An Interview with Kevin Bolling — Executive Director, Secular Student Alliance — Session 1

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/08/10

Kevin and I are making this an ongoing series to discuss secularism at large, especially for the youth. Stay tuned!

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So what was the family background, culture, geography, religion, irreligion?

Kevin Bolling: Well, that’s a long question. My family was a military family, so my father was in the navy. I didn’t have like most people the home town. I don’t. It was wherever we lived. So we moved around a lot when I was young. Probably not as much as other military families. Most military families move every three years, we did it about every four and five years, but I’ve lived up and down the east coast.

We lived in Puerto Rico where my brother was born and lived in Spain for four years, mainly during my high school. And then at that point, we came back to the United States and I did college and my master’s in the southeast, including around Everson. Growing up, I’ve come from a very Catholic based family. I remember my grandparents going to church every single day, so my family was very involved in the Catholic church,

My mother was extremely involved in all the stuff she did. I was an altar boy for years. So I always think my mother was very outspoken with the church as far as with regard to their treatment and inequality for women within the church. I think that very much, my brother and I definitely learned that from her to speak out and that equality should be the part for everybody. So we can see how that lesson is played out through our lives. We’ve gotten involved with different things, and so I think a lot of it comes from my mother.

Jacobsen: I think that’s a fabulous foundation. And the personal background, so by that I mean, I meant more specifically, the pivotal moments or even the seminal moments in your trajectory to a more secular outlook. You hinted at some of those before.

Bolling: For me, of course, I think growing up in a strong religious background, my mother’s approach to religion was very different, probably very different from the rest of my family. So she really applied us more to evaluate what the church was telling us.

So sermons with stories on how to do better. What was in the bible was, these would not be her words, but were dated and old. They were written at the time they were written and they were for that time. So, you had to look at them and just remember how things were these days. You didn’t take the stories in the bible at face value, or the sermon at face value; you had to translate them to today’s world and what you would do with them now, but they were stories on what was supposed to be good or how you were supposed to be a good person.

So I don’t think she intended it. But she very much allowed us to question that, and we examined in different ways. She didn’t take it as truth, an absolute truth. My aunt believes the Bible is absolute truth, even today she believes that men physically have one less rib than women because, of course, God took the rib from Adam to make Eve. I was like you can just count and that is really easy to disprove. But she doesn’t.

She is very hard in having that belief system and that is how she runs her life. I’m fortunate that my family does not. So, I think out of another pivotal moment for me was I think my very slow and gradual process to coming out as gay. I finally came out in graduate school. And so you know, I hadn’t thought about this before from my father where the family is more important than religion. So, of course, I’m going to accept you. You are more important to me than what the Bible says.

For my family, that was a very easy transition. I think it’s where their priorities were and family things are first. So I think we always had that; we had that nurturing environment from our family, but also, it was okay to question the things that were sometimes presented as absolute. So there was a strong belief, I think one from my father’s background as far as the military, that service to the country was always important.

So we were always doing things when we were young about being involved in volunteering and those sorts of things. Because a large part of what we did was growing up on naval bases, I think we were introduced to a lot of different cultures and then living outside of the United States is a very different perspective of a very Americentric world. All you hear about is the United States and that’s the only thing that’s important.

Being outside the United States, you see things differently in the world and recognize that’s not true, where it’s not always the same experience in the United States. So I think all of those things were pivotal. I’ve always remembered volunteering with something. I continued that on through my personal life, so you were always giving back in a way and that was just important for us to do.

Personally, it gives me a lot of personal satisfaction, so I’ve always done things that I have continued. I do remember history class in college and talking about world religion, and coming up with the Catholic church, which is, of course, the paradigm I associated with at the time. The professor really going in and talking about the church more as a corporation and why we’re doing all these things historically to make itself survive. So it gave me a very different perspective on the church and allowed me to question communion, and just the different practices of the church.

I do remember my first stances against religion: “I’m not going to confession anymore.” And then coming out gay, the church does not have a great relationship, especially the Catholic church for a long time, and not much is better, of not being very accepting of LGBT people. So there were times when unfortunately I never went through this, but you weren’t allowed to take communion, and being very negative. So I separated from the church a little bit more, and then I don’t believe in God anymore. I do remember having conversations with people; I don’t think there was anything specific that was a definite moment for me.

It was generalization, “That’s how I feel and I’m okay with that.”

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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightpublishing.com.

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© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-Present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

2022-12-09

An Interview with Dan Bowman — SMART Recovery Facilitator, SMART Recovery

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/08/08

Note: Dan is giving this interview as a SMART Recovery facilitator and not as a spokesman for the Veterans Administration.*

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You have an association with SMART Recovery. What is SMART Recovery? What is your relation with it as an entity?

Dan Bowman: SMART, Self Management And Recovery Training is a not-for-profit, face-to-face and on-line, science/evidence based, Peer and Professionally led self-help group for those with addiction issues. It’s a self-empowering, dynamic and very interactive method of recovery, and by recovery, I mean the ability to be recovered. If I chose, I could go on and live my life, free from the emotional baggage of my past. I feel no need to attend meetings today for my own recovery, however I do so as a trained SMART Recovery facilitator to help others, because I believe in the SMART Recovery 4-point program.

Our 4-Point Program®

The SMART Recovery 4-Point Program offers tools and techniques for each program point:

1: Building and Maintaining Motivation
2: Coping with Urges
3: Managing Thoughts, Feelings and Behaviors
4: Living a Balanced Life

Jacobsen: Why is the organization important?

Bowman: Choice, plain and simple. There are many pathways to recovery, SMART being my choice, is only one of those pathways. There’s a notable quote by Anne Fletcher “If nothing else, we know that people have better treatment outcomes when they’re offered choices and not coerced to accept one thing or another.” For many, many years I was told there was only one path to recovery, coerced if you will and when I could not do it that way, I not only felt like a failure, I acted like a failure.

Jacobsen: What are some notable and touching experiences in working with them?

Bowman: The “lightbulb moment” when I’m facilitating a meeting and I see the light come on. New attendees to SMART Recovery are hearing things they have never heard before. “No sponsor?” “I’m not powerless?” “I don’t need to go to meetings the rest of my life?” “I don’t need a Higher Power to recover?” “I don’t need to label myself an alcoholic or an addict?” “Blasphemy you say!” I really don’t get the last one very often, however on occasion, we have a naysayer or two and we continue to welcome them, those that do not cause disruption to our groups. All opinions are welcome to be voiced and heard, we are a non-judgemental, non-confrontational group. We do however use science, facts and rational thought as our arbitrators.

Jacobsen: How does your own background tie into them? What lead you to SMART Recovery, and the absolutely wonderful and magnanimous Shari Allwood?

Bowman: Shari really is wonderful. I hope to one day obtain her mystic level of email cheeriness, not quite sure how she does it, but I always feel so cheery after reading her emails.

I struggled with alcohol, irrational thinking and emotional problems for about 30 years before I discovered SMART Recovery. I was one of those led to believe there was only one way to recover. I did not believe in what I was being told to practice in other groups. I tried so very hard to thoroughly follow their path, but continued to fail. I was introduced to SMART Recovery while in treatment at the St. Louis VA hospital, through SMART’s Mid-America Regional Representative, Virginia Frank, another wonderful person in SMART Recovery’s vast arsenal and a highly valued tutor and mentor of mine. I had my “Lightbulb Moment” while there. I still drank, but each time it was a shorter and less intense relapse/slip. I learned in SMART that I did not have start from square one after I slipped or relapse, I could restart from where I stopped my slide, I had not lost sober days. I eventually became a trained facilitator and have over three years now without alcohol playing any part in my daily life.

Jacobsen: What is your main initiative or goal now in personal and professional life?

Bowman: As far as my personal life, I’m living the dream so to speak. I have purpose, I have a good relationship with my wonderful family and co-workers. Have everything I need. My life, for the first time is drama free and unencumbered, I pretty much do what I want, when I want. A personal goal I have is to help SMART Recovery continue to rapidly expand, especially here in the St. Louis Metro region.

I am currently retired. I do volunteer Thirty plus hours a week at the St Louis VA as a Certified Missouri Peer Specialist (CMPS) I’m on track to be hired soon at the VA as a CMPS/Whole Healthcare Coach.

Jacobsen: With your current position (if applicable, what is it…), what are your tasks and responsibilities?

Bowman: As CMPSs we role model successful recovery to other Veterans and VA staff. So often the staff does not see the fruits of their work, that is, to see Veterans in successful recovery instead of crisis mode, day after day. We also assist and teach Veterans to advocate for themselves and how to navigate the system. I currently facilitate mental health and recovery groups on the acute psych inpatient ward and in the substance use disorder treatment program. I also facilitate two SMART Recovery meetings a week, located at the St. Louis VA.

Jacobsen: How does a science-based and non-faith-based — with or without religion as a component — treatment work compared to faith, religiously oriented, treatments?

Bowman: Scott, I don’t feel qualified to comment on other types of recovery program. I will say this, SMART’s evidence based tools are what I was looking for when I was trying to use a faith based program. I really had a problem with the concept of “Powerlessness” and “Higher Power.” In SMART, we believe the concept of a Higher Power is a personal and private matter. Certainly, we do not tell people they can’t use a Higher Power, it’s just not part of our 4 Point program. We are not powerless, we are powerful.

Jacobsen: Any feelings or thoughts in conclusion based on the conversation today?

Bowman: If anyone reading this is still having problems with addiction, whether it be from substances, like drugs and alcohol or behaviors, like gambling or sex, and have not found success with the method they are using, please, please search out an alternative. There are so many pathways to recovery. Do not let any one person or group convine you, their way is the only “true” way. That’s just not factual, Scott.

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, Dan.

Bowman: Thank you Scott, for helping spread the word about SMART Recovery.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Wade King — President, SSA of Clemson

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/08/07

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is family background — geography, culture, language, religion/irreligion, and education?

Wade King: I grew up in Greenwood, South Carolina, a medium-sized town surrounded by even smaller towns. Most of my family came from more rural areas of the country, such as Estes Park, Colorado. Most would say my family is the typical rural, white, southern, Christian family. As far as religion goes, my family practiced an old-school form of Southern Baptism in the in the 1990s and 2000s. However, my immediate family broke away due to issues such as gay marriage and race, and joined more laid-back churches such as NewSpring. I kept away from church most of my life, using my education as an excuse. It helped in the long run, as I became the first in my family to go to a 4-year university.

Jacobsen: What is the personal background in secularism for you? What were some seminal developmental events and realizations in personal life regarding it?

King: I started becoming skeptical at around the age of seven, stopped going to church by middle school, and became an agnostic atheist in high school. My schools and community lacked any sort of secular community, so most of my experiences were internal. The whole process began due to my introduction into social issues and communities that these issues affected. By elementary and middle school, I was well aware of LGBT+ issues, abortion, secularism in schools, etc. High school science classes really cemented my beliefs.

Jacobsen: You are the president of the SSA of Clemson. What tasks and responsibilities come with the position? Why do you pursue this line of volunteering?

King: As president of SSAC, I perform most, if not all, administrative duties for the group. I also share responsibility for all other aspects of the organization, including financial organization, social media, outreach, and event participation with my fellow officers. I do all this in order to help build a community of secularists and people who are accepting of secular values.

Jacobsen: What personal fulfillment comes from it?

King: I have always thought that the area lacked a strong secular community. Community is important for sharing ideas, networking, and other’s personal wellness. A community can more easily bring change than a fragmented set of small groups. This is my higher level of fulfillment I get from this. It also doesn’t hurt to make some friends in the process. All of our members have built some form of friendship with other members and even participate in other secular groups in the upstate.

Jacobsen: What are some of the more valuable tips for campus secularist activism?

King: I hate to sound cliché, but balance is the key. You need to be able to plan well, but also be flexible enough to change with the tides of the community. You need to be able to be kind to those who do not share your beliefs, but don’t let them run over you or others. You need to have some degree of focus, such as my focus on community-building, but also be able to focus on other aspects of secularism, such as science, social issues, government, activism, etc. I have missed many opportunities because I wasn’t willing to add new events to our semester schedule; or because I wasn’t confident enough to hold an extended conversation with certain people; or because I focused too much on building a community and didn’t get enough guest speakers to talk about science and government.

Jacobsen: What have been some historic violations of the principles behind secularism on campus? What have been some successes to combat these violations?

King: Clemson University, being one of the larger and more advanced public universities in the south, has had its fair share of incidents. Most are the typical religious imagery around campus, professors enforcing religious beliefs onto students, and non-student religious groups using school funds. However, the most significant recent and well-covered issue on campus involved our football team’s head coach, Dabo Swinney. The first incident dates back to before I even attended Clemson. The Freedom from Religion Foundation accused Swinney of promoting Christianity to his players by holding events with religious themes or venues and by allowing the team’s chaplain to proselytize the players. Considering Swinney’s position as a state employee, this was a huge problem for the FFRF, who had help from SSAC and other local groups. In the long run, Swinney suffered few consequences, given his success in the football team’s performance the past few years, and secular groups suffered a new stigma of aggressiveness and a lack of respect for important personnel on campus.

Jacobsen: What are the main areas of need regarding secularists on campus?

King: For individual secularists, community and social activism are perhaps the most needed aspects in their lives. While students are generally accepting of secular individuals, most large groups on campus have religious ties or activities that exclude secularists. I would very much like to think we provide a strong community for them. However, with secular issues branching into other communities, especially LGBT+ and racial justice groups, many hope to see social progress come to Clemson’s campus. Outreach is currently SSAC’s largest area of need. While our group’s ties remain strong with each other and with other secular groups in the area, we are still small. As mentioned earlier, we still suffer from a stigma that even prevents other secularists from joining.

Jacobsen: What is your main concern for secularism on campus moving forward for the next few months, even years?

King: I very much like to think I am making the correct decision in focusing on building a community for secularists. I feel much of it has been accomplished, so the next few months or semester will have more of a focus on science, social issues, and intellectual discussion and debate. However, the main focus will still be community since we do not want to lose our new, stronger connections. The next few years will be up to new officers and members as our current members graduate or pursue other goals. I am hopeful that our new focus will once again be activism as new secular and related issues arise in our world.

Jacobsen: What are the current biggest threats to secularism on campus?

King: Our biggest concern has to be the chapel that is planned to be built on campus. Luckily it has faced tough criticism over the past couple of years, but it has started flying under the radar due to the university’s willingness to be accommodating towards non-Christians in the building of this chapel. SSAC’s faculty advisor is one of the heads of the program overseeing its construction and assures us that it is much more of a inter-faith center. SSAC plans to have extended discussions and dialogue about this in order to cement our general positions on the matter. Currently, the consensus is that the chapel should be given a better label to avoid religious connotations and/or favoritism and to encourage acceptance and community.

Jacobsen: What are perennial threats to secularism on campus?

King: Faculty and administrative favoritism for religious activities and organizations always remain in our watchful eye. Long-time faculty are especially tricky to deal with, and it doesn’t help that they have formed their own organization for this purpose.

Jacobsen: What are the main social and political activist, and educational, initiatives on campus for secularists?

King: SSAC is the only group exclusively dealing with these issues, as our campus lacks initiative on these issues. Usually we must collaborate with other local secular groups, such as Piedmont Humanists and Foothills Humanists, and with other activist groups, such as Clemson’s Sexuality and Gender Alliance and FEM Club.

Jacobsen: What are the main events and topics of group discussions for the alliance on campus?

King: Our most recent and favorite discussions have centered around science and sociology of religion. Quantum physics and evolutionary biology are common topics given that some of our members are graduate students in physics and biology. While none of us are majors in sociology or religion, many of us have related hobbies and we have had discussions on cult behavior and the pros and cons of religion in society.

Jacobsen: How can people become involved and maintain the secular student alliance ties on campus?

King: If your campus has any sort of online portal for student organizations, that is the best place to start. Clemson has a Tiger Prowl every year for organizations to recruit new students and members. Attending these sort of events makes it easy to meet leaders personally and build a relationship from there. Maintaining these relationships should be easy as long as the group’s leadership remains serious about SSA and its values.

Jacobsen: Any feelings or thoughts in conclusion?

King: I have already said plenty, but I don’t think I can stress this enough: SSA is not the only resource young secularists have to participate in activism. Other local groups and national organizations exist. Getting involved with them is just as important. This is why I value community so much. Getting to know others who agree (or even disagree) with you is a powerful tool for social change. Use it frequently, and use it wisely. Also, thank you for this opportunity, Scott.

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, Wade.

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2022-12-09

Interview with Jamie Del Rosario Martinez

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/08/07

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What was family and surrounding culture like growing up? I know memories can fade and become distorted. However, there are themes, which can help set the groundwork for our discussion here today.

Jamie De Rosario Martinez: I was a product of a broken family, eldest of 4 siblings, I was a battered child being beaten from small to no reasons at all getting punishments even if it was not my fault, I have a womanizer and a gambler dad and a Martyr mother and community full of Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) members, all my relatives from my mother side are INC members and so do we. I was forced to stop from school at the age of 14 so I could work and bring my siblings to school since my father doesn’t want to take that responsibility I started working as entertainer in japan at the age of 15 using fake passport etc. to look like 19yo. To earn money only to be confiscated by my father and leave me with only 500 Pesos ($10) this routine continued until my father permanently left us to go with other woman.

Jacobsen: When did you begin to question God?

Jamie: when I was 16 I was excommunicated from INC and I found out that my cousin reported to INC that I was working as entertainer in Japan. And they judged me without even asking my side they accused me of doing things that is against the will of their god they accused me of selling my flesh to Japanese men which made me really mad and made me realize that they are so judgmental, I worked abroad to be able to send food for my family and to be able to send my siblings to school.

Jacobsen: How did you find HAPI? What is its main goal? Why is it important to build irreligious communities, especially in hyper religious countries?

Jamie: I was in a Reproductive health law Rally with a friend in Baguio when I met this group of young guys from HAPI they were so kind and gentlemen, during lunch time our leader told us to go back to the bus and have lunch but me and my friend went to the cr first and when we get back to the bus there are no more pack lunch left for us to eat having only enough money to go back home me and my friend went out the bust to by biscuits while we are falling in line some HAPI members saw us and asked if we already had our lunch and we said No because there are no more lunch for us in our bus, surprisingly they offered me and my friend a free lunch it was like WOW how kind these guys are to a totally stranger like us then I asked them do HAPI has FB page or group that I could join and the rest is history

HAPIs main goal for me is to spread humanity to all regardless of beneficiaries’ religion specially kids they promote humanity and critical thinking based on my personal observation.

Currently I am not yet aware of the importance of building Irreligious community as I myself I still under transformation from religious to non religious.

Jacobsen: What are some of your more notable initiatives with HAPI in the past and the present?

Jamie: I have a monthly feeding for 200 kids through HAPI, Self Sufficient because of the HAPI Farm, I also have HAPI Merchandise for fund raising.

Jacobsen: How are things for the religiously unaffiliated, socially and legally, and politically, in the Philippines?

Jamie: socially; still need to hide due to stigma as a non-believer.

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, Jamie.

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2022-12-09

A Compendium of Crimes and Criminals of the Eastern Orthodox Church — Part 1

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/08/06

I doubt this is comprehensive, nor is it representative of the positives of the church either; it is reportage on the reports from the news. I didn’t see a compendium, so decided to write one.

Another purpose for this catalog is because of the lack of news play about the Eastern Orthodox Church compared to the Roman Catholic Church, and its trial of Galileo, and torture, hunting of witches, and the Inquisition, and the child sexual abuse scandal, even Bruno, of course.

But what about the second largest Christian sect in the world boasting over 300 million members? In many of these cases, I believe the secular and ordinary religious stand in solidarity, moral alignment. So let’s begin:

According to the Greek Reporter, a priest, Adam Metropoulos, was convicted of sexual abuse on four counts. Forgive the direct language and emotional tone in the latter portions of this sentence, but the sexual abuse equates to rape, Metropoulos raped.

His sentencing, circa, April 27, totals 12 years in prison. Ann Murray, the Superior Court Justice, stated that she also sentenced him to “3 years of probation after he gets out of prison” and would have to “register with the Main Sex Offender Registry for the rest of his life.”

Murray noted the impacts on the victims was “great” or significant. At the trial, a former altar boy from St. George Greek Orthodox Church testified. The former altar boy was 23-years-old, and reported being sexually assaulted by Murray.

This was during sleep overs at the Metropoulos’s home. The Greek Report noted that “police found pornographic images in the offender’s computer,” which portrayed “a family member that he would secretly film in the nude, as well as other photographs of different people, some of them children.”

On the day of the arrest, the Greek orthodox diocese in Maine made a suspension of Metropoulos. In Metropoulos’s defense, he stated that he never had intercourse with the teenager, but that he touched the alter boy, at the time, in an inappropriate way while he was asleep.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Chris Debo — Meeting Facilitator, SMART Recovery

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/08/06

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You have an association with SMART Recovery. What is SMART Recovery? What is your relation with it as an entity?

Chris Debo: I am a meeting facilitator with SMART Recovery. I facilitate a weekly meeting in Northern California. SMART Recovery is a science-based recovery program that provides proven, practical tools and techniques for dealing with the challenges a life in recovery presents. It is based on the psychological modalities of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) and Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), as well as other modalities.

Jacobsen: Why is the organization important?

Debo: SMART Recovery is important for a number of reasons. It brings the teachings of Albert Ellis and others to people in recovery. It provides a secular, proven approach to managing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in order to improve one’s outlook on life, reducing the need to resort to maladaptive behaviors and substance use for “relief” from the stressors of life.

Jacobsen: What are some notable and touching experiences in working with them?

Debo: Well, in being a meeting facilitator, I’ve had some notable experiences with attendees. I’ve had people thank me for providing them with useful tools to deal with difficult situations. These are tools that we don’t learn growing up in this society.

I recall in particular one woman who thanked me for helping her to realize how her harmful eating habits are a learned behavior, a way to cope, and that she could replace them with healthy alternatives. I’ve also witnessed people in meetings finally “get it,” understand what their addictive substance or behavior is for them: a coping mechanism. The penny drops and a look of understanding beams from their faces. Those types of events are extremely gratifying.

Jacobsen: How does your own background tie into them? What lead you to SMART Recovery, and the absolutely wonderful and magnanimous Shari Allwood?

Debo: I myself suffered from many years of substance abuse, primarily alcohol. Booze was my only mechanism for coping with life, good and bad. It worked every single time in a predictable way. Finally I realized that I needed to make a complete change in my life. Having had little success with a traditional 12-Step approach, I searched online for alternatives to traditional 12-Step programs and came across SMART Recovery. This discovery changed my life.

After being sober for a time, I decided that I should give back in some way to the community, so I took SMART Recovery’s Facilitator Training and became a facilitator. This experience has been incredibly gratifying for me. I could help others see that there is a way out of their addictive, and destructive, behaviors, while strengthening my own knowledge and use of SMART Recovery’s program.

Jacobsen: With your current position (if applicable, what is it…), what are your tasks and responsibilities?

Debo: At the moment, I am training to start a new career. At 45, it is a challenge. Overall, though, my goal in life is to achieve healthy balance across all aspects of life. I have a chance to do this now that I am solidly in recovery. SMART also has shown me how to prioritize long-term benefits over short-term satisfactions.

Jacobsen: How does a science-based and non-faith-based — with or without religion as a component — treatment work compared to faith, religiously oriented, treatments?

Debo: This program offers practical solutions. Change your thoughts to change your emotions. Take responsibility for your future. Take charge and own your recovery and your life. Don’t rely solely on others or a “higher power” to save you from yourself. Live for today and the future, not in the past. I’ve never seen faith save someone from addictive behavior, at least not in the long run.

Having had experience with AA, I can tell you that these programs are based on taking your power away from you, taking your responsibility away from you. You are forced to look backward at all your negative behavior and consequences in order to scare you from repeating those mistakes. It is based in shame. You don’t learn anything practical to help you in the day-to-day. Your higher power will save you. Nope. I stayed sober for five years, but I was miserable every single day. With SMART Recovery, I can be content and occasionally even happy. Hah.

Jacobsen: Any feelings or thoughts in conclusion based on the conversation today?

Debo: I would not be living the life I am living without SMART Recovery. I will be forever grateful to the organization for helping me to learn what I need to know to live a healthy and fulfilling life.

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, Chris.

Debo: My pleasure! Thank you for giving more exposure to SMART Recovery!

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2022-12-09

This Week in Science 2017–08–06

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/08/06

“Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump has made no secret of his desire to roll back environmental regulations and change the playing field for the fossil-fuel industry.

His administration’s actions over its first six months have followed that lead, including what many scientists say is a full-fledged battle against research and facts.

Last week the twitter account for the Department of Energy tweeted out an op-ed written by a scholar at the Cato Institute, a right-leaning think tank, with the headline: “In the fight between Rick Perry and climate scientists — He’s winning””

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/05/politics/trump-battle-science-epa-energy-climate/index.html.

“This summer, as part of a hectic schedule that includes figure skating lessons and late-night reading binges, Claire Radin also carved out some time to dissect a rat.

And while that may not be a traditional camp experience like canoeing or sleeping under the stars, it was certainly memorable for Radin, and came at a “Mini-Med” camp through the Science Explorations Program offered through the faculty of science at York University.

“We would all take turns finding organs and taking them out. After we were done we put them all back in and sutured it up,” said Radin, 12, describing her work with a coed team of three fellow science enthusiasts.”

Source: https://www.thestar.com/initiatives/fresh_air_fund/2017/08/04/fresh-air-funding-puts-science-camp-within-reach.html.

“It can be difficult to communicate the very latest scientific ideas to those relying on sign language, but a student is working to change that.

British Sign Language (BSL), which is used by about 87,000 people across the UK, already has ways of expressing the biological terms required for study up to roughly the end of secondary school, but not beyond. Because of that gap, the more complex, cutting-edge terms often needed in undergraduate lectures must be spelled out letter by letter.

This raises some obvious problems. If finger-spelling is used for words such as “deoxyribonucleotide” and “deoxyribonucleoside”, it becomes clear only at the very end which is intended. This is not only confusing for students but could even be dangerous in an experimental context.”

Source: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/student-aims-expand-sign-language-science.

““Climate change is caused by humans.”

“Taxing the rich hurts the economy.”

“Vaccinations cause autism.”

“Heterosexuals are better parents than same-sex couples.”

You might agree with some of those statements. You might have shared articles arguing for or against them on social media. You may even have debated them with friends or co-workers.

But have you ever questioned why you believe what you believe about them, and whether you’re objectively, factually correct?

We humans fancy ourselves logical thinkers, who consider the facts and come to a rational, scientifically sound conclusion about the world around us.”

Source: https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2017/08/05/the-science-of-why-we-wont-stop-believing-age-of-unreason.html.

“EW DELHI — Inspired by this past April’s global march for science, Indian scientists are gearing up for their own march in more than 30 cities on 9 August, organizers announced today. Their main beefs are anemic science funding and growing religious intolerance.

India’s science investments are minuscule compared with those of China and South Korea, says Prabir Purkayastha of the nonprofit Delhi Science Forum. One pillar of Indian R&D that’s suffering, he says, is the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), a nationwide network of 23 research and teaching institutions. “IITs today have second rate infrastructure compared to what they need and barring a few, there are no institutes in India which have the kind of money required for the next generation of science,” Purkayastha says. He and other march organizers are demanding that the Indian government boost R&D spending as a percentage of gross domestic product from roughly 0.85% in 2016 to 3% of GDP.

Government officials say that the march organizers’ complaints are overblown. “Their position is factually incorrect,” says Ashutosh Sharma, secretary of the central government’s Department of Science & Technology here. Science spending is booming, he says. “In the past 3 years, our budget has nearly doubled compared to earlier periods for both basic and applied research,” he says. Purkayastha counters that government departments are diverting funds marked for R&D to nonresearch programs.”

Source: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/08/indian-scientists-taking-streets-en-masse.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Wendy Webber

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/08/03

*Audio interview has been edited.*

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Was there a family background in non-belief?

Wendy Webber: Yes, and no. My dad was raised Catholic. My mom was raised Jewish. I am a mix of both of those coming from those families. We didn’t practice in my home, but I was exposed to religion and religious practice in my larger family.

Jacobsen: What was it like growing up in the community?

Webber: Where I grew up in southern New Mexico is a very Hispanic, Catholic community. Obviously, there are other religions present, but it is mostly Catholic. Religion was around. Personally, I didn’t find the lack of religious belief to be a problem.

I didn’t lose friends over that. For me, it was a fact. It didn’t matter between my friends and me.

Jacobsen: Eventually, you found yourself at Yale Divinity School. What was the experience there?

Webber: I got a Master of Religion there. I was studying theology of oppression and reconciliation with an eye on religious history. It was interesting to be a non-religious person at a school that was founded as a Christian seminary. Most of the people at the school were religious. But not everyone. There was a group of non-religious and non-theistic folk.

We started, or revived, a humanist, atheist, non-theist organization on campus that we wanted to use to have a social space and for conversations about being non-religious on an otherwise religiously oriented campus. It was also a way to engage the rest of campus the way the different religious groups on campus did by hosting educational or social events. It was great. We organized some great events.

My experience was, by and large, me being another student on campus. There were certain things that came up. I had one class where we were meant to write a paper that was about prayer in our own tradition. This subject doesn’t really exist, for me. I had to go to the professor and talk about it. It didn’t go over well [Laughing].

Jacobsen: [Laughing].

Webber: We compromised by my writing about Judaism.

Being there as a non-religious person wasn’t perfect. There was some pushback at times. I think there is a bit of a divide between people who wanted it to be a Christian school and others who want it to be a more inclusive school — having other beliefs represented.

So, I don’t think most of the issues I faced there were as much about being non-religious as about being non-Christian.

Jacobsen: Also, you helped found the secular organization. I came across a phrase I had never come across before. It was inter-belief dialogue rather than interfaith dialogue. This is more inclusive for the whole suite of irreligious or non-religious sets of worldviews.

So, I was heartened to read that. How did you go about building that community? What initiatives did you take on?

Webber: We did lunchtime conversations, for people to talk about their belief journey. We invited people who were religious and who weren’t religious to talk. We also did a thing, which is common at interfaith events, called speed-faithing. You sit across from someone who has a different belief system than you, then you talk about what your beliefs are and why for a few minutes then move on to speak to another person.

One of our most popular events we did while I was there was a practical inter-belief workshop. This was focused on the challenges in having an inter-belief event. Things like if you host one of these events on Friday nights a lot of people won’t be able to make it because of religious obligations. Practical things like that.

We made a point to make sure that it was very inclusive of non-religious people in the language we used and discussions we facilitated. We challenged the participants to be careful about the language they use. “Inter-belief” brings more people to the table. Things like “people of faith or no faith,” when you’re talking at an interfaith event is more inclusive than “religious people.”

We had a waiting list to get into the workshop our first year. We not only wanted people to know we were there, but also let people know about to deal with non-religious people being in that space.

Jacobsen: When you reflect on the situation for the non-religious, or humanists, in America today, what do you see as one of the main concerns?

Webber: [Laughing] I don’t want to speak for everyone. We are a diverse group of people, so I know everyone has their own concerns. And each of us weighs the different concerns facing our community differently. For me, a major concern is that humanism is not for everybody. If you go to humanist events, more often than not, white men dominate the space. We need to figure out ways to let the humanist community be more inclusive. Which means not just being inviting, but listening — really listening — to women and people of color and letting people be humanist in ways that make sense for them.

That’s a major concern I see inside humanism. As humanists within the larger culture in the US, a major concern I have is the perception that just because someone is not religious they are a bad person. That perception must change. I think that’s why it is important to do social justice work as a humanist. I mean, to do social justice work like community service visibly as a humanist. To show people in my wider community who might condemn me that, “My humanist values are why I do this. I am here as a humanist.” It helps people see that we’re good people.

For me, these are top issues the humanist community faces. There are a lot of different ways to address these issues. For me, addressing them is about seeking out non-white humanist voices and doing community service and other social justice work.

Jacobsen: Something of concern to many humanists are human rights. In particular, the US situation now with women’s rights — in particular, women’s rights. What is the state of reproductive rights in the United States?

If things are looking direr, what can be done to make sure they are both more solid and well-implemented in the country?

Webber: To be honest, reproductive rights is not the number one issue at the forefront of my mind. I am not saying it isn’t important, but it is not something I have been focusing my time or energy on.

Having said that, my answer to your question is that I think we need to have more women voices in the conversation at the policy level and in political and media discussions. We keep having all of these meetings about reproductive rights, policy, and law with not a single female voice present or if women are present their voices are not given adequate weight. Where men who clearly don’t understand female anatomy are making decisions about reproductive health policy based on their, frankly willful, misunderstanding.

It is part of a bigger problem of women being silenced or not having their voices heard. There are so many ways to get at this issue. We need to get more women’s voices at the high level. We need to get more women’s voices at the local level — holding local office. We need to teach our children — not just the girls — not just that women have rights, but how those rights continue to be violated and how to be part of the solution.

Most importantly, we need to face and address the fact that historically and continuing now, the negative consequences of these reproductive health policies affect women of color disproportionately.

Jacobsen: Any thoughts or feelings in conclusion based on the conversation today?

Webber: For me, I think humanism is about equality of all people. That is really the basis of humanism. That can manifest in a lot of ways. The humanist movement, for me, isn’t simply about getting rights for humanists.

It is about supporting all minority and oppressed people in gaining that equality, not solely humanists. We should as humanist to support movements like Black Lives Matter, issues like reproductive rights for all people with uteruses, and oppressed communities like Native and LGBT people. Importantly, not just giving lip service, but lending support with our money, actions, and voices — following their lead.

All of these different things are part of the humanist movement.

Jacobsen: Thank you very much for your time, Wendy.

Webber: Thank you!

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2022-12-09

Weekly News Briefs (Canada)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/08/01

Anti-Muslim hate crimes on the rise

“The number of police-reported hate crimes against Muslims jumped by 60 per cent in 2015 compared to the previous year, according to Statistics Canada,” CBC News: Politics said, “New data released Tuesday show there were 159 anti-Muslim incidents reported to police that year, up from 99 the year before.”

The National Council of Canadian Muslims vice-chairman, Khalid Elgazzar, described 2015 as a “difficult year” for the Canadian Muslim population. Terrorist attacks in France and previous PM Harper’s making wearing a veil, at citizenship ceremonies, a “central issue” for the election campaign made things more difficult for Muslim-Canadians.

Elgazzar said, “The Canadian Muslim community bore the brunt of sinister political rhetoric surrounding the federal election which painted Muslims as terrorists or terrorist sympathizers as well as being anti-women.”

Notley says climate change policy should help working people

Global News said, “Alberta Premier Rachel Notley tried to reassure bigwigs in the energy industry Wednesday that her government will strive to ensure the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion gets built despite political opposition in British Columbia.”

Notley spoke at the Global Petroleum Show, which is in Calgary, Alberta. She noted that the current NDP Alberta government doesn’t speak much on oilsands — and this threatens jobs for Alberta. Notley described that an effective climate change policy should help working people.

She also stated many families lack work, are stressed about mortgages, and do not have sufficient time for “climate change action.” Her statements arise as the BC NDP and Green party are building an alliance, which may form government and could halt Kinder Morgan’s pipeline expansion.

Science World in Vancouver Hosting and Innovation Festival for Canada’s 150th Birthday
The Globe and Mail stated that the idea of a Planet Nine could simply evaporate, or “wink out of existence.” Planet Nine is a hypothetical astronomical body in the Solar System, which weighs about 10 times as much as the Earth.
This is big science story in 2016. Two astronomer teams made proposals as to its existence, and so began research into it. This was a proposal to explain uncommon patterns of several small objects past the known planets in our solar system. A team was working from data out of the Canada-France- Hawaii Telescope. They failed to find supportive data of it. As it turns out, the “Canadian-led study suggests the planet could be nothing more than a statistical fluke that vanishes when the numbers are looked at differently.”

Canadian biotechnology is on an upswing
According to The Globe and Mail, one biotechnology startup in Montreal “has secured a huge early- stage financing.” It is targeting the development of technologies to be able to reduce the occurrence of cancer.

It is called “precision oncology.” Repare Therapeutics Inc. is led by Lloyd Segal, who is a Montreal biotechnology executive. Repare was co-founded three research scientists from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto and New York University. They raised $68 million.
Canadian biotechnology has been in decline, but the biotechnology industry in the country has been on an upswing. Segal said, “Our focus is on putting our heads down and developing great drugs…without the constant cycle of fundraising.”

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Kaeleigh Pontif — President, Yuba Community College SSA

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/29

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is family background — geography, culture, language, religion/irreligion, and education?

Kaeleigh Pontif: I was born and raised in Houma, Louisiana. As you can imagine, growing up in the southern bible belt has a certain set of challenges. The south takes cultural preservation very seriously, despite how archaic some of the traditions may be. For the first 16 years of my life I practiced as a Jehovah’s Witness. Growing up, bible study always came before school work. We attended the kingdom hall two or three times a week, and frequently preached door to door. I graduated from H.L. Bourgeois High School in 2011, and moved to Marysville, California in 2013. I will graduate from Yuba College this December, and plan to attend Sacramento State University in the spring of 2018 where I will study environmental science.

Jacobsen: What is the personal background in secularism for you? What were some seminal developmental events and realizations in personal life regarding it?

Pontif: There were many times in my religious upbringing where I attempted to ask questions to those teaching me. I was always told I was concerned about the wrong things, or that I simply had to pray on it. Between the ages of 15–18, there were many arguments with my family concerning my religious position. I began to feel like the Jehovah’s Witness religion had practices that I simply did not agree with or wish to participate in. It became harder to get me to attend. I so badly wanted to find the right religion since I had doubts about my own, I joined numerous Christian clubs at my high school in hopes of finding the right path. As I’m sure it has begun for many atheists, at some point you realize things just don’t make sense. With all the cruelty and suffering in the world, I could no longer believe in an all knowing and loving god. I also noticed the hypocrisy among many of the religious, and numerous biblical contradictions. I denounced religion and deism altogether and stopped attending church. I felt depressed due to the lack of community that I once had with church and family. I started to pay attention and learn about all of the atrocities committed in the name of god and religion, and wanted nothing to do with doctrine. In Houma, where I spent the majority of my life, I knew of no such meetup groups where people discussed philosophy, religion, humanism, etc. I felt like that area had no opportunities for me, be it personal or professional, so I decided to move to California. After a couple months of living in Marysville, I did a quick google search for atheist groups in the area and found the group Sac FANS on meetup.com. Within this group, there was an atheist book club which I attended regularly, Sunday Assembly, a secular congregation, opportunities to do volunteer work in the secular community, and so much more. I met some of the best people I know through this group and have had many rewarding experiences because of it.

Jacobsen: You are the president of the Yuba Community College SSA. What tasks and responsibilities come with the position? Why do you pursue this line of volunteering?

Pontif: That’s right, I am the president of the Yuba College Secular Student Alliance, I founded the group in January 2017. Because this is the first semester we’ve existed at Yuba, I’ve had a little more responsibility than one typically would. I organize and preside over meetings, activities, and events, maintain our web presence, book speakers, coordinate volunteer and service work, and other fun outings for the group. I choose to pursue this line of volunteering because I find it to be extremely necessary. Unfortunately, many people don’t realize how participating in certain religious practices and beliefs can be harmful to others. One’s religious beliefs might cause them to vote in favour of anti LGBTQ rights, against reproductive healthcare, against certain environmental policies, etc. When I start to tell people about the SSA, the first question I usually get is, “What does secular mean?”. Because young adults are oblivious to the most fundamental word concerning our government, is just a reminder that I have lots of work ahead of me.

Jacobsen: What personal fulfillment comes from it?

Pontif: In the short amount of time that I have been an officer with the SSA, I have had several rewarding experiences and the opportunity to meet some truly amazing people. Our group has had some great discussions about women’s rights, indoctrination, secularism in the government, etc. All of these discussions left attendees with a better understanding of the topic and a desire to do something about the issues. Because I recognize the injustice reflected by certain religious practices, I feel that I have a responsibility to shed light on them and do something about it. When I lobby for secular values, volunteer at outreach events, I get a huge sense of fulfilment in knowing that I served my community in a way that benefits everyone. I believe that when I do better, we do better.

Jacobsen: What are some of the more valuable tips for campus secularist activism?

Pontif: Great question, I’m still picking up on a few tips myself. So far, I’ve learned that the most useful form for secular activism is simply talking to people. When I learn that a student is intimidated by the word secular, despite knowing what it means, I’m able to open up a conversation and help them better understand how everyone benefits from secularism, not only nonbelievers. As long as people are scared to initiate conversations regarding secularism, it will always be a taboo. I encourage others to discuss religion and humanism on campus and generate those discussions that can lead people in the more enlightened direction. I often remind people that we were not here to condemn religion, but rather discuss it and its effects on social structures like government and education.

Jacobsen: What have been some historic violations of the principles behind secularism on campus? What have been some successes to combat these violations?

Pontif: Personally, I haven’t experienced any major violations of secular principles on campus however, there have been a couple of minor issues Last year I had a professor who spent valuable class time preaching the Mormon religion. I’m fully aware of academic freedom and a professor’s right to teach the class as he/she sees fit however, this was without a doubt a violation of those privileges. On more than one occasion I kindly asked him to discuss this matter before or after class time with anyone who may be interested. Despite my attempts, he continued to preach about flying serpents, Jesus Christ visiting the Americas, evidence of the earth being 6,000 years old, and so on. I decided to contact an associate at the California Community College Chancellors Office to assist me with a formal complaint to the dean. Although he continued preaching the following semester, I knew I had an obligation to speak up for secular values like the separation of church and state. Because many academics feel like they can utilize a public classroom to impose their religious beliefs on others, this is an ongoing issue, and I can only hope that students defend themselves and their rights.

Jacobsen: What are the main areas of need regarding secularists on campus?

Pontif: I feel like secularists are needed on campus to erase the stigma that we are not or cannot be kind, caring, contributing members of society. Student groups like SSA, are a way to reach out to students who may have questions about religion or non-belief. Many campuses have Christian or Muslim clubs and we need secular clubs to remind people that we are a diverse nation. Many secular groups like to show people that we do good for goodness’ sake, not in hopes of being rewarded or in fear of being punished.

Jacobsen: What is your main concern for secularism on campus moving forward for the next few months, even years?

Pontif: I suppose my biggest concern is student involvement. Yuba Community College is rather small and is located in a rural area, so we didn’t expect to rally or anything. Many students are focused on their studies and don’t make much time for extracurricular activities. I’d like students to know that they can focus on school work and still advocate for secular values. If we don’t do it, who will?

Jacobsen: What are the current biggest threats to secularism on campus?

Pontif: Frankly, I don’t see many threats to secularism on campus. I think if you have students who are willing to gather around the cause, you’re good to go! There can be some push-back from administrators or other students, but legally you have the right to make your voice heard. Groups might deal with their posters being defaced or something of that nature, but I think that makes what we do even more necessary.

Jacobsen: What are perennial threats to secularism on campus?

Pontif: As long as people are ignorant to what secularism is, there may always be threats against the movement. The current political landscape is trying to impose barriers for secularists, but I think we will ultimately prevail.

Jacobsen: What are the main social and political activist, and educational, initiatives on campus for secularists?

Pontif: All students should get involved with social, political, or educational activism. I think it is very important for people to learn about the resources available to better their overall experience. Other means of secular activism have led me to become involved with the SSA. I know that having these groups on campus can open many doors for student involvement, not just on campus, but in the community as well.

Jacobsen: What are the main events and topics of group discussions for the alliance on campus?

Pontif: Our weekly meetings are centered around discussion topics such as, women and religion, indoctrination, and LGBTQ rights. Throughout the semester we managed to get two phenomenal guest speakers to come out. In January, we hosted Mandisa Thomas, president and founder of Black Nonbelievers Inc,. She spoke about religion in the black community and certain issues associated with that such aas slave mentality, and socioeconomic setbacks. In May, we were honored to have president of California Freethought Day, David Diskin, speak to us about better understanding atheism and its history.

Jacobsen: How can people become involved and maintain the secular student alliance ties on campus?

Pontif: First, you have to make your group known and let people know that such a group even exists. To do so, I would suggest frequently putting flyers around campus letting people know when are where the meetings are held. At the end of the semester, many people told me they would’ve loved to join our group, but hadn’t heard of it. Communicating with your school’s club organizing office can help with promotion and web presence. Do something fun with your group, have a pizza party and feature a debate or movie. Engage in an activity with another club on campus, participate in a campus cleanup or fundraising event. Another way to maintain ties on campus, is to have an interfaith activity or event.

Jacobsen: Any feelings or thoughts in conclusion?

Pontif: Being a positive force in the community allowed me to channel my passion for humanism into real life actions, rather than into prayers that never get answered. Don’t just sit back in frustration of all the absurdity and inequality in the world, do something about it!

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, Kaeleigh.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Cayman Travis Gardner — President, University of North Alabama SSA

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/26

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is family background — geography, culture, language, religion/irreligion, and education?

Cayman Travis Gardner: Family background is where one derives a majority of their childhood moral compass. Depending of where in the country one grew up in, (Bible belt vs. northern states) they will be subjected to a number of cultural and religious factors during childhood. These factors can guild one’s life in terms of faith, or lack thereof, which in turn guild the rest of their opinions and moral reasoning.

Jacobsen: What is the personal background in secularism for you? What were some seminal developmental events and realizations in personal life regarding it?

Gardner: Personally, I was raised in a semi-religious Christian household where there were irregular, but forced, visits to church. Church always gave me anxiety as I have never agreed with the philosophies of the Bible. I considered myself Agnostic for much of my adolescent years, beginning when I began to understand independence from religion and what that really meant for me. But when I got to college I began to discover more about myself, as everyone does, and started to determine my exact ideals and how I wanted to support them. I familiarized myself with some philosophies about religion itself and this led to my declaration as an Atheist as I found problems with Christianity and religion as a whole that I could no longer associate myself with even partially, as I was as an Agnostic.

Jacobsen: You are the president of the University of North Alabama SSA. What tasks and responsibilities come with the position? Why do you pursue this line of volunteering?

Gardner: UNA Secular Student Alliance has opened many doors for myself and others in the group for self-exploration in the means of religion. We hold weekly meeting where we discuss a topic pertaining to religion and faith in our community/university, the area we live in and ultimately in the U.S.A. as a whole. These discussions often open the minds of our group members as well as myself. Alongside weekly meetings we have an assortment of events that we orchestrate on campus to spread awareness of Secularism, have open forums with the public on campus, and attempt to gain new members. For example, one of our events in Spring 2017 was named “Ask An Atheist Day” and we set up a table in one of the most popular buildings on campus all week and allowed any and all to ask our members any questions about Atheism or Secularism. This event is very helpful for bridging the gap between the Atheist and religious communities here at UNA.

I perused the title of President of UNA SSA because I could see no higher duty in my community for opening minds to the Atheist, Agnostic, freethinkers, AND religious individuals alike.

Jacobsen: What personal fulfillment comes from it?

Gardner: Our weekly meetings are also used as a safe place for secular individuals to escape the hyper-religious culture of the south that we live in. I have no better feeling than knowing that my meetings and events help others and myself in this fashion.

Jacobsen: What are some of the more valuable tips for campus secularist activism?

Gardner: Specifically in the south, we as Secularists and Atheists are not the most liked individuals on campus. However in the growing culture of acceptance of LGBT groups and other social “outliers”, our Secular group is growing more accepted by the day. In contrary to this, some believe that by UNA SSA holding an event such as “Ask An Atheist Day” in such a public space, we are attempting to infringe on their religious freedom or in some way are attacking their religion. While of course this is not true, it is important to understand as a group that holds events such as these that some individuals believe this and you may be on the receiving end of some hate. Do not be discouraged by this, our organization exists in part to spread awareness of Secularism and promote friendly discourse between differing opinions, thus resulting in coexisting peacefully.

Jacobsen: What have been some historic violations of the principles behind secularism on campus? What have been some successes to combat these violations?

Gardner: Generally speaking, UNA is a Christian majority campus where many organizations and groups are united under the umbrella of faith. There have been times where a Christian organization has set up their advertising tent in front of the residence halls. This is a breach of secularism on campus because the individuals who live on campus are subjected to experience their attempts to spread faith as they see it, making them unable to avoid the tent since they have to walk by it to return to their dorm. There has been relative success with this issue as the organizations have not done such advertising since.

Jacobsen: What are the main areas of need regarding secularists on campus?

Gardner: I believe the main requirement for Secularists on campus is a space to feel welcome. Having a group of friends or individuals where they can feel safe to not “hold their tongue” so to speak. As anyone does, we too desire a place to feel safe and welcomed.

Jacobsen: What is your main concern for secularism on campus moving forward for the next few months, even years?

Gardner: Specifically here at UNA, my worry is the cessation of having an SSA on campus after I leave in a couple of years. Our group numbers hover around 10–15 active members. Before I became the President there was a crisis within UNA SSA and the group’s continuation was threatened by the absence of a President. Thus, I became the President and have done my best to grow the group while also providing a successful organization for our current members. I am happy to say that we have done a great job so far with this goal!

Jacobsen: What are the current biggest threats to secularism on campus?

Gardner: The biggest, most current threat to secularism on campus is stigma. The stigma surrounding Atheism both historically and currently, though diminished, causes many people to assume our organization has ill-intentions. We are here to provide a healthy outlet for our members as well as spread awareness through de-stigmatization.

Jacobsen: What are perennial threats to secularism on campus?

Gardner: Stigma once again. The ideas of a few radiate through friend and social groups who think alike, thus propagating stigma.

Jacobsen: What are the main social and political activist, and educational, initiatives on campus for secularists?

Gardner: Sadly, the UNA Secular Student Alliance is the only organization providing for Secularists in campus currently. In the future, I would like to see a growth in either number of groups or size of the UNA SSA to better help those who are possibly questioning their faith.

Jacobsen: What are the main events and topics of group discussions for the alliance on campus?

Gardner: Our events often focus on educating the public by spreading awareness. Our discussions often relate to injustices among social groups or individuals based upon their defining traits (gender, race, sexual orientation, etc.) and how those injustices differ among the Secular crowd, and the religious crowd.

Jacobsen: How can people become involved and maintain the secular student alliance ties on campus?

Gardner: Through attending meetings and participating in events individuals can help UNA Secular Student Alliance with our mission as well as become a part of a welcoming group on campus.

Jacobsen: Any feelings or thoughts in conclusion?

Gardner: It is truly a new world, one where acceptance of groups or ideas that are not shared among the majority populous is growing. However, even though acceptance is growing, this does not mean our work is done. Many individuals emerging from their childhood, finding adolescence and/or emerging from their adolescence finding adulthood are searching for answers. We are able to help these individuals in their own pursuit of defining their faith, or the lack there of.

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, Cayman.

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2022-12-09

African Humanist Youth Days (AHYD) 2017 Report

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/24

The 2nd annual AHYD 2017 event took place in Lagos, Nigeria on the 7th and 8th of July, 2017. The event was hosted by the Humanist Assembly of Lagos and Sponsored by IHEU and IHEYO.

The theme for this year’s event was “African Youth for critical thinking and active Humanism”. It was attended by African humanists and Executive members of African humanist Organisations from Jicho Jipya Think Anew group from Tanzania, Common sense Humanists, Humanist Association of Ghana and Humanist Service Corps from Ghana and The Atheist Society of Nigeria, Nigeria Humanist Association and Humanist Society of Northern Nigeria from Nigeria and also attended by the IHEYO Chair of the African working group and President of the Humanist Association of Ghana, Roslyn Mould.

The event was broadcast live on the IHEYO African working group facebook and twitter pages as well as the Humanist Assembly of Lagos’ Facebook page.

Speakers for the event included Dr. Leo Igwe speaking via video call on iDoubt: Critical Thinking, Dogma and African Enlightenment in an Internet Age and Dr. Olatunde Olayinka Ayinde, Humanist, Psychiatrist and Social Critic speaking on Religion and Critical Thinking In Mental Health Practice in Nigeria. Michael Osei-Assibey, Organizing Secretary of the Humanist Association of Ghana also gave a presentation on Critical thinking.

The IHEU’s Director of Advocacy, Elizabeth O’ Casey gave her presentation via video call on Humanism, the IHEU & Advocacy issues in the African Region.

All the delegates gave presentations on their groups’ activities, challenges and resolutions since the onset or revival of their groups, Activism and Advocacy projects as well as plans on furthering their work. Achievements of Humanists were celebrated and lots of information shared on how to use strategies in the promotion of critical thinking.

An Award was presented to Dr. Leo Igwe by the IHEYO African Working group in recognition of his outstanding dedication and commitment to the promotion of Humanism in Africa and certificates were awarded to volunteer team members of the IHEYO African working group who have supported and worked with the Chair for the past year. Award ceremony is initiative started by the Chair, Roslyn Mould and supported by the IHEYO President, Marieke Prien to motivate and show appreciation for the hard work of African Humanists.

The AHYD presented a good opportunity for African humanists to meet and network most of whom met for the first time and to start working relationships to build the African working group and the African Humanist Community. The event gave a platform for many across the continent to be informed on social and political issues across the continent and how Active Humanism amongst the youth can be used to help advance positive change in their various countries.

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2022-12-09

Is Nonconformity Required to be Humanist in Our Modern Societies?

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/23

Is nonconformity required to be humanist in our current society?

Humanism is a philosophy of life that considers the welfare of humankind — rather than the welfare of a supposed God or gods — to be of paramount importance. (American Humanist Association, 2017).

As existing social, political practices draw largely on views that consider the welfare of a belief system to be of paramount importance, there is an intersection in the efforts of humanists and nonconformists. To be humanist is, and has been through time, to be a nonconformist.

Humanists are few. Where are they? They’re scattered. Some may not even know of their individual perspective on the world — as if the distant scent of love on the horizon. You know it’s there, but you can’t quite find it — and then it goes away.

But humanists are around. Why so few humanists, though? I think one variable or factor is time. It hasn’t had time to catch like wildfire as with the Abrahamic religions, for examples.

Also, as with the stated differences with atheists in the past and into the present, the transition is the explicit, open statement, “I am an atheist.” (Translation: ‘I don’t eat babies, give the ‘evil’ eye, or stand at the right side of the Satan in the Left hand path.’)

As a young explicit philosophy, maybe tacit in earlier times, humanism, as with ethical culture, is more open, in the countries which permit it, than probably ever. This openness may differentiate this time more than the eras in which prominent atheists lived such as Voltaire.

That means prior eras of atheists didn’t have the luxury of talking openly. The upcoming generations of atheists have an increasing platform. There are fewer heroes in the movement too, which is another outreach barrier.

The population, generally speaking, is more educated. More education will, statistically, translate into less religiosity (Pew Research Center, 2017). As with the more educated population — correlation is not causation but, the higher the birth rate then the higher the new number of children indoctrinated into the faith.

Richard Dawkins made this point, originally as far as I know. You do not have Muslim or Christian children. You have children of Christian or Muslim parents. That’s where the social and familial privilege of religion exists in another domain.

The ability to label and inculcate the children with the title prior to the child’s critical faculties have been built. That means, more or less, the religious family with this social and familial privilege having a higher birth rate will have more adherents in the long-term because the children of Christian or Muslim, and so on, will be labelled as the religion of their parents — out of tacitly abusive custom and norm, universally asserted as an implicit right.

There will be a decline in the number of global freethinkers, as in religious “none,” over time, as a percent of the global population of the religious grows, at least into 2050 (Pew Research Center, 2015).

The birth rate for the religious, simply even taking into account the Christianity and Islam examples, is higher than the nones. It seems tautological.

If a group’s collective birth rate is below replacement — 2.1 — and the other group’s birth rate is above replacement (and your group’s), then, in the long run, the group’s with the highest birth rate (above replacement rate) will be the ones to grow — with those having the highest birth rate having the highest new numbers per capita (Lipka & McClendon, 2017).

Pressures in nonconformity and being a “prudent” nonconformist involves outward and inward conformity. When reflecting on the outward conformity, there are the clothing someone wears. Their means of self-presentation is one form of conformity.

If in home life, in a place of worship, in the workplace, or in another country, the style of one’s hair, the coloring of the makeup and hair — if any, and the appropriateness of the clothing will be evaluated by others.

Conformity means fitting in; clothing is part of fitting in, or dress writ large, e.g. makeup, hair, and dress. Conformity can be in the spoken and written as well. Is this individual speaking, not necessarily the truths but, the ‘proper’ norms and attitudes as reflected by their speech and writing?

It could be as subtle as the introduction and send-off of an email, down to the specific vocabulary one uses in the aforementioned places, e.g. “in home life, in a place of worship, in the workplace, or in another country.”

Also, the partaking in the social practices of the culture for ease of interaction, security, prevent erroneous assumptions. Inward is a little different in style, but the same in content. One of the strongest forms of inward conformity may be the inculcation of the beliefs of the society in internal speech.

So if someone has completely imbibed the truisms of the culture, whether public, academic, or what have you, then things best not written or spoken may in fact best be unthought or not felt.

Then there are issues of media presence too. How many open atheists are there, for a sub-demographic example? If you take Reverend Gretta Vosper, she has been pilloried and praised in the media. She is an openly atheist reverend in the United Church of Canada, which may hold the title of the most progressive church in Canada.

The most prominent noted prejudice against non-believer comes from social life. So, it becomes harder to measure, but can affect future life success in a realistic sense, e.g. job prospects, social encounters, relationships.

This leaves a quandary for the non-believer, “Do I keep everything private or live honestly?” Tough choice. If the boss has a holy day, or day of observance, on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, then the employees may, more than chance, have to observe this, not in personal but, professional life.

That means the employee is, in a direct sense, engaging in parts of the observance with the employer. So, what does this mean for the limits of nonconformity? Should we accept a certain limit in our nonconformity?

No, but only if we are are willing to accept every consequence that follows for the implication that this sacrifice will result in future progress. This is a lot to ask of most people.

During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die. (Nelson Mandela Foundation, 2017)

Yes, if our life is at risk, then personal safety and basic survival of loved ones are important because, at times, lives are at stake for nonconformity, especially for one international second class: the irreligious.

The irreligious are given the death penalty in many countries for rejecting the divinity of holy figures, the authoritativeness of religious authorities, the inerrancy of holy texts, the rightness of asserted morality, and superiority of those upholding the dominant mythological doctrines.

Keeping in mind, that nonconformist views, in a society that shares everything with everyone, that humanists must be ready to defend their sentiments at any point in the future, no matter when or how genuine the sentiment.

What can be done, practically speaking? You, yes you, can use outward conformity and inner nonconformity for activist purposes. In a way, this is a means of the direct and indrect articulation of humanist ideals, through your way of living while remaining practical about the reality of the obstacles set for the secular types.

So, I leave you with a question:

Do we have an obligation to use our privilege to draw attention to the promotion of humanism?

References

American Humanist Association, 2017). What is Humanism?. Retrieved from https://americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/definition-of-humanism/.

Lipka, M. & McClendon, D. (2017, April 7). Why people with no religion are projected to decline as a share of the world’s population. Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/07/why-people-with-no-religion-are-projected-to-decline-as-a-share-of-the-worlds-population/.

Nelson Mandela Foundation. (2017). “I am prepared to die.”. Retrieved from https://www.nelsonmandela.org/news/entry/i-am-prepared-to-die.

Pew Research Center. (2017). Educational Distribution. Retrieved from http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/educational-distribution/.

Pew Research Center. (2015, April 2). The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010–2050. Retrieved from http://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/religious-projections-2010-2050/.

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2022-12-09

Conversation on Humanism, Irreligiosity, and Education in Nigeria with Dr. Leo Igwe — Session 3

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/23

Leo Igwe is the founder of the Nigerian Humanist Movement and former Western and Southern African representative of the International Humanist and Ethical Union. He holds a Ph.D. from the Bayreuth International School of African Studies at the University of Bayreuth in Germany, having earned a graduate degree in Philosophy from the University of Calabar in Nigeria. In this educational series, we explore Nigeria through Dr. Igwe’s expertise.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Without the appropriate provisions for a healthy and stable education and educational environment, this seems to leave many rural communities in difficult circumstances. Maybe, one question is not about the improvement of the education itself, but working from the foundations. How good are the educational provisions in this or that neighbourhood?

Dr. Leo Igwe: Well, neighbourhoods are not the same. There are rural and urban neigbourhoods, upper class, middle class and poor neighbourhoods. There are also liberal and conservative neighbourhoods, Christian and Islamic neighbourhoods.

The ways these neighbourhoods relate to education are different. Some relate better with eastern Islamic education, others may ally closely with western Christian education, still, others may go for a combination of both. So the way various neighbourhoods relate to education differs.

There are other intervening variables. And these variables are factors in determining how education works, no matter the quality of educational programs and curricula. An excellent educational curriculum is not enough!

Those who impact the knowledge are also important In fact, these circumstances go a long way in determining if education leads people away from ignorance, and into knowledge and enlightenment, or holds them firmly in chains in the cave of fear and ignorance. Then we can begin to establish proper curricula based on critical thinking, science, logic, and so on.

Jacobsen: How should we tackle both of these problems, even at the same time?

Igwe: We may have to burn the candle at both ends: put in place a sound curriculum and work on making the environments more receptive to the educational modules.

However, this is not going to be an easy task especially in situations where religious ideologies trump educational goals and objectives. Or better this is a challenging task because of religious usurpation of educational modules. Religions want education to serve their ends. So schools often try to Christianize or Islamize educational materials before they are allowed to be used in schools.

Schools in Nigeria are always trying to satisfy the interests of their owners even if it means watering down an excellent educational curriculum. So even if they agree to teach critical thinking, science and logic, the delivery is interspersed with religious caveats. That is why the secular schools such as the ones we have in Uganda present us with a glimmer of hope.

This is because in this case, one does not worry that the owners would sacrifice the curriculum on the altar of their religious interest. Instead, my guess is that secular schools would ensure optimal delivery of the educational curricula. But we must be aware that these secular schools are few, so few at the moment one in Nigeria and 3 in Uganda. So we need more secular schools in Nigeria and Africa to ensure a more hopeful future. Some Africanizing and Nigerianizing of critical thinking and the scientific method could especially help inspire the youth in their endeavours to learn more, be inspired more, and to pursue their dreams with adult examples.

Jacobsen: What are some examples of Africanizing and Nigerianizing these general human capacities, critical thinking and the scientific method?

Igwe: By Africanizing or Nigerianizing critical thinking and the scientific method, I do not mean anything exotic. No, not all. I rather mean trying to highlight the roots of these values in African culture and stop creating this false impression that critical thinking and science are western values. The habit of basing one’s knowledge claims on observation or experience does not belong to any culture or race. It is human and universal.

Although the ways that cultures account for this value may be different, that does not mean that the values are absence or alien, they have not been sufficiently emphasized. Africans must begin to account for the place and presence of critical inquiry and scientific method in their cultures.

They need to embark on scientific research and experiments and publish and share the results with the global scientific community. These research projects could be tailored to help discover cures for diseases that kill Africans or to highlight solutions to problems that plague the region.

Jacobsen: Who are some great critical thinkers, scientists, and humanists in Nigerian history?

Igwe: There are actually many of them. They include Tai Solarin, Sheila Solarin, Mokwugo Okoye, Beko Ransome Kuti, Wole Soyinka, Steve Okecha, Nkeonye Otakpor.

Jacobsen: What can inspire the youth to take on those subjects, such as chemistry, physics, and biology, to build this better future for Nigeria?

Igwe: Young people want to know that there are opportunities and resources to study these subjects. The challenge is that some youths who want to study science subjects may not have the resources to learn them. They may not afford the money to go to school. Some may go to school but the schools may not have qualified teachers to handle the subjects.

The schools may not have libraries and laboratories, and where these facilities exist, they may not be equipped. To get youths to study science subjects, there should be schools where these subjects could be properly delivered. There should be scholarship opportunities, well-qualified teachers and well-equipped libraries and laboratories. There should be incentives; the government should ensure that there is some social capital in studying science.

Jacobsen: Who are some public science communicators in the country now?

Igwe: The only one I know is Prof Steve Okecha from Ambrose Alli University. There are actually others who are doing a good job whom I do not know.

Jacobsen: Have you had the privilege of becoming friends with personal heroes in science, critical thinking, and humanism?

Igwe: Yes, I have and I found it inspiring how they, ordinary people, accomplished extraordinary feats. Becoming friends with them or getting to know them personally deepened my admiration for them!

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2022-12-09

An Anonymous Interview with a Gay Ex-Muslim

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/22

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Is there an embassy or someplace which can help with a visa and travel to at least a more moderate country?

Anonymous Gay Ex-Muslim: I basically belong from Pakistan and currently living in Saudi Arabia for my job Purpose. So here we don’t see any forum which can help the people like me to move to a better place.

Jacobsen: What is your story in becoming a non-believer?

Anonymous Gay Ex-Muslim: I was a believer till I was under graduation but then I met a friend on Facebook and in no time we became best friends. Slowly he made me to think over the Concept of GOD and Science. I started to analyze the things and my findings made me to accept that I was just obeying someone blindly and in real there is no such power. This was a turning point for me from believer to non-believer.

Jacobsen: How has this impacted personal life?

Anonymous Gay Ex-Muslim: It impacted my personal life in a way that I get irritated seeing the religious stuff happening in my surroundings and I find myself unable to utter a word even as I live in society where if I will go to speak for me I will be dumped like anything. My family is believer but they are moderate ones. I am non believer in closet actually.

Jacobsen: Do you keep things inside and do not tell many people?

Anonymous Gay Ex-Muslim: Yeah exactly I do same. But there is only one person whom I love more than anything in life; He knows all my feelings and things which I cannot share with anyone else. He is love of my life.

Jacobsen: What would be the likely reaction of the community and religious authorities to your beliefs and sexual orientation?

Anonymous Gay Ex-Muslim: If I expose myself to them I will have to face serious consequences which will lead to my death without any doubt as there have been such cases in my society where innocents were killed just due to some doubts of being non-believer of God etc. Sexual orientation also matters a lot in my community as it’s forbidden in our religion to make relation with same sex partner. There are some rules for that which leads to death of victim or life lasting prisoning.

Jacobsen: What is your main message for people in developed countries — mostly Western — that you can’t say publicly with an open identity in your country without being labeled a terrorist or an infidel/apostate and then threatened with death?

Anonymous Gay Ex-Muslim: I will give a loud voice to the West that please helps me. I love a boy and without him I feel myself incomplete. I would request them to help me by any mean to get me out of this place into a better one where I can live my life freely with my love and can enjoy the multiple colors of life which is just given one time to us.

Jacobsen: Is there an underground renaissance of critical thinking and moderate religiosity and outright irreligiosity in your home country?

Anonymous Gay Ex-Muslim: Yes there are many more like me who are non-believers like me in closet. Some teams also do hidden work to sort out issues and help people like me. But very few of us can approach them as they work so silently that it’s hard to find them.

Jacobsen: What is your main situation now? How can the international community help those in similar circumstances because so many more stories like this are out there?

Anonymous Gay Ex-Muslim: My situation is like I was living with my love in Saudi Arabia who belongs from another country. Due to bad situation of work he left Saudi Arabia. Now we both are apart from each other and it’s very difficult to stay far like this. I will want and request international community to help us in a way which brings us together and in a better place where there is freedom of speech and equal rights of choice to all. I believe that love is something which if someone loses, he or she cannot be happy at all. I found my true love and I don’t want to lose. Those who are reading this and they also love someone they will surely understand my feelings and pain of being far from your love.

Jacobsen: Any feelings or thoughts in conclusion based on the conversation today?

Anonymous Gay Ex-Muslim: I would like to thanks your platform which gave a chance to speak out and convey my feelings to others. I just hope this step will lead me to some success and better life. I convey my thanks to all those who support me and understand me.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the time today.

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2022-12-09

Interview with Roar Johnsen — Treasurer of International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) and Past President of the Norwegian Humanist Association

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/21

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What was your family background — geography, culture, language, religion/irreligion, and education?

Roar Johnsen: I am living in Oslo, the capital of Norway, with a population of more than half a million people. I have a degree in marketing and administration, but have worked as a consultant in IT for the last 35 years. Norway has had a Christian state church system, which only recently separated from the state, so Christianity is dominating in school education and cultural tradition. However, the majority of Norwegians are not really believers, but stay on as church members out of tradition and ceremonial services. My parents were passive church members and freethinkers. I realized while in college that I was an atheist, and left the church as soon as I could, and my parents followed shortly after. I joined the Norwegian Humanist Association ten years later, and has been an active volunteer since 1979.

Jacobsen: You are board member for IHEU. How does the position work? Why do you pursue this line of work?

Johnsen: The Board of IHEU are responsible for IHEU strategy development and its operation between the annual General Assemblies. Over time, the workload of the Board change quite much. When we have a very small office staff, or none at all, the Board has to be very active and operational, while when we have an Chief Executive and other staff, as now, the Board can be more strategic and leave most of the operational issues to the staff. The Board meet in person four times a year, and have four Board meetings by Skype. Some Board members are also participating in working groups or sub-committees.

Jacobsen: What personal fulfillment comes from it?

Johnsen: Apart from the satisfaction of seeing the organization operating successfully and growing over time, it is very stimulating to meet with local activists all over the world. When we meet at a world Humanist congress, a general assembly or a national event, it is always a positive exchange of experiences, viewpoints and challenges. Even if the conditions are very different from country to country, we share many of the same issues, and can use many of the same strategies to work on those issues. When we hear that we have been able to help a local organization grow, or someone has been motivated to continue their effort for a Humanist group, that is a very good motivation for me as well.

Jacobsen: How does the general global public view the humanist and ethical culture movements compared to other worldviews and movements?

Johnsen: That is a difficult question! I am not sure that we have something we can call “the general global public view” on these matters. The situation is very different in various places and contexts. Some non-religious organizations focus on their own members and keeps a non-confrontational style in public. Such organizations are often well respected in society, but does not get big headlines in media and grow slowly. Other organizations are more confrontational, and create more headlines in media, but may have problems achieving a good working relationship with the authorities and other religious and life stance groups. Overall, I think that non-religious groups are, slowly but surely, gaining more understanding and respect worldwide.

Jacobsen: What are the main areas of need regarding the irreligious in the world?

Johnsen: We must focus on respect for human rights, which is the topic of the Freedom of Thought report that IHEU publish every year. In too many countries the non-religious are discriminated against, partly by governments and partly by extremists not being stopped by governments. Other issues are religious education in public schools, which should be only in history classes, and promotion of scepticism and the scientific method, which can help people avoid the worst problems of traditional thinking, superstition and new age prophets.

Jacobsen: What has been one of the most touching stories you’ve ever personally witnessed or heard of through IHEU?

Johnsen: Over the years, I have met many activists and many people who have been helped out of situations where they were victims of discrimination based on religion. They all have a story to tell! The Atheist Centre in Vijayawada in India has helped many people, and one of their major projects has been the rehabilitation of an entire village “of thieves” called Stuartpuram. When they started that work, they realized that they would have to carry on for at least two generations, but started anyway. When we visited the village, they could look back on many years of dedicated and successful work. A touching story, indeed!

Jacobsen: Also, you are an IT consultant, and IT service management project manager. You volunteer for the Norwegian Humanist Association too — and have been its president too. How have these positions helped prepare you for the current and ongoing IHEU work — since 2006?

Johnsen: All people who volunteer for organizations bring with them good practices from their professions, whether they are lawyers, teachers, business people or project managers. My background has helped me guide organizations in developing their organizational structures, their finances and their work programs. Volunteer organizations need good management too! Having been internationally active since my first World Humanist Congress in Hannover in 1982, it was natural to volunteer for the IHEU Board at the end of my tenure as president for the Norwegian Humanist Association.

Jacobsen: What is your main concern for humanism moving forward into 2017–2020? How about into the next decades?

Johnsen: Humanism will continue to grow, there is no doubt about that. However, not all Humanists or other non-religious people feel the need to be organized in one of our many groups, so organized Humanism will always be smaller than our wider community. Many of our organizations are having much more to do than their resources will allow, so for many years ahead we will have to focus on the core issues for the non-religious that only we will do.

Jacobsen: What are the biggest threats to irreligious types in the world today?

Johnsen: In most countries, the non-religious does not face any serious personal threats, the problems are more of a systemic kind. However, in some countries, intolerant religious groups and even the authorities themselves, are threatening, intimidating and even hurting people for their lack of religion. All Humanist groups must participate in helping our less fortunate fellow humanists, as well as taking care of their own local business.

Jacobsen: What are perennial threats to humanism and ethical culture?

Johnsen: Political instability and continued poverty are the main problems in many societies today, and often affects cultural minorities even more than the majority. It is interesting to see that many studies show that when a population grows from poverty through education to a more secure society, the need for religion is reduced. And we find that regardless of which religion you come from, when you leave it and find a secular life stance, most people ends up with Humanism.

Jacobsen: Any feelings or thoughts in conclusion?

Johnsen: It is very nice to see the way IHEYO has developed over the last few years, and it is important that we continuously manage to engage with new generations of youth. The sooner they become engaged in Humanist activism, the faster the world will improve!

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, Roar, that was interesting.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Professor Michael J. Berntsen — Faculty Advisor, University of North Carolina at Pembroke SSA — Part 3

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/20

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Jacobsen: What are the current biggest threats to secularism on campus?

Professor Michael J. Berntsen: Anger and insulation. Most campuses have provisions for free-speech, but people’s anger and inability to listen to unpopular thoughts have threatened those policies. The main issue is that Americans have confused unpopular with controversial and illegitimate. For example, anti-vaccinations have no right to speak in public forums because their views are unsubstantiated just as a science teacher should have no right to teach creationism. This denial of speaking is not a violation of free-speech because they are free to believe and speak in other private and public forums. The real issue is that in public education spaces, we should welcome controversial and unpopular views that have foundations in reason, measurable research, and experimental validity.

Another example I always provide is Take Back the Night events. Organizers would be irresponsible if they invited a rapist to speak. This form of exclusion is not censorship, but rather a logical omission. We don’t need to hear the side of a rapist. A rapist lost all rights to participate in public forums by committing one of the most disgusting violations. This idea that every side has to be included is a form of fanaticism. Logical reasoning would deduce that educational spaces require educated and reasonable voices. The blend of expertise and common sense is crucial to protect fundamental freedoms.

We are at a crucial time in American democracy in which we have to define exactly the parameters of free-speech since many people are confusing it with chaotic-speech. Groups who seek to pervert free-speech into an anarchical extreme will do more damage to secularist freedoms than religious zealots.

Other threats carry over from American culture include what I call Machiavelli Christianity and the return to Romanticism. Machiavelli Christianity is demonstrated by Christians voting against public safety in order to preserve strict dogma. All the outrage against needle programs and marriage equality and transgender rights produces terrible laws that threaten the safety and freedoms of all. Under Mike Pence’s leadership, Indiana experienced an AIDS epidemic that should have drawn compassion from Christians, yet this issue was abandoned given Pence’s push for supposed religious freedoms.

The return to Romanticism is another overarching threat. Even though Steven Colbert parodied this sentiment over a decade ago, the notion that emotions are more trustworthy and truthful than facts. This impulse explains why people are quick to believe fake news and so quick to reject expert opinions. This aspect is linked with Machiavelli Christianity. There is a certain arrogance inherent with believing that you know the truth above the rest of the world. This idea parallels the notion that personal instinct is greater than other people’s perspective.

Jacobsen: What are perennial threats to secularism on campus?

Berntsen: Not comprehending that atheists are good people and thinking all secularists are atheists. These confusions hurt all of us who think complexly and embrace all sorts of secularist philosophies. I’ve known many heathens and humanists who would love to join the SSA, but think it’s an atheist club or fear others will assume their affiliation will mean that they are atheists, which threatens creative and productive collaboration.

Jacobsen: What are the main social and political activist, and educational, initiatives on campus for secularists?

Berntsen: This aspect depends on the needs of the school. Establishing Secular Safe Zone allies is a great start because it can educate all members of the university communities.

We should also copy the Secular Safe Home programs in areas where children and young adults are abused for questioning religious leaders and ideas.

Ultimately, we need to stay visible at all costs. While many of our billboards around the country are vandalized, we need to keep putting them up. Right now, placing “Thank You, Jesus!” signs are everywhere, so we need to counter with “Thank You, Science!” ones. Any initiative should attempt to showcase the importance secularism had on American history and its necessity to unify American citizens in the 21st century.

Initiatives that rely on collaboration are the most essential and will be the most successful because doing so immediately eradicates the notion that atheists are militant.

Jacobsen: What are the main events and topics of group discussions for the alliance on campus?

Berntsen: Types of events also depend on the campus. Holding events that are open to the public and campus are crucial. The UNCP SSA held a “History of Witches” lecture on Halloween, we hosted a “Gender in Advertisement” debate, which we organized with the GSA and Gender Studies department. We also hosted a “Truth about Evolution” night with the Episcopal student group, which helped to show the scientific proof why creationism couldn’t actually work. Again, for any secular group on campus, aiming for collaboration is indispensable in promoting and maintaining the group.

Jacobsen: How can people become involved and maintain the secular student alliance ties on campus?

Berntsen: The best way is to establish sustainable resources on campus and share responsibilities. If a faculty member wants to establish a Secular Safe Zone, be the founder and go-to expert, but don’t be afraid to co-host training sessions with colleagues or students. Make sure there is someone to take up any activities if you leave. The same applies to students. Even if you don’t have someone in mind when you first start out, make sure, as the group grows and catches momentum, that you inspire the members to become leaders. Embracing the small steps and small victories is a great way to avoid being discouraged, so you can keep on keeping on.

Jacobsen: Any feelings or thoughts in conclusion?

Berntsen: Thank you for all, you do!

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, Mike.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Professor Michael J. Berntsen — Faculty Advisor, University of North Carolina at Pembroke SSA — Part 2

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/19

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What personal fulfillment comes from it?

Professor Michael J. Berntsen: Raising awareness and seeing people embrace new ideas motivate me. Since I became advisor, 42 faculty and staff members as well as 14 students have trained to be Secular Safe Zone allies. These training sessions offer a chance for like-minded people to share their ideas and stories as well as opportunities for unlike-minded people to learn more about others, producing many moments of enlightenment. My greatest joy is when I can dismantle preconceived notions, stereotypes, assumptions, presumptions, and misguided opinions. When people realize that atheists have similar moral codes and identical views concerning the importance of family, they empathize and understand who we are, which is an important step in moving from ignorance to tolerance to acceptance.

Jacobsen: What are some of the more valuable tips for campus secularist activism?

Berntsen: Avoid ever being concerned with numbers. Whether one person or a thousand people attend, embrace the people who can help you grow and your organization.

Plan events you want to attend. Think as a group and organize events that everyone is excited about.

Attend the SSA conference each year to generate and refresh the passion for your group and your sense of activism.

Despite how many other groups may behave or believe, campus is a place for exchanges, but not for conversions. Secular activism on campuses should be meant to educate and create useful dialogues rather than bent on changing people’s minds.

Jacobsen: What have been some historic violations of the principles behind secularism on campus? What have been some successes to combat these violations?

Berntsen: The main issue is the prayer disguised as an invocation at every commencement ceremony. While it is inclusive to cover anyone who believes in higher powers, it still represents how religions attempt to dominate public spheres. This fight is ongoing.

Overall, our UNCP campus has not suffered heavy violations. While our students have had issues with family and friends, they have always felt comfortable on campus. The only time we encounter resistance is in an immature, passive way. Whenever we post flyers on campus, they are inevitably taken down. Campus police and the administration are aware and concerned about this juvenile form of protest, but it continues to happen at times.

Jacobsen: What are the main areas of need regarding secularists on campus?

Berntsen: Enthusiasm and perseverance from students are essential. Students need to celebrate their secular philosophies and be confident in sharing them, which is why the SSA and other such groups exist. If students are interested in forming or reviving an SSA affiliate, they must continually inspire students from each year to join and show the group’s relevance.

Depending on area, secularists need confidants, friends, and mentors to be visible. While proclaiming one’s secular tendencies and identities can be risky for many, each one of us must normalize secular thoughts and actions.

The greatest challenge is making people understand the secular spectrum and encouraging them to think of atheists as people rather than god-haters. The crux is that certain dogmatic and fanatical groups cast atheists as the ultimate sinners, so there is a certain difficulty in finding common ground and helping them perceive atheists as human. I’ve met a few Southerners in North Carolina and Louisiana who are openly gay with their family, but will never reveal their atheist beliefs because that would permanently destroy any relationship.

Jacobsen: What is your main concern for secularism on campus moving forward for the next few months, even years?

Berntsen: Popularism or populism, depending on which word you prefer, and blind faith are the highest threats. While secularism is on the rise in Western cultures, America will be a believer’s battleground for decades to come. Political leaders in many states continue to push evangelical agendas even when religious leaders unite against bathroom bills and anti-abortion bills disguised as building regulation bills. I am worried that many students in oppressively religious areas will remain silent and hidden. I fear they will let others speak and shout even when their falsehoods and emotions poison the public discourse.

“Have a Blessed Day” exemplifies the current trend of over-extending church into the public sphere. This phrase was not common before the 21st century. Now, everyone feels obligated to say it rather than “have a good day.” Most people say it because it is normal to them now. When others, such as myself, politely confront them by highlighting its unnecessarily religious connotation, they simply respond, “that’s how things are done.” If people can be convinced that bringing religion into all sectors of conversation from a cashier’s good-bye to closing a deal to a friendly thank you, even more dangerous dogmatic ideas can permeate the American consciousness on campuses.

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2022-12-09

Phrase Matters: “Good Without God,” “Under God,” and “In God We Trust”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/18

Humanists, as noted by the American Humanist Association (AHA), believe in the principle of “Good without God” (AHA, 2012). In this, we can derive the philosophy of secularism, as in secular humanism, which strives for a secular government with the separation of church and state. The United States has violated this separation on occasion, and so has violated principles inherent in humanism.

This is important because millions of American citizens do not adhere to a faith or a religion (Pew Research Center, 2016; Newport, 2016). They remain unaffiliated with religion. Faiths with preference in the legal system make the law unequal for Americans in general.

Take, for examples, the uses of the phrases “Under God” and “In God we Trust” (IHEU, 2016). Of course, these are explicit theistic terms, of which millions of American citizens will disagree (Alper & Sandstrom, 2016).

It has a history too. Since the Cold War, there was paranoia about atheism because of association with communism (Ibid.). The phrase “Under God” was interpolated to the Pledge of Allegiance by “The Knights of Columbus.” What is the issue here?

The implication is those without belief in a God, or gods, cannot take the Pledge of Allegiance with total legitimacy. “In God we Trust” was established in 1956 as the motto of the US. It is a recent addition to the public discourse around religion in the American canon.

As the Freedom of Thought Report notes, the secular and minority religious groups have worked to establish the separation between church and state. This is for the betterment of all, including the attempts to make the Pledge of Allegiance and the motto secular. The most recent attempts, among many prior, to the supreme court and appeals court cases being in April of 2014.

For another example, there was an AHA campaign in 2015 to remove the mandatory statement of the Pledge of Allegiance with the encroached religious phraseology and language by students, in academic settings. This is an ongoing issue of concern and needed deliberation, and subsequent activism. Many American citizens don’t want theological verbiage in public statements — including mandatory ones — such as the pledge, especially the irreligious members of society.

References

Alper, B.A. & Sandstrom, A. (2016, November 14). If the U.S. had 100 people: Charting Americans’ religious affiliations

Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/14/if-the-u-s-had-100-people-charting-americans-religious-affiliations/.

American Humanist Association. (2012). American Humanist Association’s Key Issues. Retrieved from https://americanhumanist.org/key-issues/statements-and-resolutions/issuessummary/.

IHEU. (2016). Freedom of Thought Report: United States of America. Retrieved from http://freethoughtreport.com/countries/americas-northern-america/united-states-of-america.

Newport, F. (2016, December 23). Five Key Findings on Religion in the US. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/200186/five-key-findings-religion.aspx.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Professor Michael J. Berntsen — Faculty Advisor, University of North Carolina at Pembroke SSA — Part 1

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/18

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is family background — geography, culture, language, religion/irreligion, and education?

Professor Michael J. Berntsen: I grew up in a Catholic family in New Jersey. While my mother and father were religious, my father volunteered as a lectern and my mother was a member of a Bible study group, they were aware of how dangerous religion could be. My mother’s parents experienced much sorrow since my grandfather was Irish Catholic, while my grandmother was Irish Protestant. Many family members, mostly on my grandfather’s side disowned them. This rejection echoed Christian hypocrisy and demonstrated to me how false religious sentiment could be.

My parents also opposed the Catholic Church’s anti-abortion, anti-birth control, and anti-homosexual stances, so their practice of their religion had more thought and self-awareness. They had faith in their God, yet they saw the human flaws inherent in the worship and practice of any religion.

My current affiliation is humanism. On good days, I’m more agnostic. On bad days, I’m more atheist. While I gravitate on the spectrum, I usually label myself a secularist or humanist. For thousands of years, religions have dominated human existence, yet here we are in the 21st century, and human trafficking and slavery are great threats, starvation thrives in numerous nations, and wars rage across the planet. I have yet to witness religions solve any world issues.

I currently live in Laurinburg, North Carolina. My Ph.D. is in literary studies and creative writing.

Jacobsen: What is the personal background in secularism for you? What were some seminal developmental events and realizations in personal life regarding it?

Berntsen: While I spent my early teenage years as an active youth leader for St. Cecilia Church in Rockaway, NJ, I started questioning religion once a friend came out as a lesbian. She was even more involved with the church than I, but the priest treated her crisis of identity and faith with flippant answers. Here was a person devoted to the Catholic faith, yet the priest reduced her to a cliché. No matter what she would say to the priest, he repeated the same response, “It’s okay to be gay, you just can’t act on it.” She would bring up scripture, talk about footnotes, discuss how there’s no real mention of female homosexuality, but it was a monologue rather than a dialogue. She needed someone to talk to and with, but, since he was driven by strict dogma, his version of helping came off as insincere and unintellectual. My initial frustrations with religion begin with her experience.

I also have a few gay cousins who are kind, smart, and hilarious. My version of God would not send them to hell for a seemingly arbitrary reason. The God I wanted to believe in could not be found entirely in any sacred text. At this point, I started piecing together a god much like Frankenstein and his creature. As I read Buddhist, Taoist, Muslim books, I could see ideas that had potential, but the ghost of judgmental dogma always eclipsed the calls for enlightenment and peace. Some group or some simple act would inevitably lead someone to the underworld, which always seemed silly.

The idea of Satan, too, made no sense to me. If Satan punishes those who have turned away from God, he must be working for God. Why would Satan punish people who are on his side unless he is a demonic secret agent? I did not need to believe in a devil to know pure evil. Corrupt politicians, gangs, drug lords, human traffickers, and other such base people were doing much more real damage to my state and to the world than any red hot fallen angel with hipster facial hair.

The more I investigated reason and science, the more I realized that a just society could build its structure on rational laws, promoting logical discourse and decision making. The notion that people do good out of fear of being punished or out of some promise to live forever in a paradise seems rooted in selfishness or self-centered desire. More meaningful actions come from critical thinking.

Jacobsen: You are the faculty advisor of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke SSA. What tasks and responsibilities come with the position? Why do you pursue this line of volunteering?

Berntsen: The most important responsibility is acting as a mentor. The first year I became the advisor, we had students whose parents kicked them out when they came out as atheists and students who lost friends when they revealed their atheist views. The students provide the friendships they need, so my job requires me to cultivate their philosophies, to ensure they respect all beliefs, and to guide them to mature decisions and directions concerning their campus presence.

The other tasks include the bureaucratic elements of the club, making sure they follow a budget, adhere to university policies, obey national SSA guidelines, respect each other since each student varied within the agnostic and atheistic spectrum, and plan events that entertain and educate.

The background responsibility, of course, is making sure students have someone on campus who will defend their beliefs and protect them if people start to harass them for speaking out. Luckily, the UNCP campus has a culture of civility, so blatant harassment was never a problem. We have an Office of Diversity and Inclusion, which has succeeded in providing a campus community that promotes open dialogues.

I pursued this opportunity when students ask me to be the advisor because my job as a teacher is to support all intellectual pursuits and encourage personal development. Since atheists and non-theists are marginalized and encounter varieties and overt and passive discrimination, I believe it is my job as an American to protect this group and make sure they have equal opportunities to promote and present their voices.

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2022-12-09

A Call for the Reclamation of Music

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/16

Steve Martin produced one of the first hymns for the atheist crowd in, well, probably ever, which he termed the “the entire atheist hymnal” (Martin, 2017; V1de0Lovr, 2011). And its actually very good, not only because he’s a talented musician and an extremely gifted comedian — among the best ever by a reasonable IMDb peer review measurement, but because a) there’s nothing to compare it to so the hymn remains both the best and the worst of its kind by definition internally and b) I have sung in a university choir and find the song ‘pleasing to the ear’ (IMDb, 2013).

Martin sings the hymn with a quartet of male singers in the performance, which has, likely, become the first staple of the atheist hymnal genre — hopefully more to come — and goes against the expected stereotype from two angles. Angle one, those looking at the rather thin, tawdry, and rather small set of texts — simply Hume and Voltaire for starters — devoted to atheism as compared to those — such as Augustine, Anselm, and Aquinas — oozing with praise to the Heavens, and God the Almighty Father, and with tacit, nay explicit, statement of how “so absolutely huge” or simply big is the Theity reflect the musical world (247adam, 2008). Religion, or worship and communal rituals, dominates the historical, and so the present, landscape.

Take, for example, Herz Und Mund Und Tat Und Leben, or “Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life,” a beautiful piece of work by Johann Sebastian Bach and one of the more memorable pieces of music in the older Western canon, which brings mist to my eyes, sometimes (Umut Sağesen, 2007; Marshall & Emery, 2016). Or one closer to home, by Bach once more, played with a dead, reasonably famous, Canadian pianist named Glenn Gould and accompanied by another artist, a singer, named Russell Oberlin, it was entitled Bach Cantata 54 (Xiaolei Chen, 2011). It is another moving piece with a sentiment for the transcendent; something outside and other, even infinitely mysterious — lovely piece. So angle one is the communal and social, and well-established, music is seen as religious. Many people coming to think of the ways in which the religious music is in congregations as, in some way, akin to these pieces of music.

Angle two, the music typically associated with irreligious individuals does not tend to associate with the communal or the social, but, rather, with the a-social, antisocial, or the deviant. There seems to me a negative valuation of some music, which then becomes associated with irreligiosity, even Satanism, including the rock n’ roll and head bangin’ band movements. Those two angles, of many, seem to influence the perception, and so the motivation, for the development of an irreligious genre of music, even hymns — until now.

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2022-12-09

Interview with Dr. Giovanni Gaetani — Growth and Development Officer, IHEU

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/17

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What was family background — geography, culture, language, religion/irreligion, and education?

Dr. Giovanni Gaetani: That’s a huge subject! Making a long story short, I can say what follows. Raised as a Catholic, I started questioning my faith at the age of 15. My “conversion” to atheism has been a slow, long, and gradual process, in at least 4 stages.

The first stage was the anti-clerical Christian one: without putting in doubt the existence of God, I started harshly criticizing the authority of Church, which I used to think betrayed the Christian message.

It was to better defend this message that I decided to read the Bible alone, without any intermediate, as an autodidact theist. What a bad idea it was! Indeed, this apologetic attempt ended up being the end of my faith in God. Why?

Because I found it impossible to keep together every contradictory message in the Bible — turning the other cheek with the fire-rain of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Plagues of Egypt with Jesus’s miracles, the commandment of stoning adulterous women with the ethics of forgiveness, and so on. “If this is the Word of God,” I thought, “I’d rather live without it…”

At the age of 18, I became an agnostic deist; that is, I still believed in a universal, superior principle whilst criticizing every revealed religion in the world. Anyway, this was short transitory phase.

When I went to the university to study philosophy, I realized that I could not believe in God, whatever I defined it. From that moment, I became an atheist; even though, today, I prefer to say, “I am a Humanist.” The difference is important for me. The problem in Italy is nobody knows nor uses this term. That’s a real pity! I hope things will change soon.

One last thing, it’s worth to be reported here about my bio. At the age of 25, I officially left the Catholic Church through a formal and legal procedure named “sbattezzo” — literally the act of “de-baptising”.

I’ve done it for many reasons, but one, in particular, I think it’s the most important: many people in the world can’t freely and publicly say that they don’t believe in God as I myself can do practically everywhere in Europe and in the UK.

My “sbattezzo” is a way to vindicate the freedom of belief and of expression many atheists and humanists in the world are deprived of. My plain reasoning is the following: if they can’t, I must.

Jacobsen: You joined IHEU in January, 2017. What have been some of the more startling developments in the IHEU community, even in your short time there What have you found out about the community and the things that we are dealing with?

Gaetani: Now, I had a closer insight into it. I can reasonably say that the international humanist community is a prism with hundreds of different faces. Every Member Organization has its own history, its own challenges, as well as its own way to carry on those challenges. However, we share the same roots and values, and have a common vision of life.

Concerning the progress we made, in these first five months, we have already launched two new amazing projects (the Café Humaniste and the ¿Qué pasa Humanista?). Also, we are preparing to launch other projects, while doing our best to help our 138 Member Organizations all over the world.

Jacobsen: How do you build the relationships for the rapid growth of new ties and strengthening of the existing ties in your new position? Also, as the growth and development officer, what tasks and responsibilities come with this position?

Gaetani: We are trying to let the IHEU speak in as many languages as possible, because we must be proactive in our efforts to globalize and reach potential humanists wherever they are in the world. That’s why we have already organised three events in Spanish, one in Italian, and soon other events in other languages.

My professional task is to implement IHEU’s Growth and Development Plan, a three-year plan that targets three regional priorities (Latin America, Africa, and Asia), and includes many different, interesting projects. As an example among the others, we are developing an “How to start a Humanist organization” guide, which is part of a bigger four-section guide — coming soon…

Jacobsen: How does the mainstream religion in America historically view and treat women, especially in the light of modern rights such as general women’s rights and reproductive rights?

Gaetani: You say America, but this is valid worldwide.

I am a feminist, so I cannot but be drastic on this precise point. I could literally spend hours discussing how sexist all religions are in themselves. Even so, rather than focusing on this, I prefer to work with women and men to build together a Humanist alternative, where all human beings are respected in and of themselves, regardless of their gender identity, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnicity, beliefs, and so on.

Indeed, both the feminist struggle for women’s right and the LGBTQIA movement are part of the bigger, thrilling Humanist challenge.

Jacobsen: Women’s rights, especially reproductive rights, in the world are under direct, and indirect, attack. How can grassroots activists, legal professionals, and educational professionals, and outreach officers fight to maintain those new and fragile rights from the historic norm of religious violations of women’s bodies?

Gaetani: That’s a complicated question, which nonetheless demands an urgent, unavoidable answer. First of all, all activists need to understand (and spread) the idea that today no one can sit down and wait for the world to change.

Those who do it, claiming that they are doing “nothing wrong,” are automatically standing on the regressive side of the struggle. It’s like an enormous tug-of-war. Many nihilists or “indifferentists” sit innocently on their hands, claiming that every progressive effort is impossible or useless.

They don’t understand that in this way they are rowing against progress — and that, yes, they are actually doing “something wrong.” Neutrality is impossible today. Everyone has to understand that nihilism is an enemy of Humanism at the same level of religion, as I stressed in a short article for Humanist voices named “Stay Human, go Humanist. Sketches for a Humanist manifesto.”

Concerning the feminist cause, it’s all about education and reeducation. We need to educate the new generations to respect women, but, at the same time, we need also to extirpate in our own souls all sexist behaviours, often hidden in our daily routine behind a facade of innocence.

Jacobsen: In April, 2016, you earned a PhD in Philosophy from the Rome “Tor Vergata” University. The thesis: “If you want to be a philosopher, write novels. The philosophy of Albert Camus.” What was the research question? What were the findings? Why did you pick Camus? He is, after all, a little depressing.

Gaetani: A little depressing? That’s simply wrong — one of the many persistent commonplaces on Camus! My thesis was simply an attempt to debunk all these myths about Camus “the existentialist” (false), Camus “the nihilist” (false), Camus “philosopher for high school” (false too), Camus “crypto-Christian” (outrageously false), etc.

