That Time My Baby Was Assaulted with $21

This morning, Omaha Atheists joined some others at our local Planned Parenthood clinic to counter their anti-choice protesters.  

We knew we'd encounter some shitty behavior from them, but I still wasn't expecting my 16 week old baby to be assaulted.

It was mid-morning, so it was kinda cold out.  My girlfriend, Rosalyn had the baby in her jacket.  It was zipped up, and he was in the wrap low enough to make her look pregnant.  We noticed several of the protesters trying to figure out if the bump was a real baby or a fetus.

Later in the day, it had warmed up and she had removed the jacket, making the baby quite visible.  It was after this that a woman in a red hat approached her.  This woman had been attempting to give balloons with "Pro-Life" propaganda to the children there.  After my girlfriend politely refused her offer of balloons, she said that she had looked in her purse for her and shoved a wad of cash into my girlfriend's shirt.  When this happened, it was very clear to her that a baby was there.

That money, $21, was immediately walked over the Planned Parenthood staff as a donation.  Thanks for the donation, anti-choice people!

I later explained to her that she had assaulted a baby and the problem with shoving germ filled money in the face of a preemie.  Her response was to not say a word and walk away.

Later, I was explaining what had happened to some of the red hat lady's fellow protesters.  Their response was, "Well, then call the cops."  I don't think she appreciated how close that was to happening and how lucky she was that it didn't.

Earlier, the people pictured above, were having a prayer circle.  So I took that photo to document the hypocrisy.  The guy looking at the camera was attempting to photobomb with a wave.  After having read the sign pictured.  They are oblivious to their hypocrisy and brazen about not caring.

A while later, my step-son got curious about the prayer circle.

Unfortunately, he didn't make it out of the circle without being given a small crucifix.  The cross was promptly returned to the group with a request to not hand our children things.  The man acknowledged me by saying "thank you" for me returning the cross.  He never really acknowledged that he'd done anything wrong or apologized.

This became more apparent later when they were leaving and he attempted to hand a quarter to our oldest as they walked by him.  I yelled at him to stop trying to hand things to my kids, so he took a few more steps and handed it to the girl instead.  After being chastised by multiple atheists for involving the kids, a different guy said "sorry" a few times and then they all disappeared.

I get that they do shitty things.  I even get that they have no qualms about involving children.  Ultimately, I'm not even that surprised that they were all okay with assaulting a fucking baby.  And that lack of surprise says all that needs to be said about the morality of these people.

I'll leave you with this sample of how Omaha Atheists behaved during the same event.

Interviews, Anxiety, and Society

I'm sitting here waiting for a phone call from a reporter with the Omaha World Herald.

This should not elevate my heart rate, and yet it does.

I shouldn't be worried about saying something to hurt Omaha Atheists or Apostacon.  I've done this before.  And yet I am.

I shouldn't worry about the reporter surprising me with a hidden agenda against us.  He already has a history of treating us fairly, and there's no reason to expect he'll behave differently today.  And yet those thoughts are in my head.

I should not go through this neurotic thought process before every interview or conversation with someone new.  And yet I do.

I shouldn't have lost sleep over this.  And yet I did.

My brain should not play tricks on me like this.  And yet it does.

There should not be a negative stigma from society for people like me, whose brains play tricks on us.  And yet there is.

I should not be ashamed of having a brain that plays these tricks on me.  And I'm not.

On Picking Our Battles

Since my recent encounter with La Vista Mayor Douglas Kindig, a small part of the criticism I've received has come from other atheists.  They've joined some Christians in not understanding how Separation of Church and State works and getting the details of what happened wrong.

A post about it on Atheist Republic is a great example of atheists getting it wrong.  They got numerous small details wrong, including when I approached the mayor.  Their post claims I approached him "in the midst of" the event when I intentionally waited until the event was over.  It's a small detail, but it shows the disregard for accuracy (or perhaps honesty) that permeates that post.

But worse than the lazy writing in this hyperbolic work of click-bait, is the opinion offered by the author at the end of the post:

While I am certainly disturbed by the mayors alleged sentiments, I must in rare form disagree with the atheist activist in question about any alleged violation of separation of church and state here. While the city may have organized the event, they state that it was funded by local church groups who are not part of the government body. Additionally the event was held at a public park which is open to all the public and no one was denied entry as far as we know.

I think we need to pick our battles a bit better than this, because things of this nature give off the appearance of being petty and intentionally confrontational when no confrontation is necessary.

But that's just my two cents.

