Optimism

Newsletter #10 - The Church of Spiritual Humanism
May 9, 2003 - Philadelphia
www.SpiritualHumanism.org

Warmer weather has arrived, the war has been mercifully short, and we each have the chance to help make the world a better place. There are plenty of reasons to be thankful and optimistic. But the world situation will not improve without some work on our part. Instead of bemoaning the state of affairs make the effort to promote tolerance and respect for freedom among your friends and acquaintances. Demand ethical conduct and reverence for truth from your elected leaders. Each drop of water contributes to the ocean.

IN THE NEWS

Costco And Wal-Mart Approved To Join Kingdom Ventures' Christian Merchants Initiative

MINDEN, NEVADA--Kingdom Ventures, Inc. (OTC BB:KDMV - News), a rapidly growing church development company, announced today that it has approved Costco (Nasdaq:COST - News) and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT - News) as Christian merchants, a prerequisite for joining the company's Christian Merchants program.

Kingdom Ventures launched its new Christian Merchants initiative aimed at providing a direct marketing channel to tens of millions of active church members controlling hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

see full story at

http://www2.ccnmatthews.com/scripts/ccn-release.pl?/current/0506050N.html

EDITORS NOTE:

Actually this wasn't in the news, it's only found on the Kingdom Ventures web site. It's a deal where approved "Christian Merchants" send a kick back to churches that push parishioners their way. For some reason Wal-Mart and Costco don't seem real proud of this. There are plenty of articles about Wal-Mart pulling Maxim, Stuff and FHM from their shelves but none of our nation's journalist have bothered to put two and two together. Personally I don't buy at Wal-Mart because it puts family owned shops out of business and replaces them with near minimum wage go-nowhere jobs. That's anti-family in my book. Wal-Mart's policies of not carrying CDs bearing "explicit lyrics" warnings and censorship of the press are all the more reason not to go there.

READERS WRITE IN

If you have a question feel free to email me at info ( at ) spiritual humanism.org
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Kayla C writes:
I was wondering on how your religious society taught that the world came to be. Such as Creationalism, or in the evolutionary sense or what ever it might be. I thank you for your time. Kayla

Kayla,

We believe that science will provide the most accurate answers for these questions. The scientific method leads us to conclude that the Earth was formed by natural forces four billion years ago. And that in the two billion years since life arose here we have evolved to our present form.

We have used the scientific method to develop all of the technology that makes modern life possible. Without it there would be no computers, no television, no medicine, no modern technology at all. Our understanding of these things was slowly developed by many generations of painstaking work. Trial and error, noting what works and discarding whatever does not.

None of the technology we depend on today, or the fundamental laws on which it is based, were revealed to us by supernatural beings. Spiritual humanism does not rely on such sources for our ethics or understanding of the universe.

CONCLUSION

If you need additional documentation of your ordained Clergy Packages are available in our online store http://www.spiritualhumanism.org/shop.php The Ordination Certificates are printed on acid free paper for extra long life, and Clergy Wallet ID Cards are nice to have. Our book, The Officiant's Manual includes information on celebrating the equinox and solstice as well as marriage laws for all 50 states, sample ceremonies, etc. The fees charged for these packs are our only income and help defer the cost of the web site, advertising, PO Box, and incorporation fees.

RA Zorger
President, The Church of Spiritual Humanism

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Presbyterian minister rebuked for same sex marriages
Mon, 06 Sep 2010
The Presbyterian Church seems to not be able to decide on the status of performing same sex marriages by its ministers. The Reverend Jane Adams Spahr, a Presbyterian minister, violated her church regulations in performing sixteen same-sex marriages in 2008.

Your Real Immortality
Sun, 11 Jul 2010

Last week I attended the funeral service for my aunt. She was not humanist let alone a Spiritual Humanist. As I sat in the pews listening to her minister repeatedly mispronounce my aunt's and my mutual last name (pro tip: there is no silent r)...

Academy of Natural Sciences
Fri, 25 Jun 2010

Despite the tragic history this is great place to start the discussion of the Law of Evolution (yes I have upgraded it!) with kids. Actually the bad history is just as important for kids because we as a civilization will not learn from our mistakes if we hide them from future generations. Truffala trees don't save themselves after all.