So just what is an atheist

Dedicated to the absolute separation of State and church A Founding Member Society of the Atheist Alliance International (The Democratic Alliance of Autonomous Atheist Societies) Volume XIII No. 3 January 2007 So just what is an atheist? TAMPA—THIS IS A LEGITIMATE QUESTION SOMETIMES POSED by newcomers to the Tampa Bay Chapter meetings. Many have seen the Atheist Forum Public Access TV show and are drawn to the meetings hoping to learn more about why atheists draw their philosophical conclusions only to be disappointed to find themselves attending a “business meeting.” Although we always have numerous pamphlets, tracts and CDs about atheism and religious criticism available, we are reluctant to engage in discussion about atheism because the members in attendance would find it redundant and uninformative since all are already atheists. A couple of years ago one of the regular hosts of the Atheist Forum was recognized in a restaurant by a Hillsborough County social sciences high school teacher. He was inviting various clergy to address his classes, and asked if we could provide an atheist for one of the classes. Joe Reinhardt and Michael Harvey answered the call. Their presentation was so enlightening that some students actually returned to successive classes to hear them a second time. Understandably, most students had neither heard any form of objective examination of religion in their entire lives nor ever had their beliefs challenged. We decided to make the same presentation to the general public at our April 2007 chapter meeting. Scheduled for Sunday, April 8 at the Jan Platt Public Library in Tampa, we will promote this public meeting on the Atheist Forum, on our Web site, and in the local press. Believers welcome. Board Meeting Our annual Board of Directors meeting will be held in Tampa this month (see below). One of the major issues we will be resolving is how to utilize the funds derived from the Norma Cossey estate. As of this publication, we have received approximately half the distribution and expect the balance any time now. We also recognize that we have spread ourselves too thin over the past few years. But with more members now beginning to assume positions of responsibility, we hope to develop a Atheists of Florida Awards Banquet Our Board of Director’s meeting will be held Sunday, January 28, 2007 at the Hilton Tampa Airport Westshore, the same hotel in which we hosted the 2003 Atheist Alliance International convention. The meeting will be followed that evening by the first Atheists of Florida Awards Banquet which will recognize all the members who volunteer time and talent to help o the various projects engaged in by Atheists of Florida. more efficient organization. Michael Harvey has stepped up to the position of newsletter editor. We are now displaying all newsletters on our Web site as they are published, and are coordinating our database to begin mailing printed copies of all issues to any members who are unable to receive their issues on-line. The most important focus is to bring the publishing schedule up to a regular basis, preferably monthly. Any member who is available to make a serious commitment to assisting with production of our publication should contact Harvey at MHarvey7@tampabay.rr.com. Timely collection of membership dues is another issue that has given us difficulty recently. This has not posed a serious financial hardship for us since most of our activities cost us little or nothing to engage in. Since we dropped our bulk mail permit and began publishing the newsletter electronically, we have reduced the printing and mailing costs significantly. Production of the Atheist Forum requires only the time of the crew and talent, as does production of the Old Time Atheist Hour, our Web cast. We always recover the cost of our outreach stand at events such as the St. Petersburg Times Festival of Reading with brisk sales of merchandise. Still, we realize we need to keep our membership base up to date. We have come to realize that given the amount of time required to manage the database, compensation is in order for the time our members contribute to undertake the task. We developed the idea of providing a financial incentive for whomever will keep our database up to date, including membership renewals and attracting those who contact us for information into new memberships. A of F Secretary Jim Young has assumed this responsibility initially and is updating all membership status. He is directly contacting those whose membership has expired asking them to renew. With the financial means at hand to compensate an Executive Director for Atheists of Florida, the Board will address this issue at the upcoming meeting. Results of the meeting will be reported in our next newsletter. We anticipate some exciting projects for A of F and look forward to expanding our membership base. Atheist Alliance We reported in our previous newsletter that Margaret Downey has become president of AAI. She has announced that the AAI annual convention will now be held during the fall of each year, probably mid-September. We hope this will allow for an even larger turnout at the conventions. All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit. —Thomas Paine (The Age Of Reason) www.atheistalliance.org/florida www.tampabayatheists.org Chapters: Tampa Bay PO Box 130753 