The Cowtown Humanist
A chapter of the American Humanist
Association and The Alliance of Secular Humanist Societies.
http://www.freeyellow.com/members6/aha-fw/
http://www.webalias.com/humanism
April 2002 Volume
4, No. 1
Last
month
D.J.
Grothe, Field
Director for the Council for Secular Humanism, stopped in during his tour of
Texas. D.J. gave a fascinating (and disturbing) talk about "The Mind
Seige" movement.
"Mind
Siege" is the latest literary delusion from Tim LaHaye,
the author of the "Left Behind" series that most of us have, well,
left behind. In short, LaHaye believes that we evil Humanists are taking over
the country, including the major networks, several prominent foundations and
colleges, several high-ranking government offices and (of course) The United
Nations.
"The
Humanists who number 7 to 10 million, with perhaps 15 to 20 million fellow
travelers in the whole country, have captured to all intents and purposes, the
major power centers of American Society," Brother Tim asserts. In all
probability, LaHaye also thinks we control the formula for Coca-Cola, too.
"Mind
Siege" is the Religious Right's latest scam for scaring people and, not
incidentally, raising money. D.J. gave us an excellent presentation on the
subject, and those who attended really learned a lot. Which leads us to our
next issue . .
This
Month
This
month's meeting will focus on the Humanist response to "Mind
Seige." Paul Kurtz, head of the Council for Secular
Humanism, has made a video in which he addresses LaHaye's accusations and
distortions. The tape lasts 30 minutes (only a fraction of the time that LaHaye
rambles on) and if you missed the March meeting, this will provide a good,
quick overview of the attack on Humanism. And for those of you who did hear
D.J.'s talk, you definitely will want to be there for this.
The meeting
will be 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 10, at Westside Unitarian Universalist
Church, 6901 South McCart. We hope everyone will want to attend, rain
or -- uh, more rain . . . .
"Decision
'02"
Well, the
campaigning is over, the votes have been counted, and the election is over. We
do indeed have new officers. Here are the people who will be leading us in the
next year:
Chairman: Shane
Taylor; Vice Chairman: Mike Haney; Secretary: Reed
Bilz; Treasurer, Dolores Ruhs.
In
addition, Yours Cruelly will not hold an office, but will continue to serve as
newsletter editor.
United
we can stand (it)
This
renewed attack on Humanism makes this next announcement all the more
significant: The American Humanist Associations' National Conference is
coming in May, right down the road in Houston. The AHA has a
great lineup of programs and speakers, including Steven Weinberg,
1979 Nobel Laureate and 2002 Humanist of the Year.
The
Conference will be held May 10-12, at the Marriott Hotel, 5050
Westheimer, and room rates are $99. It would be great if we could get a small
group together to go, represent us, network, and learn more about our fellow
Texas Humanists. If you are interested in attending, please send a message to
the Yahoo Group. And to make reservations, call 800-228-9290 and mention the
American Humanist Association. For more information on the conference,
visit the AHA website, www.americanhumanist.org
or call AHA at (800) 837-3792 or email aha@americanhumanist.org.
To
hell and back
Speaking of
conferences, The Atheist Alliance International convention was held right
here in the Metroplex last month. Representing our illustrious group were Sandra
Langley, Mike Haney, Gayle Walker and
Yours Unruly. The event was well-attended, and definitely
worth the while -- sorry if you missed it. Special recognition to Humanists Shelly
and John Hattan for taking on the responsibility of putting this big
conference together; not even giving birth could slow down Shelly.
Congratulations to them for TWO missions successfully completed!
To
heck and back
March also
was the month for another worthwhile event, the ACLU's forum on anti-terrorist
laws and our civil rights. Unfortunately, the event did not draw nearly as good
a turnout as had been hoped; where were all our Humanist and atheist friends?
Kudos goes anyway to Reed Bilz and her colleagues for working
so hard to organize the event; let's hope for more success next time!
Spring
cleaning
Hard to
believe it, but it's time again for another run down our Adopt-a-Street,
Granbury Road. First, those strong spring winds blasted litter
over the area, and now we've got massive flooding dumping more debris; about
the only that hasn't happened is a plague of locusts. So be watching for an
announcement -- and have your snorkel mask ready!
No
jacket required
Finally, as
has become our custom, we will gather before the meeting for dinner, fellowship
and dessert.
Everyone
seems to be pretty worn out of the Chili's thing, so this month, we'll try some
place a little different: Kazusan Japanese Restaurant. It's a
decent place with tolerable prices (figure $8-$12 for an entre) and for
you hard-cores, they even have some pretty good sushi.
Kazusan is
located at 4932 Overton Ridge Boulevard; that's right off of
Hulen, and just south of the mall. The restaurant is tucked into a shopping
center on the right (north side) of the street. If you have trouble finding it,
you can call me on my cell phone, 817-937-5476. And if you don't like Asian
food -- well, next month, YOU can pick the restaurant . . . .
Just
for fun
Question:
What did the
cannibal say when he came upon a sleeping missionary?
Answer: Ah -- Breakfast in bed!
Hope to see
you Wednesday,
Jeff
How
to reach us
Shane
Taylor, Chairman
282-3997
Mike Haney,
Vice Chairman
mhaneyinfw@charter.net
Reed Bilz,
Secretary
Dolores
Ruhs, Treasurer
Jeff
Rodriguez, Newsletter Editor/Lame Duck
817-732-4235