Welcome

1. Welcome Skeptics Atheists Humanists FreeThinking Community

2. July 21, 2014 Tucson Atheists It Ain’tNecessarilly So

3. Agenda • Welcome • Announcements • Introductions • Presentation • Discussion • Meeting Summary • Wrap Up

4. Welcome • Atheist Cartoon • Atheist Quote • Mission Statement • Atheist News

5. Atheist Cartoon

6. Atheist Quote I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours. Stephen Roberts, Author

7. Mission of the Tucson Atheists Social Support of the Southern Arizona Atheist/Agnostic/Freethinking Community Supporting the Tucson Atheist community by: • Maintaining the separation of church and state • Coping with the expectations of the religious majority • Protecting our right to believe as our conscience dictates • Defending our freedom from religious oppression

8. News of interest to Atheists Georgia town to atheists: Stop bullying our kids Atheist TV takes to the air S.E. Cupp

9. Bonus: Jesus Take the Wheel • Woman mowed down motorcyclist after ‘God told her to let him drive her car’ “…if this is the way that God wants to do it then I guess that this is the way we’re going to do it.”

10. Announcements • AZAtheist.com Blog • Upcoming Activities • FreeThought Arizona Organization • Skeptics of Tucson

11. AZAtheist.com

12. August Announcements • Next meeting: September 15th • Movie Night: August 25th • Caffeinated Godlessness: Aug 21st • Drinking Godlessly: August 28th • Recovering from Religion: August 29th • Grief Support Group: September 5th • West Side Meeting 4-6 PM Sept 7th

13. Freethought Arizona • FreeThought Arizona • On Facebook and Meetup.com • Sep 21st • Ruth Davis- “Our First Words”

14. Skeptics of Tucson • Next Scheduled Meeting is September 8th • Subject: TBD

15. Introductions Name

16. Previously The Hobby Lobby Decision

17. Tonight’s Topic Morality and Atheism Are Atheists immoral? What does immorality mean to Atheists? Can an Atheist sin? Where do we get our morals from? Why do you think some religions are so interested in what their followers eat, what shows they watch, and how they express their sexuality?

18. Atheist Morality • Christopher Hitchens

19. Where Do Atheists Get Morality? • From Darrel Ray • “First, let’s take a hard look at “God’s teachings.” Most Christians are quite unaware of their gods’ teachings. They simply take what the preacher says on Sunday morning as the truth and word of their god. If these teachings were simple and clear, then there would not be 38,000 different denominations and branches of Christianity all saying different things.”

20. True…but, answer the question • We get our morals from the society in which we live and so does everyone else. • “The bible was written at a time when people thought the Earth was flat, when the wheelbarrow was high tech. Are its teachings applicable to the challenges we now face as a civilization?. . .” • Sam Harris

21. One definition of morality “We define morality as a suite of interrelated other-regarding behaviours that cultivate and regulate complex interactions within social groups. These behaviours relate to well-being and harm, and norms of right and wrong attach to many of them. Morality is an essentially social phenomenon, arising in the interactions between and among individual animals, and it exists as a tangle of threads that holds together a complicated and shifting tapestry of social relationships. Morality in this way acts as social glue.” (from Wild Justice by Bekoff and Pierce)

22. Some argue that it’s incomplete • Tom Heneghan, author of the FaithWorld column in Reuters, argues: • Definition too narrow • Too reductionist • Because it doesn’t take into account the abortion and same sex marriage controversies.

23. There’s your problem • Inserting religious derived morality is the source of conflict • Blue Laws: It’s immoral to buy booze or cars on Sunday (in New Jersey—clothes, shoes, furniture, home supplies, and appliances—food and gas are OK though) • Richard Dawkins answers the question

24. What is a sin? • An immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law. • Two Biblical concepts: • Sin= “Transgression”,“Go beyond limits” • Sin=“Miss the mark”

25. Sins further defined (Catholic) • Mortal Sin (You’re going to hell, no communion) • Serious Matter • Sufficient Reflection • Free Will

26. Sins further defined (Catholic) • Venial Sins • Not required to be confessed in the confessional • Good to do to lessen the time in purgatory, though

27. Examples of Sins • Violation of the big 10=possible Mortal sin • Getting drunk, adultery, stealing something expensive • Venial sins • Impatience, ordinary anger, stealing something cheap, getting slightly drunk

28. Sins can not be sins if… • You do something wrong but do not know it’s wrong • Eat meat on Ash Wednesday but forgot it was ash Wednesday • …but there are things that you know are wrong even though you’ve not been told like birth control or homosexuality (Common sense or natural law tells you that they are wrong.)

29. In conclusion • Committing sins against God or gods doesn’t make one immoral. • Sins have no connection to moral and ethical behavior • Even though…

30. The Barna Group says: • The BarnaGroup* found that atheists and agnostics in America were more likely, than theists in America, to look upon the following behaviors as morally acceptable: illegal drug use; excessive drinking; sexual relationships outside of marriage; abortion; cohabitating with someone of opposite sex outside of marriage; obscene language; gambling; pornography and obscene sexual behavior; and engaging in homosexuality/bisexuality.[Given the many diseases associated with homosexuality, the biblical prohibition against homosexuality is quite arguably one of the many examples where the Bible exhibited knowledge that was ahead of its time. • *Christian polling organization

31. Discussion Are Atheists immoral? What does immorality mean to Atheists? Can an Atheist sin? Where do we get our morals from? Why do you think some religions are so interested in what their followers eat, what shows they watch, and how they express their sexuality?

32. Discussion • How do kids in secular households get their moral code? • Anyone read Parenting Beyond Belief: On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids Without Religion by Dale McGowan? • How were you taught morality?

33. Meeting Summary • An Atheist believes that a hospital should be built instead of a church. An atheist believes that deed must be done instead of prayer said. An atheist strives for involvement in life and not escape into death. He wants disease conquered, poverty vanished, war eliminated. • Madalyn Murray O'Hair

34. Meeting Summary • Atheists are as moral as anyone else. • We aren’t Atheists because we want to sin • That’s just a happy bonus • Sleeping in on Sunday morning • Believing in natural evolution • Thinking for ourselves

35. Meeting Closing • Christianity in a Nutshell

36. Skepticism Atheism Humanism