National Day of Reason May 1st

See the link. Here are some ways to celebrate it...

Use a Bible as a door stop.
Use a Bible to make a Paper Mache bust of Darwin.
Listen to a skeptical podcast.
Read a chapter or two in a critical thinking textbook.
Enroll in a class on some aspect of science.
Tell someone who does not know, that you’re a skeptic.
Call up all your closest friends and relatives to tell them you’re a skeptic.
Write a letter to the editor about Ben Stein’s movie Expelled.
Become a member in a skeptical group or organization.
Go street witnessing with a copy of Origin of the Species in your hands.
Picket a church with a sign that says: “Smile, there is no Hell.”

19 comments:

Rich said...

Hey John,

Thanks for the heads up. It sounds like a great idea. I really think that their claim that everyone can support this is true. I think I will celebrate by reading a few pages in the science magazines I get and a little conversation here and maybe over at the bad astronomy site. Maybe trying to focus more on things we have in common over differences.

Anonymous said...

Rich, this day of reason is to be celebrated on the same day that believers celebrate a national day of prayer. Which one do you think believers will celebrate if given the choice? ;-)

the agnostic rationalist said...

I love the idea of going witnessing with a copy of 'Origin of the Species' ! I can only imagine the looks one would get and possibly the names one would be called. Hey, someone should do it door to door...

M. Tully said...

Four hundred years after the beginning of the Enlightenment and we need (and do believe we need) a "Day of Reason."

Somehow, that just makes me sad.

Anonymous said...

Not sure what using the bible as a doorstop has to do with reason.

Scott said...

I love the idea of going witnessing with a copy of 'Origin of the Species' !

Ask and ye shall receive.

Anonymous said...

Australian Comedian John Safran takes atheism to the Mormons

Rich said...

John,
Which one do you think believers will celebrate if given the choice?

I think we both know, but I'm going to celebrate the national day of reasonable prayer!;)

For me, and yes I am weird, I will do both. But in reality I don't need a special day set aside for either.

Keith Sader said...

Awesome! We in the secular community need more events to share the good news of reason and progress.

the agnostic rationalist said...

Thanks Scott ! I can't believe the old man hit them with his rake !!

Don Martin said...

John, picketing a church with a sign that says "Smile, There is No Hell" is brilliant. I have to share a story...years ago, in Ohio, a guy went around placing a sign in the front "yard" (what else do you call it) of several prominent churches. It said (to the effect) "Don't worry, there is no hell." One of those churches prosecuted the guy and began a civil action against. I left Ohio and the ministry before it was resolved.

Just thought it was relevant...such good news really pisses off churches, who need some type of justification for making people feel guilty, deceiving them, and controlling their thinking in such a mindless authority structure.

Anonymous said...

Using the Bible as a doorstop is at least doing something productive with it! ;-)

Anonymous said...

It's funny, but about last week, I decided to start learning more about the world and how it functions via science, observation, and reason, so it ties in nicely with the purpose behind this day. (BTW, Evan was the one who turned on to science, lol.) So, to begin, I'll be learning all I can about evolution. Wish me luck! I have much to digest and many questions.

Thanks for sharing.

Timothy David said...

I'm in the process of recreating my blog, so I'll be deleting all of my old posts, but I wanted to offer an apology of sorts to the author of this post for reasons he'll understand. It seems I misunderstood the humor behind this post.

Scarecrow said...

Can we have a moment of silence for the National Day of Reason...............thank you LOL

Drow Ranger said...

Oh yeah, the Day of Reason. Where people celebrate the PERFECTLY REASONABLE idea that the Universe came about, from NOTHING, all by itself as if Matter and Energy was god and has supernatural powers. Yeah, that's not ironic...

([/sarcasm] tags for the humorically impaired)

Shygetz said...

Wow mary, so many errors crammed into so few words. Is that a natural talent, or is there some kind of process that you can patent?

Take an absolutely empty vacuum at the lowest possible energy. Matter will spring into existence spontaneously. Sorry, it's an observed fact. Look up "virtual particles" and "Casimir effect". I'll give you a hint; neither is in Strong's Concordance. Not to mention that no one has said that there was definitely a "time" at which there was no matter/energy anywhere.

So, in short, you fail at science. Who here is surprised? (crickets)

Drow Ranger said...

>Wow mary, so many errors crammed into so few words. Is that a natural talent, or is there some kind of process that you can patent?

sorry dude but you're the one who is made of fail. I'm not even half as "ignorant" about science as you seem to think.

>Take an absolutely empty vacuum at the lowest possible energy. Matter will spring into existence spontaneously. Sorry, it's an observed fact. Look up "virtual particles" and "Casimir effect". I'll give you a hint; neither is in Strong's Concordance. Not to mention that no one has said that there was definitely a "time" at which there was no matter/energy anywhere.

According to quantum physics, at the very smallest scales, spacetime is constantly producing and destroying extremely low-mass particles called “virtual particles.” Sometimes non-Christians will argue that virtual particles demonstrate that something can come from nothing. But hopefully it is now clear that these particles do not show any such thing. Virtual particles are produced from spacetime—not from nothing.

Material objects require spacetime in order to exist. Any physical object has a location in space and time. So, in one sense, spacetime is like a grid with physical objects located within it. However, Einstein found that any physical object (mass) distorts the grid. Matter “bends” spacetime, and spacetime tells matter how to move.


http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v3/n1/spacetime

>So, in short, you fail at science. Who here is surprised? (crickets)

Ummm, no. You fail at logic. You assume that because particles "appear" to come from "nothing" that this is what is taking place. Dude, there are so many other possibilities and explanations for it and I wonder how closed your mind is to new ideas. You see, how would you know the following for sure:

1) that the particles are NOT coming from "nothing" but are from another dimension and are temporarily lodged here

2) that the particles were NOT diffused into the vaccuum naturally and were not detectable until excited

3) that it's not some natural perturbation of energy that temporarily attains a material state? Come on dude I was taught in school that matter and energy are interchangeable (one can be converted into the other). How do you know that's not what's going on here in some way?

4) it's NOT in a previously undetectable state--or VERY DIFFICULT to detect, like a Neutrino sometimes is...and was not in fact THERE ALL ALONG.
Making "something out of nothing" would be a neat trick indeed, given that there is so much SOMETHING in the world, that any "Something" you got out of "Nothing" would actually be sourced from "SOMETHING" in the world.

No, instead, you guys come along and go "OMGOMGSOMETHINGOUTOFNOTHING!" and latch onto that, and make no further inquiries, because you think you are vindicated. You can do better than that, GG.

Anonymous said...

Ha ha, John, that's a good one. I guess you're right. However, I tried to do that and the door wouldn't stay open. Paperweight might be a better usage since the Bible is hard to wedge under the door.