Welcome to the website for the Missoula Area Secular Society, or M.A.S.S. for short (pronounced Mass).
We are a 501(c)3 non-profit organization who's mission is to foster a community of non-theistic individuals in Missoula, MT, and to develop and/or promote educational programs focusing on secular ethics, science, history, and critical thinking for our members, their families, and the public at large.
You are probably here because you saw or heard about our billboard on Russell St. We welcome you and invite you to browse around. Be sure to checkout our calendar for upcoming activities.
You can stay up to date by subscribing to our newsletter, liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter, or adding us on Google+.
Press can download a hi-res version of the billboard artwork here, and the group photo at the billboard here.
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10 comments:
We saw the billboard the other day. Very cool! The billboard communicates that not only is MASS there as a group, but that you are ACTIVE as a group. We will try to get out and join you at a meeting or event soon!
~Chris & Catherine
Ya know just when you though Missoula had enough screw balls you put up your billboard. I saw it today,and I remember a time in my life when I though as you. No God, I was so mislead and wrong. There is a God and one day you will meet him, how I wish I could be there to watch your judgement. If you really want to do something good for humanity, go picket the Abortion Clinic in town where they murder babies. That would be a good cause. Liberls you gotta love them.
I listen to NPR, and I heard the interview discussing your group today. I believe the lady representing your group said that the group's main goal, at this point, is to attempt to separate church and state. She stated that it was not fair for other citizens to seclude atheists by including God in the Pledge of Allegiance and on our currency.
I am a catholic, and I believe in God. Last I checked, 78.4% of the population in the United States is Christian. That would suggest that 78.4% of the population believes in God, and believes we should keep him around. Tell me, is it fair to remove God from the Pledge of Allegiance, and our currency, and the ten commandments from our courthouses to appease less than 21.6% of the population?
How is that fair? Pardon me for saying so, but nobody in this country is forcing you to believe in God. That is one of the great things about this country. Please don't try to force the rest of us to stop believing in God.
Can anyone really deny that God fearing principles are good for society as a whole? Take the ten commandments for example. What is wrong with having the ten commandments in courtrooms. Can we at least agree that if everyone followed those ten simple rules we would all be better off?
You protest against God's name being in the Pledge of Allegiance because it's "offensive," but you openly choose to call your group M.A.S.S. which is the name for a sacrament in the Catholic church. That, to me, is offensive and an open mockery to God and his church.
I disagree with Jose, but I understand his point of view. I hope that each of you realize that God does exist, before you reach those pearly gates.
God bless each and every one of you,
Your friend
Hi Jim,
Thanks for your comment, but you seem to have a very twisted idea of the meaning of the word "fair". Majority rule is not fair. Equality for all, minorities included, is fair.
At different times in history, a majority of Americans thought it was perfectly acceptable to keep slaves, that only men should be allowed to vote, or hold jobs, that black people were "dirty" and should therefore be required to sit in the back of the bus and use separate drinking fountains.
Thankfully, might does not make right and the courts eventually sided with what was right, and not with ignorant bigotry.
You also equate returning our Pledge of Allegiance and currency to it's pre paranoid McCarthyism state as forcing you to not believe in God. How so? Is your grasp on your faith so tenuous that without the government using our tax dollars to reinforce your superstition that you'll lose faith entirely?
Nobody is advocating rewriting the Pledge to say "One Godless Nation," or changing the currency to say "All gods are phony baloney nonsense." To believe, or not to believe, and in what and how to believe, are individual choices and the Federal, State, and local Governments have no business advocating any position, even if 99.99% of Americans all worshiped the Flying Spaghetti Monster or the Invisible Pink Unicorn.
Thanks, Catherine. Bravo, Jon, well said. Jose.... well let's just say you need to use your spell-checker.
Huge kudos to you all for your work in advocating freethinking, logic, and reason (although these attributes are clearly lacking in Jose's and Jim's responses). I miss Missoula terribly, but am only a stones-throw away in Helena. I have been a passionate naturalist/scientist/atheist since adolescence. Now a professor in Helena, please let me know if I and my partner (also a professor) can do anything to help the cause. We are riding on the wave of the "new atheists", and I believe that the cultural zeitgeist is ready for a paradigm shift. Our thanks for your work, and congratulations on raising the public's consciousness!
Cheers,
Dr. Christopher Collins
Hi Jim,
I am Traci, the young woman you heard on the radio earlier. I wanted to explain my views on this issue to you a little more. First off however, I want to thank you for explaining your views in a reasonable manner and not resorting to ad homonym attacks as so many discussions about religion seem to turn to on the internet.
I believe that you speak with sincerity and that you, like myself, want to see this country do well in the future (even if we disagree on what that future should be like). We will have to agree to disagree on some issues, but I’d like to talk to you about why I think it is dangerous to have government endorse one religion over another or any religion at all, and it is my hope that you will seriously consider what I have to say.
You are apart of the Christian Majority so I can see where you are coming from when you say you think it wouldn’t be harmful to have the 10 commandments or under god in our pledge or on our money. However, for those of us who do not believe that the creator sent these commandments down for us to follow its can feel quite alienating. It is as if we don’t belong in this supposed land of the free and it is particularly haunting to see these commandments up in a court of law that is charged with deciding the fate of the people. It gives the impression that the law favors those who follow the code (i.e. believe in the Judeo-Christian God) over those that don’t (and I’m not just talking about atheists here).
