Musings of a Madman

Do Atheists have hope...?

2011-09-25T11:44:00.000-04:00

1 Thessalonians 4:13, "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep,that ye sorrow not, even as others that have no hope."

This is a verse in the Bible that, taken in its context, begins one of St. Paul's discourse on the subject commonly known in religious circles as "the Rapture". For those that might be unfamiliar with the terminology, "the rapture" is basically a Christian belief that at the end of times their Jesus Christ is going to return and take those that follow their system of belief to heaven. In the whole context of their end of days teachings, this "rapture" occurs chronologically just before a seven year period of absolute devastation and destruction to the rest of the world, those left behind because they did not believe in their system of belief. Because their idea of a "God" is not just happy with sending people that did not believe in things his way to hell, he must first make sure they are miserable and begging for death on earth, before he introduces them to the wonders of eternal damnation.

Now in this "rapture" the dead are supposed to rise and families and loved ones will be reunited (but NOT in a weird zombie way) and they will all be taken to heaven to celebrate making the right choice and watch as all of earth suffers for seven years until they come back at the end of the seven years and WATCH mind you, not help, but rather WATCH Jesus destroy the world in Armageddon where the blood is supposed to flow as high as the horses' bridles (which interestingly enough they will be riding horses instead of..oh...tanks maybe.)

Now the point of all of this being mentioned in this blog is to get to the last sentence in the verse I mentioned above. (Because obviously I would not be quoting scripture for no apparent reason!) When I was in the ministry I often referred to this verse when speaking to people of no faith, atheists, people like the me I have become since those days. In those sermons I would state that unlike atheists, Christians have hope. In the long process that led me from faith to atheism, this was one of those things that haunted me. Would I lose hope because I lost faith? This is a valid question. Do atheists have hope? Is it possible to have that feeling of hope without resorting to blind faith in mythical beings?

The short answer is yes. While a lot of people might find facts to be troublesome and dry that does not mean that there is a certain familiarity and stability in facts. I think that it is important to first acknowledge that there is a difference between romanticism and hope. While undeniably there are elements of each in the other they are still two separate things. Romanticism by definition is a celebration of nature over civilization and emotion and imagination over reason. Hope on the other hand is the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. To hope is to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence.

I have and still do feel both of these. Allow me to demonstrate. I am in a relationship that I am completely happy in. The romantic in me looks at the obstacles in our world and in our life an believes that we can survive these things and makes something that will really last "till death do us part". Hope on the other hand looks at what she and I have both been through, the changes and trials we have gone through and believe that we both have matured, we both have learned much and we both are willing to learn more and because of that I look forward to with a reasonable amount of confidence to a long and lasting relationship with her.

The Christian holiday, Easter, in which they celebrate the myth of the death and resurrection of Jesus comes around every year and is, in essence, the ultimate "confirmation" of their hope. If Jesus could rise from the dead then he is capable of raising others from the dead. As I considered this concept of hope I was reminded of how many times I said that atheists don't have hope.

But here is the thing about hope. I have hope but that hope is bolstered by facts. I do not waste time pining over things I have no control and I can never change. My hope, as an atheist, is bolstered by actions, rather than wishful thinking and blind faith. Not too long ago a country music song came out and as always the guy is losing the girl because he sucks at being a man and being the man she wishes he was and the song is all about him asking God to change him into the man she wants him to be. There was absolutely nothing about him making changes in his own life, nothing about the efforts he will make to be different instead he wants God to miraculously change him. This is not hope, this is foolishness. I have been a diabetic for approximately ten years and no amount of prayer changed my being an uncontrolled diabetic. My making the determination to take positive changes in the last few months because I want to be able to walk my daughter down the aisle and if I wanted that to happen then I have to make the necessary changes. Jehovah's Witnesses hold to the belief that blood transplants and other medical procedures show a lack of faith in God and therefore are against their religious beliefs. This is not hope, this is not faith, this is foolishness.
If there were a god, and if I were that God, I would consider it insulting and presumptuous that a creature, presumably so beneath me as God, would think that I am at their beck and call. I would be aggravated at the arrogance that thinks I am their errand boy and their whipping boy. I would be incensed that self righteous people would consider themselves my chosen and would, as such, think themselves entitled to my protection merely because they have formed rules on their own, assuming that I, of course would sanction them and that this entitlement precludes any effort or common sense on their part. If God truly existed, and if I were that God, then I would not want to be associated with a fair majority of those people that claim to be.
Do I, as an atheist, have hope? Absolutely! I have high hopes for my children. I have hopes that the efforts I am making to better my life will also make theirs better. I have hopes for my relationship with Mandy, I have high hopes that if I am faithful, that if I am honest and that if I am careful to pay attention to the little things that our relationship will last. I have hope that if I take my medicine and watch my diet I will long, a long enough life to see my children living a successful life and to meet my grandkids. I have hope, founded on statistics, founded on facts and founded on the efforts that I am dedicated and determined to follow through with. My hope is not based on a God that may or may not exist, on a book that may or may not be verifiable truth and the will of said plausible God to decide if he wants to or does not want to grant me my requests. My hopes are based on what I can do and what I can control rather than on what I cannot prove. that may not be as "romantic" or as "dramatic" or as 'spiritual" as others may like...but hey..it works for me...

My 9/11 Reflections as an Atheist...

2011-09-12T00:48:00.001-04:00

So here we are, ten years later, and it is 9/11 again. So much has changed, and yet, so much has stayed the same, not only personally but nationally as well. The nation gathers to mourn, in every state and city we remember the pain and anger of that day. I remember where I was that morning. I was at work. I worked for Liberty National Life Insurance back then and that morning we were all in the office getting ready for our day when the first plane hit the first tower and we stood around the radio listening to the minute by minute updates. I remember stepping outside and trying to call my parents who were out of town and, of course, I was unable to reach them with phone lines being buried under all of the traffic. I remember I went to Walmart and stood in Walmart for a large portion of the day and cried while watching the carnage and destruction on the tvs there. In the aftermath of 9/11 I was as angry as the next person and I wanted blood and revenge. My brother went off to fight the war in Afghanistan. I tried joining the Navy but was too fat. (I tried telling them I wasn't overweight I was under height but they were not buying it!) I wanted to see those that brought about the carnage of 9/11 to pay. I do not regret the fact that I wanted those that had protected the Al Queda fanatics to be brought down and I do not believe I was wrong in wanting Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind of 9/11, to pay for his crimes but other things, my way of thinking and my way of looking at the world around me for example, have changed since that day 10 years ago...

Change for Growth

Changes in me...

One of the constants in life is that change has to happen. Even bad change is usually better than no change. When you are unable to change, unable to progress you grow stagnant and too often become complacent and there is no upward mobility and you eventually lose the desire to better yourself. At least bad change will hopefully make you see the need for better change and motivate you to make that change. When 9/11 happened I was pastoring a small Independant Fundamental Baptist church in Dalton, GA. I was a complete different person at that time. I was self righteous, I was a bigot, I was homophobic and many more things I am not proud of. I saw 9/11 as God's judgement on America and I preached it as such. I also preached against Islam, participating in the fear mongering as much as the next evangelical pastor I suppose.

Times change, however, somewhere along the line I began questioning things. When my marriage fell apart I resigned my pulpit and in anger walked out and began breaking every rule in the book just to piss God off. Adultery, drinking and smoking until I was put on church discipline and eventually removed from the church attendance roll. Having no more attachments somehow seemed to free me up to question things I had never questioned before. Starting with the veracity, validity and dependability of the Bible I began to tear down every foundation of faith my life had been built on. As my foundation crumbled beneath the load of facts and reason, I found myself lost and without direction and, frankly, it took some time to find some sort of balance in my life. During this time I made a lot of bad decisions I am not proud of but I eventually began to get it together. Today I find myself more at peace with myself and with my life...and I guess that is really all a person can really ask for.

Changes in the world around me...

As a nation we became more defense minded than ever and became involved in several wars on different fronts. Many of these conflicts, in my opinion, were none of our business and cost us more money and more lives than were necessary. Somewhere along the way, I am afraid, as a nation we lost sight of the sanctity of any lives other than our own. In our obsession with revenge we exacted not only the lives of those that caused the damage but many innocent lives in the process as well. We justify this by stating how much better off those nations are now and we say whatever we need to to help us sleep at night but in the end as a nation we lost our innocence, which was inevitable, but ultimately we lost our good intentions and our good will and in many cases our common sense. After our initial unification immediately following 9/11 we became a nation even more divided than ever. As the economy continues to falter and the culture becomes even more confused and deblitated the answers being proposed become even more erratic and irrational.

The more things change, the more things stay the same....

Today as I watched the 9/11 ceremonies it occured to me how much things have not changed. Rudy Giulianni read from Ecclesiastes and President Obama read from Psalms. People still talked about God and how he was their refuge. They spoke how this was one nation under God. I heard so much about God today it nearly nauseated me. Where was God on September 11, 2000 when those planes were crashing into the Towers? And which God are we talking about? To hear it told from the side of the radicals in Islam "God" was in those planes raining down judgement on the infidels. We are supposedly "one nation under God" yet how can we hold to that plattitude when it was while this nation was supposedly "UNDER God's" watch that almost 3,000 people were killed in his name..wait..not him..Allah..which is Arabic for God, but apparantly isn't really God. We still are determined as a nation to hang onto the flimsy superstitions that have done nothing but provide a crutch, an escape to keep from facing the realities of an evolving world around us. The reality that the superstitions of religion are what brought us 9/11 in the first place. That the inability to move beyond those superstitions have made it impossible to move beyond that day. And the reality that we are fools to trust in a God that does not exist and can do nothing to prevent future catstrophes unless we take the time, courage and actions to prevent it ourselves. We have to see that if we are to be one nation it will only be after we move beyond these superstitions that promote the very divisiveness that plagues our nation now.

“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?” Epicurus

Random thoughts...

2011-08-25T05:56:00.001-04:00

It has been a while since I blogged and frankly I am not even sure I know how to do it anymore. This post will be a little different than anything I have ever posted. It is 5:30 in the morning and as I sit here, at work, quiet, with a lot of thoughts running through my mind, I feel compelled to write. Most of those thought are centered around a little girl and a little routine that has come to mean so much through the last few years...

Daddy to little Girl: Who has my heart?
Little Girl to Daddy: I do...
Daddy to little Girl: and where is it?
(Little girl taps chest over her heart): Here!

Little Girl to Daddy: Who has MY heart?
Daddy to little Girl: I do...
Little Girl to Daddy: and where is it?
(Daddy taps his chest over his heart): Here!

Daddy and little girl touch the tips of their index fingers and say in unison:
Forever and always.

Seems like a silly routine but it is one that she and I did for three years, every night before she went to bed. After moving to our new life into a house full of little girls and boys it seemed like those routines changed and we didn't do it every night anymore, but still every now and then Bethanie and I will find ourselves in a little moment, just Daddy and Daughter, and we do it again.

Those that know Me and my family know that Mandy and I have been dealing with changes in Bethanie over the last year. Symptoms that showed in her speech and in her behavior. It has been hard to watch her struggle and my heart has ached for my little girl many times. I have watched her as she struggles to grow up, watched her as she struggles with an inability to express herself and an unfortunate inability to make friends and I have hurt for her, and have, along with her mother, shed many tears for her.

This last week Bethanie was officially diagnosed with mild to moderate autism. The diagnosis in itself was no surprise, Mandy and I had done our research and studied and objectively watched Bethanie (as objectively as a parent can at least) and had come to the conclusion long before we ever made it to the psychologist. She has a tough road ahead but thankfully she is in much better shape then a vast majority of kids with this diagnosis. She is high functioning, extremely smart and always inquisitive, if not always very cooperative. She has some good skills as an artist and a fascination with patterns that made the psychologist mention that she has potential in some good fields such as architecture or graphic designs. The point is that this is not a dead end for her by any means, it will just take a little harder work from her.

Mandy and I have battled through a variety of emotions this week. Frustration whenever a fight breaks out with Bethanie, sadness when she tries to get something out and just can't seem to get her mouth to say what her brain is telling it and anger...anger at a system that makes what is already a difficult situation that much more difficult. I discovered this week that due to the fact that my employer's insurance is self funded they are not bound by South Carolina regulations that require other insurance companies to cover autism. When I called to talk to them about it they were very dismissive about what they term a "behavioral disorder", as though a good spanking and a long time out will cure this.

Now we begin the long process of attempting to find assistance to help pay for the therapy, the medicine and the treatment that is necessary to help her cope with this and overcome it. We are ready for this fight, because she is worth it. She is a cute little brown eyed girl with a wild head of hair that she still hasn't figured out how to brush but damn she sure tries! Are there times I am over protecting? Yes...like the little girl across the street that is no longer welcome at our house after she snidely asked Bethanie's sister if she was "retarded"...yeah I get a little protective and ugly about it...but she is my baby...and she is my wounded lamb...so cut me a little slack...I am entitled to it.

Today, while at the doctor's office he put his stethoscope to her chest and told her he could hear her heart. She just shook her head and smiled and said...no that is Daddy's heart...then points to me and says, and Daddy has my heart. Only Mandy and me understood it; in the simplistic and literal manner of an autistic child she had gone beyond the little play, the little scene and had come to the literal conclusion that I held her heart in my chest and she holds my heart in hers...it was a sweet moment that made me tear up...forever and always, baby girl, forever and always....

Where have I heard this before...

2011-05-25T00:12:00.000-04:00

*** Spoiler Alert***

If you watch Supernatural and did not see the season finale...do not read any further...you have been warned...

As I was watching this and Castiel, the new God, takes his place in the scene below he utters words that sound familiar...

"I'm your new god, a better one. So you will bow down, and profess your love unto me your lord, or I shall destroy you."

Sound familiar? It should...'nuff said...

The Monday after...

2011-05-23T08:53:00.000-04:00

An interesting thought about Mothers...

2011-05-10T16:10:00.000-04:00

With Mother's Day just behind us...this is very interesting. What a mom does is absolutely amazing. There are many out there that do not understand what a mom really is and what a mom really does.

Via: DegreeSearch.org

ABC's 20/20 on the Independent Fundamental Baptist Movement...

2011-04-20T04:21:00.002-04:00

My future mom in law mentioned this in her comment on my previous blog post and it made me curious...so I went and found it...if you are interested in watching it....here it is...

Having watched this in its entirety I would like to make a couple of comments based on my personal experience.

1) I have heard of cases of child abuse in IFB churches but I would have to say that it is no more or no less than any other religious denomination (Catholics ring a bell?). Having said that I do not think that it is necessarily fair to paint all IFB with the broad brush just like I think there are well intentioned Catholics that do not condone or practice sexual misconduct I believe there are good people in the IFB movement. Having said that I believe that any environment that is built on absolute control results in an abuse of absolute control and there is little question that that abuse can extend and often does extend to sexual abuse as well as emotional, verbal and mental abuse.

2) I grew up in this environment and outside of the above comment about not all of them being guilty of sexual abuse or misconduct I would have to agree that the rest of it is pretty accurate. The demeaning and humbling of women, the public confessions of sins, the church "discipline", the insistence on corporal discipline, the absolute authority of the church and the pastor being the Man of God who is to be respected and obeyed.

As I watched it I remembered standing outside the Brightlight Baptist Church in Concord, NC and the pastor's wife telling me quite bluntly that my daughter's death was God's punishment on me for being in a movie theater. When my two month baby died I was in NC trying to start a church. That Saturday morning that she passed away I decided to take the morning off and rest and went to catch a movie, something that is very much taboo (as noted in my previous blog) but I have always been a bit of a non conformist. Hence the accusation from the pastor's wife.

I have my own personal beliefs, obviously being an atheist, about religion as a whole and I feel that all religion is built around control of some sort. I will admit freely though that not all things are not equal and some, such as the IFB, take it to a whole new level. The venom spouted by some of these pastors and preachers is scary and it is good to see that someone is speaking out on the abuse of control.

For those that might be interested on reading more you can look at these websites:

http://www.baptistdeception.com/

http://www.tinaandersonfoundation.org/

Welcome to the Cult...

2011-04-19T02:09:00.000-04:00

I was raised Independent Baptist. Independent Baptists are a special breed of Baptists. As a matter of fact, they KNOW they are a special breed of Baptists. They refer to themselves as Fundamentals. As a matter of fact, one of the favorite books you will find they uphold is a little red book called trail of blood. In this book they actually trace their lineage back to John, the Original Baptist. I was raised with the understanding that while other sects. cults and religions may have representatives in Heaven, they will be there but saved with fear "pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." In other words, they barely got there.

I was raised in this holier than though system. A system that is built around rules, control and fear. A system that forces you into a mold, forces you into a mindset that you must accept without question, by faith. Now by no means do I put all Christians in the same boat. I understand that not all religions are the same. If this doesn't apply to you then don't take offense. If it does...then if the shoe fits...wear it.

What brings all this up you might ask? Well my oldest two children live with my ex. When she and I separated she moved back to Michigan where her family is from and there she filed for divorce and pretty much won everything she wanted as far as child custody and child support. As a result I get my children about two and half months every year. The influence I have on my kids, unfortunately, is limited, so I try to make the most of what limited time I have.

My ex is still in church. Suffice it to say that the church has provided a guise of respectability and an unfortunate umbrella of anonymity and a silent and indifferent approval to her past and present indiscretions. In short she talks the talk and plays the game properly and she does as she will and usually does not get caught. When she does get caught she moves someplace else to a new cover. It has worked for her unfortunately.

The church she is in is extreme right. They were so right wing that when they wanted to form a Tea Party chapter in their church and the Tea Party people said they did not want to be affiliated with a specific church, the church formed their own, right of the Tea Party, group. At least that is the story I have been told. In this church they have a Christian School, something that is very big among radicals. They have either Christian Schools or do home schooling. The purpose is obvious: No outside influences. They call it "raising a child in the way he should go" but ultimately it is exactly what it sounds like...brainwashing. I know. I was raised in a home school environment. Heck, Christian schools were too liberal for my parents.

So the point of all this is that my children went out with their aunt who in her good will and doting way took the kids to watch a few movies. Now these movies were all PG or less...to be specific..Gnomeo and Juliet, Rango and Hop. ALl clean and goo fun. However, the school found out and gave both of them ten demerits (basically negative points). My son already had five points (that he deserved) for not doing his homework and lying about it. The five points with the additional ten for going to the movies resulted in fifteen points and an automatic suspension for him. I have several problems with this:

1) How does a couple of children going to a movie affect the school and the education of said children. In short...not at all. This is about control. Pure and simple. This is part of what I hate about church and about about religion in general; the incessant need to control every aspect of a persons life, even in areas they have no place. As a matter of fact, it ill affects their education since my son is missing a day for watching a movie with an animated bunny in it! Really???? How does that help him?

2) The standard is hypocritical. Simply put if they had watched these same movies in the living room of their home it would have been ok. But since they went to a movie theater it was evil and worthy of disciplinary action. Really??? How hypocritical is that? How totally and completely illogical is that?

3) The children (particularly my son) felt relieved because they recieved "grace" in the disciplinary action. Apparently the "crime" called for ten points PER movie...in other words 30 points and that would have resulted in be expelled....can you imagine? Expelled from school for going to a movie theater? But the fact that such control has been placed on the thought process of my son that he feels relieved he only got ten points and a one day suspension instead of getting expelled concerns me. He should be outraged that such control is being assumed by people that have no right to.

4) The first thing my son said to me is that he had signed an agreement to the guidelines and therefore had to follow them. Simply put...that is bullshit. My son is twelve years old. He does not have any choice in the matter. You either sign it or you don't go to school. You either sign it or you are considered a rebel in need of pastoral counseling, or worse, need to be put in a "boy's home" (basically a brainwashing boot camp for rebels). You sign it or become a disappointment to your parents, your pastor and your peers. That is not a commitment, that is not a vow, that is not a word of honor...that is coercion and mental and emotional blackmail.

5) I spoke to their aunt and you know what? The kid's mom (my ex) gave her approval and permission. But the kids are the ones to get punished? Really? Where are the adults in this scenario? How do you coerce a vow out of children, minors, and then punish them when the adults that in charge give their permission and approval? What kind of message does that send? That not even your parents have more control over you then they do, then their religious cult and facist regime. The message is clear, your parents only have as much control over you as they allow and when there is a conflict it is their authority that rules supreme.

I will tell you how this ends, for I have lived this story before in my own life. My daughter is already challenging them. This is something that comes up in her report card every quarter. She challenges, she questions...and they call it an attitude problem. She is not completely unaffected by this episode, she is just not affected as they want her to be. Simply put, she doesn't care, she thinks it is ridiculous and she has no qualms in repeating the "offense". They are, in effect, pushing her away, which is, of course, just fine by me. I only hope my son reaches his teenage years and follows his sister's example and begins questioning and challenging. With any luck my children will begin a journey of questioning of their own. And ironically, considering how my ex and her cult have done their best to limit my influence on the children, it will be the church itself that pushes them away and starts them on their journey of inquisitive minds.

Just because there are no words...

2011-04-14T15:28:00.000-04:00

I know I said I wasn't going to do a lot of politics anymore....but this was too good to ignore.

'nuff said

Is it really easier being an atheist?

2011-04-14T00:53:00.000-04:00

Note: The following post will use the broad terms of "Atheists" and "Christians". I do not presume to speak for everybody in either of those groups. When I speak of "atheists" I speak first of myself and those that I know with the understanding that there are exceptions to every rule. The same goes for when I speak of "Christians", I speak of my personal experiences as a former Christian and my experience with other Christians. Do not take the broad statement personal. If the shoe fits wear it, if not then be a grown up and put the shoe back. Don't get your feelings hurt by insisting on personalizing statements.

One of the common statements I hear and read when people are talking about atheists is that it is so much easier to be an atheist than it is to be a believer. The thought process behind this is that faith is much harder to hold onto and that it takes more strength of will to have faith than it does to reject faith. The argument goes that it takes more effort to believe in something than not to. Some go so far as to accuse atheists of being lazy and that they reject faith because they do not understand it.

As I thought on this I thought how naive. The person that thinks that it is easier to be an atheist has never understood what it means to be an atheist. I have been both a believer and an atheist and I would like to make a few comments on the idea that it is easier to be an atheist. Mind you....this is my personal experience and that is all I can talk about.

What it really means to be lost...

I remember what it felt like when, after several years of searching, reading, processing and finally reaching the logical conclusion that the Bible is not infallible truth and that there is no evidence to attest to the existence of a divine being. I was far from relieved. I had been raised in faith all my life. I had trained for the ministry from a child. I had pastored, preached, traveled to preach in youth rallies and revivals. I was teaching in a Bible institute. Everything I had done in my life was somehow related to and directed at the ministry. I now found myself with my reputation ruined, with m life's plans decimated and with my goals all wiped clean.

I did not know how to react to Sunday mornings. After years of being forced to go to church and then in adulthood I having embraced it I was at an emotional loss of what to do with my time. I had spent years studying the Bible and it had become the foundation of everything I did. In essence the rug had been pulled out from under me and I lacked direction. I had no idea what I was going to with my life. I had no idea how I was going to cope with my problems. I just knew on some deeper level that no matter what, I could never go back.

Did you ever watch the Matrix? Ok I know, a lot of people see it as cheap sci-fi crap and couldn't get their minds to wrap around the acting of Keanu Reeves but over all I really liked them. There is a moment in the first movies, (watch th clip here) when Neo walks into the room and meets Morpheus for the first time. As they sit and discuss the Matrix and the trip that Neo is about to make Morpheus plays idly with a small case. Finally he opens it and pulls out two pills, a red pill and a blue pill. Morpheus offers Neo a final choice: Take the blue pill and you wake up in your bed and nothing has changed and your life goes on quietly and peacefully. Take the red pill and you discover the truth. Later in the movie when Neo discovers the truth he asks Morpheus, "I can't go back?" Morpheus replies, "No....but would you want to?" This is how it was for me. I was lost and without direction, but I knew in my heart I could never go back.

I miss my imaginary friend...

There are days I miss the coping mechanisms of faith. Sure, they were ineffective and served no other purpose other than to assist one in coping but they were, in their own way, comforting. I have often said that I am envious of the person that can look at their bills, look at their family problems, look at their problems at work and simply say, "God has a plan, I trust Him to take care of it" and roll over and go to sleep. The atheist does not have that luxury because, faced with the cold hard facts, they realize that nobody is going to fix this for me, I have to fix it myself. So to those that say it is easier to be an atheist I remind you that while you are sleeping peacefully, comforted in the non-existent "everlasting loving arms" we are actually trying to fix the problem.

Recently things have been a little difficult with Mandy and I dealing with some problems with my daughter Bethanie. Those that have followed my blog know my daughter and know what she means to me. In the last few months symptoms have begun pointing at the likelihood that she may have Asperger's Syndrome, and it has been a bit difficult to watch her struggle with this and not know what to do to help her. We are progressing with tests and hope to get the assistance we need to help her adapt and grow up through it but for now, thing have been a little rough. Monday I tweeted that it was one of those days that sucked to be an atheist, it would be really nice to have an imaginary friend to dump all my cares on. Think of that next time you mock an atheist with how much easier it is to be an atheist.

I miss group therapy...