Tampa, FL 33681 (813) 835-1500 / (813) 839-7567 ATHALFLE@aol.com Mark Twain Scholarship Fund P O Box 3893 Ft. Pierce, FL 34948 Phone/Fax: (772) 465-6402 ATHALFLC@aol.com Membership dues Life Member $ 500.00 Sustaining 60.00 yr Couple 50.00 yr Individual 40.00 yr Student (under 25 yrs.) 10.00 yr Limited Income (over 65) 10.00 yr Newsletter (out of state) 10.00 yr Published by Atheists of Florida, Inc., a nonprofit, educational corporation founded to heighten public awareness about atheism and monitor state/ church separation issues. Letters are published on a space-available basis. Send newsletter correspondence to Tampa Bay Chapter, address above. Articles may be edited for clarity or length. Atheists of Florida, Inc. is a Member Society of the Atheist Alliance International. Officers Chairman: Ed Golly President: Joe Reinhardt Vice President: Brent Yaciw Secretary: James A. Young Treasurer: Ed Golly State Board of Directors Christos Tzanetakos Anita Garcia Roberto De Los Rios Nan Owens Jacqueline D. Jordan Steven Miles Gloria Julius Alex Giannakoulias Jim Peterson Legal Counsel John W. MacKay Newsletter Production: Editor: Michael Harvey Staff: Jim Strayer, Ed Golly Web Master Jim Peterson Atheist Forum Producer Ed Golly Old Time Atheist Hour Producer Ed Golly GREEK PHILOSOPHERS KNEW THAT there was a connection between all living things. It seemed obvious, but there was no evidence. Time passed and philosophy gave way to biblical teachings. In the 1600’s some naturalists wrote of interbreeding organisms, but it was held that living things were “unchanged from the first.” HE T THE SOLUTION IS EVOLUTION No. 32—Microevolution and the Creationists—No No No In the 1700’s when Linnaeus introduced a system of cataloging living things that is still in use today, he believed that plants and animals were unchanged from the moment of creation. About the same time, Buffon was publishing his works that suggested that environmental influences or simple chance could cause changes in living things. However he still maintained that “all animals participated equally in the grace of Creation.” In the early 1800’s Lamarck proposed that all animals were continually changing by the gradual accumulation of acquired characteristics and that each generation was more advanced than their ancestors. Strangely he was pretty close to having it right. He thought that “tiny bits” of living matter explained continuous creation. His problem was that he still accepted “Creation and the Great Chain of Being,” with lower organisms at the bottom, God at the top and man somewhere in the middle. In 1844 when Vestiges of the Natural History of the Creation, by Robert Chambers was published it caused a scandal. He had proposed the perpetual transformation (evolution) of species. Chambers was not a scientist and had no evidence, but the book was very popular. The scandal may have been one of the reasons that Charles Darwin waited so long to publish On the Origin of Species. When Darwin proved that small changes in living things over long periods of time by the action of natural selection resulted in Darwin had it right all along and the evidence is indisputable Jim Strayer is a retired biology teacher living with his wife, Bobbe, in Ormond-By-The-Sea, Florida. He can be reached at BIOJIMS@aol.com. evolution, he was in fact describing microevolution. It explained why evolution is not a straight line from simple to complex, but instead resembles a many branched tree. It took the work of Mendel and many other geneticists to show that microevolution is a change in gene frequency brought about by mutation, migration, and natural selection. Darwin had it right all along and the evidence is indisputable. So, what does all of this have to do with creationism? There is so much evidence to show changes in living things that they could not argue that point. What creationists do say is that there is no “macroevolution.” This position is ridiculous and shows either a complete misunderstanding of evolution and evolutionary terms or the intentional discarding of valid information because it does not fit into their biblical young earth idea. Biologists define macroevolution as large scale patterns—rates of change among major taxonomic groups of living things. It has nothing to do with the process of evolution. I hesitate to use analogies when explaining evolution, but in this case I am going to try. If we start with lumber, nails and the right tool we can build houses, barns, piers, or picnic tables. All are different structures made from the exact same materials. The building of these structures is microevolution. We changed the lumber, selected the spot, and determined the structure to be built. The resulting structures represent macroevolution. By comparing different houses, barns, piers, and picnic tables we can discover patterns and rates of change among them. These patterns show us a relationship, but it has nothing to do with how they were built. What we can do is to trace back to see if there is a relationship to the lumber, nail, and tools that were used. When creationists admit that there is microevolution they are in 100% agreement with the theory of evolution. Imagine the changes in chickens and dogs in the last few hundred years. To think that they would not have changed much more in several million years is not logical. When creationists declare that macroevolution did not take place they are right, because it is not a process. It shows their ignorance of evolutionary terms or it is intentional distortion of their meaning. 