Sunday, September 30, 2007
Friday, September 28, 2007
Taking God out of the Pledge
I wish I had been more aware of the separation of state and church at this young age. I admire these young freethinkers in Boulder, Colorado for speaking their mind and doing something about it. What I don't understand is the idea that these young people might be facing disciplinary actions as a result of actions based solely on the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
In this video is a young Senior states that if people don't like what the pledge says then they should just leave. WTF? Folks like this are ignorant of what the Constitution really says and means and why and, in my opinion, are purely evil and arrogant.
They are arrogant because they haven't looked at the world around them and seen that it doesn't revolve around the Christian worldview. They are arrogant because they refuse to see the beauty in our secular government and will only consider what they see out of their small Christian window. These are the reasons they are evil too.
In this video is a young Senior states that if people don't like what the pledge says then they should just leave. WTF? Folks like this are ignorant of what the Constitution really says and means and why and, in my opinion, are purely evil and arrogant.
They are arrogant because they haven't looked at the world around them and seen that it doesn't revolve around the Christian worldview. They are arrogant because they refuse to see the beauty in our secular government and will only consider what they see out of their small Christian window. These are the reasons they are evil too.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
How to Believe in God
Six Easy Steps
1. First, you must want to believe in God.
2. Next, understand that believing in God in the absence of evidence is especially noble.
3. Then, realize that the human ability to believe in God in the absence of evidence might itself constitute evidence for the existence of God.
4. Now consider any need for further evidence (both in yourself and in others) to be a form of temptation, spiritually unhealthy, or a corruption of the intellect.
5. Refer to steps 2-4 as acts of “faith.”
6. Return to 2.
The rest of the article from Sam Harris at washingtonpost.com.
1. First, you must want to believe in God.
2. Next, understand that believing in God in the absence of evidence is especially noble.
3. Then, realize that the human ability to believe in God in the absence of evidence might itself constitute evidence for the existence of God.
4. Now consider any need for further evidence (both in yourself and in others) to be a form of temptation, spiritually unhealthy, or a corruption of the intellect.
5. Refer to steps 2-4 as acts of “faith.”
6. Return to 2.
The rest of the article from Sam Harris at washingtonpost.com.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Fear
We are all afraid of something. Sometimes our fears are rational but most times they are irrational and fed to us by our media and government. For example: more people die from bee stings than by shark attack but the media loves to talk more about sharks than bees. As a result you'll get people who will not go to the beach for a fear that is almost nonexistant.
Our government does this to us as well. Listen to Keith Olbermann tell us of the lastest fear:
In my opinion the fear of "they will attack us here if we don't attack them there" is unfounded with no evidence to back it up. Most people aren't going to get on the Internet to do the research and find out about these lies. I do my best by informing friends and family when I can and I was able to do this while visiting family in the Midwest last weekend. When this is revealed most people tend to agree that they are afraid of something based only on what they hear in sound bites on the news.
Our government does this to us as well. Listen to Keith Olbermann tell us of the lastest fear:
In my opinion the fear of "they will attack us here if we don't attack them there" is unfounded with no evidence to back it up. Most people aren't going to get on the Internet to do the research and find out about these lies. I do my best by informing friends and family when I can and I was able to do this while visiting family in the Midwest last weekend. When this is revealed most people tend to agree that they are afraid of something based only on what they hear in sound bites on the news.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
We're not the crazy ones
A video of the end of "Real Time with Bill Maher" where he states his "new rules." This idea that if a presidential candidate believes in a god then they should be held accountable by rational people. This is something I've noticed from my fundimentally religious family members; they tend to believe almost anything without critical thinking. They still think Bush is a great president who talks and gets moral advice from God daily. Sigh!
Enjoy the video:
Rationalists are a big enough minority to make a difference in the 2008 election. Let's make some noise!
Enjoy the video:
Rationalists are a big enough minority to make a difference in the 2008 election. Let's make some noise!
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Cutest Picture ever!
Got back from our trip this afternoon and immediately had to download these pictures. This is my grand daughter riding the family's new quarter horse Jay.
My stepson's family is moderately religious and they know how we feel about religion. There was some comments about the high number of churches in the area, but other than that there were no uncomfortable moments.
It was a nice weekend and I'm glad to be back home.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Leaving on a Jet Plane
I'll be gone for the weekend, spending time with family in the Midwest United States. It'll be a little cooler there so I must remember to pack a light jacket. The book I'll be taking is "Letters from the Earth" by Mark Twain. I've updated my iPod so I'm good to go.
Cya on Monday!
Cya on Monday!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Kathy Griffin on Larry King
Golden!
