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Canadian Atheist, Not a Member of In-Sight Publishing, 2017-2019 This Edition Published in 2019 1 2 IN-SIGHT PUBLISHING Published by In-Sight Publishing In-Sight Publishing Langley, British Columbia, Canada in-sightjournal.com First published in parts by Canadian Atheist, Not a member of In-Sight Publishing, 2017-2019 This edition published in 2019 © 2012-2019 by Scott Douglas Jacobsen. Original appearance in Canadian Atheist. All rights reserved. No parts of this collection may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized, in any form, or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented or created, which includes photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. Published in Canada by In-Sight Publishing, British Columbia, Canada, 2019 Distributed by In-Sight Publishing, Langley, British Columbia, Canada In-Sight Publishing was established in 2014 as a not-for-profit alternative to the large, commercial publishing houses currently dominating the publishing industry. In-Sight Publishing operates in independent and public interests rather than for private gains, and is committed to publishing, in innovative ways, ways of community, cultural, educational, moral, personal, and social value that are often deemed insufficiently profitable. Thank you for the download of this e-book, your effort, interest, and time support independent publishing purposed for the encouragement of academic freedom, creativity, diverse voices, and independent thought. Cataloguing-in-Publication Data No official catalogue record for this book. Jacobsen, Scott Douglas, Author Canadian Atheist: Set V/Scott Douglas Jacobsen pages cm Includes bibliographic references, footnotes, and reference style listing. In-Sight Publishing, Langley, British Columbia, Canada Published electronically from In-Sight Publishing in Langley, British Columbia, Canada 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Designed by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 3 Contents I Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... 4 i In Conversation with Scott – Founder, Skeptic Meditations ................................................... 5 ii Anouar Majid Talks About Islam and the West ........................................................................... 8 iii In Conversation with Melissa Krawczyk – Atheist, Secular Humanist, and Skeptic ... 10 iv Tim Klapproth on the Jehovah’s Witnesses ................................................................................. 21 v Another Call from the World Sikh Organization ....................................................................... 24 vi Adeyemi Ademowo Johnson on Freethought in Nigeria ........................................................ 25 vii Diana Bucur on Leaving the Jehovah’s Witnesses .................................................................... 28 viii TWIN with Kevin and Benedict on Their Show ........................................................................ 30 ix Interview with Dina Holford on Being an Ex-Jehovah’s Witness ...................................... 34 x Justine Nelson on the Pipeline Issues ............................................................................................. 37 xi Professor Matt Sheedy on Theories of Secularism and Atheism ......................................... 39 xii Abiodun Sanusi on Being a Freethinker in Nigeria .................................................................. 44 xiii Skeptic Meditations Founder on the Reliance on External Authority................................ 46 xiv Bishop George Kuhn on the Catholic Universalist Church of the Philippines ............... 49 xv Suzanna Mason on the Anglican Faith, Politics, and Natural Philosophy ....................... 52 xvi In Conversation with Professor Robert Jensen on Patriarchy, Pornography, and Radical Feminism................................................................................................................................... 58 xvii In Conversation with Professor Sarah Wilkins-LaFlamme on Secularism, Religion, and Atheism .............................................................................................................................................. 65 xviii Benjamin David on How His Abusive Childhood Motivated Him to get involved in Human Rights Activism ...................................................................................................................... 78 xix Clovis Munezero on Fleeing Burundi, Being a Refugee, and Being a Nonbeliever .... 82 xx More on the Meaning of Backlash Movements with Faisal Saeed Al Mutar ................. 84 xxi Fleeing Burundi and Finding Humanism with Aloys Habonimana .................................... 86 xxii Andrew Copson on the History of Humanism ............................................................................ 