A week from today I’ll be heading off to Amherst, New York for the Center For Inquiry Student Conference. I’m tres excited.

CFI is a pretty cool organization. …Here is what it is all “about”:

The purpose of the Center for Inquiry is to promote and defend reason, science, and freedom of inquiry in all areas of human endeavor. The Center for Inquiry is a transnational nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that encourages evidence-based inquiry into science, pseudoscience, medicine and health, religion, ethics, secularism, and society.

Through education, research, publishing, and social services, it seeks to present affirmative alternatives based on scientific naturalism. The Center is also interested in providing rational ethical alternatives to the reigning paranormal and religious systems of belief, and in developing communities where like-minded individuals can meet and share experiences.

Coooool. I’m really excited to get more involved with the center, as well as the secular group on campus at the University of Guelph. Not only do I want to be involved more heavily with these organizations, its my intention to get involved with Camp Quest next year (if I don’t run away and hide in Muskoka so I can pretend the world is okay for a couple months and just live in the forest.)

I figure if Kenesserie was going to fire me for being an atheist, I might as well try to get involved with a camp that will embarce my desicions to question life and live through reasonable thought.

More on the conference… There is an expected 140 people for the entire weekend! Woo! Speakers include Taner Edis a physics prof who wrote a book An Illusion of Harmony: Science and Religion in Islam, Barbara Forrest, a philosophy prof and key witness from the Dover/Kitzmiller ID trial, Eddie Tabash chair of the Council for Secular Humanism and the First Amendment Task Force, Jamy Ian Swiss doing a session called The Illusion of Psychic Powers and Nica Lalli author of Nothing: Something to Believe In.

I ‘m really excited to see all of the speakers and to hang out with all the people that will be there. (Including our very own commentor Alon Levy! Woo!) It’s going to be superb and a blast.

I will come back with pictures and stories galore. I promise.

Religion is interesting.

The other night I reluctantly had dinner with my parents and their friends. (I always have dinner wtih my parents, but its their friends that make me nervous. The last friend my mom had over, I jokingly said “i love george bush!” and she replied “me too!” but wasn’t kidding. FUN table talk.) These particular friends were from the church (my step dad is a minister) and I got talking to them about why the United Church is failing and the likely possibility that their church will be completely dead within the next 20 - 50 years because they’re not adhearing to the wants and needs of the youths in their religion.

Anyway, that’s all irrelavent for the point I want to make.

The point I want to make is how incredibly cautious I was of calling myself an atheist. In point of fact - I didn’t refer to myself as an atheist until over 2 hours into the conversation (and 4 hours since the dinner had actually started.) From how I was talking, you would have thought I was religious in some way. I spoke about attending church, and respecting religions and want to observe them. …But it becomes more clear as to why an atheist would speak like this when you find out I already have a minor in religious studies.

I ended up speaking about the Center for Inquiry and Carpe Diem, two atheist groups that I am involved in - and then eventually had to admit that I was an atheist.

I’m not sure why I didn’t want to say it. To my friends, I’m very open about it… Even around most public settings I’m very open about - especially at parties. (There is always that one mad crazy christian who’ll want to fight you.. .and its just too fun.) Maybe it’s that I didn’t want to “embarass” my parents in front of their friends, or I didn’t want these religous people to lose “respect” for me. I see now, that both of these concerns is extremely silly, but for some reason they were actual concerns at the time.

We did have a good part of the discussion about how stupid and silly creationism is, which was nice. And they all agreed that the church is in a pretty horrible state. There was a lot in common, religion wise, which surprised me. But it was an eye opener for me of how insecure I am about my particular lack of religion. I’m going to go ahead and blame that on the fact that I was raised by a minister and a mom who hearts religion.

The point of my story here, is that I’m going to more aware of this. And ensure that the next time I am put into a religious discussion with a room full of religious people who I respect, I will not be ashamed to tell them all I’m an atheist and disagree with all of them.

(And in light of this new goal to be more loud and proud of my atheism, I’m adding an “atheism” category.)

If you watched the Colbert Report tonight, that title is a whole lot funnier.

…I’ll admit, they actually don’t get that many goals…

Hockey is starting to get less and less entertaining. On top of all the fighting, and the drama accompanied by new teams and rosters that just don’t make any sense the games are just less exciting. Accompanied by an extremely dissapointing ending to the stanley cup with the Ottawa Senators getting completely slaughtered by the Ducks I’ve had to turn my attention and love to a new sport.

Soccer.

Maybe it’s true that when you date a new guy you pick up some of his interests. He happens to fulove (fulove = fucking love, clever eh?) soccer… So unless I want to sit and listen to nonsense for an hour after a game, I just watch so that I can actively participate. If I were strongly opposed to learning the sport, then I wouldn’t do it, but I don’t mind so I’m still maintaining my feminist vibe. Woo!

The trouble is - I don’t know what I’m supposed to be watching Soccer isn’t like hockey. Well, maybe it is, I just don’t “get it” yet. But right now I’m attempting to follow not only the MLS but also the qualifying rounds for EURO 2008 and CONCACAF… And then, on June 30, the U-20 world cup is starting up. And we can’t forget about FIFA (which is U-20, but I mean the older guys…) I have a slight idea of the teams that I like in each category, but I don’t know if they’re embarassing yet, so I’m going to keep my mouth shut and my fingered slowed for now.

Except I’m obviously cheering for the TFC, even though they’re not doing so great thus far. And I guess it’s not really “obviously” since I don’t cheer for the TML and they’re the Toronto hockey team. But I feel like I should cheer for something from Toronto, and since I hate baseball and don’t intend on following any other sport, the TFC gets my love.

I don’t plan on writing about soccer ever again on the blog, unless something really exciting happens, but I just thought everyone should know that not only have I revegetarianized myself this week, but I have also become a soccer fan.

Woo!

The past week and a bit has been pretty uneventful. I hadn’t even really though about blogging - but then… oooh, but then….

… … … I realized that I’m watching Harry Potter … so I must be bored, and even blogging has to be a better way to spend my time, life and energy.

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