Reload
SLVA
- Since 1972 Salt Lake City, Utah Who we are... Page Updated 09/18/13 06:43 |
A Formal Organization of
Atheists -
Updated
2013-09-18 |
|||
American Atheists plan large national
convention in Utah |
||||
|
Utah's atheist brunch
happens on the
Where
- Sizzler Family Steak House --Map
Also -
COFFEE
CHAT: Every Thursday,
7:PM |
|||
Our brunch
is held on the first Sunday of each month, 11:30 AM at the Sizzler Family Steak House (back room), at 371 East 400 South in SLC. -- Directions Please tell the cashier that you are with our group -- a 15% gratuity will be added to your bill. |
||||
Next Sunday brunch - May 5, 2013:
Book
Review!!
|
||||
Please send email if you'd like to be on our mailing list (no spam:). |
||||
Our Core Values - We Support: * Atheists and agnostics to have freedom from religion * Human racial rights * Women's rights, birth control and abortion rights * Rights for gays and lesbians * World environmentalism * Treating animals as humanely as possible - specifically when they are used in scientific research and on farms. |
||||
Sunday Brunch at the Sizzler Family
Steak House. Old Pictures
2000 Old
Pictures
2010
Professor
Deen Chatterjee returned as our speaker in 2013
In the News |
||||
New
From: "Dan Ellis" <dan@atheistsofutah.org> |
||||
|
In the News...
|
|||
|
||||
Protestants' Perceptions of Islam SLVA Supports GAY Protest @ LDS Temple Oct 2010
A 2010 study from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public
Life found that Americans who don’t believe in God
scored better on a religious study quiz than those who
identify with a specific religion.
More and
more.
|
||||
Does the 1796-97 Treaty with Tripoli Matter to Church/State
Separation? Chaplain Is Protected By God-- and by an Atheist--at War. The state of the unholy union of State and church -- Brian Barnard explains his recent victory in the Tenth Circuit Court The Utah Highway. Patrolmen's cross case. Listen to the speech here. YouTube here. Richard Dawkins' Speech protesting the Pope on YouTube. |
||||
Atheists Billboard: It's
"Like They're Poking A Finger In Your Eye" |
||||
Link Kiss Hank's Ass |
||||
|
||||
Source: MaddowBlog.msnbc.msn.com Tom Gene Daniels, Prop. 8-Loving Pastor Accused of Child Molestation |
||||
Reader contributed link: Roman Catholic Televangelist priest Mike Manning confessed to an affair with his second cousin, Nancy Kotowski. (more)
|
||||
Members'
Letter to the Editor
Religion no, PBS yes I was a little confused when I read John Hasson’s letter, which called for an end to government funding of the Public Broadcasting Service (“Stop funding PBS,” Forum, Feb. 23). Hasson wrote that he didn’t want his tax dollars funding a news source on the “political left.” I wonder whether Hasson ever watches public television. After all, those late-night KBYU reruns of “Perry Mason”, “I Love Lucy” and “My Three Sons” are mighty subversive. On the other hand, perhaps Hasson is concerned about KUED’s lineup, which includes left-leaning shows like “Nova”, “Antiques Road Show” and “Great Performances at the Met”. Dangerous stuff, for sure. Like Hasson, I’m troubled by how the government spends money. I’m miffed that churches — which have a long history of anti-intellectualism, discrimination, sexism and homophobia — don’t have to pay taxes. Furthermore, my tax burden is larger because those who contribute to churches are allowed to deduct their donations. Talk about subsidy. Enough is enough! We could easily afford PBS if we didn’t give religion a free pass. Ken Roach Salt Lake City First published Mar 01 2011. Source: SLtrib.com |
|
LINKS:
|
||
Links:
|
|||
|
An
Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, |
Previous Atheist brunch | Back to Brunch | |||||||
December 2, 2001: meeting of Salt Lake Valley Atheists featured Atheist and First Amendment activist Chris Allen looking back on more than two decades of constitutional activism. Mr. Allen serves on the Board of Directors of the national organization. He has been involved with numerous lawsuits throughout Utah on behalf of the separation of State and church. |
||||||||
Aug 3. 2003: Filmmaker
Troy
Williams spoke on
Mormon Erotica and showed two short films that explore his thoughts
after religion. "Mormon Erotica", is an attempt to
reclaim his sexuality from Mormonism. It examines the homoeroticism
embedded within Mormon art, architecture and theology in an absurd
and humorous manner. "Apotheosis", an abstract cinematic
experiment examines Troy's "obsolescence of god", a film about
reclaiming Troy’s own personal power from religion. It
metaphorically breaks down his construct of god and sends Troy on a
quest of discovery...
