Happy New Year

2010 was an amazing year for M.A.S.S. We received our 501(c)3 approval. We finished our new logo (with big thanks to Dan and Russ). Our T-shirts are made. Our bi-weekly Discussion Group (organized by Bill) is going strong and (thanks in part to James) has found a permanent home downtown. Several of our members were able to successfully challenge the church service at the County Fair and got it moved to an appropriate private venue.

And last but not least, we now have a sharp looking newsletter. You can sign up here. The primary newsletter, "Critical M.A.S.S." will go out about once a month, and if you sign up for any of the other available lists (such as for Volunteer/Outreach Opportunities), we'll send you notifications only as appropriate.

With all of that, one might wonder how we can top ourselves. What on Earth could we possibly have in mind for our 2011 News Year's Resolution? Well, how about a billboard?


Don't forget, Sunday M.A.S.S. Brunch is this weekend, January 2nd, 10am at The Stone of Accord on North Reserve in the meeting room. If you're not sure where to go, just tell the hostess you're with the group in the meeting room and she'll show you the way.

Christian Law Students Group Claims Discrimination

There's an article in yesterday's Missoulian about a "Christian Students" group and the UM Law School that's claiming they're being discriminated against by the school for not recognizing them as an official group. Why are they not recognized as an official group? Because they discriminate. These are law students who apparently don't understand the definition of the words irony or hipocrisy.

A group of Christian law students seeking to exclude homosexuals from its ranks at the University of Montana is appealing a federal judge's ruling that upholds UM's decision not to recognize the group as a registered student organization.

The First Amendment case was brought in December 2007 when the local chapter of the Christian Legal Society sued the law school, arguing that UM violated its rights to free speech when the Student Bar Association refused to fund the society.

The Student Bar Association says it refused funding because the group's mission is at odds with a non-discrimination policy requiring student groups to be “open to all members of the school of law.” The Christian Legal Society, a national faith-based organization, requires members of its individual chapters to sign a “statement of faith” pledging to uphold “sexual morality standards.” Those standards ban homosexuality, adultery and extramarital sex.

Filed in U.S. District Court in Missoula, the lawsuit names UM Law Dean Edwin Eck, Student Affairs Director Margaret Tonon and the executive board of UM's Student Bar Association as defendants.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull ruled that UM's Law School did not violate the rights of the Christian Legal Society when it refused to recognize the group as an official student organization.

All students enrolled in the School of Law automatically become members of the Student Bar Association and pay mandatory student activity fees. The Student Bar Association then determines funding to student law groups.

Last Friday, the Christian Legal Society filed notice that it would appeal Cebull's decision with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Briefs in support of the appeal must be filed by July 28.

According to the suit, the Christian Legal Society encourages Christian law students to grow in their faith as they learn the law. To protect the Christian message, the organization says it requires all voting members and leaders to agree with the statement of faith.

“Christian student groups shouldn't be discriminated against for their beliefs. All student groups have the right to associate with people of like mind and interest,” CLS attorney Casey Mattox said in a statement. “For example, the Environmental Law Group at UM seeks to promote certain views of global warming. Should it be forced to accept members and officers who hold to views that undermine the group's purpose? Similarly, religious groups should be allowed to select officers and voting members from those who share their views to ensure that their message and whole reason for being is not lost.”

Missoulian Letter to the Editor

There's a wonderful letter to the editor in last Friday's Missoulian that I just noticed. What's even better is that (now that the Missoulian has finally enabled people to post comments on the website) all the comments (so far) to the letter are generally positive (by my standards). Since the Missoulian doesn't like to keep "news" around for more than a day or two, I'll post the full text of the letter and the responses as of today below to keep for posterity.

In 2005, a Bush-appointed judge brought the “intelligent design” movement to a halt - yet another case lost by creationists. Decidedly not an activist judge, John Jones wrote, “(t)his case came to us as the result of the activism of an ill-informed faction on the (Dover, Pa.) school board.”

“ ... (P)roponents of ID make a bedrock assumption which is utterly false ... that evolutionary theory is antithetical to ... religion.” On the contrary, “evolution represents good science, is overwhelmingly accepted by the scientific community, and ... it in no way conflicts with ... the existence of a divine creator.” (Google Kitzmiller v. Dover for the complete text.)

Unwilling to make themselves knowledgeable about why the board’s actions were unconstitutional, good Christians sent death threats instead. Turning Christian against Christian, Pat Robertson tells Dover: “If there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God. You just rejected him from your city.”
Thoroughly contrived, fundamentalists maintain the debate by distortion and compulsory ignorance of what evolution is, or is not. And the Dover school district paid a huge price for it ($1 million). Yet, the ignorance doesn’t have to be.

One can begin with Humes’ “Monkey Girl,” a well-written overview of the Dover trial. But, additionally, this year is the 150th publication anniversary of Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” and the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth. The first edition of “Origin” is a great read.

I have read the Bible; you read “Origin.” If that is too intimidating, read Quammen’s “The Reluctant Mr. Darwin.” Even this month’s Scientific American is dedicated entirely to evolution: past, present and future.

Making one’s self better informed about the inanity of this endless debate - which has less to do with God than faulty ideology - may require some reading outside the box. But, after all, can more Dovers be the answer?

