Meeting: Sunday, June 27, 2010
The meeting began with Kenny asking us to go around the circle and introduce ourselves and say a little bit about why we had come today. There were a few first-time attendees and several of the old regulars. In all there were 20 people present.
We have two students from Tulsa University who have plans to form a debate team. Anyone else desiring to work with Will and Hilary on this project should contact one of the above mentioned individuals. You can find their contact information on the meetup site.
Once everyone had the opportunity to speak, the subject of threats of physical violence to atheists came up. Jim Smith (not his real name) said that you can find anything in the scriptures you wish in order to justify any position you may have.
Bill D. explained that the Coalition of Reason is made up of the three principal freethought organizations in the Tulsa area. He explained the role of each of these organizations.
Bill mentioned having met Rob Boston at a recent meeting of the AHA. If we can raise the money to cover his airfare, we can have a visit from Mr. Boston. Bill also mentioned the two letter writing campaigns we currently have in progress: Letters to former President Carter urging him to resign his position with the Scouts due to its discriminatory practices. "Gays, atheists, and the disabled are all excluded, retailited against and shunned by the organization [Boy Scouts of America]," according to Margaret Downey. The other letter writing campaign is directed toward state legislators. This letter asks them to enact legislation prohibiting hospitals from failing to use their full resources to save the life of a pregnant woman.
Kenny next displayed some products he is selling to raise funds for TAM. One item is a baseball cap with horns coming through the top.
Kenny noted that the Free Tulsa Music Festival will be held on July 30 and 31. He said TAM would have a table at the event with literature to give out and products to sell.
Bill noted that FFRF Tulsa hopes to sponsor a billboard around Christmas, if enough money can be raised by that time to pay for it.
Jim Smith said he would like to see an anti-hell house around Halloween. William said he is willing to pay for an Atheist Hotline phone line for our group.
The Catholic Church is willing to enter into debate with atheists, so long as no well-known atheists are involved.
posted by Dan Nerren @ 8:07 PM
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