The christian rallying cry against granting same-sex couples the right to marry is that it is an abomination according to that ever-present holy book, the bible. Man should lie with woman, they should go forth and multiply, and so it was written, and so it was done, amen and hallelujiah. The bible also endorses slavery and permits murder of disobedient children, so let's agree that it's not exactly the bastion of morality that some would have us believe. Putting aside historical mythology, the contemporaneous argument against gay marriage is that it somehow weakens or threatens traditional marriage between a man and a woman. Let's see, what constitutes a threat to my marriage? I do. My husband does. People of the OPPOSITE sex do, in terms of infidelity. Arguably, our kids do. Likely, our finances, or at least our disagreements about them. Possibly, our divergent ideas on paint colors or vacation destinations. Definitely, our contrasting view on parenting. The rights of gay couples? Seriously? It doesn't even register on the most minute "threat-to-my-marriage" scale. How many fights have my husband and I EVER had based on the rights of Adam & Steve to marry? None. How many of the millions of traditional-marriage based divorces in this country can be ascribed to the existence of gay rights somewhere else in the country? None that I'm aware of. Did the traditional divorce rate spike in those states, like Massachusetts and Connecticut, progressive enough to permit gay marriage? Nope. Did Mel Gibson cheat on his wife and impregnate his mistress, thereby violating the sanctity of marriage and the covenants of his very fundamentalist religion, risking excommunication from the church HE built himself, because somewhere in Iowa there lurks a civil union between two people with penises? Unlikely.
What is the problem with granting our gay citizens the basic human right to form a legally-recognized marital bond? To put it in human rights terms makes objections seem too inhumane, which is why the church prefers to cloak the issue in biblical terms, calling homosexuality an atrocity in the eyes of god. It's a lot easier to preach against gay marriage, and get a critical mass of voting christians on board, when you can pass the buck to the almighty god! Gee, we're ok with gay marriage, but GOD, well, he isn't, so sorry (insert sheepish shrug here!).
Thank GOD for atheists and progressives who aren't bound by this small-mindedness! I happen to be a woman, happily married to a man I love, we have three wonderful children and a happy life together. But what if I had been gay? These things would not have come easily to me and I'd have to relocate within the U.S. just to enjoy the same basic rights as the majority of the also-human population. The fight for gay rights doesn't affect me personally except inasmuch as it is offensive to my sense of compassion and love for my fellow man that they are deprived unfairly of equal access. Granted, no fight this important is easily won (consider the battles surrounding women's suffrage and ending slavery), but the closed-minded can't stop progress, it will come eventually, they can only prolong the inevitable. And in the meantime, how many committed couples will not have the rights they need, to which they should be entitled, just because they aren't legally married? Health benefits, survivor benefits, hospital rights, etc. So don't call it marriage, call it a schmarriage. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Who cares? But we need to stop allowing the anti-gay marriage consortium to pretend that their opposition to same-sex marriage is based on anything but unadulterated bigotry and ignorance.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Come Out Of the Closet, Atheists!!!!
A recent study by the PEW Center (Forum on Religion & Public Life) indicates that a full 16% of Americans aren't affiliated with any religion. According to the survey, the unaffiliated group has experienced the sharpest growth recently, while the Catholic sect has (thankfully) registered the largest loss of followers. The study also breaks down the results into demographics, maps, and comparisons.. check out the whole thing at:
http://religions.pewforum.org/reports
It is truly fascinating!
At the same time, it's discouraging that so few people (only about 4% in the survey) either a) realize that they are atheist/agnostic or b) will come out and admit it. I believe that if every practicing church-goer in this country were forced to really examine the religious dogma that they claim to follow (as opposed to just showing up to church weekly, half-listening as the priest selects some inoffensive scripture to preach to the flock), a good majority would have to conclude that it is ridiculous. The Bible is fraught with contradictions and discrepancies, and much of the work previously attributed to 'god' can now be explained by science, so really, what is left but some weird kind of Santa-for-grownups wishful thinking? I believe that part of the reason that christianity is perpetuated is that it's not challenged frequently enough. I have been guilty of keeping my mouth shut in order not to rock the boat in the presence of christians, not wanting to offend them or have them judge me for my heresy, but I shall sin thusly no more! There is too much at stake!
