Something I'm Not Gonna Talk About

The internet in all its myriad forms has been up in arms these last few weeks regarding a statement made by the president of a fast food chain.  The kerfuffle has spilled over into the physical world, with talk of boycotts, protests and counter-protests.  I'm not going to say anything about it, other than to share this rather well-written piece by another blogger.

The Chicken Fellatio

Please don't let the title put you off.  If it grabs your attention, then the work is done.  The author puts everything into glaring clarity, far better than I could ever have expressed.

Reblogging: An Atheist on Easter

An Atheist on Easter

Today was Easter.  As mentioned before, I'm an atheist, so I always find religious holidays a little awkward to experience.  I read the piece noted above early in the morning, and posted a comment on the blog asking permission to post it here.  I didn't intend any sort of plagiarism; I just found the piece to be a well-worded expression of my (similar) thoughts on the subject.  Not only did the author not respond to my request, he didn't allow the comment to be posted.  A politely-worded "No" would have sufficed.

I've posted the link.  It's good stuff, and it bears reading if anyone wants a peek inside my head.

This morning the family went to church for Easter service.  After they returned, the lot of us went with some friends to Wakulla Springs State Park for one of my nephews' birthday party.  In a repeat of last year's trip to the beach, I did not swim, though I did wade in the spring for a bit, and collected tiny shells on the white sand shore.  There's a Mediterranean Revival-style lodge and museum adjacent to the water, and I got to look at the preserved remains of "Old Joe", an 11.2-foot alligator that lived in the area until it was shot in 1966.  Joe was said to be one hundred years old.  I've seen gators in zoos, but none were as large as this thing.  I sure wouldn't want to meet one that size out in the wild.

Witchcraft

There's a Tea Party rep running for Congress in Delaware. Her name is Christine O'Donnell. Since her nomination last week, she's been dodging appearances on various television programs. This isn't really a new thing; all of the Tea Party candidates have done this. If they don't appear on shows hosted by people who don't share their views, then they don't have to answer hard questions about their positions, some of which are admittedly odd.

One of the hosts whose show she's declined to appear on is Bill Maher, the host of HBO's Real Time. I didn't know this, but Ms. O'Donnell was a frequent guest on Bill's old program, Politically Incorrect. Bill had promised to show clips from her old appearances every week until she consents to appear on his program. Last Friday, he showed a clip where she claimed to have "dabbled into witchcraft".

I know a little something about dabbling IN witchcraft. I dabbled IN Wicca. I stood in circles on the Sabbat. I stood for the God in certain rites. In March of 1993, I went to Virginia Beach with some friends. We cast a circle on the shore under the full moon when it was in perigee (that's when it's as close to the Earth as it ever gets). That was an awesome experience, with the beach awash in all sorts of energies. In the end, it wasn't for me, anymore than any faith is.

Dabbling INTO witchcraft sounds like she peed in it or something. I also dislike the association she made between witchcraft and Satanism. Wicca is a legitimate religion, recognized by the government and everything. In 2007, the organization in charge of marking soldiers' graves allowed the Pentacle to be placed on the headstones of the fallen, along with the symbols of other soldiers' faiths. Satanism, on the other hand, is just a bunch of silly anti-God claptrap. I can do anti-God without any silly rituals or pretense at evil deeds. I used to know some Satanists, and they were just people who liked to drink and drug and screw around and pretend they needed some higher (or lower) power's blessing to do it. I think the Wiccans have it right: "An' it harm none, do as thou wilt."

All that said, Christine O'Donnell is NOT one of my people. She's human, and American, but that's all we have in common.

Oh, in case anyone was wondering, I haven't made it to the movies yet. Thursday night I felt like crap, and stayed home in bed. Ditto for Sunday. I will get out sometime this week, if it kills me.

EDIT: Rereading this post, I realized I misused a word. I wrote "perihelion" when I meant "perigee". Perigee is when an orbiting body gets as close to the object it orbits. "Perihelion" is when an object gets as close to the sun as it ever gets. No one is paying attention. LLLLL would have caught that one in a heartbeat.

9/12

Yesterday was September 11, the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, DC*. I don't have anything meaningful to say about that event that hasn't been said by others, and probably with more eloquence and forethought, but I did like this blogger's take on the event:

http://laughinginpurgatory.blogspot.com/2010/09/atheism-and-911.html


* Yes, I know a fourth plane came down in Shanksville, PA. That was United 93, and it wasn't intended to come down in the middle of Pennsylvania farm country. The people who stopped that plane from reaching its target are some of the bravest that have ever lived, in my estimation. Damn it, I went and said something anyway.

Apropos of Nothing

I saw two little news items this week that tickled my funny bone. Item one:

http://www.journalstandard.com/opinions/columnists/x1600618702/MY-VIEW-Game-ends-for-Touchdown-Jesus

A six-story high statue of Jesus in Ohio was struck by lightning Monday night and burned to the ground. Around the same time in North Carolina, the following occurred:

http://www.wcnc.com/home/Big-Foot-spotting-in-Cleveland-County-96348919.html

Check out the man's sketch of his sasquatch. Looks remarkably Jesus-like.

