To my comrades in arms who survived the War on Xmas ...

Armed and Dangerous: The Camel suits up for the War on Christmas

If you haven't been paying attention you probably missed the fact we are engaged in a great civil war...commonly referred to by GOP Christian fanatics as the annual "War on Christmas". 

Lest you forget, we  atheists and heathens who represent 5-10% of the population - along with President Obama, our "Muslim in Chief" -  have been waging a war against  Xmas that the 76% of our population who identify as Christian observe by decorating pagan trees, burning pagan yule logs, invoking a gift giving magical fat old elf, avarice and greed. 

I for one almost forgot, since I do not watch FOX News thus never hear the droning whine of  Bill "The Tide Goes In And The Tide Goes Out; You Can't Explain That" O'Reilly ... the self declared Commander in Chief of the Christian defenders of the holiday.

I was, however, recently reminded of said war when Sid Miller, TexAss' Commissioner of Agriculture, threatened to slap the next person who says "Happy Holidays" to him instead of Merry Christmas.*  Seems Sid don't cotton none to them thar folks who ain't worshipin' the baby Jesus, and who fail to celebrate the baby Jesus' invented birthday with the requisite holy day well wishes. It seems bitch slappin' folks is the kind of gentility, peace, and good will toward men that his imaginary man-god had in mind.

Never mind that December also marks the observance of Hanuka, Saturnalia, Kwanzaa, The Winter Solstice, and New Years ... to the enraged and put upon majority December belongs to Christians.    Well, shit - I don't think so.

So, while I am late for the first wave of attack and advances against the co-opted pagan holiday referred to as Xmas, I have dragged  my old combat paraphernalia out of moth balls; loaded my .50 cal. and strapped it to my hump; dusted off my mortar, and got Achmed - my faithful ex-Muslim anti-Christmas combat comrade- to ride shotgun. We plan to launch our surprise attack on Xmas Eve.

They'll never see us coming ...after all, word has it they're they're still on the look out for the Jade Helm invasion of TexAss by the US Army, and the gay Rainbow Army secretly trying to indoctrinate their youth.  They're screwed now.

Happy Holidays to all my readers and their families.  May the New Year bring us more reasoned and thinking compatriots, health, and happiness.
   

* Story on TexAss Sid here:  http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/31529/republican-ag-commissioner-sid-miller-say-merry-christmas-or-ill-slap-you

Reality Check - I just need to be sure I have this right.

In 2015 Radicalized Muslims have killed 19 Americans.

In 2015 Radicalized Christians killed 9 black folks in a church, killed 3 people at a Planned Parenthood Clinic, and three black churches were set afire by white supremacists; while the vast majority of this year's 9,000 gun murders nation wide are committed by Christians.

And the GOP presidential wannabes, their ditto headed drones, and Christian Dominionists, are fear mongering about being killed by radicalized Muslims under ISIS' influence?

Do I have that right?
Sompthin is awry.

"Our Meaningless and Insipid Godly Platitudes are With You ...That Is All."

The Daily News is about as far from Left Wing or atheistic in their politics or philosophy as I've seen in a daily tabloid. And yet even a broken clock is right twice a day.  They nailed it with today's cover and headline.

In the wake of yet another mass murder, this time at the hands of home grown Muslim citizens of the USA, the GOP does what it always does best: Pray.  Period.

Oh...they'll go on to try and connect this to foreign born Muslims, probably invoking Syrian refugees in some bizarre and twisted logic, the only logic the the Right possesses. Trump can now reaffirm his plan to register all Muslims and make them carry papers ("Your papers, please, mein Herr.").  It's what the GOP does.

They'll go on to accuse Obama of politicizing the tragedy ... using this incident as a political ploy...an excuse to once again open the dialog on reasonable gun controls, or in their terms: "Justification for over-reach to confiscate guns and erase the 2nd Amendment."  It's what the GOP does.

Some of the most rabid Right Wing religionst GOP devotees will call this a "false flag" incident, devised and conducted by the government as a first step toward martial law. It's what the GOP does.

But the opportunity to invoke God and Prayer can never be missed. It's not only good politics it's virtually de rigueur if one wants to appeal to the Evangelical Christian base of the party.  For if you fail to wear your religion on your sleeve you are suspect. Are you really a "true Christian"?  Are you pious enough to be President? Obviously, the four scumbags depicted on the cover of the News qualify in their eyes.

