! It doesn’t matter how “sincerely held” a boss’s beliefs are, they don’t have the right to make health decisions for their employees. Republican Martha McSally’s read on the same decision agrees with the court majority (the five male Catholics). Apparently, only SHE has the ability to read and interpret the opinions properly. According to her, she “…actually took the time to read the opinion and my statement here is based on the facts…” I wonder if she took the time to read the dissenting opinion by Justice Ginsburg. It is included in the 95 page .PDF file (on page 60). If you don’t want to read the entire document there are those that have distilled down some of the best passages. Mother Jones produced The 8 Best Lines From Ginsburg’s Dissent on the Hobby Lobby Contraception Decision. Justice Ginsburg points out how the decision to employ contraceptives is not ultimately made by the employer. It is the woman with the help of the woman’s doctor. The employer has no part of the decision even if it is covered in the company’s health care benefits. She also discusses the “mine field” that the Court has willingly stepped into. We won’t have to wait long to see related cases line up for their own particular “religious exemption.” According to the linked article, it only took one day!

Of course, the decision wasn’t decided on constitutional grounds. It was decided based on the requirements of the 1993 RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act). At the heart of this bad decision is the idea that a corporation is defined as a person. It seems there is confusion in the Court about the definition of personhood. The camel got its nose under the tent when the Court decided to apply RFRA to non-profits and allow them to “practice religion” like a person. But even IF you allow that a corporation is a person, the argument that this new type of person gets to tell others how to live their life is a bad one. Also, no matter how “sincerely” you hold your belief, your religious convictions don’t get to trump science and the four contraceptives addressed in this case do not cause abortion no matter how “sincerely” the owners of a craft store believe that they do. That’s just science.

There is so much wrong in this decision I can’t cover it all. Follow some of the links provided for more information on the various arguments. A Supreme Court decision is pretty final and there is no higher appeal but there are still things that can be done. Therefore we should support every effort and every candidate that attempts to abolish RFRA and not support those candidates, like Martha McSally, who support bad Court decisions. Also, when voting consider that Supreme Court candidates are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Past Court decisions made corporations people that can have religious beliefs. This latest decision allows those corporations to dictate our choices in our health decisions. This must stop.

One last thought. Since in the eyes of the Hobby Lobby owners life and personhood begins at conception, shouldn’t they be paying their pregnant employees double time? After all, they now represent two people and they’re both at work.

Posted in Separation of Church and State, Supreme Court Decision | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

In the Buffer Zone

Posted on June 27, 2014 by AZAtheist

Do we have “buffer zones” in our lives? Decisions are coming out of the Supreme Court about the constitutionality of various laws but something can be constitutional and still be a bad idea. The ruling is based on the complaints of street counselors who felt that they have a First Amendment constitutional right to personally talk with and give literature to patients going into a women’s health facility that provides abortion services. While I can agree with the Supreme Court decision on rational grounds, I have to question whether or not it is right that these “street counselors” should be trying to give advice to someone that clearly didn’t ask for it. I hate it when I get unsolicited advice from people, even friends. Is it just me? In fact, I’ve become quite rude about it. If someone calls me on my phone at home offering to sell me anything, I hang up the phone. When people come to my door with a petition, or selling me something, I point to the “No Soliciting” sign and close the door. However, when a young lady is walking into a clinic after making what could be the most difficult decision of her life, how does she “hang up the phone” or “close the door“?

The Supreme Court unanimously struck down a buffer zone law in Massachusetts at abortion clinics. Apparently, they felt that the law was a restriction on the free speech of the anti-abortion “street counselors.” The buffer zone law limited the petitioners’ free speech rights to “counsel” patients arriving at the clinic. There will be plenty of reactions to this decision over the next couple of days and then we’ll move on to other concerns. You’ll hear about the atrocities at abortion clinics that caused the state law makers to impose the law. You’ll also hear crowing from the religious right about their win. Our very own Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) just posted coverage on the decision and, as you might guess, they’re calling it a “victory.” They also posted a very handy link to the Supreme Court opinions. The document is 52 pages long but much of it is repetitive. Before we get too emotionally invested in the back and forth of this issue, we should sit down and take a few minutes to read the Supreme Court’s decision and I thank the CAP for posting the link.

