I don’t understand.
Chaplain John Figdor has a divinity degree from Harvard. He counsels those in need and visits the sick. And he works with Stanford students under the Office of Religious Life.
So Figdor is the last guy you’d tag with the “A” word.
But, yes. The chaplain is an atheist.
“People are shocked when I tell them,” Figdor said. “But atheist, agnostic and humanist students suffer the same problems as religious students – deaths or illnesses in the family, questions about the meaning of life, etc. – and would like a sympathetic nontheist to talk to.”
Figdor, 28, is one of a growing number of faith-free chaplains at universities, in the military and in the community who believe that nonbelievers can benefit from just about everything religion offers except God.
“A lot of people go back to religious organizations when they start having children,” whether or not they believe in God, because religion offers community, Figdor said. “What I really want to do is create a vibrant, humanist community here in Silicon Valley, where people can find babysitters for their kids and young people can meet each other.”
In the suburbs north of Manhattan, Figdor’s parents sent him to Sunday school- not for religion, but to gain a moral center, he said. Today, Figdor says that belief in a supreme being isn’t a prerequisite to being a moral person.
In humanism, “we emphasize the values of compassion and empathy alongside reason and science,” he said. “Humanism is about using science and technology to solve human problems. But it’s also the belief that we should ask if something will create suffering or ameliorate it.”
How did Figdor become involved in humanistic divinity life? [I don't really know what to call it] Well, he didn’t like what he saw around him; things like forced prayer.
He began to recognize what it was about five years ago while working with victims of domestic violence in Butte, Mont., with the AmeriCorps Vista program.
“I was able to see firsthand the experience the women had with religion,” he said. “Their religion would tell them, ‘You’re supposed to keep your family together no matter how bad it gets.’ ”
He also encountered a homeless shelter that “forced people to pray if they wanted to eat,” he said. “This was a serious problem in American society.”
Oh, the humanity! Imagine asking people eating for free to thank God for their food?! And what pastor would tell a woman to “keep your family together no matter how bad it gets“?
Apparently once Figdor met Harvard’s ‘Humanist’ chaplain everything fell into place and he knew what he must do with his life.
So, if not Christmas or Hanukkah, what does Figdor and his flock celebrate?
“At Harvard we used the ‘Seinfeld’ holiday, Festivus – the holiday for the rest of us,” Figdor laughed.
Celebrated each Dec. 23, Festivus includes such traditions as the “Airing of Grievances” and “Feats of Strength.” Invented in the 1960s by a Reader’s Digest editor named Daniel O’Keefe, the holiday became known to the world when a screenwriter for the TV sitcom “Seinfeld” – O’Keefe’s son Daniel – wrote his father’s invention into a show.
And hymns?
Figdor offered two: John Lennon’s “Imagine,” of course, and anything by a certain punk band whose lead singer, Greg Graffin, wrote his doctoral dissertation on evolution at Cornell University.
The band is called Bad Religion.
Evidently atheist ministers are everywhere, but this is the first I’ve heard of the practice. It doesn’t compute; not for me, anyway. There are so many psychologists and counselors out there… why atheist chaplains? After all, Humanists only worship themselves.
You can’t be a chaplain without spreading the word of God. Otherwise you’re just a social worker. What a dumbass.
Exactly! This is asinine.
Yeah, I was gonna say, “you’re a counselor.” Just because you tag yourself with a label doesn’t mean that label is accurate. If that were the case, hell, call me SUPERMODEL and let’s be done with it.
I might like that idea after all… hey, I’m an astronaut! Oh, yeah… we don’t need those anymore…
We still need astronauts, just not for the shuttle program.
C’mon, Pam! Let’s be supermodels together! We can become very famous celebrities and then spout our opinions like verbal diarrhea and the whole world will listen.
Okay, we’re supermodels!
When can I start spewing?
Start now.
Oh yeah, make sure you call your publicist first.
As a famous supermodel, my publicist/agent is #1 on my speed dial and my first call, always!
And your attorney is #2 on the list for when you throw things at the paps or attack them.
An atheist chaplain. That’s one hell of an oxymoron (pun originally not intended, but appropriate).
I do agree that people can have morals without professing faith in a supreme being. But their morals have to come from somewhere. And an atheist has no business counseling or lecturing me on faith when they profess to have none themselves.
But that aside, I as a rule don’t have an issue with atheist individuals. So long as they don’t become obnoxious and push their lack of faith on me.
Oh, I agree. Totally.
I’m lost. I thought that people that did that work without God were called counselors.
BTW, early Merry Christmas!!! Ok… I’m going to put them all now…
and last…
Merry Christmas, Bou and family!
I can sort of see it. Back before I stopped drinking I would say that I was an atheist on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, an agnostic on Tuesday,Thursday and Saturday and I took Sunday off for extra drinking.
Well they told me when I had a choice between the bottle and my job and family that in order to succeed I needed to pray to a higher power. After some wrestling with the concept I started sending my prayers out “To Whom It May Concern.”
That lasted a while and it worked well enough to see some miracles happen. So I’ve had a growth in faith and (hopefully) some more understanding but I have “counseled” many people to just wing those prayers out “to whom it may concern” to start.Funny how well it works.
Anyhow, Merry Christmas to all!
If it works I’ll stop pissing on the whole business.
Merry Christmas!
Oh, and from the looks of that feller’s tummy he’s gonna find out about the afterlife sooner than he should. At least we’re pretty sure that HE won’t be a food nazi!
Your smiley is putting the carrot in the wrong spot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmb8bcJPTFM
Merry Christmas!!!
Thanks Erinyes! Cute.
What is “structured” activity, exactly? Gym class, team sports, dance class? Half of the recommended activity for preschoolers should be structured? Seems like a lot.