Atheists, Agnostics, and Rationalists at UCI

As we continue through midterm season, this week’s meeting will not require too much from your already taxed mental facilities. Instead, we’ll participate in an atheist bonding moment as we share our personal histories. If you have a fascinating (de)conversion story, or other tale about how you, or a friend, came to be a non-believer, please come to the meeting and weave for us a warm and fuzzy yarn. Be the end of the meeting, we will hopefully have enough to make a nice winter coat to warm our souls for the rest of the year.

Upcoming Events:

Next week Tuesday, Nov 3rd. The club will be having our famous Atheist Bake Sale! We will be selling delicious baked treats but unlike a normal bake sale you actually have two options for payment. For those of you who are a little less willing to part with your ethereal counterparts you can pay the traditional way by giving us 50 cents for a baked good. However, if you are feeling more adventurous you can sign one of our soul contracts and transfer ownership to AAR. In return you will get 1 very tasty cookie. Is it worth it? Come find us on ring road and find out.

Backyard Skeptics is having a meeting on Wednesday, at 7:00pm. Alex, our Treasurer, is able to provide a ride for 2, but he needs to know as quickly as possible so that he can RSVP the skeptics; so, please contact him as soon as you can: either at auzdavin@uci.edu or through Facebook. The skeptics meeting will cover the question: Can we be good without God?
http://www.meetup.com/Backyard-Skeptics/calendar/11676390/

Hope to see you all at the meeting this Wednesday from 5–6pm in SSTR 103.

Last week’s meeting went really well, and we learned how to jump to conclusions. This week we shall continue building our debate skills. We’ll be covering some of the typical issues seen in debates with our religious brethren. We’ll cover the questions quickly and focus more on the quality of our answers. Through this practice we should learn where the religious side is coming from, and how we can best explain our worldview.

After the meeting, our usual hangout at Jack-in-the-Box has been cancelled in favor attending OC Atheists. We will be providing carpooling to their 6:30 meeting at El Torito (by John Wayne Airport) for discussion, snacks and beverages. At 7:30 we’ll walk across the street to IHOP for the formal meeting. More information can be found at the OC Atheists website. http://www.ocatheists.com/archives/000090.shtml

Our meeting this week will begin in SSTR 103 at 5pm, where we’ll first take care of some administration and assembly, after which we’ll head to Aldrich Park for some exciting physical activities. Make sure that you are of sound mind and body, so that you can waffle in the face of daunting moral questions, run rings around circular arguments, and end it all by jumping to conclusions!

September 30th, which has been named International Blasphemy day, marks the anniversary of the publication of the Danish cartoons depicting Muhammad that started riots around the world.

You couldn’t pick a better day to have our first meeting.

The topic of AAR’s first meeting was coming up with ideas for events this quarter.

Here is what we came up with:

Hold events such as
An anti-superstition fair (break a mirror, go under a ladder, open an umbrella indoors…)
Ask an atheist booth
an Atheist Bake Sale

Doing things in response to the soon to be campus invasion by Ray Comfort & Kirk Cameron minions: (if you haven’t heard about it, read about it here)
-Creating warning stickers for bibles and handing them out
-Handing out flyers to debunk the claims made in their introduction

Having social events such as
Going on hikes
…and perhaps geocaching http://www.geocaching.com/
Having a Flying Spaghetti Monster inspired spaghetti cookout complete with a marinara baptism
Creating an atheist book club
Going to see movies in theatres:
-Creation:

-Lord Save Us From Your Followers

Having movie nights:
-Religulous

Giving back to the community with things like:
Either hosting a blood drive here on campus or making a trip to the Red Cross
Volunteering at soup kitchens and other such places

Hosting speakers (UCI professors and people from the community)

Doing publicity through Fundie Action Committee counter protesting

Handing out ramen and cup o’ noodles with club information on it.

Based off these excellent ideas and the enthuasiasm from members, this year looks like it’s going to be great!

Dear AAR members,

By now you have all probably read the pope’s comments on his trip to Africa. If you haven’t you can read more in this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7950671.stm

The pope is quoted as saying “[HIV/AIDS is] a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which can even increase the problem”

There has been a worldwide response to this. Bert Koenders the Dutch development minister has said “The Pope is making matters worse” and I agree.

The United Nations has a program devoted to fighting AIDS called The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (http://www.unaids.org/en/default.asp).

They make their position clear (http://www.unaids.org/en/default.asp) that the male condom is “the single, most efficient, available technology to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.”

I am planning on donating 10 dollars to their program. This is because as a human being I feel responsible for my fellow people and we should as a group try to provide proper education and resources to those in need.

I also encourage any of you who feel the same to donate as well. You can find information on how to donate here: http://www.unaids.org/en/Partnerships/Donors/donate_now.asp

Please feel free to contact me if you need any more information.

Many thanks,
~Grant H.
~AAR Secretary