Past list view

Dynamic Bible-Debunking Prof Asserts Jesus Was Not Christian

Come Hear Award-Winning Educator Demystify Bible

Professor Peter J. Brancazio says startling things like, Christianity is not the religion of Jesus, its the religion about him, and There is nothing in the Bible that would make you think its the word of god or divinely inspired. Or, I would say that Mozart was more divinely inspired, if you will, than the Bible is.

The iconoclast teacher contends, Jesus was a human being who did something in Jerusalem that got him crucified and then he was mythologized. The really interesting question is, why his followers developed a religion about him.

Dr. Brancazio, who was chosen by Newsday as one of six ?Great Teachers in New York? in 1990, taught for 35 years in the Physics department of Brooklyn College. He created, and taught for seven years, a now-famous course called ?Science and Religion, partly inspired by a grant from the Templeton foundation.

He explains, I went to one of the foundation's meetings thinking it was going to be a dialog between science and religion, but it was religious people trying to accommodate science. So I said, ?When do we start analyzing religion? and they said, We don?t do that here. I replied, ?I feel like a lion being thrown to the Christians. Oddly, that got me a grant from them, and I was able to launch the Science and Religion course.

Witty and Sharp

The incident also started Dr. Brancazio on intense studies of the Bible. (He confesses to doing a rigorous cycle of studying all the books of the Bible, both the New Testament and the Old Testament, four times). The Bible is so central to our culture that you really have to know what?s in it even if you don?t believe it, he contends. Go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and you'll see that half the paintings in there are Bible scenes.

The result of his exhausting and critical study of the Bible was his book, ?The Bible From Cover to Cover,? which provides what one reviewer called a ?sharp and witty? critical-eye guided tour of the Old and New Testaments.

Dynamic and Inspiring

?What hit me in my studies of the Bible was, believers think the Bible is the word of god, yet, there is nothing?nothing!?in the Bible that would make you think it is divinely inspired,? Dr. Brancazio says. ?But we, as scientists and nonbelievers, don?t criticize those who believe the Bible is the word of god. We don?t say to these people, ?you?re just assuming that the Bible is truthful.? We don?t demand that they prove what they contend.?

On Thursday, May 29, Dr. Brancazio will tell New York City Atheists how to deal with people who wave the Bible in your face. Come, hear this dynamic, inspiring, pioneer educator who has had the courage to bring a rational and scientific look at the Bible to the college community.

EVENT SUMMARY

WHAT: ?The Truth About the Bible,? by Prof. Peter J.

Peter J. Brancazio, debunking the Bible and suggesting

how to deal with Bible thumpers.

WHEN: Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 6:30 PM

WHERE: SLC Conference Center

352 Seventh Avenue (Bet. 29th & 30th Streets)

16th Floor

COST: Free, but we would appreciate a $5 donation toward the

cost of the conference room.

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New York City Atheists Inc. is a not-for-profit educational and activist association dedicated to separation of church and state and the right to be nonreligious. It is open to all?freethinkers, humanists, skeptics and doubters as well as those who are questioning and searching. NYCA is an affiliate of American Atheists, Atheist Alliance International and the Center For Atheism.

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All Moms Free on Sunday!

Bring Your Mom to Lunch on Sunday
To Hear Surgeon/Author Who Dubs Religion a "Scam"

All Moms are guests of New York City Atheists at brunch on Sunday, May 11, Mother?s Day, to hear the venerable, straight-talking North Carolina retired surgeon and author, John A. Henderson, M.D., discuss his book, Judging god.

Yes, you read that correctly. All Moms, whether NYCA members themselves, or the mothers of members, will dine free as our guests at the NYCA brunch this Sunday. We want to honor all mothers, but especially the mothers of Atheists, who have had to put up with our secular querulousness while raising us. We also want to honor our members who are mothers because they have had the courage to be atheists while raising a child or children in a religion-driven society.

The added treat we have for Moms on Sunday is speaker Dr. John Henderson, a down-home, gentle, Southern gentleman who just happens to be an avid opponent of religion. Doc Henderson says he wrote his third book, Judging god, because he felt he wanted to knock some sense into his fellow citizens: I think religion is the biggest scam that has ever been perpetrated on the human race, says the physician, because they're selling a ticket to heaven.

Doc Henderson, who has saved many a life in his day with gastric resections, thyroidectomies, hysterectomies and more -ectomies? than you can shake a stick at, says he realized after retiring from fulltime surgery six years ago that he wanted to sound the alert that religion is a very harmful problem in the world today.

In Judging god, the good Doc points out that the Judea/Christian/Muslim god is extremely immoral and the best thing you can say about a god like that is that it doesn?t exist, because if it does exist, you've created a monster.

Doc Henderson graduated with honors from the University of Illinois College of Medicine. The first part of his surgical career was in the U.S. Air Force, where he was a flight surgeon and general surgeon serving in England, Spain and Japan. After he retired from the Air Force, he practiced general surgery in Asheville, North Carolina. He is also the author of god.com: A Deity for the New Millennium and FEAR FAITH FACT FANTASY, both published by Parkway Publishers of North Carolina.

