dAdTHEIST

Social Networking, Goodbye (again)

2011-09-14T09:26:00.003-05:00

I am hanging up my social networking hat again.

1) Apparently all I do is post commentary regarding my reaction to the pervasiveness of Christianity into US life, politics, et al. Other, more interesting things like my laundry status, my homeschooling "lesson plans," the praising my alcoholic beverage(s), what videos I have been watching or what games I need help on, already have enough attention on Facebook--why detract from that with some critical thinking?
2) Is is a significant time suck for someone working on a degree, with four children and who likes to hang out with his wife.

Oh well, I gave it all a second try. It wasn't worth it.

Movies

2011-09-13T09:17:00.001-05:00

A Facebook "friend" didn't take kindly to my 9/11 Imagine No Religion profile pick.

Then a day later he commented that Real Steel looks like the worst movie every produced (I agree it looks pretty bad). I also commented that there are stinkers out there like Spy Kids movies and Kirk Cameron films.

He countered that Fireproof was "really good" and that I should watch it with my bride. We both have and thought it was about the same level or relationship advice as a Dr. Phil episode with lots of superstition, preaching and a plug to sell a special Fireproof marriage journal thrown in.

I suggested for a good film on good, evil and morality he watch The Ledge with his bride.

I wonder if he will be able to get past the description.

Where Was "He" That Day?

2011-09-11T11:00:00.001-05:00

There is lots of "God Bless America" being posted on Facebook today. The obvious question in my mind is where was this god on 9/11/01?

Critical Thinking

2011-09-03T19:43:00.000-05:00

XY #3 had an overnight campout with his 4th grade class this past week. He has been on the verge of losing a tooth. Additionally, he has been tossing around questions regarding the Tooth Fairy (as well as god(s) and Santa).

His tooth came out the night of the campout and an experiment developed in is head: "If I put this under my pillow out here in the woods and the Tooth Fairy doesn't come than my theory that the Tooth Fairy is in fact my parents will be correct."

The Tooth Fairy did not come.

He is just a few thoughts away from figuring all of this out; he has been the most clever and scientific about it so far. With XY #1 and #2 we had to break the news.

Awesome God

2011-07-27T17:54:00.001-05:00

Didn't stop whatever put you in that handicap spot.

Auto-correct

2011-07-07T12:46:00.001-05:00

Some absolutely funny web sites have started to collect the silly things that smart phones, primarily the iPhone, change your text messages into via their auto-correct features.

I found this one particular funny:

Where did you meet John?
Online dating site.
I know but which one?
Christian Mindfuck .com
Oh my gosh
Yikes I mean Christian Mingle .com
As an atheist I found that especially hilarious LOL

Where's the Change

2011-06-18T11:53:00.001-05:00

I have been seeing a lot of anti Obama stickers ad 2012 approaches. One in particular asks "Where's the Change?". I wonder, if nothing has changed then we are in the same state Bush left us in. This should make the Republicans happy! If they are unhappy that nothing has changed then does that mean they do not like what Bush did?

Confusing.

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Stalker for Christ

2011-06-14T20:05:00.001-05:00

This guy at the skate park with his "thrive" (the t is a cross) and his thick bible.

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Tshirt

2011-06-13T12:45:00.001-05:00

Lifeguard at the YMCA is wearing a Hooters T-Shirt.

Awesome.

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YMCA Wall

2011-06-08T13:33:00.001-05:00

All these heathens in need of JC.

Wait! Is the Wolverine on the right?

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Wait! That;s NOT in the Bible.

2011-06-08T11:01:00.000-05:00

Article about "Phantom Verses".

So many of these are spewed as biblical words of wisdom by the religiously ignorant, but are nowhere in their precious holy book.

The Pledge

2011-06-02T12:49:00.000-05:00

The Whitest Kids U Know point out that there is much more wrong with the Pledge of Allegiance than what a Red-Scared Congress did to it in 1954:

I pledge allegiance
To the flag
Of the United States of America
Thank you very, very much for letting us little kids live here.
It really, really was nice of you.
You didn’t have to do it.
And it’s really not freaky that us little, little kids
Mindlessly recite this anthem
Every day
And pledge their life to a government
Before they’re old enough to really think about what they’re saying.
This is not a form of brainwashing.
This is not a form of brainwashing.
This is not a form of brainwashing.
This is really the greatest country in the whole world.
All the other countries suck.
And if this country ever goes to war,
As it’s often wont to do,
I promise to help go and kill all the other countries’ kids.
God bless Johnson & Johnson.
God bless GE.
God bless Citigroup.
Amen.

God's WiFi

2011-05-15T21:20:00.001-05:00

Yet still need to password protect your Network.

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New Michael Bay/Nicholas Cage Film?

2011-04-06T08:53:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl7TBjRI9LE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

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Psalm 139

2011-03-28T20:10:00.001-05:00

Sweatshirt on a guy in front of me cites Psalm 139. Reading Psalm 139:22 contains instructions to "Hate your enemy" even though it conflicts with Mark 5:44 and Luke 6:35.

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Lunchroom Bigotry Part 2

2011-03-17T10:09:00.002-05:00

Back in September my third son faced some bullying from his classmates because he dared to think on his own and question belief in the Christian god(s). The school stepped in and it seemed to have been cleared up.

A few weeks ago I was at the local library working on a paper when my wife emailed me that the bigotry had flared up again. Son #3 had come home from school very upset. Seems a group of 4-5 kids decided to taunt him with the following song:

"God rules. Christians are cool. A____ is a weirdo!"

These are third graders, mind you.

My wife drafted and sent a well written letter to his teacher which resulted in individual conferences with the offending kids and their parents. For our son, it is troublesome enough that he has issues working in groups, let alone having to deal with intolerance at the same time.

Perhaps it is kids just being kids but as my brother pointed out, how is this any different than picking on gay kids at school? I later got another detail from my son that one of the offending kids wore a Christian T-Shirt specifically for the event.

