Mississippi Atheists

Summer Activities for Atheist Families

2010-07-06T14:27:00.001-05:00

Austin Cline (About.com: Agnosticism/Atheism) has some suggestions for activities atheist parents can do with their children this summer.

My personal favorite involves visiting a national or state park. I have many fond memories of doing this with my parents when I was a child. I credit these experiences, at least in part, with my lasting appreciation of nature. The parks were such an ideal way to learn about the world while having fun.

If you have some good ideas that are not on Austin's list, feel free to leave them in the comments.

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Public vs. Private Schools in Mississippi

2009-12-29T09:17:00.001-06:00

I was hoping that those of you in Mississippi who have school-age children (or children that were once school-age) might be able to provide some information that would be of use to those with young children now who are beginning to consider the educational options in our state. As we all know, our state's public education system is notoriously bad. As a result, I see many parents who can afford it send their children to private schools. Of course, this usually means religious schools. How did you make this decision?

I know that the idea of an atheist sending his or her children to a private religious school may seem odd at first, but I wonder if it might actually make sense in our state. Given the near universality of evangelical Protestant fundamentalism, I can't help thinking that the public schools might feel even more religious than some of the private Catholic schools. Of course, I am just speculating here and would be very interested to hear from parents with experience in this area.

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Foundation Beyond Belief

2009-10-20T12:58:00.005-05:00

I just wanted to take this opportunity to get the word out regarding Dale McGowan's latest effort:

At the heart of secular humanism is the knowledge that we are responsible for our own world. No amount of prayer will feed the hungry, heal the environment, or alleviate the suffering of millions around the globe. It's up to us.

Atheists and humanists have always given generously to causes we believe in. Now Foundation Beyond Belief has been created to focus, encourage, and demonstrate that generosity as an expression of our worldview. We don't work for a better world despite our worldview -- we do it because of our worldview.

I first heard of Mr. McGowan after the release of his book "Parenting Beyond Belief - On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids Without Religion" and have always found him to be yet another well reasoned speaker on behalf of those who find religious belief lacking evidence and relevance in this life.

Humanist Symposium #34 at Atheist Revolution

2009-03-22T08:08:00.000-05:00

The 34th edition of The Humanist Symposium was just posted at Atheist Revolution. It includes a recent post by our own Steve Schlicht. Check it out for some good Sunday reading.

And while you are in the carnival mood, be sure to visit Skeptical Parent Crossing #6, a monthly carnival for rational/skeptical parents.

Non-theist parent to be...in the Bible Belt

2009-02-23T13:55:00.006-06:00

I got the news recently that my significant other is expecting a child that I helped make. Talk about a shock. After years of childless bliss our whole world is about to get turned upside down. But this isn't he place to talk about all the typical, or atypical, parent-to-be stuff. The issues I want to bring up are those dealing with my lack of faith and how that plays into this most important life decision. Especially here in Mississippi.

For a little background, I was raised a fundamentalist and was a born-again Christian for most of my life. Today, I have no religious belief and find faith to be a terrible way to try and make sense of the world. To put a label on it, I have no god-belief so I'm atheist, but admit one can never know for sure if some deist-type god isn't hiding out there, so I'm an "agnostic-atheist." The same way I'm agnostic about that famous invisible pink unicorn, of course. My significant other was also raised a Southern Baptist (minister's kid, in fact). Today, she's still a believer, but has left the blinders of fundamentalism behind and is a happy Anglican and member of a local Episcopalian church. Cool with me because those Whiskeypalians are pretty damn fun to hang out with.

So we've recently found out that we'll be introducing a future skeptic to the world. Talk about a whirl-wind of emotions and tsunami of plans. I have no doubt that my partner and I will be able to get through the slight disconnect of religious belief just fine. She'll take the little one to church on occasion, and I'll tell him or her about reality the rest of the time. It's the other little things that are already getting me antsy. For instance, we have had to reserve a spot at a local day care. Here's a fun activity: find a secular day care in Mississippi. Too hard? Try to find a non-fundamentalist daycare. Go ahead. I'll wait.

The best facility we've found, and all-in-all it's pretty good, is firmly god-centered. Here's their own words:

"There is no greater gift from God than our children, [blah, blah, blah]. [Blah, blah, blah,] Our philosophy is to provide social and intellectual development in an atmosphere of Christian love and support."

Problem is, I know far too many believers to not be fully aware of just what "Christian love and support" is really all about. To further complicate things, they use the absurd "A Beka" Fundie home-school curriculum for the older kids which includes young-Earth creationism nonsense among other intellectually stunting beliefs. But I don't suppose I need to worry about that with a newborn. Hopefully we'll find a better solution by the time that's a major concern.

Over the next few months I plan to post occasionally about the various unique issues regarding non-theist parents and parents-to-be here in the Bible-Belt. Maybe I can get some useful feedback from some readers and maybe it can help some others in the future. So please feel free to fire away with your questions, comments, or advice no matter where you fall on the religious or political spectrum. Stay tuned.