I love the way she is totally unscathed by the religionists and enjoying the controversy. She is now my new favorite comedian.
I love the way she is totally unscathed by the religionists and enjoying the controversy. She is now my new favorite comedian.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
God Bless You?
I received a letter this morning from a cousin which was a response to an email message I wrote about the death of my father. At the end she included this remark:
WTF! I getting tired of those guys not getting it. Don't they know that this is insulting to atheists? Can they be that oblivious?
I wrote back:
I hope I was able to let her know in a tactful way that she could, with little effort, be respectful of my lack of belief. I bet this goes over her head.
I know you don't believe in Him, but I'm asking God to bless you anyway!
WTF! I getting tired of those guys not getting it. Don't they know that this is insulting to atheists? Can they be that oblivious?
I wrote back:
Short story: My best friend says "Gesundheit" to me after I sneeze. (Which mean "health!" in German, not "God bless you" which is "Gott segnen dich.") She's a practicing Christian. We never talk about religion because she's aware that she has no argument against atheism and isn't interested in mulling over it. I respect that. Anyway, she told me that she respects my lack of belief in God and would not insult me by saying "God bless you!" when I sneeze. It amazed me how thoughtful she was and my regard for her increased. I didn't ask, but I suspect she doesn't pray for me either.
Just a thought.
I hope I was able to let her know in a tactful way that she could, with little effort, be respectful of my lack of belief. I bet this goes over her head.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Sunday, September 16, 2007
My Bad
I haven't been blogging and I have no excuse. Seems I've been busy with something called life; or more specifically, my life. I've got some letters and responses from my fundie relatives that I'll share along with thoughts about life in general.
I posted earlier today about it being the third anniversary of my father's death. It isn't something I've been dwelling on and I probably wouldn't have remembered if my mother hadn't written about it in the family email. Something about Dad singing praises to Jesus. That creeped me out. Shudder!
I don't see any reason to recognize anniversaries that celebrate death events or wars. Glorifying them in this way seems hideous to me and only serves to encourage more of these events. In the case of my father's death, the first year recognition was appropriate and helpful with closure, but going beyond is not necessary. At least not to me.
I think he would've agreed with me.
I posted earlier today about it being the third anniversary of my father's death. It isn't something I've been dwelling on and I probably wouldn't have remembered if my mother hadn't written about it in the family email. Something about Dad singing praises to Jesus. That creeped me out. Shudder!
I don't see any reason to recognize anniversaries that celebrate death events or wars. Glorifying them in this way seems hideous to me and only serves to encourage more of these events. In the case of my father's death, the first year recognition was appropriate and helpful with closure, but going beyond is not necessary. At least not to me.
I think he would've agreed with me.
The Anniversary of a Death
Today is the third anniversary of my father's death.
My dad wasn't a great man or a well known man. He was pretty average. Spending 20 years in the Navy, moving his family from state to state every few years, he did what he could to make life comfortable for his wife and three children. He was born to a generation which viewed smoking as the cool thing to do. When smoking was discovered to be very harmful his generation so firmly entrenched in it's unforgiving addictive clutches many could not get out. My father was one of those people. He enjoyed his smoking and didn't quit until he had to.
My father never struck me as a religious person. This was in direct contrast to my mother. He was the stabilizing force within the family while Mom was out there with Jesus. He taught his children to always walk with our head up, to show people that we weren't afraid. He taught us to agree to disagree when appropriate and to think for ourselves. He also taught us to always question authority, an attribute which helped me overcome my religious indoctrination. I admired him because he was his own man and did within his limited ability to provide for his family.
Fast forward to April 2004. He had been nursing a persistent cough for several months so his primary care doctor finally gave him a chest x-ray. This revealed a huge tumor in the top of his right lung. On September 16, 2004 he passed away after suffering through a very short time of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. He died early that morning in my sister's living room with my mother sleeping close to his side.
It seems so long ago. Sometimes I think, "Did it really happen?" I dream about him often and in my dreams I realize that he's gone forever and that I must make the most of seeing him in this way. He seems not to care that he's dead, although we don't discuss it, and he's always happy. When my dream ends I wake up sobbing; missing him so much. Although I'll never see him again, he lives on in my memories and in my heart. I am the person I am because of him, he was instrumental in the formation of my personality and my morals. I miss him very much and my best tribute to him is to be a good person and stand up for myself as he taught me. Although he might be disappointed that I'm an atheist, he would be proud that I exhausted all avenues of research before I came to this conclusion and that I'm still searching just to make sure.
