UB Freethinkers

I’ve long been interested in sub-Saharan Africa and secular humanism both. As such, I got in touch with Norm Allen at CFI Amherst, who handles international affairs there, and through him I was able to track down George Ongere of CFI’s Kenyan branch. It’s not easy to get information about African humanist efforts here in the US, even from Anglophone countries like Kenya, so I feel awfully fortunate to have a glimpse into the state of humanist affairs in this part of world. Our remarks have been edited and abridged somewhat to fit an interview format and for differences in dialect; however, I feel that the content I have included has been represented faithfully.

Me: I understand that the issue of gay rights is a prominent item [in African secular humanism] these days. How are events developing with regard to gay rights?

Ongere: The first time the issue of gays and lesbians hit our media was in February 2007 during the World Social Forum organized in Kenya. Here, gays and lesbians demanded their rights and religious fundamentalists could not [tolerate] it. These fundamentalists launched campaigns to forbid homosexuality, saying it is against African culture and went ahead to incite the public. Since then, the issue has been put [in] a public debate [about] whether gays and lesbians should be [granted freedom to practice their lifestyle]. Then, when a Kenyan man was wed [to another] man in London in October 2009, there was a big reaction from the public. The parents of the man who married, [swore] to neglect their son despite [the fact that they had received help] from the husband of their son, which enabled them build a good home and lead a decent life. Then on Friday 12, Feb 2010, five gays were arrested when Muslims protested in Mombasa, a town in the coastal part of Kenya, on hearing that there was a planned gay wedding. They were later released without charges. Nevertheless, homosexuality is still considered illegal in Kenya and humanists are trying their best to advocate for their rights.

In Uganda, a bill has been [proposed] in Parliament that prohibits homosexuality and advocates for [the] death sentence to people found practicing it. This move has received international criticism, [most famously] President Obama’s criticism of the move. The problem in Africa is that we become influenced by things that happen in other neighboring countries without giving them a critical look. This is to mean that if this bill passes in Uganda and becomes a law, then Kenya might follow that. We hope humanists in Uganda are working hard to campaign against this insensitive move.

Me: How is secular humanism received publicly in your region? Most Africans have some kind of religious affiliation, and many hold their beliefs dearly as they face great hardship in life. Is there any hostility directed at you?

Ongere: When I first opened the Center for Inquiry Kenya, I thought I would receive a lot of threats and oppositions from the general public. I started by engaging the local youth organizations. My approach was through organizing debates on sensitive topic like “Does God Exist?”, “Evolution or Intelligent Design: Which one is compatible [with facts]?” and many more. It happened that most were delighted by these debates and the result is that most opened up their minds. I also met conservatives who were angered by my opposing views. They went ahead and reported to their religious leaders about my center and when they came, they found I had a good knowledge about my cause.

Me: Do secular humanist efforts encompass government and higher education? If so, in what way, and to what extent?

Ongere: Secular humanism is thriving at higher institutions of learning. I have secular movements in five public universities. Here students are flexible and are eager to know more. I have always had [an] easy time and invited some international speakers who have had open minded sessions with the groups.

[Active] humanism in Kenya came through the influence of international humanist organizations’ involvement with a neighboring country, Uganda. International humanist organizations like IHEU and CFI organized an international conference in 2004 that was attended by students from the University of Nairobi (the major University in Kenya). Here, the students got reading materials, mostly from Prometheus Books, that opened their minds and provoked their skepticism. When they came back to Kenya, they started spreading the ideals of secular humanism. Here the curious ones developed interest and took an intellectual pursuit towards this quest. From [their efforts], many secular humanist movements sprung up, mostly organized by young student skeptics and atheists. In my previous findings, there existed humanist movements in Kenya earlier (mostly in [rural areas]) where witch lynching happened. However, their intentions were not to spread the ideals of secular humanism [per se] but were basically for humanitarian purposes.

[However,] it appears that most governments in African countries are still being influenced by religions. Humanist organizations are working hard to influence the government like advocating for church and state separation which is a common [issue] in [developing] countries.

Me: How can I get access to publications and other information (e.g., newsletters, electronic mailing lists) concerning secular humanism in Africa?

