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How Religion Exploits Human Emotional Needs To Lure Us Into the Church

Psychiatrist Explains Mankind’s Vulnerability to Supernatural Beliefs

Have you ever wondered why catholic priests are called “Father,” nuns are “sister” or “mother” and the Pope is allegedly the “Holy Father” of us all?

It’s called “kin psychology,” says psychiatrist J. Anderson Thomson Jr. of the University of Virginia, and it’s one way the church implicitly (or explicitly) generates the emotional attachment of its flock.

Since time immemorial, humankind has favored kin over strangers. In fact, kin psychology may represent one of our deepest, most primordial survival mechanisms. It begins with the attachment of the newborn to its mother and harks back to primitive folk living in caves where the kinship attachment was the difference between survival and being killed by a warring tribe.

So is it an accident that the church represents itself as kinfolk? Dr. Thomson thinks not. It is one of the many ways that religion has appealed to deep human emotional needs to lure people into the church.

Analyzed Suicide Terrorism

Dr. Thomson has a private practice of general psychiatry and forensic psychiatry in Charlottesville VA, as well as serving as a staff psychiatrist at the University of Virginia’s Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy and the Counseling and Psychological Services of the University of Virginia Student Health Services.

Dr. Thomson is also known for his dynamic speech on suicide terrorism at the 2007 Atheist Alliance International convention in Washington, DC—now dubbed “the Woodstock of Atheism”—where he gave a cutting-edge talk on how religion convinces people to become suicide bombers.

At the NYC Atheists brunch on Sunday, November 8, Dr. Thomson will discuss why human minds generate and accept religious beliefs.

Church Exploits Emotional Needs

Humans, he notes, are vulnerable to the generation of religious beliefs “because these beliefs arise from normal cognitive mechanisms that are in our brain but which were originally designed for other purposes.” The kinship mechanism, for example, which originally evolved for survival purposes, has been hijacked by religion to enhance the church’s appeal and control its flock.

Come on Sunday and hear Dr. Thomson’s fascinating dissection of what draws people into the influence and protection of the church. Find out how to avoid the emotional traps that religion uses to pull in its needy and vulnerable followers. With knowledge, analysis and inner strength, humans can resist the pull of the promises and seductions of religion, says Dr Thomson.

EVENT SUMMARY

WHAT: “The Psychology of Religion: Why We Believe
IN GOD" BY Dr. J. Anderson Thomson, well- known psychiatrist and analyst
on how religion creates suicide terrorists.

WHEN: Sunday, November 8, at 12 noon.

WHERE: Press Box Restaurant and Pub
932 Second Ave. (bet. 49th & 50th Streets)

COST: Brunch, $20.( Includes selection of Buffett entrees and salad,
one soft drink, coffee, tax, and tip. We
highly recommend going
back for seconds of the delicious Eggs
Benedict.

An Historic Event:

First Spanish-Speaking Atheist Meetup Group To Debut

In response to popular requests from atheists in New York’s Spanish community, New York City Atheists, Inc. (NYCA) is organizing the first Spanish-speaking Atheist Meetup in the city, perhaps the first in the country.

The new Spanish Atheist Division of NYCA will hold its first Meetup on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at the Stone Creek Bar and Restaurant on 140 East 27th St. at 7 p.m.

Most Active Atheist Group

NYCA has been on the cutting edge of the atheist movement since 2003 and has been the City’s leading innovator in organizing for the Atheist cause. NYCA is the ground-breaking organization that recently sponsored the bus poster advertisements which sped through the city on buses with the message, “You don’t have to believe in god to be a moral or ethical person.”

NYCA also puts on four Atheist cable TV shows a week, has two Atheist educational or scientific lectures a month, sponsors a Philosophy Club and a Singles Meetup, does street tabling at Columbus Circle every Saturday (weather permitting), demonstrates for Atheist causes, and organizes Atheist cruises and other atheist social events.

NYCA Lobbies, Marches

NYCA, whose main goals are the separation of church and state and the advancement of the atheist lifestyle and values, also lobbies in Washington and Albany for atheist causes. NYCA members have marched in demonstrations here and in Washington to demand the removal of the words “Under god” from the Pledge of Allegiance, to back military atheists (“Atheists in Foxholes”), to demonstrate, during the Pope’s visit to New York, against child abuse by priests and to press for removal of government funding for church charities.

