Introducing: posters!

[hjhornbeck]

Remember that old poster idea of mine? I've got a few finished, as well as approval from our meeting attendees. We're now in the poster business! I've attached wee thumbnails of them to this message, so you can bask in their greatness without searching around campus.

And yes, keener that I am, I've slapped up a number of them on Thursday. I've copied a few extras and tossed them into the club locker, so if you want to join in the fun, just corner a current club executive (John, Adam, or moi) or a former one and ask for a few. The ground-rules for firing these around are:

1. Just one per board, please.
2. If you've gotta cover something (and let's face it, the odds of that are near 100%), pick a poster that's duplicated on the same board.
3. If 2. fails you, pick a poster for an event that's zoomed past.
4. If 3. fails you, pick a poster from a commercial business that's selling something. Or better yet, just give up and move to another board.
5. Don't cover up a religious poster. We don't want to give them an excuse to go all crybaby on us.
6. Finally, if you spot a poster of ours that's lasted a week, tear it down and post a different one nearby. I'd like to rotate our messages, to keep them fresh.

For those of you who can't make it to the Wednesday meeting, this is a great way to make up for it! For those of you who can't slap up posters between classes, we can still use your brain: reply to this message with any slogans or quotes that you'd like committed to toner.

HJ Hornbeck

[Randall Burke]

Sup HJ,

Can you please remove me from the mailing list.

Thanks,

Randall Burke

> Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:24:32 -0600
> From: hjhor...@shaw.ca
> To: freethin...@googlegroups.com
> Subject: [FUC] Introducing: posters!

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[Kelly D. Fischer]

This might make a good poster?

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/299599_292245317467885_157199750972443_1210763_1342486819_n.jpg

> Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:24:32 -0600
> From: hjhor...@shaw.ca
> To: freethin...@googlegroups.com
> Subject: [FUC] Introducing: posters!
>

[Christine M. Shellska]

This is awesome. First, I want to say that the "Religion is like a penis" has hit my radar on several occasions over the past few weeks and I like it, a lot; worth spreading IMHO. On that note, you might like to take a look at some of the slogans at evolvefish.com and "Canadianize" them as you see fit.

Second, I  tried to send something earlier (+ attachment) but it bounced back at me. I hope this one won't. >_<

From: Terry Rahbek-Nielsen
Subject: Peter Craigie Memorial Lecture - Muslim Women and the Jihad for Gender Justice

 

Wednesday, October 12, at 7:30 in the Rozsa Centre on the University of Calgary campus, Zayn Kassam, Professor of Religious Studies at Pomona College and Claremont Graduate University in California, examines how Muslim women are framed in western discourse and explores how Muslim thinkers historically situated in patriarchal contexts interpreted the Qur’an’s verses dealing with women and the family for legal and social purposes. She will explore some of the challenges facing Muslim women as they struggle for gender justice and consider how Muslim gender activists have turned their attention to reading the Qur’an from a fresh perspective to ascertain whether it can be read as a women-friendly document.

 

Dr. Zayn Kassam holds her Ph.D. from McGill University and has been honoured with two awards for Distinguished Teaching. The author of a reference work on Islam as well as an edited volume on Women and Islam, she has lectured on Islam and gender in North America and in the United Kingdom, and has published articles dealing with gender, ethics, pedagogy and philosophy. Professor Kassam is currently working on a feminist theology in Islam.

 

The Peter Craigie Memorial Lecture series was established in 1988 to honour the memory of Dr. Peter Craigie. Dr. Craigie was a distinguished scholar of Biblical studies, ancient Near Eastern languages, and ethics. He was a member of the Religious Studies Department and served as Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Vice-President (Academic) at the University of Calgary. Following his death, the Peter Craigie Memorial Lecture was established by the Faculty of Humanities, Department of Religious Studies, and the Chaplain’s Centre to bring scholars of international stature to the University to address issues related to the theme of religion as engagement with life.

 

Admission to the lecture is free. A reception follows at 8:30.

 

For more information contact ttra...@ucalgary.ca, or call 403 220 8177.

[HJ Hornbeck]

Kelly D. Fischer wrote:
> This might make a good poster?

Hmm. I was kinda soft about throwing that one on a poster, but it
seems to have some support. Unless some dissenting votes drift in,
I'll whip it up and add it to growing horde.

Oh yes, there's now a horde! In addition to the original two, I've
created:

"Everyone is an Atheist. We all agree there are millions of gods not
worthy of belief. We just disagree over one.* (*Polytheists: round up
as appropriate)"

"I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than
you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible
gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours." - Stephen Roberts

"If Atheism is a religion, not collecting stamps is a hobby."

