Rationalists of Edmonton, unite!

I live in Edmonton:) Festival and cultural capital of Canada, home of the very first fringe festival in our country and it's the City of Champions.

As an atheist empiricist I take offense at this title.

It's an inland S.E.A.

I...you should see this. I think they finally got us. It was the babies, man.

Darwin Conspiracy.com

While Darwin was formulating his Theory of Evolution, he purposely overlooked the babies of mammals and birds because these babies are unfit to survive and Darwin's theory could not possibly explain this. So Darwin ignored babies - he never wrote about them. But it was absurd and wrong to ignore a crucial portion of the life of most species of mammals and birds just because it does not fit with the theory.

The fact that most birds and mammals have helpless and fragile babies totally contradicts Darwinism. If Darwinian evolution actually worked, the result would have been that all higher life forms would have babies that were "fit" and self-reliant rather than fragile and helpless. The worldwide presence of infantile fragility is such a devastating blow to the Theory of Evolution that it actually renders Darwinism totally invalid because it contradicts the very essence of the theory.

Sigh. We are the capital of Alberta, and have a greater metro population of nearly 1 million people. Look at a map, people.

Anyway thanks for letting us know. I'm gonna join up an' see if I can't meet me some hot godless chicks.

I live in Edmonton, too (well... 20 minutes north). It's a great place. It's also not in the U.S., so it has that going for it, too ;-)

They're looking to expand!

They're Canadians, no? Tell'em to go to the nearest Tim Hortons, and start eating.

Oh wait, they're probably inside one already.

Either way, expansion should be easy.

@ Brownian, OM
Did you look at the group picture? I don't think that's the way to go for meeting godless ladies, too bad though. Anyone aware of a Calgary chapter? Edmonton is so close and yet so far for me

PZ shame on you, you sound like a creationist.

Calgary > Edmonton

;-)

Did you look at the group picture?

Hmm.

Dear Gukumatz, please make more chicks join the SEA, kthx.

Yes, I know Edmonton is a big grand city, and I even know where it is, since I was there once before, long, long ago. I kid because I love, people!

And it's so conviently close to the Royal Tyrrell Museum.

It's an inland S.E.A.

I'm sure that's just an optical illusion caused by the vast fields of wheat. :)

Well, Edmonton's about 3-4 hours from the Royal Tyrrell, but it's a pleasant drive if you take highway 56 (plus, you can stop in at the Creation Museum in Big Valley on your way back).

There is also the University of Alberta Atheists and Agnostics for campus folk in Edmonton (we made the FSM Expelled video a while back) and a CFI community in Calgary now for Calgarian rationalists.

Royal Tyrrell Museum - depends on what you call close - 288 km or about 3.5 hours. Edmonton is 6 hours from where I live in Alberta (Medicine Hat - yes there is a place with that name). Unfortunate that Edmonton is so far away. Unlikely that a group like this would form in this part of the province.

Goodness PZ! You cuddly ol' fuzzball. ;)

Edmonton I know, you know, like the great one Gretzky. It's Minneapolis/St-Paul that I have a tough time with. Near Winnipeg I think ... something to do with Mary Tyler-Moore.

if you can make the trip we'd like to meet you Gary

Well I'm joining! Thank PZ.

I was invited to join a group here in Calgary (read: better than Edmonton) but I had to decline since their meetings conflict with my paintball schedule.

Discussing the lack of a deity < Shooting at people who believe in a deity

I was invited to join a group here in Calgary (read: better than Edmonton) but I had to decline since their meetings conflict with my paintball schedule.

>>The worldwide presence of infantile fragility is such a
>>devastating blow to the Theory of Evolution that it
>>actually renders Darwinism totally invalid because it
>>contradicts the very essence of the theory.

It was always my understanding that weaker babies that get longer parental care permits the babies to become smarter and more appropriately adapted to whatever their specific situation is, thereby allowing an increased overall survival rate.

In effect, natural selection selected for creating "generic" babies that are flimsier at the outset but which could be customized with relevant, situation-specific information could be taught, rather than sturdier babies with more simplistic sets of born-in knowledge.

Would that be an inaccurate understanding?

Matt, we like to keep things civil here by restricting individuals to posting each comment once. That's one time per comment.

As an easy mnemonic, just remember that once is exactly the number of times the Flames have won the Stanley Cup.

For what it's worth, that's my understanding too Evolving Squid.

It was an accidental double post, and I didn't wish to clutter the board with pointing that out!

Not a Flames fan though, I grew up in Vancouver so I'm stuck rooting for the one team that cannot disappoint (any further)!

It was an accidental double post, and I didn't wish to clutter the board with pointing that out!

Yeah, yeah, that's just what I'd expect an ex-Vancouverite to say.

*eyes picture* That one girl oughta be preeeeeeetty lonely in there.

Come on ladies! Unite!

For western Canadians

ALSO:
The Calgary branch of the Center for Inquiry has just opened.

ALSO:
There's a Vancouver CFI just getting started (email me for details!)

According to StatsCan, men outnumber women 3-to-1 among the godless in Canada, thus the lack of lady heathens.

Figgers that two years after I flee the -40 degree winters of Edmonton for the slightly warmer climes of the Okanagan a group of Evildoers finally form an atheist club! I need to find (or found) one around here.

Michelle - "*eyes picture* That one girl oughta be preeeeeeetty lonely in there."

I think the LAST thing a single woman in a group of guys would be is lonely. She'll probably get really good at giving out false phone numbers though.