By the way, I saw a headline that said, “CAP President To Matt Lauer: ‘It Isn’t The 1950s Anymore.'” It confused me for a second until I found out that CAP in this case was referring to the Center for American Progress which has a mission almost in direct opposition to the mission of the Center for Arizona Policy. I was impressed with their page on Faith and Progressive Policy: Proud Past, Promising Future. It contains stories where people of faith are working together with others to reduce political tensions between secularists and the religious. I was reminded of the book by our House Representative from AZ District 9, Kyrsten Sinema. The book is Unite and Conquer: How to Build Coalitions That Win and Last
and talks about finding the common goals of diverse groups.

On that note, I recommend reading the Court’s opinion before making a decision on the wisdom of the ruling. There is a lot of discussion about the message content of the buffer zones and the fact that the buffer zones do provide public safety. However, the ruling was made from the point of view and the arguments of the petitioners who were “sidewalk counselors,” not protestors. The free speech rights of the petitioners to converse and distribute hand bills was unnecessarily suspended in the buffer zones since there were other ways to ensure that the clinics remain accessible and safe. In effect, the Supreme Court sent the state legislature back to the drawing board for laws that would provide safety and accessibility without stifling the First Amendment rights of the petitioners. Petitioners believe that they can only accomplish their objective of informing women of various alternatives to abortion through personal, caring, and consensual conversations and the buffer zones prevented them from that.

The Court did not accept that there was no other way to address the problem of providing access and security around women’s health care facilities that provide abortions. They were unconvinced by arguments made by Massachusetts that less restrictive alternatives to the buffer zones were tried and shown to be ineffective.

Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, and Alito expressed a concurring but slightly different opinion on the Massachusetts statute. They agree with the opinion of the Court but found that the law should be stricken due to it not being content neutral and opined that it was unnecessary to evaluate whether the law was “narrowly tailored to serve a significant governmental interest.”

Indeed, the Freedom of Speech is a very important principle and worth protection. The courts looked at the First Amendment restrictions caused by an overly broad application of law and found the law unconstitutional. The court found that painting a line on the sidewalk may be an easy solution but doesn’t justify its effect on the First Amendment rights of the petitioners. The judgment is in and the buffer zones as defined by the Massachusetts statute are unconstitutional.

I can agree with the logic of the decision. However, it’s not right for these “street counselors” to be harassing young women. There are times I wish we had portable buffer zones. Are anti-harassment laws enough? We have a universal sign that tells the world that we are choking. Do we have one that says, “Help, I’m being harassed!”?

Posted in Supreme Court Decision | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

SC4AZ Activism: Beyond social support

Posted on June 24, 2014 by AZAtheist

Frequently, I talk about social support for the Arizona Freethinking Community but we also need  political advocacy. Last Sunday, Tory Anderson and Matt Schoenley from the Secular Coalition for Arizona gave a talk about their successes and challenges with the Arizona State Legislature to a small crowd gathered at the University of Arizona Medical Center in the DuVal Auditorium. She was there at the request of FreeThought Arizona. The SC4AZ (Secular Coalition for Arizona) is a 501c4 non-profit organization which means that they can legally lobby and promote candidates. At the meeting they passed out a “scorecard” that summarized the voting record of our current legislators and scored them on their performance in regards to secular policy decisions. Many of the legislators are religious but still vote in favor of secular public policies. However, there are many that do not and would impose laws on the general population based on their religious beliefs. Some would go as far as voting for blatantly discriminatory policies such as were contained in HB2153/SB1062. Both the State House and the State Senate passed these discriminatory bills but several of the legislators rethought their position and urged the governor to veto. Also, the fact that it could have cost Arizona another Super Bowl must have been a motivating factor causing the Governor to veto the bill.