So, what's next?  What can we expect?  I'll tell you what: Nothing.  Well, nothing meaningful anyway.  We will continue to see mass murder on a regular basis. We'll see the prayers of the faithful, the holding of hands, the floral and flame lit make shift monuments to the victims.  And the GOP will spout its usual platitudes invoking Faith and God and Prayer and Jesus and say: "This is the price we pay for being the freest and greatest God given nation on the planet."

Here's a hot flash: we long ago stopped being the greatest nation on the planet.  It stopped when we became the only industrialized nation besides Turkey that has a majority population believing in Creationism over evolutionary theory.  It stopped, when we became the only western nation that doesn't offer paid maternity leave, or universal healthcare.  It stopped when our infant mortality rate became the highest among the 27 wealthiest nations on the planet.  It stopped when we cut food coupon benefits to the poorest, and gave tax breaks to the wealthiest. It stopped when we casually committed our youth to wars costing $ Trillions and all its death and maiming...then claimed there is no money to help our homeless and disabled veterans to the degree they deserve.  It's what the GOP does.

As for our being the freest nation...that ended when gerrymandering became the way to manipulate election results and dilute the will of the people; and when we handed over the process for candidate selection for the office of President to the wealthiest individuals / companies in the nation and lobbyists ;and when the GOP first attempted, and continues to pursue, truncating voting rights of those demographics who tend to vote against them; or when we stopped opening our arms to those most in need of our national embrace.  It's what the GOP does. 


Look, I'm all about the 2nd Amendment.  I own more guns than probably a third of my readers combined.  But this insanity cannot continue to be accepted as the norm in this nation, as it rapidly is by the dulling of our outrage resulting from its frequency.  It cannot be made better by prayer to some imaginary  boogieman in the sky or public demonstrations of piety by the frauds, phonies and religiously afflicted.  Until that is realized we'll continue our spiral toward 3rd World status, and we'll deserve it. 

"Every nation gets the government it deserves" - Joseph de Maistre (1811)

One More Thought on the Politics of Fear and Being a Good Christian

The hysteria over 10,000 Syrian immigrants continues.  Here in New Hampshire, the nation’s first primary state, we are being visited daily by the unholy scum that represent the GOP Presidential hopefuls.  Each are airing commercials around the clock playing on the American fear of ISIS.  Each is claiming to have the plan to defeat them, and each is sworn to stop Muslim immigration, including “children under five years old” according to Chris Christie.  

Some, like Trump, are demanding the registration and tracking of Muslims in the US and the closing of Mosques.  Jeb Bush only wants to admit Christian Syrians. When asked how he’d conduct such a test of religious acceptability he wasn’t quite sure, preferring to dodge the question. I imagine he’d use a technique similar to how ISIS identifies devout Muslims - demanding they quote from memory some passages from their holy book…on punishment of death.    


Some of the far right web sites are insisting that the Obama plan to help those Syrian refugees is his attempt to destroy America from within - a sickness that infects the brains of Birthers, and assorted extremist right wing racists, not so surreptitiously supported by innuendo from the Ultra-Conservative talking heads (AKA FOX News). 

  So, what exactly is the truth about this Muslim refugee threat to our lives and property and way of life?  The U.S. has brought in more than 1.5 million Muslims through the refugee program since the passage of the Refugee Act of 1980. They have been coming from Islamic states with active jihadist movements such as Somalia, Bangladesh, Burma, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Bosnia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the past five years 680,000 Muslims were admitted to the US under the refugee program.*

While an estimated one to two-hundred US Muslims are believed to have gone to Syria to fight along side ISIS… I’m having difficulty finding examples of Muslims who have come here through the refugee program committing a single act of murder.  In fact, of all the FBI and Homeland security arrests for terrorism conspiracy, or attempting to support ISIS with money all were US home grown Muslim converts, or immigrants except for nine ( 9 ) who were admitted under the Refugee Act.**  NINE OUT OF 1.5 MILLION MUSLIM REFUGEES.   As for how many murders and mass killings were caused by Muslim refugees allowed in under the strict controls of the Refugee Act - the number is ZERO.


Meanwhile, yesterday another good Christian committed another act of terrorism, killing three and wounding nine in a Planned Parenthood invasion.  I’ll bet dollars to donuts he is going to declare he was doing God’s Work protecting the unborn.

