Weekly Update 4/23/12

I feel like I should stop calling these updates. That sounds so formal . These are nuggets of secular awesomeness that would be telepathically inserted into your brains if I could figure out how to update the MentaModem(tm). Alas, email will have to suffice.

Important Announcement: Elections are coming up. NOMINATIONS ARE DUE BY MIDNIGHT on FRIDAY, MAY 11. Please email ssauchicago@gmail.com with your nominations for President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and PR/Outreach Director. Put 'SA Elections' as the subject heading. You may nominate yourself or anyone from the group who has come to more than two meetings this year.

Meeting Reminder

We're going to have a meeting Tuesday, April 24th at 6:00 pm in the Uncommon Room of Rockefeller chapel. We're going to discuss humanism and art with the meeting led by Josh Oxley. So all you humanities people, don't say we don't love you!

Questions and Thoughts: 

• What role does art play in human life? 
• Can art be transcendent? How does that transcendence relate to religious transcendence?

Link from Josh: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/20/art-museums-churches

Awesome Things

Hey all!

So as I'm sure you know, Ask an Atheist Day is this Thursday (info here). I'll be passing out some stickers at the meeting on Tuesday (Uncommon Room, Rockefeller Chapel, 6pm), and if you want to table, sign up here. But we need baked goods to pass out to passersby so we can prove we're good people (as if that were ever in doubt). So we're having a baking party (science themed cookies, anyone?) at 5:30 pm tomorrow! RSVP here: https://www.facebook.com/events/296121553799718/. It's going to be really fun, relaxed and full of butter and sugar, as all good things are.

Also, if you care to wake up before noon tomorrow, our very own Josh Oxley is giving a sermon tomorrow at the Unitarian Church at 10:00 am called "Between Godly and Godless." If you want to just say hi but not go to the service, show up around 11:00 am for the coffee hour. If you have any questions about protocol or anything else, shoot him an email at joxley@uchicago.edu. Go out and support him!

And remember to send me election nominations. Nominate yourself! Take a leadership role! It's awesome. And you can talk to anyone on the board at any time about their experiences. Just shoot us an email at ssauchicago@gmail.com.

Weekly Update 4/13/12

I guess this is also the third week update. You get two third week updates this week!

Important Announcement: Elections will be coming up in a few weeks. Please email ssauchicago@gmail.com with your nominations for President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and PR/Outreach Director. Put 'SA Elections' as the subject heading. You may nominate yourself or anyone from the group who has come to more than two meetings this year.

Meeting Reminder

We're going to have a meeting Tuesday, April 17th at 6:00 pm in the Uncommon Room of Rockefeller chapel. We're going to have our rationality tested to the limits by Mike Mei in a Rationality Lab. It's going to be awesome. Probably rockets and explosions will be involved. I mean, if you can't build a spaceship with it, it doesn't really matter. Get your rationality hats on!

Questions and Thoughts:

• What does it mean to be rational? 
• How do we improve our rationality skills? 
• Think you're rational? Find out. 
• There's a whole community centered around being more rational. 
• What is rationality?

Weekly Update 4/8/12

It's third week already. Anyone else think that's crazy?

Important Announcement: Elections will be coming up in a few weeks. Please email ssauchicago@gmail.com with your nominations for President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and PR/Outreach Director. Put 'SA Elections' as the subject heading. You may nominate yourself or anyone from the group who has come to more than two meetings this year.

We're going to have a meeting Tuesday, April 10th at 6:00 pm in the Uncommon Room of Rockefeller chapel. We're going to talk about Sex Ed and what a humanist curriculum would look like.

Thoughts and questions:

• What do kids need to know about sex? Whose responsibility is it to teach them? 
• Should schools be worried about taking over parents' roles? 
• What teaching techniques are best for this kind of thing? 
• What are the potential negative consequences of bad sex ed? Of too much sex ed? 
• Are there allowances made for religious students?

And much more. If you have any thoughts or relevant links before the meeting, please feel free to share them on our Facebook page.

A few to start with:

• Rational Sex Education: http://atheistethicist.blogspot.com/2012/03/reason-rally-topic-rational-sex.html
• What I wish my Sex Ed Teacher had taught me: http://pervocracy.blogspot.com/2012/02/things-i-wish-my-sex-ed-teacher-had.html Relationship Ed: http://pervocracy.blogspot.com/2011/08/relationship-ed.html

Weekly Update 4/2/12

Hey guys! Welcome to second week.

We're going to have a meeting tomorrow, April 3rd at 6:00 pm in the Uncommon Room of Rockefeller chapel. We're going to talk about religious liberty and what a secular America should look like.

Thoughts and questions:

• What's something you would change about American politics or legal system (not social stigma) to make it more secular?
• Can secularism go too far?
• What's the line between freedom from religion and freedom of religion?
• What can be claimed as a necessary exemption for religious liberty? (SAT's on Sundays for Orthodox Jews, Catholic hospitals not being required to perform abortions, etc.) Which are reasonable?
• Is religious pluralism a value that a government should protect?

And many more. Discuss and put links up on the Facebook page.