My dad wasn't a great man or a well known man. He was pretty average. Spending 20 years in the Navy, moving his family from state to state every few years, he did what he could to make life comfortable for his wife and three children. He was born to a generation which viewed smoking as the cool thing to do. When smoking was discovered to be very harmful his generation so firmly entrenched in it's unforgiving addictive clutches many could not get out. My father was one of those people. He enjoyed his smoking and didn't quit until he had to.
My father never struck me as a religious person. This was in direct contrast to my mother. He was the stabilizing force within the family while Mom was out there with Jesus. He taught his children to always walk with our head up, to show people that we weren't afraid. He taught us to agree to disagree when appropriate and to think for ourselves. He also taught us to always question authority, an attribute which helped me overcome my religious indoctrination. I admired him because he was his own man and did within his limited ability to provide for his family.
Fast forward to April 2004. He had been nursing a persistent cough for several months so his primary care doctor finally gave him a chest x-ray. This revealed a huge tumor in the top of his right lung. On September 16, 2004 he passed away after suffering through a very short time of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. He died early that morning in my sister's living room with my mother sleeping close to his side.
It seems so long ago. Sometimes I think, "Did it really happen?" I dream about him often and in my dreams I realize that he's gone forever and that I must make the most of seeing him in this way. He seems not to care that he's dead, although we don't discuss it, and he's always happy. When my dream ends I wake up sobbing; missing him so much. Although I'll never see him again, he lives on in my memories and in my heart. I am the person I am because of him, he was instrumental in the formation of my personality and my morals. I miss him very much and my best tribute to him is to be a good person and stand up for myself as he taught me. Although he might be disappointed that I'm an atheist, he would be proud that I exhausted all avenues of research before I came to this conclusion and that I'm still searching just to make sure.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
State/Church Separation issues
I've found this verse in the bible which supports keeping prayer out of the public arena. This means public schools, public courthouses, federal, state, and local governments, and many, many other places except your own room. It even says not to do it in synagogue, or church as the modern Christians call it.
Matthew 6 (New International Version)
5 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
I would even argue that if "your Father knows what you need before you ask him" why pray to begin with. Seems praying doesn't change anything.
But I digress.
Secularists, such as myself, do not want to take prayer or worship away from people. This is a myth perpetrated by the Religious Right for some unknown reason. The freedom of religion is clearly stated in the First Amendment of the Constitution. You are free to pray at home, in church, in your car, etc. The only places where this is in violation of the same First Amendment is public, government, and places that are maintained with tax payer money. The reason is because the federal, state, and local government cannot show preference to any one religion. It is also a safeguard to keep the government out of church related activities and to prevent the church from influencing the government.
Are any of you familiar with Thomas Jefferson? He was a great visionary and one of the founding fathers of the United States. In 1802 he sent a letter to the Danbury Baptists, who were being persecuted because they did not belong to the Congregationalist establishment in Connecticut. Imagine, another Christian sect infringing on the rights of another Christian sect. In this letter Jefferson says:
"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties."
Pretty clear. Jefferson wasn't the only one who wrote about this. Madison himself also referred to the concept of a wall of separation. In a letter from 1819, he wrote that "the number, the industry and the morality of the priesthood, and the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the church and state." Madison wrote (probably early 1800s), "Strongly guarded...is the separation between religion and government in the Constitution of the United States.
I hope this helps to clear up any misconception about the reason secularists feel strongly about this issue.
Matthew 6 (New International Version)
5 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
I would even argue that if "your Father knows what you need before you ask him" why pray to begin with. Seems praying doesn't change anything.
But I digress.
Secularists, such as myself, do not want to take prayer or worship away from people. This is a myth perpetrated by the Religious Right for some unknown reason. The freedom of religion is clearly stated in the First Amendment of the Constitution. You are free to pray at home, in church, in your car, etc. The only places where this is in violation of the same First Amendment is public, government, and places that are maintained with tax payer money. The reason is because the federal, state, and local government cannot show preference to any one religion. It is also a safeguard to keep the government out of church related activities and to prevent the church from influencing the government.
Are any of you familiar with Thomas Jefferson? He was a great visionary and one of the founding fathers of the United States. In 1802 he sent a letter to the Danbury Baptists, who were being persecuted because they did not belong to the Congregationalist establishment in Connecticut. Imagine, another Christian sect infringing on the rights of another Christian sect. In this letter Jefferson says:
"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties."
Pretty clear. Jefferson wasn't the only one who wrote about this. Madison himself also referred to the concept of a wall of separation. In a letter from 1819, he wrote that "the number, the industry and the morality of the priesthood, and the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the church and state." Madison wrote (probably early 1800s), "Strongly guarded...is the separation between religion and government in the Constitution of the United States.
I hope this helps to clear up any misconception about the reason secularists feel strongly about this issue.
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