As I was leaving work today, I noticed an older woman sitting alone. She sat on one of those walker/stools which have become quite popular. I thought it odd as the park was closed. So I stopped to ask, “Are you waiting for a ride?”
She smiled at me and, in a beautiful North Carolina Piedmont accent, replied. “Oh, yes. My husband and I parked at the mall and he just walked over to get the car. So I hope he’s picking me up.”
I thought for a moment and realized that there may be a problem. The walkway to the mall is usually locked right at 5:00pm. So it may already be locked, in which case this could get difficult. I explained the situation and told her that I would check an make sure he made it all the way up the ramp, and would also make sure that the main gate was still open so he could get back in.
She beamed at me and said, “Oh, you are so wonderful. You are a good Christian and one of God’s people.” Read the rest of this entry ?
By this time, most of you (at the very least, the six regular readers I have) should know that I am a naturalist. Which means, of course, that I do not by into the Genesis version of the creation of the world, the universe, life, or the myriad species inhabiting our earth. And I view evolution as an established fact (it is only called a theory because we do not yet (and probably will never) know all of the exact details regarding every event).
One of the reasons that I found evolution rather boring in the science classes I took was a neglect of sex. Read the rest of this entry ?
The Republican Party, in a rather successful attempt to convince poor and middle class Americans to vote against their self-interest, have embrace the idea of family values. They are anti-choice (because women are made to have babies), anti-birth-control (because if the sluts want to have sex, they damn well better get pregnant (otherwise, they might do it for pleasure)), anti-sex-education (because if you teach kids the facts about how their bodies work, they might get the wild idea that they can control their own fertility), anti-pornography (because we certainly don’t want humans to think that sex might be enjoyable), anti-GLBT (because we should ignore the Levitican proscriptions about shellfish and mixed fabrics and embrace the anti-homosexual message (without, of course, cherry-picking the Bible) and anti-freedom-of-though (because rational thought is the enemy of faith). Read the rest of this entry ?
The radical right likes torture. They have a great deal of faith that, despite clear illegality and ineffectiveness, torture works. I find it very difficult to stomach the idea that we, as a nation, are actually debating what torture is and whether it works. I really cannot add a whole lot to the various discussions going on all around the blogosphere, but I can point out a couple of things. Read the rest of this entry ?
Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is impossible to create a parody of Fundamentalism that SOMEONE won’t mistake for the real thing.
Which makes it rather difficult for me, as an atheist blogger, to deal with some of the sites which I find as I have been that someone. Some turned out to be true Poe sites. Others, maybe. My problem is that I am not only an atheist, not only a blogger, but am also quite gullible. So, I have tried to be much more careful when writing about a possible religious web site. Read the rest of this entry ?
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy 120 proof Spirit . . . .
It must be really hard to start a new church. There are a good number of goats out there (and goats are impossible to lead (kind of like cats)). A new church needs sheep. And let’s face it: in any community, the number of sheep stays pretty steady. In many, it is dropping. Few, if any, non-believers (goats) are going to join the fold. You might get some interdenominational transfers or converts from other religions, but your pool of sheep is limited. Read the rest of this entry ?
How can atheists be moral without the word of god(s) telling them what to do? In 1724, Christian theologian Richard Bentley, wrote: “no atheists as such can be a true friend, an affectionate relation, or a loyal subject”. Or, as a chap pseudonymously named Gideon recently commented over at You Made Me Say It: “After all, in your Godless universe, anything goes, right?” Read the rest of this entry ?
I have got to be more careful when typing in search terms. I recently bought a Tamiya Infantry Tank Mark II, Matilda (it’s an old kit (actually, the first tank model I ever built was this one (long ago)) and discovered a molding error in the turret. I really don’t want to order a new turret, so I decided to check on-line for a way to fill a void in the styrene plastic. I typed in “fill a void” and hit enter (I should have included the word ‘styrene’). This is what came up.
Is Your Life Empty? Let the Lord Jesus Christ fill the void!! Informative articles that will help you find meaning and purpose in your life. www.fillthevoid.org/ – 18k – Cached – Similar pages – Read the rest of this entry ?
(((Billy))) The Atheist 