In TexAss armed white Christian vigilantes in masks and carrying semi-auto rifles are stalking Muslim citizens as they walk to their Mosque -their campaign of terror and intimidation unhampered by the local white Christian police because of the “open carry” idiocy in that state of horrors.
June 17th of this year, a man rose from a pew in the historically black Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC, and opened fire killing nine worshipers. The shooter had been photographed wearing patches representing the racist apartheid regimes in Southwest Africa, had a Confederate license plate on his vehicle, was shouting about how blacks have been raping white women, and was a member in good standing of a local Lutheran Church.

Jim David Adkisson, a devout Christian and anti-abortion right-winger, walked into a Knoxville church on July 27th, 2008, and began firing a shotgun at children who were performing Annie Jr. He killed two and wounded seven, targeting “the church because of its liberal teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were ruining the country.”

The KKK, a Christ loving organization, has more blood on its member’s hands than we can count.  Hell… American’s murder each other at a rate of 25,000+ a year…more than any nation on the planet not fighting a war on their home turf.  But lets just focus on 10,000 Syrian refugees causing mass mayhem because...Islam.
So, where is the outcry from the GOP and their religious faithful against their own religious brethren's violent streak and terrorism?  Why are they not calling for the registration and tracking of Christians, and closing of churches ?  Where is the justification, reason and logic behind their Muslim refugee fear mongering?  Where is that Christian love they always talk about?

How do they reconcile their behavior with what their man-god was alleged to have said in Mathew 25:   “…for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’   

And when he was asked how they could have done that for him, when they never in fact did, it is written that he answered: Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

“Good Christians”?  I say not one “good Christian” stands among the self-righteous and hypocritical self-proclaimed Christians of the GOP and their supporters.  Let fear and distortion and hypocrisy rule… let their man-god thing and his words be damned.  

* http://www.wnd.com/2015/11/staggering-number-of-muslim-refugees-under-obama/#bIXtqiY4R6lAxoe6.99

**  www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3322649/The-enemy-Nearly-SEVENTY-arrested-America-ISIS-plots-include-refugees-given-safe-haven-turned-terror.html

On Islam, Immigration, and Humanity: A Nation’s and Camel’s Dilemma

I’ve remained largely silent on the Syrian refugee issue. But the rhetoric flowing from the crisis, and the hysteria over the president’s intention of permitting 10,000 refugees to immigrate to the US, has gone beyond the bounds of reason, civility and decency thus I feel compelled to state my position.   

Anyone who has read my books or blog should be pretty much familiar with my perspective on Islam, its dangers, inequities, and the threat it holds for Western Civilization.   In my first book “The Atheist Camel Chronicles”, back in 2008, I wrote this in the afterword:

“As …[Islam] … immigrates to industrialized nations the danger that it represents to the most basic freedom, freedom of speech and expression, is threatened.  Already European countries whose Muslim populations are steadily growing are truncating the freedoms of their native populations out of fear of Islamic power.

The imposition of laws demanding “cultural sensitivity,” political correctness, and self-censorship under penalty of the law have been adopted by Great Britain, parts of Scandinavia and other Western European countries. These laws are in response to threats and intimidation, both veiled and overt, by an intolerant philosophy and insulated culture that laughs at the Infidel’s acquiescence and sees it as a weakness-and an opportunity. Parts of Europe have already begun the process of surrendering their birthright. They are losing their culture to Islamic fundamentalism.” 

In other chapters of my books I warned against the spread of the most virulent form of Islam and what it could mean to the very survival of a civilized culture.
 
If I sounded like I opposed Islamic immigration it’s because I did.  If it sounded like a warning that what is happening in Europe can happen here it’s because it can. My opinion in that regard hasn’t changed… I stand firm on those precepts. However, there comes a time when even the most closely held perspectives can – no- must, be moderated.  That time is now.   

Muslims in the United States’ represent approximately 0.8% of our total population.  Compare that to France’s 7.5% almost ten times greater;  Belgium at 6%, Germany 5.6%,  Netherlands 5.5%, Greece 4.7%, United Kingdom 4.6%, Denmark 4%.  In short, the US has one of the lowest Muslim populations as a percent to total population in the West. 
Frankly, I’d like to see it kept that way.