As noted in my prior post, I believe that it is hazardous to the good of our society/world to let this kind of "faith" persist. Even in terms of the very preservation of our planet, the Republican Party's (pandering to the evangelists?) stance seems to be that global warming either is false or some kind of feel-good liberal issue, because they refuse to trust SCIENCE. They believe that "god will provide". This is dangerous thinking! As has been said during the Iraq War - the Rapture is NOT an exit strategy!!! To think that some of these nutjobs would actually welcome the "end times" on some level because they actually believe in some divine afterlife jeopardizes the well-being of every living creature on this planet!
I have become more rabidly liberal/atheistic since having children because I do not want my kids' world to be compromised by these pious nutjobs. I'm tired of the blind zealots, those imbeciles who hang on Limbaugh or O'Reilly's every word as though it came directly from the good lord himself. I would love to be able to write them off as the lunatic fringe, but in actuality, these sheeple are a menace because they are sufficient in number to impact legislation.
Thus, those of us who have evolved beyond needing the god crutch have a moral obligation to try and spread the message about the importance of science and reason over fantasy-based 'faith'! To that end, I have joined Richard Dawkins' 'OUT Campaign'.. and encourage you to do the same. We can't afford for our country (or world) to be hijacked by the religious (whether they be right, center, or left!).
Let Logic Prevail!
http://outcampaign.org/
From the Out Campaign Website:
Atheists have always been at the forefront of rational thinking and beacons of enlightenment, and now you can share your idealism by being part of the OUT Campaign.
COME OUT!
Atheists are far more numerous than most people realize. COME OUT of the closet! You'll feel liberated, and your example will encourage others to COME OUT too. (Don't "out" anybody else, wait for them to OUT themselves when they are ready to do so).
REACH OUT!
The OUT Campaign allows individuals to let others know they are not alone. It can also be a nice way of opening a conversation and help to demolish the negative stereotypes of atheists. Let the world know that we are not about to go away and that we are not going to allow those that would condemn us to push us into the shadows.
SPEAK OUT!
As more and more people join the OUT Campaign, fewer and fewer people will feel intimidated by religion. We can help others understand that atheists come in all shapes, sizes, colours and personalities. We are labourers and professionals. We are mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers and grandparents. We are human (we are primates) and we are good friends and good citizens. We are good people who have no need to cling to the supernatural.
KEEP OUT!
It is time to let our voices be heard regarding the intrusion of religion in our schools and politics. Atheists along with millions of others are tired of being bullied by those who would force their own religious agenda down the throats of our children and our respective governments. We need to KEEP OUT the supernatural from our moral principles and public policies.
It is time to step up and...
STAND OUT!
We have many exciting activities and plans for the OUT Campaign, so be sure to watch OutCampaign.org for the latest developments.
http://religions.pewforum.org/reports
It is truly fascinating!
At the same time, it's discouraging that so few people (only about 4% in the survey) either a) realize that they are atheist/agnostic or b) will come out and admit it. I believe that if every practicing church-goer in this country were forced to really examine the religious dogma that they claim to follow (as opposed to just showing up to church weekly, half-listening as the priest selects some inoffensive scripture to preach to the flock), a good majority would have to conclude that it is ridiculous. The Bible is fraught with contradictions and discrepancies, and much of the work previously attributed to 'god' can now be explained by science, so really, what is left but some weird kind of Santa-for-grownups wishful thinking? I believe that part of the reason that christianity is perpetuated is that it's not challenged frequently enough. I have been guilty of keeping my mouth shut in order not to rock the boat in the presence of christians, not wanting to offend them or have them judge me for my heresy, but I shall sin thusly no more! There is too much at stake!
