Herding Cats, or organizing the unchurched.

I've been in this little college town for over a year now, and while I was initially encouraged by the existence of such organizations as the North Texas Church of Freethought, and the Free Thought Alliance (FTA) of UNT, I found that NTCOF, based out of Irving, Texas, was just a long darn way to drive, even only once a month. Same was true of many other atheist/agnostic/freethought groups in and around the DFW Metroplex. I found myself unwilling to drive out to Plano, or Arlington, or Fort Worth, or downtown Dallas, just to participate in these groups. It was all just too damned far from "Little d". Even here in "Little d", the UNT chapter of Free Thought Alliance, though I did enjoy attending one or two meetings and one or two parties, their limitations as a campus-based group--and not my campus--became readily apparent. They meet 5pm sharp, on the UNT campus, which is extremely inconvenient for someone who doesn't get off work until 5pm, and whose own campus isn't on the same side of town as theirs. The practical reality is I'd be 30 minutes late at best, each and every time, and that got old. They also hosted stuff on the UNT campus during the week and during working hours, which, while ideal for on-campus students, were impossible for those not attending UNT or working as a UNT staffer.

While my campus, TWU, has more Christian groups than I can count on both hands, I don't think they have a single atheist/agnostic/freethought type group of any description. Women, lamentably, tend to be more religious than men, which is especially unfortunate considering just how misogynistic the "Big 3" Abrahamic religions have been for most of their history. FFRF publishes a little tract detailing just how bad religion is (and has been) for women, actually...something I always remember when I see a spontaneous bible study either on campus or downtown...especially a group of women being led by a guy evangelist.

Anyway, more out of exasperation than anything, I decided to take the plunge and found my own Denton-centric "Meetup.com" group for Atheists. I didn't include Agnostics in my group description for a couple of reasons. One, because I once married a wishy-washy agnostic who ended up reverting back to something resembling the Fundamentalism of her youthful upbringing, making our already eventual difficult divorce that much uglier. Two, because a lot of people say "agnostic" out of a sense of politeness when "atheist" really is the more accurate word for their real worldview. Three, because technically speaking, agnosticism and atheism are not mutually exclusive positions. Case in point, I am myself an agnostic atheist. Meaning that sure, I don't know for absolute certain that there is no supreme being/god thing, but at the same time I lack any kind of active belief in such an entity. I'm skeptical of religious claims, critical of religious moral systems predicated on the necessary existence of a divine law giver, etc.

The stubborn, fence-sitting agnostic who feels superior to self-proclaimed atheists and believers alike is a confused, self-absorbed poser who I just have neither the time or patience to deal with. They're trying to maintain an artificial position of absolute neutrality that is simply untenable, in part because it relies on a distorted definition of what atheism is so that it can contrast itself with a straw man rather than the real deal.

I had to pony up a stiff start-up fee for a six-month run, about $72 bucks, so yes, I will be charging a minimal fee at meetings (one buck per person per meeting) until I recoup these costs. There seemed to be a core cadre of people interested in this meetup, and wanting it in Denton, but for months nobody (including me) was willing to pony up the cash and the organizational moxie to make it happen. Well, I finally stepped up to the plate and took a swing. It remains to be seen if I can hit a home run or I will strike out with this group concept. I emphatically do not want to steal any thunder from FTA over at UNT. I love those guys, and I think they do great work for their core base, but it just wasn't working out for ME personally, and I want to connect with other nonbelievers in similar circumstances to my own...working adults for whom UNT-FTA isn't practical, and for whom it's too far to go to Plano, Arlington, Dallas, etc. I've had one committed member join...from McKinney. Ok, not precisely what I was looking for, but if we're closer than any of his other options, he's welcome to come out here. I just really hope we get some actual Denton residents to show interest and more importantly SHOW UP. I'd like to see us patronize local Denton businesses wherever possible and avoid chain places. That has nothing to do with my atheism, of course, it's just good citizenship and keeping money in the local economy rather than sending it out of the community, something I feel is kind of important from an economic point of view.