"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?" - David Hume

"The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred
to the presence of those who think they've found it." - Terry
Pratchett

Based on feedback on this list or at the next meeting, I'll print off
a few and add them to the locker. I'll focus on more agnostic messages
for the next volley.

HJ Hornbeck

[dmat...@ucalgary.ca]

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>

I think David Hume was just quoting Epicurus in the "is God willing..."
quote.

[Gabrielle Comeau]

Am I crazy, or is the David Hume quote also attributed to Epicurus in some places? Or is it just a really similar quote?

Gaby

Sent from my iPhone

[HJ Hornbeck]

Gah, you people are quick! I was hoping to keep this off-list, but
instead I'll quote a reply I just sent to Gabby:

Hmm. I'd rather handle this one off list, but there's a good chance
someone else will ask the same question. A compromise: if that someone
else rears up, I'll copy-paste my answer and give you a nod.

Yeah, that line of thought is better known as the Epicurean Paradox.
Slight problem: we've got no evidence Epicurus ever said it! It was
first attributed to him by Lactantius, an early Christian philosopher
who lived centuries later. It was largely ignored for a millenium
until David Hume resurrected it in his Dialogues. Lactantius' phrasing
was kinda awkward, so I went with Hume's punchier version. "David
Hume's version of the Epicurean Paradox" was a bit long, so I
truncated it and hoped those in the know would forgive me.

So, am I forgiven? ;)

HJ Hornbeck

[Jonathan Harper]

I'd be hesitant to throw the 'penis' one on the poster. So far the slogans
have been edgy enough to encourage conversation, but soft enough not to
provoke rage. (Good job to all the contributors for handling it so well!)
This one, on the other hand, will simply provoke rage. As you all obviously
know. The problem with this is twofold. First off, it will not encourage
dialogue. It will shut it down. The message being sent is "we hate religious
people and don't want to deal with them" which seems both inaccurate and
very likely to keep religious people from ever interacting with this club.
Somehow it seems somewhat contrary to "free thought" (of which a great many
of us are fans) to pursue a course that will create a tumult rather than
some actual open discussion and dialogue. On to my second objection. This
poster campaign is to generate attention for the club. Which is awesome.
However, I think we ought to pause and consider what type of attention such
a poster will generate. A rather large part of the University will gaze upon
that poster and think that we're an offensive and angry group of people out
to get some attention by whatever means necessary. I believe that to be an
inaccurate image of this group. So to sum up, as much as we'd all like to
say "*#$% 'em, that's their problem" when people inevitably get offended by
the poster, the fact is that in the long run this will end up turning a lot
of decent folks against us, and shutting down a lot of solid dialogue. And
we'll have brought it upon ourselves.
-John

HJ Hornbeck

--

[HJ Hornbeck]

Woo hoo, some disagreement at long last! All this getting along was
getting to me...

I've had some time to mull over the Penis poster, enough to come up
with an objection more articulate than "EWW, PENIS." Try this
exercise: cross out "religion" and substitute "atheism" or "sports
fans." It still works equally well as a critique, no? The only thing
that kinda applies more to religion than any other random group is the
passing reference to clergy sex scandals.

Now, the way people dance around that elephant in the room really gets
my goat. The lame excuses offered for it enrage me, and by themselves
are enough to ensure I'll never become religious for one millisecond
of my life...

... but this poster campaign isn't a great way to vent that.

In the meantime, there's a truly massive amount of source material
here. I pulled most of those quotes from http://www.chrisbeach.co.uk/viewQuotes.php
, which claims to have (are you sitting down?) about 10,700 more. If
we want to poke religion in the eye, there are far more articulate
ways to do so:

"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as
false, and by the rulers as useful." Seneca the Younger

"Men never commit evil so fully and joyfully as when they do it for
religious convictions." Blaise Pascal

"The church says the earth is flat, but I know that it is round, for I
have seen the shadow on the moon, and I have more faith in a shadow
than in the church" Ferdinand Magellan

"I do not think it is necessary to believe that the same God who has
given us our senses, reason, and intelligence wished us to abandon
their use, giving us by some other means the information that we could
gain through them." Galileo

And that's just from the first page! That's one reason why I
explicitly asked for dissenting opinions; we can afford to be choosy
about what goes on these posters. While the Penis one is a cute
choice, we can do better.

HJ Hornbeck

[Nathaniel Rohr]

I agree that the "Penis" poster, while chuckleworthy, is a little too hostile to be effective (not to mention it excludes half of the population entirely). So far I like the quote by Stephen Roberts best, as it shows that we are only divided by simple disagreements and the best way to understand why someone disagrees is to talk to them. Perhaps a cordial invitation after to sweeten the deal? I also hope it would prompt people to ponder why it is they think other religions are ridiculous while their's is exempt, a good thought for everyone to ponder at some point whether they wish to join or not.