more. ...on YouTube |
||||||||
Jan 8, 2005: Kent Griffiths - "Intelligent Falling": A Theological Alternative To The Theory Of Gravity. Kent joined our group in 1988. At that time, he worked with Chris Allen and Rich Andrews to get the churches in all of Utah to stop using their buildings as polling places. They were successful in this very important work to separate religion from political activities. In the mid-nineties he met his wife Sarah at one of our brunches. January 11th, 7pm. Main Topic For Discussion:
The Christian
crosses which the Utah
Dept of Transportation has allowed the Utah Highway Patrol
Association to install on public property (at the sides of Utah
highways and roads). We will discuss the pros and cons of this
decision. Three members of our group, as well as the national office
of
American Atheist,
are litigants in a lawsuit to require the govt. to remove Christian
memorials from government property. We feel it is a violation of the
principle of separation of State and church. How do you feel
about this issue? Some members of our group think that we atheists
should focus on more important issues, and that this lawsuit |
||||||||
April
9, 2006: Professor
Deen K. Chatterjee : "The
Rhetoric and Substance of Human Rights".
Our speaker teaches philosophy at the University of Utah and is the
Editor-in-Chief of the forthcoming, multi-volume Encyclopedia of
Global Justice... Keeping in focus the role of rights at the
normative foundations of justice and democracy, the forum will
explore some of the myriad problems and challenges of human rights
through an examination of such topics as individual and group
rights, rights and culture, sovereignty and international law,
humanitarian intervention, and terrorism. |
||||||||
2006,
2008? After pursuing education and adventure on the West and East coasts, David returned to Utah to teach Philosophy at Utah Valley University where he is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for the Study of Ethics. Off campus, David enjoys exploring the soaring peaks of the Wasatch Mountains and the red rock canyons of the Colorado Plateau in all their surprising sublimity. |
||||||||
Apr 4, 2010 Richard Andrews -- Founder of Utah chapter in 1979, National Board
Member of American Atheists. May 2, 2010 Melissa Bird -- Vice President of Public Policy for Planned Parenthood Association of Utah and Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Action Council. June 6,2010 Susan Harrington, Idaho Director of American Atheists -- We found out if praying works! Her topic: How I took the Idaho Capitol steps from the religious right on the National Day of Prayer and held an Atheist rally. |
|
|||||||
Jul 4,2010 Atheists know that god doesn't bless America. The Pulitzer Prize winning author Jared Diamond of GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL examines what caused some great civilizations and cultures like Polynesian Easter Island, Anasazi, Maya and the Viking colony on Greenland to collapse. What part did religion play? Diamond traces the patterns of environmental damage, climate change, population growth and unwise political choices. He also tells how other societies found solutions and persisted. So on this 4th of July lets reflect on what America needs to do to avoid committing ecological suicide. The video is an hour and 19 minutes long. |
|
|||||||
Aug 1,2010 Richard Dawkins --Video: Dawkins discusses Darwinism, creationism, and the controversy over the "African Eve" hypothesis in which Dawkins shows that Homo Sapiens evolved in Africa over 100,000 years ago and that our ancestors' genes survive in us today. This lecture is part of the Skeptics Society distinguished lecture series and based on his 1995 book RIVER OUT OF EDEN. Dawkins new book is THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH. Discussion to follow... |
||||||||
Sep 5,2010 Brain Barnard VICTORY - State of the Church-State address: The case of American Atheists vs. the Utah Highway Patrol Christian crosses case has been decided by the Denver-based 10th Circuit IN OUR FAVOR! Brian Barnard, who carried the water for this cause will speak at the Salt Lake Valley Atheist brunch to tell us about this important victory. See the sad-sack article in the Salt Lake City Tribune here. Brian has earned his "tuition"!
|
|
|||||||
DVD: Great Leap Forward. Humans and Chimpanzees share 98% of genes. How is it that we developed complex verbal skills, writing. art, science, and culture and our cousins did not? Further, Why is it that Cro-Magnons succeeded and not Neanderthals? Diamond's theory is that 30,000 to 40,000 years ago Cro-Magnons developed language and an advantage while Neanderthals had only tools. Dr. Jared Diamond is Professor of Physiology at UCLA Medical School and the author of THE THIRD CHIMPANZEE, and GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL, and Collapse. |
||||||||
Nov
7,2010 Feature film presentation:
AGORA A new film which encapsulates the facts available in the context of a triangle of rivalry between Judaism, Christianity and Paganism and also a struggle between the State and church. Set in ancient Egypt under Roman rule, AGORA follows the brilliant and beautiful astronomer Hypatia (Weisz) who leads a group of disciples fighting to save the wisdom of the Ancient World, as violent religious upheaval spills into the streets of Alexandria. Among these disciples are two men competing for her heart: the witty, privileged Orestes (Isaac) and Davus (Minghella), Hypatia’s young slave, who is torn between his secret love for her and the freedom he knows can be his if he chooses to join the unstoppable surge of the Christians.
