***NOTE LOCATION CHANGE***

Tuesday, 7 February 2012, 7:00pm – 9:30pm

Room 7, 6th Floor, Stanley A Milner Library, 7 Sir Winston Churchill Square, Edmonton, Alberta.

Centennial Room (library basement), Stanley A Milner Library, 7 Sir Winston Churchill Square, Edmonton, Alberta.

It’s the Society of Edmonton Atheists monthly roundtable, first Tuesday of every month starting at 7 p.m!

This month we will be having a much more interactive roundtable discussion. Everyone is encouraged to bring a story that they have heard, or read about, or have had happen to them that involves a religious fundamentalist saying or doing something completely ludicrous. We will all take turns telling our stories and then at the end of the night we will vote on which one we think is best and the person that told that story will win a prize.

**PLEASE NOTE** – This month we are meeting in the basement of the library and not in our usual room. The name of the meeting room is “The Centennial Room”

Drinks at Elephant and Castle afterwards at 9:00 pm-ish

Upcoming round-tables (mark your calendars!):

6 March 2012: “History of Religious Holidays”

3 April 2012: SEA Annual General Meeting

1 May 2012: “Religion’s role in Addictions’ Support”

5 June 2012: “What atheists can learn from religion”

All are welcome to both events! See you there!

Facebook RSVP here

http://www.edmontonatheists.ca/

info@edmontonatheists.ca

http://albertaprimetime.com/Headlines.aspx?pd=3276

I was a theistic-type ‘metaphysical healer’ less than 2 years ago. I wanted to raise the world’s ‘frequency and consciousness’. I read all the books, attended the classes and shows, got a certificate in ‘crystal healing’ and everything. I was surrounded every moment with constant New Age beliefs while working at a local health food store.
(These days, as a skeptic, ‘having a certificate in crystal therapy’ is like having a certificate in training unicorns and dancing with leprechauns. It’s deluded, doesn’t exist, and is a waste of everyone’s time.)

Being an avid New Ager, I thought/believed:

• I had psychic powers and could heal people with nothing but my hands and thoughts.
• That we had swirling colors of ‘energy’ all around us and if I ‘trained’ enough, I could see and read them like a colourful Morse code. (Chakras or Aura Reading)
• That if you wore a symbol of something, that that symbol had a particular ability to give you. (Runes/Celtic symbols, Tribal/goddess figurines, religious symbols etc.)
• And more*

Fortunately, reality gave way. Attempting to look into any evidence to justify my beliefs to others, I came up empty handed or shot full of holes. The science that I loved so much couldn’t make any sense of this non-specific ‘energy’ business. Everything I had believed in wasn’t true, and had no rational or logical backing to it. Reading article after article critiquing my beliefs sounded the death knell for my entire way of life.

My heart broke. It was nothing more than wishful thinking and a desire to actually have ‘magic’ and ‘powers’ in some form or another in my life. I thought I could be special.

I was lied to. I was mislead. I was deluded. It was an illusion. The veil was lifted, and I couldn’t go back.

I became an atheist at the same time I gave up all of my New Age beliefs. It only drove me further to seek the truth, and I didn’t find religion there.

Not having any skeptics around me in life didn’t help in preventing me from falling for the charade, either. I was raised to be theistic and I guess, in the end, raised to accept whatever anyone told me or suggested. Magic and the esoteric are always supported by religion. Logic and critical thinking are not.

It’s All The Same

Of course, every religion, every spiritual ‘practice’ makes these sort of magical, mystical, no evidence claims. What does ‘awakening’, ‘frequency’ and ‘consciousness’ even mean in the sort of ambiguous context New Age puts it in? Why would certain colors or crystals on parts of my body ‘heal me’? Why would a planetary position change or affect my personal life?

This metaphysical stuff is the same ‘spiritual’ blather that religion requires. It’s put into a nicer looking more ‘modern’ (and I use that term lightly) package so that all the usual constricting and contradicting rules and doctrine of a religion don’t have to be followed. It just ‘feels’ better because there is no fear or guilt attached. There is no overlooking mean person in the sky judging you, there are just wispy magical energies around you that can help you if you can find them. It’s all the same basic thoughts and ideas but with no storyline, no rules, and no characters to ‘hold it together’ like religion creates.

Here are some beliefs in ‘New Age’ compared to some religious beliefs:

• Belief that we are all ‘special’ and have some ‘special’ purpose? Check
• Belief that this ‘purpose’ is somehow ‘revealed to us’ through mystical/magical means? Check
• Belief in some higher spiritual power(s)(like the universe or ‘energy’ as an anthropomorphic entity)? Check
• Belief in a ‘soul’ or life force? Check
• Belief that our ‘soul’ goes somewhere or that something special happens after our body death)’? Check
• Belief that by doing particular things we can gain higher access to certain ‘planes of existence/being/consciousness’? Check
• Belief that moving the hands over the body or laying hands on the body can ‘heal’ someone? Check
• Belief that particular objects, colors, or words contain magical powers? Check
• Belief that a few particular people know the ‘truth’ and can share their ‘special knowledge’ with the rest of us who are not so ‘enlightened’? Check
• Belief in ‘love’ being some ultimate ‘thing’ that we all just need to be ‘complete’ and that it flows from ‘something’ to us? Check
• Hallucinations and feelings that supposedly can’t be described/lights/overwhelming emotion? Check
• Relying on pure anecdotal testimony? Check

In the end, it’s all the same delusion.

