Tulsa Atheists Meetup 11-23-08

December for most people is a busy time of year. Therefore, we will have a reduced calendar for that month. However, since we only have two monthly events sponsored by TAM, those two events will be on the calendar. You will notice HAT events are few for December. The December freethought calendar will be sent out in about a week.

Yesterday, Sunday, November 23, the Tulsa Atheists Meetup was held. About 14 people were present. It was a good, harmonious gathering. We had three first-time attendees, and they entered the discussion and were enthusiastic about our existence. The youngest was a 22-year old young lady. Another lady who lives in Wagoner made arrangements to car pool with Bob H. The other first-timer was a young man.

The topic for discussion was: What I do believe. We are all aware of what we do not believe – namely, the existence of a god. But, yesterday we had the opportunity to talk about what we do believe. I spoke about and read the statement written by Paul Kurtz called “The Affirmations of Humanism: A Statement of Principles.” Next, Bill D. got up and spoke extemporaneously about events in his past and where he is today vis-à-vis religion. For parents to indoctrinate their children in their religious ways is a form of child abuse, he said. Bill has put together a questionnaire to stimulate thinking about religious questions. I will be sending this out to those on this list in a few days. Finally, Marilyn got up and spoke on the role of parenting (parents being magical, godlike figures from our childhood who anticipate and meet our needs) in forming beliefs about religion. After almost two hours of talk, we went outside and stood around talking for about a half hour.

Following the meeting, Bob N., our treasurer, gave me a check for $72, a reimbursement for six months of connection with Meetup.com. He also had a check for $77 and two letters of apology for Abbie S. who spoke to our group earlier this year. One was from Kenny N. and the other was from the leadership of TAM.