Additionally, while Muslim immigrants to European nations have largely not assimilated into their adopted nation’s cultures...indeed are treated as 2^nd class citizens to one degree or another … US Muslims have largely adopted our culture and blended into our society, facing less prejudice and overt discrimination  than do their European counter parts  (I know, hard to believe).  That the US has experienced a much lower instance of Muslims going to fight along side ISIS versus the European nations ...not just in shear numbers but as a percent to their Muslim populations… testifies as to how Muslims perceive their acceptance and the opportunities that they enjoy in the US.

So, where does this leave the nation? Where does it leave me and my position?  

It is impossible for me to watch the plight of these refugees and not reflect on their similarity to the almost one-thousand Jews desperately trying to escape Nazi Germany in 1939.  In my minds eye I see the image of that ship, the SS St. Louis, filled with hopeful German Jewish refugees that subsequently were first rejected by Cuba and then refused entry to the US. They were ultimately sent back to Europe – condemning half of those innocent men, women and children to extermination.  And why?  Because they were “the other”, because we had met our quota of Jews, or because there may have been a Nazi saboteur among them?  It makes no difference the reason, that shame must never be repeated.

The Syrian refugees are hoping to save the lives of their family, their children, from what is arguably the most heinous doctrine, regime and fighting force since the Third Reich or Pol Pot's Cambodia. The 10,000 proposed refugees will not impact the current 0.8% US Muslim population we have now one bit, it’s a rounding error at most. They will be subjected to between eighteen months to two years of delay as their applications are screened and vetted before they are allowed entry.  Compare that to the 20 million people who have come into the US under the current “no Visa necessary” policy we’ve had in place for years.  If I were an ISIS operative, I know which route I’d take.

If this nation succumbs to the hysteria of the xenophobes, if we abandon our humanity, if we deny our own immigrant roots and reject the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free” when they need us most, then we have relinquished some of our freedom and civility.  We will have forgotten the lessons of history, and repeated them leaving a legacy of shame for all time.  If that happens the terrorists will have already won.

No Words...but these

As the heinous slaughter in Paris took control of the internet and the body count rose, people were busily posting appeals to "pray for Paris and the people of France."  It disgusted me.  

How many slaughters must occur at the hands of those who worship the very same god these sheep are praying to on behalf of Parisians before they are shaken to consciousness? 

At what point does it begin to occur to these bleating sheep that the jihadists prayers for success and their own death ... their appeals to Allah to take them into Paradise for their god inspired acts ... is perceived to have been answered by that god by their Islamic brethren? 

When does the grotesque self deception of a prayer answering, all loving, all knowing deity that responds to telepathic appeals and loves all its creations begin to stink from the rotting, decomposing ancient ignorance that is at its very core?

And so it goes on as it has for millennia: the obscenity of the religious belief of those who kill in its name, and fools who pray to it for it to stop. Stalemate.

Sometimes a picture and 75 words are all you need

Meanwhile, the guy on the left carries a bible and makes up his "favorite" passages that don't exist; while the guy on the right says we are in the End Times...and is now first in line among GOP candidates to have his finger on "the Button."

Sleep well.

The Camel’s 2015 Top Five Non-Religiously Inspired Irritations

Once a year I depart from my usual religiously themed rants and go totally postal on secular themes that really tweak my hump.  Today is that day.  So buckle up, it’s gonna come fast and furious.

- I’m sorry to have to report that TexAss is, unfortunately, still in the union in spite of my one camel attempt to get it passed off to Mexico, or bombed into oblivion by an errant series of drone strikes.

Its latest intrusion into rights and protections of women is their raid on Planned Parenthood facilities, with warrants for patient’s names and info.  If this smacks of governmental over reach…well, it’s because it is, since medical files are privileged information. But hey...it’s TexAss -the 3^rd World State that takes pride in its overwhelming number of executions…guilty or innocent; its conspiracies about the US Army invasion and take over of their state; its hatred for gay & women’s rights, and all things educational, secular, or that smacks of an IQ that exceeds the 98 point national average.  The best we can hope for is that Hurricane Patricia sweeps up the coast of Mexico, and wipes TexAss off the map…”miraculously” sparing the lives of all children and the few reasoned adults who did not vote for Governors Perry or Abbott. 