If you want to read something funny that I wrote on the subject, have a look at “The noble art of misquoting Camus — from its origins to the Internet era”, an essay where I listed and debunked the most absurd internet misquotes attributed to Camus.

Going back to the “depressing” Camus, my advice is to read Nuptials, or the incomplete novel The first man, or simply the last chapter of The myth of Sisyphus, who is a truly humanist hero by the way. Then you will understand why I picked up Camus — why I was and I still am fascinated by the “invincible summer” at the hearth of his works.

Jacobsen: You have a substantial academic background with publications in English, French, and Italian — once more on the delightful subject matter of Camus, though depressing extremely fascinating as a philosophy — on not only Camus but Nietzsche too. Why Nietzsche too?

Gaetani: As atheists and as humanists, we owe so much to Nietzsche, even though we turned our back to him. What I just said about Camus equally applies to Nietzsche, his philosophical master; in fact, many stupid commonplaces ruined and still ruin Nietzsche’s image — first and foremost, the absurd story that wants to classify him as a “precursor of Nazism.”

On the contrary, I think that Nietzsche is one of the most lucid and visionary philosophers ever. The proof is that today one cannot philosophize without taking into account his philosophy. It’s either with him or against him, but not without him.

Jacobsen: Some other academic subject matter focuses on liberalism, pluralism, and secularism. Why these topics? What are some of the main ideas within these topics explored? What are the arguments put forth? What one most interest you?

Gaetani: Oh well, this could be enough for a whole lesson! Last year, I wrote an article in Italian named “Atheist, Secular, and Liberal: three definitions for a vocabulary of moderation.” Luckily, I have translated the paragraph where I resumed in few words my “personal definition of liberalism”.

I think this could be a good starting point to understand my position. There is also a more specific article where I discuss the relationship between secularism, liberalism, and pluralism, but I still haven’t translated it.

Jacobsen: Who is a personal hero for you?

Gaetani: I won’t say Camus because the risk is that readers would think that I am a maniac — which is true in some ways.

Jacobsen: [Laughing].

Gaetani: So, to avoid this accusation, I would say Bernard Rieux, the protagonist of Camus’ The Plague [Laughing].

Jacobsen: You worked for the Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics (UAAR). What did you do? Why work for them? How did this benefit the rationalist community and you?

Gaetani: I volunteered for UAAR from 2013 and I still do it, even now that I moved to London to work for the IHEU. I volunteer for UAAR because I cannot sit on my hands and whine while Italy collapses, as practically everyone in my country loves to do.

I once wrote an ironical but serious article on my blog about these mythological figures — “Where is UAAR going? The perfectible atheism and the impossible innocence” — but unfortunately it’s still untranslated.

Everything started in 2013 when I won the UAAR best thesis prize with my work on “Nihilism and responsibility at the age of God’s death in Nietzsche and Camus.” After this prize, I have done many things during the years.

I wrote some articles on philosophy, atheism, and secularism for UAAR’s blog “A Ragion veduta” and for UAAR’s revue “L’Ateo.” I have been involved in first person in the youth section of UAAR, representing it in two IHEYO events — once in 2016 in Oslo for IHEYO’s General Assembly, then in 2017 in Utrecht for the European Youth Humanist Days.

I created a series of philosophical pills on atheism, named “Ateo ergo sum”. I conceived the contest “The devil wears UAAR”, where I am also participating in the improvised guise of graphic designer with this artwork. I also wrote an anthology on “philosophical atheism for non-philosophers” which soon will be published by “Nessun Dogma,” the editorial project of UAAR.

Jacobsen: What is your main concern for IHEU moving forward into 2017–2020? How about into the next decades?

Gaetani: Next decades is too far to make any reasonable forecast. From my humble point of view, the only appropriate horizon is the constant effort we are daily making to ensure the fastest and fullest growth and development of Humanism worldwide.

Still, if you insist, I can tell you that my small utopia is that in the next decades the word “Humanism” will be recognized worldwide, so that there won’t be anymore the need to explain to everyone what “Humanism” is and what does it mean to be a humanist.

Jacobsen: What are the future prospects for the fight for the most vulnerable among us and their rights being implemented, such as women and children (globally speaking), because — as we both know — there are some powerful and well-financed people and groups who hold rights in contempt of the advancement of their theocratic endeavours?

Gaetani: All Humanist organizations have to understand that, against these regressive and theocratic “colossuses” you alluded to, the mere self-financed volunteering is not enough, and that it is necessary to have a more structured, well-organized, strategic approach.

Money counts, especially in the charities world I would say, where every dollar counts twice given the scarceness and the instability of resources. That is why the IHEU has just launched a crowdfunding campaign named “Help us protect humanists at risk.”

Think about it: in 13 countries in the world the apostasy is still punished with death penalty. To help those humanists in danger, the IHEU and its Member Organizations cannot simply rely on goodwill: we need to be efficient and to act decisively, but without resources this would be simply impossible.

Jacobsen: Any feelings or thoughts in conclusion?

Gaetani: As you can see I am a quite prolix person, especially when I talk about these kinds of subjects. But I need self-control, so I will just thank you for this interview. It was all my pleasure.

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time today, Giovanni, was an absolute pleasure.

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2022-12-09

Pragmatic Living and Rising from the Ashes

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/16

Humanism seems like a practical ethical philosophy to me. A way to develop the appropriate acts of morality in life grounded in a scientific and physicalist interpretation of the world — granting the strange interpretations of the ‘physical’.

The foundational aspects of the world seem to be the physical, the material, or the atomistic. A world built on atoms, for most intents and purposes, with construction into the material or the physical. That is, the atomistic, by precise definitions from physics, of the world into the apparent material or physical sensed, perceived, and conceived from evolved organs and capacities.

With the diminishment, or reduction, in the viability of the philosophy of the supernatural, not necessarily the metaphysical, conception of the world, the diminishment of the supernaturalist, transcendentalist, philosophies appears, not only palpable, but understandable too.

Religion in the advanced societies continues to diminish — but over generations — and will continue to attenuate with more time, based on projections by Pew Research Center. Its diminishment seems a pity, and one with a silver lining.

I pity the loss of parts of culture because of the grafting nature of most religions. By which I mean, they graft onto the surrounding society, and so culture with the social-cultural, and even the political, life. With the loss of religion, then, comes the loss of culture, religions also give community; religions build it. They even maintain it, but they also destroy or co-opt, it.

This natural diminishment of faith based on the dominance of the young one in town, on the global stage: science and its frameworks. The empirical knowledge and the theories that encapsulate them. These theories and frameworks overrun the supernaturalist philosophies, probably on functional truths.

Things work. In a physicalist sense, they run. These intellectually robust, but emotionally unsatisfying, theories, not on purpose but by the supplanting of the assertions of the past, then dominate the culture. Science is more objective than the faiths, and more hard-edged in its interpretation of the world.

The naturalist, not by assumption but through the slow, steady, accumulation of support, perspective becomes the best represented of the world, and so us and our placement in the cosmos. The ethic follows from this.

A moral authority from the ground state of religion; its ashes. As the quantity of the religious declines, and the scientific revolution — centuries in the making — continues to move forward, the liberalization of religion will continue, mostly, unabated as well.

Humanism, or humanist-like, ethical philosophies, ways of practical or pragmatic living, will grow as mushrooms out of the rot of the others. Maybe, even as things are minor now, it is time for a change in the interpretation of the world and the relation of people, one to another and, to the world.

What does this mean for pragmatic living? It means knowing the times, and the nature of the institutions around us. Acting in good conscience based on the limitations in energy, knowledge, and time, then taking the responsibility of the possible negative even in the apparent, at the time, positive, from drinking coffee or not, to who to partner with for life, or not.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with James-Adeyinka Shorungbe — Director, Humanist Assembly of Lagos

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/15

*This interview has been edited for clarity, concision, and readability.*

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So you are the director of the Humanist Assembly of Lagos. What are some tasks and responsibilities that come along with that position?

James-Adeyinka Shorungbe: Essentially, organizing the affairs of the organisation, charting annual programs to promote critical thinking in Lagos (Nigeria), maintaining relationships with other organizations such as IHEU, IHEYO, NHM. HAL is also a founding member body of the humanist movement in Nigeria so I actively involved in that regard.

What are some of the impediments to the education and advocacy for both critical thinking and humanism within Nigeria?

Shorungbe: First, Nigeria is a society highly entrenched in superstition. So that is a major, impediment, to promoting critical thinking. In order to address that, education and awareness has to be done. While the Government is trying to improve the literacy level from its current level of just under 60%, a number topics that promote critical thinking are not being taught in schools.

Evolution is not being taught in schools. Anthropology is not taught in schools. History is not taught, as so on. So there’s education but low application of critical thinking to challenge the norm. Creationism is the only story taught in schools. So this creates an entire mindset of citizens who are highly superstitious. You also have the movie industry churning out a lot of superstition which the citizens all buy into and believe literacy as factual.

As a major impediment, superstition is a big, big problem. To address this, not enough of our message is getting out there. To be honest, I don’t think we’re doing enough to get our message out there in terms of awareness and enlightenment. We have barely scratched the surface in terms of addressing superstition in Nigeria.

With the larger culture having a superstitious mindset in addition to the alignment of that superstition with the education system in a lot of respects, from the perspective of the larger society looking at an organization such as the Humanist Assembly in Lagos, what is their general perception of the organization if they’re coming to this with a superstitious perception in addition to the education system that bolsters the superstition?

Shorungbe: The few people who we have interacted with, they generally do not understand humanism or humanists. Their perception is anything that doesn’t recognize any divine being is straight evil, paganism, evildoers, etc. People we’ve had interactions with, often ask shocking “So you mean you don’t believe in God?”

When you try to get across the message that human problems and human situations can be solved by humans and are best solved by human efforts, we always get push backs, “No, no, no, you need to have divine intervention.” It is something strange to them, to the society — very strange.

Jacobsen: How are the number of humanists looking in Nigeria? So if you take a survey of public attitudes and beliefs, like, how many humanists can one expect to find in Nigeria, or at least in the area surrounding in Lagos?

Shorungbe: Because Nigeria is a very conservative society and a lot of people do not openly identify as humanists, atheists, and freethinkers, agnostics, etc it is a bit difficult to count. Many official forms and data gathering application usually only have the two main faiths as beliefs. However, when you go to online forums, when you go on social media, there are quite a lot of Nigerians who express them as nonbelievers.

There was research — I think by the Pew organization. It stated that as many as 2–3% of Nigerians are humanists, freethinkers, nonreligious. In a population of 180 million, 2–3% would come to 3 to 5 million Nigerians, but many are not outspoken. But in terms of the outspoken ones, we have very few humanists who are openly affiliated humanism and agnosticism online and offline.

Jacobsen: I have had discussions with other humanists, atheists, freethinkers, and so on, about having umbrella organizations as a key element of having the global community of atheists and humanists under a common umbrella to work towards common goals. Do you think that is an important part of solving problems that others and you experience when, for instance, coming to teaching correct scientific theories in the biological sciences with evolutionary theory?

Shorungbe: Yes, definitely, it is. With an umbrella body, you have a louder voice. You have more clout. That is one of the reasons why in Nigeria a number of associations we are all coming under the umbrella of the national body ‘Nigerian Humanist Movement’. Aside from the online community of The Nigerian Atheists and a couple of chat groups, we are still fragmented in Nigeria.

The Humanist Assembly of Lagos is one of 2 organizations that is formally registered and trying to break barriers and putting the voice out there for other humanists to appreciate they are not alone. That you can be different. That you can be good without any divine belief. The importance of having an umbrella body is very critical. Now, with an umbrella body, we can have representation push to the through the Nigerian National Assembly, through government bodies, etc. We can better organize to ensure the adoption of more scientific methods in schools — for example, advocate for the teaching of evolutionary theory in school curriculums.

Jacobsen: As a last question — two tied together, what are some near future initiatives of the Humanist Assembly of Lagos? Also, how can people get in contact to help or donate in some way?

Shorungbe: For the future, we will be looking to organise events that can showcase and promote humanism as well as critical thinking. Events such as film screenings, lectures, debates etc. Are also toying with the ideal of a radio show to enlighten the general public and kick start discussions the public space. A radio where speakers would come on and talk essentially, about everyday human issues and how these can be addressed without thinking they are caused by divine or superstitious means.

Just essentially, enlighten the public that various challenges one has in life can be addressed by practical action, which do not require divine intervention.

Essentially promoting humanism, freethinking, atheism, agnosticism in a bigger national level.

To get in touch with us, we are reachable by email: humanistassemblylagos@yahoo.com. We’re also have a page on Facebook Humanist Assembly of Lagos and Twitter under the @humanistalagos. That’s how we can be contacted.

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, Adeyinka.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Kato Mukasa — Board Member, IHEU

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/14

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Was there a family background in humanism?

Mukasa: Yes, but the background was never very directly linked to humanism as I know it to day but it as more to do with awakening my critical thinking skills and increase doubt in whatever was being said by religious people. My mother was religious but my father was rather liberal. He read lot of literature on philosophy and gave me several works of Leo Tolstoy, Voltaire, works on Plato, Socrates and I found several critical novels written by Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe. What my father did was to encourage me to read, though I did not have lots of time with him growing up. The literature I read as a teen somewhat made me start questioning several things as a young person but it was my sceptical agnostic grandfather who seriously made me question all about religion. My grandfather never attended church and was too critical of religion and its leaders. By the time I joined secondary school I was questioning much about the God theories and believing more in employing my reasoning, research, and science in answering things that looked difficult to understand.

Jacobsen: How did you come to find humanism, or a humanist community? You are from Kampala, Uganda, and currently live there too.

Mukasa: I had read one book: ‘Wretched of the Earth’ in 1997 and the author talked about Humanism in the passing and when I first joined University in 1999, I attended Philosophy lectures out of curiosity and the teacher talked about different types of religious beliefs including unbelief. It was then that he explained Humanism in details that I then discovered that even when I had been taking myself as an atheist for some time then, I was equally a humanist too and somewhat I loved the idea and methodology behind humanism and the works done by humanists even more. I begun researching and finding out more about humanism that by end of 2001 I had noted there was already one humanist organisation in Uganda, the Uganda Humanists Association (UHASSO) which I later associated with and in 2007 found the Humanists Association for Leadership, Equity and Accountability (HALEA)

Jacobsen: What seems like the main reason for people to come to label themselves as humanists in Uganda, from your experience?

Mukasa: Those who do not believe in gods/ God but want to be doing works that empower the vulnerable, promote human rights and challenge retrogressive religious and cultural practices find it appropriate to label themselves as Humanists.

Jacobsen: What was the experience of finding a community of like-minded individuals?

Mukasa: It was nice to know that there were more other people with whom we share the same world view. It made me know that I am not alone and indeed I have a family of critical thinkers I can associate with.

Jacobsen: You studied commercial law at CUU Kampala, and economics and social administration at Makerere University. What were the main lessons and theories from these educational experiences?

Mukasa: The lessons are many but they all boil down to one thing in my view: that my skills and education is useless if I do not put it to serve my passion. My passion is in empowering others to discover the potential in them and to empower the most vulnerable and powerless individuals in our communities. Whether it is the knowledge in economics or law that I have I want to utilise to live a purpose driven life to keep on doing what I love doing.

Jacobsen: You have a broad base of professional experience through work as at and at International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organisation, and as the former president at Uganda Young Leaders Platform, former director at Bigtalk studio, and former member at Uganda Youth Network. What were the tasks and responsibilities involved in those positions, or at those organizations?

Mukasa: {Note, I have not worked at De Mensu but visited them} I have been more of a leader, manager or member of the organisations are mentioned. In brief my experience is more into management and making things happen in challenging work settings.

Jacobsen: At present, you are the director of legal services & humanist ceremonies at Humanist Association for Leadership, Equity and Accountability (HALEA), chair of the Uganda Humanist Association, and board member at the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU). What tasks and responsibilities come with this position?

Mukasa: All these positions are very challenging. At HALEA, I am in charge of legal affairs and Humanists Ceremonies. We have issues that call r the application of legal knowledge and I keep on working towards getting the vulnerable people we work with — out of trouble. I have handled rape and defilement cases, land evictions, parental neglect and domestic violence issues. For humanist ceremonies, I am currently championing the training of humanist celebrants in Uganda and other African countries. At UHASSO I and a team of committed leaders are working towards rebuilding it and taking it to greater heights. IHEU is one busy and result oriented organisation whose work is international. This keeps me busy attending board meetings and following up tasks given to me that in most cases link me up with sever countries.

Jacobsen: What seem like the core parts of humanist thought? Who are living and dead exemplars of humanism as an ethical and philosophical worldview?

Mukasa: Humanism is beyond critiquing religions and its dogma. It goes into changing people’s lives for the better and putting people first in whatever do. There are several humanists doing exceptionally good things but I will point out Josh Kutchinsky — The founder of HUMMAY- for his resilience in linking up humanists together ensuring that the world’ comes to the rescue of humanists in danger.

Jacobsen: How we expand the internationalist, humanist movement and its message of compassion, science, rationality, and unity?

KATO: It is important to identify freethinkers in countries where organised humanism is missing. Then it is at that stage that need to come up and support them get organised and support them start organisations that can have an impact in society.

Jacobsen: There can be many damaging effects from religion. What are the damaging effects of and the positive aspects of religion? How can humanism ameliorate those damaging effects — as you see them? How can humanism improve upon the positives of religion?

Mukasa: Religion makes many people swallow every lie in the name of faith. Many people in Africa do heinous crimes in the name of religion. Things like marrying off children, stopping the sick from accessing medicine in the guise of prayers can heal any disease and selling off property to donate money to the already rich pastors are some of the things that result because many religious people don’t question what their religious leaders say. There are also those who kill in the name of Allah and those who treat none believers as infidels. The positive aspect of religion I see is getting people together and believe in any cause a long as they believe God or Allah wishes it so. The damaging effects can only be ameliorated by promoting critical thinking and getting more freethinkers to challenge the ills that comes with religion. Humanism must learn that religious people are able to rally together because they re convinced in whatever they believe in. It is vital that humanists are well grounded in their own world view and be able to share it with the world from an informed view point.

Jacobsen: What are some of the big future initiatives for you? What have been some honest successes and failures of the Ugandan humanist movement?

Mukasa: At Pearl Vocational Training College, we starting a course to teach Humanists to become Celebrants not only in Uganda but in several African countries. I have been able to establish HALEA and we have been able to transform it into a strong and results-oriented humanist organisation that inspires many others especially in Africa. On the whole, the Uganda Humanists Movement has achieved lots of success in terms of starting legal organisations that are spread in all parts of Uganda. We have several humanists’ schools too that are training students to think beyond the national syllabus that is heavily influenced by religious indoctrination. The movement is still failing to effectively make Humanism a life stance that is well known an respected in the country. We need to work more on the publicity part of humanism.

Jacobsen: Also, if you take the Ugandan humanist movement, how can places, like Canada where I live, learn from its successes and failures?

Mukasa: Canada and other countries in more free world have no excuse for failing to have strong humanists’ organisations because they have at least more informed people and tolerant governments. This is not the case for us in Uganda n the rest of Africa but despite the many challenges we have managed to start humanists organisations and run them to some reasonable success. Our failures stem more on our lack of adequate resources including finances to make things happen and repressive regimes that curtail our operation and once humanists’ organisations can manoeuvre through this then there is no cause to worry about failing.

Jacobsen: Any feelings or thoughts in conclusion?

Mukasa: Humanism is the best world view that all humans should be embracing if we re to live in a more rational, happy and free world. Humanists must dare to stand up and be counted wherever they are, we must avoid playing second fiddle to religions and endeavour to champion causes that make the gods obsessed people see the relevancy in being humanists.

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time today, Kato, it was a pleasure.

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2022-12-09

Freedom of Thought in the US: On the Origin of Humanist Education in the United States

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/13

The American educational system developed from European education, where humanism affected the establishment of schools (Koopman, 1987). Under the affluence, social and political organization, and increased communication of Western Europe, enlightened education revived interest in the Humanist classics of Greco-Roman cultures, where humanism had been taken for granted.

The revival profoundly impacted the full development of the individual — the hallmark of early American education. Liberal Arts were taught alongside science and theology. Most American elite universities were founded as religious institutions (Coudriet, 2016).

There was a recognition that progress and truth were discoverable with a broad periphery. ‘Periphery,’ as in, the ability to focus on individual development outside of the core aspect of the curricula. ‘Progress,’ at this point, meaning the amalgamation of knowledge.

Early colonial education designed to further religious understanding and to prepare society for life in the New World meant free universal education promoted the virtues of humanism under a Christian lens.

The growth of state and tax funding for educational institutions meant the integrity of education catered to the needs of the local populace, not the elites. Dissemination of humanist ideals for the sake of appeasement created an irreversible impact on the curriculum development of higher education systems.

Over time, waves of reform following the Industrial Revolution impacted the academic environment by emphasizing performance over quality. The importance of humanist ideals were put on the backburner of importance in the quest for scientific advancement and technological mastery. These forces brought untold development in wellbeing and quality of life, while, at the same time, reducing the implementation of humanist values.

The return of humanist rationale may be credited with the publication of Darwin’s material on evolution in 1859, starting with On the Origin of Species, which, in some ways, was a response to Natural Theology (1802) published by William Paley.

Progress took on a new meaning of neutrality and movement towards humanist qualities, especially with the overwhelming support of an irreligious explanation for development, adaptation, and speciation. The Creationist explanation for the origin of life was dispelled.

Without the necessity of a divine artificer to explain life, the educational curricula was freed from the bounds of theistic explanation and theological influence. There was surprise and indignation from the Creationists.

Mankind, as they saw — and thought that they knew — it, was reduced from being the pinnacle of creation to the descendants of lowly pre-humans. We were seen as the evolutionary byproduct of natural forces.

Our survival, and evolutionary success, was from ‘inferior’ species, in contradistinction to the metanarrative from the Holy Bible about the Creation of Man by God — and Fall of Man due to Adam’s and Eve’s sins.

The contribution of evolution by Darwin is both scientific and pedagogical. He contributed scientifically to the fields of biology and medicine, which experts deem as foundational to the curricula.As a result, a serious problem of the source of truth was placed on the establishment of education at the time. Although Darwin’s contribution created initial upheaval, humanist rationale was cemented into the American public education system through John Dewey in the 1920’s (Law of Liberty, n.d.a).

Dewey’s efforts revolutionized America with a return to progressive education. As the founder of the American Humanist Association, Dewey is known as the “father of progressive education and Humanism in America.”

Fast forward to the current educational climate. Although there exists no formal discrimination in education, per se, the undertones in the culture provide the clearest example of the prejudice against humanist values, or humanists as people.

Also, there is modern hysteria from the religious community against humanism, as in humanism equals atheism, and by extension atheism equals communism (Law of Liberty, n.d.b). This is in the same theme of non-believers being shunned by their community with general intolerance of the irreligious, even family and friends. As noted by IHEU beloved Bob Churchill:

I think in more liberal, secular countries it may be easy to forget or not to think about this social discrimination for the mainstream broadly secular population — though not if you’re raised in a ‘conservative’ religious community of course! But across huge parts of the world, criticism of religious beliefs, practices or institutions may be viewed as deeply suspicious, or even as malevolent. To actually assert boldly “I do not believe in this God or his prophet” could mean being thrown out of your own family, losing friends, losing your support network. To supposedly ‘insult’ religion can get you lynched.

(Jacobsen, 2017)

It is also worth noting the struggle between progress and tradition, as seen in the style of educational administrations. Autocratic oriented administrations resist new ideas and sacrifice potential humanist growth for the sake of a smoothly run system (Koopman, 1987, p. 234)

Democratic administrations are more open to recognize and praise outside ideas, and are concerned with growth of individuals, specifically freedom from annoyances of the exposure to preeminent belief systems (Pew Research Center, n.d.).

Secular education reform would resist partisanship, instead pushing dominant belief systems into a foreground of neutrality for student success. That is, it is distinct, but related to, a humanist style of education (Anderson, n.d.).

However, secular education reform would provide the nonpartisan foundation for the education by fighting repressive forces that seek to reduce humanism, or other minority ways of life.

A humanist education would affirm values adjunct to the secular education. Support of objectives such as family-life education, continuing or adult education, and sexual education are critical to promotion of humanism (Koopman, 1987, p. 234).

A secular education is the most reasonable and just response. Keeping the status quo for the sake of efficiency within the system is at the expense of humanist progress. If there is to be just education for every student within the system, disruption of these practices are necessary.

Urging qualitative as opposed to quantitative reforms may, over time, produce a higher priority of humanistic ideals.

References

Anderson, M. (n.d.). Principles of Humanist Education. Retrieved from http://web.cortland.edu/andersmd/mda/mahome.htm.

Coudriet, C. (2016, July 19). Top 25 Christian Colleges: The Essential Questions On Religion And Education. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/cartercoudriet/2016/07/19/top-25-christian-colleges-the-essential-questions-on-religion-and-education/#488ccf7f5576.

Jacobsen, S.D. (2017, July 8). Conversation on Discrimination Against Non-Believers with Bob Churchill — Session 1. Retrieved from https://medium.com/humanist-voices/conversation-on-discriminations-against-non-believers-with-bob-churchill-session-1-dcb8638ab56d.

Koopman, R.G. (1987, Spring). The Thread of Humanism in the History of American Education. Retrieved from ww.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/jcs/jcs_1987spring_koopman.pdf.

Law of Liberty. (n.d.a). The Threats of Humanism #1. Retrieved http://www.lawofliberty.com/sermons/Resources/01-humanismthreats.pdf.

Law of Liberty. (n.d.b). The Threat of Humanism #2. Retrieved from http://www.lawofliberty.com/sermons/Resources/02-humanismthreats.pdf.

Pew Research Center. (n.d.). Religious Landscape Survey. Retrieved from http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Karen Loethen — Previous Member, Meramec Secular Student Alliance — Part 2

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/12

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What are your main concerns for the secular community off campus, in society that is, now?

Karen Loethen: Oh, Scott, so many. I’ll try to keep my capitalizations down to a minimum. Lol

I have HUGE concern for the many ways that the religious right has put institutional religion into the schools, into the minds of our children. The textbooks that offer CREATION as a true counterpoint to the Big Bang and evolution…ludicrous and criminal! Teaching this to the kids, whose minds are open and interested and listening?!

Do you know that atheists are the least trusted group in our nation? Less trusted than rapists. Seriously? In the United States of America, people actually prefer religious thought and control to reason. It truly boggles my mind. People are willing to close their minds to the hideous abuses of the church (HIDEOUS abuses). People prefer the idea of faith over knowledge. This is not only lazy, it is also dangerous!

Oh, Scott, this list is way too long; I could go on for pages.

Jacobsen: What is the main battleground for secularism, its values and principles and their implementation in America now?

Loethen: Obviously in our politics. Our nation actually still has In God We Trust on every bit of currency that circulates through our hands every single day. Public policy is continually impacted by the religious beliefs of the masses. The inconsistent and hateful practices of various religious institutions actually impact the laws of this country, a country founded on the essential tenet of separation of church and state. The people in power in our country bring their religions into our governmental halls.
Every time secularism gets a toe hold anywhere the religious right rallies and starts shouting We are being attacked!

Oh gosh, I could go on and on here too, Scott.

Jacobsen: What are perennial threats to secularism on campus?

Loethen: The threats to secularism on campus are the same threats to secularism on this planet. People’s fear and ignorance keeps minds shackled to their religions. Secularism truly frightens people. We had several instances of violence towards our club announcements as well as emails from people that were, shall we say, unsupportive of our club on campus.

Jacobsen: What are the bigger misconceptions about secularists? What truths dispel them?

Loethen: Also an easy one! Atheists are thought to be Devil worshippers. LOL…which is hilarious! Atheists are a theists. We believe in NO deities. None. And that includes the scary ones they’ve created for themselves. But I understand this one because the church really scares the heck out of people with regards to their demons and whatnot.

That atheists are a group. All the word atheist means is without a deity; there is no way to characterize a single atheist based on any other one.

That atheists have no morals. Religion didn’t invent the idea of good behavior, that is a human thing. On the contrary, many of the atheists that I know are so very THINKING. Our behavior is based on our thoughts, on the situation, on reality…there is very little black and white thinking among the secular.

That atheists are angry at a god. Again, no. We have no belief in a god of any kind, therefore anger at a non-existent thing makes no sense. But, again, I understand where this comes from. The church scares believers so much about atheists. I remember being a believer and learning how scary and slippery atheists were.

There are many more myths about atheists propagated by the church, tons of them.

Oh, another one real quick: atheist can’t experience real joy.

LOL — SO wrong! I have never experienced the truly sublime until I began to recognize the realities of our species, of our world, of our galaxy, of our universe.

Jacobsen: What were the main events — even though the group was more or less dead — and topics of group discussions for the alliance on campus?

Loethen: Activism and fundraising, talks about questions of morality, conversations about what does it mean to be secular or atheist, talks about being strong when being attacked, what we wanted to do as a group, and possibly the best thing we offered: being open to any and all questions one might have.

Jacobsen: How can people become involved and maintain the secular student alliance ties on campus? How can citizens become secular activists, and make even a minor impact?

Loethen: Good question. Some people actually can’t be open and active as a secular person because the costs to them may be too high at any given moment. But I think that being open and out as much as possible in important. If you can’t be open, still read and research and talk to trusted people.

The more THINKING people we have on each campus, on this globe, the better our chances of survival as a species and the more peaceful our world can be.

To become involved you might start by informing yourself, read and learn as much as you can, join groups with like-minded people. Start with yourself, see. There are cool and interesting hobby clubs out there, from rock collecting to nature clubs to rocketry to astronomy to debate. These clubs encourage critical thinking and help people to recognize when logical fallacies are trying to sneak into the argument. Listen to podcasts, read books, etc.

Then, put the word out there.

Simply living and open life of integrity is a huge thing.

To make greater impact, help social movements that mean something to you, join organizations that support the secular agenda, vote or even run for office, pay it forward. We in the secular community have some excellent resources these days thanks to the connections of the internet. Use your skills and interests in ways that grow the community.

Even if you can’t or don’t wish to participate in such a way, live a life being true to yourself. That is incredibly difficult and very admirable.

Jacobsen: Any feelings or thoughts in conclusion?

Loethen: Scott, keep doing what you are doing! You are doing what I mentioned above, taking your talents, skills, and interests and using them to improve yourself and the world around you. Good work.

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, Karen.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Secular Student Society at Miami University — Part 4

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/12

Jacobsen: There was another point on universal education. In particular, the improvement of our situation. What do you mean by universal education, improve, and the situation being improved?

SSM: That is a loaded question [Laughing].

Jacobsen: [Laughing].

SSM: [Laughing] So, universal education is accessible, neutral in its beliefs, and it provides meaning to people’s lives by imparting a sense of fulfilment through inclusion.

Education stressed very young in a person’s life can improve their situation. Improving your situation means access to basic rights, and being aware that you do in fact have a right to these things. Universal education is a way to lift people up so they can effectively carry out their goal or mission that they would like to do for the world.

Progress comes through universal education. Working towards providing this for everyone is good for the beneficence for mankind. It seems like a no-brainer.

Jacobsen: To improve the situation for mankind, or human kind, do you think some people are setup to be more compassionate, and why?

SSM: That is a tough question. Something I’ve been thinking over. If you consider professional athletes or musicians as people who make significant advancements within a specific field, they have a developed skill set that is very rare.

You can’t expect everyone to be Mozart or LeBron James. But because they exist in the first place, it means there is that ability to have that high achievement within their area. Why can’t we expect that within the realm of compassion? Of humanism?

I think the only way to foster humanism, to see that progression towards improving your life, and showing compassion and neutrality in how we treat each other is universal education. Until one day the significant gains made by these exceptions become commonplace, but I certainly won’t discount people who had circumstances that set them up with a disposition towards compassion.

Jacobsen: You have an expertise in psychopathology. For those reading this, it does not mean an expertise in psychopaths, sociopaths, and antisocial personality disorder types in general. When I focus on people being more set up for compassion, I think of individuals, akin to but not as hereditarily strongly, with schizophrenia, which is probably 80% hereditary.

For the most part, and you would know better than I would, we are the compassionate species. We build very large social networks, from which we can build tribes, cities, metropolises, and states.

SSM: Actually it does. Psychopathology is an effort to understand the genetic, biological, and social causes of mental disorders. Any type of abnormal pathology.

Psychologists are still trying to figure this out. What extent of disposition is affected by nature versus nurture.

And I agree, we are a compassionate species. When there are violations of humanist ideals, I don’t focus on individual blame, but ask where did we go wrong as a society to not educate and prepare against these violations? A collectivist ideal I bring is not to fault the individual, but, “Where did society have a lack of compassion or have a misunderstanding and a lack of inclusion? How can we improve that?”

I think that’s how I was drawn to my field of studies.

Jacobsen: I want to draw this back into your compassion — how you’d see worms washing out of the ground. Can you expand on that?

SSM: I have always noticed small details, what others didn’t. That very trait is what made me want to pursue behavioural analysis. In this line of work, it is necessary to notice the small details people inadvertently divulge during interaction, how that can be displayed within their behaviour, and what this says about their general state.

As a child, I noticed a lot. I am very perceptive, listening, and observing first then asking the right questions to put myself into the mindset of whatever I was observing.

In the playground, as an example, I didn’t want to be part of any hurt that would happen to living things because I didn’t want to be ignorant of it.

Even as a kid, I thought, “What will even happen to those worms on the sidewalk? Tomorrow they’ll be dead and dried up to become something crusty on the sidewalk that is kicked around.” The indignation I felt! Even as a small kid, I’d spend my recess on those rainy days picking up each worm and putting them safely back in the soil.

It just felt right. I have the ability to move them back into the soil and try to repair whatever damage the rain caused. The worms just happen to find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. I hope that one day if I find myself in a similar circumstance, the same mercy would be extended.”

I felt this obligation upon myself to do something. It was not out of my way. It felt like second nature [Laughing]. This compassion, is it ingrained? Or is it because of where I grew up? Or who I’ve interacted with?

I don’t have an answer to that. That is one we’re still working on.

Jacobsen: Thank you. You wanted to expand more on the issues at Miami University. One of them would be combatting or working against the dehumanization of everyday workers on campus. Those that would be cleaning toilets in campus dorms, janitorial staff, food service workers.

SSM: Against those on the margins of campus as well, on the fringes. There have been instances of inflammatory material like racist and nativist posters hung around campus. That would be another loss because it means we failed, the community failed, for them to think it was acceptable to hold that belief and act on it.

As students, we are at pivotal developmental moments in our life — we are still impressionable. And to crush humanist compassion, to take that away, is a disservice to them and everyone in the community.

Jacobsen: Success would be through inclusion. What is your definition of “inclusion”?

SSM: Inclusion is the validation of someone’s experience through acceptance. Within that, the subsequent improvement of their experience through education.

Through education, we learn inclusion; by educating someone, we practice inclusion. Inclusion is proximal compassion, and must be considered a right if we want progress.

It is a naïve wish that everyone would get that inclusion, or feel that inclusion. It is something to work towards collectively.

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time.

SSM: Thank you.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Karen Loethen — Previous Member, Meramec Secular Student Alliance — Part 1

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/11

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is family background — geography, culture, language, religion/irreligion, and education?

Karen Loethen: Thanks, Scott. I come from a small town in Illinois, just your basic homogeneously white, lower-income Christian small town. My family didn’t really practice religion much until I was in my younger teens. My own parents come from differing religious, Mom was Methodist and Dad was Catholic.

Their two families clashed over these differences so we kids were mostly kept away from religion just for the peace of it for my parents. But I was very attracted to it so I visited churches of many differing Christian denominations over my childhood years. I truly thought that “good” girls went to church and I was a good girl!

Jacobsen: What is the personal background in secularism for you? What were some seminal developmental events and realizations in personal life regarding it?

Loethen: Luckily enough for me, I was also a reader and a researcher. After grad school I got married and had my first child. It was during this period that I was doing massive reading on the historicity of religion.

The obvious man made nature of religion allowed me, first, to reject any contact with religious institutions. This was satisfying for me for about a year.

All of the doubting and reason (not to mention the complete absence of historical support for religious claims) simply couldn’t support the religion any longer. During that time I was still thinking of myself as a deist. I was 34 years old when I realized that the existence of a deity was simply inconsistent with all observable and known reality.

I was reading the Bible, perhaps not ironically, when I got a thought out of the blue: BAM. This book is ridiculous and there is no god. It makes no sense.
It was an incredible moment for me that truly changed my life!

Without the slightest bit of exaggeration, a ton of weight slipped off of my shoulders that moment and I’ve been incredibly happy ever since.

Jacobsen: You were a member of the Meramec community for a semester. The semester was spent in the freethinkers’ club on campus and the SSA. How did you find them, eventually? Why were you drawn to them?

Loethen: I was interested in the fledgling club because I believe in the process of THINKING and in the power of COMMUNITY. The group’s founder, Kyle, was very active on campus with various campus clubs, including being president of the Student Governance Council (SGC).

SGC is the group that oversees campus clubs. He was so busy and also about to graduate to he asked me, begged me really, to help build the Freethinker’s Club that he had started on campus.

I’d seen one of his little flyers on a bulletin board one evening when I was taking a break from my class. I took a picture of the flyer on my phone and contacted the email address a few days later. I was delighted to see an atheist presence on campus! I am very drawn to people who take initiative and who are true thinkers like Kyle. I was very excited to support his efforts.

What I discovered, though, is how very new and ailing the group was. Kyle was simply too busy to put in the kind of time he longed to offer the club and the students on campus didn’t seem interested in a secular club.

Kyle and another guy worked hard, but I think they had a lot to learn about group organization and planning and such, just like any student would; that’s not a criticism. Most other clubs on campus were continuous groups that had been in place for many years, faculty support, campus presence, tons of inherited momentum.

Kyle, knowing he was about to graduate the campus, begged me for weeks to give the club a hand in getting a stronger foothold. I resisted for a long time because I felt that the clubs on campus were for the kids and I am, well, not a kid. I finally agreed to give it a single, intense semester of push.

The first thing I did was take our group over and join the national organization Student Secular Alliance, the SSA, because why reinvent the wheel? SSA offers tons of support to groups seeking to have a secular voice on campus, including a personal advocate online to help in any way they can.

Jacobsen: Now, you remain a parent, of a secular student. While a student at Meramec, you took your kid to school too. How does bonding with a child through a common ground, secularism, help build trust and friendship within the family?

Loethen: Oh, that one’s obvious, I think. With no forbidden subjects, no belief in the concept of sin, and no ridiculously male-oriented overseeing body of rule makers, our family is extremely open with and supportive of our kids’ interests and activities.

Jacobsen: What are some of the more valuable tips for secularist activism on and off campus?

Loethen: I’m not sure I can say what is a road to successful secularist activism on campus because our club wasn’t successful. Perhaps that was because of the Christian vibe on campus, or the young minds’ inability to think outside of their religion, or maybe it was simply the commuter nature of our campus.

I’m sad to think that the club doesn’t have a major presence on campus because I know of several students who would approach, then avoid, then approach, then avoid the group activities. I could see the cognitive dissonance working in them; I could see that they were thinking and I know that a secular entity being available is important to their journey.

But I’m happy to tell you things that we tried over the two semesters of my involvement with the club. We put out press releases for activities that we did on campus.

We had some very interesting speakers come to our meetings, from activists and scientists to philosophers, we did several fundraisers for Project Peanut Butter (a wonderful program that funds a nutritious peanut butter-like product that gives intensive nutrition to the most needy populations of children in Malawi and Sierra Leone), we created social events, and we held informational tables on campus for both secularism in general and for our group in particular. We also had a couple of social events for members.

As for off campus, I’m a huge atheist activist. I have several blogs, I have a podcast called The Secular Parents on a Youtube channel called Secular TV, and this month I will be speaking to the atheist community at an atheist convention in St. Louis called Gateway to Reason.

How to be an activist? Be openly atheist and live a life of integrity, peace, knowledge, and reason.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Secular Student Society at Miami University — Part 3

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/11

Jacobsen: Does SSM provide for the groups for individuals who may not be explicit secularists?

SSM: Yes, we have members who come weekly, who identify as Christian, and SSM makes sure they have a chance, if they’d like, to give their perspective.

We also have students who I describe as a blending of belief in science and rationality, but through the lens of their belief system. They can separate their studies with the part they believe their faith plays in how they understand the world. This has given SSM a secular perspective that we haven’t heard before.

I appreciate the members who don’t identify as secularists. They are coming to broaden their understanding of themselves. We have members who come identifying with the cultural and social aspects for their cultural background, but not the faith within it. So, they are secular, but identify with their culture.

We have people who are not secular at all. They identify as faith-based believers. They come to hear what we have to say and liven up discussions.

We hope that like a sponge absorbing all types of liquids, they absorb some secular humanistic ideals. But it is a choice. We are a freethinkers group. I appreciate that aspect of SSM. It drew me to the group itself. There was no pressure to conform within it. Everyone has the right to express their beliefs.

We have done a great job of being inclusive and accepting. We can disagree at the end of the day. It makes for a good debate. These are knowledgeable and extremely articulate students having real conversation on hard topics, from so many different perspectives. I’m not seeing this anywhere else at Miami.

Jacobsen: You mentioned this was a forum to be neutral on beliefs. So, you presentation material and views from a secularist perspective and a discussion follows. But also, students have the ability to not feeling coaxed into one side or the other in the moment.

In terms of your own background, you have mentioned no formal faith, but you connect more with a sense of compassion and a sense of community while remaining rational and skeptical.

So, where do these values source themselves in personal background?

SSM: I attribute my disposition to a combination of the different circumstances that shaped me. My mom always made sure to remind us that no matter what struggles we faced it would be together as a family. This resilience was instilled in me.

We always got through struggles because we have been worse off before but we got through that, so we can get through whatever it is now. I was exposed to other people in similar situations, worse situations, suffering, I found purpose in helping others.

I try to be intentional in everything I do. I’m very self-aware, introspective in that I like to avoid complacency. A conscious control of behavior. Minimalism is a big part. Reduce the things I ‘need’ and just focus on breaking down barriers that reduce approachability and really reaching people — learning from human interaction.

In a Stoic sense, I take time find pleasure in the simplest things, like really appreciating that first bite into a perfectly ripe piece of fruit. To keep my mind clear and focused on my goals, I abstain from a lot of common indulgences most undergraduate students partake in. By living a simple life, I’m starting to find that fulfillment.

My character has always been one of compassion. I learned it from my mom. She’s such a caring person. I owe my compassion and success to her. She has sacrificed a lot, more than I can even comprehend, to get my family to where we are.

Now, she is a school nurse. Which requires a natural disposition for compassion and helping others. How can I not absorb some of that nature? But because I’m still young, I realize that I’m compassionate even to a fault. I’m stubborn and don’t like to give up on people. I want people to become the best version of themselves.

How does this compassion influence relations on campus?

I think students and my professors sense my commitment. I come with palms open, not arms crossed. I attend religious services for different belief systems so that I have the breadth of their perspective, and that my presence — and in extent SSM’s presence- is known as open and inclusive.

I don’t know if you’d call it altruism, but I feel this obligation to spread some of the success and community I have been given to other students who may be struggling. Even though I’m the same age as my peers, I often get mistaken for being much older because I give off this maturity and self-motivation. I’ve always been aware of this growing up. I found the solution in teaching.

In higher education, with such a brief stint at a college or university, I get that there is resistance to be committal in improving the community because in 4 years your life will most likely not center around your university.

I wish the community was a little closer and cohesive. As a college, it is constantly changing. There is a sense of detachment to the place itself because they are there for such a short amount of time. It is hard to make that difference in that short amount of time.

We are all trying to find ourselves [Laughing].

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Kayla Bowen — President, SSA at Morehead State University

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/10

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is family background — culture, education, geography, language, and religiosity/irreligiosity?

Kayla Bowen: I grew up very poor. My high school was at one point ranked one of the worst in the state of Kentucky. I attend Morehead State University now as a Psychology and Philosophy double major. I’m also a board member for the national Secular Student Alliance as well as my local chapter President and Founder. I’m from Hazard, Kentucky. It’s in the middle of the bible belt in rural Appalachia. Luckily I got out. My mother is very religious. I lived primarily with her until I went to college where I have my own place. She took me to church as a child, and indoctrinated me. When I told her I was an atheist she reacted worse than when I told her I was gay. My father doesn’t really care much about that sort of thing, so he was supportive when I came out as an atheist. For a lot of secular people, however, they don’t have as much support.

Jacobsen: What is the personal background in secularism for you? What were some seminal developmental events and realizations in personal life regarding it?

Bowen: For most of my life I was inwardly agnostic, meaning I wasn’t open about it. On the outside I believed. When I was in high school, this creationist evidences pastor recruited me for his meetings, and I briefly became a creationist. The breaking point for me had to be when we all watched the Ken Ham vs. Bill Nye debate. That triggered my dissent into atheism.

Jacobsen: You are an president of the SSA at Morehead State University. What tasks and responsibilities comes with this position? Why do you pursue this line of volunteering?

Bowen: I delegate tasks to our other leadership. The biggest responsibility is knowing how to do everything so I can know what to tell others to do. It’s a work in progress. This line of volunteering is important to me because secularism has become my life. I want to make life easier than it was for me being an atheist in a religious world.

Jacobsen: What personal fulfillment comes from it?

Bowen: Knowing that these once misplaced nonreligious students now have a community, and a safe place to go when they have questions or concerns, or feel ostracized.

Jacobsen: What are some of the more valuable tips for campus secularist activism?

Bowen: Be on social media. It’s the 21st century. Most college students are involved in it. Have a website. You will need a central hub to send people wanting information to. Don’t be hostile to your campus religious groups. You don’t want a bad reputation to where no one wants to cooperate with you. However, don’t back down. Don’t be afraid to express your identity. Be proud, but diplomatic.

Jacobsen: What have been some historic violations of the principles behind secularism on campus? What have been some successes to combat these violations?

Bowen: The campus clinic used to send pregnant women to the HOPE center off campus, which is a religious pro-life place. They’re not even a qualified medical institution. SAGE, our local feminist group started a petition to stop this, and talked to the administration of the University and eventually got it changed. They now give out legitimate resources to women seeking information about pregnancy, and safe sex.

Jacobsen: What are the main areas of need regarding secularists on campus?

Bowen: Funding. I see all these religious groups on campus that have entire buildings dedicated to worship, while secular groups sometimes don’t even have as much as a broom closet. We need space. It’s not like we’re 2 people on a campus of thousands. We’re 25% of the population. If people saw that we had a space I feel like not only would we be taken more seriously, but we’d attract more secular people.

Jacobsen: What is your main concern for secularism on campus moving forward for the next few months, even years?

Bowen: That people will look over us, and not realize how difficult it can be to be nonreligious especially now that Mike Pence is our Vice President.

Jacobsen: What are the current biggest threats to secularism on campus?

Bowen: I’d say religious campus administration’s lack of cooperation. On a wider scale though, we should be concerned about religious freedom legislation. That’s where the major set backs are going to stem from.

Jacobsen: What are perennial threats to secularism on campus?

Bowen: Being outnumbered by religious groups, and as a result not being considered.

Jacobsen: What are the main social and political activist, and educational, initiatives on campus for secularists?

Bowen: Right now, reproductive justice, racial justice, fighting Islamophobia, and LGBTQ rights. These aren’t just problems that people affected by them should work on. It’s our problem, and our duty to fight back against all forms of prejudices because we face them in the secular community every day.

Jacobsen: What are the main events and topics of group discussions for the alliance on campus?

Bowen: Our group, the Secular Student Alliance at Morehead State University does service projects, panels, and we make sure we discuss intersectionality in our meetings. Our main goal I think is to create awareness of our cause on campus, and within our community as well. We’re working on having a debate right now this coming October. It’ll be a basic creationism vs. atheism debate, to address the group’s controversy on campus in a respectable manner.

Jacobsen: How can people become involved and maintain the secular student alliance ties on campus?

Bowen: You can go to secularstudents.org and find the group nearest to you. If there isn’t one, start one! The Secular Student Alliance is there to make it as easy as possible to start a group. They have tons of resources available. Without them, Morehead’s wouldn’t exist. Once you have a group you can host events, go on field trips, or help the community. SSA allows you to network with people in the secular movement you never would’ve met otherwise. You have the potential to make life long connections. There’s an infinite amount of ways one can stay involved with the secular movement with an SSA chapter.

You can even stay involved with your local group, and on a national level after you graduate by becoming an alumni member.

Jacobsen: Any feelings or thoughts in conclusion?

Bowen: Check out my local group, the Secular Student Alliance at Morehead State University at msussa.com. Thanks so much for the opportunity!

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, Kayla.

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2022-12-09

Americans becoming more secular

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/09

According to Salon, some of the reason for the animosity of the United States, internally, comes from the increasing secularization of the public. Many Trump voters do not like this. Others disagree. The secular movement in the US, probably, is not even a conscious phenomena.

Rather, it appears to be the natural development in advanced industrial democracies with pluralistic cultures. People prefer to have a separation of church and state, except, for instance, in some dominant, segmented sections of the population.

The author continues on the separation between the “real” America proclaimed by the conservatives in the country, where, by implication, the liberals do not represent the real america. Most Americans reject the “efforts by the religious right to use the power of the state to impose conservative Christian values on others.”

Every sector of American society wants a secular culture and society, except white evangelical Christians, which, by definition, makes many in the evangelical Christian religion within the US a politically oriented movement. It has consequences too.

Much of the US political polarization is in reaction to the efforts of the white evangelical Christian movement. These are not all Christians, or conservatives, or whites, or all white evangelical Christians, which is important to bear in mind to keep from stereotyping, I feel — in the opposite direction.

But this is a concern for the greatest soft power in the world. Stuff that happens there will influence elsewhere.

Part of the issue is the waning influence of this population on the general population. So this increased effort for more political influence could reflect a that decrease in influence because, even on purportedly controversial issues, most Americans find them agreeable topics.

The rights of sexual minorities such as gays and lesbians doesn’t bother Americans. Gay rights do bother some white evangelical Christians. Same with same-sex marriage. So the main disjunction between the general population and those against gay rights, and same-sex marriage, is evangelical status or not.

It’s a politicized religion situation.

As well, the desire and general need for secularization of culture and society comes with perceptual differences. It is well-known that anti-Muslim rhetoric and hate crimes have been on the increase. Less known, the general hate and disgust for the atheists within America.

And the perception of anti-Muslim rhetoric and acts is different depending on the group. So, for example, the religiously unaffiliated do see the increase, and somewhat similar, but lesser, findings for other groups. But not so for white evangelical protestants, they see more anti-Christian bigotry than anti-Muslim bigotry.

You see the disjunct.

The perception of most other sets of people is much different than white evangelical Christians or protestants. So this is an identifiable problem with obvious reactionary components based on the perceived, and actual, increase in secularization of the United States.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Secular Student Society at Miami University — Part 2

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/09

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You mentioned the word faith, when referencing yourself, but you also mentioned humanism and secularism. To me, this makes me think you have a humanist and secularist perspective reconciled with a personal family tradition of Christianity.

Secular Student Society at Miami (SSM): I see a separation between faith and spirituality. I am spiritual without a faith-based belief system. I have a strong spirituality in how I feel connected to others. That is in showing compassion to other human beings. It is my only consolation, which would be my spirituality — feeling compassion for others and helping them. The best way for me to understand others is to have no faith whatsoever myself.

It is the best way to say, “I understand you because I have been someone exposed to your culture and your perception, and I may observe it, but by not adhering to it, I am not limited by the bounds of it.” I think that’s the best person to help, the best judge of neutrality. That is the reconciliation between faith and where I lie.

Jacobsen: The one reconciliation is taking what people usually assert for faith and shifting that from a transcendentalist orientation to a “here-and-now” orientation. What are some of the more valuable tips for campus secularist activism given the fact there is at least 10 Christian organizations compared to the one secular organization, for instance?

SSM: I would say get your message out there, but in a way that’s completely respectful of other organizations as well. It is not a competition, merely a leveling of the playing field.

People get a little uncomfortable with the term secularist or atheist, especially on a mostly religious campus. SMM strives to familiarize students. I think the lack of exposure of secular ideals has led to confusion and even aversion. We are not evil baby eaters who have no sense of morality.

Jacobsen: [Laughing].

SSM: A tip would be to dispel misconceptions people have one person at a time. Through a conversation, person to person. Appeal to secularism but in a way that the individual will understand. Another way is to have the interfaith panels. There will be disagreement but the mere exposure to the spectrum of perceptions is what’s important, and that at some point there is no right or wrong answer.

SSM aims to keep as nonpartisan as possible, but we find it difficult when what you would like to get done or the political stances we agreed on as being basic and human rights are being disrupted.

Aim for a slow, gradual change in perspective of the group itself. I do think there has been a slow shift in perception towards humanism and secularism. But because of the current political climate, secular progress has backslid.

Small or newer organizations should seek support in a larger group. Let’s say the Secular Student Alliance, who we are affiliated with, have SSA Con, where they will provide funding for SSM to attend. Find a larger or other organization for help to break down the barriers for understanding, get funding, you have to be relentless with it.

Jacobsen: I remember someone else using the term inter-belief rather than interfaith. I felt this was intentional this was inclusive of the whole suite of irreligious types within the general secular community.

Small things like language changes can bring people together from a common banner. Also, when people have interfaith panels, if inter-belief, they would have to by definition include you.

SSM: [Laughing]. Yes. Absolutely.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Secular Student Society at Miami University — Part 1

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/08

*Audio interview has been edited.*

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is your family background — geography, culture, language, religion/irreligion, and education?

Secular Students of Miami University (SSM): My family moved from Greece here to Ohio when I was very young. My mom raised us. She raised our family under the Greek Orthodox faith, but not really strictly religious — more so in a cultural sense. We didn’t go to church often. It was mostly attendance at services for Christmas and Easter, which we called “Eastermas.” This faith was not strongly intertwined with my identity. Cultural background, very strongly Greek.

I didn’t have to question any part of my identity or assess my reality until I came to college. It was so different from the diverse schools of my hometown. I am a student at Miami University, liberal academically but the opposite demographically. Miami breeds a crop who are conservative, wealthy, and religious. For someone who doesn’t have part of my identity in any of the above, I need to constantly remind myself of my values.

The further along in my studies, the more I am able to gain exposure to humanism. I think of it as going to school to unlearn, not learn [Laughing]. Realizing all my perceptions and adjusting towards compassionate neutrality of secular humanism. Secular humanism also complements my studies as a psychology student in the pre-law program, with a minor in the philosophy of law.

SSM was a springboard for my growth as a community of students who share similar ideals.

I think SSM has helped build that sense of community. We stress secularism and humanism — they go hand-in-hand with the organization.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the personal background, what is the specialty in psychology?

SSM: Psychopathology, which is abnormal psychology. I had this need to understand the why and how in the damaging effects of abnormal psychology that I had seen.

I actually started as a pre-med student studying microbiology because science was pushed and my family is full of doctors. I didn’t really think I had much of a choice. There is this expectation in my culture.

You had one of the big three: engineer, lawyer, and doctor [Laughing].

Jacobsen: [Laughing].

SSM: I wanted to follow through on that, make my family proud, and support them. I would work as hard as I could to repay my family. I wanted to follow through on that unspoken promise of success.and I think part of that included accepting the religious beliefs presented to me.

Jacobsen: With a Secular Student organization, why do you pursue this line of volunteering?

SSM: This is a hard question…because I don’t consider SSM as volunteering. We promote progressive ideals meant to improve human life. It just made sense.

When I went to college, I had the chance to re-think everything. Religion, sexuality, morality — everything. I have this sense of independence. I decided that I didn’t want my actions to intentionally cause harm to any living thing. Alongside that, I became vegan. This choice I think it definitely impacted the way I see the world through a greater focus on being intentional.

I realized I felt no connection any higher spiritual thing and do not feel a need for that connection, I don’t think I ever did in my life. But I do feel connected through human compassion and mutual understanding. I have always been curious about the world and the life circumstances of others, what are they struggling with, how can I relate or understand it. I felt the need to help people and especially not cause harm any living thing.

Secularism and humanism promote these values; a push to see everyone as equal with this neutrality that should carry through to everything — through the appropriate form in the sense of what goes on in the state.

Being exposed to friends who are all different religions and nationalities and discovering the richness in that, and the peace among all of those different friends, I wanted that something promoted that at university, where it wasn’t.

SSM is a secular organization. Students who don’t identify as secular, or are simply interested in hearing the perspective, or are an atheist, agnostic, or religious all come. We have discussions, debates, spread awareness of secularism, and spend time together as a community.

Usually, our discussions are political, cultural, social topics during the meeting, not religious. But the religious perspective of those who attend are always welcomed. We wanted to create that respectful atmosphere where it was lacking.

We got some backlash from the campus because — I don’t even know the percentage who identify as Christian — the majority is Christian, conservative. It is hard to have our presence be accepted or even known on campus with the overwhelming Christian and conservative presence.

We are just a rag tag group of like-minded free thinkers trying to get an event together and keep open perspectives. Getting all our members together for a meeting would be like trying to get a group of cats all together in the same room.

Jacobsen: [Laughing].

SSM: [Laughing] It is very difficult. We may not have the support or exposure of more well-known student organizations, but even so, SSM has in a sense become like a family. I feel better knowing I am pursuing a line of work that can only benefit humanity and keeping my mind open. Being part of an organization that is neutral and non-partisan, that is not limited to adherence in a set belief system, seems the only way to be truly fair and to prepare for me for the future.

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2022-12-09

Freedom of Thought in the US: Humanism, and the Constitution and Free Expression

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/08

Humanism is a progressive philosophy affirming the responsibility and right for neutrality in government towards religious matters, as well as the pursuit of ethical lives for the beneficence of humanity (AHA, 2017; International Humanist and Ethical Union, 2016; Oxford Dictionary, 2017).

Secular humanism, in addition, affirms these ideals while rejecting religious dogma and supernaturalism in morality and decision-making. Secularity in constitutional law has historically allowed for the blossoming of our deep-rooted emphasis on religious freedom. But conservative Christian undertones remain smattered in fundamental legislature intended to be humanistic. ‘One nation, under God’ seems stuck between the comfort of tradition and the push towards progress.Take, for example, the popular sentiment in literature following the Second World War. Popular “neo-reactionaries”, or those wishing to dampen humanist causes, frowned upon political progress, creating an American disposition inclined towards comfortable conservatism in post-war culture. Orwell’s view that “merely political changes can effect nothing, progress is an illusion.”The perception of the importance of humanism within law has been battered and warped, reducing its importance to mere legal exercise. Recently, in the aftermath of the 2017 election, an air of acceptability in returning to law of the 1950’s Cold War Era increased paranoia towards atheism because of its association with Communism (International Humanist and Ethical Union, 2016).President Donald Trump won the appeal of voters through policy pledges around conservative religious and nationalist values (Ibid.). Trump’s election lowered the standard for acceptable public and political behavior. Recent legislature reflects the slow return to institutionalized oppression, localised recurring social marginalisation, and prejudice against the irreligious.The struggle for equality and integration of humanism is constant. Where the U.S. Constitution prohibits governmental endorsement of one religion over the other, there are still attempts to establish religion (predominantly Christianity). Significant anti-secular laws at the state level disrupt the continuity of federal secularism.Due to lack of political will to amend them, numerous unconstitutional laws impede upon humanist progress at a state level. Take the Arkansas state constitution, requiring that identified secularists may neither hold office nor testify in court — a direct contradiction to the federal constitutional prohibition in Article 6 of any religious test for office (Arkansas State Legislature, 1874). Similar laws exist in Maryland, Mississippi, Texas, both Carolinas, Tennessee and Pennsylvania (International Humanist and Ethical Union, 2016).The anti-irreligious sentiment of the American legislative system may impart a social perception of true nationalism through adherence to Christianity. By extension, elected officials may feel inclined to promote Christian conservatism in campaign platforms and while in office. The continuation of Christian conservatism for political success has set a precedence, and by extension, a vicious cycle.The negative consequences of identifying as secular in an elected government have debilitating consequences on success. Possible qualified candidates may be avoiding government positions because the majority of Americans would be less likely to vote for a presidential candidate if they were an atheist as opposed to a religious candidate (McCarthy, 2015). American anti-secular sentiment of elected officials goes as far as to suggest “no other trait, including being gay or having never held elected office, garnered a larger share of people saying they’d be less likely to support the potential [presidential] candidate” (International Humanist and Ethical Union, 2016).Popular sentiment against secular qualities extend into the socio-cultural arena. Social freedom of expression and advocacy of humanist values are limited. Those pressures against humanists are not in the fundamental right to free speech and expression, but, rather, in the ability to discuss topics about religion in a critical manner — in public.The suppression of humanism can be through social pressure. Even if the right for free expression exists for American citizens, social context can reduce or deter the expression of humanistic or irreligious values. This amounts to a social privilege for the religious over the irreligious in American culture.The very environment created by the 2017 election polarized activist efforts. A spike in activism interest was seen in voters disillusioned with the election outcome (Kirabo, 2016). This activism was not only for the maintenance of won rights and the pursuit of more complete equality, but in the protection against the reduction, or elimination, of extant rights.ReferencesArkansas State Legislature (1874). Arkansas Constitution. Retrieved arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/Summary/ArkansasConstitution1874.pdf.American Humanist Association (2017). What is Humanism?. Retrieved from https://americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/.International Humanist and Ethical Union. (2016). Freedom of Thought Report: United States of America. Retrieved from http://freethoughtreport.com/countries/americas-northern-america/united-states-of-america/.Kirabo, S. (2016, November 16). Post-Election, Humanist Activism Kicks into Overdrive. Retrieved from https://thehumanist.com/commentary/post-election-humanist-activism-kicks-overdrive.McCarthy, J. (2015, June 22). In U.S., Socialist Presidential Candidates Least Appealing. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/183713/socialist-presidential-candidates-least-appealing.aspx.Oxford Dictionary. (2017). Humanism. Retrieved from http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/humanism?q=humanism.

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2022-12-09

Conversation on Discrimination Against Non-Believers with Bob Churchill — Session 1

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/08

Bob Churchill is the Communications Director for the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), Editor of the Freedom of Thought Report. Bob Churchill is also a trustee of the Conway Hall Ethical Society and of the Karen Woo Foundation.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You are best person I can think of to be in a position to know the ways and types of discrimination against non-believers in the world. Why? We did an interview before, on the relevant topic matter. I wanted to do an educational series on non-believers’ experienced discrimination by the numbers. You agreed. Here we are, so here we go: what is the most common discrimination non-believers across the world share? The standard prejudice against them.

Bob Churchill: This is very difficult to actually measure, but I would say the most prevalent problem (i.e. it affects the most people most often) is social discrimination. By this I mean the day-to-day suppression committed by other people: it might be friends who bristle if you say the wrong thing, teachers who might explicitly threaten you to keep you ‘belonging’ to a religion, parents who let you know how disappointed they’d be if you failed to conform to their beliefs and traditions. They might even let you know in no uncertain terms that they’d ostracise you.

And this is a very real threat. Just recently Mashal Khan, a student in a Pakistani university who called himself “the humanist” on Facebook, was accused of blasphemy and murdered by a crowd of fellow students (the incident was filmed on mobile phones).

Maybe it’s worth adding that in ‘the west’ you get some church leaders and religious commentators who say they feel like they can’t talk about or preach their Christianity anymore because of anti-Christian “persecution”. And superficially there’s a similarity there, but I don’t think it holds up: I don’t think the situation of Christians in secular Europe for example is at all symmetrical with the very real persecution of the non-religious in predominantly Islamic countries. Yes, in some countries in Europe, religion no longer has the cultural heft it once had, but it is often still privileged by the state. Yes it’s no longer the dominant worldview, but it was for centuries, and its doctrines have been heard ad nauseam, and it has simply lost most of the arguments. Yes we’re often suspicious of preaching, but it is permitted and protected. Yes churches are dying out, but they still dot the landscape, and they’re not being forcibly shut down they’re just closing as people leave them. So while obviously there are places where Christians really are persecuted, just like the non-religious, I would strongly resist the idea that that’s generally the case in Europe or ‘the west’, and really when someone makes that claim it is either being made strategically, or it just reveals their ignorance to the realities of actual persecution.

Jacobsen: What is the most unique form of discrimination you have ever come across through research into the bigotry and prejudice against non-believers?

Churchill: Well, I would say that the more remarkable feature of problems faced by the non-religious is how similar they often are from place to place. At the legal level, it’s often the same religious supremacist or traditionalist arguments that are used to privilege religion or discriminate against atheists in law. In Islamic states in particular the same lines of so-called Islamic jurisprudence or religious law appear from place to place to justify very similar laws against ‘blasphemy’, ‘apostasy’, constraints on marriage and family law according to religion, restricting the freedom of thought and expression, and so on.

Another very common recurring theme with ‘blasphemy’-type cases in particular is how often it’s all about texts, Facebook posts, Whatsapp groups and so on. Sometimes it’s still about books or physical protests, or in the Ashraf Fayadh case it was about “atheistic poetry”! But the medium is usually online now. And this isn’t something to be just shrugged off by saying “well, that’s where people speak in public now”, because a really worrying trend just in the past year or two is that we’ve seen more and more cases where the person being prosecuted is being prosecuted for posting in private conversations, in Facebook groups that people have elected to join, and even in more-or-less private Whatsapp groups. So as we’ve developed these ways of using the internet in smaller, more selective channels, even those are being broken into and subjected to the same kind of restrictions as if you were standing on a street corner.

In terms of social problems too, I’d say it’s the similarity risks and concerns from place to place that stand out for me: the threat of being ostracized from family and friends, in extremis the threat of being publicly named, attacked or lynched. The fear of being cut off from support networks recurs a lot from atheists in the most hostile countries, and — this has come up when I’ve been talking to people a few times — if someone is very isolated then it’s not just about losing their existing family but about damaging their chances of starting one. If you live in a more conservative society and marriage traditionally depends on the support and approval of families and so on, and if you’ve lost all that because you’ve been thrown out of your family, then finding a wife or husband might have gone out of the window too.

None of this isn’t to say that every nation has its peculiarities of course, I don’t want to make the whole world sound homogenous. But it’s more the patterns of similarity that strike me that uniqueness.

I can mention a few details that have stood out though; things which are not really unique but are certainly very indicative. The Alexander Aan case in Indonesia a few years ago had a horrible ironic kicker to it. He was charged with ‘blasphemy’ and ‘calling for others to embrace atheism’ for posting on Facebook — so far so horribly predictable. But also, Indonesia made it a requirement to state your religious affiliation on identity papers, and they were only allowing six choices: you can be a Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, Confucian, Buddhist, or Hindu. You can’t put “atheist”. So in addition to being put on trial for spreading atheism he was also accused of lying on official documents by putting “Muslim”.

One of the less commented-on aspects of the Pussy Riot trial a few years ago was that the judge said in her summing up that they were found guilty of “religious hatred” because their protest was feminist, and the Russian Orthodox religion was incompatible with feminism, therefore the band was obviously promoting their own beliefs in a supremacist way over that of the church! Quite incredible.

Ashraf Fayadh who I mentioned before, in his trial in Saudi Arabia the court was reportedly shown pictures of him, selfies maybe, with female friends at art shows, and also his long hair. This was all used against him, basically to show he was too liberal. Imagine being on trial facing a possible death sentence for “apostasy” — and he was actually sentenced to death on the back of this, although that’s since been commuted to a long prison sentence — but imagine that your life is on the line, you might be executed for leaving your presumed religion, and some prosecution lawyer starts banging on about the length of your hair! Utter mockery of justice.

Jacobsen: To give an idea of the range, what country is the worst for respecting human rights of non-believers? What country is the best? Why (for each)?

Churchill: In the IHEU Freedom of Thought Report we assess each country according to a global ratings system. There are four thematic areas we consider, and five levels of severity across all four thematic areas, so you might say that the worst countries are the ones rated most severely across all four thematic areas. That’s true of Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Afghanistan. And a very close second, with the worst ratings in three out of four strands and the second-worst rating in the remaining strand, there’s another six countries: Brunei, Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

But there’s a lot of ways of chopping the data up, and that’s just looking at where the country is performing consistently badly across our themes, so you could look at it another way. For example, you might very well say that any country in which there’s a possible death sentence for being an atheist, under ‘blasphemy’ or ‘apostasy’ laws, then that has got to belong in your absolute “worst” category! And there are thirteen countries in that camp (many the same as above of course): Afghanistan, Iran, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, Yemen. And recently we’ve seen extrajudicial or militant killings of humanists (or people accused of atheism) in India, Maldives, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. And in each case there appears to be near complete impunity for the attackers.

Meanwhile, we’ve applied the best rating across all four thematic strands in just three countries: Belgium, the Netherlands and Taiwan. This isn’t to say there’s never any problem in these places, of course! There may still be some battles to fight along secular lines. And of course anyone in a conservative religious community in any country may find themselves discriminated against. But legally speaking and in terms of the social indicators we could detect, these three countries succeed in having none of our negative boundary conditions applied to them.

Every country has its own dedicated web page via freethoughtreport.com/countries/ and all the summary data is available via freethoughtreport.com/data/. I’d urge people to read the Report and we’re always looking for volunteers to help maintain and update the information — there are details about how you can join the volunteer researcher pool at iheu.org/volunteer.

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, my friend.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Elizabeth Loethen — Executive Member, SSA at St. Louis Community College (Meramec Campus)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/07

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is family background — culture, education, geography, language, and religiosity/irreligiosity?

Elizabeth Loethen: Currently I go to school at St Louis Community College-Meramec with my brother, though before that I was primarily homeschooled. I am an Atheist, along with my parents and little brother.

Jacobsen: What is the personal background in secularism for you? What were some seminal developmental events and realizations in personal life regarding it?

Loethen: Well, I was raised secular right from the get-go. My parents were both Catholics growing up and once they got older and started dating they both “converted”, for lack of a better word, to secularism and Atheism. So, I was raised not believing in any god and knowing that science is the answer. When I was little, I really wanted to believe in a god. All of the kids at school believed and they often talked to me about the things they learned at church or Sunday school, and so the naive five-year-old in me wanted to believe and fit in. Although she wasn’t, I thought my mother was against me wanting to believe in God and so I almost did it to rebel against her. Instead, she encouraged me and helped me to learn more about it until I finally realized that I just simply didn’t believe. This, of course, made it hard to make friends since children at that age are told that anyone who isn’t their religion are bad and Atheists worship the devil, so I didn’t have many friends growing up until college where people just don’t care what your religion is, they just care if you’re nice.

Jacobsen: You are an executive member of the SSA at St. Louis Community College (Meramec Campus). What tasks and responsibilities comes with this position? Why do you pursue this line of volunteering?

Loethen: Since this group is struggling to even get off the ground, the curse of the commuter college, I spend a lot of time promoting the group and encouraging people to come to meetings. As of last semester there were five people, including myself, but when I fell ill and had to drop out of school, that number dropped. I’m unsure how successful the group was after my departure, but I’m hoping to get the group up and running again in the Fall of 2017. I pursue this because not many people on my campus are Atheists or secular in any way. I want to create a space for the secularists to converge and talk about things that matter to them.

Jacobsen: What personal fulfillment comes from it?

Loethen: There are seven Christian clubs on campus. Seven. And that’s not to mention the Catholics, Muslims, Protestants, ect… Nearly every major religion is represented on campus, and Christianity is OVER represented, in my opinion. I’m thrilled that these clubs are a place for similarly-minded people can go to meet each other, make friends, do charity work or read their holy text together in safety. My SSA group is the only one on campus, period. There is no safe place for Secularists to discuss things that matter to them without the influence of a god. Personally, I have always been alienated from other kids my age and adults since I do not believe in their god and there was no one for me to talk to about issues that meant something to me. I had my parents, but I wanted someone on my level to talk to. It would mean the world to me if I could create a place for people to speak freely without religion in the picture.

Jacobsen: What are some of the more valuable tips for campus secularist activism?

Loethen: Don’t be afraid to promote and talk about it! Due to my alienation, I have lots of anxiety when it comes to outing myself as an Atheist or Secularist in fear that people will simply stop talking to me. However, the more we talk about our group the more interest others will have. Do charity work! Our group was nowhere near organized enough to do charity work, but the more charity you do the more charitable people will take notice. Also, attend as many on-campus social events as possible. Once a semester we have something of a “club fair” where all of the clubs set up tables to recruit new members. Get to the location early and snag a table that will be right where the heaviest traffic will be.

Jacobsen: What have been some historic violations of the principles behind secularism on campus? What have been some successes to combat these violations?

Loethen: Off the top of my head, I can’t really think of any. My campus is a commuter campus so people go to class and leave. No one really has their entire focus on a club. I am guilty of the same, so I don’t know a whole lot of what goes on on campus when I am not there. Like I mentioned before, there are dozens and dozens of religious groups on campus and not a single secular one, so a major success was getting the SSA group started in the first place. At my school you have to get ten people together in order to create a club, so our president at the time was able to get ten people interested in a club like this. We have not had success since, but getting started was really hard in the first place.

Jacobsen: What are the main areas of need regarding secularists on campus?

Loethen: We need a voice. A presence. The SSA chair at the Student Governance Council is vacant with no one to fill it. I am doing everything I can to give us a voice, but it’s not as easy as one might think.

Jacobsen: What is your main concern for secularism on campus moving forward for the next few months, even years?

Loethen: That there will never be enough of us to keep a stable place for us on campus. Every semester at the club fairs we get at least a dozen names on our sign up sheet all interested in joining, but when it comes to the actual meetings we’re lucky to get anyone. I’m worried that it will always be like this and alone, I cannot come up with any solutions.

Jacobsen: What are the current biggest threats to secularism on campus?

Loethen: Surprisingly, the secularists themselves. Our club wasn’t terribly organized and, despite our best efforts, we weren’t able to bring any sort of organization to the club. There simply wasn’t enough of us to call ourselves a proper club. So, the lack of willing participants severely threatens our spot on campus.

Jacobsen: What are perennial threats to secularism on campus?

Loethen: Our club isn’t that old, a year or two at most, but there are already people who don’t want us to exist. Our posters get ripped down and thrown away and defaces and we get primarily hate mail and angry texts. There are more people who want to destroy us than there are people who want to join us or to help us.

Jacobsen: What are the main social and political activist, and educational, initiatives on campus for secularists?

Loethen: Our president has graduated this most recent semester, and his main goal was to create a safe place for likeminded people to meet each other and have civil discussions. He was also extremely focused on charity so most of his efforts went towards helping our school charity project, which was “Project Peanut Butter”, helping children in underdeveloped countries beat malnutrition. The two of us really enjoyed working on the project and doing everything we could to help. We never really got to discuss what kind of education aspect we wanted to bring to the table on campus. Personally, I wanted to educate people on secularism and Atheism to see if I could bring down the stigma about our irreligiosity. Just because we don’t believe in the same things you do and we rely on things like logic and reason to give us the answers we seek doesn’t make us any less of people.

Jacobsen: What are the main events and topics of group discussions for the alliance on campus?

Loethen: As I’ve mentioned profusely, our club was horrifically small and had very little support, so one of our primary discussions was about how to make people interested and want to join us. The other topic that we discussed was events we wanted to hold on campus, and how to make them happen. Only one of our events ever happened, but our president always put lots of emphasis on our visibility on campus, even though we had very little.

Jacobsen: How can people become involved and maintain the secular student alliance ties on campus?

Loethen: Join us! Work with us at our various charity or recruitment events even if you can’t make the meetings. Talk with us about how we can make your involvement work for you. Our community is rather small and we could use all the support we can get. You can still reach us through the information on the posters, though it’s likely you won’t reach me directly but feel free to ask whoever you DO reach if you would like to know more. Like I mentioned, we’re pretty unorganized at the moment but we’re working hard to remedy that and make sure that you have a safe, comfortable place to be.

Jacobsen: Any feelings or thoughts in conclusion?

Loethen: Keeping this club afloat is a struggle and there have been many times when I just wanted to throw in the towel and give up. Since no one seems to want to be a part of it, then why should I keep trying? When I fell ill this last semester, I had no choice but to give up, even if temporarily. For a while, my mother was a student on campus as well and together, we worked incredibly hard to keep this club alive and for awhile, it was working. However, now that our president is gone and my mother will not be on campus any longer, it is up to me to keep our club alive. It is not going to be easy, and I am desperately going to need someone to lean on, but if I can make this work even if just for a while I will consider my time at the local community college to be beyond worthwhile.

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, Elizabeth.

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2022-12-09

Conversation on Humanism, Irreligiosity, and Education in Nigeria with Dr. Leo Igwe — Session 2

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/01

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: When you mention an ineffective education system, what are the main weak points?

Dr. Leo Igwe: First of all, in many rural communities, there are no schools to attend. Children who want to learn cannot learn. Other children trek several kilometers to attend the nearest schools where there may not be enough teachers or classrooms.

In some of these schools, children learn under the trees, in make-shift structures. Many classrooms have no desks or benches, and children sit on the floor to take lessons. Where the schools are available, there are no qualified teachers.

Many teachers are poorly paid. Their monthly salaries do not come regularly. In many cases, teachers retire into poverty because they receive very little as a pension — that is if the pension is paid. The condition is worse for those who teach in private schools.

For instance, some teachers in private schools in Ibadan in South West Nigeria are paid as low as 50 dollars a month. Some of these teachers are not paid during the holidays and they are not entitled to any pension. Now I ask: what kind of knowledge would such teachers impact?

So generally, the morale of teachers in the education system is low. Even in situations where there are schools and qualified, well-paid teachers, these teachers are compelled to teach in accordance with certain religious ideologies and traditions.

Education is largely by rote learning and memorization of what is allowed to be taught in the classrooms. There is very little going on in terms of research, experimentation, and exploration of new frontiers of knowledge.

There is a disdain for cutting-edge ideas. The place for creativity, innovation, and invention is marginal. Merit is not always rewarded. Originality, adventurous, and independent thinking are not encouraged, especially when such ideas are perceived to pose a threat to religions or the authorities.

So, education as a facility that would lead people out of ignorance is not the case. The education system has failed to provide the impetus that is needed for national development and renewal.

Jacobsen: How can individual Nigerian parents work to improve the education for their children?

Igwe: Parents can help improve the education of their children by ensuring that children continue to learn even when they return from school. Parents should not rely solely on what the children are taught at the school.

They should make sure that the homes are continuing education centers. Parents should also lobby for the improvement of the quality of education in the schools. They should pressure the government to employ more qualified teachers and pay them well.

They should get the government to build and equip the classrooms, and ensure that there are learning aid materials for children. Parents should understand the importance of separating education and religious indoctrination.

Too often religion has so much influence in the educational system due to pressure from parents. Parents should realize that what is taught in classrooms need not be compatible with what children are told at home or at their churches and mosques; that education is not the handmaid of religion.

In fact, parents should know that religious interference in schools undermines the education, growth and development of their children.

Jacobsen: How can we inculcate critical thinking and science training in the young Nigerian population?

Igwe: By encouraging critical thinking, rewarding scientific discovery, and investing in scientific research; by Africanizing and Nigerianizing, not westernizing, critical thinking and the scientific method of acquiring knowledge.

Too often it is mistakenly said that critical or scientific thinking is a Western value. No, it is not. Critical reasoning is a human property. Scientific thought is a human value, and not an exclusive heritage of any culture or race.

Nigeria must make inculcation of critical thinking skills part of its curriculum and ensure that the subject is taught from the primary to the university level. As a society, Nigeria needs to show that it values those who question ideas and demand evidence, those who inquire, investigate, and examine beliefs.

Nigeria should honour its adventurous thinkers and get the young ones to know that acquiring critical thinking skills is a venture worth pursuing. Nigeria cannot instill critical thinking when it makes criminals of those who criticize religions, and does not guarantee freedom of expression. The country must ensure that critical inquiry is applied in all areas of human endeavor.

So, critical thinkers must be protected and defended, not penalized, prosecuted, jailed, or executed. Nigeria should invest in science, in the training scientists and in scientific research. Nigeria should fund scientific experiments, set up science laboratories, and celebrate excellence in scientific research. Young Nigerians should be encouraged to choose science subjects and to become scientists.

Jacobsen: Why is the religious ideological filter so pervasive and damaging to society, rather than positive and beneficial?

Igwe: Religious ideology is pervasive because it thrives on fear and ignorance. It recruits easily and is not mentally demanding. Blind obedience is the main obligation and qualification. Apparently, religious ideology is for the intellectually lazy, for minds not inclined to diligence, rigor, and adventure.

For minds that are closed and are unfree, but more especially in Christianity and Islam, this ideology manifests in its insidious forms because, backed by powerful political and financial interest groups in the West and the Middle East, their influence is potent and pervasive.

The ideology has been on a rampage as evidenced by the political and militant demands for Sharia law in northern Nigeria, the hijab crisis in schools across southwest Nigeria, and witch persecution in many parts of the country.

The ideology is damaging by any stretch because it holds the Nigerian mind hostage and prevents it from unfettered expression and intellection. Religion enslaves the mind. Ideologies that spring from it colonize the intellect.

The people even the highly educated are afraid to think freely and openly exercise their minds. They are afraid to challenge the religious dogmas. They are reluctant to condemn acts of bloodletting committed in the name of religion.

Many Nigerians are unwilling to think outside the box of their religion, their god(s), or their holy book. Unfortunately, in pursuant of these competing versions of the faith ideology, Nigerians have inadvertently turned their country into a proxy battleground where the cold war between Christianity and Islam rages endlessly at Nigeria’s and Nigerians’ expense.

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, Leo, my friend — chat on the June 8th for the next session.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Kwaku Adusei: Founder, The Common Sense Foundation

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/01

*This interview edited for clarity and readability.*

Scott Jacobsen: How did you first find and become involved in Humanism? What makes it more or less true to you as a worldview?

Kwaku Adusei: It has been a long time. Somewhere in 1999, I was interested in the Bible. I started reading the Bible, trying to understand what is really in that book. The more I read, the more I come across something. I went to read the books of Exodus and Genesis. That was Jews starting choosing. That means that the Gentiles are not part of God’s family. Some of Israelites were ordered to go to Amalek and killed the Amalekites.

They slaughtered them all. I thought, “What kind of God is this?” A God who can kill a mass group of people. A God who can create even with word of mouth. That God cannot kill by himself, but only through others. I thought some propaganda is behind the story. Some political propaganda. They are seeking to achieve a political end, to achieve something by trying to use the Word of God to cover up.

You get my point. It is something used to deceive people. The more I read the Bible, I thought, “This isn’t making sense. Why don’t I go and get other books?” So I started reading the Bhagavad Gita. The holy book of the Hindu people. I read books of logic. I thought, “These books aren’t making sense as far as logic is concerned.” Then I started making the transition from the religious life to the humanistic life.

I realized if there was a supernatural power outside the universe that can give me energy, or any power to do whatever I want on this material world. It would mean that if you have a belief in God, then you can do anything. But in Ghana, this is when I changed so fast. When there are more religious people, you have more poverty. The more people become religious, the more they become poor. So something is missing.

I started reading Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene. I read Christ Conspiracy. I read Historical Jesus and the Mythical Christ. After reading all of these books, I thought, “This thing we call God is nothing but something designed to deceive or enslave the masses. So that is what took me away from the religious life.” Now, it was not easy for me. The books began to shape me. I became demonized. I said, “Hey, I know what I am doing.”

My family and my loved ones, they all neglected me. I said, “No, I still have to be strong and live my life.” So every day I make sure I read my logic books and anything that has to do with science. Unless, it can be scientifically proven, then I will not believe it. If people say, “If God wills it, it will come to pass.” If I say this, I will not be applying logic and reason. In 2002, I became a full atheist.

That’s where I started moving into atheism. After atheism, I thought, “I need a step forward.” For one, we are humanists. Without human beings, it will not be easy to do whatever you want to do. If you are calling yourself irreligious, how do you work together with them on this particular planet? I started looking for others who are also thinking like me. It was difficult to me. I hide my humanist ideology for more than 5 years.

Maybe, it was 6 years. In 2010, I found 4 people who were also like me. We would get together on a weekly basis to discuss humanist ideas to make sure we make a meaningful life for ourselves without adherence to supernatural forces or higher powers. 2 years ago, I was trying to found humanist groups across the company. I saw on Facebook. I connected with IHEYO. They said they had a group in Accra, in Ghana.

I also got my friends who were humanists in Kumasi, in Ghana. I started to form a humanist group associated to the one in Accra. So we agreed and formed a humanist group in Kumasi here. When I formed the humanist group with Roslyn, I figured, “We cannot hide in the darkness. There are people outside will to hear from us. So why don’t we go outside?” Others can understand that the religious people are not what they are hearing about.

So I joined one of my friends who is a radio presenter. He was preparing something for all atheist people. And then the program features people from Hare Krishna. People from Christianity and Islam. So I joined that program. The outcome was [Laughing], I got a lot of backlash. People tried to even kill me. People, some of them got to understand me. As I talk to you, I have 59 members on my platform, where we interact each and every day on humanist ideas to get more people involved.

SJ: As well, you founded The Common Sense Foundation. What is the target audience, and the purpose of it?

KA: Yes, The Common Sense Foundation, we are an organization of the Humanist Association of Ghana. First of all, it is one part of my plan. I want to make a radio program. I started to realize there are more people who are willing to hear our message. I put my phone number on the radio station. People started calling me and saying they wanted to learn more from me. That’s where I created a WhatsApp platform and then have some direction with them on daily issues.

I thought, “Why don’t we have a platform to spread the news across the country?” If that is what we are proposing, then we can do that. Then we formed the humanist community and The Common Sense Foundation. Our main target is the youth because the youth are more open to information. The youth have now come to realize that religion is killing people. Religion is dehumanizing people.

Religion is making people slaves. The youth have the mindset, but they don’t have the courage to come out of that mess. We have come to give them that boost. We have come to encourage them. So they can be strong, be bold, and can move from religion to the secular world, which is what we seek to do — to build a critical thinking centre. Where we organize a forum to encourage them.

That way, they can realize things without panic or being hypnotized by the religious people. We cannot teach logic to some of the adults because they have already made up their minds. The youth are always looking for new information. The Common Sense Foundation is there to give them the information that they need, to help encourage them to live their lives, and can do whatever they want to do without adhering to any spiritual forces.

We realize they have the doubt, but that they are now free to move to another level. We talk to them. So that is what we are doing now, we go to the radio stations and talk to people. Those that want to talk to us, contact us, and then we put them on the WhatsApp platform to share ideas and have fun. That’s all. It is difficult for us because sometimes we don’t organize very big programs, so that we also invite +people from outside it.

Eminent and experienced humanists come to give lectures, but we are moving in that bigger direction. Especially with the critical thinking centre the work with the young people, it is difficult for us. We are talking to other friends who are humanists in their work. We see if they try and help us. The target, though, is for the youth.

SJ: Thank you very much for your time. It was nice talking to you, Kwaku.

KA: You too.

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2022-12-09

Grafting or Growing

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/01

Some religions, or faiths, graft themselves onto culture into which they find themselves, such as the prominent examples of Christianity or Islam. All, at one time or another, grow out of them. I will explain more of this in a bit, which I assume you know as well, simply intuitively if not indoctrinated into pure positive thinking about dominant mythologies in the culture. Both of those religions — Christianity and Islam — have histories, centuries of devoted to them, of bloodshed and conquest connected to their names, despite the formal advertisements about ‘love’ and ‘peace’ (RationalWiki, 2017). Where love and peace become excuses for ancient hatreds and us-them tendencies, let’s look at the country of my origin, Canada, on the far, but not farthest, reaches of the West of it, I live in Langley, which is in British Columbia (City of Langley, 2017).

In Canada, most of, much of the country remains religious, Catholic or Protestant by a wide margin, with a smattering of Indigenous religious faiths and non-Indigenous world faiths introduced into the belief system or concept ecosystem of the country — which would include Catholicism and Protestantism. These faiths, especially the dominant few, were spread by murder, attempted and many times successful termination of peoples and cultures, and forced assimilation in residential schools, in friendly ol’ Canada, right here — and not too long ago. Only a few generations ago, not even, really: think of Wab Kinew, and the impact on his life, and his father, who was the direct victim of the Catholic residential school system in this country (Kinew, 2017; Miller, 2016). Then from them, feel for the thousands of others.

With the residential schools alone, and with the attempted elimination of not only the people but the various cultures and faiths of various nations in the modern sectioning of North America called Canada, the palpable and understandable distrust, even hatred and resentment of some of the Indigenous populations towards the dominant Christian faith and culture, in the Canadian case, is present, in some, even many, instances. From those that are the direct descendants of those most affected by these actions, the Christian religion is the colonial religion — an alien entity imposed, inculcated by force on the young: ask many countries on most continents in the world with human inhabitants.

It is a hard-to-ignore or hard-to-be obscurantist about this fact, because it happens to be true. Yes, some Indigenous populations were slavers; yes, there was warfare among various nations prior to colonial times (Revolvy, 2017). However, the fact remains that the entire country of Canada was founded, in part, on — strange-to-say — good-intentioned murder of peoples and culture, to ‘save souls’ and bring, even by force, the ‘right culture’ to the people , or “savages” according to the first prime minister of Canada Sir John A MacDonald, of the region (Joseph, 2016). To me, these seem like open crimes couched in delusional, in some ways, thinking. The road to hell…ironically.

Also, there was the simple slavery conducted in New France with most of, or many of, the slaves being of Indigenous heritage, and so origin (Lawrence, 2016).

Islam massacred peoples and cultures, and planted their own socio-religious structures and culture by force on them, too — flying, winged horse and all. All faiths probably grew out of some ancient culture, but some modern ones are known to have grown out of modern societies, such as that founded by the charlatan and fraudster, and purported prophet Joseph Smith, right in America.

Blacks, or African Americans, were not allowed in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for a long time, at least until the 1980s, which is recent, very much so. Islam has liberalized in some respects, especially some branches of American Islam or that represented by the Aga Khan. Same with some post-Reformation and post-Enlightenment Christianity. These took time to tame, from the outside.

But often the grafting plus time appeared to soften the traditionalist, fundamentalist aspects of the religions, on average. When I reflect further on the nature of the growing out of, and eventual grafting onto, culture, especially with the religions having greater zeal and variety of methodologies in proselytizing and conversions, humanism has some reflections, or isomorphisms with religion, as it is a belief system, but not in other ways.

In some ways, one targeted objective is the increase in the numbers of humanists in the world. In other ways, most humanists, probably, gristle at the thought of open attempts at conversion, and so do not go door-to-door, which is a significant difference. But many hope to live up to an ideal and then the example of living a good life sets the standard, by which people may want to consider humanism. Some religious individuals share this view.

Humanism doesn’t exactly have a violent history, which is distinct from most big “R” religions, whose histories are bloody from the start, but also proclaiming the highest ideals — as does humanism. Humanism simply doesn’t have the outcropping of zeal plus violence, which is a big demarcation. Does humanism grow out of a culture or graft itself onto one? In an ironic way, as with many people leaving religion and then building a unique non-belief, humanism seems to grow out of the ashes of religion.

As society becomes more modern, more technological, more civil, more diverse and inclusive, more democratic, and more scientifically literate, the more society seems to become irreligious. Sometimes, citizens cling to spiritualisms in those ashes of religion, but most often people leave that stuff behind, by and large. Humanism is part of that modernizing wave; and part of its force. I’m not saying this is the way it is with these statements, but am feeling and thinking it through. And then presenting them in print, risky.

Happy Canada Day, by the way.

References

City of Langley. (2017). City of Langley. Retrieved from https://www.city.langley.bc.ca/.

Joseph, B. (2016, June 28). 10 Quotes John A. MacDonald Made About First Nations. Retrieved from https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/10-quotes-john-a.-macdonald-made-about-first-nation

Kinew, W. (2017). Wab Kinew. Retrieved from https://www.wabkinew.ca/.

Lawrence, B. (2016, November 22). Slavery of Indigenous People in Canada. Retrieved from http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/slavery-of-indigenous-people-in-canada/.

Miller, J.R. (2016, October 10). Residential Schools. Retrieved from http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-schools/.

RationalWiki. (2017, May 6). Massacres in the name of a peaceful faith. Retrieved from http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Massacres_in_the_name_of_a_peaceful_faith.

Revolvy. (2017). Enslavement of indigenous peoples in North America. Retrieved from https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Enslavement%20of%20indigenous%20peoples%20in%20North%20America.

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2022-12-09

Humanism in the Trump Era

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/01

Emily Newman is the Development & Communications Assistant for The Humanist Institute and Communications Coordinator of the American Ethical Union. She has been a key organizer of the Future of Ethical Societies since 2011 and helped develop the IHEYO American Working Group.

Introduction

The Trump Administration has shown itself as a, if not the, major concern for citizens in the United States, as well as the rest of the world because the US is the most powerful nation in military might, economic power, and international soft power.

In the final 2016 presidential debate, current President Donald Trump proclaimed “no one respects women more than me.” However, later in the debate, he interrupted then Secretary Hillary Clinton over 35 times, once to refer to her as “such a nasty woman.”

The deliberate slanders on the campaign trail were numerous, and quite conscious — and even at times non-conscious and highly impulsive — in trying to muddy Clinton’s representation as an activist for women’s rights.

Trump keeps telling us that he respects women. But has he been showing us? Has he treated women with respect and encouraged others to do so as well? Do we trust that he will support and defend women throughout his term? How much can he really respect women?

He previously bragged about grabbing women in their privates and shows little indication of a change in his perspective that women are inequality in physical treatment as objects to him, as things to be objectified.

He may think that he respects women because he has done some good things and could be worse, but there is not enough evidence to show he truly respects women. Besides, the standard for treatment of women and female empowerment is not thinking, “It could have been worse,” or, “He’s done a little.” It’s an inappropriate benchmark, especially for leader of the free world.

Trump can highlight how he hired and promoted women in his businesses, listens to his wife and daughter about “women’s difficulties,” and invites women to meetings at the White House. His administration can boast that he signed a proclamation designating March as Women’s History Month, and tweeted something nice for International Women’s Day.

He can claim that he has matured from previously made rude comments, which are insulting to many women, “locker room talk,” and actions that caused him to be accused of sexual assault by 11 women.

But his past actions should at least prove that he does not respect women more than everybody else, certainly not more than the many people who have fought and continue to fight for women’s rights around the country. The fact that he continues to praise himself in this regard and not acknowledge other people’s dedication to supporting women is strong evidence against his claim.

Putting aside our issues with his hyperbole (and grammar), let’s look at how Trump could show he respects women. The Center for American Progress prepared an issue brief that “highlights 100 ways in which Trump’s policy actions and proposals fall short of — and often harm — the comprehensive progress that millions of women and their families need.” Please read them all. We highlight a few key issues below:

Healthcare

Women, like men, need reliable and affordable healthcare in order to stay healthy. Trump repealed the Affordable Care Act before having a good replacement prepared and his budget cuts Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicaid, and international support (causing resurgence and spread of diseases that could be treated if detected early).

The proposed healthcare bill, developed by only white men, does not provide needed services to “pre-existing conditions” including rape, mental health issues, and pregnancy. His proposed budget also attacks STEM education programs, which would enable women to get a better education, good jobs, and support health opportunities for all.

Does he not value science, research, and health, or does he not understand how essential they are to improving our country? Either answer terrifies us.

Reproductive Rights

A significant part of a women’s health is her ability to get or avoid getting pregnant. Trump has said (in Presidential debate & August 2015 interview with Sean Hannity) that Planned Parenthood provides vital services for millions of women other than abortion, including cancer screenings, yet he supports defunding it.

In March 2016, he told Chris Matthews in MSNBC town hall-style forum that abortion must be banned and women who seek abortions should be punished, later clarifying that he meant the person who performed the abortion would be legally responsible.

Is this denial of what Human Rights Watch calls a fundamental human right permissible? He is appealing to the fundamentalist and ethnic nationalist base to thrust women into secondary status without the right to choose how their bodies are treated.

The president also reinstated and expanded the global gag rule, preventing NGOs from receiving U.S. aid if they provide abortion counseling or referrals. It is an absurd regrowth of the Reagan-era politics, which will punish women — and especially poor and minority women.

Parental Leave and Equal Pay

Families that have children need to spend time caring for babies, without losing their jobs or being forced back to work soon after the birth. Parental leave is needed for both men and women because it is not only the mother who is raising the child and dealing with this new life change.

