Streetcar Party a Success
Events, Photos March 7th, 2009Last night’s streetcar party was a success, we had over 50 guests in total and the night went off without a hitch. If you have photos of the evening that you want to share, please email them to photos[at]atheistbus.ca.
Flicker Gallery: Click 
on the bottom left of each photo to visit the flickr page.
March 7th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
Stanislav Grof on the Global Crisis:
“I am deeply convinced that (the answer) lies in what I have already tried to
suggest — in that spiritual dimension that connects all cultures and in fact all
humanity. If democracy is not only to survive but to expand successfully and resolve
those conflicts of cultures, then, in my opinion, it must rediscover and renew its own
transcendental origins ……. Planetary democracy does not yet exist, but our global
civilization is already preparing a place for it: It is the very Earth we inhabit, linked
with Heaven above us. Only in this setting can the mutuality and the commonality
of the human race be newly created, with reverence and gratitude for that which
transcends each of us, and all of us together. The authority of a world democratic
order simply cannot be built on anything else but the revitalized authority of the
universe.”
Excellent article – http://www.stanislavgrof.com/pdf/Current%20Global%20Crisis.pdf
March 7th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
More from S Grof.
“One of the most striking consequences of various forms of transpersonal
experiences was spontaneous emergence and development of deep humanitarian and
ecological concerns and need to get involved in service for some common purpose. This was based on an almost cellular awareness that the boundaries in the universe are arbitrary and that each of us is identical with the entire web of existence.
It was suddenly clear that we can not do anything to nature without
simultaneously doing it to ourselves. Differences among people appeared to be
interesting and enriching rather than threatening, whether they were related to sex, race, color, language, political conviction, or religious belief. Following this transformation, these people (like many of American astronauts who have seen the earth from outer space – see Mickey Lemle’s other Side of the Moon) developed a deep sense of being planetary citizens rather than citizens of a particular country or members of a particular racial,
social, ideological, political, or religious group. It is obvious that a transformation of this kind would increase our chances for survival if it could occur on a sufficiently large scale.
“Holographic thinking pioneered by David Bohm and
Karl Pribram threw new light on the relationship between the part and the whole (see
Bohm’s Wholeness and the Implicate Order and Pribram’s Languages of the Brain).
Ervin Laszlo has provided a brilliant model of the interconnected universe in his concept of the “psi-field” or akashic field (see Laszlo’s books The Creative Cosmos, The Connectivity Hypothesis, and Science and the Akashic Field). “
March 7th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
I sure wish I could’ve been there.
I hope you’ll do something like that again.
March 7th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
Shekhinah,
In your first comment you appear to credit Stanislov Grof with that statement you quoted. That statement, according to Grof, was actually made by Vaclav Havel, the Czech president, at a Stanford lecture.
In Stanislov Grof’s article, to which you provide a link, he writes: “spiritual intelligence….has the power to override the scientistic worldview of materialistic science.” Really?
He presents “a new MYTH to live by”. He states of his “transpersonal” psychological theory: “It sees the universe as a product of superior creative intelligence and permeated with it.” Transpersonal is defined by Grof as including ancestral, racial, collective and phylogenetic memories, karmic experiences and archetypal dynamics.
Grof’s research in altered states of consciousness and experiments with LSD in the 1960s doesn’t seem to have led him into anything more informative about the universe than the wild imaginations of patients on drugs. It is very doubtful that the truth about the universe can be discovered through “holotropic” breathing.
March 7th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
Congrats on the successful streetcar party!
March 8th, 2009 at 3:38 am
I was there.
It was satisfying to meet everybody, to put a face to a name — Justin and Chris and others.
As you can imagine, in a relaxed setting at the center and on the bus, we talked quite a bit about religion, gods, history, and atheism, from an intellectual perspective. In addition, personal stories from past experiences interested me.
After talking to a number of people, I realized that unlike religionists, atheists, rationalists, skeptics, and humanists have experienced “the other side” (religion, usually christianity) — however, religionists have not experienced “our side.” We can talk with authority about our youth as christians, or whatever, but christians do not have the same perspective concerning a life free from religion.
March 8th, 2009 at 9:00 am
religionists have not experienced “our side.” We can talk with authority about our youth as christians, or whatever, but christians do not have the same perspective concerning a life free from religion.
Harvard,
This is not always the case. Some Christians have been atheists in the past. They have experienced both sides.
I have met some of them.