Dec
5,2010 Troy
Williams spoke on "Can Gays Save the World from God?" Troy Williams' to speech on YouTube: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 Jan 2,2011 DVD: Dr. William Lobdell How I lost my faith while reporting on religion for the LA Times and found unexpected peace.
February
6, 2011
Sunday,
March 6, 11:30am - 2:00pm |
||||||||
April 2, 2011: DVD: Dr. Daniel C. Dennett, one of the great thinkers of our time asks how belief in god shapes our lives. Is religion a blind compulsion or a rational choice? History, philosophy and psychology explore how folk beliefs evolved into a potent force.
Dennett at the Amaz!ng Meeting-4 in
Las Vegas
You Tube -
Daniel Dennett and Robert Wright discuss direction and
"purpose" in evolution... |
||||||||
May 1,2011 -- Jared Diamond -- DVD:
Natural Experiments of History --
June
5, 2011 -- Summer Solstice Party
Map
Solstice Party, joint
with SLVA and A of U will take place on Saturday, June 25th.
BYOB and please bring a snack to share. AofU will provide
pizza.
Sunday, July 3, 2011 If you're not going out of town on the 4th of July weekend, please join us at the Salt Lake Valley Atheist Brunch. We have purchased a copy of the new BOOK OF MORMON Broadway Musical CD and will be playing some of the songs at the brunch. The songs contain frank language (swearing) and sexual content. If that offends you, DO NOT COME! |
||||||||
|
||||||||
A link to the .pdf for this talk Jason is a research fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Janet Lainhart, his advisor, studying the developmental neuroscience of autism and the brain basis of exceptional abilities in autism, which is his dissertation topic. In May 2009, Jason co-founded the University of Utah student group SHIFT (Secular Humanism, Inquiry and Freethought), first serving as its vice-president (May 2009-December 2009), later as its president (January 2010-December 2010), and currently as its treasurer (January 2011-present). Jason has also served as a founding board member of the Utah Freethought Society (June 2010-present), founding board member of the Utah Coalition of Reason (July 2010-present), and secretary and board member of the Humanists of Utah (January 2011-present). In the future, Jason hopes to become a research professor at a university, studying the brain basis of exceptional abilities in both developmentally disabled and typically developing populations. |
||||||||
Lecture: Saturday,
September 10 · 2011 Created By Jason Cooperrider for SHIFT - Secular Humanism, Inquiry and Freethought |
||||||||
Sunday,
November 6 · 2011 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Stephen Clark, board member
and
President from '04 to '08 , moderated
a lively
discussion of 2 questions: |
||||||||
Sunday, Feb 5, 2012 Elaine Ball is the Executive Director of the burgeoning Utah Coalition of Reason, the group which put up the billboard on I-215 this past year that reads, Don't Believe In God? You Are Not Alone – reasonutah.org. She was certified in May 2011 as a Humanist Minister, enabled to officiate at non-religious and inter-religious weddings, commitment ceremonies, child welcoming celebrations, memorial services, and more. In May 2009 she co-founded the University of Utah student group, SHIFT – Secular Humanism, Inquiry, and Freethought. She is also on local Steering and Planning Committees for the Human Rights Campaign and the American Civil Liberties Union. Elaine holds a BA in French from the University of Utah, and teaches Beginning French at Salt Lake Arts Academy. She lives in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Salt Lake with her partner of nearly three years, and their two cats, Colonel Pendleton and Thai. Mary Schultz received an award from the NAACP on behalf of herself and her husband, Bill. |
||||||||
Sunday, March 4. 2012
The video Inside The Milky Way will be screened. It's excellent. National Geographic uses a 3-D state-of - the - art CGI model of our galaxy to look at its amazing features and its history. Other galaxies are also looked at, and its all done in fantastic color. Most of the scenes are photographs taken by the Hubble Telescope, but "special effects" are also used to enhance this scientific adventure. The DVD was produced in 2010, so it's up to date information.