You know...Sunday morning, we all got together, talked about our problems, passed around prayer requests, passed the offering plates and went home feeling better? You know what I talking about! As an atheist I have my family to share my problems with. Mandy is that center for me in many ways. I remember growing up being saved by the bell because some Brother or Sister in the church helped us out. That is a tough thing to replace and frankly I have not yet replaced it and probably never will. The support network that come with being active in a church is simply hard to replace. It is not that atheists do not donate and give to help those in need, it is just a matter of fact...we do not interact a lot or meet regularly in most cases so that sense of "family" is not there. I will not deny that this is a strong point in favor of at least pretending to being a believer, but frankly I just don't pretend very well.

There is no going back...

But then the question is...would I want to? The answer is no. I cannot reject the truth that is before my eyes. I cannot go back to what I see as superstition and myth. Once knowledge is obtained it cannot be un-learned. I am not complaining or whining, it is what it is. But I would have to disagree with the sentiment that it is easier to be an atheist, especially in the environment of a nation, or at least a region of that nation, where being a "Christian" is part of your citizenship. Every where you turn are signs that you do not belong. From the money we use to the music we listen to and the look of pity and nigh horror.

In no way do I think my journey is over. I am always open to new ideas. Should pertinent and reliable information present itself that proved me wrong I will accept it. I do not pretend to know the future or predict where this journey will lead. But I do know me. I do know that facts are what are important to me. It is for this reason that I do not see me ever able to go back to that life. Oddly enough, I no longer wish to.

Are Atheists Angry?

2011-03-25T03:57:00.000-04:00

I was reading an article on yahoo about a pastor that got fired for supporting a book (Love Wins by Rob Bell, check out the YouTube video for it here) in which the author contends that not so many people are going to go to hell and that Christians are not such an elite crowd after all. As expected the outcry is that, of course, there is only one way to heaven and everybody else is going to hell. A hell that is at the center of the earth, filled with everybody that has gone there over thousands of years...occupancy must be pretty tight there...

Anyway, as I watched the you tube video for the promotion of his book, I was struck by his example of the art expo at his church where somebody had attached a note to a painting of Gandhi saying "Reality check: He is in hell". And I couldn't help but think to myself, "And people think ATHEISTS are angry!" Let's face it, one of the more common complaints you will find as you read across the internet and talk to people about atheism is, "Why are atheists so angry?" or "Why do you hate God?". Another aspect of this is that I often run into people who seem to think that I am an atheist because I got angry at God, or angry at church, or angry at religion or angry at...heck...take your pick...either way it always seems to come back to anger. So let me just point out a few thoughts on the subject...

I don't hate God

It is a simple logical statement. I cannot hate someone that I do not believe exists. Hate acknowledges existence. I am not angry at God anymore than I am angry at Santa Claus for not giving me a Mercedes Benz for Christmas (or at the very least getting it confused and giving me a buxom blonde named Mercedes with a penchant for dancing and nudity!) I cannot be angry at an imaginary person anymore than I can talk to them and expect a reply or assistance of any kind. The simple fact is that to hate or be angry at God would be an acknowledgement of his existence.

Was I ever angry at God? Absolutely. Those that know me, know that I went through a journey to reach the point I am at today. I was not always an atheist. I was raised in a Pastor's home, was trained as an old fashioned Baptist preacher, began preaching when I was only thirteen years old and was a pastor and taught theology in a Bible institute. When my daughter died it was the catalyst for me to begin questioning things I had always accepted as truth. I was out of state at the time of her untimely death and when she died I remember the very first question that started me on this quest for truth that led me to atheism: If you cannot trust God to protect your family when you are off doing his work then who can you trust? That was the first time that I dared to question every thing that had been drilled into me from childhood. Over the next few days I could make a fortune with a dime for every time I heard the words, "God knows what is best. God knows what he is doing. God has a plan. She is in a better place." The platitudes began to disgust me and irritate me. So yes I freely admit that my journey that led to athesim began with anger at a being that I firmly believed in at the time. But the quest that began in anger developed over time into a quest for knowledge and understanding. That journey began with anger, traversed through agnosticism and eventually led me to athesim. I am today at peace with my daughter's death, though there are still times I blame myself for it...but ironically I do not blame God. Once again, I cannot blame somebody that does not exist.

Now there are those that would read this and will just condescendingly shake their head and say, "Tsk, tsk, he is just in denial and is really and truly still angry." My response to them is that it is easier for them to assume I am angry rather than to confront the obvious and prevalent lack of logic, truth and facts in which they have immersed themselves. I understand that some might find that offensive and I apologize, but please understand, I am equally offended by the dismissal of what I have worked hard to understand and the conclusions I have reached as some simple temper tantrum of a child rebelling against a supposed benevolent father.

Is it Atheists that are angry?

Ok..so here is a thought. Let us compare for a moment Christians and Atheists. Compare their beliefs and practices. Now mind you, as I said in my disclaimer, this is by no means a rule on all Christians OR Atheists. This is my observations and personal experiences. Yours may be different and you are absolutely entitled to them. I will not judge you and your views, please return that respect.

Christians believe that, according to their sacred book, the Bible, all people are born sinners , born flawed due to a disobedient act made by the very first humans that were created by a divine being. This divine being told them to not eat a fruit that he placed in their midst giving them access to it but forbidding them to touch it. Now these two beings did not know that eating was wrong...how do I know this? Well, the fruit was the knowledge of good and evil, so without eating it they could not know what was right and what was wrong, so they did not know that eating this forbidden fruit was wrong until they actually ate it and because they ate it they not only condemned themselves but everybody that was born after them.

So after condemning all of us, this divine being sent his only son, when he is divine, omnipotent and all knowing and could have or make as many son's as he wants to die so as to save the other creatures he had already created. Now here it gets tricky because this son is him and he is his son...they are one and the same yet they are different people, so in essence he is killing himself, but...not killing himself but rather his son. This death is deemed necessary so as to provide a path of redemption for the victim of the farce of justice that occurred in the garden. So now we have a path to freedom and redemption and all you have to do is believe in this sacrifice and accept Christ as your savior and be born again, or is it be good and follow the rules? or is it be baptized? or is...well frankly it all gets a little confusing at this point but you have to get it right because to NOT get it right will get you into the lake of fire, or hell, forever and ever.

Now this exclusive club that gets to go to heaven, well, certain behavior is demanded of them. Live right (which is open to interpretation), be good (also open to interpretation) and love everybody (unfortunately also open to interpretation and argument). In the country we live in, these chosen few, get to decide what is right or wrong, they get to choose what is absolute truth and what is not, they get to decide the behavior that should be required and what gets into heaven and does not. There is also a need to go to other places, other cultures and other religions (that have their own set of rules and requirements to get into their exclusive club) and convince them that their way to this divine being is wrong and therefore they must convert to the Christian way of getting to heaven.

This is a system built on fear, exclusivity, control and a need to force others into a conversion to their own point of view and religious order.

As an atheist I reject the myth of the fall of man and believe that I am responsible for my own behavior, not some ancient curse on a person that was guilty of a crime that they did not even know was a crime till it was too late. I reject that I must do what is right in order to avoid eternal damnation and instead believe that I do what is right simply because it is the right thing to do. I do not feel the need to convert people to my point of view and respect the right of others to hold onto their beliefs without me judging them and only demand the same respect in return. I do not feel the need to go around telling people they are going to hell and that God loves them but will send them to hell...which is a contradiction in and of itself.

In the final analysis I would argue that there are more angry Christians then there are angry atheists. What other organization in the world could tell every body to go to hell...an get paid to do it? I would argue that I am more at peace with myself now then I ever was as a Christian. As a Christian I spent more time worrying if I was meeting up to the expectations of a being I could not see, could not prove with facts that he could see me, judge me or even help me. I spent more time trying to correct others and help them be the best Christian that they could be. I find myself at peace with the world around me. I am a father, husband, employee and friend. I strive to be the best father, husband, employee and friend that I can be. I look within me and I realistically note the areas I need to improve in and I strive to make those changes that will make me a better father, husband, employee and friend.

In conclusion, it is sad that there are those that assume because atheists do not believe in their god myths that we are angry at them, at their god and even worse their country. By that I mean that there are some that would argue that atheists hate America because they hate God. Well having dismissed the myth that atheists hate god, I further add that loving my country does NOT require a belief in God. I do not hate God. I do not hate America. I do not hate Christians. I am not out to persecute Christians or take away their rights. I do not wish to silence them. I do believe in separation of church and state and do not believe that Christians should be given the preference that they are given in this country but I do not begrudge their right to freedom of religion and only ask that they respect my right to freedom from religion.

Atheists and Morality

2011-03-21T04:31:00.000-04:00

Note: The following post will use the broad terms of "Atheists" and "Christians". I do not presume to speak for everybody in either of those groups. When I speak of "atheists" I speak first of myself and those that I know with the understanding that there are exceptions to every rule. The same goes for when I speak of "Christians", I speak of my personal experiences as a former Christian and my experience with other Christians. Do not take the broad statement personal. If the shoe fits wear it, if not then be a grown up and put the shoe back. Don't get your feelings hurt by insisting on personalizing statements.

One of the primary complaints/arguments I hear and read by people who need to find a way to defend their faith and at the same time attack atheists and their lack of faith is that atheists are immoral at worst or amoral at best. The argument goes that if there is no God then why would anybody do what is right or worse how would anybody know what is actually right or wrong. The argument is based on the assumption that morality is determined by God and originates with God. If the argument were based in fact then frankly it would be something that a person really should be concerned about because the ability to know right from wrong is something that is key to society, a fundamental building block as it were. Let us consider a couple of things in reply to this concern/argument.

Does morality originate in God?

This is really a crucial question. Does morality originate and by a lesser degree exist only in the existence, control and acknowledgment of a deity? Is it possible for a person to have moral standards and not believe in God? And, if morals do not originate or depend on faith in a deity, then where do morals come from? These questions may seem obvious to an atheist but for many people it is not and therefore deserves a logical and respectful answer.

First, we must consider the real purpose of what we regard to be moral standards. At their core, moral standards are codes of conduct that have adapted and evolved over thousands of years in human social development that stem the tide of chaos and anarchy. In their most basic form morals are behaviors that keep us from destroying ourselves. Moral standards are, at their root, rules of conduct that have developed over time through self interest. For example, death is not something any of us enjoy, much less a violent or malicious death, neither do any of us wish to lose a loved one to a violent death, therefore it is in my best interest to adhere to a rule that bans killing somebody. I like keeping the things I have worked hard for and I don't want some lazy bum with sticky fingers coming and stealing my stuff. therefore it is in my best interest to adhere to a rule that prohibits stealing.

It is this self interest that has established rules of behavior in a society where humans wish to co exist in a successful and peaceful manner. More primitive cultures that do not have these rules live in a constant state of disorder and fear. For example, early Native American cultures considered bravery to be of utmost importance and did not see a problem with torturing a prisoner before killing them, giving them an opportunity to demonstrate their bravery before they died, for all the good it would do them. Primitive tribes in South America valued deception and considered it a measure of status in the tribe to deceive their victims, "fattening them for the kill" before eliminating them. For these tribes being treated nice was something to be afraid of. These tribes and cultures by logical progression end up eliminating themselves because they cannot exist indefinitely. It is only in the establishment of set rules rules of conduct that we can co exist and succeed as a society.

This also helps us understand that the Golden Rule is not something new, something that just exists in a world dominated by Christian behavior or beliefs. The Golden Rule states that we should do unto others as we would have them do unto us. This rule is a basic code for survival of any society. I do not want to be killed, therefore I don't kill. I don't want somebody to steal my stuff or sleep with my wife, therefore I will not steal or commit adultery. We even invented a name for it, karma. If we cheat on our spouse then at some level we are not surprised when our spouse cheats on us. We understand this and while we may not always enjoy karma or even accept it we do comprehend that one turn deserves another, whether it be a good or bad turn.

I would answer the question then as no, morality does not originate with a divine being but rather originates in the self interest of human social development as basic rules of survival and co-existence. The real question that I must ask, with as minimal amount of sarcasm as I can, do you really need a Divine being to tell you that killing somebody is wrong and is probably not a good behavior to participate in? Do we do what is right only because there is a God that tells us to? Is it possible to do what is right just because it makes sense to? Every code of conduct, ethics and laws can be traced to basic rules of social interaction and do not require a religious overtone in order to follow them. Where it gets complicated are the rules that religion in and of itself imposes as a form of control, something we will discuss further down.

Are the Ten Commandments original in their demands?

The Ten Commandments are often pointed to as the foundation of Western Civilization's laws. The Christian culture in our country points to this as clear "proof" that this is a Christian nation and ultimately it gives them, their religion and their views preeminence. But do the Ten Commandments, and more importantly the moral standard they represent, actually originate with the Judeo-Christian story of Moses and Mt. Sinai? Were the Ten Commandments given exclusively to the Hebrew people? For that matter, were they divinely given to the Hebrew people at all?

There is an interesting book by Stanley Arthur Cook named "The Laws of Moses and the Code of Hammurabi" in which the author covers the history of the Code of Hammurabi of ancient Assyria. It is interesting to read that the Ten Commandments can all be found in the Code of Hammurabi. Furthermore, the ancient Assyrian empire covered Canaan, the area where Hebrew legends and history says that Abraham, the Father of Israel, lived and sojourned. Many ancient codes, predating the Ten Commandments, existed that had all of the same content as the Ten Commandments. As such it can hardly be argued that the Ten Commandments are the foundation of Western Civilization or the beginning and end of moral laws. In the final analysis it can only be concluded that the moral laws imposed by the Ten Commandments and other codes of ancient civilization were basic laws that simply make sense for a society to successfully thrive and co exist.

Are morality codes absolute?

This is where moral codes get a little sticky and contentious. Take a look at the Ten Commandments. If you break it down to its basic tenets there are really only six of them that have any application to moral behavior:

5. Honour thy father and thy mother

6. Thou shalt not kill

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery

8. Thou shalt not steal

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's.

The first four commandments are strictly religious in nature and are clear references to Judaistic laws and religious codes. The final six are laws that affect social behavior. Notice a couple of things about these commandments. First, the fifth commandment places importance on the basic family unit of society. Parents mold their children into the citizens that will make up the next generation of a society. It is therefore important to place a requirement on the child to heed the parent. The next four have to do with basic rules of social coexistence that make society a safe place to reside in, namely, no killing, no adultery, no theft and no libel or perjury. The final commandment has to do with motive: greed. It is interesting to note that the only moral commandment that is alluded to more than once is adultery, in commandments seven and ten.

The structure of the ten commandments is interesting as well. The structure of the ten commandments mirrors the contemporary codes of its time. First you establish a divine being with power to enforce them, you establish how you regard that deity and how you treat that deity, then you set forth the laws of behavior that your deity requires you to follow.

But are all moral codes absolute? The Ten Commandments are far from the only commandments in the moral code of the early Hebrew people. There are more then six hundred commandments in the vaunted Books of Moses. These laws covered dietary laws, moral codes and even details on the type of clothes you could wear. The Bible quite clearly, for example, condemns homosexuality as a moral crime punishable by death. This is a "moral" law that is not necessarily included in all of ancient codes. The Code of Hammurabi and the Laws of Eshunna do not include this provision while it appears that Assyrian Law added it much later in their history. (H.W.F. Saggs,The Greatest that was Babylon, New York: Hawthorn, 1962). We can therefore conclude that not all moral codes are the same and therefore not absolute. Moral laws should be accompanied by the basic understanding that the purpose for moral laws is the mutual self interest of the participants in a successful and safe society. Laws that do not affect the self preservation of the individuals protected by it are not morally absolute. In other words, if the behavior does not affect my health, safety and or economic well being, then any laws against it cannot be considered absolute.

What is different in an Atheist and a Christian where morality is concerned?

So what difference does it make if I do what is morally right because it is logical and is clearly in the mutual interest of myself and my fellow participants in society or if I do what is right because a divine being tells me too do it? In all practicality, nothing. It does not matter why you do what is "right" as long as you do it. However, personally, for me, I would rather do what is right simply because it is right, and not because I require some powerful being to push me, either with guilt or with threats, to do what is right. I have said it before, if you require belief in a divine being to refrain from killing my children for yelling and screaming to loud while playing in the back yard, then please, by all means, believe in whatever divine being that facilitates your good behavior.

In conclusion I want to make two closing points. First, atheists are not amoral or immoral. Atheists are just moral for a different reason. Second, not every Christian is moral. I have known many Christians that committed adultery, stole and even killed. Belief in God does not give you a corner on the market of morality. Just because you profess to be a Christian does not mean that you will always choose to do the right thing, just like my not being a Christian does not mean that I do not care what my behavior is. I hold to my vows to my wife, not because I have to or I will go to some place of eternal damnation, but rather because I love her and I want her in my life for the duration and because losing her would be hell in and of itself. I do what is right simply because it is right.

Finding Direction...

2011-03-18T19:06:00.000-04:00

I have spent sometime lately thinking about the direction I should take with my blog. Up until now my blog has been fairly random covering all kinds of topics from the concerned to the comedic. I have discussed zombies and politicians...not much of a difference there I guess. I have discussed my family, sports, movies and religion. As of late (I guess in the last 3-4 months) I have blogged less mostly because I have not had a lot to say about a lot of things. I have felt the need to back off from a lot of things just because I was taking them to personal. In particular the subject of politics became a sore subject for me. I am a liberal and growing up in the south it has felt many times like I am enemy #1 and the best thing I can do is either shut up and not take sides thus appearing to be more intellectual and "balanced" or follow my heart and become just part of the problem.

I am a passionate person. That is who I am. I do not know how to be silent and reserved. I feel deeply and hold to my ideals firmly. I am not a liberal just to be contrary. I truly believe in the ideals I uphold and I defend them vigorously. Unfortunately this is not considered a virtue these days so I have bit my tongue and am learning to just ignore the game of politics. Those proponents of tolerance, understanding and not taking sides only hold to that belief until it is something THEY are passionate about so I have tired of trying to keep up with them.

I see the world in black and white. Also another character trait of mine that has gotten me in trouble. I know there are grays in the world around me but I am also aware that without black and white there would be no grays. I believe there are absolutes and there are absolute truths. Two opposing opinions on definitive topics are rarely both right. They may often both be wrong, but rarely are they both right. I don't like grays. I don't like middle of the road. I don't like indefinite answers. I know that there are some of all of the above but quite frankly I don't like them and I rarely hold to a "gray" answer. Those that want to see everything in gray may accuse me of being dogmatic and close minded while I might accuse them of being too afraid to take a stand for something and too shallow to think through to the logical conclusions of the facts that are before them. I cannot stand on middle ground. It feels wrong in the depth of my heart.

I am aware that my upbringing has a lot to do with both of these character traits (or flaws as you might see them). I am aware that growing up in an old fashion home made me see the world in black and white. I am aware that early training as a preacher and a pastor made me very passionate about what I believe in. I acknowledge that I am not always right and that I am still growing and progressing in this journey but I also know that some things will probably never change in the way I view the world around me.

After much thought on my blog, and even at one point considering just closing it down, I have decided that I am going to go in a particular direction from now on. I have tried the "cutsey" "feely" approach, I have tried the passionate approach in politics and I have sort of bounced all over the board in between. However, upon deeper thought I have felt more and more a need to defend my lack of faith. I have come a long way in my thinking on the topic of religion and living in the south you often find yourself as almost an enemy if you are not one of the drones professing your trust in God and your belief in a deity of some kind.

I have had all kinds of reactions to my secular beliefs and the fact that I do not accept as fact, based on blind faith alone, the superstitions that completely engulf the world around me. I have had pity "bless your heart", I have had anger "how dare you question my faith" and I have had everything in between. Some I find more offensive than others but all show a lack of understanding of what I believe and how obvious the ideals and facts I hold as truth are, at least to me.

In light of this I have decided to take this blog and use it to speak in defense of secular atheism. I am sure at some point I will still have the random blogs about family or politics but overall the direction I will take, for now, will be about what I believe, how I respond to the questions, arguments and overall reactions to, not only what I believe, but also the arguments of those that have faith and religious beliefs. I have written this post more as a heads up, if you don't like this direction then maybe this is not the blog for you. I say this with a shake of my head since probably nobody reads this blog anymore anyway and I am therefore just speaking to the wind

And the insanity continues....

2011-02-28T01:22:00.000-05:00

Ok. I am just going to tell you...I am incensed. I had little use for Gov. Nikki Haley when she was running for governor, when she won the election and when she took office, but today she just sank to a lower depth in my book. Everything about her just irritates me. The fact that she was Sarah Palin's pick and was backed by the Tea Party did not help things to be sure. However, her comments in the below video about Wisconsin and the union busting GOP there are so ridiculous, so unprofessional and so hypocritical that it is mind boggling and baffling. The comments I am speaking of are early in the video so you don't have to watch the whole thing unless you are just a masochist and enjoy the punishment of senseless dribble from idots in which case feel free to watch the whole thing, providing you can spare the brain cells that will be destroyed every time this bimbo opens her trap. My comments will be after the video.

Hard choices? Cowards? Thrown out of office? Seriously????

First off there is the debatable contention about the budget deficit in Wisconsin. There has been a lot of question on whether or not Wisconsin is actually in a budget deficit and whether or not the ONLY way they can fix it is by busting the unions there. The recent call by the blogger pretending to be David Koch did not reveal a lot policy wise and did not provide any dirt that could be used but it did bring one thing into highlight...the GOP is still and always has been in the pocket of big business. The Koch brothers bus their tea party minions in from other states so as to make it seem that the people of Wisconsin actually have a debate about this. The media continues to pander to the right and their message (because obviously they are the left wing lame stream media that Failin' Palin and her losers keep telling us that it is) and it is a lie that keeps repeating itself because the more you repeat a lie the more believable it becomes.

The truth is that the Koch Brothers and Co are the ones that stand to benefit from busting the unions up. Regardless of the concessions that the unions have offered the GOP in Wisconsin have made it clear they are not interested in compromise. Typical GOP. And they arrogantly say that no matter how many people are outside protesting they insist that everybody else that ISN'T there is with them on their side. Because they won the election the GOP wants to insist that "the people" have spoken and therefor they are justified in moving into areas that were not even part of the campaign or plan namely the unions.

I find the hypocrisy absolutely stunning. When President Obama was pushing to pass the Health Care legislation, legislation he ran on his campaign and made clear that he was going to push for before he was ever elected, Rep. John Boehner stated that the President was ignoring the will of the people because the Tea Party had staged a big protest outside the Capitol and because 100,000 people of the right had spoken, THEY were the voice of the people, not the people that had voted President Obama into office on the agenda he had been very clear about. But when Gov. Walker throws in his union busting plan and 70,000 people show up to protest, they do not represent the voice of the people, they are just union thugs.

This blog is NOT about the right or wrong of the unions. This blog is about the asinine comments of Gov. Haley. In a time when the Republicans are proudly embracing a government shutdown Nikki Haley wants to throw Democrats out of office that are doing EXACTLY what they were elected to do, protect their constituents. The Republicans use and exploit every rule in the book and when they do it they are national heroes and patriots, when democrats do it they are obstructionists that need to be thrown out of office.

Another thing, what the Democrats in Wisconsin are doing is not cowardice, it takes courage to stand up for what you firmly believe in whether you are Republican or Democrat. If the GOP are not cowards for hiding behind the filibuster every time they didn't get what they wanted, then the Democrats are not cowards for doing whatever they must to see to it that their constituents are properly heard and represented.

I really, really really do not like Nikki Haley and more and more I am finding that my initial gut feeling about her was right. She suits a state that sports Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham though. The Three Stooges with an incredible supporting cast. The only thing I can say is, I do believe in our system. I do believe these idiots, unfortunately, do have the upper hand and have it fair and square by the vote of the people. That being said they can do all the damage they want but they are over reaching and they are going to find what the Democrats found out...you can push your advantage too far and it will cost you in the long run. That is all I can hope for.

Valentine's Day...

2011-02-14T15:58:00.000-05:00

Today is one of those days that you either love or hate...and that is usually based on your current romantic/relationship situation. A year ago I was kind of jaded when it came to Valentine's Day...Today is a much different situation. As a matter of fact...a lot of things are different.

What a change a year can bring! So many things have changed but the bulk of them can be wrapped up in one word...Mandy.

I love you Mandy with all my heart and am so grateful you came into my life. I am a fortunate man. I don't deserve you...but I sure as hell am happy I have you...

Happy Valentine's Day to all I hope your day is sweet and wonderful.

To my Valentine...I love you..be Mine forever...

Unthinkable

2011-01-23T03:34:00.000-05:00

Tonight I watched one of the most disturbing and thought provoking movies I possibly have ever seen. First off I want to be clear that, in case you have not noticed, I am firmly entrenched in the ideology of the left. I am an unapologetic liberal in my social, religious and political views. I am a firm dissenter of some of the more stringent policies that the right condones, promotes and defends. Practices such as torture and water boarding for the purpose of information are practices that in theory I oppose. I believe such practices are brutal and are in humane and should be avoided.