That's all for that. It's meaningless and possibly even offensive, but I just had to share.

Atheists Challenge New Irish Blasphemy Law

In Ireland, the legislature there have just enacted a law which makes it illegal to say anything which someone of a religious nature might find offensive, and to make anyone guilty of such to pay a fine of up to 25,000 euros (about $35,000 US). I'd say, "Holy crap!", but that might get me fined.

In response to this, the organization Atheist Ireland have posted a list of 25 quotations which could potentially be construed as blasphemous under the new law. These quotes come from such diverse sources as the Christian Bible, Muhammad's Hadiths and assorted personages from George Carlin and Tom Lehrer to Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and various Irish governmental figures.

http://blog.atheist.ie/?p=104

Some of these I'd read before, but there were a few I didn't know about.

Happy Holidays!

I just want to wish everyone a happy holiday. I'll be spending most of mine at home. I get to watch my nephews unwrap gifts (I will take pictures, I promise), then crash till sometime in the evening, when Nate has promised a magnificent feast. Then it's back to work again. I get to work all this weekend and next, so no New Year's parties for me. I'll just have to appreciate what I've got.

Anyway, I hope all of you enjoy your time today.

PS - I was going to write something about religion, based on a quote a friend posted on Facebook, but I'll wait until after the holiday. I'll leave everyone in peace for another twenty-four hours.

Thank you for your consideration, I think

I took a walk through Olde Towne this afternoon. I had to drop a couple of pieces into the mail (model parts for friends in England and Wales), and decided to trek through the neighborhood on the way home. I spotted this sign in front of a Baptist church/private school I attended when I was a child.

Their spelling is atrocious, but I suppose it's the thought that counts.

Jesus, Queen of Heaven

It seems the producers of this play in the UK are getting blasted for daring to portray Jesus as a transsexual.

http://www.tron.co.uk/event/jesus_queen_of_heaven/

Cheesing off the religious establishment? That's my game all over. Such a shame it's not playing on this side of the pond.

Naturally, when I saw this, I thought of Tori Amos. From Boys for Pele, the song "Mohammed, My Friend":

"Mohammed, my friend/It's time to tell the world/We both know it was a girl/Back in Bethlehem"

I'm Back On!

I'm blogging from work again! This might be a short-lived return, but I'll take it for all it's worth. This long night might not be so long after all. It's Friday night (Saturday morning, really), the weekend after Labor Day, and the hotel is DEAD. I just finished the USA Today weekend edition crossword puzzle, and all I had left to me was the next few chapters of Sam Harris' The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason. It's a good, good book, but it's dry material.

Anyway, on with the blogging.

Edit: It was indeed short-lived. I forgot that there's a window of twenty minutes or so when the network resets itself. During that twenty minutes, the Internet connection doesn't interface with WebSense, and anything goes. Or it did.

You Shall Not Murder

I think I've made my views on religion clear enough here, but I am not above lifting the occasional religious material when it suits my purposes. The above is one of the biblical Ten Commandments. It's usually quoted as "Thou shalt not kill", but I prefer the other way.

I read the news last night and I almost choked. What year is it, 1989? 1995? I thought we were past the whole business of assassinating doctors associated with abortion. I don't usually talk about abortion. Much as I might wish it, I will never bear a child of my own, so I think that precludes me from having a say. That said, I completely support a woman's right to control of her own body. I wholeheartedly support any doctor who provides that kind of care.

Remember the furor back in the winter when the DHS issued its warning about right-wing extremism? This is the sort of thing they were talking about.

As with every other hot-button issue, this is being discussed and prognosticated upon by better writers than I am, so I'll leave it to them. I just wanted to let y'all know where I stand.

Movie Review: Religulous

I didn't set out to make this blog about either movies or religion, but both topics are of interest to me, so don't be surprised if they appear here from time to time. Imagine my delight at finding a movie, however snarky, about religion.

"Religulous" is a documentary, almost a mockumentary, hosted by Bill Maher, of HBO's "Real Time". It's a series of interviews with various personages, intercut with Maher's monologues, film clips and other bits. I've read several complaints that Maher doesn't present the material straight, but documentary filmmakers always cut the film so that people appear to say what they want them to say.

Maher travels around the world: from the US to the UK, the Netherlands and Israel. He talks to Christians of assorted stripes, Jews (including a Holocaust-denier) and Muslims. He visits a religious "theme park" in Florida, the Speakers' Corner in London and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. He tried to film at the Latter Day Saints' church in Utah, but the Mormons chased him away. I half-expected some of his interviewees to resort to violence, but the worst that happens is that one guy, a trucker at a roadside chapel in Raleigh, NC, walks away.

Maher says at the beginning and end that he's preaching doubt. He admits that he doesn't know what happens when we die, and he resists the notion that anyone is capable of knowing. He's frightened of the certainty that some religious persons possess. That guy in Raleigh left because Maher was challenging the existence of his God. I've got to say, if your faith is so weak that it's shaken by a couple of questions from a comedian, then you're probably not the believer you think you are.

I found the movie to be entertaining, but I am a member of the choir Maher was preaching to. I can't predict how others will react. All I can ask is that people approach it with an open mind.