Fine example of Christian Privilege and Ignorance

2010-12-11T13:17:00.002-06:00

The following Facebook posts came to me via my cousin. This was a "friend of a friend" posting. The Atheist blogosphere has been chirping about "Christian Privilege" recently and this is a wonderful demonstration of it. It screams of how ignorant US citizens can be of the principles our nation was founded on.

------

K____ L____ is angry. For years and years children have been performing in Christmas concerts at schools all over america. Now...because of retards like the ACLU and all this bullshit PC crap, my children can no longer have a CHRISTmas concert at school....WHEN WILL THIS BULLSHIT STOP!!!??? At my job...GOD forbid we put up a CHRISTmas tree...Oh HEll..but.....they allow HUGE Ramadan celebrations....WHAT THE FUCK ALREADY!

K____ L_____ And....our school has always kept it non denominational for the concerts...now tell me...what kind of asshole finds "Frosty the Snowman" offensive???? I HATE THIS SHIT ALREADY!! If you don't like it here...and don't like our traditions....FUCKING GO BACK TO YOUR SHIT COUNTRIES AND STAY THERE!! ASSHOLES!!!

K____ L____ Why is it ok to force OUR children to be "tolerant" of other religions and cultures...but it is NOT ok to subject others to OUR religions and cultures???? it is just friggin bullshit!!!

*facepalm*

"Hey, Christian!"

2010-11-23T20:06:00.003-06:00

My parents are visiting my brother and his family for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Today, at Home Depot while my sis-in-law was getting some paint mixed my mom took my two nieces (7 and 6) over to look at the Christmas section as they were jonesin' to see it.

They walked past a nativity scene and the 6 year old said, "Hey... I know this... hey, Christian, come here and look at this."

The Christian being my mother.

Too funny.

Family stickers w/ verse

2010-11-17T17:44:00.001-06:00

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Bumper sticker

2010-11-13T10:35:00.001-06:00

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Quotes from responses regarding recent "Atheist know more about your religion than you do" article

2010-09-30T00:00:00.001-05:00

Dave Silverman in the New York Times:

“Atheism is an effect of that knowledge, not a lack of knowledge. I gave a Bible to my daughter. That’s how you make atheists.”

...and on FoxNews.com:

"Many religious people do not read their holy books for fear of finding things they don’t like, which will force them to consider whether those easy answers are valid, and whether death is in fact permanent. In other words, religious people already have doubts, and avoid reading their Bibles to avoid addressing those doubts.

Preachers, on the other hand, know that knowledge of the Bible can often lead to atheism, so they prefer the flock listen to the preacher talk about the Bible (which the preacher can edit as he sees fit), rather than read it themselves. This is how they make a (tax free) living.

…

When a person begins to doubt the veracity of the religion into which they happen to have been born, they often read the holy books in the hope that they are wrong, that it will all make sense, and that the answers provided by those books will be logically valid. The problem is, they aren’t.

Further study will show that indeed, all religions are the same in that none of them provide anything but yesterday’s mythology."

Well put Sir, well put.

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Sorry Kids: Straight to Video

2010-09-22T12:18:00.000-05:00

No hope in taking the family to see this one in theaters, it went straight to video. And to think supernatural subject matter has been doing so well recently.

How is Kirk Cameron NOT in this film?

Conflict

2010-09-20T19:10:00.002-05:00

On the way to soccer practice, an unprompted conversation from my third son (a.k.a. the lunchroom skeptic) started:

SON: Dad?

ME: Yeah?

SON: I don't think God made the world.

ME: Why?

SON: Well, the Bible says it took a couple of days but the other story is the earth was a ball of fire, then it was hit by meteors. Then the dinosaurs were here, but another meteor killed all them and cave men were here. I think I believe the science creation cause scientists are the smartest people in the world.

ME: Lots of religions have stories about how the earth was created and lots of people believe in those different stories.

SON: I think the science one makes more sense.

ME: Me too.

Reality in the Lunchroom

2010-09-20T13:51:00.012-05:00

My eight-year-old has been fielding comments and questions about Santa for 1-2 years now and his doubts in superstition have recently branched into [the Christian] Gods Yahweh and Jesus.

Apparently the discussion of religion came up at the lunch table at his school a few weeks ago. Many Christian parents would be so proud of the bigotry their kids displayed so vehemently. My son stated during the conversation, "I don't know if I believe in God" and the kids pounced on him! They were angry and aggressive but he held his ground.

"We're going to tell Mrs. 'Teacher'," they finally intoned.

As my son recounted this part of the story he added the sarcastic commentary that, "It didn't work!" Which is good. I was glad to know his teacher understands separation of church and state, especially in the public school setting. Of course they didn't report his freethinking to the teacher correctly. They said, "Mrs. Teacher! Kid doesn't believe in God!" to which my son corrected, "No. I said I don't know if I believe in God." A big difference.

Last week my wife brought up our concerns about this bullying incident and some others (non-religious) that have occurred. Mrs. 'Teacher' was aware of it all, addressed them to our satisfaction, and then expounded on the lunchroom lynching situation. The district/regional counselor was brought in to explain to all the kids involved that no one is to be judged because I their appearance, background, ethnicity or beliefs.

A little dose of tolerance that will probably fail to touch many minds. Especially if the brain washing continues at home.

Fun with "Logic"

2010-09-20T09:40:00.000-05:00

Go ahead and try to work through this "logical" proof that god (I assume Yahweh) exists. When you don't pick the answer the intelligent web designer wants it uses logical fallacies to push you back in the desired direction. Example: "What? You don't think laws absolute morality exists? So you think in some cases rape and child molestation is okay?" You choose no and are left with no option but to agree with the designer.

In the end, even if you do accept the line of "reasoning", the "logic" could be applied to any imaginary god.

And on a fun note, the EXIT button takes you to the Disney GO homepage.

Bonus: For some really nauseating ID reading you can submerge yourself in this drivel.

Christickers

2010-09-15T16:39:00.001-05:00

"Don't Be A Dick" from TAM8 by Phil Plait

2010-08-19T10:48:00.000-05:00

Phil Plait - Don't Be A Dick from JREF on Vimeo.

