Blast from the Past--Aghast!

When I was a Platoon Leader, I had a great platoon that did some amazing things when we were training in the Yakima and Mojave Deserts. One of my team leaders was a skilled and ambitious Corporal. He had some interesting life stories and could always keep a group of any size entertained with his past.

He is not someone I would have ever guessed to become a Chaplain.

Through another old Army buddy I reconnected, in Facebook of course, with this Corporal/Captain from my past. True qualities are showing in on his facebook post in the following excerpt:

Isaiah 45:7 can be read here.

Psalms 109 here.

You can get your own "Pray for Obama" bumper sticker here if you would like to petition your deity to kill the president.

Popular sticker and printed paraphernalia site http://www.zazzle.com/ has removed all "109" items from their store and posted this sound reasoning on their blog.

USA Today discusses this issue in further detail here.

Chat with the Chaplain: National Day of Prayer

I was chatting with out command chaplain today (we speak at least every two weeks) and he asked if I was familiar with the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

"Yes," I answered, "In fact I am a member."

Turns out his late wife was involved with the National Day of Prayer at the national level (during the Bush administration).

I explained to him that the FFRF is not out to abolish religion but instead strives to make sure the consitutional (first amendment) "separation of church and state" remains intact so that government doesn't try and impose one specific relgion (or any religion) on the populace.

He seemed to understand the mission of the FFRF at that point but the conversation changed direction and we didn't discuss it any further.

The Atheist Blogroll

dAdTHEIST has been added to The Atheist Blogroll. You can see the blogroll in my sidebar. The Atheist blogroll is a community building service provided free of charge to Atheist bloggers from around the world. If you would like to join, visit Mojoey at Deep Thoughts for more information.

Santa's Latest Doubter

It seems as if the reason fairy has skipped a boy in our house and moved onto XY#3. [Actually we think XY#2 knows that there is no Santa, he just has not taken the time to voice his concerns, opinions or questions].

The following took place while the Bride and I were eating breakfast this morning, XY#3 was putting away dishes from the dishwasher [one of his chores].

• #3: "I think Moms and Dads do all the presents for Christmas"
• Mom: "Why is that?"
• #3: "Well, it's the reindeers. They can't fly."
• Mom: "Why not?"
• #3: "Cause that is magic and there is no such thing as magic. There are magic tricks, but they just trick your eyes, they are not really magic. Besides, [#2's] friend said that he saw his mom and dad writing 'From Santa' on a bunch of presents."
• Dad: "What did [#2] say?"
• #3: (screaming into the next room over where #2 and #4 are playing Wii): "[#2]! What did you say?"
• Mom: (kicks Dad's leg under the table)
• #2: "I said that there are no bombs...[something about the Wii game]..."
• Mom: "Never mind [#2], he didn't hear your question anyway."

At this point the subject changed or there was a distraction.

It appears that we might have to have a private discussion with him and also figure out what #2 still thinks is going on. Looks like the only "believer" in the house might be a 5-year old (#4) this year.

I must say my mind was swollen with pride at #3's display of reasoning. On the other hand, he is still the only one in the house that makes a show of openly praying from time-to-time.

Dale McGowan's Path to Atheism

The below link is from the book 50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists edited by Russell Blackford & Udo Schuklenk

The Unconditional Love of Reality by Dale McGowan

Building Churches

A conversation outside my office door:

"...so a group from our church was in [South America] with a missionary group that was going to help build a church. Well they got stopped in their bus on a back road by a group of bandits, banditos, whatever, and had all their jewelry and valuables taken."

At this point I interject, "Maybe they should have been down there building a police station."

Laughter.

Response: "Yeah, maybe they should have."

The Weekly Battle

13 year old (13yo): "I don't want to go to CCD!"

Parent: "We want you to learn about religion. More than just Christianity would be good, but this is what you are getting for now and it will help you make a more informed decision when you are older and throughout your life."

13yo: "The Constitution gives me freedoms to do what I want to do."

Parent: "Yes it does, to varying degrees until you are 18 years old and voting and can be held fully accountable under the law as a legal adult. Until then you are under the modified constitution of our house."

13yo: "And how is that fair?"

Parent: "Because right now you get virtually free utilities, food, shelter, etc. Provide those for yourself and you will get more of a vote here in the family."

[Argument goes into a circular pattern at this point.]