I am, however, also a realist. First I know that there are people out there with no regard for innocents. I am also aware that these people look at the youngest of us, the most innocent amongst us as a means to an end and they do not hesitate in exploiting that means, they do not hesitate threatening and destroying those innocents in order to get in our heads and destroy us. Not only am I a realist, but also I am an open minded, and I hope, an intelligent person. I am neither closed minded nor am I naive. I am well aware that there are dark sides to liberty. That the red white and blue, stars and stripes, have a dark side crimson red as blood and black as night. I know that behind the scenes of liberty are men, amoral at best, that are the muscle that keeps our liberties available to us.

I am also aware that no amount of protests, no amount of legislation and no amount of conventions will ever completely remove this dark side, this brutal, violent and hideous alter ego of lady liberty. For every intelligent man that proudly and eloquently espouses the moralities and ideology of freedom there is a dark, mad and even somewhat unhinged being that must do the nasty, evil and cruel things that keep the beast at bay and it is a naive fool that thinks any amount of protests will eliminate that madman that makes those decisions in dark, blood stained warehouses and cellars. The more people protest the more silent that madman becomes, the more the legislators legislate against his behavior, the deeper down the rabbit hole he must go. The reason is simple...there is no amount of reasoning, there are no levels of logic and no amount of restraint and evolution that will eliminate the need for those madmen.

The point I am making is that, while in theory I oppose such policies and practices, I am not naive enough to believe that it will ever go away, I am not foolish enough to believe that the NEED for such madmen will ever go away and I am not close minded enough to completely disallow the validity or justification of such circumstances.

Such a situation unfolds in the movie "Unthinkable". In it is a man, willing to sacrifice his life, his freedom and his comfort in order to commit a horrid and hideous act of terrorism. He plants three nuclear weapons in three cities across the nation and should they detonate, the casualties would be in the double digit millions. Men, women and children would be brutally killed in a massive act of terrorism, innocent lives relegated to collateral damage in a war with terrorism. As the movie unfolds "H" (played by Samuel L Jackson in what is quite possibly his most intense and most powerful role ever) is called in to...extract...information, for lack of a better word, from the terrorist. All forms of brutal torture are used and the movie itself is not designed for those that have a weak stomach. The man's wife is brutally murdered in front of him, all in an attempt to break him down.

Finally, the man's children are brought in. Sweet innocent children. And "H" will not hesitate to torture these precious innocents in front of him. It is, as the movie title suggests, unthinkable. But is it? If your children would be destroyed in a nuclear holocaust. If not only yours, but literally millions of other innocent children, including that terrorist's children, were going to be destroyed (he had attempted to get them out of the country and thought they were gone but they had been taken into custody first). Would it be better to use them against him to save millions of others, even if the unthinkable must be done? Do we preserve our own humanity by allowing their brutality to destroy us? What use is our civility if we do not survive to continue our society?

The questions are numerous and the movie far from answers them. But it is very thought provoking. I am not surprised that this movie was made direct to DVD. I am not surprised that it never made it to the theaters. I am surprised the government did not ax this movie and actually allowed it to be produced and released. What I wonder is, how many of my liberal friends could watch this movie with an open mind and for a moment allow their minds to consider the moral and social implications in it. I am not changing your mind, I am not changing mine. I still abhor violence. I still abhor torture. I am still not completely convinced that it does any good and I am still not willing to agree with the axiom that the ends justify the means. But in the final analysis, the argument is a valid one. And is one that, while I may not totally agree with it, I can agree that it has its merits.

And in the end I can be thankful that I do not have to be part of the dark side of Lady Liberty. I can be thankful for those that do what must be done to keep us free and alive. I can avoid judging them too harshly from the relative safety of my comfortable home. And I can allow, that just maybe, there are moral and social questions, decisions and dilemmas that I may not have a black and white, cut and dry answer for.

Do you still think that Christians can govern unbiased?

2011-01-19T11:37:00.000-05:00

This story came out of Alabama and frankly truly upset me. I face a lot of people that say I unjustly stand against "born again" Christians and the religious right. I get accused of just grouping people together. Whenever I make a comment about "Christians" in general I am often called to the floor for it. Funny thing is that I rarely see anybody stand up to people that make those of us that are secular in our religious views feel like we are second class citizens. When a Christian group puts up a sign decrying Islam few people say anything, most just nod their head in silent agreement or stand mute in silent permissiveness. And those that say something get muted local coverage while those that oppose the sign placed by atheists get national coverage on national networks for a week's worth of time. Are there people that oppose the sign below? Absolutely. Are there Christians that oppose the sign below? Of course there are. But they get muted local coverage while haters like Newt Gingrich get massive coverage nationwide. It is not equal in any way shape or form.

(sign on I-26 in SC)

However, let an atheist group put up a sign that questions the premise of the Nativity fairy tale and all hell breaks loose across the networks and atheists are reminded in no uncertain terms that they are to mind their place and realize that freedom of speech only applies to you if you are part of the Christian persuasion. Muslims, atheists and those of other faiths, beliefs or outlooks are not covered in that clause.

(billboard sign in NYC during Christmas)

I have upset some people by saying that I would not and could not vote for people like Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin (beyond her obvious and usually unusual insanity and idiocy) simply because as members of the religious right they would put their faith and their Christian beliefs over the well being and will of the people. The religious right is firmly set in bigotry, homophobia, xenophobia, ethnic and religious prejudices. It defines them. Yes there are exceptions. Yes there are Christians I respect and hold in high esteem. But they are Christians that the majority of OTHER Christians would reject as liberals.

I live with a woman that is a professing and practicing Christian, but understands that religious beliefs (or lack thereof) is a personal matter that does not affect, for better or for worse, the worth of the person. My future mother in law and brother in law are the same way and I respect all of them for it. We discuss, we disagree and we still discuss and respect each other. But overall they are the exception rather than the rule.

Coming out of Alabama is the story that brought on this blog this morning. New governor Robert Bentley in a statement on his inauguration day made it clear who he considers family, whom he holds in respect and who is not on his list and what they need to do to be on that list. He stands, again, as proof of what I have said all along, the more intense, dedicated and committed to church, faith, religion and the Bible a person is the less qualified they are to govern. I am not saying that Christians cannot govern, that would be as simple minded and prejudiced as the Christian right I simply believe that the more dedicated a person becomes to their faith the more they will have to choose if they want to lead or be missionaries. In this country you cannot be both. Simple as that. Your faith is YOUR faith and YOURS alone.

With as much respect as I can muster for Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and others like them...this is NOT just a Christian nation. We are a nation of different faiths, different views and different ideologies and while the rest of us may be going to hell (according to your faith) we are not there yet so you will just have to realize the reality of the fact and learn that it is liberty and justice for all...not just Christians, not just your brothers and sisters....but rather ALL.

Living up to her expectations...(In memory of Christina Taylor Green)

2011-01-14T08:36:00.002-05:00

I have been thinking about Christina Taylor Green a lot the last couple of days, as I hope we all are. When I think of the Tuscon Tragedy, it occurs to me that at first we put too much attention on the wrong victim. Sure we are concerned about our lawmakers as they are the fundamental components of our democracy. Our children, however, are the future of our democracy and if it is ever to change, if we are ever to become better, that hope rests in the innocent smiles of our children. Another sad and shameful side affect of concentrating our attention on Rep Gabrielle Gifford is that we gave too much voice, too much face time and too much attention to one of the most divisive people on the political platform, Sarah Palin.

This is the face of the Tragedy in Tuscon. A face of innocence. A face that represents everything that is good and right about us a human race. This nine year old girl should represent the hope that we have as a nation. Let us face it, Democrat or Republican, what we are doing now is not working. We as liberals and Democrats refuse to lay down and get walked all over by the Right and the Republicans. If you talk to the Right and to Republicans they will say the same thing. Both sides are both victims and villains. It is a deadly dance for power, one that both sides are willing to sacrifice this country over. We, as a nation, are a shameful representation of what happens when politics get out of control. Regardless of what Mrs. Palin says, this national political conversation is not healthy in its current state. The result is cynicism, negativity and ultimately a disinterest in the process, or worse, a violent rejection of it and its participants.

I was reading President Obama's speech at the memorial service in Tucson and was touched by this portion:

"That's what I believe, in part because that's what a child like Christina Taylor Green believed.

Imagine -- imagine for a moment, here was a young girl who was just becoming aware of our democracy; just beginning to understand the obligations of citizenship; just starting to glimpse the fact that some day she, too, might play a part in shaping her nation's future. She had been elected to her student council. She saw public service as something exciting and hopeful. She was off to meet her congresswoman, someone she was sure was good and important and might be a role model. She saw all this through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism or vitriol that we adults all too often just take for granted.

I want to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it. I want America to be as good as she imagined it. All of us -- we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children's expectations.

As has already been mentioned, Christina was given to us on September 11th, 2001, one of 50 babies born that day to be pictured in a book called "Faces of Hope." On either side of her photo in that book were simple wishes for a child's life. "I hope you help those in need," read one. "I hope you know all the words to the National Anthem and sing it with your hand over your heart." "I hope you jump in rain puddles."

If there are rain puddles in Heaven, Christina is jumping in them today. And here on this Earth -- here on this Earth, we place our hands over our hearts, and we commit ourselves as Americans to forging a country that is forever worthy of her gentle, happy spirit."

President Barak Obama

As I read these words I thought about children. The things we tell them and how those gems of advice could be put into practice by us, the parents, in our involvement in the national political conversation. Consider this:

(1) "Don't yell" Tone is everything. If we could tone it down and approach this conversation with less anger, less disrespect and more consideration. If we could bring ourselves to swallow our pride and learn to agree to disagree we could possibly turn around the tone of the conversation in this nation. I am guilty as the next person. I am passionate. I yell, snap, cuss and all kinds of other negative tones but in the final analysis it does not help the situation any.

(2) "You don't always have to win every time" Boy this is a hard one. On both sides, left and right, we cannot concede once. To concede is to show weakness. Neither of us are willing to be the first one to "lower our weapons" in this standoff. We have to win, and we have to win every time. The goal has somehow changed from governing to eliminating the competition. Our politics in this country has been degraded to the point that we are like mobsters and mafia god fathers and the point is to eliminate the competition with any means necessary.

(3) "Don't hit!" or "Don't Bite" I don't care what the Rush Limbaughs, the Sean Hannitys, the Glen Becks or the Sarah Palins have to say...our tone in this country has become to violent. I have my personal views on whether or not both sides are equal in this, and at some point I may write a blog on it, but that is NOT the point right now. The point is that violence against opposition has become "funny" and in some cases even patriotic. When the Glen becks and the Sharon Angles start talking about "Second Amendment remedies" and start talking about armed revolutions and start having target practice with opponents initials on the targets then we have gone to far. We have to make it clear that violence is not acceptable in a free and civilized society and we will not tolerate it.

(4) "Just because you can does not mean you should" Yes we do have freedom of speech and we should not in any way limit it or legislate it. We cannot infringe on that right and should not. But we have to learn that just because we have freedom of speech does not mean we are free from the consequences. A specific example (other than Sarah Palin) comes to mind. I remember the relief pitcher for the Atlanta Braves, John Rocker, and the big stink that eventually ruined his career. The things he said about minorities and about New York and its cultural diversity. The backlash to his statements was so bad that it ended up becoming a circus that ended up distracting him and ultimately ended his career. The lesson was simple...just because you CAN say something, does not mean you SHOULD say it. Yes you have freedom of speech and freedom of expression but that freedom does not protect you from the consequences. Sarah Palin has the right to say the crazy things she says...but that right does not protect her from the consequences. And criticizing her, censuring her and ultimately rejecting her is NOT an infringement on her rights, to the contrary, it is the natural process. If you CHOOSE to say things you should not just because you can, then you must prepare to face the consequences. She CHOSE to use cross hairs on that map, she has that right, and the American people have equal right to judge her actions.

(5) "Stop calling your sibling names" Ok...once again...I am guilty of this as well. Just a brief perusal of my blog will show exactly how I feel about Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman, John Boehner, Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck, Sean Hannity and a few others. My treatment of the Tea Party has not been nice at all. Sometimes in the heat of the moment we say things that are not fitting of us as an intelligent species. How many times have we told our kids, "If you don't have anything nice to say...then don't say it?" This is good advice for all of us to follow. Will I do it again at some point in the future? Probably. We all will and do. That does not change the fact that we should become more aware about it and learn to soften our words. Vehement conversation and intelligent conversation rarely take place at the same time.

(6) "If jumps off a bridge are you going to jump after them?" One of the most frequent defenses I hear for the tone of our national conversation is, "Well they do it too and heck THEY are worse!" Really? Are we THAT juvenile as to think that just because the other side is violent, petty, childish and immature that it is ok and justifiable to behave the same way? We are, as we tell our children, just "lowering ourselves to their level." Which is never a good thing.

These are simple rules that we apply at our house, with our children in the hopes that our houses become homes and our families become a little piece of heaven on earth. Imagine if we all just took one big "time out" and reflected on these rules and applied them to our lives and our own behavior. Just maybe we could live up to the expectations of a bright eyed smiling girl who went to see her Congresswoman with the bright eyed hopes and innocent expectations of a child. This would be a much better world for it..that much is for sure.

Please watch the following special comment by Keith Olbermann...Truer words Have not been spoken...

Can we? Are we?

2011-01-12T01:47:00.000-05:00

In the wake of the tragic events in Tucson, AZ the most poignant words spoken were those by Rep. Gifford's brother in law, Commander Scott Kelly, commanding officer at the International Space Station:

"We have a unique vantage point here aboard the International Space Station. As I look out the window, I see a very beautiful planet that seems very inviting and peaceful. Unfortunately, it is not, These days, we are constantly reminded of the unspeakable acts of violence and damage we can inflict upon one another, not just with our actions, but also with our irresponsible words. We're better than this. We must do better."

These words somehow resonated with me for some reason. I am a passionate person, and while I have never advocated, condoned, joked about or in any way, shape or form encouraged or implied violence, I am still a man of strong passions and opinions and recent events have made me reflect a little more on my words. I think the first two questions that came to mind, after reading this statement, were the two in the title of this blog...Yes we must do better...but...Can we? and Are we better than this?

As you know, I am both an atheist and a liberal. I am also a bit of cynic and a pessimist when it comes to the "good nature" of my fellow man. I am a firm believer that we are, in essence, animals by nature. Sure we can talk, have opposable thumbs, and some of us can think and spell (occasionally), but at our very core we are animals with all the instincts and capabilities that such a statement implies. What ultimately makes us different is that we have social boundaries that make us behave different from animals.

For example, we would shudder at the thought of having a bowel movement (in an effort to avoid the profane and vulgar in order to not invalidate my entire argument) in the middle of the street like a dog. But that is actually a more recent development in our human history as such a thing was not unheard of in earlier times of our social development. We detest the thought of killing and, indeed, every society at some point has had some rule that made killing a detestable act, but consider this: if tomorrow the world was one post apocalyptic horror, would you hesitate to steal, and if need be, kill in order to feed your children? See? What makes us different is not our instincts, not what is in that deepest darkest place in our soul, but rather the environment we live in and operate in.

Here is another example for you to consider. I was watching the movie, "The Pianist". The movie is set in Nazi Germany during WWII. This movie gave me much to think about. I have always thought of the big names in the Third Reich and thought how evil these men were, how soulless and dark. Names like Hitler and Himmler induce thoughts of the incredible evil and cruelty these men promoted, encouraged and enacted. However, as I watched "The Pianist", what struck me was not the cruelty and horrors of Hitler and Himmler but rather of the average enlisted man, the average soldier, the average citizen. Now mind you, I do not ignore the fact that there were acts of heroism and generosity. I understand that many sacrificed their lives in order to assist and save the lives of the Jews that the cruel regime attempted to destroy. So the argument may be made that these people embody the best traits of the human animal. My reply as that these people show the strength of those social restraints when held firmly in a logical mind, the echoes of a fading society. But that is not the point of this argument. What struck me was the casual cruelty of the average soldier. The pleasure they took out of culling a few from the crowd and senselessly killing them with a casual shot in the head. The casual manner in which a group of soldiers could take a cripple in a wheel chair and dump him off of a balcony. These acts, that in any other environment would be reprehensible, were rewarded. And while yes there were acts of kindness and heroism and sacrifice, the fact that these men nearly took over the entirety of Europe brought to mind the sheer cruel animal that we can be, given the right circumstances.

John Calvin, Reformer and founder of the Presbyterian church and the Calvinistic point of view, believed that man at his very core is evil and without hope. Man, in and of himself, is incapable of helping himself or changing himself. He may wear a facade, may be bound by the constraints of society, but at his core he is an animal and can never truly be changed into something better. The answer, according to Calvin, was trust in God and that God chose some for a destiny of happiness and redemption and others for their just deserts as the animals they are. As already mentioned, I am an atheist and therefore do not subscribe to the idea that a non existing being can change man. I do, however, agree that at our core we are beasts that are held in constraint by the limitations of society, limitations that come, not from a divine being and his rules that apply to everybody other than himself, but rather from a sense of self preservation. We do not want to be killed, so therefore we prohibit it. We want to keep our things, therefore, stealing is not permitted. These rules have surfaced over time, through every step of our development but are not inherent to our race.

When I was growing up I read a book called, Through Gates of Splendor. This book was about a group of missionaries led by Jim Elliot, that went to South America, and were brutally murdered by the natives. The process was unique though. Among the Aucas, the tribe that killed them, it was considered a skill to befriend and lull to complacency an enemy before killing them. Killing them was an art but it was considered an achievement to "fatten for the kill". For these people, killing was not only a way of life, it was an expected behavior. The Mayans were notorious for massive feasts that involved nothing more than butchering countless victims, ripping their hearts out and holding it up while the organ beat its last. The point I am getting at is that when man is removed from the constraints of society, of "civilized" society, then the same patterns of violence and cruelty will emerge. Even more pertinent to the tragedy in Tuscon, is the case of Nazi Germany that I already mentioned; when society adapts to allow for violence and even encourages cruelty, as a race we will, with a few exceptions, revert back to the basest instincts that exist in our genetic makeup.

So I ask again...ARE we better than this? The answer, in my opinion, is that at our core we are not, BUT thanks to the restraints of society we CAN be a part of the facade in order to promote self preservation. In other words...We MUST do better. But what happens when logic, self preservation and the general well being of our fellow man is superseded by a sick mind? Well the tragedy that happened in Tucson is what happens. The despicable irreverence of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas that plans on protesting at the funerals of the victims of this tragedy happens. What separates us from animals is not only the restrictions of society, but our ability to understand why they are necessary and the capability of the human mind to understand the logic, and in the absence of logic, the emotional reasoning for adhering to those rules and restrictions. When we lose the ability to understand we lose the ability to restrain ourselves from foolish and sometimes cruel acts.

Much has been made of Sarah Palin and the political rhetoric of our time. It is no secret that I am no fan of Sarah Palin. I have made that abundantly clear on this blog. I will not go so far as to say that Palin is to blame for this violence, the perpetrator must be responsible for his own actions, and blaming Sarah Palin for it does nothing to solve the problem. Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck, Sean Hannity, Keith Olberman, Ed Harris, Rachel Maddow and the other extremists on both sides of the political spectrum have certainly not helped the environment but they are not to blame for this person's actions, he is.

I do not believe that either side is innocent in the extreme tension that has taken over the conversation in this country. I do not, however, agree with those that say that both sides are equal and that the left is as violent as the right, but in the final analysis, pointing fingers does not fix the problem. Neither does covering for people fix the problem. Whether Sarah Palin likes it or not, whether the pundits from the right like it or not, Palin did post a map with cross hairs and then called for her followers to "not retreat but reload". With all the respect I can muster for Limbaugh, Bortz, Hannity and the others rushing to Palin's defense, if she meant it as geological survey symbols she would have referred to "digging the opponents out" not reload to remove them. Her intentions were clear and covering for her only excuses her. I repeat that I am not blaming Palin for this act, but I do blame her and others like her for promoting an environment that removes those social restraints and provides an excuse in the mind of those whose mind is already disturbed. No, the shooter was not a Tea Party member, and more than likely really lacked any real political identification or affiliation. His politics is not what makes the connection to Palin and others like her, it is the fact that at our core we are violent animals and it is only the restraints of society that keeps that beast in check and when an environment promotes that violence, and excuses that violence, making it non consequential, then those restraints are removed and the weakest minds in our midst can, in the chaos of their own mind, excuse their behavior.

Conservative blogger, David Frum, said it best:
"Again: this talk did not cause this crime. But this crime should summon us to some reflection on this talk. Better: This crime should summon us to a quiet collective resolution to cease this kind of talk and to cease to indulge those who engage in it."

We, and I do mean we, have to realize that providing an excuse, making violence humorous or worse, patriotic, using extremes to describe and define our elected officials, only removes the restraints that bind us from the weakest minds amongst us resulting in the kind of tragedy we have seen in Arizona. Are we better? No, not really, but we MUST do better...there is no doubt about that...

Here...let me get that out of your eye...

2010-12-23T17:17:00.001-05:00

I have spent a few days thinking on this one and really hesitated even posting for fear of offending people that mean a lot to me. It is a subject I have steered clear of since I discovered how sensitive some people are when it comes to this topic. I hope that the intent comes through clearly and that the people that I respect and care for so much will realize that I am not talking to them and that I am sensitive to their feelings on this subject.

It is not like me to avoid a topic on my blog. I have always been a little confrontational on my blog mostly because I use my blog to vent and express myself in ways that I refrain, generally, from doing in my daily interaction with people. In my pursuit of learning to find the "gray" areas, and in my development as a person in an environment in which people I respect will (and have) challenged the things I say and write, I speak slower and think longer with the understanding that at some juncture I may be forced to defend what I say with more than just an emotional response. It has made me more of a critical thinker and I am appreciative to them for that (hint hint Mandy, Mom and Will lol.)

I am a football fan. I say that up front so that it can invalidate everything I am about to say. I have usually been more into college football than professional but I am pretty much indiscriminate when it comes to football. I just enjoy watching the game. I am (as all my friends and family know) a UGA fan and an Atlanta Falcons fan.

I remember when Michael Vick came to Atlanta. I was a huge fan and excited about the possibilities of making it to the Super Bowl. He was electric and so much fun to watch. he had his attitudes and his shortcomings but you come to expect that sometimes from superstars and we just kind of ignored it. Then came the trial and the revelation that Vick was more than a jackass, he was a sociopath and a psychotic dog killer. The judge threw the book at him (within the limitations of the law) and Vick went away. It was a painful point in time for Atlanta fans and we spent two hours every Sunday for the next two years cursing the name of Michael Vick. Then Matty "Ice" Ryan came to Atlanta and things started turning around.

But back to Vick. Vick got out of jail and Philadelphia signed him. He was playing third string behind McNabb, whom I have never been a big fan of, so I pretty much ignored him and the Eagles. This year started with the Eagles trading McNabb and Kolb getting injured and all of a sudden Vick is back in the pocket. And the controversy began in earnest.

I want to make this clear. This blog post is NOT about Vick and the "Vick Redemption" story. The thing I have discovered is that when it comes to Vick you either like him or hate him. I am not going to say that Vick is a changed man. First, I don't know that he really is a changed man. I don't know that he isn't. I don't care, to be honest. It is not my place to determine whether or not he is a changed man and to be honest, my opinion on the matter doesn't, well, matter. Second, Vick is playing good football and he is saying and doing all the right things in public that he needs to do to rebuild his career and fortunes. I am realistic enough to know that the person may not have changed but his behavior may have just adapted to the laws of society in an interest of self preservation.

So this blog is NOT about convincing anybody about the Vick Redemption. This is not about defending Michael Vick. What Vick did is indefensible, inexcusable and even unforgivable. In truth it is unfair that he gets to get out and go back to his life as though it was just an unhappy dream. If it had been one of us our lives would have been ruined forever. I agree, it is unfair. But let's face it, we have been bombarded by music stars, movie stars, sports stars, rich people and politicians that get to get multiple chances for just as horrendous crimes and worse. So it is not exactly a new story or a surprising one. As a matter of fact, the ONLY surprising part of Vick's story is that he actually served his time.

What this blog IS about is the people that react the strongest to Vick. I understand passions run deep on this subject and on the Vick story in particular. I understand and respect the deep hate and vicious dislike for Vick. I have spent a lot of time thinking about it and you know what? Nobody is REQUIRED to like or love ANYBODY in our society. You don't even have to have a reason to just plain hate somebody. While I have my personal views on paying a debt to society and at what point a person should get a chance to prove they are a changed person, not everyone shares those views and in the final analysis those are my opinions and views and I respect the views and opinions of others.

What I have found somewhat shocking is the double standard. Allow me to explain. The other night at work the medical tech that sits up front at the ER where I work was reading something on her computer about football and muttered, "Fuck you Michael Vick." I just chuckled and said, "Not a Vick forgiver are we?" To which she responded, "Let's see, when they bathe him in blood and throw him in to a cage with a pack of rabid hungry dogs, I will be willing to forgive the shreds of meat that are left." I just sat there shaking my head, I have learned to not respond to that kind of talk, besides, I would be terrified of a person that has that kind of imagination running on in their head!

