#free-thinkers

This blogger is an Unapologetic Black Atheist 😁

It's not my whole identity but it is an integral part of who I am.

I typically don't post content relating to atheism but I think moving forward that may change. I mean it's my blog, who gon' check me boo?? 😛

Opinions are sold in chronicles of truth;

a drip of arsenic in a crystal clear forest spring,

charged with emotion and dripping with virtue;

like the heroine drips from the syringe,

into the veins of all the watchers and scenesters.

The wolves are in pursuit of the sheep!

Little Bo’ Peep needs something more substantial to protect her flock.

An AK-47? - Or an M4 if you prefer?

Too indiscriminate…

and requisite a true aim.

Sniper rifle?

Too slow…

the wolves will have had their feed before the brass hits one’s skull.

Attack helicopter?

Bingo!

Like the eagle will scatter the rabbits in to their hiding holes;

the blades of the Apache will be a wolfish wife tail told.

Sold!

Front page news!

This is for sure.

Bo’ Peep Massacres Wolves With Attack Helicopter!

A tool created for the purpose of peace?

High precision aim,

computer assisted.

Minimal chance it will miss its target;

so keen, the wolf, on its own survival;

took no regard for Bo’ Peeps little sheep.

Or her property rights.

Opinions, I am told,

are worth as much as truth.

Let the wolves consume the sheep.

Even perhaps help themselves to a bit of Bo’ Peep.

Sorry Bo’.

This is their rights.

Opinion should stay out of news media,

keep it in the social media.

Like the gossip at a hair salon;

hair dryer chatter for a blue bird icon.

Alas, it’s where the money is you see!

Clicks for cash is what drives this soulless economy.

They’ll continue to keep their opinionists and have them spread their rumour,

perhaps too obvious to say;

like a cancerous tumour.

Meanwhile,  

those who seek the truth will suffer ever diminishing returns.

Free-thinkers, non-believers, skeptics.

Peace will be here.

Words with weight.

DR. BO BENNETT – JEOPARDY GAME, JOKES & WEIRD PRACTICES CONFESSIONS

You can actually catch the audio from this session, to go with the photos at this link (the audio in the room for the jeopardy contestants was actually much better than the recording. ack). It was a very fun session in pop-culture “difficult to explain” beliefs. Particularly funny was Seth Andrew’s inability to give his correct answers in the form of a question.

Links to Dr. Bennett’s work:

The Humanist Hour #176: Live at FREEFLO 2015!

Amazon Link: Logically Fallacious: The Ultimate Collection of Over 300 Logical Fallacies (Academic Edition)

Amazon Link: Positive Humanism: A Primer

DAVID TAMAYO – WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOESN’T WORK WITH US – HISPANIC AMERICAN FREETHINKERS

David’s talk was how we don’t talk to everyone the same way and that goes for how or if we talk about being a skeptic, humanist, atheist. He used members of own family as example of how we need to approach everyone based on their interest and openness towards the subject. But we do need to be vocal on some level as a part of helping our culture and community move past superstition and guilt.

DR. RYAN CRAGUN – HOW TO DEFEAT RELIGION IN 10 EASY STEPS

Dr. Cragun’s talk was entertaining and thought-provoking in as much as he wanted us to get past fantasies of eliminating or killing religion as much as defusing its power keep going centuries into this supposed technological age. It isn’t because people are stupid but that religion fills a need for hope when it looks like this life has nothing else to offer. Dr. Cragan contend that in cultures that do a better job of addressing the basic needs of their people religion tends to have less of a grip. And those promoting religion know this and consciously or unconsciously, play a part in not fixing that problem. He also shared another of his 10-steps, which was most fitting, given the approaching holidays. His notion was not to ignore Christmas, but to do was the ruling Christians did centuries ago when they appropriated they local pagan holidays in their religious calendar. It’s not about taking Christ out of Christmas (given the likelihood that the celebration is a complete fabrication) and make the season about things we can all enjoy: family, friends, warmth, affection, love and memories to the coming year.

Amazon Link: How to Defeat Religion in 10 Easy Steps

SARAH MOREHEAD – HOW RELIGION USES COERCIVE PERSUASION

One thing that I suddenly realized during Sarah Morehead’s presentation was that all of the speakers today had formerly been religionists and not were from the “never believed in your silly myths” old atheist guard. For some that might be a huge red-flag, that the presenters were going to have an ax to grind from years of bitterness and petty self-centered obsession. Or maybe it might mean that, having swam as deeply in the world of Faith as they have, they might have some understanding of how thoroughly one can define oneself by this culture of faith and how difficult it can be to turn ones back on all of that. Raised a devote Christian, Morehead’s talk centered on realizing the similarities one might find between what used to be called “brain-washing” political regimes (a la North Korea, or the old Soviet system) and conservative Christian culture. Morehead’s point is that what might have been thought to be the practice of the closed-off cults was also a very real part of traditional Christian practice. Depending on one’s position on Faith, the idea was to realize that in such cultures one would not be able to define themselves in any way except in connection to the Bible, for example. For those to whom the Bible is the center of Truth to be completely defined by the book is the goal. Others see it as a part of a coercive practice that damages those who find themselves unable to limit themselves to the world depicted in this ancient book.

