The Seat of Power

by Jack Ohman, The Oregonian
Thursday November 06, 2008, 5:00 AM

Bad blogger

I just can't blog any more. Maybe it's burnout or bad time management or lack of ideas or just plain laziness. I dunno. When I started this new blog I was energized, but lately I haven't had much to say. I'm sorry, especially this is the second time I've quit blogging.

This pic will stay up until at least election day. Then we can start in on Pelosi...

I love you guys.

McZilla!

The fate of a nation on his shoulders

This is from an Obama meetup post, and the caption is, What must it feel like to carry the hopes and dreams of an entire race of people on your shoulders? I think the more relevant question is, What must it feel like to carry the fate of an entire nation, one that's been run into the ground by the reckless and irresponsible decisions of the past eight years? Go here for the story.

Sometimes you just have to tag yourself

I've seen this meme going around the tubes and decided to tag myself.

Can You Remember The Day That You Officially Became An Atheist?

No. It was around the time I read Dawkins' The God Delusion a few years ago. Prior to that, I was on the fence. Just reading and sitting down to actually think it through, how religion is only man-made, helped me to finally let go of the delusion.

Do you remember the day you officially became an agnostic?

No. I had agnostic leanings - off and on - prior to becoming atheist.

How about the last time you spoke or prayed to God with actual thought that someone was listening?

Let's see, I'm not sure when that would have been because for along time my prayers were more of the "If anybody's listening" kind.

Did anger towards God or religion help cause you to be an atheist or agnostic?

I think it helped me to question more in the beginning. Now, I realize that was just one stage of grief over losing a much-loved imaginary friend.

Were you agnostic towards ghosts, even after you became an atheist?

I was agnostic about ghosts before becoming atheist. Now, I'm open to any demonstrable evidence of such things, just as I am to, say, Santa Claus. :)

Do you want to be wrong?

No! I mean, can you imagine what it would be like if the gods and goddesses of ANY religion actually existed? Scary!

If anyone wants to answer this, feel free to rip it off and tag yourself. That's what I did. :)

New! Atheist Blogroll

Forte Étude has been added to The Atheist Blogroll. You can see the blogroll in my sidebar. As of today, it contains nearly 800 blogs. Check out a few (or all of them, if you don't have a life.)

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.

Put a Republican label on it to get elected

Why isn't this out there, right now, front and center, in the MSM? (Rhetorical...)



Of particular interest:

Our current governor, who I mentioned [in] the last conference, the one we were hoping to get elected, did get elected, Sarah Palin. You should infiltrate - I know that the Christian Exodus is in favor of it [seceding from the United States]. The free state movement is in favor of it. Put the Republican label on it to get elected. That's all there is to it. -Dexter Clark, Vice Chairman, Alaskan Independence Party

And:

The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred of the American government, and I won't be buried under their damn flag. -Joe Vogler, founder, Alaskan Independence Party

Sarah Palin attended several of the AIP's conventions, and spoke at one of them. Her husband became a member in 1995, but resigned the year she ran for governor.

By the way, she was "palling around" with these people as an adult, not when she was eight years old.

The religion of one age is the mythology of the next.

The religion of one age is the mythology of the next. -Ralph Waldo  Emerson

You've probably heard the following statement before and you may have wondered exactly what it meant:

I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours. -Stephen Roberts

Here is a list of gods (and goddesses) which illustrates its meaning. You'll see a long list of gods and goddesses, the divinity of which both you and I dismiss. 

It is important to ask yourself, why do you dismiss all of these purported divine beings?

I don't know why you do, but I can tell you the main reason I reject them is because there is no rational basis to believe in magical fairy tales, such as ... 

The second being of a divine trinity decides to save the world by being born human, after which an angelic being warns that an evil king wants to find and kill him after hearing a prophecy that the child will overtake his kingdom, all while the prison cavern is filled with a bright, divine light, then the prison gates magically open and the holy family is instructed, in some versions by the angelic being, and others by the newborn babe itself, to make haste to another part of the country before the evil king can find them (Krishna);

or

The only begotten son of god is born in a cave, his conception having been announced to his mother and foster-father by angelic beings, his birth is witnessed by shepherds and heralded by a star in the east, he later performs miracles such as stilling the seas and raising the dead, and his birth is celebrated annually at the winter solstice by parading a child in a manger through the streets (Horus).

But, on the atheist's column there is one additional god, Yahweh, that is dismissed by atheists but not by most people in Western culture. Why do you suppose atheists dismiss this one? 

Take Heart

Obama will be one of the greatest (and most loved) American Presidents

-Frank Schaeffer, Huffington Post

Religious Child Abuse

Another case of religious child abuse.

This three-year-old girl was recently appointed a "living goddess" by Hindu and Buddhist priests, with the approval of Nepal's president, and her family.

How was she selected for this "honor?" After her body is examined and found to be free of defect or imperfection, and her horoscope is studied, she is left overnight in the dark, alone, in a room full of the slaughtered heads of goats and buffalo. If she shows no fear, she is chosen.

This child was then taken to a temple in Katmandu, where she will live in almost complete isolation until she reaches puberty, when her "divinity" expires. Can you imagine that? A toddler, taken by strangers from her home and mother and father, to a strange new place and kept in isolation, taken out only on special occasions and carried around in a chariot for religious festivals.

She will be returned to her family at puberty, when a new "living goddess," or "kumari," will be selected to replace her.

The girls often struggle to readjust to normal lives after they return home.

No shit?

Nepalese folklore holds that men who marry a former kumari will die young, and so many girls remain unmarried and face a life of hardship.

Oh well, as long as the gods and goddesses are appeased, it's for a good and holy cause, right?

Anyone have combat experience?

I'd be especially interested if you or someone you know served in WWII. I need someone to read a chapter where one of my characters is describing a traumatic event he went through in WWII. What I need is for someone who's "been there" to tell me if it sounds credible. It's not a combat scene, per se, but an accident involving mortar rounds. I pulled this scene out of my, um, head, and have no idea if it's something that could happen as I've described it.

(I did manage to find via email one gentlemen who served in the Battle of the Bulge, which is the setting of my character's incident, and he said I didn't need to change anything, but ... I'm not really sure how lucid he was, and he did say that he had tried to forget more than remember, which of course is quite understandable.)

Thanks!

When Theocracies Collide

Here's a link to a post entitled, The Unmentionable Aspect of the Financial Crisis. 

Now dammit, why didn't I think of that?!