On March 27, Trump revoked Obama’s 2014 Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces order, which ensured that companies with federal contracts comply with 14 labor and civil rights laws. The Fair Pay order was put in place after a 2010 Government Accountability Office investigation showed that companies with rampant violations were being awarded millions in federal contracts.

In an attempt to keep the worst violators from receiving taxpayer dollars, the Fair Pay order included two rules that impacted women workers: paycheck transparency and a ban on forced arbitration clauses for sexual harassment, sexual assault or discrimination claims.

Conclusion

On the bright side, many women are acting on the frustration based on the decisions and actions of the Trump administration, where demeaning phrases like “nasty woman” become battle cries. They have been inspired to donate to organizations such as the ACLU and Planned Parenthood, contact their politicians to voice their views, and run for office.

According to a March 2017 post on Emily’s List: “Since November 8, over 10,000 women have contacted the organization about potential runs for office — roughly ten times as many as reached out during the entire 2016 election cycle, from January 2015 to last November.”

We can and must come together to raise our voices for the administration to hear. No matter your gender, sexual orientation, income, race, religious beliefs, or any other distinguishing qualities, we are all humans that expect our government to support its people.

That is the universalist, humanist, credo. Even if you don’t live in America, you are affected by its policies. America should be supporting every person by funding educational programs, protecting the vulnerable populations, using evidence-based information to make responsible decisions, and working towards that universal humanist credo.

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2022-12-09

Germany Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

Author(s): Anya Overmann and Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/06/30

Good news in light of Pride Month!

Lawmakers in Germany voted on Friday, June 30th to legalize same-sex marriage. Germany is the 14th country in Europe to pass a measure for marriage equality. The 13 other European countries to have passed marriage equality laws are:

Belgium
Denmark
Finland
France
Iceland
Ireland
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom

The Netherlands was the first to pass same-sex marriage equality in 2001. Finland was the last one before Germany to approve same sex marriage or marriage equality. This comes in the wake of a free vote provided by Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was against same-sex marriage.

The vote was 393–226, for-against, which is pretty much a supermajority. The vote was for “marriage for everybody.” Merkel’s Christian Democrat, Jan-Marco Luczak, said, “It would be absurd to try and protect marriage by preventing people to marry.” Germany’s first same-sex marriages are set to be celebrated early this coming fall.

This is a significant development given Germany’s role in the EU and in the world in general. It is both an economic power and a cultural one too. With such a decision, it can be predicted that other European nations will follow suit.

References

The Associated Press. (2017, June 30). Germany votes to legalize same-sex marriage despite Merkel’s thumbs down. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/germany-votes-to-legalize-same-sex-marriage-despite-merkel-s-thumbs-down-1.4185430.

Carrel, P. & Shalal, A. (2017, June 30). German lawmakers approve same-sex marriage in landmark vote. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-gay-marriage-idUSKBN19L0PQ.

Connolly, K. (2017, June 30). German parliament votes to legalise same-sex marriage. Retrieved from

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/30/germany-poised-legalise-same-sex-marriage-bill-law.

Lowder, J.B. (2017, June 30|). Same-Sex Marriage Finally Comes to Germany. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2017/06/30/same_sex_marriage_is_now_legal_in_germany.html.

Vonberg, J. & Smith-Spark, L. (2017, June 30). German lawmakers vote to legalize same-sex marriage; Merkel votes no. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/30/europe/germany-gay-marriage-vote/index.html.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Chris Worfolk — Founder, Leeds Atheist Society

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/06/29

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Was there a family background in humanism?

Chris Worfolk: No, my family are open-minded but rational people. So there wasn’t much in the way of religion or belief in our household. My parents just get on with life.

Jacobsen: How did you come to find humanism, or a humanist community?

Worfolk: When I arrived at university, I was greeted by a huge array of religious activity. I’m not sure whether I expected university to be a temple of reason or not, but it definitely wasn’t. The religious societies were huge. They ran loads of events and put week-long marquees outside the student’s union touting their existential wares. I have no problem with this. But it did lead me to ask

Jacobsen: Where do the humanist students go?

Worfolk: The answer was nowhere. So I founded Leeds Atheist Society. I then spent the next few years of my life fielding the question “what is the point of an atheist society?” But evidently many people did see the point because a few years later we were one of the most active societies on campus, running three or four events per week to accommodate all of our members.

Jacobsen: What seems like the main reason for people to come to label themselves as humanists, from your experience?

Worfolk: I think it varies depending on generation. Ten years ago, West Yorkshire Humanists had a predominantly elderly membership base. And many of them were there as a reaction to religion. They had been hurt by it in the past, mostly over LGBT issues, and so came to Humanism as a place of refuge. On contrast, our younger membership base seems to have found Humanism for different reasons. Some are Dawkinites, but I suspect that most are here because they’re looking to fill the hole left by the breakdown of traditional neighbourhood communities in the West. Or because as society continues to become smarter and better educated, we all become more existential, get more depressed, and want a positive answer to the whole life, the universe and everything question without resorting to “a magic man in the sky did it”.

Jacobsen: What was the experience of finding a community of like-minded individuals?

Worfolk: It’s an easy way to find high-quality friends. Typically, anyone who takes horoscopes seriously, or refuses to vaccinate, is filtered out, for example. I also met my wife through LAS, and most human behaviour is probably driven by the desire to propagate our genes.

Jacobsen: You play guitar. How has the development of this skilled improved personal life? What is your favourite kind of music? Any favourite artists?

Worfolk: I’ve had a guitar since I was about 17. But I never learnt to play it. Then, when I reached 27, I decided to take lessons. I think it took me that long to gather enough emotional maturity to say to myself “look, a year of practice misery will give you fifty years of enjoying playing the guitar. And that’s a good deal.” I like to think of myself as a poster child for proving anyone can play an instrument. I have no music aptitude. I couldn’t play anything for the first six months of lessons. Nothing. Then it clicked. Now I play the piano, as well, and sing. I think learning one really hard skill gives you the confidence to go on and learn others. Now I play in the “house band” at Sunday Assembly Leeds. Which is a great way to improve your skills because the good musicians pull you forward. I don’t often discuss my music tastes because it leads me to lose all credibility as an adult. I like Avril Lavigne. Also Smashing Pumpkins, Dire Straits, Sheryl Crow, Lordi, rock music you can sing along to.

Jacobsen: What is the best argument for atheism, and theism, that you have ever come across?

Worfolk: Personally, I used to struggle with morality. I found it difficult to make sense of objective morality without an omniscient rule maker, which led me to adopt subjective morality.

But that never sat well with me either. Sam Harris finally cleared it up for me with The Moral Landscape. He makes an eloquent case for objective morality inside a Humanist framework.

Jacobsen: Who are personal heroes?

Worfolk: Bill & Melinda Gates because they are almost single handily wiping out malaria and polio. Jimmy Wales because he took all human knowledge and made it available to everyone for free.

Also Ray Kroc and Colonel Sanders. Kroc was 55 when he founded McDonald’s, and Sanders was 62 when he founded KFC. Which gives me hope that even if I achieve nothing in the next thirty years of my life, I could still make a valuable contribution to the world before I die.

Jacobsen: What differentiates New Atheism from ‘Old Atheism’?

Worfolk: I’m not sure anything does. I think the “new” represents a new wave of interest. It boomed in the seventies, and again in the naughties when people realised the battle for freedom from religion had not yet been won. But it’s essentially the same merchandise.

Jacobsen: What is the current strategy of the atheist movement to advance its cause?

Worfolk: I think the “movement” is probably too diverse to have a cause or a strategy. We can’t even agree if we’re atheists, agnostics, humanists, secularists, freethinkers, sceptics, etc. So there are many different movements worth commenting on.

In the UK, the National Secular Society changed its constitution so that it no longer affirms atheism. They want to be seen as objective as it is difficult to argue against an organisation campaigning for a level playing field without being able to accuse them of anti-religious bias.

Sunday Assembly is out there trying to create a secular church. It’s a well-trodden route: Auguste Comte’s Religion of Humanity, the ethical societies of the late nineteenth century, Humanist Community, Church of Freethought have all tried it.

But Sanderson Jones is doing a great job of building a new movement. Then you have organisations like Atheists Feeding the Homeless and Humanist Action Group attempting to convert humanist ethical values into positive action. But the efforts are rather fragmented.

Take Atheism Plus, for example. It’s atheism plus social justice. Which is Humanism. But for some reason they wanted their own movement. Which is always likely to be the way when you try to herd free thinkers. Ultimately, what will advance the cause is the slow march of time.

We can rely on the tranquilising drug of gradualism if needed, because the world is only going to get smarter, and better educated, and more caring. The Moral Arc goes up. And that is good news for humanism and bad news for outdated and silly belief systems.

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, Chris, I enjoyed that.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Houzan Mahmoud — Co-Founder, Culture Project

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/06/24

Houzan Mahmoud is the Co-Founder of Culture Project. She is a women’s rights activist, campaigner, and defender, and a feminist. In this wide-ranging and exclusive interview, Mahmoud discusses the Kurds, Iraq, women’s rights, and more.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You are a women’s rights activist, feminist, and an anti-war activist. You were born in Iraqi Kurdistan. What were the moments of political awakening for you?

Houzan Mahmoud: One of the things I’ll never forget is the break-out of war between Iraq and Iran. I was only six-years-old at the time. Iraq’s bloody dictator Saddam Hussein coming to political power in 1979 changed our lives in Kurdistan and Iraq forever. Being Kurdish poses all sorts of problems as it is, and living under the fascist regime of Saddam made things incredibly hard for my family. Prior to Saddam coming to power, my brothers took up arms during late 70’s against Iraq’s regime, I was too little to remember the particulars. However, what I do know is that from 1973 to 1991 I grew up and lived under one of the most horrendous regimes in modern history.

I am forty-four years old now, but I still live with the horrors I faced during my childhood and adolescence years living in Iraq. From the day I was born, all the way to this moment, all I have witnessed is war, a never ending war in Iraq. That’s why even my life in London is very much shaped and affected by the events that have and are still unfolding in Iraq and Kurdistan. I have many shared memories with my own people from the region, memories of struggle, loss of loved ones, horrors of genocide, and the pain of having to leave our homes again and again. I live like a nomad; even if I live in a home I always think to myself “I am not sure how long I will be living here — where next?”

Jacobsen: How did you come to align with the principles inherent in feminism and anti-war activism?

Mahmoud: I grew up in a warzone, a climate of long lasting and bloody wars, a constant exodus and displacement. I am strongly opposed to war because it only brings devastation and abject poverty. It destroys homes, it destroys entire lives. However, I wouldn’t say that I am a pacifist largely due to the environment in which I was born. As Kurds, we are always subjected to the horror of war, occupation, and repetitive cultural, linguistic and physical genocides. For example, I support the armed struggle of Rojava against the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS). In such cases, you can have one option: you either take up arms or be ruled by the monstrous forces of ISIS.

As for my feminist principles, there were various reasons that are personal, social and political. Of course, when you grew up in a socially-conservative society, a place in which every move you make somehow amounts to either shame or honour, if you adopt progressive views there is considerable backlash, you become a ‘rebel’. The mentality that women are ‘inferior’ and men are superior is somehow imbued within almost every aspects of daily life — politics, art and literature. The language we speak carries a great deal of words that reinforce women’s subordination. I must admit that from a very early age, I was aware of my own position in my society, I felt trapped, powerless and lonely. I felt stranded on a small planet that was destroyed by war. Making the smallest demand for women’s rights felt like a crime. Everything was about war, killing, survival and political-struggle against the enemy. There was little room for feminist ideas. Even when I joined a leftist political party, hoping that it provide the equality I sought after, I felt it was a man’s club. I left it and started reading feminist books intensively, as well as the history of feminism and the different schools of thoughts. I found within feminism a home, a place in which an ideology truly spoke for women. So, yes, going through a painful life journey full of loss and being a woman was and still is not easy. That’s why feminism is vital to me, to my thinking, activism and worldview.

Jacobsen: What are the more immediate concerns for women’s rights relevant to the Iraqi Kurdish community?

Mahmoud: There are many issues to fight against, such as so-called ‘honour killings’, female genital mutilation (FGM), forced and arranged marriages, and other forms of violence — like many other societies in the world. Kurdish women are fighting against all of these issues, and they’re fighting outside invaders too — such as ISIS. So the problems are not limited, but are changing and are varied in addition to the political instability that, as we know, forays into the lives of women and their rights.

Jacobsen: You co-founded Culture Project, which is a platform for “Kurdish writers, feminists, artists, and activists.” What inspired it — its theme and title?

Mahmoud: I am one of the founders of Culture Project and have supported it, as well as having worked with various organisations and campaigns that highlight and assuage violence against women. One thing that was missing was a holistic approach to the important need of raising awareness about gender and feminism and challenging cultural productions that are patriarchal and male dominated. So I discussed the idea with a couple of friends and supporters about creating such a platform, a platform that supported those people who have non-conformist views, as well as challenging regressive/conservative norms and values which are “traditional”. This platform is open for all regardless of sex and gender. We would love to bring forward new faces, young writers and others in order to create a debate and produce new knowledge that challenges the old schools of thought. As for the name, I thought that if we give it a name that gave our organisation the appearance it is female-only, it will just limit our scope of work. We decided to call it Culture Project in order to be inclusive of all people: activists, writers, philosophers, feminists, novelists, poets, etc.

Jacobsen: What have been some of its more popular articles — title and contents?

Mahmoud: We have various writers on both our Kurdish and English websites — websites proving to be very popular. Of course, on the Kurdish website we have far more writers, poets, feminist writers, philosophical essays, art and cultural reviews, etc., as well as short stories. On our English website we have a very well-informed new generation of young Kurds who are active politically and are critical of the status-quo in Kurdistan. They challenge existing gender relations. You can find some very interesting poems, short stories, artistic-writing, and essays. One of the important pillars of our project is that we have gender and feminist awareness at its core. We promote and motivate our writers to be gender sensitive and champion feminist positions. When we were in Kurdistan in May, we hosted a debate on Feminism and Art, which was very well attended and created a very interesting debate.

Jacobsen: As a secular feminist have there been threats to your life, or others involved with the project?

Mahmoud: There have been several threats directed at me when we launched our Anti Sharia Campaign in Kurdistan and Iraq back in 2005. Even now when I write and criticise Islamism and advocate for feminist ideals I get hate mail, threats and expletive diatribes on Social media. Also, one of our writers who openly writes against Islamism received letters containing death threats. The fact is that those of us who are non-compromising and are open in our criticism of Islam and Islamism our lives are automatically in danger. We are not safe in either the Middle East nor in the UK.

Jacobsen: What are the unique concerns of women and girls in war in contrast to boys and men, in general?

Mahmoud: One of the major features of all wars is the use of rape as a weapon of war. Most of the times women in war situations end up becoming victims to rape, trafficking, sexual slavery and dealing with the consequences of the devastations that war brings to their societies. For example, women who become widows in socially conservative societies who have very little welfare are living in dire conditions. Conversely, men and boys, who are fighting, face death, injuries and other war traumas. However, in some cases men who are caught as prisoners of war are sexually assaulted as an act of humiliation in order to breakdown their ‘manhood’. The case of the Yezidi genocide committed by ISIS symbolises this horror. Women were taken as spoils of war; they could be raped, sold and turned into slaves. Men who did not convert were killed.

Jacobsen: Looking into the past a bit, you were one of the speakers for the March, 2003 London, United Kingdom anti-war rally. What was the content of, and the reaction to, the speech?

Mahmoud: I used to take part in anti-war demonstrations against US-lead wars in Afghanistan. Later on, when the US and its allies decided to attack Iraq in 2003, I became more involved and active in the anti-war efforts in UK and elsewhere. I asserted my opposition to the war on Iraq, despite the fact of being Kurdish and someone who has suffered immensely under Saddam’s regime. I still didn’t think that any foreign intervention was going to improve our lives. I also emphasised that this war will only bring more terrorism because it will strengthen political Islam, i.e. Islamism. Some people on the political Left liked my opposition to the war but disliked my opposition to political Islam, as they view them as an “anti-imperialist” resistance. To me, however, this is absurd — how can a terrorist force that kills, beheads, and oppresses women have anything to do with resisting imperialism?

There is no doubt that we all wanted an end to Saddam’s totalitarian regime, but I was opposed to foreign invasion. In this region we don’t have a good experience with foreign interventions and colonialism throughout history. Imperialist powers invade, destroy and support or install puppet regimes to serve their interest only. Look at Iraq and Afghanistan — since the invasion we are faced with much more terrorism, instability, poverty, displacement and mass migration of people. There is a humanitarian disaster and an endless tragedy of war and bloodshed.

Jacobsen: As well, you have been on major news media such as The Guardian, The Independent, BBC, CNN, NBC, and Sky News. You have campaigned strongly against Sharia law in addition to the oppression of women in Iraq and Kurdistan. Does this campaigning against Sharia law extend into the international domain?

Mahmoud: Yes, because political Islamist groups are now everywhere seeking to impose Islamist ideals on people and restricting freedom of speech and expression. Even in UK we have problem with religious schooling, Mosques that advocate for Jihad, and hate speech. We have Sharia councils that violate women’s rights. I am part of the One Law for All coalition that seeks to expose these violations and influence government policy makers. The struggle for women’s rights, secularism and universal values is an international struggle. I always felt I was part of this worldwide struggle even if we are confined to local issues, but we fight with a universal vision for rights, gender equality, secularism and an egalitarian alternative to patriarchal capitalist system.

Jacobsen: What religious/irreligious worldview and ethic makes the most sense with respect to the proper interpretation of the world to you?

Mahmoud: I am not interested in any religions that seek to convince me of another world. I live here in the now, that is what it matters to me. I take a stand against injustice, class division and the gender apartheid that is currently taking place. We need to replace the horrendous climate that has been created by capitalism and corporate profit-making by creating a heaven on this earth, one in which we are all treated equally, fairly and with justice for all. I have no time for tales of heaven and hell in another world. There is no evidence of such realms. However, I have experienced very similar places here in this earth. After having lived in war zones and having had fought for survival, being in London is to me like heaven. I felt human again. I can enjoy the freedoms I am entitled to as a woman. I owe it to the struggle of generations of powerful feminist movements in this country.

Jacobsen: Does this comprehensive activism — women’s rights, Kurdish culture, feminism, anti-war, and, I assume, others — come from the religious/irreligious worldview at all?

Mahmoud: To me, they come from an irreligious worldview. This is because religions limit our imaginations and they limited our freedom of thought. Religion restricts human creativity, it restricts our freedom of ideas. It subjects people to an outmoded dictates — be they from the bible, the Quran, or any other holy book. The notion of sin, guilt, shame and honour create a gender divide and it imposes a heteronormative narrative that is shamefully discriminative. As a woman, I felt I was half human when I was religious. I felt everything I do was loaded with guilt, and that I am somehow inferior to men. When I started to question and dislike all the restrictions I realised that religion is not for me and that it is a man made and merely in the service of men. The more I read into world-religion, the more I realised it is extremely patriarchal and oppressive towards women.

Jacobsen: How can people become involved with the Culture Project, or in the advocacy and promotion of Kurdish culture, even donate to initiatives relevant to their advocacy and promotion?

Mahmoud: Well, we really need help and support from talented people, people who have editing skills, who can review and analyse art work, who can write reports, proposals, and we need people who have design skills. Any support through volunteering would be deeply cherished.

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, Houzan.

Mahmoud: You most welcome, it is my pleasure.

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2022-12-09

Conversation on Humanism, Irreligiosity, and Education in Nigeria with Dr. Leo Igwe — Session 1

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/06/23

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: We were discussing the possibility of a series. In particular, I pitched an idea of a conversational, educational series to educate on the situation in Nigeria, with your broad-based and competent expertise in the science and superstition within the culture. You know a lot. What is the main problem regarding the educational system in Nigeria?

Leo Igwe: The main problem is lack of effective education. By this I mean, that what is called or impacted, as education, with the aim to lead the people of out ignorance, is not educative enough. This is connected with history; that is, the history of how the formal school system started.

Christian missionaries, whose aim was to spread Christianity, introduced the educational system as we know it today. Their Muslim counterparts have since joined in this education-for-conversion program. Thus, when it comes to schooling, religious ideology or tradition trumps education.

Of course, there are other problems with the school system such as distance and poverty, lack of learning aids, child marriage, and corruption and mismanagement. The fact is that in situations where the problems are not so pronounced, ideologies associated with religion often undermine the quality of what is taught in classrooms.

The ideological battle is pitched between the ‘Eastern’ Islamic and the ‘Western’ Christian interests. It is important to mention here that the name of the Islamic terrorist group that operates in Northern Nigeria is called Boko Haram, which roughly translates ‘Western education is forbidden.’

So, education, when it is available and affordable, goes through a religious ideological filter, which distorts and corrupts the content of what is learnt and makes education less educational, an extension of religious indoctrination.

Jacobsen: What have been proposed as solutions to it?

Igwe: There have been efforts to address the ideological issue and dispel the religious ghost that haunts the educational system in Nigeria. In the 70s, the state tried to secularize the education system. Government took over schools from the missionaries after the civil war and tried to disentangle education from religion.

This decision did not go down well with the Christian establishment that controlled most of the schools. The state takeover of school eventually succumbed to religious pressures and politics in the regions. State schools in Muslim majority areas first became quasi-Islamic schools.

The same applied to state schools in Christian dominated sections of the country. Following the adoption of Sharia law in northern Nigeria, state schools became full blown Islamic schools and after many years of campaigning to have back their schools, some governments in Christian dominated sections of the country handed these schools back to the churches.

So, it was back to square one!

Jacobsen: How can those within the country with secular values help — and those from outside too?

Igwe: They need to support the secular education project in Africa such as the secular schools in Nigeria and Uganda. More secular schools are needed in the region to counteract religious indoctrination.

We should not think that the gains of promoting secular values go to the country, in this case Nigeria alone. The benefits are global because the threat of religious extremism is. Promoting secular values should be seen as a global campaign and responsibility.

Jacobsen: What is the extent of humanism with the country? How about the continent? Has there ever been discussion of a continent-wide organization to bring together all humanist and associated associations, collectives, and organizations into one umbrella — outside of internationalist organizations such as IHEU or IHEYO, more in conjunction and cooperation with them?

Igwe: There has been a growing visibility of humanism in the region especially since the 90s. Individual activists and groups have been emerging and focusing on different projects. Many of these initiatives have stagnated or fizzled out after some time. Some have blossomed.

So, there is need for sustainability. We need to sustain the humanist momentum in Africa. It is only through a sustainable organized humanism that we can achieve a continent-wide organization that brings together all humanist and associated associations, collectives, and organizations into one umbrella.

To this end, African humanists need to come up with a way of organizing humanism that reflects the socioeconomic realities in the region. Sometimes, we make the mistake of thinking that we can organize humanism in Africa exactly the way it is organized in Western countries forgetting the structural realities are not the same.

African humanists need to put in place an organizational model that works for them; models that are effective and sustainable with or without external funding. This organizational model must work at the national level before we can aspire towards anything continental.

Africa needs working local organizations to build a regional umbrella. In 2004, there was an initiative to start a regional body. African Humanist Alliance was inaugurated at the IHEU conference in Kampala. But the body could not function because there were no effective national organizations to shoulder regional responsibilities.

A sustainable model of organizing humanism in the region was missing. Organizational culture capacity and experience was lacking. So, we need to put in place effective national humanist groups first. It is only on these functional national humanist initiatives that a functional regional body could rest and flourish.

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, Leo, been a pleasure.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Dr. Leo Igwe — Founder, Nigerian Humanist Movement

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/06/23

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Was there a family background in humanism, secularism, and rationalism?

Leo Igwe: There was no family connection to my embracing humanism. I found humanism, secularism, and rationalism during my education. My grandparents were traditional religionists. My parents were born traditional religionists, but like most persons of their generation, switched religion while growing up.

They became Catholics not really by choice, but due to existential needs and necessities. My father told me that he embraced Christianity because that was the only way he could get formal education.

My father was trained as a teacher and he taught in primary schools until he retired in the late 80s. My mother dropped out when she was in Standard Two. My mother was — and still is — devoutly religious, but my father never took religious seriously.

Today, I describe my father as an agnostic. I served as an altar boy when I was in primary school and later went to the Catholic seminary where I was trained to be a priest. I left the training in 1994, and started the humanist movement in 1996.

It was while in the seminary that I came into contact with the idea of humanism. I found the humanist outlook to be more realistic than religion. Humanism related to me directly, to human beings that I saw and interacted with.

That was unlike religion that focused mainly on gods and spirits, which I could not see or really interact with. I also noticed that religion encouraged people to be dishonest, to claim to be seeing what they are not seeing or to be in communication with somebody when they are in communication with nobody.

Religion encouraged fakery. So, some of these issues led to me embracing humanism.

Jacobsen: What is the state of these world views and movements in Nigeria?

Igwe: Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the socialist movement was very popular in Nigeria but the movement has been less visible and in fact has almost disappeared since the soviet bloc disintegrated.

I also heard about the pan-Africanist movement, which was effective during the anti-colonialism and anti-apartheid struggles. I do not hear so much about it these days. Apart from these ‘worldviews and movements’, the movement prominent in the region is religion, especially the Christian and Islamic movements.

Religious worldviews overshadow other worldviews. Religious movements override other movements. The most prominent movement in the region is religion. We are only beginning to see the emergence of non-religious movements, such as the humanist/atheist movements rear their heads.

However, these worldviews are far from commanding the influence and followership like the faith movement. I hope with the advent of the internet and the spread of information. We will witness a phenomenal growth of humanist, secularist, and rationalist movement in the region.

Jacobsen: Of those prominent irreligious individuals in Nigeria, who has the most impact in changing the policies, the legislation, the culture, and the scientific literacy of the country? Also, outside of individual effort, what about associations, collectives, and organizations?

Igwe: It used to be Tai Solarin but Solarin passed away in the 90s. Now, the most eloquent irreligious individual voice in Nigeria is our first Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka. Soyinka is an eminent literary scholar.

He has consistently argued for tolerance and respect for the humanity of all in the face of religious intolerance and extremism. Soyinka has not minced words in condemning the unconscionable religious gladiators in the region that have often turned the country into a theatre of absurdity and holy wars.

He has been consistent in his condemnation of the jihadists and crusaders who often orchestrate religious bloodletting in their quest to implement Sharia law or to further some self-styled divine mandate.

While I cannot say for sure how impactful his rational appeals are on policies and programs, Soyinka’s statements are sources of hope and light at times of darkness and despair. I can say for certain that on occasions when religious extremists push the nation to the brink.

When religion blinds and people are unable to see or think clearly, when fear and fanaticism loom very large, Soyinka is a voice of rational sanity, thoughtful courage, and moderation.

Apart from the individual voices such as Soyinka, there are no active irreligious associations making impact except the emerging irreligious bodies such as the Nigerian Humanist Movement and its affiliates.

Jacobsen: What research points to the increasing secularization and scientific literacy of the general populace?

Igwe: Gallup polls point to increasing religion and scientific illiteracy. In fact, not too long ago, Nigeria was polled to be the most religious nation on earth. However, one can point to the emergence of active humanist and free thought groups in the country as an indicator of the rise of secularism.

For instance, the Humanist Assembly of Lagos is hosting a conference in Lagos this July. Many irreligious individuals will be in attendance. Irreligious attendees are expected from various parts of the country including Kano and Plateau states in Northern Nigeria.

Recently, such meetings have taken place in Ibadan, Abuja, Calabar, Port Harcourt, Benin and Owerri; although, these are not captured in any poll or research they surely point to a growing secular space in the country!

Jacobsen: What are some of the worst reactions to the non-believing community, from children through to the elderly, in Nigeria?

Igwe: First, it is mainly a family issue. The state gets involved in more extreme cases. But this is rare.

The reactions take covert as well as overt forms. The reactions depend on how liberal or conservative a family is. Worst reactions are expectedly from conservative families. Just to let you have a feeling of what the reactions could be.

A popular Nigerian Muslim woman who was reputed to be a liberal person told me that she would have nothing to do with any of the children who renounced Islam. Under Sharia law, apostasy is a crime punishable by death.

So, reactions to non-belief include ostracization, severance of family support, abandonment, and other forms of maltreatment. In a society where the family is virtually everything in terms of social support and sustenance, family sanction is indeed the worse form of punishment for non-belief.

Jacobsen: Of those children that are abused, what are the statistics on them? How many? What kinds of abuse? What has been one of the most bizarre and tragic cases you’ve read or witnessed of Nigerian children being abused based on superstition?

Igwe: About 15,000 children are branded witches and subsequently abandoned in Southern Nigeria and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, many of the 25,000 homeless children living on the streets of Kinshasha are victims of witchcraft accusation.

I was involved in rescuing children who were accused of witchcraft and I heard very horrific tales. There were cases of children whose family members shackled and starved for several days. Some of children were flogged with sticks and iron and had bruises all over their body.

Others had gasoline poured on them and were set ablaze in the quest to expel the spirit of witchcraft.

Jacobsen: How can religion be liberalized? In America, they had Carl Sagan and have Neil Degrasse Tyson. Is there an equivalent in Nigeria?

Igwe:. We don’t have yet the likes of Carl Sagan and Neil Degrasse Tyson. It is not because there aren’t some scientists who can disseminate scientific ideas and principles.

The science is there. The scientists are there. But the popularizing scientific will is not. This is because scientists are afraid of backlash from religious establishments. Scientists do not want to disseminate scientific ideas in a way that they could be accused of blasphemy.

Religious authorities are still very influential in Nigeria and will go to any length to suppress and neutralize any one promoting science in a way that puts religious claims into question. Science is still within the cocoon and control of religious authorities.

Religion in Nigeria has yet to attain that liberalized state.

Jacobsen: What scientific discipline would have provided the greatest inoculation against the superstitions that most plague Nigeria, e.g. astronomy, biology, chemistry, or physics, and so on? Why?

Igwe: In tackling the disease of superstition, all inoculations are needed because pseudoscience and anti-science manifest in various forms and shapes. Astronomy would be helpful in addressing superstitious beliefs regarding the universe.

Nigerians strongly believe that God, the angels, ancestors and spirits are out there, somewhere in the sky. So, the notion of exploring the planets does not intrigue or command an appeal. Going to the moon or traveling to Mars seems like venturing into the territory of the gods, or embarking on a venture that could elicit the wrath of the divine.

A discipline that sees the ‘heavenly bodies’ as an object of study not of worship will be resourceful in dispelling credulous beliefs. Biology and chemistry will provide the antidote to irrational notions of life and physics will inoculate the people against supernatural beliefs. In Nigeria, belief that human beings can turn into birds, cats, and snakes is pervasive.

This belief is not innocuous because those whom people suspect to traversing these terrains are attacked and killed. A discipline that encourages Nigerians to seek evidence or to base their knowledge or claims on evidence is an asset in the anti superstition campaign.

Jacobsen: Is Creationism an issue there too, as with where I live, Canada? It is a problem here too. Moderate double-digit levels of superstition and Creationism exist — Young Earth Creationism even.

Igwe: Creationism is not just an issue; Creationism is the issue and exists in its both young and older Earth formations. That means in Nigeria people subscribe to the notion that the Earth was created whether it is a few thousand years ago or tens or hundreds of thousands of years ago.

The belief is that Earth came into being through a divine decree. People often show disdain for science because it challenges their creationist ideas.

Jacobsen: What has been a big victory for the humanist community in Nigeria?

Well, the victory is significant but not necessarily big because religions still have so much influence. Religious establishment still dominates public debate and policymaking. The humanist community is only trying to provide a counter weight and indeed there is a growing momentum of humanism and freethought.

I can only explain the growing visibility of humanism by stating as American philosopher and humanist, Corliss Lamont, once wrote that humanism is the next step. Yes, humanism is the next necessary step for Nigeria. Religion has held Nigeria hostage for too long.

Superstition has caused so much confusion, darkness, and deception. Dogma has been used to tyrannize over the lives of the people. So, this is the time for change and of some transformation based on reason, science, critical thinking, and humanity. People are yearning for freedom and emancipation. Humanism is critical in delivering that change and in the realization of social renewal.

Jacobsen: What are the differences in beliefs on important secular topics between the young, the middle aged, and elderly in Nigeria? Why these trends?

Igwe: The young tend to be more curious and critical as they seek to understand life and make sense of their experiences. But as they grow older they start questioning less and try to conform.

The young people tend to hold liberal positions on issues such as abortion or gay sex because they are not in positions of authority and not necessarily interested in the maintenance of law and order.

The youths are not interested in things or in issues as established, but in issues as they think. So, they can afford to challenge existing norms. However, as they grow older and get into positions of authority, the maintenance of law and order becomes paramount — and they become more conservative.

Jacobsen: How respected is freedom of conscience, belief, and speech in Nigeria, especially, in line with the prior questions, regarding critical questions about religion and its role in society — and the status of women?

Igwe: When it comes to critical questions of religion, freedom of conscience, belief and speech is a paper tiger in Nigeria. There is no freedom in religious matters. In fact, religion is presented as inadmissible of criticism, of opposing views and opinions whether it is the status of women, of children, gay, or of non-believers.

Religious positions are cast on stones. Views that are critical of religion easily get framed as blasphemy, which is a crime under Sharia law and is punishable by death or imprisonment.

Freedom of conscience, belief and expression is not respected because the exercise of such freedom ‘provokes’, ‘offends’ or insults the sensibilities of the religious and these are epithets to canonize and legitimize state sanction or mob action.

Jacobsen: What do you think about theological and social arguments for the respect for faith, for religion, and for traditions from faiths and religions?

Igwe: Theological arguments are supposed to provide ‘explanations’ for the existence of God. That means these arguments ought to persuade and make anyone who does not know about God to at least understand that God exists.

But unfortunately, this is not the case. Anyone who takes a critical look at the theological arguments would really wonder what those who advanced these explanations had in mind. For instance, the ontological argument explains God as “that than which nothing greater can be conceived.”

The cosmological argument states that God is the First Cause (of things). Whilst the teleological says that God exists as the designer of the universe. Now how have these arguments really provided justifications for the existence of the God of Christianity and Islam, or in fact any God at all? Given that the religions do not really agree on the notion and expression of the divine, which God have these arguments proved? The Biblical that appeared from nowhere, hovered over the void, created everything, and apparently retreated?

Or the Allah god who dictated the Quran to an illiterate in a cave, sent Muhammad, and then escaped back to paradise? Is that the being than which nothing greater can be thought? Surely, I can conceive a being greater than these Christian and Islamic constructs!

This flimsy reasoning applies to the social argument of faith which says that religion has a social value and provides a moral fiber that holds the community together. First, this idea is mistaken. Human beings are social beings with or without religion.

In fact, human beings lived in communities before the invention of religion. Religion only reinforced what has been part of human nature that is community life. In fact, the greatest tragedy is that religion hijacked the human sense of community.

This tragic role is evident in the challenges and difficulties of building communities in a religiously plural nation such as Nigeria. The role of religion in terms of community building is ambivalent.

While religion fosters a sense of family or community on one hand, it causes division and strain on the other because in a multireligious environment there are competing senses of family and community. Catholic community is different from the Protestant community.

Shia social sense is not the same as Sunni version. Faith or religion should not be respected to the extent that they peddle lies and deception, and fuel division, and hatred and intolerance.

Jacobsen: Who is the worst charlatan offender in Nigeria that abuses the positives of religion — societal community building and ordinary citizen activism?

Igwe: A key test of a community is how it treats the vulnerable members of the population. For me, the worst charlatan offenders are the witch hunters and the demon hunters because they ply their trade in ways that hurt and exploit human beings especially women, children, and the disabled.

Given my encounter with her and the church members, I would say that Helen Ukpabio of the Liberty Gospel Church is the worst charlatan and offender in Nigeria because of her vicious campaign against the rights and dignity of children using religion and witchcraft as a cover.

Jacobsen: What happens to those who speak out against religion, or who ask the simplest of critical questions?

Igwe: It depends on where in Nigeria one speaks out against religion and which religion is involved. In Muslim majority states in northern Nigeria, speaking out against Islam is blasphemy and it is punishable by death or imprisonment.

Criticizing Islam is dangerous not just because the state could prosecute, execute or jail the critic, but one could be killed by Islamic mobs.

In fact the chances are that one is more likely to die in the hands of the later than the former.

Unfortunately, killers of real or imagined critics of Islam are never brought to justice. In a high-profile case that recently happened in Kano, the court declared that suspected killers had no case to answer.

Jacobsen: Is prayer a standard and assumed ritual in meetings of political types, as in much of North America as well?

Igwe: Yes, prayer is a standard ritual in meetings and events. However, it is not all religious prayers that are said at all meetings and in all places. In Muslim majority sections, Islamic prayer is the standard.

Christian prayer is the norm in the Christian dominated areas of the country and both Christian and Islamic prayers at national gatherings especially in Abuja. These prayers take place despite the constitutional provision that prohibits the adoption of any religion as state religion.

Saying Christian and Islamic prayers at official meetings attests to the non-neutrality of the state in religious matters and official discrimination on religious grounds.

Jacobsen: How can formal education from the youngest ages to graduate training inculcate critical thinking, statistical principles of thought, scientific literacy, and heuristics of logic and formal reasoning?

Igwe: It is by making the inculcation of critical thinking more than a classroom, examination-passing affair. For now, science, logic, and critical thinking are taught as classroom subjects, as courses which students take with the aim of getting certificates and securing jobs.

Young people are not made to understand sufficiently that these are tools that they need to navigate through life. Heuristics of logic and formal reasoning should be taught as skills that are needed to everyday life.

Jacobsen: Who, in a neighbouring country, gives you hope for the humanistic future?

Igwe: The Humanist Association of Ghana gives me hope; yes, it does. I founded the Nigerian Humanist Movement and worked and campaigned to grow and develop it. For decades, I worked to grow and develop humanist groups in different African countries.

Many of the initiatives have fizzled out or have remained at individual activist or contact levels. So, it gladdens my heart that at last an effective humanist group has taken off in Ghana and is actively involved in coordinating the Humanist Service Corps project in northern Ghana.

A few years ago, such a humanist group sounded like a pipe dream but today it is a reality. I thank Roslyn Mould and her team for diligently delivering on this key humanist promise. I only hope that the humanist association in Ghana grows from strength to strength.

Jacobsen: Do many or some consider you a personal hero? If so, how does this feel, as an exemplar of the community of the irreligious with international reach?

Igwe: I do not think that some people consider me as a hero. I don’t really feel comfortable being placed in that box because I am not done yet. I want to keep doing my work in ways that would allow me to make mistakes and live my own life without being pressured to conform to anyone’s pattern or expectation.

However, I am aware that there are some who have said that they were inspired by what I did or have done. My feeling is this: How I wish I accomplished more and performed better than I did. I have always worked under constraints, with limited resources.

I have not always achieved as much as I would have loved to achieve I still feel that I did not do enough and has not done enough. We still do not have effective humanist, freethought, and skeptics groups in most African countries. That does not make me happy.

It is only when we have active humanist organisations in all African countries that I would feel fulfilled. And as you can imagine we are certainly a long way from reaching that goal.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the time, Leo.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Amjad Sattar

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/06/22

Scott Jacobsen: Was there a family background in humanism?

Amjad Sattar: Yes, our great grandparents were secular and pragmatic in nature. They co-existed with multiple faith believers until their children had to leave their ancestral land due to division of Greater Punjab & Bengal on religious grounds by the colonial masters.

Jacobsen: When did humanism become the philosophical and ethical worldview for you?

Sattar: I had been participating in free thinkers’ forums since 2002. My friends, who had more schooling than me, were active in study circles against religious dogmatism in Pakistan. Thousands of innocent citizens have been murdered since 1977, due to state sponsored extremist clergy. Seeing the predicament of innocent dissenting voices in this country, the importance of humanism was a natural development for me.

Jacobsen: What seems like the main reason people become humanists? What is the best argument for it?

Sattar: There are reasonable solutions for existing human problems by using scientific and rational approach. Blind faith on scriptures has spread chaos and bloodshed through the history.

Jacobsen: What is your current work? How does your humanist value set influence this work?

Sattar: Besides my business, I am promoting Humanism, wherever I can for peace and solidarity with fellow human beings.

Jacobsen: What are the main threats to humanism today?

Sattar: Extremely religious and dogmatic stance of terrorists and some nation states, for political gains under any sort of funding or sponsorship is a major threat to Humanism. We got to resist religious narrow mindedness all over the world.

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, Amjad.

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2022-12-09

Q&A on International Youth Humanism with Marieke Prien — Session 2

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/06/22

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: When you step down from the role, what will be the main lessons to pass on to the next president in terms of expectations and managing an international presence, which is no small feat?

Marieke Prien: You need a good team and good plans.

Without a working team, you cannot really do anything.

Of course there will be ups and downs, people who do more or better work and others who do less.

But those should be single cases. In my opinion, people who have not done well deserve another chance and should be provided support if they need it. This support could be help with certain tasks or something boosting their motivation. But if it becomes clear that they are causing more work than they get done, it’s better to ask them to leave the team.

If overally everybody does a great job, is motivated and willing to spend time and energy, and you can trust them, that is the basis you need.

A hierarchy is necessary for productivity and decision making, but in my opinion, this should not be reflected in how people treat each other. For example, everybody must have the opportunity to say their opinion and voice concerns or make suggestions, and we should meet each other as equals.

Regarding the plans, you must have an understanding of where you are and where you want to go.

You must know what is currently going on: What is done or needs to be done in the background to keep things working, to have a stable fundament? And which projects are we doing based on this fundament?

The same goes for future plans. What do we want to do and what is necessary to do this?

Also, the plans have to be consistent with what is realistic. In IHEYO, everybody is a volunteer. Nobody is paid for the work, everybody does this on top of their job or studies. This gives us certain limits. The limits wont stop us, but they affect us.

Jacobsen:What are some of the main ways youth humanists tend to become involved in activism, e.g. in combating religious overreach in culture or law, in coming together for LGBTQ+ rights, and in fighting for the fragile rights of the secular and irreligious?

Prien: These topics are so important for the youth because they affect their everyday life. When you start having more freedoms, you immediately see where this freedom is cut and who is behind that. Becoming adults, the young people get a better understanding and more awareness of what is going wrong.

To be involved in activism, you need connections to other activists (or those who want to become active). Sure, you could do something on your own, but most people gather in groups.

In the beginning, something needs to challenge the person and make them aware of the problem they then decide to fight against. For example, a young person may be made uncomfortable for their sexuality, or they realize a friend is forced to follow stricts religious rules. Then, they try to gather more information and talk to others about the issue. This can be face to face or online. When I was in the USA for a semester abroad, I loved how many clubs the university had that got people involved. This is such a great way to help people become active, and it has a good scope.

The internet is also a huge help. It makes it super easy to find like-minded persons and interact with them, and to potentially plan activities.

We probably all know people who like to post articles and rant online about issues but without going out and becoming actually active. And oftentimes this is frowned upon. While I also believe that working in an organization or the like is way more effective and cannot be replaced, the online activities also do help the cause in that they can trigger fruitful discussions and get people interested in topics.

Jacobsen:On the note of activism, we both know of the attacks on women’s rights ongoing since, probably, their inception, but the recent attack appears to be focused on reproductive health rights. What are concerns for you regarding women’s rights, and especially reproductive health rights from a youth humanist angle?

Prien: One main part of humanism is that it wants people to live freely and make their own decisions, forming their lives and going their ways. Cutting reproductive health rights means cutting this freedom. It takes away women’s authority over their bodies and their life plans. The second point also affects men, though overally the effect is much stronger on women.

So this is one point where cutting reproductive health rights disagrees with humanism.

Another huge problem I see is that many people are unable or unwilling to make a distinction between their personal opinions and emotions (often influenced by their religion), and what may be “right” for others. For example, if you would personally feel bad about getting an abortion, you should still see the other side and accept that other people think an abortion is the right decision, and let them make their choice.

We must make a difference between opinion and fact, and many lobby groups mix these things up, actively misinforming or making false assumptions and relations. For example, some anti-abortion groups try to make people feel bad by saying that contraceptives and masturbation are immoral and against their religion.

Or they say that in the period where abortion is legal in some states, the fetus already has a heartbeat. That is true, but it does not mean that it can feel pain (or anything at all, for that matter), because its brain has not developed for that yet. But the fact of the fetus having a heartbeat is used to evoke emotions in people and to lead them to draw the conclusion that something with a heartbeat surely also feels pain.

As a humanist, I want people to make a choice based on facts and universal ethics, not based on opinions, superstitional beliefs and false statements. And I want people to understand that their personal opinion is just an opinion that does not necessarily count for others.

Cutting the reproductive health rights also causes a lot of other problems. It can lead to huge physical, psychological and social problems. For example, if a woman needs an abortion but cannot legally get one where she lives, she may decide to go through a very unsafe illegal procedure, or spend a lot of money (that she doesn’t necessarily have) to go to a place where abortion is legal.

That being said, of course an abortion could also cause emotional and mental damage. I am not trying to say that one should just get it carelessly. I am just trying to show that while it would be the wrong decision for some, it is the right one for others.

What really bugs me is the hypocrisy many anti-abortion groups or individuals show. They claim that they are pro-life, caring for everyone’s right to live. But they don’t care about the mothers’ lives, they don’t care about the circumstances for babies up for adoption, some even mistreat and judge single mothers working really hard to feed their children. That’s not charity.

Regarding women’s rights in general, things have changed for the better, but the fight is not over. Sadly, many people only point to the successes, ignoring that there are still problems. This also goes for other issues like racism. If you are in the privileged group, it is easy to overlook discrimination. But just because you don’t see it, it doesn’t mean that discrimination does not exist.

I also believe that many people choose to disregard concerns or complaints expressed to them because, if they believed them, they would have to admit they do or have done something wrong.

I wish that people would make more of an effort and listen, open their eyes, have empathy and change their behavior if necessary.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Nabina Maharjan — Secretary/Youth Advisor, Society for Humanism Nepal

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/06/08

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Any family background in humanism?

Nabina Maharjan: Most of my family members are Hindu and Buddhist. But at one point, they went beyond religion. I could say they made decisions towards something like humanism. There are lots of non-believer beliefs that family members in my generation ignore.

Jacobsen: What was the moment of humanist awakening for you?

Maharjan: Nepal is also known as religious country. My family also religious and in our community, religious activities teaches from childhood. Whether its worship a concept of God or goddess or believing in it. I was also religious during my childhood days. After my higher education, I started working. During my working time I met many people, I try to being socialize. When I was thinking about life and during social activities, I use my logic. Most of time, I feel awkward and uncomfortable being doing religious work or such unbelief matters. I feel that I am attracting people to show what I am doing, which I do not like. I always try to find an answer behind ‘No’. Which made my family and other irritate, I believe in every No there is an answer.

Later I am involved in Society for Humanism (SOCH) Nepal. I read about humanism, its principles and philosophy. It is very new and hot cake for me at that time. Slowly I realise internally all those feeling that I have is called humanism and somewhere I have humanism. Specially headed in mind the word Human and we all human are equal .Where I don’t have to be a Human Right activist, any humanitarian and any social workers because it’s all in Humanism. If I said about inspired in Humanism, its scientific and critical thinking, its value and philosophies.

Jacobsen: As the secretary/youth advisor for the Society for Humanism Nepal, what tasks and responsibilities come with this position? How do you build a support base?

Maharjan: Since the establishment of SOCH Nepal, I was there and coordinating activities of SOCH. Being involved in SOCH and boosting the SOCH mission, vision and goals, I never realise my designation to work. I feel like it’s my organization, that showed me the way of living and clear my vision. If I really need to talk about being the secretary, my tasks and responsibilities are calling meeting, taking minutes, and updating all of the activities happening in SOCH.

Since the establish time in SOCH, I have lots of familiarity with the activities, and I believe in change and opportunities. As a youth advisor, I guide the youth team in how to work in teams and conduct programs so they can directly become involved in activities and then groom their capacity to performance for the next leader. I, personally, do not interfere in their coordination, but needing supervision then I will be there.

Jacobsen: What is the current state of humanism with Nepal? What is its brief history there too?

Maharjan: The term Humanism is relatively new in Nepal — though many atheists and secular minded people campaigned for secular Nepal. Nepal remained the world’s only one Hindu country for decades. The 2007 constitution of Nepal declared Nepal a secular country. Although, the Nepali constitution clearly mentions provision of preserving old time religion, which is Hinduism. Nepal is the country where Buddha was born. Buddha probably was the first person to speak against superstition and religious dogmas in the East. His idea of secularism has flourished throughout the world. A famous education reformist Mr. Jaya Prithivi Singh promoted the idea of Humanism in Nepal during the 1919s. He has written dozens of books on Humanism and travelled to various countries to spread the idea. There was no organized Humanist movement till the late 1920s. An organization called Humanist Association of Nepal was formed during 1980s. However, it could not survive due to various reasons. Later, the Society for Humanism (SOCH) Nepal was formed in 2005, which became only one leading Humanist organization in Nepal. Thousands of members are associated to SOCH Nepal, which is also the member of IHEU.

Jacobsen: Are youth or elders in the society more involved in humanism? What are the activities, educational initiative, and social and political projects related to humanism available to youth in Nepal?

Maharjan: We do not have any exact record of youths’ or elders’ involvement in humanism, but during the program and discussion when we meet peoples they have the feeling of humanism. Elders have the concept of humanism, and followers too, and belief in the concept of humanism.

If we talk about in more recent times, more youths that I have seen are humanists because they are not ready to have belief in the concept of God, and those unseen things. They use their logic to question and the belief in science as much as we had interacted in colleges and groups. Yes, they have confusion on humanism, but somewhere they are humanists as I realise — and SOCH has made clear to them.

There are no educational initiatives, and social and political projects, related to humanism available to youth in Nepal done by the Government.

Regarding the activities, SOCH is one organization that is working in Nepal to promote humanism, its philosophy and values in society. We are regularly doing our youth discussion/seminars and youth talks on humanism, scientific & critical thinking in different colleges and schools. We are practicing in school to teach scientific and critical thinking, and run one class on humanism too. SOCH targeted to youth because they are change maker and tomorrow’s leaders.

Jacobsen: What are some of the main threats to the free practice of humanism in Nepal?

Maharjan: Although, Nepal is a secular country now, right wing Hindu group are well-organized and practicing extreme radicalism. On other hand, Christians are proselytizing Nepali society getting benefit of secular constitution. Hindu and Christian groups are confronting day by day. Meantime, Humanists have become the enemy of both radicles due to its secular values based on science and atheism.

Radical Hindu are the biggest threat in Nepali society because they are more organized after the declaration of secular state. Humanist activists are threatened and attacked by radical Hindu group many times in Nepal.

Jacobsen: What are your short- and long-term goals for humanism in Nepal?

Maharjan: SOCH Nepal short and long-term goals are to promote a scientific way of life, good governance, democracy and justice with humanist values, to promote humanistic and ethical practices and to raise awareness about individual human obligation.

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, Nabina.

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2022-12-09

Q&A on International Youth Humanism with Marieke Prien — Session 1

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/06/01

Marieke Prien is the President of the International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organisation (IHEYO), which is part of IHEU. In this educational series, we will be discussing international youth humanism.

Scott Jacobsen: You are the president of the International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organisation (IHEYO). I am an editor and contributor to Humanist Voices, and am on the Americas Working Group for IHEYO. I wanted to learn more from your perspective, and in the exploration — for me — educate others. To begin this educational series on international youth humanism — its purpose, contents, and future, what are the demographics of youth humanism?

Marieke Prien: IHEYO’s target group are humanists aged 18–35. This doesn’t mean that people younger or older than that are not welcome, but it is the age group we are mostly working with and for. This is also connected to legal issues, especially at events where people under age would need a custodian.
But in the national organizations, there are also members younger than 18. For example, in Germany, many teenagers join and start being active after having done a humanist coming-of-age ceremony at age 14.

Unfortunately, I cannot say much more about the demographics, such as gender or educational backgrounds, as we do not get sufficient information from the member organizations.

Jacobsen: Who are some allies for youth humanism, e.g. ethical societies and ethical cultures?

Prien: In a broader sense, an ally could be anyone introducing humanism to young people. Family members, teachers or maybe even friends.

But more specifically, there are several organizations that are allies. Sometimes, it is merely the name that is different, sometimes they focus on different topics and measures but have a humanist world view. Some examples would be the Ethical Societies in the USA, the Prometheus Camp Associations in Finland and Sweden, Freethought associations, or Effective Altruism groups.

Jacobsen: As the president of IHEYO, you have unique insights, and responsibility, on international youth humanism, what is involved in organizing the global community? What is necessary to build and maintain one?

Prien: There are two dimensions to this: age and internationality.

Regarding age, it is important to take into account is that the lives of young people can be very unsteady. There is always motion because of changes in school, work, and the social circle. Many people have not settled yet and are unsure about their future. Their daily life can go through quieter periods in alternation with very stressful ones.

Because of this motion, people think twice before committing. For example, the members of our Executive Committee are elected for two years. This means that, to be part of it, you should at least somewhat know how you are going to spend the next two years, if you will still have time and enthusiasm to work with us. This can be scary and discouraging. So I think it is important to show that it is perfectly fine and normal, nobody expects a young person to have their schedule and daily life fixed like somebody who has worked in the same job for 25 years. There will be ups and downs, but that should not discourage anyone.

The other dimension, internationality, also has its challenges but brings this great diversity which I don’t want to miss. I am not only talking about diversity of the people, I am especially talking about the variety of topics and issues we are dealing with as humanists. We have a common base — humanism — on which we build our projects. What these projects are aiming at depends on local circumstances.

To be able to account for this, IHEYO has Working Groups: for Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Of course a group cannot cover all local topics of an entire continent. But they connect the member organizations and plan actions together, targeting what they feel is most important in their region.

During regular meetings of IHEYO’s group chairs, communication officer, secretary-general and president, we keep each other updated, make plans and take decisions.

This structure allows us to aim at more local issues as well as worldwide ones. I believe it shows the people that their local affairs are taken seriously while at the same time connecting them to a global community.

Common events are of course the best way to maintain a community, the atmosphere is amazing at it brings such a boost in motivation and enthusiasm. But sadly, due to financial and other restrictions, not everybody who is active in IHEYO is able to join, at least not internationally. So the community also relies a lot on social media and other means of communication. We are lucky to live in a time where this is made easy.

Jacobsen: Some general provisions of IHEYO are associations, connections, a new publication (Humanist Voices). Can you describe some of these features of IHEYO in some depth?

Prien: As I mentioned above, there are events organized by us (in cooperation with the local member organizations) which contribute a lot to the community. They usually feature several talks and workshops providing information and know-how to the participants. The program points are held by either our members or external speakers, for example somebody from an Effective Altruism group. So there is a lot people can learn, which makes half of the outcome of the events. The other half is the deep sense of community, the heated discussions, and the ideas and plans people develop together.

I would like to mention that participation is not limited to our members, anybody can join and is very welcome to do so!

Humanist Voices is a blog that we started rather recently. It is a collection of thoughts expressed by different people, a platform for humanists who would like to publish articles, not a publication with a uniform opinion of IHEYO as an organization. We want to show that being a humanist doesn’t mean having a precast opinion that is entirely shared with other humanists. We want to encourage people to be sceptic, discuss, and form their own opinions.

Again — if anybody is interested, you are welcome to join!

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Ray Zhong — Translator, Amsterdam Declaration

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/05/16

You live in Taipei, Taiwan and attended the Taipei Municipal Daan Vocational High School. What is the personal background in humanism for you?

I became a humanist because of three things: my father’s religiosity, Isaac Asimov’s writings, and my English. All of them influenced me, one by one, in that order.

My father is a very pious Buddhist who often preaches about reincarnation and reciting Buddha’s name. In his view, those who do not undertake all the Five Precepts (no killing, no stealing, no adultery, no false speech, and no alcohol) will not reincarnate as humans in next life. Instead, they will be reborn as animals, ghosts, and so on. However, there is a way out: reciting Buddha’s name. Do it as often as you can and, after death, you will be led to Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss and freed from karma. Following my father, I bowed to Buddha’s figure and recited Buddha’s name, but I somehow remained unconvinced. This unsubstantiated skepticism followed me into adolescence. Then I met Isaac Asimov, in his works.

Isaac Asimov was an extremely prolific and prescient sci-fi author. He wrote more than 500 books in his lifetime. His most famous work is the Foundation series, which I read in junior high school. Fascinated by his novels, I moved on to reading his nonfiction works, of which there were a great many. In one of his essay collections, I came across a piece titled The “Threat” of Creationism. In that piece, he argued against teaching creationism in public schools by dismantling the creationist arguments, such as the watchmaker analogy. That was my moment of enlightenment. Not only was it the moment I became aware of the threat religion possessed to the society, but it was also the moment I understood the clash between religion and science, or rather religion and reason. Asimov ignited my enthusiasm for science and introduced me to atheism. Then, I started to learn English.

I am a graduate from Department of English in National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology. As a tool, English broadened my scope and granted me access to resources I had no been able to reach. I started from watching Matt Dillahunty debating the callers on his show Atheist Experience, and then I switched to watching the Four Horsemen’s lectures and debates. I was so impressed by Christopher Hitchens’s wit and style that I made Chinese subtitles for some of his videos on YouTube. To gain more views, I posted it on the Facebook pages of a few Taiwan atheist groups (there were very few.) This led to my friendship with Feng Ching-wen, an extremely erudite and resourceful humanist who was the founder and head of Taiwan Humanism Studio. He contacted me and invited me to attend the lectures held by his humanist club at National Sun Yat-sen University. That was when I first learned about humanism. Later that year, Asian Humanist Conference was to be held in Taipei. I had the honor to work as an interpreter at the conference and meet many great humanists, some from other countries. Then, I became a humanist.

Any family interest in it?

My father is still a Buddhist and my sister a Christian. There were some quarrels between them when my father learned about my sister’s religion. I want no quarrels, so I have never told my father how I feel about his religious views. I remain silent whenever he preaches. He knows I do not believe it, but he never gives up trying to convince me.

How do some of the principles play out in real life for you?

I want to talk about a decision I made a few years ago: I may have sent my mother to hell.

It was the summer vacation during my second year in university. My mother had been ill with cancer and suffering for five years. She was bedridden in the palliative care. My father, sister, and I took turns to look after her. One afternoon during my watch, a young lady, no elder than me, entered the ward with a Bible in her hand and wished to save my mother from eternal hell fire. I stopped her and walked her out to the corridor. I thanked her for her kindness and told her that my parents were Buddhists and, maybe out of arrogance, that I was an atheist. She had the audacity to say that Buddha could not save my mother but Jesus could. Provoked by this comment, I retorted, “Then don’t save her at all!” She left, fuming.

The compunction haunted me for the rest of the day. I could almost hear the French mathematician Blaise Pascal whispering in my ear, “what if you’re wrong?” What if my atheism was not the right position and, because of my reckless defiance, my mother, who had already been in agony for years, was condemned to endless suffering in hell? What had I done? Wasn’t it safer for my mother to be a believer? Questions like these filled my mind as fear and doubts took over me. Then, reason kicked in.

The counterargument to Pascal’s wager occurred to me: what if the lady was wrong? What if my father was right? How should I determine who was right? Since neither side was supported by evidence, I figured what mattered here was my mother’s feelings. There was a portrait of Buddha on the curtain around my mother’s bed. My father had put it there to remind my mother of reciting Buddha’s name. What would my mother have thought if I had let the lady talk to her? Hitchens captured this very well in a discussion with Sam Harris and two rabbis:

I mean, If Sam [Harris] and I were to go around religious hospitals — which is what happens in reverse — and say to people who were lying in pain: ‘Sorry, did you say you were a Catholic? Well, you may only have a few days left, but you don’t have to live them as a serf, you know. Just accept that was all bullshit, the priests have been cheating you, and I guarantee you’ll feel better…’ I don’t think that would be very ethical. In fact, I think it would be something of a breach of taste. But if it’s in the name of God it has a social license; well, fuck that, is what I say.

In hindsight, I saved my mother from needless concern, so she could have some peace of mind in her last moments. That was all it mattered, and that was good.

You are a translator for the Amsterdam Declaration. What languages will the declaration have translation into by you — and others if you know?

I cannot take all the credits for the translation, because it was a group work. Half of it was translated by Ted Yang, a very talented translator in our team. Back to the question, I learned Japanese and German at my university, because we had to take at least one second foreign language. But neither is good enough for doing translation yet. I might do a Japanese translation in the remote future. For now, I have to keep on learning.

Is this part of a larger translation effort — of more IHEU and IHEYO, and humanist, relevant documents?

I also help translate some short video clips and quotes about humanism or atheism for Taiwan Humanism Studio. I look forward to working for IHEYO again.

Thank you for your time, Ray.

Thank you for having me.

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2022-12-09

A Brief Note on the Vital Need for Humanist Voices

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/06/01

Humanism and ethical culture are not generally known. As many have experienced, anything not mainstream religious is sometimes termed in the atheist camps by vocal minorities of the religious, by default: “atheists,” “non-believers,” “infidels,” and so on. The lack of knowledge and the sometime negative emotional evaluation is a symptom of religious hegemony over many cultures, especially the religion of love, Christianity, and the religion of peace, Islam.

The need for the voices of the neglected, the humanist and ethical culture types, is for a couple of reasons. One is the void needing filling. We live in pluralist centres of the world. It is instructive to reflect on this fact and juxtapose with the hegemony by, for examples, Christianity and Islam. The television channels and radio waves continue to reflect the dominant mythologies, as with Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, and the Islamic Caliphate. All means of communication available at the time reflect the myths, especially among the educated classes with the religious texts.

Another reason is the alternative. Another way to derive meaning in life. Meaning from community in an ethical culture context through, for instance, an ethical society. No reference to the transcendent; nothing more than the ordinary community, to mobilize, to organize, to protest, to engage one another in the important transitions or events in life: birth, birthdays, graduation, adulthood, partnership, and death.

Humanist Voices is a way to give a channel for the neglected irreligious population. It is small, will grow, and seems like another way to bring some small (secular) meaning to our community.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with George Ongere

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/05/15

Scott Jacobsen: To begin, do you have any prefaces to the conversation today?

George Ongere: When I was growing, my mother believed something was wrong with me. I was the only child in the family who could not succeed in cramming the catechism to graduate and eat the sacrament. She even made efforts to make the content of the book rhyme with a song to make it easy for me but it did not go well. My young brothers did well and mastered her catechism song and got all the content. What surprised her is that even though I could not cram the creed, I was a bright student in school! In that way, she failed to understand what was happening to me. I also could not explain, but I think it was the scepticism I had adopted after interacting with my grandfather as you will learn in the interview.

All my family members, including my father who was not fond of the church, graduated to eat the sacrament; I was the only one who dropped out of the session. Along these lines, the question is, did my skepticism start right from my childhood? As you will find, I was fortunate to have a grandfather who was skeptical of Christian religion, a father who was a Christian but was not a fond of going to church frequently, and a mother who was a staunch Christian who wanted her children to follow the way of God; — that combination provided room for growth of a skeptical young person like me.

There was no pressure to have me full indoctrinated into religion. Even though I grew as catholic child, where I was taken to a Sunday school, then to a primary school where we could worship and pray in the assembly, and finally to an Anglican sponsored high school, I still found my way into humanism. From my experience, as I demonstrate in the below engagement, reading widely, and having an open mind is the key to rationality and scepticism.

Jacobsen: Do you have a family background in skepticism and secular humanism?

Ongere: My family did not have any person subscribed to Secular humanism or scepticism, but the divergence of religious beliefs within the extended family helped me develop my skepticism at a younger age. My grandfather was a traditional person and when he witnessed the way Christianity came to Africa and displaced African religious beliefs during his youth, he vowed to remain a pagan. In this context, it meant he did not follow the Christian religion but adhered to selected African traditional beliefs.

As a child, when I asked him why he did not pray, he would tell me about the traditional concepts of African gods leaving me confused at that age. The puzzlement came since my mother was a staunch Christian who made sure we attended the Sunday school, while at the same time, grandfather stole me away and fed me with the traditional concept of god. It only confused me further and that is how I started getting inkling that not everyone was afraid of the God we were told in the Sunday school could strike dead disobedient people using thunder.

Moreover, even though my mother was a true Catholic believer, my father, though a catholic, was not fond of going to church every Sunday. My mother used to call him in our Luo mother tongue language “Jakafiri”. Jakafiri can also be interpreted as pagan. Though, in this context, my father believed in the teachings of Christianity but did not adhere to the rules like everyday prayers and going to church regularly. Every Sunday, as we attended the Sunday mass, my father remained at home pretending to be attending some business functions. The only times I saw him in the church was during Christmas festive season and during Easter.

To sum up, I did not have many pressures from all sides, like most families do, to adhere to religion. In Africa, most children have pressure right from the grandparents, mother and father to adhere to one religion. I was fortunate since only my mother placed pressures that were absorbed by the traditional grandfather and my father; they did not pressure me to go through the process of eating the sacrament when all the other siblings were doing it.

Jacobsen: When did you have your first inklings of skepticism and secular humanism in personal life?

Ongere: As a young person addicted to reading all types of novels in late primary, high school and college, I met characters in the books who claimed they did not believe in gods, God and any supernatural entities. This was strange to me at the time because it was rare in the rural to find a person declaring a disbelief in gods or God; I did not even know the term “Atheism”. Even though my grandfather did not believe in Christianity, he still believed in the supernatural world like the ancestor’s power. Growing in the interior rural village during my primary and high school years, the only medium that could give me entertainment was the storybooks since there was no electricity to get fun from other mediums like the Television. As such, I could put my hands on any book that promised entertainment. I would go to local libraries and read anything that looked like a novel. Moreover, I had a cousin who was doing philosophy at the University and at one point when I was still in high school; I stumbled upon his course book on the philosophy of religion. I read about Sigmund Freud and Nietzsche. Their ideas puzzled me and this is where I gained interest in philosophy.

After completing my high school and was in early years at the University, I got engaged with the University of Nairobi Philosophy club. Here, I met the students who attended the first Humanist Conference organized in East Africa in 2004 by Uganda Humanist Association led by Deo Ssessitoleko. I received the first humanist materials. It is where I got to learn about humanist ideals. Excited with the knowledge I got from the magazines from CFI, IHEU and other humanists organizations, I declared myself a humanist.

Jacobsen: What was the reaction of friends and family?

Ongere: The first time I told my friends and family members that I was a humanist and an Atheist, they had different reactions. My family did not take this as a surprise; they had suspected I could end up in something close to that because of my childhood scepticism since I was the only member of the family who avoided taking the sacrament and was not even bothered by it. However, some of my extended relatives related this to devil worshiping. Since they are not exposed to different ideologies, they only know that anyone who does not believe in a god or God must be a devil worshipper, just the way Nigerian movies give Africans the picture that people who do not adhere to religion are in affiliation with the devil. They looked at me with curiosity and spread the rumours in the village. However, my generosities in the village, where I sponsor children to school have puzzled them and the perception is changing.

I had different categories of friends by the time I announced my Atheism. I had religious, sceptics and rational friends. I had problem with religious friends and to make it worse, I was also dating a religious lady at the time. They did not want to associate with me and they advised my girlfriend to abandon me. She did; — but that did not deter me from pursuing my new found life stance.

My sceptic and rational friends praised my steps and they were happy about it. I was the first person to establish a humanist office where Kenyans could get Humanist materials and rational books that were difficult to get in most libraries. CFI sent me important materials that could be easily read and understood by first timers into humanism and skepticism. A good number of Kenyans who have declared themselves as Atheists and humanist in Kenya got the inspiration from my work with the campus groups and CFI Office in Nairobi.

Jacobsen: You’ve written a number of articles for The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. What is the importance of major skeptical organizations such as The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and the Center for Inquiry?

Ongere: CSI and CFI have supported all my projects in Kenya. By publishing my articles, they have made my activities visible to many people who have continuously supported my endeavours. When I joined CFI in 2007, my dream was to be published in their reputable sites. I knew that as a young person, still unable to write to the standards of the scholars I read in the sites, I had to go through self study and read widely. I started writing my skeptical and rational ideas freely and sent them to Norm Allen Jr., who was the director transnational programs at the time, intended to be published in the African American Humanism Newsletter, the AHH Examiner. When I finally wrote the article How Can the Concept of Humanism Solve Witchcraft belief, Norm informed me that Barry Karr, the Executive Director of CSI, was interested in publishing it. When finally the article appeared on the site, it was my breakthrough and it encouraged me to write further. Having my article published in the two sites has made many learning institutions to trust my activities and collaborate with me; the reason I am able to mobile University and college students to attend my activities.

Secondly, most people in Africa have no access to humanist and skeptical hard copy literature. Even in most libraries in Africa, finding journals or scholarly resources that promote humanist or Atheist ideals are rare. CFI and CSI have helped to fill this gap by sending reading materials to most humanists in different parts of Africa. Anytime I need reading materials to send to any group across Africa, I simply request the organization and they respond immediately by sending a package of books and magazines.

Most importantly, ever since I started CFI/ Kenya, the two organizations have supported all the programs financially and that is why we are able to sustain the humanist orphans and the On Campus activities.

Jacobsen: How did you first come across Center for Inquiry in Kenya?

Ongere: I first came across CFI by interacting with the philosophy group at the University of Nairobi. A good number of the members were sponsored by IHEU to attend the first humanist conference in Uganda in the year 2004. Here they met the then Transnational Co-directors, Norm Allen Jr. and Bill Cooke. They came back with reading materials like Skeptical Inquirer and Free Inquiry. I read them and became much interested in the ideology.

The visit of Norm Allen Jr. to Kenya in 2006 also made me get first hand information about CFI. By then, Boaz Adhengo was the contact person. Adhengo approached me to mobilize University students to meet Norm and after attending the meeting, Norm read some of my collected articles and gave me his contacts. I started interacting with him and in 2007; he approached me to be the director CFI Kenya to replace Adhengo. That is how I became the CFI director.

Becoming the director of CFI is one of the best opportunities I have ever had. It made me to know many influential people in Africa like Leo Igwe of Nigeria, Deo Ssesitoleko and Betty Nassaka of Uganda. I travelled to Uganda through sponsorship of CFI and they also paid travel expenses for Leo, Betty and Deo to visit my office in Kenya. Without the organization, I would have not got such connections.

Jacobsen: What did you see as the major need for science, skepticism, and secular humanism in Kenya at the time? How did this inspire you to form and run CFI-Kenya as a branch of Center for Inquiry in Kenya?

Ongere: Science, rationalism and skepticism is needed in Africa more than any part of the world. Irrationality that is prevalent in the continent has led to major human rights crises. One of the examples in Kenya that featured in the international scene is the burning of old men and women alive, in the rural parts of Kisii in 2009 when they were suspected to be witches. The graphic video of old women and men burnt alive till death still haunts many people. Up to the current moment, old men and women are still targeted in witch hunts. Moreover, Albinos are still at risk in Kenya and Tanzania because most society believes that their body parts can make their business successful when put within the business premises while fishermen believe that their hair attracts huge mass of fish. Science and reason needed to respond to such unreason.

In West Africa, like Nigeria and Congo, children have since time immemorial been accused of witchcraft and become abandoned. Majority of the children are left to roam the street to become street children, some are hacked to death and fed poison. Close scrutinies reveal that parents who are incapable of raising children or look after distant relatives use witchcraft as a scapegoat and run away from responsibility. The most vulnerable children are orphans whose parents have died, those born with HIV/ AIDS, and those with disabilities. Abandoning children to fake bleak future is gagging the future generation and only through reason that they can be saved.

Moreover, religious institutions are not helping in any way. With many obstacles that African people face due to unreason, religious bodies have not tried to help but to immerse people deep into unreason. Currently, Africa still has a big challenge: HIV/ AIDS. Every year, about millions of people get infected. Instead of approaching the issue with logic, churches and other religious wings have advised people to seek religious healings instead of taking the Anti-Retroviral Drugs. The approach has caused many deaths and this leaves you to wonder if an all knowing, all present God celebrates the wiping of mass population of Africans!

The above problem statements made me to search for an organization that could respond. Before I got CFI connections, I was a youth volunteer at an organization called Kumekucha. Kumekucha is a Swahili word meaning sunrise. The organization promised to liberate youths from the dogmas of the society. However, the organization did not give much to the youths. In this direction, when I was introduced to CFI, I believed it was the organization to respond to the problems Africans faced and it had the capabilities to take action to the irrationality in Africa. That is how I started running CFI Kenya!

Jacobsen: What has been the plight of children in Kenya? How has a humanist message improved their and their families’ livelihoods?

Ongere: Currently, it is estimated that there are about 300, 000 street children in Kenya. Increasing poverty and deaths of parents due to HIV/ AIDS are the major causes for the children to scavenge the street to look for ways of survival. In many cases, fathers who are not able to support their families leave behind mothers in the rural with even more than six children. Staying hungry and unable to go to school, most of the children migrate to the streets to try and find ways of survival.

In my article, The Plight of Children in Africa and our Humanist Efforts, I address the issues that children face in Africa. Even though declaring children as witches is not widely practised in Kenya, I am afraid that with the current inflation and rise of prices in essential commodities, Kenyans will look for ways of avoiding supporting orphan children whose parents were wiped by HIV/ AIDS. The only way they can do this is by adopting the Nigeria and Congo style where such children are declared to be witches. Declaring a child to be a witch is the easiest way relatives avoid the burden of protecting vulnerable children who have lost their parents. Killing children because they are a burden is hurting and that is why the humanist message is important. The spread of HIV/ AIDS in Kenya is rising and soon many children will be left without parents and it means many distant relatives will start using witchcraft as scape-goat.

CFI Kenya’s program The Humanist Orphans Project is a strong humanist message responding to the plight of children. Demonstrating to the society that orphaned children are harmless members of the society is core and that when given education can become potential members of the society is important. As such, the dedications of CFI Transnational to help the children is one of the social justice stories that should be told across to inspire other African groups to join hands to save the future generation.

Jacobsen: Reflecting on the 2014 article on the agenda of African humanism, in 2017 now, what is the state of humanism in Africa? What is the agenda, in brief?

Ongere: As I wrote in the article, humanism in Africa has undergone different phases. The first phase, which was explained by reputable scholars in Africa like Es’kia Mphahlele (1919–2008) was a kind of humanism that needed to give Africans hopes by trying to reconstruct their history from that which was given by the western scholarship. From that phase, came Ubuntu, which even though gave good promises but still had hidden agendas of promoting religion.

With the changes in technology, where people across the world have access to information due to internet, African humanism is adopting another face. Whereas the forefathers of African humanism focused on reconstructing the African face in the international world, the current young generation are responding to the irrational beliefs that have held the masses captive. They believe the only way for Africans to be free is to delete the dogmas of religion and embrace, science, critical thinking and rationalism.

In Kenya for example, the Atheist movement have raised many contentious issues. First, they have demanded religious educations to be removed out of the curriculum since it is one of the avenues children are indoctrinated. They have also challenged faith healers who use tricks to steal from the public. It demonstrates that African humanist is catching up with the agendas that global humanists’ movements are seeking and this is very important because it give room for many Atheists and people who are not easily accepted in the society, like gays and Lesbians to come out of the closet. With such developments, it demonstrates the Atheist movement is making progress in Kenya.

Jacobsen: How can humanism support the least among us?

Ongere: Humanism as a life stance compels many African humanist to work for Social justice. When I went to Uganda in 2009 together with Norm Allen Jnr., I witnessed how Uganda Humanists Effort to save Women (UHESWO) was liberating prostitutes and giving them financial empowerment. They took them away from the streets and taught them income generating skills like tailoring and salon work. Most of the women eventually left the streets and became employed in salons and others got sewing machines to become tailors. I also met Deo Ssessitoleko who had a humanist school that was sponsoring vulnerable children. I was inspired by the works of Ugandan humanists and believed humanism in Africa was capable of helping the less fortunate amongst us.

In 2011, I conceived the idea of starting the Humanist Orphans Kenya. I witnessed the plight of children the rural areas during the Anti-Superstitious campaign. Many children lost their parents due to HIV/ AIDS scourge when religious institutions started healing campaigns advising them to abandon taking Anti-Retroviral drugs. With many children left behind, we believed that our humanists’ endeavours would try to solve the situation. In this way, we selected 11 children who were vulnerable and gave them essentials of life like education, basic needs and empowerment.

In this way, I believed that if African humanists can embrace social justice, then we will be a good example just the way Ugandan humanists have demonstrated trough their projects.

Jacobsen: What are your lifetime hopes for humanism, skepticism, and secularism in Kenya, and Africa?

Ongere: I am happy that the young generation in Kenya today can easily declare their Atheism without fear. This was something I had hoped for. Kenya is not a very much radical country like many African countries where religious fundamentalism is core. When I started running CFI, I had hoped that a time would come when young people would come out of the closet and declare their unbelief. At the time, the internet was still expensive for the fact that people could not browse through their cell phones but to go to the cyber cafes that charged expensive. However, when cell phones were introduced, we had a revolution in humanism where youths had access to many reading materials. It became easy to engage the youth and direct them to important sites.

My hopes for humanism are that as youths become radicalized to abandon religion, they should focus on the gaps that humanism can fill in Kenya and Africa. I have always wished that humanism should not be another avenue of colonization just like religion. In my much engagement with youths who have abandoned religions, a good number of them do not understand the cause; they only think becoming a humanist is linked with intellectualism and fashionable. To me, being a humanist is to respond to the many unreasons in Africa and trying to help the situation through advocacy and social justice.

Jacobsen: Any closing thoughts or feelings based on the discussion today?

Ongere: Thanks for having me in the interview today. In sub-Saharan Africa, spreading humanism is still an obstacle. Many Africans still feel vulnerable when religion is deleted away from them. The bible promises them life after death and they believe they are the children of God because of the obstacles they undergo. They believe they will be rewarded in heaven and hegemonic nations that have conditioned them will be punished in hell.

What African humanists need to do is to empower Africans. Critical thinking is one of the areas that need to be explored. Being that African forefathers were superstitious, it is not inherent to be superstitious in the current global world. There needs to be a change in mind and thinking. Humanism promises this kind of change for Africans to abandon blind faith and focus on the realities life.

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, George.

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2022-12-09

Brazil’s austerity affects all Brazilians — but not its leaders

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Pamela Machado

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/05/03

The latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) results placed Brazil in its deepest economic level ever, according to Reuters. In 2016, Brazilian economy shrunk 3.6%, following a 3.5% fall in 2015.

The economic downturn is, allegedly, being remediated by president Michel Temer — a centre-right partisan, and his Congress through harsh austerity. The greatest measure has been imposing a federal spending cap for the next twenty years. The cap is extremely harmful for the younger generation, who is already suffering from high rates of unemployment and inflation. Professor Phillip Alston, from the United Nations, called the spending cap “socially regressive”.

The spending cap looks even more absurd when it is taken as the only measure to find austerity. The New York Times reports that Temer’s government is still refusing to apply taxes on wealth, another traditional measure in austerity rulings. In Brazil, shareholders are exempt from paying taxes on dividends — and still remain so, despite the current conditions.

When discussing the issue on the State not being able to afford food for the poor class, Legislator Pedro Fernandes actually suggested in session that the population could eat “every other day”

UN Charter Article 25(1) states, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services.” Who is this going to affect in the present up to 20 years from now? There has been a 20-year public spending ceiling, basically compromising the educational and health system.

As with most similar examples, and most common sense based on observation of other countries’ social strata, the usual victims of austerity in economic downturns — which worsen the downturn — are women with emphasis on single mothers, the middle and lower classes — or the working classes, and the young who are the basis for the taxation to support the retirements of the older and senior populations in many societies.

It is a easy cascade of conditionals with the catalyst being bad policy, poor implementation, and myopic self-interest among the ruling classes. Women are oppressed. The young are stifled. The poor are poorer.

The working classes are given stagnant or declining wages. If the policy put forth and implemented in the economic downturn is austerity, as it is, and if the austerity affects the usual victims of harsher economic policy, then the standard populations of women, single mothers, the young, and the middle and working class will be the most hurt by it, which will alter the situation for the chance for a decent end of life in retirement for many older people.

This has obvious intergenerational damages too. Men and women still want marriage and kids by the vast majority. Women want marriage more than previous decades as an important life goal. Austerity and economic struggles prevent healthy family formation because finances are probably the single greatest complaint between couples. Kids and marriage need money.

So if someone wants to form a family and be married, as most heterosexual men and women — who are 96.6% of the general population — have those as some of their highest ideals, secular or religious, and if the “unbelievable” devastation, predictable dissolution, of aspects of the healthcare and education system emerge from the actions in the present, then the leaders of the country have been irresponsible for the next a reasonable extrapolation for the next 20 years, so for one whole upcoming and ongoing generation of Brazilians. Of course, there are the perennial ignorant and myopic who do not see life in terms of legacy, but the vast majority want the responsible things in life.

The austerity, however, does not to apply to Brazilian leaders themselves. The economic recession and the precarious conditions of the population do not stop the politicians from enjoying the perks of being part of the government of the biggest country in Latin America; which means having abusive salaries and benefits such as monthly housing allowance, limitless medical and dental aid, extra payroll expenses and return air tickets to the capital, Brasilia.

A Brazilian MP made the suggestion that poor Brazilians might want to eat every other day rather than like normal people that prefer not be starving every day. One might assume this is akin to the gaffe of Republican politician Paul Ryan. Ryan suggested, ‘You don’t need healthcare because you have an iPhone.’ It was a recent unconscientious statement by the American politician. There’s salary increases of the leaders too.

Employees of Brazil’s Judicial branch are seeing a 41% increase in their salary. And in São Paulo, the most populous Brazilian state, Legislators voted to raise their own salary by more than 26%. To worsen the situation, the same Congress who is preparing to impose a major cut in the Brazilian pension scheme, is now offering lifelong pensions for its members after only two years in office. Real people are being affected by poor governance.

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2022-12-09

Exclusive Interview with Stephanie Guttormson - Operations Director for the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/04/28

Stephanie Guttormson is the current Operations Director for the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science — a foundation she joined in March of 2013. Stephanie was the leader of an award winning student group at the Metropolitan State University of Denver which impressively brought in notable names such as Michael Shermer and James Randi to speak on campus.

Where does your personal and family background reside?

Denver, Colorado, my last name, apparently, is Icelandic. Based on the name, my heritage is Icelandic, Vikings, and those kinds of people — Scandinavian.

If we look at the landscape now, especially in North America, atheism is a rapidly growing movement. From your expert position, what seem like the reasons behind this phenomenon?

In one word for you, the internet. The internet is where religion goes to die. I don’t remember who said that. It wasn’t me, but the internet is where religion goes to die. There’s too many ways to get appropriate facts now. Yes, of course, there’s tons of crap on the internet too, but being able to debate rationally with people and get them to listen to arguments that they wouldn’t otherwise.

Also, they get more exposure to more news about the same facts. They consistently don’t see atheists in the news doing violent things. I would also like to say that it has to do with the Richard Dawkins Foundation having a movement to get people to come out of the closet starting with the Out campaign. Now, there’s Openly Secular.

I also credit people like David Silverman from American Atheists being super open about it as well as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Christopher Hitchens, and James Randi. These are people that I know opened my eyes and open the eyes of a lot of other people.

Listening to these people and working for one of the organisations of probably the most prominent at present, you’ve probably heard most of the arguments. What do you consider the best argument for atheism?

Atheism is more of a conclusion rather than something to be argued for.

(Laugh)

Atheism is what happens when you follow the evidence where it leads, where it leads right now is to the conclusion that there is likely no supernatural force watching over us or any magical force.

Everything we’ve been able to figure out. Everything we’ve been able to verify so far has not been magic. We are still waiting for magic to happen. It hasn’t, yet. All of our progress has been the result of the method known as the scientific method, for the most part.

Even social change, you look at the situation and people think, “That’s not fair. That seems to hurt people. Let’s fix that.” The thing changes and things get better. The more we learn, the more things get better because we’re responding to evidence and the changing situations.

Humans were pretty good at doing that when they the left savannah. Now, we need to get our brains to do it and change our minds with new evidence as the new landscape changes.

You hold two bachelor degrees. One in linguistics. One in theoretical mathematics. Both from Metropolitan State University in Denver. I want to focus on theoretical mathematics because it could be technically defined as a science.

So, when it comes to having a mathematical understanding and know the scientific method more than most, does this seem to provide a bulwark for you to consider these topics of critical thinking, faith healing, and other topics along the range of pseudoscience, non-science, bad science, and real science and making that demarcation?

Religion is not the only thing that benefits from wish thinking and that kind of thing. I really hate grief vampires like Adam Miller. He’s more of a straight-up conman. “Grief vampires” are psychics, mediums, and those kinds of people. I hate them so much.

Anyone promoting any non-scientific idea boils down to a couple of quotes. One is from my friend Matt Dillahunty. He said, “I want to believe as many true things and as few false things as possible.” Also, the other probably is “scientia potentia est” or “knowledge is power.”

If you look at the general public and the method of teaching critical thinking, if you could comment of the state of critical and ways to improve education of critical thinking, what is it?

It is garbage.

(Laugh)

The current state of teaching critical thinking in this country is garbage. I chose to take logic courses and things that challenge or made my ability to think better. I can’t say I wish it were mandatory, but I wish we would encourage it more, certainly. I wish it was a core class to teach critical thinking and its importance.

The fact of the matter is any false belief has potential to do harm because it is incongruent with reality. Those things that are incongruent with reality have great potential to cause harm.

Do you think the work through the Richard Dawkins Foundations assists in the development of critical thinking to a degree?

We would always want to do more, but I think the programs we have help with it. There’s one teaching evolutionary science, where we teach middle school teachers how to teach evolution. Some think, “You’re indoctrinating them with evolution.” No, evolution requires asking a lot of questions.

Kids are interested in it because you get to ask, “Why do cells do that? Why does this happen that way?” Teaching any science, especially evolution, will lead to more critical thinkers.

When you were Metropolitan State University in Denver, you managed to bring Dr. Michael Shermer and James Randi to campus. What was that like getting people that prominent in the atheist, agnostic, and critical thinking movement to come to your university?

That was pretty surreal, not going to lie. That’s the only way I could put it. I was shell-shocked at that age. James Randi put forward a ton of effort to get to Denver. One of my heroes did something for me. That was incredible. I can’t tell you how good that felt. It is hard to put into words.

For those that don’t know, that aren’t as involved in that community. Who are individuals that you would recommend to them, and what particular texts would you recommend to them?

I would recommend Ayaan Hirsi Ali. I would recommend Richard Dawkins, Obviously.

(Laugh)

I would encourage them to find a book, How to Think About Weird Things. That’s a good book. Lying by Sam Harris, that is pretty decent. God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens. I would probably have them take any logic book, really, for those that are academically inclined.

They have them in different levels like “Logic for Dummies” all the way to a serious textbook. They all touch on the same things. Also, they should learn on how to be persuasive and how arguments work has been helpful.

What are some of the other ongoing activities and educational initiatives through the Richard Dawkins Foundation?

We have a ton of videos on our YouTube channel. Tons of videos of Richard and other people with loads of information about science and evolution, but everything is in English. There weren’t subtitles in other languages until we had the project to translate as many videos into other languages as we could.

We have many videos now in Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, and so on. We have lots of languages. This is all done by volunteers around the world. Some of them as far away as Pakistan helping us translate videos. We get a translation and have someone double-check it. It is translated and checked by at least two people.

Even the English videos, we have to do the language in English first for something to be translated back for the translators. Those are some of the most important to get right.

Is there an unexpected large following in the Middle East and North Africa region?

We get quite a bit of people from that region contacting us more to get more involved with us.

What initiatives are you hoping to host and expand into the future for the Richard Dawkins Foundation?

Currently, we are merging with the Center for Inquiry. We’re not planning on launching anything new at the moment because we’re in process of this merger.

You have appeared monthly on the Dogma Debate radio show and the Road to Reason TV show:

I stepped away from both for a bit because I had some mental health stuff to deal with first. I will be back for the Dogma Debate show soon. Same for The Road to Reason TV show. I am booking Richard’s touring now. It takes most of my time at the moment.

Apart from professional capacities, what personal things do you hope to continue for your own intellectual enjoyment?

Next, I am going to start a video. I have a new target. As you probably know, I went after a man named Adam Miller. He sued me because I said he didn’t have magic powers. I won, hilariously. There’s this other little dumb fuck who I found on the internet that I want to go after. He claims to be a medium.

I want him to stop taking advantage of people. He’s a grief vampire. He’s one of these assholes that goes around saying, “Oh, I hear the letter F… coming out of my ass.” You are a smug prick and are taking people who are vulnerable, fucking with them, and taking their money when you do it…You need to stop.

Those people are despicable and immoral. You want to talk about how pseudoscience harms people. You don’t tell vulnerable people things that they want to hear. That can fuck with their emotions, especially pretending to speak with loved ones that they have never met. It is disgusting. It is despicable.

Historically, pseudo-scientific, non-scientific, and bad scientific views had negative consequences. Sometimes very big ones. It’s around now. It has been around in the past. Those around now, by implication, have been around in the past. What are the worst ones that come to mind for you?

Psychics are really bad, but they don’t seem as bad because you see the holes in the wall. The really bad ones are those that take advantage of people, such as John Edwards. They are the worst from an immoral perspective. I think the most harmful are medical ones.

The anti-vaccine movement by far is the most harmful pseudoscience movement that we’ve ever seen. It is followed very closely by chiropractors or any kind of “healing acupuncture.” That kind of stuff. Medical pseudoscience by definition is the most harmful, no question — if you’re talking about harm.

The medical stuff scares me to death. Mostly because we have people here that are extremely desperate to get better. They are putting their money in places they shouldn’t, many times.

Thank you for your time, Stephanie.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Emily Newman — Communications Coordinator at American Ethical Union

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/04/24

As our correspondence has unfolded, I have discovered that, not only you but, your family is steeped in ethical humanism, and ethical societies. So what is the deal? Where did your family first come into contact with ethical humanism?

My parents were married at the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture by an Ethical Culture Leader (our form of clergy) and became active members after having children. My father had been raised Jewish and my mother had been raised Catholic but both identified more as humanists/non-theists and had heard of Ethical Culture. They wanted their children to be part of a caring, multi-generational community in the neighborhood. My brother and I both graduated from the Sunday school and became teacher assistants as teens. It was reassuring as a kid to learn about the other Societies and the national organization, American Ethical Union, to know that I was not alone.

Ethical Culture started with Felix Adler. When was your first encounter with his ideas? What definition really stood out for you?

I learned about Felix Adler, the founder of Ethical Culture, and his colleagues as well as various freethinkers and social justice advocates. We use Ethical Culture and Ethical Humanism interchangeably so I was not aware of how “Ethical Humanism” began. I define Ethical Humanism as a philosophy that uses reason and ethics to shape our relationships with each other and the world.

We’re on the Americas Working Group for IHEYO together, along with other people. Personally, what does IHEYO mean to you?

IHEYO is a way to expand my knowledge of humanism and its impact on the world. As individuals we are always developing and as local communities we are always sharing, now we can learn and do more by connecting with each other internationally. I worry that we too often stay in our bubbles because they are safe and familiar, but by participating with IHEYO we become aware of the many ways humanists are similar and different across the globe and how we can inspire each other.

How does ethical humanism better deal with the profound moments of life — birth, rites of passage, death — than other ethical and philosophical worldviews?

From my experience, Ethical Humanist ceremonies are more personal than religious ceremonies. There aren’t traditional passages or rituals you must follow. The event is developed by the teenager, couple, or family to best represent what is needed and wanted for the people celebrating. That makes each celebration unique and special. We add our talents, we add our quirks, and we add our creativity to make it about that moment with those people.

Who seems most drawn to ethical humanism? What are the main demographics?

We draw people who strive for equality and human rights. Politically we have mostly liberals and progressives. I think ethical humanism is attractive to all ages, ethnicities, genders, races, abilities, and socioeconomic statuses but that is not always reflected in our organizations’ membership due to restraints on transportation, time, and money.

Who/what remain the main threats to the free practice and advocacy of ethical humanism to you?

I think we need more strong humanist leaders, spokespeople, advocates to broadcast the message and organize the communities. If we don’t join together to strengthen our voice we will be drowned out by the voices of others who disagree with us, misrepresent us, or push their own agendas. I’m proud to work with The Humanist Institute to train such advocates and promote the humanist life stance.

What are your hopes for ethical humanism within your lifetime?

I hope that Ethical Humanism becomes more widely accepted and promoted across the world. I’d love to not have to explain humanism to people because it is being taught and discussed openly in schools, government, communities, etc.

Thank you for your time, Emily.

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2022-12-09

Evolution vs. Creationism via “Scientific American” E-Book

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/04/18

Scientific American published one short e-book, Evolution vs. Creationism: Inside the Controversy. It relates to the perennial social controversy, creationism versus evolution. Where the substantive evidence supports the bottom-up theorization around evolution rather than the top-down face value plus scriptural assertion from numerous religious sector from the religious subpopulation, not all, by any stretch, but, many, many religious folks, especially in America and the Muslim-majority countries adhere to creationist or quasi-creationist perspectives on the development and speciation of species.

In the world at large, evolution remains the minority view. Creationism remains dominant. Why? In-built agency detection mechanisms, legacy of fundamentalist-literalist interpretation of holy scripture, indoctrination of youth reliant on inculcation of ignorance to keep congregations at a low cultural level, newness of On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, many reasons exist. What’s the solution? It depends on what you want and how you define the problem.

From the experts in biological sciences with full comprehension of evolutionary theory, and who have encountered the counterarguments in continual barrages from minority sects of the religious population that claim to speak for the totality of religious believers, well-funded fundamentalist preachers and literalist doctrines argue for the young Earth and the top-down narrative provided by literalist readings of the Book of Genesis.

Also, time is a big one. If a philosophy exists for a long time, more than others, and more people happen to believe in it, then the truth might have a hard time overcoming the continual message of top-down design. We seem hardwired, or wet-wired, or evolved to perceive patterns without appropriate natural reality to the pattern, outside of the conceptualization in our mind’s eye.

Back to this book that you should be reading instead of this, the controversy for evolution and creationism, among the majority of qualified professionals in the biological sciences — which can sound like argument from authority, but seems more akin to argument from authoritative authority, those with relevant expertise rather than irrelevant expertise or no expertise — amounts to ‘controversy’ because the unanimous vote is “for,” or “aye,” rather than “against,” or “nay,” regarding evolution.

We evolved. We remain evolved Great African apes from the Great Rift Valley. We can’t not have genetic relation in the beautiful phrase: the “Tree of Life.” It runs along Lebanon to Mozambique, and even makes for a good topic around Christmas and associated cultural celebrations. Evolution is like a random cousin from a faraway country, who barely speaks your language, hardly knows your culture, and stinks, but you come to grips with them because you realize, to them, you barely speak their language, hardly know their culture, and stink.

There’s a distant, yet deep, kinship in an evolutionary framework. It speaks to the commonality of everyone, but without reference to things outside of confirmed natural processes, except in idle speculation for fun. Humanism speaks to the same impulses. It describes, at least in its core values — not everyone agrees to the letter of the law, one common species — not ‘races,’ whatever that means — with common evolved cousins and common ancestors in a massive Tree of Life spanning up to 3.77 billion years ago. Wow. So yea, life is super old and evolved, not young and created all-at-once in an act of creation only a few thousand years ago. (I’m bad at endings.)

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Ariel Pontes — Chair, Americas Working Group, IHEYO

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/04/15

Tell us about your family background — to give some groundwork.