Ted Haggard siting

2010-08-17T12:57:00.000-05:00

Figures I see someone "famous" and it is Ted Haggard. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Haggard

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SMBC: Prayer

2010-08-06T22:05:00.002-05:00

Ground Zero from Atheist Cartoons

2010-07-30T17:26:00.000-05:00

Geomythology

2010-07-24T23:55:00.001-05:00

I spent the last week learning about Geology.

At the end of the week the professor asked how we would integrate what we learned into teaching.

One student is a history and social studies teacher and mentioned the newer field of geomythology that looks at societal myths from history and around the world, then pairs them up with known geological events.

I was glad to hear her use "the Noah myth" in one of her examples in matching middle eastern myth with geological evidence of flooding in the region.

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Christian (bumper sticker) extremism

2010-07-24T20:32:00.001-05:00

Viewed today on the back of a pickup truck window:

"God bless our troops...
...especially the snipers."

You have to love those specific Christian values.

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The Principal's Office

2010-07-24T20:28:00.000-05:00

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More "Progressive" Catholocism

2010-07-21T20:19:00.001-05:00

The Catholic Church now likens the "criminality" of ordaining women as priests to the raping of children:

The Guardian

Open Letter To The Women Of The Catholic Church by Phil Ferguson

Garden of [the] God[s]

2010-07-21T12:46:00.001-05:00

I wonder if local evangelical groups have ever suggested renaming the "Garden of the Gods" as "The Garden of God".

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Jay 1:3

2010-07-20T19:10:00.001-05:00

This week I am learning about geology. The instructor (Jay) informed us of how he reconciles scientific fact that the planet is 4.6 billion years old with students who were raised by Young Earth Creationists (YEC).

He went into an apologetic justification that "God is timeless" and "a billion years could be like one day to God", etc.

Of course he was only justifying science conflicts with the Christian creation myth. No mind to the many other religions and subdivisions of those religions.

This kind of justification is absurd. If an omniscient deity wrote a book explaining how it created the planet, why not explain it in the exact time scale that it took? If your holy book states "everything took 6 days" then you are supposed to believe it took 6 days. If geologists have determined, from physical scientific evidence, that the Precambrian period was 4+ billion years (i.e. The time it took or planet to get to the period where life could evolve) then it took that long. Until new evidence proves otherwise.

There is no chapter or verse in the Bible that explains this difference. If you create a justification, then you are writing a new chapter/verse into the Bible. In this case, "Jay 1:3".

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Act of God Kills Touchdown Jesus

2010-06-15T22:00:00.000-05:00

Act of God Kills Touchdown Jesus: "

This is Touchdown Jesus, a.k.a. Drowning Jesus, a.k.a. Big Butter Jesus, a.k.a. Quicksand Jesus, a.k.a. King of Kings, in Monroe, Ohio:

He no longer exists, though. An “act of god” has done away with him.

The large Jesus statue iconic to Interstate 75 in Monroe is destroyed following an apparent lightning strike.

Motorists were stopped along the highway and around the Monroe area to watch the 62-foot “King of Kings” statue burn before officers dispersed traffic. The fire was reported just 11:15 p.m. Monday, June 15. Within minutes, all that was left was the steel frame of the statue at Solid Rock Church, 904 N. Union Road.

Of all the giant crosses and Jesus statues out there, this was one of my favorites.

At least an atheist wasn’t blamed for the damage…

***Update***: Pics of the burned Jesus are available at the Dayton Daily News:

(Thanks to Stephen for the link)

FSM-Google

2010-05-20T17:10:00.002-05:00

My brother enclosed this in an email to me today. I had not seen it before and it struck me as funny.

Everybody Draw Mohammad Day

2010-05-20T17:09:00.001-05:00

My below photoshopping work was featured on:

Friendly Atheist by Hemant Mehta

The Meming of Life by Dale McGowan

I feel famous for a day.

Old Book

2010-05-14T11:45:00.002-05:00

The worst person in Heaven

2010-05-14T11:45:00.000-05:00

Herb Silverman, the president of the Secular Coalition for America raises an interesting point in his writing:

If all it takes to get into heaven is faith (instead of behavior), then is the best person in hell better than the worst person in heaven?

Thanks to Friendly Atheist for posting the thought on his blog.

Thoughts and Comments on a confirmation

2010-05-13T09:33:00.003-05:00

I remember very little about my own Episcopal confirmation. This past week I attended my oldest son's Catholic confirmation.

It was over two hours long.

I usually can endure a social gathering that I'm not interested in by viewing it partially as an observational opportunity. Seating was a premium in the church and I ended up sitting in the back row of the balcony seating area and it provided a good view of the entire audience.

There was a lot of text messaging going on. Now I have no idea if those texting were Catholics or not. They could have been attendees like myself that had no idea what they were in for.

My mother lasted all of 30 minutes before she broke out her grandmother stash of games to play with XY#2 and #4. #3 was sitting on my left and was the left-flank of our contingent to the event. I was even more surprised that my mother, who has an attention span comparable to a four year old, made it until communion at which point she bailed, needing to go home and polish the front of her brand new stainless steel refrigerator. She took #4 with her (even though he was behaving quite well despite the length of the event).

There were only two (maybe three) kneeling events in the entire mass and at one point, XY#3 turned to my non-kneeling self and motioned to me that I should be kneeling. Then he noticed my father was not kneeling either (nor my mother). They are both some local denomination other-than the Episcopal I was raised in (because of the gays). #2 quickly corrected him with an under-his-breath, "They're not Catholic!" I just smiled and thought, "Damn straight."

In the end they had good snacks at the reception which negated the inevitable, "What can we have for snack/I'm hungry" pre-bed ritual back at home.

Respecting Religious Figures

2010-05-13T08:34:00.004-05:00

There has been a lot of blog chatter about a recent event where university students sidewalk-chalked smiling stick figures around campus and then labeled them "Muhammad."

Islam forbids the use of Muhammad's image for whatever fundamental or traditional religious-based reasons they give.

The "don't do it" side gives their reasons.

The "do it" side gives their own as well.

