While it may seem like a contradiction, Minnesota Atheists, along with Trinity United Methodist Church, have organized a secular bible study.  By taking a purely secular approach, we seek to provide a safe environment for both sides to engage in dialog, experience different approaches, and focus on the history and different cultural contexts of the bible.  If you are interested, please join the Secular Bible Study Meetup Group. By joining the group, you'll be able to see pictures of who you will be dialoging with and you can maintain communications through their message board.

by Steve Petersen

We produced four programs in the past two months.  In November, James Zimmerman interviewed Grant Steves in two programs titled "Inerrancy: The Christian Text and Christian Fundamentalism Why?"  In December, Grant Steves conducted two interviews titled, "Lynn Fellman as Artist and Lynn Fellman as DNA Artist."   If you would like to help on the cable program or sponsor the program on your city or have ideas for a future program please contact me at chair@mnatheists.org.

 

by August Berkshire

At our November meeting we announced that we were not going to renew our contract with KTNF AM 950 radio due to cost. Instead, we were going to create a live podcast of our program, which would cost us almost nothing. Now it looks like we're going to have the best of both worlds.

KTNF did not want to lose us, so they made a lower, counter-offer, which we accepted. We have signed a contract to continue for the first six months of 2009.

However, KNTF would like to charge us the full rate again after those six months. The only way we can do this is to find a co-sponsor who will pay for half. With that in mind, we are open to experimenting, by changing our show into an "Atheist-Theist News Hour" and finding a religious co-sponsor.

August Berkshire, president of the Minnesota Atheists, will present "The Top 12 Excuses Religious People Give for the Horrible Behavior of their God" at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Centennial Student Union 284 at Minnesota State.

The event is hosted by Campus Atheists and Agnostics. According to organization member Trista Ayers, the presentation is designed for non-religious individuals and religious individuals to open discussion on important topics.

"People are more than welcome to bring their own ideas," Ayers said.

Reposted from the Sillwater Gazette

by Lee Salisbury

 

As a former bible-believing evangelical pastor, I empathize with Pastor Mark Becker's feelings of offense with Andrew Carnegie comment - calling God a "fiend." Independent thinkers like Carnegie, especially when demonstrative of indispensable magnanimity to society, threaten commonly embraced views that atheists are evil.

Pastor Becker correctly observes that Carnegie was a responsible steward of his fortune. However, Carnegie's philanthropic motivation differed from the Christian motivation. Carnegie was motivated solely by what was the "right thing to do here and now" with no thought of pleasing an imaginary God who intimidates unbelievers with hell and rewards believers with heaven.