2 January 2007 Atheists of Florida This month, we are very pleased to shine our atheist spot light on Ms. Suzie Siegel, an atheist of extraordinary courage, intelligence, and great humanity. Her story is truly “inspirational”. GREW UP IN TEXAS, THE child of a Jewish atheist father and a mother who had more reverence for nature than the Episcopal Church she once attended. For a few years, we went to a Unitarian Universalist fellowship, which supported members in their search for truth and meaning, without imposing dogma. Many times, I had to fend off attempts to Christianize me. But the worst pressure came at age 43, when I was diagnosed with cancer. This article is my way of explaining why I don’t need to convert to find comfort. Instead, my beliefs have helped me accept changes to my life and the threat of death My beliefs began before I started school, when my mother explained atoms to me. The idea that we are all made of the same stuff fascinated me. Like other UUs, I imagine an interdependent web of existence that connects everyone and everything. Some might call this a faith in physics. I don’t believe in divinity. I find no evidence to support the existence of a god or gods, and yet, I think it’s possible that I could be wrong. This aspect of my belief system could be called “soft atheism.” Or, maybe, I When I should be described as a “mystical atheist,” who bedie, I lieves that there is more to this world than we compredon’t hend. I’m intrigued by tarot cards, for example, and the idea that some people seem to have a keen insight into think I’m others. Believing that mysteries exist does not deny going science or rational thought. Someday science may exanywhere. plain that which I now cannot name. I’m I enjoy learning about religions, but I read them as already philosophy, not scripture. Irritated by sexism, I take special interest in ancient rites when the divine femihome! nine was worshipped. I enjoy neo-pagan rituals and see goddesses as metaphors. Although I’m not easily categorized, it’s safe to say that I’m not a theist or a Christian. John W. MacKay, In 2002, I was diagnosed with P.A. leiomyosarcoma, a rare cancer of the smooth muscles. It has spread twice. Board Certified I have had surgeries, radiation and Civil Trial Lawyer chemotherapy. Certified Circuit Court I don’t view this as a tragedy. To Mediator me, illness and death are part of the 201 South Westland Avenue cycle of life. I don’t worry about my The MacKay Building soul because I don’t believe I have Tampa, FL 33606 one. I don’t think that I’m so fabuTampa (813) 254-8835 lous that my consciousness, or whatStatewide (800) 813-RIDE ever distinguishes me, must exist I Atheist Spotlight forever. I do think, however, that my body will be transformed into other forms of energy and matter, such as smoke and ashes. Similarly, I don’t wonder whether I’ll go to heaven or hell because I don’t believe in either. When I die, I don’t think I’m going anywhere. I’m already home. I understand that bad things happen to good people as well as bad people. I think I got cancer for reasons science has not yet discovered, not as a lesson or punishment. Despite a dismal prognosis, I don’t think I’ve survived because a superior being has plans for me. It’s my job to find my own purpose. Some people say cancer patients cope better if they have a strong faith. But that is not always true. I have friends who wonder how a loving god could allow such suffering. I have seen their faith shaken, when they feel their prayers have gone unanswered. Some worry that they are being punished. I have friends who have great faith in God and their religion. I enjoy talking to them about spiritual and philosophical ideas. They respect my beliefs, and I hope that I show proper respect to them. I recognize some cancer patients need to talk about their beliefs, without me interjecting my own. In my mind, I translate “God” into “love” so that I can communicate with them in their own words. I find it incredible that some people think that, in a crisis, I would be comforted by changing my entire belief system. Others don’t care about my comfort; they fear for my soul. One nurse talked to me about Jesus while I got a blood transfusion. A chaplain encouraged me to accept Jesus. Both seemed like kind people. Some staff say, “God bless you” or “I’ll pray for you.” I thank them, knowing they mean well. Because people who believe in God and prayer are in the majority, they have the privilege of speaking as if everyone shared their beliefs—and will be comforted by them. They can speak as if faith is fact. They can announce their beliefs on posters, cards, clothing and jewelry. Those who disagree rarely advertise it. We may fear that we will offend others, or that they will dislike us, try to convert us, or even give lesser care. “Don’t upset people who can hurt you,” jokes one of my sisters, who works in a hospital. After my first surgery, when I was in terrible pain, a UU minister came to the hospital and discussed MY beliefs for two hours. What a rare gift! I now attend the UU Church of Tampa, which welcomes the faithful, the faithless and everyone in between. Atheist Forum Hillsborough