So We Had This Birthday Party…
A table of revelers at the Michigan Skeptics Second Birthday Party. Also you can see Lauren, the awesome waitress that has taken care of us for so many months now.
There are some times where you just have to sit back and smile.
My week had not started off too well. There was an endless chain of waiting in line and bureaucratic red tape that I had to spend several days to wade through just to get back to the beginning. By the end of it, (it is no where near finished) I was tired and really just wanted to either crawl into my bed or the nearest bottle.
But no! I can’t do that. We’re having our birthday party. Two years ago, we started the Michigan Skeptics Association in the hopes of creating a resource for skepticism and humanism in Michigan. Today we have a vibrant and diverse membership throughout the state and satellite groups starting in areas that cannot come to our monthly Get Togethers and events.
So I managed to shower off the last of the red tape and made my way to the birthday party. After all, I had the cake.
It’s been two years of hard work that we all put in together to make us what we are. A strong group of Skeptics and Rationalists working toward a goal of a fact based state. And as a group we are going to be more active in our communities. We will be there when anti-vaccination nuts try to convince people of their paranoia.
We’re going to go to school board and local government meetings where they try to dilute science and facts with drivel and we’re going to fight.
When we started this group, we pledged that we are politically neutral, and we’ve been true to that. We have members on all sides of the political spectrum. We can all agree, though, that fighting back against creationism and conspiracies in our schools and governments is an important matter that goes beyond left or right.
So look for posts in the future talking of issues in your area. All of use need to be vigilant to fight against the people who want reason out of society.
As a group we’re still young, but we’ve come a long way. We’re recognized by skeptic groups around the world and take part in discussions shaping the future of skepticism in the country. There is still much to do. We want to plan out for our future, so if you want to help direct the path MISkeptics takes, let us know.
The party was a blast! Everyone had a great time and enjoyed some great conversation.
One of the highlights was some birthday greetings we received from around the world. Here are two of them.
This one is from Richard Saunders of the Australian Skeptics and the Skeptic Zone podcast:
And this one is the great Ben Radford of Skeptical Inquirer also wishing us a happy birthday.
I mentioned there was cake didn’t I? It was pretty tasty.
Our cake. Baked and Decorated by Holiday Market of Canton.
It didn’t last long… It was almost completely decimated within 10 minutes. Thanks to Eva for carving up the cake while I handed out pieces.
The last two years have been a great ride. There have been ups and downs and so patches where I had no idea was going on but all-in-all. I can’t help but sit back and smile at the fun we have had.
Here’s to many more years, Michigan Skeptics. Let’s see what happens Next!
Happy Birthday Michigan Skeptics. Here’s to another great year!