I would ask those in the "don't do it" court if they would rally behind Jews if they had the same convictions about Moses; or Christians if they had the same conviction about Jesus.

For example:

Christian: Hey! You cannot draw a picture of Jesus! It is disrespectful to my religion because anything less than the real Jesus is less than holy and blasphemous! Islam. Back me up here.

Muslim: Yes. Just like the most holy Muhammad, you cannot portray the image of Jesus. However, it is more blasphemous to portray Muhammad because Islam is the true religion. Christianity is based on a corrupted religious text.

Christian: Yeah! So don't draw Je...hey wait, what?

Muslim: Drawing Jesus is wrong, but Drawing Muhammad is sacrilegious and punishable by death.

Christian: Wait! Jesus is the son of God and is more holy than any mere prophet!

And so on…

----

My point: In a country where free speech is a basic right, we cannot stifle someone's freedom to expression based on a personal belief or faith.

It is just a picture. They are just words.

Megachurch: Coming Soon

2010-05-07T21:23:00.002-05:00

"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

The FSM is real!

2010-05-07T15:41:00.000-05:00

My friend recently gave me an FSM placard for my car. It is currently in my office waiting to replace the Darwin lungfish (which is damaged) on my bumper. I had it propped up against a wooden box my son made me (I call it Pandora's Box). I went to run an errand and when I returned, it had moved to rest on the doorjamb of my office.

Therefore, I start taking reservations for Pastafarians to make a holy journey to my office to view the miracle and to hope for a touch from his noodly appendage.

I will accept cash or Apple products as admission.

The National Day of Prayer

2010-05-06T10:00:00.002-05:00

On this years unconstitutional National Day of Prayer, remember the following (from the ffrf.org):

What is the most awesome thing about Stephen Baldwin?

2010-05-06T08:44:00.000-05:00

No, it is not this real website trying to restore him to fame and a larger base for his Christian ministry:

It is the parody "Restore Joss Whedon" here: RestoreJossWhedon...

Petition to End National Day of Prayer

2010-04-25T11:09:00.000-05:00

Petition to End National Day of Prayer: "The Freedom From Religion Foundation is hosting an online petition to ask President Obama and every state governor to end the unconstitutional National Day of Prayer. I suggest we all spread the word on this one and make this effort a success. Now that we have the momentum of a federal court ruling on our side, I think this is too important to ignore.

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The Tree and the Flood

2010-04-18T10:42:00.002-05:00

Following dinner at CiCi's Pizza on Friday night, XY #3 was getting into the minivan and asked his mother,

XY#3: What happened to the 'good tree' and the 'bad tree'?

She knew he was referring to the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden.

He then answered his own question with some logic:

XY#3: Oh, it was gone from the flood...

Then some more logic:

XY#3: Wait, where did all the water go?

Mom: It dissipated.

XY#3: I don't know about all this.

Physicists

2010-03-12T16:27:00.000-06:00

There is probably no ___________

2010-02-19T21:52:00.000-06:00

that was easy

2010-02-19T10:01:00.002-06:00

Atheism: Defined?

2010-02-18T11:30:00.002-06:00

A cubemate of a friend of mine put the following up on his cube wall last week in response to this Tim Minchin quote that my friend has up on his cube wall: "Science adjusts its beliefs based on what's observed. Faith is the denial of observation so that belief can be preserved."*

A day later the following addendum was affixed to the bottom of his "definition":

Isn't office banter grand?

*From Tim Minchin's beat poem "Storm" Go nab it on Amazon, it is really clever.

Stephen Fry on the Catholic Church

2010-02-17T18:00:00.002-06:00

The Intelligence² Debate - Stephen Fry (Unedited)
Uploaded by Xrunner17. - Full seasons and entire episodes online.

Pre-game Prayer

2010-02-08T15:17:00.001-06:00

A good friend of mine had some fun with an image of the Colts praying pre-game.

An honorable man gets his medal

2010-02-05T09:42:00.000-06:00

An honorable man gets his medal

By CAROL ROBIDOUX

Union Leader Correspondent

Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010

For most of his 84 years, Milton "Just call me Chris" Christian has avoided the limelight. Yesterday, all eyes were on him, as the World War II combat veteran finally received the Bronze Star that, for decades, had eluded him.

"I feel like a deer in the headlights," said Christian, somewhere between the fanfare and the flurry of photographs, snapped for posterity by his fleet of children and grandchildren, gathered together from near and far for the 20-minute ceremony held in the third-floor Town Council chambers.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen did the honors, working with Col. James Moody to pin the medal to the breast pocket of Christian's vintage Army field jacket, which he dusts off for special occasions. The senator said it was only her second opportunity to present a belated medal to a World War II veteran.

"Ouch," said Christian, after one of several failed attempts by the two to poke through the thick woolen pocket flap.

"It's like getting wounded in the service. You always hope the person working on you has experience," said Christian, in jest, allowing his trademark good humor to shine.

Like many of those who served in World War II, Christian had earned the medal for "heroic service" but never received it, explained Shaheen. Commanders did not always know the criteria for the award, which originated in 1944.

Christian had read about another veteran who received the medal and started asking around. Shaheen's office finally did the leg work required, which included verifying Christian's military service records after his own copies had been lost in a fire.

From 1943 to 1946 Christian served as a machine gunner with the 29th Infantry Division. He doesn't consider himself a hero, although his collection of medals tells another story -- Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, European-African Middle Eastern Campaign medal, Victory Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge 1st Award, Honorable Service Lapel Button, Marskman Badge -- ribbons he says he earned simply doing his job, protecting his fellow soldiers.

Christian returned from the war and resumed his education at UNH, setting the course of the rest of his fortunate life. He was a 25-year-old grad student when he met his match -- a 17-year-old first-year freshman named Charlotte.

They married before her junior year, and started a family almost immediately. In 1957 Christian and his bride settled in a stately home on East Broadway with their burgeoning family and went on to raise seven children -- Steve, Bill, Pat, Nancy, twins Alice and Amy, and Marge.