County Public Access TV Live Thursday …7 PM Bright House: Ch 20, Verizon: Ch 30, Comcast: Ch 20 Rerun Tuesday …7 PM Bright House: Ch 19, Verizon: Ch 36 Schedule changes every 13 weeks. To be kept informed of new schedules send e-mail address to AthALFLE@aol.com 3 January 2007 Atheists of Florida CA students ban Pledge of Allegiance Leaders do not want to recite loyalty to God or government LOS ANGELES—Last November, student leaders at a California college touched off a furor by banning the Pledge of Allegiance at their meetings, saying they see no reason to publicly swear loyalty to God and the U.S. government. The move by Orange Coast College student trustees, the latest clash over patriotism and religion in American schools, infuriated some of their classmates— prompting one young woman to loudly recite the pledge in front of the board in defiance of the rule. The ban follows a 2002 ruling by a federal appeals court in San Francisco that said forcing school children to recite the pledge was unconstitutional because of the phrase “under God.” The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the ruling on procedural grounds in the Michael Newdow case, but left the door open for another challenge. “That [under God] part is sort of offensive to me,” said student trustee Jason Ball, who proposed the ban. Ball said the ban largely came about because the trustees didn’t want to publicly vow loyalty to the American government before their meetings. It is comforting that some students know more about the US Constitution and history than the President! NEWSFILES South Africa’s constitution was the first in the world to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation African will be discriminated against on the basis of color, creed, culture and sex,” Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula declared. South Africa’s constitution was the first in Africa and only the fifth in the world to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. That provided a powerful legal tool to gay rights activists, even though South Africa remains conservative on such issues. A traditionalist lawmaker, Kenneth Meshoe, said it was the “saddest day in our 12 years of democracy” and warned that South Africa “was provoking God’s anger.” Homosexuality is illegal in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania and most other sub-Saharan countries. Even in South Africa, gays and lesbians are often attacked because of their sexual orientation. One church leader in Nigeria denounced the move as “satanic,” and another slammed it as recognition of “animal rights’ rather than human rights, reflecting the views on a deeply conservative continent where some countries are debating constitutional amendments to ban same sex marriages. Rather than change existing marriage laws, the government introduced the additional civil union bill in the hopes that this would be the speediest option. The Roman Catholic Church and Muslim groups denounced the legislation as violating the sanctity of marriage. It is embarrassing that a formerly racist nation under the yoke of Apartheid less than a generation ago has surpassed the U.S. in the area of human rights. •▬ ▬ •••• • •• ••• ▬ •▬ ▬ •••• • •• ••• ▬ South Africa bill approves same-sex marriage CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA—Gays in South Africa can Remains of St. Paul may have been found ROME—Vatican archaeologists have unearthed a sar- be joined in matrimony under new legislation passed by parliament—an unprecedented move on a continent where homosexuality is taboo. Traditionalists said they were saddened, and gay activists said the bill, passed in late November, did not go far enough. Veterans of the governing African National Congress hailed the Civil Union Bill for extending basic freedoms to everyone under the spirit of the country’s first post-apartheid constitution, adopted a decade ago by framers determined to make discrimination a thing of the past. “When we attained our democracy, we sought to distinguish ourselves from an unjust painful past, by declaring that never again shall it be that any South World Faiths The Roman Catholic Church is the world’s largest Christian denomination—here’s how some of the world’s largest religions stack up: Christian 2.070- billion Muslim 1.300- billion Hindu 837-million Nonreligious 784-million Buddhist 373-million Jewish 14½-million Anglican Orthodox Protestant Independents Roman Catholic 80-million 217-million 364½-million 406-million 1.09-billion cophagus believed to contain the remains of the Apostle Paul that had been buried beneath Rome’s second largest basilica. The sarcophagus, which dates back to at least A.D. 390, has been the subject of an extended excavation that began in 2002 and was recently completed. “Our objective was to bring the remains of the tomb back to light for devotional reasons, so that it could be venerated and be visible,” said Giorgio Filippi, the Vatican archaeologist who headed the project at St. Paul Outside the Walls basilica. The interior of the sarcophagus has not yet been explored, but Filippi did not rule out the possibility of doing so in the future. Two ancient churches that once stood at the site of the current basilica were successively built over the spot where tradition said the saint had been buried. The second church, built by the Roman emperor Theodosius in the fourth century, left the tomb visible, first above ground and later in a crypt. When a fire destroyed the church in 1823, the current basilica was built and the ancient crypt was filled with earth and covered by a new altar. Editors note: One can only hope that before the Vatican decrees the remain to be those of “Saint” Paul that they provide some evidence to support such a claim; a DNA benchmark might be helpful! 