I'm also founding this group because I've just noticed more and more bible studies popping up at local coffee houses that I haunt, and they annoy me. Around Christmas time a church group came around passing out pamphlets and claiming to want to sing Christmas carols, but printed in the pamphlets were none of the crowd-pleasing holiday favorites that everybody knows but rather all were explicitly Christian religious hymns. I thought this was supremely annoying and I made a point of utterly ignoring them and continuing to talk to my friend during their "concert", and to crack jokes poking fun at religion. If they'd stayed with mainly secular seasonal songs that are classic American favorites, even this crusty old atheist might've joined in, but their having to bash everyone over the head with overly religious songs...forget it.

There are few things as disappointing as seeing a really pretty girl out in public who you're moderately interested in pull out a bible while in a circle of her girlfriends and you realize it's a bible study group. This has already happened to me at least once so far. Even the same girl lighting a cigarette instead isn't nearly as much of a turn off as that. If the girl's pretty enough, and charming enough, I can forgive the smoking. I've kissed smokers, and yeah, it's kind of yuck, but it's still a kiss, and a prolonged, lingering kiss is pretty damn awesome, even from a smoker. But I don't care how hot or good looking a girl may be, if she's got religion on the brain she's damaged goods as far as I'm concerned. Hellbound, promiscuous sluts are way more my type. ;-) But only if they're bona fide atheists, not the "mad at God" emo-chick/faux "atheists"...I don't want a young lady to hop in the sack with me because she's mad at God for hating her gay male best friend or let her kid sister die of a horrible disease or in a car accident or something. Such people may call themselves atheists out of confusion, but such persons are just as likely to revert back to a modified theism as to really become a mature, rationally-grounded atheist. When I finally rid myself of any last vestige of the God delusion, I found myself incredibly at peace. If the world was f*cked up, it wasn't because of the will of some divine being, but because of the actions and inactions of ordinary people. Instead of waiting for holy deliverance, one had to get off one's duff and do something in the world.

I do have a close friend at UNT, who also works in the library world, and who is also an atheist, and we do hang out together a great deal, but at times it feels like it's just the two of us against the world, and I'd like to know there's more than just two atheists in this little college town for frak's sake. Also, I learned that UNT's FTA has "Officer's Meetings" which welcome general members which are held at a time and place that actually *does* work for me, so actually I will try to start showing up to that, and won't schedule my Meetup.com group to conflict with that. On my Meetup.com group, I specifically encourage UNT students to seek out their campus FTA *first* before joining my Meetup group. TWU students I tell to go ahead an join the Meetup.com group, because I don't think we have any similar campus group at all.

I thought about calling the group "Denton Secularists" or "Denton Secular Alliance" or some variation thereof to avoid the Atheist label, but then I said no, I want to go ahead and embrace the scarlet "A"; Only time will tell if this was a tactical mistake or a wise marketing decision or not.

Higher Ed bill in Texas that I support.

Here's a piece of legislation I'm keeping tabs on and that I would very much like to see pass, eventually if not this session:

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SB 1164 by State Sen. Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio)/ HB 1893 by State Rep. Joe Driver (R-Garland) Campus Personal Protection Act would repeal the Texas Penal Code ban for the possession of handguns by concealed handgun licensees (CHLs) on certain college and university properties currently prohibited by law. Individuals who have passed extensive state and federal criminal records checks, completed rigorous training requirements, and been issued licenses to carry handguns for self-defense by the Texas Department of Public Safety should not be prohibited from protecting themselves in so-called "gun-free zones" that currently exist around post secondary educational institutions in Texas. The House Law Enforcement Committee was charged with studying this issue over the interim, and their report is available at www.house.state.tx.us
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Current law says your CHLs is invalid on the premises of any school, including universities, and "premises" is defined as being inside any building. As a practical matter this means I'm barred from entering any building on campus if I am otherwise legally carrying concealed. As a matter of law, I could walk all around the campus with my permit and concealed handgun and so long as I never entered an actual building, I'd be obeying the statute. As a practical reality, when I do carry and am on foot, I stay away from campus entirely. Even though I would be perfectly within my rights driving through campus while carrying concealed, I tend to avoid it, obey the speed limit exactly, etc, to reduce the likelihood of being stopped by a campus police officer who may not understand the finer nuances of the CHL statute and what it allows and what it doesn't.

