Problem with Atheism.....1 Member Spotlight.............1 Local News.........................2 Skeptical Eye.....................3

The word \u201catheist\u201d has two major flaws. It
says nothing about what youdo believe and,
even worse, is erroneously perceived as a
worldview that denies more than just god,
but morality as well. For anyone willing to

oin an atheist group, \u201cI\u2019m an atheist\u201d is the
likely answer to \u201cdo you believe in god?\u201d
But why should it begin and end there?
We\u2019re a diverse group with diverse beliefs.
Why dig a deeper hole to climb out of. Is
the word itself really worth defending?
Even Richard Dawkins admits that \u201ccritical
mass may be harder to achieve than with
some non-confrontational euphemism\u2026\u201d

If our mission is to put a positive face on
atheism, or to be more exact, change
people\u2019s perception of what it means to not
believe in the supernatural, then leading
with \u201catheist\u201d makes that goal harder to
achieve. Sam Harris gave a speech at the

2007 AAI convention in which he called for
non believers to stop using the word
\u201catheist\u201d or any other label. According to
him, \u201cthe concept of atheism imposes upon
us a false burden of remaining fixated on
people\u2019s beliefs about god\u2026\u201d By appearing
to uniteagain st belief in god, we are, to any
outside observer, uniting against believers.
Christians and other believers take this
personally.

What church do you go to? We\u2019ve all heard
it. It\u2019s a common question in this part of the
Bible belt. To a believer, the church you go
to says far more about you than just belief in
god. There are numerous religions, and
within Christianity, numerous churches,
both conservative and liberal. A person who
attends a Pentecostal church will have very
different beliefs than someone who attends a

The so-called \u201cEye of God\u201d nebula,
correctly known as the Helix Nebula, or
NGC 7293, located in the constellation
Aquarius. The Helix Nebula is one of the
closest and largest planetary nebulas
known. A planetary nebula consists of
gas and dust expelled from a star at the
end of its life. This photograph was made
by NASA\u2019s Hubble telescope.

For our third edition of the Member
Spotlight column, we\u2019re taking a break from
meeting our group officers and instead are
learning about some newer members. Say
hello to Freida and Fernando, who joined
CAA in May of this year.

Q. How long have you been
atheist/agnostic? Did you twp share these
beleifs/nonbelief when you met, or change to
it after you were together?

A. Actually, when we met, neither of us was
an atheist! We have both been atheists for
about four years now. Fernando actually

A. Fernando was raised in the Catholic
religion and I was raised a southern baptist.
Fernando wasn't forced to practice the
religion that strongly while he was growing
up.

Q. What made you become an atheist?
Actually, when we met, neither of us was an
atheist! Over the years, we saw how

\u201cHow on earth can
religious people
believe in so much
arbitrary, clearly
invented balderdash?\u201d
--Kurt Vonnegut

\u201cAtheism is nothing
more than the sounds
people make when in
the presence of
unjustified dogma. It's
just reason in action.\u201d
--Sam Harris

\u201cI give money for
church organs in the
hope the organ music
will distract the
congregation's
attention from the rest
of the service.\u201d
--Andrew Carnegie

\u201cWhat is it about faith
that makes people
eager to commit
suicide so long as it
enables them to
commit mass murder
while they're at it?\u201d
--Larry Beinhart

Favorite quote you\u2019d like
to see in the newsletter?
CAAeditor@gmail.com

When asked, I usually tell people I don\u2019t
believe in god without attaching a label to it.
I avoid atheist, agnostic, humanist, or
anything else. I prefer to engage in further
conversation before allowing myself to be
prejudged. While I do try to avoid labels
when the subject first comes up, for the most
part I consider myself a humanist. I agree
with its basic tenets, but it isn\u2019t dogmatic.
Other self proclaimed humanists include
Richard Dawkins, James Randi, Eugenie
Scott, Michael Shermer, Oliver Stone, Kurt
Vonnegut, E. O. Wilson, and many others.
The Humanist Manifesto states that
\u201cHumanism is a progressive philosophy of
life that, without supernaturalism, affirms
our ability and responsibility to lead ethical

Whether I call myself a humanist, naturalist,
bright, freethinker or something else isn\u2019t
important, but being more than just an
atheist is. I\u2019m not suggesting that we deny
what we are, nor do I expect everyone to
agree with me. If there is one thing we
atheists value above all else, it\u2019s
independent thinking. I am suggesting that
we need to be cautious in our approach, and
based on the direction CAA has taken over
the last few months, I think most agree with
me on this point, though we may have
varied reasons for doing so. As long as we
are perceived as only atheists, we will have
a difficult time convincing non believers that
we are anything more than anti-religious.

Elevation Church pastor Steven [is] diving
in to talk about what many churches aren't.
Titled "Cow Tipping," the new series kicked
off last weekend at the Charlotte, N.C.,
church

"I want us to be the kind [of church] that
will confront anything with the light of the
word of God," Furtick told thousands of
attendees at the fast-growing megachurch.
The church, he says, has many "sacred
cows" \u2013 things the church doesn't like
talking about. "We will not sacrifice truth."