W. Bennington, Polson

Vrede wrote on Jan 9, 2009 9:00 AM:

" Darwinists argue that species evolve through the natural selection of populations with advantageous mutations.

Alternatively, creationists claim that some species could only have arisen through "intelligent design." This is the 'God is a Practical Joker Theory,' since she/he left so much evidence supporting natural evolution.

I agree that any opinion, no matter how lacking in evidence, should be presented in science classes. So, I demand that my own 'Theory of Stupid Design' be taught in our schools.

Evolution would never have led to the arrival of a species that destroys its own habitat, wrecks the climate and threatens mass extinction through nuclear irradiation. This contradicts evolution's tendency towards survival and would have already led to all species' elimination.

Further, "intelligent design" could not have resulted in humanity selecting as our leaders George Bush, Pat Robertson and some of the nation’s school boards. Nor could "intelligent design" have led to the most powerful nation on earth believing that, after 1,000 years of failure, a white, Christian occupation of Iraq would work this time.

It's just common sense to realize that our planetary situation could only arise if someone really dumb were calling the shots. It's too far-fetched to be an accident. "

Lucky wrote on Jan 9, 2009 9:24 AM:

" Nice try W., but you don't really expect the whackos to actually read books do you? As to your question "...can more Dovers be the answer?". It looks like the answer is a resounding Yes. Oklahoma is trying to pass the "Scientific Education and Academic Freedom Act", designed to address "scientific controversies" like evolution and Mississippi wants another stupid textbook sticker. And of course there is also the Louisiana "Academic Freedom Act" which Bobby Jindal signed into law. So,I don't really see a lot of progress since Dover.

I would also add to your list "Evolution: What the Fossils Say & Why It Matters" by Don Prothero. To everybody else: Please gather all your friends, seek out and attend local Darwin Day (Feb. 12) events. At least try to get some facts before making stupid remarks. Vigilance! "

Mulligan wrote on Jan 9, 2009 4:55 PM:

" Amen, W. The "good" Christians don't practice what they preach very often. Instead of turning the other cheek, they'd rather kill those who disagree.

I like Vrede's Theory of Stupid Design, too. That would explain a lot, wouldn't it?

I'd add that people could Google Richard Dawkin's website and find out quite a bit about evolution science. "

Gene Johnson wrote on Jan 10, 2009 11:58 AM:

" Here's another easy-to-read thin book as an introduction: WHY DARWIN MATTERS: THE CASE AGAINST INTELLIGENT DESIGN by Michael Shermer (2006).

Lucky, I agree about getting more public awareness of the Feb 12 Darwin Day. In Oregon a skeptic group makes quite an educational day of it.

I would like to see several communities (certainly Polson) have monthly discussion get-togethers on this and related topics. And then occasional larger combined meetings for interested people. There are a lot of people in Montana who think like Mr. Bennington - but very few speak out or write letters. Too bad. By default, religion just goes on and on and on. Daniel Dennett's book, BREAKING THE SPELL, gives a compelling explanation of why religion sustains so well - great book...but not one theists would enjoy. It would make a fantastic "book club" discussion. Anyone interested? "

Way to go letter writer and commenters. The last writer makes a note of upcoming Darwin Day and refrences an Oregon Skeptic Group. He might be interested in learning that the local Missoula Skeptic Group is planning just such an event. Stay tuned, I'll link from here to anything I hear about it.

M.A.S.S. in the News!

This is just a quick update on today's Snow Sculpting event. We had a few surprises. The first was that hardly anybody showed up, or if they did, they couldn't find us (we were just over the ridge to the south out of view of the parking area). But it was pretty cold, so I guess the turnout wasn't that much of a surprise. We had a great time, did a lot of experimenting, built a 4 foot tall snow candle, an equally tall "North Pole", and hopefully learned enough to do some more interesting sculptures next year.

But the second surprise was that, about the time we were finishing our second sculpture and deciding what to do next, we noticed someone trudging through the snow directly at as with a big smile on her face as if she was happy to have found us. We all figured this must be someone new who wants to join the group (and our snow sculpting adventure). But then she got closer and announced that she was from The Missoulian and had a photographer and videographer following her up the hill. So, we chatted with them for a while about M.A.S.S. and contrived a few photo ops for them.

After they left we packed up or gear and headed back down to the parking area, ready for some hot chocolate. As we were coming down the hill to the parking area, we noticed a KPAX truck pulling in. The driver got out and said "I'm looking for the Snow Sculpting People". "You found us" we said, and we turned around with all our stuff and headed back up the hill with her following with her big video camera. We contrived some more photo ops and she interviewed me about M.A.S.S.

So, M.A.S.S. is about to get some local publicity. Hopefully it'll be positive and show us as who we really are... your neighbor's, coworkers, friends and other happy, law abiding citizens of Missoula who just happen to not have god belief and want to get out, meet each other, and have some fun together.

Anybody who's here as a result of the publicity in the Missoulian and KPAX and interested in joining us, be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed for this site to be alerted to new upcoming events, or check back regularly. If you have a Facebook account, you can join the 60+ other people who've joined our group there to be notified of new events through FB. I'm looking into a little downtown bar hopping for Wednesday afternoon / early evening as our next event but am still waiting on some final info for that. Full details will be posted here as soon as I have them ready.