It means that I walk to and from work disarmed. I can and do carry everywhere else permitted by law, but currently work is not one of those places. I know I'm not the only library staff member who thinks this is nutty, but there's a marked reluctance to talk about this issue in any kind of organized way. Our student body is probably either too apathetic, or uninformed or mis-informed to organize around this issue. Our faculty, especially the nursing faculty, are openly hostile to such a measure, based on pacifistic and delusional attitudes all too common to the medical profession, sad to say. In sum, I don't think enough pressure can be mounted from below upon university administrations, but rather that their hand will have to be forced by the legislature.

Until then, I will continue to obey the law, however much I may personally disagree with it. I admit I was skeptical of concealed carry when it was proposed in the 1990s. But when Bush signed it into law and not only did the streets not turn into the OK Corral nor run red with blood and crime rates actually dropped, I reconsidered my position(s). In hindsight I think passing Texas's CHL statute into law was the only really good thing Bush did as governor, and the late Ann Richards's vetoing of the same legislation the one thing I can say I didn't like about her tenure as governor. I first started getting interested in firearms when I was a librarian down in Galveston, Texas, working for TAMUG. I purchased a Mossberg 12 gauge for home defense (which I still own and maintain for that purpose), and my first "deer" rifle, a .30-.30 Marlin levergun. It was on sale at Wal-Mart, which was preparing to get out of the gun biz at the time. Down in Galveston, though, I was still too chicken to purchase a serious handgun for personal defense, or unwilling to spend the money. At that time I'd only ever shot a .38 snub before, and mostly only my .22 LR Ruger Mark II. I had no experience with platforms like 9mm, .40 S&W, or .45 ACP; I was fearful of the recoil, etc.

I've come a long way since then, now owning at least one handgun chambered in the most popular calibers on the US market, both semiautos and revolvers. I've taken all of them to the range, become familiar and comfortable with their operation, and though it's not hard to do, I was only 2 points short of a perfect score on my CHL marksmanship test. Still looking forward to getting into more IDPA stuff this year, preferably close to Denton. I don't practice as much as I'd like to...I have debts to pay and ammo's not cheap these days.

Anyway, I've written to my state rep and state sentator in my capacity as a private citizen of the State of Texas, to urge them to support this amendment to the CHL statutes. I think it has a decent chance of passing, and Rick Perry has made noises in the recent past of being in favor of such a change to the law. I hope TSRA holds him to it when the time comes.

This change, for me, has a higher priority than the more controversial proposals out there to go back to legal "open carry" for handguns, which hasn't been legal in Texas since probably the 1860s or so, and its prohibition is said to have played a small role in the final gunfight that fatally wounded Texas outlaw and legend Sam Bass. Still, Texas is one of the few states in the union that criminalizes the open carry of handguns. Technically you can already legally openly carry long guns in Texas, but its not a practice I would recommend. I could sling my Marlin .30-30 on my shoulder and walk to the grocery store; I wouldn't do that, of course, even though technically it isn't illegal in Texas. OC for handguns is illegal, and so is "failure to conceal" for a CHL holder; If your sidearm "prints" on your exterior clothing, for example, you could be cited for failure to conceal. This can be tricky in Texas in the summer, but not impossible to avoid.

While I'm not necessarily opposed to OC for handguns in principle, as a practical reality, even Rick Perry has cold feet on the issue. Its time hasn't come yet, I feel, and I'd rather see CHL expanded and improved first, as far as legislative priorities go. Even if OC were legalized and campus carry permitted *including* OC (and we're a LONG way away from that yet), I would still opt to go concealed rather than open as a matter of personal preference. I can be safe, and keep others safe, but avoid freaking people out unnecessarily. I can see why some business owners might like to be able to OC, just like gun store employees already legally can. And I think Texans would get used to it eventually. But until it becomes legal and then so commonplace as to scarcely merit a mention, I prefer to legally carry *concealed* where the law allows. It's working on expanding that "where the law allows" part that is of chief concern to me right now.

I did put in a good word for OC to my state rep and my state senator, but I don't expect much traction on that issue yet.