Spanish Delegates Appear

A delegation of Spanish-speaking atheists came to an NYCA meeting on October 11 to propose a Spanish-speaking division of the group. Its goal, they projected, would be to open the overwhelmingly religious Spanish community to freethought ideas and to provide support to those who are already sympathetic to the freethought and atheist movement.

The Spanish division of NYCA will be led by, and managed by, Spanish-speaking Atheists, many of whom have said they are scientific and medical workers who wish to open their Spanish communities to the reasonableness of scientific and nonreligious thinking.

Spanish Cable TV Show Planned

An initial public-relations drive will contact Spanish-speaking publications and newspapers and enlist prominent Latino speakers and artists to support and educate the nonbelievers and freethinkers already within the Spanish community. Eventually, a Spanish-speaking Cable TV show is planned to help reach the Latino community.

If you speak Spanish and are sympathetic to the Atheist cause, come October 27 (Tuesday) to the Stone Creek to become a part of this history-making organizing group! Meet like-minded Latinos, join in their camaraderie, open up your world to the new age of freethought and scientific advancement!

EVENT SUMMARY

WHAT: Historical First Meetup of the new Spanish division of New York City Atheists Inc.

WHEN: Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 7 p.m.

WHERE: The Stone Creek Bar and Restaurant (Back Room)

140 East 27th St. (bet. 3rd & Lex.)

COST: Free. But as usual, we hope you will order a drink or food to compensate Stone Creek for letting us use their space. The food is good and moderately priced, and there is an excellent selection of beers.

===========================
For Immediate Release

Ciudad de Nueva York ateos Inc.

Contacto de Prensa: 212 879-2687

Un acontecimiento histórico:

En primer lugar habla española Ateo Meetup Group Para Debut

Oct.15, Nueva York-En respuesta a las peticiones populares de los ateos en la comunidad española de Nueva York, Nueva York ateos, Inc. (NYCA) está organizando la primera de habla española Ateo Meetup de la ciudad, tal vez la primera en el país.

La nueva División de español ateo NYCA celebrará su Meetup por primera vez en Martes, 27 de octubre 2009 en el Bar y Restaurante Arroyo de Piedra en 140 East 27th St. a las 7 pm

Más activos Ateo Grupo

NYCA ha estado en la vanguardia del movimiento ateo desde 2003 y ha sido líder innovador de la ciudad en la organización de la causa Ateo. NYCA es la innovadora organización que patrocinó recientemente los anuncios de autobuses cartel que atravesó la ciudad en los autobuses con el mensaje "Usted no tiene que creer en Dios para ser una persona moral o ética."

NYCA también pone en cuatro de televisión por cable Ateo muestra una semana, tiene dos Ateo educativos o conferencias científicas de un mes, patrocina un Club de Filosofía y Meetup individuales, se calle la presentación en Columbus Circle, todos los sábados (si el tiempo lo permite), demuestra por causas ateo, y ateo organiza cruceros y eventos ateo social.

NYCA grupos de presión, marchas

NYCA, cuyos objetivos principales son la separación de iglesia y estado y el adelanto de la forma de vida ateo y valores, también los grupos de presión en Washington y de Albany para las causas ateo. NYCA miembros se han manifestado en las manifestaciones aquí y en Washington para exigir la supresión de las palabras "bajo Dios" en el Juramento de Lealtad, para respaldar los ateos militar ( "ateos en trincheras"), para demostrar, durante la visita del Papa a Nueva York, contra el maltrato infantil por los sacerdotes y para presionar por la eliminación de la financiación del gobierno para obras de caridad de la iglesia.

Los delegados españoles aparecen

Una delegación de ateos de habla española-llegó a una reunión de NYCA el 11 de octubre para proponer una división de habla española del grupo. Su objetivo, se prevé, sería abrir la comunidad española mayoritariamente a las ideas religiosas librepensamiento y para prestar apoyo a los que ya son simpatizantes del librepensamiento y el movimiento ateo.

La división española de NYCA estará encabezada por, y administradas por los ateos de habla española-, muchos de los cuales han dicho que están científica y médica de los trabajadores que desean abrir sus comunidades españolas a la racionalidad del pensamiento científico y no religioso.

Español Cable TV Show de Planificación

Una opinión pública inicial de las relaciones de la unidad se pondrá en contacto de habla española de publicaciones y periódicos y obtener prominentes oradores y artistas latinos para apoyar y educar a los no creyentes y librepensadores ya dentro de la comunidad española. Finalmente, un espectáculo de habla española de televisión por cable está prevista para ayudar a alcanzar la comunidad latina.

Si usted habla español y son solidarios con la causa Ateo, vienen 27 de octubre (martes) a la Quebrada de Piedra a formar parte de esta historia de adopción de la organización de grupos! Conoce a los latinos con ideas afines, participar en su camaradería, abre tu mundo a la nueva era de progreso científico y librepensamiento!

RESUMEN DE EVENTOS

QUÉ: En primer lugar Meetup Histórico de la nueva división española de Nueva York Ciudad ateos Inc.

CUÁNDO: Martes, 27 de octubre 2009 a las 7 p.m.

DÓNDE: El Bar y Restaurante Arroyo de Piedra (Back Room)
140 East 27th St. (entre calles 3 & Lex.)

COSTO: Gratis. Pero, como siempre, esperamos que para una bebida o comida para compensar Stone Creek por permitirnos usar su espacio. El la comida es buena y de precio moderado, y es un excelent selección de cervezas.

COME EARLY! WE WANT TO START SHOWING THE SIBANYE TALK RIGHT AT 12 NOON!

FLASH!

NYCA Sunday Brunch Program Changed

Now, A Tribute to Sibanye, Harlem Atheist Leader

To pay tribute to our friend and dedicated Atheist leader, New York City Atheists Inc. (NYCA) is devoting its October 11th Sunday Brunch program to the life, ideas and remembrance of Sibanye, who, until his untimely death at 49 on October 1, 2009, was CFI-Harlem Coordinator and, for five years, the dynamic moderator of the Harlem group’s monthly Atheist discussion programs.

At Brunch, we will show the videotape of the talk Sibanye gave to our group on July 12, 2009, and then we will have an open mike so people can talk about their remembrances of Sibanye. If you missed his appearance in July, this is your chance to see what was probably his last public talk, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Harlem’s Religions.” If you were there, this is a second chance to appreciate his message, which, with his death, holds added imperatives for us all.

Fighting a Fatal Disease

NYCA’s communications director, Jane Everhart, visited Sibanye at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, where he was undergoing treatment for a blood disorder in the week of September 20. She describes her visit as follows:

“I just missed meeting Sibonye’s mother and sister, who had flown in from St. Louis to visit him. He was in great spirits and in fact, had sent me an email on Sept. 20 saying ‘I am feeling fantastic. I should be getting out this week. See you at the meeting?’

“We sat in his hospital room that day--Sibanye, Jackie (a member of his Harlem group) and I--and talked animatedly for hours about politics, Obama, atheism, economics, everything. He was so alive, so engaged, so spirited. Just 10 days later, he was gone.”

Portents of Mortality

“And yet, there were early portents that I did not see,” Everhart adds. “In his Sept 21 email to me, he wrote,

‘No, I will not be leaving tomorrow. More like Friday…It is going to take me a while to be cured. My disease is fatal. I credit my healthy lifestyle to my ability to fight off the illness. I am supposed to be deathly ill.’”

The disease won the fight just 10 days later. “It must have been a heavyweight disease, the Mike Tyson of blood disorders, because Sibanye loved life and wanted to live,” says Everhart.

From South Africa to Harlem

Sibanye, whose real name was Herbert Crimes (Sibanye means “we as one” in Swahili), was born and raised in St. Louis. After graduation from Temple University, he worked in Chicago developing school curriculums for Black and Hispanic males. In the 1990s, he lived in South Africa for six months to work on developing its educational system, but came back to the U.S. when he realized it was going to be a long, uphill political struggle. Also, he needed a cochlear implant to regain his late-onset hearing loss. In recent years, when he wasn’t proselytizing for atheism, he worked as a computer programmer.

In His Own Words

Before Sibanye spoke at NYCA in July, Everhart interviewed him on tape for a press release she sent out about his talk. Below, she shares with us some of the significant Q and A’s on the tape because, she says, she feels they reveal the depth and concerns of a thoughtful and generous man:

Q: What can you do to help the Black community understand that there is no god?
A: Black people still go into shock when another Black person tells them there is no god. Old ladies will hit you with their purse. You will have your race card revoked.

Q: Why did you live in South Africa for a while and why did you leave?
A: I met an ANC (African National Council) member who was then in exile in the U.S. He invited me to come over and be a part of building the new infrastructure in South Africa after Mandela was elected. I was part of the educational contingent. But they had other major issues—housing, jobs, health care—and they put the educational infrastructure on the back burner. I felt they could do all those things at the same time but… you had to prioritize if you want to control your economy. That’s when I decided to leave.

Q: Was your atheism affected by your being in South Africa?
A: I would go into the homes of Africans. They had dirt floors, tin roofs and tin walls and they had a blue-eyed Caucasian Jesus on every wall. It wore me out. I couldn’t say anything because I was the only Black atheist in the country at that time. I was strong in my atheism; I was unshakeable. Being witness to the oppression that those people had suffered, it made me want to cry.

“That was Sibonye,” says Everhart. “He was sweet, generous and kind. Yet he didn’t mince words; he told it like it is. He would point out any remnants of racism that a Caucasian person expressed. He had such a strong sense of inner integrity that he could not let it pass.

Harlem Group Growing

“His Harlem atheist discussion group was growing and thriving. Oddly enough, more and more white people were heading up there to those meetings to take part in the vigorous discussions. At 49, Sibonye was in his prime as a leader. We have lost a wonderful person, a man of great personal integrity and intelligence.”

Come on October 11 to pay tribute to Sibanye, to dine with us and to remember a man the likes of whom we may not see again anytime soon.

EVENT SUMMARY

WHAT: “Remembering Sibanye, a Tribute to an Extraordinary Atheist
Leader,” a retrospective of Sibanye’s talk to NYCA and an
open mike for remembrances from the audience.

WHEN: Sunday, October 11 at 12 noon

WHERE: Press Box Restaurant and Pub
932 Second Ave. (bet. 49th & 50th Streets)
Second Floor

COST: Brunch, $20 (includes selection of buffet entrees and salad,
one soft drink, coffee, tax, tip). Going back for seconds on
the delicious Eggs Benedict is highly recommended.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

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

or

Jane Everhart
Director of Communications
New York City Atheists
212-879-2687

---------------------

New York City Atheists Inc. is a 501C not-for-profit educational association dedicated to the separation of church and state and to promoting the atheist lifestyle and values. All are welcome, including agnostics, humanists, freethinkers and those just questioning and seeking.

---------------------------

Is Romantic Love a Better High Than Drugs?

You Bet—and It’s Evolutionary, Brain Researcher Assures NYCA

Guess what, romantic love is not only good for you, it has evolved through millenniums to make you happy and perpetuate the species.

What’s more, romantic love gives you a high that’s not unlike that of cocaine. So says Dr. Lucy Brown, professor of neurology and neuroscience at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, who explains that she started her brain research on love because she was interested in studying natural euphoria: “I was interested, as a neuroscientist, in what the basis of drug addiction was, and whether a natural euphoria would be similar to the euphoria they found in drug addiction.”

What she and her research partner, Dr. Helen Fisher, found was startling: Romantic love is better than drugs. “They both use the same brain system, especially cocaine.” But the euphoria from love, having evolved naturally, evidently comes with a lot fewer problems and has a real function physiologically—reproduction.

Is Love Scientific?

In the beginning, Dr. Brown was skeptical that love could even be the subject of a study. But then she met behavioral anthropologist Helen E. Fisher, Ph.D. of Rutgers University. “Dr. Fisher talked to me of her ideas on romantic love, how important it was for the human reproductive strategy and that it was not just some silly ephemeral thing but was an important aspect of reproduction for all mammals.”

Drs. Brown and Fisher have now been studying the brain physiology of love since 1996, using MRIs to study the blood flow patterns in the human brain connected with different kinds of love. On Thursday, September 24, Dr. Brown will share her discoveries with NYC Atheists at the NYCA’s monthly meeting.

Lust, Love and Ever After

The research duo has found, among other things, that the human reproductive strategy involves three kinds, or stages, of love. There is lust, (“you need lust to get out there and get going to have sex,” says Dr. Brown); there is romantic love (“focusing on one individual, probably an evolutionary evolvement to save your energy because that person is there every night”); and thirdly, emotional attachment with that person (“or what happens three or four years after romantic love diminishes: attachment keeps the long-term relationship going.”)

Dr. Brown points out that romantic love is different from lust because you desire not just sex but emotional attachment with the object of your romantic love: “You desire emotional union,” she explains. And, while romantic love may have some anxiety in it, the third stage of love, attachment, elicits a calmer feeling associated with experiencing a secure closeness to the other person.

Programmed for Romance

So, moonlight and roses are not just frivolity but a basic instinct dependent on brain physiology? Yes, says the scientific researcher. Moonlight and roses, Valentine’s Day and love poetry, it’s all hard wired into the brain.

We basically cannot escape the attraction of romantic love because we are programmed to bond and mate and enjoy the romantic high of being in love, says Dr. Brown. And that, fellow Atheists, may be the best news for eHarmony and Match.com since the Internet hit the ether.

Come, on Thursday, September 24, to find out how a better understanding of human brain physiology may open you up to happiness and eliminate any desire for drugs.
Come, hear about the natural euphoria of life and love! Enjoy the affirmation of scientific research for the most intimate of our relationships—the love of one human for another.

EVENT SUMMARY

WHAT: “How Our Brains Are Hard-Wired for Love,” by Lucy Brown, Ph.D.,
professor of neuroscience at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, a talk
on the brain physiology of romantic love.

WHEN: Thursday, September 24 at 6:30 pm.

WHERE: SLC Conference Center
352 Seventh Ave. (bet. 29th & 30th)
16th Floor

COST: We would appreciate a donation of $5 to cover cost of the space.
Unemployed exempt.

For further information:

Jane Everhart
Director of Communications
New York City Atheists
212-879-2687


New York City Atheists is a 501C not-for-profit association dedicated to the separation of church and state and to the advancement of the atheist lifestyle and values. All are welcome, including agnostics, atheists, skeptics, humanists, freethinkers and those who are questioning and seeking.

What Is Up There In Our Mysterious Galaxy?

Is There Other Life In Our Universe?

One of the great questions of our time is the definition of life, what conditions are required for life and where in our galaxy is life also viable.

As atheists, we know that there is no deity up there in the mysterious sky above us, no heaven and no angels. Then what is up there? Once, Europeans did not know what there was across the Atlantic Ocean. Science and navigation technology made it possible for them to go and find out. Will science also steer us to what is really above us in the heavens once we strip fact from the fiction, science from myth?

What Do We Know So Far?

Our Brunch speaker this Sunday will tell us what we know so far about our mysterious galaxy. Dr. Fred Walter, Professor of Astronomy at Department of Physics and Astronomy at Stony Brook University, will examine our universe as a habitat for life.

Dr. Walter will explain some aspects of astronomy that we should all be acquainted with (the physical conditions in the universe; extra solar planets); information theory (i.e., how do we recognize signals from alien intelligences?); biology (how does intelligent life evolve?) and chemistry (where does life come from in the first place?). The professor will also describe our earth as it was about 3.8 billion years ago, which scientists estimate was when life on earth began.

Dr. Walter's interests in the cosmos include how stars are born, why stars explode and what causes the collision of things in space. He will explain the "Drake equation," which tells how scientists estimate how many potential civilizations are in our galaxy of more than 400 billion stars and planets.

Let Your Mind Soar

Come on Sunday to hear some of the most exciting facts about our universe to be discovered in this generation. Be prepared to have your mind stretched! Dr. Walter, a graduate of Berkeley in California, says his objective as a professor is to train his students in critical thinking. His fascinating topic considers how new scientific advances may influence our lives, or how they will influence our progeny in generations to come.

Come and welcome our Stony Brook professor in his efforts to keep us up on what's happening in those mysterious skies above us. Why should Stony Brook students be the only ones to benefit from the enthusiastic wisdom of professors like Dr. Walter? Let your mind soar sky high in concepts of other galaxies, other universes!

EVENT SUMMARY

WHAT: "Is There Life In The Universe?" a exploratory talk by Fred Walter, PhD, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Stony Brook University, NY.

WHEN: Sunday, September 13, 2009
12 PM

WHERE: Press Box Restaurant and Pub
932 Second Ave. (bet. 49th & 50th Sts.)
Second floor

COST: Brunch, $20 (includes selection of buffet entrees and salad, one
soft drink, coffee, tax, tip) Going back for seconds on their
delicious Eggs Benedict is expected!