How to Spread the Good News of Secularism

[rug]

Five tips for nonbelievers from the Carolinas Secular Conference

October 10, 2012
by Paul Bowers

The original headline of this story was going to be "How to Be a Good Atheist," but that wasn't exactly right. As several people pointed out at the Carolinas Secular Conference, held Sept. 28-30 at the Charleston Marriott, the modern secular movement welcomes a broad spectrum of people, from church-attending agnostics to hardcore Richard Dawkins acolytes.

The City Paper sat in on an afternoon workshop at the conference and asked a few attendees a broad question: "What does it take to be a good atheist (or agnostic, or humanist, or secularist)?" None gave a more interesting response than Bob Voelker, a former Lutheran pastor from Salisbury, N.C.

"The people skills that I learned in seminary to be a good pastor will serve me in excellent stead to be a good secularist," Voelker said. "Because I think if we secularists have a problem, it's that there are people who are outspokenly belittling of any other life stance ... Some of the most well-known national speakers are just plain boorish at times."

Voelker's conversion story has much to do with theodicy, or the theological reconciling of a benevolent and all-powerful god with the existence of evil — commonly phrased in the question "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Over the course of 20 years, Voelker lost two young daughters and his wife to an inherited genetic disease, childhood leukemia, and adult leukemia, respectively. After a career as an evolutionary and molecular biologist, he went to seminary seeking answers to his questions about God. He found few, and he began to doubt common Christian doctrines like the virgin birth and resurrection of Jesus. In the North Carolina church where he later served as pastor, Voelker says he tried to "open up the Christian tradition to some critical analysis," but many of his more theologically conservative parishioners opposed him at every turn.

http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/how-to-spread-the-good-news-of-secularism/Content?oid=4202148

[rexcat]

1. When you use "Good News"...

it harks of christian religious overtones. I think that is a poor choice of wording.

see link about "good news" http://goodnewsmag.org/

[rug]

2. I'm prety sure that was a deliberate choice, considering his fourth tip.

[rexcat]

3. I re-read #4...

and I am just not seeing it. Could be lack of sleep. We have a baby squirrel found in yard last Friday who was near death from hypothermia and have been taking care of the little guy/girl since.

[rug]

4. That's sad.

I found a small bird on its back the other day. The cat was standing over it. It was still breathing.

[rexcat]

8. The squirrel is doing very well...

the little thing has gained weight but is only eating formula (for dogs as recommended on several web sites). It doesn't seem to want to eat solid foods, probably too young. I am also puzzled as to why a squirrel would have a litter so late in the season. Chances of survival for the young would not be in their favor. Now we need to find a rescue person to take over the care.

[rug]

9. Good for hm and good for you!

I had to travel over an hour once to a rescue that treated feral baby rabbits.

It's gratifying when these fragile little lives survive.

[cbayer]

5. More coalition building and I am loving it, but there needs to be more

acknowledgment that one can be religious and a secularist, which he doesn't seem to do.

Anyway, good advice from him and I am increasingly optimistic.

[rug]

6. You know, I think that when there's a decisive moment, when bias-free secularism is on the cusp of

becoming reality, the theist/atheist dispute will sink to the academic realm where it belongs.

[cbayer]

7. Wouldn't that be wonderful. It would marginalize the extremism on both sides

and allow those who wish to proceed to do so arm in arm.

I am truly more optimistic that this will happen all the time.

[rug]

10. Geez, I'm not ready to go arm in arm!

But I'd welcome a stop to the nonsense.

[not an iSheeple]

11. Do you understand that this is intellectual hooey?

We are spirit-soul! This is as dry as the Sahara, Nancy.

[cbayer]

12. Back under the bridge with you.

[dimbear]

14. Scroll down to the comments.......

One suspects the 'most interesting speaker' was picked out mainly by the bias of the reporter.

As pseudo-Paul tells us in Timothy 3:6,
"he must not be a recent convert.........."