Thinking Unenslaved

Last week, we concluded our discussion of Secular Humanism in Western Society. Unfortunately (and as is often the case), the discussion really got going just as the show was ending. Ryan (@NewYorkCreator) joined in with Zach, Paul and myself in a conversation that actually extended well past the end of the show.

So, at Ryan and Zach’s request, we’re going to have another Round Table this week, but a slightly different format. As many of us co-hosts as are available are going to dial in Wednesday night, along with Ryan (and hopefully @AntitheistAngie). We’re going to cover a lot of hot-button topics for between us, and may or may not take callers as time permits. I’m hoping that Zach, Ryan and I can somewhat replicate our post-show discussion from last week. It got pretty interesting.

Some things we’re planning on discussing include, but are in no way limited to:

• Anti-abortion politics
• Intelligent Design education
• Free speech versus verbal masturbation
• Draw Muhammad Day
• Atheist Morality

The last topic there is a segue to next week’s show. I’m setting up an interview with Martin Pribble in regards to a recent poll on about.com which he was leading until it got pharyngulated. The poll results are now meaningless, as they do not inherently reflect the about.com readership, nor do they necessarily accurately reflect the beliefs of those who take the poll as much as they reflect the ability of poll-takers to submit the voting form several times just to make PZ Myers look more popular than he really is. Don’t get me wrong, I have much respect for the man and even consider myself a fan of his. And while online polls are inherently flawed in concept, there’s no benefit for us to prey upon each other even in the most innocuous of forms.

Last week, our Round Table discussion was largely devoted to this same subject, but there were several questions/scenarios I’d left on another computer and sadly didn’t bring to the discussion. As well, this is a fairly broad subject with far-reaching implications, and the 47 minutes or so we spent on it last week really didn’t do the topic justice. So, this week, Kile and I will talk about this some more.

Some of the sub-topics we’ll discuss tonight include a) Moving beyond the impact of religion on the Arts, b) Social services without religion (or, uncompelled social services), c) Is it possible to teach strict humanism in education when historical examples mostly involve religious motivation d) Is not Secular Humanism just as likely to fall victim to the vagaries of human character as religion.

The list above is by no means everything we intend to discuss. Zach and Paul will join us if they can, and may well have their own questions for Kile, too.

Please join us for another interesting and dynamic segment of our ongoing discussion on secularism, humanism and atheism in society at 10pm Eastern Standard Time this Wednesday, February 9th here on BlogTalkRadio.

Tonight’s show is another round table with Kile, Paul, Zach and myself. The general theme is Secularism in Western Society: I’m hopeful that we can … er … “faithfully” represent the European perspective and not make the mistake of equating “western society” with “the silly stuff we Americans do.” Perhaps we’ll get lucky and have one of our European friends dial into the live show.

I’ll be twitter-begging for participants throughout the next couple of days. Other topics we may also address include: the problem with religious-based public education, and relationships between theists and non-theists. Please listen in for a lively discussion of pertinent topics this Wednesday night at 10pm EST. We’d love to take questions and comments from persons of alternative points of view, so don’t be bashful! Give as a call and join in the discussion!

This week, I’ve planned a “solo” show, which is actually designed to elicit callers-in. Yeah, I’m sneaky like that! You’re stuck with me, in other words, but you’re not really just stuck with me. Luckily, though, thanks to the not-so-mysterious workings of my brain, my famously notorious co-hosts will probably be dialing in anyway. That’s because I’m focusing the show recent articles by some of my favorite bloggers, a couple of whom are, guess what….Paul and Kile!

As I set up the show, I have selected recent contributions from Paul Fidalgo ( http://bit.ly/fpRvbO ), Martin Pribble ( http://bit.ly/gGE4Va ), and Kile Jones ( http://gawd.us/hEl7Lx ). I’ve asked these contributors to dial in while I’m discussing their content. Martin may not be able to join us since he’s in Australia, though.

A good portion of the show will be a follow-up to the end of last week’s show, which we didn’t get enough time to spend on. I’m working on cleaning up the “management” portion of what I do, but in the mean-time, I felt the combined topics of Raising Hellions and Atheist Evangelism (under the general umbrella of Teaching Atheism) were worthy of more formative discussion. The articles I’ve selected play heavily into this topic.

Please join me at 10pm EST this Wednesday for a healthy discussion of these topics!

photo credit: Kevin Clark – The Washington Post

Vapidly overdone singer “Jewel” fawns over Senator Barack Obama during a meet-and-greet session. She immediately returned to her studio to write a pretentious song about how she “gets” minorities.

photo credit: NIKKI KAHN – THE WASHINGTON POST

I need to join a campaign. These guys always seem like they’re having the most fun.

(my apologies ~ i got my copy-n-paste crossed on the original post of this and thought this photo was of a preacher, not Representative Cummings.

via Stringer….

aw, shucky. the elderly couple is all offended that somebody stole their Jebus lawn-toy because they apparently believe that the Christian thing to do is to allow their little wiener dogs (semi-glorified rats, they are, if you can consider a dog that forever has to drag his little dick along the ground to be “glorified”) to shit all over their neighbors.

which admittedly kind of make sense, from a Christian perspective. shitting all over our neighbors is what this “Christian Nayshun” seems to do best. as above, so below, right?

but being all aghast at the thievery and “ransom note” really tickled my funny bone. the gist of the story: “We shit all over our neighbors, but we never though nobody would shit on us! Boo-hoo! Feel sorry for our miserable anti-community selves!”

be happy you don’t live in my neighborhood, my dear elderly poop-barons. my approach would have been to pick up your little rats’ feces and leave it for you to find in “interesting” places. leaving your car unlocked would have been….entertaining, to say the least.

photo credit: Erik Van ‘T Woud / AFP / Getty

1. Britney Spears’ new boyfriend is seen here retrieving her career for another empty, meaningless, night on the town.

2. Anna Nicole Smith reportedly found a new boyfriend today. He’s a real wheeler-dealer.

3. An attempt to resurrect Janet Jackson’s relevance for this year’s SuperBowl was thankfully curtailed by crowded sidewalks.

yes, yes, shameless recycling, i know. it’s part of what makes life worth living, isn’t it?