Yesterday's ceremony brought several of the kids to tears as their father soaked in the applause then made his way to the podium using a walker. He mentioned one of his war buddies, who is still living in Texas.

"He deserves this as much as I do. If it wasn't for the both of us, neither of us would be here -- and none of these kids would be here. It took the two of us to get things done," Christian said.

"War is not a nice thing. There's nothing honorable about it. The only nice thing about our war was that the people we were fighting wore uniforms, and there were rules. You didn't shoot prisoners and you took care of the wounded -- on both sides. I am glad I fought the war I did. It was a clean one," Christian said. "There's not much else to say. I'd better sit now before I fall over."

After the ceremony, the Christian clan descended on the Derry Pizza & Restaurant, for a family-style lunch -- and to raise a Styrofoam cup of champagne to their father, "Private First Class, totally First Class, all the way."

Christian downed the bubbly and savored his french fries and jumbo bacon burger. Between bites, he talked about how the war had changed him.

"Some things you forget; other things stay with you and you replay them over and over again in your mind, like it was yesterday," he said, closing his eyes.

"The very first time I heard artillery fire, I'll never forget the sound, the whistling that filled the air. You dive in a hole, smoke rising all around you. There were six or seven of us together that day, and as soon as it's over, you look around to make sure everyone is still alive. That time, we all made it," Christian said. "That is your baptism."

"They say there are no atheists in foxholes. But as we sat in those holes, praying that God would save us, I thought about the fact that the other side was doing the same thing. And then I wondered if God is just playing some kind of game with us. Pretty much I decided at that point there was no God," Christian said.

"For the rest of my life, I've tried to do the right thing. I raised a beautiful bunch of kids -- and they truly are my greatest accomplishment. So I'm not worried about what's next. If there is a God, I think he'll know that I just did the best I could. That's all a man can do."

God makes it snow so my brother can enjoy a long weekend!

2010-02-05T08:11:00.002-06:00

Transposed from an email chain which started between my brother and my mother:

Mom: Good grief! MORE snow?? [My brother lives in Northern Virginia where a big snow storm is coming today].

Bro: 18" - 24" more predicted.

Mom: It's nice of God to send it on or near week-ends every time.

Bro: God must not like Silpada parties [my sister-in-laws business], Russian weekend school, and ballet [activities my nieces enjoy]. [[I was CC'd at this point]]

Me: [Reply to all] But he does like crushing Haitians and drowning New Orleansians.

Celebrity Facebook!

2010-01-19T19:02:00.000-06:00

I have very few famous people friended on facebook as most are just accounts designed for fandom. One exception to this is Dale McGowan, author of Parenting Beyond Belief. His facebook account is his live facebooking. I made a facebook post about helping a co-worker purchase his first Apple Mac yesterday and Mr. McGowan posted a response about how much he too likes his new Mac Mini.

Praying and Practice

2010-01-09T10:34:00.002-06:00

Son #2 had his first basketball game today. While the opposing team
was practicing and warming up, our coach had a prayer with the parents.

Our coach is a minister, but he did say following the prayer, "Don't
worry, I won't be evangelizing your kids."

A mom on the team piped up quickly, "Don't worry, cause I will."

*sigh*

Can't the kids just play basketball?

Great advice from our countries best news media

2010-01-04T20:43:00.002-06:00

That's right, Brit Hume, from Fox News: If Tiger Woods would only become a Christian, all his problems would go away. We all know that Christians never have any problems or engage in extramarital affairs.

Why is one funny and the other is not?

2010-01-04T16:16:00.002-06:00

Just prior to the holidays, a co-worker sent out some of those humerous "Inspirational" posters via email. This is the one that bothered me:

I quickly jumped onto http://www.despair.com/ and used their nifty poster tool to create the following retort:

This is how the converstation went:

Me: Seriously, I don't understand why the .50 cal one is funny? Is it funny in this way? [AK-47 image above]

Her: Because it's a play on words: sheet not sh*t. No that's not funny; they should not have OUR weapons, they should have their own.

Me: 1) OK, I understood the play on words. I just don't understand why "sending someone to Allah" is funny. Killing someone is killing someone no matter what myths they believe to be true. 2) AK-47s are a Soviet made weapon.

Her: I agree with you on point 1. Point 2 - oh, it's war though, can't predict it or always explain it.

That is how the conversation ended. I am not sure she understood the weapons part of it.

8 states where iIt is "Illegal" to be in office as an Atheist

2009-12-15T08:03:00.000-06:00

Believe it or not, these eight states actually put (unconstitutional) laws on their books that try an prohibit rational people from being in office:

Arkansas, Article 19, Section 1:

Atheists disqualified from holding office or testifying as witness.

No person who denies the being of a God shall hold any office in the civil departments of this State, nor be competent to testify as a witness in any Court.

----

Maryland, Article 37:

That no religious test ought ever to be required as a qualification for any office of profit or trust in this State, other than a declaration of belief in the existence of God; nor shall the Legislature prescribe any other oath of office than the oath prescribed by this Constitution.

----

Mississippi, Article 14, Section 265:

No person who denies the existence of a Supreme Being shall hold any office in this state.

----

Pennsylvania, Article I, Section 4:

No person who acknowledges the being of a God and a future state of rewards and punishments shall, on account of his religious sentiments, be disqualified to hold any office or place of trust or profit under this Commonwealth.

----

South Carolina, Article 17, Section 4:

No person who denies the existence of a Supreme Being shall hold any office under this Constitution.

----

Tennessee, Article 9, Section 2 (PDF):

No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this state.

----

Texas, Article 1, Section 4:

No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, in this State; nor shall any one be excluded from holding office on account of his religious sentiments, provided he acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being.

Christian Side Hug

2009-12-09T19:09:00.001-06:00

Uh...yeah.

From the Onion Radio News

2009-12-04T12:33:00.001-06:00

Focus on the Reality

2009-12-03T11:57:00.002-06:00

In my pursuit of an advanced degree, things are beginning to settle on a Masters Degree in something space related. The thing that appeals to me the most is an M.Ed. with a space and science emphasis. Several programs are in Colorado and one in particular is in Colorado Springs.