He starts by acknowledging that the city organized the event.  Nothing said after that is relevant.  Who paid for the event is not relevant.  It was exclusively and explicitly Christian, and it was part of the official La Vista event called La Vista Daze.  No effort was made to even consider anything else.  When we asked the city about it, they admitted that it had never occurred to them.    Of course the city states they didn't do anything wrong.  That's what they would be doing either way.  But one thing is key and undeniable.

The city organized the event.

The fact that it was on public property is not at all relevant.  The Constitutional issue would still be there if it had happened exactly as it did on private property.  And there would be no issue if it had been the churches having the event on their own in the same location.  The location isn't the issue.  The issue is the fact that the city organized the event.

Regarding picking our battles, the author reveals even more of his ignorance of the situation.  Ignorance that would have been avoided if he'd done 2 cents worth of research before posting.

He clearly never found my initial post on the matter, where he could have learned that I wasn't looking for a battle at all.  I attempted a civil discussion.  It only blew up because of the mayor's reaction.

He may also have learned that the response from Omaha Atheists was to use the attention educate and to reach out to believers in the community to open dialogue between our groups.

I've since had the meeting with the mayor that I was seeking that day, where he apologized in person for his outburst.  The city appears like they will be taking my concerns seriously, which at this point is all I was asking for.

I also spoke to the city council and have offered to participate in the planning of future events to help ensure inclusiveness by representing a group not currently considered.  After I spoke, the preacher who organized the event in question spoke, praising Omaha Atheists for our civility and willingness to work together.

He did get one thing right though.  No confrontation was necessary.  Other than the outburst that made news, that we've since moved beyond, no confrontation has been necessary.  So far, all parties are working together civilly.

So, who has "the appearance of being petty and intentionally confrontational when no confrontation is necessary"?  The group who is working toward a litigation free resolution to a legitimate issue or the blogger who picked a fight with a fellow atheist by writing an ill-informed, hyperbolic, and dishonest piece to get some extra hits?

If this writer at Atheist Republic gives a shit about honesty, I suggest he pick his battles better than this.

About Omaha Atheists' Response To Vandalism

Omaha Atheists have been doing highway cleanup for several years.  Last weekend, a few days before our scheduled cleanup day, we found something unfortunate on our sign.

I was surprised it took that long for something atheist to get vandalized around here.  That surprise is part of the problem.  When the Omaha Coalition of Reason billboard was up a couple years ago, the most that happened was people bitching about it.  When that billboard went up, I was fully expecting something to happen it like happens to a great number of atheist billboards.

Atheists are still a stigmatized group.  We're far from the majority, but people are still threatened by us enough to do things like this.  I could speculate about why this particular incident happened, but speculation is all it would be.  Whether it's an effort to bully us and remind us that we're hated, a bored teenager, or just someone who drives by this sign every day and couldn't take seeing the word "atheist" one more time, it doesn't really matter as much as the fact that this is common.

That's what makes Omaha Atheists' response to this so spot on^[1].

Photo Credit:  Omaha Atheists

We're doing this by having an event called "Meet An Atheist" next Monday at local coffee shop Caffeine Dreams.  Even if the vandal doesn't show up, maybe someone else will stop by and learn that atheists aren't such bad people.

Getting people to understand that is the mission of Omaha Atheists, and pretty much every other local atheist group out there.  Because we're definitely not going anywhere.

We still cleaned up the highway.

Photo Credit:  Biblename Foto

And when we do it again this Fall, there will likely be a clean sign there.  Paid for by the taxpayers of Nebraska, which I suspect includes our vandal.

Also, thanks to Fox 42 for reporting on this issue:

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1.  I'm slightly biased, as I was involved in that being approach, but it was a decision that took no debate.

Help Omaha Atheists Win A Free Commercial

A contest is being held on the Facebook for an Omaha nonprofit to get a free professionally produced commercial.  Please help us by going here & voting for Omaha Atheists^[1].

You can also help by upvoting the Reddit post^[2] or sharing their Facebook post^[3] about it.

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1.  http://www.facebook.com/questions/533412503365578/
2.  http://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/comments/199ylw/help_a_local_community_of_atheists_in_nebraska/
3.  http://www.facebook.com/omahaatheists/posts/478539295528084

1 in 4 Nebraskans Is Non-Religious

Earlier today, Hemant Mehta shared^[1] Gallup's new poll^[2] about the most & least religious states.  It breaks down how you would expect, with the most religious states being either in the South or Utah.  