The success of getting the Governor to veto the discriminatory HB2153/SB1062 bill is admittedly a shared success. Several organizations weighed in and pushed for the veto including the Business Community and the LGBT Community, among others. However, the defeat of HB2281, which would have saddled tax payers with $2.1M of more property taxes, belongs solely to SC4AZ. They went alone against the  bill that CAP wrote and supported.

There were other wins and some disappointments highlighted in Tory’s presentation. The overall message is that the SC4AZ is making a difference and CAP (Center for Arizona Policy) has taken notice. CAP’s power has been successfully challenged on numerous occasions and the result is that they no longer operate with the same impunity that they did when they killed the anti-bullying bill in 2012. More importantly, legislators have begun seeking help and advice from SC4AZ for proposed bills.

The idea of a coalition that acts on behalf of the Arizona FreeThinking community is a great one. Here in Tucson, we can concentrate on supporting the social support needs of our community comfortable in the knowledge that the SC4AZ is fighting for rational secular public policy in the state legislature. FreeThought Arizona and Tucson Atheists are local members.

SC4AZ is the first state chapter to be spun out of the SCA (Secular Coalition for America) located in Washington D.C. and often used as an example for other states to follow. You can find their webpage at www.secular.org. There you can download the 2014 Legislature Scorecard. You can also find a link that will help you find out who represents you in the Arizona Legislature. This information may be useful during the next election if you are interested in promoting rational secular public policy in Arizona.

Bottom line: Use the SC4AZ resources to find out who represents you and how they voted. Use them and support them!

Posted in Atheist Action, Secular Coalition for Arizona, Separation of Church and State | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Camp Quest Arizona 2014

Posted on June 16, 2014 by AZAtheist

I loved this camp!

The camp director just posted a picture of a couple of counselors dancing to the song YMCA. The picture was taken at the end of a very rewarding but tiring week at the Camp Quest Arizona 2014. This was the second year for the camp and 49 enthusiastic campers (49 varying from age 8 through 17) attended. The challenge here, on this blog, will be to capture the spirit (that’s right fellow Atheists I said “spirit”) of the experience in a short blog entry.

It was a great experience and there were many second timers. The staff was an eclectic collection of adults—from young to old(er) and the second year for many of them also. Half were “program staff” and the others were “cabin staff.” The program staff is responsible for the camp programs and the cabin staff is with the campers most of the time. As a program staff person, I was responsible for an elective event and a couple of Quest Zone activities. Everyone was a volunteer and everyone was busy providing a secular camp experience.

Camp Quest is much like any other week long, sleep away summer camp. We borrowed a 4H camp that is part of the University of Arizona. We had traditional camp activities such as fishing, archery, orienteering, and nature hikes along with the secular and scientific specific activities such as Socrate’s Café where the campers get a chance to discuss deeper philosophical subjects.

The cabins are separated by age and gender. Program staff members stay in the cabins also to help the cabin staff and fill in when necessary. There are week-long activities and some that only last an hour or so. Some activities are specific to the cabins. The campers are all members of teams that vary in age and gender. Most events are team events. However, there are a few activities that are elective and chosen individually by the campers according to their specific interests. I’ll say that there were plenty of “free time” opportunities but I’ll bet that most of the campers would say they could use more! The volunteers bring their own experience and interests and are responsible for the selection of some of the more unique activities. For example, I brought in activities associated with model aircraft, leather work, and (believe it or not) Karaoke.

Speaking of unique opportunities, many of the campers made monsters out of stuffed animals.

