Hello from Manchester, NH USA

[FCBertrand]

As someone who was raised a "Roman Catholic," but didn't have any choice in the matter at the time, yet did get away from that cult eventually, I welcome the chance to pursue my growing interest in Secularism...:notworthy:

[Paul1]

Hello! There is also a Manchester in the UK in the north, in the county of Greater Manchester. Funny thing is Hampshire is also county here to, but on the south coast.

[Jobar]

Welcome to the Cafe, FCBertrand. :)

I was born in the small town of Manchester, Georgia, and still live about 10 miles from there.

[David B]

Hi FC.

Good to have you aboard.

David

[DMB]

Welcome to our café, FC! :wave:

[Ray Moscow]

Welcome!

[Goodchild]

Welcome aboard!

[Notta]

welcome! Hope you like it here.

[alien billie]

Hello from Manchester UK. Today for a change has been a rainy day.

[Silly Sausage]

Hi there FC, welcome to the Cafe :wave:

[Goodchild]

Hi there FC, welcome to the Cafe :wave:

Every time one of you calls him FC I think we're about to get into a football discussion :p

[FCBertrand]

Manchester, New Hampshire is indeed named after the county and city in England...When I was teaching High School I managed to set up an exchange of pen-pals between my students and those in a school in Manchester, UK. Went smashingly well for a whle.

On a different topic: Was wondering how the fine customers here at the cozy Secular Cafe feel about the American writer Philip K. Dick??? See any evidence of secularism in his fiction or non-fiction???:confused:

[Silly Sausage]

Cool, we have a few teachers here so you should fit in nicely :)

I've read some of PKD's work, although I'm more of a horror fan than sci-fi for the most part, but I can't say that I've read enough to honestly comment on his overall style.

[FCBertrand]

As I sip on my early morning aperitif here in the relaxing surroundings of the Secular Cafe, with nice light jazz music playing in the background, I've been wondering if the concept of secularism can be found literature, in particular that of Philip K. Dick (PKD), whom I've written a fair amount about. I'm also much impressed by Bertrand Russell, Monty Python, Voltaire, and Pink Floyd. So, just how much can we find secularism in the arts??:confused:

[Jobar]

A day or two ago I heard in a news report that there had been storm damage in the town of Manchester, Tennessee. And I know that the one here in Ga. was also named for the one in England, as it was originally a mill town. (The mill shut down back in the early seventies, and now it's mostly a railroad center.)

Secularism in the arts- that would be a fine topic for our (fairly new) Arts and Media forum. I was a great fan of PKD back in the seventies and eighties; he was one of the most original SF authors of my lifetime, which is saying a LOT. And I'm pretty sure he said flat out he was an atheist.

Monty Python-
75hL1Hep0bk

Say no more! :D

[FCBertrand]

I believe PKD did at one point in an interview, essay, and/or letter indicate he was an atheist...I've started looking through my collection. In the meantime, there is a growing movement to characterize him as a mystic, gnostic and/or religionist, if I may be permitted such a neologism. There are also some "neotheologians" who are attributing PKD's "religious experience" to temporal lobe epilepsy. It gets curioser and curioser!!!!:dunno:

[Notta]

Ray Bradbury's iconic "Fahrenheit 451" is a staple in high school literature classes across America. Teachers help students understand how it is all about censorship and government control of books and reading.

Bradbury was invited to a teacher's conference to discuss his book, and said it was about television watching and the damage it caused to society. The attending teachers told him he was wrong -- about his own book!!

Dick is probably laughing in his grave over what people are saying about him.

[Shake]

Welcome FC, from an upstate NY-er!

[FCBertrand]

Thank you once again for all the warm welcomes...And I noticed that I misquoted yesterday...too early in the day. I am not a "morning person," but my part time job requires it, for now.

The point about Philip K. Dick and temporal lobe epilepsy has been most recently made in an article titled: "The Doctors and the Divine," by Stefany Anne Golberg, at The Smart Set (www.thesmartset.com). And she refers to "neurotheology," not neotheology!!!! Perhaps the penultimate sentence is: "The hallucinations of Frederic Chopin" is thus in the tradition of what some call neurotheology, the attempt to medically explain spiritual experiences." :rolleyes:

[munnki]

Hey hey... welcome to the world of unbelief... it's weird...

;)

[Full Tilt Boogie]

Welcome from Manchester UK - sorry, never read any PK Dick, not a Sci-Fi fan, I'm afraid.