Nathan Rohr (that new guy with the glasses who stayed right to end of the last meeting)

Sent from my Space Phone

[Adam Elfner]

I'm with John on the "no-penises." It's funny, but likely to us more than others. Of the above quotes, I like Galileo's; the quotes should be more positive; we never see the Christians attack the Muslims, and vice-versa. It would reflect poorly on us if we were to set precedent by "apparently" attacking one or the other, or all of them. I feel it could be very easy for them to construe our "constructive criticism," should we go that way, with hostility. The Epicurus/David Hume quote is a personal favourite - it is still an attack, albeit indirect, but packs a punch and those questions are legitimate enough, I believe, to catch attention, and possibly keep it.

Adam

[Jace Eagle Bear]

Sorry for the quote spam, but I figure, what the hell (they're mostly from that chrisbeach website, so we can't be too sure on who said them)


Unknown Author: Deaths in the Bible. God - 2,270,365 not including the victims of Noah's flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, or the many plagues, famines, fiery serpents, etc because no specific numbers were given. Satan - 10

Unknown Author: Two hands working can do more than a thousand clasped in prayer

Unknown Author: "If god doesn't like the way I live, Let him tell me, not you."

Annie Dillard, 'Pilgrim at Tinker Creek' Eskimo: "If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?" Priest: "No, not if you did not know." Eskimo: "Then why did you tell me?"

Penn Jillette: Believing there is no God gives me more room for belief in family, people, love, truth, beauty, sex, Jell-o, and all the other things I can prove and that make this life the best life I will ever have.

Robert G. Ingersol:l Why should I allow that same God to tell me how to raise my kids, who had to drown His own?

Gypsy Rose Lee: Praying is like a rocking chair-- it'll give you something to do, but it won't get you anywhere

Frank Zappa: The essence of Christianity is told us in the Garden of Eden history. The fruit that was forbidden was on the tree of knowledge. The subtext is, All the suffering you have is because you wanted to find out what was going on.

Mark Twain: It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand

Judith Hayes: If we are going to teach creation science as an alternative to evolution, then we should also teach the stork theory as an alternative to biological reproduction.

44th President Dem-To-Be-Named-Later United States: He who says "The United States is a Christian nation founded upon Christian principles and beliefs" is woefully ignorant of history. The United States was founded by Deists, and the puritan settlers were but one immigrant group among many

Cogito: How difficult would it be for 11 men to hang a traitor, move a boulder, remove a body, and replace said boulder within a period of three days?

andyc: H. L. Mencken "Puritanism- The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy."

George. Martin: If you are having a heart attack, do you tell the ambulance to take you to church or to the hospital?

you could spend a lifetime studying a religion, study two and you will be done within the hour.

Pat Condell Q: Prove God doesn’t exist.
A: That’s a tough one. Show me how it’s done by proving Zeus and Apollo don’t exist, and I’ll use your method.

Stephen Colbert (Colbert Report) "Remember, Jesus would rather constantly shame gays than let orphans have a family."

A Pagan: If money is the root of all evil, why does the church need so much money?

Bertrand Russell: I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong.

Unknown: God made me an atheist. Who are you to question his wisdom?

Douglas Adams: [On being an atheist rather than agnostic]: People will then often say “But surely it’s better to remain an agnostic just in case?” This, to me, suggests such a level of silliness and muddle that I usually edge out of the conversation rather than get sucked into it. (If it turns out that I’ve been wrong all along, and there is in fact a god, and if it further turned out that this kind of legalistic, cross-your-fingers-behind-your-back, Clintonian hair-splitting impressed him, then I think I would chose not to worship him anyway.)

Zoltan X4J: Seeing a cross or a crucifix, to me, is a symbol of death and agony. Its not really the symbol I want tattooed on me, or worn on a chain.

android: if we are all gods children....whats so special about jesus

Sam Harris (from Letter to a Christian Nation): George Bush says he speaks to god every day, and christians love him for it. If George Bush said he spoke to god through his hair dryer, they would think he was mad. I fail to see how the addition of a hair dryer makes it any more absurd.

dendeb: If an inventor created robots that were programmed to say, “We worship you, our creator” every day, everybody would consider that person to be either an egotistical maniac, or completely insane.

Jesus hardly made the greatest sacrifice; he knew he would be resurrected anyway

the bible is like a software license. Nobody actually reads it. They just scroll to the bottom and click "I agree"

> Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:24:32 -0600
> From: hjhor...@shaw.ca
> To: freethin...@googlegroups.com
> Subject: [FUC] Introducing: posters!
>