- Of all the things that irk the dung out of me on social media perhaps the one that annoys me the most is this annoying propensity for some people to use f*cking asterisks when spelling words like sh*t or the name of their “G*d”.  What the hell?? Look, there’s only three reasons one would not type out the complete words in question: 1) because they are unsure how to spell them and thus are morons; 2) because they are scared some divine boogieman will smite them and condemn them to an eternal life of torture and thus are morons; or 3) they’ve seen other people do it and think it is de rigueur and thus are morons.

- I’ll spare you any in depth disparagement of the GOP…done that, been there, and you’ve pretty much heard it all by reading and watching the news.  I just want to briefly mention:   When Jeb Bush runs ads here in New Hampshire decrying the “old guard”  in Washington and promising his presidency will replace it without realizing that he and his entire freekin family is part and parcel to the “old guard” - is there any question why he is considered the dullest knife in the GOP utensil drawer? It’s actually sad.  He should have listened to Mommy. She said there have been enough Bush presidents. She was right.

- If you’ve been getting calls three times a week for the past three years from some telemarketing firm called “Credit Card Services”, or “Card Holder Services”…in spite of being on the FTC* “Do Not Call List”; having been told by the FTC* they are trying to track them down and murder them, or whatever they can do to such violators of the law; and in spite of numerous appeals politely asking the offender to remove you from their call list, to which they laugh in your face or curse you … I have a suggestion: Search the internet for the loudest police whistle you can find. Then, after pressing “1 to speak to a rep” wait patiently for the “thank you for holding how may  I…” and blow out their ear drum with a blast loud enough to wake the corpse of Rin Tin Tin.   You’ll still get the calls, but it may encourage these rip off company employees to seek legal and more socially acceptable avenues of employment.

- If you think that the people on “Dancing with the Stars” are in fact “stars”; and/or you find that flamboyant and irritating little twerp of a judge entertaining; and /or you do not realize that the likes of Gary Busey, Paula Dean, and other such human oddities are only booked because if they booked paraplegics or people with advanced elephantiasis it might be considered slightly over the line and pandering to the most base of human character flaws … then you are part of the problem.  You need to consider being part of the solution.  Stop watching and read a fricken book!     

Okay..that’s it - at least for now. I for one feel a great burden has been lifted from my hump…and unload onto yours. If you’d like to share some of your pet irritations the elimination of which might make this world marginally less irritating, please, click on the word “comments” just below and share them with me and my beloved readership.  Who knows … maybe you’ll start a movement.
*corrected from orig. FCC reference.

GOP Christian Non-Think: It’s the Best They Have to Offer

At the bottom of this article are actual headlines and extracts from news stories that quote the GOP field of 2016 presidential hopefuls, and a handful of high profile GOP supporters and talking heads. If you want to find the actual stories just cut and paste them to Google search.

I read these things, hear them on the news, watch as they unfold on TV and I ask myself: How do registered and committed Republicans justify this madness, especially freethinking / atheist Repubs?  If this is what represents their party, their philosophy, their ideal of a presidential candidate are they insane? And if not, how can they read or hear this and not be ashamed?

I attribute it to cognitive dissonance, or a serious deficiency in acumen, or a willingness to ignore the crazy and blindly chant the old mantra of “less taxes, smaller government, more defense spending” to the exclusion of who and what their party icons are and how they act - let the reality of its obscenity be damned.     

The die hard Republican will more than likely say that these people and their comments really don’t represent their party and perspective; that this is the fringe element (Carson and Trump being the poll leaders of the “fringe element” I imagine); that I’m just cherry picking embarrassing statements that the “far left media has taken out of context!”.   But that only holds water for a limited time. You see every one of these headlines and statements are just a sampling of those that occurred within the first two weeks of October. 

If one is known by the company they keep, certainly one’s stupidity, lack of civility and backward think is exposed by the grotesque ignorance of their party’s standard bearers and high profile supporters.  You are what you vote.
 
