THE ATHEIST Nwlttr of th Athit Community of Autin, a Nonpropht Organization P.O. Box 3798, Autin, Txa 78764 512-371-2911 www.athit-community.org 23 July 2000 CE Volum # 4 No. #7 Boy Scout Dicrimination For mor that fiftn yar, nonthit and gay hav challngd th biad mmbrhip polici of Boy Scout of Amrica (BSA). Sinc BSA ha traditionally rcruitd in th public chool, accptd public fund from Unitd Way, maintaind pcial and xcluiv rlationhip with tat and fdral agnci through pcial chartr, rcivd govrnmnt gratuiti, and hld a Congrional chartr mpowring it to tach coutcraft, it ha alway bn prumd that BSA wa a public organization. But a rcnt U. S. Suprm Court dciion now hold that BSA i a privat xpriv organization, ntitld to advocat it odd, rtrograd viwpoint. Thn thr i th high road. How many BSA xcutiv, National and Honorary Officr, Adviory Council mmbr, troop ladr, cout, and voluntr will tak that road? Not many, I'm afraid. For ovr vn yar, I hav trid to convinc influntial BSA affiliat to walk away from BSA prjudic. I rachd out to popl uch a U. S. Pridnt Jimmy Cartr, Grald Ford, and Bill Clinton. I alo contactd movi producr Stvn Spilbrg and many famou buinmn. I akd thm to how thir diapproval of BSA mmbrhip polici by announcing thy would diaffiliat thmlv and ca financially upporting th BSA. Not on of th mn agrd to do o. Th BSA viwpoint i that nonthit and gay ar morally corrupt and could ubvrt BSA valu ytm. Conquntly, Athit and gay ar not wlcom in th BSA. Th Suprm Court anctiond BSA dicriminatory policy undr th rubric of frdom of aociation vn though thr i no vidnc whatovr to jutify BSA claim that nonthit and gay ar immoral. That uppoition i bad on unubtantiatd trotyping and pur prjudic. Th BSA i now happily marching along th low road of prjudic. Evry BSA xcutiv, National and Honorary Officr, Adviory Board mmbr, troop ladr, cout, and voluntr mut walk in a traight lin bhind BSA ladrhip, or l. Whn Unitarian Scout dclard thir diapproval of BSA biad mmbrhip rul, BSA trippd thm of thir rligiou mrit badg. It would com a no urpri wr BSA to dcid that Unitarian hould tak a hik altogthr. So hr w ar at a fork in th road. Th low road look dark and dangrou. It i darknd with prjudic and hatrd. Thr ar big-o-tr lowring abov all tho who walk thi trail. BSA ladr ar not frightnd thy lik thi atmophr of paratim, prjudgmnt, and trotyping. 1 I wa not urprid whn U. S. pridnt ignord my lttr and phon call. It wa alo not urpriing to gt th cold houldr from big-hot buinmn. It wa a hock, howvr, that a man I rpctd for hi anti-dicrimination movi mag and rputation for tolranc continud to financially upport th BSA, maintain hi poition on th BSA Adviory Council, and allow BSA to u hi nam in thir litratur. Svral yar aftr I contactd Spilbrg h aid that h had cut hi yarly BSA contribution in half. I hav no vidnc that thi i tru. But in 1995 Spilbrg rlad a omwhat upportiv anti-dicrimination tatmnt. H aid: I hav pokn out publicly and privatly againt intolranc and dicrimination bad on thnic, rligiou, racial, and xual orintation. Whil I upport th principl of couting, that do not imply that I upport vry currnt policy. Although I hav no dirct activ rol in th Boy Scout, I ncourag ffort to nd intolranc and dicrimination onc and for all. In 1995 Spilbrg wa in th middl of a hug buin dal with a gay producr. Wa th motivation to finally pak out againt BSA dicrimination buin, or wa Spilbrg incrly concrnd? Spilbrg rlad that tatmnt only aftr I had akd th gay community to hlp m put