As noted in my prior post, I believe that it is hazardous to the good of our society/world to let this kind of "faith" persist. Even in terms of the very preservation of our planet, the Republican Party's (pandering to the evangelists?) stance seems to be that global warming either is false or some kind of feel-good liberal issue, because they refuse to trust SCIENCE. They believe that "god will provide". This is dangerous thinking! As has been said during the Iraq War - the Rapture is NOT an exit strategy!!! To think that some of these nutjobs would actually welcome the "end times" on some level because they actually believe in some divine afterlife jeopardizes the well-being of every living creature on this planet!
I have become more rabidly liberal/atheistic since having children because I do not want my kids' world to be compromised by these pious nutjobs. I'm tired of the blind zealots, those imbeciles who hang on Limbaugh or O'Reilly's every word as though it came directly from the good lord himself. I would love to be able to write them off as the lunatic fringe, but in actuality, these sheeple are a menace because they are sufficient in number to impact legislation.
Thus, those of us who have evolved beyond needing the god crutch have a moral obligation to try and spread the message about the importance of science and reason over fantasy-based 'faith'! To that end, I have joined Richard Dawkins' 'OUT Campaign'.. and encourage you to do the same. We can't afford for our country (or world) to be hijacked by the religious (whether they be right, center, or left!).
Let Logic Prevail!
http://outcampaign.org/
From the Out Campaign Website:
Atheists have always been at the forefront of rational thinking and beacons of enlightenment, and now you can share your idealism by being part of the OUT Campaign.
COME OUT!
Atheists are far more numerous than most people realize. COME OUT of the closet! You'll feel liberated, and your example will encourage others to COME OUT too. (Don't "out" anybody else, wait for them to OUT themselves when they are ready to do so).
REACH OUT!
The OUT Campaign allows individuals to let others know they are not alone. It can also be a nice way of opening a conversation and help to demolish the negative stereotypes of atheists. Let the world know that we are not about to go away and that we are not going to allow those that would condemn us to push us into the shadows.
SPEAK OUT!
As more and more people join the OUT Campaign, fewer and fewer people will feel intimidated by religion. We can help others understand that atheists come in all shapes, sizes, colours and personalities. We are labourers and professionals. We are mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers and grandparents. We are human (we are primates) and we are good friends and good citizens. We are good people who have no need to cling to the supernatural.
KEEP OUT!
It is time to let our voices be heard regarding the intrusion of religion in our schools and politics. Atheists along with millions of others are tired of being bullied by those who would force their own religious agenda down the throats of our children and our respective governments. We need to KEEP OUT the supernatural from our moral principles and public policies.
It is time to step up and...
STAND OUT!
We have many exciting activities and plans for the OUT Campaign, so be sure to watch OutCampaign.org for the latest developments.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Why Your Religion is My Problem
Every American is entitled to freedom of thought, a Constitutionally-protected right to believe and express anything at all, no matter how patently absurd. I may believe that Capuchin monkeys come to my room at midnight, perch on my pillow, and feed ideas into my brain using a funnel and a teaspoon. You can't prove to me that this doesn't happen. For one thing, those monkeys are damn fast; plus, they are invisible to people who don't believe in them. You cannot convince me otherwise, despite a clear lack of evidence, for I have 'faith' that it is true and I have a right to believe it. Likewise, if you want to believe in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, or God, that is your business. However, when delusions cross the line from mere belief to compelling action, and thus have a deleterious impact on the rights of other people, particularly on people who may not believe the same things, they need to be confronted. When people with a shared delusion band together to elect as our president an enemy of science like George W. Bush, who restricts life-saving stem cell research and funding to family clinics (based on the church's relatively new position that life begins at conception,thus abortion is wrong, and any clinic that even dares mention that option is unworthy of funding) and who sends young men and women to their deaths in a war that is 'god's plan', when your religion poisons public policy and legislation, well then your religion becomes my problem.