But it brought the question to mind...are people like that any better than Michael Vick? The people that propose electrocution as a means of dealing with the Michael Vick situation, are they any better than him? the people that take pleasure in the thought of torture and violent and mangled and macabre deaths, are they any better then him? Oh I am sure the answer is, thinking it and not doing is what makes me better than him, and if that is what helps you evade the fact that you take PLEASURE in the thought and helps you sleep at night, then so be it. But the truth is that a sociopath and psychotic behavior starts in the mind and if you get pleasure out of it then you are no different down deep inside.

As I considered this subject I found a rather disturbing and twisted irony. Politically and ideologically many of the people that are the most vocal against Vick are the same people that protest water boarding as a means of getting information from war criminals and are the most vocal against the death penalty. Don't you find it delightfully twisted that the same people that would propose electrocuting Vick for no other purpose than to make him feel how it feels would be against water boarding to get information that it's proponents argue would save lives? Or deliciously ironic that the same people that would love to see Vick die a violent death would protest a person being killed for killing another person? Just something to think about...

As unusual as it is for me to refer to the Bible or quote it, most people would agree that there are some valuable lessons that can be drawn from it...so consider these words...

Matthew 7:1-5

¹ “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. ³ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."

Atheist Fundamentalism...

2010-12-13T18:32:00.000-05:00

So Mandy pointed me in the direction of an article about this term, one I had never heard before. Atheist Fundamentalism. To put it in simplest terms it is a terminology used by theists and apologists that tries to equate atheism with their own passionate and unquestioned adherence to the belief in any of the superstitions and dogmas held by their organized religions and denominations. As I write this post I write carefully, first avoiding the very generalities and assumptions made by true fundamentalists and second providing a clear view of my stand on this subject, aware that I will have to defend it to some of those that will read it.

First consider the term fundamentalist. The dictionary defines fundamentalism as, "strict adherence to any set of basic ideas or principles." It further defines fundamentalism as, "a movement in American Protestantism that arose in the early part of the 20th century in reaction to modernism and that stresses infallibility of the Bible not only in matters of faith and morals but also as a literal historical record, holding as essential to Christian faith belief in such doctrines as the creation of the world, the virgin birth, physical resurrection, atonement by the sacrificial death of Christ, and the Second Coming."

This latter definition, in my opinion, is unfair since there are other forms of "fundamentalism", not just Protestants. Muslims for instance have a radical group that refers to itself as fundamentalists. What you can, however, logically extract from the combined definitions is that a fundamentalist is a person that holds to a set of beliefs and ideas dogmatically and emphatically with passion and totally disregarding any views, facts, arguments or logic that would disagree with that 'fundamentalist" view.

We as atheists, the ones that actually pay attention to what makes an individual an atheist, refuse to accept this name, title or description. I would present a couple of reasons for your consideration.

(1) Fundamentalists refuse to accept any evidence that does not agree with their views. Now the key here is "evidence". Simply presenting an argument does not make it right. When I consider what I hold as my "belief" for lack of a better word, I realize that it is a refutation of superstition not a promotion of a new ideal. I admit to not having the answers to the secrets of life but I do know that there is no evidence or facts that prove the existence of God.

If facts were presented that were verifiable and did not include in any way the word or concept of "faith" and did not require the acceptance of coincidence, and anything that could easily be explained as coincidence that proved empirically the existence of a divine being I would accept the new data and facts and adjust accordingly.

What I refuse to accept is the reverse logic presented by organized religion. The reverse logic that attempts to reverse the roles of cause and effect. The kind of reverse logic that says, because this happened, then god must exist. For example, the reverse logic that states because there is an organized and unbelievably amazing world of nature around us...there HAS to be a God that created it; the kind of logic that states that because as humans we have "moral laws" then there must be a God to dictate those "moral laws". This kind of reverse logic skips the necessity of proving the cause and simply uses the effect as proof. These are not facts, this is non empirical and this is not proven evidence.

(2) Atheism is not an organized system of belief and because of this a person that actually understands what atheism is cannot use the term fundamentalist to refer to them self. Now as Dawkins says, too many people confuse passion with fundamentalism. Make no mistake, I firmly believe what I say I believe. I am even passionate about it but as there is not organized system of beliefs for Atheists to adhere to I cannot be referred to as a "fundamentalist", the mere idea is laughable. I have been accused of arrogance because I do not believe in God, it is not arrogance to demand proof of something so important, so life consuming and something that demands the right to control and influence my life and it is not arrogance to insist on facts and evidence and to refuse to accept feelings, faith, beliefs and a myriad of other subjective, fluid and immaterial arguments. I simply adhere to the general idea that if it cannot be proven with hard and tangible facts then it is mere theory, mere conjecture and not something I am willing to tie my entire existence to.

Not all people that claim to be atheists actually ARE atheists. There are many people that are more angry with organized religion, its vicious bigotry and hypocrisy and therefore reject the existence of god in anger to the people that claim to follow him. Just like all people that claim to be Christian are not true followers of Christ so not everybody that claims to be an atheist actually is. I for one am a firm believer that faith and organized religion serve a purpose and to remove it completely from the fabric of society would be disastrous and an invitation to chaos and anarchy. While there is no doubt that countless atrocities can be attributed to religious "fundamentalists" I firmly believe that the atrocities that would be committed by human kind that has no restraints would be much worse. The difference between me and atheists that argue for the elimination of religion is that I have zero confidence in the supposed good nature of mankind.

This term "atheist fundamentalism" is, in my opinion, a weak attempt by fundamentalists to bring atheists to their level. It is, in my opinion, another example of how fundamentalists want to control and establish the terms of any conversation. First they demand an acceptance of their bible as the final authority knowing that if they can manage this fallacy then the rest of their argument falls into place. Remove the authority of the Bible and they do not have an argument to stand on simply because the Bible is its own only defense.

Having failed to establish this base rule for argument they must then make their opponent equivalent to themselves in order to simply dismiss facts, evidence, logic or any argument that may disagree with their views. Now less I be accused of using generalizations and terms that pull all Christians in, thus offending those who take exception to the statement, I am referring to fundamentalists. If you are a fundamentalist, then I guess the shoe fits. If not then I guess I am not talking about you.

An amazing song...

2010-12-02T18:39:00.000-05:00

This song is really one of my favorites...I know I say that often but this is truly my second favorite song....the meaning is deep....looking back over this year...looking at the decisions made...the family I am so fortunate to have...the new family that has welcomed me in despite my short comings....the woman that holds my heart unequivocally...this journey...this Wonderful Journey...I am a happy man...and thankful...

(For the official Nickleback video go to this link

Nickelback - If Today Was Your Last Day Lyrics

My best friend gave me the best advice

He said each day’s a gift and not a given right

Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind

And try to take the path less traveled by

That first step you take is the longest stride

If today was your last day

and tomorrow was too late

Could you say goodbye to yesterday?

Would you live each moment like your last?

Leave old pictures in the past

Donate every dime you have?

If today was your last day

Against the grain should be a way of life

What’s worth the prize is always worth the fight

Every second counts ’cause there’s no second try

So live like you’ll never live it twice

Don’t take the free ride in your own life

If today was your last day

and tomorrow was too late

Could you say goodbye to yesterday?

Would you live each moment like your last?

Leave old pictures in the past

Donate every dime you have?

Would you call old friends you never see?

Reminisce of memories

Would you forgive your enemies?

Would you find that one you’re dreamin’ of?

Swear up and down to God above

That you finally fall in love

If today was your last day

Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?

You know it’s never too late to shoot for the stars

Regardless of who you are

So do whatever it takes

‘Cause you can’t rewind a moment in this life

Let nothin’ stand in your way

Cause the hands of time are never on your side

If today was your last day

and tomorrow was too late

Could you say goodbye to yesterday?

Would you live each moment like your last?

Leave old pictures in the past

Donate every dime you have?

Would you call old friends you never see?

Reminisce of memories

Would you forgive your enemies?

Would you find that one you’re dreamin’ of?

Swear up and down to God above

That you finally fall in love

If today was your last day

Looking for a good time?

2010-11-22T12:50:00.000-05:00

Brother, Oh Brother!

2010-11-21T12:13:00.000-05:00

I was sitting this morning in the living room watching one of my all time favorite movies, "A River Runs through it". You have to understand, I am a total sucker for brother movies. Some of My favorites are "A River Runs Through It" (way at the top of my list) but there are a lot of others on it too. "Saving Private Ryan", "La Bamba" (I reluctantly admit to crying at the end when Richie Valens' brother screamed his name), Mortal Kombat (I always understood how Lu Kang felt responsible for his little brother) and there are a few others on my list. I never did get the movies where the brothers hate each other and are always out to destroy each other...it never fit.

My brother and me grew up in a pastor's home. Worse than that, it was a missionary home. We homeschooled. My only competition at school was my brother...and he was four years younger than me. Growing up we fought like cats and dogs but it never lasted...we were all we had. My brother was more than my brother, he was more than my best friend...he was my only friend. I never did nights over at other people's house, my parents never allowed that. My nights up playing in the dark with a friend were all spent with my brother.

We are both stubborn. We both have foul mouths...though he is the only military man out of us. My health kept me out of the military...and he became one of The Few, The Proud, The Marines. Growing up we always played together but it didn't take us long to grow out of the G.I. Joes we had and instead we played imaginary games. We had a long running game, his name was Eagle and mine was Falcon...and we played it for years. We were princes, kings, generals, pilots, cowboys, warriors, swordsmen and so many other things. We played basketball and had this hoop set low and we were Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins and Shaquille O'Neill. We talked at night about everything.

As we grew older we took different paths in life. I got married, had kids and took a job. I worked a job as customer service and I pastored a church. He went into the U.S.M.C. I look back and can so see how we ended up worlds apart in our world views. It really is a study in life when you look at us. My path started close to faith, church, the Bible and God and he was indifferent. Life worked its changes and his life in danger and close encounters (of the fourth kind lol) with the enemy and death and while he is far from religious he is more "in tune" (for lack of a better way of putting it) with his spiritual side than I am. I won't whine about my life but let's just say it was not conducive to faith...and I will leave it at that.

I am a liberal...unabashed liberal...he is a conservative....very conservative. We are opposites on so many things. If we were not brothers we would probably hate each other. He has no problem calling me a bleeding heart, tree hugging liberal and I have no problem calling him a stick in the mud, opinionated @#$hole. But in the end of the day...he is my brother, my best friend and in many ways my hero. I don't agree with him most of the time...hell...I hardly EVER agree with him. But I still love the butt head. Too often he acts like he is the big brother...until he needs help with a paper. At the end of the day he is my little brother.

Nowadays we talk school and World of Warcraft. He is a tank and I am a healer. People in game know if they get one they get the other....we come as a team. We are loyal to each other regardless of our disagreements and mutual insults. We can do that...He is my Brother... I know I have no choice on my family, on my brother, but in the final analysis....I couldn't and wouldn't change the man I know as My Brother...

As I finish this post...my movie is ending...and I love the ending quote....

"Eventually all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters."

Get this show on the road...to a land far far away please...

2010-11-13T13:02:00.001-05:00

So we DVR a lot of shows at our house. Mandy and I have quite a wide variety in taste when it comes to shows. I may tease her on her taste of shows sometimes but usually I am ok watching just about anything. I will watch her soaps with her, somewhat, even like the "Young and the Restless", though I do have to make my comments about catty women and spineless men...of course. Then there is Grey's Anatomy...where all the doctor's spend more time studying each other's anatomy then their patients and House the arrogant, know it all, obnoxious and unethical Doctor of Doctors. My two favorite shows are Lie to Me and Supernatural....but I also like to watch CSI, NCIS, Bones, Criminal Minds and Keith Olbermann. Mandy and I both seem to generally like these shows...except of course Keith Olbermann whom she cannot stomach!

We watch shows from Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune to Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters. Mostly we don't have any disagreements other than the occasional philosophical arguments or smart ass wise cracks. There is an exception to this rule, however, and that is what this blog post is about. There is one show I have no tolerance for, if I am awake I put on my headphones and listen to my mp3 player or leave the room. It grates on my nerves and irritates the piss out of me. As a couple though we recognize each other have different tastes and respect that fact...i.e. she lets me watch Olbermann and I respect her right to watch...Medium.

Medium irritates the piss out of me. Specifically the lead character, Allison DuBois, played by Patricia Arquette. I have always had a problem with this show. First off let's face it...I am an atheist and cynic, I don't believe in ghosts, spirits, gods, demons, angels, prophets and other supernatural phenomenon. But it is much more than that...obviously...since I am a fan of Supernatural. So I don't have a problem watching a show with stuff I don't believe in...is simply called the suspension of belief. You watch it and enjoy it for what it is. Medium, however, takes it to the next level. In Medium everybody is wrong and this sniveling, whining b-witch is always right. Everybody around her serves no other reason than to cater to her prima donna bullshit.

(1) I hate her voice. Her voice is in a perpetual whine and it grates on my nerves something aweful. She is forever the victim in this show. Everybody rushes to change their lives around her psychotic trauma of the week and it is everybody else who is not being understanding. Trust me....I was married to this woman once upon a time...everybody else was the problem and she didnt have the decency to even admit to the fact that she is just plain difficult to get along with! Her voice is in a perpetual...how dare you not believe me because I had a dream and the only person that does NOT sound stupid to is me...tone of voice.

(2) I hate her attitude. She is a child. If our children behaved like she does they would get a time out at best...and really? Would more deserve an ass whooping. She is raising kids...that will be just as self centered and self absorbed as she is....hell they already are. As a matter of fact it is hard to tell the difference in her behavior and her own cruel self centered and self absorbed brat! She is always right, it is always about her and how everybody needs to listen to her and adapt to her needs and wants and anybody that even argues with her is insensitive and uncaring. She grates on my nerves simply because I was married to her twice. It may not be fair but it is true.

(3) I hate pussy ass men. Her husband irritates me. She has his balls in a little leather sack and every time he speaks with out her permission she puts them in a bowl of water and lets it dry up and shrivel his nuts just a little more. Yes...I know that this is not popular in a world and time of equality and that I am just being an ass and male chauvinist. But those that know me know I am not like that. I understand and appreciate a woman with a mind and will of her own, but just as I don't like a woman with no backbone I don't like a man with no balls. And every time her husband/slave boy manages to get up the cojones to say something he manages to waste it by almost immediately tripping over himself in apologies.

I really could go on and on about this show. NBC had the good sense to cancel it...CBS was stupid enough to keep it going. This show cannot reach it's series finale soon enough for me...and hopefully the reruns will be relegated to following up Sarah Palin's bull shit show.

A Picture says a thousand words...

2010-11-12T11:04:00.000-05:00

A horrific look into my past...

2010-11-10T18:54:00.002-05:00

For those that may think I am a horrible partisan single minded stubborn rude and antagonistic butt wipe now as a Democrat...you should have seen me ten years ago. My daughter stumbled across a website I had a long time ago...ten years ago to be exact. I was mortified that Becky saw this me from so long ago...

At that time I was a pastor, fiercely loyal to God, church and the King James Bible. I was a fire and brimstone preacher. I believed in holiness and a judging fierce god that loved us and that at the same time we were to fear and love. I was everything I hate today. Everything I blog against today. I was a bigot, I was self righteous, judgmental, I was homophobic, xenophobic and racist. I was a religious purist who had little patience or tolerance for people of a different faith or political view. I am ashamed of what I was then but am proud of how far I have come.

A lot has changed since then. I have been through a lot. I got knocked off my high horse and taught some lessons in life. The loss of a child, the loss of a lifestyle, the loss of my faith, the loss of my marriage and the loss of my other children to a cheating ex wife led me through a catalyst that changed the person I was and the way I thought, the way I looked at the world around me and as a result the ideology I espoused at that point in my life.

I am still passionate. I would like to think I am overall a little more accepting of others and a little less judgmental...but I know I have my moments still. I still have little patience for idiots. I am opinionated, I am sometimes extreme and I am somewhat stubborn. I still see the world in black and white; there is little room for gray...though I am learning it somewhat.

Overall I am ashamed of the person I was then; the way I really thought I was the shit. I thought I had all the answers and I thought I was THE man of god. I had a wife, two kids and I had a ministry. I was getting invitations to preach at other churches and I was THE man. I was being invited to pray in Spanish on the court steps to rally people to vote against alcohol sales on Sunday (because heathen folk should not be allowed to do what they want on MY sacred day dammit and if I have to legislate their rights away then so be it.)

I am still pretty opinionated and I guess I always will be. I take sides and I throw myself behind it with passion and enthusiasm. It is who I am...I am glad to see the progress and am glad to see I stand on the side I am standing on today. I do so unapologetically. Hey what can I say? I do hope though that ten years from now I will look back and maybe still be embarrassed by what I write today...it shows growth, development...

So anyway...for whatever it is worth...here is the link...please be kind and remember....it was 10 years ago...and I even hate the person I was back then...

(Radical Religious Right Rants

gawd....I really was an idiot!)

For Whom the Bells Toll

2010-11-03T18:20:00.001-04:00

Ok. So today I am feeling a little apocalyptic. I have already been told (affectionately) that that is no new occurrence but rather that I am always like that…maybe so…but I have reason to feel this way today. I know I tend to be partisan…I kind of grew up that way. You think I am a rabid Democrat…you should have seen me as a Republican several years ago! I have been really working hard at being “statesman” like. I have worked hard at trying to see the gray in the world around but to be honest I suck at that. I grew up in a world of black and white. While I do see shades of gray sometimes it really comes down to black and white for me. It is a failure of mine. One I try to change.

The situation I am living in is one that encourages me to seek that balance and to seek out the gray. Mandy, her mom and brother are all adept at that. For them the world is all gray and there are very few (and I do mean VERY few) things that are simple black and white. It is a trait I attempt to emulate but I fail miserably sometimes. Today is one of those days for me. I look at the election and to me I see the beginning of the end. Mandy just smiles, shakes her head and I think mentally pats me on the head! Lol I am passionate about some things. And my utter despite that I have for the current crop of tea party right wing nut job Republicans is one of those things I am passionate about.

Now I know that this will just get tossed into the pile of ridiculous partisan bullshit and ignored. That is fine. Given my past writings I can’t say I blame you. But I do want to clarify that my problem is not with the actual party of the GOP/Republicans. My problem is with the current crop of Republicans. The rabid homophobic, xenophobic, God Fearing, gay bashing, religious purists, racial profiling, civil rights allergic tea party Republicans are, at least to me, a terrifying group of people. I am terrified that at the end of today, the Sarah Palins, Glen Becks, Rush Limbaughs and Jim DeMints will be fist pumping in elated victory.

So yes, I am feeling VERY apocalyptic. Today I hear the voice of the American people. And make no mistake; it is the voice of the American people. That is something I understand. It doesn’t matter that they were lied to. It doesn’t matter that they were incited by the basest and ugliest of human emotions. None of that matters. The voice that spoke the loudest spoke at the polls. Because THAT (Mr Boehner), in the voting booths across this nation, is where the voice of the American people is heard. Not rallies, not polls and not threatening riots and filibusters, but rather at the polls. That is where the American people spoke in 2008 when the PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA , (not enemy of the state number one) was voted into office by a resounding voice. So today the voice that spoke the loudest was heard, and in it I see the beginning of the end for us all. See? I warned you I am feeling apocalyptic.

So for whom do the bells toll?

(1) For human rights

The current crop of GOP politicians are a group of righteously indignant radicals. They attack the rights of gays, of Muslims, of Latinos among others targets with impunity and without remorse. Human rights mean nothing to these people. The tea party has demonstrated time and time again that they are racist, that they have channeled their anger into a movement that is giving them what they want an outlet for their hate and their fears and their homophobia and xenophobia. When they rally around the Confederate Flag in backwoods Georgia, people, I lived there; they are not rallying around “history”. There is a reason people of color and other races don’t dare show up at these rallies; and that reason is simple…WE DON’T FEEL WELCOME. For the first time in my life I am afraid of what my Hispanic name can cause. Now for those that judge me for how I feel, for how passionate I am about these things take into consideration this question…when is the last time you went into someplace, called someplace, went into a bar or in any other situation felt the need to refer to yourself by your initials rather than your given name?

The GOP attempted to make much of the President referring to them as the enemies of the Latinos in this country. Well news flash…I am an atheist, I am Hispanic, I support gay rights…guess what? They treat me as the enemy. Not only THEIR enemy but they treat me as an infiltrator, a hater of this great country and a traitor. To them, my defending my rights from being racially profiled, my defending my right to NOT worship their God makes me an America hater, a traitor. I have felt targeted by the Republican party, I have felt intimidated and bullied by the “angry white man” that the GOP has stirred up to win this election. Whether you agree or not, you cannot change how some of us feel.

(2) For Civil Rights

The bells toll for civil rights. Do you understand how this group of people actually feel about civil rights? Do you understand that Rand Paul believes parts of it should be repealed? Do you understand that helping our fellow man in a tough time is considered a crime, is considered socialism, is considered a destructive force in this country. Do you understand that these people are against equal opportunity employment? Do you understand that they are calling for the changes to these bedrocks of our country? Do you understand that the Republicans are running against each other, trying to make laws intended to curb the immigration problem, a problem they are blowing out of proportion so as to excite the fears of the voter, laws that blatantly disregard the dangers of racial profiling?

(3) For our economy

All I can say is I hope I get on full time where I work before the “euphoria” of the Wall Street fat cats wears off and the economy takes its double dip into the recession…going even further into a full out depression. Look. I don’t agree with Republicans and Tea Party radicals. That much is obvious. Studies show a decade of trending where the income gap favors the wealthiest 5% of this country. Their income is going up and for the rest of us it is going down. They make more, on the backs of the hard working Americans, and thanks to a conservative activist Supreme Court can influence the idiots that slave away making them richer. All the while, as they get richer, we are told over and over how we have to give them more money, they should have to pay less, because THEY are the job makers in this country. Really? At almost 10% unemployment you want to talk about the job makers??? I quit believing in the trickle down myth a long time ago. Well, now the fat cats on Wall Street and in the Insurance industry can get back to business as usual, because they have people watching their back and the rest of us be damned.

Furthermore, the downfall of this economy is necessary for Republican aspirations. Make no mistake, 2010 was merely a stepping stone. They want 2012, they want the White House. Call me cynical but a successful economy means they lose the White House in 2012. They won’t take that risk. You and I must fail for them to succeed. And that is all that matters to them.

(4) For Religious freedom and rights

The Republicans of today are religious purists. There is only one faith that has any rights…their own. If you are a Muslim then you are an enemy of the state. If you are an atheist, then you are an enemy of the American way. These are no grays for these people. It is black and white for them and if we give them the power then the world will be the world they legislate into place. There is no room for backing down from them anymore. Make no mistake, they have made it clear where they stand. A recent communication to the tea party faithful singled out a congressman for no other reason than he was Muslim. Do you not understand the danger these religious purists present. The distance from them to Milosevic is access to mustard gas and freedom to eliminate and chase out those of a different faith. That may sound extreme, but that is the thing people are not getting…These people ARE extremists. We are talking of people who have no problem talking about mine fields at the American-Mexican border. We are talking of people who have talked about armed uprising and civil war with the carelessness of a child talking about the weather. These people ARE violent. These people ARE extremists.

I am not saying that all Republicans or people that claim to be Tea Party members are violent and hate filled. I simply mean that the voices that are being heard, the people that are being voted into office…the people that will be making the rules are the ones that are talking this craziness. We are NOTHING to them. We are the enemy. They are true Americans and patriots…we are traitors.

(5) For we the People

I hate that people I love and respect will read this, and will just shake their head and think I am going over board, that I am an alarmist or that I am maybe a little crazy. I guess only time will prove the point…sadly. This is history repeating itself. We will not always be the great super power we are people. Like it or no, history is scattered with the ashes and ruins of the Roman Empire , The Babylonians, The British Empire, and many many other super powers. Our economy is our strength in this world right now. China is working hard at catching up. If our economy falters again we may never recover. Already this afternoon the world looks at us and is afraid at how the republicans and their policies will affect the global markets. Sure our markets jump with glee, the Wall Street fat cats got what they wanted. But abroad, the people we owe money to, those people are losing faith in us, and it is already expected the dollar will weaken. Don’t believe me? Read it here on yahoo.

Remember, remember the 2^nd of November…(and yes I know it is a misquote and is supposed to be the 5^th but hey…I am adapting it…it fits my mood…)

P.S. I wrote this yesterday, November 2^nd and am posting it today. Since then I found out that my job is being eliminated and replaced by a computer program. So let’s see if ANY of these idiots…asses AND elephants can do something…because while they are manipulating the system, while they are building empires and plotting take overs…we are hungry.

November 2, 2010: A Rant about Bullshit, Chicken Shits, Bat Shit and Dumb Shits

2010-10-22T20:28:00.000-04:00

Ok....so let me first start with acknowledging that it has been a while since I have blogged....I am aware of this and would apologize if it weren't because...life is good...and I don't have as much desire to blog as I used to. There is also the fact that I am very frustrated with the current political situation and most of my blogs would be basically outrage and venting...and I am TRYING to avoid doing too much of that. Having said that, I will start with a warning that this blog is a little off the cuff. This blog is a little bit of a rant mixed with a lot of disillusion. This blog is a dirge for what is coming and an ode to what might have been. It is a disparaging look at the two primary parties in the upcoming election mixed with a barely disguised look of disgust at the poor alternative that we are being offered...namely the Tea Party. This blog is equally a kick at the Democrats as the Republicans. It is a kick in the ass and the elephant in the room....and a sincere hope that they all choke on their tea concoction.