prur on him a full thr yar aftr I bgan communicating with hi pronal aitant, Marvin Lvy. Fiv yar ago, Lvy told m that Spilbrg could poibly mak a diffrnc by working on th inid through hi BSA Adviory Council poition. To dat Lvy admit that Spilbrg ha nvr mad an attmpt to chang any BSA policy. H ha rmaind a mut Adviory Council mmbr throughout thi ntir controvry. Lvy contnd that Spilbrg i a BSA Council mmbr in nam only and that BSA nvr conult with him. Thr i no xcu, howvr, for Spilbrg to ignor th iu and not offr hi opinion a a o-calld Advior. BSA gladly u Spilbrg nam and accpt hi mony. What do that ay about BSA board thic? Th tim ha com for Spilbrg to choo th road h will travl. If h continu to donat to th BSA, tay on th BSA Adviory Council, and allow th BSA to u hi nam in thir litratur h will b travling down th bigotry trail. Spilbrg could bcom a ladr againt dicrimination if h choo to tak th high road of tolranc. Many othr BSA upportr, board mmbr, and affiliat would b inpird to prur BSA into doing what i morally corrct how rpct, accptanc, and tolranc for nonthit and gay. A a lat rort, I am aking radr of thi articl to writ dirctly to Spilbrg. Expr your diappointmnt that Spilbrg continu to affiliat with a bigotd privat group. Hi BSA affiliation i comparabl to omon who maintain a mmbrhip in a privat country club that will not allow Jwih or Black mmbr. Would Spilbrg do uch a thing? Of cour not. So why don't h top funding th BSA, rign from th BSA Adviory Board, and prvnt th BSA from uing hi good nam on advrtimnt and it litratur? Spilbrg ha bn iting on a fnc pot for ovr vn yar. A lttr writing campaign i ndd to puh him off th pot. Th qution will b, Which road will Spilbrg travl onc h i off th fnc pot? It might dpnd on what buin dal i in th making or it might dpnd on how many popl h har from. Mak your fling hard by writing a polit yt trong lttr to Spilbrg today. Snd your natly typd or handwrittn corrpondnc to: Stvn Spilbrg c/o Dramwork 100 Univral Plaza, Bungalow 477 Univral City, CA 91608 Th Anti-Dicrimination Support Ntwork would apprciat rciving a copy of your corrpondnc. Pla nd copi to: 2 Anti-Dicrimination Support Ntwork c/o Frthought Socity of Gratr Philadlphia P.O. Box 242 Pocopon, Pa 19366 If you hav any qution, pla call Margart Downy at (610) 793-2737 or E-mail to: downy1@cri.com Ed not: Thi lttr wa on th Athit Allianc Board of Dirctor -mail. A far a I m concrnd, th Brown Shirt can go ahad and dicriminat all thy want - o long a chool, military ba, and govrnmnt official pull thir upport. I would alo lik to point out that thr ar mor incluiv organization to blong to. Th Girl Scout and Camp Fir Boy and Girl com to mind. Camp Fir vn ha an athit/agnotic option for thir pirituality program. Gut Spakr Our Sptmbr 3, 2000 pakr will b Dr. William R. Cokr of th Dpartmnt of Phyic, Th Univrity of Txa at Autin. Thi i what h aid h'd pak about: "I'd lik to dicu th gnral tatu of cinc in US ocity, if I can car up nough hard tatitic on public attitud. Th titl might b omthing lik FAKE SCIENCE, ANTISCIENCE AND IGNORED SCIENCE." Dr. Cokr ha taught (among othr thing) "Pudocinc," a cour for non-cinc major. Our Octobr pakr (a prviouly announcd) will b Dr. Ray Moony of th Dpartmnt of Computr Scinc, Th Univrity of Txa at Autin. Hi topic i tntativly titld: "Artificial Intllignc: Mind without Myticim." I hav an anthropologit who i chcking hi chdul, but o far I hav no on lind up for Augut. And Th Survy Say: ~Suan Brown Q. What would you lik to tll middl chool kid about athim? A. I would lov to ncourag thm to think for thmlv, to fl fr to qution th logic of a magical bing who liv in th ky, and to try to undrtand how rligion cam to b, in th arly millnnia of human hitory, whn myticim wa th only availabl xplanation for lif' calamiti. W can aily rcogniz Zu and Hrcul a myth; why do w init that Ju i ral? Bcau w'r taught to, and for no othr raon.