I believe that the government should be set up so that no one, no matter how small a minority, should feel as if the government is prejudice against them for their beliefs. That is what I would call fair. I think this is where you and I differ in opinions. You seem to be saying, and please let me know if I am misinterpreting you, that whichever religion the majority of Americans prescribe to is the one the government should endorse.
I’d like to ask you to try to imagine a hypothetical future in which the majority of Americans believed in Zeus or even yet, were atheists (which is not an entirely crazy idea since we are the fastest growing “religious group” in the US), and were attempting to get the courts to condone their beliefs over yours? Do you still think at that point that whatever belief the majority of Americans prescribe to should get to determine what we put on our money and in our courts? I certainly wouldn’t. I would not condone, using Jon’s example, putting “One Godless Nation” on our dollar bills if atheists made up 78% or even 99% of the population. It would not be fair to those to who do believe in this country.
Additionally, many religious sects today still have misogynistic and homophobic beliefs/tendencies. For the government to endorse their belief in god only acts to endorse their other beliefs as well and by doing so alienate its female and gay citizens. The majority should get to make decisions when it comes to things like who is elected president, but the majority shouldn’t have the privilege of be treated as superior citizens simply because they are the majority.
One of the reasons I am proud to be an American is because we are accepting of so many different types of people and I believe we should strive to make sure no is treated as a second class citizen because of their race, gender, sexual orientation, or yes, even religious belief.
Sincerely,
Traci
I’ve got a few more comments.
First I wanted to clarify a bit of what I said on the radio show when I was talking about the separation of church and state as one of the main goals of the organization. The main goal of this organization, and what we spend most of our time on, is fostering a community of non-theistic individuals so that they have somewhere to express themselves with other like-minded people. Nevertheless, the Separation of Church and State is very important to us and we do intend to stay vigilant on this issue in the Missoula Area.
Also, Welcome Chris and Catherine, we hope to see you at one of our events soon.
Dr. Collins, I looked up your bio at Carrol College, behavioral neuroscience, that is without a doubt my favorite subject! One of our missions here at MASS is to promote science within the community, which we try to do by regularly inviting scientists to come speak with us about their research/ area of expertise. If this sounds like something you would be interested in, we would love to have you as one of our guest speakers, perhaps sometime late fall or this winter. I couldn’t find your contact info on the Carrol College website, but feel free to contact me if you are interested at Traci@secularmissoula.org.
It strikes me how being "secular" is similar to religion in the case of M.A.S.S. Your group spreads the word of atheism with advertisements and congregations, ironic... I may not be religious in the sense that I am devoted to a particular religion, but I think religion is interesting and plays a significant role in human history. Therefore, by surrounding myself in knowledge and studying spiritualities, I'm religious. I think religion (almost all of it) should be embraced--not necessarily believed in--but to learn about the culture and views to assume greater understanding of humanity. I think protesting religion is hurtful in the way that protesting homosexuality or ethnic-equality is. It seems radical to stage protest of belief systems, racial makeup or life-styles. How does the act of people attending a church, temple or synagogue impact your day or our community negatively? Why will protesting bring your organization satisfaction?
I initially researched your website, hoping to find an organization gathering to create community and relationship. I have to say I am disappointed, as your group seems founded with intent to hate rather than support.
Jacob. Thanks for your comments. I hardly know where to begin. I'll start with this chunk:
"I think protesting religion is hurtful in the way that protesting homosexuality or ethnic-equality is."
Even though church-thinking is behind most protestations against homosexuality, and certainly bears some finger-pointing for protestations against ethnic equality -- against Islamic immigrants here, or against Palestinian rights issues in Israel, or against almost any "outside the mainstream" ethnic or religious group trying to survive in the Islamic world? I would suggest that religious folks are behind most calls for the death of atheists worldwide.
And you keep using the word "protest". Our billboard is an advertisement. We're looking for new members, letting people know we're in the community providing a service, just like the Auto Body Shop billboard next to ours -- and it appears to be working.
Atheists generally believe in freedom of religion, which includes the right to not believe in anything supernatural at all. Our group is here as a support group for our members -- many who are struggling with questions of "belief" -- and to make ourselves known to religious and governmental powers only when an abuse rears its ugly head. Remember the issue with the church service at the County Fair? Well, now everyone can get in for free on Sunday, not just those who attend the evangelical Christian religious service. I'm not sorry that some of our members "protested" that silliness.
"How does the act of people attending a church, temple or synagogue impact your day or our community negatively?"
Mostly it doesn't, until the attending church-goers take their message out of church and into our schools and government buildings, or begin to kill those who belong to a different faith. And I'm not saying that many churches don't do wonderful things for the community -- though I think it's probably because their members are wonderful people.
"Why will protesting bring your organization satisfaction?"
If and when we get around to doing some real protesting, I'm sure the group will feel satisfaction (probably even the dreaded self-satisfaction) if we can open people's eyes a little to the power of reason. If you think attending science lectures together, or drinking beer in bars while talking philosopy & mocking religious hypocrisy, or camping & skiing with like-minded, good-natured folks is protestation, then I disagree. If a church window is broken in Missoula -- I didn't do it.
-- Russ Thayer
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