4 January 2007 Atheists of Florida A of F Secretary Jim Young calls Baptist bigots on the carpet for intolerance! For seven days, in early November 2006, Hopewell Baptist Church in Plant City, Florida displayed a message on its marquee. The message stated, “A Freethinker is Satan’s Slave.” Young observed the sign and took issue with the blatant attempt to disenfranchise those who “think” for themselves. He took pictures of the sign and sent one, accompanied by this letter to the congregation: out to talk. The dialogue was friendly, respectful and lasted until 1:40 pm. He left satisfied that the experience was positive and productive, although during the course of the dialog, Jim suffered through a predictable litany of accusations and threats: Being Satan’s pawn Regretting his decision come Judgment Day Being an atheist bigot Verbal attacks with a veiled threat of violence from a ‘concerned citizen’ in a pick-up truck Non sequitur, ad hominem attacks against homosexuality, Evolution, Muslims, etc. Young patiently explained to the members of the church that there are no absolutes, and that simplistic black-white answers to the complex questions of life and existence are inconsistent with the search for truth and often times-dangerous. Respecting the worth and dignity of every person takes precedence over blind faith dogma. The happiness, safety and welfare of human beings can not ethically be subordinated to the asserted desires of an unseen god. There are only human solutions to human problems. There are no supernatural solutions. If we can’t or won’t do it, it won’t get done. We are responsible, not gods, not devils. The Christians wanted Young to attend services and hear their minister. He thanked them and counteroffered to come if they would allow him to preach a sermon to them about brotherly love. Young is still waiting and in his words: “I won’t hold my breath while I await that invitation. Still, those who dared converse with this atheist, humanist, freethinker have had an ear full already.” Indeed, Young’s courage and integrity should be an example to all of us who would like the 21st century to become a new Age of Reason in the hope to build a civil society and sustainable future. LETTERS ==> Dear President, Pastor, Board, and Congregation of Hopewell Baptist Church: I noted your billboard as I passed by your church. I know it must make you very proud. It confirms the true nature of Christianity, not as an institution nurturing brotherly love but rather an institution nurturing hate, bigotry and intolerance. Your attempt to stereotype those who use their head “The for something other than a hat rack as agents of evil, is typical of the Christian Right. It is not at all surprising. greater It’s clear, the greater the love of your mythical god, the the love of greater you must assail the universal brotherhood of your mankind. No doubt you will continue to nurture bigotry and divisiveness in the name of your god. After mythical all, it’s scriptural (Luke 19:27) god, the Admittedly, Jesus says it all and you’re right on targreater get. As for me, I will reject your idea of so called brothyou must erly love. Instead, I’ll embrace the values of a freeassail the thinker: universal I will practice inclusiveness, equity and justice for all, regardless of their belief or the lack of it. brotherI will practice empathy for those who are different, hood of whether by choice or not. manI will respect the right of the individual to think indekind!” pendently, challenge faith with reason and to choose. I will never label or stereotype groups in divisive ways that seek to disenfranchise, cause them to be despised and/or treated as second class citizens. I will do these things because I no longer allow institutions like yours to spoon feed me their anti-human dogma. Yes, I am a freethinker. I have evolved beyond your ideology of despair to realize “There are only human solutions to human problems, if we can’t or don’t do it, it won’t get done.” If that makes me your mythical Satan’s slave then so be it. My life you may take, but my integrity never. I am proud of my values and my rejection of your god’s so-called love. If you want to do humanity a favor, you can start by insisting your We welcome evil god do his own dirty work! correspondence from —James Young, Secretary, A of F readers. Address mail to: After hearing nothing for three weeks, Atheists of Florida Young decided to stimulate dialogue via P.O. Box 130753 protest. At 9:00 am on Sunday, November Tampa, FL 33681 26th he took up prominent position in front Or email us at: of the church with two signs, “Jesus Isn’t Coming” and “Nothing Fails Like Prayer.” AtheistForum@aol.com Over the next four-and-a-half hours several members of the congregation came Churches should pay, too If the tax burden on real estate is becoming so oppressive that it drives ordinary people to the wall, why do we continue tax exemptions for a large group of land holders: churches: Clearly, now more than ever, it is reasonable to require that believers pay their fair share. The reasons for this are moral, economic, and political. 