My mom is a singer/actress, my father is a music graduate who became a tax officer when I was born. Everyone in my family is nominally Catholic and I was also baptized, but my family never went to church except for special occasions (wedding, baptism, etc.). Brazilian Catholicism, however, is very syncretic, and in the southeast of the country it is deeply influenced by “Kardecist Spiritism” (especially in my family), which is very popular but not very organized new-age/christian-universalist religion. Everything I learned about spirituality was within a spiritist framework.What is your preferred definition of humanism?“A movement that promotes secular ethics as a means to achieve peaceful coexistence between people of different social backgrounds in an increasingly diverse society”How did you find and become involved with the humanist movement?I have always been very interested in spiritually, the meaning of life and deep questions of this sort. In my teenage years I talked a lot to my grandfather about the afterlife and communicating with the spiritual world, went to the meetings of his cult and watched all documentaries about the supernatural that aired on Discovery Channel (or similar). I quickly became obsessed with having first-hand supernatural experiences. I could never, however, experience anything more than sleep paralysis and semi-lucid dreaming, so I started wondering if the people who claimed to communicate with the spiritual world really weren’t just fooling themselves and if the skeptics in the documentaries were right after all. I started challenging them, with the best of intentions, and proposing experiments to check if their experiences really were real, and I was met with excuses and antagonism. I eventually became an atheist and was very frustrated at religion. Years later I got tired of hearing arguments based on superstition when discussing ethics and politics and I started looking for groups that promoted secularism. I joined LiHS in Brazil but never got very involved. When I migrated to Romania I went to atheist meet ups to meet locals and eventually joined ASUR and AUR (local Humanist NGOs). In a few months I attended the Humanist Eastern European Conference and discovered Europe had a thriving Humanist movement incomparable with anything in Brazil. Since then I became determined to promote Humanism in developing countries such as Romania, Brazil and Latin America in general.What have been the main benefits of being a part of IHEYO?Being in contact with members of much more developed organizations and learning from them. I’ve learned a lot in a short period about what volunteers on the ground can do to promote Humanism and also about the politics and bureaucratic aspects of growing as a member and exerting influence in a big organization. The main benefit though is probably the sense of accomplishment of working towards something that I believe in and being able to see the fruits of my efforts.Now, you’re the chair of the Americas Working Group (AmWG). What tasks and responsibilities come, or will come, with this position? What is the purpose of the AmWG?The purpose of the AmWG is to promote Humanism in the Americas, especially among youth. The means by which we try to accomplish this are up to us to define. Our main strategy at the moment is to collect data about Humanism in the Americas and do knowledge transfer. We’ve created an online form where Humanists throughout the Americas can provide their contact info. We then contact them and schedule video calls where we learn about their activities, structure, etc. and teach them about the successes and failures of more mature organizations, making suggestions when we think it’s appropriate. Another long term aim is to promote more international collaboration among organizations in the Americas, in particular Latin America. We hope to eventually be able to organize a Pan American conference somewhere in Latin America. In the present the AmWG administration is still disproportionately U.S. based.What are the main threats to the practice of humanism in Romania and in the Americas?The religious right and populist politics are a constant obstacle probably everywhere in the world. In Latin America, Catholic ethics and the anti-abortion narrative are very powerful. The rise of right-wing Evangelical Christianity, partly influenced by movements in the United States, is also a big problem in Brazil and has resulted in tensions with local African religions which are accused of witchcraft. Endemic criminality also contributes to skepticism towards human rights and the rule of law, which is extremely dangerous. In Romania, on the other hand, most problems seem to stem from a rural, traditional mentality. Difference and strong individuality is usually seen with skepticism and antagonism. Here, as opposed to Latin America, anti-LGBT discourse is a bigger problem than anti-abortion discourse, for example. The public funding of religion is another problem Romania faces. Humanists are divided when it comes to the solution to this problem. Some think we should fight to be recognized as a religion and get funds as equals, as is the case in Norway for example, but others think we should just fight to stop financing of religions altogether. I personally find the latter more unrealistically ambitious (though both are unrealistically ambitious).Who have been the most unexpected allies for the humanist movement in Americas?When I became active in the Humanist movement I quickly realized it was an extremely Eurocentric movement. It is of course only natural for historical reasons, and this is not accusation, but I was a bit disappointed. Fortunately, however, I very quickly realized that the mostly Western European leadership was very aware of this and fighting to change it. Every time I meet Humanists in international events, I quickly feel they are allies. In the AmWG needless to say I am learning a lot from the U.S. Americans and I am grateful about how committed they are to helping Latin America. Unexpected is a strong word though, after all I can’t say I had pessimistic expectations. But I am positively surprised with how much focus the U.S. and Western Europe put in reaching out to the developing world.

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2022-12-09

Peshawar, Humanism, Poets, and Coming Together

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/04/08

In Peshawar, there are poets who advocate for humanism in the literary world. To many youths who have grown up in a system with humanistic values — Unitarian Universalist, secular humanist, humanist, humanist Judaism, ethical culture, ethical society, ethical humanism, and on, and on and on, and on — the idea of advocacy for humanism might seem extraordinary.

Why would someone need to advocate for something so basic, so instinctual, and obvious? Well, it depends. Humanism is a super-minority in most areas of the world, and definitely regionally and globally. So its various manifestations, its sects, will reflect this too. When a Jehovah’s Witness or Mormon Elder or Sister comes to the door (often in 2s), they are advocating.

“Have you checked this out? Don’t you want to see? These are some of the wonderful blessings the Heavenly Father has bestowed upon me,” the pitch might go. But take an area of the world such as Pakistan, the majority of the population, by a vast margin, are Muslim. And like other places in the world, whether the religion of peace or the religion of love, or otherwise, internecine conflicts, historically, globally, and currently, spark, fuel and maintain, and, sometimes, extinguish (often their own sparked), conflict.

So humanistic values such as those universal values seen in the UN Charter are desired by many in the international community, especially those with the ability, sense, skills, and talent to see beyond their borders, make sense of the external information, and to transmit the problems and promises of the expanded vision. The artists and culture formers at various levels of achievement and capability perform this function.

In Peshawar, the poets have been advocating for this spirit. Progressives, humanists, speak to the needs of the citizenry. They are essentially democratic in view and thrust. That runs back to the UN Charter, which, informally, runs back through some contents of most religious traditions, I guess. I don’t know these names, which is unfortunate for me. I am culturally deprived here. But a recent event paid tributes to the “two Pashto literary giants Alif Jan Khattak and Saifur Rahman Salim.”

Their literary works contributed to progressive, so humanist in part, values in the world, which, in a largely religious nation with religious conflict, is a fresh thing to read. Khattak was a “brave woman” who wanted women to have their voices raised, heard, and freedom realized in the country.

Salim was, by the account in the hyperlinked article, was a remarkably prominent poet among the Pashtun progressive poets. He had a fluency and ease of comprehension upon reading him. In other words, he was so good he was accessible. And what better way to reach a broad audience in a compassionate, warm, intellectual, and public way? Sagan fans, anyone?

Both of the literary giants “wanted equality and justice for people…[and] advocated [for] a social cause and both believed in a free society where people could enjoy equal rights.” And I never knew of them, or about them, and I assume most people reading this are in the same state, but others around the world are in the same struggle, which goes to show, maybe a message from me that, things can be done alone but require Herculean efforts; so our best bet is to band together at an international level — and IHEYO can help.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Danielle Erika Hill

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/04/08

*This interview edited for clarity and readability.*

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So we’ve been talking off-tape a little bit about demographics and the situation in the Philippines, and political and religious issues. But first, I want to take a step back and ask, “Do you have a background in humanism or non-belief? How did you have this as an awakening for you as the right philosophical and ethical worldview for you?”

Danielle Erika Hill: My entire family is Catholic. But it’s not the whole fire and brimstone Catholicism.

SJ: [Laughing].

DH: Really, it is more along the Protestant work ethic.I grew up with my extended family. My aunt — who I was closest to — was a chemist. In that household, there was this idea that God created everything, but science helps us understand what He created. So for me, faith and science were never at odds with each other. It also helped that I had a mom who told me, “Everything in Genesis, take it metaphorically.”

SJ: [Laughing].

DH: “The people who wrote that, whether they wrote it. They didn’t have the scientific tools that we have now.” So I always looked at The Bible as an [Laughing] anthropological work…

SJ: [Laughing].

DH: …that showed people’s worldviews from far off. And philosophically, they may have had good points, but don’t believe in the historicity of all of the things there because a lot of them didn’t know what they were talking about.

SJ: In America, there was a biologist, Stephen Jay Gould, who came up with the idea of the “Non-Overlapping Magisteria.” The “Magisteria” are science and religion. Of course, they are non-overlapping. They do not mix. They deal with different domains of discourse…

DH: Yea.

SJ: …in terms of how one approaches the world. So from your family background, with the family member with scientific training in chemistry, studying the natural world, and the highly liberalised form of Catholicism with Genesis taken as metaphorical, I am taking that as indicative of a healthier approach to upbringing or raising a child in a religious household.

DH: Yea definitely, but the thing is I was one of the lucky ones, because this is not how a lot of children were raised. A lot of people took Genesis literally — down to the whole ‘people are made of dirt’ thing. I spent 10 years in Catholic school. We were taught this as a theory of creation. I was in 6th grade at that time, and I just shot my teacher down when she did that. I had a lot of arguments with the nuns when I was in high school. Fun times! [Laughing]

SJ: What were some positive moments of religious upbringing for you? What were some moments of camaraderie, where you found fellow non-believers — a community of friends?

DH: Well, okay, what pops out is this retreat we had back in 2nd year — I should probably give a little background on the Filipino educational system. Right about now, it is K-12. But when I was back in school, there was only 10 years of education. Like 6 years of elementary school, 4 years of high school, and off to college you go. When I say sophomore high school, that’s probably like middle school to you guys.

So that retreat we had in sophomore year. I was talking to this person, this brother. And I was telling him that a lot of people find God in the church, find the presence of God in the church, and looking at the cross and all of those icons. But me, I find God, the presence of God. I was still believing back then. I find the presence of God in nature, in trees. This is where I feel church is. This is where I can commune with God.

He’s like, “That’s understandable. The Buddhists feel that way too. Sometimes, that’s true.” There are Liberal religious people who take something from the Buddhists and put it into their worldview. In that same retreat, I was able to reflect on the fact that a lot of people worship a concept of God, but in different ways. So I thought maybe it’s not — or we’re not — worshipping different sorts of gods. Maybe all of these religions are just us are looking for the same thing, but just in different ways. I had that notion back in high school. That was pretty weird to my more Catholic colleagues back then because to them, “They are worshipping the wrong God.” Especially for those raised in the really conservative families — the whole tolerance thing is a scale.

It also helps that when I was in 3rd year, our religion teacher taught philosophy because a lot of the saints in Roman Catholicism, they were philosophers — St. Augustine and stuff. I don’t think we were taught dogma much. I remember being taught philosophy, good management, good conduct, and Christian living. There was a little dogma in the religion class, but it was more how you should conduct yourself in the world as a good Catholic. Our school had this emphasis on human beings as the stewards of Creation.

We should take care of others and the environment because this was something given to us to take care of. I think that when I discovered humanism as a philosophy in university, it just fit in, just was a logical progression. I lost the God, but I did not lose the philosophy.

SJ: Do you find value in the philosophers such as Augustine, Aquinas, or Anselm, for instance?

DH: Not so much, I tend not to delve too much on philosophy. I understand, though, that they can be of help. I think, really, that if religion wants to be a healthy force, maybe philosophy should be taught rather than dogma because philosophy teaches you how to think, not just what. It is teaching you what these guys thought, and why, and the circumstances in which they thought rather than “this is what you should think because he said so”.

It at least gives you a pool of worldviews to choose from.

SJ: Do you notice that tendency in more orthodox — I’ll say — friends growing up, of fundamentalist upbringing — so Genesis is literal, back to that point — in the humanist community, in the atheist community, at all? And in what way, if so?

DH: Oh yea! What I am seeing, there is certainly an effect on the psyche. The more fundamentalist the environment you were raised in, the more militant of an atheist you turn out to be, probably because you are frustrated in what happened.

SJ: That’s a really good point. That’s a really good point.

DH: Because there’s that whole being angry…

SJ: [Laughing].

DH: …because they feel like they’ve been duped for so long, which is why we’ve got a couple of therapists on our team. Jinjin Heger, she’s going to be talking in the conference. So she volunteers to talk to people, give them therapy, because she knows these people are going through a tough time with the whole losing their religion thing. I have talked to people too. My best friend, when he lost his faith — there’s this sort of bitterness that remains. Among the more orthodox friends, what I am seeing is a lack of critical thinking. When you’re raised with information being force fed into you, and it is the authority, and this is the authority you should listen to, because they’re the boss, especially children here — and this is not religion, this is more on culture. With children, there’s still the tendency to think of them as things to be seen, not heard. Children should listen to adults. It is a hierarchy. There’s this whole military ‘obey before you complain’ thing. We’re the adults. You’re the kids. You follow us.

I think a lot of them took that into adulthood, even when they lose their faith. So you have to give them something else. Part of it is — and I think there’s a better word for it — re-education of the mentalities that you learned, so you can learn a new one to be a humanist or a non-believer properly.

Because otherwise, you’ll still be a stupid, but a Godless stupid.

SJ: [Laughing] I agree with you. Let’s talk about some of the stuff that we talked about off-tape.

DH: Okay.

SJ: We talked about demographics in the Philippines. I want to add one thing we didn’t talk about off-tape. But! In Saudi Arabia, there was about 5% of the population are non-believer, maybe even outright atheists, which has been listed recently as a terrorist offence or it is a terrorist act to be an atheist in Saudi Arabia, where maybe 13 other places it is the death penalty.

And we were talking. I asked if it .1% or 1% of the population that are non-believers. You said, ‘It is hard to say.’ Can you extrapolate further? Why is it ‘hard to say’?

DH: Okay, it is hard to say because there hasn’t been any in-depth study of the non-believing population. I think it is high time somebody did. There’s no official study that exists, that I know of. But what I can say is that there are a lot of people who are active in the secular community, and there are a lot of people who are actively saying they are not religious.

Others will say that they are non-religious, but spiritual. Many will be hesitant to call themselves atheists. Atheists get a bad rap over here. It is over 300 years of demonization thing coming from the Spanish.

SJ: Wow.

DH: But there has been a resurgence, especially among the more artsy communities. There’s been a resurgence of more Indigenous art. And a lot of the pre-Spanish mythologies are being re-told. I think that helps out a lot. I think of what happened to a lot of people in Europe. Most of the countries in Europe are secular already, even though they started out really religious. I have many foreign secular friends asking me, “Why hasn’t that happened in the Philippines yet?”

I said, “Maybe, it has to do with you having outgrown your gods. Our gods were taken away from us. We didn’t have the chance to outgrow them.”

SJ: Right.

DH: I think it’s Stockholm Syndrome.

SJ: [Laughing].

DH: back to demographics, there are a number of people. But I can’t say how much. HAPI has 18 chapters, I think. Most of those are in the Philippines. So you’ve got people really openly secular. But the thing is, I can’t say that everybody who works in the secular sphere is an atheist because what we in HAPI have is a big tent policy. We accept all faiths. Our humanism is like, “As long as you would put humans over dogma any times those clash, you’re considered a humanist.”

Yea, so, we’ve got some people who still believe in a God, or in a Creator. We don’t really talk about that subject much anymore in the HAPI forums because, to us, it is not important. It is not important what you believe. It is important what you do. If your belief in a higher power is helping you become a better person, if it helps you become a better human being, then go, no problem!

Our tiff is with the people who use their faith to hurt other people. That’s what we’re against.

SJ: I like to think of it as big humanism and small humanism.

DH: Yea, yea. I’ve heard in Europe that a lot of the secular communities, a lot of the humanist communities, are having trouble reconciling the two. I think we in Asia have done an okay job of it.

SJ: What do you think is the backdrop that provides that better ease into harmony with different and more flexible humanist values rather than a more restricted form?

DH: Well, I’m not sure. I’m thinking culture. I suppose because Eastern and Western cultures and values are very different. Here, people are more tolerant and more open of each other because it is in-built. You do your thing. We’ll do our thing. What the Muslims would say is, “You have your religion. We have our religion.” That’s why in Manila you see one of the biggest mosques in the Philippines right, like, a block away from one of the biggest churches in the Philippines.

So it’s pretty open. The fact that Muslims and Christians can live together and not hate on each other. That’s a big thing. It goes a long way with the whole tolerance thing. I suppose it also has something to do with the fact that everyone in Asia knows there are a lot of religions in Asia. It’s like, “Okay, cool bro!” That’s why what I said earlier happens. Having a different religion is cool, but having no religion is like-[Gasping]!

SJ: Emoji-worthy. Last question, you are the main organizer for an upcoming conference — I may be misremembering this part, which is for the Asian Working Group of IHEYO.

DH: Yes.

SJ: Oh thank God [Laughing]! Okay, so who are some highlights? What is the theme? Why organize it?

DH: [Laughing] Okay, so The 2017 Asian Humanism Conference happens every year. It is the biggest event of IHEYO Asia. Last year, it was in Taiwan. The year before that it was in Singapore.The year before that it was in Nepal. The year before that, it was in the Philippines again, but it another part, in the South. This year, it is going to be in Manila.

And we’ve got a lot of speakers right now, and a lot of people from HAPI, because it coincides with an event HAPI was already planning for, like a homecoming thing. So we’ve got people working with us who are flying all across the globe. I think it is going to be a big thing right now. I am really excited for it. The theme is “Game Changers.” I crafted it out of the notion that these are the people who are changing the world a little bit at a time with their work.

We’ve got David G. McAfee, who is a really influential Facebook celebrity in the atheist community. Lots of atheist writings under his name. We’ve got David Orenstein, chairman of the American Humanist Association and its representative in the UN. We’ve got a lot more people coming. Humanists from different parts of Asia, who we want to tell us how it works over there and the challenges that they face.

We want to bring people together and to see the different ways humanism is done there and how we can help each other out. I want this to be a networking thing, and maybe the guys over in one country want to do projects with guys from this other country. I think connection is now more than ever important because humanists are spread all over the globe. And there are so few of us compared to the rest that it is good to be able to stick together and build up a community, and that’s going to help us be a little more — how do I say it? — prominent, I guess.

Instead of being fringe groups, instead of being seen as the Other, we can pass into the mainstream. The important thing is that people should know that we exist, especially in countries that don’t think we do. In the Philippines, free speech is very highly valued. So I think this is the perfect platform for it. Did that make sense?

SJ: Yes, it did. Thank you for your time, Danielle.

DH: [Laughing] Okay. Thanks Scott.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Yvan Dheur

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/04/08

You’ve spoken on humanism in Europe. My common assumption is Europe is more non-believing than other areas of the world. Is it more humanistic as well? I would assert the fact, but want to make sure.

Yes and no. Non-believers, humanists, atheists, secularists, freethinkers and rationalists are the fastest growing life stance or ‘religious group’ — except that we define ourselves by its opposite: — the absence of religion. We use the denomination philosophical community or a non-confessional life stance.

In terms of our community in Europe, if you ask a Chinese official there is no religion in China. If you ask for an atheist or humanist youth group in China, you are referred to the Communist Youth organisation.

From that perspective, Europe is certainly not the region where there are more non-believers. It is quite hard to measure; most religious people in the world tend to be cultural believers, they celebrate transition rites like marrying and do funerals within their religious spaces but do not really believe in the existence of an invisible person above the clouds that rules over everything and initiated life. They sometimes define god as the origin of life but still have consideration for the big bang theory and Darwinian evolution theory even though they consider themselves as religious.

Most believers are born into a religious community and therefore stay attached to it without living out their beliefs in a strong and literal way. It is also true that every religious community has its own die hard, radical, fundamentalist “far right religious” members that live out their beliefs in a very extreme and literate way and often have little or no tolerance for other beliefs.

Many Europeans are culturally religious and if asked about the origin of life or the universe, or life after death, they tend to understand the value of science and are convinced of those basic principles taught to us in the spirit of rationality, free inquiry and humanism.

There are only two countries in the world where non-believers are officially recognized in the exact same way as “religious” life stances are: Norway and Belgium. In these countries humanists, atheists, freethinkers and non-believers have exactly the same rights as religious communities do, they are state funded, housed and allowed to organize themselves and offer services to their community in the same way religious communities are. Other countries in Europe function differently. They have organizations (sometimes huge ones) but funded as “cultural organisation” or “youth organisation” (like in the Netherlands) or by membership fees and gifts from the local humanist community in response to campaigns and fundraising (like in UK). It is undeniable that there are many non-believers in Europe. It is complex to define precisely how many because of all the people born in a religious community who do not believe but also people changing religion because of marriage or conversion. The vast majority of religious people do not believe firmly in everything that is written in the holy books but they agree with most scientific discoveries on the origin of life, afterlife, evolution of humanity and so long and so forth.

On the other hand, Europe has always been the epicentre of humanism and humanist knowledge creation, science and non-theistic thinking. The enlightenment and the strong evolution of science enhanced this humanist identity. From the ancient Greek philosophers to the post-modern scientists, we do have had a great deal of responsibility for the advancement of science, reason and non-believers in the world.

By wanting to increase humanism in Europe, we’ve define a problem and posed a solution. How severe is the problem? How does activism and advocacy for humanism in Europe solve the tacitly proposed problem?

I would not have phrased it in terms of us wanting “to increase humanism in Europe”. We do not believe in god or any magical/supernatural higher force defined as origin of life, morals, living creatures or what so ever. We observe that more human beings cease to believe in this magical concept and are happy with that; their atheistic life stance tends to be dominant or very fast growing at least. It is not the belief in god as such that seems to be problematic, but rather the consequences of that belief in terms of behavior, coexistence, values and directions that civilizations are taking. Religious communities have certain values that are often rather positive if they concern basic moral issues, like “do not kill”, “respect thy family, neighbour, friend or enemy”, be honest, help each other, do not steal, and so on.

What tends to be more problematic is that every religion claims to be ‘The’ only truth and that most holy books tend to suggest that people who do not adhere to that particular book, should be tortured in cruel ways or stoned or slaughtered or exterminated. In the history of humankind, religion has certainly not been the only tool to invite civilizations to engage in wars, but the study of conflict has taught us that every war and conflict where religion is involved, ‘miraculously’ tend to be more violent, more bloody and lasted longer. So yes, religion can be, and often is, a catalyst for conflict, since by definition it claims to be the only truth and claims other beliefs to be fraudulent.

We also observe that in situations where religions want to define rules for society and mingle with state structures that many problems emerge in terms of the coexistence with other religious communities. Separation of religion and state is a value that is important to our community but from a theological point of view we observe that this concept tends to be problematic for most of the major religions. Be it through the sharia (together with riba and fikh), the canonic law (used for instance to protect the many pedophile priests when they are molesting children), the halakha (Jewish religious law), or any other “legal” religious interpretation, these system do not adhere to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and are often in contradiction with secular, modern legal systems at all.

In the history of mankind and its relationship to the sacred currents, trends and (d)evolutions emerged. In the sixties we saw a rather strong expansion of secularism worldwide, as a consequence of the evolution of education and the economic boom. In the seventies, in reaction to that, we observed the emergence of rather radical fundamentalist “anti-evolution” religiosity very opposed to secularism and the advancement of liberties and freedom movements. The radical Islamic trends but also the strengthening of far-right Christian and Jewish movements re-emerged and grew rapidly. These emergences and regressions have occurred cyclically since then.

Today at the EU level we observe radical Christian groups working together with radical Islamic fundamentalists on common agendas — like the ‘pro-life’ one, (for which read anti-choice, anti-abortion, anti-family planning and anti-stem cell research).

Most Humanists in the world were raised with critical thinking and free inquiry as mental tools of intelligence gathering. They often have the feeling that there is no need for humanist activism because you cannot fight or engage against something that does not exist. I myself was also a bit sceptical as an adolescent, thinking most people on earth where not believer anymore and those who did clearly lacked of understanding and education, or at least the necessary critical thinking. When I discovered how strong religious lobbies were and how strongly they where intending to promote their religious values all over the world (often in unethical and disgusting ways), I realised it was extremely important to engage in the fight against bigotry, religious extremism and dogmatic ideologies. When I look at the situation of the world in regard with humanitarian issues, conflicts, international politics, the rights of women and gender equality, and so long and so forth, I am more then ever convinced there is a lot of work to do and it is crucial for as many individuals as possible to join the fight for freedom and against intellectual constriction caused by religious worldviews, the rise of political populism together with religious radicalism.

As if collective intelligence could not evolve on a constant and steady base but needed to evolve as a string made of patterns of evolutions and devolutions.

What are the common examples of restrictions on the open practice and lifestyle of the ethical and philosophical worldview of humanism?

Donald Trump, making the availability of abortion services not mandatory throughout the US and turning down US funding to women’s rights project (purely from a religious extremism point of view). Erdogan, in collusion with the far right religious lobbies behind him, suggesting women should make as many kids as possible and that abortion is wrong because the Turks should multiply. Putin giving basically all power to the orthodox church and censoring the LGBT community, almost legalising the beating up of gay people. Blasphemy laws existing in too many countries in the world. The Vatican protecting pedophiles very openly and actively all over the world. Saudi Arabia voting an “anti-terrorism” act with the first sentence of that act saying atheism is the worst form of terrorism and should be punished by death. Shall I go on?

Every day all over the world, our values are being neglected, reprimanded, censored. Atheists, Humanists, Freethinkers, and Secularists are being threatened, molested, arrested, tortured and murdered…

Shall I go on?

Who have been unlikely allies in the spread of humanism, in your experience?

Intelligent people, scientists, independent woman, LGBTQI-community, journalists, enlightened intellectuals, academics, progressive forces, young persons (due to their strong capacity to rebel and evolve), freedom fighters, whistleblowers, democrats and enlightened liberals (who understand the philosophy of liberalism and are not blunt followers of what their rich environment told them to do), sometimes progressive religious people have adhered our values of freedom, and many others, anonymous freethinkers, freemasons (non-regular). But also in a contradictory way, the far-right religious extremists… Sometimes I even think they are our best allies, like the previous pope or these silly youngsters that explode themselves in the name of the invisible magical power in which they believe. The more religious idiots gain visibility the more the rest of the world is turning towards our values, our freedom our liberty and is gaining respect for other beliefs, other ways to interpret life.

Religion is doomed to disappear where intelligence is evolving, so the more narrow-minded religious entities become, the more the people will want to evolve in peace and to coexist with their fellow human being, whatever their colour, religion or wherever

they come from.

How can people get involved and donate to the movement for humanism in Europe?

There are many ways to get involved. First of all, by becoming a member of our community through media and social media, becoming a member of the mailing lists and following our groups on social media. Come to our events, meet other fellow freedom fighters and become a part of our network. Write texts for our media. Specialise in topics that interest you. Read books and reports related to values and topics that are of interest. Never turn to a constructive discussion with like minded but even more with religious people, ‘from discussion come the light’ said Voltaire. Learn about the relationship between religion and state, about religious values, religious conflicts and about the positive and negative impact of religions in the world. Learn about humanist values and learn to be critical towards them, -critical thinking and free inquiry form the core of our mindset.

Talk with friends and family about your vision. Never fight but always accompany people with a different mindset to learn to understand ours. Show genuine interest in religious people there they often use mental concepts that may seem weird to a non-believer but a great percentage of mankind is thinking in those patterns and it is crucial for a non-believer to understand why and how religious people think if you want to help them “see the light” or at least be critical towards their own “almighty truth”.

If you are young, engage in a youth section or movement. If you are an adult, then try to engage in an adult section or organisation but always be careful for your own safety and that of your family. Study science, and actually try to study as many possible topics for as long as possible in your life: knowledge is power.

Thank you for your time, Yvan.

*Views expressed are not necessarily those on IHEYO.*

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Julia Julstrom-Agoyo — Secretary & Treasurer of Americas Working Group of IHEYO

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/03/28

Let’s delve a little bit into your background to provide a foundation for the conversation. Do you have a family background or only a personal background?

A family background, my mom loves to tell the story about how she grew up in Lima, Peru and at the age of 7 she declared herself an Atheist after finding the word in the dictionary, which was unusual because the majority of Peruvians are Catholic, though her immediate family was less religious. She was a curious child and liked to challenge the existence of God in school, to the frustration of her teachers. She was very much of an outsider in that way, but she’s always liked being different — being unique.

My dad, in parallel, went to a Christian church with his parents, but he grew up in a small, Republican town in Illinois. His parents were heavily involved in the church, in part through music, but at the height of the Vietnam War, some anti-war peace protests were organized in the small town and my dad and his family received significant backlash from the church community for having their names attached to them. His parents decided they couldn’t be part of the church anymore, so they all left and joined the Unitarian Universalist church there, which was fine with my dad since he had independently kind of already decided he was an Atheist. That’s where his humanism, atheism, kind of sprouted from. So when my dad and mom (who was studying there) met in the small town and eventually moved to Chicago — after they had a couple kids — they found the Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago.

So they started bringing us there because they wanted to have us grow up in a community atmosphere, where we could learn about all different kinds of religions and common values without the dogma. So they got to go to speakers every Sunday. Then us as kids got to grow up in a Sunday school learning how to be a good person. [Laughing]

[Laughing]

We got involved in volunteer projects and fundraisers, and stuff like that, and interacted with other kids who were not religious, which is really nice because most of our friends at school were religious and didn’t understand what atheists were — or were taught to fear or dislike them. We were ostracized sometimes. It was whatever kids do like saying, “You’re going to hell.” It is a hurtful thing to say to a child, although even at that age I knew I didn’t believe in hell. [Laughing] It was about community. I owe a lot of who I am today to being brought up in that atmosphere.

With your mom realizing that she didn’t believe in God, that she was an atheist in Peru in, as far as I know, a very religious culture and, therefore, society. Did she, herself, face similar prejudice?

Apparently, not too much. She grew up in Lima, which is the capital of Peru — and so maybe that had something to do with people being pretty open. Anyway, I know she likes being a different person in a bunch of aspects. She was fine standing out from the crowd. I think her family was okay with it because they were actually not too religious — my mom even says they were humanists without labeling themselves as such. Even many religious families in Peru don’t regularly go to church — they feel they can simply pray in their homes.

Your dad with the Unitarian Universalist form of humanism. From my sense of American culture, it is taken a lot more softly than being an atheist, where atheist, as a self-identification, would provide more means for someone to be bullied than if someone was a Unitarian Universalist. Not only because Unitarian Universalist takes longer to say…

[Laughing]

But also because people probably don’t know what Unitarian Universalist is. For yourself now, if I may ask, where do you stand in terms of your own take on humanism — that is most comfortable to you?

For me, I thought a lot about it the last few years. I do identify as an atheist and a humanist, but what has become most important to me in the last few years is my humanism. I see my atheism as what I don’t believe in; I see my humanism as what I do believe in, which is much more important because I have a lot of religious friends. I don’t think our belief or non-belief in God is too important in a way.

So what ends up bringing us together are common values, which is what humanism is all about, that’s where I got my values, I think. It shifts the focus, which I think is more important these days with what’s happening around the world — what brings us together, where do we have common ground, what’s important, and don’t focus on what’s not important. God is not important to me, but I know it is important to a lot of people.

I don’t want to minimize that. For me, the fact that I don’t believe God exists is not the most important thing.

Now, you’re part of International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organization (IHEYO). Together, we’re on the Americas Working Group for IHEYO. What other, if any, humanist organizations are you involved in? What roles and responsibilities come with them — stated and unstated?

I am involved with 2 or 3 that are all connected. I am part of FES, which is the Future of Ethical Societies. My role in that hasn’t been too prominent because I spent the last year abroad, so I was limited in the things I could do. I did join FES after high school basically, and started going to the yearly conferences and was involved in planning in some of those conferences — not as of late, but I did have some roles.

For a year, I was the liaison to the AEU, American Ethical Union. My responsibilities in that were to call in on some of the AEU board meeting calls, which were very long. I’m not sure if I added too much to them, but it was interesting to see how they work, what kinds of things they do, and what those calls are like. I did attend the AEU conference in Chicago. I helped lead a workshop along with Emily Newman.

I was a FES representative for resolutions AEU passes on current events — like statements on what we think about climate change or gay rights. Now, I am back. Hopefully, I will get more involved in that, especially with the conference coming up. But now that I am also back in Chicago because I went to college in Iowa, I am now attending the local ethical society most Sundays. I listen to the platform.

There are actually some young people my age who are coming, which is exciting. Hopefully, we can begin to build the Chicago young group of the ethical humanists and hopefully get them involved in FES and IHEYO. So that’s obviously related. Then there’s IHEYO. I was involved after Xavier got us in there. He was the main person in charge of the Americas Working Group. I helped him out for a while as a secretary.

We were both working on outreach and what the Americas Working Group looks like, how we want it to look. There were leadership transitions. Now, it is looking very promising. Basically, we are looking on expanding our network. Now, we have Canada & America in North America, and South America, at the same time. [Laughing] It is for the first time, which is awesome.

Obviously, there are a lot of long-term goals, but, for now, I think expanding the network and working on things together, having calls, and planning. Helping where needed, I speak Spanish, so I can help with South American outreach too.

In America, within the Americas, there are concerns within the public about the ability to practice and advocate for ethical humanism, humanism, even possibly secularism. [Laughing] From your vantage, because you have a longer life history in humanism that I do, who or what do you see as the main impediments or threats to the practice, or advocacy, of humanism?

If we’re talking about the current political atmosphere in the U.S. — although, there’s a lot to worry about with our current government, I don’t think there’s too much of a threat specifically against the humanist community. I think we’re still going to do what we’re going to do. I don’t think they can do too much about us. Also, I don’t think we’re at the forefront of who they want to target. There are concerns about certain religious groups or people driving certain religious agendas, which I don’t agree with and don’t need to get into.

I don’t see it as a sincere threat to the humanist community — at least in the U.S.; there are areas in Central and South America where humanists or non-believers do see more of a threat. Maybe, I am misinformed, but I don’t think there is too much of a battle for us, comparatively. At least our society, we’re not supposed to proselytize, which we don’t — at least I don’t think we’re trying to convert everyone to our side. [Laughing] We’re trying to open our arms and let them know we exist because there are a lot of people that think like us and don’t know that there’s a wider community that they can be a part of.

That’s what a lot of people are missing, especially if they belong to a church and leave the church. They miss the community. Hopefully, they can see us as somewhere to go. Also, if you look at the numbers, our numbers are growing. They don’t have to physically attend an ethical society. But I think nonbelievers are on the rise as far as I know.

You made an important note there by saying that we don’t want to proselytize. In the question, I said advocacy was the concern. In traditional religious structures, it is encouraged for members to proselytize, which seems different than advocacy to me. I think humanism and ethical societies can advocate without proselytizing. Do you think that’s a fair and reasonable distinction?

Yes, I do. I think it is difficult, but I do think you’re right. It is just like, “How do we go about it?” It is something I have been struggling with for awhile. [Laughing]

[Laughing] What are your hopes for humanism and ethical societies within your lifetime?

On a global scale, I would like to see humanists, free-thinkers — or really anyone from any religious background for that matter — free from persecution. In the U.S., one thing I would like to see, at least in my society — maybe, other societies are going about it in a different way — is a re-energizing of the ethical action committee. I would like to see that expand and grow and become more effective because I think a lot of people come to these societies — and I know not all ethical humanists attend these societies, and they don’t exist everywhere yet — to listen to these great lectures every week and leave with things to think about from these talks.

But there’s a disconnect in actually doing things about it, especially in this day and age when we need someone — everyone — to be doing something about what’s going on. Personally, in my own society, I would like to step up in the ethical action committee and have our presence at all of the protests, have our space also used for organizing. I would really like the societies to become more involved in interfaith activities, movements — reach out to all different kinds of places of worships, e.g. churches, and synagogues and mosques, and try to bring all different religions together. I think, in 2017 and going forward, we need not only to co-exist, but also co-resist.

There’s a collective benefit in increasing mutual understanding and to be there in mutual solidarity, especially when we see Jewish cemeteries being destroyed and Muslim communities being gunned down in their mosques while they pray and Black churchgoers being shot while they also pray. I think it is important to reach out and tell them we’re there to help and increase understanding of the different religions because I think that’s a big impediment to where we’re at these days. People will fear and hate what they don’t know.

Thank you for your time, Julia.

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2022-12-09

61st Commission on the Status of Women

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Anya Overmann

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/03/26

At the United Nations (UN), on March 17, in their headquarters in New York, the secretary-general Antonio Guterres along with other high-ranking officials within the UN, such as the executive director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, discussed, and emphasized the need for, women’s international parity with men.

Secretary-General António Guterres holds a town hall meeting with civil society organizations associated with the 61st session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women.UN Photo/Mark Garten

This was taken in the context of “all levels.” That is, the “political, cultural, economic and social” levels through women’s rights for women’s advocacy and empowerment. Guterres’ statements were one of the capstones and highlights during the 61st Commission on the Status of Women (CSW61).

The emphasis at CSW61 was the link between civil society and government to improve governance. So how do we improve governance for greater international gender parity?

“As societies become more complex, and as social media’s [impact continues to grow],” Guterres said, “and governments feel less and less secure because they have less instruments of control, one of the attempts is to try to keep civil society under control […] Limiting civil society space is a reaction to the feeling of governments that they are losing control of society.”

So there’s a goal for civil societies — to reach gender parity on various levels, e.g., cultural, economic, political, and social. Their goal, which is ambitious, is based on women having economic parity by 2030 rather than the comprehensive parity predicted by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in reflection on the Gender Gap Report. As we noted in 2030’s Planet 50–50:

[The] World Economic Forum (WEF) [stated],“the overall gender gap based on the index called the Gender Gap Report published each year will not close until 2186.”

That’s 169 years from now, just for predicted economic equality. Political, cultural, and social equality could take even longer in some countries. It can take multiple generations before the value of gender equality is instilled within humans in a social and cultural capacity.

We chose to write about this event because it is significant that the UN secretary-general, and not just the director of UN Women has spoken up about this advocacy for gender equality. It’s not just a women’s problem; it’s everyone’s problem.

And, of course, if you’re feeling despair in some moderately depressing times regarding the repeal of women’s rights, and progress for women, you can, as always, move to Iceland. The time machine is ready-to-go.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Bwambale M. Robert — School Director, Kasese Humanist Primary School

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/03/18

How did you become involved in humanism? When was the moment, or series of moments, that eventually led into you becoming an open humanist?

In the early years of 2000 I became critical of religion, in the year 2000 when I started being skeptical about the natural world and things in it, was asking myself questions, asked religious people plus other people both in school and out of school and their answers to my queries did not satisfy me, so I became critical and curious of religion. Through my research online, I stumbled about humanists. Humanism/Atheism and Rationalism and since then I later joined organized humanism by creating in place a community based organization.

Was there a family background?

Yes, am from an Anglican back ground.

Is humanism demonized in Uganda, or an accepted minority philosophical and ethical worldview?

Humanism is demonized by religious zealots who want to paint a bad picture on humanism so that people can tag it and the majority remain believing that being religious is the only way to success, a great life which actually is not the case.

To some extend I think Humanism in Uganda is an accepted minority philosophical & ethical worldview.

You are the school director for Kasese Humanist Primary School. What tasks and responsibilities come with being the chairman for the Kasese Humanist Primary School?

My common tasks are:

Planning for the school

Identifying projects, lobbying for support and publicity of Kasese United Humanist Association & its associated schools.

Ensuring the workers are paid as an appreciation for their hardwork

Am also engaged in construction efforts of the schools and its sister projects.

Ensuring I coordinate the sponsored pupils with their sponsors and notifying them 3 times in a year about their progress.

When did this become a calling for you — teaching the young?

In 2010, I together with other colleagues and members of Kasese United Humanist Association, we thought it was a wise idea if we created a school and one year later we opened Kasese Humanist Primary School.

Kasese Humanist Primary School was only founded in 2011, which is a relatively short time ago, and is run by the Kasese United Humanist Association. It is a secular school grounded in science education. How does the Kasese Humanist Primary School differ from the majority of other primary schools in Uganda?

Humanist Schools and orphanages differ from religious schools in the ways below:

We teach religious education on comparative terms.

Our learners are encouraged to think for themselves and are given opportunity to think freely without any sort of commands.

We cherish evolutionary science other than creation science.

Our school welcomes learners from all religions, it matters less if one is religious or proclaimed non religious since we look at our schools as a center or source of knowledge and not a place of worship.

We have secular posters or messages on classroom walls or compounds.

We observe and celebrate secular days by holding celebrations, happy moments or memorial events.

There are no religious instructions or observance of religious tenets.

We do not indoctrinate our learners to any religion or belief system but what we do is to enlighten and allow our learners to be curious, explore and come up with their perceptions.

We do not perform rituals of any kind.

It has a number of clubs and teaches during the day to a limited number of students. Are there after-school programs to cater to other students?

Yes, we do have after school programs like: Running activities, computer lessons, vocational skills training, playing a key board, music dance and drama, weaving, knitting and gardening

Is the primary school in high demand, but can’t fill all of the potential slots based on a limited number of pupils being taught there?

Yes, there is a high demand for primary school education to accommodate learners,

Uganda has scores of children and the level of illiteracy is still high as some parents out of ignorance, poverty don’t know the value of education, some times we do force parents to keep their kids in school.

As well, there are 3 campuses now. So within 5/6 years, not even, the primary school developed up to three campuses. What were the honest failures and successes on the road to development of Kasese Humanist Primary School up to the present?

Kasese Humanist School has developed over the years from being a nursery & primary school and now has 3 campuses in a period of 6 years now. We earlier this year opened the Secondary Section. In spite of this we have had successes and failures quoted as below:

Challenges:

Misconceptions by locals who don’t know the meaning of Humanism or being a humanist, some locals tend to associate humanism to devil worshipping or satanic. The rumours are propelled by enemies of the schools mostly religious zealots and selfish locals who are enemies of development.

Salaries payment to the staffs sometimes delays or they get paid in bits due to poor collections as some parents pay in bits.

Disease out breaks is common among learners due to the living conditions in their homes. Poverty, ignorance remains a key factor affecting people here.

Successes:

Having our schools on permanent homes owned by ourselves.

All learning spaces have classrooms.

The Child Sponsorship scheme where more than 100 children schooling in our schools have sponsors who meet their tuition needs.

School’s potential to have in place income generating activities like the Bizoha Tractor, maize & cassava milling plant, land for rent etc.

My projects have got international attention and this has been possible because of my online presence which has exposed me to organizations and individuals who have helped much in boosting up my works financially, morally and materially.

What are some of the main campaigns and initiatives of the Kasese Humanist Primary School?

Promoting humanism

Encouraging debates

Comparative religion

Vocational skills training

Computer lessons

Gardening

Anti Witchcraft campaign

Eco huts & botanical gardens project for eco tourism & out door learning.

Letter Exchange & pen pal program

Child sponsorship program

Reading for Pleasure program

Running program by Kasese freethinkers academy

In general, what are the perennial threats to the practice of humanism in Uganda?

Religious bigots who do not understand humanism and what it entails end up making ignorant statements about it and misguide people.

Some school proprietors most of them in the religious circles may also smear a bad picture in an effort to smear our schools out of envy.

How can people get involved with the Kasese Humanist Primary School, sponsor a child, even donate to staff salaries?

You can help my work by sponsoring a child at any of my schools.

Volunteering in my projects as teachers, nurses or farmers

Spreading the message to friends, relatives and working colleagues about our innovations.

Donate finances or material to my initiatives.

Offer moral support, knowledge, advice to my projects.

Donate to staff salaries or even sponsor a classroom.

Any closing thoughts or feelings based on the discussion today?

I think Kasese Humanist Primary school and Kasese Humanist Secondary School is on the right track. Setting our schools on a science and humanist foundation is a good thing that other schools in Uganda or any part of the world could adopt.

It remains our core duty to enlighten people about who we are and what we stand for.

I am so grateful for this brief interview. I thank Jacobsen of Conatus News for this interview.

Yours in free thought,

Bwambale Robert Musubaho

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2022-12-09

‘The gods have not returned; they have never left us; they have not returned’

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/03/15

This morning, I reflected on belief in Canada over coffee. In particular, belief in the ‘other worldly’. Where, in John von Neumann’s (Poundstone, 2015) terms, propositions, as these describe the world, about material things or abstract objects, come in three states — yes, no, or maybe — based on the question, for instance, “Does X exist?” Yes, X exists; no, X does not exist; or, maybe, X might exist. Where the other worldly exists, does not exist, or might exist, most seem contained in the lattermost categorization.

So, “Does Apollo (or Cthulhu, or Ahura Mazda) exist?” The technical categorization remains: possible, or “maybe.” For all intents and purposes, most humanists will choose, “No.” The former as a technical, logical selection; the latter as a functional, utilitarian selection. Both work in context. In surveys of belief, Canadians, a little under half at 47%, believe in ghosts (Ipsos Reid, 2006).

If reduced to 30,000,000 for the total Canadian population, that means ~15,000,000 Canadians believe in ghosts, in the other worldly, in the supernatural. Many small towns will host ghost, haunted house, and cemetery tours with scant, or no, evidence for the claims. At the same time, the revenue from these tourist activities might prevent, whether passive or active, appropriate investigation into the evidentiary basis of the claims to the ghosts, the hauntings of the house, or the spirit-wanderings of the cemeteries. Some might think, “Why ruin business?” Indeed.

If the percentage of the Canadian population from the survey, and other surveys and other beliefs parallel this finding about ghosts, then many Canadians, in spite of functional living in numerous areas of life — work, school, paying taxes, raising kids, being neighbourly, and so on, live in a world of other worldliness, of the supernatural, of the magical-mystical. Many Canadians aren’t living in the natural world, in their minds’ eyes. They live in a world of magic.

Maybe, it feels cozier.

But what about the serious implications for the reality of death? To return to the libretto, the belief in ghosts seems, at first evaluation, in denial of death. Death as, not necessarily but “for all intents and purposes,” final. The dead are gone, and aren’t coming back — as most humanists would, likely, say, “…for all intents and purposes.” I am reminded of Ezra Pound (Stock, 2017). Who in his Cantos, when speaking of the “Gods,” stated:

“The Gods have not returned. ‘They have never left us.’

They have not returned.” (Pound, n.d.)

For all intents and purposes…’The dead have not returned. ‘They have never left us.’ They have not returned.’

References

Ipsos Reid. (2006, October 25). Do You Believe In Ghosts? Almost Half (47%) Of Canadians Say They Do. Retrieved from http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/do-you-believe-in-ghosts-almost-half-47-of-canadians-say-they-do-618230.htm.

Pound, E. (n.d.). Cantos CXIII. Retrieved from http://voetica.com/voetica.php?collection=1&poet=34&poem=1736.

Poundstone, W. (2015, December 8). John von Neumann. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-von-Neumann.

Stock, N. (2017, January 12). Ezra Pound. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ezra-Pound.

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2022-12-09

Interview with Marieke Prien-President of the International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organization (IHEYO)-

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/03/14

What is your familial and personal background?

I was born and raised in Hannover, Germany. When I had finished high school, I spent a year in the Philippines for a volunteer service, then moved to Hamburg to study Cultural Anthropology and Educational Sciences. After getting this degree, I moved to Osnabrück and started studying Cognitive Science. Right now, I am in Oswego (New York) for a semester abroad.

I got involved in Hannover’s local group of the youth wing of HVD (Humanistischer Verbands Deutschland, the German Humanis Association) when I was 13 or 14. Since then, I have held different positions in the local and national young humanist organisations and eventually got involved in the International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organization (IHEYO), where I was first elected Membership Officer and now President.

How did you become involved in humanism as a worldview?

Pretty much all of my family members are humanists, so you could say my sister and I were raised this way, though I don’t remember the term “humanism” being used. Our parents and grandparents taught us about this lifestyle not only with words, but by living and acting according to these values every day. We were encouraged to be sceptical and question things, to think for ourselves, to not prejudge people, to take responsibility for our actions, take care of the environment, and be independent.

Also, my parents love to travel and get to know people from different cultures, and I think my sister and I have definitely profited from that. It made us more open-minded towards new things and different ways of life.

When did humanism as an ethical hit home emotionally for you?

Since I was raised with humanist values, there is no specific event or time that marks this. It was simply the worldview I had. You could probably say I found out about the term “humanism” and actively chose to identify as a humanist when I decided to join our local Humanist organisation and take part in their coming-of-age celebration. The next step was becoming a member and actively volunteering for the organization. By doing this, I dedicated myself to the cause, so to say.

What makes humanism more true to you than other worldviews, belief systems?

I think about these things a lot. Ethics, religion, why do we act and feel the way we do? I try to stay objective about it and approach questions openly. And every time I come to the conclusion that humanism is the right way.

I found that the belief in gods does not withstand reason and never understood why people call religion the root of ethics, morals or values, and why they minimise the horrible things it has caused and is causing. Why do you follow rules that only exist to oppress you? Why would you need religion to love thy neighbours?

Some people will argue that being nice to one another is not a necessity or is even “unnatural”, that not caring about others will not cause them any disadvantages. But this is where love and empathy come in, a wish to live in a peaceful and kind society, something that I believe everybody has somewhere inside them.

To me, humanism is the derivation of being a compassionate and reasonable person.

You are the President of International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organization (IHEYO). It was launched in 2004. What tasks and responsibilities come with this position?

As President, I am taking the bird’s eye view. I know what is going on in the organisation and coordinate and connect people and activities. There are also decisions to be made, but I always make sure to consult with other committee members first because I want to get to know other peoples’ thoughts and perspectives before deciding on something that will affect the organisation and the people involved.

IHEYO works on a broad range of initiatives, and with multiple organisations, including women’s rights, education rights, abortion rights, LGBTIQ rights, human rights. What are some of the notable successes in each of these domains?

Though some events and activities are directly planned by us, our job is more to be an umbrella organisation connecting our member organisations.

For example, in November 2015, we held the charity week “Better Tomorrow”. We came up with the concept and asked our members to contribute with projects they thought of and planned themselves.

There are conferences that are planned by IHEYO in cooperation with the respective local member organisations. We provide know-how and funds for the events. Many of our volunteers are active in both IHEYO and their local organisations so cooperation is made easy. Alone this year there were three conferences in addition to our annual General Assembly. These conferences were the African Humanist Youth Days (AFHD) in July in Nairobi (Kenya), the European Humanist Youth Days (EHYD) in July in Utrecht (Netherlands) and the Asian Humanist Conference in August in Taipei (Taiwan). During each conference, there are talks and workshops that are somewhat connected to humanism.

For example, during the EHYD we had a workshop on Effective Altruism, AHYD had panels about witch-hunts, and the Asian Conference featured a talk about secular values in traditional beliefs. Some talks/workshops are held by member organisations, others by people from outside of the organisations that were invited. This way the participants can gain knowledge and know-how while at the same time spreading their own knowledge and letting others profit from their experience. Also, events like that are the best opportunity to network and come up with new ideas. We are a growing community, with growing influence, thanks to this.

So it is hard to measure our impact in numbers or clearly defined achievements. We are more about providing the basis for our members’ work and incentives to individuals. A panel like the one at EHYD, with Bangladeshi bloggers who have been threatened and prosecuted because they openly criticised religion, leads to a change of mind in the audience that can eventually bring huge change.

Any personal humanist heroes?

This sounds cheesy, but my humanist heroes are the people that put their free time and their energy into IHEYO or other humanist organisations. There is always a lot to do and it is great seeing so many people work hard for this cause.

Especially work in an executive committee involves some boring and annoying tasks, particularly when handling bureaucratic stuff. Behind every meeting and every event, there is someone writing minutes, someone putting data into spreadsheets, someone handling the numbers and keeping an eye on the finances… I am very grateful for everybody who does this as it builds the base for successful projects.

Any recommended authors?

I have not had time to read a lot of books lately, but I read many blog articles and can definitely recommend that. There is something about articles written by non-professionals who just want to express their thoughts. Especially when you know the person or they provide background knowledge about themselves. It is so interesting to see their thought process and how they form their opinions. It helps understand why they have this opinion, even or especially if you don’t agree with it. Also, many blogs allow to comment on articles and possibly discuss with the author, so in the end everyone can benefit.

Thank you for your time, Marieke.

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2022-12-09

Humanism in Lagos

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Bamidele Adeneye

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/03/12

Humanism is universal creed, and deed. A life taught and lived in one breath, and step, for all people. Whether in the lonely, snowy white-capped North of Canada in North America or in Nigeria on the Gulf of Guinea in Africa, human beings live, eat, work, educate kids, raise families, and build communities around ideas.

Those ideas form the base for mutual solidarity, sympathy, and pursuit of cooperative endeavours.

In Lagos, Nigeria, humanism is probably unknown to most Nigerian citizens — except, maybe, to members of the Humanist Assembly of Lagos and others like it. In that spirit, we think humanism has unique applications to Lagos. Here’s how and why.

Bamidele grew up in a society viewed from the perspective of two Abrahamic religions, namely Christianity and Islam. Many ascribe their actions and interactions to faith. Most Nigerians have religious upbringings. So Abrahamic religion is the main lens for perspective on the world in Nigeria. That is, most Nigerians see the world with religious-tinted glasses.

Lagos is a bustling city; it is sleepless. A busy urban area, where acts of kindness are rare. If they happen to a Nigerian, they are taken for granted because life is so on-the-go all of the time. Everyone is working in their daily, weekly, and monthly hustle in the bustle. How can you be humanistic when you are busy and trying to get ahead of others?

Take, for example, the daily routine for many Nigerians in Lagos trying to build their professional profile. The day starts early at 5am. There’s no time to even say, “Hello, good morning. How are you?” These kind gestures are ignored. Unless, of course, you are reminded by the ‘Word of God’ when you read from the daily devotional. Even though, it does not say it explicitly.

You feel compelled to be kind to your neighbor, to empathize with others, to do the right thing, and so on. In essence, you are being a humanist effortlessly and without knowing it. Your moral values are purported to be derived from Christianity and Islam, both with promising rewards — for those who behave good, and threatening punishment, for those who behave bad.

This is a misconception. Humanism implies the good and bad stem from us. Humanism is an intricate part of our being, inherent in us as long as we are of sound and healthy mind. Happily, most of us are good most of the time.

So, what is Humanism to the average Nigerian? The International Humanist and Ethical Union states:

Humanism is a democratic and ethical life stance that affirms that human beings have the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape to their own lives. Humanism stands for the building of a more humane society through an ethics based on human and other natural values in a spirit of reason and free inquiry through human capabilities. Humanism is not theistic, and it does not accept supernatural views of reality.

This aptly describes everyday acts people engage in readily, acts of kindness, of concern for others…UBUNTU!

In Lagos, there are countless instances of people helping accident victims and those in need, giving food and shelter to the hungry and the homeless, and lending a helping hand without regard for where the person being helped is from or what the person worships. These are all acts of humanism in Lagos. The city of hustle and bustle, and busy people taking their time to act with compassion, consideration, and kindness.

Similar to the anchor to normal human compassion and kindness religious texts and services can be for ordinary Nigerian citizens in Lagos, the Humanist Assembly in Lagos and other humanist organizations — and their teachings, values, and community — perform the same function without, by necessity, reference to the transcendent.

Except for the secular, who value freedom of expression, freedom of thought, conscience, and belief, it does not necessarily have to come from the divine. It can come, simply, from Nigerians. Besides, in its own way, moment-to-moment compassion has its own transcendence.

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2022-12-09

Interview with Sikivu Hutchinson – Feminist, Humanist, Novelist, Author

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/03/12

What is your family and personal story — culture, education, and geography?

I grew up in a secular household in a predominantly African American community in South Los Angeles. My parents were educators and writers involved in social justice activism in the local community.

What informs personal atheist and humanist beliefs, as a worldview and ethic, respectively? What are effective ways to advocate for atheism and humanism?

Through public education and dialogue about the role secular humanism and atheism can play in dismantling structures of oppression based on sexism, misogyny, heterosexism, homophobia and transphobia.

What makes atheism, secular humanism, and progressivism seem more right or true than other worldviews to you — arguments and evidence?

For me, they are a means of redressing the inherent inequities and dogmas of religious belief and practice, particularly vis-à-vis the cultural and historical construction of women’s subjectivity, sexuality and social position in patriarchal cultures based on the belief that there is a divine basis for male domination and the subordination of women. Progressive atheism and humanism are especially valuable for women of colour due to the racist, white supremacist construction of black and brown femininity and sexuality. Notions of black women as hypersexual amoral Jezebels (antithetical to the ideal of the virginal, pure Christian white woman) deeply informed slave era treatment of black women as chattel/breeders. These paradigms continue to inform the intersection of sexism/racism/misogyny vis-à-vis black women’s access to jobs, education, media representation and health care.

What is the importance of atheism, feminism, and humanism in America at the moment?

Over the past decade, we’ve seen the erosion of women’s rights, reproductive health and access to abortion, contraception, STI/STD screening and health education. We’ve also seen virulent opposition to LGBTQI enfranchisement, same sex marriage, employment and educational opportunities for queer, trans and gender non-conforming folk. These developments are entirely due to the massive Religious Right backlash against gender equity and gender justice that’s occurred both in State Legislatures across the country and in the political propaganda of reactionary conservative politicians and fundamentalist evangelical Christian interest groups. Feminism/atheism/humanism are important counterweights to these forces because they underscore the degree to which these political ideologies are rooted in Christian dominionist (the movement to embed Christian religious principles public policy and government) dogma and biases.

What social forces might regress the atheist, feminist, and secular humanist movements in the US?

I have no doubt when I say that the election of Donald Trump and the continued neoliberal emphasis of American educational and social welfare policy will surely undermine these movements.

You wrote Moral Combat: Black Atheists, Gender Politics & Values Wars, White Nights, Black Paradise & Rock n’ Roll Heretic. It will come out in 2018. What inspired writing it?

Rock n’ Roll Heretic is loosely based on the life of forerunning black female
guitar player Rosetta Tharpe, who was a queer gospel/rock/blues musician who influenced pivotal white rock icons like Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis but is largely unsung. The book explores racism, sexism and heterosexism in the music industry in addition to the fictional Tharpe’s rejection of faith.

What is the content and purpose of the book?

The book is designed to shed light on the travails and under-representation of women of colour musicians in a highly polarised, politically charged industry that still devalues their contributions. It’s also designed to highlight the nexus of humanist thought and artistic/creative discovery in the life of a woman who had to navigate cultural appropriation, male-domination, the devaluation of white media and musical trends that were antithetical to supporting or even validating the existence of black women rockers.

Thank you for your time, Sikivu.

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2022-12-09

Practice What You Preach: ‘The Global Gag’ as Moral Reflection

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Julia Julstrom-Agoyo

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/03/06

Of the perennial ethical precepts in the world, the Golden Rule stands ‘head and shoulders’ above the others in terms of durability and consistency across time and culture, respectively. Religious institutions, formal or informal, preach the ethic. Secular ethical frameworks advocate for it, too. Right into the present, it is presented as an ideal. Maybe, it is unattainable, but the ethics hold sway in religious and secular moral universes.

So the Golden Rule in the modern context remains consistent with the proclaimed ideal of the religious ethical worldviews and the international equivalent with human rights. Human rights are not equivalent to, but overlap significantly with, women’s rights: do as you would be done by. So if one was a woman, and required appropriate medical attention for reproductive health, and the technology was available and funded, then the moral act would be to provide the access to the medical services because another would want the same. This is consistent with ‘middle-of-the-road’ human rights organizations as well.

“…equitable access to safe abortion services is first and foremost a human right.” Human Rights Watch has affirmed, “Where abortion is safe and legal, no one is forced to have one. Where abortion is illegal and unsafe, women are forced to carry unwanted pregnancies to term or suffer serious health consequences and even death.” Research shows that many pregnant women, desperate in their situation and without access to safe abortion, will undergo dangerous procedures, risking harm unto themselves.

The Golden Rule should compel us to act in accordance with our better natures and provide the “equitable access to safe abortion” for women. Governments pressured by religious groups, whose leadership are made up primarily of men, like the Trump Administration, have posed a direct threat to this affirmation. Take, for instance, the Executive Order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump on his very first day in office, notably surrounded by a group of men.

The “Global Gag Rule” as it is commonly referred to prohibits NGOs from providing abortions or even providing information or services (counseling, referrals) about abortions if they want to receive funding from the U.S. for family planning. The U.S. has an undisputed powerful global influence, and with this executive order, countless women around the world will undoubtedly be negatively affected.

According to Forbes, “The U.S. hasn’t allowed use of federal funds for abortion since the 1973 Helms Amendment, [applied] internationally as well as domestically. In fact, gag rules that harm women are already widespread in the U.S. under the guise of ‘religious freedom.’”

“There is no evidence that the global gag rule reduces abortion, according to Wendy Turnbull, PAI [Unparalleled Leadership and Impact] senior advisor.” Forbes said, “Instead, loss of funding from this punitive regulation eliminates access to contraceptives for more than 225 million women globally, greatly increasing the need for abortion. It also increases pregnancy-related deaths by about 289,000. How is that ‘pro-life?’”

Exactly whose life is valued and to what extent? Why must the compassion for an unborn fetus ring louder than that for the child that is born into poverty and for the mother and the state who is forced to shoulder that burden?

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Wade Kaardal, Chairperson of the Asian Working Group for IHEYO

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/02/28

Was there a family background in humanism and skepticism?

To be honest, no. My family, being ethnically Norwegian, has strong ties to the Lutheran church, going back generations. My great grandfather was a missionary in Africa. Of course, he was an older kind of missionary, meaning his mission was in part to better the physical situation of those around him. While I personally reject some of his ideas and the motivation for what he was doing, the value of being in service to others was carried forward by my relatives and I do feel that some of the values that I learned from those around me are not now in conflict with my current humanist values.

My family also placed a strong emphasis on education, which gave me a solid knowledge base. However, it took time for me to learn how to be a critical and skeptical thinker.

What is your preferred definition of humanism and skepticism?

My preferred definition of skepticism is the one used on the Media Guide to Skepticism on the Doubtful News website “Skepticism is an approach to evaluating claims that emphasizes evidence and applies tools of science.” The organized Skeptical movement works to promote this approach in people’s lives and society as a whole. I know many people see skepticism as an intellectual exercise or an attempt to debunk wild claims, but really it is a great tool for individuals to save time and money, as well as maintaining their health, by avoiding scams and frauds.

Humanism is not easily defined. Some of the biggest organizations around the world have tried and have only been able to narrow it down to page long manifestos and declarations. If I were to try to give you an elevator pitch of humanism, it would be, humanism is a worldview that appreciates both individual differences and the right for individual development, and tries to create a society that will not limit your ability to flourish based upon those individual differences. Furthermore, humanism should be informed by evidence, but it should also make room for inspiration from other fields such as the arts. I am a secular humanist, but I don’t think one needs to be an atheist to be a humanist. Humanism is anti-dogma, not anti-religion, and if our values line up, I’m happy to work towards progress with anyone.

Are there many legitimate cases of proper skepticism turned into cynicism, or cynicism masquerading as skepticism?

I believe there are some cases, and I imagine some of my fellow travelers are more cynical than skeptical. Skepticism is a process based on certain fundamental ideas. It is not a set of beliefs. Yet, for some this is the case. They hold certain ideas to be true, ghosts aren’t real for example, and will never change their minds on the matter. Cynicism is not far behind this kind of mindset.

If you are not willing to examine the evidence and revise your beliefs based on it, then you are not being skeptical. There are several examples of people who merely set out to debunk things and later gave up on the endeavor entirely. Skeptical investigator, Joe Nickel, has avoided this because he is driven by curiosity to find out what is actually go on, not to merely prove that certain claims are false.

For myself, I am happiest when the skeptical process leads me to a nuanced position on a situation. It would be nice to have simple answers, but reality is not always kind to us in this regard. I think it is this enjoyment of nuance that keeps me from becoming a cynic.

How did you find and become involved with IHEYO?

I first became involved with humanism and skepticism in Taiwan when I started two groups there. From that I got some notice in the region and connected with others who were doing similar things. Later, I found that another group, PATAS, was holding a conference in the Philippines so I decided to attend. It was there that I met some people from IHEYO. It was through the contacts I met there, as well as some others in Singapore, that I became involved with IHEYO directly. When the chairperson position opened up, I volunteered and having been facilitating the working group for a little over a year now.

Wherever you are, I suggest that you start a humanist or skeptical group, even if it is just at a local or community level. We need more advocates for good ideas, and a group is a great way to connect with like minded individuals. Who knows, it could be the first step to become an international leader in the humanist movement.

What are your tasks and responsibilities as the chairperson of the Asian Working Group for IHEYO?

There are two main responsibilities that I have as chairperson. The first is to facilitate communication between groups in the region. Asia is a very big region with every sub-region and even country having problems of their own and issue the groups there would like to focus on. It would be a fool’s errand and counterproductive of me or IHEYO to try and tell them what to do. Instead, I help the group stay in contact with each other and know what everyone is doing. In this way, they can share ideas and expertise and hopefully all the groups will benefit from each other’s experience.

My other responsibility is to find ways for IHEYO and the working group to support the member organizations. Again, each group has its own needs. Using the resources I have available, be it contacts with organizations or individuals, volunteers, time, or money, I try to support the local groups to make what they are doing more effective. One thing we have done for example was organize translation efforts, so groups could have humanist materials in their native languages and are better equipped to engage with people in their counties.

In general, I view my position as being in service to those I lead. They know best what their organizations need. I want to do what I can to help make them better.

What are the main threats to the practice of humanism in the Asian region now?

This is of course a large question and it’s hard to point to all of Asia and say there is just one issue. If I were to try to point to one issue that many countries are facing, it would be a rise in authoritarianism and nationalism in Asia. Obviously, illiberal and totalitarian governments like China and North Korea, have been long standing presences in the region. Theocracies of many stripes also continue to limit the spread of humanistic values. Lastly, strong men and nationalists, like those currently in power in the Philippines and India, have chilled free speech and limited human flourishing in the region.

I do hope that humanists in continue to promote our values and fight hard against authoritarian dogmas as they are one of the greatest threats both human life and human progress in the Asia.

Who have been the most unexpected allies for the humanist and skeptical movements in Asia?

For me, on the ground in Taiwan, the LGBTQ rights movement has been our biggest and most unexpected ally. When the issue of marriage equality came up in Taiwan, many were surprised how quickly people organized against it. As it turned out, the main opposition was organized through Christian churches with help from abroad. In response, seemingly overnight, many anti-dogmatic religion groups sprouted up on social media translating videos and memes from the west. Not only has this increased, the overall dankness of our memes, it has also meant that we can reach more Taiwanese with our ideas, if only in sound bite form, and we can support a movement that many of us already agree with.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with James Croft, Leader of The Ethical Society of St. Louis

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/02/15

Was there a family background in humanism?

I grew up in a nonreligious home, and although neither of my parents identified explicitly as humanists, humanist values were very much a part of how I was raised. Both my parents are extremely nonjudgmental and supportive of the fair and equal treatment of all people. They raised me to be open-minded, to love learning, to question authority, and to respect the humanity in everyone. We frequently enjoyed culture as a family, spending a lot of time in the theatre, art galleries, etc., and we traveled often. This instilled in me a love of world culture and a sense of cosmopolitanism which I believe to be central to the humanist worldview. They encouraged political participation and a sense of civic duty. In its own way, it was a very humanist upbringing.

What is your preferred definition of humanism?

Humanism seeks to recognize and uphold the dignity of every person. It is a life-stance which asserts the ability of human beings to work together for the improvement of humanity, without the need for divine intervention. Humanists promote the values of reason, compassion, and hope: the ability of human beings to use our own intellect to make sense of the world; the equal dignity and worth of every person; and the ability of people to improve the world on our own.

How did you find and become involved with The Ethical Society of St. Louis?

I began training as an Ethical Culture Leader (that’s our word for the professional clergy who lead Ethical Societies) after visiting the New York Society for Ethical Culture while I was on the Humanist Institute’s leadership training program. I was studying for my doctorate at the time, and travelling the USA giving presentations on humanism, and I wanted to find a way to make humanist leadership into a career. When I discovered there are humanist congregations which bring people together to deepen their understanding of and commitment to humanism, I knew that’s what I wanted to do with my life. I began my training with the American Ethical Union, and part of the training includes an apprenticeship at an Ethical Society. I moved to St. Louis to complete that apprenticeship, and then was hired as their Leader with responsibility for outreach. I feel very lucky: I’m one of very few people who are clergy for a truly humanist congregation.

What are your tasks and responsibilities as the leader of The Ethical Society of St. Louis?

I am one of two Leaders — the other is Kate Lovelady, who has been leading the Society for more than ten years now. I play many of the all the roles of a clergy person in a religious congregation: I provide pastoral care for members, speak on Sundays, organize events for the community, lead educational workshops and discussion groups. I have particular responsibility for outreach, meaning I represent the Society and humanism in general in public events. I speak on panels, make presentations about humanism, visit college campuses etc. I am the professional public face of our community.

What are the main threats to the practice of humanism in St. Louis and the US at large now?

I don’t think there are major threats to the practice of humanism, in the sense that people can believe what they want and practice that as they wish. There are, however, major threats to the success of humanist values in the culture. The US (and many European nations) is facing a very powerful populist right wing movement currently which threatens to overwhelm political institutions and make the country more nationalistic, xenophobic, and closed-minded. Trump — and the political forces which swept him to the presidency — represents a grave threat to the humanist ideals of international cooperation, respect for science, equal treatment of people, and religious freedom. All across the wealthy west people’s baser natures are reaching for the controls. People are afraid of their economic condition and tired of a political system which doesn’t serve them, and are looking to strongmen who promise a return to national glory. The parallels with the pre-war era are extremely worrying. The humanist movement must work extremely hard to help people resist these trends.

Who have been the most unexpected allies for ethical societies and the humanist movement in North America?

My strongest allies have been liberal religious clergy who understand the importance of crafting and presenting a powerful moral vision of society. Although we disagree over theology, these clergy understand the humanist project as an essentially cultural one, and since we share many of the same values, we are often together at rallies and events trying to promote a hopeful vision of society. I’ve been amazed by how principled and hardworking many liberal clergy are: I count them among my closest allies.

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2022-12-09

An Interview with Anya Overmann, Communications Officer of IHEYO

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Humanist Voices)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/02/15

*This interview has been mildly edited for clarity and readability.*

Tell us about yourself — family background, culture, first language, and religious/humanist background.

I was born and raised in St. Louis. My parents were raised Catholic. Independently, they decided Catholicism and Christianity were not for them. They didn’t want to follow that any further. When they had kids, my brother and I, they realized that they did want us to have a religious education, but not necessarily in a Christian context.

We found the Ethical Society in St. Louis. We learned about the different religions and the core values of ethical humanism. That is what had me ‘hooked’ — the core values. I believed in them. I thought they were good principles. As I got older, I became more involved with it. I took on leadership roles at every stage. That’s my background.

My parents are still members. They attend regularly. They have a role at the local ethical society. English is my first and only language. I can speak some Spanish, but that’s from speaking Spanish in school.

When did you find IHEYO?

I found it a couple of years ago. FES, the Future of Ethical Societies, is the group that I was a part of. The connection to IHEYO grew from the national level of FES. At IHEYO, I applied to be the social media manager. Over time, that evolved into communications officer. Now, I am managing the social media and the blog. All outreach for humanists between the ages of 18 and 35.

Any demographic(s) analyses of humanist youth?

A lot of our humanist activity is in Europe. That’s not that surprising.

(Laugh)

Right.

There’s a lot of different organizations there. That’s where the funding comes from. What I found with our social media is a large number of people from Pakistan, India, and Nepal are active in following our page and reading our content, I found that interesting.

Anyone from Bangladesh?

There are quite a few from that region, specifically. Western Asia and the Middle East are becoming more active. They are up and coming.

So, what are some tasks and responsibilities that come along with being the social media person and communications manager?

I try to keep our presence active. It can be difficult. It is a volunteer role. I do what I can with the time that I have each day. I try to make the content diverse. I don’t want too much being posted on specific region of the world too. I know I can get carried away by posting on what is going on here, in the US. There’s a lot to be said now.

(Laugh)

There’s a lot going on in the world. I want that represented on the page because we are an international organization. Also, I manage our blog, Humanist Voices. I look at the content submitted to us. We have the regional groups submit one piece per month. Then I edit them or somebody on the team edits them. We look over them, have them published, and try to distribute over social media. We’re trying to get our newsletter back. We want to expand our presence online.

Who are some humanist heroes in history for you?

I always look to Felix Adler, who is the founder of the ethical societies here in the US. He came from Germany. He grew up Jewish. His father was a rabbi. He decided that he wasn’t really feeling being Jewish.

(Laugh)

(Laugh)

He came up with his own thing, ethical humanism. which I find different from classical humanism. People tend to associate atheism and agnosticism with traditional humanism. Ethical humanism is more inclusive, in my opinion. It welcomes people of all backgrounds, religious or not. It focuses more on the principles that we stand for rather than the beliefs and how we got to those principles which I really admire in the motto: deed before creed. That’s something that I believe in.

Outside of Adler, and inclusive humanism — that is, whether religious or not, if you were to take one core argument for humanism, what would it be?

It’s that we have this one life that we know of and we have science to help us understand how life works. That is really the best that we have. I think that we can make the most out of life with this scientific approach and by appreciating this life. Also, the placement of humans first is the main thing that I stand behind. It is human rights as the main principle.

It is like the Bill Nye line: ‘I want to save the planet for me!’

Yea, exactly!

(Laugh)

(Laugh)

It is silly that we prioritize profit. How can we prioritize profit when we don’t have a home to live in later? If we kill the planet, how can we prioritize profit later? With the Dakota Access Pipeline, for example, it blows me away. People can be obtuse about the world and what it offers us. The prioritization of the transfer of oil over access to clean water blows me away.

From an international vantage, what do you consider the most pressing concern for humanist youth?

This rise in pushback against principles of the classically ‘Left.’ It is threatening to the principles held dear by us. It is the result of hatred from both sides. Hatred isn’t doing any favors for us, as humanists. I know many, especially young, atheists have this belief that their beliefs and values are superior to those who don’t have those beliefs and values.

It is a grave mistake, I think, to have that attitude. It doesn’t do us any favors. It makes people less inclined to support the movement. They think the movement is supported by an elitist organization, which creates more pushback. We’re up against it. It creates a hateful divide. Some of us are complicit in it.

We need to reform the way that we think about ourselves and our values. We need to take a step back and ask, “What are we doing here?” We say, “We stand for all humans.” But do we, if we act like we’re superior to some humans? We need to do some self-reflection as humanists. We need to ask, “Are we trying to value all human beings?”

Does that trend, which you’re noticing among younger atheist humanists, of considering their own values superior to others lead to a certain type of self-exaltation that can exacerbate the trend seen in youth in general — possibly across time — of seeing their time as ‘The Time?’

Yes, it is hard not to think of it as that, when everything is coming to the climactic point with things as inevitable. Millennials have always prized themselves. That is not necessarily a bad thing. It has an innate value, but can have its disadvantages. One is thinking this time, this place, these values are the most important thing. If we don’t communicate those values for people to stand behind and with us, then we will create a greater divide. It will get worse. The way we go about standing behind this change is in an inclusive way.

You mentioned the pushback from the Left and the Right. Can you clarify the pushback from the Left, and the pushback from the Right?

The pushback follows politics and social behaviour, which, I think, follows the laws of physics. For example, we had Obama as president for 8 years, which is a long time. A lot can happen in 8 years. We saw many not liking anything done by Obama because it was Obama. That is some of the pushback seen now.

The whole Donald Trump era is the pendulum swinging back towards the Right. The more swing that this pendulum has, then the more extremism that will result. With this pushback from the Right, and Donald Trump as president, we are seeing this pushback against the Left and the push of the Left against the pushback of the Right. It is getting tense.

There’s a large, swinging pendulum. That’s what I mean by the physics of politics and social behaviour. The more you push in one direction, then the more pushback you’ll get in the other direction.

What are some near-future initiatives for IHEYO, communications-wise?

I want to push the outreach more as a resource for people concerned for our future. People are looking for guidance. They are looking for words of encouragement, which inspire hope. I hope IHEYO can jump on it, can provide it. I hope IHEYO can provide this need without furthering the divide.

What are your hopes within your lifetime for the humanist movement?

I would like to see the youth organization in a grand, sweeping effort. I think there’s a lot of activity going on around the world. It is so off and away. So, it can be hard for others to notice. I went to the youth section of the BHA. My vibe was the lack of awareness about other humanist organizations. They are unique, but they thought they were one-of-a-kind. I was surprised to hear it. There is a lot of humanist activity ongoing around the world. If people made more effort to connect around the world in a productive way, we could accomplish great things.

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2022-12-09

Long, Short, End 53: Admiration

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/12/08

Admiration: To feel towards others who crush themselves under the weight of their standards in their work; exemplar.

Long, Short, End 52: Wyrd

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/12/08

Wyrd: The Anglo-Saxon Fates, doom and destiny, the threads of life’s inevitabilities; weird old word.

Long, Short, End 51: Kiss

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/12/08

Kiss: A frozen prayer sipped from one soul to another in the hopes of mutually sharing two as one; sincere affection.

Long, Short, End 50: Saccharine

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/12/08

Saccharine: Sensibility of the timeliness of a sense of timelessness in timeless moments, in some sense; full cup.

Long, Short, End 49: Armature

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/12/08

Armature: Informational cosmological framework, architecture, for consciousnesses; hyperintegrated computational frame.

Long, Short, End, 48: Tessellation

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/12/08

Tessellation: Mathematical construct built by mentation reified into ordered dynamism; life replicating the inanimate.

Long, Short, End 47: Logic

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/12/08

Logic: Thought taught to think kink out of mental tales sailed mouth to south so two and two can be four for you; equals.

Long, Short, End 46: Woman

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/12/08

Woman: Strong, determined, queen, fierce, disciplined, empowered, grace, decisive, intuitive super-logic; R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

Long, Short, End 45: Pyrrhic Victory

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/12/03

Pyrrhic Victory: Endless savagery caught between perfunctory murder and methodical genocide; to the last man.

Long, Short, End 44: Christian

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/12/03

Christian: To see Nature as Sin, to worship the otherworldly and unbeing, so worship Thanatos; Death’s friend.

Long, Short, End 43: Death

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/12/03

Death: Cold moonlight on moss set stone, worn as six foot bone, wordless night, speechless delight; placid repose.

Long, Short, End 42: Alone

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/12/03

Alone: I am who I am, a man’s self-sought man reflecting a man to a man in a hu-man; no land for Man as no man is Man.

Long, Short, End 41: Hermit

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/12/03

Hermit: Sacrificial intellectual lamb, mentational interstitial dam, palatial parochial man; symbolic processor alone.

Love, Short, End 40: Love

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/12/01

Love: Intellectual catastrophe rendered socially acceptable ideation and non-rational force; polichinelles dance.

Long, Short, End 39: Nirvana

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/12/01

Nirvana: Tell me your name before the Sun blinks & the Moon winks, before space encapsulates & time penetrates; peace.

Long, Short, End 38: Demiurge

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/11/30

Demiurge: Fashioned while fashionable, structured yet dynamic, perpetual but stationary, multitude as unicity; Gnosticon.

Long, Short, End 37: Kiss

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/11/30

Kiss: A frozen prayer sipped from one soul to another in the hopes of mutually sharing two as one; sincere affection.

Long, Short, End 36: Fe-Lions

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/11/30

Fe-Lions: Kitty cat, cuddle rug, bubbly bug, muddle mat, furry fat, puffity dat, jumpity scrat; tittily tat.

Long, Short, End 35: Sin

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/11/29

Sin: Abrahamic faiths’ moral transgressions set by Divine authority as Moral Law forever; the funnest stuff.

Long, Short, End 34: Science

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/11/29

Science: Sensates to percepts to cognition to experimentation to sensates; empirical process philosophy.

Long, Short, End 33: Witchcraft

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/11/29

Witchcraft: To reject — smart, to believe — gullible, to fear — stupid; the scientist, pagan, and Christian.

Long, Short, End 32: Satanism

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/11/29

Satanism: Theistic or Atheistic, venerated deity or symbolic patriarch, ritualistic progressivism; AV, FST, TST.

Long, Short, End 31: Teleology

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/11/29

Teleology: Cognition overburdened by perception, apparency taken for reality; illusion of real design.

Long, Short, End 30: End

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/11/28

End: A shimmering limerence, a glimmering deliverance, the dimming Icarus; horizon’s paragon gone dizen, bout about out.

Long, Short, End 29: Fleeting

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/11/28

Fleeting: Temporary, timely, limited shelf life, keeping things to their proper time; a sense of right fit.

Long, Short, End 28: Hermeneutics

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/11/28

Hermeneutics: Holy text analysis at highest theological institutions and by great religious minds; her-less.

Long, Short, End 27: Nothingness

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/11/28

Nothingness: The gone speak in timings spaced between spaces, silence soliloquy; chorus counted to, and from, zero.

Long, Short, End 26: Feline

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/11/28

Feline: Force-fit two-gether, purr-fect prefect, caretaker-caretaken, cross-species companions; furry friend for me.

Long, Short, End 25: Achievement

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/11/28

Achievement: Sacrificing all for 15 years, telling none, enjoying the fruits; gargantuan time investment.

Long, Short, End 24: Putrefaction

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/11/28

Putrefaction: Death’s companion after life’s divorce, bacterial tissue breakdown, stench, carcass; farewell tour.

Long, Short, End 23: Honour

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/11/28

Honour: Lost virtues to time, bound in eras long gone, linked only in tales told of those who are bones; inhered ethics.

Long, Short, End 22: Secret

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/11/28

Secret: Hidden, sudden empty realization, black box, under covers, linguistic silence; lock, no key, wonderless Alice.

Long, Short, End 21: Pugilistic

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/11/28

Pugilistic: Concussive pride, swollen eye, bloody brawl, win or crawl; strength tests speed tests endurance.

Long, Short, End 20: Prayer

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/11/28

Prayer: Imagine the invisible, hope as absolute, trust & faith given without just cause; unseen because nonbeing.

Long, Short, End 19: Dip

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/11/10

The new census from 2021 shocking many religious observants and non-religious non-observants in the country has been non-shocking to non-religious observant me. The declination has been subtle, but perceivable within the other sparse data sets on Canadian religious demographics.

The country is in a less of a terminal decline vis-à-vis religion necessarily and more in a gradual fading away of customs not passed on convincingly to the next generations. Scandals from the Pope and the Residential Schools system, anti-Muslim sentiment, fundamentalist Catholic and Islamic online groups, anti-Semitism, anti-atheist, and other concurrent phenomena do not explain these trends in full, even mostly.

The decline in religion in Canadian society is in larger part a matter of demographic shifts over generations. Older generations get older and young generations get middle-aged, and the birth rates of each cohort continues to decline, while the passing on of religious custom and belief gets less rigid.

Thus, religious domination of one group inevitably declines over decades. As well, as these are decades-long trends; the notion of rapid shifts or a revivalism are unlikely if not impossible. The nature of large-scale statistical trendlines, e.g., human-induced climate change, is slow and steady: A line of best fit.

Canadian Christianity, as with other staple religions in Canada’s national landscape decline or mostly remain stable; newcomers to part of Turtle Island or North America retain traditions and a sense of renewed life and vision, and concomitant higher birth rates, reduced rights of women, lesser education of women, and more fervent religiosity of their homelands, on average compared to Canadians of nth generations.

“On average” simply for the fact of the Canadian landscape being more non-religious than most other countries and immigration accounting for some of the religious growth in the country, i.e., among the Canadian Sikh, Hindi, Buddhist, and Muslim, populations. Others with more education, more rights for women, more finances, and so on, tend to have fewer children, regardless of religion.

20 years ago, Christians accounts for 77.1% of the Canadian religious landscape. 2001, the dominant mythos, mythology, and literary landscape, was Christian and biblical. These populations aged, died, and/or failed to pass on the religious customs of their versions of Christian doctrine and tradition.

In the current period, 2021, Christians only account for 53.3% of the population. Granted, that was last year. If we make a trend line of 77.1% minus 53.3% (77.1–53.3) for 23.8% divided by 20 years, we come to 1.19% loss of Christianity per year in a simplistic analysis..

53.3 minus 1.19 is 52.11, so, 52.11% of the country as Christian some time this year (2022), plus or minus for a margin of error. Fast forward 1.19 to 2024, or 2.38, we come to 49.73%. Somewhere in 2024, Christianity, as an unprecedent development — as with the current develops at 53.3%, will be less than half of the Canadian population.

The 2020s in Canada will be the decade of replacement of Christianity and Christians as the dominant sociopolitical force in Canadian society by the Nones — atheists, agnostics, humanists, and the like — and minority religions, particularly Islam. It will be an accelerated phenomenon of the 2000s and the 2010s.

As many young were digital natives, their mental landscape was influenced severely by an online culture where freedom of expression and freedom of association reigned more freely than many other places. The New Atheism, Firebrand Atheism and Militant Atheism, came to the fore with Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens and Daniel Dennett in the early 2000s to the middle 2010s.

Since that time, it has waned and non-religious communities have formulated new tactics, new communities, new heroes, and revisions to former convictions to incorporate the feedback from culture, including non-religious and religious criticism alike.

The increase in those marking No Religion does not mean an increase in mean intelligence or critical thinking, or an acceptance of deep philosophy or scientific empiricism. Rather, it may simply be a removal of one type and mark a transition to less structured ideational trances with some of the literature remarking on SBNRs or the spiritual but not religious types.

They can be open to all forms of spirituality, beliefs, practices, supernaturalisms, and so on. The basic premise is the idea that individuals in these communities came from formerly Christian communities, moved into new domains of belief structures, and became something, according to professional researchers, more akin to SBNR status. Perhaps, if the No Religion demarcation or appellation was changed a tad, then there would be a discovery about this as part of the landscape of belief.

Regardless of the finer points, Canadian religion is changing, fast, and the country, demographically and culturally, is at an inflection point.

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2022-12-09

Christianity’s Ongoing Decline in Canada

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/11/06

The most popular religion in Canada remains Christianity. Although, the numbers and seriousness towards the faith have dipped steeply, tremendously even. As the society becomes increasingly diverse, as it has over the last several decades, the religio-social milieu will change in proportion to it.

A larger proportion of Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs can be found in the population, while, even more prominently, one can find the collection of the Nones or agnostics, atheists, humanists, and others, as a much larger hunk of the population than ever.

Several intriguing developments have become more prominent in the country. One is the increase in the Muslim population. The census still seems biased in its representation of Islam versus the Nones and Christianity, as we do not have a representation of

Islam now second most popular religion in Canada. Christianity maintains its over half of the population status. However, as has been noted in prior writings about the decline of the major religion in Canada, this will be an ongoing trend, as these are long-term decades-spanning gradual trends with a necessity for turnaround in mass population dynamics.

That’s less likely to happen if the trends have persisted for so long. As we see in the other side of the coin, individuals who have been taking to perceive the loss of Christian identity in Canadian society can see a younger generation without a religion. Religion is custom.

If custom is not passed down, then the lies fray within one generation and break within two generations. We’re see this with most of the Christians in the older generations and Nones in the younger generations, while the Buddhist, Islamic, Sikh, and Hindu, populations from the older and the newer generations of immigrants.

Canadian culture is changing. Mostly due to the newer generations having no religious affiliation and the immigrant populations retaining family customs. However, as we saw with Christianity, we are likely to see with Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Sikhism. Genericism is more comfortable, low information than customs taking much time to inculcate and easy to lose.

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2022-12-09

Quizzical Equestrian Queries 2: Scot or Scott

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/10/29

As we know, all sports evolve tremendously, and our sport is no different. It’s really not the same thing at all as it was in 1972. It’s a different type of horse we’re using. The style of riding is quite evolved, the way the courses are built, the materials used… it’s virtually unrecognizable.

Ian Millar

Another question that arose on the same day as the last one from an older woman equestrian was, “Is your name spelled with two ts or one t?”

“I don’t know. I’m curious as to when Jacobsen went from a hard j to a soft y in the pronunciation of Jacobsen.”

My name is Scott. But others can be named Scot or be Scots, as in a first name versus a nickname for place of origin or nationality, i.e., Scotland. The extra t does change the pronunciation of the name, but not in an obvious way. Scott with a harder landing on the two ts. While Scot does land on the single t, the o is emphasized more and in the way one pronounces “goat”.

The pronunciation is different. The term Scot, for Scotsman or Scotsmen or a Scot, derives from naming as someone from the country of Scotland. Scott does not mean anything else. It’s just a name.

However, even as it is simply just a name now, the idea is “Scot” meant someone of Scottish origin, and then became Scott, which became a universal now.

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2022-12-09

Quizzical Equestrian Queries 1: Outlawing “Spatule” (Spatula)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/10/28

In sport, all my fellow riders and trainers and the people I meet and deal with have just accepted the fact that I’m here forever.

Ian Millar

Equestrians seem like a funny bunch from the outside. From the inside, after a year of working on this issue, as independent field journalism at a premier equestrian facility, the clientele and the staff within Canadian equestrianism are women on the younger half of life if looking to compete, train, and work, and in the latter half if looking for a paradoxical mix of serious casual sport on the side. On staff side, you have a number of complete gems, as well as passersby who cannot handle high-level facility work ethic and standards and last for about 1 week to 2 months, you know: drug addicts, alcoholics, and generic Canadian shitheads everyone has in their families.

It can be intergenerational too: Grandmothers, mothers, and granddaughters (most often), riding at the same barn. Men seem largely absent from the sport with some older generation as pillars of the community finished with their careers or in the latter period, e.g., Ian “Captain Canada” Millar, Eric Lamaze, James Day, Jim Elder, Thomas Gayford, etc.

Those men have retired, are retiring, and the placements at the high end, too, are, and have been, increasingly, women, e.g., Erynn Ballard, Amy Millar, Tiffany Foster, and so on. The future of Canadian show jumping nationally and internationally is women.

The demographic numbers from some more official statistics note the ages and gender leaning towards middle-aged women with a reasonable income as the largest demographic slice compared to any other in Canadian equestrianism.

One item within the community is the social life. It is, in fact, quite the social club. Barns are cliques; barns compete with one another. There’s strife. There are family connections. There are shifting allegiances, arguments, play, banter, gossip, warm recollections, and so on, in the struggle to finish the day, whether enough staff is present or not. People bring business into the mix. It’s wonderful and horrible at the same time.

Certain questions arise for me. It occurred to me. Why not start researching and answering these questions while I continue the journalistic research? So here we go, the inaugural Quizzical Equestrian Queries: “Scott, you would know. Why can’t people name their child ‘Spatula’?”

Didn’t see that one comin’, a 21-year-old and a 37-year-old set of women colleagues with far more English riding tradition horse experience than me asked it. My first response, “I don’t know.” I couldn’t even think of a decent made-up answer. My joke became, “Because the kid would become stir crazy?” I got laughs (hooray), but I, sincerely, had no idea. The question becomes a bit misleading because of the orientation of the outlawing.

It wasn’t in Canada, general, but in the province of Quebec, in particular. The word was not “Spatula” for the name, but the French Canadian term “Spatule”. It means the same. However, it’s Canadian English versus Canadian French. Canadians of the younger generations do not care about the fights over this language issue from two generations back in the history of the country. Some older people are still embroiled, emotionally invested, in this ‘issue’ of bilingualism, etc.

Anyway, the law can dictate naming rights for someone in a country. Canada is not different. Provinces and territories have different stances. Quebec outlawed the name “Spatule”. Why, though, to the original question? In Quebec, in contrast to other provinces, the laws for naming children and name changes are stricter than others.

For some cases, to change one’s name, there are some serious considerations. Is the casual name used daily not on your act of birth? Is your name foreign, or difficult to write or pronounce? Is your name ridiculed? Is your name associated with negative things, hurts personal reputation, or helps mistake your identity for someone else? Is the use of your name rather than husband’s offensive to religious beliefs or prevents recognition in another country? These are real considerations in Quebec for individuals hoping to change their name. A special case is for residential school survivors; they are free to change their name until June 8, 2032.

To make the formal name change, one needs to have been living in Quebec for one year or more and be 14 years old, while a child under 14 must have a parent ask for them. The rules seem reasonable. Why outlaw Spatule? The Civil Code of Quebec contains an entire chapter on obligation and rights for names and name changes. There was a case, Lavigne c. Beaucaire, [1996] R.J.Q. 1970. The Registrar of Civil Status (Directeur de l’état) filed a motion with a querying of the Court for a couple to be disallowed from naming a child Spatule. Apparently, article 54 of the Civil Code of Quebec states, “Where the name chosen by the father and mother contains an odd compound surname or odd given names which clearly invite ridicule or may discredit the child, the registrar of civil status may suggest to the parents that they change the child’s name.” This is real.

The parents of Spatule (potentially) claimed the, in Court — seriously, the choice for Spatule was in reference to a bird of beauty rather than an instrument used in a kitchen. A Spatula bird is, in fact, a type of duck. I do not think of beauty when I think of a duck, but I do think of parents grasping at Google search results to get themselves out of legal trouble over naming of a child.

The Court granted the Registrar’s Motion (no Spatule to be named in Quebec), holding to the claim: Most people associate “Spatule” with the kitchen instrument and not the ‘bird of beauty’. This would entail ridicule for the child, eventual adult, and so falls under the rule above about ridicule sufficing for outlawing.

Since that time, it, apparently, has reached the Westernmost regions of Anglo-Canada as a cultural comedic item, entering into an equestrian facility.

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2022-12-09

Yes, People Can Change

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/10/26

In the morning reading of the newspaper, I came across another straightforward newspaper article, as one expects within the Canadian landscape. One about Christians, or Christ, or a church, or some Catholic scandal, or — good Lord — the death of the former Queen, und so weiter.

One feels compelled to query one’s self about something more novel, less trendy, of value. I have Sam Samson to appreciate for this news item. It deals with the change in perspective or convictions. A former pastor, Scott Gillingham, spent years describing homosexuality as immoral from the lofty transcendentalisms of the Pentecostal faith.

He was elected to Winnipeg’s city council in 2014. The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada 2018 general constitution and bylaws claims the leaders cannot engage in “sexual immorality”. This may be a vague reference to the Greek word porneia as a biblical term used by Jesus for any and all sexual immorality. Specifics differ by interpretation and translation.

Samson quotes the 2018 general constitution and bylaws saying, “Sexual immorality shall be interpreted to mean common-law marital relationships, premarital and extramarital sexual relationships … and all forms of homosexual activity, along with other practices deemed inexcusable for Christian conduct.”

This is contemporary Canada. Gillingham, after a significant period of years denouncing one of the large hunks of the LGBTI+ umbrella, has made an about-face. He intends to make the city more inclusive. He wants to have the public make this a moment of seeing someone change in public. “There’s someone who’s committed to equality,” as he said.

His most recent pastoral position was the Grace Community Church in Headingley, Manitoba for over a decade. At the time of writing, he supports same-sex marriage. The 2005 decision of the federal government on same-sex marriage changed his views on the subject. Over time, he has come to accept it Most Canadian newspapers with postsecondary journalist graduates are ensconced in “LGBTQ”; I use LGBTI based on the task force from the U.N., while adding a “+” for simplicity.

In Gillingham’s defence, Christians have been under a solid decade-and-a-half of solid cultural battering on LGBTI+ issues. On a personal level, it must be terribly uncomfortable. While, on a communal level, it must be difficult seeing the cultural changes and the — let’s call it — rub with the speech from preachers against features of sexuality and sexual orientation of the LGBTI+ communities and efforts towards equality.

On the front of — that which don’t exist in fact, but in normative universalism — secular human rights, any efforts toward equality in treatment regardless of differences amongst people will require cultural change from multiple lines: cultural conversation, education, law, media, politics, socialization, and transformation of mass psychology.

That’s being done. It has been done for a long time. Realistically, it’s always been that way, especially from the churches for more conservative movements a century ago and beyond in the backwoods of history. As I have observed elsewhere, the lines of change have been between compatible ethics, while only in a unidirectional mesh form. Transcendentalist traditional religious ethics, oft parochial while perennial, and secular international human rights, as the two. Religious ethics from a deity or a theity as taking greater authority than human rights.

The religious ethic asGod’s Law, as one can hear ad nauseam in many sectors of Canada. The (de facto) secular human rights ethics seen in international bodies such as the United Nation as enveloping Member States’ constitutional language and commissions. The former claiming to reject the latter or supersede in more proud moments; the latter claiming to respect the right to those religious ethics, while tipping the scales to balance and respect for individuals to hold the beliefs — not to necessarily respect the religious beliefs. Secular human rights respect the right to religion, belief, and expression; religious ethics haven’t always been used likewise, whether in hermeneutic theory or communal practice.

Samson’s piece, as with many others, seems like a great piece, to me, as it highlights change in individuals who held prior limiting views of the world. While, in sympathy for Gillingham, it, likely, wasn’t an easy transition.

