Brisbane Atheist Meetup Group Agenda - Feb meeting

Brisbane Atheist Meetup Group - February Meeting - 9 February 2009

Introductions
News from this month

- Catholic Church involved in Holocaust Denial Row
Bishop Williamson, who said the Nazis did not use gas chambers and killed "only" 300,000 Jews rather than six million, admitted last week his remarks had been "imprudent" and apologised to the Pope for the "anguish" he had caused. However, he did not withdraw his claim, nor did he apologise to the Jews.

- Papal Choice for Bishop describes Hurricane Katrina as "Act of God"
Father Gerhard Maria Wagner, 54, a parish priest at Windischgarsten in Austria since 1988, said in the parish newsletter four years ago that the death and destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina was "divine retribution" for excessive sexual permissiveness, including tolerance of homosexuality, in the city.
He noted that Katrina destroyed not only nightclubs and brothels in New Orleans, but also abortion clinics, saying: "The conditions of immorality in this city are indescribable."

- London Bus "religion wars"
The latest to hit the streets with pro-God buses are The Christian Party, the Trinitarian Bible Society and the Russian Orthodox Church. The Christian Party is paying for buses to carry the slogan: 'There definitely is a God. So join the Christian Party and enjoy your life.' The Trinitarian Bible Society has chosen a line from Psalm 53: 'The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.'

Current Activities

We presently don't have any on-going projects

Martin Rady has suggested that we carry out some kind of charitable endeavour:

- Food collection for homeless people?

Also, is anyone interested in producing a promotional youtube video for the Group?

Religion in the Spotlight: Pentacostalism

- Predominantly infest Northern Queensland.
- Descended from the mid-west United States in about 1901

Pentecostals generally believe
- The Bible is the innerent word of God and thus the world is 6,000 years old;
- Salvation is only through being re-born with Jesus
- Good works won't get you to heaven
- some Pentecostals believe true christians can handle snakes without being bitten
- glossolalia or speaking in tongues:
Acts 2:4: And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance
- Currently they operate a witnessing program in the Queen St Mall on Friday nights.

General Discussion