All 49 campers built a small wooden memory box. The pieces were pre-cut and when assembled the box was about 6″ by 9″ and 5″ tall with a lid and a bottom made out of plywood. There was a lot of work that went into the kitting of these boxes. Holes were predrilled and countersunk. All the hardware was available but there was a lot left to do by the campers. There were several hammers and three electric drills for the campers to use to drive the screws that held the main frame of the box together and attaching the two hinges. But the best part of the memory box activity was that once the boxes were complete and placed in their proper order, they revealed a special picture with meaning for science based campers…Ta Dah!

There is no way to completely describe Camp Quest AZ 2014 but I’m glad to have been a part of it and hope to be a part of it again next year. Camp Quest is now a feature of the Secular Community of Arizona and we owe a great deal of thanks to the volunteers that made it happen for the second time! Thank you John, Eugene, Chuwan, Jennifer, and Holly for all the hard work and making it happen again in Arizona!

I forgot to mention a very important member of the camp staff–the very awesome camp nurse. Nell was on duty 24 hours a day and cared for every scrape and illness (there were a few but not many). She also made sure that all campers took their medication. 1406 CQAZ Nell the nurse

 

Posted in American Atheists, Atheist Action, Religion, Skepticism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

What the doctor means is…

Posted on May 29, 2014 by AZAtheist

The title of this article comes from an old skit made popular during the Viet Nam War. The audio skit was recorded in 1966. It involved an F-4 Phantom pilot the “Captain,” and a public affairs officer. After each question, the Captain would answer it from his point of view complete with the vernacular of his compatriots and the public affairs officer would translate the language for the war correspondent. For example, when the Captain was asked about his fighter jet, the F-4 Phantom, he answered, “It’s so f—ing maneuverable, you can fly up your own a—with it.” The public affairs officer then translates, “What the Captain means is that he has found the F-4C highly maneuverable at all altitudes and he considers it an excellent aircraft for all missions assigned.” In this case, the two messages are similar. In other words, the pilot (Captain) likes the maneuverability of the plane.

In a May 20th opinion piece in the Arizona Daily Star, Dr. Gil Shapiro received close to 60 comments—none of them were complementary. I completely understand the response. Perhaps, the good Doctor needed a public affairs guy. The FreeThought Arizona board often helps Dr. Shapiro by proof reading for grammar but not for content. Many of the commenters seemed to think that everyone in FreeThought Arizona agrees with the spirit of the op-ed. This is demonstratively NOT TRUE. Some of our members have been homeschooled and are homeschoolers themselves. So with that said…

What the doctor means is that there are subjects that most parents are not qualified to teach and those subjects should be left up to college educated people with a teacher’s certification. Schools can help children transition from depending on their parents to independent members of society but only if they are allowed to teach science, communications, mathematics, and history correctly.

I’m not certain we should double down on this issue. Many, not all, parents are simply unqualified to teach science and mathematics. Perhaps the op-ed piece would have been better received if it listed the requirements that must be achieved in order to become a public school teacher. In addition, children are being educated every hour that they’re awake and public school represents only a small part of that time. Thankfully, schools are specifically restricted from performing religious training; FreeThought Arizona and other active secular groups believe it’s our highest priority to ensure that it stays that way. Parents will always be able to educate on a wide variety of subjects that they are best qualified to teach including religion and cultural traditions. It will never be the government’s responsibility to fully educate everyone’s kids but the public schools currently represent a baseline education in science, communication, and logical thinking (mainly through mathematic principles). Public schools also provide us with a common experience and include uniquely American cultural traditions through teachings in history, civics, and social studies.

Gil’s article was a response to an earlier op-ed piece. The original piece was a criticism of the Arizona Legislature for not expanding the state’s ESA (Empowerment Scholarship Accounts) which is a voucher program that makes tax money available to parents directly so that they can then enroll their children in private schools. The authors of that opinion piece happen to members of the Diocese of Tucson School Board and represent private Catholic schools. Expanded ESA would increase the amount of tax money that can then flow into the Catholic schools of the region. It’s obvious that there was potential for bias in their point of view.