The radical anti-intellectualism that defines Christianity in this country is perplexing. We can forgive the people who lived two thousand years ago and had no insight into molecular biology or astronomy or other sciences - they needed a god to explain natural phenomena in the world, just as the Greeks and Romans needed their gods. But in this day & age, it is ridiculous to give the current monotheistic god any more credence than we give to the polytheistic gods of the past. And to cause, or let continue, suffering to real, live humans in the name of some nebulous god, is deplorable and despicable. It is time to relegate the divine fantasies of past generations to the history books and move to a fully secular society, governed by reason, logic, and compassion for all mankind, not by threats of eternal damnation or promises of heavenly reward.
I am happy to say that most of my self-proclaimed Christian friends are of the cafeteria variety, and while they may not be fond of the term, I mean it as a compliment. Though I think they ought to dispense with the whole piety charade altogether, I'm glad that they can pick and choose a la carte the positive things that their faith has to offer (such as celebrating birth, marriage, and death. Of course, all of these rites of passage can be observed in a purely humanistic manner, without theistic overtones, and be equally joyful). I have quite a few Catholic friends who've had in-vitro fertilization - a big no-no, per the Church. Most of them now use contraception, another big no-no. And most voted for Barack Obama, a huge no-no given his stance on a woman's right to govern her own body, anathema to the church's desire to meddle even with reproduction. These friends, and people like them, do not make their religion my problem as they to some degree recognize the limitations of a dogma developed thousands of years ago. But the fundamentalist evangelical right-wing hatemongers, who despite calling themselves Christians are most un-Christ-like, who kill doctors who provide abortions and who murder people at the U.S. Holocaust Museum because of differing ideologies, are my problem. Even the 'moderate Christians' who do not condemn them loudly and clearly, are my problem. And any Christian who uses the Bible (which itself is fraught with contradictions and open to interpretation by any man in garb with a microphone) to dictate his/her behavior, instead of using reason to consider the moral good or rights of others, is my problem. And because these people constitute a (happily declining) majority in this country, they are your problem too.
The radical anti-intellectualism that defines Christianity in this country is perplexing. We can forgive the people who lived two thousand years ago and had no insight into molecular biology or astronomy or other sciences - they needed a god to explain natural phenomena in the world, just as the Greeks and Romans needed their gods. But in this day & age, it is ridiculous to give the current monotheistic god any more credence than we give to the polytheistic gods of the past. And to cause, or let continue, suffering to real, live humans in the name of some nebulous god, is deplorable and despicable. It is time to relegate the divine fantasies of past generations to the history books and move to a fully secular society, governed by reason, logic, and compassion for all mankind, not by threats of eternal damnation or promises of heavenly reward.
I am happy to say that most of my self-proclaimed Christian friends are of the cafeteria variety, and while they may not be fond of the term, I mean it as a compliment. Though I think they ought to dispense with the whole piety charade altogether, I'm glad that they can pick and choose a la carte the positive things that their faith has to offer (such as celebrating birth, marriage, and death. Of course, all of these rites of passage can be observed in a purely humanistic manner, without theistic overtones, and be equally joyful). I have quite a few Catholic friends who've had in-vitro fertilization - a big no-no, per the Church. Most of them now use contraception, another big no-no. And most voted for Barack Obama, a huge no-no given his stance on a woman's right to govern her own body, anathema to the church's desire to meddle even with reproduction. These friends, and people like them, do not make their religion my problem as they to some degree recognize the limitations of a dogma developed thousands of years ago. But the fundamentalist evangelical right-wing hatemongers, who despite calling themselves Christians are most un-Christ-like, who kill doctors who provide abortions and who murder people at the U.S. Holocaust Museum because of differing ideologies, are my problem. Even the 'moderate Christians' who do not condemn them loudly and clearly, are my problem. And any Christian who uses the Bible (which itself is fraught with contradictions and open to interpretation by any man in garb with a microphone) to dictate his/her behavior, instead of using reason to consider the moral good or rights of others, is my problem. And because these people constitute a (happily declining) majority in this country, they are your problem too.