The "very religious" column is particularly disturbing, with even the least religious state, Vermont, having 1 in 5^[3] people who chose that option and another 1 in 4 choosing "moderately religious".  But, in the spirit of my first post of 2013^[4], I'm choosing to focus on the good news from this, like more than half of Vermont identifying themselves as non-religious.

This is why, while I'm bothered that my home state of Nebraska had 44% identifying as very religious, I'm happy about the non-religious column having 29%.  I think this bodes well for the future of groups like Omaha Atheists^[5] and the rest of the member groups of the Omaha Coalition of Reason^[6] and the conference we sponsor together, Apostacon (September 20-22, 2013)^[7].

Nebraska has some awesome non-theist groups.  And now we have a reason to think there's plenty of people here, more than a fourth of our state, who could benefit from them.  That's the good news I'm taking out of this.

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1.

Top 10 Most/Least Religious States in the Country: 2013 Edition bit.ly/12z45tx
— Hemant Mehta (@hemantmehta) February 13, 2013

2.  Mississippi Maintains Hold as Most Religious U.S. State
3.  Numbers are rounded to fit into the fractions, of course.
4.  Positive Approach In 2013
5.  http://www.omahaatheists.org/ (this website is currently in a transitional phase, so please forgive them any gaps in content)
6.  http://unitedcor.org/omaha/page/home
7.  http://www.apostacon.org/

My Campaign Pitch

The following is intended for the voting members of Omaha Atheists.  I'm running to retain my seat on the board of the group, and this is my campaign pitch.  If you're not interested in our politics, please feel free to skip this one.

As I see it, marketing for us should be a combination of 2 approaches.  Visibility and appeal.  If you saw my bid for President, I've already said some of what I mean by this, but I'll go into more detail here.

Visibility

People cannot join what they do not know about.  Booths at events is one of the things I've already proposed.  But it's far from the only thing we should be doing.  It's the minimum we should be doing.  We should also be handing out generic cards for the group to all members, so they can hand them out to atheists they meet who do not know about us.  It's something that's already been happening on a small scale.  I'm proposing we make it a full scale policy.

I also plan to continue working with the rest of the committees to make sure we're publicizing their efforts.  We do some great things in our community service efforts, and while getting credit for doing good things isn't why we do them, we should still be showing the community that we do them and encouraging more people to do these good things in the process.

The website needs an overhaul.  I've already been speaking with the amazing RJ about potential ideas for a new website and she's agreed to help with this project once we've finished with the complete redesign for the Midwest Freethought Conference website that is to be revealed later with some other major changes to the conference that are coming soon.  I'm very excited about these changes, to point that I'm disappointed about not being able to go into further detail than that at this time.

The new website would include, among other things, a form for seeing the inventory of our lending library and requesting a book, a page for the videos mentioned below, revamped contact options, a picture gallery, an in-depth description of our community service efforts, atheist friendly businesses, and a description of the perks of membership.

Appeal

I see this problem as similar to what Tony Pinn talked about at Skepticon 5.  People simply won't join if they don't think there's something here for them.  We need to give people a reason to join.

A marketing campaign I am planning would be a series of videos (similar to the style of We Are Atheism), of members stating in their own words why they're a part of this group.  We all get something different out of our participation in this group, and having us all give those reasons would be a great way to highlight this variety of reasons.  These videos would show people unsure about joining our community why it's something that they would benefit from.  It would also have the added benefit of putting a face on the group (something we definitely should be doing more of).  I've already arranged for help from one of our video experts on this project.

We also need a way to appeal to the people who have tried the group out but didn't find something for them.    This is why I've been pushing for us to be more family friendly and more accommodating to atheists with children.  Too many times I've seen people, who appear to want to participate, not do so because of their children or because of the group's attitude (as a whole and individual people) toward children.  This is not acceptable to me, and it's our job to fix that, not the parents'.  These people want to be a part of our community, and we would be fools to not do what we can to welcome them.

Parents are not the only group I want to make a point to accommodate  but they're a great place to start.  Any time we see this many atheists who are being excluded from our community, it needs to be addressed.  All atheists in the Omaha area should be made to feel as welcome as I was when I found this group.

Closing

I see big potential for this group.  That's why, this Fall, I proposed the changes to the bylaws I did and worked with the rest of the board to mold them into the changes we implemented, including the creation of 2 new positions and the reassignment of the duties of another.

This position also involves co-chairing the Fundraising committee, which I've already begun work on.  I got us an Amazon Affiliate link, which has already begun working for us.  I've already begun looking into options for other fundraising options, including the effort I've proposed to raise enough to help send some kids to Camp Quest KC.