With files from the CBC

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2022-12-09

COVID-19 — Cameroon’s Health and Economy

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/11/18

With more to come and, potentially, worse as things unfold over the course of the global pandemic. Cameroon has been doing very well compared to most countries and appears to be dealing functionally with its health impacts. Although, the country is not unscathed.

COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization: The current situation for Cameroonians regarding the pandemic is 21,160 confirmed cases, 420 confirmed deaths, out of a population of 23,439,000, which comes to 797 cases per 100,000 people. Cameroon’s first detected case occurred on January 2nd, 2020. All of these data points come circa October 9th, 2020. In terms of the number of confirmed cases in Cameroon, this number has been increasing since around the end of March and the beginning of April, while slowly stopping its progression.

Based on the world statistics from the World Health Organization, there have been 36,754,395 confirmed cases in all regions of the world of COVID-19 with 1,064,838 deaths as of October 9th, 2020, at 3:40 pm CEST. Cameroon’s new case loads have been declining, though several hundred Cameroonians have been confirmed dead from the novel coronavirus. All of these statistics from the World Health Organization point to the impacts on wellbeing and, ultimately, the loss of lives from the virus.

The financial impacts of the coronavirus are similarly steep. The core impacts in the economic sector appear in supply-side manufacturing and the services sector. With more than a third of the world’s population existing in lockdown, and with the largest global recession in the history of the world, the world’s economies have taken a blast with far-reaching consequences for the lives of citizens around the world and national industries; Cameroon included.

Global stock markets crashed in March of 2020. The changes appear due to the changes in purchasing behaviour of the public, temporary shortages of food, some spikes in prices, and then disruptions over the course of the pandemic. Even if we take the area of sports or large fashion and technology events, these have been cancelled or postponed as a result of the pandemic. Whether cinema, sport, television, video games, publishing, retail, restaurants, tourism, transportation, aviation, and the like, all have been impacted by the coronavirus and the decisions of governments to restrict movements of citizens to slow and stop the spread of COVID-19. In the midst of the pandemic, overall volume of trade in the first half of 2020 slumped by 16% in Cameroon. A pandemic of this type has not been seen since the Spanish Flu of 1918/19.

The levels of unemployment as a result of the stress and strain on national economies can entrench further disparities seen between men and women. Men and women around the world tend to feel different levels of strain in the home in terms of childcare and homecare. Thus, when the pandemic hits, and as it continues to impact the lives of the world’s men and women, women become caught in a Catch-22 of choosing between inflexible paid work outside of the home and extra unpaid work in the home. With this, women’s unemployment rates have been rising because of the issues of balancing that which cannot be balanced during a once in a century global pandemic.

Some of the positives are the ingenuity of the Cameroonian peoples in dealing with the pandemic through the creation of industries. One of these ways to curb the negative economic impacts of the pandemic is boosting local production supply chains by, and for, Cameroonians. Minister of Trade, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, stated in August that Cameroonians must consume what they produce and produce what they consume in the midst of the pandemic.

Cameroon, and the world can take some note of these localized efforts, will need to invest in food and the manufacturing sectors within the country for the stimulation of consumption habits locally. The Government of Cameroon has noted the intention to support local companies as well as help with the supply of improved seeds and subsidize fertilizer for smallholder farmers.

Although, these Cameroonian economic solutions and supports from the government are important on a national level. One of the interest international phenomena have been the degrees to which communications technologies have exploded in value with one extreme case seen in Zoom. Eric Yuan, the CEO of Zoom, since March 2020 and September 2020 made about $12 billion. This is a dramatic case of making a turnaround with ingenuity and adaptability, and hard work, to turn a global tragedy into a win; an economic powerhouse is made. Yuan is now listed in the Forbe’s 400 richest people in the world.

Whether nationally or internationally, corporations and governments have recognized the essential need for innovation to show that which served one purpose can be served by another because of the need to physically distance, wear masks, and burden this storm unseen by the naked eye, only by microscope.

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2022-12-09

Love and Family in the Times of Coronavirus

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/11/14

Even with Independence of Southern British Cameroons from UK (Observance), October 1, passed and The Prophet’s Birthday (Public Holiday) celebration coming on October 29, we’re still in the deep dive of the pandemic. Our lives still need to continue, including our family and romantic lives. With all of the ordinances ongoing around the world to restrict this or halt that, or wear this mask or wash your hands with that disinfectant, as part and parcel of living in the coronavirus pandemic, our relationships can be similarly restricted or halted, simply as one component of daily living impacted by the pandemic. So, how is the coronavirus impacting families and relationships?

In spite of the necessities of physically distancing, wearing masks, and washing our hands, one of the unfortunate impacts has been on families, on couples. One of the most observable impacts on families has been the slow-down in the economy and the possibilities for unemployment affecting wives and husbands in Cameroon. With unemployment can come marital disharmony, including increased stress for the partner who lost the job, the potential ensuing arguments over finances, and so on, this is stressful; it’s a strain of functional family living with the potential for the stress to be passed onto the children too.

Other stresses include the children because of changes in school conditions and work conditions. Many parents may have to work from home, i.e., remotely. Many children may require more distance schooling to supplement safety concerns with the ongoing pandemic. Between these tensions of increased time at home, and more work in childcare and schooling on the part of the parents, there is a strain on the marriages for Cameroonian families. This is a significant issue in regards to the creation of stable family lives. Let alone the parental side of things, the concern over the mental wellbeing and health of the children with so many changes can put another negative factor on relationships.

Time to go out to the cinema, on a dinner date, out for a walk into a city centre, and son, has been further limited with the coronavirus pandemic. With the changes to increased home life time, and with a reduction in the possibility to go out and enjoy some time out with your wife or husband, Cameroonian relationships are being put under undue strain, which can even put some on the brink — as some reports have noted an increase in the number of divorces due to a feeling of being locked-in together with one’s partner with few moments to go out as a couple away from children, in spite of the general joy young ones can be in a families life.

All this raises some questions as to what one can do to keep in touch with others and find some sense of individuality in a claustrophobic inducing environment. With the advancement of modern communications technologies, in spite of the strains mentioned, there are plenty of things that can be done. One of these is the use of Zoom, Skype, Google Hangout, Facebook Messenger (audiovisual), and so on, to reach out to friends and family. Why not reconnect with your mother, father, brother or sister, aunts and uncles, even old friends from school?

These technologies give us great adaptability in the COVID-19 era for work. Why not use them to reach out to connect with others within the personal social circle for you? As well, there are plenty of ways in which modern entertainment with television, movies, and games, can provide some structured fun and play, and enjoyment, for children and parents alike, as a family; coronavirus doesn’t necessarily have to be an inexorable dampener on family time together. The biggest issue is the unavoidable nature of the pandemic’s impact of the lives of Cameroonians, even for faith life and religious services. These have been impacted. Many church services have become “live,” as in online and then projected into the internet for the congregation to ‘attend’ and watch remotely. One can pursue a spiritual life even at a distance, hearing their church service, taking part in edificative lessons of holy texts read by a pastor or a priest, and having the family together while remotely taking part in the service.

Other things that can be done to feel a sense of individuality and agency within the marriage is to take the appropriate precautions — wearing a mask, washing hands, and physically distancing — to take part in some of the activities still available in public. Why not? You respect the health of fellow citizens while taking part in some activities of personal interest and enjoyment, whether some find dining, a movie, some dance classes, or whatever interests you. If you feel some time to get closer as a couple, why not bring them together as a package — dinner, movie, and dancing with the love of your life?

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2022-12-09

Music Adapts to Pandemic Contexts

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/11/13

When the going gets pandemic, the live shows get virtual. There have been a number of shows in Cameroon with performances by popular artists. Those singers, rappers, and musicians have been taking their stage performances into the virtual space. It’s all part of an adaptation to the evolving circumstances of the current COVID-19 pandemic. And why wouldn’t conscientious artists decide to take their concerts and performances onto virtual platforms?

It’s a win-win on all sides. Public health is respected. Their income can remain steady with ongoing performances, or the public can have charity concert events online as well. Unless, someone’s true sense of music is only in live form. Then, of course, there can be a respect for the mourning of the loss of live event.

Nonetheless, these virtual concerts have been happening. Locko, Salatiel, Stanley Enow, Tenor, and others got together on May 30th of this year to create some Cameroonian-styled entertainment. It’s truly impressive stuff. Get this, they performed from home, coordinated the performances, and then streamed them live on Facebook. Enow took the time to reveal his foundation to the public, the Stanley Enow Foundation.

On its Facebook page, the Stanley Enow Foundation is billed as “a non profit organisation aimed catering” for underprivileged kids “with the intention of providing them” with free education. Enow was working on a sensitization campaign about the distribution of sanitary kits in Limbe markets.

Salatiel was promoting barrier measures in the midst of the pandemic. He talked ed about the collaboration with Beyonce and second part of the release of the song, “Anita,” according to Journal du Cameroun. Not only with Locko, Salatiel, Stanley Enow, Tenor, UNESCO organized the “ResiliArt Concert” in Yaounde.

As a celebration of International Jazz Day, on May 10, the show was 40-minutes long and performed live virtually. The entirety of the performances for 40 minutes were celebrating, as well, the life of Manu Dibango, who is a former UNESCO Artist for Peace in addition to an important historical figure amongst saxophonists.

“The current health crisis has enormous global ramifications for the creative and cultural sector. It has affected the entire creative value chain — creation, production, distribution and access — and considerably weakened the professional, social and economic status of artists and cultural professionals. Entrepreneurs and small- and medium-sized enterprises, which often lack the necessary resources to respond to an emergency of this magnitude, are especially vulnerable,” UNESCO stated.

Throughout the “ResiliArt Concert,” there were more than 28,800 viewers. It was part of an effort to support the creative sector and raise awareness about aspects of the coronavirus pandemic. In particular, the aspects of COVID-19 measures taken by many places in the form of containment measures in the cultural sector.

In fact, ResiliArt is part of a larger global move to support virtual debates for raising awareness about the financial and policy mechanisms required to withstand the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic. Happily, Cameroon is taking its role within the international community as a supporter of host of such efforts; and, artists around Cameroon have been engaging in adaptations to the needs of the early 21st century pandemic with virtual conference, though live.

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2022-12-09

Become African Fashionistas and Fashionistos in C-19 Times

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/11/13

Despair and dread seem like common terms and sentiments arising in the midst of the COVID-19 era. Which are true, by and large, because we live in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic in the 21st century, only comparable to the Spanish Flu from 1918/1919, where the Spanish Flu claimed as many as 50 million human lives. Even surprising some modern commentators on the current pandemic is the degree to which the preventative strategies haven’t changed much, when we look at the ways in which previous generations combatted the Spanish Flu, they used physical distancing or social distancing, masks, and the like. One of the better ways to combat the despair and dread — the sense of impending doom — in the era of COVID-19 can be seen throughout Africa in fashion.

Take, for example, Algeria, Rwanda, Liberia, Kenya, Cameroon, and Tunisia, and, probably, others. Each has taken the idea of fashion to the world of health and safety regarding COVID-19 or the coronavirus. It’s a spectacular sense of hope and creativity. It should be applauded. These countries’ fashionistas and fashionistos have taken on the pandemic with positivity rather than a doomsday pessimism.

Mounia Lazali donated hundreds of designed masks to people in Algeria. Alexander Nshimiyimana in Rwanda has been contributing masks to the public while keeping the prices affordable. The Bombchel Factory in Liberia has been extremely important for the repurposing of garments into fashionable masks. David Avido in Kenya has been repurposing some clothes to make masks. Ange Goufack and Edmonde Kennang have been producing masks with some added plastic around the eyes too, as COVID-19 spreads via water droplets. Myriam Riza in Tunisia produces masks from donated materials and then donates the created fashionable masks to the hospitals. This is the spirit of Africa, of humanity.

All of these examples are inspiring in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic because all this shows are the resilience and inspiration of African peoples to set forth and find new non-dreary ways forward. And it’s not entirely out of the reach for ordinary Cameroonians, for example, or requiring expensive training or supplies. In general, the only requirements are some simple culturally appropriate design principles per te local culture, and then some materials and the ability to cut and sew.

In fact, even examining some of the materials available for the creation of the customized, fashion-savvy masks, as with the example of Myriam Riza from Tunisia, the cloth or the linens can be donated from friends and family for them. Or someone could simply gather old clothes, cut them up, and then repurpose them for masks. Even doing what the Goufack and Kennang — the Cameroonian sisters — did, they added plastic coverings for the eyes too.

In spite of the despair and dread because of the prominence of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the affects on all of our lives, I would sincerely propose taking some time to reconnect with family, children, and friends, and to go the extra kilometre by customizing some Cameroonian-styled masks as part of a homecraft exercise. It would be thoughtful, kind, could fill some time, and would show a concern for that which matters to all of us as a gift to others: Life.

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2022-12-09

Pride of Cameroon – Stanley Enow New UNICEF Ambassador

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/11/13

People and societies need heroes. Some are exceptional. In that, they come from the grassroots through trial and tribulation and winning over friends and gathering allies, even garnering enemies as strategic allegiances, and become internationally famous for their human rights work. Others can perform at a high level within the society and then become recognized by honourable organizations. One such organization is UNICEF, or the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. They appoint ambassadors.

Some Cameroonians, recently, have been appointed UNICEF Ambassadors. These should be great achievements and a pride for Cameroonians. Stanley Enow, renowned Cameroonian artist, has been appointed a UNICEF Ambassador. One of the main reasons is his recognition of the importance of a social conscience, as well as his acting on this via social responsibility.

As the UNICEF Representative in Cameroon, Jacques Boyer, said, “Stanley Enow is not only one of Cameroon’s most popular artists among young people, he is also a fine example of celebrities who have understood their social responsibility and mobilizes their energy and talent to make the world a better place for children.”

Enow has been known to be strongly committed to social causes such as human rights with a special emphasis on children’s rights. It’s a fundamental social recognition of the need to inspire a positive trajectory for the next generations of Cameroonians.

Through UNICEF, Enow will focus efforts, in his role as a UNICEF ambassador for Cameroon, on bringing vision and attention to the rights of children, especially some of the most vulnerable children in Cameroon. Some efforts will be focused on the need to mobilize appropriate resources for the children. He has visited various places so far in the ambassadorial role, including Bonassama district hospital, and elsewhere, to bring attention to the importance of vaccination.

Back in August, Enow stated, “It is a great honour for me to join my voice with other UNICEF Ambassadors in Cameroon to make the voices of children, especially the most vulnerable, heard. For me, it is important that we get involved and that everyone contributes to the achievement of a better world for children. This better world is attained through immunization that protects children from preventable diseases and gives them a better start in life.”

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2022-12-09

Interview with Jaime Alfonso Flores Navas on Mexican and American Identity, IQ, Prostitution, Theory of Life, Women’s Rights, and Morality, and Love, Life, Death, and Meaning

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/12/13

*Compiled interviews from the Summer, 2020.*

Jaime Alfonso Flores Navas interview recommendation from Guillermo Alejandro Escarcega Pliego, the Founder of the Hall of Sophia, originally published through In-Sight Publishing. However, the claimed IQ score was not confirmed, while the accepted recommendation based on standards of trust came with this presentation as an assumption or that an IQ score was confirmed by Guillermo, so the publications were respectfully removed from In-Sight Publishing after acknowledgment of this fact by Guillermo, i.e., the scores never confirmed in the first place, at all. To respect scores of others who confirmed or had a public listing of a score, the interview is published, with further editorial work on it, here, rather than In-Sight Publishing’s main platforms; this seems as if a reasonable balance between the promise for an interview to Navas and the unconfirmed score, and to others with publicly available test scores and interviews. It shall remain here. If you wish to support the work of Pliego, then you can send an email to noetiqsociety@icloud.com or submit Mexican Pesos — potentially, other currency — to PayPal at https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/LuzPliego, which is under the name “María de la Luz Escarcega Pliego,” presumably Guillermo’s mother, even grandmother, or guardian. Navas talks about his experiences and views here.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is the heritage from Mexico for family?

Jaime Alfonso Flores Navas: My family, for the most part, has had a great history of pro-American people, like my grandparents, chiefly my grandads, especially from my father’s side. My cousins, almost all of them, and nearly all my uncles and aunts; I will be the first of the family to make an American life and marry an American person.

Jacobsen: How did family history get tangled up with American history?

Navas: My father never knew how I actually was raised. I grew up under American culture and traditions. I have met American sisters and aunties as friends first. Those families one meets during life; some of them very close to me.

Jacobsen: As you were growing up, what was the image and experience of America?

Navas: I grew up under American culture, cuisine, and traditions. My friends at a very early age were from California and Miami, Florida, who had relatives from Denver, Colorado.

As a kid, I was certainly not socializing. I liked my privacy. I had many different interests from those of the rest of my peers, like geography. I had self-taught all the countries in the world, their capitals, the shapes of their countries, their location, the location of their capitals, and their flags at the age of 5.

I had learned from American made materials, sharks, which I have beloved since the age of 7; wildlife upon the whole especially wild cats. Hence, practically, all documentaries I have ever watched ever since have been American, like National Geographic, Discovery Channel, Reader’s Digest, which is same as for books.

Plus, my neighbours who were some of the children I used to play with and talk to only, plus they invited me to their celebrations and events, naturally including Halloween, Thanksgiving Day, 4th of July, etc. Our time together included watching TV, and almost all TV shows included American TV series and movies, e.g., films like Jaws.

I admired the might of the shark. Although, I knew it was merely and purely fictional; that sharks had such a blood lust, though I loved always how sophisticated American TV series and films were in their making. Everything I had written in my stories, for I love to write novels of myself only, have been based upon what I have seen on American TV; as well, it has influenced how I learn everything, and how I imagine discoveries, breakthroughs, etc.

I have always loved and fancied American ladies and I have been planning to marry one ever since I was a kid, for the most part. I have always loved how America is more than any other country, the land of opportunity, where one may get land a lot easier and faster than almost anywhere else in the globe, and enjoy more freedoms.

The land where despite having a lot poor people as well; one may attain dreams, grow prosperity if one is willing to work hard. America is the country I most love and admire. I have been regarded as a true patriot for the U.S. as I indeed am, feel and act. I have felt great with the ground-breaking majority of Americans, cannot complain.

Jacobsen: As you were growing up, what was the image and experience of Mexico?

Navas: Good question! I did not know much about Mexican culture or traditions, but I did know Mexican history through school, from the pre-Hispanic era to the Mexican Revolution mostly.

Despite I did not have a poor opinion on Mexicans at first, I had it clear that Mexico was a third-world country, with lots of poverty, corruption, and social problems; I, eventually, tried to find out my identity. I believed both countries were like counters, foes.

Now, I was lucky that, as a kid, my teachers for the most part loved me so much and even spoiled me, and most of my family members loved me too so much. Many people in Mexico, though, have been either too good or too nasty/narrow-minded.

Jacobsen: How have you integrated both American and Mexican identity?

Navas: Excellent question! I have been into American traditions. As you know, ever since I was a very little boy, including these Thanksgiving Day, Halloween, Independence Day, Christmas, etc.; I, nevertheless, experienced Mexican traditions at school, mostly at grammar school, like traditional dances in huge events like festivals, Mothers Day.

I very rarely ever experienced Mexican traditions outside school, though the headmistress, Rosa Elena Franco Lopez Portillo, tried to instill students’ love and respect for Mexican traditions and to embrace Mexican traditions.

I disagreed in light of my outside-of-school background. Ironically, in a generation-trip to Southeast Mexico, in 1998, in all places we went, she had for the most part American food ordered for me, for I am also very picky about food, like McDonald’s and while celebrating my 12th birthday. She bought me American gifts!

In all, I rarely ever had Mexican friends and even more rarely went to a Mexican friend’s house. Almost all friends I ever went to their homes have been Americans. Since I have mild Asperger ‘sconditions, I felt like: if I had to choose between both, to some extent, and since I had been mostly familiarized with American traditions, cuisine, media, etc., then I neglected Mexican culture for a lifetime.

In fact, I became much more involved into American life, by Asperger’s conditions, thus neglecting any other culture from the world and even acting in non-American ways. Until, very good friends from the only church I ever attended service on a regular basis — an American church in Mexico.

These and other religious friends and American friends from the Internet urged me to accept people from all over the world, even hollering at me to accept who I am as a Mexican-born man. Since I was born in Mexico, if I wanted to marry an American lady, that would help stir her interest up even more in me.

Such Bible study lasted a few years, literally, it worked. An instrument was a Bible study, which they performed on me. Even after having taught me more about humankind, I made very good friends with a very good Mexican man named Victor Manuel, who happens to be a very smart fellow and a very well-learned man in Mexican life, traditions, and history.

Recently, he strongly recommended me a few good books written by foremost Mexican, now late, historians, who are now history, in order for me to embrace my Latin roots. He claimed as my friend to be greatly interested in it.

It was also rather interesting that my American friends who lived in Mexico literally knew a lot, lot more about Mexico than I did by all accounts. Some even wanted to show me that many non-American ladies are beautiful too and worthwhile, including Mexican ladies.

My friends have taught me to integrate both [Ed. American and Mexican cultures] in me. Despite having been born in Mexico a very close friend, Bob, told me. Okay, I do, certainly, have the entire American mindset, though maybe with a little hint of Mexican perspective.

He gave me an example of an American family who moved to South Korea, two American parents who work at the American embassy, and had their son born in the U.S., but raised in Korea for about 20 years. Naturally, that kid would have been raised under American culture, but he may also know a little of Korean point of view.

Jacobsen: Most gifted people will be entirely forgotten to history. Thus, the importance of intellectual development is important for societies. Also, there is an importance in ethical education too. How can this be part of the educational systems in America and Mexico?

Navas: Despite both countries, to be honest, do possess huge educational deficiencies in elementary school, middle school, and high school education, America has a great college education tradition. Now, it’s a lot easier for the non-rich to attend prestigious colleges, e.g., Harvard, which was in the 1940s for the rich young men.

America also has a great many gifted people and talented individuals’ programs. Also, there is a tradition of young people who tend to think up devices themselves, independently. In most places throughout the globe, not just America, nevertheless, several gifted people suffer a lot for being different and/or too arrogant to mingle in society and have miserable lives.

Jacobsen: The five main vetted high-IQ societies for listing in Wikipedia have been Mensa International, Intertel, Triple Nine Society, the Prometheus Society, and the Mega Society. If folks want to join some societies, those would be the safest bets. Others have various forms of legitimacy, illegitimacy, and activity, and areas of emphasis.

Fundamentally, it’s not my place to tell these communities what to do or not do, obviously, so anything coming from me is just another opinion among a large number of others, i.e., don’t take the opinions that seriously. Anyhow, what has your experience been with the high-IQ societies?

Navas: It has been for the most part good to the extent of that one can exchange ideas, go deeper into breakthroughs and have really interesting conversations and even comraderies.

Jacobsen: Any preferred tests in the high-range?

Navas: Mensa test or Giga Society test. Stanford-Binet is good too, but remember this, intelligence on its its own is subjective, so certainly are IQ tests.

Jacobsen: How many IQ tests have you taken?

Navas: 10 in all.

Jacobsen: What jobs have you worked at, in your professional history?

Navas: I have taught mathematics briefly and worked on my own. Plus, I — unlike many high-IQ people who preferred not to earn a degree, and I am not here to judge them but to respect their choices — am taking my math degree.

Jacobsen: What are your academic qualifications?

Navas: I have been a Valedictorian student. I earned highest-performance medals for it, scholarships, honorific mentions, even was the founder of the position at my elementary school: Ecology Ambassador, for which my then 5th-grade teacher assisted me, as well as the standard-bearer at ceremonies.

I once wanted to become a biologist in order to become an ecologist, but I wavered when seeing how tough life can be for ecologists. I admire them. However, I had, and still have it clear; I wanted to get married and have a stable family.

The best way to be a polymath nowadays is being a mathematician and working in a good environment while being married. I chose mathematics as a degree, naturally being a Valedictorian student.

Jacobsen: You mentioned hoping to get married. What would be an ideal marriage for you?

Navas: I believe marriage on its own is neither a blessing nor a curse. It depends on the individuals who conform to it. Here, I should stress the word: partner, for I believe in gender equality.

One should be in love with love not and one should be alright with oneself prior to engaging into a relationship, especially marriage, without idealizing the partner, and having a life plan, and if actually being into a relationship,

One should know what one wants, and after having met people as friends one should choose one with whom being a partner and best friend. We don’t choose who we fancy or like, but we do choose how to express love and who we want as a partner. Marriage should not be based on just sex or vain things.

I am a very monogamous person. I expect my partner to be the same. One should ask oneself: Would you marry someone who is just like me? Would I marry myself? This entails, of course, not to be selfish, insecure, or weak, and to be, certainly a congruent person for the most part.

Good communication, commitment, willingness to express and give love and to be loved every minute and making every day as if it were the first one, to be amazed by the person one loves. Naturally, I don’t want to be in a relationship or marriage where my lady expects me to solve, say, do, or think everything. Common interests are great too, and to wonder: where am I going in this relationship (given the case)?

Love is a privilege that comes with responsibilities and responsibilities that come with pleasure, I mean, privilege. To make each other, help one another grow together and help each other become better people without, of course, trying to change the partner (that is silly for sure, to pretend to change someone), to support each other in dreams, to offer comfort and cry in hard times, to give space to my lady when she wants and to listen to her; but I would ask her to be straight to me, please.

I would accept her comments, questions, and suggestions if she wants to correct me in anything with respect. I will gladly hear and thank her. I would never disrespect her by anyway and will ask her what she wants, calmly, how she wants things. I will listen patiently and gladly.

Personally, I prefer ladies who are older and taller than I am, without children, though I love them, a relationship with a woman who already has kids would be a lot more complicated for me.

Jacobsen: Any personal opinions on religion?

Navas: I don’t think religion on its own is wrong, on the contrary. I think religions with a healthy sense of spirituality are pretty good. They, certainly, should remind us that we are not the foremost and/or the topmost creation or being, which is really arrogant.

I think like every system, religion changes, slowly if you will. I hope that religion does not promote the other extreme. Ironically, the idea that mother nature is at the disposal of humans, meaning that humans are the center of the world. Personally. I believe that extremes and radicalism are not healthy, both extremes may touch each other.

Jacobsen: Any attitudes about the current states of science?

Navas: I find it fascinating that nowadays, science may, ironically, save and I dare say, ransom faith in a higher being, for in the past science was harshly persecuted by the church, especially in Europe. Moreso the irony, in the past, centuries ago, in order to become what we closest as a scientist, they had to be a church member, like Sir Isaac Newton in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Now in a time in which even many, if not most, scientists claim to be either agnostic and/or even atheists, we observe that those scientists who remain open-minded are seeing that such complexity and order in the cosmos including life and lifeless concepts, even if they seem too simplistic, could not have been created or engineered just by sake, without a specific order.

Jacobsen: What has been some of the work around multiverses by you?

Navas: In 2014, I made a model that explains why there possibly cannot be more than just one you and me, not even in the past or future, or even in different parallel universes or multiverses, which I shall call existences.

We observe this from, for instance, how even if there were “identical” beings to us, even a small variation of the simplest thing would alter an outcome, meaning that such a chain reaction would come into effect, meaning that by one simple act done differently from us here by our “Distant equal versions of us” would significantly alter everything in a life, then in a community, then in history.

This should be borne in mind along with the understanding of how symmetry and asymmetry works in atoms and molecules, from small to huge things.

Jacobsen: What has been some of the work on chemistry for you? What area of chemistry has been the most fascinating to you?

Navas: I haven’t worked on chemistry, actually. Ssorry, I believe there was interference in the phone while we were chatting, but I said I would, if I had time, do stuff on chemistry. However, among all branches of it. I most like Biochemistry, no doubt about it, because it is a good starting point about how life works, from chemistry.

Everything is chemistry, but that bridge and gap between just chemistry, even organic chemistry and biology. How do you solve that puzzle?

Jacobsen: Who inspires you?

Navas: Too many to pick one outright, Maria Montessori the Italian educator, Abraham Lincoln as you know America’s 16th president, Werner Von Heisenberg who as the head of Nazi A-bomb programme halted the projects and risked his life so greatly for he knew Nazi Germans were unethical.

He jeopardized his own life more than anybody else even being a German. He had all to gain, but he hated Nazism and was clever and strong enough to hide it for a greater purpose. Had Nazis appointed anybody else, quite likely, they would have won the war; and, we would not live!

Jacobsen: Any mathematical minds in history who impress you?

Navas: A tough one for sure, too many to begin with, but Srinivasa Ramanujan may be the one if you ask me who first comes to mind for that. For instance, his rolling shield and the theories extrapolated in a notebook he wrote during his last year being alive. It helped explain black holes. Until now, we are able to begin to understand it, thanks to his formulae.

Jacobsen: What ethical system makes the most sense to you?

Navas: I don’t believe that any system has the ideal structure at 100%. Each system has pros and cons and every person thinks differently. Hence, I am certainly not a radical, nor I am a fundamentalist.

I believe that I had to pick one which closest fits me is Christianity for its universal rules, like: Don’t do to others what you don’t want for yourself. Ideally speaking: Love the others as you love yourself, and Jesus loves you.

Jacobsen: What is the current state of women’s rights in the United States?

Navas: Despite the United States of America has had an impressive role in women’s rights and has been one of the leading nations in the struggle of gender equality, American women on average earn about 77% of what men make in jobs.

Of course, it vastly varies from one region to another, chiefly from liberal states to conservative ones. If we take into consideration New England states like New Hampshire and Maine, we notice that the gap is not as huge as that of Texas or Alabama, even in wide, rural outdoorsy states like the Dakotas.

Curiously and this is part of American history full of paradoxes, Wyoming, what most consider a conservative state, was the very first place in America to have ever granted women the right to vote in 1869, hence its nickname: Equality State.

We have watched the progress of American women suffrage and education. Oberlin College in Ohio, which was also intended for coloured women, was opened in 1837, through even as late as the 1970s and 1980s when quite a few colleges and Universities still banned women from attending.

Extraordinary women like Lucretia Mott who were activists for women’s right to vote and all women who fervently struggled for it. Until, it was finally achieved in 1920 when the 19th amendment was passed, making Warren Gamaliel Harding the first U.S. president to have ever been elected under women’s suffrage, until 2016 when we saw the first American lady to have ever been postulated by a party in America to be an actual candidate to contend for the American presidency.

Sadly, despite all huge progress in America, I consider that America will have her first American lady president in some years ahead. Women in the U.S. are still subject to physical, mental, labour, social, economic, and spousal violence.

We still see a lot of prostitution across the country, sadly, including a lot of women who are brought from aboard to be exploited not just sexually but also to get their organs trafficked. I intend to help end this regrettable practice.

Jacobsen: What is the current state of women’s rights in Mexico?

Navas: Mexico has a far worse situation for women by all accounts. Mexican women attained their voting rights for the first time until about 1955. Culturally, Mexican ladies, have been more subdued to misogyny and machismo. Only recently, Mexico has been allowing its ladies to work and participate more in the government, from marginal 9% to more than 50% since 1997, not long ago.

Despite more Mexican ladies now working in order to make a living and earn the same rights, many women in Mexico still believe men should be purveyors and breadwinners and remain married to them no matter what.

Jacobsen: If we look at some of the concerns over women’s rights for you, what are the main concerns now?

Jaime Alfonso Flores Navas: My main concerns are that:

Despite we as humankind have progressed to a large extent in some areas, including some in technology at giant pace:

There is still a huge disparity in rights between men and women in almost all of the world.

Such disparity is seen in all accounts in culture and society that range from a huge gap in wage inequality for men and for women. In some countries such disparity even peaks to 32% of salaries earned by men and women, there is the great prejudice that still remains in most of the globe about “women not being as good as men to perform the same activities at work.”

This ranges from normal or the common people’s environment to higher leagues, look at say sports, soccer, despite I’m no big fan to soccer. I know that World FIFA for male players are far more profitable and draw far more attention than those about women.

Beauty contests, which are, of course, not just for women but for men, the ones for ladies like Miss Universe are far more widely watched. I hate to say; they’re profitable around the world. Obviously such are to actually compare women as though if they were nothing, just objects, this mirrors another sad reality that still is clear in several countries and still a lingering problem in many more: Women are to be seen, but not listened.

If a lady cheats on her husband, then this is terribly seen in so many places by so many people. But if a husband cheats on his wife, it is not as frowned upon. In fact, in several countries, this practice is not just well seen, but even lawful and rewarded.

This also entails what many still think of what a woman should be like: a devoted wife, to attend her husband and children, to stay home, at the kitchen and to be cheated on, mistreated and even dumped away as if she were nothing, a submissive woman with no rights, no actual voice and to depend on her husband completely.

The regrettable prostitution practice. Some call it the oldest job or occupation, but it is neither a job nor is it an occupation. Guys who support this don’t think: Would I ever like it if my mom, my sister, my cousin, my friend, or my daughter be into this?

So many don’t get to think that such women have parents. Moreover, because of women not seen actually as equals or peers in life, the huge gap in rights disparity; women left with their children and limited education and job opportunities feel they have the need to earn money for them and for their children at expense of their bodies, as if they were products for sale.

I have been invited a number of times to hire them and I always refused. My advice is: naturally, please, don’t hire them, don’t support this meretricious practice. I’m not against prostitutes. I’m against prostitution.

Don’t let your fellows push you, it’s your choice, not theirs. You will not disappoint anyone. You should not be about if it comes to treat a human as an object. It’s not a sign of manhood to use prostitutes, on the contrary, not to hire them and treating ladies with respect and equality is a sign of manhood, even if a lady pushes you to do otherwise. Use your brain, and use your heart.

I brought mistreated women up. This entails that many women are still subject to domestic violence, from psychological, emotional, even spiritual to physical violence, and even sexual violence. Guys who mistreat their ladies and/or children are not men.

I must add that personally also consider that when it comes to talk about God; most people in the English language, for instance, refer to God as a him. I don’t think God has a gender. Instead, he is beyond that. I refer to God as it, e.g., God is our guide, may Its Will be achieved. Not just in English language, we observe misogyny, but in several languages.

Jacobsen: You have a multiverse theory from 2014. What is it? How does it work?

Navas: My multiverse theory or as I call it more appropriately, a model, explains why, in an infinite space (it must be infinite for stars and all matter is moving away to the space to a faster space than what it was supposed to be, and it will be exponentially fast); there cannot possibly be any equal or what would be called an exact duplicate of you and me, and all else.

That also entails free will and keeps from order to chaos. It entails symmetry and asymmetry, from atoms and smaller particles to larger, incredibly much larger concepts like a universe, say a huge group of stars and galaxies.

That since in nature there is order. Yet, there cannot be an exact order all the time, it may be impossible for an exact duplicate of you, me, etc., to exist, especially in a perfect time in which you cannot put a specific point on it, neither on space nor on time.

So there can’t be an exact duplicate of you and me, etc. Otherwise, everything would have to be exactly identical on the other side, as almost in a mirror, in infinite space time where no particular point can be placed?

There is a Universal principle that holds not just for religion, philosophy or theology but also for science: As above, so below. We recall how similar a solar system can be to an atom, as I had told at age 2.

Jacobsen: How does the multiverse theory incorporate the Big Bang theory framework?

Navas: As a direct consequence of that there cannot possibly be equal replicas or duplicates of you, me nor anything else, it shows that Big Bang was just as it was.

Jacobsen: Does this multiverse theory bring together any more dimensionality than the normal three spatial dimensions and one temporal dimension?

Navas: On its own at first glance, it may seem to bring up just 3 dimensions, but uses time as just a parameter, not as a dimension. Time is not a dimension. It hardly uses more than 3 dimensions ever, on its own in a basic level.

Jacobsen: Why are jaguars a fascination for you?

Navas: The animals, not the cars nor they war attack aircraft. Jaguars are mysterious, powerful, they have a particular spot pattern in their pelts as well as the orange-ish color on them make them look regal, elegant, beautiful as well as their particularly stocky and sturdy appearance that is not lean as that of a leopard (jaguars are lb by lb the most powerful cats), which make them the most powerful cat in the Western Hemisphere.

They are also among the few felids that love to swim and swim very well! Yes! Not all cats hate water, that makes them masters of virtually aby ecosystem they live in and they reign upon. Even their mystery on its own is hard to describe, though, we know that they are a key part of their ecosystem and more important than we had previously imagined.

Jacobsen: You have an adaptation on top of Kung Fu as well. What is the adaptation of this Kung Fu? What was the thought process behind the adaptations?

Navas: Kung Fu is not just a martial art, but a way of life; an entire philosophy that has lasted for thousands of years. Kung Fu practitioners have millennia of style, tradition, techniques, and philosophy. I must add that the very term Kung Fu means: skillful work, to practice Kung Fu is to do something well.

The branch I’ve most practiced in Shaolin style derivation, American style as well and Sanda, and Wu Shu has been the way I dare say, I have most used. We use the Ying Yang philosophy, of that there are two forces in the Universe, positive and negative.

I have been into martial arts since 1993 when I first began in Tae Kwon do, my master was named Cesar Augusto Rodriguez, a world su-champion whose master had been Mr. Moon, who brought it to Mexico. He was recommended by my beloved grandma who loved me so much.

To Mr. Cesar Rodriguez, I owe so much. He even invitted me to appear in a magazine with him, which I agreed upon.

Eventually, I turned to Kung Fu in light of its wide variety of techniques and being the most complete of all martial arts.

We are taught that we are to use our brains before using our body as arms. Someone who actually can fight avoids fighting at all cost, and fights only if it is the very last resource, so we train in order to avoid fighting.

I had rediscovered a Kung Fu technique I nicknamed “jaguar,” but I made my own variant of it, an attack to the nape near the occipital bone in the skull, a deathly one and very painful. I discovered it by accident, and not because I practiced it on anyone, no sir! Heaven forfend! It was in a kitchen while accommodating goods from Walmart in the wooden table and below.

I have also designed Kung Fu weapons, talked to my fellow Kung Fu practitioners and masters. They quite rightly deduced such was a combination by all accounts of old Kung Fu “tools,” including forms and exercises to be used on, which I devised myself as well as well as the counter forms and counter exercises.

Kung Fu is such a marvelous Martial art and the most complete, including in weapons, for which its virtues I must extoll. One of my weapons I named Korst, from Kill Worst, a contraction. I have been a master and a champion, though I seldom ever compete, despite quite a few invitations from my masters, mostly “Lalo” Rodriguez Pineda.

My arguments are that I don’t have anything to prove or show. Must I add that despite I’m no Buddhist, I do believe in Kung Fu meditation, and how it complements with Tai Chi Chuan, the slow movement yet not necessarily easier form to Kung Fu, both complementing one another like Ying Yang.

When representing Ying Yang, I either draw just the black part or the white one, for when either being in light or darkness, one part shows and the other remains invisible merging with the environment, and making the other one, more evident.

Also, we know that we should be in equilibrium with the objects around us, for they haven’t harmed us, and to underestimate a foe in a fight, no matter if such foe is smaller, lightweight, old, etc., hence it is another reason why we avoid fighting for the most as we possibly can.

I must add that how we conceive cosmos in Kung Fu has partly and just partly inspired me in my conception of the Universe.

Jacobsen: How are humans like machines?

Navas: On the phone while talking in part I of the interview, I mentioned that machines, say computers, adding machines, etc… are totally unaware of themselves and even unaware of that they are able to perform large computations.

We humans are supposedly aware of ourselves, fact that casts us apart from the rest of animals. Sadly, the mass is easy to control, like robots. I must say I really like and see fit how you accommodated this set of questions, for it shows key elements in the right place and time and good thing it was online, so to say a “place.”

A linear dimension Internet being a virtual universe also, part from being a virtual Universe, is and a good proof of that machines shall never gain proper life, let alone a higher degree of intelligence than that of humans, mostly, God!

You did recall I mentioned the year 2014, about my Multiverse theory, which does not entail time as a dimension being this a dimension not a bit but as a parameter, and that, we shall recall that time is not important, life is, speaking of my definition of life.

Jacobsen: What is the level of and kind of prostitution in America?

Navas: Prostitution in America is a lingering problem. Despite it being outlawed in all states except in about 8 out of 16 counties in Nevada, about 20% of men claim to have hired the service. Rhode Island had allowed it within the timeframe of 1980–2009.

Puerto Rico, due to a staggering economy, in 2014 was about to allow it in order to prevent economic collapse provoking what is known as inceldom, being this an ideology that has led to waves of violence as well as mass scale assassinations nationwide in the U.S.

It is also a major problem in the U.S. because a lot of prostitution is given by the massive entrance of illegal immigrants who hail from all over the world, from Mexico and Latin America upon the whole, Eastern European countries, a lot from Asia and Africa as well.

Every state in America has its own laws to ban and in the case of Nevada, regulate it, and has worked to a large extent since the enactment of the Mann Act in 1910, speaking of Mann, manly law, oh man! Prostitution still is a largely practiced activity throughout the nation.

Fortunately, though until recently, on April 11, 2018, the Congress of the United States approved an act, the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act, a.k.a., FOSTA-SESTA in order to severely punish online platforms that connected sex traffic, though in my opinion it has to have success to some extent for the victims.

Sex slaves’ lives have been imperiled and since sex trafficking networks are huge and elusive, has become increasingly hard to arrest their members, traffickers, and pimps, meaning that certainly over 20% of men in the country have paid for sex.

As for the part of the question of what types of prostitutions exist in America, I herein list them with a very brief description:

Street prostitution: Illegal throughout the nation, tending to be highly concentrated in a particular spot of blocks in especially larger cities. The most dangerous kind as such of prostitution in the U.S. for women, since they are not protected by any kind, 68% of them are known to have been raped, quite possibly more which is unknown due to the humiliation, fear and grief the victims suffer, with 82% reportedly having been physically assaulted.

Over 20% of prostitution in America is within this type. Such slaves are taken into trucks, called lizard lots and they are given a radio or buds to communicate. There are two hierarchies on this, the indoor and outdoor workers. Indoor workers enjoy more freedom to choose their clients, while outdoor ones have far less freedom to choose and are far more susceptible to be robbed and seriously being physically assaulted, even kidnapped (over 20%, over 1 in 5!)

Brothel prostitution: Like street prostitution, since prostitution is outlawed in almost all America, this type is to be found in large cities and major highways where legal resorts like saunas, massage parlors and spas. Here many Asian immigrants are particularly often to be found.

Child prostitution: The most disturbing type of prostitution and the most alarming that about 100K children are forced to work in the country every year. These include not just national born children who, if detained, may go to juvenile and rehab facilities, unlike children who are brought from Latin America and Asia chiefly who are lied to by telling them they will have protection, temporary work visa, and many more benefits.

Sadly, many of these children end up dead, their organs trafficked and even sent to countries as far as Central Africa, Middle East, Thailand, etc.

Escort: Agencies that have both independent and directly being attuned to such agencies. Here, the profits vary according to the age, gender, location, ethnic background and types of service, as well as area or experience, closely related to type of service many times (e.g. magazine, podcast, etc.).

Male escorts tend to charge less than a woman whose fee, in both cases, is paid in cash with often yet not mandatory tipping, although credit card payments is another choice, especially in large agencies. Nowadays with Internet access, when contacting the agency, the client may be allowed to search based on physical features and type of service being offered.

Red light districts: Found in places like The Block, Maryland (MD) and due to the zone in this case, other services are to be found near that place, like adult arcades in sex shops which abound there as well along with strip clubs where sex and peep shows are also available.

Jacobsen: What is the level of and kind of prostitution in Mexico?

Navas: I know far less about Mexico at that too. Mexico has had a big problem on prostitution since the Aztec Empire, as described by orthodox Roman Catholics who arrived there and saw life in Tenochtitlan, the capital to Aztec Empire.

Nowadays, child prostitution is a major type of such exploitation at which point it is called child sex tourism, being this a foremost spot on it along with Brazil, Cambodia, Colombia, India and Thailand. The numbers of such practice has been on the raise steadily, especially in recent years, to over 30 K children under the age 18 in such circumstance.

Many of those children are taken to the U.S. via Ciudad Juarez, a border city between Mexico and the U.S. in the Mexican state of Chihuahua and are “stored” in places called maquiladoras. In Mexico’s largest city, Mexico City, from the 13K street children.

95% have been engaged into a sexual encounter with grownups, mostly via prostitution, and in one of the poorest spots in Mexico, Chiapas, illegal immigrants from Central and south America are particularly imperiled, like their children, where children are sold for $100 or $200 Mexican pesos, being this one of the worst places according to UNICEF and other institutions in terms of prostitution.

Both, Mexican-born children and immigrants either legal or illegal are abducted and lured into prostitution. Other key spots for Child sex tourism (with tourists comprising people from Canada, United States and Western Europe) are Acapulco, Ciudad Juarez, Cancun, Tijuana, Puerto Vallarta, Cancun.

Corruption is rampantly seen in this matter, for local authorities have allowed pimps to exploit children, for not just foreigners but also local authorities, police, business people and more sexually exploit them, clearly indicating that Mexico is a main provider of children and trafficking, but it’s not restricted to children but also to women and indigenous people, homosexual people as well and people with any type of disabilities like physical to mental.

Regrettably, some shelters have allowed for sex trafficking as well, being also vulnerable to thievery, physical violence as well as recruiting from criminal gangs with the threat to harm their families. Mexico has been classified as “Tier 2” country for it does not meet the least required standards for the eradication of human trafficking.

Jacobsen: How do sexual trafficking networks function between the United States and Mexico (and Canada)?

Navas: By corruption and by apparently innocuous frames of saunas, massage, job opportunities. Unfortunately, Canada as you sure know better than I do how its laws work, 14 year olds are allowed to be into online sex trafficking and pornography, by law. Such allows for pimps in Canada to get 14 year olds and up into the country for such purposes.

Jacobsen: What are some effective ways to combat sexual trafficking and prostitution networks?

Navas: Creating conscience by talking to people and making social changes as well into the law like passing effective bills to prevent these atrocious practices from being performed, and this should be done in my opinion not just state by state (which works to some extent) but also laws enforced nationwide. Of course all of this takes time and work.

Jacobsen: How are human beings capable of a 5–8-dimensional conceptualization of the world and its relations?

Navas: Humans have 5–8 dimensions in their minds conceptually. Nonetheless the human, conceptually speaking, is unable to know about it, let alone conceive such dimensions. We humans are able to question ourselves and even change the environment for our needs (primitively anthropocentric), as well as being able to account for the past and future, as well as causes and consequences.

We are able to classify, organize, think of like in sets for the most and distinguish patterns better than any other Earth creature (which is key to intelligence, to realize and distinguish patterns, but not everything that intellect is all about). Humans make machines perform myriads of operations.

Such machines are unable to realize they perform them, unlike humans who are much aware of such operations, that they need them and what and how to do to achieve them, but humans are unaware of that they have 5–8 dimensions.

Jacobsen: How does this make humans apart from machines to you?

Navas: This is what I mean about humans being separate from machines, their ability to be aware of what they are, and operations, when needed, when by curiosity one performs them, how to compute them or what to do in order to get a certain result, like operating machines, making them work for us, and, of course, we depend on them.

The paradox is that on this first level, human is apart from machines, but the human being unaware of that it has 5–8 dimensions, unites human somehow to machines, not just in intra-dependent a human is to them, but on how at that basic scale human is unaware of such fact that helps make a difference from life to non-life, animate to inanimate.

Jacobsen: What is your theory of life? Or, what is life?

Navas: I have submitted my theory at UNAM and some biology teachers have availed it. I wish to have the Giga Society review it. It has to connect, so to say connect; I shall explain a better term in a little: biology, philosophy, social sciences, as such.

As I see it, life is communication, an extra-dependendent intra-connective communication. This makes the aforementioned branches communicated, ironically. We consider from an organ, an important one, like a heart, even if it has been careful taken care of and frozen in order to be used by somebody else in the near future, such heart must be intra-connected, self-communicated, depending also on the temperature, non-pathogen agents, and a life-span of the heart before it “expires.”

But if such heart has been cut off, it won’t help anymore. Bacteria, even the most adaptable one, require certain temperature and having had enough sunlight energy stored in their organisms, as well as many other organic components in the right proportion and quantity like Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen or not, Nitrogen, phosphate, etc., but they must have a certain inter-communication in order to be able to survive.

Even earthworms, if totally torn, they would not be able to reproduce themselves, dealing, of course, with evolution, and how organisms adapt themselves to a certain environment, and so there can be life; there must be death, dealing with the so known life cycle of an organism: Birth, growth, reproduction, and death, dealing, of course, with the survival instinct.

Naturally, this is how I see it, I’m open to know more and to correct if wrong, gladly, for this is a theory and just a theory, and in science as we know, what we once took as absolute truths and even part truths have been torn down and replaced, and that’s what makes science alive.

Jacobsen: How does this theory of life differentiate from machines, automatons?

Navas: Excellent question! A machine can get parts of its components replaced without problem, but they don’t reproduce, and are not communicated depending on certain outer agents like temperatures, they don’t feel anything within their hardware and would not have survival instincts and would not evolve on their own.

Bear in mind that, given how humans have 5–8 dimensions in their minds conceptually speaking and such having been given with evolution, a machine would never gain proper intellect, let alone become smarter than us.

Jacobsen: Who do you consider the smartest and most evil person in the history of the world?

Navas: The smartest person in history could be either Leonardo da Vinci or Terence Tao.

Da Vinci was an extremely gifted man who was able to literally be centuries ahead of his day, and his inspiration chiefly came from mother nature, he was well known as a great polymath.

He is the best example of that human imagination is limited to our senses, was our imagination as great and powerful. We would be able to imagine things beyond what our senses have perceived. Okay, at times, we have in our bodies involuntary responses, not directly attuned to our spinal chord, like the arc reflex, the knee jerk test shows that.

But with such he best did with his works, from artistic to natural, and both combined; of course, he shows that our imagination, beyond being inconsistent, is conceptual. So, he is the best example that we know of that our imagination is limited (great and best things from it), going directly to conceptual without going through inconsistent actually, more than we can imagine!

Terence Tao, the American-Australian mathematician with 230 in IQ is another great candidate. Mathematics are the best exam challenge to our imagination! I told you on the phone that mathematics is, along with logics, logically, the branches in human knowledge that most challenge our imagination and one cannot be ahead of the day as in virtually all other branches of human knowledge.

As for the evillest person in history, to be honest the first example that came into my mind was Josif Vissarionovich Stalin for he killed his own people as well, beyond massive genocides he perpetrated and people he disappeared. It was between him, Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler, for Himmler was the one who most devised and engineered Nazism as a system.

A common pattern among these is that: They were smart people say with IQ between 130–145, just little below genius rank, who were rejects and had lonely lives and were opportunistic, as well as they had serious school and academic problems.

Adolf Hitler did not even finish middle school and was a poor student. Stalin was expelled from his school, and Himmler, despite his dad was the headmaster to the college he attended; he was very lonely. Let´s say, he did not make them most of it.

Naturally, another common pattern is the time in which they lived and the circumstances in human history they faced, as well as the place, in a certain creation in Europe they were born and raised, and somehow grew with a certain military tradition, to which they were very devout and outstanding.

Jacobsen: What is the most important aspect of the emancipation of women?

Navas: That women, being treated as equals as men by all accounts, I mean, rights and duties, that they should make the best of their abilities at work, school, home (having the same hierarchy as men) and society (no to be stigmatized and having the same voting and voice rights) at the same scope as men do, should also be treated gently.

I mean, to have a special care about not hitting them, about giving them the right opportunities to keep working and have a salary and help from the institutions they work at while they are pregnant and give birth to children and they should be given protection from abusive guys who try to hurt them anyways by any mean.

We all should remember that we all were given birth by women. We should respect them equally and be thankful to them for having brought us to the world. It is impossible to advance as society if we don’t act in gender equality.

This even goes, as I see it, like not even naming ladies after a man’s last name when married, for they are not properties nor are they belongings, instead an agreement should be reached by the couple.

Jacobsen: How can the religious traditions help in the furtherance of human rights?

Navas: I am sure that ever since people existed, at least most, prefer good over evil, and religion promotes good for most, like willing to not harm others, and do to others what you want for yourself, and helping the others.

Religion has to a large extent prevented a worse conduct from men to women and if church never was, but since religion changes; people change their views of religion. Now, women’s rights are being more protected by religion upon the whole.

Jacobsen: How can human rights be an important part of the advancement of women’s rights (as part and parcel of human rights)?

Navas: Women are just as humans as men are, same species, with feelings and sensitivity and same cleverness as men. They can by no means be casted apart from men in any way, rights of course, by any accounts. How can we see a human as 77% as worth the other? No way!

Jacobsen: When do human rights and religious law come into conflict?

Navas: We humans primarily wish and want to be loved and accepted, to a greater or lesser degree and in different forms, though by this I also mean that one should bear on mind that one is not the center of the Universe, and certainly not as species in our planet, and that is a huge problem we have.

We think we are the center of the Universe, if we are not even the center of the world as neither species nor as individuals. I said it in a specific order. Religion has changed, the way we see it and its teachings has changed.

It’s good to realize we are not the greatest creation on earth, hence it’s good at that point as I see it, to believe in a higher being. Humans may have to some extent interpreted a higher being on their image and likeness, but we know what is right deep down almost always.

We know that it’s not OK that women are seen and treated as lesser forms of humankind. They don’t like it. If we love, say a woman, from our mom, to a lady we fancy, if we love them, we want them to be happy, as happy as possible, and have the same opportunities as we do. Religion may help at that, as Jesus once said: Do onto others what you’d want for yourself.

Jacobsen: What do you consider the source of morality?

Navas: Not to do to others what we don’t want for ourselves, and we know it, and being congruent with it. It may be seen on religion, in philosophy, free thinking. Since I believe in a higher being, and we humans have goodness, even the worst person has goodness within, as incredible as it may read.

We have that consciousness, that awareness, that feeling of that what we are ding is either right or wrong, it may be that tenuous connection humans have with such higher being.

Jacobsen: Love, it’s life or death for meaning; it’s life or death for our lives. In the cases of life or death of meaning, it can be in relation to individuals and social relations, and intimate partners. These drives and connections can be transmuted to other cases and individuals in a number of ways.

It still comes from love and a search for meaning, in some fundamental sense, coupled with it. In the life and death for our lives, this can be in an immediate sense or in an extended sense. In the extended sense, I would mean the survival of families, of gene pools, of species. How do you see love?

Navas: Excellent insight about life and love Scott! It’s about how to see love and something that may even go beyond: feeling it.

Love is wise, more than smart. One should love oneself in order to offer the best of oneself to others, anyone to be thought of. The ability to love I think is within all humans, more than just survival instincts. To love oneself is to respect oneself, to be tidy, clean, to have nice thoughts (as many as possible). To love is to live, and if when we die, if we have been able to love that much, we can die happy.

I love about love also; that love defies our imagination, which is restricted to our senses by evolutionary traits, and proves we are alive, even more so than math does. It is, therefore, harder, if not impossible, to define love.

Love also defies Cartesian mind-matter dualism and Kantian philosophy, for example, which to some extent deals with free will. I love even more that we don’t choose whom we fancy and love, nor to what extent (to some extent, events, situations, circumstances influence that as well), so this poses a great mystery to our free will and from the rational perspective, questions it for sure at that, that is what makes us each person unique.

The combination of our traits, individually, even if we had evolved more, illustrates better that humans have 5–8 dimensions in our minds. On the one hand, we are unique. We have no free will, but this, of course, can be seen deeper from the scope of free will and a human being that cannot be changed, let alone modify her/his love (notice I use her first as a gentleman and not him as so may do, stop misogyny); and because, we are unique and have free will at how to express thought and feelings.

It’s a greater responsibility. A responsibility that gives pleasure and a pleasure that gives responsibilities, similar to that: Love knows reasons that reason knows nothing of (a logic also derivates to neither true nor false logical theorem), but love goes even beyond. One day you just tell yourself, “Wow, I’m in love.”

Jacobsen: You have been highly self-controlled in the wish for a life partner or a wife for life. One woman, committed, loving, sharing, growing, and reciprocating, together as a couple until death do you part. Why is lifelong monogamy important to you?

Navas: One should know what one wants in a partner. It’s okay if one does into know at first, hence one, in my opinion, should first make friends and not use people to what is so-called “practice.” One should know an inkling of one wants not; therefore, one should not use them just to experience.

This may be a rough example: If you go to a restaurant, and you order something in the menu you don’t like, why would you then order it? Another example: If you try to play a musical score, why play one that makes you feel sad if you aren’t sad? Instead play one that makes you feel inspired, thoughtful, etc… Music to your ears!

One should know what one wants in life, to have a life plan. Love is not a game. From about 5,000 known mammal species, up to 5% are monogamous for life, but we are supposed to be more evolved. We think and feel more.

I have been asked by some: Why haven’t you ever dated anyone on 3D, etc.? Do you fear engagement, commitment, or don’t you just like it? My answer has been: Because I believe in commitment and healthy relationships I haven’t had, because I have been finding/waiting for the special one for me.

Also because, I love stable relationships, and that entails responsibility, more than at first may seem, from loving oneself, accepting oneself, knowing oneself and what one wants and how to express feelings, what do about them (we have free will at that, in knowledge), as well as to be aware at large of what the partner thinks and feels. It basically goes to: Since we are partners, a match, what I don’t want for myself, I don’t want it for you. I would not want my partner to cheat on me. That would denote insecurity, irresponsibility. That she does not know what she wants. So, what’s the point on keeping on it? Once a cheater, most likely always a cheater.

I have been searching and finding, I hope, the best person for us, not just me, entailing reciprocal love, which deals also with perseverance, dedication, passion, hard work, the ability to tell and admit when one makes mistakes and with the right disposition to thank gratefully after asking why a certain conduct should be changed. This, of course, does not mean one can change the partner, that is really dumb, but one instead can convince, educate, show, make someone see a point of the other person wants to expose. Unrequited love, it’s sad, but it’s dumb; only idiots dream of what they can’t have or happens to dumb people.

Put it this way, the best way to show, as I see, continually is to bear in mind that dumbs criticize people, regular people judge situations, big minds evolve ideas, beyond analyzing them just, and so forth.

Jacobsen: Why is waiting for the right person, the one, important for you?

Navas: Because since:

One should not be in love with love.
One should wonder where one is going in a relationship and to think what lies ahead in the relationship.
I really hate the idea of leaving someone I really love behind.
Someone compatible with me is rather preferable.
Would hate to date or be with someone I don’t love, especially most.
If I date someone is because I love her, else I’d feel like if I were using her.
It’s important o be with someone without idealizing the partner, to love the partner just the way the match is.
A relationship should be not 50/50 but 100/100.
It’s also hard to explain in words, for feelings and more.

I see with whom to grow as a person. We both should help one another grow in love and make each other stronger; hence, I have been searching or the one for us.

Jacobsen: How do you see the relation of monogamy and polygamy and love?

Navas: One should be monogamous to one’s partner if in love; otherwise, it is not worthwhile staying. Polygamy is given many times because one feels lonely, or in human terms, more than biological (evolutionary ones) it may be seen as teenage immaturity.

Polygamy is seen as something desirable, about how many women a man can have, even in many Western societies guys compete to see who can possibly flirt and attract more women and sadly bet and lie about how many ladies they have flirted and taken to bed — again, misogyny, clearly without love.

Jacobsen: Do you believe in the concept of sin? If so, why so? If not, why not?

Navas: When a little kid, I did, due to my Christian formation. Now I see it as just an entry, a little hard in my opinion, to denote one’s mistake, mostly a willful mistake. I think there are no mistakes if one learns from them.

This is cyclic. It may be a mistake to see mistakes as just that, about if we realize they are not mistakes. We learn from them, then the cycle is completed. I don’t believe, of course, God is a judge; that would be way too human.

Jacobsen: What is the purpose of love?

Navas: A good question! I will start my answer, from not just the logical part, but also the loving and heart-from part:

What has more purpose: loving or hating? What is easier? Loving or hating?

If we observe, think and feel, we wish to be accepted someway, somehow.

We can give suffering and evil a purpose, as humans, for we are able to convey compassion, support, aid and help.

This does not mean we can justify sacrifices, evil, etc., like saying the end justifies the means, (Machiavelli did not mean to be mean), for that would be more than arrogance.

Jacobsen: What is the meaning of love to you?

Navas: The purpose of living, to appreciate the marvels not just of mother nature from physical and natural sciences, but how great and powerful love is, and more is the marvel, shown via mother nature. Thus, it shows our best side as humans, but, naturally, love goes beyond humans. Love means all.

Jacobsen: How does love bring forth the better parts of our nature?

Navas: Love is the best expression of freedom as well. It’s freedom and gives us freedom. Love withstands dark nature and overcomes everything, when being rational and true, so it gives freedom without hurting others on purpose.

Even evil people are capable of love, though, I believe most evil people are so wretched that they don’t have an inkling of it.

Anna Frank, despite all she endured, fervently believed all humans are good, deep down, that is so incredibly remarkable.

Love is the best indication of being alive.

Jacobsen: Is ‘hell’ in a metaphorical sense the inability to love?

Navas: Basically, yes, it’s great to love and to give love, and this does not entail being selfish. It’s “better,” in my opinion, to give love. I wrote in quotation marks because it’s complemented with being love.

Jacobsen: Do you believe in an afterlife? If so, why? If not, why not?

Navas: If we define the afterlife as you having no end in our mortal and material lives, yes, we call them ghosts, spirits. They make be a fine example that human minds have 5–8 dimensions.

Although, here comes an interesting rub: If our human imagination is limited to our senses, and human minds for the most part are unable to conceive more than 3 dimensions in the conventional sense, in the conceptual sense it is much harder, yet, human minds have such dimensions and are unaware of it, how then could a ghost be able to conceive such dimensions if it was part of a human being?

If I believe in heaven or hell as pragmatists do, I definitely don’t.

Others say realms where human beings go, not sure to be honest, I find it hard to believe due to evolution (more evolved humans would have their souls going there) and in the cosmos there are other beings, intelligent forms of life, similar to that of ours, why would we not have testimonials about them? Like I said, I hardly think of this being a possibility, but I don’t entirely rule it out.

Some others believe in reincarnation. I think rare cases do occur, but they are uncommon for sure.

Jacobsen: How does aging bring a coming to terms with mortality for you?

Navas: 1. We should give our lives a purpose and to make the world a better place than what it was like before we came here. Otherwise, it’s pointless to live.

Biologically though, by the way, we can live longer, and in the near future, with body parts cloning, we will be able to regenerate our bodies and virtually live forever.
One of my quotes states: To think is to live.
Wisdom does not necessarily come with age, it depends on how we grow, and children have certain wisdom, unconscious if you will, but lots are to be learned from kids.

Jacobsen: What is the main feared thing in life for you?

Navas: Lack of love, that is not life.

Jacobsen: How does your theory of life explain cosmogenesis?

Navas: My theory of life only explains what life is in terms of biology reconciling philosophy and social sciences. Yet, it gives a precept: there must be some sort of communication in terms of bondage or link that say in a universal code, allows for something more than creation of the inanimate.

If we could see one thing: Everything falls the easiest possible way, that would help explain the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, so from simple things, as the universe evolves, and one of this way to evolve is by self replication and self selection, we see an equilibrium between “from order to chaos” and what we conceptually understand as evolution. In short: Life shall find the way.

Jacobsen: How does this explain multiversal cosmogenesis?

Navas: It is far more difficult to explain multiversal cosmogenesis from M-Theory on its own. In principle, so there can be multiverses, here must be a certain order and chaos entailed, like since there cannot be placed a particular point in space or time (also known as the Super Copernican Principle), this happens to be a paradox.

A multiverse other than ours could have originated far away much longer ago than ours, and so forth. Certainly, this means variety and this aids for the existence of life.

Jacobsen: What differentiates — to quote Bill Sidis — the animate from the inanimate?

Navas: Basically what he meant to say when talking about Pflüger and 2nd Law of Thermodynamics is that, an alive being is able to manipulate and control its temperature at will, or to some extent, at least.

Jacobsen: Why is there something rather than nothing?

Navas: So, there can be nothing; there should be something. See it this way, from the conventional point of view, a point in space is an abstraction, it can also be conceived as a 0-dimensional concept, so it entails neither true nor false statements in logics and its derivatives.

So, there can be then something; there should be nothing. In fact, nothing would be something, like number 0, say, in order to learn to count, we have to learn to count not. It can be seen like a binary duality but it entails neither true nor false.

Its derivatives may help us see it also like, beyond something and “nothing” there can also be nothingness, really, a sort of “fiber” that in our humanly limited minds cannot be conceived. Yet, it’s based upon something we are familiar with.

Jacobsen: Why is space so huge?

Navas: I will answer this with a question: Why is space so small? Space and time are relative, meaning they are relative in size as well. What we may conceive as huge could also be seen as infinitely small, and vice versa.

As for why space is infinite, as I see it, it is because if there is space, there must be infinite space in order to keep physics’ laws operating, and, because space has more than just 3 dimensions combined with time, space would need to be infinite. This follows from my answer in the previous question, but with an equilibrium: as above, so below.

So there may be a 0-dimensional concept, from 0 to all, all meaning infinite, there should be endlessness. Now, in a place, where we have a point, meaning 0-dimensional concept, such space can also be expanded, twisted, etc., meaning that has more than just 3 dimensions on its own, now imagine a four-dimensional concept, or more, say a black hole, when altering not just space but also time, we conceive that such point has been expanded! This means space is infinite and has to be so it can be twisted, altered, etc.

Jacobsen: Why three spatial dimensions and one temporal dimension?

Navas: There are not just 3 spatial dimensions but many more, in the conventional sense. Time has more than 1 dimension.

Jacobsen: Do other universes in the ensemble exhibit more than 4-dimensionality?

Navas: For sure!

Jacobsen: Could they exhibit partial dimensionality, as in 3.23 dimensions or 9.11 dimensions?

Navas: Good question! Yes, something not too similar from what we know so far, but that would be also in the conceptual sense, not just the conventional one.

Jacobsen: Or dual partial dimensionality, what about 3.16 spatial dimensions and 6.66 temporal dimensions?

Navas: 6.66? What the hell! Perhaps, yes.

Jacobsen: What makes America a great country? What makes America a terrible country? How do we reconcile these great and terrible views of the country?

Navas: America is a great country in LIGHT of that she has been the land of opportunity in so many ways to immigrants, like being able to acquire lands easily, faster and much cheaper. In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was way beyond the question for a European to even dream of lands.

America has also been a nation that has learned from other nations’ mistakes and her own, and has been a country that with every crisis, has emerged stronger. Naturally, she has erased and re-written once, and again.

American laws have been great.

American women are the best and most beautiful ones on Earth (for me).

America is also the land of the free.

Jacobsen: Why gather so many personal quotes on love or otherwise?

Navas: At first, I was just sharing a few ideas with friends about what I consider about what marriage should be, in light of so many failed and broken marriages and relationships, what women want. At first they were just about 40, basic ones, but it grew a lot.

Jacobsen: What is the ultimate life goal for you?

Navas: Love.

Jacobsen: What is the comprehensive and collective purpose of all these interests and intellectual pursuits for you?

Navas: To potentialize my mind, and making a better world.

Jacobsen: What makes a good date to you?

Navas: Where we start talking and there is a certain chemistry. There may not be anything at first, but some attraction, at least a good communication with a good sense of humor, things in common, preferably to have good lunch or dinner, in her favorite place as long as its not a wild one, to talk about music, books, politics, philosophy, stories.

I would invite food as a gentleman, not that I believe in traditional roles, for I would also be okay if we split up the bill. Naturally agreeing, being honest and laughing, being myself and hopefully herself too.

Jacobsen: What makes a bad date to you?

Navas: To be with someone with whom I have nothing in common with, or very little, someone with no intellect, to find out she has a boyfriend already or she is too nasty.

Jacobsen: What if you never find love, marriage, and a family life in the manner hoped?

Navas: I would be committed to support the struggle for gender equality, struggle against prostitution, to assist ecology (in the non-direct way) and do research and progress on econophysics. I would also help make America a better place and support her allies like Great Britain. I will keep learning so much from books and Internet and make more inventions.

Jacobsen: How much do finances factor into the overall idea of a happy life for you?

Navas: At least 12 million USD of nowadays.

Jacobsen: Any guesses as to the intelligence level of Leonardo da Vinci and William James Sidis with an S.D.?

Navas: Leonardo Da Vinci surely had 220 or more, up to 235 I think. He is a hero for sure! Despite many adversities in his life, he was way ahead of his day.

William James Sidis, despite he was a great genius, he was miserable for sure. Many think his IQ was 250–300, but I think those numbers mean nothing on their own. I guess his actually was of about 220–230, because no doubt, his was higher than Goethe, even higher than that of Pierre de Fermat, French mathematician and jurist. The numbers I gave are just my opinion.

Jacobsen: How many women geniuses have we simply lost due to the seemingly incurable prejudice of their male lords and masters over the centuries (and millennia)? Hypatia’s murder, apparently by a mob of Christian men, is only one early example of a sentiment enacted outwards to a woman polymath.

Navas: I was about to bring that up, but I did not want to overwhelm my previous answers. Yes, women have lost a lot of ground despite being a majority and surely several women have been among the brightest ones in human history but hadn’t been given a chance nor they had been acknowledged.

The case of Hypatia of Alexandria’s case was really regrettable, she died murdered by Christian fanatics because her teachings were considered profane. This is a clear example of that fanaticism and radicalism are terrible, regardless of the trend. Hypatia’s case was the most explicit example of such misogyny.

Mileva Maric, several centuries later, was another example, hence Albert Einstein is certainly the scientist I most loathe myself for lacking not just originality and taking too much credit without giving it to whom most deserved, based also upon misogyny.

I can’t possibly imagine how much such stupid trends have set back humankind’s progress by all accounts: social and political, but also scientifically, artistically, technologically, etc.

I should bring up a few more other notable women in science: Margaret Mitchell, who at age 29 discovered a new comet in the 19th century. She was American.

Clara Barton, who founded the Red Cross helped so many lives during the Civil War.

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz: A New Hispanic (New Spain was the name of what later would be known as Mexico) sour or nun who was no doubt a genius. She literally used a man’s disguise in order to pursuit an education for her love to knowledge, was a poetess, an intellectual, who obviously as ahead of her day.

More is the paradox, more than mere irony: the first worksheets ever to be known to us were produced by a woman in Ancient Mesopotamia, Enheduanna (2285–2250 BC), daughter to Sargon of Akkad (Sargon the Great, 2334–2279 BC). It’s not really clear whether or not she was a direct blood kin to him, but she surely trusted him a lot, for the priest works in the temples in the city of Ur.

She was a very bright woman. I said paradox beyond mere irony (mere a limited humanly context) because she lived in what much later would become a Moslem nation that began to capture, enslave and sell black people during what despite was the golden age for the Middle East to scientific and technological advances, began a really regrettable practice and, as well known it is, Islam as a religion tend to subdue women in the most atrocious ways.

I shall briefly name other important women in history, like the last Celtic ruler in the British Isles who bravely fought Roman invaders: Bouddica, queen to Essenians; Nodira, a great Uzbek ruler whose tenure was great and she ruled greatly.

There was a great woman whose writings were first and thanks to them we have Christianity as we know today, Perpetua, a Roman woman who became a disciple to Christianity during the Roman Empire and was captured to be taken to the Roman circus.

This is a very famous one too: Joan of Arc.

*Here I give you a personal reference to Enheduanna, though I knew about her in Cosmos, by Neil deGrasse Tyson, a very charismatic man who is a stern follower to Carl Sagan. Enheduanna

Jacobsen: Who seem like some of the smartest women alive today, or in history?

Navas: I will mention the smartest women on Earth currently living, and remarkable women from the past as well.

There is a Russian woman, I forgot her name, her IQ is 193 too, she is old I think, saw her quite quickly once. (please let me browse more about her)

Some claim Marilyn vos Savant who scored 186–228.

Personally, I think the smartest woman currently alive is Edith Stern: over 200 in IQ she has, who is an inventor and holds at least 128 U.S. patents on her name.

Another good candidate could be: Alia Sabur, the youngest professor, though I don’t know her IQ.

Here I mention some of the smartest women alive I know about:

Gina Langan: 182

Ruth Lawrence: 175

Judith Polgar: 170

Manahel Thabet: 168

Olivia Manning: 162

Fabiola Mann: 162

In history:

Agatha Agnesi 180

Madame de Staël 180

Hypatia of Alexandria (170–190)

Marie Curie: 180–200

Cleopatra: 180

Grace Hopper: 175

Mileva Maric, she was much smarter than Albert Einstein. Despite she did not even finish her degree because of her being a woman and she had dashes with Albert, she provided the mathematical framework of many of Albert’s theories.

In fact, some consider she is the actual mother to the Theory of Relativity, so not a good idea to have Albert as a relative, for his relatively high IQ and moreover, his relative well-deserved fame. He associated with others for his works.

Had it not been for his wife, NOBODY would ever had known he even lived, the would never had been more than a patents office employee in Switzerland. Here I show you a book about her: https://www.amazon.com/Einsteins-Wife-Story-Mileva-Einstein-Maric/dp/0262039613/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Mileva+Maric&qid=1593809117&s=books&sr=1-1

Jacobsen: What are the sub-categories or types of love to you?

Navas: To me there is, in romance, just once love, though we may reach agreements and be clear about what place we are in.

Jacobsen: How does love impact the body?

Navas: When in love, our body releases dopamine, which makes us feel something like when we eat chocolate; when in love, even if just infatuated, we feel somehow a high sensation, that literally is similar to that of being stoned, high.

I am very much aware. Although, I haven’t so far experimented it. For I’m pretty virgin, that lovemaking helps the organ we know as heart work better.

Addendum I: Jaime’s Favourite Personal Quotes

Jacobsen: You have some personal quotes. What are some of the favourites?

Navas: Hard to pick Scott, I herein give you almost all my quotes, but I first provide you my tendency on them: paradox in them to mirror truth from within as to without, from inner to outer.

A few notes on my quotes. It’s clearly specified on Facebook that they have been subject to copyrights and FBI.

They are not numbered because of a good reason; knowledge cannot be quantifiable.

Some have no quotation marks because they are truth for sure.

Some claim guess who as credits because of the supreme being I consider.

There is more space or gap between some of them denoting order and mystery, to be more between some of them:

“One may be shy when talking to the person one loves most, romantically, and it may seem like weakness and insecurity, but the other side is quite the opposite, sensibility, which renders a lot of strength. Two sides of the coin apparently, yet two extremes in love.”

“Betray yourself NOT, that’s what you must NOT do, don´t betray thy goals.”

“How come we say: God bless America; America is a blessing hence the best implicit way to express it is: God bless America the blessing.”

“What IS the greatest country in the world? Russia, for its vastness, China in terms of anthropocentrism for the largest population, but America or the USA is the greatest one (at the MOST) in light of her grandeur and grandiosity.”

“Infinity can be relative also.”

“It’s great to assist others and not thinking we are the center of the creation, but our own world is too complex enough, hence it’s better to help others and nature.”

“America is touted the MOST paradoxical country, ironically America is the GREATEST dream, but for the same reason it’s the MOST REAL thing and the MOST REAL dream, the GREATEST human accomplishment under God.”

“Time and space are not just relative, but also paradoxical just like the Universe or this sub-existence, but most of all, this existence and many others quite could be also paradoxical.”

“Have as much ambition as you can, for there’s nothing you cannot do.”

“It’s a lot easier, far easier to search in light than to search in darkness, just because of scape, the speed, but also because there is nothing as elusive to humans than the subtle of the deep of the obvious, that enlightens a lot, within light, the more we get, the better. Yet don’t let light blind you, as a tree blinding you from a forest.” (Because of itself being so fantastic and WONDERful, whilst darkness is blinding also.)

“It’s paradoxical that the topmost problem to humans means the lowest and meanest path while for many it many seem the highest yet deepest issue.”

“God has given us intelligence to understand it as best as possible we can.”

“Love and care ecology, and nature, for without it we could not just exist the way we know.”

“Every single self-idea and breakthrough in life is an awakening as well as learning new stuff.”

“To realize we have 5 dimensions in our minds is deep, to understand it is high, living accordingly is elevated and serving life accordingly is divine and sublime.”

“Count your awakenings not for the sunrises but for every single new logical idea that comes across your mind, and every single discovery.”

“To think and to have the right intuition is to live at least in the plane, talking on plain terms.”

“Understand how we have 5 dimensions is neat, understanding why may be mature, but giving it a for what, a good one is subtle, not doing so is sin.”

“Every nap that does not yield a good inspiration is a wasted one.”

“Sometimes it’s required to see things from above in order to see through them.”

“When one accumulates something that is not gonna use out of fear one has no little mustard faith seed on the positive, and when one accumulates something out of fear that weighs more than oneself one is already in danger and that would be fearful enough! yet to fear fear itself is healthy, sane.”

“Imagination and logics are not only the optics with the which we look at the world, but also how we mostly feel it and live it with.”

“If our imagination is so humanly limited and inconsistent, don’t even try to imagine what would become of us if we don’t use it or limit it even more.”

“It’s funny how when a crowd is yelling something say in protest and riots I can’t understand what they say coz of lot of chaos with apparent order, but in opera with harmony single order, etc., I can’t understand anything either.”

“Mathematics make infinite sense, but love makes infinitely more sense.” (From imagination that is defied by both, and this entailing transfinite numbers, categorizable infinites, love for mathematics as an under and upper scope, and of course love.)

“How is it possible that small minds can shelter so big nonsenses, but they cannot home the smallest bright ideas, and it’s funny how the biggest minds don’t shelter the biggest dullness and shelter the biggest bright ideas.”

“The top problem of humans not only at individual stage, but also as a global one, is to think to be the center of the world, for their ability to modify the environment and their path, and just imagine if no human thought they were the center of the world…”

“It’s funny how if intelligence is so subjective to our perception, and so to our intelligence…can we say both sides are on balance if we tried to resume to just terms?”

“How come we say God bless America if America is the blessing?”

“Ironies and paradoxes are somehow the inverse verses in life insofar as we see it, not just organic life at times.”

“It takes one to be brave when it comes to a new breakthrough, for curiosity takes to that, hence at times it takes even more rare to question: established things or new discoveries.” Guess who (plus the paradox factor)

“It takes to be so much awaken to accomplish dreams.”

“Those who dream are more awake than those who do not have dreams at all.”

“It is paradoxical this whole creation, hence we must wonder and ask about it, but more paradoxical is that we don’t wonder about that paradox on its own.”

“A top problem to humans is not to focus on solutions.”

“Cleverness is to dream; dullness is to fantasize.”

“Funnily interesting that when I provided the warning about FBI and my copyrights early on I had to a little extent some creativity of my own.”

“To learn by oneself is cleverness, applying is honor.”

“Sadly ironic that since history rhymes a lot, and one of the most, if not the most rhyming and constant trait has been war, war is not one bit poetic.”

“Sadly ironic that since history rhymes a lot, and one of the most, if not the most rhyming and constant trait has been war, war is not one bit poetic, but it ma be even sadder or even more heroic that despite that heroes are and love thrives.”

“Intelligence is the greatest of all paradoxes.”

“U.S.A. is the best country in the world”
Guess who means God, people.

“I’m an American patriot with American heart, therefore I exist.”

“To think correctly is the best of all medicines.”

“Laying the foot in order to give the first step is better in any instance than not laying the foot at all (by not giving the first step) for not giving the first step is LAYING THE BOTH FEET!”

“Its paradoxical within humans that they want to know more, ignorance annoys them, but they fear and to some extent it annoys them what they don’t know.”

“How come spare time and need into curiosity are the chief inventive leaders?”

“The most contagious of all diseases is irrational fear.”

“If humans all learned to love and take care of nature wars would be over.”

“It’s difficult to find worthwhile things that are easy.”

“Humility and amazement are the blood for learning.”

“The Universal question is: Why and how are why and how the universal questions?”

“If you’re not confused about it then you did not have it clearly understood (humanly speaking and under some circumstances).”

“Genius is to make ‘difficult’ stuff simple and the simple, subtle.”

“It’s somehow funny that the rectangular objects called books are not entirely compatible with the Great Book of life (Big Picture).”

“In practice theory may be very subjective but at times experience may be even more.”

I was thinking about what my favorite quote is from all those I have compiled by myself, and I then thought “The subtlest way to get to know oneself is by having own logical and deep phrases.” That´s my favorite quotation after all (on gen.).

“Why is art is the subtlest and the gateway to the art of knowing and how?”

“U.S.A. has been the miracle posed by God to guide the world in human-like following way.”

“It is good to know that the lord was and is good despite many who claim he was good “

“Funny it’s crystal and VERY clear that the lazy one has a pale future and white as in the whitest papers and has a dark future so dark that is so black.”

“The real nutcase is the one who has no proper ideas and nor logical ideas at all.” Guess who, Me

“It takes a fair amount of analysis, memory and imagination to compile quotes, and apparently they limit imagination, but I don’t want to imagine what would be of the world without them.

“Fantasizing is the sweetest of all deaths being alive.”

“The one who does not study correctly does not know her/himself (the right thing would be to say the one who doesn’t study correctly almost knows a minimal part of her or himself, for that person knows she or he doesn’t like to study, but doesn’t know what her or his likes would be, just half a minimal part, but the poetic art would be lost).”

“Crazy the lazy and the lazy goes crazy.” (predictability and Newton’s quote on being unable to calculate human insanity)

“If you believe everything that reads on the books, you better don’t read at all, especially do not write any book’ likewise if you believe everything you hear, don’t listen at all, but above all then do not talk at all.”

The metamessage from the Haunted Mansion is “It is hell when we think of ourselves as the center of the world and the center of the Universe by default.”

“Young innocence and experienced maturity on their own are good into a romantic relationship, to keep the wonderment of innocent young as an “experienced grownup.” is virtue, but comparing both, about which is most important is the top of cynicism.

“Every single subject at school and every branch of science is like a string in the big life guitar.”

“Each and every subject at school is math, just perceived in a different way.”

“I think, therefore I live, thereafter I am. (talk about it with a ghost)
(funny that Descartes´s spirit is more into corrected than in his own words which have less life)

“Since Statistics, probability and logics are the least consisting of all math branches, and we think: we are slaves of what we say? especially on those? Proofs?????”

“Have you ever wondered why and how curiosity is the mother of all “inventions.” being that this is not an invention? (Curious thing I did not find a more creative way to lay the terms in plain facts, don’t you think?) (Curious would be that this being apparently the most curious argument would not be the most curious as such, being so curious that this quote is curious, especially if we define curious in many scales).” Curious don’t you think? is there a more subtle or creative way to say it was me?

“The lazy fellow so slow that something as sluggish as idleness is fast enough to catch up with him/her.”

“If intelligence is the greatest of all paradoxes, and paradoxes are the greatest expressions of sense of humor, it’s even a greater paradox that intelligence is not the greatest expression of sense of fun, even funny paradoxically and it’s the greatest expression of sense of groove, especially because it’s in the middle (neither dull, nor God like and it takes intelligence to be really funny) hence it’s one of those situations written in sentences that can neither be false nor they can be true. Not so funny is it?”

“Justice is the equilibrium of seeing and not seeing at the same time (beware, using this the wrong way can take to hell, for indifference is the perfect crime, you see but you’re blinder if you don’t act).”

“A very sane way to classify humans is that we all humans are divided into 4 basic types of braincases: holly ones, poor ones, damn ones, and plain ones (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Tim Burton, most graphic one), not seeing this is insane, to some extent…”

“Most people ignore this: If fear at the large context is the most contagious of all diseases, why isn’t fear to ignorance a brink for no ignorance?”

“Since there is nothing more elusive to humans than the subtle of the deep of the obvious, and how it is in the surface, one should consider one is one’s own worst enemy by not believing n oneself, as light and dark… easier to search in light than dark, but beware not to be selfish!”

“You may think ignorance and indifference are the worst crimes, two opposites and extremes, especially indifference, but the perfect crime committed by evil is the one that cannot possibly be known (ignorance by people or craftiness of committer) but now don’t be indifferent to this one, the obvious but subtle thing here is that the perfect crime does exist indeed, and it is indifference in all ways, negligence, uncaring, etc., whether not know that happened or worse, everyone knows that happened and laws don´t enforce to curtail it and, maybe you did not see this, but now that u do, it would be worse if u neglect it.”

“The art of learning and having own ideas (its being even far more alive) is the eternal youth source, for every time we learn something and we wonder more, the younger we become.”

“The greatest thing about genius and intelligence is that genius does not exist, maybe the smartest idea,” quirky paradox.

“The day when we live with plants and animals as our equals, that day prehistory will actually end.”

“Amazement, humble attitude, curiosity and intelligence are the ABCs of breakthroughs.”

“Science and Spiritual studies are married for both share the idea of explaining existence in a world that needs both desperately.”

“So curious don’t you think that curiosity is the cure to some extent to ignorance, but also makes it hurt worse?”

“Funny math is born to die, but makes the mathematician live forever if contributions are done, physics is born to apparently live, without those biology and life could not be possible, perhaps, such a logical mathematical reasoning shall live forever.”

“Is it the most logical argument in ground terms that logics was born to die? that would be funny because logics is so alive that it gives life to everything apparently tangible that it dies because of that.”

“Metalogics is the breath that God printed in all things, and since it was born to die, that´s what also makes it immortal, logical right?”

“I don’t doubt that doubt is the break in the trip of learning that speeds learning up.”

“Think love, love to feel, feel the love, and love to think.”

“If I thought to love, love to feel, feel the love and loved to think the quote “Think love, love to feel, feel the love, and love to think.” could be done the right way which I would think to love, love to fee, feel the love and loved to think, would be a blessing, but if mistaken would be a curse.”

“To think correctly is free, not to do so is quite expensive.”

“To first give love to oneself is fortitude, to get love from oneself is inspiring, but only take love for oneself is weakness and not to give love to others is cowardice given this mindframe.” (OK, partly inspired by Lao Tzu, but remember what Leonardo da Vinci said about not overpassing our teachers?)

“Funny and wise is that we say and do: live today as if it were the first day of your life, and the last one.”

“Probably it would be reasonable to better analyze ideas rather than facts or people, in my opinion, would be the best path for progress.”

“Benjamin Franklin’s quote, ‘If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write something worth reading or do something worth writing,’ and to think and have logical proper ideas is matter of survival are the two sides of the same coin, a coin I call survithinking.”

“Wonder this: if you’re a money magnet for you attract money to you, you’re successful, if money attracts you, you´re actually poor, but if you attract money for the welfare of your loved ones, the community and nature, wealth has no limit.”

“Apparently coining logical terms is quite paradoxically cheap and hard, but not doing so is QUITE expensive, this I call -unchexpensive-Coining-”

“The equilibrium of life is one of the off-beat most ones for all parts are connected and communicated but we get balance from two sides yet the other one, the top most one has no need of the others intrinsically yet cannot be completed without the two others.”

“Understanding and deriving others wise quotations is clever but having proper ones and evolving them is wisdom.

“Interesting that in life its required to see things right from above, but life cannot be seen right from above nor many other angles from, and somehow it can.”

“A zero at left hand has no rights.”

“Especially when it comes to mathematics, it may seem a lot safer many times to be at shoulders of the giants than being following steps. Not laying the feet would be worse!”

“Imagination in many aspects is like servant who serves the master analysis, and not the analysis master so many times, who cleans and prepares the entrance of analysis.”

“It’s really so funny that if comedy comes easy not, real life and reality actually come a lot harder, undoubtedly!”

“The real deal and not an ordeal is to know not what other choices we could have taken but to understand those by what we have already taken the ones we already did.”

“Interestingly not so odd that it is neither true nor it is false that we cannot coin a quote on DIVINE LOVE for it’s the TRUTH.” Neither it is false nor it is true it was me.

“If math was born to be dead especially Pure math, what does that tell us about quotes?” (Logics, metalogics, metamath and metamessages).”

“Irrational Fear being so slow and or the slow ones that she or he who acts diligently and solves problems and is faster at previewing and having proper ideas.”

“Humanly speaking, it may seem that in order to invent (actually discover) we need imagination but imagination to humans, so far is an invention on its own.”

“I act so fast and create so boldly and craftily that fear never reaches me.”

“Paramount is the quote that on its own may be seen from as many points of view or versions yet they all are true.”

“A quote that is right in ALL versions of it may seem to be a puzzle with several parts but such quote is on its own just a part of a puzzle, especially if it mirrors the author.”

“A quote that is right in ALL versions of it may seem to be a puzzle with several parts but such quote is on its own just a part of a puzzle, especially if it mirrors the author who we know may feel free to wonder as for the author and ourselves: how free is he not only about the ability to think and express but to own and be slave what the author knows and keeps quite and/or talks about?”

“NO question: doubt offends, YET, questions can be either a path to heaven, or a path to hell, so who said Ignorance is bliss, especially on HOW to ask? not to mention by what?”

“Differential equations are the arteries that make the blood of life and universe life flow like poetry uncovered.”

“The deeper the ocean of knowledge is compared to the infinite space, paradoxically, does not quench my thirst for knowledge, the more I drink from it the thirstier I feel.”

“Paradoxically, we have more and less free will than we imagine because of our imagination.”

“Odd that for slow minds mouths can be too fast.”

“Curious it is that what gives curiosity die is what makes it even much more alive.”

“Curious it is that what gives curiosity die is what makes it even much more alive. Wondrous it is that we cannot wonder by what wonders are, don’t you think?”

“Imagine how far we can go if events conquer our imagination, to some degree it would be good that imagination abashes us, for we are largely imaginative beings, but let’s not allow imagination conquer us, yet with it we make great progresses.”

“Love is the solid rock upon which u build your being, your life, your essence, more love, but someone with solid rock head and heart cannot be strong enough for that.”

“Strong minds would understand this and most likely feeble-minded people would not: It takes a fair amount of strength in being and mind to change by oneself (especially for values, love, etc.) yet it takes feeble minds to pretend to change somebody else.”

“It would be the top of mediocrity do things out of conceiving God in mere sense of need and to consider God needs us.”

“In mathematics, a plan that works once is a step but may also be seen as a lucky trick, if it works two times straight it’s a procedure, if it works three or more times it’s a rule, if it works over 5 times, it’s a method, if it works more it’s a law: Interesting generalization.” (Consider seeing from the reverse: I understand I know almost nothing, then I sense, I learn, I copy I sense I understand the greater my ignorance was, and so the cycle goes on.)

Is it funny there are no quotes for quotes as such?”
(For curiosity leading humans.)

“Need is the most illusory and most dangerous invention of human mind.”
(Something we should know and especially not to ignore.)

“Is need the most hazardous “perception.” of humankind? How curious is it that we wonder that and how much? Need to…?”
(What does this tell you about what are so called problems and/or opportunity areas?”)

About opportunities and problems “It’s said justice is blind but it’s way blinder to turn a blind eye into opportunities, areas of opportunities (problems) Better not to ignore this beyond need in order to improve life.”

“Zeros, we cannot live without them but we can live better with them, we cannot die without them but it’s better to die with them.”

The above statement and quote mirrors something about math: “What makes math mortal makes them immortal.” and “Were math born to die?” and Me

“Curious that if it wasn’t for curiosity the vast majority of humans would had committed suicide (not having curiosity on its own is suicidal, not dare will) yet when exploring into curiosity and more we don’t know what’s gonna happen, at times perhaps what happened to the cat whose curiosity killed.”

“People may talk about quotes, some may talk about their contents, but how can we wonder and dig more about their truths?” (Notice the parts of people, some, etc.; and the apostrophes.)

“While the stubborn doesn’t know what she/he is saying the wise doesn’t say what she/he knows, plus more stubborn the one who argues a stubborn, but even more for stubborn ones, perseverants must be many people especially if only one.”

“When understanding ecology and animal nature I understand politics better but I stay away from politics by checking animal behavior.”

“There are at least two ways to question what you are being taught or you are learning: Either not believing it (not believing everything you read, hear, etc.) by logics, intuition, etc.) and asking many, many and as many questions as you possibly can about it to prove it either more true or prove it wrong or neither true nor false….”

“When sculpting, rendering a being’s soul is your essence, essentially, but when rendering a spirit on the rocks from inspiration is pure freeing…”

“It’s curious that we may grasp the idea or gist of a book but is that what it’s actually saying? Meta-messages show that the truth may not be entirely true, the starting point of knowledge in contrast with apparent total ignorance.”

“Curious enough it is that new ideas, new discoveries are needed but very urgent is the most curiosity, yet essential is to improve life in harmony with life/biology in order to keep it alive and us.”

“There is nothing more elusive than the subtle of the deep of the obvious, hence the obvious, especially the most obvious should not blind us.”

“At times the one who knows what one wants takes perseverance, not knowing what one wants may lead to stubbornness, knowing how to reach what one wants and finding who one is heroic, whilst not knowing and being alienated and stubborn is tragic and villainous for the most, but the opposite to the aforementioned is traitorous, even more stubborn and far more villainous.”

“We should know more about that for humans, knowledge has two faces, especially when we find out more and how we feel about it. There is a very common human face when discovering something: amazement, but this renders either smarts or foolishness, depending, but the more we are fascinated the more we see it has another two faces, surprise and bafflement and even at times extreme bafflement (depending on one uses it for as human, for the better or for the worse.”

“Fruit cases and idiots are to be sent mailing, but headstrongs are to be totally avoided, nobody should ignore this (see the connotation of ignorance here?).”

“Funny that comedy doesn’t come easy let alone reality and real life.”

“To dream is to live, to achieve is to super live, to be amazed for how big we can dream and do is glory, but to fantasize is to die; we don’t need that much intuition to realize the statement, do we?”

“Is Secret the most controversial term and even more the most controversial concept to humans? The irony is that it is and many things can be derived from this one, even more so if we think of that “ignorance is the shadow of secret.”

“Is it necessary to bear on mind the mindlessness and foolishness of the dumbs in order to help appreciate intellect in humans and the genius of a few? necessity, stressing here curiosity. In 3 levels: naive approaches, junction of amazement and non-amazement in a face that shows both potentially, and stubbornness especially: Not necessarily need and mere curiosity. How insane are they? Are they insane enough? (Beware curiosity doesn’t become an essential-most part of need.”

“If you’re able to count your money you’re not a rich person, nevertheless God’s blessings and himself are gifts I am far less able to count such that money is a mean and I serve Master God so first we are not too great when we help others who are in need especially bearing on mind that money is a way, but having in heart more (also to aid ecology and thank it most of all) so if you’re a rich person you can count on your money, but you cannot count it, but infinitely more unmeasurable is God to be counted on and infinitely less measurable and we are great by helping others and not when it comes to do it (what a congruence).”

“It’s alright to be a rightist, you’re correct and it’s you’re right if you’re, but overcorrectness is not right! am I right?”

“This is essential, and beyond mere survival: some claim love is a survival mechanism, but hatred is a lot more.” (Come on, that were so love could be defined and it’s not possible to define.)

“I am the master of money, so God is my master so I can serve the Lord in harmony (including ecology).”

“Those who lack imagination are the most insane and evidently the craziest ones, those who have limited imagination fantasize, even those with imagination but those with creative imagination and realize their virtues are the ones that move the world.”

“To think is to live, but to feel and be congruent with one´s heart and mind is making the soul stronger.”

“Not moving from a comfort one is dying, discoveries take some degree of chaos from curiosity, curiously not moving is far more chaotic.”

“If logics is the art of being confident of thinking the wrong way, what would we say and imagine about metalogics?”

“It’s amazing in truth how unquestionably question and amazement are close relatives that seem to be married and create more…”

“History flows and may and may not give characters free will, but heroes and main characters are hooks that nail history down.”

“An author’s quote may mirror what the author is, but metamessages and derived quotes echo the author even more.”

“If a quote mirrors what an author is and metamessages and derivate messages which the author, the author may become a shadow in the sand of time, but a greater echo in time, but certainly the original quotes become the shadows.”

“We have to fear just fear itself but we should fear not to have fear even more, but above all, fear not to focus on solutions, and worse even: to ignore this quote.”

“There is nothing more elusive to humans than the subtle of the deep of the obvious, at times because there is nothing more elusive than the subtle of the obvious.”

“Curiously it may seem dumb to get into something we don’t know anything about and nobody does, dumber is not to get into it for there is no fool question, just the one that is not wondered and expressed, for mistakes do not exist if we learn from them.

