Agnostic or Atheist: Lets All Start Using the Right Word(s)!

This post was contributed by Emo.

I hear people all the time using phrases like, “I’m not an atheist, I’m an agnostic”. It really bothers me to hear people say things like this. (A)gnostic and (a)theist are not mutually exclusive terms; in fact, they complement each other if used properly. Let’s examine the terms and see what the words really mean.

If There is No God to Punish You, Why Be Moral?

This post was submitted by DocMcC1 of Ocean Springs, MS.

In the strictest sense, I am not an atheist. I am an agnostic, but I'm sure many of you would acknowledge that there is little practical difference between the two. In either case, you have taken the reigns of your mind from tradition and faith and started your own search for truth, if such a simplification can be permitted. I am happy that even in this land steeped in that “old timey religion”, there are people who like to analyze existence and take it at face value. But that doesn't mean we can't have similar values to our faith-driven counterparts.

Starting a Secular Student Alliance Group in Southern Mississippi

Efforts are underway to start a chapter of the Secular Student Alliance at the University of Southern Mississippi. What the group-in-the-making most needs now are Southern Miss students who are interested in helping to form the group so that it can obtain official recognition from the university. That is, the university will not recognize new student groups that do not have a certain number of members.

As soon as a sufficient number of students have come forward, a meeting will be organized and work will begin on drafting the group's charter (another requirement of the university), electing officers, etc.

A Facebook page has been started to spread the word, and a closed group has been created for interested students.

Additional details will be provided when available. In the meantime, if you know anyone who might be interested, please let them know.

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Yesterday Was Interesting Day on Facebook

For those of you who are on Facebook, I wonder if you found yesterday as interesting as I did. Many of my Christian friends evidently decided that yesterday was the perfect day to share their delusion with the rest of us. It seemed much worse than anything I remember last year. It was not just a matter of wishing everyone a happy Easter; there was lots of Jesus talk, bible quotes, blatant proselytizing, and even the sharing of absurd videos. One guy in particular went out of his way to respond to nearly everything anybody else said with Jesus drivel, whether it was relevant or not.

Central MS Atheists Announce May Meetup

Central MS Atheists are planning their May meetup for Sunday, May 15 at 3:00 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Jackson. For details, see their meetup.com page.

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No, Not All Atheists Are White

Greta Christina has been compiling a list of prominent atheists of color. Now there is no excuse for conference organizers who complain that they want greater diversity but aren't sure where to look. I think it is important for us to spread the word about resources like this.

I have heard from a few Black atheists here in Mississippi that it is even more difficult for them to be open about their atheism because of how much more religious the Black community tends to be around here. In many respects, they stand to lose even more by identifying themselves as atheists. That is a scary thought indeed.

Mississippi may not have many strengths, but our racial diversity is one. If you know any Black atheists in our state who would like to share their experience of being an atheist in Mississippi, I hope you will encourage them to submit a post. It would be great if we could make what we're trying to do here more relevant to a wider audience of atheists in our state.

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Being an Open Atheist in Mississippi

We know there are atheists in Mississippi. We also know that many keep their thoughts on religion to themselves because "coming out" as an atheist can be a scary proposition around here. What is a bit more surprising - at least to some of us who live here - is that there are also people here who are fairly open about their atheism. Granted, the few I know personally moved here from other states (or even other countries). But I have encountered at least a few Mississippi natives via the Internet who are fairly open about their atheism.

Darwin Day at the University of New Orleans

If Charles Darwin's birthday is February 12, why did New Orleans celebrate it on March 26? I am sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation. It could be as simple as, “Well, this is New Orleans.” I personally favor the numerological explanation – March 26 is 42 days after Darwin's birthday, and as readers of Douglas Adams know, this number is the answer to the meaning of life, the universe, and everything.

Whatever the reason, on a beautiful, breezy morning at UNO's lakefront campus, a hundred or so people gathered to listen to four presentations from academics representing four different universities.

First on the speaker list was Trenton Holliday, professor of Anthropology at Tulane University. Professor Holliday's topic was 'New Perspectives on the Origin of the Genus Homo.' Holliday took the audience through a series of models of the evolution of our Genus, based mostly on evidence from the fossil record. Anyone who is under the illusion that our evolution took a simple path from Australopithecus to Homo habilus to Homo erectus to Homo sapiens will be surprised at the degree of uncertainty existing in the field of human ancestry.

Do You Ever Feel Trapped?

Do you ever feel trapped in Mississippi? Maybe you want to leave, but your life circumstances don't permit it. You'd like to live somewhere where you could be more open about your atheism, but your family is here, you like your job, or you have some other reason to stay.

I feel this way sometimes. In the bio for the Twitter account I use for Red State Progressive, I describe myself as a progressive trapped in Mississippi. Sometimes I think my political values make life here almost as hard for me as my atheism. Anyway, it appears that my bio caught someone's attention because I just received an email offering me a solution:

Your problem is easily solved. Go online and check flights from any major airport near you to your choice of socialist or communist countries on earth. Then, purchase your ticket with your capitalistically earned money, drive to the airport, take that flight...and never come back.

Perhaps I'll give this a try someday. For now, it doesn't seem like much of an option.

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