Currently reading...and a rant

Currently reading _The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable_ by Nassim Nicholas Taleb and also Neil Postman's classic _Teaching as a Subversive Activity_. There's a nice confluence between where I am in Taleb's book and where I am in Postman's book, especially on issues about perception, knowledge and language.

Very cool stuff.

Been very busy, sorry for the long silence and dearth of recent postings.

Finally renewed my ALA, TLA, and PLG memberships, in that order.

Looking forward to TLA at the end of March/start of April. It's down in Houston this year, which means I can stay at Mom & Dad's place for free. Nice.

There's also an local workshop on RDA being done by UNT-SLIS on Monday. TWU has decided to let most of our small Tech Services Department attend as well.

I went out to UNT's Discovery Park to familiarize myself with the territory, as I'd never before driven out there before. The property used to belong to TI but was recently bought by UNT. Basically it is the home for the College of Engineering, but SLIS is now out there, too, evacuating their former home in the old ISB in the heart of the main campus.

The hype, of course, is to symbolize SLIS's growing technological and scientific acumen. Walking on the actual grounds you can see it for the sham it really is. While all the other departments in the building are clearly delineated and defined, with appropriate signage on their front doors, declaring their identity, the School of Library and Information Sciences, while it is identifiable (albeit spread out) on the building floor plan, is not at all readily identifiable just walking around on the 2nd floor. Especially amid all the impressive mechanical engineering equipment in and around the building, visible through Plexiglas walls, exposed pipes, etc, the SLIS department seems woefully out of place, seemingly stuck there as an afterthought. The "Information Scientists" rubbing shoulders with all those, ahem, real scientists, must get kind of embarrassing; maybe that's why SLIS doesn't label their front door like everybody else.

UNT SLIS, which exists to produce ALA-accredited Masters of Library Science (MLS) to become working professional librarians, and trains teachers to become state-certified School librarians...whose students are frequently non-traditional age students, even by grad school standards...who frequently work full time and attend classes in the evening, on weekends and online...many of the Library science books of the former SciTech collection have now proudly been moved out to Discovery Park, which has its own Library (curiously divided into two unconnected sections inside the same building)...that is closed on weekends. Way to foster that information access there, guys...at least OUR library science collection IS available on weekends in Denton, so teachers needing to come to check out books on weekends can at least come to our library with their TexShare cards and not be totally hosed. The callous stupidity of this just really infuriated me today. The image is more important than reality...the hallmark of the recently concluded G.W. Bush era, I should note in passing. Yes, yes, I know more and more information is available online, yada yada; Things were bad enough when I was in UNT-SLIS from 2002-2004. If I were just now beginning my MLS instead of working as a librarian, the current farcical situation resulting from SLIS's recent move to Discovery Park would have definitely helped me overcome my male ego issues and today I would be enrolling at TWU instead to get my MLS. I've always long had a preference for the way TWU-SLIS was organized, in its recognition of the humanistic aspects of librarianship, even going so far as to offer a longer degree program specifically called "Master of Arts, Librarianship" (MALS) that I think truly captures what is essential in becoming a librarian. UNT was already techno-fetish crazy in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but now...now they're plumb off the deep end into delusional fantasy land. I didn't think they could get much worse in the early 2000s, but boy was I wrong. The poverty of my imagination at that point, being unable to conceive how much more pretentious and silly UNT-SLIS could become is really unforgivable. I should definitely have known better.

Although I wish sometimes that I worked for a larger university, in a larger metro area with more culture, an abundance of foreign language departments, etc, I still love that I can walk to work. I still love that I work in a beautiful building that actually looks like a library is supposed to look. I love that every day I'm working to make its collections more accessible not just to its students on campus but to the world at large through WorldCat. I love that I sometimes get to tackle reference questions, especially surrounding cataloging & classification issues.

Hard to believe the Denton Arts & Jazz Festival will soon be upon us again, and after that the Texas Scottish Festival in Arlington, and Scarborough Faire down in Waxahachie. I enjoyed these last year and look forward to going back to these events again this year. Denton's a pretty neat little place, I have to say. I plan to stay put for awhile.