The Cowtown Humanist
A chapter of the American Humanist
Association and The Alliance of Secular Humanist Societies.
http://www.hofw.org
May 2002 Volume 4,
No. 2
This
Month
Our meeting
will be 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 8, at Westside Unitarian
Universalist Church, 6901 South McCart. Dr. Joe Barnhart of
the University of North Texas will be the speaker. See below for details.
Last
month
At the last
meeting, we completed our plans on how to take over the world. Or at least,
that's what the Christian conservatives would say. In the last two meetings, we
have been learning about the "Mind Seige" movement, which is
basically the newest attack on freethinkers and others of our ilk. In March, we
got to see the video being circulated by our esteemed adversaries; in April, we
got to see the response from Paul Kurtz, head of the Council
for Secular Humanism.
As you
would expect, it was jolly good fun hearing Kurtz take apart their arguments --
even if he didn't have to work very hard to do it. It was another
informative and entertaining meeting. And if you missed it, you may still be
able to borrow the video . . . just check with fellow member George
Cramer. Sorry, we don't have a DVD version available yet . . ..
Last
Call
The
American Humanist Associations' National Conference will be
held May 10-12 in Houston. The AHA has a great lineup of
programs and speakers, including Steven Weinberg, 1979 Nobel
Laureate and 2002 Humanist of the Year.
If you are
interested in attending, please send a message to the Yahoo Group. And to make
reservations on your own, 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.
Digging
through the bushes
Also in
keeping with our civic Humanist duty, we just completed another trip down our Adopt-a-Street,
Granbury Road. We had a great turnout, nice weather, and, I must
say, the job was a snap -- we finished in about as much time as it takes to say
a rosary. Thanks to the members who pitched in: Michael Haney, Don and Dolores
Ruhs, George Cramer, Lenni Lissberger, Shane Taylor, Bruce Berggren, Brenda
Baldwin, and yours truly. And special commendation to Wallace Harrison,
who helped with the clean-up -- and then graciously agreed to serve us
breakfast at him home afterward. It was a great time for everyone, and we plan
to be back at Wallace's house very soon; he just doesn't know it yet.
Don't
pray, don't tell
Well, the
issue over prayer in public schools is nothing new. But if you thought it was
losing steam, you're in for quite a surprise. Joe Barnhart, a
professor of Philosophy and Religion Studies at the University of North Texas
in Denton, will have an update for us on a battle that just keeps getting bigger.
Professor
Barnhart spoke to our group a few years back, and he does a wonderful job. In
addition to his teaching, he also has written extensively on cool religion
topics; his books include "The Billy Graham Religion," "Religion
and the Challenge of Philosophy" and "The Southern Baptist Holy
War." This promises to be another intriguing presentation for us, and we
hope you will want to be there for it.
Chow,
baby
Finally, as
has become our custom, we will gather before the meeting for dinner, fellowship
and signs of food poisoning. Continuing our "Taste of Fort Worth"
tour, this month we will dine at Bamboo Garden, 6415 McCart
Ave. Sharp-eyed readers will note that this is the same street as the church is
on -- always nice to cut down on fuel costs and toxic emissions, ya know. We'll
convene at 5:30 -- plenty of time to enjoy a meal, and still get the dishes
done. Hope you'll want to join us!
Just
for fun
A young man
went into a drug store to buy condoms. He asks the pharmacist for help, and the
pharmacist tells him that the condoms come in packs of 3, 9 or 12.
"Well," the kid said, "maybe I should get the
12-pack."
"Really?"
the pharmacist said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah,"
the kid said. "I just started seeing this girl, and she's really hot.
Tonight I'm having dinner with her parents, and after that we're going out. And
I've got a feeling I'm gonna get lucky . . . I'll be doing the nasty
with her all night long, every way possible. So you'd better give me the
12 pack."
So the young man made his purchase and left. Later that evening, he arrived at
the girl's house, and she lead him into the dining room to sit down for dinner.
The boy asked if he might give the blessing, and everyone agreed. So
he began praying, and kept right on going for several minutes.
Eventually
the girl leaned over and whispered, "You never told me that you were so
religious."
And the kid
whispered back, "And you never told me that your father was a
pharmacist."
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
817-732-4235