Last night I was getting our Krismas decorations out of my parents' attic and talking about my school options.

"Colorado Springs," my mother exclaims, "that is where Focus on the Family is." [She has been a Dobson nut for as long as I can remember.]

I was half-way up the attic ladder and I stopped, gave a slow head turn in her direction and said, "That is NOT a selling point for me."

"Well, I would visit if I was there," she retorted.

"I would not," I replied. ["Except to perhaps protest something," my internal commentary continued].

I am not fond of Focus on the Family's anti-humanistic and human rights policies nor am I a fan of James Dobson's particular style of ignorance and intollerance.

It was probably auditory pareidolia, but I am pretty sure I heard my father give a humorous *snort* at my "selling point" comment.

God's Candy: In the checkout at Hobby Lobby

2009-11-21T21:32:00.000-06:00

Testamints: Chewing yourself one piece closer to Yahweh with every piece.

Blast from the Past--Aghast! Follow-up

2009-11-21T21:30:00.001-06:00

Looks like the Corporal/Captain/Chaplain has removed the Psalm 109 posting from his facebook.

Blast from the Past--Aghast!

2009-11-20T10:34:00.001-06:00

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

2009-11-10T16:17:00.002-06:00

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

2009-11-08T12:17:00.002-06:00

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

2009-11-08T11:10:00.012-06:00

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

2009-11-02T15:28:00.003-06:00

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

2009-10-29T08:25:00.004-05:00

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

2009-10-25T11:21:00.007-05:00

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.]

Jesus is Your New Health Care

2009-10-11T11:47:00.002-05:00

http://jesusisyournewhealthcare.com/

Propagating the Right Message

2009-10-08T09:56:00.005-05:00

The below article outlines some distress that the [American] Catholic Church is having with teen atheists. Comments are inline:

Atheist clubs are springing up in American high schools, warns head of US Catholic bishops

By Damian Thompson
October 7th, 2009

A “triumphalistic, self-righteous atheism” inspired by the works of Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris is winning a following among American young people, leading to “atheist clubs” in high schools, according to Cardinal Francis George of Chicago.

Sometimes the "passion" of an author on their beloved subject can be misinterpreted as "self-righteous".

The cardinal, who is President of the US Catholic Bishops’ Conference, says that unbelief among young people is more than a question of stopping going to church: it is part of a fashionable “new atheism” which is every bit as intolerant as Christian fundamentalism. He told John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter:

Probably true, but these are teenagers--there are hormones and undeveloped and conflicting world-views that they must contend with. With time, wisdom, social pressure, etc., they will all fall out into their own niches. Many will probably regress back into the religions of their family as a social norm. Adult Atheists can help out by mentoring and setting a good example as moral citizens, not by trying to cram our worldview down their throats.

“In Chicago, we now have atheist clubs in high schools. We didn’t have those five years ago. Kids I would have confirmed in the eighth grade, by the time they’re sophomores in high school say they’re atheists. They don’t just stop going to church, they make a statement. I think that’s new. That’s perhaps a bit more like Europe.”

Is being a bit more like Europe a bad thing? Is Atheism and Fundamentalism as big an issue there as it is here?

The Cardinal agreed with Allen’s suggestion that that the atheism of Dawkins and Harris was “highly evangelical”:

“Yes it is, sure. Everybody has said that, and it’s true. It’s the mirror image of a kind of fundamentalism, because it’s very restrictive in its use of reason. It’s also very triumphalistic and self-righteous.”

I would argue that you still have to seek information on atheism (or rather, actively try and avoid the heavy level of religious advertising and influence in the U.S.). Atheism is far from matching the proactive nature of evangelical fundamentalism.

The Cardinal’s comments will be hard to dismiss as scaremongering. YouTube is crawling with videos by articulate, friendly American teenagers and university students proclaiming their uncompromising atheism; indeed, atheism is one of the fastest-growing movements in the 18-25 age group, casting doubt on old assumptions that the religious impulse is somehow hard-wired into the American psyche.

Besides, if religion is true, then people will return to the truth. Whichever "truth" (take your pick) that turns out to be.

Yet, as Cardinal George says, there is something strongly akin to religious fundamentalism in the evangelical commitment it arouses in its adherents. He, and the whole of the American Church, must be praying that the certainty of unbelief wears off as the “new atheists” have children and face the prospect of mortality. But, as statistics from Europe indicate, this is not a foregone conclusion: atheism, like any other belief system, can be passed from one generation to the next.

Keep praying...we'll keep trying to get young America thinking so they can make their own minds up about mysticism, fantasy, fiction, the supernatural, reason, skepticism and reality. Religion, especially the clergy of the Catholic Church, does not by any means have a monopoly on morality.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100012851/atheist-clubs-are-springing-up-in-american-high-schools-warns-head-of-us-catholic-bishops/

LOL cAtHEIST

2009-09-30T16:02:00.002-05:00

Confirmatory Dilema

2009-09-30T10:08:00.004-05:00

My oldest son is currently in his year where confirmation in the Catholic church is traditionally supposed to happen. He is 13 and skeptical about pretty much everything except Cartoon Network and RTS games. While my wife would like our children to receive the Catholic sacraments that they can to this point (baptism, first communion, and confirmation among the seven) our oldest is not entirely certain he agrees with accepting the catholic faith at this point.

Neither my wife nor I want to force him to make a confirmation that he does not believe in, but she also does not want him hindered should he decide to follow the catholic faith later in life.

While it is something to consider, if he should chose to follow Judaism, Islam, Buhdism or Hinduism later in life, he will already be set-back in learning those faiths from an early age.

Overall, learning about religion is a good thing. He hates it...but he pretty much hates everything that feels like one-way direct teacher to student learning. I think kids should have to learn about all the major world religions to help them make better educated choices as adults, just like they do about economics, politics, job choices, social interactions, etc.

Spread of the 5 Major Religions

2009-09-28T09:16:00.000-05:00

Very cool map.

Messed-Up Bible Stories 1: In the Beginning

2009-09-22T22:03:00.001-05:00

Good Youtube find.