Book Club / Library

After brunch on Sunday, we move to the NYCA Library located on East 79th Street. We will continue discussing Christopher Hitchens' god is not Great.
Chapter 7: Revelation: The Nightmare of the "Old" Testament and
Chapter 8: The New Testament Exceeds the Evil of the "Old" One.

Need have not read the assignment to participate.

EVENT SUMMARY
WHAT: Judging god? Why We Should Judge the Gods That Man Has
Created, a discussion by Dr. John A. Henderson, plus Q and A.

WHEN: Sunday, May 11, (Mother's Day) at 12 noon.

WHERE: Kennedy's Pub & Restaurant
327 West 57th St. (Bet. 8th & 9th Aves.)

COST: Free for Mothers!
All others, $20 (includes entrée, one drink, tax and tip)
For further information:

Kenneth Bronstein, president
New York City Atheists
212-535-7425

Jane Everhart
Director of Communication
New York City Atheists
212-879-2687
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New York City Atheists is a not-for-profit, non-partisan educational and action association dedicated to separation of church and state and the building of a reality-based secular society. Meetings are open to all, believers and non-believers and those who are questioning and seeking.
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For Immediate Release

Web: nyc-atheists.org

Press contact: 212-879-2687

Missed the Big Atheist Shindig in Wash. DC

Now You Can Catch Up, Feel The Excitement!
See: The Four Horsemen of Atheism? Do Their Stuff
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New York, April 21, 2008 - So you missed the great Atheist Alliance International (AAI) convention in Washington DC last fall, now dubbed the historic Woodstock of Atheism. Fear not: Now you have a chance to feel the magic.

The four headliners at the AAI convention, all best-selling authors hailed as The Four Horsemen of Atheism, took part in a roundtable-discussion videotape a few days after the convention, recouping their talks and adding much, much more. And we have the video.

Come on Thursday evening, see feisty Christopher Hitchens, author of god Is Not Great, in his own living room, face to face with earnest Richard Dawkins, author of The god Delusion, down-to-earth Daniel Dennett, a professor at Tufts and author of Darwin's Dangerous Idea and moody, sulky Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith. Hear them discuss the disparagement flung at them when their books became popular, the accusations of arrogance and hubris, the disapproval of friends and colleagues, their personal histories, the battles they fought and won and lost.

Taping the historic video was the idea of Christopher Hitchens, who lives in Washington, DC. He realized that all four Horsemen being together in one place at one time in history was a notable event in itself that might never happen again. So he invited the three other authors to come to his home to make the video.

Come they did. They rolled up their sleeves and talked. They talked about themselves, their books, their beliefs, and their utter surprise and joy at the huge turnout of Atheists at the convention. The talked about how to deal with faithheads, the meanness of religious folk, and con-artist tricks of the religionists.

The video is way better than the convention itself insists Kenneth Bronstein, president of NYC Atheists. Come on Thursday, April 24, to the NYCA monthly meeting; watch the historic video and join us in a hopefully heated discussion of the ideas the four Horsemen bring out.

EVENT SUMMARY

WHAT: The Four Horsemen of Atheism, a disquieting videotape of four philosopher/authors of the Atheist movement in informal debate with each other at the home of Christopher Hitchens.

WHEN: Thursday, April 24, at 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: SLC Conference Center
352 Seventh Avenue, 16th Floor
Between 29th & 30th Streets

COST: We would appreciate a $5 contribution toward room rental cost.

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New York City Atheists is a non-profit educational and action association dedicated to the separation of church and state, a lifestyle philosophy based on science and reality and the building of a society based on reality, equality and the good of mankind. All are welcome: Freethinkers, atheists, agnostics, humanists, secularists, skeptics and all seekers of truth.
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If you like exciting discussions, interesting people, provocative ideas, challenging conversation; if you like people who make you think and let you talk, if you want to get to know your fellow atheists--what they're really like with no pretensions, no affectations--this is the place for you. Socialize a bit afterwards with the sharpest, most creative minds in New York atheist circles.

TOPIC: NYC ATHEISTS POPE DEMONSTRATION
SATURDAY - APRIL 19, 2008 - 8:30 AM
5TH AVE. (WESTSIDE) (46/47TH ST).

The Pope Is Coming! The Pope Is Coming!

Do We Care? You Bet We Do!

Join Our Picket on Saturday
To Protest Pope's Policies

A Peaceful, Fun Demonstration with Lunch Afterwards

Fun, fun, fun! Can you do good and have fun at the same time?

Of course you can! Meet like-minded people! Smell Fifth Avenue in the morning!
Mingle with other secularist groups who will be peacefully protesting;humanists, homosexuals, ex-priests, Planned Parenthood, Abortion rights advocates, Women's Rights. They will all be there.

It will probably be the only Pope picket you will attend in your lifetime.
It will be something to tell your grandchildren about:
I picketed the Pope in 08!

