I remember when peeple thought you were just a punk.
People? Wasn't that mostly the girls (and those defending them) because I wouldn't give em a free pass on their supernatural beliefs, lol!
Evangelizing science, YouTube gets the modern good news out to the masses...
No free passes for girls, they need to know science in the modern age as much as the boys. More so, if it's going to be a woman's world. -Which seems to be the way it's trending, sorry boys. ;)
I finally gave myself permission to say I didn't believe in god after listening to this wonderful monologue by Julia Sweeney:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bqh53RCkURQ (This will take to part one of 13 parts. Part 2 will appear on the upper right of your screen while you're watching part 1, etc, etc.)
It's also available from Amazon to download to your iPhone or whatever. Makes a great road story. The whole story last about 90 minutes.
Was thinking about this today (and it's been touched on already... in both threads):
Christians who afford me the respect for my personal beliefs that they demand for themselves are just fine by me. But the problem is that the very nature of the religion requires that they not afford that respect, and that they diminish any beliefs or ideologies that differ (Exodus 20:3, among others... He's a jealous god!).
The Christians who do accept my atheism -- ie don't "pity" me, try to convert me, or assume I'm going to hell -- are the ones that don't seem to conform to mainstream Christian ideas. They are not the literal-interpretation types. To me that's about personal disposition more than ideology.
I specifically wanted to mention Lynne 'cause she's such a wonderful person. The topic came up with us exactly once, and when I said something like "I believe we all follow our own path" we moved on. I have many Christian friends like this and it's the "model" of Christian acceptance and tolerance that I grew up with.
Although I goofed in not seeing the other thread, my intention was that atheists should have an opportunity to stand on equal footing with Christians, and that being nasty and intolerant in the "I Like the Christian Life" thread is crass and inappropriate. I may poke fun at Christians all the time, but much of that is opposition to the kind of extremist, absolutist thinking that doesn't just affect me on a personal level, but either drives or justifies (depending on your view) on-going and costly global conflict.
I'm all for having the freedom to choose how one approaches the mystical/spiritual. Slamming other's beliefs won't win you any arguments and shows a lack of respect especially in any "appreciation thread". Appreciation threads are meant for those who want to share the stoke about a person, belief, place, etc. If I don't share the stoke on a particular thread I see no reason to crap on it (not that I always follow my own advise)
Bill Callahan (Smog) wrote a beautiful song about his personal quest.
OK
I will also switch to this thread, for the spelling police
Nothing can be more freeing than stripping away all the religious dogma, the guilt, the thinking that something is looking over your shoulder, and the billions of questions that will never be answered (about how God does things)
And yes, the English language is one of the most flexible. Though I love French and the lyrical italian, just for example, English has proven to be the most adaptable, not such a bad thing, which is why I suppose it is the international language (apologies to Francophones).
As a copy editor/sub-editor, I have to be pedantic in my job, but as a writer, screw it, conventions go out the window.
Let us know!