“Math were born to die, especially and ironically for those characters who find out new things in math are hooked to history, but because of that math are even more prone to die, ironically also because this mirrors that what makes math mortal makes them immortal (inconsistency, non-applied math).”

“Quotes, especially if derived ones, may be a twin blade sword.”

“Paramount is that from the plain sentences from the Bible quotes are not readily available, but quotes can be made if putting the right statements from the Bible together, especially when reckoning them together correctly.”

“Imagination and curiosity: not too surprised yet very surprised how both complement one another, despite curiosity and questioning may seem the antidote to lack of imagination and over imagination….”

“It’s funnily curious that math may be seen as a game by all scopes: either for it’s a game that should groove us all, OR for those who don’t take it the way it should be (either too seriously or don’t like it) as a game too, yet for any scope it should be learned at taught (even self-taught) with the children’s natural curiosity…Not a joke they are though!”

“If breakthroughs are made beyond need, and then beyond curiosity, but to improve life (American philosophy), and, one of the greatest questions to us humans is: Who we are…. this holds better in the gap between need and curiosity, but it’s more NECESSARY between curiosity and life-improvement, and noticing this is a twin-blade sword, then the both sides of the balance are in equilibrium to humans?” (What makes the quote alive, and gives it life.)

“We should first let our minds fly and fly our minds before setting the first step… (laying the foot, for worse or for better), especially considering quantum leaps.”

“Happiness may be searched, found, constructed, but when you really know you’re alive is when you are overjoyed (beyond mere happiness).”

“The irony of neither being linear because of being linear is that it may seem very sensical to use the brain to serve life, dumber is to use the brain to just use humankind but the top of dumbest is to use the brain to serve machines.”

“The greater irony of neither being linear because of being linear is that it may seem very sensical to use the brain to serve life, dumber is to use the brain to just use humankind but the top of dumbest is to use the brain to serve machines for it takes courage to dare to live and it may even seem rather dumb to try something new if one doesn’t have a clue about where that may lead one especially considering human imagination is limited to natural senses, also inconsistent is and conceptual as well yet those are great reasons to also go beyond even when bravery at times may seem to be dumbness when the risks are higher.”

“Freedom is to be able to know what one wants, attain it but also having the strength and the ability to control desires from which it starts.”

“Sanity in soliloqueries is the one in which people question themselves and talk to God and their conscience, and insanity is for those who have no conscience but pretend and say they are talking to their conscience.”

“Freedom is to be able to know what one wants, attain it but also having the strength and the ability to control desires from which it starts but most of all, to be able to break buildups down and expand one´s panorama.”

“I feel like a cat when it comes to laugh about that religions once proven may die before math do.”

“Funny that logics in quotes is apparently so evident but metalogics is to some extent more.”

“So funny that comedy comes easy not, but funnier is that real life and reality come harder.”

“Math, numbers and letters have been witnesses to human history, because math evaluates and unites.”

“Mathematics, what evaluates and apparently separates does so because it unites.”

“A reason why for the most we cannot be ahead in time at math for almost all, is because math is like a friend who gives us more when we learn than what we can give to it?
yet we are to fight what we read, wonder more been beyond mere questions, and own examples being created for if it works once its luck, if it works twice it´s a rule, if it works more than 3 times it´s a method, and a number of times, countless times it works and that’s what unites things, analogies.” (Reason….)

“An edifice with no books has no soul, so give me more and more books so my soul never dies and I will give you books.”

“Quotes are the best way to talk to oneself especially if they come from oneself.”

“What is more predictable and least prophetic, denial or confusion? Surely ignorance and indifference are the worst friends to those.”

Freedom is paid with the blood of the brave, when honorable American flag waves is because of the breath of those who died for America and sacrificed it all for her ideals of honor, peace, equality, such wind goes among us when we stand for those values like powerful and proud like eagle and peaceful like doves, and such wind makes us fly with humility as well and elevates us for God has them in glory.”

“Logics is the mirror too interesting and curious for metalogics is the mirror to amazement and humility being this set a mirror to the first one, but since both seem to be the two sides of a coin, also stands that one doesn’t know what lies ahead, with luck we go ahead.”

“Logics is the mirror too interesting and curious for metalogics is the mirror to amazement and humility being this set a mirror to the first one, also mirrored to one another are that high and elevated is logics while it’s also deep and profound.”

“Logically numbers are great friends with whom I play for math is a game so I cannot say they give me problems (in Russian what we know as mathematical problem is said Zadach, which doesn’t mean problem, for if math is a game, no problems it should give).”

“It´s the top of binarity that real life is considered binary but virtual realm is also binary.”

“Those who have the spirit of ideas and have them clear are perseverant and don’t say what they know unlike those who claim to have the ideas but have a mind as white as a white paper and so pale being really stubborn, hence thanks to the stubborn people the world sets back for they don’t know what they say and thanks to the perseverant the world goes ahead for they at times don’t say what they know.”

“For those whose pale ideas on freedom and change have are too blind to see the spirit and to feel it of liberty and to have it all clear, the darker is their book in black with all white papers in all and are blinder towards the future that is right before all of us.”

“A draft is a twin blade sword: either we are humble to realize we ignore more OR we are poor excuses to progress and too coward to face the future that is right before us though we don’t see it.” (Knowledge, progress and being a draft are twin-blade swords.)

“It’s essential to fight violence by first using the brain and head for we know that from our hearts fights are wrong, so first use the heart.”

“If math studies give me more than I may give them, and it’s food for the brain, I consider it rather imperative to wonder also whether if I shouldn’t take a good food just because I have no idea about how digestion works, as an example, a general one, specially to consider generalizations in order to understand.”

“Sometimes putting parts of logical mathematical ideas or quotes in this case exemplifies that math unites the subtle of several faces of human knowledge.”

“If it’s essential to fight violence by first using the brain and head for we know that from our hearts fights are wrong, so first use the heart, especially for also generating new ideas together, and fight with proposals the given previous ideas as generalizations and make great own examples combined. Ramanujan was a great example to it, that the latter is the best weapon “

“I think, I live, thereafter I am, I learn and I live again……thus I celebrate myself and the world, and I celebrate the world, I think, I live, thereafter I am…. Existence.”

“Surprised that when being surprised and one discloses such face that conveys such emotion, either that face is for being too smart or too dumb and people who are too clever treat dumb people like dumbs in their faces and the fools don’t even realize that, whilst the wise ones say what they know subtly and the stubborns do not know what they are talking about?”

“From Alice in Wonderland: “Since it’s a mathematical novel, the more we find out the more math gives us and math gives us more than we may give to her, hence we are freer without being slaves to what we say but about what we ignore we are free and slaves….”

“Logics represents the mirror between the deep and high and metalogics stand for the whole scope.”

“Love cannot be defined, that’s a fact, because love is truth.”

“If love knows reasons that reason knows nothing of, then we partly know why love cannot be defined, that’s a fact, because love is truth.”

“It’s interesting that in math one should fight back with own examples, in war one shouldn’t take anything for granted, mathematically speaking with Differential equations one should have special care about strategies, but in music, math takes a different tonality.”

“I must also confess I chose math in part because in math, no matter how many surgeries, “autopsies.”, dissections and operations you make on theorems, lemmas, etc., they don’t suffer, on the contrary, the more they give you the more you enjoy it for you realize they may give you more than what you may give them, unlike biology.”
Me

“It’s funny that an artist´s job is in part to search for the truth but the art she/her produces may tell more about the truths and plain facts about her/him.

“I may tell the lady I love I love her more than she can imagine and I love her just the say she is.”

“The art of love is what defies our imagination even more than time and time itself.”

“The art of love is what defies our imagination even more than time and time itself, would love defy us? and most of all inspire us?”

“It’s interesting that humans are the beings that question themselves but commit the same mistake twice or more, many of those times on purpose, and in part is because humans as species consider themselves the center of the world, is it love???????.”

“I would tell my loved lady that I love her more than she can imagine, just the way she is, for I don’t abuse my imagination.”

“I love the woman I love beyond imagination because I don’t abuse my imagination.”

“Lovely that time but even more love defy our imagination for we are able to love someone without abusing our imagination just the way that person is.”

“By not abusing our imagination when we love somebody we feel more joy than we can imagine.”

“Our senses may feel and sense more than we can imagine despite our imagination being restricted to our senses biologically, naturally! and that’s what give sense to our lives, more than we can imagine.”

“To love with insanity is to love by not abusing one’s imagination which gives the best sense to our lives, more than we can imagine.”

“Because I would love her more than she can imagine for I love her more than my own imagination for she just the way she is way beyond anything I could possibly have imagined.”

“Because I would love her more than she can imagine for I love her more than my own imagination for she just the way she is way beyond anything I could possibly have imagined and the best, I would be dazzled very day more and more and more beyond my imagination for I would be falling in love for her every day anew.”

“The most beautiful woman I have ever seen, by looking at her the worst food would not matter and the most savoury food would not be sweet enough and not even comparable to her sight.”

“If thinking of sex all the time diminishes and shaves IQ, but thinking of war, fight, strategies, etc. doesn’t. It’s curious then that if I’m curious about how sex feels, in love that diminishes intelligence but thinking of a need like strategies in war, or a fight, etc., helps intelligence, being that most breakthroughs are made out from curiosity mainly.”

“Interesting that from my prior love quotes all can be reduced in a symbolic drawing with a triangle and a circle that unites her, me, God, our environment.”

“Romantically meaningful yet funny but since human imagination is limited to our senses, such that all we imagine comes from what our senses have perceived, and if our imagination were that great we would be able to imagine things that our senses haven’t sensed, such the beauty of the woman I love, beyond anyone’s imagination such that it would be really dumb not to even imagine that with such beauty I would fall in love again for, especially day after day.”

“It’s astounding for REAL how enslaved we are to what we say, even more about what we imagine and far more about amazement which makes us freer.”

“Words, math expressions and numbers cannot give a hint to define how beautiful the most beautiful woman I have ever seen is like.”

“If love knows reasons that reasons knows nothing of, for it brings happiness, then reasonably joy is to be found because of the clarity or lack to if when it comes to improve oneself and help the beloved one grow as well.”

“One cannot be in love with love let alone in love with the idea of being in love with love, for I love the part of love, which I not only search for the truth but I feel the truth and I find the truth better.”

“Enigmatic it is how we have imagination limited to our senses, but our analysis and ability of abstraction are in many imaginable ways, more than we imagine, whilst in our imagination we are able to conceive things that do not exist and not things that do exist that are beyond our understanding.”

“I could write quite a book with a huge abstract about how with a lot of abstraction and imagination one may be able to see something in an object and/or circumstance that goes way away from it and abstraction despite being far from imagination many times actually is the other side of the coin with imagination, for being so united and thus far away, yet abstraction defies imagination more than imagination defies abstraction but imagination is more important for the most.”

“Curious also that creativity to speak about abstraction and imagination is not as required as the right words in right place is, for imagination tends to be more important, more than we mostly imagine.”

“It’s such an artwork that the truth in part of an artist´s work is to find the truth but also to conceal the truth, improve it and even be able to tell lies in lots of camo.”

“Since it’s such an artwork that the truth in part of an artist´s work is to find the truth but also to conceal the truth, improve it and even be able to tell lies in lots of camo, one cannot make things up when it comes to write them down and render plain honesty, ironically now with creativity.”

“Funny but when I write down quotes and thoughts creativity may not be the most important thing but I do express my feelings.”

“Curious it is that abstraction inspires imagination and imagination inspires both intuition and abstraction, but memory inspires imagination from the lower level.”

“Is it too obvious that the too obvious makes the subtleness of obvious and obvious itself look overshadowed? How about reverse?”

“Funny that the pale overshadowed by light of knowledge and else…”

“Love is so obvious and so elusive, but not so obviously elusive.”

“This may be quite elusive but love is the most obvious of everything that makes us feel alive yet the most elusive because of that in part.”

“I had never imagined on its own, let alone how much imagination is defied by love and abstraction, which I love so much and makes me feel and think more.”

“It’s hard to imagine something that defies imagination more than love and abstraction, despite both being apparently two sides of a coin.”

“it’s not easy to find the creativity to account for it for imagination is basis to the top, and for this top? it would be the top not to find it.”

“I’m a slave to what I keep quite but when it comes to show love makes me free.”

“Quotes, the best way to be plain honest by talking to oneself, searching for the truth, the subtle form of art, with or without makeups and the maker must be able to tell for both.”

“I love math books more which have applications into finance, physics, etc., for this is something tangible and I love math books that have no applications on them because they show the pure math and fine part of the art of mathematics, same as I love books that are so complete that make me think and those that are inaccurate/incomplete that make me think.”

“Math count on us to be discovered for we can count on them, beyond what we may account for.”

“Mathematicians and own thinkers are amongst the freest people for everyone may COUNT on them and they may count on their own skills.”

“More than we imagine math defies our imagination, which is limited to our senses, that fact on its own (that our imagination is limited) makes us think about how limited our perception is, and how limited our understanding of the reality is, and about our deeds and actions, even our thoughts! I love Math because it’s the most graphic yet abstract way to show us all of that.”

“Blessed be more than they can imagine who give love and love doesn’t love them (about giving more and one may give or not) and those who do study math for real, for math gives them more than they can imagine.”

“I don’t fear fear itself so since it takes bravery to find out more and more about anything, I flee ignorance which I fear but I admit I have a lot the more I find out and I am brave to face the unknown.”

You may have faith, more than we may imagine in that:

“Everything is faith, more than we able to imagine.”

“Should people ask me why I study Math I reply: Why NOT? I study math because it shows me How everything works, and how is made from whys, so this takes me to: by what.”

“Some would have the faintest idea for others would have it very clear, and the first ones so clear that is so faint! Clearly faint!”

“Whilst some would have the faintest idea for others would have it very clear, and the first ones so clear that is so faint! Clearly faint! So blessed be those who faint out of surprise.”

“It may be quirky that we don´t actually chose who we fancy and love but we do chose to suffer.”

“It may seem really dumb to venture into something we don´t know where it may be taking us, but a lot dumber is not to dig into such venture.”

“The good thing about mountains is that in order to hike them we may dig more and more in order to realize what a distance we have from it to the sky and universe in terms of our ignorance)

“It’s easier to define Life with God than without God, paradoxically, if we had to put them both in a balance God is way more complex than ‘life.’”

“Allow the depths of knowledge sink you NOT out of vanity AND superficiality and the highness of wisdom belittle the importance of spirit.”

“Allow the depths of knowledge sink you NOT because of how belittled may seem the spirit out of superficiality and arrogance because of the highness of wisdom.”

“When I had problems in life I went into math deeper, for they gave me the most problems.”
(This cannot be said as such in Russian language.)

Addendum II: Jaime’s Favourite Personal Points on Love

Jacobsen: What are your couple or few hundred points on love?

Navas: 0. Be a match in love with best intentions.

Learn from others, especially good references.
I’m not a cheater.
One should know what one wants.
It’s fine if one does not know right way what one wants, but then one should get to meet people as friends and realize who one most likes or what traits one likes most.
Gender equality.
No machismo.
I would not raise my voice at her.
Would not point my finger.
Would never say she is wrong before anyone, especially children.
Would never call her rude words.
Will be there always whenever she needs me.
Would never hire prostitutes.
I never think of sex when being with any woman.
I never get into sex when a lady shows sexual interest in me.
One should get to think about where one is going when being into a relationship.
When having sexual intercourse, should be in love, not just mere casual sex.
Lovemaking is pouring out the soul; sex is just pouring the body.
What I don’t want for her, I don’t want for myself.
Personally, I never go to bars, pubs, night clubs, strip clubs.
I am not into porn.
Not into beauty contests.
No misogynous words.
No old ways of ladies staying home.
No misogynous slurs.
One should be OK with oneself before engaging into a relationship.
One should not be in love with love.
One should try to picture what the person in question would be and look like when being old.
One should never tell a person one loves her/him if one does not.
One should think well and feel well prior to engage into a relationship.
One should pay enough attention to the loved one’s interests as much as to oneself.
It’s important to make every day like the first one.
Good lovemaking is essential to a good relationship.
One should ask oneself: Would I date/marry someone whose just like me?
Anniversaries are important.
Zeal as such are not good for a healthy relationship.
It’s great to thank the partner for correcting politely if seen as fit, with strong points.
It’s okay to play, healthily, in the relationship.
Dating and marriage are not for the weak, selfish or insecure, or those who tend to contradict themselves for the most.
Never take the partner or anyone for granted.
Honesty is essential.
A daily based communication is essential as well, unless otherwise specified.
It’s great to express one’s feelings with the match.
Creativity is essential for everything.
A good sense of fun is essential.
Both partners should help make one another better people.
It’s great to acknowledge when one was wrong.
Forgiveness is essential.
Both partners should help one another grow in body, mind and spirit.
It’s essential to be open minded.
Being not brash is key.
Both should engage into cultural activities.
Serving breakfast at bed is essential.
Not being tetchy is essential.
Being empathetic is essential.
It’s essential not to idealize the partner, meaning one should get to know the match.
Optimism is essential.
Chivalry is always great.
Remember that most arguments are out from illogical arguments.
It’s important to live with the partner away from any relatives.
Both should help each other enhance into new activities, healthy for both.
No competitions between the partners should be in any way, mostly about economic ones.
After long working days, partners should stimulate one another at home.
While having conversations, one should agree, debate, tell stories, make plans.
Would not even dance with any other lady in a party, individually.
Not being monogamist is rather irresponsible.
Not being monogamous is cynical towards the parents of the partner.
Chores are equal responsibility.
Taking care of children and educating them are equal share.
Would never disrespect her by laughing at her, ignoring her.
Both should protect each other against all odds, including family.
It’s essential to love one another without possessing each other.
Both become one.
Both should bear in mind that they are like Yin and Yang.
Commitment, dedication and passion are key.
Marriage is 100%/100%.
Both should arm jigsaws and puzzles, as well as building something together.
One should let one talk, mostly gentlemen.
Both should be equally able to think, say, solve, do things, to the measure of their abilities.
Both should have the ability to be amazed.
In dating/marriage, both partners should help one another make stronger for if it falls through, at least both have grown stronger, and be thankful for it.
It’s good to give space and time when needed.
It’s good to massage the partner’s feet and give a good dessert after a long work journey from time to time.
Thankfulness to the match for being who the partner is crucial.
It takes bravery to deal with life.
It is important to make agreements and to know.
Becoming adapted is essential as long as there is no abuse or one does not change one’s essence.
Thankfulness for being my lady always.
To share important values is key and to be congruent.
The guy who mistreats his wife and kids or lady is NOT a man.
Tidiness and being clean is important.
Trying to have a good health is key.
It may be good to request for STD examinations early on.
It’s important to have a life plan.
Having realistic plans, it’s essential to support one another in plans, dreams, ambitions.
Always date and marry out of love.
Don’t compare one’s conduct with that of the match.
Reciprocity is key.
Being best friends within dating and marriage is key.
Establishing dos and don’ts early on is key.
Non-codependence is key, for it leads to toxic relationships.
One should negotiate things.
One should recall great moments.
It’s great to ask the partner what the partner thinks and/or feels one should improve at.
It’s important to recall that what one does not do for oneself others don’t do. Sure, others can help, but you get the point.
One should respect whether or not the partner wants sex yet not feel offended and talk.
Manners are essential.
Being punctual is key.
Love is not predictable.
Love cannot be defined.
Order is key.
Not imposing anything on the partner is key.
Not trying to control the partner is key.
Indifference is the worst of evils.
It’s important to know a fair share of the match before getting married.
It’s important not to fantasize.
Face troubles but most of all, focus on solutions.
Get someone you would be proud of.
Learn to see the virtues of the match and extoll them.
Being humble is essential.
Live every moment with the match as though if it were the last one.
Keep promises as possible.
It’s important to tell right from wrong.
Before having children, one should discuss and debate with the match about how to raise them.
Being affectionate and caring without overwhelming is key.
Healthy arguments and discussions can be helpful, as long as not to often.
It’s good to prevent things.
Take the easiest path and long lengths to get into trouble.
Don’t overreact.
It’s good to have pride in the good sense.
It’s so important to have faith in both, as a relationship.
My lady is to have priority.
Give every situation a good purpose.
If you really love someone, let that person go.
Understand that in life people support us, and challenge us, in a match, it’s essential to understand love.
It’s so silly to try to change someone.
It’s good to have mysteries but one should try to be straight talking.
Don’t procrastinate.
Find out as much as possible about the partner’s likes and dislikes before saying something bad or good.
Be a good listener.
If you’re not a good friend, you will hardly be a good partner.
Think well before engaging into relationships and marriage.
I you have two very similar loving candidates, be sure to know as much as possible about both.
Try not to complain.
It’s good to be mistaken, that way we learn. They are not mistakes if we learn from them
Try to avoid saying never.
Your feelings should not depend on them.
One has to be Ok with oneself before engaging into a relationship yet one should say: with you ‘m better, we are better.
What is the best for us?
Ask yourself: Who is the best person for US?
Do not revenge on the match.
I don’t have the modes near me so I for example, show I’m not a controller, etc.
It’s good to be sensitive and cry.
If my lady cries, I cry with her.
See life as a journey.
Personally, I don’t fart at bed.
I love stable relationships.
If a relationship falls through, see what you learn and may it helped you get stronger.
If when searching for a partner, you find it really hard, keep trying, and get more zest at that.
Love is smart, but most of all, love is wise.
All points cohere each other.
Let things flow, don’t force them.
Pain is there, not a choice, but suffering is a choice.
Worst thing is to play victim role.
Congratulate the partner for her achievements.
Thank the partner for her support.
Having tolerance to frustration helps a lot.
Being patient is key.
Learn about self help and improvement so both may help grow better as people.
Bear on mind that relationships and marriage entail a lot of responsibility, responsibility that gives privileges and privileges that give responsibilities.
May heart and brain win over hormone.
It’s great that both love mother nature.
Do not keep anything unresolved for long but be opportune, polite.
Personally if I see a woman’s body I don’t get any interested or excited, not that it’s wrong, just irrelevant.
If a lady shows sexual interest I don’t get turned on just like it (has happened many times).
It’s important to bear on mind he sexual part mostly when being married and having mutual properties and belongings, especially if something wrong happens.
If a very close friend asks me to keep a secret I would be honest with my friend and I would tell my lady for if the secret is discovered, my lady would know I knew and she would think I am keeping secrets from her.
Always search for compensation, especially in promises or change of plans.
We don’t choose who we like o fancy but we do choose how to show affection and to whom.
A couple should live on their own, without parents of either side.
Ideally, a couple should take measure of how much they have changed and improved for the better.
There is such a great sensibility and vastness in the depths of life, it shall keep one’s mind and heart busy, and share it with he loved one.
There is no rush about getting a match, having sex and getting married.
Understand better the concept of competing with oneself, especially now that two have become one.
Too much tenderness and affection-showing to the match could destroy the relationship eventually, as someone who is really quiet can terminate it as well.
There is a subtle difference between negotiating and agreeing. Agreeing is important about key things.
Discuss and agree about expenses, especially over 200 USD.
Good to question our education.
Watch TV shows on psychology.
Bear on mind that the both are responsible for their actions, despite negotiations, etc.
Consider that not being congruent for the most is to mistreat oneself, beyond just being not respectful to oneself.
Ever get into a relationship if you love somebody else actually and that other one may love you.
Never had a 3D relationship in Mexico because I had planned to move to the U.S.A. Don’t like the idea of getting into a relationship with a lady who was once my favorite, don’t want to leave anyone behind, like me not using her, nor to impose anything to her.
If your partner does not respect her/himself, how will such partner respect you? that leads to codependent relationships and toxic ones.
Never get into a relationship if you have not let the former significant other go in full, understand such is over utterly.
Don’t take it out on your partner or anyone if you’re angry.
Never do anything important without consulting the significant other once being engaged or married.
Respect if your significant other wants to make love not in a certain time or day, for some reason, though that should be spoken about.
Only idiots dream of what they can’t have or happen to.
Porn for the most is degrading.
Love is a dance, not a race. (This one, you gave me, Scott.)
Love is like music, one has to go with tunes, good rhythm.
It’s good to know if a relationship is over, face it.
Not good to date someone or start dating when one or someone just broke up, mostly when such person or one just break up with someone one loved.
Don’t answer phone or else when in a romantic date or else.
Both partners should face life together, without thinking life is a burden and one should have a company.
Never make assumptions, always be clear about anything in the relationship, with no ambiguities, no ambivalence.
It’s in marriage when one should go deeper in treasuring every moment with the loved one by thinking and mostly feeling: Time is not important, life is.
Lovely relationships take time and effort yet they flow best.
Making so much simple applies when it comes also in a daily life committed relationship.
Great points are those that can be go deeper at, without ambivalence
In dating/marriage, both partners should help one another grow better as people by all accounts.

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2022-12-09

Self-Consistent Operationalism

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/12/01

Leonardo Da Vinci made distinctions in writings between that which is natural and that which is mathematical. He considered the sensory or experience in general as primary in terms of coming to truths about the world.

Where, when he tends to reference the mathematical, he leans to speaking of the nothing, as compared to the something, which, presumably, would comprise the sensory or that given by sensory experience. His mathematics reflected the productions in nature.

His science reflected the direct construction of the experience, where the mathematical and the scientific meet one another is in the mind of Da Vinci. To be born or birthed here is neither science nor mathematics, but a form and relation of general knowledge; something of looking for the self-consistencies in nature and in mind with the mind as part of the whole, as in everything connected as one, including the human being and its mind.

That which is in mind constrained by those limits set forth from experience or if the rules and contents of the in mind are broken in some manner; then, these enter into the realm of the impossible, as the natural becomes constrained by the existent and the mathematical by nothing. Yet, both function by principles.

When looking at self-consistency in nature, this amounts to a search for the logical in nature to an extent; while, in search of the self-consistencies of nature at the same time, we come to search for the processes of nature.

In mind, too, one, as in the mathematical principles of reasoning in the mind of Da Vinci, looks for the principles of self-consistency in the mind’s eye, as in the examination of the contents of the mind with the contents of the mind itself.

In this, we find recursion, fractionation of content fit for ease of problem-solving, fit into the mind as a means of self-knowledge, as in knowing that one exists or knowing that one knows through knowing oneself as capable of knowing in the first place.

The knowledge comes simultaneously with the knowledge of knowing; it’s as if the knowledge of knowing one can know is the first form of knowledge with the knowledge of self-existence, of one’s soul in the world.

Either in the state of nature or in the status of the mind, the contents of both bring about self-consistency as a consistent reflection one upon the other, and the mirror of one to the other as showing the truths garnered from this relationship of the nothing of that which is in the mind and the something of that which is gathered from the world.

To Da Vinci, experience was primary and reflected the real, while the mind merely existed as a canvas reflecting the unreal — the something in contrast to the nothing. A nothing capable of representation of something only because a something exists in the first place and comes to mind with the senses for representation in the mind.

These reflections of self-consistency in either reflects a larger consistency in the nature of Nature of the nature of human nature via-a-vis the human mind, as in both contained in one and the same world, Nature, by Necessity.

The coterminous existence in Nature reflects individuated principles of self-consistency differentiable while part of the same self-consistency structure and dynamic components of the same processes.

These processes reflected in the necessary; the necessary exhibited in Nature, and seen so far as to exist in the mind as part of human nature. Functional or operational truths about the world and the mind, as in an Operationalism with self-consistency.

The ways in which things work in nature as derived from the senses, from experience, and the ways in which the mind represents, and so functions, to provide different facets of the self-consistent and the operational.

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2022-12-09

The End of an Era, Eh: Collapse of Majority Canadian Christianity

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/10/09

Canadian Christianity in the 2020/2021 period will lose its simple majority status in Canadian society, which demarcates the end of an era in which Canadian Christians will not recover from either in the short-term future or medium-term future if at all. In an examination of the StatsCan National Household Survey conducted in 2011, the number of Canadians who adhered to the Christian faith came to a little over two-thirds at 67.3% of the total population of the country.

That comes to 22,100,000 Canadian Christians circa 2011. When we break that down a bit more, the most significant population for Canadians were the Catholics coming to 12,800,000 people. In sum, the number of Canadians who identified or affiliated with the identity “Christian” was overwhelming in Canada. Now, we can witness a rapid shift in the demographics of the Canadian landscape. Something never seen at the inception of the bounded legal and cultural geography called “Canada,” or to the recent past.

According to Pew Research’s Michael Lipka in an article from 2019, Pew Research conducted a survey in 2018 referenced in the Lipka article from 2019, in which the numbers of self-identified Christians in Canada, in contrast to 2011 from StatsCan, was surprising. In 2018, only 55% of Canadians identified as Christian. 33,476,700 Canadians existed in 2011; 34,714,200 existed in 2012; 35,083,000 existed in 2013; 35,437,400 existed in 2014; 35,702,900 existed in 2015; 35,151,700 existed in 2016; 36,543,300 existed in 2017; and, 37,057,800 existed in 2018 — Google derived source.

Tabulating year by year, we see a stark difference. If we simply take 67.3%-55%, we come to 12.3% difference between 2011 and 2018 in the number of self-identified Christians. This is, simply and straightly, a massive difference — almost 1 out of 8 Christians who were Christians in the pie of the country aren’t now. Counting the inclusive years — 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018, thus, if years divided by 12.3%, this comes to 1.75714285714% per annum decrease, if a straight line or trend line, in the number of affiliated Christians as a proportion of the country.

When we look at the numbers given above for the total Canadian population, we can calculate, if making a convenience factor calculation (so not absolutely precise) of the number of Christians per year if as a straight line, the number of Christians in Canada as a whole in each year. Some with exceptions for an illusionary decrease in the total number of Canadians in exclusion of some Indian reserves or Aboriginal reserves/settlements. Anyhow, the calculations of percent of the pie of Canadians who are Christian each year:

· 2011: 67.3% (StatsCan).

· 2012: 65.5428571429% (Derived), or 65.54%.

· 2013: 63.7857142858% (Derived), or 63.76%.

· 2014: 62.0285714287% (Derived), or 62.03%.

· 2015: 60.2714285716% (Derived), or 60.27%.

· 2016: 58.5142857145% (Derived), or 58.51%.

· 2017: 56.7571428574% (Derived), or 56.76%.

· 2018: 55% (Pew Research).

This is the trajectory for the country if given two reliable sources, StatsCan and Pew Research. Following from this, we can extrapolate based on a nearly decade trajectory of the timeline of Christianity in the nation. The statistics on the country’s total population year by year can be seen here:

· 33,476,700 in 2011

· 34,714,200 in 2012

· 35,083,000 in 2013

· 35,437,400 in 2014

· 35,702,900 in 2015

· 35,151,700 in 2016

· 36,543,300 in 2017

· 37,057,800 in 2018

Furthermore, we can attach those calculated percentages onto the total population to come to a reasonably accurate assessment of the number of Christians in the country outside of the generic and important findings about the rapid decline of the Christian faith in the country, as follows:

· 67.3%*33,476,700=22,529,819

· 65.54%*34,714,200=22,751,686

· 63.76%*35,083,000=22,368,920

· 62.03%*35,437,400=21,981,819

· 60.27%*35,702,900=21,518,137

· 58.51%*35,151,700=20,567,259

· 56.76%*36,543,300=20,741,977

· 55% *37,057,800=20,381,790

Within this manner of examination of the statistics of Christians in Canada, the decline is palpable no matter the ways in which one cuts it, whether in raw numbers or in the percentages; Christianity is collapsing in the country in real-time, before our eyes, as the simple majority faith of the nation as well as more moderately declining in total numbers averaging (22,529,819–20,381,790=2,148,029 and then 2,148,029/7=306,861) 306,861 per year. We’ve moved from an era of monopolar religio-cultural demographics to a multipolar one. Extrapolated by 5 years, we come to 2023 from 2018:

306,861*5=1,534,305

This from 2018 to 2023 means fewer total Christians, as follows:

20,381,790–1,534,305=18,847,485

So, 18,847,485 Christians in Canada circa 2023. With the 1.75714285714%% per annum decrease, it becomes the following:

1.75714285714%*5=8.7857142857, so 8.7857142857%

This is a decline from 55%:

55–8.7857142857=46.2142857143, so 46.2142857143% or 46.21%

In 2023, one possibility given the trendline is a mere 18,847,485 Christians in Canada comprising 46.21% of the total population. With 2021 as the year in which the 55% of 2018 moves to below 50%, demarcating the era of non-simple majority Canadian Christianity and, therefore, changing the religio-cultural landscaping and self-understanding of Canadians in, at least, the short term and the medium term (Q.E.D.).

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2022-12-09

6 Great Website Copywriting Examples (And Why They Work)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/11/27

Copywriting is an art and an algorithm. I think of it as an art insofar as it provides room for creativity. A creativity in a wide variety of media. Also, it’s like an algorithm because the processes are learnable.

Web copywriter is simply a title narrowed to online content copywriting process(es). Someone who makes effective website text, works within content marketing strategies, and who is worth copying seen in social proof.

The nature of good copy versus bad copy isn’t about good versus bad. It’s about suitable versus unsuitable. The ways in which the copy suits the audience most appropriately. To have suitable copy, it should be suitable to both the audience and intended message.

What is copywriting?

Literally, it is the creation of copy, or words. Words on a physical page by hand or on an electronic screen by typing. In all, the creation of copy is a profound process of honing language. Language neither better nor worse. You write generally, as a content write; you are writing copy.

When committing to website copywriting, or website copy, the copywriting will be specified within the domains of the website. The organization or the outlet will have a style and a defined theme. This will inform the web copy, whether a product page or a service page, or otherwise.

You will want to focus on making the copy friendly to Google search engine analytics, SEO copywriting. As a copywriter, you will need to discern the target audience for the content to be suitable to them, whether website content or social media SEO copy.

Your copywriting service as a freelance copywriter or a website copywriter could be used for a blog post, web copywriting services (e.g., a landing page), or simply a Facebook post or a Twitter tweet. Copywriting is a general purpose form of writing, primarily for web content.

Your job is to make great copy as a skilled copywriter for a business owner to attract a reader demographic or a potential customer base. Over time, if successful, you will be considered a professional copywriter or an expert copywriter. So, what are 6 great website copywriting examples?

The following examples show content creation with functional keyword search, compelling copy/compelling content, effective copy, representing the brand voice to provide a value proposition reflecting the business. All this to attract website visitors, readers, and so possible customers for effective marketing purposes.

1. Apple

When you look at places like Apple, they have become one of the largest corporations in the world. Of course, part of this comes from the fantastic technology sold by them. A sense of a human or user-friendly device.

Another strength of the technology comes from the power of their use of language. They, typically, have a language reflecting their campaigns. For example, the campaign of “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC.” These are iconic in the marketing world now. Clean and clear as the devices they make.

2. Coca-Cola

This is another company with great copy and excellent copywriters. They know how to market. Part of the mark of their greatness comes from the quality of their marketing itself. They know their audience.

They speak to their particular brand. In turn, they speak to their audience, which is a general audience. So, their copy, their slogans, come in broad terms. The current sloganeering: “Refresh the World. Make a Difference.”

3. Walmart

You can see the trend towards more prominent companies and entities. This is for good reason. Because these organizations have extensive networks and finances to create some of the best copy or text on the market.

Indeed, they have the ability to hire some of the best copywriters known to date. Something like a tincture form of the desired experience for customers. They really know their base. If we take the examples of Walmart, it’s obvious in their slogan, “Everyday low prices.” It’s a store for everyone.

4. Amazon

Another massive international corporation with lots of money coming in and plenty of money to burn. This is the type of company with the extra cash to make their text is sharp, focused. They know how to stay in the game.

Even during a pandemic, they are not only maintaining themselves. They are growing to some degree. Furthermore, they have another sweet, killer slogan, which is a great example of succinct copy: “Work Hard. Have Fun.”

5. Facebook

At one time, Facebook’s copy for a slogan was “Be Connected. Be Discovered. Be on Facebook.” It’s another punctuated series of messages devoted to attracting their target audience. They know how to best tap into this audience as a matter of course.

Facebook is one of the dominant social media platforms on the market today. Part of its pervasive successive is due to its filling a need of the general population. Another component is the ways in which it can reach a wide audience with copywriters tapping into the nascent ideas of its audience.

6. Google

The final one for today comes from the famous and most used search engine on the market today, Google. Its slogan is “Don’t be evil.” As a corporation, its internal culture and external image, in turn, should reflect this.

With their hired crack squad of copywriters, their copywriting should exhibit, and often does, represent this simplified, to the point, and powerful values message. It’s great. It’s one of those integral pieces text to the entire image of the company. One which does not do evil.

Questions to ask yourself

What are the ways in which excellent copy is a backbone of both marketing and a companies message to its consumers?

How is being a copywriter, prospective or expert, important for providing an essential service in the marketing and advertising world?

What are some tips and tricks to take from some of the examples of great copy given by these companies?

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2022-12-09

Pause, Breathe: Compassion in a Time of Slowdowns

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/11/15

When I sit at work on break, if I get them, I wonder as to the manner in which to conduct myself. There’s a sense in which the time spent sitting, pondering the time, is both a huge waste of utility and a point of rest and relaxation. I sit in this tension, wondering.

I think about the individuals who come and go, who flutter in and out of the doorways of the restaurant during a pandemic. In British Columbia, we’re set as a province. We have good healthcare. We have a culture of moderate care and concern. People are here for one another.

In this sense, whether a pandemic season or not, people have one another’s backs. British Columbians are good like that. When push comes to shove, even the less well off, they have an ability to show general care and concern for another person.

So, this culture of care is part and parcel with the relatively robust healthcare system. Even in the instances of restaurants struggling to make their way, I sincerely don’t sense resentment for having to shut down. A livelihood is lost. A source of community wealth generation goes away. However, people have one another’s backs.

Similarly, sitting here at the restaurant, we’re in the middle of a two-week lockdown. While, simultaneously, there’s not much of a change in the general culture. People come to eat out less. There’s a sense of greater safety precautions on the periphery.

However, sitting here, I can’t help but think of the Americans who are dealing with a far greater number of cases in total, per day, and with fewer healthcare provisions for poorer Americans. How are their businesses doing? How are those community suffering? How is rural white America handling the pandemic? It’s an aging population acquiring a highly contagious dis-ease in psychology and disease in a virus-based pandemic. The most cases, for now, are in the United States. That will likely become India later with some tight competitors in Brazil and elsewhere.

But even in spite of this, Canada feels well. It feels safe. It feels as if the correct measures are being taken to mediate the virus and help keep Canadians both safe and calm. Calm is important because many Canadians lack the correct knowledge to understand the deeper principles behind evolution and viruses. However, they understand hygiene and the maintenance of good, quality health.

On a break at the restaurant, I get to watch some of the dynamics of the population play out. Some things become obvious such as the dress and look of people who are caught in the pandemic. But they want to get out.

They have to travel out with the family if at all, in a sense. So, they will look alike, dress in a similar way, and look more or less common to the area. These are strangely the markers of a pandemic as played out in the rural regions of Canadian society.

And sooner or later, the break ends.

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2022-12-09

The Silence Of Moonlight On A Gravestone

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/11/13

I plan to take a walk to the cemetery this evening. One of the joys in taking time to oneself is the silence. A relationship with others, to some, such as myself, only becomes possible with the moments of silence.

Those times way from the crowd, apart from others. There’s a sense in which aloneness provides time for being. The time to refresh, relax, and regain some sense of self in a busy world of work and obligations.

It may seem counterintuitive to some degree. However, the idea of the modern world is constant movement. Something is in flux. In reality, it’s a world of half-truths and half-falsehoods.

We’re a global population of stationary butts and moving minds. Our fingers type away at the keyboard while the glutes stick to the proverbial cushion. In a time to walk away, into nature, late in the night, I find peace.

I find this as a time to relate to myself, to think, to ponder, to conceptualize, to imagine, even to dream. I take the time. I travel. I walk and take transit only. I live a simple, modest life.

I wouldn’t have it any other way. Alone with myself to take some time away from the world of the rushing digital landscape. When I head out, deliberately, I walk along the stride of others no more.

A cemetery, a graveyard, a tombstone here, a marking there, a stack of moss on stone over the beaten path, truly, they’re the piles of the forgotten. Those deemed in the past.

I walk by them going to work. It’s in the day. It’s not the same. It feels as if just a bunch more grass. There’s people around. They have things to do; hell, I have things needing doing.

When I go at night, there’s a sense of intimacy in relations with myself. The descriptor coming to mind is a “communion” of sorts. The sense of unity with the self in time, in silence, with the dead.

It can sound morbid. I understand, completely. However, I would propose or embark on a different interpretation of the sense of relationships and events. People play golf, knit, fish, hike, bike, walk, and so on, alone, sometimes.

This helps them get away from some of the stress of the day, make a mark on their psychological wellbeing. Rather than, the continuous integration in social life with others.

It is building a firmer sense of self and building a sense of self-understanding, or taking time away for personal development and/or wellbeing. When I take these walks to or through the cemetery, it is a time to reflect.

All those who had gone before. Everyone with a story as deeply tragic and hopeful as my own. A life full of the ups and downs of the ordinary. My sense of relationships is both interpersonal and intrapersonal.

You know others and yourself through others. Also, you understand yourself through yourself. In that, for the latter, time away is not exactly time of play. It’s a serious time for deep reflection, consideration, contemplation.

A moment in a day without the demands of social life or the rigorous requirements of work. I take this time for building personal peace, reflecting on the day, and to center my inner voice.

If you’re ever wondering about a cornerstone of mental health, then I consider one of the more critical parts as the knowledge of oneself. Part of this comes from self-reflection.

One of the only times to have time for this is in self-reflection. Because when in the company of others, your self can be diminished in some respects. You’re paying attention to the social cues and emotional needs of others.

While, at the same time, you’re having to gauge internal feelings and calibrate to the social situation and act emotionally appropriately. In this, you’re sense of self merges with the environment.

Which is fine, but for self-insight, you need to optimize internal resources. One manner in which to do this is to take time for yourself, in silence. For myself, this occurs amongst the dead and in the night, whether cold or cool.

I find this a way to sit, in quietude, as if as silent as moonlight on a gravestone.

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2022-12-09

Statistical Inevitability as a Cross-Sect of the Axiomatic, the Temporal, and the Axiological

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/11/08

Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God created the universe. But now science offers a more convincing explanation… What I meant by ‘we would know the mind of God’ is, we would know everything that God would know, if there were a God, which there isn’t. I’m an atheist.

-Stephen Hawking

A world without ethics or morality comes only in the set of realities without conscious agents or in the set of null universes. A world comprised of matter and energy, or information, and potential, with conscious agents. One with implied pasts and potential futures.

No light, no ought, agency births ethics. Thus, the tale of the tribe: theology failed; no magic. A discipline of primitive eras and peoples — “primitive” meaning original — best set in the field of anthropology and archaeology now.

A verisimilitude to knowledge without the authenticity of actuality. A propinquity to materiality without substantive veracity. A claim to truth for a species in its youth. A “more convincing explanation” exists in the present situation.

Some approximation to the principles of ‘the mind of God’ without a god, as such. The set of possible universes remains larger than the set of null universes. Therefore, existence becomes statistically favoured more than non-existence.

With this, the statistical existence argument to a set of realities including time because more universes with a large finite number of moments exist than a set of realities with only one moment. Hence, a statistical argument for temporality on top of the statistical argument for existence.

Time as manifest in the Arrow of Time. ‘Old archaeological digs’ find arguments for a transcendent and immanent object. A source of The Good, an assertion of an extranatural atemporal and natural immanent entity as the source of ethics or morality. Theology failed to deliver.

One traditional partition in ethics comes from the Humean formulation of is/ought. Facts of the world versus actions in the world. A possible way forward of the is/ought solution sits in temporal statistical unavoidability or the inevitability of time in statistical considerations. Time implies sequences. Thus, the inescapable fact of consequences in a reality with time.

Another possible solutions comes from the bifurcation of realities. Consider for the moment, two sets of realities exist. One without conscious information processors. Another with them. In the first, no ethics because no conscious action. In the second, morality exists because of conscious action.

Morality may define principles governing behaviour or the conducting of an activity. If morality/ethics define as “principles governing behaviour or the conducting of an activity,” then ethics/morality become inevitable in the second set of realities. Because actions occur through conscious information processors.

Both sets of realities inevitably include time. Only one incorporates conscious information processors. In the only set incorporative of conscious information processors, time and morality become inevitable, statistically, as with existence. We come to the stream of statistical inevitabilities with statistical arguments for existence, temporality, agency, and morality.

If the set of possible universes remains larger than the set of null universes, then existence becomes statistically more probable. If existence becomes statistically more probable, then realities with more than one moment of time become statistically more probable than realities with only one moment of time.

If realities with more than one moment become statistically more probable than realities with only one moment of time, then one set will evolve conscious information processors and one set will not.

If conscious information processors evolve in one set of universes, and if morality/ethics define as “principles governing behaviour or conducting of an activity,” then evolving conscious information processors creates morality/ethics, because conscious information processors move or conduct activities.

If evolving conscious information processors creates morality/ethics, then ethics/morality become statistically inevitable in one set of universes. Thus, if the set of possible universes remains larger than the set of null universes, then ethics/morality becomes statistically inevitable in one set of universes.

The statistically probable occurrence of existence, of time, of agency, of ethics. If negated at any stage, the argument fails. If no existence, then no time, no agency, and no ethics; if existence and no time, then no agency and no ethics; if existence, time, and no agency, then no ethics; if existence, time, and agency, then ethics.

Ethics comes from agency. Agency comes from time. Time comes from existence. Existence separates from non-existence more likely than not. Is/ought remains preserved as separate ideas, but become coupled together.

Any act contains moral content without morality as an extranatural occurrence or with an implied metaphysical content. Natural informational processes evolve the organism with the structures generating both the interior landscape, the mind, and the exterior framework, the body.

Nothing extranatural invoked as, for example, brains produce valuations of entities, objects, abstractions, and relations between them. An error comes from the claim of ethical values or moral claims as metaphysical or supernatural. In fact, this adds nothing.

It posits more than necessitated and ignores the obvious. Evolved organisms exist in time processing information while giving value to things in reality. Where, an act in the world becomes something of factual content, as in contained in reality.

While, the factual content implies moral content because ethics/morality defines as “principles governing behaviour or conducting of an activity.” These acts come coupled with ethical content because of agency.

If a conscious information processor exists in a reality, then morality/ethics becomes unavoidable because the “conscious information processor” must deal with itself and its environment (if only one entity in the universe), or must deal with itself, others, and its environment (if more than one entity in the universe).

The distinction between is/ought comes with the preservation of the separation in one sense, where the individual ideas exist as substantive and legitimate in their own right. They, in fact, must give one from the other.

Thus, we can communicate meaning in terms of factual morality, not moral facts. Because, as above, ethics/morals are unavoidable for any reality with at least one conscious information processor, and time, at our scales, appears completely unavoidable, so consequences of “behaviour” in an environment seem inevitable.

A reality exists first with facts as pieces of the real world, then an agent, whether knowing or not, enacts mentation and action with moral content. Those two together make ethics unavoidable, so any facts must inform our ethics or morality.

Because ethics amounts to the conducting of an activity with activities relevant to conscious information processing systems and time implied in both the known physics of the universe at the scales of the conscious information processing agents, and in the sense of the agents existing and “processing.”

A macro world with the Arrow of Time means statistically linked moments with directionality. A world of conscious information processors (with physical exteriors, frames) creates actions in the world, even mentation can mean action in the world.

Both mean a time sense with moments providing a range of possible moments while harbouring a set of implied pasts based on each instantiation of moments. The only issue seems as if whether the conscious information processor becomes aware of the enactment of the ethic, or not, but there exists a moral value set enacted regardless, unavoidably.

Ethics requires the conscious information processing system, while without the necessity for sufficient awareness within the conscious information processing system for a systematic comprehension of the morality/ethics of the mentation and actions in the world.

Therefore, if ethics (actions in the world) are unavoidable with a conscious information processor (or conscious information processors), and if a conscious information processor exists on a magnitude in which the arrow of time exists inevitably, then any facts about reality impinging on a conscious information processor (or conscious information processors) and its environment (their environment and one another) have ethical consequences; everything factual implies the moral, but the “everything” is statistical, because existence statistically exists.

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2022-12-09

3 Key Guidelines to Online Branding in 2020

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/10/05

Effective outreach into the public and private spheres for increased brand awareness on the part of the current customer base and the prospective customer requires more sophisticated and thoughtful approaches than in the past. However, many consistent guidelines exist in 2020 compared to other years as to the best manner in which to appropriately brand one’s company to the needs of a 2020 digital environment. Let’s cover 3 keys to online branding, in brief.

Gauge Brand Awareness

The importance of the knowledge of the general public about the brand cannot be understated. The other salient demographic are consistent and devoted customers to the particular brand. Think of the most popular and prominent companies in the world today, for example, Apple, Amazon, Walmart, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and the like, most people in most contexts have some awareness about these companies, these brands. This didn’t happen by accident.

They focused in a dual-demographic market strategy with a consistency of their brand via their products, what they’re selling, to the home base of people. Then they gave some outreach in their work to the demographic who are not buying their products or not buying their products as much. This dual-demographic strategy works to keep the customers as customers and to make non-customers become customers: simple.

No doubt, these international companies understand the level and the degree to which they have penetrated various markets, age demographics, ethnic demographics, sex and gender demographics, and so on. This awareness is fundamental to provide a pressure gauge or temperature reading about the areas of coverage and areas lacking it in regard to the company brand.

To your particular enterprise, whether a solo venture or a larger company, you will want to work within the skill and knowledge sets of the team to find and utilize analytics tools and techniques available, even simple social media metrics, to gauge brand awareness in the general non-customer public and in the public who already purchase from you.

Craft Brand Messages

Quite naturally, once a reasonable reading of the factual state of affairs about the individuals who do have an interest in the brand and those may have an interest in it is established, the next steps are the crafting of messages depending on the form of outreach. Some forms of outreach that will work for some mediums will not work in others. Similarly, some demographics cue in to different channels, e.g., Facebook versus Instagram, more often than others.

With the brand awareness gauged, the crafting of brand messages to specific demographics will be important on two levels related to the dual-demographic analysis. On the one hand, the customers will expect a particular kind of consistency in the messaging and in the things deemed attractive to them. Think about the style and ergonomic appeal of the iPhone year-after-year or the slight modifications to the Coca-Cola pops, their branding is consistent to meet the (reasonable) expectations of customers.

If they didn’t please their base, then they’d begin to lose their base who would expect to find their needs met elsewhere, of course. Why wouldn’t they? On the other hand, there are the individuals who have never know about the brand or haven’t fully bought into it. This can be extremely widespread, as in some of the cases with the Chinese tea traditions and the attempts at penetration via the pop industry.

In fact, this was a battle. How would one brand a pop message to a culture bound in many ways to a long perennial tradition of tea drinking? That’s partly on the branding in terms of the outreach along the lines mentioned before regarding age demographics, ethnic demographics, sex and gender demographics, and so on.

Measure Message Efficacy

Let’s say your team has built a killer brand awareness program and a series of drop-dead gorgeous and genius-level on-the-point crafted brand messages, the next questions revolve around the efficacy of the efforts in the same framework. All of this moving forward becomes part of the easier parts of the process.

Basically, in intervals or stages, depending on the required or desired timelines of the company, the ranges of the checkups can be initiated. These checkups would be seeing the effects of various brand messages on the intended audiences, good and bad. This further data can help inform the future forms of targeted, or crafted, branding for the relevant demographics of one’s company.

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2022-12-09

A Trust Fit for the World

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/10/04

Some short thoughts on the contexts for religion in Canada. Something of a gentle and friendly call for consideration of some aspects of theology in practical terms. My local context in Langley, British Columbia, Canada, is steeped in Christian theology and religion with the good and bad coming from adherence and lack of adherence to the Gospel, whether proper interpretation or not. People bring much individual conceptual baggage to the reading of their Scriptures. It’s a culture engulfed by some of the sub-culture of fundamentalist Evangelical Christianity with Trinity Western University. It’s a community, as with many others in the country, somewhat engulfed in the ideas of Creationism and Intelligent Design with particular orientations of focused eyes on purported holy scripture and the suggestion, nay assertion, of an Almighty Creator & Sustainer Father God of the Heavens and the Earth.

An individual who rises from death after a capital punishment in crucifixion. People believe this transcendent creature has plans for us, for individual human beings. In short, a community of faith, of belief in supernatural acts, with effects on individual choices of the shoulds or oughts for one’s entire life. The question: What if one denies this assertion, as increasingly millions of Americans and millions of Canadians reject it?

The expectations of choices for life become more open, less constrained, and, to those individual rejectors, probably less prone to magical thinking and errors in judgment about important questions in life. Apply this famous statement of Epicurus to the case of the torment and torture of a newborn infant or of a young child by a sadistic human, Epicurus said, “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”

He directed attention to contradictions in supposed attributes of God. I direct your attention to the real world in which the tortures and torments happen regularly to the infants and children, wholly innocent, around the globe, by the millions. Meanwhile, God, or the gods, sit silent over the prayers and tears of the parents, or wails of agony and murders of the sinless young. Either indifference or absence seems like the conclusion to the assertion of the gods as defined. Without that particular God of the Bible, for example, what happens to the plans one placed one’s highest hopes? A trust in the self-contradictory or non-existent seems not much of a worthwhile trust in the end, again, to millions.

This leads into thoughts on personal choice and the future.

People with the aforementioned assertion act as told, or thought to be told, as written in the Bible and interpreted by, typically, a local pastor, preacher, or minister on Sundays, even an academic theologian (an ordinary, fallible human being, often a man). People without the assertion act as guided by contingencies of biology, individual psychological dynamics, and the cultural milieu of upbringing, as we both speak and write in English here, and make choices more independently and apart from supernatural or magical acts.

One doesn’t pray one’s way out of a problem, as prayer doesn’t or isn’t assumed to work in this view. Similarly, one isn’t divinely commanded top-down what to do in life. They choose without higher orders, bottom-up, and face the consequences positive and negative, as they come.

There is no governor anywhere; that’s a trust more fit for the world.

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2022-12-09

Imbibed, Embedded, and Projected: Meaning as Cathexis Complexes

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/10/03

“Does one need to believe in a god to live a fulfilling, meaningful, morally correct and upright human life?”

One of the more tentative conclusions, the question seems poorly formulated and quintessentially a North American one. I suspect influenced more by Judeo-Christian evaluations of the important items on the dossier of life. As America and Canada remain Christian dominant, or Christian majority population, nations while not Christian nations per se, whether in founding documents or in Founding Fathers (can be shown in either case), the narratives of the Old Testament and the New Testament and the life of Jesus Christ — no doubt — provide a guide to life and living from womb to tomb (Thanks, Cornell), often in select interpretations, for Christians. Duly note, I am not Christian in the sense accepted by my compatriots if I took on the garb, the title, though some interpretations of Christianity, e.g., Christian Humanism, seem palatable, even laudable, sophisticated, and intriguing.

The formulation of the question leads to two things.

A famous non-sense question in linguistics is, “Do colorless green ideas sleep furiously?” A non-sense question compared to sensible questions including “Does Mars orbit closer to the Sun in the Solar System than Uranus or Haumea?”, “Does Euclidean Geometry and its derivative in the Pythagorean Theorem map onto the real world?”, “Does cheating on a Winter examination violate university academic standards and practices as well as internal, personal ethical principles of honesty?”

For example, does one live life choreographed, i.e., pre-planned though boring, or discovered, i.e., exciting though risky, or something in between, or a combination, or something else entirely? So, I would answer the question after thinking about it, with another question, “Is there another formulation of the question, more general, more practical, and more concrete?”

Because life seems far more open-ended than that, and life seems more akin to wrestling than dance. More things, to the point, seem out of personal, individual control than inside of it. However, as someone who studies psychology can tell you, either a friend or a student (or former student), they will note the concept of the Internal Locus of Control and the External Locus of Control.

When we look at the types and degrees of control, and then the individual sensibility and evaluation of the control, some things seem within individual plans and choices while others cannot exist within personal control. There, we have two senses of control — Internal Locus of Control and External Locus of Control — and then the physical reality of personal choices and the wide array of external imposition on the personal choices, in spite of the external or internal sensibility of control, or the individual decisions in any given moment.

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2022-12-09

NCSE Getting Appropriate Coverage

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/10/02

The National Center for Science Education, as usual, has been doing a spectacular job in the United States in reportage and work on the advancement of proper science and science curricula and informational reportage on what matters in th long view for the health of global society with science, and the United States as a key player in the world’s scientific and technological advancement to date.

The NCSE was published in the national magazine of the Sierra Club in a feature entitled “Climate Curricula Hit US Schools.” In the article, the Deputy Director of the NCSE talked about the public schools as one of the last places in which most of the population of the United States will receive a formal instruction in science inclusive of anthropogenic climate change education.

Chance Duncan, NCSE Teacher Ambassador, was reported as helping in ‘defusing a legislator’s trying to block new state science standards in Arkansas in 2015.’ Duncan stated, “[If students] can leave high school understanding how they impact the environment and can make better choices about transportation or energy usage … I think that makes them better adults.”

With files from the NCSE.

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2022-12-09

Iran Executes Navid Afkari

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/10/02

If you want to murder someone with an illegitimate excuse seemingly untouchable, then a decent manner in which to do so is the excuse of the State, as such, whether secular-authoritarian or theocratic.

Navid Afkari was executed. Afkari was a wrestler accused of murder who had “international appeals for him to be spared” (BBC). In the midst of anti-government protests in 2018, he was accused of killing a security guard. Amnesty International considered the ‘secret’ execution a “travesty of justice.”

Amnesty International reported, “Before his secret execution Navid Afkari, 27, was subjected to a shocking catalogue of human rights violations and crimes, including enforced disappearance; torture and other ill-treatment, leading to forced “confessions”; and denial of access to a lawyer and other fair trial guarantees.”

Afkari was searching for an opportunity to have a “fair trial” to “prove his innocence,” according to Diana Eltahawy. Afkari argued that he was tortured into making a confession. Afkari said, “If I am executed, I want you to know that an innocent person, even though he tried and fought with all his strength to be heard, was executed.”

He was hung in the southern city of Shiraz. Afkari was prevented from seeing family before death. The World Players Association (WPA), which represents 85,000 athletes around the globe, called for a stop to the execution, deeming Afkari “unjustly targeted.” The WPA argues the targeting was based on anti-government protest participation. They further argued, prior to the execution of Afkari on September 12th, that Iran should be expulsed from world sport.

“Given the impunity which prevails in Iran, we urge the international community, including UN human rights bodies and EU member states, to take strong action through public and private interventions,” Diana Eltahaway stated, “We deplore the Iranian authorities’ repeated use of the death penalty, which has earned it the shameful status of consistently being among the world’s most prolific executioners. There is no justification for the death penalty, which is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, and we urge the Iranian authorities to abolish it.”

There were calls in support of the late wrestler before and after the execution from American President Donald Trump and the International Olympic Committee, and others on social media. The punishments by the Iranian regime extended to Navid’s brothers, Vahid and Habib, with 57 years in prison and 27 years in prison, respectively, “in the same case.” This is according to various human rights activists in the country, as reported by the BBC.

Thusly, this mid-September, Iran lost a national wrestling champion due to an execution by state authorities.

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2022-12-09

#WhiteWednesday: We’ve Power By Weave, Linen, and Women

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/10/01

Women around the world have been increasingly vocal, alongside many men, and rightfully so, about the injustices facing their gender. Often, it comes tied to some theocratic leader or political ideology bent on suppression of the equal rights implementation for women. All the while giving airy, arid, and empty statements about the equality of women while lacking practical substance, pragmatic empirics, to show for all the bluster (and blunder).

#WhiteWednesday or White Wednesday is one such manner of public protest started by Masih Alinejad, who is also the founder of My Stealthy Freedom, which started as a form of protest as in May of 2017. My Stealthy Freedom began on May 5 of 2014. In this, #WhiteWednesday is a campaign and connected to My Stealthy Freedom as one of its outgrowths.

Its surface manifestation is in the presentation of white headscarves or white pieces of cloth as symbols of protest. The focus is international while originating within Iranian women’s culture because before the 1979 Islamic revolution; many Iranian women, in Iran so not necessarily in the wider diaspora, wore clothing in the Western style of the time.

However, with the imposition of Ayatollah Khomeini, as reported by the BBC in 2017, “Women were not only forced to cover their hair in line with a strict interpretation of Islamic law on modesty, but also to stop using make-up and to start wearing knee-length manteaus. More than 100,000 women and men took to the streets to protest against the law in 1979, and opposition to it has never gone away.”

Since May of 2014, women have been submitting photos and videos of defiance against the theocratic and rather patriarchal structures in Iran without the head coverings, women taking control of their individual lives, expressing solidarity in media to one another, and, in turn, inspiring other women too. Thus, #WhiteWednesday becomes a component of the overarching protest and spirit of My Stealthy Freedom. Both the brainchildren of Alinejad.

In 2017, Alinejad said, “When I expressed my concern about [one contributor’s] safety, she replied that she would rather jeopardise her job than continue living under this oppression that the Iranian women have endured for the last 38 years.”

It has affected the cultures of other countries too. Even in Afghanistan or other countries where it is not mandatory in accordance with the law to wear a headscarf, many women and girls can be forced to wear one within the family. As you can see, the main point is about the individual freedom of choice of the woman to wear the headscarf, or not, rather than the headscarf itself, which becomes an imposition either by law (theocratic, as far as I can tell) or by familial bond(age) bound to custom.

As the White Wednesday campaign continues as an extension of My Stealthy Freedom, we can support those efforts in solidarity, as the rights for some already won are merely starting to be won by others.

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2022-12-09

M87 Central Galactic Black Hole Halo Photographed with Event Horizon Telescope

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/30

As nationalism without inter-nationalism continues to mark down the discourse of the globe, some marked moments of science show the true beauty of inter-national collaboration through looking upward to the sky and outward from ourselves, especially in empirical evidence showing things previously only imagined. Recently, there was some news as to the nature of the most powerful gravitational wells in the universe: black holes. In a distant galaxy, at its center, there sits a gigantic black hole 40,000,000,000 kilometres across. It was photographed with a “network of eight telescopes across the world.” The details of the photography were published in Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The network of telescopes is called the Event Horizon Telescope or EHT. The original experiment was proposed by Professor Heino Falcke of Radbout University (Netherlands). The galaxy for this monstrous black hole is M87. Falcke said, “What we see is larger than the size of our entire Solar System… It has a mass 6.5 billion times that of the Sun. And it is one of the heaviest black holes that we think exists. It is an absolute monster, the heavyweight champion of black holes in the Universe.”

There is a “ring of fire” surrounding the circularity of the black hole. This halo surrounding the black hole is caused by gas becoming superheated and falling into M87’s black hole. The light from the bright halo surrounding the central galactic black hole of M87 is “brighter than all the billions of other stars in the galaxy combined.” This brightness permits ease of visibility to the EHT.

When the inner edge of the bright halo becomes dark, this is when the superheated gas enters the black hole. “Although they are relatively simple objects, black holes raise some of the most complex questions about the nature of space and time, and ultimately of our existence… It is remarkable that the image we observe is so similar to that which we obtain from our theoretical calculations. So far, it looks like Einstein is correct once again,” Dr. Ziri Younsi of University College London stated.

The reason for the darkness on the outer circular edge of the halo comes from the lack of light emitted for sufficient brightness to be picked up by the EHT. The inner edge becomes dark because the light from the superheated gas cannot escape the M87 black hole, or any black hole for that matter, because a “black hole is a region of space[-time] from which nothing, not even light, can escape.” The immense density of the matter compactified into the narrow region of space creates the basis for which the darkness because the black hole is present, though unseen because the photons emitted by the superheated gas become trapped in the gravitational well of M87’s central galactic black hole.

As stated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, “Learning about mysterious structures in the universe provides insight into physics and allows us to test observation methods and theories, such as Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Massive objects deform spacetime in their vicinity, and although the theory of general relativity has directly been proven accurate for smaller-mass objects, such as Earth and the Sun, the theory has not yet been directly proven for black holes and other regions containing dense matter.”

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2022-12-09

A Woman, an Atheist, a Socialist, a Liberal, and a Feminist Get Poutine Together: or, One Person Walks Into a Canada

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/29

“Life as an atheist liberal feminist in the American South” by Caroline Shelton is a lovely self-reflection on the nature of identifying as an atheist and a feminist woman in the South of the United States. She talks about being put down, naysaid, in attempts to crunch her confidence while ‘expressing herself,’ honestly. Often, I come across stories like this.

She notes the more common reaction, “Not everyone is motivated by the rude words of others, and I understand why. It hurts when people expect you to fall into line at the cost of expressing yourself. Sometimes, it can be easier to keep the peace. Most people choose not to rock the boat with family. That’s where I have to disagree.”

Shelton recalls a 2010 era in which a post on a Facebook account critical of the Bible, as in a Bible printed without literal print on the page is better than one with ink of scripture present. She recounted some of the standard family responses these “radical beliefs.”

Coming from a Roman Catholic family, for her, became an obvious issue, the idea being: Shelton shall go to “Hell for a sense of humor.” Some of the commentary from family were more lukewarm, as a primer to the more extreme reactions to the “atypical beliefs.” In fact, when we look at the United States, it’s more non-atypical now, more typical of the American than not, especially in the last decade.

At present, she identifies as an “atheist socialist liberal feminist,” see as, by her account of “any southern Republican,” “the most dangerous combination.” The 2016 election was an inflection point for her.

“I was five days shy of being able to cast a vote, but nothing at the time was more important to me than electing our first female President, who could have been Hillary Clinton,” Shelton stated, “I was informed on policy, current events, and what I wanted for our country: Inclusion, tolerance, racial justice, and female representation in government. But none of that mattered.”

She asserts that, according to the family, the family — her family — viewed her as “a teenager unqualified to vote and therefore unqualified to have such opinions.” In other words, she was not seen as an adult for being deviant in the community. This is the experience for many freethinkers, in many communities, especially the virulently anti-freethought, i.e., the more religious sectors of the population.

As is expected, or on social reprisal cue, she was ‘told to move to Canada if she felt so unhappy.’ As it turns out, Shelton did move to Canada, probably to enjoy some better company. She has been in Montreal for three years now. However, she feels the same “dilemma” in regards to ‘holding her tongue’ “for the sake of family.”

“Coming to McGill has helped me find my voice, without being afraid to use it out of fear of familial strife. It took me 18 years and immigration to Canada, but I am now finally able to surround myself with like-minded people. McGill and Montreal’s international and diverse community has taught me that I need to speak up not only for myself, but also for our futures, whether on a local, national, or global level,” Shelton said, “I will take whatever comes my way; I can handle it. That’s because the current issues of racial justice, climate change, sexual harassment, misogyny, and unequal pay, to name a few, are no longer issues we can watch from the sidelines. So from here on out, I’ll be at every march, every rally, and every demonstration.”

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2022-12-09

Inversion Therapy: To Be or Not To Be That Which One Condemns

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/28

“I was a religious zealot that hurt people. People said they attempted suicide over me and the things I said to them. People, I know, are in therapy because of me. Why would I want that to continue?” — McKrae Game

When irony strikes in life, it can strike while the metal is hot, for the betterment of the rights of the accused, so called accusations, and to the advancement of a culture of critical thinking. Mahita Gajanan in Time described the story of McKrae Game who is a former conversion therapy advocate.

Game founded a South Carolina conversion therapy program. He is its former leader. “Former” because he came out of the closet; he’s gay. Now 51, Game came out two years after being fired by the Hope for Wholeness program, which was founded in 1999. The explicit and sole purpose of the conversion therapy program founded by Game was to rid non-heterosexual people of their sexual orientation identity, which comes with the hidden premise of this as a lifestyle or not something innate to the human being.

This can be all fun and games to popular freethought groups. However, as noted by Game, these institutions, religious orientation and ideological backings, individual biases, and practices & practitioners, and the like, lead to people ‘attempting suicide’ based on “things… said to them” or enter into “therapy” because of it. People die because of this garbage. That’s why it matters to speak frankly and to act forcefully against it. I’m certain many people reading this are sick of hearing about it, maybe even know individuals in their lives impacted by it.

Game, in an article by the Post and Courier, said, “Conversion therapy is not just a lie, but it’s very harmful… Because it’s false advertising.” In the course of the career for Hope for Wholeness, he talked about sexual attraction to men while struggling with gay pornography. In November, 2017, he was fired. Game argues the pornography was the reason for the firing. He spoke to be “devastated” and “humiliated.”

The American Medical Association and American Psychological Association discredit conversion therapy; therefore, “conversion therapy” is not, by definitional status of two legitimate organizations, a “therapy,” but, rather, a ‘therapy’ and does not, in fact, “convert.” Its title does nothing of the former part of it and fails legitimacy tests of the latter point within the relevant professions.

Mental health trauma and thoughts of suicide are linked to “attempts at changing a sexual orientation or gender identity.” Approximately 700,000 “LGBTQ” adults in the United States have received the discredited ‘therapies’ seen in conversion therapy based on the Williams Institute published in 2018. Only 18 states and Washington, D.C., currently ban conversion therapy.

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2022-12-09

Muslimish: Iran, Muslim-Minority Nation

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/27

GAMAAN — The Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in IRAN conducted a survey on the attitudes of Iranians towards religion. It was done between June 6th and 21st of this year. 50,000+ respondents took part in the survey, where about 90% of them lived in Iran.

The biases of the respondents to the surveys are being based out of Iran mostly, being literate and above the age of 19, while having “95% credibility level and credibility intervals of 5%” for the survey. Looking at religion also taps into some associated political concepts, too, one of the more presumptuous ideas about Iran is a nation of people who believe in a supernatural, governing, designing, and maintaining, entity: God.

78% of Iranians believe in God with less than half of that believing in an after life (37%), heaven and hell (30%), jinns (26%), and a coming saviour (26%). 1/5 believe do not believe in a God, an afterlife, heaven and hell, jinns, and a coming saviour. 60% of Iranians reported not praying and 40% varied in their frequency (devotion) to the level of praying, “among whom over 27% reported praying five times a day.”

GAMAAN reported, “While 32% of the population identifies as Shi’ite Muslim, around 9% identify as atheist, 8% as Zoroastrian, 7% as spiritual, 6% as agnostic, and 5% as Sunni Muslim. Others stated that they identify with or follow Sufi mysticism, humanism, Christianity, the Baha’i faith, or Judaism, among other worldviews. Around 22% identified with none of the above.”

Indeed, half of Iranians, based on the survey, report losing religion from personal life. 41% were stable while 6% changed “from one religious orientation to another.” About 6/10 Iranians came from a family who were religious believers in God and approximately 3/10 had a believing and not religious family — not sure as to the precise interpretive lens here. Less than 3/100 (not a typo) grew up or were raised in an anti-religious home. 68% believe the religious prescriptions should separate from state legislation; secularism appears as a fundamental desire to most Iranians. Only 14% think the laws of the country should be governing religious prescriptions, in “accord” with one another.

“71% hold the opinion that religious institutions should be responsible for their own funding. On the other hand, 10% thinks that all religious organizations, irrespective of their faith, should receive government support, while over 3% say only Islamic institutions are entitled to such benefits,” GAMAAN stated.

4 in 10 Iranians believe religions should have the right to proselytize their religion with only 4% believing in the exclusive right for Muslims. Another 4 in 10 believed in a blank ban on religious proselytizing across the board. 56% want secular education or not wanting their children to have religious education

GAMAAN said, “58% said they do not believe in the hijab (Islamic veil covering the hair) altogether. Around 72% opposed the compulsory hijab, while 15% insist on the legal obligation to wear the hijab in public.”

To the nightlife and drinking culture of Iran, there is “legally enforced alcohol temperance.” However, 35% of Iranians drink “occasionally or regularly” and 56% do not drink alcohol at all. For the full report, please kindly see here.

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2022-12-09

Is there life on Venus?

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/26

There have been some recent reports as to the possibility of life on Venus. Is this an empirically verified or confirmed assertion from some recent news reportage? First things first, definitions, not necessarily, what is life? Instead, who studies that which has been defined as “life” on planets other than Earth? Those smarty pants are called astro-biologists with “astro-” meaning “constellation” or “star” and “-biology” meaning “study of life,” rooted in “biology” or “bio-” meaning “life” and “logy” meaning “branch of study.” Other prefixes used in place of “astro-” have been “exo-” and “xeno-” meaning “external” and “other”/“different in origin,” respectively. In this sense, astrobiology, exobiology, and xenobiology can be loosely interchangeable with astrobiology as, probably, the most used term.

So, to the question in some of the popular or mainstream reportage about Venus harbouring life, astrobiologists have looked for Earth-like planets as obvious candidates for planets harbouring life because the form of “life” known abundantly comes from Earth. As scientific skeptics, the obvious orientation on much of the popular media is, and should be, concerned skepticism and due critical thinking about the claims coming from the reportage because of the outlandish belief structures, individual beliefs, practices, and styles or processes of thinking throughout the culture, pervasive or ubiquitous. Nothing original in this orientation to the readership here.

When seeing such claims, it does seem “outlandish,” as if David Icke crawled out of the shadows and took over several news teams to froth at the mouth about aliens in the print of respectable publications, in spite of the decline in monetary funding of, professional and institutional support for, and socio-cultural trust in, media and journalism, understandably. However, astrobiologists have been working for some time on hypothetical scenarios outside of the N of 1 seen in the carbon-based life on Earth.

The key points of the reports, including Scientific American, come from the detection of phosphine. Mike Wall stated, “On Monday (Sept. 14), researchers announced that they’d spotted the fingerprint of phosphine in Venus’ atmosphere, at an altitude where temperatures and pressures are similar to those here on Earth at sea level.” If a detection of phosphine, then this means a “biosignature,” literally “signature of life.”

The preliminary discussion appears to revolve around the biosignature as truly a biosignature or as an indication of an “exotic” chemical reaction mimicking the signifiers of life without, in fact, originating from the processes of some form of microbes.

Pete Worden, executive director of the nonprofit Breakthrough Initiatives, said, “We have what could be a biosignature, and a plausible story about how it got there… The next step is to do the basic science needed to thoroughly investigate the evidence and consider how best to confirm and expand on the possibility of life.”

These developments, and public statements, can show the development of basic science initiatives and the advancement of science from discovery to channelization of resources towards further research in hopes of greater ‘bounty,’ scientific discoveries.

Jane Greaves, an astronomer at the University of Cardiff in the U.K., and lead researcher on some of the new research into phosphine on Venus as a potential biosignature. After some preliminary research, Greaves and colleagues managed to use the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) in March of 2019. The preliminary research was not a blip. Greaves was set for disappointment, but came to an amazing finding. She, and her colleagues, found more phosphine than expected or predicted. Not a conclusion, here, as to whether this is the true sign of life, but, rather, an indication as to increasingly supportive empirical evidence of unusual amounts of phosphine at unusual pressures and altitudes for both phosphine and the amount of phosphine.

Is this “life on Venus”? No, if it is simply an anomalistic finding, however, it could be, “Yes,” if further empirical support with the preponderance of evidence pointing to life rather than an “exotic” chemical reaction. Thus, maybe, but definitely, an unusual amount of phosphine raising intriguing questions about the possibilities of “life on Venus,” so “possibilities” and not conclusions.

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2022-12-09

Conversion ‘Therapy’: Canada Should Ban an Immoral Non-Scientific Practice

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/25

“If you believe there is a God, a God that made your body, and yet you think that you can do anything with that body that’s dirty, then the fault lies with the manufacturer.” — Lenny Bruce

Emerald Bensadoun in Global News published an article entitled “Canada just tabled legislation to ban conversion therapy. Why is it necessary in 2020?“ It’s a good query. The more fundamental question, “Was it ever necessary?” As it is not a scientific construct, as such, but, more akin, to the idea of sexual addict or sex addiction, by analogy, this comes to the idea in an extensive discussion with Dr. Darrel Ray of the Secular Therapy Project and Recovering From Religion.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-5 or the DSM-5 is the standard by which mental disorders are catalogued and given proper psychological reference at this time. Its last update was in 2013. The sexual addiction label was rejected in 2013 in spite of the proposal for inclusion seven years ago. The DSM-5/DSM-V does not incorporate “sex addict” or “sexual addiction” in itself. Thus, as Dr. Ray noted, to me, the idea of the psychological construct of sexual addiction is false or pseudoscience with the idea, in fact, extant as a theological construct within Christian counselling presented as if a psychological construct.

“There’s tons of evidence that the most religious people self-identify the most as ‘sex addicts.’ Not to mind, there is no such thing as sex addiction. There’s no way to define it. I have argued with atheists that have been atheists for 20 years who say that they are sex addicts. Help me understand, how did you get that diagnosis?… I do not care if you look at porn once or twice an hour. You are still not a sex addict. So, get over that,” Dr. Ray stated, “You may have other issues. You may have some compulsions. You may have some fear of driving the issue. But it almost always comes down to early childhood religious training… Sometimes, you can go an entire lifetime with a guilt, a shame, a fear, rooted in religion.”

When I reflect on the literal non-sense, lack of sense or empirical-based evidence, for conversion therapy, it breaks my heart. Why should non-heterosexual peoples have to be subjected to the non-scientific whims of the popular religious culture or the sub-culture of the religious devoted to the immoral practice of conversion therapy? The Government of Canada introduced legislation for the amendment of the Criminal Code in order to ban conversion therapy, which becomes a victory for the LGBTI [Ed. Terminology based on the LGBTI Core Group from the United Nations.] community in Canada, in part.

In fact, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, David Lametti, stated, “Conversion therapy is a cruel practice that can lead to life-long trauma, particularly for young people… It sends a demeaning and degrading message… [and] is premised on a lie.” This is important in its being candid. This is a point of unification of purpose for both the scientific skeptic and the humanist communities based on their core values because of the violation of proper science in therapeutic practice and the violation of fundamental human rights, respectively.

Five new offences would be added to the Criminal Code, including “causing a minor to undergo conversion therapy, removing a minor from Canada to undergo conversion therapy abroad, causing a person to undergo conversion therapy against their will, profiting from providing conversion therapy and advertising an offer to provide conversion therapy.”

Bensadoun reported that the legislation would permit courts to seize advertisements of conversion therapy or to “order those who placed the advertisements to remove them.” This lattermost point may be a point of contention more than the others with freedom of expression and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Now, if the bill becomes a law, Lametti stipulated that the law — with the five incorporative offences — would become the singular comprehensive and progressive legislation in the world on the banishment and punishment of the practice of an immoral and non-scientific practice. Indeed, this has been a Liberal campaign promise. Their website states:

Conversion therapy is a scientifically discredited practice that targets vulnerable LGBTQ2 Canadians in an attempt to change their sexual orientation or gender identity. There is international consensus in the medical community that conversion therapy is not founded in science and does not work.

To ensure that no one is subjected to this practice, we will move forward on our promise to work with provinces and territories to end conversion therapy in Canada, including making amendments to the Criminal Code that will prohibit this harmful and scientifically disproven practice, especially against minors.

Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, as provinces, have banned conversion therapy; Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary, as cities, have as well. Manitoba made a statement against the practices. Thusly, this is the tide of national history with much inertia, where the vector is more towards this federal ban rather than not.

The whole point or purpose of conversion therapy is to make a non-heterosexual person homosexual. Without empirical support for these therapies en masse, we come to the basic premise of a faith-based practice, which comes down to a religious orientation or perspective, thusly measured alongside “sexual addiction” a la Dr. Darrel Ray. In that, this pretends to premise itself, as a ‘therapeutic’ practice upon a psychological construct; whereas, in truth, this comes from a theological seeming or faith-based ideological idea of non-heterosexuality as a “lifestyle,” as something non-nativist or innate in which the sexual orientation of the person is a choice.

It seems like no accident that one of the communities’ victims reported comes from Langley, British Columbia, Canada, in the article by Bensadoun, where the infamous fundamentalist Evangelical Christian Trinity Western University is hosted; the largest private university in Canada. Apparently, The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) released a report arguing for conversion therapy as more prevalent in Canada than thought before. One of the “harrowing accounts” is of “Canadian Harper Perrin, who staved off efforts to change their social [sic] orientation at a church in Langely [sic], B.C.” Perrin reported on the attempts to change the ways in which they “walked and talked, making them very mindful of their body and making sure they lived a ‘masculine expression.’”

All this is perfectly clownish and silly, and degrading, except for the fact that this is truly happening rather than in some comic book or piece of fiction. People who I know and love — and I’m sure for most of you reading this it’s the same context — suffering or being unduly discriminated based on false notions and quack practitioners of faith-driven non-science. Bensadoun stated, “Faith-based organizations like the Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity (formerly known as NARTH) still exist in Canada, and a majority of them have offices that operate in multiple provinces. It provides ‘Sexual Attraction Fluidity Exploration in Therapy,’ ironically abbreviated ‘SAFE-T.’”

In some other previous interviews, I have come across the stories of suffering, sometimes of triumph. Take, for example, the case of Peter Gajdics who is an award-winning writer. He published The Inheritance of Shame: A Memoir in May of 2017. His “triumph” came from speaking a truth in public deemed uncomfortable. It probably saved his life. He was subdued and subjected to a 6-year ordeal of conversion therapy in one of the provinces unlisted within the conversion therapy ban provinces (“Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island”), which, in context, is one of the unusual ones. Vancouver City banned it; British Columbia did not. Although, the far West coast of Canada, to some, is seen as a highly progressive portion of the country in spite of some of its Bible Belt.

Gajdics, in an interview with him entitled “Author Peter Gajdics on Conversion Therapy,” provided a succinct statement as to the ideational constructs undergirding “conversion therapy” and its associated falsities:

“Conversion therapy,” also known as “reparative therapy” or even “sexual orientation change efforts” (SOCE), really took hold in direct response to the burgeoning gay rights movement of the early 1970’s, particularly after the American Psychiatric Association’s 1973 decision to declassify homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. As gay liberation exploded over the next several years and gay people carved out their own place in history, taking great strides toward visibility and self-worth, in some cases legal vindication, the religious right advanced its own ideology of being “ex-gay” — that it was possible to sort of “pray away the gay.” Personally, I don’t really like this term, “pray away the gay,” since I think it reduces what is actually a traumatic experience to the sound of a joke, and the process of attempting to strip away a person’s core self and “convert” them into something that they’re not is anything but humorous: lives have been destroyed and even lost in the name of this kind of ignorance and outright hatred. Ultimately, there was nothing new to any of this; what we call “homosexuals” or even “gay” people today have been victims to all sorts of strange methods and ideologies to help “change” them, or at least to help conceal them, over the centuries. In the 20th century alone we’ve seen aversion therapy, castrations and lobotomies, inhumane use of psychotropics, and of course forced psychoanalysis as a common “cure.”

“Inhumane” seems like the coda to this long, long history of injustices carried forward by faith-based standards of thoughts and cultural thrust. Bensadoun’s article covers some more cases and organizations relevant to this subject matter for those interested.

Canada, if it moves forward with the transition of the bill into a law, can become a comprehensive and progressive core global leader in these efforts of the advancement of empirically-informed public policy and the protection of the fundamental human rights of LGBTI people in our society.

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2022-12-09

Myths Around the Coronavirus

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/23

As of the time of writing this article — September 17 (2020), 6,400,000+ Canadians have been tested for the coronavirus with over 140,000 cases, 8,500 active cases, 123,000 recovered cases, and 9,200 deaths or mortality cases based on data from the Government of Canada. Everyone knows the general recommendations coming from the Canadian Government, from their health authorities, and… from their grandmothers, i.e., wear a mask, wash your hands, physically distance at least 6 feet or more, etc.

This will focus less on the obvious and more on the interesting myths, which have arisen in the time of the coronavirus. These resources come more comprehensively from the World Health Organization. Only a select few covered here. There was misinformation about the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine for helping clinically with COVID-19. It does not. It helps with “malaria, lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis.” Current evidence suggests the drug does not reduce deaths of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

COVID-19, the disease, is caused by a virus and not by a bacteria, as it is part of the Coronaviridae family of viruses. This means, antibiotics do not work for COVID-19, because antibiotics do not work against viruses. Antibiotics can be recommended by a provider of healthcare if some complications involve a bacterial infection alongside COVID-19. No current drugs have been licensed as effective in prevention of treatment of COVID-19.

The World Health Organization stated, “The prolonged use of medical masks can be uncomfortable. However, it does not lead to CO2 intoxication nor oxygen deficiency. While wearing a medical mask, make sure it fits properly and that it is tight enough to allow you to breathe normally. Do not re-use a disposable mask and always change it as soon as it gets damp.”

An important fact about COVID-19, as indicated by the above-mentioned statistics from the Government of Canada: Most patients of COVID-19 recover, many die, but most recover from COVID-19. Here’s a fact, too: Drinking alcohol does not, in any way, protect from COVID-19. It, in fact, “can be dangerous.”

This one was simply too odd when I came across it. Some think COVID-19 can be spread via houseflies. There is no evidence to suggest this, at this time. So, a fear of houseflies spreading COVID-19 is not something to fear. It cannot be spread by mosquito bites either. Cold weather and snow don’t kill it; hot baths don’t prevent it; hot and humid climates can spread COVID-19. Exposure to the sun or 25-degree Celsius weather will not protect from COVID-19. Bleach taken orally — and, presumably, rectally/anally — will not cure COVID-19. It is “extremely dangerous.” (Only attempt if you wish for candidacy for a Darwin Award. See: “Mortality Statistics at the Top of the Article.”)

“Do not under any circumstance spray or introduce bleach or any other disinfectant into your body. These substances can be poisonous if ingested and cause irritation and damage to your skin and eyes,” the World Health Organization warned, “Bleach and disinfectant should be used carefully to disinfect surfaces only. Remember to keep chlorine (bleach) and other disinfectants out of reach of children.”

Mainly, as the fact of the matter, it spreads from touching surfaces that are contaminated in which someone then touches their eyes, nose, or mouth, after touching the infected surface. Also, the droplets from coughing, sneezing, and speaking, are another means by which COVID-19 is spread.

Lastly, 5G mobile networks do not spread COVID-19.

Thank you for your patient attention.

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2022-12-09

On the Responsibility of Journalism to Self-Respect with Christian Sorensen

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/06/21

Christian is a Philosopher that comes from Belgium. What identifies him the most and above all is simplicity, for everything is better with “vanilla flavour.” Perhaps, for this reason, his intellectual passion is criticism and irony, in the sense of trying to reveal what “hides behind the mask,” and give birth to the true. For him, ignorance and knowledge never “cross paths.” What he likes the most in his leisure time, is to go for a walk with his wife.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: When I reflect on journalism as an enterprise, in many ways, I view the work as something akin to a relinquishing of the formalities of Communication Theory and Information Theory and brought down to the ordinary level, even ordinary interviews and data-collection can be a source of insight into the human condition at a profound level. Without the formalities of Communication Theory and Information Theory, we have the basic idea of the transmission of non-general information in the sense of human-to-human communication as the emitter and the receiver, and vice versa, for a conversation or a dialogue: a human brain, a human diaphragm, and a human vocal system, and another human brain, another human diaphragm, and another human vocal system. All with variations in the quality of transmission plus the ‘noise’ in between all of this. Journalism, in popular culture, seems almost akin to art, like painting or poetry, but its operations seem much more precise and non-general, and general, in a number of ways. Precise in working within the narrow band of human communication; non-general in the information transmitted is not understood much by non-human animals and in various qualities by human animals; and, general, when taken in the context of its intended emitters and receivers, in its capacity to speak of a large string of things about and within the universe — far beyond the contexts of ancestral environments. What is the purpose of journalism to you?

Christian Sorensen: I consider that “journalism’s artistic character” is one of its “fundamental values,” since through this it achieves “an effective and meaningful communication,” both by being able to “read events from within,” and by interpreting them from “a unique angle,” while simultaneously “empathizing” with the “audience needs and sensitivities,” and this last in turn claims its “right” to be “adequately and timely informed,” in order to feel through this way “correctly interpreted” in its most profound desire.

Jacobsen: What are some other appropriate analyses of journalism to you?

Sorensen: A “journalism,” that together with having the ability to “visualize deeply” the “facts from within,” is besides “rigorously descriptive” in such a way, that “its history” conforms “as objectively” as possible “to reality” of what actually has occurred.

Jacobsen: How is journalism failing in some of the modern societies now?

Sorensen: Through “rhetorical sensationalism fixation” with “forms,” to “fund detriment,” and through “journalistic prostitution” or said in a subtler way, by kneeling down towards “exchanging favours,” for leaving aside all “kinds of ethics” and the “commitment” to “truth search,” in compensation for some sort of “economic and political” benefits.

Jacobsen: How is journalism succeeding in some of the modern societies now?

Sorensen: Insofar as it has been “independent journalism,” and has committed to defending “human rights.”

Jacobsen: Should there be any limits on journalism? If so, what? If not, why not?

Sorensen: I consider that “its limits” are related to the duty of “respecting and promoting human dignity” in all possible ways, and likewise with “freedom,” in the sense of protecting “people’s rights” regarding their “individual intimacy” and access to “reliable information.”

Jacobsen: How will journalism function after this onslaught against the truth, veracity, and empiricism over the 2010s?

Sorensen: I hope that “journalism” works with “greater reality sense,” and a “truer awareness” regarding “inalienable needs,” such as those concerning to the “search for truth,” so as to achieve in that way superior “reliability degrees,” and the attachment with “empiricism” in order to arrive at “successful objectivizations” regarding phenomena.

Jacobsen: Who are some admirable journalists to you?

Sorensen: Raymond Aron and Laurent Joffrin.

Jacobsen: Why do autocratic governments kill journalists, murder them?

Sorensen: Because “autocratic governments,” deep down “don’t tolerate” the “search for truth,” nor the “defence of human rights,” or “critical judgments” which are proper to “contestatory” speeches.

Jacobsen: Why should we respect or disrespect journalism as a field for democratic societies?

Sorensen: We “do not have” any duty “for respecting journalism,” since it’s rather they themselves who are the ones who first of all “must learn how to respect themselves,” and therefore the former would be “consequence” of the aforementioned, and not the other way round as is commonly believed, due to the fact that by “being loyal” towards their “proper role,” then they will “self-enable” to “fully comply” in democratic societies, their “mediating function” so that “communication” may exist within them.

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2022-12-09

Atheists United 5k Run Fundraiser

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/05/08

Atheists United organized a run to raise funds. Well, if you’re a walker or a runner, or something else, like a biker or a (rock n’) roller, then you were going to be in (virtual) company, as they organized this virtually for a Black Skeptics Los Angeles (BSLA) COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund. This is a great initiative for a community or a bunch of communities in dire need.

Sikivu Hutchinson and others have continually been at the forefront of focus on secular communities who are LGBTQIA+ affirming, and who are predominantly people of colour. If you left the Black Church, the Nation of Islam, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, or some other religious group, where would, or could, you go at that point? One of the answers is the secular communities of colour who Mandisa Thomas, Sikivu Hutchinson, Bridgett Crutchfield, and a number of others have been at the forefront.

The May 7th 5k (not in miles!) was planned for the same day as the National Day of Prayer of the Christians who consider America a Christian nation, i.e., Christian Nationalists. With the coronavirus pandemic, particularly in America, raging onward, a virtual 5k fundraiser seems like a delightful way to have done some good for secular communities who don’t get as much attention or as good a treatment as one would necessarily hope.

Kudos to all who took part!

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2022-12-09

National Secular Society Podcast

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/05/08

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f you haven’t had the time and would have an interest in some of the great audio content produced by the secular communities around the world, and if your time has opened more with the coronavirus, then you may want to check out some of the great content produced by the National Secular Society or the NSS.

They have released a podcast with conversations with leading secular personalities around the world including, recently, in Episode 25, Andrew L. Seidel from the Freedom From Religion Foundation who is a U.S. constitutional and civil rights lawyer.

Alastair Lichten and Andrew talk about some of the important issues of the day for the separation of church and state. One of these is the idea of religious exceptionalism and the warped idea of religious liberty in a society in which it, like others, remains embroiled in a fight against a pandemic. How does a concept of religious exceptionalism and religious liberty fit into this picture?

When a religious permits exceptions for itself, then, in a manner of (faux) rights speaking, then it provides for itself the exception to the rules for everyone else based on the fact fo it being a God-given right to enter a place of worship or to pray in public spaces, etc., while in a pandemic, when the most prudent actions have been recommended by medical (scientific) authorities, including lockdown, physical distancing, and wearing of masks, etc.

With one case being the lack of access to places of worship of holy days, these restrictions apply to all. Some religious institutions, leaders, and individuals propose to be exceptions to the rules for everyone else. This may be mild privileges for oneself in the past. Now, in the midst of a pandemic, it is that and more because it puts others’ lives at risk.

Humanism teaches social responsibility and personal responsibility. So if an individual wants to harm themselves, then we can socially work to prevent this; while, at the same time, if the individual blatantly forgoes those health recommendations and demands on the part of the health authorities for the health of everyone else, then this individual becomes a health threat to themselves and others based on a psychological state of denial of the facts before them. That’s only one case.

Seidel and Lichten unpack some of these thornier issues of individuals preaching religion as a means by which to acquire unusual and exceptional privileges apart from others, including other religions and those without religion. Thus, the term “religious exceptionalism” may, in fact, best be stated as “particular religious exceptionalism” as, typically, one religion gets the benefit over other religions and over no religion.

Their episodes are available on our website, with videos on YouTube and post-session transcripts available.

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2022-12-09

Humanist Canada calls for release of Nigerian Humanist President

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/05/05

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — May 5, 2020 — PRLog — Canadian Humanists are supporting calls from Humanists International to have Mubarak Bala released from a Nigerian jail. Bala, who is president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, was arrested by Nigerian police April 28 following a complaint the had insulted the prophet Mohammed in a social media post. Bala, who is a former Muslim, has been arrested without formal charges. Bala’s lawyer has not been allowed access to his client.

“The right to be charged within 24 hours of arrest and the right to legal counsel are enshrined in Nigerian law. In addition, we would request: if Mr. Bala is charged with a crime, then the charge is, or those charges are, heard in a secular as opposed to a Islamic court, as he is a humanist, atheist, and former Muslim,” said Scott Jacobsen, international rights spokesman for Humanist Canada. Humanist Canada Vice-President, Lloyd Robertson, said Canadians can support Mr Bala’s defence campaign organized by Humanists International by visiting:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/free-mubarak-bala

He added that international support is important for the protection of minorities.

