Southern Oregon Non-Prophet group

For everyone from the southern I-5 corridor area of Oregon, mainly the Grants Pass area and down to Ashland:

I know we have 3 or 4 of us on here, and I was thinking "Hey, we should get together and meet each other!" The Rogue Valley and this area can be somewhat unforgiving for Atheists and other Seculars, especially with the giant soul-sucking megachurch out in Applegate, so it would be nice to know there are others out there who at least share similar viewpoints.

Anyone interested?

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Parallax on December 12, 2009 at 6:55pm

So yeah it seems that the weather is not on our side for a meetup. I think it would be more fun to meet in a more casual venue than at a speaking event.

Permalink Reply by Sky Ironplow on December 15, 2009 at 4:17am

I would be interested if you can stretch the Grants Pass boundary all the way up to Roseburg! I can travel down almost to Ashland, possibly that far depending on the weather.

Permalink Reply by Parallax on December 22, 2009 at 6:27pm

There are no boundaries my friend! I can't speak for everyone but I would welcome you if you wanted to travel down. I don't know when it will be, but we're brewin something up.

Permalink Reply by Tamara Rousso on March 17, 2010 at 11:05am

www.meetup.com/SouthernOregonFreethinker-Fellowship

Permalink Reply by Ron Dotson on May 1, 2010 at 7:03pm

I just recently moved to Medford and would love to meet a few other non-theists. I would never have came to Medford if I had known there were so many redneck religious Xtian fanatics here, and I plan on moving to the Portland area as soon as the lease is up on the house I'm renting temporarily. I leased a house to give me time to get to know a little about Oregon and decide where to settle and buy a home. I chose Medford as my starting point mostly because of the good medical care (there are two hospitals here) and the warmer weather than I thought I would get further north, but have discovered that I miss the variety of life that a larger city offers (like Portland hopefully), the better education level of most city dwellers, and the greater variety ethnic lifestyles and beliefs in larger cities. Christianity is after all, a minority religion.

I have a severe form of arthritis similar to rheumatoid arthritis and must inject a chemotherapy drug once a week (normally on weekends) which normally takes me out of action for a day or two, and because of the chemotherapy drug I can no longer drink anything alcoholic, so beers, etc., are out for me, but bars serve non-alcoholic beverages too so a bar would be Ok for a meeting place.

Permalink Reply by Ron Dotson on May 1, 2010 at 7:23pm

P.S.
To: Tamara Rousso

I tried to sign up for your SouthernOregonFreethinker-Fellowship group, but meetup.com would not accept my perfectly valid name, email address, and password. I do not have a Facebook account and have no intentions of joining Facebook.

Permalink Reply by Tamara Rousso on May 1, 2010 at 9:32pm

Hi Ron,

I think the URL was changed so try this: http://www.meetup.com/SouthernOregonFreethought-Fellowship/ .Alas the meetup group was started by someone else, and I just did the meetup page for them. After the page was done they decided they wanted the group to be welcoming to those of no faith, loose faith, and with faith if they want to come listen to our Atheist agenda. I'm really not interested in debating. I am no longer attending many of the Grants Pass meetings. But in case that does appeal to you I know they would welcome you. They meet three times a month on Sunday afternoons, it is free other than a $1 donation in the basket, which no one will check on if you forget. The folks that are there are very nice, and you will enjoy them. I have joined The Jefferson Center in Ashland. Of course there is a membership fee, so that is a bummer for those on a tight budget. You will find that Ashland overall is more progressive then either Medford or Grants Pass. I am with you though - had I known what I know now I would have settled in the northern part of the state. Every time I see one of those yellow flags with the snake that says "Don't Tread On Me" I get a strong smell of tea and can't help but shudder.

Permalink Reply by Ron Dotson on May 2, 2010 at 1:27am

Yes, that URL (http://www.meetup.com/SouthernOregonFreethought-Fellowship/) leads to the same page that I was having trouble with before.

I have no problem with the "Don't Tread On Me" flags but I think "tea parties" are a farce, and unfortunately even though I'm a Constitutionalist I do not support these "Patriot" groups because strong religious beliefs and non-separation of church and state are invariably part of their agenda. Ron Paul is one of my heroes, it was unconstitutional to establish the "Fed" (Federal Reserve Board), most of what the federal government does in all branches is unconstitutional in my opinion, but I realize their are many others who disagree; however the "Patriot" groups brook no disagreement. Ah well.

Permalink Reply by Tamara Rousso on May 2, 2010 at 9:51am

I have very mixed feeling about the different political views. I am not an ideologue, but mostly a pragmatist (I think ). I want practical solutions that make life better for people, and beyond that I'm not real concerned about whose party brings those about. I do not like it when any party uses fear tactics, and hate mongering to further their agenda. I like a lot of the Libertarian platform, but I'm not entirely sure it is practical in a corporacracy. In a true democracy I like it a lot.

I am reading a really good book about using critical thinking skills to come to rational decisions. The author talks about "confirmation bias" and how it effects our ability to look at a situation rationally (especially in politics or other emotionally charged issues). It has been eye opening for me to see how many times confirmation bias has colored my ability to see an issue clearly. And from what I can tell most political parties, and especially those involved with the "Don't Tread on Me" flags suffer from confirmation bias greatly.

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Miller on June 29, 2017 at 6:44am