Freedom from Religion ,,,Religion?

Friday night, Shabat, so

SJ went to the atheist services at the Red Lion Hotel in downtown Seattle.

Actually this was the national meeting of Freedom From Religion Foundation, an outspoken atheist community affiliated with PZ Myers and Richard Dawkins.

I had rather hope for more joy and creativity .. perhaps some neat graphics or ritualized science toys?  Mostly, not so.  Pretty quiet, devout crowd.


The evening began with the usual church things, welcoming the (non)believers, announcing who had given gifts, celebrating members' occasions, announcing upcoming activities  ....

The leader also unbveiled the convetnion banner  .... a longish poster now o n Seattle buses,  The poster has sanat saying,

"Yes Virginia, there is no God."

I had seen this, seemed a bit lame.  If it we me I woauld have written ... "Hello Washington, there is no God!"  Maybe have George instead of Santa or show a set of the deist founders. Hell, they could have given out Jefferson's expurgated bibles. 

Next came some hymn singing.  The ritual song, apparently is a slow paced recital of Die Gedanken sind frei* ... song slowly with the unrealized hope that more of the audience would join in.

The .... thoughts, ....they ....are  ....free ....

The singer was good, would have been better if he sang the words at least once fast and in German.  No one joined him in the slow paced English and the leader of the service was too shy or afraid of acting like a minister to encourage the attnedees to join in.  Could have used a choral group! 

This was followed by an address by a professor of Sociology, a Doctor of Sociology!  This fellow rattled statistics about how atheist, or at least secular folks are smarter, wealthier, healthier, less given to murder, more tolerant of gays, and better at oral sex.  The latter got lots of laughs.  Of course, this landsman, being sure to tell us he was  self denying Jew .. raised as a Jew, did tell us how the goyem believers kill each other because of God ... Irish v. Protestant, Shia v. Sunni, Christian vs Heathen, and, of course, observant Jews vs innocent Palestinians.  The latter struck me as a bit odd since 20% of Israelis are Muslims and the observant Jews refuse to serve in the Israeli Army ...... but after all, how can you diss religion and not blame the Jews?  Funny, non of the other atheists came out of their closets as former Baptists, Catholics, or Anglicans.

The prof's acuity as a sociologist was ... impressive.  He explained that Sweden, Norway, and Denmark were much better places than the US because these randomly chosen countries are largely atheists ... seems as if Lutherans are OK too?   No one asked him if he thought that the long winters might be good or whether Scandinavians prefer oral sex as much as American atheists do?


The came the keynoter .. Ron Reagan.  I wondered if Ron was embarrassed by this.  He seems like a bright man for the son of the Reagan.  This fellow has led an odd life.  Once aspiring to be a ballet dancer, he was roundly used to humilate his straight as qan injun arrow Dad.  Now, somewhat sadly, Ron makes aliving as a rather gentle, Mr. Rogers-like personality on the mild mannered left. 

Apparently Ron Reagan Jr. was given an award by the FFRF ... the Emperor's New Clothes Award for having the courage to publicly declare himself an unapologetic atheist! The younger Reagan has a clever way of accepting this award.  The fellow insists he does not want to be a politician, a claim that seems hard to take while he poses as a pundit based on descent from the Republican Saint Ron. Reagan explains that being an atheist prevents the son of Reagan from having to run for office.

Somehow I thinf he was winking a la Palin?  I wondered if this Reagan's atheism was devout? 

 Mr. R did not seem to join in singing Die Gedanken?  The younger Ron also hinted that Dad's religion was .. lmore politic and proper than deeply felt.  I wondered whether this Ron is  more like his Dad?

Anyhow, the speech was well received, including applause when a congregant asked the junior Reagan if he would please consider running for President.  Lots of funny, self deprecating jokes followed, none of which seemed to ask whether a former ballet dancer was well prepared to be President.  Perhaps most moving t was evident sadness when asked about relations with brother Michael.  Michael Reagan is among the most devout of the Radical Republican Reaganites, invoking the Dad in very vicious ways.

Ron Jr.  simply said, "We do not talk, it is one of those family things."

 

*"Die Gedanken sind frei" is a German song about the freedom of thought. The text and the melody can be found in Lieder der Brienzer Mädchen, printed in Bern, Switzerland between 1810 and 1820. The original lyricist and the composer are unknown, though the most popular version Aus Neukirch bei Schönau (Nowy Kościół) was rendered by Hoffmann von Fallersleben in his 1842 collection Schlesische Volkslieder mit Melodien.