Young Atheists' Newsletter, #3

Have a nice week everyone? Hope so. I received a few things via e-mail which I will post in a few seconds. I was really busy today and haven't had much time to think about the letter this week. I also didn't receive all that I hoped to receive. As you know last weeks question was, "What is love?" I have one persons response which, frankly, was damned good. I liked it a lot and hope you feel the same way. This week I will post the same question and hope it will give you a little incentive to write to me and give your own insight on the topic at hand now. I'm still waiting for you (Gary) to write me your piece so I can add it to the newsletter along with the responses to the big question I asked last week and am still asking now. So, when I receive Gary's piece, I will repost the letter I received concerning the question and any additional letter I receive in the coming week. I want to make our first discussion a good one but I'm having difficulty putting it together. I'm thinking about making the newsletter only once a month to give everyone enough time to submit. If you think this a good or bad idea, tell me. Every two weeks? Three? Name it.

Here's the basic info:
We currently have ten (10) members from America Online and seven (7) Internet members. If you know anyone who fits in to the category of atheist (majority of the club), agnostic (me), or any other religion who wants to be included on a discussion paper, have them e-mail me. We could always use more members! I hope the information I will include in a sec will allow more people to have access to the newsletter and so they will want to join.

GUIDELINES:
I will NOT tolerate any sort of flaming towards myself or other members and their ideas. If I receive a report of such activities that cause anyone distress, the person responsible will have their membership terminated. This newsletter will contain any subject matter you wish to see. What I will not publish will be anything that I feel is not "fit to print." If a member sees something that he/she does not want to see in the newsletter, speak up! I will make a correction in a following newsletter.

You will see the above guidelines in each newsletter.
Other atheist\agnostic discussion areas:
For AOL members, it's simple. Keyword RELIGION will set you in the direction filled with religious stuff. Discussions, chat rooms, whatever.
For us Internet surfers, there is the ever popular news group alt.atheism.moderated
There is also an FTP site: ftp.mantis.co.uk
I also received this from a brand new member:
The official WWW version of this newsletter can be found at http://www.sdsmt.edu/caa/ya_news/
Cool huh? I'll check it out as soon as AOL gets WWW connection. Should be soon.
Here's a useless fact: 
Percentage of American adults who say they 
have "never heard of the Internet": 58              -Harper's Index, Feb 1995
mkw9780@silver.sdsmt.edu
Actually, it's kinda sad. Ignorant people are always pretty depressing.
Ok. Here's the letter I received with one members personal depiction to the question, "What is love?"

(This week's question: What is love?)

In a scene from one of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes, Picard and Data are in the Captain's ready room awaiting the possible annihilation of the Enterprise. Data says: "Captain, there is something I have wanted to ask you. What is the meaning of life?" Picard responds: "Oh, is that all?" as if it were a very simple question. But, I digress. On to this week's question:
What is love?
My answer - "Oh, is that all?"
After 38 years on both sides of relationships, it seems to me that love is like a box of chocolates... no, wait, someone else said that. I've found that love is like a fire - the warmth and endurance you get from it depends on how you build it. A fire made of nothing but tinder and kindling will burn very bright and hot for a short period of time, somewhat like the one-night stand kind of fling. A fire built of the proper mixture of tinder, kindling, and logs will burn heartily at the beginning, then slow and warm for a long time afterwards, somewhat like the committment of a fulfilling long-term marriage. I consider myself fortunate that I'm involved in one of those long-term slow and warm relationships. My wife, after a few minor complaints, would tend to agree.

A bouncy, bubbly Christian may take a different approach: "Can't you see that God is love?" Frankly, no, I can't. As much of a "leap of faith" that is required to accept the premise that God exists, is also required to make the connection that God is love. To extend my previous fire analogy, God's love could be analogous to a faulty lighter trying to ignite a pile of poor-grade charcoal with no lighter fluid. Then (as in the Kingsford Charcoal commercial), when the neighbors over for a barbecue ask when the food will be ready, the chef explains that we should all imagine the fire burning so that the food will be cooked.

Jim Croce gave us the following: 

"You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit in the wind
You don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger
And you don't mess around with..."
Well, we all know that it's Jim you don't mess around with, but after reading the passage in Mark 11 about Jesus and the fig tree, apparently it's Christians you don't mess around with - if Jesus is to be believed. Mark 11:23-24 has Jesus promising his disciples that anyone - Anyone! - who sincerely believes in God will have the power to move mountains, the ability to do anything. Here's a testable implication of Christianity and the authority of Jesus: have someone claiming to be a sincere Christian attempt a feat normally impossible, such as putting a Cadillac up their nose (an old Steve Martin joke), using only the promise of Jesus that it can be done. It can't. It hasn't. No mountains have been moved, no miracles performed. Certainly, very convincing hoaxes have been pulled, but a quick reading of James "The Amazing" Randi's *Flim-Flam!* (published by Prometheus Books) will take the shine off those roses in quick order. We are then left with two possibilities: A) Jesus was lying, or B) there exist no Christians with enough sincerity or enough faith to take Jesus up on his offer. Either option doesn't speak too well for the Christian faith...

Wayne Delia
redsox3@aol.com

Very well done Wayne. Thank you. Yours is the only submission I've received so far that was a good long discussion piece. It gave me a chuckle also. Thanks. If anyone would like to add to that, please do. Also any arguments to it will be added to next weeks newsletter. I will repost it also if Gary mails me. It will be important to his piece.

Well, it's late and I have to hit the sack. Don't forget to e-mail me. I need it and so do some of our members. It's important. I expect lots-o-mail in the next week guys and girls, so lets see it, ok? We have two new members this week and I hope to have more by next letter. You wanted the newsletter, so did I, I put it together, I need help though if it is to work. Keep the good stuff coming Dentar and Wayne. Thanks guys. C-ya next week.

Your host,
KevinL3@aol.com

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