I've only had this job a few months and I've already been able to bring big, positive changes to the organization.  I would absolutely love the opportunity to continue these efforts.

Twelve Apostates - Omaha Atheists (And Other Local Groups)

I never actively sought out an atheist group to join.  When I joined the Omaha Atheists Facebook group, it was one of many atheist pages/groups I had liked/joined that day.  I didn't put enough thought into it to even realize it was a group who met in person.  I just joined the Facebook group & forgot about it.

A little bit later, I got an invite to the Facebook event for their New Member Meetup.  I was free then & curious, so i decided to check it out.  My first regular event was the May 21 (End of the World) picnic.  I was welcomed as part of the group immediately.  And it wasn't in that creepy cultish, "We're going to pretend to be nice until we dull your senses to the brainwashing that's coming" kind of way I get when I visit some churches.

It was a sincere welcoming that has persisted since.  It's done so because it's a community.  Several of my favorite people in the world are in that group, and I haven't even known them that long.  And many of them are people I could have already known but did not.  Many are gamers, like me.  So, we now have a monthly Game Night, and many of us meet more often to play the games we enjoy together.  Some worked at the same company as me, for as long as I have.

They're not just random people who happen to be in the same group as me.  They're my closest friends.  They're like family.  Many of them helped me move, without me even having to ask.  I've done the same for many of them.  It's a support structure, for both problems relating to religion and otherwise, both online and in person.  We've gone on vacations together, including sending more than 20 people to the Reason Rally.  We've also gone camping together multiple times, visited Kansas City to party with some KCAC folks, and gone to Skepticon as a group.

We have so much going on, with 3 events that each recur monthly and many more things going on, that we don't often go more than a week seeing each other.  And when we do go a week without seeing someone, it is noticed and they're told they've been missed.  Even with all the events, we still see each other on a regular basis in between them.

Like I said, we're a community.  It's a community I've not even been a part of 2 years yet, but it's certainly one I wouldn't want to go without.

As much as I care for Omaha Atheists, and the people of it, I don't think they're entirely unique.  I also think it's a good thing that we're not unique.  Hundreds of local atheist groups exist around the country and the world.  I've seen similar community from the other local groups I've interacted with so far.  

We're at a point where even just simply participating in an atheist group is itself activism.  It does a lot to normalize atheism.  I don't mean the groups make being atheist normal, as I already think it's normal.  But it's, sadly, not viewed that way by many people.  These groups provide the perfect evidence to show people they're wrong about us.  We're just like them, except for that one thing, and they already like us.  One excellent example of what I mean by this was given by JT Eberhard in his submission to the We Are Atheism project.

If you haven't found a group, I hope you will give it a try.  They can be found in a variety of ways.

• See if your area has a Coalition of Reason, by visiting their website and using the tool they have right on the front page.  If your area has one, it will give you a list of the atheist groups in your area.
• Meetup.com - Log in and search for groups in your area.  Searching for atheist usually does the trick, but some places do use other terms for their names such as "freethinkers", "secularists", "rationalists", "skeptics", "humanists".
• Use the same search options I gave for Meetup in a Google search.

If you find your town doesn't have one, please start one.  It's incredibly easy to do, and your town (depending on its size) probably has more atheists other than just you.  Even though it often feels like you're the only one.  The Atheist Community of Austin was started with an ad in the newspaper.  But at the time, they didn't have such effective resources available via the Internet.  Start Meetup and/or Facebook group, and grow from there.

It will be worth it, I promise.

Happy Thanksgiving

I am often a moderately cynical person.  But I do think it's important to make a point to be thankful for the good bits of life.  Thanksgiving Day seems like an appropriate time to do that.

So, here's a short list of things I'm thankful for:

• My Parents - They were/are Christian, but they did teach me critical thinking.  I've always been atheist, and they knew it before I did.  But they never tried to shame me over it, and they never used the despicable indoctrination tactics used by fundamentalists.  We only rarely said a prayer before meals, and we certainly didn't today.
• Omaha Atheists - I'm not someone who makes friends easily, and for most of my life, I've felt alone in being a nonbeliever.  Just by joining an atheist group, both of those problems have simply disappeared.  I'm thankful to have met this community of such wonderful, intelligent, caring people.  Now I get to focus on other problems (of which the world and I have plenty more).

• Table Top Games - Games like Settler of Catan, etc, provide a fun way to exercise the brain, while also socializing with friends.  I'm thankful for the people who created these games as well as the people I get to share them with.

