This is the weekly summary of the Humanist Network News (HNN). The Humanist Network News (HNN) is published every Wednesday via e-mail and on the Institute for Humanist Studies (IHS) Web site. This diary is a slightly reformatted copy of the weekly email they send me, which I post here every Thursday (Yes, I have permission from the IHS). (CP @ MLW, BT, SP)
January 18, 2006
Humanist Network News
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- IHS awards $143,000 in grants for 2006
- UK Humanists to gov’t.: Don’t forget the 65% non-religious!
- NY court upholds contraceptive health plan
- Student to humanists: Give youth a chance
- Breaking the church habit
- IHS in the News
- Now is the Time…
- Letters to the Editor
- Sweet Reason, what do I do when family insults my doubt?
- Media Roundup
- Cathartic Comics
- Humanist Humor
- Poll of the Week
Summaries, links, and MY TAKE across the break.
1. IHS awards $143,000 in grants for 2006
The Institute for Humanist Studies Grant Fund awarded more than $139,000 in grants to humanist projects for 2006. As in previous years, the grants reflect a strong focus on humanist youth development. The lucky recipients are…
2. UK Humanists to gov’t.: Don’t forget the 65% non-religious!
The British Humanist Association (BHA) has protested to a government minister who called for a “a chaplain in every college,” challenging the UK to address the needs of the two-thirds of British teenagers who have no religion. MORE
MY TAKE: Interesting that a country with a national church is 65% non-religious, while our country with no state religion is so religious. Further proof that freedom of religion and a secular government actually helps religion thrive.
3. NY court upholds contraceptive health plan
On Jan. 12, the New York State Appellate Division of the Supreme Court affirmed a lower court decision requiring religiously-affiliated institutions to provide, among other things, contraceptive coverage in their employees’ health care plans. PUBLIC POLICY ANALYSIS
MY TAKE: I remember when I was working as a pharmacy tech in CA, a similar law was passed and the local Catholic hospital was extremely upset. I don’t remember if they went to court or not. I do remember filling birth control prescriptions for a woman on the hospital’s plan, and how happy the patient was that her plan had to cover her pill (No, she wasn’t a nun, she was a lay employee.)
4. Student to humanists: Give youth a chance
“I am 21 years old and I am an active humanist,” writes a secular student at the University of Toronto. “Yes, believe it or not, young humanists do exist. Give us a chance.” GUEST COLUMN
MY TAKE: I became a humanist at about that age, though I had no idea that’s what I was… I just called myself a “moral atheist” at the time. I still like my self-styled term, but use “secular humanist” so that people can easily look up what I’m talking about. Interestingly, I was an anthropology student, too…
5. Breaking the church habit
According to this recent grad, some Secular Student Alliance members find themselves socially isolated after college, leading them to seek out friends in — gasp — church. But now, it’s the SSA Alumni Program to the rescue. SSA GUEST COLUMN
MY TAKE: I had an atheist friend who joined a church and attended the youth group for a few years just to feel like he belonged to something. He even tried to become a believer, but was increasingly frustrated by the internal contradictions and the way the believers just glossed over them with phrases like, “That is why it’s called faith,” or “HE works in mysterious ways.” My friend finally decided that it was an exercise in futility since all the beautiful girls he was meeting wouldn’t sleep with him unless he married them.
6. IHS in the News
Why stop at science? asks IHS executive director Matt Cherry, rebutting an Albany Times Union letter about sanitizing education of all things offensive. MORE
7. Now is the Time…
Canadian humanists will soon have to decide whether to stand up in defense of their human rights or to duck and cover. There will be humanists in both camps, says guest writer Doug Thomas. COLUMN
MY TAKE: Oh No! Canada is really going to elect a conservative government after seeing this disaster to their south? I wonder how much U.S. money has flowed across the border to aid the Conservatives. Oh well… so much for my plan to move to Canada if things get worse here.
8. Letters to the Editor
HNN readers sound out on bible for porn exchanges, politics, capitalism, freethought collaboration, donating organs to science, the Book of Daniel, Harry Potter … is there anything our readers don’t have an opinion about? LETTERS
9. Sweet Reason, what do I do when family insults my doubt?
How should a former Christian deal with put-downs from those still in the fold? What about the atheist cancer patient who wakes up from surgery to find a minister at her bedside — courtesy of her sister? ADVICE
10. Media Roundup
Chile’s new agnostic president, Supreme Court OKs assisted suicide, Alito and abortion, churches and politics, European secularism, more. ROUNDUP
MY TAKE: I wrote a diary yesterday on the Assisted Suicide ruling (cross posted all over, but it got the most response at Daily Kos). It has implications on the “unitary executive” because the majority opinion states that the executive cannot claim authority not granted to it by either the Constitution or the Congress. And it was a 6-3 ruling, so even Alito being confirmed would not reverse this decision.
11. Cathartic Comics
An assortment of cartoons and comic strips about humanism, atheism, religion, science and freethought. COMICS
12. Humanist Humor
Pat Robertson dies and goes to heaven. (Skeptical? So are we.) JOKE
13. Poll of the Week
Those Texas students who gave out porn in exchange for bibles … great idea, or PR disaster? VOTE
MY TAKE: I wrote last week that I thought the Smut for Smut campaign (though funny, thought provoking, and brutally honest) probably went too far and reflected poorly on those involved.
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About the IHS:
The IHS promotes nonreligious perspectives on social, political, and ethical issues and serves as a resource for and about the humanist community. Questions, comments, concerns, got a better joke or a story? Send a letter to the editor.
If anything here interests you, or if you are one of those people who doesn’t “get” humanism, you may also be interested in my diary on what secular humanism is and what it is like to be a secular humanist in today’s political climate: I Am The Boogeyman.