*I also used to believe that:
-Everyone else around me was constantly sick with ‘bad energies’ that needed to be ‘cleansed’ and ‘balanced’. (Reiki)
-Burning a plant in my house would rid it of some ‘energy’ that wasn’t supposed to be there. (Ritualistic sage home and body ‘cleansing’)
-The way the planets moved had an effect on my life. (Astrology)
-Magical faeries, angels, and ‘spirit animals’ actually lead my life somehow. (Life or spirit guides)
-Sticking needles into points on your body ‘heals’ it. (Acupuncture)
-A flower had a magical essence that could remove ‘bad’ emotions (Flower Essences).
-There is a ‘map’ of the human body on the foot, and if you touch those corresponding points, it’ll help heal that part fo your body.(Reflexology)
-Putting furniture in a particular pattern in a room changed how things are ‘attracted’ to you in life. (Feng Shui)
- Holding a product in your hand while someone ‘tests’ your muscle strength of your arm could tell you whether or not something was helpful for you. (Muscle Testing)
-Certain colors could ‘heal’ afflictions, pain etc. (Color and Chakra Therapy)
-Plain water that had supposedly gone through some sort of mixing treatment could ‘heal’ people.(Homeopathy)

After more than a year of dealing with the school board and education ministry to obtain secular public schooling for their children, the parents in Morinville filed a human rights complaint with the Commission.

The Alberta Human Rights Commission refused to consider the case. Supposedly the education minister has a solution ready to go, and just hasn’t announced it, but the parents are expecting a great solution, based on the ministry’s past performance.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/life/Human+rights+commission+consider+Morinville+school+complaint/6064040/story.html

Morinville Public Elementary School had its first day of classes in their new modular classrooms Monday, January 23. The modulars are located adjacent to an existing Elementary School, Georges P. Vanier. The two modular classrooms were expected for the beginning of the 2011-12 school year but were delayed for months. Students were first taught in the Morinville Community Cultural Centre, but increased enrollment required larger space and the students were moved to conference rooms in the Sturgeon School Division Office. Schooling in the modular classrooms will begin a shared space arrangement between Greater St. Albert Catholic Regional Division – the public school division for Morinville – and the Sturgeon School Division – the guest provider.

Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk did meet with Greater St. Albert Catholic Regional Division, Sturgeon School Division and St. Albert Protestant School District last week. However, parents continue to wait for an announcement by the Minister of Education on the outcome. Information on whether there will be a local solution, or if the minister will determine the long term solution for public education in Morinville remains elusive.

Recent News:

9 January 2012
Interview with Donna Hunter, Morinville fights for secular education, Alberta Primetime
http://www.albertaprimetime.com/Archived.aspx?pd=3199

10 January 2012
Interview with Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk, The Education Act, Alberta Primetime
http://www.albertaprimetime.com/Archived.aspx?pd=3197

12 January 2012
Column: Simons: Human Rights Commission must treat complaints of Morinville parents seriously by Paula Simons, Edmonton Journal
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/life/Simons+Human+rights+commission+must+treat+complaints+Morinville/5981590/story.html

14 January 2012
Post: Freedom of religion and secular education in Morinville by Alana Hall, University of Alberta, CCLA Rights Watch, Pro Bono Students Canada
http://www.ccla.org/rightswatch/2012/01/14/freedom-of-religion-and-secular-education-in-rural-alberta/

17 January 2012
Article: No solution yet for secular education in Morinville by Rob Hislop, iNews880
http://www.inews880.com/Channels/Reg/LocalNews/story.aspx?ID=1573361

• Come join us for brunch at a family friendly restaurant.

Saturday January 21 –“Newbie Night”- Elephant and Castle @ City Centre Mall – 7 PM – Facebook

• If you’re new to the SEA or atheism/agnosticism and interested in meeting some other new people in an informal setting, and learning what the SEA is all about, this is the event for you!
• Please RSVP with Facebook or by contacting us.
• There will be a reservation under “Marion”, so ask the greeter and they’ll point you towards the correct table.

Sunday January 22 – Stitch & Bitch – Remedy Café – 8631 109 St – 1PM – Facebook

• Bring along some kind of portable handicraft and meet some fellow atheists! Or, use this as an excuse to get some good chai and discuss your latest project.
• We’ll try to claim one of the booths on the main floor. Second choice, upstairs. Look for the huge bag made from knitting scraps.

- The proposed Office of Religious Freedom that the federal government is working on

- The human rights complaint recently issued by the Morinville parents

They’re both worth a read.

http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1103718465982-60/NewsletterWinter2012Vol12No2.pdf

info@edmontonatheists.ca

Here is the facebook invite.

Albert’s Family Restaurant at Bonnie Doon Mall
Sunday, December 11, 2011
9:00am

We’ll have some SEA contact cards on the table, and will probably be at a table close to the front.