The recent North Carolina vote started off a new wave of anti-gay sentiment, all of it bible- and faith-based.  I get into so many arguments with the religionists in the various online communities I am a part of.   I'm sick of having my arguments called "straw men" and "logical fallacies" all the while they pray to their invisible magical nonexistent sky daddy to come take them away to paradise.  Their unapologetic hypocrisy especially piss me off, claiming ownership over "truth" and morals while dismissing all others.  Their cognitive dissonance in the face of real truth enrages me.

I just want to ignore it all and live my life, but it eats away at me that these people vote and teach their kids the same bullshit, perpetuating the problem.  I've tried to make my peace; if their fantasy is what gives them peace and comfort in a cold and uncaring universe, then it's their folly to have.  Who am I to pop their bubble?  I wish I could be indifferent, live-and-let-live and all that.  But I just can't do it, their beliefs and the actions that stem from them just frustrate the hell out of me.  It's like arguing with a five-year-old over the existence of Santa Claus.  Sometimes I just can't help myself and respond, even if I know full well I'm wasting my time.  

Why do I torture myself like this?

/end rant

Welcome to This World | TheThinkingAtheist | YouTube -- [What are we teaching our children in the name of God?]

Analytic thinking can decrease religious belief: UBC study | UBC Public Affairs -- [The study, which will appear in tomorrow's issue of Science, finds that thinking analytically increases disbelief among believers and skeptics alike, shedding important new light on the psychology of religious belief.]

For. The. Win.

"Salvation" by Langston Hughes

I ran across this by accident over the web. I'd never read anything by Langston Hughes before - I'd heard of him, but that was it - but now I'm going to look him up!

It's quite a touching story, from an atheist perspective. I have to wonder how Christians would view it, though.

Current Mood: thoughtful

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbrI3F7p6-o&feature=g-all

I loled

#35 in the Top 50 Funniest Autocorrects of DYAC's First Year:

As many of you know already I went through quite the ordeal last year over the creche on government property. I was harassed and threatened and not just me but my entire family was threatened with death over a freaking creche... statues!!!!!!!! The campaign of threatening me didn't stop with Christmas... I've been getting threats all year long. The only holiday that I didn't get threatened around was Halloween. I've already gotten Thanksgiving cards spouting hate and bigotry. I don't want to think what Christmas will look like.

But I just found out about a decision the city council made in June.

They are putting the creche up without the larger display this year. Making what I went through last year for nothing. They are going to blatantly break the law and part of me wants to fight them about this, but my family is begging me not to. I'm so pissed that I want to do damage to something. I want to punch Terry Hazlet in the face with the Constitution because I don't think he has ever read it. And putting up my own sign would be pointless because it would get stolen in less than 24 hours and I just don't have the money to waste.

Other than suing the life out of them, I don't think there is any recourse for me and I really am not in the mood to sue and go through all that hell again. But I don't want people to think they can get away with trampling other people's rights like this!!!!!

The extremists I can understand, but the people who call themselves moderate in this area proved to be just as bad last year.

I have this woman at work I get along with really well most of the time. She's the team's secretary and usually she is very lovely... but we got on the topic of the creche on government property, she proved to be very unreasonable. I tried to explain that it was illegal for a reason. I explained that with the Constitution the minority were supposed to be protected from the majority. And she still insisted that the nativity on government property was a good thing.

I'm sorry, I just don't understand how people can think like that in this country.

If people want to live in a theocracy I suggest they move to Iran where Islam rules everything and see how they like it.