"Thank God" via facebook

2009-08-30T12:35:00.003-05:00

A facebook friend of mine lost her wedding band a few weeks ago. The initial facebook posting received a few "praying for you" replies. It was finally found (yea) and here is the posting and comments the followed:

Political Cartoons: Religion, Science and Politics

2009-08-19T21:09:00.001-05:00

More on the Chaplain's Office Call

2009-08-19T10:47:00.005-05:00

Also, while I was having a nice chat with the Chaplain yesterday, my boss came in and said, "Take all the time with [him] that you need Chaplain. He needs it. I will even extend your temporary duty orders indefinately if you need me to."

Uncomfortable non-commital chuckles from the Chaplain and myself. I have no idea if my boss has made the connection that I am an Atheist so he may have been just joking around. I don't think the Chaplain knows if my boss knows either, so he was probably wondering where my boss was coming from as well (e.g. is he telling me to try and save his soul, or does he have no idea)?

I think I will send the chaplain a note asking what he was thinking when that went down.

Prayer at Government Events

2009-08-18T13:43:00.006-05:00

I had a face-to-face chat with the unit Chaplain today.

I previously emailed him asking about recent events involving prosthelytizing in the military by the military. I was wondering if anything had come down through the chaplain channels redressing this issue and the gray area that chaplains inhabit regarding the separation of church and state.

My biggest concern was specific prayers at events, like promotions and retirements, where an invocation is given and the prayer-giver invokes the "J-Word" or is otherwise overtly "Christian" in the flavor of their prayer.

He said that he has definitely noticed this more in the Bible belt then back in Colorado where he is stationed.

He explained that the prayers must be voluntary of the audience, the event must not be mandatory and the prayer must be specific-religion neutral [though this is still superstition biased].

Since I would bet 85%+ of the folks here I work with consider themselves to be Christian, I commented that I doubt anyone even gives this much of a thought (except the 15% who are not Christian in some mind-set or another). But on the flip side, how offended or uncomfortable would those same 85%+ be if a cleric got up and prayed about Allah and Muhammad...or if I got up there and said something about logic, reason, nature and reality vs superstition and faith?

He agreed.

We both didn't think it needed some kind of policy to address it as it is most likely out of comfortable majority ignorance on the subject. He is going to consider sending out a command-wide email addressing what is and is not acceptable within a government forum.

It think this will be good as a few weeks ago our lawyer team taught our annual ethics training and the subject moved towards politics and religion and what can and can't be expressed at work.

The Spin Doctor

2009-08-16T12:01:00.002-05:00

Acceptance

2009-08-16T10:16:00.001-05:00

Watch Your Back

2009-08-04T09:31:00.000-05:00

Deuteronomy 17

If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant; 17:3 And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; 17:4 And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel; 17:5 Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.

Chaplains and Opinions

2009-08-03T15:37:00.003-05:00

Part of a discussion about military chaplains in my office today:

"I mean, I go to church and believe in God and all, but what the heck is the purpose of the Chaplain in the military? I never get any special feeling or enlightenment after speaking with one. They just always seem so reserved."

Out

2009-07-31T14:20:00.001-05:00

"Not saying you [are] an atheist hurts the cause of reality." -Attributed to the late Gerald Gardner by his wife in his obituary

NYT

Literal Interpretation of the Bible

2009-07-30T20:53:00.000-05:00

Supernatural vs Science: H1N1 and World Religion

2009-07-29T16:21:00.011-05:00

At work today, while walking past one of the TV monitors in a lobby I noticed the word-blurb at the bottom of FOX NEWS. It read, "How H1N1 effects the way we worship". I have had no luck finding the piece on their web site yet.

It wasn't so much the H1N1 that caught my attention but "the way WE worship" assumption that everyone worships.

The piece went on to say how religionists around the world are concerned about their particular superstitions are good opportunities to pass these communicable illnesses. Why? Because most of these superstitious traditions involve sharing items or close contact that is ideal for the spreading of illness. Who is worried?

CHRISTIANS: Catholics in the UK are concerned about spreading H1N1 through communion wine and the placing of the communion wafer directly on the tongue.

PROBLEM: H1N1 likes to pass through human-to-human bodily fluid contact. Communion recipient A has H1N1, the priest touches mouth A when he places the communion on the tongue. The priest then passes the infected saliva to communion recipient B and on down the line through C, D, E...

THE WINNER: Science. Here, the superstition is that when the priest blesses the communion waifer, it becomes that actual body of Jesus and the canabalistic ritual begins. If a Catholic can believe that magic turns bread into the flesh of a dead god, then why can't that same magic kill H1N1?

--------------

JEWS: In Israel, Jews are considering ceasing the use of communal wine cups.

PROBLEM: Same as for Catholics above.

THE WINNER: Science. According to their mythology, when Moses was leading the Isrealites to the promised land, their war god assisted in the genocide of thousands of people in ancient civilizations to facilitate their passage. Many times their God commanded plagues upon their enemies to aid in their conquest. On occasion, he even threw down some dissease on the Isrealites when they pissed him off. It now seems odd that H1N1 is beyond their god to protect them when sharing a cup of wine.

-----------

MUSLIMS: It is being recommended that the elderly and the sick do not attempt to make this years Hajj. Why? Cause well, the elderly are more susceptible to illness and the sick?! They shouldn't make the Hajj anyway, they are...sick.

PROBLEM: H1N1 could easily spread amongst the hoards of people travelling to and milling around in Mecca. What a great breeding ground for H1N1 followed by easy worldwide distribution back to individual homelands when the Haaj is completed.

THE WINNER: Science. Communicable diseases need hosts! Many hot, elderly and or sick bodies all huddled, getting no sleep, fasting and in unsanitary conditions is a surefire way to help spread H1N1.
-------------------------

Here's to those in these religions that are leaning to the side of science to help curb the spread of this illness any further than it has already progressed.

