For any of you that are following this series, you may have noticed that our scheduled diary did not get posted yesterday. I thought I would take the opportunity to post a quick housekeeping update on the Atheist Digest Series. I have a couple schedule tweaks to inform you all about and just wanted to discuss a few things that have come up so far. This is aimed primarily at those who are following the series, but I want anyone who hasn’t seen it yet to be aware of it in case there were more people that might like to participate in some capacity
Here is a link to all the previous diaries in the series:
Introduction (by XNeeOhCon)
Semantics (by Chicagoa)
Belief (by Somthing the Dog Said)
Science and the Scientific Method (by Rfall)
First order of business would be Something the Dog Said’s scheduled diary from yesterday. Due to unforeseen travel issues, the Dog was not able to post the diary in time. It will now be published on Tuesday August 25th instead. Our apologies to anyone that waited around yesterday and didn’t see anything.
Second order of business would be the conclusion diary originally scheduled for Tuesday August 25th. Due to personal schedule issues, the conclusion will be postponed until the evening of August 27th. This will also have the added bonus of freeing up the 25th for the Dog’s diary. These changes will be reflected on the new schedule posted below.
I want to inform everyone, in case you wondered or cared, that I have a very hectic personal schedule. This sometimes precludes me from reading and posting in the series diaries right away. I read all of them, and post at least a few comments in all of them. I have left the post time up to the individual diarists for their convenience. However, this does make it hard for me to always get to them when they are posted. Some of you may have noticed my early absence in some of the diaries so far, and may wonder why the series organizer isn't there for each diary. I intentionally conscripted others to help me in this series for two reasons: First and foremost, I wanted to diversify the perspective, and approach the topic from a more comprehensive standpoint, which would require the expertise of many different people. Second, I knew I didn't have the free time to tackle all of these diaries on my own, so I needed the help of others.
I am extremely grateful to all of you who have participated in this series (especially my diarists). It wouldn't be possible without you and you deserve more credit than I for any success this series achieves. THANKS!
When looking at the schedule please take note of two things:
- Rfall will be posting a Diary on Evolution (and a few other related issues) tomorrow. Please try to stop by and read it at some point. I, for one, am very much looking forward to it.
- Please read the description of the conclusion diary and take note that I am looking for submissions from participants (both diary writers and commenters) about their own personal experiences with atheism, great discussions they may have had in the series, and reasons they chose to participate. I'll post these in the conclusion but I need to receive some before that diary. Please start thinking about these and emailing them to me when you get the opportunity. Thanks everyone!
Here's the remaining schedule. As you can see there are a lot of interesting diaries left to explore:
Thursday August 13th – Topic 5 – Evolution – (Rfall)
We probably won’t get a lot of arguments about the validity of evolution from the Daily Kos community. However we need to discuss evolution in the context of scientific method, emphasizing the consensus between different fields of science, and the real meaning of the word ‘theory.’ Also, we’ll add a little about creationism in schools, the Kitzmiller v. Dover school board controversy in ’05, and the creationist museum.
Sunday August 16th – Topic 6 – Common Arguments and Misconceptions about Atheists - (Superbowl XX)
We run into some of these pretty frequently. A big one we need to discuss is "morality comes from religion." Another we must tackle is the "U.S. was founded by Christians/based on Christian principles" myth. We are reassuring Christians that we are not out to ‘get’ them and eat their babies, and discussing why we even need to reassure them. We will address irrational fears that Christianity is somehow being oppressed by ‘militant secularists’ and the gays.
Tuesday August 18th – Topic 7 – Creation, Cosmology, Deism, and the Space-Time Continuum. - (Chicagoa)
Chicagoa: This will be "a diary on cosmology - physics, logic, and theory - to explain to the haughty deists why we don't accept their First Cause or Kalam Cosmological arguments for the existence of a non-interventionist designer deity." This will possibly include a discussion of the philosophy of infinite/finite time and space, and explore the common misperceptions of Einstein’s and Hawking’s views of "God."
Thursday August 20th – Topic 8 – The Other Side of the Fence: Faith and Spirituality, (Rebuttal?) - (Colorado is the Shiznit)
Colorado is the Shiznit will lead the charge on this one, because the rest of us aren’t really qualified. We would like to have some discussion on what benefits many feel they get from faith and/or spirituality, and why they hold these beliefs. We would also like to get some kind of survey of religion/spiritual people’s perspective of Atheism/Atheists.
Sunday August 23rd - Topic 9 - Growing up Atheist - (WarrenS)
WarrenS talks about growing up in a family of atheists (all right, grandparents on one side were churchgoers, but that's it). How did his parents (both scientists) teach morality and ethics? How did growing up atheist affect his relationships with religions and religious organizations? How did it affect his relationships with religious people? Now that he has a child of his own, how will he approach these questions? Expect lots of stories and thought-provoking digressions in this one.
Tuesday August 25th – Topic 4 (Moved from 8/11) – Religion’s Successes and Failures - (Something the Dog Said)
This diary is an Atheist’s view of the history of religion. What positive benefits it may have on society, and the negative side of organized religion, and unorganized spirituality. This is discussed with the caveat that no positive result of religion equates to a reason to believe in a god. This is religion as sociology, not theology.
Thursday August 27th - Conclusion: ‘Why We Care So Much’ - (XNeeOhCon, with input from all)
This one is pretty simple, but needs more attention. We need to make everyone see why we are so ‘obsessed’ with religion and what it really means to be Atheist in the United States. Within this section we will restate why we felt like participating in this series, and what we hoped to accomplish. We’ll try to tie up as many loose ends as possible and we will get some brief concluding statements from any of those who participated that would like to submit them.