Ongere: So far, there are few [publications geared towards] secular humanism. Most African humanists rely on materials published in the West. However, I publish two newsletters, The Humanist Inquest and Center for Inquiry Kenya. Here I have always solicited materials from on campus groups and featured articles that combat superstitious thinking, and of course articles that give secular perspectives. I can send you copies through mail if you give me the address. [Interested parties can find George Ongere on Facebook.]

Me: What can I do, in America, to further the causes of secular humanism and folk education in Africa?

Ongere: The help most needed from you and other humanists in developed nations is to empower African humanists and organizations. The first kind of empowerment is by sending reading materials. In fact, you are more resourceful. Your collection of books is enough to open someone’s mind to enable him to change his religious views. You can also help by sending speakers who are well versed with secular humanist ideals to Africa and [who can] engage students of higher learning and … humanist organizations. Then humanist organizations in Africa lack proper funding. This is because there are no organizations ready to fund secular humanist organizations in Africa. Most successful secular organizations in Africa have always received support from secular humanist organizations in developed nations.

Me: At some point in the future I should like to do public work in Africa. What could I do then? Do you have any ideas about organizing a secular humanist organization if none such exists where I might be working?

Ongere: Of course, there are many works you can do here in Africa when you visit. You could visit on campus movements and hold some workshops on critical thinking, good science and all that is entailed in humanism. There are very many youth secular organizations that have launched various empowerment programs, hence you could interact with them and engage them. There is a lot you can do here. I have worked with secular organizations and run the Center for Inquiry Kenya office, hence I believe I have a lot of experience in starting secular organizations.

Me: Finally, do you mind if I disclose your replies to other secularists who may be interested in this kind of thing?

Ongere: As a humanist, I don’t see the reasons you cannot share my experience with other humanists. Therefore, feel free to do that.

We’ll be tinkering with things around here for the next few days.  Don’t be shocked.

…is kaput.

Check back for something possibly in the fall.

Just to make the point once more, here’s our stock “Spite Islam” post.

To quote one of our members, “I would have apologized for the cartoons being not funny and not inflammatory enough.”

Cheers!

“Submission” A short film by Theo van Gogh:

And the 2005 Muhammad cartoons (excepting the one included above):

Somewhere, Occam is laughing.

Closing churches has been a source of angst and anger in the historically Catholic-rich city of Lockport for more than two years.

Now, though, the planned Easter Sunday opening of an evangelical Christian church has heightened the sensitivities of some Catholics.

The Chapel at CrossPoint, an Amherst megachurch, will launch a satellite campus in April, using the Palace Theatre and a former post office, both on Main Street in the heart of Lockport.

At least one Catholic priest views the move as an effort to scoop up disenfranchised Catholics in the community, and he’s warned his parishioners about it.

“They practice a very heavy-handed form of proselytizing and have targeted mostly Catholic Lockport at a time when people are still upset about the Journey in Faith and Grace,” the Rev. James Waite, pastor of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, commented in a recent church bulletin.

Kudos to the CPAC-ers who actually boo’ed this mongrel.

I’ll even steal a conservative line:  ”Don’t like America, buddy?  Then get out.”

Try Uganda.

Robert Price has agreed to debate for our side.  He’s the only available biblical scholar we can find.

Will William Lane Craig still refuse?

We’ll be sure to let you know…

From the conversation developing over here…

I say again: It wasn’t necessarily about the calls to prayer.  We secularists are used to those — whatever.  It was about selfish theological concerns being broached barely an hour into a prospective crisis, and the eager tone taken in the assumptions made about the situation.

I quote:

3. Pray that God will be glorified and seen on this campus because of this event.

Likewise, based on the rest of the email, the writer seemed to assume that there was likely a gunman, and there might be victims.

To illustrate as simply as possible:

During or after a crisis, or a possible crisis, I’ve never heard an atheist say to their fellows, “let’s hope this possibly horrific situation drives people away from their gods!”

I suppose we just don’t have that theological, cosmic impetus.

Here’s the full article.  I’ll leave the rest up to Roger’s beautiful prose:

I know it is coming, and I do not fear it, because I believe there is nothing on the other side of death to fear, he writes in a journal entry titled “Go Gently into That Good Night.” I hope to be spared as much pain as possible on the approach path. I was perfectly content before I was born, and I think of death as the same state. What I am grateful for is the gift of intelligence, and for life, love, wonder, and laughter. You can’t say it wasn’t interesting. My lifetime’s memories are what I have brought home from the trip. I will require them for eternity no more than that little souvenir of the Eiffel Tower I brought home from Paris.