• Indoor Plumbing - For millions of years, we shit outside.  Toilet paper didn't exist.  By comparison, the time since we first used the first remedial indoor toilets and toilet paper is relatively short.  Even shorter for the time since flush toilets and rolls of toilet paper.  Not only does it let us do our business without going outside in Winter, it also makes our society a whole lot more sanitary.

What are you thankful for this year?

What Do Atheists Do?

A question we often get about atheist organizations is about what we do.  They seem to think all we do is sit around and talk about how we don't believe in a god.  That's not even close to all we do.  Among the many things we do in Omaha Atheists are our regular game nights.  Nothing to do with religion.  Just people getting together and playing games.

Atheists attending Skepticon are no different.  We stumbled upon JT Eberhard last night at dinner and he was nice enough to invite us to a Nerf War happening at his friend's house in Springfield.

Part of the arsenal available.

This was my weapon for a bit.

My friend Kayla, being all badass

So, yeah.  We don't just sit around talking about how we don't believe in a god.

300 Proofs Against God

One of the perks of being part of an active local atheist group isn't local at all, the online presence.  We're an active, in person group, but we also have a fairly active Facebook group that also has people in it from outside Omaha and even outside America.  For instance, the source for this post was shared by someone in Morocco.

Someone has compiled a list of over 300 disproofs of God's existence.  Here's a few of my favorites:

ARGUMENT FROM THE BIBLE

1. [Arbitrary passage from OT]
2. [Arbitrary passage from NT]
3. Therefore, God doesn’t exist.

ARGUMENT FROM BLINDNESS (II)

1. God is hate.
2. Hate isn’t blind.
3. Ray Charles is blind.
4. Therefore, Ray Charles isn’t God.
5. Therefore, God doesn’t exist.

ARGUMENT FROM KITCHEN APPLIANCES

1. My toaster isn’t God.
2. Therefore, God doesn’t exist.

ARGUMENT FROM UPPERCASE ASSERTION

1. GOD DOESN’T EXIST! GET USED TO IT!
2. Therefore, God doesn’t exist.

ARGUMENT FROM INFINITE REGRESS

1. Ask theists how the universe came to be.
2. Regardless of their answer, ask how they know this.
3. Continue process until the theist admits he doesn't know the answer to one of your questions.
4. You win!
5. Therefore, God doesn’t exist.

ARGUMENT FROM MONTY PYTHONISH ARGUMENTATION (aka ARGUMENT FROM CONTRADICTON aka ARGUMENT FROM THE AUTOMATIC GAINSAYING OF ANYTHING THE OTHER PERSON SAYS)

1. God doesn’t exist.
2. [Theist's counterargument]
3. No he doesn’t.
4. [Theist's counterargument]
5. No he doesn’t!
6. [Theist's counterargument]
7. NO HE DOESN’T!!!
8. [Theist gives up and goes home]
9. Therefore, God doesn’t exist.

ARGUMENT FROM MORAL STANDARDS

1. There are no absolute moral standards because God doesn’t exist.
2. Theists say that there are absolute moral standards.
3. But that's only because they want to condemn everyone (especially atheists) but themselves as sinners.
4. Therefore, there are no absolute moral standards.
5. Therefore, God doesn’t exist.

THE ARGUMENT FROM CRAZINESS

1. I would have to go crazy to believe in God.
2. I am not crazy.
3. Therefore, God doesn’t exist

See the full list here.

Uncontroversial Billboard is Controversial

This is the first atheism related billboard Nebraska has ever had.  It is meant to let atheists in town know they are not alone.  It is intentionally non-confrontational, although, it is intentionally timed to also promote our upcoming conference.

The response has been interesting.  Local radio host, Scott Voorhees posted about it, calling us militant & disgusting.  He apparently even went through the trouble of contacting UNO, where our conference is being held, to complain.  His complaint was shot down, but that didn't stop him from attacking us on the air the next morning.

We also got coverage on the local Fox & CBS stations, and in the local newspaper.  Someone at KMTV is particularly interested in us, as they just ran another story on it just a moment ago and they've already posted on their Facebook about it twice (nearly 900 comments since Monday & over 200 comments since noon today).

Guess what kind of attention this one got when it went up months ago in the same town.

A billboard denying, and directly attacking, established scientific facts goes up and no one notices.  A billboard goes up telling atheists they're not alone, with no attack toward anyone, and a media frenzy ensues.

For atheists, simply existing anywhere but the shadows means putting up with a lot of crap.  It should not be like that, and this is why I make a point of being open & vocal about my atheism.  The rest of the country needs to get used to us being here.  We've always been here.  This should be a non-issue.