Monday, June 15, 2009
What's the Point of Prayer???????
So I got an email today, as I often do, asking for prayers. UGH. Seriously, sheeple! This particular girl knows I'm atheist, so I don't know why she is wasting her time. But I wanted to ask her - what do you think (key word there!) the POINT of praying is?? If you believe that god is omnipotent and omniscient, then he KNOWS and PLANS what is going to happen in your life! Who are YOU, lowly mortal, to beg him to change his divine plans just because they don't suit you?? Doesn't sound very worshipful to me! On the other hand, if you believe in free will, that god created you, then sat back to watch the action, do you think he's waiting for you to meet some kind of prayer quota before he finally intervenes? The faithful die all of the time - is it because there weren't enough people in their prayer circle to convince god to step in and perform some kind of miracle (a miracle that also could be explained scientifically, i.e. medically, but you choose to ascribe to god anyway)? The very idea is ridiculous and also offensive to those who have lost loved ones whom apparently god didn't think were worth saving. Besides which, if you think that heaven is some perfect place where you will be reunited with jesus christ your savior, and sit at the right hand of god, listen to angels play 'stairway to heaven' on the harp, etc. then why are you so desperately praying for people to remain here on Earth instead of heading to that divine afterlife in the sky? Shouldn't you be happy for them? Bottom line: prayer is pointless, except possibly to the extent that the repetition and focused meditation may be good for your breathing and blood pressure. You know what - yoga does the same thing, and with about the same results (in term of prayed-for outcome)! Che sera, sera~
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Did God Miss?
How self-important of this priest/pastor/reverend/father/his holiness/whatever to assume that the almighty god took time out of His busy day to keep him safe from a natural gas explosion... sounds to me like god missed! Omnipotent/omniprescient my ass! Umm, dear god, if you KNEW that the my sunroom was going to blow, how about preventing the explosion in the first place instead of blowing my house to smithereens just to make a point? Especially my indoor pool area! Do you know how many collection plates it took to build the grotto??? Getting everyone to tithe during a recession when they should be paying their mortgage instead - it's tough! So apparently, the explosion itself can be chalked up to natural events (i.e. because god FAILED to stop it), but another random/natural event, the priest's absence that particular day, is attributed to divine intervention? WTF? You can't have it both ways.
Methinks Mr. Jakes should sleep with one eye open from now on! When it's your time, it's your time, buddy!
From the Associated Press:
DALLAS – Dallas megachurch pastor T.D. Jakes says a last-minute change of plans saved him from being killed in a natural gas explosion at his home.
Jakes told thousands at Sunday's service at his church — The Potter House — that he would have been getting dressed near the blast last week had he not suddenly had the feeling he should call off a planned meeting.
Instead, he wasn't anywhere close to the blast centered in a sunroom of his house in Fort Worth. No one was injured
Fire Department Lt. Kent Worley said Sunday that investigators ruled the blast accidental. He said the sunroom had a gas-fired pool heater and a large gas-fired barbecue grill.
Jakes praised God for keeping him safe and described his situation as "inconvenient, but alive."
Methinks Mr. Jakes should sleep with one eye open from now on! When it's your time, it's your time, buddy!
From the Associated Press:
DALLAS – Dallas megachurch pastor T.D. Jakes says a last-minute change of plans saved him from being killed in a natural gas explosion at his home.
Jakes told thousands at Sunday's service at his church — The Potter House — that he would have been getting dressed near the blast last week had he not suddenly had the feeling he should call off a planned meeting.
Instead, he wasn't anywhere close to the blast centered in a sunroom of his house in Fort Worth. No one was injured
Fire Department Lt. Kent Worley said Sunday that investigators ruled the blast accidental. He said the sunroom had a gas-fired pool heater and a large gas-fired barbecue grill.
Jakes praised God for keeping him safe and described his situation as "inconvenient, but alive."
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