I want to emphasize that this is a little bit of a rant. Take it for what it is worth...which isn't much. I will start with a prophecy of doom. We, as a nation, are headed for disaster. Things are bad but they are about to get worse. The Republicans have their sights set on the White House for 2012 and they do not have much to offer, so the only way they can be competitive is to drag down the current administration...and it is about to get dirty. Mark my words, our government is headed for a two year shutdown, the economy will only worsen, the recession we are just pulling out of will come back and it will be worse than it has been. Disagree all you like. Call me a nay sayer. Accuse me of being partisan all you like. just mark my words, write them down...and remember I told you so.

As a country we have all played a part in this mess that we are in. Politicians are more concerned in keeping their jobs instead of actually doing their jobs. I am ranting against four groups in particular....

1. Bullshit...The Elephant in the room.

Now I make no bones about it. I was raised Republican. I was raised a devout Christian. I was raised as right wing as you can possibly get. I lived this way for most of my young adult life. In my late twenties I began thinking for myself, re examining my beliefs. I am now an atheist. I am a liberal politically and align more with Democrats than I do Republicans. By saying that I am acknowledging that this post, and almost every post I write leans left and towards the Democrats. So you may freely disregard everything I am about to say...simply because you are as partisan to the right and the Republicans as I am to the left.

The GOP has raised the bar on the well developed art of bullshit. They have run a campaign on lies, fears, hate, homophobia and xenophobia. And they have done so successfully. Some might argue that the ends justify the means and for the GOP (for any politician, regardless of affiliation, for that matter) winning is all that matters. Let us look at the facts. The economy, believe it or not, is actually on the rise. True it is slowly but in actuality the numbers are improving. Americans, this last year, paid the lowest taxes that they have paid in over a decade, despite the fact that Democrats, historically known for raising taxes, were in power. Illegal immigration is at its lowest mark in over a decade...a decade in which Republicans were in power for the largest part of.

However, to hear the GOP, the economy is not recovering at all (as I heard on the radio a few weeks ago it is the Democrat's fault.) Americans are paying more taxes than ever and the Obama Administration is not being tough on immigration and as a result the illegal immigration is at a high point and crimes committed by these "fererners" is also at a high point.

In short, republicans are winning the election and they are doing so running on out right lies and gross exaggeration. The GOP has found a way to tap into the prejudices, the fears, the hate, the homophobia and xenophobia and the darkest, ugliest emotions of the human nature and as a result they are winning. They have presented us with all the problems...and don't get me wrong, we have a ton of problems...yet they present no real solutions. After two years of chomping at the bits, they are eager to take the reins again and just salivating at getting back to the same old policies that put us here in the first place. I look at the GOP and its bastard child, the Tea Party, and I am afraid. I am afraid because there is no voice of reason. All I hear or the Boehners, Gingrich's, Palins, O'Donnells, Pauls, and a myriad of other fools and all I see are radicals. All I see are right wing nut jobs that have no voice of reason, no sense of responsibility. They only care about winning. Don't worry...I will be getting to the DNC soon enough...

The Republican Party has allowed people like Bachmann be the face and voice of their party. If these are the people that will be leading the country...then we have reason to be afraid. Bachmann has made it clear that the top of their agenda is a series of Congressional Inquiries. They will bog down the legislative branch for the next two years in a clear and intentional attempt at keeping the President so tied up that he will not be able to get one single thing done, thus opening the way for Republicans in 2012. I know...I am just being Mr. Negativity. I know, I need to have more faith in the system. Well...bullshit.

2. Chicken Shit...The DNC...and ass without balls....

In the movie "Pure Country" the old guy looks at Dusty, played by George Strait (who notoriously will only wear a white cowboy hat), and says, "The funny thing about that little white speck on the top of chicken shit. That little white speck is chicken shit too. " The Democrats may try to play innocent in this whole mess but frankly they are a large part of the reason they will lose control of Congress on November 2nd. In my opinion, the biggest fault of the DNC is being chicken shit. The Democrats have sat on the sidelines for two years and let the Republicans and their FOX News control the entire conversation. Their cowardice has been almost criminal. When the Republicans throw out their blatant lies and exaggeration the Democrats have failed to speak up. They held a confidence in the American peoples ability to see change for themselves that was grossly unwarranted. When change is slow you have to make it clear where the change is happening. While the Republicans have played their homophobia and xenophobia cards the Democrats sat on their asses stuttering and stammering their useless, senseless and non committing replies.

When the controversy of the Islamic Cultural Center in NYC blew up nationwide the spineless chicken shits stared wide eyed into the cameras like bloated road kill and yammered the same bullshit rhetoric right along with the radical, fascist GOP. What they SHOULD have said is, "It's the Constitution stupid! There are no ifs ands or buts about it. There are no maybes. There is no "no fly zone" for our Constitutional rights." There is no excuse for the blatant fear mongering the GOP actively used in there campaign of Islamaphobia; just like there is no excuse for the piss yellow Democrats not standing up and saying firmly that there is a right and there is a wrong and singling out a group of people based on their religious affiliation and attempting to restrain and restrict their rights is wrong.

The Democrats, as I have already mentioned, have been slow, timid and just plain chicken shit when it came to calling republicans out on their bullshit and proving them wrong with the numbers. I will agree, change has been slow. You cannot correct eight years of bad policy and reckless spending by a war mongering administration in two years. Hell, you can't change a toilet in two years in DC. The change has been slow, but it is the difference of a landscaper doing a work of change and a tornado carving a path of destruction. Change takes time. But in a day and time when people get married, have kids and live happily ever after in two hours we don't get that and we are angry that the President has not fixed this country in two years even thought the Party of NO has fought every step of change at every turn.

So the economy HAS been slow in recovering, but the greater point is simply this...it actually IS recovering. new jobless claims are bouncing up and down as opposed to the consistent downward spiral we have been experiencing for a couple of years. Reform has come to the reckless, out of control banks on Wall Street. For those of us with liberal leanings we have seen some progress on the health care reform. I know...you immediately bristle because I said for those of us of a liberal leaning...well shove it up your ass...this is our country too. the debt is a real issue, one that began with the former administration and certainly has not been helped by this administration. But the very people that want the deficit cut want other people's benefits cut, not their own. In a recent poll people were very concerned with the deficit and wanted it cut...as long as they didn't lose their Medicaid, their SSI, their Social Security.

Another area that highlights the DNC chicken shit, yellow livered, spineless tendency is the "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy. Because the radical religious right has managed to lay siege to this country, the politicians want to appease both sides. But much like the Civil Rights movement, much like the woman's suffrage movement this is an area where there is no middle ground. Somebody is going to go home unhappy. And if we are going to remain a free people that protects the rights of free people then without a doubt, the people that HAVE to go home unhappy are the biased, hate mongering, homophobic radicals that see it as their patriotic and god given duty to oppress a group of Americans and restrict their rights. Our President claims to oppose the policy yet appeals the ruling of the court that states it is unconstitutional. After the ruling he changed his underpants stained with the chicken shit he spewed out at the thought of the Dobsons, Limbaughs and Robertsons that were going to come for him in the middle of the night and like a true coward immediately filed an appeal. Don't give me the bullshit that he HAD to. He did not. He could have let it stand. But he chose not to. Why? Because he wanted to appease the right wing nut jobs that hate him any way, irregardless of what he does. When will this administration realize that these people hate him and will continue lying about him? When will he realize that a great number of them would thank their God the very next Sunday morning if he were to meet an untimely demise? When will he realize that there is nothing he can do to appease them, appeal to them, convince them that he is even an American, much less the duly elected President of the United States? What will it take for him to realize this, take the gloves off and finally be the President some of us know he can be?

After the beating the DNC has taken during this election the President FINALLY came out swinging. But it was too little too late and by then the candidates he was campaigning for were to chicken shit to even acknowledge it. Instead many of them have distanced themselves from him and his message; a message that simply says, yes, change has been slow, yes we have made some mistakes. But we are fighting for you and look what we have managed to accomplish in just two years despite all the partisan conflict and childish behavior and if you fire us now, in the midst of change then look at how little will be accomplished if you send these big business whores back to Washington.

3. Bat shit...and as proof that fear trumps common sense...enter stage right...the Tea Party.

The Republicans created a monster. Their bastard child has come back to bite them in the ass which would be amusing if it were not for the probability that we will all have to deal with these bat shit crazies. The tea party claims to be a true grass roots movement, despite the big money that has been traced to big business, with no leaders. This movement is long on bitching and short on solutions. They are quite adept at pointing out the problems, and trust me, I am well aware we do have a lot of problems, but they are incredibly incompetent at offering real, sensible and tangible solutions.

And when they DO come up with solutions we come to realize how really bat shit crazy these people are. Tea Party candidates' solutions have ranged from eliminating Social Security (as long as we don't take away their SSI or their own parent's Social Security as in the case of Sharon Angle in Nevada) to repealing Equal Opportunity (as in Rand Paul in Kentucky) to an outright armed uprising (as in the case of the again truly batty Sharon Angle.)

These people have no official leader and no official message. The fact that they have no leader means they are not accountable to anybody. Allow me to explain. When the Democrats make a mistake you will find that immediately it is President Obama, Pelosi and Reid that are called to the carpet. When the Republicans make a mistake it is their leaders that are called to the floor, usually their favorite scape goat Michael Steele. In the case of the Tea party, Sarah Palin, Jim DeMint and others can gain rock star popularity without suffering the repercussions of the idiots running under their name. Nobody is held accountable for their actions. This party runs from reporters out of incompetence. They demonize the only means that the nation has of knowing what they are running on. These cracked tea pots want to blame the questions without taking responsibility for their answers. These candidates want the people to vote for them without even telling them why they should vote for them. they fail to realize that harassing, demonizing and even arresting (as in the case of Joe miller in Alaska) just makes us all feel they have something to hide...in most cases their idiocy.

This movement is nothing more than an outlet for the angry white man. It is a movement born in true frustration with a system that is truly not working for anybody except the actual politicians. I will give them that much. But rather than helping, they have become a part of the problem by becoming little more than a leaderless mob.

4. Dumbshits...the American voter of today is, in general, a product of an impatient, selfish and proudly ignorant fast food, soap opera morons. They are, in short, a merging of Stewey and Bart Simpson.

Now allow me to clarify. While that statement may seem to be a blanket diatribe, a stereotypical accusation of all voters, that is not my intention. I am well aware of the fact that there are a lot of smart, savvy and intelligent voters. People that vote after much study, research and thoughtful analysis. I am privileged to be in a situation where I am surrounded by people that are smart, intelligent and much more restrained than me and my hot headed tendencies. But let us face it...for every voter that truly prepares out there there are a dozen that vote (or don't vote for that matter) for Palin or Clinton just because they are women. Likewise there weree an unbeliveable amount of voters that voted for or against Obama just because he was black. American voters are lazy and ignorant. These dumbshits will go to the polls November 2nd armed only with the quasi intelligence bestowed on them by Ed, Hannity, Olberman, Limbaugh, Maddow, O'Reilly or Matthews. They did no research on their own, they did not spend one iota of effort or time. They will go into that booth feeling proud of themselves as they enter and vote for who FOX News, MSNBC, CBS or CNN told them to vote for, information imparted to them as they listened in passing while stuck in traffic, cooking or eating dinner, yelling at their kids, screwing their wife or a half a million other things that were more important to them than the destiny and well being of this great country we call home.

When I speak of dumbshit voters I am referring to the idiots that think it is possible to correct in two years what took nearly a decade to screw up. They fail to realize that the bullshitters that want to return to power were the ones in charge when all hell broke loose in the first place. Not only did they steer us here in the first place but fought like crazy every step of the way in the progress that has been made the last two years.

This country deserves what is coming. The GOP will take control along with their bat shit crazy cousins in the Tea Party. They will shut down government. They will send bills to the President's desk that they know damn well he would never sign. The Democrats will prove over the next two years that they are just as capable of childish behavior as the Republicans are by dragging the filibuster along painfully on every issue. And when it is all said and done, like Rome of antiquity, it will be the politicians that we voted into office that damn us to our own self destruction.

Americans and the Boogeyman

2010-09-24T10:06:00.000-04:00

As the mid term elections approach I am struck with the knowledge of something I never understood or recognized before. It is a truth that is beginning to sink in...and affect my views of American politics. As I watch (don't gag) Hardball with Chris Matthews, The Ed Show with Ed Sholtz (even I can't stomach him half the time) and the nightly Countdown with Keith Olberman I find the truth to become more and more evident...and very sad as well...

American politics revolves around the Boogeyman.

Now before you start yelping in defense I want to make a couple of points about the concept of a Boogeyman:

1. Rarely is a Boogeyman real, especially in the sense it is created by the story teller
2. The Boogeyman is an abstract concept hid in shadows and short on details
3. Rarely is there a clear cut solution to the Boogeyman

Having said that I want to also make clear that in American politics the Boogeyman has different names and different faces depending on your point of view and ideology. Make no mistake...both sides of the political spectrum make use of the Boogeyman...liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Tea Party Republicans, right and left alike.

Politicians feed on the baser nature of their voters. Simple as that. Fear, hate, elitism, class warfare, extermism, prejudice, pride, anger and just plain out ego and selfishness. These are the emotions the put politicians in office. The current surge against incumbants is not some lofty aspiration...it is politicians feeding on the baser of the human emotions.

Politicians deal in superlatives. They are the BEST option set against the backdrop of the WORST President, Senator or Congressman EVER! These superlatives are useless, meaningless and insulting...yet we the voters award them by cheering for them, donating to them and voting for them. Our own anger at not getting what we want when we want leads us to look beyond reason and seek the quick answer...that never really is as quick as we expected and rarely is the answer at all...instead, more often than not, it is just more of the same.

Another fact that plays into this Boogeyman fuel in American politics is the ego of Politicians. Politicians want to save us. Simple as that. Politicians have to have something to fix, or there is no need for them and most certainly no need to replace them. If there is NOT a problem with our society, economy, culture, etc. Than there is no need for elections. It has to be a problem that only they can fix and that preferrably the person they want to replace had a part in creating. So by necessity, in order to get into office there has to be a Boogeyman.

Take the Tea Party Republicans for example. The success of the Tea Party GOP is not that they have new ideas....their ideas are ones being rehashed and have been rehashed by the extremists in this country over and over. Their success is not that they are so bright and intellignet...please...O'Donnel, Miller, Palin and Angle...these people are not exactly intellectual giants. No. Their success is built on some very distinct and basic human emotions: hate, selfishness, ego, fear and racism. Their lack of leadership provides a wide array of behaviour and misbehaviour that leaves NOBODY accountable. So people like Palin and Beck can ride the surge, take advantage of the opportunity, advance their own personal political and religious agenda without having to take responsiblity for the actions of their own people. Fear of government, religious theocratic views, fear of the Brown Man, the Black Man...and for that matter anybody that is not white...all these baser urges and instincts have fueled the Tea Party GOP.

There are those that want to fight the tie of the Tea Party to the GOP. Those that want to say the Tea Party is both Democrats and Republicans. I point to one simple truth...not one Tea Party candidate in any race accross this country has challenged a Democrat in the primaries...the only seats they have contested are Republican seats because they ARE Republicans and the ONLY seats they CAN fill are Republicans.

But enough of that...let's look at the Boogeyman. Each party has its own Boogeyman...so let's look at it.

Republicans prefer a Boogeyman that appeals to patriotism. Right now in our country their three preferred Boogeymen are: Islam, Barrack HUSSEIN Obama and illegal immigrants. I could go into all kinds of talk about this but frankly I am so disgusted with them and so tired of hearing their hate filled rhetoric that I would rather not get into it. Islamophobia fueled by good old fashion hate and racism and religious extremism has spread like wild fire threatening the very values that have made us great. Tack onto that the homophobia of the right and their resurging thocratic views and Boogeymen abound.

Democrats favorite Boogeymen are rich people and big business. I tend to defend some of these views because of my own liberal leanings but that does not change the fact that the same ploy is used by liberals on the left.

The point is that American politics will always be ugly because there will always be some horrible Boogeyman out to destroy us. Until this changes our system will continue to degenerate and there is no Pledge to America that can stop it. Our system is becoming more and more useless the more we cater and reward the demagoguery. It is sad the point we have sunk to in our country...the talk about "Restoring Honor" sounds nice...but is in and of itself just more of the same. The Boogeyman is gonna get you if you don't vote for us....and in the end...we all lose...

Open mouth...insert foot (true story)

2010-09-05T09:09:00.000-04:00

So yesterday we went to breakfast at a local restaurant that has a great breakfast all-you-can-eat buffet...the kind of thing that makes a fat boy like me go into all kinds of giddy happiness. While there I was in line to get an omelet made and the lady that was making them was just running her mouth. Good grief! She would NOT shut up and cook! She talked about the economy, how she wished she was off for Labor Day weekend, how she almost quit her job but couldn't because the economy is so bad...blah blah blah. To be honest, by the time I FINALLY got my omelet I didn't want it...she had talked me out of an appetite!

I went back to my table took two bites and..eh...I didn't want anymore. So I went back to the bar and the guy behind me in the omelet line was just walking away with his omelet. I chuckled as I passed him and said..."Did she talk you out of an appetite?" To which he promptly responded...

"No Dude...she's my wife!"

He was NOT amused!

Why I am a shitty Atheist

2010-08-25T21:49:00.002-04:00

So I have been reading some of my fellow atheists blogs and lately a lot of the rumbling has been about whether or not an atheist should be insulted when a Christian friend, family member or even stranger makes the statement, "I am praying for you". Well the consensus seems to be that it is highly insulting and that any atheist worth his or her salt should be insulted. I scratched my head at this...why?

It is not the first time that I have read one of the blogs of my fellow atheist bloggers and scratched my head. I think it is important to think for ourselves so I do not think that is a disrespect to them. I hold a lot of respect for most of these guys and follow their blogs fairly regularly, at least as much as my hectic life allows me to anymore. I am not detracting from their blogs or their views in any way, just I don't necessarily agree with them all the time. Hell, when I used to be a Baptist Pastor I didn't agree with my fellow Baptists all the time so why should it be any different now?! lol

Before I go any further in this blog I want to make something clear. I am an atheist. I say those words unequivocally. I don't blare it from the roof top, I am not a "Atheist Manifest" thumper, I don't go around trying to convince the world of the "wonders" of logic, reason and atheism but I am still very firmly set in what I hold as truth and facts. My family and I have discussions all the time. Not just my family that I grew up with but the family I have become a part of and already acknowledge as my own. Especially in the family I am marrying into, we have had a few discussions on the subject...and I am sure there are many more ahead of us because it is what we do, we discuss we pursue knowledge and we enjoy the exchanging of ideas and ideology. But at the end of the day, I am without a doubt an atheist.

Now you may say (with a condescending and knowing smile) what exactly do you mean by that Julio? What do you believe that makes you an atheist. Simply put I do not believe in superstition, I do not accept the concept of faith. Evidence that cannot be seen is not evidence at all and there is no substance in hope therefore I reject faith based on the definition the Bible gives for it. (Hebrews 11:1) I reject the existence of God, Allah, The Great Spirit, the Universal Consciousness and any other form of unproven and unsubstantiated deity or superstition. I do not believe in the existence of heaven or hell or anything in between. I do not expect others to agree with me, I do not force my views on others...I just hold these things as firmly set in my mind.

Having said that I find that there are a few things that I just seem to be different from my fellow atheists and I am sure many of them will disagree with me, as is their prerogative and right...a right I respect. Here are just three things...

(1) "I am praying for you"

When a Christian tells me that they are praying for me I am not instantly insulted. Especially when a family member or friend tells me this. Now, allow me to clarify, I am not saying I am NEVER insulted. I do understand that for some it is a condescending way of telling me that I am wrong, they are right and it is just too sad that I am so friggen stupid...so stupid that I just can't see the nose on my face. I agree that there are many people out there that when they say that they are telling me I am going to fry in hell and it is just too bad I won't make it to heaven with them. But that is not always the case.

Understand that Christians, over the years, develop a manner of speech. They don't know how to "think outside the book" for lack of a better way of putting it. When my close family members look at me and say, "Julio, I am praying for you" I understand that they are really saying, 'Julio, I love you. I don't understand you and I don't agree with you. I am scared of what will happen to you if you are wrong. I don't know how to change your mind so I will do the only thing I know how to do...pray for you." Now if I want to, I CAN take insult in this. Sure I can. But I am bigger than that. I realize that behind it is love. That love may be accompanied by a lack of understanding and a lack of knowing what else to do or say, but it is still love. I choose to see that love rather than to see the insult.

Now I will tell you, I have not always seen it that way. I have always been one to jump to the defense on it. But a recent conversation with somebody I love and respect a lot brought it back into perspective for me. What am I going to do when I am forced to stand next to the casket of my mom or my dad? Am I going to sit there thinking "You old (expletive) you never could quite leave it alone could you?" Or am I going to see the face of a man or woman that loved me, and suffered more often than not silently, because in the doctrine they firmly believe in I was going to be forever lost to them. That does not mean I have to agree with them. That does not mean I have to even pretend I agree with them. But it does mean that I CHOOSE to see their intent...not what insult I can take away from it.

(2) A world without religion

There are those that often talk about a world without religion. I myself have often referred to a world without religion. One of my favorite posters is the one with a picture of the twin towers and it says, "Imagine a world without religion". This may sound good, this may sound nice but first it is a pipe dream and second it is a dangerous dream. Allow me to elaborate.

First, I want to set some ground work for my argument. I know that Atheists and Christians alike will disagree with me on this but humor me. People on a whole are in need of some sort of control. This control is manifested in a three strand "rope". If you take a single strand it is easily broken and control is lost. The three strands are: Government, Religion and Self-Interest. If you have only Government you have the failed Soviet Union, if you have only Religion you have theocratic states like Iran if you have only self interest you have anarchy and chaos. The three work together to form a society that we all can live in. When you have too much of one you have trouble as evidenced in the ebb and flow of our own culture here in the USA.

I used to think it would be a perfect world if everybody followed logic, rejected superstition and tossed off the chains of religion. But look around you, for every person you know that scares the "hell" out of you with their religion, imagine what they would be like WITHOUT their religion. there are many former drunks, drug addicts and violent criminals that "found" faith (or it found them) and it gave them purpose and direction. While you and I, as atheists, may look at them and smirk at their "simple mindedness", imagine how this world would be without this "coping mechanism". Imagine how busy psychiatrists would be if people didn't have their own personal shrink to talk to every night in their prayers before bed. I am not saying that it is ideal, I am not saying that I agree with it. I am, however, saying that the history of the world proves without a doubt that as a whole society needs something that they can use as a guiding force, something that gives their existence meaning and something that comforts them.

Not only does religion serve as a coping mechanism and as a comfort for people of all races and cultures but it also serves as a control mechanism. Constantine understood this. I have always said that one of the most brilliant men in the history of the world was Constantine. Rather than allowing the Roman Empire to dissolve and disappear he reinvented it. He realized that where the sword had failed religion would succeed. Men are anxious to die on the edge of a sword to become martyrs and heroes but to control the "souls" of men is to truly control men. Therein lies the secret to true control. Constantine understood this truth.

This system of control is evident in the world we live. Look at the religious right. Have you never noticed that all the issues that are of the greatest importance are in one way or another sexual in nature. Abortion, gay rights and sex education in schools and in our culture as a whole. This is the most intimate part of who we are and if the church can control us where we are truly ourselves then they control us in every other aspect of our lives. Not only that but let us face it, we live in a world of political correctness and it is behind closed doors, in the most intimate moments that our "souls" the essence of who we are, as it were, is truly open, revealed and most vulnerable. These are also matters (sexual issues) that affect the future of their control. If we "kill babies" and have intimacy that does not produce more children then it is only a matter of time till there is no one else to control. Studies have suggested that part of the preservation of the species is tied to religion since religion throughout the history of mankind has in one way or another had some tie to sexuality and propagation.

The conclusion of this argument is simply put that a world without religion would be a world that is confused a world that would lack direction and a world lost in chaos and anarchy. If we think a world with religion is bad, imagine a world in which the basest of man's instincts and urges go unchecked. We make the assumption that if there were no religion man would become advanced and would become more logical and would live together in harmony and the world would be a better place. There is no more evidence to support this pipe dream, this mythological utopia then there is to support the existence in a deity of any kind. As a matter of fact, the evidence of man's history shows that even with religion those basest of urges have come out, have shown what destruction and havoc they can wreck. In a world with religion man must form a religion that justifies his violence often working his way through contradictions and self conflicting conclusions. Imagine a world where such moral wrangling were unnecessary due to the absence of religion. This is not a world I would want or wish to live in or have my children raised in. So in some convoluted logic, religion does serve a purpose if nothing more than to provide a coping and control mechanism for the preservation of the species as a whole. There are those of us in this species that see religion for what it is and choose to reject religion while still maintaining the rules of society, but not everybody would do so, and if it takes my neighbor thinking he will burn in hell if he kills my children for screaming loudly while playing outside in the yard, then so be it...by all means...PLEASE...believe in whatever God that keeps you from crossing that line.