Opt out of public school if you feel that’s best but it’s not right to expect a voucher from the taxpayers to help you. Tax money collected for education is best used to improve the public schools in every neighborhood throughout the city, county, state, and country. However, please know that private schools’ requirements vary from state to state (click here for the requirements in AZ).

In Arizona under Accreditation, Registration, Licensing, and Approval private schools have:

  • No requirements for Accreditation.
  • No requirements for Registration.
  • No requirements for Licensing.
  • No requirements for Approval.
  • “Private school” is defined as “a nonpublic institution, other than the child’s home, where academic instruction is provided for at least the same number of days and hours each year as a public school.” Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. §15-802F.2.
  • “Nothing in this title shall be construed to provide the state board of education or the governing boards of school districts control or supervision over private schools.” Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. §15-161.

Teacher certification is not required to teach in a private school in Arizona. The subjects that must be taught are: reading, grammar, mathematics, social studies, and science but there is no state policy on testing. Therefore there is no guarantee that the education in these key subjects will meet any standard.

Compare these (non)requirements with certification requirements for teachers of public schools in Arizona.

Dr. Shapiro’s op-ed in the Arizona Daily Star garnered a lot of attention and received quite an emotional response. His intention was allow the next generation of citizens to obtain the best education possible but he came across as someone that favored the idea of taking control away from the parents. Arizona law states that all students in the state must receive education in certain subjects. What’s left is for us to do is set standards and decide together how best to ensure that those subjects are taught properly.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Atheist Etiquette and Invocations

Posted on May 21, 2014 by AZAtheist

In the American Atheists Magazine second quarter 2014 edition (available by subscription or at Barnes and Noble), there’s an article by Dale DeBakcsy called “Athe-quette.” It’s about etiquette for Atheists and describes common situations and the proper Atheist response to those situations. For example, what do you say to a store clerk who wishes you “Merry Christmas,” or what do you say to the door-to-door proselytizer? Freethinkers may have fundamental problems with rules of etiquette because they replace the thinking about any given situation and insert a learned, possibly rehearsed, almost dogmatic response. Each situation discussed in the American Atheist’s article deserves an entire blog entry and may receive one in the future, but here I’ll discuss the idea of etiquette and proper response to religious invocations.

It is a good idea to be always prepared like in the Boy Scout motto and I can agree partially with the idea of etiquette rules. They help us to be ready and confident. On the other hand, there is usually more than one way to do a thing. There may be only one basic table setting but there are many ways to react in a given social situation involving the mix of believers and non-believers. Flexibility is the key. The American Atheist magazine included alternate responses for the store clerk that tells you, “Merry Christmas.” Mr. DeBakcsy suggests simply responding with “Happy Holidays” is  fine. A better one would be, “Ah, and a happy season to you!” because it carries the message that you’ve acknowledged the spirit of the greeting while simultaneously offering a “whiff of secular suggestion,” but intent is so hard to convey. We’d all like to hope that every “Merry Christmas” we receive is a sincere expression of good will but that is not always the case. Sometimes responding with “Happy Holidays” or ANYTHING other than an acknowledgement of “Christmas” is met with poorly camouflaged hostility. Ideally, codes of etiquette would avoid such confrontations but they don’t always.

According to Wikipedia, there are three types of etiquette: Hygiene, courtesy, and cultural norms. Hygiene rules are necessary in our society to prevent disease transmission and should become second nature as they are drilled into our behavior from an early age. Courtesy rules ease social interactions and cultural norms help with group identity and status. The Atheist Etiquette rules fall into the areas of courtesy and social norms.

When people gather together, there is usually an invocation that calls for a blessing from a supreme being. Courtesy rules and cultural norms demand that all people attending stand, remove their hats, bow their heads, and remain silent during the invocation and allow the person to finish the invocation without interruption. This is a good time for us to play the game, “Heads up Atheists.” It’s a non-compliant way to pass the time even though these intrusions of religiosity usually last a couple of minutes at most. While the speaker is going on about his favorite deity and often editorializing, don’t bow your head and look at your feet. Instead, hold your head up and look for other Atheists in the room.