Kasich warns against 'secular society'; John Kasich Says Secularists Lack Values

Donald Trump Says America Would Have "Common Sense" If Far-Right Host Michael Savage Headed NIH  [National Institute of Health]

Bobby Jindal Blames Oregon Shooting on Abortion and Single Mothers 

Ben Carson On Oregon Murders: 'I Would Not Just Stand There And Let Him Shoot Me'

Ben Carson: Hitler may have been stopped if the German public were armed

Mike Huckabee Is Having A Meltdown About New Rainbow Doritos

Lindsey Graham, seeking aid for home state, says he can't remember why he voted against Sandy relief

Jeb Bush Blows Off Oregon Mass Shooting Deaths by Saying “Stuff Happens”

The violent “perversion” we’re witnessing is due to America lacking “… a certain Christian foundation or religious foundation to our country.” Rand Paul

Lou Dobbs Says School Shootings are Happening Because We Took Religion Out of School: Need to Pray More

Michele Bachmann: Carolina Flooding Is God's Wrath For U.S. Israel Policy

Bill O'Reilly Denies The Existence Of Child Hunger: "It's A Total Lie"

Michael Savage Suggests UCC Shooting Was An Obama Conspiracy To Distract From Syrian Civil War

Franklin Graham says Obama influenced by Islam, all his policies are 'against Christ'

NRA's Ted Nugent Calls Unarmed Victims Of Gun Violence "Losers"

Texas Republican: Jewish Bernie Sanders Is Just Like A Nazi

When Rick Santorum said of the GOP "We will never have the elite, smart people on our side…” and when Bobby Jindal said  ”Republicans must stop being the stupid party" Truer words were never spoken. Both statements confirm the old saw that some times even blind, religiously demented squirrels, find a nut.

An Open Letter to the Devoutly Religious and Oh So Put-Upon Christians

Dear Evangelical, Born Again, Dominionist, snake handling, tongue talking, gun wielding, gay hating, misogynistic,  xenophobic, bible deficient, cherry picking Christians of all sects and denominations:

Hola!!  Hope you are well.  I’m doing fine in spite of your penchant for praying Psalm 109 imprecatory prayer every day in the hopes of bringing about the deaths of atheists, scientists, liberals, gays, the President, Muslims, pagans, and freethinkers everywhere.

Listen, I'm just dropping you this note to let you know you have my support.  I fully endorse your kids praying in school.  They can pray in their seats silently, so as not to disturb others.  They can pray in the bathroom while relieving themselves or while sneaking a smoke. They can pray on the playground, or during test taking, and in the lunch room, and on the bus to and from school, just so long as it is silent and doesn’t disrupt the class and/or school sponsored activities, isn’t proselytizing/forcing it on others, and isn’t being lead or endorsed by a teacher or any person hired by the school system. 

I’m quite sure your man-god can hear the silent prayers of your children…what with his being omniscient and telepathic and all.  Besides, Jesus said one should pray silently, and out of the public eye so as not to be a flaming hypocrite about ones devoutness (Matthew 6: 5-6).  But you knew that, right? Right.

I also wanted to say I support your anti-gay perspective.  Yep, the bible said homosexuals are an abomination and should be killed.  I don’t know how far you’re willing to go with that - considering you have zero interest in observing the other 612 laws of the Torah / Old Testament - but I encourage you to forego the murder of gays and simply hate them. Yes, that’s right, I fully endorse your right to hate gays, to not marry a gay person, or go to their weddings, or give them presents, or partake in their traditionally “fabulous” wedding receptions. You don’t have to invite them over for parties or prayer meetings, nor to your child’s ritualistic dunking or lamb’s blood washing. 

It’s totally okay to despise gays, including that 10% who, statistically,  are your sons and daughters even if you don’t know it yet.  It’s all good just so long as in conducting commerce with the public you treat gay people like you do straight people; and in conducting government business while in the employ of the government, you similarly make no distinctions. No doubt your God will understand, give you a pass, (he did say “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s” after all) and will simply condemn homos to hell and eternal torture in due time. It’s all good.

Next…I fully understand your “Right to Life” position, although it is a tad peculiar how your compassion and respect for the sanctity of human life doesn’t extend to death row inmates you so eagerly want to see hanged, gassed, shot or injected with a fatal cocktail…never mind the calls by some of your most devout to shoot, burn, lynch and otherwise murder our president.

Nevertheless, I support your right to not have an abortion, not conduct an abortion, not to pay for an abortion, not to watch abortions being conducted.  But your rights, your religious convictions, are sacrosanct right up to where they begin to impede and truncate the rights of women who do not hold your view and who are exercising their right to an abortion as determined by the Supreme Court over forty years ago in Roe v. Wade, 1973.  That is where your right of religious conviction stops and no longer holds sway over anyone’s reproductive systems … other than your own and your minor children.  