[...]  I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn’t always know this, and am happy I lived long enough to find it out.

So things were a bit exciting here at UB today, with mistaken reports of a gunman in Lockwood Library paralyzing campus for a short while.  Initial word of the situation came in around 4:45pm.

Not ones to miss a chance to capitalize on a crisis, the following was sent out on the Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship mailing list at 5:58pm, shortly after news of the possible gunman broke city-wide. For a shining example of shameless Christian opportunism in a crisis, see #3:

Hello all, I hope this e-mail finds you safe and well.  Please be praying for the situation in Lockwood.

1. Pray for the safety of everyone involved.
2. Pray for the gunmen, as he is obviously broken and lost.
3. Pray that God will be glorified and seen on this campus because of this event.
4. Pray about ways we as the body of Christ can respond to this event in the days to come.

If you need prayer or just need to talk, feel free to contact any of us. At your service,

IV E-board

Even with #3 set aside, the overall tone of the email still feels distasteful.  It almost seems, well, eager about what was possibly transpiring, and the subsequent opportunity to proselytize in its wake.

More-so, given that by 5:58pm to most observers the situation on campus had proven itself most likely benign, one could almost go so far as to call the email by IVCF a bit irresponsible, from its rather large assumptions about the situation (that there was a gunman, etc.), to the automatic, instinctual foresight towards how their own selfish theological concerns might be served by it.

Were they telegraphing their own subconscious desire for a crisis to wallow in?  Did a slight bit of sick hope allow for those wanton assumptions?  Inquiring minds should never stop asking.

EDIT I: Removed “giddy” where used to describe the assumptions in IV’s email.  It wasn’t the word I was looking for, and it came off poorly.  ”Eager” works well enough.  My apologies.

EDIT II: For those of you from Mark Shea’s blog, I just want to add a comment here.

I’ll admit, they could have sent out something worse. The offering up of counseling to one another is thoughtful, yes. However, on #1 and #2, prayer does nothing. Don’t act like that is even a worthwhile action during a possibly violent situation. It’s an abdication.  The only real action they seemed to be thinking of taking was some opportunistic proselytization.

What’s sad is that religious, theological concerns and dogmas keep some Christians from seeing the things that are wrong with the email. Language like this might seem pretty at times (which is why people are aghast when it’s criticized), but there’s a cold, selfish heart to things like this.

When, barely an hour into a possibly violent crisis, you’re already measuring just how well the situation might help you to sell your god, expect to have your humanity questioned.

EDIT III: It wasn’t the prayer, it was the marketing!

My problem with the email wasn’t necessarily the calls for prayer. Whatever — it’s what the religious do, we secularists are used to it. Well-wishes aren’t necessarily a bad thing, even if there’s no actual effect. I only criticize those (#1 and #2) because some religious people will use them as an excuse to say the email “isn’t that bad”.

My problem — what disgusted me about the email — was mostly #3. As I said, barely an hour into a possibly violent crisis, they were already thinking about how the situation would help them to sell their god.

I find that disgusting, and illustrative of certain evangelical, proselytization-oriented religious mindsets that see everything with a silver lining and/or through rose-colored theological glasses.

At least the prayer holds some concern for people. #3 is a cold concern for marketing in a crisis.

Also, given the presumptive tone of the email (there was a gunman, violence had occurred, etc.), I thought it sounded just a bit too eager for a crisis, given that by 5:58 it seemed more-so that the situation was benign.

EDIT IV: Does this help illustrate my point?

So, we were wrong.

It turns out that after Hoffmann was unavailable and he refused Price, Craig did in fact send our side a list of people he would debate.

So we proposed three of them.

And he denied them.

Awesome.

At the moment it looks like the debate is going to fall through, since he won’t debate Price (our only available opponent) and no other Christian debater is available short-notice.  We’ll keep everyone updated.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=Books

I’ve used Genbank before but I had no idea they had this

Mostly applied medical reading but they’ve got some more basic research kinds of things, too, like a guide to C. elegans