Spiritual Aspirations of An Agnostic

 People  6 Responses »
Jun 182014
 

For awhile now we have been asking for submissions for our website, stories about your deconversion or anything creative you would like to share with us like drawings or poems.    A lady named Sharon came by book club one night to pass along her story to me, and it reminded me a lot of how we all take different types of journeys on our way to atheism.   Sharon isn’t quite in the atheist camp yet, but has left her Christianity behind.  While reading this I tried to relate to the stages I went through (even though I was never a Christian I did believe in ghosts/supernatural/afterlife at one point).   Can you remember a stage like that for you?  What helped you move from agnostic to atheist?   Did it take you a longer time to let go of the idea of a ”soul” and than the idea of a God?  If you consider yourself agnostic, does any of this resonate with you, or do you have a different view?

Here is her story, which I’m sure is always subject to change as she leaves her faith behind.  Thank you for sharing with us Sharon!

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 Posted by at 9:10 AM

Solstice Picnic – The Details

 SEA Events  4 Responses »
Jun 152014
 

Summer Solstice Party bannerThe summer solstice is almost here again! Officially, it’s Saturday, June 21, 2014 at 4:51 AM in Edmonton. Since we’re a fan of picnics and potlucks, we’ll be celebrating it about 12 hours later in Coronation Park.

Where: The location is the RED canopy (Site #1) at Coronation Park (between Westmount Mall and Telus World of Science). Click here for a map. Parking is by the community hall on the north end of the park, however, you can drive around the loop and drop things off at the picnic site.

When: Saturday, June 21, starting a 4pm, and continuing until everyone leaves. We have a canopy, so this will be rain or shine. As last year demonstrated, even if Old Strathcona is experienceing torrential downpours and high winds, Coronation Park can have lovely weather.

What: Since this a potluck, picnic, fun social time, and all that good stuff, here’s what you should bring:

  • Hat, sunscreen, bug spray and other weather-appropriate summer items
  • Food: bring about as much food and non-alcoholic beverages as you think you (or you and your family) will eat over a course of a few hours. Salads, snacks, dips, desserts, and cold casseroles, and other typical potluck foods are great. Don’t worry too much about whether there will be duplicate dishes, we’ve never had a problem yet.
  • BBQ: There are wood BBQs and fire pits, so feel free to bring your own meat or veggies to cook up. Please remember to bring fire-safe utensils for cooking it.
  • Games: bubbles, balls, croquet, kites, whatever you think would be fun.

The SEA will provide disposable plates, cups, utensils, and napkins for everyone, although you can bring your own if you really want. We’ll also have a scavenger hunt for the younger kids, like last year.

Help: We will need a few volunteers. Please contact us if you can help with one of these:

  • A cooler with ice for drinks
  • A cooler with ice for meats, or other perishables
  • Some firewood, kindling, and lighter (not a lot, think file-box sized)
  • Help during the picnic with the scavenger hunt

 

 

 

Pride Parade 2014

 Events  3 Responses »
Jun 082014
 

Pride 2

Another year, another great parade!    Our new Flying Spaghetti Monster made his debut this year at the parade and although his noodleness did lose his hat in the rainstorm (and a few noodles, which we will re-attach),  we managed to make it to the end with smiles the entire way.   A shout out to Nathan Phelps for coming up from Calgary to march with us too, what an honour!

Pride 1

At the booth, the wheel of statistical probabilities was a hit again this year.  We upgraded to a proper wheel this time and you could win a hug from an atheist, candy or a FSM blessing.  New pamphlets were available as well as all our usual merchandise, and the booth was pretty busy for the bulk of the day.    Overall, a very successful and fun filled day.

A big thank you to those that marched in the parade, those that helped at the booth and those that cheered from the crowd,  it was a whole lot of fun and we look forward to next year!

 Posted by at 11:25 PM

Pride Parade!

 Events, News, People  3 Responses »
Jun 042014
 

Together In Pride
On Saturday June 7th we will be participating in the Pride Parade here in Edmonton.   The muster point for those of you marching with us is at 102 ave and 108 street and you’ll need to arrive by 11:30am.      Please wear a brightly coloured shirt and whatever else you may need to deal with the weather on the day.   We are carrying the Flying Spaghetti Monster so will need some volunteers to help and others of us can carry signs or wave around noodly ribbon appendages.   We are not allowed to give away any food or throw things like confetti, so please don’t bring anything like that.  Bubbles might be okay though   😉   Have fun, smile and engage the crowd!    If you want to be in the crowd and watch the parade that’s great too, just don’t forget to cheer for us and if you have a camera take plenty of pictures.

PRIDE MAP

After the parade we have a booth set up in Churchill Square.  We will have the ”statistical wheel of probabilities” again where you can spin to win things like FSM blessings and hugs.  We’ll have new pamphets and info available as well as merchandise for sale.     Drop by and say hello!

BOOTH LOCATION

We are also pleased to announce that Nathan Phelps (son of Fred Phelps from Westboro Baptist Church) is coming up to march with us.   After leaving the church at 18,  Nathan became a strong advocate for the LGBT community and is also a vocal atheist.    We are more than excited to have him join us this year!   His newest project has just been announced this week,  a documentary of his journey.  Check out the kickstarter page and trailer ”NOT My Father’s Son”

See you on Saturday!

 Posted by at 12:09 PM

Update on Roundtable tonight

 Events, SEA Events  No Responses »
Jun 032014
 

Unfortunately our guest speaker scheduled to come talk about Buddhism tonight is in bed with the flu.  Rather than spread his germs around we are going to postpone his talk and have a discussion about something else instead.

Right now, we are leaning towards a discussion that will touch on the David Silverman event and the topics he raised, discussing what it means to be an  ”out atheist”  and the differences in how we go about that.   Firebrand or Diplomat: Which are you? While  “firebrands” may favor a more passionate, confrontational approach, speaking directly about absurdities and contradictions of religious institutions, “diplomats” prefer a more respectful, more sympathetic, less confrontational approach towards religion and religious beliefs. Is one view better than the other? Do these two views compliment each other? How do we work together within our own movement despite our different approaches?

Hope to see you out!    Stanley Milner Library, tonight at 7pm, in the Centennial room which is on the lower floor.

Karen Kerr, President
LOGO updated 2013

 Posted by at 3:33 PM