Survy Rult Twnty thr popl rpondd to thi yar urvy in tim to hav thir rpon includd in my rport. Th full vrion of thi i availabl on th ACA wbit, but th following hould giv om ida of what mmbr think about th dirction ACA hould b taking: 6. What dirction would you lik to ACA tak? 4 # r p o n 3 2 1 0 n u m b r o f r p o n 4 3 2 1 Social Activiti 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 Political activim 0 1 2 1 2 3 4 5 4 5 9. What projct would you lik to ACA involvd in during th nxt yar? 1. Mor outdoor activiti on wknd (picnic/hik) 2. Support ROC 3. Work on gtting our own plac. 4. Mdia rpon, lttr writing/lobbying 5. Continu blood and organ donor card driv. 6. om ocial action that mor mmbr ar capabl of participating in 7.Find othr way to b mor viibl in th community. 8. Dvlop a Critical Thinking cour or a what i athim cour for UT Informal Cour program. 9. Mor community outrach and public ducation (apparanc in comparativ rligion cla/ community collg cla) 10. Public radio talk how 11. Rrun of TV how on air 10. Pla includ any uggtion you may hav that would mak ACA an vn bttr organization: 1. Mor varity of ocial and activit activiti. 2. Do mor at Furr uch a potry/pronal tori 3. Gt a building and hav ral mmbrhip mting twic a month a wll a Bagl hop 4. ncourag agnotic to join 5. On how lt a mmbr brifly ay why thy bcam athit 6. Phon tr to kp mmbr informd about vnt. 7. U thi urvy to pick nw projct. 8. Gt mor involvmnt by mmbr 9. B mor polit to viwr on how 12. How can ACA bt promot poitiv athim? 1. Nwpapr at lat onc a wk 2. Hon our argumnt v thim and promot thm 3. By howing that w can b a unitd and purpoful a thit 4. B viibl at march, community activiti /food driv/clothing driv tc. 5.Kp doing what w ar doing 6. Through ducating popl on how to mak uccful prdiction 7. Rmain activ in poitiv activiti in th community. 8. Public pakr bfor group 9. Kping up th how. 10. B mor viibl/ community rvic. 14. What topic hould b dicud on th nw Frthinkr Forum how? 1. Hitory of diffrnt rligiou movmnt 2. How popl can liv in a poitiv way w/o god 3. Buddhim 4. Athit famili 5. gay and lbian athit 6. Public chool and ducation 7. Political concrn 8. Maning and importanc of fr pch 9. Church/tat paration 10. Flaw in thinking faith i a good thing 11. Morality/xuality/myth of in 12. Non-thit artit 13. Athit in foxhol 14. Kid cau 15. Gni and Exodu 16. why it i important to com out of athit clot 17. Critical thinking 18. Gology and palontology 53
Rmoval Policy Th following policy wa adoptd at th July board mting. Th purpo of thi policy i to protct ACA a w bgin to xpand our mmbrhip. A. A motion to rmov a pron from mmbrhip, or to admit a nw applicant mut b approvd by at lat a 75% majority of th board. Th mmbrhip of a nw applicant will b conidrd pnding until thi mting. Thi mting will b part of th rgularly chduld board mting. If mmbrhip i rjctd or rcindd, mmbrhip du will b rfundd on a proratd bai. B. Th pron rmovd may appal to th mmbrhip by filing a writtn notic of appal with a co-chair, who hall call a pcial mting of th mmbrhip to b hld not mor than 45 day aftr th filing of th notic. At th pcial mting, th mmbr of th Board who votd for th rmoval hall tat thir raon for rmoval. Th rmaining Board mmbr and th pron rmovd hall b prmittd to rply. A vot hall thn b takn on th qution of whthr th rmoval i approvd. If a majority of tho mmbr in attndanc vot to approv th rmoval, thn th rmoval i final. If not, th pron i rintatd. Ed not: Jut bcau