|
||||||||
Sunday, April 1 2012 - Two Speakers: Lori Howard, President of Idaho Atheists. Her topic: Religion in Idaho Charter Schools; Case Study: Nampa Classical Academy. Lori has a unique insight to charter schools in Idaho as she was with the charter school office at the Idaho State Department of Education for the past 5 years. US Supreme Court declines to hear ex-Idaho school's case - Lori Howard is a charter school expert for the Idaho Department of Education and will speak on the Nampa Classical Academy Bible case on Sunday at SLVA atheist brunch at the Sizzler at 11:30AM. Susan Harrington was the founding president of Idaho Atheists, Inc.and has served on the board for 14 years. She has also served as American Atheists, Inc. Idaho State Director, national board member, and Youth and Family Program co-director. Susan was raised in a non-religious family and pursued a career in mathematics and science education, both as a classroom teacher and as a Idaho state department administrator. Her major interests have always included state/church separation and atheist civil rights. Her topic: Atheism in your sister state of Idaho. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Sunday July 1, 2012
Joe Andrade is an engineering professor and a scientist at the University of Utah in The Department of Bioengineering, who has also served in several administrative positions, including Dean of Engineering. He has books, patents, and scientific publications in his name and is also interested in science education and literacy. Joe is one of the major drivers and planners for The Leonardo. A fuller bio is at: www.joeandrade.org. Joe is an unaffiliated candidate running for Congress in District 2. He'll be speaking on his dissatisfaction with the political process on science education and literacy. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Sunday, Dec 2, 2012 - Joanne Hanks Joanne Hanks isn’t your average
ex-Mormon, ex-polygamist, ex-wife.
Most recently, Joanne has written “It’s Not About the Sex” My Ass, a riveting account of her experiences as a “First Wife” in the Mormon-based polygamist cult that she and her husband joined after seven years of marriage. In “It’s Not About the Sex” My Ass, Joanne tells her crazy story with humor, satire and insight. She levels about husband-sharing, “sister wives,” the TLC “prophet” James Dee Harmston (who called himself a “celestial stud service” and sought divine guidance on threesomes), racism, sexual abuse, fraud and manipulation. And she reveals how Harmston wiggled out of his failed prophecy that the Second Coming of Jesus would take place on March 26, 2000. |
||||||||
Feb 3 2013 - The February SLVA brunch featured special guest speaker, Kirk Robinson, who spoke about whether or not atheism is just another type of religion. He'll also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of atheism. Links Kirk Robinson's Talk to SLVA Kirk's Views on Mitt Romney |
||||||||
March 3, 2013 - This was the last meeting as SLVA. The two groups, Salt Lake Valley Atheists -- SLVA, (formerly Utah Atheists) and Atheists of Utah -- AOU have merged into one organization, Atheists of Utah. We will still hold the regular Sunday brunches. | ||||||||
|
||||||||
April
7, 2013: Professor Deen Chatterjee returned as our speaker -- The title of the talk was "God, Fantasy, and Illusion". |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
God's
Debris
by 'DILBERT's
Scott Adams What does it feel like to suddenly understand everything? God's Debris isn’t the final answer to the Big Questions -- it might be the most compelling vision of reality you will ever read... Still, God's Debris is emphatically not for everyone. |
|
|||||||
In the News -- | ||||||||
Lonely religionists demonstrating at the Mormon temple in SLC, UT in 2005. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
"See how she is Honored... (But) he must not break her teeth or poke her in the eye... It is forbidden to beat her in the face or make her ugly... He can beat her with a short rod... Beatings are permitted only in this case (when she refuses to sleep with him), which the husband cannot do without." |
||||||||
|
||||||||
You can tell it's a genuine |
||||||||
New
Idaho's
National Day of Prayer Counter-Demonstration 2011
May 5, 2011 -- |
||||||||
Ken's Guide to the Bible
"The
world's most complete compendium of the Bible's most embarrassing
passages. With hammerhead precision
and pig-iron wit, this compact volume lays bare all the sex, gore
and lunacy that the Bible has to offer." See the EVOLUTION of this page |
||||||||
Cover of American Atheist Magazine
celebrating its 1981 Annual Convention in Salt Lake City, UT. |
Salt Lake City, UT The Unbelievers BBS
801 / 486-4261 1989-1998, Kevin Thomson, sysop
The first Athiest BBS in Salt Lake City was a major hub for news groups and email (using VBBS). At its peak it sported over 32 lines averaging 500 calls per day. It was supported by Novell Network backbone, on 3 servers; each line had it own computer so as to keep processing speed at maximum. (These also provided heat for the apartment in winter months :) It was gradually taken offline due to hackers and mounting expenses. It was fun while it lasted!
Now see -- http://www.nowscape.com/atheist0.htm
- Kevin Thomson
Source: BBS_List: Area Code BBSes Through History
A remnant of our old BBS:
Most common Google keywords used to arrive at these pages Trilobite, burrows, and Cephalopoda...
When you understand why
you do not believe in other gods, then you will understand why I don't believe in yours.
~ Stephen F. Roberts
Write to our leader - Richard Andrews
Write to the page-keeper
Questions? Call 515-999-5167
~~ Please send email if you'd like to be on our mailing list (no spam:). ~~ Page by @Com ~~