Thank Science

My internet connection at home is down...again...which has left me feeling detatched from the rest of the world. This gets me to thinking about just how far technology has come since I was a teen, and cell phones were these humongous thiings that were only used by the handful of people who could afford such things. Now, not only does practically everyone have them, but they are much more compact and can be used as a mini-computer...wow!

This is me...using my thumbs to plug away at the little keyboard on my phone. What else can I say but, "Thank You" to all those scientists in the field of technology who have made this possible.

Now I am off to ponder where this all started... perhaps it began with a lightbulb...or perhaps a crazy dude with a kite and a thunderstorm.

[note: tiny keyboard + lack of spellcheck = post errors]

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Looked in a Mirror Lately?

An interesting conversation I had with a christian lady the other day.  She was telling about a young woman she knows from a fundamentalist family has (since going off to college) denounced religion, and *gasp* become a lesbian.  I almost laughed out loud when she (speaking of the gay community) said, "You know how they are friendly to people to get outsiders to come around to their way of thinking."  I responded by telling her that the same could be said of many, if not most groups. *cough-christians-cough*  She did concede to my point...though it was quite begrudgingly.

Raising a Skeptic

I tried to spare my son (Darwin) from the fear that was imposed on me as a kid by my religious family... if you don't do *insert command* god will send you to hell.  However, my approach was not a good idea either, as I learned when my son was in kindergarten and one of his classmates asked, "Do you believe in God?" (WTFSM).  Darwin answered honestly, so the classmate proceeded to 'inform' my son that he would burn in hell forever because he didn't "believe".  That night I began teaching Darwin what christians believe... including the mythology which goes along with it.

That was about five years ago, and to this day he still likes to hear "Silly Bible Stories"... after the story is over, we usually dissect the whole thing so that he realizes just how silly the stories really are.  Darwin is a great skeptic and quite logical these days, he often questions not only religious beliefs, but also scientific ideas/theories - when there is something that doesn't make sense to him.

A Short Post

I love the Friendly Atheist blog by Hemant Mehta, when I stopped in this morning there was this post about the vandalism of a christian billboard.  It does not matter whether you agree with what is said or not, the owners of this billboard have a right for their message to be heard...er...seen, and if you don't like what you see, then simply look at something else.

I know that I'm not the only one who would like to see leaders of atheist groups (FFRF, AA, AU) make a formal statement to news media condemning this type of behavior...because vandalism is never acceptable.

Hi I'm Jezzi...

Like many, I have not always been an atheist... actually I grew up believing in the christian god, as a result of being raised primarily by my fundamentalist grandmother, who is a southern baptist.  A few months after my 21st birthday I became a born-again christian... that experience lasted only three years, fortunately.  When I was attending an evangelical church in San Bernardino, California the sermon was about how different religions (muslim, hindu, buddhism) were wrong, but the pastor also included different sects of christianity (catholic, seventh day adventist, protestant) as all being hell bound.  That sermon was the catalyst which sent me on my 'search for truth'.  Over the next few years I studied various religions to learn the similarities ...FYI - each is the only 'true way'.

Even after realizing that I no longer believed in the existence of a god, there was still a twang of guilt when I thought about this fact... until I finally realized how my 'guilt' was nothing more than years of brainwashing, in the form of indoctrination... so... alone in my apartment I said the words loud and clear, "I do not believe in the existence of any god - especially the god of the Bible!".  That's when lightening struck. (hah!)  The minute those words left my lips I felt so free...no more fear of damnation...no more feeling like I was being watched every minute of every day...no more fear of my own thoughts... FREEDOM!

Ban Upheld on Utah Crosses

To the Christian community the cross is a symbol of remembrance, however, to many others it is a symbol of religious exclusion.  When a religious symbol is placed on public land - not to mention also intermixed with the symbolism of a government - entity it suggests not only endorsement of that religion, but an implication that members of said religion will be privy to preferential treatment by government officials. 

I recently (today) read this report from 22 Dec 2010 by the Courthouse News Service [emphasis mine]

DENVER (CN) - The 10th Circuit ruled in a 5-4 decision that it would not reconsider its decision to ban crosses that the Utah Highway Patrol Association erected as roadside memorials for fallen officers.

More from Courthouse News: http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/12/22/32829.htm

On 05 Jan 2011 Salt Lake Tribune reports that these 12-foot crosses were given a 90 day stay... which will enable the Utah Highway Patrol and it's association to appeal the case with the Supreme Court.

Read about it here: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50990994-76/court-crosses-uhp-case.html.csp