Carmen is a school teacher - "Interested in ideas led me toward becoming an educator for the last 16 years, where I get to work with High School students. They teach me every day. I’m still not finished with school, with a penchant for history and writing to learn. Studying man through the ages, how religion impacts man’s foibles is more evident. How religion shapes cultures is also more apparent, highlighting my own. As a Hispanic woman educated in this country, I continue to navigate between two cultures. I am completely fascinated with how much women continue to limit themselves, while simultaneously complaining.
I pivoted into civilian life from working In Naval Telecommunications replacing the very equipment I worked on while saving the Navy lots of money. Learned how to work and saw half the world during my 23 yrs of Naval service. Comfortable exploring ideas just as much as the outdoors, I’m somewhat of a wanderlust currently enjoying hiking and Latin dancing." - Carmen
Mauricio Guerra
Mauricio is a health care provider in Northern Virginia - "I am native of Nicaragua, born in 1956 in Managua, Nicaragua. I have always been a curious individual and while studying at the La Salle high school in Managua I used to pester the philosophy and science teachers including the religion teacher about the Catholic doctrine. One of my fascinations was the human species so I have read a lot about Darwin and evolution and anthropology which has solidified my understanding of why we exist. I am an antitheist and an anticatholic or as I like to say, a recovering catholic. My love for science and justice motivates me to try to help those Hispanics who are trying to liberate themselves from the man made manacles of religion. My desire to stop the fundamentalists of any religion is immense, because I see the damage that they do in schools and workplaces . Last year, my manager at Prince William Hospital wanted me to attend a "blessing of the hands" to which I said I did not think that saying a few incantations was going to make any difference how my hands worked. That did not go well with them, and they went as far as to tell me not to discuss religion with my coworkers because I made them think, like if thinking was a crime. Ignorance in the hands of the powerful is dangerous for the future of humanity, I want to resist an pushback this superstitions and the people who want to force it on the rest of us."