Furtick began the series last Sunday with the
issue of sexual sin \u2013 including divorce,
abortion, sexual orientation, cohabitation,
and friends with benefits. His motive was
not to deliver a sermon explaining the
various sexual sins, as he has already done
that in the past, but to convey a larger point
\u2013 hypocrisy.

"We (the church) have gotten really good at ... cultural condemnation but not as good at personal repentance," the 29-year-old pastor said last weekend."We must pass judgment on sin but we need to start with ourselves ... not with groups of people and marginalizing them so that they don't even want to hearthe message of Christ that we have to offer," he emphasized. "I want to call your to a higher standard ... a standard of one who's been

Elevation Church believes abortion is a sin,
marriage is between a man and a woman,
any sexual activity outside of marriage
between a wife and husband is a sin and
divorce is a sin.

"The primary problem with sexual sin isn't
the sexually transmitted diseases or
emotional scars," he noted. "The real
problem is that when we live outside of
God's established parameters for our lives
we preach a false Gospel.

Calling out the Christians, Furtick urged, "If
you're naming the name of Christ and
continually rejecting his standards for the
sake of your own pleasure, judge yourself
today and repent."

Once Christians begin to follow God's
standards and get better at preserving their
own marriages, then the rest of the world
will more likely be ready to hear what
Christians have to say about the laws passed
in this country. Moreover, the church will
have more credibility and validity, Furtick
added.

"Don't play the game," he said. "If you're
struggling with sexual sin, your real problem
is a deficiency of Jesus."

experience working on wells
for potential project. If you
can help, contact her directly at
welder2cook@hotmail.com

Have a business,
service, talent, or
product, or looking to
hire someone?

This space is designated for
YOU. When you buy from an
atheist, at least you know
you\u2019re not paying a 10%
surcharge as a tithe to
someone\u2019s church!

Whether you want to promote
your business, swap services
with another member, or just
give a shout-out to someone,
consider this a little bit of free
advertising, available to all
members of CAA.

EmailCAAeditor@g mail.com with the details for publication in future issues.

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or other content to the
Newsletter? Email:

I look forward to taking a vacation all year long. The excitement of visiting an old city, full of beautiful
architecture and historic houses, is always palpable. However, there is a sinister side to these wonderful
places; a high level of quackery that is better, and more fun, to call \u201cwoo\u201d. I knew that my trip to
Charleston would not disappoint in this department as the general level of insanity around old southern
cities is fairly high.

Charleston is an exceptionally beautiful city. Beautiful and humid. Perhaps the humidity is what leads the people to go slightly insane. Aside from the beauty and humidity, there are a horrifying number of ghost stories and new age medicine gimmicks to be found. Walking around the city, I found the usual run-of-the-mill superstitions: ghost tours, haunted graveyards, a spooky aircraft carrier, and one voodoo tour that promised to freak you out all for the low, low price of $25.00. I figured that my money would have been better spent on wishing wells or a donation to the church.

After walking through the market for a bit, the right pseudo-science that I had been looking for
was staring me in the face. It made me angrier than I thought it would have. The culprit: magnetic
therapy jewelry. The claims of magnetic jewelry are many: increased circulation, arthritis relief, and at
least one claim of curing cancer. The jewelry is said to interact with the iron in hemoglobin, and it is this
supposed interaction that we will be focusing our skeptical eye on, as the other claims are too fantastical
to warrant more than a mention.

Let us suspend our belief for a moment and suppose that magnets do, in fact, interact with the
iron in our blood. With this in mind, suppose your doctor orders and MRI for you. Imagine what would
happen to you during the MRI, knowing that an MRI utilizes a large electromagnet. To give you a better
idea of what would happen, a little background about magnets: Magnetism is measured in gauss and
Teslas. One Tesla is equal to 10,000 gauss. Boring, I know, but necessary to understand why the claims
of magnetic therapy are wrong. An MRI puts out between 1 \u2013 1.5 Teslas during high operation. That is
10,000 \u2013 15,000 gauss! The result of an MRI would be a hellacious scene from the mind of Clive Barker.
Your blood would be ripped from your body, sucked out of your eyes, nose, ears, even your pores. How
is that for a violent death? There is a reason you are told leave your keys outside of the MRI room.

By this point, you may be wondering why this doesn\u2019t happen. It\u2019s quite simple, really. The iron
in our blood is non-ferrous. If it were ferrous, we wouldn\u2019t have TV\u2019s, MRI machines, or even a
refrigerator. The fact that you can walk pass your TV without getting a blood boil should be proof
enough. So what\u2019s the harm? It\u2019s all just a bunch of crap anyway, who cares if someone wears a
magnetic bracelet? Here is the harm: people will actually forgo proven medical treatment for wishful
thinking. I noticed that the magnetic therapy pamphlet said \u201ctrade in your pills for magnets!\u201d You are
expected to give up proven medicine from a proven science for a refrigerator magnet. This pseudo-
science is making medical claims that have killed people.

I implore you, dear readers; don\u2019t listen to the \u201cexperts,\u201d listen to the experts. Magnets are good
for a great many things, but curing cancer isn\u2019t one of them. A whole suit of magnets won\u2019t cure your
cancer. So the next time someone asks you \u201cwhat\u2019s the harm?\u201d cite the scores of people that die from
trusting the fantastical over the medically proven.That is the harm.