We should be participating and giving our own invocations from time to time. Protocol for giving invocations can be found on the internet. A Toastmasters group defines an invocation as a form of prayer intended to secure the blessings of a supreme being. The speaker is addressing a deity on behalf of the group. There is a four step formula: 1. Give recognition to the supreme creator, 2. Unify by stating the purpose of the gathering and making everyone feel welcome, 3. Give thanks to the organization, its purpose, and the people involved, and 4. Release—a statement of conclusion (Amen). Obviously, we’d leave off the first step but check out how our own Arizona state representative Juan Mendez covers the other three in this YouTube video clip.

Posted in American Atheists, Atheist Action | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Hello sir, this is Mike from Microsoft Technical Services

Posted on May 8, 2014 by AZAtheist

Instructions for avoiding tech support phone scams are provided by Microsoft but don’t you wish you could do more? For the last couple of days, I’ve been getting calls from Mike. In his heavy accent, he tells me that there have been multiple reports coming from my computer indicating that I have a problem. I say, “Really? My computer is sending you messages? I’m sitting right there, why doesn’t it tell me directly? Are you saying that my computer doesn’t trust me? What else is my computer saying to you? I assure you that whatever my computer told you is probably a lie. It’s probably upset because I just installed a new modem. I didn’t want to break them up. They have been together for so long but my internet provider told me that my computer would be happier if I found it a new modem. Mike do you think that’s it? Is my computer telling you stuff to get back at me? Mike…Are you there…” I wonder why he hung up.

Are there Christian Computer Scientists who rely on prayers instead of virus protection software?

Posted in Skepticism | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Prayer at local government meetings still a bad idea

Posted on May 6, 2014 by AZAtheist

As an Atheist in the progressively stunted state of Arizona, I feel the sting of the most recent Supreme Court ruling. It’s a big deal and religious representatives will probably use the ruling to justify other violations of church state separation. For example, they’ll probably use it to justify Christian Christmas displays. In their zeal to embrace the rightward shift that this ruling represents, they may assume that Christianity deserves a preeminent place in our society. They’d be wrong.

The ruling doesn’t eliminate the fundamental requirement that all citizens be represented and treated equally. While the Supreme Court has now decided that the sectarian prayers are not unconstitutional, that still doesn’t mean that they are a good idea. Of course, they didn’t say that they’re a bad idea either. I’m saying that.

In this country, we need religious neutrality and equal treatment under the law. The American Atheists put up a monument on state land in Florida last year next to a monument of the Ten Commandments. I believe that that too was a bad idea but it was made necessary by Bradford County’s refusal to keep their courthouse lawn free of religious artifacts. The best idea would be to keep the church and state separate and remove the Ten Commandments monument. There are churches everywhere and the religious community would not miss one religious statue. Instead, they opened up the door for others to clutter their courthouse lawn with trinkets containing religious and anti-religious sentiments. Since the City Council of Tucson has not taken steps to remove the monuments to the Virgin Mary on “A” mountain, look for other monuments to spring up further cluttering our natural desert.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, spoke for the majority opinion on the ruling. He said people that felt excluded or disrespected by religious prayers should simply ignore them. I don’t find that compelling. Judges in this country normally wear simple black robes but if I came before one who was dressed as a Franciscan Monk and my opponent in the matter prominently wore a crucifix, I don’t think I could ignore the situation. As a non-believer, I couldn’t ignore the feeling that I may not receive a fair treatment in such a court.

Speaking of religious bias, let’s not forget that the five justices that just voted to allow Christian sectarian prayer at a government meeting are all Catholic.

Posted in American Atheists, Atheist Action, Religion, Separation of Church and State | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments