RET Newsletter                         June 2008
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June 1 - Tremont

Around noon would be a good time to picnic but come as early as you like for the atmosphere. -

Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont - Beginning of Camp Quest

Plan to bring a picnic lunch and enjoy hiking and fellowship in a beautiful mountain setting. The program is rather informal, but some of you may want to drive up to Tremont for a morning of fresh air, some exercise and just plain, good socializing in a beautiful, mountain environment. It's the beginning of our annual Camp Quest. Our coordinators can also provide an informal overview of the camp.

Directions:


FROM THE NORTH: I-75 S to Knoxville. Continue on 275/ I-40 W for a short distance. Follow airport exits to 129 S. which takes you toward Alcoa/Maryville. From Maryville, take 321 N through Townsend. Do not turn toward Pigeon Forge. Follow signs straight into the Cades Cove entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

ONCE IN THE PARK: When coming in from Townsend, follow the road to the Y-intersection with signs to Gatlinburg or Cades Cove. Turn right towards Cades Cove, then immediately you will see a sign indicating the road to the Great Smoky Mountains Institute. Turn left just past the bridge and follow the Tremont road 2 miles to the Institute turning left  to cross a 1-lane bridge into the Institute. Office is on the left. The campers and staff will be meeting in the Council House directly across the entrance road from the office.

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Book Club

June 8, 2008 ; 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.

 Barnes and Noble Booksellers, 8029 Kingston Pike

The Squandering of America: How the Failure of Our Politics Undermines our Prosperity / Robert Kuttner

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Philosophy Sunday

June 15, 2008 10:30 AM
The Current Israeli/Palestinian Conflict in its Historical Context

 A brief presentation followed by an open round table discussion.

Moshe Siman-Tov will lead our discussion.

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The bias of position

When some of us were protesting the Creationist Museum in Kentucky back a year ago,  two very insulting and bent-on-making trouble Christians came over to the protestors and quickly found the least stable person in the group to harass. It was obvious that they were trying to generate an unpleasant confrontation to make bad atheists look bad.

There were many of the protestors trying to settle the rising rhetoric between the Christians and one or two protestors. There were also some college-aged protestors chanting, "Who created god? Man did." in response. As the emotions rose I quickly went over to the mounted police and told one of them that there were some people who came over to try to cause trouble and could the police intervene? The response was, "That's why they are here." He then turned and rode off. I just stood there for a moment and then realized that he was probably referring to the protestors not the real agitators. It seemed like he actually wanted a blow-up. That was my perspective any way.

Fortunately the rational voices were able get the poor unstable protestor to leave the confrontation before it got out of hand. The Christians then did some proselytizing and left.

What brought up this memory was a recent Billy Graham article of 5-22-08, Knoxville News Sentinel. The questioner asked if Graham believed in death-bed conversions and related the story of an uncle "who never wanted anything to do with God" but the day before he died had a Christian friend visit who said that he (the dying man) wanted Christ to come into his life. The question then was, "Was he faking it."

My first thought was the Christian friend was faking it. Claims of deathbed conversions by atheists are a historically common ploy used by Christians. Even Darwin was alleged to have made one. Of course all the evidence was to the contrary with respect to Darwin.

As I read on, though, it was obvious that my perspective was not the same as the questioner and Graham's. (No big surprise there.) Graham's reply was, "Only God knows his heart, of course, and whether or not he was sincere when he prayed to receive Christ. But I seriously doubt if he was 'faking it' ... when someone realizes that they are about to die, they have little reason to put on an act."

Or more likely, when someone with an agenda realizes that another is about to die and can't contradict an unwitnessed claim, "faking it" may work.

Not to go into all of the illogic of Graham's statement I will mention the flaw that he himself realized. This allows the ability to do what ever you want until just before you die and then cash in the "Just got Saved" card. Then you can have your cake and eat the wafer too.

Carl Ledendecker

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RET Newsletter submissions
Feel free to submit news or opinions of interest. Submissions are welcomed but may be limited by space and topic relevance. The format may vary depending on the amount of information submitted. Short submissions are preferred but longer ones may be accepted if they can be published as a series over two or more issues. Text or Word format are best for submission. Text may also be included in an E-mail.
Carl Ledendecker at:   (ledendecker@earthlink.net)        2123 Stonybrook Rd., Louisville, TN 37777   982-8687 evenings

The Newsletter can also be found online at our Web site: www.rationalists.org. Scheduling: Philosophy (Michael Lance) lancem@ornl.gov;  Round tables (Carl Westman) cawestman@bellsouth.net;  Book Club (John McCaffrey) jkmccaffreytn@yahoo.com  Newsletter: (Carl Ledendecker) ledendecker@earthlink.net, 982-8687        

Material published in The RET Newsletter represents the views of the individual authors.  Publication does not constitute an endorsement by the Rationalists of East Tennessee or its members.