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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
 Posted - 05/06/2010 : 10:09:12
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National Day of Reason
Now, more than ever, America needs a Day of Reason.
With the religious right's influence in Congress, and with the threat to our Judiciary looming large, there has never been as important a moment in which to affirm our commitment to the Constitutional separation of religion and government, and to celebrate Reason as the guiding principle of our secular democracy.
During the past year we have witnessed the intrusion of religious ideology into all spheres of or government, with such assaults on the wall separating church and state as:
* Faith-based initiatives in federal agencies that give preferential treatment to religious organizations which proselytize and employ discriminatory hiring practices;
* Restrictions on important scientific research on the basis of religious objections;
* Attempts to introduce biblical creationism and its alter-ego "Intelligent Design" into our public school science curricula;
* The appointment of judges who willingly place their religious beliefs above our laws;
* Battles over the display of the Ten Commandments and other overtly religious icons in schools and on courthouses;
* Religiously motivated restrictions on access to reproductive services and information;
As in previous years, this year’s National Day of Reason is scheduled to coincide with the Congressionally-mandated and federally-supported National Day of Prayer on Thursday, May 6, 2010. We invite all who value the separation of religion and government to join us in commemorating the Day of Reason, and in building awareness for this important cause... |
I'm in!!!
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Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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Ebone4rock
SFN Regular
USA
894 Posts |
 Posted - 05/06/2010 : 10:13:21 [Permalink]
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I am not in. I am going to rebel by thinking irrationally all day today. I don't need someone telling me on what day to think rationally. |
Haole with heart, thats all I'll ever be. I'm not a part of the North Shore society. Stuck on the shoulder, that's where you'll find me. Digging for scraps with the kooks in line. -Offspring |
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Robb
SFN Regular
USA
1223 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2010 : 10:49:08 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Ebone4rock
I am not in. I am going to rebel by thinking irrationally all day today. I don't need someone telling me on what day to think rationally.
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Me either! |
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. - George Washington |
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2010 : 11:37:34 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Ebone4rock
I am not in. I am going to rebel by thinking irrationally all day today. I don't need someone telling me on what day to think rationally.
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So just a normal day for you two then.;) |
"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
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Ebone4rock
SFN Regular
USA
894 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2010 : 11:50:58 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by BigPapaSmurf
Originally posted by Ebone4rock
I am not in. I am going to rebel by thinking irrationally all day today. I don't need someone telling me on what day to think rationally.
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So just a normal day for you two then.;)
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Hey, what are you trying to say? |
Haole with heart, thats all I'll ever be. I'm not a part of the North Shore society. Stuck on the shoulder, that's where you'll find me. Digging for scraps with the kooks in line. -Offspring |
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Robb
SFN Regular
USA
1223 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2010 : 17:46:19 [Permalink]
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| Praying that everyone has a great national day of reason. |
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. - George Washington |
| Edited by - Robb on 05/06/2010 18:21:00 |
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podcat
Skeptic Friend
435 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2010 : 21:45:41 [Permalink]
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| And why should reason be limited to just one day, anyway? |
“In a modern...society, everybody has the absolute right to believe whatever they damn well please, but they don't have the same right to be taken seriously”.
-Barry Williams, co-founder, Australian Skeptics |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 05/07/2010 : 08:45:45 [Permalink]
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| Any campaign for reason is a good thing, so long as it does not involve the term, "The Brights." |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Ebone4rock
SFN Regular
USA
894 Posts |
Posted - 05/07/2010 : 09:11:48 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
Any campaign for reason is a good thing, so long as it does not involve the term, "The Brights."
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Just out of curiosity what is your objection to The Brights?
From my research on them they seem kind of fluffy. Not enough balls to put it in other terms. I do like some of their ideas though and Daniel Dennett, who I respect and admire, is a member. |
Haole with heart, thats all I'll ever be. I'm not a part of the North Shore society. Stuck on the shoulder, that's where you'll find me. Digging for scraps with the kooks in line. -Offspring |
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
Posted - 05/07/2010 : 10:25:45 [Permalink]
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For those of you who don't know, "The Brights" is the term that some geniuses decided was a good replacement for the oft misunderstood/misrepresented "Skeptic".
The problem with "The Brights" is that it implys that those not involved are "The Not-So Brights", irony is that by choosing the name these doofi nullify its unintended meaning.
I always thought we should go with "The Bobcats" or "Montazuma's Revenge"
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"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
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Ebone4rock
SFN Regular
USA
894 Posts |
Posted - 05/07/2010 : 10:56:11 [Permalink]
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I always thought we should go with "The Bobcats" or "Montazuma's Revenge"
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I've always been partial to "T-Birds". |
Haole with heart, thats all I'll ever be. I'm not a part of the North Shore society. Stuck on the shoulder, that's where you'll find me. Digging for scraps with the kooks in line. -Offspring |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 05/07/2010 : 11:22:14 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by BigPapaSmurf
For those of you who don't know, "The Brights" is the term that some geniuses decided was a good replacement for the oft misunderstood/misrepresented "Skeptic".
The problem with "The Brights" is that it implys that those not involved are "The Not-So Brights", irony is that by choosing the name these doofi nullify its unintended meaning.
I always thought we should go with "The Bobcats" or "Montazuma's Revenge"
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Well, kinda. What it was really meant to do is be an umbrella organization for all freethinking groups, including skeptics. |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
Posted - 05/07/2010 : 11:50:45 [Permalink]
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| Oh right, I had read about it in SI or Skeptic. National Day of Reason won't work, hell we can't even have Cinco De Mayo anymore without a race conflict between the overly patriotic goofballs. |
"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 05/07/2010 : 12:37:08 [Permalink]
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I don't understand the situation....
We get a Day of Reason when all we want is a Reasonable Day seems a little like overKil. 
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 05/07/2010 : 13:51:38 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by filthy
I don't understand the situation....
We get a Day of Reason when all we want is a Reasonable Day seems a little like overKil.
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Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 05/07/2010 : 18:14:31 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Ebone4rock
Originally posted by HalfMooner
Any campaign for reason is a good thing, so long as it does not involve the term, "The Brights."
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Just out of curiosity what is your objection to The Brights?
From my research on them they seem kind of fluffy. Not enough balls to put it in other terms. I do like some of their ideas though and Daniel Dennett, who I respect and admire, is a member.
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I don't mind The Brights as people, nor dislike their ideas. But, like Christopher Hitchens, I shudder at the term itself, as being arrogant. I talked with PZ Myers about that when he came to Berkeley a few months back, and he told me that Richard Dawkins doesn't like the term, either.
If people are just looking for a euphemism for atheist, 1) Why bother? and 2) "Freethinker" has been quite serviceable for centuries.
Daniel Dennett is a brilliant philosopher of science and thinker, but I just think he's clueless about how silly "The Brights" sounds to people. |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Today is the National Day of Reason