89 xxiii In Conversation with Dr. Stephen Law – Philosopher and Author ..................................... 92 xxiv In Conversation with Amardeo Sarma – Former Chair, European Council of Skeptical Organisations ........................................................................................................................................... 95 II License and Copyright .......................................................................................................... 102 4 Acknowledgements I express gratitude to Mark Gibbs, Zachary R.W. Johnson, George Thindwa, Bwambale Robert Musubaho, Laurence A. Moran, Violine Namyalo, Kareem Muhssin, A.M., Takudzwa Mazwienduna, Sarah Mills, Terry Murray, Gary McLelland, Tina Block, Isaiah Akorita, Jen Takahashi, Caleb Lack, Nsajigwa I Mwasokwa (Nsajigwa Nsa’sam), Angelos Sofocleous, Christine M. Shellska, Suzie Mason, Avery Sapoznikow, Cheri Frazer, Ian Bushfield, Angel Sumka, Mohammed Charlie Khadra, Chiedozie Uwakwe, Bayo Opadeyi, Moninuola Komolafe, Terry Sanderson, David Orenstein, Mother of Trans Child, Mark A. Gibbs, Imam Syed Soharwardy, Renton Patterson, Jon King, Rome Bethea, Sophie Shulman, Reva Landau, Janet French, Monica Miller, Bamidele Adeneye, George Ongere, Diego Fontanive, Waleed Al- Husseini, Jessica Schab, Angelos Sofocleous, Faisal Saeed Al Mutar, Waleed Al-Husseini, Anouar Majid, Houzan Mahmoud, Dr. Paul Munyenyembe, Minister Gretta Vosper, Kathy Dawson, Lee Moore, Joseph Lagumbay, Allie Jackson, Michael Kruse, Uthman Khan, Mike Ivanov, John Brown, Rich Lyons, Dave McKee, Rick Heller, Kuya Manzano, Yasmine Mohammed, Faisal Saeed Al Mutar, Lita Bablitz, Leslea Mair, Helen Austen, Peter Gajdics, Charlotte Frances Littlewood, Dr. Leo Igwe, Angie Johnson, Ellen Wiebe, Devon P. Hargreaves, Gil Leclair, Roger C., Greg Oliver, Bruce Gleason, Tammy Pham, Moses Kamya, Arifur Rahman, Andrew Seidel, Diego Fontanive, David Orenstein, Joyce Arthur, Steven Tomlins, Gordon Henry Guyatt, Colleen MacQuarrie, Catherine Dunphy, Pete, Stephen LeDrew, Ammar Anwer, Teemu Taira, Christopher Haggarty-Weir, Gauri Hopkins, Roger Dubar, Lucas Lynch, Frances Garner, John Carpay, EJ Hill, Damon Conlan, Scott, Anouar Majid, Melissa Krawczyk, Tim Klapproth, Diana Bucur, Kevin and Benedict, Dina Holford, Justine Nelson, Matt Sheedy, Abiodun Sanusi, Bishop George Kuhn, Suzanna Mason, Robert Jensen, Sarah Wilkins-LaFlamme, Benjamin David, Clovis Munezero, Aloys Habonimana, Andrew Copson, Stephen Law, Amardeo Sarma, Will Lane, Tom McLeish, Gordon Guyatt, Rakshit Sharma, and Mandisa Thomas. I feel honored to contribute to Canadian Atheist. Scott 5 In Conversation with Scott – Founder, Skeptic Meditations March 9, 2018 Scott Douglas Jacobsen Scott is the Founder of Skeptic Meditations. He speaks from experience in entering and leaving Self-Realization Monastic Order, a hindu-inspired ashram headquartered in Los Angeles and founded by famous Yogi Paramahansa Yogananda. Here we talk about meditation beliefs, and Westerners who are Post-Christian and consider themselves atheist or spiritual but not religious. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You were part of a community with many cult-like aspects devoted to meditative techniques and a monk lifestyle. What was it? How did you become wrapped up in it? Scott from SkepticMeditations.com: I was an ordained monk for 14 years in Self-Realization Fellowship Order, founded in 1920 by famous Yogi Paramahansa Yogananda. It is essentially a Hindu-inspired religion with heavy blend of Christianity. I got involved while in college I considered myself a mystical musician. Basically, I saw myself as a creative-music type, played guitar, sang, wrote music, and played in punk rock bands, sang in Choirs. I was looking for ways to be more creative, more intuitive. To tap into the hidden, unknown creative powers within myself. At a party, when the band took a break I spoke to my buddies Uncle who was a Yoga Meditator. He recommended I read Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda. Long story short: I read the Autobiography and had a “come to Yogananda” experience. At the time I felt that everything I wanted–mystical union with my soul, God, and Creative Cosmic Om–was to be found in following Yogananda’s teachings, which were articulated by his organization Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF). Within 12 to 18 months I gave up everything–college, business/job, friends, family–not involved with the SRF and ran away from home to live at SRF Hidden Valley Ashram. My aim was to see if I could dedicate my life as an SRF monk. I intended to be a monk for the rest of my life. I worked my way up the spiritual-monastic food chain of SRF Order. For 18 months, I was a postulant (bootcamp
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