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Welcome to the July 2024 newsletter,
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I am so grateful for your continued support!
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I love hearing from my fellow heathens,
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As we start to think about fall, what is on your mind?
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I have a few in person grief workshops scheduled in the coming months in the Triangle area of North Carolina:
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Please reach out if you would like more details!
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In August, we will celebrate birthday for two nonbelievers you may not have heard of. I am delighted to share short biographies for Maurice Hilleman and Robert G Ingersoll.
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Maurice Hilleman
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Dr. Maurice Hilleman (hill - eh - men) was born August 30, 1919, during the influenza pandemic of 1918-19. At that time, viruses and bacteria were a primary cause for 1 in 10 babies not surviving to adulthood. Maurice Hillman’s life mission was to take them out, one by one.
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Dr. Hilleman developed over 40 vaccines including 8 that are part of the basic 14 we give children today.
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Raised as a Lutheran, his childhood discovery of science and Charles Darwin led him to reject religion. Maurice was a character - known for his professional gruffness and fondness for ketchup on everything. He once asked a disgruntled priest to actually prove that wine turned to Christ’s blood. Maurice was also a loving father who sang his children to sleep every night.
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He devoted his life to protecting vulnerable children from disease so they could live long, happy lives. By some estimates, his work saves at least 8 millions lives each year, more lives worldwide than any other scientist in history.
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You can learn more about him here:
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Above Us Only Sky
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above us only sky displayed with an authentic telescope image of a large magellanic cloud. Show your secular side with this cool but subtle atheist design! $30
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Above Us Only Sky
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Robert G Ingersoll
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Robert G Ingersoll, The Great Agnostic, was born August 11, 1833. He had a broad career that started with a law apprenticeship and included a role as Colonel in the Civil War. Ingersoll drew large crowds to his speeches where he spoke about stark differences between political parties, separation of church and state, equal rights, and abolition. He held several political roles, including the Attorney General for Illinois, and was asked to run for governor of Illinois. As part of his candidacy, he was expected to tone down his speeches on women’s rights and the misogyny of religion. He declined.
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Reading Ingersoll, you can feel how much he reveres family life and the goodness inherent in humans. He eloquently points out the damage that misogyny of religion does as well as the inequality it breeds.
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Ingersoll lived at a time when the Democratic Party and Republican Party represented very different ideals than they do today. Among other differences, the Republican Party wanted to unite the country and the Democratic Party wanted to retain states' rights to allow people to be enslaved. Historians tell us that the tipping point for the ideological swap between the parties happened when democratic president Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law in 1964. By the 1980s white southern Democrats had switched their party affiliation to Republican with the intention of maintaining the status quo. The Democratic party firmly held the torch as advocates of equality and justice as Reagan took office seeking to dissolve important social safety nets and access to abortion.
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Do you know someone who would enjoy this newsletter? Sharing is caring!
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