you r paranoid, don t man thy r not out to gt you! Not From th Board ACA Board Mting, July 9,2000: Old Buin: Traurr' rport: Our nw bank i Wll Fargo. Chcking account balanc, $695.76 Building Fund Balanc, $7,618.78 Prmannt Fund balanc, $5050 (Thi ha bn invtd in a 6 month CD at 5.75%.) Th donatd ring ha bn placd in a af dpoit box for af kping. It wa dcidd to tart th building fund at $6814.54, and to tart th chcking account at $1500. Blood Driv: Th nxt Blood Driv will b Sptmbr 23rd, 10 am, at th Rgional Blood and Tiu Cntr on N. Lamar. Sign: Jff i till working on th nw ign. Product: 4 TV: Suan Lohnr ha voluntrd to hlp Michll ordr nw product for a fw month. Pla Michll (gaduh@mail.utxa.du) if you would lik to voluntr to tak Suan plac whn h mov. Michll rport that h mad ovr $100 on product at th lat Furr mting. Th nd for a nw producr wa dicud. Th dciion a to who will b paid for th ncary training wa lft in th capabl hand of th TV committ. Jff D i rponibl for booking th gut on Th Athit Exprinc. Wbit: Rull now ha maintnanc acc to th wbit. H will put th mmbrhip form on-lin, and continu th ingl rvic. Library: Th ownr of th Hot Jumbo Baglry ha givn u prmiion to t up a lockd cabint in th hallway. Kith wa authorizd to pnd up to $150 to purcha a cabint for our library. Mmbrhip Driv: Arval donatd $1000 to hlp with th mmbrhip driv committ goal of raching 100 mmbr by th nd of Octobr. Th board had approvd $500 to covr initial cot. Thi committ will rport back to th board in Novmbr. If you hav any uggtion for incraing mmbrhip, on of th committ mmbr. Nw Buin: Ex baglification policy: A policy for th rmoval of mmbr wa adoptd S l war in thi nwlttr for full txt. Survy Rult wr ditributd and dicud. A Quot to put on your rfrigrator I am prjudicd againt rligion bcau I know th hitory of rligion, and it i th hitory of human miry and of black crim. Iaac Aimov
Mmbrhip Driv ACA will b having a mmbrhip driv thi fall Our goal i to hav at lat 100 mmbr by th nd of Octobr. Thi will allow nw mmbr tim to gt involvd with ACA activiti, and tim to qualify to b votd onto th board of dirctor at nxt yar lction. Arval ha gnrouly donatd $1000 to hlp covr mmbrhip driv xpn. Thank you, Arval! If you know of anyon intrtd in joining, pla invit thm down to th bagl hop. If you hav any ida for th mmbrhip driv committ, pla John Koonz (koonz@goblox.com), Jff D (antix@io.com), or Kith Brka (aafab@hotmail.com). If you hav not rnwd your mmbrhip, pla do o. Don t mak u nd Howard out to find you! Announcmnt Wkly Mting Sunday Morning at Hot Jumbo Baglry, 307 Wt 5th Strt at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday morning whn lctur ar not chduld at Furr' Caftria. ACA Board mting ar on th cond Sunday of th month at 12:00. Board mting ar opn to all mmbr. Gut Spakr Our Sptmbr 3, 2000 pakr i Dr. William R. Cokr of th Dpartmnt of Phyic, Th Univrity of Txa at Autin. H will pak about: FAKE SCIENCE, ANTISCIENCE AND IGNORED SCIENCE." Our Octobr pakr will b Dr. Ray Moony of th Dpartmnt of Computr Scinc, Th Univrity of Txa at Autin. Hi topic i tntativly titld: "Artificial Intllignc: Mind without Myticim." Lctur ar hld at Furr' Caftria in Northcro Mall, 11:00 am on th firt Sunday of th month. Suan Brown liatri@mail.utxa.du) i in charg of chduling our lctur. Th TV committ i alway looking for voluntr on Sunday morning. Thy alo nd donation to pay for tap and training. ACA TV Tap ar now availabl for $20.00 ach and will b offrd ovr th wb oon. Product Nw t-hirt