One example can be found here:
http://www.ex-atheist.com/from-skepticism-to-worship.html
March 8th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Congratulations, I’m so pleased that the party was a success and that we got our message out to the people of Toronto and by extension, to the people of Canada. It is especially heartening to see, from image #12, that the atheist message is supported by people of all ages.
March 8th, 2009 at 9:36 am
Shekhinah
While your concern about the global crisis is laudable, mention of heaven is not appropriate in a discussion about the street car party.
Didn’t you get the message: There is no God, so relax and enjoy your life.
If you don’t agree, use the forum to express your disagreement and your mention of heaven.
March 8th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Hello Skep—-
Yes, I realize a few religionists were atheists at one time, but, I would think, not many. Whereas, probably all freethinkers-humanists-atheists-rationalists were at one time under the domination of a religion.
Everyone I met at the party had had a religious youth.
But almost all religionists I have spoken to have never experienced life free from religion.
March 8th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
^ ^ ^ ^
Again — Hello Skep —
Yes, I went to the ex-atheist’s website you mentioned.
I’ll try to read it all in detail, and then comment.
I did skim through it, reading paragraphs, and she seems a confused, angry person, maybe a little unbalanced. BUT — first impressions could be wrong.
However, I noticed in a column on the left two boxes you can click on to send emails: One box is titled “Send Fan Mail”; the other box is titled “Send Hate Mail.” So, if you disagree with her, or question her, it’s HATE mail? I was forced to send a message to her through her ‘fan mail’ conduit.
Also – she wrote this piece in 2002, quite a while ago. I’m not sure what to conclude from that.
But – I will copy her essay and read it closely, making notes.
^ ^ ^ ^
March 8th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Harvard,
I think spending too much time with the ex is a bad idea. ;D
March 8th, 2009 at 11:59 pm
Harvard, not everyone comes from a religious background. I was never personally exposed to religion or spirituality growing up in my family. I know many people for whom this is the case. You shouldn’t extrapolate a stereotype from a limited experience of individuals in a group.
March 9th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
God especially loves the atheists.
March 9th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
The river will flow whether you hold up your hand and tell it not to, or not.
March 9th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
OK — M and Lynda —
Of course, you are both correct.
The people I talked to FRiday night had similar experiences in their youths, and I did make a general conclusion from that.
I have talked to people in their late teens and early 20′s, and many of them grew up free from religion.
So, there it is.
.
Lynda — yes, that website from the ex-atheist was disturbing. I agree it’s a bad idea to linger over it.
Also, the email to her was returned to me undeliverable – so I think something is messed up there.
March 9th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
The river will flow whether you hold up your hand and tell it not to, or not.
This depends on whether you have a manual control device for the floodgate of the dam in your other hand.
God especially loves the atheists.
God=Nothing. Therefore: Nothing especially loves the atheists.
March 10th, 2009 at 8:20 am
There was a big pond, and in it three were three fishes. The fist fish was One-Thought, the second fish was Hundred-Thoughts, and the third fish was Thousand-Thoughts. At some time a fisherman came and cast his net. He caught those two fishes of many thoughts; but he did not catch the fish One-Thought.
March 10th, 2009 at 9:16 am
The fist fish was One-Thought
Shekhinah, what’s a “fist fish”? One that gets caught in your throat? (Before you think me totally dense…yes, I recognize a typo.)
March 10th, 2009 at 9:17 am
(Oh, Shekhinah, that’s assuming you don’t already think me totally dense.)
March 10th, 2009 at 9:19 am
The fist fish was One-Thought
Shekhinah, what’s a “fist fish”? One that gets caught in your throat? (Before you think me totally dense…yes, I recognize a typo. Oh, that’s assuming you don’t already think me dense.)
March 10th, 2009 at 9:46 am
I notice that atheists are very interested in typos for some reason.
They will avert their eyes to incredible beauty (or ugliness) and focus all of of their attention, their incredible wisdom and intelligence on that one typo.
They will strive with all their heart, with all their (non-existent)soul, with all their mind and all their strength on that one significant typo.
Somebody has to do it I suppose. Or we will never learn to type.
You are not dense. Just very aware.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Shekhinah your posts have absolutely nothing to do with the posted topic. Please move your discussion to http://atheistbus.ca/forum.
Thanks,
Chris
Website Administrator
March 11th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Chris – I disagree. I think that shakanah’s posts are very enlightening. I find all the other posts on here totally purpose-less. (just like the atheist’s concept of life).
March 11th, 2009 at 9:25 am
Oh – and congratulations on the street party it was really a lot of fun.
I enjoyed myself enormously.