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2022-12-09

Short Reflections on Age and Youth

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/04/28

“The two previous productions by Dr. Silverman and I were Short Reflections on Secularism (2019) and Short Reflections on American Secularism’s History and Philosophy (2020). The third production began on January 1, 2020 and completed and April 1, 2020. The focus for this particular series of conversations was the nature of the phrase, “If youth knew, if age could,” and, in fact, remained the title of the series throughout the publication. The origin of the phrase is Sigmund Freud, which comes with a semi-colon in place of a comma. Nonetheless, this reflects the nature of the partition between the things one can do and the things one can know, and the things one can’t do and the things one can’t know, depending on the time in life for the person. The intended audience for this publication is the youth Humanism crowd. The main publication devoted to this community is Humanist Voices within relevant networks for me. This became the basis for the inclusion of this series in Humanist Voices. As per usual, the subject matter ranged a significant amount with a thematic exploration of the things of one can know with more age and can’t do with more age, or things one can’t know with less age and can do with less age. Mother Nature and Father Time are significantly in charge of the human condition and the impacts of both on human nature and human dissolution cannot be ignored. While with this reflection, at the same time, the deep, generative ties between generations over long periods of time can lessen the truth of the statement as an isolation of the young and the old, and being together a respect for the knowledge and experience of the old who became wise and the young with the foresight to listen and the conscientiousness to carry out the knowledge and experience to fruition.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Foreword by Scott Douglas Jacobsen
1HUMANIST VOICES
aIf Youth Knew, If Age Could 1 — Freethought for the 21st Century
bIf Youth Knew, If Age Could 2 — Freethought for a Multipolar World
cIf Youth Knew, If Age Could 3 — Coming of Age in an Ever, Ever-Irrational World
dIf Youth Knew, If Age Could 4 — Bridges are the Rainbows
eIf Youth Knew, If Age Could 5 — We Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere, No-Time Soon: Supernaturalistic Traditions and Naturalistic Philosophies in the Future
fIf Youth Knew, If Age Could 6 — Age is Numbers, Youth is Attitude
gIf Youth Knew, If Age Could 7 — The Nature of Nature in the Nature of Time
hIf Youth Knew, If Age Could 8 — Serendipity, Luck, and Love
iIf Youth Knew, If Age Could 9 — Guidance Without Expectation of Reward: or, Thus Saith the Landlord
jIf Youth Knew, If Age Could 10 — Nature’s on a Roll, or a Rigamarole, or Somethin’: Plural Processes, Dynamic Dynamos, and Good Enough
kIf Youth Knew, If Age Could 11 — Morrow’s Fantasia: My Tomorrow’s ‘Tomorrow’
lIf Youth Knew, If Age Could 12 — By ‘Soul,’ We Mean Psyche: The Complete Human Being
mIf Youth Knew, If Age Could 13 — Sifting Sense and Nonsense: B.S. Detector, the Baloney Detection Kit
nIf Youth Knew, If Age Could 14 — A Rational Life Includes Non-Rational Parts
oIf Youth Knew, If Age Could 15 — All Things Bright and Wonderful, and Unknown: What Do We Know, Really?
pIf Youth Knew, If Age Could 16 — Take Some Time: Virtues and Virtuous Habits
qIf Youth Knew, If Age Could 17 — Family: The United Nations and Conservatism
rIf Youth Knew, If Age Could 18 — Plato’s Demon and Platonic Friends: or, A Mathematician Who Can Reason and Friends With (Other) Benefits
sIf Youth Knew, If Age Could 19 — Archimedean Pivot: To Take a Stand and to Move the Earth
tIf Youth Knew, If Age Could 20 — Newton’s Sight Came From the Hind: A Send-Off
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2022-12-09

Crépuscule des idoles: Conversations avec un Franco-palestinien sur le sécularisme

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/04/28

“Des personnalités exceptionnelles viennent du plus large éventail de considérations pour moi. En cela, les plus grands paramètres d’inclusion possibles dans la catégorie rare et raréfiée pour les critères d’une «personnalité exceptionnelle» ou d’une personne exceptionnelle créent les bases d’une véritable représentation de l’éventail de l’excellence humaine. Un tel critère émerge dans l’endurance. Un autre vu dans le leadership. Imaginez, un instant, si vous voulez, la vie d’un écrivain qui travaille dans l’un des endroits les plus pauvres et les plus compliqués — en termes économiques, géographiques, politiques, etc. — du monde entier, du territoire palestinien occupé ou du Le TPO comprend Gaza / la bande de Gaza, Jérusalem-Est et la Cisjordanie. En outre, considérez la vie d’un gribouilleur qui gribouille ou, plutôt, tape sur la religion dans une culture dans laquelle la religion reste au sol au sens de soi et de la connexion à quelque chose de plus grand que soi pour un large contingent de la population locale. Pour le crime de mots, soit sur un écran ou sur du papier imprimé, l’individu devient vilipendé avec la meilleure option disponible comme fuyant le pays de la persécution et fondant ensuite une organisation nationale consacrée aux anciens religieux, ex-musulmans.

Waleed Al-Husseini, né le 25 juin 1989, semble être une personne aussi exceptionnelle. Il a écrit de Qalqilya, une ville palestinienne de plus de 40 000 habitants, en Cisjordanie, en tant qu’ancien musulman ou ex-musulman sur les questions de laïcité et d’athéisme. Il a mis fin aux pratiques islamiques et a rejeté la proposition de l’existence d’Allah et de Mohammed en tant que messager final présumé d’Allah. Al-Husseini a satirisé la religion sur Internet. Pour le crime d’humour contre une religion protégée, Al-Husseini a été arrêté en octobre 2010 par l’Autorité palestinienne ou l’Autorité palestinienne pour blasphème. Apparemment, le Theity sait tout, peut tout faire, ne peut toujours pas gérer une blague. Ses représentants sur Terre proposent de le savoir. De nombreux pays, basés sur les campagnes de diverses organisations humanistes, ont œuvré pour éliminer les lois nationales sur le blasphème avec un certain succès, y compris au Canada et dans d’autres pays. Les questions demeurent quant à la raison de l’existence de lois sur le blasphème en premier lieu. Pourquoi un acte blasphématoire, sur l’affirmation de la réalité de cet acte comme substantiel, crée-t-il la base pour la considération d’un crime dans les sociétés?

Un blasphème équivaut à la prétendue insulte ou au manque de respect pour une divinité ou un objet sacré. Ces êtres hypothétiques ou objets matériels considérés comme inviolables et sacrés d’une manière extra-matérielle, surnaturelle ou métaphysique. Si l’on considère ces accusations comme des faits ayant une valeur juridique et morale, alors l’affirmation devient la vérité ou l’actualité du système de jurisprudence et d’éthique derrière l’idée de blasphème. En cela, il faut croire en l’existence de la Divinité ayant la capacité d’insulte personnelle pour étayer les allégations d’actes blasphématoires, de violations légales ou morales, contre elle. Alors que les sociétés laïques existent censément, si elles continuent à fonctionner avec une loi sur le blasphème dans les livres juridiques, alors ces sociétés laïques, en partie, courtisent une profonde contradiction interne aux propositions laïques nationales en tant qu’État avec l’instanciation d’une loi explicitement non laïque sur la base de la croyance requise susmentionnée en un ou plusieurs dieux. Ce n’est pas une affaire compliquée, la motivation constante de la peur et de la terreur de la part des chefs religieux et de certaines communautés rend difficile le suivi du raisonnement clair et des preuves en raison des représailles apparentes contre les individus qui affichent les allégations de contrecoup et déclarent l’évidence, la logique, le sens.”
— –
“Exceptional personalities come from the widest range of considerations to me. In that, the largest possible inclusion parameters in the rare and rarefied category for the criteria of an “exceptional personality” or an outstanding person creates the foundation for a real representation of the range of human excellence. One such criterion emerges in endurance. Another seen in leadership. Imagine, for a moment, if you will, the life of a writer who works in one of the most impoverished and complicated — in terms of economics, geography, politics, and the like — places in the entire world, occupied Palestinian territory or the oPt comprised of Gaza/the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank. Further, consider, the life of a scribbler who scrawls, or, rather, types, on religion in a culture in which religion remains ground zero to the sense of self and connection to something larger than oneself for a large contingent of the local population. For the crime of words, either on a screen or on printed paper, the individual becomes vilified with the best option available as fleeing the country from persecution and then founding a national organization devoted to the former religious, ex-Muslims.

Waleed Al-Husseini, born June 25, 1989, seems like such an exceptional person. He wrote from Qalqilya, a Palestinian city with a population over 40,000, in the West Bank as a former Muslim or an ex-Muslim on issues of secularism and atheism. He stopped Islamic practices and rejected the proposal for the existence of Allah and Mohammed as the final purported messenger of Allah. Al-Husseini satirized religion on the internet. For the crime of humour against a protected religion, Al-Husseini was arrested in October, 2010 by the PA or the Palestinian Authority on the charge of blasphemy. Apparently, the Theity knows everything, can do everything, still can’t handle a joke. His representatives on Earth propose to know this. Many countries based on campaigns of various humanist organizations have worked to remove national blasphemy laws with some success, including in Canada and other nations. The questions remain about the reason for the existence of blasphemy laws in the first place. Why does a blasphemous act, on the assertion of the reality of this act as substantive, create the basis for the consideration of a crime in societies?

A blasphemy amounts to the purported insulting or lack of reverence for a deity or sacred object. Those hypothetical beings or material objects considered inviolable and sacred in some extra-material, supernatural, or metaphysical manner. If one takes these charges as factual ones with legal and moral standing, then the assertion becomes the truth or actuality of the system of jurisprudence and ethics behind the idea of blasphemy. In that, one needs to believe in the existence of the Deity with the capacity for personal insult to substantiate the claims of blasphemous acts, legal or moral violations, against it. While secular societies supposedly exist, if they continue to operate with a blasphemy law in the legal books, then these secular societies, in part, court a deep internal contradiction to national secularist propositions as a state with the instantiation of a law explicitly non-secular based on the aforementioned requisite belief in a God or gods. Not a complicated affair, the constant drive of fear and terror by religious leaders and some communities makes following the clear reasoning and evidence difficult because of the apparent reprisals against individuals who flaunt the claims of backlash and state the obvious, the logical, the sensible.”

TABLE DES MATIÈRES
Crépuscule des idoles: Conversations avec un Franco-palestinien sur le sécularisme
Remerciements
Préface de Scott Douglas Jacobsen
1CANADIAN ATHEIST (Français)
aInquiétudes pour la sécurité de la communauté française ex-musulmane
bEx-musulmans masculins et féminins — Interprétation narrative et évasion
cMises à jour sur les ex-musulmans en France et ailleurs
dWaleed Al-Husseini sur le fondamentalisme et la réforme en islam
eL’état de l’Etat et de la mosquée avec Waleed Al-Husseini
fL’ex-Blasphémère musulman en France: Waleed Al-Husseini
gLois sur le blasphème, peur et hostilité et ex-musulmans français: Waleed Al-Husseini
2CONATUS NEWS/UNCOMMON GROUND MEDIA LTD. (Français)
aEntretien avec Waleed Al-Husseini — Fondateur du Conseil des ex-musulmans de France
bQuestions-réponses sur les ex-musulmans avec Waleed Al-Husseini — Séance 1
cQuestions-réponses sur les ex-musulmans avec Waleed Al-Husseini — Séance 2
3THE GOOD MEN PROJECT (Français)
aCritiquer l’islam, devenir un «criminel», être torturé et quitter l’islam
bWaleed Al-Husseini 2019 pour le Conseil des ex-musulmans de France
4NEWS INTERVENTION (Français)
aHistoire française laïque récente
bWaleed Al-Husseini sur les restrictions de la parole, la laïcité et plus
5MEDIUM (Français)
aLibertés pour les ex-musulmans français
bWaleed Al-Husseini sur les femmes et l’islam
cWaleed Al-Husseini 2019 pour les ex-musulmans français
dLe sort des ex-musulmans avec Waleed Al-Husseini
eWaleed Al-Husseini sur le soutien et le sanctuaire pour les ex-musulmans
Twilight of the Idols: Conversations with a French-Palestinian on Secularism
Acknowledgements
Foreword by Scott Douglas Jacobsen
6CANADIAN ATHEIST (English)
aConcerns for Safety Among the French Ex-Muslim Community
bMale and Female Ex-Muslims — Narrative Interpretation and Escape
cUpdates on Ex-Muslims in France and Elsewhere
dWaleed Al-Husseini on Fundamentalism and Reform in Islam
eThe State of the State and Mosque with Waleed Al-Husseini
fThe Ex-Muslim Blasphemer in France: Waleed Al-Husseini
gBlasphemy Laws, Fear and Hostility, and French Ex-Muslims: Waleed Al-Husseini
7CONATUS NEWS/UNCOMMON GROUND MEDIA LTD. (English)
aAn Interview with Waleed Al-Husseini — Founder of Council of Ex-Muslims of France
bQ&A on Ex-Muslims with Waleed Al-Husseini — Session 1
cQ&A on Ex-Muslims with Waleed Al-Husseini — Session 2
8THE GOOD MEN PROJECT (English)
aCriticizing Islam, Becoming a ‘Criminal’, Being Tortured, and Leaving Islam
bWaleed Al-Husseini on 2019 for the Council of Ex-Muslims of France
9NEWS INTERVENTION (English)
aRecent Secular French History
bWaleed Al-Husseini on the Restrictions of Speech, Secularism, and More
10MEDIUM (English)
aFreedoms for French Ex-Muslims
bWaleed Al-Husseini on Women and Islam
cWaleed Al-Husseini on 2019 for French Ex-Muslims
dThe Plight of Ex-Muslims with Waleed Al-Husseini
eWaleed Al-Husseini on Support and Sanctuary for Ex-Muslims
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2022-12-09

Updates on SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 for Canadians and British Columbians

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/03/14

1. Canada is the 22nd-highest infected nation. Top 5 are China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, and Spain. SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 (“SARS” means “Severe Acute Respiratory Disease”) is in 149 nations and territories now. There is no prevention, at this time, only mitigation, as the virus spread too fast with too little in the way of serious protocol and reaction on the part of the international community.
2. Canada has a total of 225 cases. 70 or more in B.C. We are a potential pandemic-vector province now.
3. Canada had 27 new cases since yesterday. We are a “low risk” country. That’s a growth rate of 13.6% *in one day.* That means a potential doubling rate of the cases every 5 to 6 days. That’s why this is taken extremely seriously as a) a rapid contagion spread rate and b) with its high lethality rate. *This is not the common flu or comparable to the common flu based on expert testimony on the subject matter.* It’s more comparable to the Spanish Flu from 1918, as noted.
4. Canada has 1 death, 1 serious/critical case, and 11 recovery cases. A caveat, Japan found the first *re-infection* case. This may make the virus far more lethal than previously expected.
5. SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19, potentially, mutated into an aggressive and a mild form with the older S-type deriving the new L-type. S-type is the mild form. S-type jumped from non-human animals to human animals. L-type evolved within human animals. L-type is the aggressive form. L-type and S-type SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 are *both involved* in the global infections. If new forms evolve, then all vaccines in-development become potentially virtually useless to these new forms.
7. Symptoms: fever, followed by a dry cough. After a week, shortness of breath with ~20% of patients requiring hospital treatment, rarely seems to cause a runny nose, sneezing, or sore throat. 80.9% of infections are mild, can recover at home. 13.8% are severe, including pneumonia and shortness of breath. 4.7% are critical, include respiratory failure, septic shock, and multi-organ failure. 2% of reported cases: death. The risk of death increases the older you are; relatively few cases are seen among children.
8. Timelines: mild cases: approximately 2 weeks; severe or critical disease: 3–6 weeks.

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2022-12-09

Philanthropic Gift from Grindstone Capital Secures Opening of First Family Shelter for Abused Fathers and Children

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/02/04

TORONTO, ON — (February 4, 2020) Canada will open the first dedicated shelter for abused fathers and children thanks to a philanthropic gift from digital technology powerhouse Grindstone Capital. Grindstone’s contribution of $80,000, the largest gift from a corporate partner, brings the fundraising campaign to a successful conclusion by triggering a consortium of eleven additional donors and surpassing the goal of raising half a million dollars.

Grindstone Capital president Philip Keezer said: “Grindstone Capital is proud to support the Canadian Centre for Men and Families. Equal access to shelters such as this one is a small first step in a broader effort to achieve gender equality. Grindstone values knowledge and awareness, and by knowing the facts we can all create a better world.”

“Imagine you and your child live each day in fear of violence, but no one believes you,” said Canadian Centre for Men and Families Executive Director Justin Trottier, who is leading the initiative. “That is the situation for thousands of fathers every year.” Single father families are the fastest growing family form in Canada. Yet while the caregiving role of dads quickly expands, fathers who are suffering violence in the home still have no safe place designed for them and their children.

But now a global paradigm shift is underway. In March 2019, the UK government earmarked one million pounds to victim services for men and boys. In Canada, women’s shelters have started accepting boys and men, while senior staff from social service agencies across the country have joined an Advisory Board to support the current project.

The initiative shown by Grindstone Capital is opening new doors by catalyzing corporate sponsorships and philanthropic gifts which pushed the campaign over the finish line.

“We are so grateful to Grindstone for their courageous leadership in bringing corporate social responsibility to bear on a unique cause that will transform so many lives,” said Trottier. “We are excited to be working in partnership with Grindstone to pioneer a movement toward a gender-inclusive approach to domestic abuse that guarantees no family suffers in silence.”

CONTACT

Grindstone Capital
www.grindstonecapital.ca

Justin Trottier
Executive Director
Canadian Centre for Men and Families
jtrottier@menandfamilies.org
416–402–8856

Grindstone Capital is an international holding company, based in Montreal, that supports entrepreneurs in achieving their online business dreams. From website creation and payment processing, to marketing and advertising, Grindstone’s portfolio companies work in synergy to remove all technical barriers faced by the modern business owner.

The Canadian Centre for Men and Families is a health and social service agency that responds to boys and men in crisis; reducing suicide among men at high-risk, strengthening the father-child relationship following separation or divorce; supporting men and children who are victims of family violence.

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2022-12-09

International Conference to Explore the Intersection of Shared Parenting and Family Violence

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/01/23

VANCOUVER, BC — (January 23, 2020) At Vancouver’s University of British Columbia, the International Council on Shared Parenting is hosting the 5th gathering of leading scholars, researchers and advocates to present new ideas and discuss issues of best practices on shared parenting. A first for this conference is a focus on the intersection of shared parenting and family violence. A recent article in Psychology Today by the event Co‐Chair Dr. Edward Kruk, outlines the conference.

The conference’s initial line up includes an eminent list of presenters with more speakers being added:

* Malin Bergström, Ph.D. of Sweden

* Denise Hines, Ph.D. of USA
* Emily Douglas, Ph.D. of USA and conference Co‐Chair

* Edward Kruk, Ph.D. of Canada and conference Co‐Chair
* William Fabricius, Ph.D. of USA

* Alexandra Lysova, Ph.D. of Canada
* Chantal Clot‐Grangeat, Ph.D. of France

* Alexander Masardo, Ph.D. of United Kingdom
* Michel Grangeat, Ph.D. of France

* Tonia Nicolls, Ph.D. of Canada
* Jennifer Harman, Ph.D. of USA

* Hildegund Sünderhauf, Ph.D. of Germany

Mark your calendar for May 29 ‐ June 1, 2020 for a unique opportunity to meet and engage the leading experts on the issues of shared parenting, domestic violence and best practices for both. What sets this conference apart is a variety of themes such as differentiating between high conflict and family violence, and implications for shared parenting arrangements; evaluating the impact of shared parenting in the prevention of family violence; developing guidelines for family violence education and training of divorce practitioners helping families develop parenting plans after separation; developing screening procedures for family violence; establishing safety and specialized procedures when family violence has been or has the potential to be an issue of concern; the logistics of a rebuttable legal presumption against shared parenting in situations of family violence; and developing alternatives to shared parenting in the context of family violence.

Registration begins in January of 2020. Sponsorship opportunities and media partnerships are welcome.

For more conference information visit: www.vancouver2020.org

For First Call for Papers visit: https://vancouver2020.org/about‐the‐conference/

Pre‐Registration is possible at: https://vancouver2020.org/pre‐registration/

CONTACT

Edward Kruk

edward.kruk@ubc.ca

The International Council on Shared Parenting (ICSP) is an association founded in 2014 with members drawn from scientific, family professions and civil society sectors. The purpose of the association is first, the dissemination and advancement of scientific knowledge on the needs and rights (“best interests”) of children whose parents are living apart, and second, to formulate evidence‐based recommendations about the legal, judicial and practical implementation of shared parenting. Website: www.twohomes.org

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2022-12-09

Men Are 75% of All Suicides, Declares New Toronto Billboard Ad; Loved Ones Urged to Intervene

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/12/02

Men Are 75% of All Canadian Suicides: Toronto Billboard Ad Aims to Reduce Male Suicide, Empower Loved Ones

TORONTO, ON — (December 2, 2019) Men comprise 75% of all completed suicides in Canada, declares a new billboard advertisement appearing this week in downtown Toronto. The unique Campaign from the Canadian Centre for Men and Families is targeted at family and friends, and urges us to intervene in support of male loved ones at risk.

The visual, reproduced below, features a distressed young man hiding his face with a falsely happy mask. The text reads “Appearances can be deceiving. Men often suffer in silence. Help the men you love get the help they need.”

“This campaign is a call to action to each of us to look behind the mask at the hidden signs that the men we love are suffering,” said CCMF Executive Director Justin Trottier. “We are grateful to the crisis centres and mental health agencies who advised us on the creation of a billboard that would be effective at communicating this urgent message.”

The Campaign will integrate discussion at public events and online on facebook and twitter using #LetsTalkMen.

A press release and public launch will take place this Wednesday, December 4th at 7:15PM EST at the University of Toronto at the Bahen Centre for Information Technology, the location of two suicide deaths earlier this year.

Campaign spokespeople Prof Dan Bilsker and Prof Rob Whitley, Canadian experts in the prevention of male suicide, are available for media interviews.

Visit https://LookBehindTheMask.com for Campaign research, updates and events.

CONTACT

Justin Trottier
Executive Director
Canadian Centre for Men and Families
jtrottier@menandfamilies.org
416–402–8856–30-

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2022-12-09

National Center for Science Education Updates for Early November

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/11/02

According to the National Center for Science Education, there has been the death, unfortunately, of a distinguished anthropologist named C. Loring Brace IV on September 7, 2019, at the age of 89. Brace was born in Hanover, New Hampshire, on September 19, 1930.

Brace was seen as an integral figure in the history of ideas related to biological anthropology with work on Neanderthals as an ancestral group to humans with collected works on craniofacial and dental measurements.

In fact, and surprisingly to some, he rejected typological labels for human groups. He wanted to “attempt to introduce a Darwinian outlook into biological anthropology.”

High school remains an important and influential part of life. With some of the salient experiences for the development of scientific interests at this time, for example, Brace began to read On the Origin of Species in this period of life.

Brace had confrontations with creationists, as can happen on a subject matter touching on the important issues of the origins of the human species as simply one in a long line of organisms and part of a common family tree of life.

As NCSE reported, “It is perhaps not surprising that he periodically grappled with creationists, contributing ‘Humans in Time and Space’ to Scientists Confront Creationism in 1983, “Creationists and the Pithecanthropines” to Creation/Evolution in 1986, and ‘Human Emergence: Natural Process or Divine Creation’ to Scientists Confront Creationism: Intelligent Design and Beyond in 2007.”

Brace considered the basic evidence for evolutionary theory as substantial and uncontroversial with a comfortable fit of the evidence to the theoretical underpinnings of evolution via natural selection.

Brace and his efforts are appreciated; he will be missed by loved ones and friends, and the community of scientists.

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2022-12-09

If Intelligent, Be Alone, Kind Of, But Not Really, Maybe

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/07/08

According to the World Economic Forum, some research indicates general intelligence differences can lead to differences in the preference of social interaction or, rather, the lack thereof.

Smart people tend to want to be alone. A published study described the modern feelings and the needs evolved in ancestral environments. Among the minority, the highly intelligent, there is a statistical trend of the smarter being happier without a lot of people around them; whereas, for the normal person, friends and interaction with individuals make them happier.

Satoshi Kanazawa, a researcher from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Norman P. Li, a researcher from the Singapore Management University, proposed the “mismatch hypothesis” or the evolutionary legacy hypothesis.”

That is to say, the hypothesized or loosely extrapolated ways in which the conditions of the savannah for early human beings and the requirements for survival at that time.

As reported, “The study analyzed data from interviews conducted by the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) in 2001–2002 with 15,197 individuals aged 18–28. The researchers looked for a correlation between where an interviewee lived — in a rural or urban area — and his or her life satisfaction. They were interested in assessing how population density and friendships affect happiness.”

Indeed, the happiness seems inversely related to the density of the population of one’s locale or local population. If we look at the report within the savannah theory of the two aforementioned researchers, the average human pack size was probably about 150.

Thus, our “neocortex” and “hunter-gatherer-societies” reflect people-groups of about 150, even 200, people as a computational capacity in the former category and the social organizational complexity in the latter category.

That is to say, individuals do not need much more computational capacity and social awareness than the 150 other primates right around the corner from them.

As reported, “The study discovered, though, that the negative effect of the presence of lots of people is more pronounced among people of average intelligence. They propose that our smartest ancestors were better able to adapt to larger groups on the savannah due to a greater strategic flexibility and innate ingenuity, and so their descendants feel less stressed by urban environments today.”

A self-evident assumption in our cultures are that good friendships increase life satisfaction; however, this may not, apparently, always be the case, according to the research.

Indeed, our cognitive heights appear to invert with the friendship numbers, where a small tight circle and then a bigger and expanded circle provide a basis for a loose agglomeration of them.

“Li and Kanazawa feel that we need look no further than the savannah. They say that friendships/alliances were vital for survival, in that they facilitated group hunting and food sharing, reproduction, and even group child-rearing,” the World Economic Forum stated.

The trend then reverses for those individuals with higher general intelligence. Smarter people, on average, feel happier with fewer people around to bother them, which means a healthier social life for more highly intelligent people than not highly intelligent people means being alone than with others.

The article concluded, “However… the study also found that spending more time socializing with friends is actually an indicator of higher intelligence! This baffling contradiction is counter-intuitive, at least. Unless these smart people are not so much social as they are masochistic.”

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2022-12-09

The NCSE Reports on Rhode Island Climate Science Education Failures

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/07/08

According to the NCSE, the Rhode Island’s House Resolution 5563 did not pass or “died” on March 27, 2019.

This specific resolution, 5563, was asking the department of education to develop a set of climate and environment principles, and concepts. Those would be incorporated in the curricula.

This would assist to “ensure that teacher professional development on the Next Generation Science Standards” utilize the climate as an important “exemplary anchor phenomenon” or a point of import regarding education.

There would be online materials online alongside this. The point, of course, is for the improved educational standards around climate and environmental literacy.

At the same time, there is a concomitant call for the necessity of students t know the derivative effects, down the stream problems created from the climate crises facing us, in their lifetimes.

As noted in the resolution, only 30% of middle school students and 45% of high school science teachers are adequately informed on these other issues surrounding and positively correlated with the climate problems ongoing and further upcoming.

“The resolution was sponsored by Terri-Denise Cortvriend (D-District 72), Kathleen A. Fogarty (D-District 35), Lauren H. Carson (D-District 75), Teresa A. Tanzi (D-District 34), and Justine A. Caldwell (D-District 30).”

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2022-12-09

Updates on Bayt Al-Hikma 2.0, in Brief

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/07/03

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is new with the books being put into the public space and translated now?

Faisal Saeed Al Mutar: Our audience, and our supporters, should be expecting the release of our books by middle of 2019. It is not all at the same time. But it make sure to release even some of them in chapters, for some of our target audience who have slow internets.

They will be able to download a book and be able to consume it slowly while the other part of the book is being downloaded. We, definitely, are trying to make sure that our content is consumed.

So far, Bayt Al-Hikma 2.0 has tens of thousands of likes. With the current version, the reach is in the hundreds of thousands on a weekly basis. That is, technically, a great beginning for this program.

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2022-12-09

Canada and America, and Religious Trajectories

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/06/06

Those without formal religious affiliation in Canada may have an easier time than those who identify as such in the United States based on the report entitled “None of the Above: Having No Religion in Canada and the U.S.”

Professor of Sociology at the University of Waterloo, Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme, and Professor of Sociology at Ambrose University, Joel Thiessen, reported on the research.

“Canadians are more inclined to say they are not affiliated to any religion. The country harbors a more accepting environment when it comes to exiting religion. The social stigma of leaving a belief system is much less,” the reportage stated.

Within the research, most of the data sets come from the United States, which can skew the research into this population of the secular. The bigger difference, according to Wilkins-Laflamme and Thiessen, is the earlier decline in the level of religiosity in Canadian society compared to American culture.

“Only four percent of Canadians claimed to have no religious affiliation in 1971. This number went up to 12 percent in 1991 and 17 percent in 2001. In the United States, the number of nones began to increase only later in 1972. It was five percent in that year and jumped to eight percent in 1990. In 2000, 14 percent of the U.S. population identified themselves as nones,” the article stated.

The religiously unaffiliated gained more rapid traction in Canada and, thus, were see earlier in Canadian culture compared to the U.S. Indeed, the U.S. saw a rise in the number of self-identified evangelicals within their civilization at the time of the decline in the religious in Canada.

In other words, the countries went, in part, on opposing religious-secular trajectories — more secular for Canada and more religious for America in some ways.

“Blended with a strong sense of Americans thinking of their nation as a Christian nation made it harder for nones Americans to come out. The researchers noted some parts of the United States continue to stigmatize people identifying themselves as nones,” the reportage said, “Since religion plays an insignificant role in the public life of Canada, the people of that country do not consider themselves to be living in a Christian nation.”

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2022-12-09

Abortion Bans in Alabama and Fundamentalist Religion

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/06/06

The Governor of Alabama signed a bill that bans almost all abortions within the state. These can include cases of incest and rape. In those instances, this amounts to a “latest challenge by conservatives to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision establishing a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy.”

Abortion activists within the U.S. have been working to block the enforcement of the state-based measure to prevent abortion measures in Alabama, along the lines of the high levels of restrictiveness seen in the bill. Some may see these as state level attempts to circumnavigate or circumvent the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling.

It is an emotionally turbulent subject matter for many American citizens, men and women. But this measure in Alabama would amount to amongst the most restrictive measures in the United States as a whole, if not the most restrictive in regards to abortion laws, etc.

Republican Governor Kay Ivey signed the measure into law, which is in a Republican controlled state Senate.

“To the bill’s many supporters, this legislation stands as a powerful testament to Alabamians’ deeply held belief that every life is precious and that every life is a sacred gift from God,” Ivey stated.

Some see this as a duty of God. Others see this as a “war on women, to quote California Governor Gavin Newsom.

In 16 states in the United States, there have been the introduction of legislation intended to restrict the rights of women in terms of abortion rights or, more generally, reproductive rights.

As reported, “Planned Parenthood joined the American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday in filing a legal challenge to Ohio’s recent ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.”

The bill in Alabama goes much farther and would ban abortion any time; only excluding if the mother’s life is in danger at the time.

The physicians who conduct abortions would be given a 99-year prison sentence (up to that long) and the women receive the abortion would be criminally liable.

Some see these as extreme. They are part and parcel of a fundamentalist religious effort ongoing in 2019, and prior to it, to restrict the abortion rights of women and the right to bodily autonomy of women.

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2022-12-09

Integrated Collaborative Care Interventions for Obesity and Depression

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/05/20

JAMA reported on the improvement in the levels of weight loss in those patients with some depressive symptoms. Those individuals with depression and obesity.

How can integrated collaborative care interventions help with the symptoms of both depressive and obesity? This simply means losing weight and not so perpetually sad as individuals.

These become important considerations for the general public, as care and concern for the obese and the depressed become issues of generalized health and wellness.

The findings from the report on 409 patients, so a large sample size, is that the integrated behavioural weight loss treatment with as-needed anti-depressant medication provisions improved the outcomes of the patients.

These resulted in, as reported, “statistically significant reductions in body mass index compared with usual care (−0.7 vs −0.1, respectively) and depressive symptoms (−0.3 vs −0.1 on the 20-item Depression Symptom Checklist; score range, 0–4) at 12 months.”

There was a significant, apart from statistical variations, improvements in the health and wellness as seen in the Body Mass Index or BMI and the depressive symptoms — as in a reduction of the severity of depression — for those who went through the integrated collaborative care interventions directed at obesity and depression.

With regards to the degree of the changes, the effect sizes, or the scale of the differences before the treatments and after the treatments, were “modest and of uncertain clinical importance,” which does not negate the statistically significant results found in the aforementioned statements about the report

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2022-12-09

Secularism and Atheism, and Bill 21

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/06/06

Fareed Khan in the Ottawa Citizen made the argument that Bill 21 in Quebec, Canada’s, legislature is not about secularism, but, is, rather, about atheism as a way of looking at the relationship between the state, the province, and individual citizens in Quebec.

Khan stated, “… the manner in which the CAQ government of Premier François Legault is implementing its interpretation of secularism, and the anti-religious fervour apparent in the debate around the bill, demonstrates that the de facto state religion of Quebec is radical atheism, shrouded in the language of extremist secularism.”

With the separation of church and state, or place of worship and government, of religion and nation-state, within much of the western tradition, this becomes a premise or a part of the central arguments seen in the surrounding debate of Bill 21, insofar as Khan can see it.

“The intent of the principle is for the state to be neutral in matters of faith, not elevate the status of one faith over others, and allow citizens to practise their faith without fear of state coercion or persecution, particularly if their faith is different from that of the majority population,” Khan stated.

He does not see Bill 21 necessarily doing this. With the power of the Roman Catholic Church in the history of the Quebecois citizenry and the province of Quebec, this can create some interesting dynamics within the country. Indeed, there can be a shunning of religion, but only those not represented by the Catholic Church.

“Combined this with the historical racism that has been directed at minority communities in Quebec — particularly visible minority communities which are the targets of this bill — and you create a recipe for conflict,” Khan argues, “societal divisions and possible violence by radical, racist elements in Quebec who see these minority faith communities as threats to the “pur laine” nature of Quebec society.”

Khan makes comparisons with Nazi Germany in the 1930s and in China with the Falun Gong movement, into the present with the Uyghur Muslim minority population with mosques destroyed, Muslims imprisoned, and bonfires of Qu’rans in play.

Khan is careful to opine, “No one is saying that what is happening in China will happen in Quebec if Bill 21 becomes law. But history shows that the targeting and ‘’other-ing’ of minority communities leads to persecution, violence and ultimately atrocities.”

Others in commentary have differed on the association of secularism with atheism, and vice versa, and the notions of cultural religious displays, and so on.

Khan concluded, “The actions of Legault’s government make it clear that not only is it against public sector workers showing visible expressions of their faith, but it is also in favour of those same workers presenting atheism as the official faith of the Quebec government to the public as part of their jobs.”

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2022-12-09

Women in Bras and Men with Beards Face-Off

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/06/06

Some of the more prominent case of women’s rights activism comes in the form of women and girls turning the tables on those who would objectify them through utilization of this in a variety of protest tactics. One of which is to go naked or in bras, and so on, in protest of the differential or double standard faced by women and girls compared to men and girls.

Recently, this came to the fore in Jerusalem when police officers rode in, on horses, and attempted to disperse a street protest being held by ultra-Orthodox Haredi Jews, which was on March 18.

As reported, “…a few women stripped the upper part of their bodies, and wore only bras- making protesters go away as they are forbidden as per dictates of their faith to look at the partially undressed women. This was a welcome relief for the police in Jerusalem as hundreds of protestors have earlier clashed with law enforcement on the issue of holding Eurovision Song Contest final during the day of Shabbat.”

Tel Aviv, Israel, was the place of hosting for the 2019 Eurovision event. Haneviim Street was blocked during the protest of the ultra-Orthodox Haredi. Many protestors attacked the police. “Shabbes” was shouted in Yiddish. The religious protestors asserted that the Eurovision 2019 event was desecrating.

“In retaliation a small women group counter-protested by taking off their respective shirts, revealing bras. The ultra-Orthodox Jews were forced to exit the venue. The protests were ignited after work permits for Eurovision was issued in the morning,” the article stated, “The permits incensed an ultra-Orthodox political party so much that they temporarily suspended all coalition negotiations and began their Jerusalem protest march.”

Those Jewish peoples who follow in the teachings and the practices of the ultra-Orthodox of Judaism have no work on Shabbat, which is a day of rest every week. It starts sundown in Fridays and then runs until the night falls on Saturday.

“One of the chief rabbis of Israel was not happy with the Eurovision schedule. He asked those who follow Shabbat to extend the observance of the custom in the holy day by about 20 minutes to mark their protest against the ‘great desecration,’” reportage said.

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2022-12-09

Maintaining the Faith Via Dismantling the Priesthood

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/06/06

A former priest, James Carroll, has prescribed that given the ongoing and rather perpetual failings of the hierarchs in the Roman Catholic Christian church; that there should be a move towards a dismantlement, at least on the issues of the abuse of children, for example, of the priesthood with the Church.

“In his article appropriately named Abolish the Priesthood, the American identifies the concentration of power in a celibate and an all-male clergy as one of the significant sources of the problem,” the reportage stated.

Carroll wrote about the secrecy or lack of transparency around the priesthood, the hierarchical concentration of massive amounts of authority and power, the sexual repression in the priesthood as a whole, and the general anti-woman or misogynistic elements of the hierarchical elements of the faith exhibited by it.

The report said, “Carroll, who was a priest for five years advocates the dismantling of the clerical hierarchy. Only by doing this, he opined, can the church end the almost permanent scandals and move into the modern age. It can also preserve the faith cherished by its believers. Carroll makes a compelling case for his prescribed action. The reader is logically presented with facts, as to how ending priests’ celibacy and allowing women to enter the church administration will benefit the Catholic church.”

The main point of the article was heavy critique from the point of view of a former priest but also for the maintenance of that which is genuinely good within the hierarchy and structure of the priesthood within the church.

“He stressed the church should import lay individuals into positions carrying real power. It must also foster complete equality for women officeholders in the Vatican power structure. Carroll went even further,” the article emphasized, “pushing for female sexual autonomy and a yes for pleasure and love and not only to reproduce when it comes to aim of sex.”

Some of his pragmatics included a call for the possibility of contraception and marital rights and privileges to the priesthood to change the current trajectory and prior history of the culture of the priesthood in addition to acceptance of homosexuals within the institutional Church.

Carroll called an end to the double standards including the dominance, in general, of the women over the men and believes that these changes are reasonable and enforceable within the institutional Church seen in the priesthood, as he noted with the changes brought about after Vatican III and a change to the Roman Catholic Church with “radically revised” teachings on the Jews after the Holocaust.

As reported, “former American priest recollected the “Christ Killer” slander being renounced by the church council which later affirmed Judaism’s integrity. He said that developments had made a more profound impact into Catholic tradition and doctrine when compared to clericalism being overthrown, involving the ordination of women or married priests.”

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2022-12-09

BJP and Fascism Gaining Ground

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/06/06

Anonymous political analyst and commentator on the recent semi-democratic/semi-fascist developments in India (“India is now a semi-democratic semi-fascist country”).

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Indian elections have ended with a victory for the BJP. What kind political part is the BJP?

Anonymous Political Analyst and Commentator: BJP is not a normal political party, it is political party inspired by fascism and extreme populist Nationalism. It has clearly tried to destroy democratic institutions in India, and in the process has damaged Indian economy. It has also become clear that no matter how much the BJP mess up the economy, no matter how much corrupt they get, no matter what they do, they will come back. To have any hope of replacing BJP in future, it is important is to understand, why they have won. At this point of time, it is clear that the conventional strategies to stop BJP in India have not worked, and sadly it seems that fascism is gaining roots in India.

Jacobsen: Why did the BJP win in India?

Anonymous Political Analyst and Commentator: The main reason why they have won is a very organized campaigning.

Many different sections of Indian society have voted for Modi and BJP.

They have projected many images of Modi, and different image suited for

different people. If you want to see Modi as a secular inclusive leader, you can do it, after all he stopped giving his speech, when Muslim call to prayers were made. If you want to see Modi as a right winged Hindu leader you can even do it, after the Hindu terrorist (suspect) Pragya Thakur, who had bombed mosques, is now a MP in his party. If you want to see him as a man of peace, you can do it, and if you want to see him as a man of war you can also do it. These muti-faces of Modi are shown to different audiences, and this makes them vote for him. He also has also purchased all the major news channels, and they make his wrongs also seem as rights, and any of his mistakes are never projected. In this situation, it is impossible to defeat him using the conventional methods.

Jacobsen: Is it possible to stop BJP in future elections, and save Indian liberalism and secularism?

Anonymous Political Analyst and Commentator: In those multi-faces there are two very different faces, which are usually mixed up as a single face. One is that of right winged Indian Nationalism and other is of Hindu extremisms. Both of them are seen as one, but actually they are not, and it seems as if this division, and this division alone can stop BJP and Modi. The Indian Nationalism might be flavored by Hinduism, but it is just the flavoring. The key features in Indian Nationalism is an exaggerated glorification of army, and deep hated for Pakistan, and even Muslims who do this are accepted as equally Nationalistic. The key features of Hindu extremisms is just deep hatred of Muslims, which can be extended to Christians too. As Indian Nationalism is flavored by Hinduism, this division is not easily seen, but it exists and needs to be strengthened, deepened and developed, if Modi is ever to be defeated. It has to be made so obvious, that Modi is forced to choose between one of these two positions, and when he does that that will mark the end of Modi.

Jacobsen: How can this be done by the opposition?

Anonymous Political Analyst and Commentator: This can be easily done at this time. Now that the opposition is totally finished, and the parliament is dominated by BJP, it is high time to promote such a division. What the Congress needs to do, is not for Rahul Ghandi to visit temples, which looks artificial, but for it to fund and raise a brand of Hindu ISIS, which will make extreme demands. These demands can be for Manusmrti to replace Indian constitution, for Muslims and Christians to be removed from army, for Muslims and Christians to not have a right to vote, for the construction of Mosques and Churches to be stopped, even sterilization of Muslims to stop their population growth. Congress can fund this real extremist Hindu organization from back door, like BJP funded the moment by Anna Hazare. When this organization takes this stand, the Hindu extremists (and terror suspects) in the parliament like Pragya Thakur will be drawn to it, and this will make them clash with right winded Nationalists. This can also cause a potential rift in BJP, and at this time, there is a hope for a split in BJP, or the rise of an extremist Hindu political party, which will be opposite to BJP for not being Hindu enough. This would also give a nice tune to Congress and the opposition, as they can then start speaking for Indian Nationalism as opposite to Hindu extremism.

Jacobsen: Can the opposition also destroy the Nationalistic image of BJP?

Anonymous Political Analyst and Commentator: The opposition can also make exaggerated demands for army, and against Pakistan, and try making Modi look as some one who is not so ring winded and not so Nationalist. They can start demanding a five fold increase in the salaries of army personals, and even ask demand India have a war with Pakistan. Now it is clear that neither Modi, nor any government can effort to have a war with Pakistan, but this rhetoric will put Modi in defensive position. It is also clear that in the present India, emotions work more than logic, so being seen as a mad war monger can actually benefit the opposition. They should try to make demands of a direct war against Pakistan, and this will destroy Modi Nationalist image. Then when the opposition actually comes to power in the next elections, they can improve relations with Pakistan.

Jacobsen: What are the other things that the opposition needs to do?

Anonymous Political Analyst and Commentator: Another thing that the opposition needs to do is to jointly invest in an anti-BJP IT cell. The media is totally corrupted and pro BJP, and the BJP has a very strong IT cell. A joint anti-BJP IT cell is the only thing that can stop the influence of BJP IT cell, and this has to be a joint venture by all anti-BJP political parties. This IT cell can be made up of many different unites. Some of them can be supporting extremist Hinduism, and attacking BJP and Modi for not being Hindu enough and not supporting Manusmriti. They can bring his pro Muslim image, when he stops during Muslim call to prayers, as an example of him not being Hindu enough. Others can attack him for being anti-National for not staring a war with Pakistan. It can even turn the tide, if the opposition demands a war with Pakistan. Then others can blame him for the economic problems in India. If this is done, then Modi can be defeated in future, and secularism and democracy saved in India, otherwise India will soon a replica of Nazi Germany.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time.

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2022-12-09

Humanists International Board, Gulalai Ismail, Facing “Sedition” Charge

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/05/23

One of the board members, according to Humanists International, of the mothership of humanists at an international level of representation is facing sedition charges within the anti-terrorism act of Pakistan.

Sedition amounts to a charge against the state or a monarch. Gulalai Ismail is known as a defender of human rights and someone who devoted a significant amount of effort and time to the rights of girls and women.

The reason or the instigation for the charge of sedition comes from Ismail campaigning for the rights and justice for a girl who “was raped and murdered.”

As reported, “It was reported in Pakistani media today that an FIR (First Information Report) was raised against Gulalai Ismail in relation to a speech she gave at a rally earlier in the week. The accusation falls under the anti-terrorism act for ‘delivering seditious speeches and instigating masses against the state institutions.’”

Her — Gulalai’s — speech went viral on social media and, consequently, brought attention to an individual case of a girl who has her rights violated and, in turn, the general issue of violence against women and girls.

“Gulalai’s speech earlier in the week was widely circulated on social media. The rally and the speech were held to protest the rape and murder of a minor girl known as Farishta,” the article stated.

Farishta’s corpse was found in the Shahzad Town area. The order of the crimes was rape and then murder, not vice versa. Farishta’s family attempted to file a missing person report for her on May 15.

However, the police office took until the 19th — half of a week later — to register the FIR, so a proper search was not initiated there.

“Protesters at the rally his week were objecting to the perceived lack of interest or progress in the case up to that point. Subsequent to the protests,” the reportage said, “the government and state authorities have pledged to take action on the case and investigate the apparent inaction of police services. The accusation in the FIR is that this speech was ‘anti-state’ or ‘seditious.”

Such is the life of an individual who defends the rights of women and girls, apparently, this is common for activists who argue for the rights, freedoms, and responsibilities of women and girls.

In prior news reportage, as some reading this may know, the stipulations were that Ismail was committing blasphemy or a religious — not a secular — crime, in the promotion of the rights of women to equal treatment in legal and social life with the men.

“It is particularly concerning that Gulalai Ismail faces the prospect of arrest and detention again, having faced similar accusations several times in the past few years,” Humanists International said.

Now, a “significant” amount of social media activity has been devoted to this case. In short, Ismail may have a charge of sedition, purported. However, she won. The positive (and, granted, the negative) attention has been drawn to the case of the violations of the rights and ending of the life of a girl, Farishta.

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2022-12-09

Interview with Deji Yesufu

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/05/18

Deji Yesufu is a 42-years-old man from Ibadan, Nigeria. He earned an Electrical Engineering degree from Ahmadiyya Bello University and a Master’s Degree in Physics from the University of Ibadan.

He attended ABU Staff School for Primary School and Demonstration Secondary School. He wrote the historical account of a Nigerian officer killed during the Nigerian civil 50 years ago entitled Victor Banjo.

He also authored a theological work telling the history of the 16th Century Protestant Reformation called Half a Millennium — An Introductory Text to Protestant History and Reformed Theology. Other written works can be found here: www.mouthpiece.com.

He works at the University College Hospital (UCH) in Ibadan, Nigeria, where he is a Senior Electrical/Electronic Engineer with the Department of Radiation Oncology. Yesufu has worked at the UCH for nine years now. He sees a necessity in the development of progressive leaders in Nigeria to set a different and positive political course for the citizenry of Nigeria.

Here we talk about his life, work, and views.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: If we look at the family background, what was it for you?

Deji Yesufu: I was born into a nuclear family — one man and one wife — this is against a prevailing culture of polygamy here in Nigeria.

Mother raised us up Roman Catholics, while father always practised Islam. I am the second of three brothers and two sisters.

Jacobsen: How did this background provide a context in early life for you — a grounding?

Yesufu: Living in a family where mother was Roman Catholic and the father was Muslim, I would eventually branch out to become Protestant, which offered me my first perception of religious pluralism and tolerance. My reading of Church History reveals the deep rancour that this created amongst people in the past, but, for us, it was never the case.

I should credit my dad for his non-insistence on a single religion for the family to follow. Although, I do not necessarily recommend this model to families. I think it worked out providentially for me, particularly in coming to grasp with Evangelical Christianity and being able to practise it with a certain freedom in my younger years.

Jacobsen: When you think about early religious upbringing, how did this influence you?

Yesufu: As I said, because there was a plurality of religion in my home, religion was not a major issue in my home while growing up.

I, however, must be thankful to some neighbours who introduced my siblings and me to more fervent religion. Nigeria is a nation that has suffered greatly as far as resources are concerned, so religion is opium indeed for us here. So, in my younger years, I encountered religion through the rising Pentecostalism in the 1980/90s. It formed my earliest perception of gospel realities.

During these, my Roman Catholic mother pointed out the hypocrisy of religion in men like Archbishop Benson Idahosa, so that even when I practised Pentecostalism I natural eschewed the Prosperity excesses that his brand of Christianity portrayed. I am thankful to God and my late mum for giving me that foundation in faith.

Jacobsen: What were some heartwarming experiences from the time?

Yesufu: I would not necessarily say there were “heartwarming” experiences that I had with religion in my younger days. I did, however, come away with a high sense of morality.

I always felt that I should live right; even though, I was not a Christian. I am grateful that I had such exposure to religion that constrained me through the path such that one did not make mistakes that were lasting.

Jacobsen: Who were pivotal and influential people for you?

Yesufu: I was “awakened” in faith in my teenage years by a certain Ghanaian man living in our neighbourhood in Zaria. He taught me the basic tenets of the Christian faith and created in me a hunger for God. I used to call that my “born-again” experience but today I call it my awakening experience.

Subsequently, when I was in 300 level, a roommate ministered God’s word to me. I said the sinner’s prayer. I felt that I had come to faith in Christ. This was March, 1998. I had some peculiar experiences in that encounter; but even when I look back on that experience, I cannot say for sure if I was converted at those times.

My conversion, I would owe first to God, and then to a book written by Dr. R. T. Kendall. It is called “Worshipping God”. The book explains worship and all its tenets as a Christian. It encouraged a life of worship. My conversion came when I read chapter titles like “The Joy of Doing Nothing”.

In this chapter, Kendall explained that some of God’s greatest works in our lives are things we could never thank him enough for. In that chapter, he introduced me to the doctrine of justification by faith. That book led me to investigate the writings of Paul in Romans and the lives and writings of the Protestant Reformers in the 16th century.

Somewhere along the line of that study, God opened my heart to believe the gospel and see Christ as my substitute. Christ gave me a love for his word and his truth, and since then I have been in pursuit of God and his ways.

You asked who were pivotal and influential in faith for me. I will look on all these as it but even more, Jesus Christ, is the greatest of influence for me.

Jacobsen: As a Christian, what most testifies to the faith for you?

Yesufu: The Bible. I regard the Bible as inspired: meaning everything written in it are the very words of God; inerrant: the Bible has no errors; sufficient: the Word of God is contained in the Bible; I do not need extra-biblical claims for faith in Christ.

Jacobsen: As an individual reader of the Bible, what specific books and narratives, and lessons, in the Bible speak the most to you?

Yesufu: The whole Bible speaks to me.

I am, however, thankful for the Epistles of Paul, particularly Romans.

The words of our Lord, Jesus, are especially sacrosanct and, for me, Paul does not contradict Christ’s words.

Jacobsen: What are some of the more important lessons for atheists, agnostics, and theists to learn from one another?

Yesufu: In these days of differing religious views, I believe we all can increase in tolerance for each other and in the ability to listen to one another. Our views may not change, but the freedom to hear the other person out is important.

In recent times, I have been intrigued by the ministry Dr. James R. White who debates various religions. I see how he listens to opposing views and very well represents their position, while respectfully showing where such views or positions contradict the Scriptures.

Andrew Kirk in the book “Loosing the Bonds” said that Christians particularly need to hear atheists out. That their criticism of our religion can help us live better as Christians.

By the way, I regard atheism and agnosticism as another kind of religion — a profession of faith without religion.

Jacobsen: How can interfaith and interbelief panels provide a context for dialogue and social acceptance & understanding of one another?

Yesufu: I think well-moderated debates will do this. The life and ministry of Dr. James White have proven this.

Jacobsen: Who are respected and important voices in the Christian world, in your denomination, who make solid arguments for the faith?

Yesufu: Many of them are dead! Lol. But the living ones would include but are not limited to:

John MacArthur Jnr.

James R. White

Ravi Zechariah

Conrad Mbewe

John Piper

and others.

Jacobsen: Any recommended books or authors?

Yesufu: Books by far are a must read for those who wish to know and practise historic orthodox Christianity.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Deji.

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2022-12-09

LDS Against LGBTQ+

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/05/14

According to the Toronto Star, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has taken a position on a comprehensive nondiscrimination bill stated to protect LGBT rights

It gives broad protections. This became the crux of the issue for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or the LDS. The representatives of the LDS church stated that the bill, or the Equality Act, will be a direct threat to religion.

In the following senses, it will post a threat to religious employment standards, to religious education, and to the funding of religious charities.

As reported, “The church pointed out the importance of religions and religious schools having the right to create faith-based employment and admissions standards.”

The other religious groups who have stood in solidarity with the LDS in opposition to this have been the Southern Baptist Convention and the Roman Catholic Church.

This legislation adds gender identity and sexual orientation to the current federal nondiscrimination laws in “employment, housing, education, and public spaces and services.”

The Equality Act simply protects vulnerable individuals in society who, as of recently, have begun to have some modicum of respect, dignity, and representation within the society.

“The bill has widespread Democratic backing and seems certain to pass the House, but the chances appear slim in the Republican-controlled Senate,” the Toronto Star stated, “The Utah-based faith, widely known as the Mormon church, said it favours ‘reasonable’ measures to protect LGBT people’s access to housing, employment and public accommodations, but that such efforts shouldn’t erode the right for people to live and speak freely about their religious beliefs.”

The LDS church has been progressing in ways not seen, in terms of rapidity, in other faiths, which took much longer while other have not moved at all (or much).

The LDS church lives with the difficult context of wanting to affirm the rights of the LGBTQ community while also sticking within the boundaries of the faith on homosexual marriage and intimacy of same-sex couples.

This is difficult to straddle this line.

The article informed, “The church points to a 2015 Utah anti-discrimination law it backed. That measure made it illegal to base employment and housing decisions on sexual orientation or gender identity, while also creating exemptions for religious organizations and protecting religious speech in the workplace. The faith said the federal Equality Act doesn’t strike the right balance.”

In the minds of the officials of the LDS church, the difficulty lies between religious liberty and the rights of the LGBT community. They see the proposal in the Equality Act as something that is eroding the free practice of religion while also “preventing diverse Americans of good will from living together in respect and peace.”

U.S. Sens. Mitt Romney and Mike Lee have opposed the legislation.

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2022-12-09

10-Year Study on Income and Life Expectancy in Norwegians

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/05/14

According to JAMA, in some recent research published on the life expectancies of the Norwegians between 2005 and 2015, there has been some interesting or intriguing general findings in the decades-long study on life expectancy amongst the general population in accordance with a slice of the economic and social strata of the society.

If an individual is amongst the more wealthy in the country, even in a “largely tax-financed universal health care system and moderate income differences” nation-state, we can see the question asked, “does life expectancy vary with income, and are differences comparable to differences in the United States?”

It becomes an important question too. If we look at some of the issues surrounding the context of Norway, the country should seem healthy and functional in regards to income inequality.

By many metrics, this country appears to be reported as a healthy society on the levels of income inequality within the society and on the provision of a functional healthcare system to its citizenry.

One of the issues seen here is the way in which income differences or social strata differentials can lead to alterations in the life outcomes of individuals within society.

3,041,828 persons at age 40 were studied for the ten year period.

As reported, “…the difference in life expectancy between the richest and poorest 1% was 8.4 years for women and 13.8 years for men. The differences widened between 2005 and 2015 and were comparable to those in the United States… Inequalities in life expectancy by income in Norway were substantial and increased between 2005 and 2015.”

This may have an application to other advanced industrial economies and Western, socially and culturally speaking, societies.

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2022-12-09

Premier Ford Permits Speaking Mind, Will Not Re-Open Abortion Issue

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/05/14

The Toronto Star reported on statements by a Canadian politician from a pro-life perspective, which created some stir and a tad of controversy.

The Progressive Conservative MPPs, according to Ford, will have the opportunities to speak as they deem fit. But the government of the province of Ontario will not touch the issue of abortion anymore.

Ford said, “I don’t dictate to anyone what their beliefs are.” This was following statements of Sam Oosterhoff of Niagara West. He spoke at a pro-life or anti-abortion rally. Those who wish deny the right of abortion to women through some measures including illegality in many, most, or all respects.

Ford continued, “Can any of my members speak their mind? Yes, they can speak their mind, because not everyone in this legislature thinks the same… We have a big tent there.”

However, Ford was clear on the orientation of the provincial government not taking part in the opening of the abortion debate any longer. Oosterhoff and others stood to applaud the statements by Ford.

The article stated, “The MPP, who was also in the news last week after his constituency office called Niagara region police on a senior citizen’s book club that was protesting library budget cuts, told the crowd of hundreds of protesters last week he will work to make abortion ‘unthinkable’ and later quoted a children’s author to explain his position.”

The children’s book author was Dr. Seuss mentioning the mattering of someone no matter their size or “how small.” Oosterhoff has been an outspoken pro-life or anti-abortion politician in his early career to date.

One concern amongst the New Democrats is that the funding for the abortion services funded by the province could be cut to some degree in the midst of budgetary cuts by the government of Ontario under the premiership of Doug Ford.

“In the PC leadership race last year, Ford raised concerns he was cosying up to social conservatives by questioning why teens need parental consent notes to go on school trips but not to get abortions,” the Toronto Star stated.

MPP Suze Morrison stated that women have taken a long fight for bodily autonomy; with the cuts to the budget, this becomes a major concern for the women who rely on the health care system in Ontario for some of the services regarding reproductive health rights, including abortion services. All remain fundamental human rights.

The denial of the rights to abortion, for one, becomes a human rights violation as this would deny the fundamental right to abortion for women. Thus, this would become a violation of the right stipulated for decades by the United Nations.

“Ford referred the question to Children and Community and Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod, who noted she supported legislation passed by the previous Liberal government to have 50-metre safety zone outside abortion clinics so women can enter free of harassment,” the article concluded, “‘This government will continue to stand up for women’s rights across this province, despite the rhetoric from the members opposite,’ said MacLeod, adding, ‘We respect debate internally within our caucus.’”

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2022-12-09

1200-Page Dossier on “Actively Gay” Priests and Seminarians

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/05/10

Newsweek reported on a massive dossier, at 1,200 pages, listing several priests and seminarians who are labelled as “actively gay” in Italy alone.

This was sent to the Vatican via the archdiocese of Naples. Francesco Mangicapra created the document. He is a gay male escort and did not like the hypocrisy of the priests and decided to do something about it.

He said, “The aim is not to hurt the people mentioned, but to help them understand that their double life, however seemingly convenient, is not useful to them or to all the people for whom they should be a guide and an example to follow.”

Now, an Italian Cardinal and the Archbishop of Naples, Crescenzio Sepe, stated that none of the named priests are currently stationed in Naples. Note, this does not deny the veracity of the claims in the large dossier.

Now, this is simply adding to the pile of accusations against members of the Catholic hierarchs around the world but, this time, focused on Italy in particular.

As reported, “Last month, an Italian court issued a 14-month suspended sentence to a Vatican tribunal judge for sexual molestation and possessing child pornography. Monsignor Pietro Amenta, a judge on the Rota (a court that hears mostly family cases), was arrested last March for publicly fondling an 18-year-old man in Rome.”

With the examination of the computer, the authorities found pornographic images of the young on the person computer. Then there was a plea bargain accepted by Paloma Garcia Ovejero, Vice Director of the Vatican Press Office. In an email from the Catholic News Service, it stated that he had “resigned as the prelate auditor of the Roman Rota.”

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2022-12-09

Md. Sazzadul Hoque on Gender and Religion

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/05/10

Md. Sazzadul Hoque is an exiled Bangladeshi secularist blogger, human rights activist, and atheist activist. His writing covers a wide range of issues, including religious superstition, critical thinking, feminism, gender equality, homosexuality, and female empowerment. He’s protested against blogger killings and past/present atrocities against Bangladeshi minorities by the dominant Muslim political establishment. He’s also written about government-sponsored abductions and the squashing of free speech; the systematic corruption in everyday life of Bangladeshis; and the denial of the pursuit of happiness.

In 2017, after receiving numerous threats, he was forced to leave Bangladesh out of safety concerns.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Are women treated differently than men in the Bangladeshi version of Islam?

Md. Sazzadul Hoque: Definitely, they are treated just as the holy hateful book Quran suggest them to do. Very selective few women were wearing hijab 20 years ago now it is widespread.

Jacobsen: How are they treated worse if so? What are the ways in which men are given special privileges?

Hoque: Injustice to women to a certain degree less than the other parts of the Muslim world but it is there. Oppression, brutality, rape, is an omnipresent fear in the women population.

Jacobsen: How will the Council of Ex-Muslims of Bangladesh provide a counter to this narrative?

Hoque: Proper information, the majority of these women do not know what that hateful book represents form them. They know how to recite but do not know the meaning. Council intent is to get this information accessible to this demography and show them an example of how women are treated differently in other parts of the world or another country where Islam is not prevalent.

Jacobsen: Who are some prominent Islamically-based bigots and misogynist leaders, thinkers, and writers in Bangladesh?

Hoque: There are countless of these kinds, to be precise the prime minister of Bangladesh herself (bigot) and her party. However, another party leader and parties such as BNP (Bangladesh national party). Although we have several women leaders in Bangladesh, but these are not by qualification rather hereditary leadership that does not mean there is not a misogynist member within these parties. Prominent Islamic bigot is, Ahmed Sharif.

Jacobsen: What can be effective means by which to combat them?

Hoque: International attention and criticism of the government and its policies regardless of who is in power. Bangladesh receives a lot of foreign remittance from the Middle East and a lot of these vile trickles down from there to Bangladesh. Because of their influence a lot of people and prominent Bangladeshi actor and actress are turning to hijab and religious extremism.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Sazza.

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2022-12-09

Ex-Muslims of India Created a Patreon Account

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/05/03

The Ex-Muslims of India have a new Patreon account and could use the support. Within those calls for support, they can as a simple as a repost, a sharing, or a liking of this article through social media.

It could also be financial in some manner. The monetary support would be greatly encouraged by not only the ex-Muslims of India, but also, potentially, other ex-Muslim groupings and the collectives of the ex-religious who can be inspired by the efforts to form coalitions apart from a choice to not take part in the traditional religions on offer in the current period.

The Patreon account, in its current manifestation, states:

We are committed to bring out the truth of Islam and let people know that its not a peaceful religion but something we human don’t need it right now. We are also approaching innocent people who are in trap on Islam so they can live the life beyond the bubble of Islamic ideology.

This is a brand new account. Therefore, there are no supporters online at the moment for their account. However, the hope is to have this online support become more robust over time to provide some modicum of finances for the operations of Ex-Muslims of India. Please find the link here:

https://www.patreon.com/exmuslimsofindia?fbclid=IwAR2mSKTaYCMJYfOAYGTCzEWzG9VXO43AQSUoxli4WABj2eBoN3Yxrlddi1A

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2022-12-09

The Merchants of Death Via the British Medical Journal

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/05/03

According to a recent report by the British Medical Journal, there is an often unethical misrepresentation of the work of corporations in the work for “social responsibility” or in their “social responsibility activities,” as these present a “sanitized and soft public image.”

This can be detrimental if not devastating to the work of corporations within the context of health and wellness, so wellbeing, of the general public.

Kamran Siddiqi, Professor in Global Public Health at the University of York, in the editorial, stated, “Among its many tactics, the tobacco industry has long been using corporate social responsibility activities to present a sanitized and soft public image while they continue to produce and promote their lethal products.”

This clean representation of that which is not clean creates a cloaked representation to the public compared to the complete reality of the situation. This could lead to “substantial damage to public health” based on the manipulation of public policy for corporate benefit without regard for the health of the general public.

A prime example is given with the Prime Minister (of Pakistan) Imran Khan offered a purported donation to fund a new dam for solving the energy and water crisis of the country.

Siddiqi said, “This happened a few days after the administration took a U-turn on their flagship policy of introducing ‘health levy’ on cigarettes as a way to increase public revenue and expenditure on health.”

About 20% of Pakistani adults consume tobacco on a regular basis. The definition or rate and extent of “regular” is not provided within the article. Nonetheless, this reported as leading to 160,000 deaths every year in Pakistan.

As a signatory of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention to Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), Pakistan put in place some measures in order to reduce the level of harm associated with tobacco.

“…including smoking ban in public places, restricting cigarette sale in packs of 20 only and increasing the size of pictorial health warning on cigarette packs,” Siddiqi explained, “However, the country has taken regressive steps on tobacco taxation, which is generally considered to be the most effective policy tool to curb tobacco use.”

Two years ago, the government of Pakistan implemented a three-level system of taxation. This permitted tobacco companies to alter the popular products from the higher tax to the lower tax, or the second tier to the third tier.

This is correlated with an increase in tobacco consumption by the general Pakistani public linked to more profits, by implication of increased sales, for the tobacco industry relative to Pakistan.

Siddiqi said, “Recently, the government has also allowed companies to start re-manufacturing cigarettes in packs of 10 for ‘export’ purposes, which might be brought back into the internal Pakistani markets, as many anti-tobacco campaigners fear.”

Thus, we come to the rather messy and not-so-clean image of the tobacco industry, in fact, compared to the one in the image. Now, the industry, the tobacco industry, is working to expand the “corporate social responsibility activities” into the Pakistani media, even further.

“These include offering cigarette gift packs to Pakistan Naval Forces and Prime Minister’s house, building a cigar lounge for members of parliament inside the Parliament House, setting up mobile hospitals and computer centers, launching tree plantation campaigns and sponsoring conferences and sign boards for public bodies,” Siddiqi stated.

The article concludes that the slowing progress on control of tobacco and its harmful effects on the public have begun to slow down. The recent legislation is working to increase the warning about the harms of tobacco.

There was a health levy, but this was regressed substantially. Leading to a response by the Federal Board of Revenue, it said the tobacco tax increases may increase the illicit tobacco trade.

More in the article listed in the reference.

Reference

Siddiqi, K. (2019, January 9). The hidden power of corporations. Retrieved from https://www.bmj.com/content/364/bmj.l4/rr-4.

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2022-12-09

Staged Attack on Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Jewish Cafe

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/05/03

According to Ran Ukashi, National Director of the League for Human Rights or on behalf of B’nai Brith Canada, there was a purported antisemitic attack on the BerMax Caffé in Winnipeg, which turned out to staged.

As with the Jussie Smollett staged attacks and the African-American community, and as with the apparently staged attacks here, there should be, as per the note by Ukashi, a condemnation of the fabrication of a hate crime, especially in a period of a rise in hate crimes based on religion, ethnicity, and so on.

Ukashi stated, “Making false allegations of antisemitism does nothing to quell the rise of racism and discrimination in Winnipeg and across Canada and will embolden the conspiracy theorists and purveyors of anti-Jewish hatred who blame the entirety of society’s ills on the Jewish community.”

False attacks should not detract from the seriousness with which hate crimes on Jewish peoples, Muslims, African-Americans, and so on, are taken in the public discourse, as hate should never be tolerated against the general citizenry or individual citizens in this manner.

These false allegations make human rights work difficult for all human rights organizations, including B’nai Brith Canada and others. There is a unified effort to combat hate and bigotry in all its forms, as it arises, whether in anti-Muslim sentiment, in antisemitism, and others.

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2022-12-09

AI is Not the Threat: Direction of Its Utility By People Can Be

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/05/02

Nature reported on a pressing and prescient warning of the dangers of a neutral tool: artificial intelligence. What is the threat of a neutral tool?

Of course, the threat comes in the form of the uses or utility functions provided to the AI by human beings, either as individuals or collectives.Nonetheless, Benkler reported on the ways in which private industry or industry in general continues to shape the ethic and, thus, the utility functions of a powerful and sophisticated hammer, artificial intelligence.May 10, 2019, is the due date for letters of intent to the National Science Foundation of the United States constructed for a new funding program entitled Fairness in Artificial Intelligence.This follows from the European Commission “Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI.” It was described, byan academic member of the commission, as “ethics washing” with the utter industry domination of the content.Google formed an AI ethics board in March, which fell apart in a week based on controversy. Even earlier, in January, Facebook invested 7.5 million USD into an ethics and AI centre at the Technical University of Munich, Germany.What does this mean for the direction of the future of AI and its ethic schemata? It means the blueprints are being laid by the chickens of industry.The input from industry, according to Benkley, remains crucial for the development of the future of AI. However, there should not be a monopolization of the power and the ethics.Both governments and industry should be transparent and publicly accountable in the development of the ethical frameworks developed for AI.Benkley stated, “Algorithmic-decision systems touch every corner of our lives: medical treatments and insurance; mortgages and transportation; policing, bail and parole; newsfeeds and political and commercial advertising. Because algorithms are trained on existing data that reflect social inequalities, they risk perpetuating systemic injustice unless people consciously design countervailing measures.”He provided an example of artificially intelligent systems capable of predicting recidivism. Those who differentially affect black and white, or European and African heritage communities.In addition, or similarly, this could impact policing and job candidacy of applicants. With the black box of the inclusion of algorithms and systems into an artificial intelligence, these could simply reflect the societal biases, which would be “invisible and unaccountable.”“When designed for profit-making alone, algorithms necessarily diverge from the public interest — information asymmetries, bargaining power and externalities pervade these markets,” Benkley stated, “For example, Facebook and YouTube profit from people staying on their sites and by offering advertisers technology to deliver precisely targeted messages. That could turn out to be illegal or dangerous.”More in the reference…ReferencesBenkler, Y. (2019, May 1). Don’t let industry write the rules for AI. Retrieved from https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01413-1?utm_source=twt_nnc&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=naturenews&sf211946232=1.

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2022-12-09

On Small-Time and Big-Time Politics

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/03/31

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What years did you run? What parties did you run for? When did you run federally and provincially?

Don McKinnon: In 1983, I ran provincially. In 1984, I ran federally and for the Liberal Party both times. In 1983, I ran because a school principal I knew closely wanted me to run. So, I ran.

In 1984, I ran because one of the school trustees wanted me to run. I ran for the federal Liberal Party. I won the nomination getting the majority with 14 votes.

Jacobsen: How have you seen the political landscape change and stay the same since the 1980s?

McKinnon: I don’t think the Liberal Party has changed much. I got mad at the Liberal Party in 1984. I got into an argument during a presentation. One politician got into an argument with me.

They said, “Even if you get elected, you won’t run the country. The Cabinet and the Prime Minister will run the country.” I decided that was the end of the Liberal Party for me.

So then, I joined the NDP. I have been active. But I haven’t run.

Jacobsen: You, at an early age, became an atheist. Why? Did this influence the political perspective?

McKinnon: I became an atheist when my mother sent me to Bible school. An old guy read the Book of Genesis and said that this is what it is all about. I realized that it all didn’t make sense. I left The UCC and never went back.

Jacobsen: What was the influence of religion in the country in the 1980s? Looking at it now, how is it different?

McKinnon: It probably differs. I don’t think a lot of people have changed very much. A lot of people are inactive in the churches. If you look at the churches, a lot of them are suffering from not having enough attendance.

The UCC in our area, for example. My cousin goes there. They used to have 5 churches 30 years ago. Now, they can’t have enough congregations to run 1.

Jacobsen: Do you think Canada is heading the way of Europe with the number of religious as a total as well as religiosity as a level? Fewer people in the polls, in the pews, fewer praying, and so on, fewer believing in it. The number of non-religious going up and the number of the religious going down.

McKinnon: If you look at the Catholic Church, for example, and The UCC, the traditional churches have struggled to maintain ground. There are a number of left-wing and right-wing evangelical churches doing okay.

But even then, they are struggling. The number of people attending is down. The people who do believe may simply not take much part in the Sunday gatherings.

The number of people who don’t go has probably declined.

Jacobsen: How has the Christian faith generally treated the Indigenous population? In other words, First Nations, Inuit, and Metis, in this country.

McKinnon: I spent 5 years doing adult education for the Department of Indian Affairs. I think that a scandal involving the use of Indian kids was more the responsibility of the church than the federal government.

I think the federal government closed its eyes. I don’t think people realized how much sexual abuse was going on in the Indian schools. I think the church knew and tried to cover it up.

That is, in a sense, the opinion of somebody who was right there. For example, my story about Ray Hall who was in charge of Indian Affairs. I had coffee with him.

He said Cooper Island and four Indian kids had committed suicide. He didn’t know why. He would not have known if he knew about the sexual abuse. He was replaced by a guy. A fine Mennonite guy, I am sure he didn’t know the extent of the sexual abuse.

You know, there has been sexual abuse in the normal school system too. I have worked there. It is not an entirely baseless thing.

Jacobsen: You spent your career in the Department of Indian Affairs. What did you learn, general heuristics for understanding?

McKinnon: [Laughing] I learned what it was like to live in a big bureaucracy in the Department of Indian Affairs, which was useful when working in a school office.

You learn to make do, be nice, get things done, and get by. Does that make sense?

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time.

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2022-12-09

On Indigeneity and India

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/03/31

Vidita Priyadarshini is a graduate student in political science at Central European University. Here we talk about current events at Central European University.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: There are land rights and acquisition claims in India in general. You have graduate research in this area. I ask because there are a lot of Indian people in India and a lot of sectors in India. It becomes a complex question.

However, you are doing general research. What does that imply?

Vidita Priyadarshini: Until 2013, we were operating with the Land Acquisition Act 1894. It was made by the British when we were a colony. Basically, we adopted 75% of its provisions after independence in 1947. This was a federal law.

But we had many state legislations as well. As you know, it is a federal country. So, they must make all sorts of legislation that compete. This federal law had a lot of amendments over time.

Any state institution has eminence domain over all land of the country. So, it can be acquired for anything deemed a profit purpose. There were amendments where the eminence domain claim was dropped. They had to talk about justice, compensation, rehabilitation, etc.

Because there were a lot of debates. You could not simply shirk off the expense claims after independence. Eventually, when we liberalized in the 1990s, we opened our economies. It became a bigger question.

They wanted to ease out more land for privatization. They wanted money for infrastructure. Any kind of mining projects for petrochemicals. When these claims became more important for some national governments, we traditionally have the mandate over land governments, but they used the federal law to get this thing out of the way.

So, people started making claims about these things. “You have to give us compensation.” You cannot simply arbitrarily price compensation. You have evaluate things and our standard of living.

In some cases, there were large-scale displacements. There was no way to relocate them somewhere. My research is about how the government institutions mediate between these competing claims.

I find this is mostly doing acquisition-style stuff, but there is no way that the communities who lose their rights collectively because we do not have the concept of community rights. They cannot go and ask for their rights back.

Because they are doing this through ways that has legislation with these elements of compensation, rehabilitation, etc. When they do find their problem has become extensive, these conflicts become very exclusive and are quite long-lasting.

In general, we have our problem. They do not have harmonization of land rights councils. Because state governments can do whatever the hell they want based on their own conventions.

The state has more national resources and more space for mining. They were trying to convert as much land as possible. If someone doesn’t, they will try through other means like developing development hubs for IT or something like this.

They are not harmonizing these methods. So, they can get their land and money back and not cause so much precariousness.

Jacobsen: One underlying premise here in the conversation. What defines Indigenous in India, an Indigenous person?

Priyadarshini: We have some historically recognized tribal groups put in this list called Schedule Tribe Lists. These are the Indigenous peoples. They are usually concentrated in the eastern parts of the country. Of course, they are everywhere else.

Most of the contestations that we know of with Indigenous peoples with respect to land acquisitions happen in the eastern part. In the 1960s and 1970s, there was a big problem of the Maoist conflicts.

That is what we know of. It is problematic. [Note from Vidita: write down different line.] There is a definition in the constitution. I do not know how the classification actually works, but it is distinct from the past identity in the country.

Jacobsen: What is the percent of the population?

Priyadarshini: These conflict cases are mostly centered in the eastern part with the mining. They are resource-rich regions. From the 1990s onwards, a lot of mining projects happened.

That is where land conversion for these purposes actually became volatile because people were dependent on these resources as communities.

Jacobsen: What percent would be official tribes — apart from the conversation about conflict cases?

Priyadarshini: 9%, approximately, that is 104 million people.

Jacobsen: [Laughing] That is three times the population of Canada. How does this relate to larger conversations around land rights claims in other areas of the world? Because this is a general analysis.

I would assume this general analysis would apply to other areas given the generality.

Priyadarshini: I think one issue is India hasn’t modernized its land record system. After a lot of acquisitions, for example, you have governments taking up things like land redistribution.

Then they give compensation, market trading, and other land trying to give it back. Any claims of land or any property claims, for example from lands taken from the British after independence and after land redistribution.

They cannot be executed properly because we o not have a systematic land record system. The other thing, there is no political will to allow for this to happen because then they would have to start talking about community ownership of land.

Even if you systematize the individual land holding system properly, there might be claims with Indigenous communities without concepts of individual ownership, but may have the idea of collective land ownership and then may want to make a claim to land.

We have recognition of community use and community ownership. Anything about property rights; any discussion on property rights is systematically avoided by these two things because they are not even trying to work out the already existing land holdings and then any transferability concerns will not be met with.

They inquired with this invocation for the general public’s purpose. They say that they will give some money and then this will be fine. In some cases, money is quite okay. In other cases, not just about the money, it is about whether a particular community uses it in a way that cannot be unsafe.

This is where these things become more exclusive. I think one way to relate to this would be a discussion on the underdeveloped property rights issue in this country. In the 1970s — I am not a lawyer, but as far as I understand it, the issue is problematic.

Property as a right used to be a fundamental right. Then there was a huge change and then it only became a constitutional right. In some ways, it still can be superseded by these public purpose things.

Because it is not a fundamental right anymore. The government says that we can acquire land for a good purpose. Then it is fine. You can make claims against it because it is still a constitutional right, but it does not trump anything else.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Vidita.

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2022-12-09

Quelle Surprise: Humanistic Values Needed for Modern Problems in Canada

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/03/29

The Association humaniste du Québec and Humanist Canada are proud to announce the furtherance of humanist values within Canadian society at an apparent time when they are needed now more than ever.

As was noted by the Vice-President of Humanist Canada, Dr. Lloyd Robertson, the ability of students to be able to express their thoughts is important, especially in a time when science and reason are attacked in Canadian society.

Robertson expressed pride in the partnership with the Association humaniste du Québec for the Humanist Canada Essay Contest, and looked forward to receiving essays from interested and inspired students.

There is no preset topic or subject matter, necessarily, for the Humanist Canada Essay Contest. However, the obvious emphasis is humanist values within Canadian society.

Other than that, the students — high school and CEGEP — have the flexibility to show their chops in commentary on humanism as a life stance and worldview.

The Francophone and Anglophone populations of the nation will have access to submit essays to the contest, as this is a bilingual cotest with $8,000 in prizes and a first place prize for each language.

For the first place prize in each language, the student will be awarded $1,000. The deadline for the submissions to the Humanist Canada Essay Contest is May 15th, 2019.

The full information for the essay contest can be found here: https://hc-contest.ca/en/.

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2022-12-09

Chat with Boluwatife Ishola on Nigeria, Class, and Human Rights

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/03/13

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is your background? What was family life for you growing up?

Boluwatife Ishola: I am from a polygamous home, a family of 15, am the seventh born of my dad.

Jacobsen: How is religion influential in Nigerian life?

Ishola: Religion is the major influencer of an average Nigeria is arguably the most religious country in the world. An average Nigeria Christian, for example, depends on his or her pastor for instruction on what to eat, drink and wear and sometimes who to marry.

Jacobsen: What are the crucial factors in building an early education about Nigerian society?

Ishola: I think the major factor in building an early education will be when the government or any international humanitarian organization invest heavily in education and are ready to train and employ competent staff as well as pay them a salary when due.

Even the religious organization influence the political class, religious and political leader are to blame for Nigeria woes and corrupt politicians who loot money and pay 10% as a tithe to their religious leaders.

I think the major factor in building an early education will be when the government or any international humanitarian organization invest heavily in education and are ready to train and employ competent staff as well as pay them a salary when due.

For example, Nigeria public universities have been on strike for 91 days. Because of the lack of salary. The government should build good schools and then finance them well.

Jacobsen: What are the ways in which class is a factor in one’s outcomes in life?

Ishola: I think class sometimes determine your outcome in life if your parent is from the upper class in Nigeria, things become easier for you, they will reserve the best position in government companies for you.

Jacobsen: What are the main human rights issues in Nigeria?

Ishola: The main human rights issue here. There is no freedom of expression here. Government lockup opposition voices. Human right is not right here. There are cases of rape, abduction. A rapist can move freely. Security of the lives of citizens are threatened every day

Jacobsen: How are these struggles core to the struggles of lower-class Nigerians and women and girls in particular?

Ishola: There are terrorist attacks. In the northeast and northwest part of Nigeria, the lower class and women are the helpless group in Nigeria. They are often the major sufferers of government’s bad policy.

Jacobsen: What makes education a class issue in Nigeria?

Ishola: If you are poor in Nigeria, you are despised.

Jacobsen: Who are the major players in Nigeria who are known to be corrupt and known to make life difficult for other Nigerians?

Ishola: The major player in Nigeria known to be corrupt are the political class there are recent cases of politician looting 1 billion dollars. The major player in Nigeria known to be corrupt are the political class there are recent cases of politician looting 1 billion dollars.

Capitalist businesspeople too are corrupt. They exploit the masses through exorbitant profit

They also refuse to remit taxes. Another corrupt group is Nigeria Pentecostal church leaders.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Boluwatife.

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2022-12-09

From CERN: “So Forgettable, in Every Way…”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/03/12

BBC News reported on the ousting of Professor Alessandro Strumia.

CERN is the major particle accelerator of the world and, at least, Europe of the early 21st century so far. It has an important status in the world of science. Within this framework for understanding the world of science, we can see its intersection with the world of politics and social views.

Indeed, Strumia was a guest professor. He stood by the remarks. The statements that had him ousted from this particular scientific community.

“Some people hated hearing about higher male variance: this idea comes from Darwin, like other offensive ideas that got observational support… Science is not about being offended when facts challenge ideas held as sacred…” Strumia opined, “For months, Cern kept ‘investigating’ if my 30-minute talk might have violated Cern rules [requiring an] ‘obligation to exercise reserve and tact in expressing personal opinions and communication to the public’,” Prof Strumia said.

He argued on the position that procedure was not followed in his case. In that, if a standard procedure had been followed, then this would have “never happened,” in his opinion.

Strumia, in September of 2018, said that physics is not by invitation and was built by men. This was during a workshop presentation. Within the workshop, probably for humorous effect but not coming off in the end as he may have liked, Strumia included cartoons with jokes about the campaigns for equality in science by women.

In Strumia’s analysis and argument, he considered women physicists not as good as the male counterparts within the community.

Strumia argued, “Extra checks confirmed that my results are correct and in line with the specialized literature… This will be shown in a scientific paper, if it can appear.”

In that, he was arguing that his research or views were not being permitted, or potentially would not be allowed, to be published within academic journals, based on the conclusions of the analysis and research.

CERN, in a public statement, said:

The incident was investigated in light of the internal Rules and Regulations and the Organisation’s Code of Conduct, which is based on Cern’s core values… As a result of its own investigation and following the decision taken by the University of Pisa, Cern decided not to extend Professor Strumia’s status of Guest Professor… Cern reaffirms its commitment to the paramount importance of respect and diversity in the workplace.

A physicist from Imperial College London, Dr. Jessica Wade, was present at the workshop during the time of the controversial remarks of Strumia. Wade considers the statement, by CERN, an important and “powerful message” for the scientists of the world. Of course, others will see as, certainly, powerful, but a silencing effect on scientists who may disagree or present socially controversial views.

Wade said, “Well-funded senior academics should not use their of power to attack colleagues or demean the work of women.”

Based on an analysis of some papers available with a database of research on particle physics, Strumia constructed a series of graphs for the workshop or the presentation. In it, more women were shown to be hired than men; even though, in the research citation listing, the men may have had more citations. More citations tend to imply greater quality, as the implication.

BBC News stated, “This evidence, he said indicated that men produced better research than women. But a group of physicists posted their take on the analysis at particlesforjustice.org and stated that they believed it to be ‘fundamentally unsound.’ They said the correlation was a reflection of the difficulties faced by women in research rather than their abilities.”

One example statement of this is given in the fact that more men are present in particle physics and, therefore, more men will cite colleagues who are men. This becomes especially true for the most prominent and more senior researchers within the field of research of particle physics.

Most of these senior researchers and physicists are men who have built long-term careers for themselves. This, in turn, presents the issue of the social facets of science on another level of analysis. As noted in the article, a disproportionately higher number of women leave the field of particle physics.

“Prof. Strumia is not an expert on these topics and is misusing his physics credentials to put himself forward as one. Those among us who are familiar with the relevant literature know that Strumia’s conclusions are in stark disagreement with those of experts,” BBC News concluded, “He frequently made the basic error of conflating correlation with causation, and while Strumia claimed to be proving that there is no discrimination against women, his arguments were rooted in a circumscribed, biased reading of the data available, to the point of promoting a perspective that is biased against women.”

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2022-12-09

In Conversation with Maya Bahl on Edges of Research in Biology, Ethnicity, and Genetics

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/03/07

Maya Bahl is an editor and contributor to The Good Men Project with me. She has an interest and background in forensic anthropology. As it turns out, I hear the term race thrown into conversations in both conservative and progressive circles. At the same time, I wanted to know the more scientific definitions used by modern researchers including those in forensic anthropology. Then I asked Bahl about conducting an educational series. Here we are.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What are the central research questions on the edge of the field in studies of biology and ethnicity, and genetic studies?

Maya Bahl: The age-old question in biology, whether it’s with animals or humans, has been genetic variation, and how it came to be with evolution and an adaption to the environment. Generally those in warmer climates have darker skin tones in accommodating the sun and heat exposure while those in colder climates are lighter skinned and wouldn’t have a lasting exposure to sun and heat. A population adapting to their environment would also mean that members would be more at risk for a certain type of illness when taken out of their home environment. With humans migrating 100,000 years ago and since, there has been genetic mixing and adapting, where as a result we can see patterns of ailments in certain populations.

Another main question for ethnicity studies is generalizing populations, or a sense of fitting a group of people into one category. In the U.S this would relate to health disparity in the U.S. On top of a population showing a tendency in getting diabetes for instance, there might be other issues that concerns economic or language availability in receiving the best care for the ailment.

Jacobsen: Following from the previous question, how is this impacting the ways in which the field is advancing as well as providing new insights into old questions of the origins of humanity and the great similarities of all human beings?

Bahl: Climate change and global warming are significantly contributing to our understanding of genetics and human migration, just simply by the warming and cooling of the earth we have seen that over the years humans have been successfully adapting to these changes — either by varying skeletal structures or by tool making.

Genetics specifically is also advancing with the ever increased presence of DNA testing, from recounting family trees to solving crimes. The hurdle for this though is obtaining consent from families and places to further investigate!

Jacobsen: With this new knowledge of ethnicity and the evolution of humanity, what do you think this is doing to the conditions of the viability of race-based discussions from “race scientists,” “race realists,” or, more recently, “human biodiversity” advocates?

Bahl: A general takeaway for me is that the planet is seeking to get more politically correct, so older usages for populations such as “negro” and “negroid” definitely don’t work and are instead racial slurs. Also at the same time, categorizing people in the U.S based on location is used for convenience — such with “Hispanic” and “Latino”. The actuality of the term “Hispanic” combines those who are from the seven Central American countries, while “Latino” seeks to combine the twelve South American countries into one entity. To make sweeping generalizations with populations is good in some cases — like to get a glimpse into the study of Anthropology and in genetic variation studies, but falsely stereotyping for someone else’s gain is not an effective use to generalize a population.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Maya.

References

Cancer answering biology and ethnicity —

https://www.nature.com/articles/nrc3341

Genetic Animal Modeling— https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2656.12597

Human Genetics Research

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1275602/

Climate effects

http://humanorigins.si.edu/research/climate-and-human-evolution/climate-effects-human-evolution

DNA Testing

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/aug/11/question-ancestry-does-dna-testing-really-understand-race

https://www.pbs.org/show/finding-your-roots/

http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2017/science-genetics-reshaping-race-debate-21st-century/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002929707610015

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2022-12-09

Sincere Belief: On Behalf of the Unborn in Alabama

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/03/07

Time Magazine reported on a man from Alabama who is, in fact, filing a lawsuit against a reproductive health center for an unborn fetus.

This is stated as, potentially, one of the first cases of this. A lawsuit based on the purported rights of an aborted fetus.

Obviously, the Alabaman has sincere beliefs as to the rights and privileges — legal and otherwise — of the fetus. The question is truly if this fits into a standard human rights framework or only in the minds of a minority of the American public aligning themselves within the perspective of the man from Alabama.

“Ryan Magers, who says his ex-girlfriend had an abortion against his wishes, filed a lawsuit against the Women’s Center for Reproductive Alternatives in Madison Country, local CBS affiliate WHNT News 19 reported Tuesday,” Time Magazine stated.

In the papers filed to the court for the lawsuit, Magers stated that the ex-girlfriend took a pill to terminate or end the pregnancy on February 12, 2017, in spite of the pleas of keeping the baby, by Magers.

Of course, this implies, if taking the testimony of Magers, a strong difference of opinion on the eventual birthing as a child after the fetus sufficiently developed or the actual termination of the fetus — not a baby.

Time Magazine said, “This week, an Alabama probate judge granted Magers’ petition to represent the estate of the fetus, which the suit calls “Baby Roe.” But according to WHNT, the court papers do not make it clear that “Baby Roe” was an aborted fetus.”

A jury trial is being sought, purportedly, by Magers, where Brent Helms will be the attorney for Magers. Helms is claiming the case breaks legal ground, as a Baby Roe case — so to speak. This appears as if an explicit attempt to build off the success of the Roe v Wade decision of 1973 in the United States.

This is, for a Canadian audience, akin to the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968–1969 superseded and expanded, in a sense, by the R v Morgentaler Supreme Court of Canada decision from 1988.

The name “Roe” is a reflection of “John Doe” for the everyman but for the everywoman, “Jane Roe.” It is intended as a general law. The current context is, in this sense, for the “Baby Roe” to mirror this. Ironically, the traditionalist strain wants to have the women and children take the man’s name.

But, in this case, the every-child, or, rather, the every-fetus, takes on the name of the mother, the everywoman Jane Roe.

Helms said, “This is the first estate that I’m aware of that has ever been opened for an aborted baby.”

Alabama stated that the unborn fetuses have identical rights as an individual born in an amendment from last November. It has been marked a victory by some.

It is part of the growing movement called the “Personhood Movement.” Their sole goal is the constitutional rights of personhood being granted to a fertilized egg — a single cell. In this, we can see the influence of traditional religious ideological stances about the moment of conception.

“The same legislation also says that the Alabama constitution does not protect a woman’s right to an abortion — language added in the event of Roe v. Wade getting overturned,” Time Magazine described, “The Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision granted women in the U.S. the legal right to abortions. The addition of conservative justice Brett Kavanaugh on the bench has raised concerns among pro-choice activists that women’s right to abortion in the U.S. may come under threat.”

Pro-choice activists are beginning to talk more about this and view this as a scary development for some of them.

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2022-12-09

Canadian Free Speech Warriors: Rights 101, Get Your Terms Right

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/21

To start some movement, whether of a religious or secular, political or social, nature, there should be a clarification of terms and appropriate utilization of the terminology.

If we look into the general work of the free speech advocates who label others with the epithet social justice warriors, the appropriate terminology for them, thus, becomes free speech warriors.

For the free speech warriors, in Canadian society, there seems to be a consistent confusion of terminology and rights. There is a discussion around the right to free speech in Canadian environments, as if this is the proper terminology, right, and replicates or maps identically onto the Canadian landscape.

With even a single Google search or a trip to the local library, the most base research can represent the incorrect stipulations amongst the free speech warriors.

As the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in Canada states, “The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.”

This doesn’t require research. It simply needs reading. That’s it. This appears to not have been done, at all, amongst an entire modern ideological movement.

When we look further into the Charter, we can see the respect for the rights and freedoms in Canadian society for the acknowledgment, respect, and maintenance of the free and democratic society of modern Canada.

This leads to some further analysis, though. If the phrase is “free speech” or “freedom of speech” amongst the free speech warriors, the, obvious, contextualization is where does this terminology come from, as noted the terms come from the United States of America and then get exported to the cold place in the North.

Reading the First Amendment to the U.S Constitution, it, in full, states:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

The abridgement of “freedom of speech” is prohibited here. In other words, the right is not to freedom of expression but, in actual fact, the freedom of speech or “free speech.” Thus, the only true free speech warriors are from America in this interpretation.

But also, we can read further in the Canadian Charter. It, clearly, states in Article 2:

2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:

(a) freedom of conscience and religion;

(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;

(c)freedom of peaceful assembly; and

(d) freedom of association.

Here we come to the crux and comparison of the issue, it is not complicated, easily read, and simply overlooked. David Millard Haskell gets the terminology correct. That’s praiseworthy.

However, others simply fail to notice this. The free speech warriors miss the stipulation — because they didn’t read the Charter and may have simply wanted to be a part of an ideological movement — about freedom of expression.

This is unassailable in the terminology. In America, the right is specific to freedom of speech. In Canada, the right is to freedom of expression. The question to the free speech warriors is if they want to have a coherent movement and activism in order to protect the correct rights within the appropriate bounded geography within which the rights and responsibilities are bound as well.

If not, it will continue, as it has for years, to remain incoherent, overgeneralization, and wrongly using rights in different contexts in which they do not apply.

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2022-12-09

Compassion & Choices Annual Fund 2019

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/21

There is a need to support the compassionate ending of life. For some, there simply is nothing but pain until they die. Setup in an ethical society would permit the compassionate ending of life.

It would be something in which the individual living through this would make a cognizant choice or could pass the choice to another individual in order to live a healthier life.

The 2019 Annual Fund is important in the ability to pursue this, as Compassion & Choice is one such organization working to help with this level of autonomy at the end of life.

If you have some funds to donate to this enterprise, it would be greatly appreciated, as this would benefit the general welfare of multiple people who may not have the option otherwise — as we move into the future.

In the end, it is about values. Does one value the autonomy of the individual at the end of life, or not? If so, then this may not be a simple issue, but does become a compassionate and individual choice issue.

Moving into 2018, we can see the end of life freedom advancing, slowly. One important advancement was Our Care, Our Choice Act in Hawai’i. If finances are donated to the fund, then the goals for 2019 can be important for guiding the years forward.

Compassion & Choices wants to advance a 10-year goal of the procurement of medical aid in dying for, at least, half of the country. They also want to protect the current gains and increases that have been won so far.

They shift in the conversation is important too. We can find the ways in which Barbara Coombs Lee’s work has been important for the provision of personal stories and advice around and on the issue of end-of-life care and medical assistance in dying.

All of this is important in a multipronged approach to the advancement of end-of-life care. Please donate if you can.

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2022-12-09

UK May Be OK: Medical Assistance in Dying Law

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/21

Humanists UK has been pushing for what they have been terming a compassionate assisted dying law, in which there is a law set forth in support of a “compassionate, humane, assisted dying law.”

This movement comes with a wide variety of terms. One of the important aspects of all of this is the public support for it. The Royal College of Physicians is opposed to a humane right to die law.

However, if we look into the public support, it is overwhelming at 80%. 4 out of 5 citizens support the law for this most important of choices about the end of the journey — likely — for human life.

The recent survey can be important for the advancement of medical assistance in dying, in a prominent nation. Humanists UK formed the Assisted Dying Coalition.

With the cooperation and coordination with other organizations, this can be an important move for the empowerment of those who truly want to plan and make the choice for their final days.

UK citizens may be forced to travel to another country for an assisted death. If most of the nation wants it, and if this can be passed to democratically support what the nations wants, then this can be an important democratic advancement and, in fact, a compassionate one too.

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2022-12-09

Do Not Disappear Into That Dear Night, Dear, We Need You

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/21

The Independent reported on some of the outspoken feminism and empowerment of girls and women of Annie Lennox, former member of Eurythmics. She acknowledged the truism is the vast majority of older women simply becoming forgotten, but affirmed that this does not necessarily have to be the case. That older women do not simply have to become “invisible.”

This seems like the right orientation tome. She has continued to support important initiatives including Amnesty International and Greenpeace. Lennox is serious about feminisms and about the inculcation of the values and the term, likely, into the public sphere more and more.

Annie Lennox has spoken about the importance of empowering girls and women through feminism, expressing her belief that women her age should not have to feel as though they’ve become “invisible”.

The reportage stated, “‘My current focus is to bring the term ‘Global Feminism’ into the zeitgeist,’ Lennox tells Good Housekeeping. ‘I’m so happy we can use the ‘F’ word now and talk comfortably about being feminists!’”

For a long time, the term was something uncomfortable and not seen as worth mentioning. But, at the present moment, we are seeing a resurgence of consideration for the rights and responsibilities of women. Bearing in mind, the equality of women simply was not on the agenda for centuries and this continues to be fought against — in a red and tooth and claw manner.

As she — Lennox — has noted, it is criticizing men. It is critiquing negative behaviors that are damaging to men, women, and society that are being criticized. However, this is misrepresented as criticizing all masculinities, all men, and simply being a purported witch hunt. Not the case in most or all cases, insofar as I can tell, once one looks by the media extravaganza and hyperbole.

Now 64-years-old, Lennox is work to establish a renewed culture of interest in and public acceptance of older women, to fight against the stigma and the disappearing from public consciousness of women.