(3) Atheist Proselyte-rs

Due to the arguments above I do not go out and actively try to convert people to atheism. I worked with a man that had not had a drink in 15 years. Before that he had lost everything. Went from a man with money to a bum on the street due to alcoholism. He "found" god and it changed him. His "faith in God" was his coping mechanism that changed the direction of his life and allowed him to be a manager of a local retail store, have a happy marriage and a house of his own. What right do I have to rip out what was, for him, his foundation, his coping mechanism? Tear away what served as the building blocks for a new life and his life falls apart again, how is that conducive to anything good or positive? How is that a good thing? I cannot find a justifiable reason in doing that.

Most atheists I know are ok with their kids believing in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and that ghosts haunt the world on Halloween because it makes their kids happy to live in those fantasies. Most of us would not sit down and tell our three year olds that their imaginary friend is just that and that they need to grow up and deal in facts and realities. If you do then you are no different than the world I grew up in where Santa Claus took away from the "truth" of the Birth of Jesus Christ and the Easter Bunny led children away from the "truth" of Christ's resurrection. Generally we allow it because it makes their world bright and beautiful. In that same line of reasoning, if there is no truth to the fairy tale of God, Creation, Heaven and Hell and it makes these peoples' life ordered, happy and complete then why should we be the ones to rip that away from them?

How do I deal with people who have questions about my lack of faith? What do I do to leave this door open for my children? I teach my children to think for themselves, to question everything and to not let anybody ever tell them what they have to believe and to never allow anybody to stifle their curiosity. I teach them that nothing is as it seems and that they cannot allow their religious and political beliefs to be established by others without them researching and studying for themselves. If after they do that, they still choose to believe in God, then so be it, that is their choice and I respect that choice. But if they demand facts, they demand reason, they demand logic...then who knows where that road will lead them.

So in reply to my atheist friends and fellow bloggers, I respect your views on these matters, but I have to respectfully disagree with you. What is good for you and is good for me may not be good for everybody. To those that are of faith, I apologize if these arguments come across as arrogant and condescending, that is not my point or my desire. I respect your views on faith and religion, and respect your choices...these are merely mine..and mine alone.

A Banner Week for Bigotry and Hate...

2010-08-23T00:07:00.000-04:00

So it is Sunday night and I look back over this week at some of the news this week and suffice it to say that this week was one where the media pandered to the hate and bigotry of the Republicans and to the radical religious right that has taken over the GOP. And as if the GOP and it nutcase teabaggers were not enough the cowardice of the Democrat Party Leaders was in all its glory as Harry Reid and a few of the others did not hesitate to side with the religious right (in regards to the ‘Mosque’ in NYC but we will get to that eventually). So just a quick recap…

California…so let us start in the land of fun and sunshine. Prop 8 was declared unconstitutional and since a gay judge ruled that made him biased, nevermind the fact that he made solid arguments all the way around on why it was not constitutional he was an “activist” judge…because obviously being a heterosexual judge would have made him unbiased!

Prop 8 defenders, however, stay on message that the gays and lesbians are destroying the family institution as seen by the 50%+ divorce rate and soaring teen pregnancy. Just as an ironic side note, teen pregnancy is highest in the more rural, less educated but more religious “Bible Belt” South. Despite the fact that they have no economic, social, psychological, physical, logical or even practical reason other than the superstitious, bigoted, malevolent, archaic and religious nonsense they insist on spewing and regurgitating they have managed to discriminate against the rights of a minority group in our great lan of freedom and liberty and justice for all.

The right insists that this is a matter for “the people” to decide…but is it? Consider the following two questions:

Is Is marriage a civil or religious matter?

This question is significant because if it is a religious, dictated by the religious realm, then other issues can ostensibly become a part of the regulation process (i.e. adultery, fornication, divorce, etc.) and a much more stringent rule would be applicable. If marriage is, however, a civil matter than to important issues become a part of the consideration:

a. Legality. If this is a civil matter then it an issue that is affected by law not the mob. What these nut cases don’t understand is that today you are voting on somebody else’s rights and fifty years from now they will be voting on yours. It is at moments like this that these people prove they miss the message of “Do unto others as you want them to do unto you.” I was just discussing this last night with a good friend and he was saying that marriage should not be a state sanctioned thing then it would not be an issue. On the surface I would agree with this. BUT, as I was thinking about it afterwards I was thinking, where would we be today if the state had not ordered desegregation? Sure eventually it would have happened but we would be years, even decades, behind where we are now. If you left this marriage issue to people it would never happen. People are too deeply entrenched in their superstitions, phobias and irrational bigotry to have made this change or even accepted this change with anything less than a fight.

b. Civil rights. If marriage is a civil matter then, as in all things civil, civil rights apply. There was a time when a black person could not marry a white person. Heck, not too long ago, like last year, a judge was forced to retire because he refused to perform a mixed race marriage. Marriage is a civil union between partners committed to a lifetime of mutual dedication and as is the case in all other civil matters, that right cannot be infringed upon due to race, religion, age or gender. The Constitution does not define marriage, neither implicitly nor by implication. Now there are those that would argue that the founding fathers would have clarified it if they had felt it necessary and if they had seen where we would be today. And they may be right, but like it or not they did NOT define it and that fact does not leave it open for the right to speak for the Founding Fathers and define it for the rest of the country. The religious right, who seem to think they are the Elite of Americans and the only true Patriots, were not given some divine right, passed on by George Washington to dictate to the rest of the country what the Founding Fathers “meant” to say. Where there is no definition outlined in the Constitution it falls under the individual freedoms of the citizen, a freedom that no other citizen has the right to infringe upon.

2. Is this a theocracy or a Democratic Constitutional Republic?

Are we run by the law of God or the laws of Man? And if the answer is by the laws of God then, which God? This may come across as sarcastic but the theocratic Republican Teabagger Sarah Palin is so fond of pointing at the now defunct Soviet Union and nod sagely an remind us that socialism does not work. Ok. Allow me to point at Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Kuwait and a slew of other countries as examples of the simple fact that theocracy does not work either. These people are not interested in the rights and freedoms of the American people. These people are only interested in their own rights and liberties and then in forcing the rest of us to line up with their twisted, distorted and bigoted view of the world, adhering to their ideals and beliefs. We are free country governed by the laws of society, laws made by men to govern men. (And by “men” I am referring to the human race.) I do not acknowledge the right of you or your God telling me or my family or my friends how we can live our lives.

Now let us take a cross country ride to the other center of bigotry, hate, racism and idiocy…

New York City…The last place I would have thought to have been a bedrock of conservatism, NYC is now the place of the most heated controversy. A couple of city blocks away from Ground Zero in Manhattan there are plans to build an Islamic cultural center and this has started an uproar that is being played by the political leaders, eager to drum up anything they can to get the base livid enough to get out and vote in November so they can be back in power . I would blame this on the Republicans if it weren’t for the eager whimpy ass Democrats lining up to sell our freedoms and liberty for their preservation of power.

It has been ten years since the horrible disaster that claimed so many lives and even now, despite the fact that, between Afghanistan and Iraq, we have exacted more than our share of bloodshed and revenge we still show fear, we still show cowardice and hate in the face of a religious system that at worst is just as violent, oppressive, bigoted, divisive, hate filled and archaic as the one this country espouses. Christians often point at the Koran and select passages that speak of violence as proof that it is a religion of violent control unworthy to exist in our great country while ignoring the Book of Joshua where their God ordered the complete genocide of an entire region including women, children an even the animals of people whose only crime was worshiping a different God and happen to make the mistake of living on a piece of real estate they wanted!

The point is that we have, as a nation, allowed a group of extremists make every religious movement a political movement. At what point did we allow our fear of a religion dictate our freedoms and liberties? At what point did the First Ammendment get assigned a “no fly” zone? At what point did ANY acreage, any real estate fall under an exemption to the freedom of religion? At what point did we decide that the Constitution only protects certain religions? At what point did we say it is ok to put a chapel on sacred ground where the Christian God could be worshipped but a Mosque (which this is NOT a Mosque but so what if it were?) would not be allowed for people to worship Allah?

Somebody called the radio station here and made a comment stating that building a Mosque near Ground Zero would be like the Catholic church building a church near a playground! Truth is that there is no room for this kind of foolishness in our country. There was a time we would have defended this basic right. But it became ok to be a bigoted, hated filled and ignorant fool as long as you could hide behind patriotism. Make no mistake, there is not a damn thing patriotic in standing against the rights of your fellow Americans.

And now the call is going out to “denounce” the President as a Muslim. And so what if he were? John F. Kennedy was a Catholic and they swore he could NOT be President because he would be a slave to the Pope. Our Constitution very clearly states in Article VI that religion is irrelevant when it comes to holding office. Why are we so ready to sell off our rights, freedoms and liberties to these fear mongering idiots in the name of National Security, Patriotism and propriety? Why are our leaders Republican and Democrat so ready to betray all we revere and love about this country in order to pander to a group of people that are nothing more than the squeaky wheel that the media seems to insist on giving too much air time to? Have we come that far that we have forgotten what it truly means to be America? I shudder to think what these right wing nut jobs will do once they have the votes in November…

They Came for me...but there was nobody left to speak up...Keith Olberman's amazing take on the "Mosque" in NYC

2010-08-21T12:58:00.000-04:00

I DARE you conservatives to stomach this from beginning to end so I can watch your vile venom spew out of ears as you ignore every shred of common sense in order to support your hate, bigotry and xenophobia...I DARE you! I have never been a big fan of Keith...but from beginning to end...this rocks!

It's a Wonderful Life...

2010-08-21T08:48:00.000-04:00

So it has been a week or so since I last posted. Life has been busy…but life has been wonderful. I have been in the process of moving and getting into a routine so there has not been a lot of time for blogging. I have hand written one (political of course since I am such a sucker for such things) and hope to get it typed out today sometime. There have been a lot of changes so let me try to get my friends out there caught up on it all…

1. New Family…

As many of you know I have been dating long-distance with Mandy (@MandyVaughn) for a few months now and we had come to the mutual decision that this long distance dating was for the birds! The trips were expensive, tiring, TOO FRICKING SHORT and well a huge inconvenience! So we decided it was time to merge our families, homes and resources. For reasons that are not necessary to go into here it just made sense for me to move here rather than her move to where I was.

So I began job hunting. Now in a day and time when our economy is in the shape it is in and jobs are so scarce my story is almost unfair…though I am very glad for it and thrilled. I put an application in on craiglist.com and less than 5 minutes later got a response. I did 3 interviews over a couple of trips down here and received a call that they were ready for me to start on the 9^th and could I get here by then? Well let me tell you I made it happen! So I loaded me and the kids (all three of them) up and moved to SC. I started my new job on August 9^th. The following weekend I went back to GA to make a quick drive up to Ohio to meet my oldest kid’s mom to deliver her two of the most precious treasures in my life. It was a long weekend, about 30 hours of driving, but I got it done and back in time for the other kids here to start school.

The kids started school here on August 16^th and it has been a little bit hectic but it has been fun! I am happy to be here and be a part of Mandy and the kid’s lives. Every day I find myself more in love with all of them. The kids and I are getting along great with slight bumps along the road…nothing you would not expect in any transition period. Mandy and I have a wonderful relationship and a level of compatibility I would not expect. Now that I am here, we are learning each others idiosyncrasies and we are getting the comfort level to actually disagree…you know…that stage when “yes dear” (spoken in a resigned voice) is heard less. Lol

I know this relationship is new and those that look at it might just nod and smile knowingly as if to say “give it time” but I am watching it develop and early on we are already developing good communication habits, habits I have never developed in any former relationship I have ever been in. We disagree, don’t think we are acting all “wear the same t-shirt” silly. We disagree, sometimes firmly, but we are learning to discuss things and listen. I am learning to not only lead but really and truly listen…something I have not always been good at, I admit. Mandy is a good woman, more woman than I deserve….and I am determined to not screw this up!

The kids have just totally stolen my heart. Abby is 7 going on 17. She is smart, sweet and really has taken up the role of big sister to Bethanie magnificently. She seems to have really gotten attached to me, was even calling me “Papi” till her dad had a bit of a cow about that…but the sentiment is still there and I am proud to be here and a part of her life. Zach-meister is the man! The little guy is two and is already mostly potty trained (knock on wood). He is an emotional little boy and is Mommy’s little baby boy, but he seems to like me except when he is sleepy, hungry or just irritable…which with our wacky schedule adds up to about 15 minutes a day! Rofl! I love the little guy and love those moments when he wants to hug up on “who-yo” as he calls me. And then there is the incomparable Molly-pop. Molly has the sweetest smile that just transforms her whole face. She is the epitome of sugar and spice! She has an explosive temper but an equally explosive affectionate personality. When she cries she just breaks your heart because just like her smile transforms her so does her tears. When she cries, even when she is faking it (and make no mistake she can fake it with the best of them) she still manages to make it feel like it is coming from her gut. I keep telling Mandy that she is going to be the next Shealy (Mandy’s side of the family) that will be a politician! I swear she could be standing over the dead body with the smoking gun, spit on the body (just for added DNA) and STILL not only convince you she did NOT do it but that you should be deeply ashamed of yourself for even insinuating that she did! God I love that little girl! Lol Bethanie is blossoming like I have never seen her before, talking even fighting, she is doing good in school, interacting good with her sisters and brother. She is developing a personality (who wouldn’t amongst this crowd!) and I am totally enjoying watching her.

2. New Job...

I really like my job. I am going from an ER hospital environment to a back office hospital environment. I am working for MUSC (Medical University of South Carolina) in Charleston, SC. I am training for a position where I will be working in the Financial Assistance Department, basically the charity department of the hospital which is kind of cool. My brother says it is the perfect job for a liberal…where I get to give away rich Republican’s money…hey…he said it not me! Basically when uninsured people need treatment that is catastrophic but have no way to pay for it, they fill out a long ass application and I will be looking over it to be sure that the need is legit and that they are not trying to pull a fast one on us. Once reviewed and approved they can get the treatment for as much as 100% discounted. The job satisfaction is two fold…I get to help some people that really need help AND I get to “catch” the people that have the 200,000 dollar home and two Benz’s in the driveway and spend 200.00 a month getting their nails done and are trying to get out of paying their bills. So is kinda cool.

The office environment is very friendly and laid back. There is a lot of joking and goofing around which suits a cut up like me just fine! The pay is less than my last job but I get more hours so it balances out nicely. This week has been mostly training (yawn) but my trainer has been great and I look forward to hitting the ground running in this upcoming week.

3. New Outlook...

This year I began the year with a determination to Live, Laugh, Love and Learn. Those were my New Year’s Resolution. And I look at this year and how far I have come in the last eight months and for the first time in my adult life I am happy with my year. I find myself laughing more than ever, I find myself looking at life with a new ray of hope and a “joie de vivire” like I have never known. I have a woman that loves me and appreciates me as much as I do her. I have four kids (six kids in the summer) that get along great, are growing up happy (well as happy as kids can be in spurts lol) and love me ALMOST as much as I love them. I am employed in a day and time when a job is a priceless commodity. I told My brother just this last week….for the first time in my adult life I feel hope. And hope is such a priceless thing and you never really realize how priceless till you have lost it…and it becomes even more precious when you get it back…

Most Republicans, Weekly Churchgoers Anti-Gay Marriage

2010-08-07T20:37:00.004-04:00

Link: Most Republicans, Weekly Churchgoers Anti-Gay Marriage

In my previous blog I had argued that the more dedicated a person is to their church the more likely they would be intolerant, particularly on the subject of gay marriage. I also argued that age, region of the country and political affiliation would affect this spirit of homophobia. I mentioned that I wished a poll would be made to prove this by the numbers. Well... Gallup heard my plea for help and the above link reinforces that thought. I know that it is at this point where I will hear the argument that you can make any numbers mean anything you want to...but I for one at least feel somewhat vindicated in my argument.

Opposed or In Favor (Nationally)?

Opposed 57% / In Favor 40%

By Party:

Republicans:

Opposed 80% / In Favor 20%

Democrats:

Opposed 42% / In Favor 55%

Independents:

Opposed 52% / In Favor 45%

By Age:

18-29:

In Favor: 59% / Opposed 37%

30-49:

In Favor 40% / Opposed 57%

50-64:

In Favor 37% / opposed 61%

65+

In Favor 25% / Opposed 71%

By Region:

East Coast

Opposed 50% / In Favor 47%

West Coast :

Opposed 50% / In Favor 46%

Mid-West:

Opposed 56% / In Favor 41%

South

Opposed 68% / In Favor 31%

By Church Attendance:

Weekly:

Opposed 78% / 19%

Nearly Weekly

Opposed 57% / 39%

Seldom / Never

Opposed 40% / 59%

The point is simply this...by its very nature church and religion are homophobic and bigoted...especially when it comes to issues like gay marriage. Here is another significant poll done by Gallup when it comes people's views on gay marriages. At least one promising poll indicates some hope that our homophobic society will learn some level of tolerance and come to the realization that discrimination of any kind should not be allowed or tolerated.

With LIBERTY and JUSTICE for ALL....

2010-08-05T19:17:00.000-04:00

Remember that Pledge of Allegiance we all said as kids...

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of

The United States of America

And to the Republic for which it stands

One Nation

(under God)

Indivisible

With Liberty and Justice for ALL

(obviously...the parenthesis was added on my part since I no longer accept its validity and the emphasis on All is added for reason of this post.)

Now I have argued for a couple of years that the Pledge of Allegiance does NOT promote equality since it specifically alienates a large portion of this country that chooses to NOT be "under God", but THAT is not the point of this blog.

The last line...with liberty and justice for all...is significant and is what I want to zero in on today. A study of the word "justice" implies a definite sense of equality. Equality is something a lot of people do not like to discuss. It is important, however, to understand that equality is an integral part of justice. Justice is NOT justice if it only applies to and defends a small portion of people.

As a highlight to this fact let us consider the ruling of the Judge that ruled that the ban on same sex marriages in California, otherwise known as Prop 8, was and is unconstitutional. While this came as a surprise to some, all I kept wondering is how can this even be a question. What I found interesting is that the ruling is the exact same argument I have used in arguing in defense of the rights for the LGTB community to marry and even to adopt children. Simply put....there is NO argument physical, economic, political, emotional, biological, sociological that does NOT have its basis in archaic religious views and ideals. Because of this, something that should fall under civil rights (since marriage is a CIVIL matter) has become a RELIGIOUS matter. Now this is something I have argued a bit with some people that are very close to me whom I have grown to love and respect. I have not approached it directly...at least not in a long time. But I am going to attempt to do so in this blog.

Whenever I make the argument of religion being an intolerant group of homophobic, male chauvinistic bigots I immediately get the response that that is just MY experience with religion and that I grew up in the "fringe" but that "mainstream" religion is much more tolerant. Immediately I am presented with the example of the Lutheran Church welcoming the gays to their role as ministers, the Episcopalians doing the same and the Methodists are tolerant. These examples, on the surface, are hard to argue with. It does appear, on the surface, that religion is becoming more and more tolerant.

But here is the real question...has God, the Bible and Christianity changed? Now this becomes a question to me that is very relevant. I am, as I have made no secret, an atheist. I do not believe in God, I do not accept the Bible as truth and reject all forms of religion (including Christianity) as meaningless superstition designed to provide the needed structure, control and comfort that we as humans require in a social environment. Therefore, if religion is a tool of social structure then it would make sense that "religion" would accommodate with times and the changes that naturally occur over time. But that then would mean that there is no basis of TRUTH and FACTS to it because while "religion" would change...TRUTH does not. That is the whole point of absolutes...they don't change. So if the Christian "religion" truly has its foundation in faith in God and the Bible then those are absolutes that do NOT change and veering away from them means that those religions are more social clubs than anything.

Now I know this is where the whole discussion about Black & White vs. Gray comes in. I grew up in a Black & White world. The Independent Fundamental Baptist movement is NOT know for its gray areas (or gray matter as the case may be!) I grew up in a world of absolutes, which is one reason I detest absolutes. But if there is one thing I learned from being a theology student is that the Bible is a book of absolutes. Because of this I make the very clear statement that the BIBLE is a homophobic, male chauvinistic, bigoted and violent book. There is just no way around it. People in modern "mainline" religion may choose to flat out IGNORE parts of the Bible that does not suit their personal ideology but they cannot change its intent, purpose and interpretation.

Based on this argument I would suggest that it is impossible to be a LGTB AND also be a Christian by the Bible standards. Now this on the surface seems to be a harsh statement that a LOT of people would disagree with but the Bible itself presents its own argument. There is of course the Old Testament passages that have often been mocked and decimated by the simple logic of reciting the other laws and the simple logic that if you are going to give credence to one law then you must give credence to the others as well. But the homophobic tendencies of the Bible are not merely Old Testament antiquated ideals. The New Testament also clearly condemns homosexual practices. For instance, consider Romans 1:24-28:

²⁴Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. ²⁵They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
²⁶Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
²⁸Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

Now that is the New International Version...one of those new versions that are supposed to make it clearer than the Old Fashion King James 1611. The Revised Standard Version says:

²⁴Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
²⁶For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; ²⁷and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
²⁸And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

Hell...that makes it even "clearer" and "harsher" than the trusty ol' King James Version that the Independent Fundamentals are so fond of:

²⁴Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
²⁵Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
²⁶For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
²⁷And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
²⁸And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

The point is...no amount of creative interpretation can make the Bible's homophobic ideology go away. The truth is that by its very nature it does not allow for both. Acceptance is NOT part of a book that speaks of divinely sanctioned genocide (Face it, what the children of Israel did in Caanan in the book of Joshua is no different than what Sadaam Hussein did in Iraq with mustard gas...except...God authorized it...no...commanded it and they killed more than Sadaam Hussein ever dreamed of in his most evil fantasies of genocide) and promotes discrimination based on faith, gender and race.

The religious right has been allowed to make the political landscape of our great nation one that is centered on religious fights and a culture war that is founded on their religious values their moral rules. Values and ideals that they want to legislate on everybody around them. It is for this reason that Murray County (in North West GA) JUST voted in the right of privately owned businesses to be allowed to sell alcohol in a glass; the vast majority of couties in the south do not allow the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sunday (because church people can't bear the thought of the heathens daring to drink their booze and enjoy a football game while they are at church) and it is for this reason that Prop 8 was even allowed to be voted in. It is for this reason that a Mosque in NYC is such an issue to people that do not even live in NYC. Because religion by its very nature is divisive, racist, discriminatory, homophobic and sexist.

I would love to see the following questionnaire answered by 30,000 people...10,000 in the South East, 10,000 in the North East and 10,000 in the West...(and yes...I put it together and I am sure it would be modified after more thought)

Demographic Baseline

1. How old are you?

18-25, 26-32, 32-45, 45-65, 65+

2. What Gender?

M, F, Unspecified

3. What geographical area of the country do you live in?

SW, W, NE, MW

4. Income Level?

5. Level of Education?

Religious Baseline

1. What Religious Affiliation do you hold? (Denomination)

2. How often do you go to church in a week?

occasionally, 1x week, 2x week, 3x+ week

3. Have you ever read the Bible completely through? more than once?

4. How dedicated would you consider yourself to your church and faith?

Current Issues

1. Do you believe that America is a “Christian” nation?

2. Do you agree that same sex marriages should be recognized by the state?

Explain the reason for your answer.

3. Should same sex marriages be allowed to adopt children?

Explain the reason for your answer.

4. Do same sex marriages affect the endurance of the “traditional” family?

If so, in what way?

5. Is abortion a matter of women’s rights?

6. What reason would be acceptable for an abortion to be considered morally permissible?

7. At what point does “life” exist?

Based on what?

8. Should a Mosque be allowed to be built near ground zero?

Why?

If this were put out as a poll and you could get 30,000 people to respond there are a couple of things I predict you would find...

1. The more dedicated a person is to their faith, their church and their Bible the more intolerant, bigoted and homophobic they would be.

2. Education, income and geography would VASTLY affect the opinion of each person on the current issues. Higher educated people and wealthier people would be more tolerant while people that are poorer, less educated and live in the south would be the most intolerant.

Oh...and ironically...the area of the country that is considered the "Bible Belt" also happens to be the area of the lowest education scores and they have the highest single parenthood percentages in the country. So much for the LGTB community destroying the sanctity of marriage. As a matter of fact a study done by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2007 showed that with the exception of Washington D.C (that had the HIGHEST percentage of single parents in the country at 54.3%) all of the top States were southern states: Alabama (30.9%), Arkansas (27.3%), Florida (27.2%), Georgia (27.4%), Kentucky (25.5%), Louisiana (31.8%), Mississippi (33.4%), North Carolina (27.1%), South Carolina (30.2%) and Tennessee (28.4%). Now mind you, there were some northern and mid-western states such as Delaware (28.9%), Maryland (25.9%), Michigan (26.2%), Missouri (25.3%), New York (27.0%) and Ohio (26.7%) that were above the national average but all the top states were in the south...in the Bible Belt...because they do such a good job protecting the sanctity of marriage. (for the chart with these numbers go to the U.S. Census Bureau site and search for the chart file by name detailed_tables_ACS.)