God Favors Your Sweet-tooth, but will ignore your prayers for survival

2009-07-23T11:52:00.005-05:00

I read this on a facebook friend's status update today:

"...and there I was, buying my coffee like every morning when the man behind the counter comes from the back with warm, fresh from the oven, crusty croissants... it was like God reached his hand down and said "[Facebooker], you've been good all week, here, treat yourself..." mmmmmmm....."

This is a classic example of a god getting credit for the mundane and positive. I just wonder where this same god is when thousands pray to be saved from Tsunami's, Hurricanes, Tornadoes, flooding in Louisiana, etc., and aren't.

Prayer Cloth?

2009-07-05T22:39:00.008-05:00

A friend from work went to a wedding in VA on Father's Day weekend and ended up sitting with two elderly, religious ladies. They spent the reception telling him about the importance of faith. He thinks they noticed his lack of participation during the supper prayer.

In the end they gave him a prayer cloth that was "prayed over by the whole church congregation".

My friend gave me one and I started thinking about how the "magic" in a prayer cloth is supposed to work and be stored.

Function:

Should I wipe my glasses clean with it? Would my glasses then never get smudged again?
Should I wipe my iPhone with it and never worry about a cracked screen?
Perhaps I could wipe myself with it and not worry about having stinky public gas!

Power storage:

If 150 people prayed over it would this mean it has the power of 150 prayers (P=150)?
Was the original praying over a bigger rag, I mean cloth, and then cut into many tiny pieces? If so would this reduce the power of the smaller cloths? Big cloth: P=150 then cut into 1,000 pieces; P=0.15. Not too impressive.
If the "magicians" who originally put the spell on the cloth believe that evey tiny cloth contains the same P as the original cloth then I would reason that the P exists at the atomic level. Would this power increase with each atom in the cloth, or would it all just remain at P=150?

In the meantime, it will remain a bookmark where it is known to have the power of helping remember where I left off last reading the "Good Book".

Anything is possible...

2009-07-05T22:07:00.005-05:00

...but can be so improbable it will never happen.

That is where a conversation with my second son was headed as we walked from the car into Hollywood Video. However another customer hijacked the conversation with:

...with the Lord! Anything is possible with the Lord!

I just stared at her blankly and opened the store door for her.

In reflection, I should have told her we were actually talking about science and probability. We save the superstition and fantasy for the movies we rent.

Damn my slow wit when confronted without warning.

He works in mysterious ways

2009-06-26T12:12:00.003-05:00

Blog site "Atheist Revolution" puts it well in regards to the Religionist claim that "[my particular deity] works in mysterious ways that we can not understand."

But My Particular God Works in Mysterious Ways!

That is a cop-out, and I believe you know it. If you want to respond with any sort of "but that isn't how my god works" claim, the question you still must answer is why. That is, why does your god, a god which you insist loves you, turn a blind eye to your health problems?

The "mysterious ways" thing is little more than a smoke screen. It does nothing to answer the underlying question. If you believe in the sort of god in which you claim to believe, why isn't prayer sufficient for you?

Too true.

2009-06-23T22:26:00.001-05:00

Prayers in the work place

2009-06-18T16:31:00.004-05:00

I got to meet, in person, our current chaplain this week. He is a nice guy and even though he never really answers my debates to any degree of completion, he is fun to chat with.

He sat in on our staff call and when the progression of the briefing came to him, he mentioned that the colonel-level chaplain we were supposed to get got re-assigned to a unit deploying to Baghdad. The comment was "[We are] still praying for a chaplain."

Our chief of staff then replied "God knows we need one".

Sigh.

I wonder what the Chief's comment implies, if he even meant to imply anything or was just using a sad figure of speech. If there were implications they could be:

That our unit is immoral and needs some guidance from a chaplain?

That our unit has problems beyond the ability of ourselves to fix and therefore a supernatural interference is needed?

And my final thought, if "God knows we need one" then why would the one we were supposed to get go somewhere else? God must know someone needs one more than us in which case "God knows we need one" is assuming we know the mind of this god and he should have known better!

Ignorance and Stereotypes

2009-06-18T10:11:00.005-05:00

I went to the 2009 Army Soldier Show yesterday with my family. The show is all song and dance by some very talented Soldiers. The show stuck to pop music primarily and didn't hold the attention of my kids for too long.

A co-worker asked me today what I thought and after my review, his follow on comment was, "We know where they send all teh 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Soldiers now don't we?"

A few minutes later (of course) I thought of a few good counter comments and or questions:

"Are you connecting high males voices to homosexuality?"

"Are you implying that, because of theses male soldiers ability to sing in a high range that they are in fact "telling," and to pigeonhole them away they go sing at the Army Soldier Show?"

"How many homosexual men do you know? Out of them, how many can sing in a high range."

"If I can sing in a high range, does that make me a homosexual?"

Also, there is the matter of not being face-to-face confrontational just for the sake of being confrontational. If I had an audience or a fellow freethinker nearby however...

Good Quote from Friendly Atheist

2009-06-18T07:56:00.001-05:00

I thought this was a good quote from Hemant Mehta from Friendly Atheist:

"I'm not saying all born-again Christians are bad. That's not true. I'm saying that a religious label doesn't tell us very much at all about a person's true character." -Hemant Mehta, 18 June 2008

More Jehovah's Witnessing

2009-06-11T11:56:00.007-05:00

A batch of witnesses showed up at the house yesterday when I was at work. The kids made enough of a ruckus that they knew people were in the house (standard reaction to a doorbell ringing at our house). #2 kid even told them, through the door, "Wait a minute." They waited a while, but eventually left as my wife didn't answer the door.

They did leave a tract for us. Apparently the world has been suffering for thousands (is that 6,000 or 65,000?) of years because Adam and Eve used the gift of free will for other than 100% worship of Yahweh! Can you believe that! This explains suffering, disease, war...pretty much anything bad. However, the end is coming soon where we will be judged and those worthy (obviously the Jehovah's Witnesses) will spend a blissful eternity with Jehovah.

My wife wants to put some kind of marker or sign on the door that would inform prosthelytizers that we don’t need their religion. I voted for a Virgin Mary sticker and an Out-Campaign Scarlet "A". The voting is not unanimous yet.