We took the plunge and built a church over in Second Life. It’s small but nice, with a modern feel about it. Details on how to find us at the bottom of this article.

For those who don’t know. Second Life is a thriving online simulated world. Complete with land ownership, currency, creation/purchase/sale of objects, and of course interaction with other live online people. Millions of people and organizations have established themselves on Second Life, some sell real world or in game objects to make an actual living! You should check it out.

While playing is free, to buy land in SL costs money, real money. Objects and buildings cost money, too. Obviously we can’t afford some big sprawling estate, but we did get a nice piece of land, in a beautiful area, with a very sleek little building for our church. There is a limit on the number of objects (buildings included) a given size property can hold, so the small building actually works out great.

Tags: atheist, Athiesm, Church, FCA, Second Life

Also Large Online Library; Lifelong Curriculums

For Immediate Release - Contact Fred Edwords at (202) 238-9088 fedwords (at) americanhumanist (dot) org - www.americanhumanist.org

(Washington, D.C., May 14, 2008) The Kochhar Humanist Education Center (KHEC) was launched today by the American Humanist Association at a Washington DC press conference. The new center is already developing curriculum for the humanist equivalent of Sunday schools, which include programs in ethics geared to serve the children of atheists, agnostics and freethinkers. It is also developing similar curriculums to serve high school and college students, parents and older adults. And to support this endeavor, the KHEC launched an online resource center, together with the first books of what will become a massive online freethought library. (Go to www.americanhumanist.org/khec/ to see it now.)

by Robert G. Ingersoll
1894
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Somebody ought to tell the truth about the Bible. The preachers dare not, because they would be driven from their pulpits. Professors in colleges dare not, because they would lose their salaries. Politicians dare not. They would be defeated. Editors dare not. They would lose subscribers. Merchants dare not, because they might lose customers. Men of fashion dare not, fearing that they would lose caste. Even clerks dare not, because they might be discharged. And so I thought I would do it myself.

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JUNCTION CITY, Kan. — Like hundreds of young men joining the Army in recent years, Jeremy Hall professes a desire to serve his country while it fights terrorism.

But the short and soft-spoken specialist is at the center of a legal controversy. He has filed a lawsuit alleging he’s been harassed and his constitutional rights have been violated because he doesn’t believe in God. The suit names Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

“I’m not in it for cash,” Hall said. “I want no one else to go what I went through.”

Known as “the atheist guy,” Hall has been called immoral, a devil worshipper and — just as severe to some soldiers — gay, none of which, he says, is true. Hall even drove fellow soldiers to church in Iraq and paused while they prayed before meals.

Written by: Jacki McMaster

When I was an infant, my parents had me baptized. They didn’t want to, but my Grandmother insisted. They agreed to her wishes, because neither of them was very for or against religion.

My mother was raised Christian, Methodist to be specific. The church never felt like home to her. She always told me, “It’s silly to think that you have to go to a specific place once a week to worship God. And it’s even sillier that they make you pay to do it. God is in everything around you. Appreciating the world is prayer enough.”

My father, on the other hand, was raised Jewish. His father was a non-practicing Christian, but his mother attended synagogue regularly and decided to raise her 3 children accordingly. When my father was 12 years old, he decided that he was not going to have his Bar Mitzvah. He didn’t believe in what he was learning, and didn’t want to put in the time and effort necessary to learn the required tasks. His mother was not happy, but allowed him to make his own decision.

According to futurist Ray Kurzweil, nano-factories could be providing you and your family with meals, medicines, and most essentials by as early as mid-2020s.

A recent government report, “Nanotechnology: the Future is Coming Sooner Than You Think” outlined when we can expect nano-products to enter the consumer market:

2000-2005 – mostly passive nano items were developed during this period, including sunscreens, tennis rackets, stain/water-resistant clothing, and other high-tech products.

2005-2010 – active products that change states during use are typical for this group. These include materials that sense when a product is strained, such as cars that automatically repair dents; wiper-less windshield cleaners; materials that convert sunlight into electricity to power personal electronics; clothing that changes color and texture on command; and nanofoods such as fat-free donuts, cholesterol-lowering cheeseburgers, and “smart” grocery packaging materials that prevent food from spoiling.