Salon article: “I just don’t believe this anymore”: Why I abandoned my faith

DAVE CHURVIS – OPENING MINDS, CHANGING HEARTS

Dave Churvis decided against his planned presentation just before going on. Churvis decided to highlight something that was being communicated that day over and over, that it’s not enough to be “right” in conversations. Just as important was recognizing the emotional needs of having others to identify with when going through this process of choosing a life not dictated by ancient dogma. He decided to share the following emotional video by a young woman named Abby Fletcher, talking about how it impacted her to discover that there were other people in the world like her…

MATT DILLAHUNTY – WHY BOTHER DEBATING

So after listening to speaker after speaker talk about the best way to talk to or interact with others, and that direct confrontation tends to not be a very effective to convert someone to non-faith, Matt Dillahunty came on to talk about why it is important to have the conversation and call the religionist on their stuff. Dillahunty began by noting that his approach was based on a life-time that looked like it was going to lead him to full-time Christian ministry. But, as with the other speakers, he didn’t have an ax to grind as much as having the need to do the right thing and not give Christians a pass when their beliefs are being pushed into the larger culture. The most interesting example was his interaction and debate with the preacher from Mexico who wasn’t used to having anyone counter or call him on his beliefs. Without personal attacks or name-calling, Dillahunty proposed that a good debate was a good way to really think through ones own positions and beliefs.

Dillahunty’s YouTube channel

TAKE-AWAYS

It’s complicated. Poorly thought out arguments and personal attacks don’t do anyone any good. But staying silent and letting the ignorant continue to believe that everyone is like them doesn’t do any good either. We have to decide how and where we choose to speak up and do it by just being good people who do the right thing because that can be its own reward and it just feels damn good. Also, we’re not alone in our journeys through this life, even if there isn’t an invisible snoop watching us from above.

JBB’s Media Projects by Joseph Bruce Bustillos is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Free-thinkers aren’t all they are cracked up to be. They follow rules, day in, and day out, but don’t admit to their slavishness. Their criticisms of organized worship are inconsistent.

I am of those who believe in one God, has a faith and who structures their life according to a set of rules, i.e. lives a religious lifestyle. The former is likely uncontroversial with many people. The latter is…

Stuff to Stop Saying: “#BlackLivesMatter is Racist.”

I can’t stand it, really. The violence. The mayhem. People dying for no reason. I hate that black men are being murdered. I hate that the police (most of which are good) now live in fear of attacks from the people that they have sworn to protect.  I hate it all. And, I believe, firmly and without reservation, that all lives matter. Of course, they do.  That is at the center of who I am as a…

My sons won’t be pulled over for no reason, shot at for absurd reasons, or treated like “thugs” simply for walking through a store. My sons won’t deal with what a lot of Black men have to go through.

And, that makes me think about all of the African American mamas out there.  You send your boys into the store, loan them your car to head to the movies, or give them some money to buy Skittles at the gas station… and, you have to stop and think – What if they don’t come back?

You have to teach them to be upstanding and kind, but also wary and cautious.  You have to help them muddle through the stereotypes and hatred that this country will throw at them.

You go to bed each night, just like me, hoping that you have done enough, been enough and talked to them enough.  You worry, you lay awake wondering what will become of them.  You have every mama bear feeling that I do.  You love your children.

But, you can’t trust that they are safe when they walk out into the world. You can’t know what evil lurks just around the corner.  Motherhood is hard enough without having to equip your kids with the tools to be safe in a world that may want to hurt them, or kill them.

And, I don’t even know how to express to you how sorry I am that you have to face this evil alongside your sons, nephews, husbands and neighbors.  I cannot and will not apologize for the white race, or cops, because I am not a representative of either. But, I’m sorry (beyond sorry – the word “sorry” seems to trivialize it) that these things keep happening and I wish I knew of a solution.

But, I will say this:

Your  children are beautiful and special. They are every bit as valuable as my children. And, when and where I can, I will help you to protect them.  If I see them being mistreated, or hear hate speech, I promise I will say something.  When your sons do well, I will celebrate their victories, as well.  When your boys become men, I will look them straight in the eye – every single time.  I will never cross the street to avoid them.  I will not lock my doors when they walk by my car.  You will never see me giving your men dirty looks, or uncomfortable glances.

I may not have a solution but I promise NEVER to be a part of the problem… and I promise to teach my sons to respect and value their neighbors and peers, friends and associates – regardless of their color.

It’s a small promise from one person.  I know it won’t change the world.  But, I want you to know that mothers everywhere feel your pain and empathize with your fear.  You are not alone.  You are one of us.  And, your babies are important.

  Note: This is NOT in any way meant to condone the events of July 7th, 2016 in Dallas. So, hold your comments and anger. The shooter who killed and injured those policemen was evil, and wrong. Period.