(for more on the sanctity of marriage in our country see the U.S. Census Bureau)

I know this blog has been somewhat scattered, but the point comes down to this: homophobia, bigotry and male chauvinism are hallmarks of religion; it is based and founded on it. It is part of the control. Some things simply are not compatible. Since it is generally accepted by everybody that is NOT hyped up on religion that homosexuality is not a choice but rather genetic or natural and religion is a product of indoctrination and brainwashing...essentially a trained aspect of the human psyche...if it comes down to a choice between the two I guess the superstitions of religion would lose.

Furthermore, I want to emphasize that I am not in any way saying that gay people should stop being gay...as if they could...I am saying that there is not really a home for them in a faith founded on a book that is old fashioned, superstitious, homophobic and bigoted. That is just my opinion of course... But regardless, the judge in California made the right call...there is no non religious reason for promoting or supporting the bigoted and hateful discrimination against the LGTB community. Lets just hope Kagan is on the bench by the time this goes to the Supreme Court so that there would some balance on the conservative right leaning activist court when this case hits the bench...as I am sure that that is where it is headed.

P.S. This is strictly MY opinion...and by no means do I expect ANYBODY to agree with me.

Am I intolerant?

2010-07-27T02:28:00.000-04:00

So as some may notice I have been blogging increasingly less and less. This is not due to any lack of interest or due to a sudden drop off in passion regarding the subjects I typically blog about. I still do quite a bit of reading and keep up to date on current events regularly...as in two or three times a day regularly!

No...my recent silence has been due to some introspection. Mind you....introspection is good....always. It is good to look inside ourselves and judge our motives and our methods. And I have been doing a lot of that lately. Recent conversations with people that mean a lot to me have made me do some looking at myself and my approach to current events.

A post like this is always hard to do without mentioning names because the conversations that take place that trigger these bouts of introspection involve real people and it is hard to keep names out so they don't feel like you are singling them out. Conversations in real life as well as comments on this blog and other blogs I have read have really led me to look at my behavior and my style of writing on this blog.

Now mind you, I am not saying I am going to change, just that I have been doing some introspection. None of us ever reach a point where we can afford to stop looking at ourselves and our actions and how those words and actions affect the world around us. Once on this blog I mad the statement that nobody is above reproach...and that includes myself.

Before I continue I guess I have to establish a few facts about me. First, I am a very passionate person about things that I see as important. I have never been good at "playing it cool". I am an all or nothing guy. In for a penny in for a pound. Before the 2008 Presidential Election I was a very nonchalant person when it came to politics and the current events surrounding our country and our government. I liked Candidate Obama early on mostly because I saw him as a very classy guy and I liked his ability to connect in his speeches. Not a very good reason over all but it was a reason. I will never forget the statement that changed my level of involvement. I was having an argument with my brother (because that is what brothers do) and he made the comment that I was an ignorant voter. Well let me tell you..that pissed me off! Until I had to sheepishly admit that he was right...I was an ignorant voter. I knew nothing of the candidates' platforms, knew nothing of their policies, their plans, their experience....in short I was ignorant. So I made a decision that day that I have held to...nobody would ever be able to call me ignorant about the state of our nation and government. I began a very firm habit of keeping up with the news and blogs.

Currently I follow about 20 blogs and I consistently read news and opinions at: www.cnn.com, www.foxnews.com, www.yahoo.com, www.rushlimbaugh.com, www.dailykos.com, www.liberaland.com, www.huffingtonpost.com, www.ap.org, www.nytimes.com,www.washingtonpost.com and a few others. The point is that I get a full dose of varied opinions and approaches to the same story. It is the first thing I do with my cup of coffee in the morning, and at night when it is slow at work it is what I am reading in between patients and if I am slow during the day and have the time to sit down and read, I will do so again.

Besides being informed and passionate I am...wait for it...stubborn as hell....I know...you are shocked. I don't give up an argument unless I absolutely have to...as Mandy well knows. I will pursue it doggedly. I will drop it when I am cornered only to do more research and pursue it again.

One thing I have always tried to NOT be is biased and intolerant. And therein lies my dilemma. Have I become both biased and intolerant? One person I love and respect very much has told me that I am intolerant of intolerance and therefore I have no right to really say anything since I am equally intolerant. He also tells me I am judgmental of judgmental people and therefore have no right to judge them for being judgmental. While a bit circular in his logic, to a point he has a grain of truth in what he is saying. Another person I love and respect very much told me recently that I should stop blogging because I am just as biased as everybody else so if I am no different then maybe I should just stop blogging all together. Others have made some very good comments on my blog referring to the fact that both sides are guilty therefore to just judge one would be wrong and is one sided. All of these points are very good points and have, as I already mentioned, led me to a lot of introspection in the last few weeks.

Let me add here that I am not the kind of person that cannot take some constructive criticism. I need it. I prefer to have comments and open discussion. So please do not stop. Introspection, as I have already said, is a good thing and should be encouraged.

So that brings me to my topic...Am I intolerant of intolerance? My first response would be yes, I am. But upon further thought and even looking back through my blog I have often defended the right of people to be, what many would consider, intolerant. I may not agree with them, I may think it is both ignorant and stupid, but I defend their right to be intolerant. At the same time I have little respect for intolerant people that attempt to force their views and values on others. And therein lies the crux of it all. True intolerance is not about being opinionated and rejecting or disagreeing with the opinion of others. True intolerance is to attempt to push your views and values and force others to live by them.

The religious right is one of my frequent targets on this blog and for obvious reasons...I am an atheist and am a progressive. I do not attempt to convince or convert people to my religious views and do not try to legislate people into my values. The religious right, on the other hand, is guilty of both. The religious right and the current conservative movement in this country is one that repeatedly demonstrates pervasive and consistent intolerance and for this reason I speak out against them frequently and vehemently.

I have little patience for true intolerance. Am I opinionated? Yes. Am I stubborn? Absolutely. Am I condescending at times? Unfortunately, yes. Am I intolerant? No. I would have to say that I am not intolerant.

Here goes another one...am I biased? WoW. Yeah. That is a whopper to admit to, isn't it? I mean let's face it, even FOX News claims to be fair and balanced when we all know better. Why do they have the audacity to make such a preposterous claim? Because nobody likes to be called biased or narrow minded. But let's take a moment and consider the word "bias". www.dictionary.com defines "bias" (as I am using it here) as "a particular tendency or inclination, esp. one that prevents unprejudiced consideration of a question; prejudice." In short, it simply means that a bias is a predisposition to a particular view that influences your outlook or opinion on a specific subject. We always treat the word "bias" as anathema, like it is a bad thing. But the truth is that if you have an opinion on anything...you have bias. If you believe ANYTHING with ANY sense of conviction then you have bias. There is no such thing as a truly COMPLETE unbiased person. Show me a person without bias...and I will show you a person that stands for nothing. Because if you take a stand on anything, you have bias.

I am passionate, unapologetic and emphatic about a few things...I am an atheist. I am an American. I am a Progressive. These are things that I do not waver on. These are things that I firmly stand by and I firmly defend. Simply put, I am biased.

Now. Having said that it is important to make clear that bias does NOT preclude or exclude the need for an open mind. I made a decision early on that I would not be as closed minded of an atheist as I used to be as a Christian. I am open for discussion. I still read the Bible occasionally. Why? It is knowledge. And to ignore knowledge is to leave yourself vulnerable. I read books that are, in essence, apologetics. Books that defend faith, the Bible, God and Christianity. I read these books because I want to know what they have to say. I am a progressive but I still read Fox News and Rush Limbaugh...no matter how much it might pain me in the process! Once again, having bias does not mean that we should be close minded. Having bias simply means that those biases will ALWAYS shade our views; those biases will always be the spectacles through which we view every subject in life and in the world around us.

That brings me to my blog. It is aptly named, Musings of a Madman. It is my views and my musings. Sometimes I am angry when I am writing. Sometimes that anger comes through loud and clear. I am biased and opinionated. My views are biased by my non religious and progressive tendencies. I tend to attack Republicans more than Democrats due to those two biases. Why? Because as a whole the Republican Party embraces the Religious conservative right...I am a progressive, left wing atheist...I am at polar opposites of the Grand Ol' Party and those biases influence my approach on these subjects.

When I interact with those that are of the conservative religious right, I interact with respect, I acknowledge their right to their views. I acknowledge the fact that it is our differences that makes this nation strong. We would be a true regime if we were not allowed our opposing views. If there were only progressives there would NOT be a Utoptia, there would be anarchy. If there were only conservatives there would not be a Promised Land, there would be a theocracy and a regime. Our differences is what makes our system work. I acknowledge this when I interact with them and I can and do maintain a respectful and intellectual discussion. (As much as is possible with some of them!)

But....did you ever have that cousin, aunt, uncle or coworker that you just didn't like? No matter how hard you tried you just could not convince yourself to like them? Sure you treated them with respect, you even were able to carry on a profitable and polite conversation...but that didn't stop you from writing in your diary/journal how much you wish you could kick them in the nuts! Well that is what my blog is...my means of saying in a harmless way that I wish I could kick them in the nuts!

So I guess in conclusion, it is all true....I am pig headed, I am passionate, I am stubborn, I am opinionated, I am biased, I am (sometimes) angry, I am inpatient and I am (sometimes) condescending...here....on my blog....but please don't judge me by my blog anymore than you would judge a person by their diary. I know these flaws well...and in many ways...here at Musings of a Madman...I embrace them...but I would give you the shirt off my back...and bend over backwards to help you and them and anybody around me....which I guess really does go a long way to prove that I am not so intolerant after all....

El Rushbo...the Messiah...

2010-07-23T11:29:00.002-04:00

Anybody else remember the 2008 election? Do you remember all the hoopla about then Candidate Obama thinking and pretending he was the "Messiah"? Remember? I am a frequent visitor to the spewing madness that is rushlimbaugh.com among other right wing nut jobs just to keep up on the madness the mad hatter is tossing out as "fact" in the form of pseudo journalism that amounts to nothing more than right wing entertainment...kind of like the WWE.

Anyway, during the 2008 elections, El Rushbo in particular was constantly mocking Candidate Obama as the wannabe "Messiah" claiming his followers were viewing Obama as the "Saviour" of America, the "Chosen One" while his right wing "dittoheads" continued to spout his rhetoric, some going as far as to say that Obama was the actual "Anti Christ" of the Apocalypse...so imagine my humor when driving through South Carolina on I-26 westbound towards Columbia from Charleston and I saw THIS little tidbit...

So where is the mockery now El Rushbo you conceited, narcissistic windbag?

'nuff said

Just Another Day in Paradise...

2010-07-19T13:29:00.000-04:00

What a weekend it has already been. Friday I had a job interview that went really good (good enough they just called me for a second interview tomorrow-Tuesday) We went to Abby's award banquet for her swim team where she won the "Most Dedicated Swimmer" award for her age group. She is pretty damn good, a regular little fish. Then there was Saturday where we went to Mom's house and had a fun day in the pool and just hanging out and some pretty damn awesome Chilli/Slaw Dogs. Mom made a chilli that was to die for.

Sunday Abby and I went to her City Swim meet. I was touched that she wanted me to go with her. She did great...1st place in each of the heats she swam. On the way home she told me she wanted to call me Dad....hey...it meant a lot to me...HUGE moment.

There is so much more to say about this weekend....and many more to come...so Mandy and I decided to start a blog to kind of track our journey as a family....wanna see it?

http://sosfamilysos.blogspot.com/

When you go..do me a favor....tell Mandy we all would like to see more of HER on it! Thanks!

I could not ask for more...

2010-07-18T11:07:00.002-04:00

Last night...about 10pm...I stood in the living room. The kids....all SIX of them...were in their beds asleep...Mandy was in our room dozing off. And this song came to mind. I had had a great day. We went to the pool...hung out with Mom and Will..played in the pool with the kids. My body was sore from picking up and throwing five kids (Zach wouldn't hear of it!) and the fun chit chat, the play...the feeling of family as we came home got baths and cleaning done...

I stood there last night and really...almost cried from a full heart as I realized the simple truth...

I am home...

And I could not ask for more...

Tea Party Crackpots Strike again...

2010-07-14T10:04:00.005-04:00

Shall we start talking about "Radical Leaders prey on the fearful & naive"? I am too angry to even begin on this one...

"W" ring a bell? You don't even WANT me to get started on King George. Now THERE was a radical leader that was a MASTER at preying on the fears and naiveté of the American people.

How about the leaders, from BOTH parties, that sold our rights down the drain (Patriot Act ring a bell?) for the illusion of security?

How about the Republicans feeding the xenophobia, racism and white supremacy as they do their best to set this country back 50 years in civil rights race baiting and setting Americans against Americans, feeding on their fears and naiveté? Or how they took the balanced budget of the Clinton years and turned it into an unbelievable debt that they are trying to pass off on Obama while their brain child, the Teabaggers, turns on them and bites the hand that created them.

Do we REALLY want to talk about radical leaders preying on the fear and naiveté of the people they want to rule?

To compare Obama to Hitler, a man that murdered millions of Jews or Lenin that instituted one of the cruelest regimes of modern history while ignoring and defending Jan Brewer and the State of Arizona that wants to turn it into the "Show me your papers" state which just happened to be step number one of the Holocaust is grossly irresponsible and hypocritical. But then irresponsibility and hypocrisy are the calling cards of the Tea Party anyway...along with hate, racism and ignorance.

I don't even know how to end this so I am going to just stop here and continue muttering the rest of the day....

Happy Birthday Jackie

2010-07-12T21:52:00.007-04:00

Today is July 12th, and it would have been Jackie's 10th birthday. For those that are not aware, Jacqueline Faith was Born July 12th, 2000. She died 2 months later. Is odd, the memories are still there, and the pain, when I take the time to stop and dwell on it still hurts like it was yesterday. But, while time may not heal all wounds, it certainly does ease the pain. So today I am not going to cry, am not going to dwell on the past...I am looking forward towards the future...and while I am sure there will be days I will look back and cry...for today I just want to smile at the memory...and just say...Happy Birthday Babygirl...and...I miss you a little...

ALERT! In case of Zombie Apocalypse....

2010-07-10T18:31:00.014-04:00

Yes...In case of a Zombie Apocalypse the following plan has been put in place by the Governments of the world (yes it is a Conspiracy...that is why you didn't know about it till I just now told you because that is how Conspiracies work..nobody knows about them till somebody figures them out!)...make your way immediately to your closest Dollar General. Now this may, on the surface, seem to be a foolish plan but I am convinced there is a definite conspiracy in play here...allow me to elaborate:

(1) They are built like nuclear bunkers. Seriously...there are NO stores that I drop signal on my cellphone faster than in a Dollar General. Those daggum stores are built rock solid and typically have limited glass entrance at the front of the store that could be easily defended!

(2) There is one on every corner! No joke! From where I live there are 5 in a 10-15 minute drive! There would be NO problem making it to a safe location in a hurry before the Zombies got me!

(I garauntee there is one not far down the street from where this guy is at...of course..that may be where he picked up the Marlforo's, which may defeat the purpose.)

(3) They are built incredibly fast. It would be easy to turn the rest of the world into a community of Dollar General Stockades! They just recently built one about 15 minutes from my house and I drive by it every day on my way to work...they built that sucker in like 3 months from start to finish. I am telling you..it is looking more and more like a conspiracy.

(4) They are stocked with all the basic necessities for a prolonged seige. You can't get out? No problem...there is food, toilet paper, bathroom needs, clothes, shoes, toys for the kids...it is all there! There are even Wheat Thins (which I was craving today and HAD to stop and get some) and Monster Energy Drinks...it is IDEAL!

(5) Only problem I saw is that there was NO clothes for fat guys which only proves the dude in the movie "Zombieland" right...the fat guys will not survive the Zombie Apocalypse...which was really bad news for me...but I guess I will just have to either lose weight...or enjoy life to its fullest for the time being!

So there you have it...if you dont want to be looking up to this view (below) then in the likely case of a Zombie Apocalypse you better make your way to your local Dollar General!

P.S. You have been warned!

Happy Birthday...USA

2010-07-04T20:42:00.006-04:00

Today is Independence Day, the birthday of our country. 234 years ago our founding fathers gathered together, placing life and wealth in harm's way and stood up to the world and said we are a free people. There have been many birthdays since then. This nation has gone from 13 stars...to 50. This nation has gone from a struggling population to an astounding and overwhelming nation. This nation has gone from having to have the French step in....to being the nation to step in and help other smaller and struggling nations.

I know on my blog I am often negative. I know I often talk about politics, policies and other aspects of our government and the crazy people that run it and the even crazier people that vote for them. I have often discussed with Mandy the anger in my blog...indeed...I often use this as my outlet to vent and many time the anger does come through.

This morning I was driving...and had about an hour and half drive to make. I had the radio on and there was a countdown of the top 20 patriotic songs (in country music) as voted by the listeners of the station. I was alone in the car. And I will admit...I cried alot. There is something about songs about this country, songs about our men and women in uniform and the sacrifices they make. Songs that make your heart burst with pride for the country we call home.

There are times I am disappointed in the state of our country. I often disagree about politics, policies and the direction of this country with my conservative friends, family and foes. But today I want to put all that aside. Today for just a few hours I want to forget the GOP and DNC exist. I want to forget the Tea Party crackpots. I want to forget Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman and Jan Brewer. I want to forget Arizona and its hideous immigration law nightmare. I want to forget all these things...

I want to remember the Red, White and Blue. I want to remember the Soaring Eagle. I want to remember my Dad and my Brother and all the other men and women who have worn the uniform have sacrificed their comfort, their careers, their health, their limbs, their families and in many cases their lives so that this country might continue. I want to remember the picnic I passed in Fairmount, Georgia where a small country town came together to celebrate the birth of our nation.

I want to remember yesterday as I stood with my Dad and my older two children at Turner Field (probably tomorrow's blog) and hat in hand, hands over our hearts stood with thousands of other people and listened to the familiar chords of the Star, Spangled Banner played before the totally Americana words "Let's play ball" were barked by an umpire on field. I wanna remember sitting there in my seats a soft pretzel in hand, looking out over the throng of people, not seeing color, race, party...not hearing the language, the creed or the politics...just seeing my fellow Americans....

I want to remember sitting in that car this morning, hearing Trace Adkins sing "Arlington" the first person view of a soldier that gave his life inthe cause of freedom and was admitted to that hollowed ground. I want to remember the tears of pride and love that streamed down my face from a heart full of emotions. I want to remember the feeling of hearing Garth Brooks sing our national anthem and the chills that run up my back every time I hear those fiddles start winding up for the familiar rendition of George Strait as he sings about the "Heartland".

I want to remember why I love this country, the things that have stuck in my mind through the years like my childhood trip to D.C., our nation's capitol. I want to remember the solemn feeling that came over me at the sight of the Memorial Wall...I want to remember the price of freedom paid by those inscribed on it...and those that knelt beside it weeping, their hands touching the name of some loved one they lost. I want to remember how it felt, to stand in the arched room in the Smithsonian,(pictured above) as the case lowered on the wall and the original Star Spangled Banner that inspired our National Anthem was displayed. The tears that ran down my face even then as a young boy.

I want to remember this Country I love. Sure...tomorrow...or the day after...I will not ignore the elephant in the room (GOP)...I will have plenty of barbs and insults to dish out to Palin, Bachmann and all the other nut cases. I will probably show anger, disillusionment and outrage. I will disagree with the conservatives, bitch about the crack pots and whine about a myriad of other grievances, real and imagined.

But for today...that is unimportant. For today...this is My Country. Those things somehow seem somewhat less significant... For today...those differences are what make us strong...for today...we are One Nation Indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you to the men and women in uniform who served and sacrificed

the families that sacrificed their loved ones

Stars and Stripes Forever

I could not ask for more...

2010-06-28T16:53:00.002-04:00

This last weekend a major milestone was crossed in my life as well as in the relationship that Mandy (Gamecock Mama) and myself have been developing and watching grow,with both wonder and amazement.

This weekend Mandy drove up to Georgia where my family (My Parents and My brother) had a cookout get together and Mandy came to meet the family. Mandy was nervous about it, as was I...just because you never can predict these things. I was confident my family would like her and accept her, but you know...there are always those little unpredictable dynamics that are completely out of your control that you worry about.

We had enough food to feed an army...hell we STILL have leftovers! Chicken, pork ribs and pork kabobs, grilled pineapple and corn, potato salad, baked beans, brats...damn...there was just a LOT of food. What can I say? My family is always more cooperative on a full belly!

My past choices and decisions, when it comes to women, has been, shall we say,less than satisfying for my family. I will refrain from saying anything more since they might one day find my blog...and it would really suck if they saw me writing what I think about them....as if they didn't know already! But due to my bad judgement in the past my family was...shall we say....cautious. And frankly I can't blame them...it was not a reflection on Mandy as much as it was a reflection on my past idiocy.

So the big day arrived and Mandy came over. My older two kids fell in love with Mandy immediately, with BJ going so far as to use the word "Awesome" which is pretty good! My brother, bless his snarly heart, was his usual smart ass self, which is exactly how we love him. He did call her Sweety, which I am pretty sure was a good thing! Dad tried to sell her on his new business...which is also a very positive sign (sorry about the 16 minute video Mandy baby doll!).

I was completely blown away by my mom. My mom is a selective person, and she is also the barometer of my family. Usually if mom approves everybody ends up falling in line. Mom was very impressed with her and made no bones about it which goes a long way. We joked, ate, talked, ate, sat and watched a movie....and ate...did I mention we had a lot of food?

Mandy left on Sunday...and it seemed like the weekend was way too short...I may have cried after she was gone...not that I would admit to it. But it left a big empty hole in me...a reminder to me again that this woman really means everything to me. Sunday morning she came over, mom and dad were gone to church, my brother had gone home and my kids were off doing their thing...and Mandy and I sat at the kitchen table and talked for a couple of hours over a cup of coffee...it was symbolic...a reminder to me that she really is everything I have been looking for...and I could not ask for more...

Somebody throw South Carolina (and the GOP) a climbing rig...

2010-06-22T09:31:00.005-04:00

So today is the runoff in South Carolina and it is one I have been watching with some interest. Partly because South Carolina politics will be my politics in a couple of months and partly because South Carolina politics, in many ways, represents EVERYTHING I hate about the Republican Party, everywhere, but particularly in the south.

I have argued before that the GOP is the party of faith and racism. If you are a Republican, I am sorry for the generalization. I am aware that not ALL Republicans are religious bigots and racists. However, enough of them are to elect some real idiots in to a variety of offices across the nation and in particular in the south and in the Midwest. Nor am I implying that ALL Republican elected officials are religious and racist bigots...just enough that the national Republican agenda has become one of defending big business, harassing minorities and making it un-American and wrong to be of any religious persuasion other than Christian. Once again, South Carolina is a perfect example of this...and hell...it is among their own candidates (since a Democrat in South Carolina is like...an albino squirrel...not quite extinct but definitely a rarity.)

In this case in particular we have Nikki Haley against most of the GOP Establishment in South Carolina. Now she is leading in the polls and will win the GOP nomination for Governor, which in South Carolina means she will more than likely win the election. Her winning is hopefully a sign that enough of the population of the Palmetto State is tired of the "good 'ol boys" and their strangle hold on the state. I was reading an article (please read it here)and it defines the "Southern Test" Mrs. Nikki Haley has been forced to take over and over...

(1) Faith

Let's get this straight, Article VI of the Constitution of the United States makes a statement that is both plain and definitive:

but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

Simply put no elected official in this Country can legally be put through a religious test. No elected official can or should be elected based on what religious faith they have. In short, for those idiots that can't quite get it...IT IS NEITHER LEGAL OR ETHICAL TO DEMAND THAT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIAL BE OF A SPECIFIC FAITH OR RELIGION! In other words, my religious beliefs or the religious beliefs and affiliation of any candidate should not even be questioned.

Yet...that is all you hear in South Carolina when it comes to Candidate Mrs. Nimrata Nikki Randhawa Haley. The South Carolina GOP bigotry club has dissected her conversion, chronologically cataloging her rise in politics with her conversion to Christianity from Sikh. Because, clearly, the only thing that is important to these ignorant buffoons is that she be of the right faith. Because, we ALL know that good Christian men like Mark Sanford, are sooo much better, are more in tune with the needs of the Christian Southerner, and more apt to promote and protect true Christian family values and the American way. All though...I am not sure if that was BEFORE or AFTER the affair...details, details, details. The point is that while I am in no way a supporter of the Sarah Palin Pageant Queen Winner of the Election Cycle in South Carolina the way she has been put through the ringer and forced to defend her level of commitment to her faith is absolutely wrong, un American and unconstitutional.

(Note: And before I get the snide remarks about how sexist the Sarah Palin Pageant Queen Winner sounds, it was not intended as a snide remark at Haley's being a woman but more of a snide remark at Sarah Palin who has traipsed through this country's elections treating her endorsements like it is some stupid pageant. And the reference to Palin and her pageant attitude has less to do with her being a woman and more with her trying to play on her being a woman and acting like a Barbie doll girl in a Barbie doll world.)