Ah yes, my ex-hometown. I fled for the warmer (at the moment, much much warmer) climes of the Southwestern Ontario microclimate almost 30 years ago, though. Good thing those left holding the fort aren't completely letting the spiritual descendants (so to speak) of Bible Bill Manning take over...

I think the LAST thing a single woman in a group of guys would be is lonely.

Depends on whether the group of guys is composed of guys who are worth socialising with, or whether they're all Nice Guys™ and wankers/whiners. That's the sort of non-loneliness a female heathen needs like she needs another seven holes in her head...

We in Minneapolis and those in Edmonton have another cultural phenomenon to contemplate: DUELING MEGA-MALLS.

Brownian - I flounced over to have a look at your blog. Nice picture, except no eyes. Think Johnny Depp. Woof, woof!

I just finally got around to looking at their group photo. I know two of those guys. Not personally, but I used to work with them at the third-worst job I ever had.

For the record, the Mall of America was never larger than West Edmonton Mall. Nice try, though. ;)

[[[Festival and cultural capital of Canada]]]

HAHAHAHAHA

Royal Tyrrell Museum - depends on what you call close - 288 km or about 3.5 hours.

Yes, but those are metric hours.

288 km to the Royal Tyrrell Museum doesn't take 3.5 hours if you drive like an Albertan...at least 25 percent above the posted limits, or get the hell out of the fast lane!

Looking forward to seeing many of you at the pub on Tuesday.

Cheers!

The photo on the website is old. The number of members on the Society of Edmonton Atheists facebook group has doubled since that photo was taken.

Not a Flames fan though, I grew up in Vancouver so I'm stuck rooting for the one team that cannot disappoint (any further)!

What's someone from BC doing rooting for the Leafs?

No one roots for the Leafs, do they?

No one roots for the Leafs, do they?

Not in any sort of way that leads them to expect them to win, but a gentle sort of quite hope for the form of the thing sure they do. They always get just far enough to make one wonder how they will screw up again. It's rather like watching a seasonal trainwreck. But they certainly fit the bill of being totally incapable of dissapointing the fans.

I'm glad to see that there are Calgarian alternatives. Can't sully my lack of beliefs by fraternizing with the enemy! LOL And I'm a little surprised to see so many Albertans here, though I probably shouldn't be. This blog gets a lot of traffic.

Are there links to any Calgary groups besides the CFI?

"I'm gonna join up an' see if I can't meet me some hot godless chicks."

I'm in Edmonton! I'm godless! I'm a chick! I'm... er, not so hot. Sorry. :(
How not hot? I don't do photos, group or otherwise.

Still, I may have to consider attending. Anything to cheer me up after the recent provincial election.

Yes, everyone should come to the pub night on July 15.
Also, 3-1 is about right for the gender ratio we had at the meeting last night.

Hot, godless, but taken by an agnostic (sorry boys)

Pub nights for all!!!

What's happening to CFI Vancouver?

The newly-formed UBC Free Thinker's Club is supposively involved, but their mailings have mysteriously disappeared over the summer....must be [s]partying[/s] working hard like the rest of us... ^_~

Hey does anyone know why they don't have daylight savings time in Saskatchewan?

Nobody wants to spend and extra hour there!!!!

:-)

(Thats for beating the Bombers)

Go Jets! :-(

(Medicine Hat - yes there is a place with that name).

Guess Who says so.

Yes i will join.
and for those that don't know
Edmonton= 5 stanley cups

Wow, what an honour to be mentioned on PZ Myers blog. We are Edmonton's first formal atheist group. In May 2008, we were registered as a not for profit society with the Alberta Government. Without any marketing or advertising except for the websites, we are growing quite quickly. We started as an informal Meetup group back in February 2007.

We do have more women in our group than what the picture on our website reveals. The night that picture was taken, only one lady was present. About a third of our membership is female. We are working on making it even. And I am not in the picture because I took it.

Our website www.edmontonatheists.ca is just thrown together for the time being. I am the website guy. When my current contract is over, I will be able to spend some serious time on the atheist website.

Edmonton does have the largest shopping mall in the world. And more than half of Canada's submarine fleet is inside the mall. I never shop there, you can get a better deal anywhere else.

I see some Calgarian's on this blog posting some disparaging comments about Edmonton. I don't mind, they are just jealous. The only reason that Calgary won a Stanley Cup was the entire league let them win. They wanted Lanny McDonald to get his cup ring before he retired.

Michael Vester
President
Society of Edmonton Atheists
www.edmontonatheists.ca

It sure is weird to see supposedly intelligent Calgarians, and others, using this forum to diss Edmonton. Then again, Calgarians wish they were still in Toronto where their feelings of inadequacy were born.

And as for the snicker that Edmonton is the Arts and Cultural Capital of Canada..... that is an 'award' that is rotated throughout the country, same way as Liverpool, England holds the European title this year. It just means all taxpayers gave us money to (re)build museums and fund our riduculous amount of festivals. suckas.

Michael Vester@ 53:
"Edmonton does have the largest shopping mall in the world."

I also live in Edmonton, but just one correction, the WEM is no longer the largest shopping centre in the world. According to Wiki, the WEM is the "largest shopping mall in North America and the fourth largest in the world. It was the world's largest mall for a 23 year period from 1981 until 2004."
Presently, the largest one is now located in Dongguan, Guangdong, China, called the South China Mall.

I stand corrected about WEM.

Michael Vester
President
Society of Edmonton Atheists
www.edmontonatheists.ca