Come Saturday morning to join us on the West side of Fifth Avenue between the 46th and 47th Street between 8 a.m. and noon, when Pope Benedict is scheduled to visit St. Patrick's Cathedral to conduct a 9:15 a.m. Mass. We will provide placards for you to carry if you wish. While we mingle, laugh and tell Pope jokes, we will also let the world know that we think the Pope is wrong on a lot of things:

The Pope is wrong when he says in his latest Encyclical that we Atheists are the cause of all the troubles of the world. We are proud of Atheists' contributions to the world, to science and to the good of mankind. We feel, moreover, that the Church must take responsibility for all the harm it has caused, including the sexual abuse of children and the deaths of millions due to the church's repressive tactics on medical advances.

* We oppose the immoral position of the Catholic church on scientific progress, birth control, condoms, abortion, stem cell research and other measures that Atheists feel should be lifestyle choices of individuals and the decisions of the scientific community.

* We feel the Catholic church should reimburse New York City for all the expenses the Pope's visit has caused taxpayers to incur including increased security, and overtime pay for police, sanitation and fire departments. As advocates of the Separation of Church and State, and taxpayers in New York City, we do not wish to underwrite the expenses for the visit of a leader of any religion.

Please be assured that this is a peaceful demonstration, and that we will fully cooperate with the security measures that are being instituted by the NYC Police Department.

Our president, Kenneth Bronstein, has been working closely with the Police Department; they know we will be there and that we are law-abiding citizens. Bronstein has worked closely with the police in our previous demonstrations.

Remember, the security measures are for our protection too, and to assure that we are able to exercise our constitutional right of free speech. The police know this and have assured us that our rights will be protected.

EVENT SUMMARY.

WHAT: New York City Atheists: demonstration against the Pope's policies

WHEN: Saturday, April 19th, from 8 a.m. to noon. Afterwards, we gather for lunch and an impromptu discussion of the event for future knowledge.

WHERE: Fifth Avenue between 46th and 47th Streets

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New York City Atheists Inc. is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and action association dedicated to separation of church and state, the promulgation of a lifestyle philosophy based on science and reality and the building of a society based on science, equality and the good of all humankind. All are welcome to our meetings: freethinkers, agnostics, humanists and other seekers of truth.
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This meetup is sponsored by the New York City Atheists. Please visit our web page for more information:
http://nyc-atheists.org/

For Immediate Release
Web: nyc-atheists.org
Press Contact: 212-879-2687

Is Religion Influencing Your Health Care?

Religion's Intrusion into Medicine May Sway Doctors? Decisions,
Says Professor

New York, March 16, 2008: Some 14 percent of physicians in the U.S. will favor their religious beliefs over the well-being of their patients and refrain from administering procedures that their religion is opposed to, says a study published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine.

These physicians won't tell the patient that these procedures; such as abortion, contraception, contraception for teenagers without parental consent and terminal sedation, even exist, says Dr. Richard Sloan, professor of Behavioral Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry of Columbia University Medical Center, New York. They won't tell patients that they have legal options in those areas and they won't refer these patient to other physicians who will deliver those procedures.

With 14 percent of physicians influenced by, and acting on, their religious beliefs, that translates to about 40 million Americans treated by those physicians,
Dr. Sloan adds. And that's not counting the other ways in which religion creeps into health-care delivery, such as the belief that prayer will aid a patient's recovery. The claims for a scientific basis for the impact of religious devotion on health is a complete misuse of science and evidence of junk science, the professor states.

Dr. Sloan, the author of Blind Faith: The Unholy Alliance of Religion and Medicine, will discuss, at the March 27th meeting of the New York City Atheists association, how serious ethical issues are raised by these attempts to bring religious practices into clinical medicine.

The intrusion of religion into medicine raises ethical issues of manipulation, coercion and invasion of privacy not to mention actually causing harm all of which are completely antithetical to the role that physicians are supposed to play in clinical medicine, Dr. Sloan says.

Come and ask Dr. Sloan how we can achieve a totally scientific and unbiased health care delivery system in this country.

EVENT SUMMARY

WHAT: Is Religion Influencing Your Health Care? By Richard Sloan, Ph.D.,
Professor of Behavioral Medicine in the department of Psychiatry at
Columbia University Medical Center and author of Blind Faith: The
Unholy Alliance of Religion and Medicine. (St. Martin's Press.)

WHEN: Thursday, March 27 at 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: SLC Conference Center
352 Seventh Ave. (Bet. 29th & 30th St.) 16th floor

COST: $5: donation toward the cost of our conference room.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Jane Everhart
Director of Communications
New York City Atheists
212-879-2687
Kenneth Bronstein
President
New York City Atheists
212-535-7425
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New York City Atheists Inc. is a nonprofit educational and action association dedicated to advancing the right to be non-religious and the separation of church and state. NYCA is open to all: atheists, agnostics, humanists, freethinkers, skeptics and those who are questioning and searching.
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