(2) Race

So the media and the establishment that opposes Haley have started using Nimrata Nikki Randhawa Haley in reference to the candidate. Sound familiar? As in Barrack Hussein Obama? She is lucky she is just running for governor! If she were running for President she would have to produce a birth certificate and even then some idiots would be claiming it was falsified and invalid. The fact that her race has even come up is an embarrassment to this country. But hey, this is the south and some things never change.

(3) Gender

This has not been as big of an issue and is really a non issue in the news. But the fact remains that if she wins the Governorship she will be the first woman to sit in the Governor's office. And while it is not a big deal in the news, the consensus of most of the people I know say that it is generally considered to be the public secret, the good 'ol boy establishment is not thrilled at having a woman at the top spot.

(4) The Civil War

This one irritates me. Seriously? The Civil War? The good people of South Carolina do not want to elect somebody that will not swallow hook line and sinker the southern myths about the Civil War. Look. For years I repeated the same horse shit, the Civil War was about state rights and not about slavery, well hell, slavery wasn't even that big of an issue and most of the people that fought in the Civil War didn't even have slaves. This all sounds good but is full of half truths...so let me just say this:

(a) The Civil War was not about slavery, it was about state rights.

Yeah...just like the Civil Rights movement was not about segregation but about the right of people to be ignorant hate mongering rude Neanderthal morons to minorities. The very same people that were in favor of slavery were in favor of segregation, their children were in favor of keeping the black man in his place. And his place was one of servitude to the white man. So spare me the bullshit! The Civil War was about whether or not this country should allow its states to legalize the traffic in human lives. THAT was the right the states of the south were defending. There are some things that are just morally and ethically wrong and should not be tolerated under any condition and should not be delegated to the states to decide. The truth of history is that the Southern States wanted the right to choose whether or not they could have slaves, and the American People elsewhere felt that it was a moral sore that needed to be removed...and it was...on the backs and blood of hundreds of thousands of American men and women.

(b) Most of the people that fought and died in the Civil war did not have slaves.

This is absolutely true. Most of the people that fought and died in the Civil War did not have slaves...only the rich plantation owners could even afford slaves. So as usual, the middle class and the poor of our country pay the price of blood, sweat and life while the rich reap the benefits and play the victim. Sound familiar? Like BP? It is the hard working people of Gulf States that are struggling while BP owners go to yacht events and Republican law makers defend BP's actions, defend the off shore drilling that irresponsibly led to it and apologize to BP for the President doing something about making BP pay up to those very hard working people. And while the GOP have their plates full defending and protecting poor BP, they are attacking the President for "not doing anything".

Now many would disagree with this statement but I will say it anyway. BP did the GOP a favor. With this mess in the Gulf it makes it difficult for lawmakers and the President to even do their job. And as long as the Republicans can keep the President and Congressional Democrats and the nation focused on a problem their own policies caused, the more they can use it and use the lack of other business getting done to win in November. And you know what? Once the Rethugs take over in November...it is over. Then they can get back to the business of handing the country back over to big business, big banks and big oil. Oh...and guess who will be Chairman of the Committee that regulates the oil business? Why that would be Barton, the guy that apologized to BP...fascinating huh?

For now...today I will be watching the run off in South Carolina...and hoping I get the pleasure of watching the "good 'ole boys" wring their hands in anguish. And as for the Mrs. Brabham said, "She grew up here. . . . Come on! I thought we had climbed this mountain." Apparently not...

A Tribute to My Dad....

2010-06-20T10:46:00.002-04:00

Lyrics | Keith Urban lyrics - Song For Dad lyrics

The thing I learn as every year goes by is that my dad was and is a good man. I am the man I am today because of my parents. My Dad taught me dedication, taught me persistence and consistency. He taught me to make my choices, make my decisions and then stand like a man with head up back straight and face the consequences like a man. I am thankful for my dad, and love him very much. I know he doesn't visit my blog, and it is better that way mostly, since he is a pastor and I am an atheist, but I want it to be known without a doubt that I am proud of My Dad, and I understand him a lot more, I also find the older I get that I am more like him every day and have less room to judge him...Happy Father's Day.

"Gotcha" ya idiot...

2010-06-18T12:24:00.014-04:00

So there is a fad going around with the new crack pots of the tea party patriots. The candidates the media love to promote and love to interview because the gems of idiocy these people give up as offerings to the media are really just too good to be true! Of course it is NOT the fault of the candidate being interviewed...it is the fault of the one doing the interview. So let us for a moment look at a few things about this....

1). Their Terminology

I find the way they refer to the media humorous. They have several terms when referring to any media that is not radio talk show hosts and Faux Noise (FOX News)that are quite funny...and curious. For instance the reference to the Media as "Big Media" (as opposed to big business and big oil?) the Elite Media (as opposed to crude, rude and fear mongering right wing nut jobs like Rush Limbaugh and Hannity) "Gotcha Journalism" (as opposed to their patsy on the radio waves that actually agree with their radical ideas and cover for them.) These cracked tea pots cater to the hate and the fear mongering of the racist, neo nazi, theocratic extreme right wing that seem to fail to understand that freedom of speech is also accompanied by freedom of the press...which means if you say something stupid on Sunday...you can bet the whole country will hear of it by Monday.

2). Their Ideology

Here's what gets me. Where does personal responsibility come in? Think about it for a minute; the media is SUPPOSED to ask tough questions. How do you think Watergate came out? How do you think the right got all of their ammunition for Monicagate? How do you think these things happen? The media is SUPPOSED to ask tough questions. It is their job. And the conservatives were not talking about "gotcha journalism" when THAT was all going down. The media asks their questions and the politician answers them. So who, in fact, is responsible for the answers? I agree that taking statements out of context is wrong...like when the radical right was going around saying that President Obama was saying that "America is not a Christian nation" (which is of course the truth but that is another blog post) when in reality what he said is that America is no longer a Christian nation-only...it is also a Muslim, Jewish, and a nation of non believers. But the wording made it convenient to cut off the only and everything that followed. THAT is "gotcha journalism". But asking a question, even a tough question, that elicits a stupid, radical and unpopular answer from an obtuse moron is not the fault of the person asking the question but rather of the person giving the answer.

The point is that for a group of people that want to talk about personal responsibility and accountability, they have a very hard time being personally responsible and accountable for their answers and their idiocy. They solve this dilemma by avoiding the media, shutting them out, only allowing their right wing nut job buddies in, people that won't ask them the questions that show they are out of touch with the majority of Americans and will reveal their looney policy ideas. They answer the criticisms with pouting, whining and accusations. It boils down to this...like it or not...regardless of WHAT the political leanings of the reporter...if you can't answer the question of an insignificant peon from CNN or the Washington Times...then what makes you think you can answer the questions of the President of France, the President of Russia or the leaders of Iran, Iraq and a dozen of other nations that hate us and are always trying to trap us in some moral dilemma that will put us in trouble with the rest of the world. What will they do when they walk down the steps of the Capitol and the media is waiting for them? Or when they are in the Rose Garden?

3). The Cracked Tea Pots

SO just a couple of comments on the poster children of the crack tea pots.

Sarah Palin...Seriously...the queen of idiocy...the half term governor that would be queen. She seems to still be under the delusion that she can win the presidency. The woman who made even Bill O'Reilly roll his eyes at her stupidity and empty headed dribble manages to keep herself in the news...all the while bashing the Elite Media. FOX News, the fair and balanced idiots and pawns of the movement they created, just sucks on the crotch of this woman's panties! I mean excuse the vulgarity, but seriously...Fox makes no attempt at fair and balanced when it comes to Palin and her crackpot ideas. They just nod their heads all intellectual looking like, like she really makes sense, and why can't ALL of America see the absolute brilliance of this nut job that can't even finish a full term as governor of a half empty state but thinks she can be the leader of the free world.

Sarah Palin's run ins with the media are well documented. Ever since that fateful interview with Katie Couric, in which the Elite Media were out to get her by asking her questions...gosh durn it...how dare they ask her questions!!!!! Since then she has waged a war with the media...and the funny thing is she really thinks she can win. Sure there is a level of distrust from the American people when it come to the media, but can you imagine what George W. Bush would have been able to do if the media was not watching him like a hawk? Hell...look at what he DID get away with!

Michelle Bachmann....this woman has the intelligence of Palin with the charisma of Perot. She really is a scary sight to see. This woman is the personification of Forest Gump's motto...Stupid is Stupid does. This is the woman that accused "libruls" and President Obama of "celebrating" 9/11 because he referred to the "anniversary" of that infamous day. If she thinks that the word "anniversary" necessarily means a celebration...then she must have never been married! This woman has appeared beside Palin so many times that even Hannity, bless his limited intelligence, referred to a Palin-Bachmann team...of course...the only question is who gets to be on top!

Rand Paul...The boy who would be king. This guy has managed to give us the picture of the future of America under the rule of the Tea Party. An America where the White Supremacists rule, the Civil Rights Act is removed, handicapped people are back to being a bother to society and not treated with decency and respect. A world where God is ruler, the Bible is the law book and bigoted Christians determine who can be married, who can be leaders and who has any right to control their bodies. An America where our elderly can be treated with indecency and lack of respect, back at the mercy of family that don't want to pay or are incapable of paying for proper care and medication and the government takes the money that they have given and invest it in war and bloodshed. A world where big business and big oil run everything under some pretense of free market. A world like the one we already live in...only worse.

Sharron Angle...Harry Reid's opponent in Nevada is another perfect example of the idiocy and the totally out of touch lunacy that seems to be such a huge part of the tea party. A woman that advocates doing away with Social Security, advocates the USA walking away from the UN and also said that the purpose of the Second Amendment is to arm the citizens so they could throw down out of control government and then added the words, "if Congress keeps going the way it is going..." as though it would justify an insurrection in our country.

The funny thing is...The Republican Party and FOX News, created a monster they can't control. The media is biased be it for the right or for the left. They purposely ask questions to corner the opposing candidate. It is what happens in politics. It dates back through our entire history. It is only "gotcha" journalism when you they "getcha" or get your your opponent. In the mean time, if you do not want to be in the fish bowl, do not want to be asked the hard questions and do want to trouble yourself with facts, logic and reality...then stay the hell home.

Optimism

2010-06-14T15:55:00.003-04:00

OK...so this may come as a surprise but I am not the world's greatest optimist. Yeah, I know...big surprise. What I call realism or reality most people call pessimism and negativity. I have always been the person to pay more attention to the cloud rather than the silver lining...the silver lining is an illusion of what MIGHT happen while the cloud is very real. I am a glass half empty kind of guy...count on what you have...not on what you might have. Is just how I have always been. I don't try to be down on it, or have a negative attitude about it...it just is what it is.

I am cautious about optimism. Optimism too often can blind you to reality...and the truth is that sometimes reality bites. I tried reading a book a very good friend lent me called The Secret. This book is all about the warm and fuzzies and happy bubblies. Tell the universe what you want and the universe HAS to give it to you. Think only positive thoughts and only positive things will happen. When you send negative thoughts negative things will happen. And apparantly, the universe is really sensitive, because wording is really important. If you say "I don't want to be in the ditch" the universe operates on a reverse psychology basis and says..Oh shit! You want to be in the ditch....here...and oooppss there you are in the ditch.

My only problem with this is that ignorance is NOT bliss. Ignoring the ditch doesn't mean the ditch isn't there...all it means is that you are shocked and unprepared for the ditch and the consequences of falling in the ditch. Reality, while not as pleasant is much more effective, in my book at least.

The only problem with realism and a realistic view of the world and life in general is that sometimes you can get jaded. Sometimes you lose the ability to dream. Sometimes you miss it when a good thing comes your way because you are so focused on "reality" that you are waiting for "the other shoe to drop" and not taking the time to enjoy what you do have.

Optimism has always reeked too much of faith to me. And those that know me know I am not a big fan of the concept of faith. The difference between optimism and faith is that optimism takes the current facts and situation and hopes for the best. Faith does not need facts...it can be based on pure fiction. Well, that is My take on it at least, but I am not here to argue semantics. The point is that I could use a little more optimism in my mindset.

As I am looking at the future I see a future that is bright. I have made some serious mistakes in my life and I have paid the consequences. My children have paid the consequences. I have, hopefully, learned some valuable lessons. As I look at the circumstances I am facing...a woman that loves me and I love...a woman that will be the first responsible partner I have ever had in my life. Children, hers and mine that are now ours, that love me and look to me for guidance. That is a lot of hope, a lot of responsibility and a lot of room for optimism.

Optimism is also a lot about perspective. I put a song here that really is what started this blog post for me yesterday. Have you ever considered that optimism is as much selling ourselves as selling other people? I think it is really a lot of us taking lemons and making lemonades...it is looking at the cards we are dealt and playing anyways...it is about well...like this kid in this song....are you pitching or hitting? (no don't go all perv on me!)

The Greatest

By Kenny Rodgers

Little boy, in a baseball hat stands in the field with his ball and bat.
Says, "I am the greatest player of them all" puts his bat on his shoulder and he tosses up his ball.
And the ball goes up and the ball comes down swings his bat all the way around
The world so still you can hear the sound, the baseball falls to the ground.
Now the little boy doesn't say a word, picks up his ball, he is undeterred.
Says, "I am the greatest there has ever been" and he grits his teeth and he tries it again.
And the ball goes up and the ball comes down swings his bat all the way around
The world so still you can hear the sound, the baseball falls to the ground.
He makes no excuses, he shows no fear, he just closes his eyes and listens to the cheers.
Little boy, he adjusts his hat, picks up his ball, stares at his bat
Says,"I am the greatest, the game is on the line" and he gives his all one last time.
And the ball goes up and the moon so bright, swings his bat with all his might
The world's as still, as still can be, the baseball falls and that's strike three.
Now it's suppertime and his momma calls, little boy starts home with his bat and ball.
Says, "I am the greatest, that is a fact, but even I didn't know I could pitch like that!"
Says, "I am the greatest,that is understood, but even I didn't know I could pitch that good!"

A Progressive's Coming Nightmare (In the middle of living the dream)

2010-06-14T12:54:00.017-04:00

So this year has already been a year of big changes, and there are many more to come. I began my year with the following resolution: Live, Laugh, Love and Learn. I feel like this year has already been a better year than last year. I met a wonderful lady that I have grown crazy in love with. (I always hated the phrase, Fall in love, is like you tripped on your shoe laces or something!) Mandy and I have decided that our families are perfect together. Bethanie loves her to death and she loves Bethanie. Abby and Molly love me and Zach I think tolerates me, but I am growing on him. And I love them deeply and am looking forward to being a part of the family and helping raise these kids together.

So the goal is for us (that would be Bethanie and Myself) to move down there sometime this year, more than likely at the end of the summer. This is a dream come true. She really is all I ever wanted in a woman. She and I relate on so many levels. We have the same dreams, plans and goals in life. I really could not ask for anymore...plus..hell...she is a redhead! I mean seriously guys...it doesn't get any better than this! lol

In the middle of this dream come true, there is a single shadow of a nightmare...kind of a Dream within a Dream (or nightmare as the case may be). As I have made it clear in my blog I am a Progressive. For you sanctimonious conservative bitches that means I am a "librul". Yeah...exactly...one of those 'Merica Hating, Nazi, Communistatic, gay loving, baby killing, terrorist thingamagie type of people. So living in Georgia is one of those things where I usually feel like a sore thumb. In my little town of Chatsworth, GA I think I am the ONLY person that admits to voting for President Obama...and really? I may be the only one that actually did! I am pretty much in the same situation as vjack over at Athiest Revolution and Red State Progressive. A progressive in a conservative state.

So, having said all that, I am now finding myself in the position of jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. GA politics, while conservative...are not quite as nutty as SC. In SC the conservative Republicans are so in control that they even control who runs as a Democrat (i.e. Alvin Green). It is a heavy Tea Party state that is infatuated with *wink wink* Palin. So just to kind of take a view of SC Politics....lookie lookie at the Circus:

1. Jake Knotts.

Now here is a real idiot. As the primaries heated up for the South Carolina Governor's seat, Republicans, who have no need to attack the basically non existent presence of Democrats, were busy in fighting. And since they are all competing to be the most conservative, it left little to attack except on a personal level. So Nikki Haley, candidate for Governor, was attacked for her ethnicity...her parents are of Indian decent and Sikh. She was Sikh until just seven years ago. And the implied argument goes that she became Christian for political reasons and has become more and more "Christian" the more opportunities she had in politics. Obviously, as is the case with the right wings nut jobs, ONLY radical Christians are even QUALIFIED to govern. So Jake Knotts had the brilliant idea of going on a show and saying that we have already one raghead in the White House and we don't need another raghead in the Governor's Mansion. Nice. Seriously...I really could add so much to this but hell...that is another blog.

2. Nikki Haley (and the Tea Party)

OK. I will start off saying that if I had to choose a Republican in SC, Nikki Haley would be that Republican. Thankfully I do not have to pick a Republican because even she nauseates me. She is pure Tea Party. And I don't even have to go there. The fact that Sarah Palin endorses her is enough to make me say no to the Crack Pots! Sad thing is...since a Democrat doesn't have a prayer she more than likely will be the next Governor...of course...from what I can tell she is the lesser of 3? 4? evils.

3. Arizona Wannabes.

Talk in South Carolina is all the rage about the illegal immigration and the need to duplicate Arizona's infamous Immigration Law. I have already dealt with this subject so I won't go into it again here. Suffice it to say that it just adds another facet to the madhouse that is South Carolina politics. And they don't really care about boycotts since technically they have been under a boycott for years for flying the confederate flag on government property.

4. Alvin Green

Have you seen this guy? For those that are not familiar with him, this is the completely unelectable Democrat candidate for senator that will be running against wildly popular tea party Senator DeMint. This guy is facing criminal charges for showing pornographic pictures to a college student who he then allegedly attempted to seduce. He did not spend enough on his campaign to even have to register as a candidate...yet somehow he won an astounding 58% of the democratic primary. How? Well to hear him tell about it he did it with good old fashion hard work...but oddly enough nobody knows him. The Democratic Party in South Carolina has begged him to step down rather than sully their name and drag them to further depths then they have already sunk in South Carolina politics, but as expected, he refuses. As high up as the Democratic establishment in DC is saying that this guy is plant by Republicans, which when you look at the facts...makes perfectly good sense. The question is...why? I mean let's face it, DeMint is so wildly popular in this nutbag state that he would have trounced anybody that had run against him...so why? In a state where people can cross party lines to vote in the primaries, it is pretty obvious that the cruel streak is not a "leadership" issue...but rather the rank and file Rethugs.

So...here I am...a Progressive, Puerto Rican, Democrat atheist...jumping out of the frying pan into the fire...if my vote meant nothing in Georgia...it will mean less than nothing in South Carolina...but knowing me I will still get a kick out of watching people's faces turn 20 different shades of purple as they sputter how un American I am. I have a feeling we have an interesting life ahead of us Mandy, my Love, in so many ways and I look forward to every minute of it...all I have to say is if we ever move...we move to some place more...Progressive...like California...just think..beaches, Hollywood...*echo echo echo*

Oh...one more thing...since this all about SC and GA and all...Let me just say...

GO DAWGS!!!
(heheheh...Love you Mandy!)

In Pictures...

2010-06-13T11:10:00.011-04:00

For those that have been through a divorce with children involved, you will understand what I am going to talk about today. Divorce is an ugly thing, not the unpardonable sin that I was raised to believe it is, but still not a pretty thing. The REAL victims of divorce are not the parents but rather the children. I mean...let's face it...you get to be rid of somebody that you hate getting up in the morning and seeing at the kitchen table drinking coffee! The kids though don't see it that way. The kids are going to miss somebody no matter who wins.

The situation is even worse when the parents live long distances from each other. My two older children have been raised in Michigan with their mom...while I live in Georgia. This situation has been hard on everybody involved, but particularly the children. I have struggled with the guilt of this for a long time and finally had to accept it for what it is. The hardest part of it, for me, is that I see them 2-3 months out of the year and you really don't realize how much a kid grows in a year till you only see them once a year. Every year it is like I am meeting completely new kids.

Rebekah Jewel is a little lady now. And little is just a manner of speaking! She has grown so much. Is a bookworm, just like I was when I was a kid. She is intelligent and witty. She is beautiful, going to be a real looker when she is all grown up. I am protective of my kids, and I hate I am not there to be the guy on the front porch cleaning out my shotgun scaring off the numb nuts that are wanting the only thing I wanted when I was their age! My little girl has gotten so big...My heart is too full of a myriad of emotions to really express what I feel. She will be thirteen this year. Another birthday I will miss...another Christmas I might miss unless I can find a way to make it happen. So many things. I haven't been there for homework, volleyball games, grades, report cards, detentions.....so many things that make up real life...make a parent a parent.

Benjamin Joel is also growing in leaps and bounds. This kid just amazes me. He is eleven. He is almost a tall as me and is already taller than Papaw (my dad) and Granny (by a long shot!) He has to be 5'9" which just blows my mind! He is a comedian. Everything is a joke, but under it all is a serious kid. While his sister is into reading books...he wants comic books...go figure. BJ used to have problems with wetting the bed....that problem seems to be gone. He had anger issues for a while, that also seems to have gotten better. He plays soccer...something I don't even have pictures of him doing. They are both taking taekwondo. He is big...but clumsy...but you can see he will be a good looking kid with a great personality.

Bethanie Rayne, of course, is not stranger on this blog. She suffers a lot as well through all this. For the last few years every time Becky and BJ leave she spends a week or so wandering around the house looking for them. It is sad really. Thankfully, this year is different. This year some big changes are coming down and she will not be alone.

For now we have the summer. And I have my kids...all of them. I am proud of them. I am afraid for them. I want the best for them and I want them happy. As they get bigger, I understand my own parents more. I understand that their disappointments were not with me, but with the fact that they wanted me happy, wanted to protect me and I was too stubborn and pig headed to make the right decisions to make my life successful and happy. They will always be proud of me as a person, if not my decisions and my actions. I understand now, a little late in the game, that they were right all along on so many things. And most of all, as I watch my kids grow up from a distance, I understand their helpless pain in watching things beyond their control affect the lives of those they love the most and would give their very lives for.

Our Gang

Personal Responsibility and Accountability in the Gulf

2010-06-06T16:44:00.005-04:00

Much ado is being made about the damage to wildlife in the Gulf due to the oil spill. The pictures of animals covered in oil, suffering and dying populate the web used by the liberals to attempt to defend their Muslim, America-hating President and use to their advantage in their constant battle to put us further under the thumb of Christian hating nations that want to destroy America. These crazy liberals communist, Nazi fascists that they are have jumped on the Deepwater Horizon bandwagon, a bandwagon they themselves constructed and orchestrated while attacking and condemning REAL Americans and REAL American heroes like Sarah Palin.

And the vehicle these traitors are using are the pelicans covered in oil, the dolphins dying of toxic waste and the turtles rotten in their shells. Even the plankton are so called victims of the industrial heroes that make our nation what it is and are trying to help free us from the tyranny of god hating, hate mongering, suicidal irrational theocrats in Muslim countries.

Let's face it. The Bush Administration's dogged defense of Big Oil, a business that both he and his VP were big shakers and movers in, had nothing to do with those pelicans being covered in oil. BP with its back room deals, corrupt dealings with politicians, money poured into lobbying against regulations instead of pouring it into better equipment and safer procedures is not to blame for the dolphins that are drowning in oil slicked waters. It is not rock star-style politicians and personalities like Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and Glen Beck that have deluded the American people into believing that BP, Exxon, Shell and the others all hold the answer to the energy problem and that the hippy tree hugging liberals are idiots for pushing for cleaner energy...it is not their fault that even the plankton that feeds the wildlife in the Gulf is being killed off while they line their pockets flush with cash. No...it is not these people's fault at all that these animals are dying off do to this unfortunate event since it probably would have happened anyway as an act of nature.

No. Let us consider for a moment personal responsibility and for once let us hold the ones accountable who are truly responsible for these animals dying in this horrible condition. The animals themselves. I mean seriously. Who told this pelican to land into the oil slicked waters of the gulf. The oil slick is, after all, visible for miles from air, the stupid bird can see for itself that it isn't safe to land there! It chose, of its own free will, to land there and it is suffering the consequences of that decision. The turtles and dolphins and even the plankton choose to remain in this area affected by progress and if they die, then it is their choice to deal with the consequences of that decision. It is a big ocean and they are welcome to relocate and if they decide not to then they must deal with the consequences.

The point is that, as the Grand Ol' Party has always upheld, the government cannot be expected to support dead beats that are unable to make right choices. The government cannot be responsible for handouts to those with the poor judgement to make bad choices. Simply put, you make your bed you sleep in it. These creatures must learn to stay out of the way of progress, and the sooner they learn this the better. The Gulf is just the start. The elks in Alaska better look closely at these pictures and learn a lesson...the government will not be held responsible any longer for the foolishness of those that refuse to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps and take responsibility for their own decision making and choices.

This is not communist Russia or Nazi Germany! We do not give handouts to idiots. We do not subsidize failure. We believe in progress...progress at any cost. We do not believe in stifling those that truly want to see America progress. Hold those accountable that should be held accountable! Drill, Baby Drill!

(Insert sarcasm here...for any idiot that missed it. If you truly believe this pile of crap...then vote for the Republican of your choice.)