Lennox said, “At the end of the day, Global Feminism is about the fundamental human rights of girls and women — why should we continue to tolerate disrespect, abuse and disempowerment?”

“Dressing up for this photoshoot was really fun and trying on all these clothes for the pictures was enjoyable,” Lennox continued, “I want people to realise that women of my age don’t have to become invisible.”

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2022-12-09

Did Someone Say, “Controversial Issues”? Because I Heard, “Trojan Horse.”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/21

The struggle continues onward with the reindeer hit mainly by the plane in Maine, but also with the latest “controversial issues” measure. This is a new tactic and a common one.

The proper move, politically and legally, is an identification of the move and then steadfast work against it. The tactics tend to stay the same. The titles and names tend to be different.

There is a bill within the Maine legislature that would, in fact, require the public school teachers to follow a code of conduct. That’s not bad, in fact. But the content is the questionable part of it.

There is a background context. The NCSE reported on the fifth measure of its type in 2019 alone. There are “South Dakota’s House Concurrent Resolution 1002 and House Bill 1113, Virginia’s House Joint Resolution 684, and Arizona’s House Bill 2002.”

The Maine Legislative Document 589 (House Paper 433), prefiled in the Maine House of Representatives, could require the state board of education to adopt an ethics code — again, ethics are good — but the code would prevent public school teachers from engaging in “political or ideological indoctrination.”

This would make the topics appearing on platforms of a state political party subject to open questioning and, thus, creating a basis for questioning scientific truths via questioning of party platforms. The big issue is the fact that a large number of the party platforms, at the state level, mention evolution via natural selection and anthropogenic climate change.

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2022-12-09

Going South on Science

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/21

There is, at the moment, antiscience legislation in South Dakota. It is House Bill 1270. The purpose of the bill would be to improperly represent the standard science curriculum within the science classroom.

The bill was introduced on January 30, 2019. The purpose is to make it so that teachers can be free to assist students in understanding, analyzing, critiquing, and reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of the science information provided to them. This is the double-speak.

What, in actual fact, happens in the contexts of classrooms that would implement this, the aim would be to permit the disputing of evolution and anthropogenic climate change.

“Although no specific scientific topics are mentioned, the language of the bill matches the language in bills explicitly aimed at disputing evolution and/or climate change, including South Dakota’s SB 114 in 2015,” NCSE reported, “In 2016, the identical SB 83 was introduced and eventually died in committee; in 2017, the identical SB 55 passed the Senate but ultimately was defeated in the House Education Committee.”

SB 55 was a prior bill that was defeated. It was one that had received a consistent amount of opposition from the Associated School Board of South Dakota, the South Dakota Education Association, the School Administrators of South Dakota, and the South Dakota Department of Education.

The reportage concluded, “HB 1270 has eleven sponsors, nine in the House and two in the Senate, of whom seven are also sponsors of House Concurrent Resolution 1002 and House Bill 1113.”

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2022-12-09

Painfully Obvious: Wedgies and Wedges

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/20

In the march of continuous progress on the front of scientific knowledge, we come to the continual realization of the individuals with ideological stances preventing the proper instantiation of knowledge and education within the public sphere.

In fact, this can come in what has been termed, rather bluntly, a wedge strategy. If you pay even marginal attention, this will continue to arise again, and again, and again and again.

This time; it has arisen as a strategy in South Carolina. This is, in essence, a creation ‘science’ bill in South Carolina intended for export to the general public.

If enacted, House Bill 3826 would make permissible the elective courses on religion in public school districts in order to “require the teaching of various theories concerning the origin of life, including creation science[,] as part of the course content.” In short, this would permit the wedging of creationist theories into the curricula in addition to the standard curriculum of evolution via natural selection.

As reported, “The teaching of creation science in the public schools was ruled to be unconstitutional — a violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause — by a federal court in McLean v. Arkansas (1982) and by the Supreme Court in Edwards v. Aguillard (1987).”

The bill, not so quietly, would require the displaying of “In God We Trust” in classrooms. The sponsors are Dwight A. Loftis (R-District 19) and James Mikell “Mike” Burns (R-District 17).

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2022-12-09

Compassion & Choices: Critical Moments in Life and Critical Moment in the Montana House Judiciary Committee

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/20

There was a 10–9 vote, recently, in the Montana House Judiciary Committee that moved HB 284 into the State House for further consideration. Compassion & Choices, an organization devoted to end of life choices, reported this as a critical moment and argued for the — and demanded the — shutting down of the “Physician Imprisonment Act” on the floor.

They asked, “Will you donate right now to help keep the pressure on legislators and protect medical aid in dying in Montana?”

This HB 284 is considered one in a long string of assaults on the medical aid in dying seen with Montana. It is one of the bills to undercut a landmark decision authorizing the practice with the state: Baxter v. Montana.

The direct meaning of HB 284 and others would lead to the prescribing of medical aid-in-dying medication by physicians to their patients would be prosecutable as homicide, murder, and would, in essence, permit the extension of needless suffering.

HB 284 is the latest in a series of long-standing attacks on medical aid in dying in Montana, Scott. This bill would undercut Baxter v. Montana (the landmark decision that authorized the practice in the state), make physicians who prescribe medical aid-in-dying medication to their patients vulnerable to prosecution for homicide and extend needless suffering.

“Not only that, but this bill marks the fifth time our opposition has tried to strip away Montanans’ access to medical aid in dying, and with your support, we’ve beat them back every time,” Compassion & Choices reported, “But, we haven’t defeated HB 284 yet. Our opposition is well-funded, relentless and committed to seeing medical aid in dying criminalized in Montana. That means we can’t afford to let up — not even for one second.”

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2022-12-09

NGSS: Getting the Advanced Frontiers in Science Education to the Young

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/20

Amongst the noblest pursuits of the human species appears to be the education of the young, in which there is a proper and responsible passing onto the next generations the acquired knowledge of the prior ones.

One effort in the United States in the Next Generation Science Standard intended for school districts and accredited nonpublic schools. Iowa, for example, adopted the NGSS in 2015.

However, House File 61 is an interesting recent proposal that would prevent this from coming into full effect in Iowa, preventing NGSS from becoming the norm and expectation within the education system.

As reported, “The bill, introduced on January 23, 2019, and referred to the House Education Committee, is sponsored by Skyler Wheeler (R-District 4). In a 2016 interview with the Caffeinated Thoughts blog (April 19, 2016), Wheeler declared, ‘’I also oppose NGSS as it pushes climate change … NGSS also pushes evolution even more.’”

The denial of standard and mainstream scientific findings is an important issue. Denial of evolution simply leaves medical and biological sciences professionals less likely to come out of Iowa.

But also, there is the issue of anthropogenic climate change denial. This is an issue threatening species survival and requires immediate action as this is an urgent issue.

“In 2017, Wheeler cosponsored House File 140, which contained the same provision about the NGSS, as well as House File 480,” the NCSE stated, “which would have required teachers in Iowa’s public schools to include ‘opposing points of view or beliefs’ to accompany any instruction relating to evolution, the origins of life, global warming, or human cloning. Both bills died in committee.”

There is nothing new here. Indeed, the educators see through the ploy and the Iowa Association of School Boards has already made an open declaration of opposition to the House File 61.

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2022-12-09

Getting Warmer: Climate Change Literacy Bills in Washington

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/20

The issue of climate change is often misreported. It should be reported consistently and affirmatively as anthropogenic climate change or human-induced global warming in which the human industrial activity is a major factor in the problem in climate change.

One major aspect of the work is climate science literacy in order to combat the problem here. Washington has two identical bills now, which are aimed at climate science literacy.

These are for the Washington state legislature. One is called House Bill 1496. Another is entitled Senate Bill 5576. These are intended to establish a comprehensive program for more learning opportunities and education on climate science. It is meant to increase knowledge about climate science.

One facet for the media would be the introduction of the terminology as “anthropogenic climate change or “human-induced global warming” as a start.

There is an affirmation, in the pair of bills, for the increase in the skills and knowledge about climate science. It is only within Washington but this is a start, especially in a huge advanced industrial economy such as the United States.

The point is to introduce a greater skill and knowledge base amongst the young there. It will have information and opportunities for climate literacy and environmental education.

There is a reference to environmental and sustainability standards in one section of the Washington state code listing that is required as areas of education through the public schools.

This, according to the NCSE reportage, is simply an introduction of a new emphasis on sustainability.

As reported, it affirmed, “…critical knowledge and innovative strategies for effectively teaching climate science can be strengthened by qualified community-based organizations.”

One intriguing proposal is the foundation of a grant program through a nonprofit of the community for educational purposes via the Next Generation Science Standards. It’s not indoctrination; it’s minimal standards of a modernized educational on the environment.

The reportage concluded, “House Bill 1496 was introduced on January 23, 2019, and referred to the House Committee on Education; Senate Bill 5576 was introduced on January 24, 2019, and referred to the Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education.”

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2022-12-09

Ladies and Gentlemen, We Bring You, Once More, the Trojan Horse, “Controversial Issues”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/20

A resolution in South Dakota was brought to the legislature that was urging for the adoption of an ethics code that would be for the public school teachers.

The NCSE reported on the resolution and considered this as potentially adversely affecting the state of science education.

As reported, “House Concurrent Resolution 1002 (PDF), filed on January 25, 2019, by fifteen legislators (all Republicans) and referred to the House Education Committee, is aimed primarily at preventing what it describes as ‘political or ideological indoctrination.’”

While, at the same time, there would be a provision within the proposal, the code, for the prohibition for educators from teaching “any issue that is part of a political party platform at the national, state, or local level.”

Glenn Branch, of the NCSE, stated that it is common for state political parties to take individual stands on evolution and purported other options in the development and speciation of life.

Indeed, this can happen with climate change as well. With the imposition of the possible bill, then the teachers would be prevented from teaching evolution and, in fact, pressure into teaching anti-evolution stances and climate change denialist positions.

The reportage concluded, “A similar resolution, House Joint Resolution 684, is under consideration in Virginia, and a similar bill, House Bill 2002, is under consideration in Arizona.”

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2022-12-09

Breaking: UNDRIP, Alive

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/19

The government of British Columbia will be introducing legislation in order to implement an international document relating to the Indigenous rights of the Indigenous peoples of Canada.

The document is a declaration entitled the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP). This was announced in a recent throne speech.

This would make British Columbia the first province in the country to legislate the endorsement of Canada of the UNDRIP. British Columbia Premier John Horgan stated that he remains unsure as to what this may look like but the legislative councils are working on solutions.

“I know it will be more than symbolic,” Horgan said, “We need to address reconciliation in British Columbia, not just for social justice… but for economic equality for all citizens, Indigenous and non-Indigenous.”

During the campaign trail for Horgan, there was a promise to respect, recognize, and implement the 46 articles of the UNDRIP. Those recognized as human rights for Indigenous peoples around the world. One of which is the right to self-determination. Other peoples have it. Therefore, Indigenous peoples should have it. That’s elementary.

The UN Member States with Indigenous peoples and questions surrounding land and territory should acquire free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) in order to ensure the rights of Indigenous peoples are respected in these areas.

Horgan’s NDP campaigned on a promise to implement UNDRIP, which includes 46 articles meant to recognize the basic human rights of Indigenous Peoples’ along with their rights to self-determination.

Horgan stated, “For too long uncertainty on the land base has led to investment decisions being foregone, and I believe that that hurts Indigenous people and it hurts other British Columbians.”

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2022-12-09

Differentials in Common Problems

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/19

The Metro reported on Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun from Saudi Arabia, who has been granted asylum to Canada, recently. She fled to Kuwait from alleged abuse and then landed in Bangkok. Following this, she began to seek asylum.

With the surprising effectiveness of the work by al-Qunun and others, and similar social media social justice campaigns including #MeToo, Twitter became a catalytic platform for the improved efficacy of the calls for social justice for Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun.

As some may note, the socio-political left and the socio-political right tend to disagree on what should be the emphasis of the social justice in most instances, and utilize epithets against the opposition in the cases of that which they disagree.

But the possibility of further abuse of a girl and the killing of an ex-Muslim united the internet for social good, a social justice activist effort. Many Canadian voices were in favor of the work there.

The unifying story was the abuse and the context in which men and women live in the culture. Men and women are grossly unequal in Saudi society.

One interesting story is relayed within the article about the way this works for gay men too. The former Muslim man, who left, had to disengage with family, because of the disagreements in belief.

The author described a sympathy, in common experiences, with leaving religion in an area of the world at this time that takes the violent approach to those who leave. One can see this environment with Christian in the centuries past.

Those who leave in these coerced-into-religion contexts become difficult, dangerous, and even life-threatening. The man felt as though — as a gay Muslim man — he had let down the creator and sustainer of the universe.

As opined, “I know of Christians who have left their faith and converted to Islam who talk of pressures from their families, and where some have had their immediate family stop all communication, sometimes for decades. However, what is troubling is that the levels of pressure and intimidation against ex-Muslims rumbles on and that time and time again,”

To attribute this to innate tendencies is wrong, as if one group is a separate species, while, at the same time, to deny this happening disproportionately in Muslim communities is also wrong, it is happening at a higher rate, insofar as a large number of ex-Muslim communities are showing u — and the subsequent stories coming out connected to them.

The author of the opinion piece explained, “I heard from those I interviewed they feared to leave Islam and when they did, they felt scared all of this, it is important to mention that it is not faith or religions themselves that are the problem. Yes, there are difficult elements of texts, but it is how they are interpreted and how families and individuals implement them in their families. For many of the people I interviewed, a harsh and controlling interpretation of Islam meant that they pushed their loved one away from Islam. Yet, there are just as many families where Islam is interpreted so that people feel accepted, loved and valued.”

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2022-12-09

Oklahoma Antiscience Legislation Combatted

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/19

NCSE reported on the defeat of a set of antiscience legislation in Oklahoma’s Senate Bill 14. The purpose was for the empowerment of science denialists.

The vote failed 6–9 in terms of winning the recommendation of the House Committee on Education. This was on February 12, 2019. The bill was framed as “the Oklahoma Science Education Act.”

In pragmatic terms, this meant that teachers in Oklahoma would be able to “understand, analyze, critique[,] and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught.”

But, at the same time, this meant the prohibition of local and state administrators from “exercising supervisory responsibility,” as phrased by the NCSE.

That is to say, if a science teacher denied the fundamentals of science, they could be empowered to teach non-science views. None of the theories identified as particularly controversial.

However, the efforts came forth from a sole sponsor named David Bullard. He is new to the legislature. The predecessor of Bullard (R-District 6) was Josh Brecheen. There was a similar form of a bill proposed there.

But also, since the start of 2019, two other bills have been proposed including North Dakota’s House Bill 1538 and South Dakota’s House Bill 1270.

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2022-12-09

A Trans-Setting Star Exhibits Her Craft: The Transgender Community and the Starcraft II Professional Video Gamers

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/12

In the modern history of the sport, the world had great difficulty in the acceptance of what has now been termed mental sports, including chess and other non-contact, mostly non-physical competitive activities.

People devote their entire lives to these competitions out of sheer love of it. Some of the chess world came to a head with the long-time world champion Garry Kasparov competing against the supercomputer — super for the time at least — named Deep Blue.

Since this time, the interest in what may best be termed, for now, mental sports has simply grown a lot. This is particularly true for the number of those who have entered into the competitive gaming realm earning — and no word of exaggeration — hundreds of thousands of dollars (USD) in their professional careers, akin to professional skateboarders who you can appreciate in the artistry of their excellence in their chosen craft.

Akin to other sports worlds, some of the interesting aspects of the world of this new domain of sports gone mental-digital is the, yes, often well-known and substantiated instances of open misogyny within some sectors and amongst some members of the video gaming or gamer community.

But there may also be other facets to this dialogue not entirely covered. One is the win for the transgender community, likely, with the inclusion and non-controversy in the inclusion of a trans individual in the ranks of one of the more prominent and long-time famous real-time strategy or RTS games: Starcraft II.

Sasha Hostyn, born in December of 1993, is a professional Starcraft II player amongst the highest ranking in the world in addition to playing Dota 2 to some degree. The questions here relate to the ways in which a Canadian gamer is anything new.

It’s not.

What is newer, especially given some of the regressive aspects of some of the community some (in-)famous incidents over the years in the world of professional video gaming, Hostyn, or “Scarlett,” has been the only woman to win an international Starcraft II tournament.

More significantly, she is known as the queen of Starcraft II and, potentially, one of the most accomplished women video gamers in the land today, as well as being a trans woman.

What has been especially noteworthy in the world of professional video gaming here, Scarlett’s gender identity is a non-issue within the community of announcers, gamers, and, as far as I can tell, the wider community of professional Starcraft II video gamers, which sets a tone and timbre on the world of professional video gaming different than before — not simply symbolically but in a display of recognized excellence in performance based on rankings and winnings.

That’s trend-setting.

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2022-12-09

Shining Light Upon the Hill of Songs: A Morning Star’s Waning, Singing in Descent

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/10

Prominent actress, Ellen Page, has been more outspoken, recently, about what she sees as injustices, then simply speaks directly on the subject matter. Some of these can include environmental issues, and hateful rhetoric and leadership or racism.

The Progressive Secular Humanist wrote on this calling out of an American actor, Chris Pratt, in an interview with Stephen Colbert. The interview focused on sheep, sheering of sheep, and a diet coming from the Book of Daniel in the Bible called the Daniel Fast. Pratt said that this diet made him feel good.

As reported, “According to its website, the Daniel Fast is ‘based on the fasting experiences of the Old Testament Prophet,’ and serves to help people ‘draw nearer to God.’” Always, always, there should be a “maybe” followed by a comma and a space — and other conceptual necessities — preceding bold pseudohistorical statements like the one there, as in: “…maybe, the Daniel Fast is based on the fasting experiences of the purported Old Testament ‘Prophet’…”

Pratt described to Colbert how this was, in essence, their church’s Lent, to bridge the conceptual gap with Colbert, who is a practicing Roman Catholic Christian. The diet consisted of no meat, no sugar, and no alcohol. The interviewed continued in this chummy way.

Page went on social media to critique Pratt because of the anti-LGBTQ nature of the church that Pratt takes part in now; in fact, Page, at the same time, was critiquing the soft interviewing of Colbert.

A statement (2015) from the church, Hillsong Church, stated, “God’s word is clear that marriage is between a man and a woman.”

Thus, the traditional view is the one purportedly endorsed by a supposed god, where this god is displeased and looks down upon gay ‘lifestyles’ and gay marriage.

That is to say, Hillsong Church views homosexuality as a social lifestyle rather than a reality; an innate tendency within the human species. Why? Because God did not intend things this way, likely. He intended marriage between male and female without homosexuality in the cards.

To their credit, the statement noted a welcoming attitude to everyone coming into the church. However, they do not affirm all — what they non-scientifically assert as — “lifestyles”:

Put clearly, we do not affirm a gay lifestyle and because of this we do not knowingly have actively gay people in positions of leadership, either paid or unpaid. I recognise this one statement alone is upsetting to people on both sides of this discussion, which points to the complexity of the issue for churches all over the world.

Discrimination in marriage, regressive in social outlook, and bias in hiring all-at-once; this is Hillsong Church circa 2015, where this extends to the non-Australian extensions in which Pratt and other American celebrities take part now. Other promoters of the Hillsong Church have been “Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez and the Kardashians.”

America is coming to the head of a huge culture war. One of the linchpins, among many, is the issue of LGBTQ+ acceptance within their society or not. This callout by Page will be among a number of others, as this continues to be just below the surface of public consciousness.

As with the many explosions in American history, the outcome will be further repression of the LGBTQ+ community or further acceptance of them. Hillsong Church is based on Australia but boasts over 100,000 members worldwide. It is a massive church, where the lead pastor, Brian Houston, has been embroiled in media ploys to try to clear the name of infamous misogynist pastors including Mark Driscoll of defunct Mars Hill Church.

The Hillsong Church stands against stem cell research, abortion, supports Creationism, and views homosexuality as against the teachings of the Bible but Hillsong Church, itself, does not, at the same time, condemn homosexuals. This exists along the lines of “hate the sin but not the sinner” seen in some weaker arguments in the Pentecostal arsenal for social control of homosexuals and theological grounding for marital and sociocultural discrimination of the LGBTQ+ community.

The bottom line is that Houston does not think the Bible can be unwritten or rewritten, as it is the fundamental delivery from He on High, the Creator of the Universe. Pastor Chad Veach of Zoe Church — Pratt’s pastor and church — modeled everything after Hillsong Church. These are not complicated moral issues. These are not complex questions about the nature of human relations. These are basic, elementary even, moral and ethical questions.

Do you, as a leader of a community, want to include sexual orientation and gender identity minorities into your communities as full members or simply as advocates of Christ in the church as members but those members who simply are not permitted the possibility to be real equals based on the contents of the holy text within the fundamentalist Pentecostal reading of the Bible? In short, do you want to include homosexuals in the community as full participants or not?

If you don’t, then you do not believe in equality for all, as in the case of marriage only for heterosexuals in binary units or a male and a female united in the eye’s of God as a husband and wife. If you do, then you believe in the inclusion of these members of the community, not as honorary badges of marginal progressivism.

Furthermore, if the latter, it would be an interesting reflection and observation that the progressive secular communities have already been working on this issue for some time without the need to pray on it, to read the holy text for answers, to go to a higher religious authority or body for detailed theological exegesis, but only to the basic instincts, when unencumbered by too much dogma, for inclusion, general honesty, and compassionate community-building based on mutual respect and camaraderie.

It becomes a basic ethical fact. Either LGBTQ2IA+ are included in the subculture or not. If not, please explain the reason. Because, the reasons, typically, are amoral if not immoral and based on the tacit understanding of a purported holy text in which they may be identified spiritually as equal — whatever that means — but, in the concrete world, the nitty-gritty of everyday life, simply get left out as equals compared to the heterosexual communities. Pratt, Houston, Veach, et al, seem to have failed this base moral question. Pratt et al in terms of implicit endorsement, e.g., attendance and financial in terms of tithing; Houston and Veach in terms of preaching and theology. Page is on point; I look forward to reading her next one.

Get flipping

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2022-12-09

Vaccines: The Mattering of “Matters Into Your Own Hands”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/10

A young man, 18-years-old, Ethan Lindenberger, has not been vaccinated, pretty much, his entire life, NPR reports.

This is becoming a common phenomenon with the rise of measles cases, for example. Lindenberger is among a cohort of young people who are simply tired of the denial of medical science, in this case, vaccines, that can put their — as young people — health as a real risk.

Now, this cohort of young people, in part, is simply going outside of the dictates of the parents in their lives and getting vaccines themselves; even though, the parents may have been deluded into anti-vaccination hysteria over the years.

It is a sincere, heartfelt, and honorable desire: to protect one’s children. But it comes at a cost when being explicitly exploited by the peddlers of what has been termed junk science, pseudoscience, and non-science depending on the framing of it.

Lindenberger, literally, is being vaccinated for diseases including “hepatitis, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, or the chickenpox.” That’s remarkable. The mother of Lindenberger, a Jill Wheeler, is an anti-vaccine advocate, which simply translates into anti-medicine or anti-science advocate based on the firm empirical basis of the efficacy of vaccinations.

This, much or all of it, started with the reiterations of a debunked study. The notion is that the vaccines themselves, somehow, “cause” rather than correlate with autism. Do vaccines cause autism? No. Do vaccines correlate with autism? As far as I know, “No.”

As some have joked, autism may increase chances of interest in science and maths; thus, autism ‘causes’ vaccines. Aside from the lighthearted sideshows, these are serious issues, of which, unfortunately, due to the negligence of the elders in these young people’s lives, the youth are having to take matters into their own hands — to, potentially, save their lives. And that’s no joke.

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2022-12-09

Humanism’s New Christketeer: One for All and All for One

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/07

In Angelus, only one day ago, on February 6, 2019, at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.; a lecture was given as the Hispanic Innovators of the Faith Lecture.

Interesting title, and theme, and, in fact, content, the speech turned into text looks at the Spanish missionaries who “made important contributions to the humanist traditions in the West,” Archbishop José H. Gomez said.

He went to speak about the Dominicans in particular with reference to “Antonio de Montesinos and Bartolomé de las Casas, the Franciscan St. Junípero Serra, and the great bishop of Michoacán, the Servant of God Vasco de Quiroga, among others.”

Setting aside the definitions of God implied or the purported servanthood status, we can see a merger within the intellectual traditions across what may seem on the surface a great divide, but may, in fact, be rather close together.

Those specific Dominican missionaries worked for the “humanity and rights of indigenous peoples,” where fighting for the rights and the recognition of the common humanity is the part standing out to me — rather than the emphasis on unprovables, outside of personal experiential assertions, such as the Incarnation and the like.

In fact, as far back as 1511, there was a denunciation of the colonial powers for the mistreatment or “abuse” of the natives in addition to the theft of the gold.

Apparently, Antonio de Montesinos stated, “Tell me, by what right or justice do you keep these Indians in such a cruel and horrible servitude? … And what care do you take that they should be instructed in religion? Are these not men? Have they not rational souls? Are you not bound to love them as you love yourself?”

This is powerful stuff, and important in obliterating a notion of an institution seen as monolithic. It is in the tradition of breakaways, revolutionaries to an extent, within the tradition, which, in fact, is returning to the core message of the Gospels.

To those outside of these traditions, the followers and sub-leaders may not pay much attention to the outside conversations and arguments, and dialogues outside of their philosophical and theological framework; it simply doesn’t matter that much to many of them, probably, or, at least, less than the continued maintenance of community.

But within the community of the faithful, these rediscoveries and reiterations of messages closer to the core of the Gospels than pillaging and looting and violence against the Indigenous populations is important, because this can strike a stronger chord in the language of the faithful within these traditions of those who may have devoted their entire lives to this enterprise.

Montesino posed other questions including the nature of being a human being, the obligations to neighbours, and the location of God and Christ in all. These latter concerns seem far less concrete and humanistic than the first two dealing with the nature of the human being and the relations of that human being to other human beings, once the nature is better known.

The Church, broadly speaking, does not seem to be going anywhere anytime soon, but the members, as individual human beings, and the leaders, too, are in a sort of identity crisis about where to move the faith with the massive set of problems facing the world and, thus, their constituencies and fellows but also internally with the sex scandals and the like.

Archbishop Gomez opined, “I come at these questions, not as an historian or scholar, but as a pastor of souls. And as a pastor, I am worried about the directions our society is taking. I think our way of life is making it harder for people to find God and to know the meaning of their lives. I want to try to understand why and what that means.”

Gomez looked at the ways in which there is, and I agree, a crisis of the definition of human nature with a wide spread of definitions, often conflicting, even within communities, and leading to vast isolation of those communities with one another. Those rifts can create social strife and lead to a form of unhealthy angst and even anomie.

“By “crisis of man,” I mean a crisis of human nature. Men and women. All of us.And the crisis I see today is this: In our society, we no longer seem to share any coherent or common understanding about what it means to be a human being,” Gomez explained, “As I see it, this problem is rooted in our society’s broader loss of the awareness of God. If the questions are: Who are we? Why are we here? And what should we be living for? I don’t think we know the answers anymore.”

Those fundamental questions about the nature of human beings in the world, and of the world. The root of human nature and the bottom of the stuff of the universe. What are we? What is it? Now, there may be widespread disagreements on the subject matter of euthanasia and abortion, which is fine.

The prevention of personal autonomy by religious institutions, structures, theologies, and leadership is a scandal and a long-term fight. But the fundamental point is simply a correct observation, as seen in the crisis of identity seen around the world. This was pointed out in an interview with a colleague several years ago to me, who is a psychiatrist.

But with the point on human trafficking, certainly, I can agree with the need to tackle this pressing issue. This has to be among the easiest ethical questions with an answer in modern history. People are being trafficked and, often, into sexual and other slavery. It is simply grotesque dehumanization of other people and should be stopped.

Gomez reported:

But I think we also see this crisis reflected in other areas that might not be so immediately obvious — for instance, in the clashes of identity politics and the persistence of racist thinking in our society.

We see it reflected in the worldwide debates over migrants and refugees; in the widespread confusion about gender and human sexuality; and in the dramatic decline in birthrates throughout the West. I would even argue that this crisis underlies the opioid epidemic and the alarming rates of mental illness, loneliness, and suicide in our country.

The noteworthy point here is the decline in birthrates. Indeed, the Roman Catholic Christian Church has been a vanguard in wanting to maintain dominant culture in nation-states through the persistent adherence to what they deem a culture of life, which is vague, and a focus on the values of family, which is valid, and of higher birth rates, especially in the context of the widespread decline of a replacement host population of many European, North American, and East Asian societies. The advanced industrial societies have this problem more than others.

But their solutions will restrict the fundamental rights and freedoms of women; of course, leaders want to solve the problem of the non-replacement rate — 2.1 — birth rates, look at Singapore and Japan, but the ways in which to work towards solving this is not to restrict women but, in fact, to begin to empower more than they have been in the past with maternity leave — and concomitant paternity leave for fathers, not simply symbolic, as in endorsed and supported — and various other measures for them to be able to not fear for their jobs and standard of living if they were to leave a job.

The restriction of women’s lives and the violation of their fundamental rights and freedoms would work, as it has in the past with robust empirical evidence, but it will also lead to more problems than robust, long-term solutions. On a more reflective and historically troubling, and correct note, Gomez stated:

People have been talking about a “crisis of man” since at least the end of the Second World War.

We forget that in the last century, millions were killed, whole generations lost — in Soviet gulags and Nazi death camps, in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in genocides in nearly every part of the world.

Out of this dark time of slaughter and suffering, came new existential questions. Not only about the “silence” of God, but also about man’s inhumanity to man.

Humanity became its own worst monsters and greatest — desperate — heroes. The world in ruins and struggling to come to grips with the savagery stemming from Caucasians or barbaric behaviour of the Europeans. The coming to grips with the dual extreme natures of human beings meshed into one, and exemplified in the atrocities committed during the world wars.

Gomez seems incorrect to call the products of these “murderous ideologies,” as in the products of atheist humanisms. It simply doesn’t follow, as much as he would like to think, where this just demarcates his own buying into the prejudices of the day. In a manner of speaking, this is simply a smear. These were fundamentalist state ideologies akin to the evils perpetrated by fundamentalist religious ideologies. We can see precursors or prototypes of these re-emerging in the current moment. But this language is neither helpful nor entirely correct, so, with all due respect Mr. Gomez, wrong angle.

Gomez, as he moves further into the speech, represents a series of views simply leaning toward what may best be called theocratic in orientation with the lament over waning Christian influence in political and economic life. Religion in politics is theocratic. No doubt about it, the process of secularization, of which he references, in fact, leans the dial more towards equality for the non-religious with the religious in this respect.

“Just recently, questions were raised about judicial nominees who belong to the Knights of Columbus. We see ongoing lawsuits aimed at Christian companies and charities, trying to force them to operate in ways that violate their conscience,” Gomez opined, “That is why the U.S. bishops have made defending religious liberty a key priority. If we are not free to order our lives and institutions according to God’s Word, then we are not free to live a truly human life.”

Which is precisely wrong, the freedom is to live free from it, for others, as Christians are freely living for themselves; Gomez’s lamentation simply reflects the loss of the ability, slowly but potentially surely, to impose Christian institutions and authority on other citizens within societies through political institutions. He just misses this.

On the notion of a transcendent reality to human beings, above and beyond the naturalistic, Gomez makes some nuanced, but probably fundamentally flawed, points about de-sacralization of society. Something in this harbours a great deal of truth and, truly, a deep one, but, other things just don’t seem to exist to me.

He states, “I think it is obvious to all of us that we live now in a highly secularized society that has no need for God. For all intents and purposes, we live as if God does not exist. We think we do not need God to help us run the economy or the government. We can plan and engineer everything for ourselves. We are totally self-sufficient. We think we can rely on politics or science and technology to solve every problem and answer every question.”

The engineered lives that we live are a sentiment of sadness for him. A perspective of a loss of connection with the divine, with one’s soul, with God and Christ Almighty. Any independence from this religious hierarchy and authority becomes damn blasphemous if I may say so.

But he does strike a chord, on the point of a deep truth. A fact of our societies becoming entirely beholden to a consumer culture with simply, more and more, materialistic values bound by a desire for stuff, with even human beings seen as commodities with human capital or potential to be a benefit to the economy rather than human beings endowed with certain inalienable or fundamental rights and freedoms.

As one can expect in these homilies or sermons, there will be the epithets, typically. We part ways in the views of science and discoveries of the world. In many ways, there, still, is the value and commitment to visions of beauty and truth with science providing a robust naturalistic truth — facts of the world. Certainly, there are irrational beliefs, but they’re not contained in the beliefs about beauty and truth as, in some fundamental sense, these can be apprehended.

“We are losing our religious dimension, the sacred character of our personality — the truth that we are spiritual creatures made in God’s image, born with an inner desire to seek truth and transcendence, a desire that God alone can satisfy,” Gomez stated.

In some ways, it depends on the definition of religion. If simply some spiritual way for some edificative purpose, then, yes, human beings, certainly, are religious critters of a sort, but they are not these in the senses most often determined to be the case with standard theology as some supernaturally developed organism with an impermanent spirit.

The next commentary simply remarks, at length, on the Incarnation, the Trinity, and so on. It is, more or less, a nonstarter. But the move towards a new humanism is the final commentary by Gomez and, in fact, quite noteworthy.

Gomez said, “Because Christ humbled himself to share in our humanity, we now have this amazing possibility of sharing in his divinity… Friends, this is the beautiful vision of the human person that we are called to proclaim in our time. The new evangelization calls for a new humanism — built on the truth of the Incarnation, the truth of the human person as the imago Dei.”

Even without the image of this Incarnation within the theology, the import of living as a humanistic community can be important with the emphasis on a Christian ethic aligned with this. One can argue for an Incarnation, for which there is precisely zero evidence, but one can also argue for an image that one wants to emulate. The supernatural continues to fail as a hypothesis; whereas, the metaphysical and imagistic seem more plausible in different frames of reference, and the naturalistic is very well attested now.

As a concluding quote from Gomez, who is an intelligent and sincere person, “The task of this new humanism means renewing our theology and exegesis, deepening our understanding of the mystery of the Incarnation. It means going deeper in our Christology and Mariology, and in our Christian anthropology. It also means philosophical renewal — thinking in new ways about metaphysics and epistemology and the crucial relationships of faith and reason and truth and freedom.”

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2022-12-09

A Dissenting Opinion, Sir

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/07

In an articulate letter in Cleveland.com, a considerate man, Mark Weber, provided some commentary on a letter about the President of the United States, Donald Trump.

Weber responds to the letter saying, “Walter Nicholes has written a thoughtful letter on President Trump. However, he writes that, as a secular humanist, he is neither moral nor immoral. I beg to differ.”

To Weber, the life of a secularist and a humanist is one bound to a morality, to a lifestance of the inherently ethical. I would agree. It is a lack of belief, in general, of some supernatural entity.

But also, and most salient to some of those more aware of the history of the community here, the Humanist Manifesto from 1933 was referenced, which shows a historical knowledge linked to a considerate person.

Weber concluded — though this is a short article, “Our worldview takes its substance from many different sources and thinkers. The core of our morality is a belief in democracy, pluralism, reason, and science.”

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2022-12-09

Malignant Design: A Factor in Evolution

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/07

As noted by linguist and prominent general atheist — in general terms with specifications based on what is exactly being denied — Noam Chomsky, the nature of the Young Earth Creationism and Evolution controversy simply remains within the sociopolitical realm, in which the controversy should, in fact, shift to that which has a large number of evidence: unlike Young Earth Creationism, which has none.

The shift of the conversation should be into Malignant Design, for which, by some metrics described by Chomsky, has much more evidence than some aspects of either theory, of which the former, Young Earth Creationism, has none and the latter, Evolution by Natural Selection, has plenty.

Malignant Design has more evidence in terms of the level of suffering in the world, whether by human machinations, e.g., conspiracy, war, bad medicine, apparently anti-vaccination now, and so on, or strictly non-conscious mechanical processes of the natural world, e.g., storms, tornadoes ripping through communities, pestilences, deadly diseases, infections, and so on.

Chomsky, in the Khaleej Times, stated, “Unlike Intelligent Design, for which the evidence is zero, malignant design has tons of empirical evidence, much more than Darwinian evolution, by some criteria: the world’s cruelty. Be that as it may, the background of the current evolution/intelligent design controversy is the widespread rejection of science, a phenomenon with deep roots in American history that has been cynically exploited for narrow political gain during the last quarter-century. Intelligent Design raises the question whether it is intelligent to disregard scientific evidence about matters of supreme importance to the nation and world — like global warming.”

The issue of the world’s suffering is tracing the motivations and consequences of the pain and misery seen throughout the world due to human actions and decision, policies, initiatives and programs, and failures to plan ahead and prepare for likely disasters, but also having appropriate scientific investigation and widespread-enough comprehension of the reasons for actions of the material world and then how certain disasters can impact human livelihood; each of these angles is important in order to, in a rational manner, deal with the problems confronting us. The reasons may be irrational, as in human motivations and fear, but the consequences and investigations of the irrationalities can be rational; with the natural world, it is simply not fooling ourselves and having specific tools in place, including the scientific method, to properly know the world to respond in a rational way to the likely consequences of natural phenomenon of the world impacting us.

Malignant design, if one is to notice the world’s suffering, akin to knowledge about mutual aid, is an important adjunct to knowledge of evolution, as a factor in evolution.

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2022-12-09

By Golly Ms. Molly, Gone, Mrs. Lawrence

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/06

Famed actress, Jennifer Lawrence, famously stated when she was 25 that she simply could see herself getting married at that point in her life. Although, she could see herself as someone who could become a mother.

This was in a prominent interview with none other than Diane Sawyer. Given the context of Ms. Lawrence’s relational life at that time, in intimate life, she had split with the British actor Nicholas Hoult, which was after a 5-year relationship. A significant period of time for someone in this age bracket.

Lawrence, at the time, opined, “I was also in a relationship with somebody for five years and that was my life… Being 24 was this whole year of…‘who am I without this man?’”

At that time, at 25, she never saw herself as someone who would ever need to walk down as the aisle, saying, “I don’t know if I ever will get married and I’m OK with that… I don’t feel that I need anything to complete me. I love meeting people, men, women, whatever, I love people coming into your life and bringing something.”

It was a time in her life when she, probably, felt a need to rediscover herself and assert her identity, which, for someone with a life in the public eye, is all the more difficult, of course. To state, that she does not need a relationship to feel complete.

It is in this sense that public statements like those can provide emotional support for women who feel questioning themselves and where the larger culture may, in fact, be pushing a false image and so message; one that women need to speak out about, and, in the case of Lawrence, even in the midst of the pain provides a supportive statement of not needing a partner while still wanting to be a mother.

But, of course, this can also leave room for change. Now, Lawrence is engaged after dating for 6 months, or more, and will be working towards a marriage with her new fiance named Cooke Maroney.

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2022-12-09

Secularize the World

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/05

In a call by a London-based writer, who I did not know about but instantly like, Salam Sarhan, has called for the world to set forth for the non-meddling of religion in politics, he views the corrosive effects of religion as a presence throughout human history and a factor in the sustaining of global conflicts right into the present.

He sees the political use of religion as a bad. He sees the theocratic revolution in Iran as a detriment for not only Iran but also the region for more than four decades. Then he further, rightly, criticizes the attacks in the Middle East based on American-led invasions in 2003 continuing right into the present.

He notes the increased takeover by theocratic tendencies in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria, Turkey, and Yemen. He went through a litany of cases. Then he went to task on Western nations with some individuals and social groups who are pining for a theocratic takeover.

As Sarhan stated, “There is now a need to move towards an international consensus to prevent any invocation of religion — from mainstream as well as extremist religious groups — to support national and political agendas. It is time for a campaign to create an international treaty to ban the political use of religion. The campaign can start by attracting the support of influential public figures to mobilise a global movement, leading later to the publication and dissemination of a formal treaty to exert pressure on states that perpetrate such abuses.”

An international document could be set — as with those for dealing with violence against women, with the recognition of common humanity in human rights recognition, with the right to safe and orderly migration as with the recent compact — for dealing with the political use of religion. We could work as an international community, as per the noble and courageous call of Sarhan for an international document for secularism, secular values, and the advancement of the long-time goals of the secularists around the world: the removal of religion in politics, whether symbolic, legal, or otherwise.

“This would remove a key recruitment technique by which the naive and vulnerable are attracted to their ranks — namely, through the false allegation that there is a war being carried out against their faith,” Sarhan continued.

This could be a force by which to advancement the true meaning of freedom of religion and freedom of belief; this could be a force for the freedom from religion and freedom from belief, or of religion and of belief, in which believers could become nonbelievers and nonbelievers could become believers without imposition from the outside — unfairly, unjustly, and, often, with little pretext.

He proposes a concrete step with an NGO for the putting of pressure on governments to halt or reverse government-based appeals or endorsements of religion by the state. Often, the battle is secularists and ordinary religious people versus fundamentalists in multiple contexts. Sarhan went on with the proposal of an “International Treaty to Ban the Political Use of Religion.” along the lines of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

He saw this as a framework for the reduction and elimination of the abuses of religion in politics for a further respect for human rights. “Endorsement of the treaty by powerful countries would help to tip the balance in favour of more moderate, tolerant ideals. It would be a step towards bringing outlier states back to the majority world consensus, similar to events following the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN General Assembly in December 1948,” Sarhan opined, “It could also lead to the establishment of a global monitoring service for raising awareness of the abuses of religion in politics, providing media organisations and other interested parties with credible, trustworthy statistics and facts about such abuses. There are very few countries that would hesitate to endorse such a treaty — including those who can be implicated in such acts, but consistently deny using religion as a political tool.”

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2022-12-09

People of Means Should Focus More on People of Poverty

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/05

Professional billionaire, Howard Schultz, recently, made a statement that ruffled some feathers, plucked others, and raised the attention of some.

He spoke of the need to not name billionaires “billionaires,” or, one may presume, millionaires “millionaires,” but, rather, billionaires “people of means.”

This is an interesting twist of the conversation had for some time about economic inequality and its ill-effects because of the detriment to the infrastructure and social health of nations, especially with the needed services of the non-billionaire or non-millionaire classes, also known as the “people of poverty.”

As with the rise of the Occupy movement or the variety of new anti-poverty campaigns and the statements about the great destruction to democratic and social institutions derived or following from massive income inequality, the attempt to shift the titling into the notion of “people of means” simply is not only a terrible painting over the pain and misery of millions but also the lack of focus of those more in need, in more dire circumstances, and completely apart from those billionaires wanting to be known as people of means — who want to be seen as part of the common people but just cannot given the massive disparity in their ways of life, treatment by others, and general life trajectories to the top of the wealthiest.

“People of means” is comical. But people of poverty or the poor are not, nor are the circumstances of the penurious and struggling around the world, especially in comparison to billionaires like Howard Schultz.

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2022-12-09

Abort the Pro-Life Disinformation Campaign in the United Kingdom of Pro-Fact

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/05

Humanists UK reported on the deliberate misinformation or disinformation campaign set about in the United Kingdom. The Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH) and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) worked to produce, publish, and then distribute a factsheet about abortion care and abortion in order to combat this disinformation being spread through some schools in the United Kingdom.

Kids without proper information, as statistics and human rights organziations tell us, will make worse and ill-informed decisions as sexual beings as adults and will then bear those consequences, in some cases, for the rest of their lives, simply because of the negligence of the medically and scientifically informed and responsible adult establishment or with the work to keep kids misinformed based on sincerely held religious beliefs bounded by incorrect medical and scientific assumptions about what happens in the cases of abortions, in abortion care, and, frankly, in the process of giving reproductive health services — that are a fundamental human right. Safe and equitable access to abortion is first and foremost a human right. Those women who live in societies or communities in which abortion is formally or partially illegal will be left in more dire straits and will, in fact, be more likely to die or acquire injuries because of the unsafe abortions.

These conversations do not happen in a vacuum and happen within the contexts of the lives of women and young women, and so fellow citizens. Humanists UK, as reported, is “delighted” with the work.

The article stated, “In 2012, Humanists UK and Education for Choice (EfC), which has since become a part of Brook, uncovered the anti-abortion groups SPUC, Lovewise, and LIFE propagating misinformation about abortion in schools. Humanists UK and EfC demanded action about it at the time, but since then the groups have continued to visit schools unimpeded. For instance, press coverage today highlights that speakers from Lovewise are visiting schools across England telling young people that the risks of abortion include breast cancer, infertility, depression, and suicide, and have even compared doctors who carry out the procedure to Nazis.”

SPUC, Lovewise, and LIFE appear to have lost the scientific, medical, and rights arguments. Thus, they move into the territory of calling their ideological opponents, or those who may be the practitioners, Nazis, which simply shows the extent of the failures on the other fronts than providing a foundation upon to call abortion providers Nazis.

With the explicit aim to provide truths in order to dispel the myths and falsehoods being spread about abortion, the factsheets will be an important addition to the arsenal in the United Kingdom. But also, there is a backdrop in the draft UK Government guidance. As reported, “…from 2020, lessons on the subject of abortion taking place as part of new statutory Relationships and Sex Education in English schools ought only to include ‘medically and legally accurate, impartial information.’”

“We’re very pleased that the RCOG and FRSH have responded to our call for guidance from them on abortion in schools, and strongly urge all schools to adopt an evidence-based approach to teaching about abortion that is free from religious dogma,” Humanists UK Education Campaigns Manager, Ruth Wareham, opined, “We are alarmed that, despite the passing of nearly seven years since Humanists UK first raised concerns about anti-choice groups like Lovewise spreading misinformation, young people are still being subjected to deeply problematic messages about abortion in schools.”

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2022-12-09

Love and Submission Sitting in a Tree… P-E-A-C-E Treaty

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/05

In recent news, and important mind you, there was a meeting of enormously relevant to their respective communities and influential international personalities, and authorities, within the religious world; the Roman Catholic Christian Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad el-Tayeb, met in a historic moment in relations between some of the Christian and some of the Muslim global communities.

This is good news. These are rapidly growing and large faiths with significant leaders considered major representatives or, at least, important intellectual lights in their respective traditions meeting in Abu Dhabi with the, on the one hand, an important public relations representation with the print media coverage and the photography and, on the other hand, the theological import of two powerful religious figures with a history of opposition meeting together.

This can change individual relationships among those who, more often than not, live life and die without being prominently known and, sometimes, known at all, but these acts by leaders can change their lives and embolden them — the lesser-known people of the world — to make individual changes to reflect gatherings such as those at Abu Dhabi. You may disagree with either or both of the theologies. You may detest actions by the religions in their history. But on the ground, these meetings can have impacts, which is worth some modicum of praise.

There was a document signed, which will be, probably, covered in some of the next articles. It was signed by both Francis and el-Tayeb. The preface stipulates, according to reportage, states, “Faith leads a believer to see in the other a brother or sister to be supported and loved.”

As reported, “The document opens with a series of invocations: the Pope and the Grand Imam speak ‘in the name of God who has created all human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity,’ ‘in the name of innocent human life that God has forbidden to kill,’ ‘in the name of the poor,’ ‘orphans, widows, refugees, exiles… and all victims of wars’ and ‘persecution.’ Al-Azhar, together with the Catholic Church, ‘declare the adoption of a culture of dialogue as the path; mutual cooperation as the code of conduct; reciprocal understanding as the method and standard.’”

Not bad, a document of reconciliation, mutual devotion to their God, and working to help the least among us. Even if not a outright document with force, it can, at a minimum, retain its quality as an encouragement. Would you rather no encouragement or the encouragement? People have the right to their religions and their beliefs, working within and not against this current respects rights and can increase what most ethical and rational individuals desire: peace and security advanced throughout the world, whether in religious-transcendent or secular-universalist language.

“Viva il Papa!” as the love poured out from adoring crowds of people number in the tens of thousands with an estimate as many as 180,000 in the United Arab Emirates for the first papal Mass in the Arabian Peninsula, where this was a call for the Christians of the region — a minority, no doubt — and of the Muslims to seek greater understanding in the region.

As reported, “It was considered to be the largest display of public worship by Christians on the peninsula, the birthplace of Islam. A large, golden-hued cross on an all-white stage provided a simple and profound backdrop.”

Catholics from over 100 countries came to the Mass at Zayed Sports City Stadium, just think about that. An incredible feat of those who simply worship this man and what, more properly, what he represents in their minds.

el-Tayeb and Francis urged followers to find, once more, “the values of peace, justice, goodness, beauty, human fraternity and coexistence” in addition to affirming their own beliefs in “that among the most important causes of the crises of the modern world are a desensitized human conscience, a distancing from religious values and a prevailing individualism accompanied by materialistic philosophies.”

Some of this seems rather correct. The need for things of value beyond the mere monetary remain important: love and companionship, solidarity and fidelity, and so on. The Grand Imam and the Roman Catholic Pope consider this a form of “moral deterioration.” What they conclude from this in other regards could be taken as derogatory, saying, “…moral deterioration that influences international action and a weakening of spiritual values and responsibility… to fall either into a vortex of atheistic, agnostic or religious extremism, or into blind and fanatic extremism.”

They are viewing these as signs of a brewing Third Word War fought in a “piecemeal” manner. Aside from some of those statements, the directly relatable ones to every religious stripe and political denomination speak to the need to redistribute the inordinate wealth held in too many of the ultra-riches’ — how ever few of them — coffers, who hoard as if Smaug guarding the Arkenstone.

Many poor, infirm, and deceased individuals are being created because of these inequalities, which, as with most of the reasonableness of the general global population, the majority of he planet’s inhabitants have a problem with now, because they can note the direct impacts, if not in their own families then, in their own communities and societies. The religious leaders are affirming the importance of dealing with this; that is, they are making incredibly important statements for their communities to work on common problems ravaging the majority of the world’s population, akin to the mass of refugees and migrants around the world.

The affirmation of the importance of the family. This reflects much of the United Nations affirming the salience of the family as a fundamental unit of society. This is an international value. As with the non-parochial and particularistic values of multiple mainstream — read: majority — faiths, the values remain universally found throughout them, as with those found within universalistic in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and associated documents for decades since its instantiation following the creation and growth of the United Nations. All seem bound to some form of Golden Rule.

More modern understandings, properly speaking, they work within an understanding of the source of human consciousness as intrinsic to being a human organism; something Chomsky brought into the mainstream with the Universal Grammar and the Generative Grammar, as in a naturalistic and organic emergence of capacities with implied constraints to co-emerge/co-develop with those developments. In some sense, with an increase comprehension of information processing and the brain as an information processor, and thus the mind as a result of information processing through time, the Golden Rule, properly speaking, could be placed more within a context of an informational golden rule. One in which consciousness becomes the defining factor here, rather than the ordered molecular structure of a crystal or the disorganized one of an ordinary rock.

But even without these considerations, we can, obviously, see the obvious and direct implications of these statements for their constituents numbering, at least, over 1 billion individuals. One can disagree with the basic claims of the religions while still working for the advancement of common values, as a pragmatic matter; peace is better than war, as we all know.

Some of the other positive notions or statements that they stipulated together were the need to ensure religions never declare “war, hateful attitudes, hostility and extremism, nor must they incite violence or the shedding of blood.” Of those particulars that most would, probably, agree on, be the condemnation of genocide, terrorism, displacement by force, and human trafficking”; whereas, other items that retain more modernized questionable areas are “abortion and euthanasia,” of which much of the secular community agrees with but the religious communities, at least those represented by Francis and el-Tayeb, may disagree on to a significant extent. One reason being the idea of ownership of one’s body by God and not oneself and so not being able to end it, as in the case of euthanasia. Another is abortion with some of the similar concerns about bodily autonomy, when life starts, and so on. But there is, nonetheless, a broad set of stipulated points that many would agree with here.

There also opined, “We thus call upon all concerned to stop using religions to incite hatred, violence, extremism and blind fanaticism, and to refrain from using the name of God to justify acts of murder, exile, terrorism and oppression… God, the Almighty, has no need to be defended by anyone and does not want His name to be used to terrorize people.” This seems reasonable. Why does the most powerful entity in the entirety of existence, for now and forever, require the help of limited — in time, in space, in mental abilities — creatures who may or may not be followers? God, if he/she/it exists, helps — or if the gods exist they help — those who help themselves, apparently; the Grand Imam and the Roman Catholic Christian Pope mirror this, too. The statement covered a variety of topics including freedoms, rights, worship, terrorism, and so on.

The article concluded, “Al-Azhar and the Catholic Church ask that this Document become the object of research and reflection in all schools, universities and institutes of formation… [a] sign of the closeness between East and West, between North and South.”

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2022-12-09

Blasphemy Law, Blasphemy Law, Blasphemy Law: Beetlejuice Nowhere to be Found, or Beetlejustified or Beetlejustice

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/04

As accurately stated by a lawyer by training and leading secular light, Robyn Blumner, at the United Nations not too long ago, the repetition of blasphemy laws around the world and the repeated use of pseudo-justified laws has real effects on the lives of secular activists, feminists opposing patriarchal religious structures and practices, and simply those wanting to make a satire against specific religious tenets, even improperly and ignorantly.

Blasphemy laws abound in the world. This is even in the West that is, incorrectly, assumed universally enlightened and aligned with the full spread of fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from December 10, 1948. There are several countries that continue — repeat, continue — to issue death penalties for those who renounce a formal religion.

Around several nations in the world, we can see the still-in-place blasphemy laws. If we take, for example, simply these cases of blasphemy laws, there are about 1/4 of the world’s countries or territories circa 2014 that have some form of blasphemy law. Let’s be perfectly clear, these protect religious sensibilities and not non-religious sensibilities; the secular are left out of this, and the secular and the questioning religious citizens of these countries and territories will be the ones to have this law imposed against them without an equivalently harsh law applied towards the religious who may offend questioning religious or secular sensibilities.

Ireland had its referendum to remove its blasphemy law that was seen as outdated, and then was repealed. Canada worked towards and, eventually, remove its own blasphemy law in late 2018. Denmark got rid of its own, after 334 years in place. Then there are several, probably, including Indonesia’s that are being requested by human rights groups to remove or repeal in order, presumably, to have more free and fair societies, as, noted before, these amount to religious privileges.

In no way, as a simply rationalistic consideration, are blasphemy laws justified, for one, why would a theity who can do anything and knows everything, including everyone’s inner heart, need the help of the state, the law, legal associations, religious groups, or the murderous mind of a fanatic? Isn’t the notion of the divine requiring help blasphemous in and of itself, as if one can substitute themselves for their theity’s will— Yahweh’s, God’s, Allah, Ahura Mazda’s, or otherwise?

Isn’t this a bias, as described before, against the secular — as in non-religious or even irreligious — and an a priori benefit for the religious over the non-religious? If there was a law that an African cannot insult a European, would this not mean an a priori benefit for the Europeans over the Africans? Is this not as unfair, especially with legal force and even, potentially, the death penalty behind it? We all know the answer.

I suspect the religious leaders know full well, but I also suspect that they do not want to remove or repeal this law in a country or set of them multinationally because, by implication, this would mean the immediate removal of their legal and governmental privilege, a removal or repeal of their religious privilege linked to the blasphemy law — no one can criticize you.

Whether from the consideration of traditional or derived attributes of the divine, or from an equality and, thus, human rights angle, these are simply unjustified and a source of much injustice, for centuries, around the world and throughout time.

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2022-12-09

A New Gay Science, or, Rather, An Honorable In Memoriam of a Persecuted Homosexual Computer Scientist

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/04

Homosexuals have been demonized, misunderstood, killed, maimed, brutalized, imprisoned, dropped off buildings and towers, burned, whipped, scorned in word and deed, kept from schools and jobs, been unable to marry those that they love, to build lives for themselves, to enjoy the same fundamental rights and freedoms of others, and to live freely and openly as their true dynamic selves to grow and live as others do throughout the world; people hated not for what crimes they may or may not do, but for who they are, homosexuals, and because of who they love, their same sex.

An important in memoriam is of the late Alan Turing who died prematurely and for criminally abusive reasons. He was a British Scientist during World War II and was known as among those rare individuals in particular fields only coming along once every generation or every other generation — akin to a Witten in physics, an Atwood in writing, or a Pryor in comedy.

In his own personal, private life, his sexual orientation was the love of other men; he was a homosexual, a gay man. The Second World War, many claim, ended due to Alan Turing cracking the infamous German Enigma codes. The Brighter Brains Institute is working for the development of a Richard Dawkins classroom.

But also, there is a focus on the development of an Alan Turing Science laboratory in Kanungu, Uganda at its new humanist school. This is a heartwarming and important development for a humanist community and for the general development of humanistic values for the next generations internationally, which, in reality and in true shorthand, is simply an affirmation of the human rights affirmed in international rights documents linked to the scientific method to develop proper understanding of that which we can affirm with our senses.

The new laboratory will be $500. There is a funding page. One important note is the fact that the artificial intelligence and computer science community is growing in Uganda based on the basic metric of the greater need for it, not simply internationally, in universities including Makarere University in Kampala.

Turing, by many metrics, has been considered the father of the “theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence” revolutions. But on top of this, we can note that he was heavily discriminated against for his own nature, for his homosexuality. It was a formal crime in the United Kingdom. Turing, himself — always feels redundant, was convicted for “gross indecency.”

As with any stigma, we can see the ways in which the stigma and discrimination can lead to such immense self-hatred and self-esteem issues, even among the intellectually unprecedented in their field and formidable in intellect, as to make them want to kill themselves and, in fact, complete the act. As per the proper keeping of history, Turing was vindicated, in some sense, as a “historical pariah” of the LGBT community — or the LGBTQ2IA+ community (as it’s known where I live, in British Columbia). Approximately 4% of the population, a hero to a historically and presently demonized collective and, in particular, the second letter in the initialism.

The Freethinker report concluded, “He was granted a rare posthumous royal pardon by Queen Elizabeth in 2013 after a public campaign. Turing inspired the highly-acclaimed bio-pic The Imitation Game, released in 2014. If you would like to help fund the new laboratory, follow this link.”

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2022-12-09

Burning Down the House in the Hopes to Vacuum a Phantasmagorical Lint Ball

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/04

According to CNN, there was some reportage on the recent work, following in a longer wake of arguments against gender studies, of Viktor Orban and others decrying the work of gender theorists and others.

In the context of an ongoing and Western backlash against critical studies — granted, often, in overly complicated structures and language — of assumed structures and identities, the work to root out what are perceived as radicals, who may ask critical questions, may stage minor protests irregularly, may complain about individual educators or facets of society, and so on, comes tied to an even more extreme radicalism with those harboring much of the power entrusted to them by the public with the outright threats to defund universities, destroy disciplines and not one life but sets of them, construct artificial intelligence programs to find purported threats bound in language mirroring the academic disciplines of those they decry, sue over a mean word, and so on, right into the present case of Orban.

Orban, the Hungarian Prime Minister, went about banning the gender studies programs because the “Government’s standpoint is that people are born either male or female,” said one governmental spokesperson, “and we do not consider it acceptable for us to talk about socially-constructed genders, rather than biological sexes.”

It amounts to a compounded misunderstanding and then with the real consequences to the lives of a profession, professionals, and trainees inside of an entire nation-state. Who are the radicals and the extremists, exactly? It seems rather clear with moves like this.

As reported, “The Hungarian government issued a decree last Friday to revoke accreditation and funding for gender studies programs at the two universities that offer them in Hungary.” This translates as the ban.

But, even worse, Central European University in Budapest explained that the government gave no formal explanation, except, presumably, the public news statement about the revoking or removal of the accreditation for the gender studies Master’s and Ph.D. programs there.

The Department of Gender Studies at Central European University stated, “In solidarity with Hungarian colleagues, we oppose this latest infringement on academic autonomy in the country… In the face of political moves such as this recent decision that mischaracterize and question the academic legitimacy of Gender Studies, we stress that the concept of gender, as a fundamental component of the human experience, has proven its importance in and across many areas of academic research.”

That seems correct. It was an infringement on academic freedom; even though, those most vocal about single minor instances of academic freedom denial or attenuation seem utterly silent on this case. It is akin to the silence from these self-same individuals on the instances of the likes of Dr. Norman Finkelstein’s denial of tenure at DePaul University, which is simply a textbook extreme case of a singular and formidable individual who had their academic life obliterated in a rapid period.

Here, though, we have a sense of this within the entirety of the country. How many professionals? How many departments? How many budgets in universities? How much time wasted and careers stalled? Why do governmental ideologues, the true ones with life-changing power, work in such a manner when strongman ideologues with a misunderstanding, or none, of a discipline begin to make decisions about the applicability of the field’s theories to the general public?

If a Young Earth Creationist entered into the fray of Hungarian politics, took prime ministerial leadership, and then had the same ignorance, gall, and power, they could cry only Mankind, specifically men from dirt/mud, as the sole pinnacle of God’s good Creation and the heathen evolutionists ought to simply get their socially-constructed ideologies out of the classrooms and, therefore, could ban it, as a governmental decree without formal explanation to any of the departments; this could be done. Should it be done? Is it academically honest? Is it in the line of the Enlightenment for critical inquiry or working to improve the tools of a field rather than staging childish antics trying to undermine them while also breaking standard ethical conduct and norms while also not expecting any consequences — and then having a litany of apologists for brazen academic misconduct, or engaging in political assaults on the public through the banishment of the discipline?

These assaults of academic inquiry could be applied to economic departments with pseudoeconomic philosophies that have destroyed whole economies. Should these be banished entirely or simply improved and rigorously debated in an academic manner? Everyone knows the answer here. Why is there one standard there but not in the former case? It would appear to be ideologues chasing the phantasmagora, for the most part, of their own fears and then projected onto what they deem their opponents for one reason or another to give personal rationale and sway to do as they wish — as, in another case, with the breaking of academic ethical norms and research codes of conduct, work to ban fields, sue opponents without platforms or legal defenses to manage it, and so on, as true ideologues and fundamentalists do. The whole situation is backward; and, I suspect, they know it, at some level.

There may not be a total success, but as recent as January the reportage has not been totally positive on the front of it, from the perspective of many of the students. This is the power of the state assaulting public institutions; this is the imposition of state-based ideology onto academic institutions, often backed by fundamentalist religious ideologies and, in this context, very often fundamentalist Christian patriarchal structures — in a proper definition, with the quiet, likely, attempt to impose traditional values on the culture and roles on men and women , in particular women.

If we look at the mass of strongmen around, we can note the majority, if not all, are men. Those whom power and consumption know no limits, whose lack of consideration for others may know no bottom. It is an assault on postsecondary institutions; also, it is a crackdown on democratic institutions at the same time, of which the European Parliament, to its credit, has voted to punish Orban.

The decree “calls into question the Hungarian government’s commitment to the principles of democracy which are the bedrock of European states,” The Political Studies Association stated, “Gender Studies is an integral part of understanding the complexities of social interaction, the impact of policy, the dynamics of the economy and the extent of abuse of personal and political power.”

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2022-12-09

Springs Springing

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/03

From several media sources and into the modern self-involvement and, in fact, collective action as well, we find a continual outgrowth of anonymous and nonymous activism with the intention of the development of rapid societal shifts based on obvious and known injustices, where, in normal circumstances, if the shift is not to something greatly better, then rapid changes may seem more dubious and uncertain as their inevitable negatives coinciding with the positives.

We come to a few questions about the nature of social media here. But we do not even need to ask questions in general inasmuch as look at the concrete specifics of the ongoing case here in the world with, for example, the recent Saudi woman, Rahaf al-Qunun, who sought asylum and earned it in Canada, which, unlike most cases, acquired more support than previously thought possible.

This has begun to spark another movement. It works off the 2006 Tarana Burke #MeToo campaign taken into the mainstream via Alyssa Milano in the Winter of 2017. This movement led to important shifts in social interactions and, more significantly, direct conversations about the nature of the treatment of women, often, by men, especially those in power.

Another shift to play on this, as per the al-Qunun reference, is from the prominent and respected ex-Muslim activist Maryam Namazie in coordination with Sadia Hameed. Both Namazie and Hameed work from the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain. In a recent set of activist reportage, they spoke to the needs of several ex-Muslims.

Al-Qunun, in her case, was fleeing family abuse, as far as we know, and then she barricaded herself in a Thailand hotel room. Not only her family but also the Saudi authorities worked to return al-Qunun to her homeland. But as an ex-Muslim, the consequences could be severe.

Now, the reportage, often, notes the commonality of the narrative of al-Qunun. With these stories as plentiful and problematic, we can see reason for the emphasis on the safe communications platforms, i.e., those with the possibility of an anonymous “coming out” of sorts. These #MeToo hashtags have been important for the health and wellness of women.

But also, there is an important note about the ways in which the adaptation can help those in need, including #SaveBasma and others.

Namazie and Hameed state:

Unfortunately, Rahaf’s plight is a reality for countless ex-Muslims, atheists, women and LGBT fleeing Sharia or “honour”-related violence condoned by Islamic states and movements. In more than ten countries, being ex-Muslim, atheist, or LGBT are even punishable by death. In these countries, being a free woman is a crime. Despite these harsh realities, countless asylum seekers in Britain and the west as well as refugee claimants in places like Turkey continue to be detained, refused protection despite evidence of persecution, mistreated and deported.

They are important women voices, or simply voices, in the work of providing protection for ex-Muslims, which remains about the respect to freedom of belief, freedom of religion, and freedom of conscience implying a “from” in place of the “of” here. If this happens in non-religious households in children who want to become religious, this becomes the same rights-based principle of thinking; it is not about atheism or religion, or any other ideological stance about the nature of the world and the human beings’ relation to it.

It is about the fundamental right to choose one’s path in life in the best interests of the person as defined by the person, akin to respect for the rights and traditions of the world’s Indigenous populations all over the world. The hashtags raise awareness, working from the bottom up or via grassroots, provide the option for relative anonymity, give a platform for mass social action through consciousness raising into practice, and can be enough to put pressure on international agencies for the safety prominent cases. This raises the overall profile of not simply the individual but the person who the collectives who are having their rights threatened or even violated via family, tradition, or the state.

Some other cases mentioned in the report are Marwa Mastouri, Shawon Syed Isteak Hossain, Mohamed Aly, Aftab Ahmed, Fasahat Hasan Rizvi, Basma, Arsalan Nejati, Iman Soleymani Amiri, Amir and Mina Kalateh, and others. These are the voices behind the #RefugeeToo campaign following in the successes of the #MeToo campaign, which can put pressure on governments and the UNHCR to put pressure on governments in more dire and trying circumstances than most of us experience. Not only for them, but those who come after them.

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2022-12-09

It’s the End of Your Rationality as You Know It

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/11

Friendly Atheist worked on some of the more intriguing news items late last month with one being the occurrence of the Blood Moon, or the Super Blood Wolf Moon, also known as a Turles attack again Vegerot.

A pastor Paul Begley, in the news previously over commentary on the sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh as “the darkest hour in the last 150 years,” stated that the Bible is his authority and the end of the world is nigh.

“God is ready to show us that He is in control, and these are the last days… very significant sign, according to the Bible,” Begley stated.

He stated this within the context of President Donald Trump being born on a blood moon on June 14, 1946, which is, apparently, 700 days before Israel was declared a nation.

Begley continued, “Did President Trump just stumble into this situation?… Well, he’s the president that decides to go ahead and declare that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and then moves the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and dedicates it on May 14, 2018, the exact 70th anniversary of Israel as a nation.”

He argues for this a prophetic sign for the end times asserted in the Bible. However, the more probable response or answer is simply, “No.”

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2022-12-09

From Shepherd to Sheep in a Lie-n Minute: The Power of Christ Does Not Compel You

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/11

In the calm and collectedness provided in the cool, irrationality created by fundamentalist interpretations, practices, and mental states from religions, the normal responses to properly terrifying and horrifying instances can lead to specifically terrible actions against the misinformed about the world through the infused, delirium of certainty provided by fundamentalist religious faith.

Within some of the easy lies given by religion, one can be driven to ideas or notions of invulnerability, of immortality, of incorporeality, of absolute knowledge or at least all that one needs to know in the light of the revelations of Christ in the purported holy text, where these can create problematic outcomes for adherents and leaders.

As with one Christian church leader, who, unfortunately, went to prove his faithfulness to his Lord and thinking that this Lord would save him from a lion. He went into the presence of a lion.

The lion immediately began to maul the arm and buttocks of the man. The man had run towards the pride of lions, but the Christian leader thought that his purported Lord had power over the animals of the Earth.

Alec Ndiwane, the purported Zion Church prophet, was attacked by the pride of during a safari trip where he was bold enough to assume divine intervention on his bold behalf.

The pride of lions were minding their own business eating an impala when Ndiwane charged into the dining fray of the lions. As the reality of the Lord not coming to save him, Ndiwane tried to flee back to the car from the safari trip. The lions caught up with the fleeing Ndiwane and then bit his behind.

He was saved, in the end, but he was not saved by his Saviour. A game range firing shots was the saving grace for this ecstatician. He was sent to a hospital to heal wounds and such.

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2022-12-09

On Breaking of the Heart, on a Rock for Health: Dear Diary, and Academic Journal

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/11

Based on some reportage from WebMD, to be taken with skepticism, but, nonetheless, research has looked into an issue of those who happen to suffer from the extreme stress associated from heavy breakage of the heart, in metaphorical terms, with, for example, the cases of the death of pet, loss of a great job or a promotion at work, or the loss of a true loved on or even one who may be called a soulmate.

As explained, “…[It is a] relatively rare condition, they are finding that it’s not only caused by the loss of a loved one. Medical treatments, job loss, and other major life stressors have been linked to the condition.”

The syndrome is known as takotsubo cardiomyopathy with a central effect on women more than men. More research, as always, can be preferred, as this can provide more information as to the health issues surrounding takotsubo cardiomyopathy.

Now, this ‘broken heart syndrome’ does have some medical literature behind it, and a legitimate medical title and condition to back it up. The medical literature is sparse on it.

But case studies are hugely helpful if the data is sparse.

“Earlier this year, Canadian researchers reported a case of broken heart syndrome in a 63-year-old woman on treatments for metastatic breast cancer,” the reportage stated, “Over a 6-year period, researchers from MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston found 30 patients having cancer treatment fit the criteria for broken heart syndrome.”

With chest pain in some cancer patients, this should be considered a possibility, apparently. The literal, biological happenstance of the condition is when the left ventricle in the heart of the patient weakens and then this can lead to pain and, even, shortness of breath for the patient.

It is reversible and temporary. One wonders if this could, in fact, and as per the fables (or not, possibly), lead to the death of an individual with an already weak heart and then undergoing this form of medical condition.

Happily, 95% of patients who get the condition will recover within one or two months.

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2022-12-09

Dropping Out Where It Counts

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/11

According to WSMV News 4, there is a trend of students who go to college and then not dropping out of college — except, maybe the young men these days — and, in fact, the churches.

Thus, this becomes Christian, mainly, phenomenon. Now, in general and internationally, if an individual, including oneself, is born into a particular faith, then this individual will not leave the faith, more than probable.

This same analysis can, probably, apply, to some extent, to those born in secular or non-religious communities. In terms of the reportage, Lifeway’s Scott McConnell, in a study, found 2 out of 3 students who begin going to college will then stop attending church.

Of course, there will be a continual gradient with the reduction in those who simply attend less, and for a variety of different reasons, including that school or college, especially, is a huge drain on time for the students involved in these endeavours.

But we can find the ways in which the reasons were incorporated into the research with 55 reasons, and then the top 5 were included. McConnell looks for solutions for the church dropout. Not a bad thing in many contexts, especially when no other easy social situation exists for the student.

But in other cases, the kids, as with much of history, are simply forced into it; how is this a fair situation for the faithful? Is faith coerced or chosen, or reasoned and selected? Apparently, McConnell misses the mark here.

But the survey is interesting, nonetheless. McConnell states, “Work responsibilities and moving away are two of the top five reasons people don’t stay involved in a church… We need to have our priorities straight As church attendees that showing the love of Christ has got to be more important than our opinion on what you’re wearing as a young person or who you’re hanging out with.”

McConnell on an important and nuanced point of social responsibility pines that adults need to look into how they can invest in young people within the church; of course, this should be extended in general. In general, without an extensive linkage across generations, cultures die.

“When they get the message that politics is more important than the church’s message of redemption that’s when they say I can find better answers to life’s problems somewhere else,” McConnell explained.

In some sense, this is true. But this asserts the veracity in rising from the dead Original Sin, and the like. One could, not in some imaginary world but, in a realistic world seen today enact a progressive stance for acting on conscience for others and oneself, regardless of the likelihood of a youth entering church or not.

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2022-12-08

“Why is There Something Rather Than Nothing?” Sorry, Wrong Question.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/01

One of the perennial buggaboos of formal theology for centuries and in several traditions right into the present remains the belief in a powerful argument, in which the notion of a nothing — even in a nuanced consideration of different flavors of nothing — becomes contrasted with the something around us: indeed, why is there something rather than nothing?

This notion reflects a longstanding tradition of the Abrahamic traditions, in particular, and in modern theology in general, which creates the foundation for a respectability politique within the community of literate theologians and believers. However, this argument, more than 2,000 years in the making, harbours some false assumptions for a number of reasons, but this form of argumentation for the existence of a god requires a something emergent from nothing.

A nothing without an ability of self-actuation, where a nothing in this manner must then pivot into another conceptualization of a being or some thing with the property of aseity, of self-existence, of an existence without any formal requirement of contingency. In a manner of speaking, this specific form of nothing would lack the trait of self-actuation, which remains different than another definition of a nothing, perhaps seen in some Chinese philosophical concepts, with things simply being, just emerging, and, thus, inheriting, by the nature of their being, the property of aseity.

The nothing seen in some modern physics explanations looks to a way in which radiation, time, space, and matter define a material model of something and then the negation of these — non-radiation, non-time, non-space, and non-matter — would define a proper non-universe or non-physical structure, i.e., a nothing defined as an opposition of the something seen in cosmology and physics.

But these can be arcane, and incorrect in some ways, and the issue can be boiled down into another formulation with the notion of a something as the total set of possible existing things, in reality and in principle, and then this becoming the complete set of possible instantiations of somethings and arrangements of the things in those somethings. The set of a true nothing would, in essence, amount to an absolute negation of this infinity of arrangements, with nothing as the complement of true infinity. One being the opposite of another in an abstract or platonic, or mathematical and logical, sense.

This becomes a possible set of nothings as 1, or a nothing and not many nothings, and a possible set of somethings as infinite, which comes back to the original question: why is there something rather than nothing? If we look into the formulation of a something as infinite and a nothing as 1, in terms of possible states, then this implies a particular ratio of infinite to 1, of somethings to nothing. A Probability Argument for Existence Over Non-Existence, let’s call it, it becomes overwhelmingly obvious; we have been working on false premises. It is not “why is there something rather than nothing?” The true question: why wouldn’t there be something? In the light of the overwhelming odds in favor of something, this exists as a near fundamental fact of the nature of the world with the implication of a something as the far more likely option than a nothing while the original theological question implying a form of nothing as default and the proper question, posed above, implicating a default of something.

If nothing was default, it would need the explanation; but then, we wouldn’t be here to ask the question in the first place. However, we are here, and here to ask the proper question: why wouldn’t there be something?

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2022-12-08

Chiggity Czech Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/01

Much unlike the Central European and Eastern European neighbours of the Czechs, these Europeans do not adhere, much, to a belief in a divine all-powerful overlord.

Pew Research, based on their — well — research, explains how the Czech Republic simply harbors a different internal belief system dynamic compared to other nationalities within Central and Eastern Europe.

Let’s make this quicker and less painful than the standard Pew Research article, within the categorization of a religion, we can identify a specific religious group; those, commonly, found in Central or Eastern Europe.

But we can also see the ways in the Czechs simply retain a unique sensibility in their lack of compatibility with the rest of the region, where there were 18 other countries surveyed in the region. That makes this all the more interesting, as 18 countries approximates 10% of the entire set of the world’s nations.

In that, this is a good size comparison in a region of the world steeped in religion; while yet, a country stands firm against these fundamentalisms found within its own borders. This can lead to some interesting questions about the applicability and import of a faith to the functioning of a society.

Because, as far as I know, the Czech Republic has not collapsed upon its mass of non-belief. This, once more, is in stark contrast to the belief in a God and a religious affiliation marking the majority of the countries in Eastern and Central Europe.

By the numbers, boys, we have 72% of Czechs not identifying with a religious group in addition to 46% simply describing their religion as “nothing in particular,” thus marking something akin to the SBNRs or the spiritual but not religious cohorts found in New Age and loosely-and-inconsistently rationalistic circles in North America.

Then 25% of Czechs identify as atheist. This is a marker of something highly unusual for most nations of the world, except for, perhaps, mainland China with an extraordinarily high number of atheists within its own borders. Given the world’s population dynamics and trends, and current demographics, the reality of faith-based reasoning is inescapable, because these provide comfort, solace, reasons for community, and easy answers to the complicated structure of the universe and the human world.

In more general terms, 66% of Czechs do not believe in a God; this does not mean atheism, but, in fact, a brand of atheism. It comes down to an axiom of the non-existence of absolute or total atheism in the form of a pantheist describing that which exists, or the real or reality, or even simply the natural world discovered by empiricism, as their God, and, therefore, an absolute atheist, being in denial of all gods, unable, logically speaking, to deny that which is exists, is real, or is reality, or even just the natural world discovered by empiricism (the last one not necessarily to be mocked as this reflected Einstein’s view of a god in many respects). An absolute atheist posits an existence without any gods; whereas, a single instance of a definable god would simply make this notion of an absolute atheist in a logical and philosophical sense moot, as was just shown, Q.E.D. Of course, emotional reasons may or cognitive limitations may stall this realization.

Hence, with this general lack of belief in a God, we can see the general form of a lack of belief in the existence of the higher powers in the universe constituting, probably, given the surrounding nations being Christian, the Abrahamic versions of a god seen in Yahweh and God. Compared to the 66% of Czechs who do not believe in God, we can see the 29% who do believe in God. This split grows wider as time moves forward more.

If you have time to examine some of the images in the link more, we can see the obvious differentials in the beliefs compared to Poland, Latvia, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, Serbia, Croatia, Georgia, and so on. The former Eastern Bloc, important to note, was absolutely dominated by an atheist dogma in the Soviet Union for much of the 20th century with the Czech Republic being a outlier in these regards, in the modern period. In either case, we can have stated-based fundamentalisms in secular ideologies or religious fundamentalisms in theocracies.

Indeed, we can see the emergence of many of these tendencies in the ways in which the common traits are men at the top and absolutisms. To properly reduce the incidences, severity, and probability of these occurring, we need honest assessment of traits and precursors. The median belief in God in the region is 86%, which, in fact, may reflect a relatively common international level of belief. The number of those who do not have a religious affiliation or a belief in God simply are those who are the international minority and have been for a long time — and will remain so, based on some extrapolations, for the 21st century. The flavors of atheism, as with the flavors of theism and pantheism, and so on, will vary slightly, as being born into a faith is, probably, the strongest predictor of remaining within a faith. Atheism only went public, vocal, and marginally communal in the light of internet.

Religious affiliation and a belief in some higher — shouldn’t that be greater? — power, usually magical, is the vast majority of the peoples within Central and Eastern Europe. With the large numbers of the religiously unaffiliated with the Czech Republic, one of the more intriguing facts about the developments within the nation are the ways that this impacts child-rearing: parents raise their kids unaffiliated. Obviously, any fair parenting, for the sake of the future of the child, should incorporate a factual and knowledge-based account of religion rather than simply endorsement down the generations without justification, as this permits the development of the critical faculties of the students in spite of their eventual adherence or non-adherence to a faith tradition in the end.

Based on the reportage, the ground prediction for the foreseeable future is one where the Czechs simply do not adhere to a faith or religion, or a belief in a traditional God. Apparently, what tends to come with traditional views on the nature of social relations and cultural life is a belief in a god or an adherence to a religious affiliation, in this, we can note the direct relationship between a belief in a god and, probably, a direct linkage to the ways in which the attributes of this god reflects those values considered most important in community — even down to reflection of the ways in which the individuals look within the society reflexively, almost, mirroring the images of the gods themselves: collective ethnic anthropomorphization of the gods.

These lessened or attenuated, even defunct, religious practices build a society in which there is a reduction in the level of conservatism, where the religious institutions and signifiers of belief become purveyors of the traditionalism seen in most of the population in this region of the world.

This extends into social attitudes, too, as explained, “For example, Czechs have among the highest levels of support for legal abortion (84%) and same-sex marriage (65%) in the region. Similarly, they are the most likely to say they never attend religious services (55%) or pray (68%).” In other words, this spectrum of spiritual practices and religious affiliation shifts inversely with level of lack of belief in a God. This provides some intriguing general statements about the nature of belief not only in the Czech Republic, but, by implication, the ways in which Czechs and non-Czechs in Eastern and Central Europe belief in a god or have religious affiliation will link to their social attitudes. However, a belief in the soul or fate may retain its appeal for many Czechs, in spite some of the former tentative findings or conclusions.

But even with this lack of religiosity, in numbers and in beliefs and practices, the Czechs view religious affiliation with a pragmatic eye, as it is seen to strengthen social bonds and morals within societies — not just the Czech society.

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2022-12-08

(Dis-)Honest Propaganda for a Modern World Harking for an Old, and Otherworldly, One

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/01

If you want to restrict the fundamental human rights of women, then you have to do this within a context of ruining many of their lives, livelihoods, and futures as well; and if you want to do this with a religious (read: political) motivation, then the first step is a misinformation campaign spread through the land with the appointment of a judge setting the Supreme Court of the United States to a safe temperature for fundamentalist religious causes.

The Hill reported on the financing of an anti-abortion film. As an important adjunct to the entire conversation here: with some knowledge of the statistics from reliable and unbiased organizations, and of rights from the United Nations and mainstream rights organizations, legal, safe, and equitable access to abortion reduces the number of abortions, complications from abortions, and respects the personal bodily autonomy of women and who get them.

The CEO of MyPillow, who support President Donald Trump in the United States, funded an anti-abortion film. That is to say, based on well-known information and rights known about outside of the public relations of the American media system, there is support for anti-abortion films, which, if taken seriously by individual women, will, by implication, be more likely to induce more pain, suffering, and despair than otherwise — on average, even though some individual stories may abound expressing no regret. Individual stories are not necessarily the point where the statistics tell an entirely different story.

Now, the film is reported to be distributed on a national level through a Christian movie studio. Of course, it is not stated, explicitly, the brand of movie studio, in terms of the sect of Christianity. The film is called Unplanned with a premise of a young woman who resigns from a Planned Parenthood clinic in order to renounce any practice of abortion with the Chuck Konzelman of the Hollywood Report, on Pure Flix Studios, stating, “We had other offers but felt they would be our strongest partner because of the great success we’ve had together in the past.”

The trailer for the movie — part of a genre in the secular community, or some of the a-religious community, known as God-Awful Movies, not bad — apparently, described Planned Parenthood as if a juggernaut, as “one of the most powerful organizations on the planet.”

The script for the God awful film was written, by the account in the article, by those who had written the scripts for the films God’s Not Dead and God’s Not Dead 2. Within this newer genre, the extension from assertions of Christianity’s God active in the world into reproductive rights continues to orient the religious right in America further into its own perceived culture war and political struggle.

By logical implication of a religious struggle into the arena of rights restrictions on women through culture and politics, this defines the basis of theocracy.

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2022-12-08

Sand Does Not Muddy the Waters

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/01

The Progressive Secular Humanist reported, a couple years ago and as an important note, on the position of Bernie Sanders, who is a long-time politician and, thus, an important figure to pay attention to if, indeed, there exist non-theist political types.

We can find this as an intriguing notion in the political landscape of America. A longstanding fact, not conjecture, as to the near impossibility of an openly atheist or simply non-theist politician existing within the United States of America.

In the case of Bernie Sanders, the article argues for a humanist value orientation, where this implies a lack of commitment, professional or personal, to the organized religion on offer around the world.

The other is the set of values affirmed as a set in humanism. As he describes, he does not harbor a specific religious commitment, especially to organized religion. He stated, “I am not actively involved with organized religion… I think everyone believes in God in their own ways. To me, it means that all of us are connected, all of life is connected, and that we are all tied together.”

In the context of a people who will vilify and destroy the lives of any outward atheist in their midst, the pragmatic solution for atheists or non-theists is simply to denude the definition of God from some legitimate context in previous centuries’ definitions and meanings, with real-world implications mind you, and then to simply move these goal posts to some vague interpersonal connectivity.

No superreality connecting every human being to every other human being; no means by which to transcend this mortal coil; no manner by which to leave the cages of flesh in which we inhabit because the flesh’s structure and dynamics produces us, thus the notion of a self apart from bone and sinew becomes moot akin to this redefinition of God to simply: you and me, not even for eternity.

Sanders, as a pragmatic person with tendencies towards the idealistic within the United States, considers the intrusion of faith-based life stances into politics a dangerous combination. One reason to, potentially, surmise is the ways in which the world of politics is a world of argument and compromise while having some assumption of a connection to the real world; where with the world of the faithful, we find the continual orientation towards a life sitting on the otherworldly, when the needs of others do not fit into this framework then the assertion is the work of Dark Lord Down Under (Not Australia, or New Zealand).

This can make and has made American political life fraught with fraudulent claimants and charlatans, lunatics and fringe-crazies who have gone mainstream, and opportunists and corrupt bigots.

Sanders said, “Religious freedom in this country is part of our Constitution, and all of us agree with that. And you have many different religions, and people have the right, in this country, to practice the religion that they believe in. But we also have a separation between religion and state. We know how dangerous it is, historically, for governments to get deeply involved with religion… Let’s not confuse and merge religion and state. That is not what our Founding Fathers wanted, and they were right.”

In that, Americans harbor the right to religion, but this “to religion” also implies its complement of “from religion.” This second, not secondary, part or complement provides the basis for the non-theists, the a-religious, to simply live their lives in peace and security as the religious live much of their lives in safety and freedom; ironically, though, it is the religious who feel afraid of the non-religious but then are the ones who impose their own faith-based worldview and life on the non-religious: life backward.

Sanders stated, in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, a lack of belief in a God inasmuch as Kimmel may believe in it. As he explained, “I am who I am, and what I believe in and what my spirituality is about is that we’re all in this together. I think it is not a good thing to believe as human beings we can turn our backs on the suffering of other people.”

As he said in the presidential campaign, the problems do not come from the heavens or He on High but, rather, from the decisions — good or bad — made by individual human beings en masse.

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2022-12-08

Respect for Human Rights, Rightfully, Should Remain… Universal

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/01/27

Angelus reported on the, indeed, positive contribution to the dialogue in the 8th decade of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from the Roman Catholic Christian Church and its purported Vicar of Christ on Earth.

In affirmation of the fundamental rights and freedoms of all human beings within the UDHR, the Pope, Francis, provided a positive statement as to the moral force or ethical authority of the UDHR. This is a tremendous statement and an important contribution in voicing the continued salience of the UDHR for the international community. The Pope may harbor one of the largest adoring, though increasingly distraught and questioning, audiences, in the world. Any work for the inclusion of the UDHR in his speaking is truly important.

On January 7, 2019, Francis stated, “…the essential instrument for achieving social justice and nurturing fraternal bonds between peoples… a fundamental role is played by the human rights set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whose 70th anniversary we recently celebrated.”

Making a nuanced distinction between the scales of possible ethics, Francis not the import of a document for the global community with a universal and rational basis rather than a subjective and partial one, where the latter may devolve, in its practical effects, into “new forms of inequality, injustice, discrimination and, in extreme cases, also new forms of violence and oppression.”

Francis, on World Day of Peace, reiterated the statements of St. Pope JJohn XXIII (1963), “Man’s awareness of his rights must inevitably lead him to the recognition of his duties. The possession of rights involves the duty of implementing those rights, for they are the expression of a man’s personal dignity. And the possession of rights also involves their recognition and respect by others.”

That is to say, rights or privileges come with associated duties or responsibilities, a benefit for a cost for all. It is a set of rights and privileges for all with associated duties or responsibilities for all. The emphasis of Francis on the need to work on common solutions is relevant for the work of the international community with the urgent crises facing us from several levels of analysis and multiple angles. Glad to see the support.

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2022-12-08

Consensus, Refugees, and Migrants

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/01/25

In terms of the documents within the international community, one of the more important, and recent, documents comes in the form of the United Nations Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration that started in July 13, 2018 under the auspices of the United Nations but then was put into serious consideration as the months progressed, as the various migrant crises continue to accrue and the international community requires a robust framework and set of targeted objectives for the management, in a legal and globally agreed upon way, of mass migration with, approximately, one quarter of a billion people identified as refugees and migrants now.

A December 10, 1948, document set in motion the equality of all human persons as being human beings come in the form of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The rights of refugees and migrants inhere to them as human beings as much as a billionaire, a genius, or royalty. This is a modern era of rights, where, in time, this will extend to other animals and also to artificial constructs.

But for the time being, the issue in front of us with the Rohingya cannot be ignored with, perhaps, 1 million as, in essence, stateless and in need of assistance. But there is also the emphasis in this global compact starting on July 13, 2018, of the right of national sovereignty being kept as well as the non-binding legal nature of it; the Member States of the United Nations can opt out of it.

In that, there is a great deal of leeway to it. But, as of December 19, 2018, the United Nations General Assembly, the main UN organ, not only approved but “fully endorsed” it. The votes of the Member States do not lie about it. As we can see, there is a clear stipulation set about the ways in which the international community overwhelmingly is in support of it.

152 approved it; 5 were against it, including the US and Israel; 12 abstained; and 24 issued a no vote; in other words, or in short, if an individual Member State were to vote, the overwhelming consensus is an approval of the global compact. This is strong support via the international community for the need to keep national sovereignty, maintain an orderly and proper refugee and migrant adoption process, retain the rights of refugees and migrants as human beings, emphasize an overall framework negotiated and agreed upon at the highest levels of international consensus, and with an overwhelming consensus in support of it.

This is about a month and a week ago. We can do better. We can work towards the common goals and strategies within this overall framework for the global compact as a means by which the international community can begin to help those among us who are the most desperate, of greatest need, and deserving of the same rights and freedoms, and considerations, as those of us who are freely writing on their plights.

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2022-12-08

Voices in Dissent: Ex-Muslim Doha Mooh

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/01/22

By Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Melissa Krawczyk (Arabic to English Translator)

Melissa and Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What was early life like for you?

Doha Mooh: There is meant to be a real life, whether early on, or later, but in Saudi, there is no life for a woman. Frequently she has no say in it.

Jacobsen: How was religion important in early life for you?

Mooh: Religion was not important to me in my life, but society, though its customs, traditions and the government, forced it on me and made it important.

Jacobsen: When did you question Islam?

Mooh: I was questioning really early!! I was young and after Kindergarten I entered school and discovered that at the age of six, the girls were separated from the boys to prepare them for religious instruction.

Jacobsen: What arguments make Islam false to you?

Mooh: I don’t call them arguments. I see it logically. Why would the God of mercy create me as a deficient girl, as they claim? Why is it permitted for a man to marry another wife without considering his first wife’s feelings? And a lot more.

Jacobsen: What is the general status of women in Islam?

Mooh: The general status! Well, in Islam you can own a girl and treat them as you treat a piece of furniture, or a car, or anything you own, and she can’t act on her own.

Jacobsen: When did you find ex-Muslims? How is this community important for you?

Mooh: I have seen an Ex-Muslim in everyone who questioned religion for the sake of justice and equality. I found an Ex-Muslim in myself when I rejected the commandments of religion. Society nurtures the generations of tomorrow.

Jacobsen: How did you get asylum? What is the story there? What is your current status now?

Mooh: I left the religion of Islam and this puts me in danger of being killed. I have the right to be in a country that protects me and protects my family. Now I live in an apartment here temporarily, until my necessary legal application procedures are finished.

Jacobsen: What is the proper way to get ex-Muslims asylum?

Mooh: The correct way is the legal way, of course, not cheating.

Jacobsen: How can people reach out ex-Muslims who are in a difficult time of life respectfully?

Mooh: It is easy to access them on social media pages. There are those who are forced to claim that they are Muslims, and Arab feminists and homosexuals and others who are suffering and afraid of the volume of threats and intimidation and insults and cursing, and these things are frustrating and painful.

Jacobsen: Any final feelings or thoughts based on the conversation today?

Mooh: I think there is so much to be said, but I just want to say that every human being has the right to live in dignity.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Doha.

—

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2022-12-08

It’s Raining, It’s Pouring

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2018/12/22

In the ongoing, decades-long wave of decline in the attendance, adherence, and outright belief in Christianity in the advanced industrial economies, especially in the light of the Roman Catholic Christian Church continuing to produce legal-worthy scandals, recent news came out reflecting this, which produced a conference with associated content by the Vatican as well.

This time, it was in Germany. Over the last 18 years, the Roman Catholic Church closed more than 500 churches. Over the next decade, a similar trend is projected for the Netherlands as well. The phenomena is spreading around the world, according to Father Pawel Malecha.

That is to say, within the internal reportage of the Vatican, the decline within the church, in specific countries and regions, continues unabated and retains its border crossing abilities. Here we come to the fulcrum, the question of whether the Christian Church will experience a revivalist spirit or a steady, albeit bumpy, decline into the future, except in those born into the faith.

The closed churches have been used for purposes deemed unfit for Catholic uses. This includes the deconsecration of churches “for a pornographic exhibition.” Some churches have been forced to close due to the expenses of lawsuits based on the sexual abuse scandals within their particular history.

This is the trend and a growing one, in geographic extent and population-based-rate.

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2022-12-08

Waleed Al-Husseini on 2019 for French Ex-Muslims

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2018/12/18

Waleed Al-Husseini founded the Council of Ex-Muslims of France. He escaped the Palestinian Authority after torture and imprisonment in Palestine to Jordan and then France. Here we talk about 2019.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Looking into 2019, what are the prospects for increased secularization of France?

Waleed Al-Husseini: Our secularism is dangerous in 2019. We are losing. They were talking about reforming the law of 1905 at this time. I don’t agree with doing this now. Because they are doing this bless Muslims and Islamists, and let more Islamic values into society.

To be more clear, I’m with reforming it to go forward not backward, like what they will do now. I want to keep all religions and religious values out of public life.

That’s why our fight now should not let this happen. We should stand up against it and show the dangers of this.

Jacobsen: How robust is the ex-Muslim network within France?

Al-Husseini: We are still the same, standing for our values, but now we work more and more with other secular organizations in France to show the dangers of Islamism and to be part of the defense of secularism in France.

That, in general, will work, but for ex-Muslims, we still follow some cases in Arabic countries who face ‘justice’ for blasphemy. In France, we still meet to support each other and to not feel alone in this belief and kind of discussion about the situations in Islamic countries.

Jacobsen: What are the channels for the ex-Muslims to challenge religious fundamentalisms and find asylum within countries?

Al-Husseini: There not real channels. We, in just some cases, contact the human rights organizations to talk and try help the ex-Muslims. The rest is to help here more in France. We just give the testimony to be acceptable of asylum.

That’s the maximum that we can do: the testimony for the time being. To fight fundamentalists, it will require more, especially working with other organizations and publishing articles in the name of all of us to face the dangers of Islamism.

That’s what we do now. They talk in the media more and more. By this way of changing the thinking of people, we make them understand the dangers through a different way.

Jacobsen: Who are more prominent anti-ex-Muslim figureheads within France now? What is being done about them?

Al-Husseini: The most anti-ex-Muslim groups in France are these Islamist organizations who just attack us. It is an injustice all the time. They try to make us stop talking. There a lot of these types of organizations. Also, we don’t forget the Far Left who attack us in the name of racism: imagine that.

But also, the real dangers of some Muslims recognizing us in the streets and, literally, attacking us. We’re attacked because we’re ex-Muslims. The situation is complicated here.

Jacobsen: What should the government be doing, but simply isn’t, to protect the nation’s ex-Muslims who are, statistically, more unsafe than others?

Al-Husseini: As said before, the situation is complicated in France and the government can’t do many things, especially now with all these manifestations of yellow jacket in France. The government have a lot of things on their hands, but they can arrest the individuals who call for killing us and killing others like us.

However, you can see how things are complicated even with terrorists’ attacks.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Waleed.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen founded In-Sight Publishing and In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal.

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