hav arrivd. W till hav our original ACA t-hirt which lit a numbr of famou athit. W alo hav top tn raon br i bttr than ju br mug. S Michll Gaduh (gaduh@mail.utxa.du) for mor information on th and othr xciting athit product. Your ACA board of dirctor: Co-chair: Suan Brown John Koonz Traurr: Don Rhoad Scrtary: Earl Bach Board mmbr: Kith Brka Paul Wilon Michll Gaduh Rull Glar Arval Bohn Vic Farrow Jff D Howard King Manda D Library If you want to chck out a book, contact Earl Bach (arlb@jumpnt.com) o h can b ur to bring it to th baglry. If you would lik to donat a book, pla b ur to put your nam in it o w know who to thank. S Rodny if you would lik to chck out th nwlttr from othr athit group. Th nxt blood driv will b Sptmbr 23rd. Mt at th blood bank at 10:00AM at th Rgional Blood and Tiu Cntr on N. Lamar.. Vic Farrow ha takn of th rol of blood driv coordinator. Aftr you donat, b ur to giv him your coupon o that our account can b crditd. Annual Frthought and Thought-Fr Award Ray i hading up thi ffort. Th award will b givn on January 4th, 2001, th annivrary of th igning of th Traty of Tripoli. Snd nomination to John Koonz (jknz@hotmail.com). Randall Donation Randall will donat a prcntag of th mony you pnd thr to th Athit Community of Autin. To tak advantag of thi offr, contact th cutomr rvic dpartmnt of your nart Randall. Th ACA numbr i 5158. For mor information about any of th coming vnt, call (512) 371-2911 or -mail liatri@mail.utxa.du Th Athit i printd on omwhat rcycld papr! 5
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FOR THE ATHEIST COMMUNITY OF AUSTIN, INC. Lat nam: Firt nam: Companion' nam (if family or coupl mmbrhip) Lat nam: Firt nam: Addr: City/Stat/Zip: Tlphon : ( ) -mail addr: Thi i to crtify that I am a non-thit, that I hav rad th "Purpo" of th Athit Community of Autin, Inc. a tatd in th Contitution (blow), and that I am in agrmnt with th principl tatd hrin. I undrtand that mmbrhip i opn only to non-thit. Purpo Th Athit Community of Autin i organizd a a nonprofit ducational corporation to dvlop and upport athit community; to provid opportuniti for ocializing and frindhip, to promot athit viwpoint, to ncourag poitiv athit cultur, to dfnd th Firt Amndmnt principl of tat/church paration, to oppo dicrimination againt athit, and to work with othr organization in puruit of common goal. Thi organization hall oprat in an opn, dmocratic mannr, without dicrimination a to gndr, rac, ag, xual orintation, thnic origin, nationality, or diability. Th Bylaw to thi Contitution ar intndd to furthr dfin and xplain th oprating procdur of thi organization. Chang may b mad to th Bylaw whn ncary to improv th opration of thi organization. Chang to th Bylaw hall not altr th purpo of thi organization a t forth in it Contitution. Chck all that apply I wih to bcom a mmbr of th Athit Community of Autin, Inc. Mmbrhip f ar $24.00 pr yar, but our mmbrhip yar do not bgin until th 1t of March. My proratd mmbrhip f, at $2.00 pr month until nxt March, i nclod. I wih to mak a tax xmpt donation to ACA.Pla dirct my donation to th following fund: Ê Gnral Fund Ê Building Fund Ê Prmannt Fund I only wih to participat in th -mail group. My -mail addr i abov. No f i rquird. I wih to hlp ACA av mony by rciving Th Athit by -mail. No f i rquird. I wih to rciv a hard copy of Th Athit in th mail. $10 i nclod. Signatur: Dat: Signatur: Dat: Pla rturn thi form to: Athit Community of Autin, Inc., P.O. Box 3798, Autin, Txa 78764 6