1. Morally, it is an injustice that all citizens of the state should be required to add their money to the collection plate by way of the tax laws. Churches are private institutions and should be treated as such. 2. Economically, churches benefit, just like any other business, from the services government provides. Like any good citizen, they should be happy to pay their fair share. 3. Politically, our Constitution specifically requires that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.: State-sanctioned subsidies for religion are a blatant violation of the First Amendment, and “free exercise” in no way means freedom from the financial responsibilities which we all share. —Joe Reinhardt president, Atheists of Florida, Inc. Pinellas Park 5 January 2007 Atheists of Florida Survey finds National Academy of Science is godless to the core The National Academy of Science (USA) produced a guidebook for public school teachers, Teaching about Evolution and the Nature of Science in 2004. The book attempts to assure readers that neither the NAS nor evolution are anti-Christian. But a survey published in the leading science journal Nature conclusively showed that the National Academy of Science is non-religious to the core. A survey of 517 NAS members in biological and physical sciences resulted in just over half responding. Seventy-two and two-tenths percent were overtly atheistic, 20.8% agnostic, and only 7.0% believed in a personal god. Belief in a god and immortality was lowest among biologists. It is likely that those who didn’t respond were unbelievers as well, so the study probably underestimates the level of lack of god-belief in the NAS. The unbelief is far higher than the percentage among scientists in general, or in the whole population. CLASSIFIEDS —Our newest feature! IN MEMORIAM We regret to announce that former board member Raymond Erickson died in October. Erickson was born in Proctor, MN in 1925. He grew up in Wisconsin, attended high school, then joined the U.S. Navy in 1942. He enjoyed a long, successful career in the utilities and power industry. Erickson was also active in his community and served on the Arlington, New York school board. His sense of community expanded to the global community and was manifested as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Federated States of Micronesia. It is fitting that we conclude with the words of Erickson’s dear friend and Atheists of Florida founder— Christos Tzanetakos. We need your input and help! Send your ad information to the editor—Michael Harvey—at mharvey7@tampabay.rr.com; or Ed Golly at AthAlFLE@aol.com. Godless in America: conversations with an atheist by George A. Ricker is now available at most book retailers and online book sellers. For more information about the book and its author, go to www.godlessinamerica.com. Guitar / Music Lessons: College-trained musician with many years performance experience in numerous styles of playing. Contact Michael at (813) 545-1071 or via email—OrpheusObject@hotmail.com Yes, that’s right, get together with other atheists / freethinkers at the St. Pete Atheist / Free-thought every third Tuesday of each month for good food, good drink, engaging dialog, and lotto tickets! YOUR ad could have gone here! Remember that we need you help to make this new feature a useful addition to our newsletter. Let your fellow atheists and free-thinkers know about your special talents and let’s support each other! My friend, colleague, and resident of Tiara, Raymond G. Erickson, died around 7:00 AM October 17, surrounded by his two daughters and the two Micronesian girls (sisters) that he brought from Micronesia where he served with the National Peace Corps Association. Raymond was a special person who will be greatly missed not only by his family, but by all of us who were fortunate to know him. As the philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote: An individual human existence should be like a river... small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing passionately past boulders and over waterfalls, gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly, and- in the endwithout any visible break, they become merged in the sea, and painlessly lose their individual being. The man or women who, in old age, can see his or her life in this way, will not suffer from the fear of death, since the things they care for will continue.~ And so our friend Raymond G. Erickson this morning painlessly merged with the sea. I fall asleep in the full and certain hope that my slumber shall not be broken; And that though I be all-forgetting, Yet shall I not be all-forgotten, But continue that life in the thoughts and deeds of those I loved..... —Samuel Butler Farewell Friend —Christos Tzanetakos Atheists of Florida CHAPTER MEETINGS TAMPA BAY: Pinellas Park Public Library—Second Sunday of each odd-numbered month (Jan., Mar., etc.), 1:30—4:30. 78th Ave North & 52nd Street. Tampa—Second Sunday of each even-numbered month, 1:304:30, Jan Platt Regional Library, 3910 S. Manhattan Ave. Social dinners follow all meetings at nearby cafeterias. FMI: Ed Golly, 813/835-1500, AthALFLE@aol.com. 6 January 2007 Atheists of Florida