Finally, and this one is really important to remember: you can say Merry Christmas all you like. You can call them Christmas trees, Christmas decorations, Christmas presents, and Christmas vacations until you shit an Elf on the Shelf.  But the fact is, Christians do not own the month of December. It belongs to everyone including those who observe other religious holidays that fall during that time period, or who only observe New Years, or who observe no holidays at all who don’t feel like saying Merry Christmas, or opt not to  celebrate it like you do.  If people saying “Happy Holidays” offends you then shove some tinsel in your ear and buck up… this fallacious  persecution complex and make believe war on Christmas that you,
Bill “The Tide Goes In” O’Reilly,  and your 76% Xtian majority sob about annually is bullshit and doesn’t fool anyone.    Really want to be a martyr for Christianity?  Then visit the Big Cat House at your local zoo, and see if you can scratch a few lion bellies.  

In closing: I trust my support of your oh so important agendas, beliefs and prejudices is a comfort to you.  You’ll be even happier to hear that most freethinkers, realists and atheists similarly share my support for your freedom to embrace your stunted, medieval, cloistered, hateful non-think.  And as you practice your beliefs just remember, speaking on behalf of every American atheist …when we are the majority, we promise to treat you better than you treated us. Promise!

Yours in reason,

Dromedary Hump
 

Silentium Est Aureum [Silence is golden] ... sometimes.

I was waiting in line at the registrar's desk at my doctor's office today, when a a short woman perhaps in her fifties was exiting the office. She came up to me, smiled, said hello as though we knew each other. "I see by your fatigue shirt you were in the military." she said.

"Well, yes....a long, long time ago...Vietnam." I replied - realizing I had thrown on a camouflage shirt with my army unit patches and insignia on it as an over shirt for the first chilly day of the season.

She took my hand squeezed it looked into my eyes and said "Well, I want to thank you so much for what you did for us ... may God bless you and keep you." And as quickly as she appeared she exited.

It was so sudden, and I was so off guard, that I couldn't even respond with anything more than a weak "thanks." ... which is probably a good thing.

Because if my once razor sharp reflexes, now dulled by sixty-seven years of longevity, .had the time to kick in I may have told her I did nothing for her, or this country; that no thanks were due me; that  if I had the maturity, intellect and and common sense back then that I have now  I'd not have volunteered for the draft and would be a Canadian citizen enjoying a fully paid for annual physical as well as free dental;  ... not to mention the fact there is no fuckin' God, and if there was I'd hold the damnable thing responsible for the 58,220 dead American boys and girls who died there for nothing.

Just as well it happened too fast. She wouldn't have deserved that.

A Believer's Inquiry Part II: Of Gnomes and Gods

The following is the second of two email exchanges between myself and believer author Dick Gist.  Once again, if I am not appropriately representing your position/s as freethinkers, or even if I am, please feel free to comment on the blog article by clicking on "comments" at the end of this article on my blog,  or via this link    Thanks!

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3488651241352366915&postID=5052226050527041662

Bart,

Over the years I’ve “buried" a number of inadequate gods, and each experience was one of doubt and pain and sadness. But each time, a greater god appeared. I’m curious. In order to reject or deny a god, one must have in mind that which he/she is rejecting, and it would be interesting to know what that is for people (just a suggestion). I have to tell you, I don’t get enough stimulation of the sort I get from you, so I really appreciate your input.

The best,

Dick

Dick,
I'm a little at a loss as to your experience with "inadequate gods" and how atheists might relate to it vis-a-vis understanding which god one is rejecting.  It may be owing to the possibility that you are too invested in the "Everyone must have 'something' to believe in!" mindset that most theists seem to have, and seem to be unable to get beyond. But here's my best attempt at answering your question: 

As an atheist the very concept of a god has as much meaning to me as the concept of gnomes has to you.  You reject gnomes at face as not real, a non-existent creature, a creation of man's mind.  You do not need to substitute your rejection of gnomes with some other mythical creature; nor do you have to analyze what gnome qualities you reject.  I'd bet dollars to donuts it's not even a consideration.

Similarly, atheists' view God/gods of any flavor; with any  attributes or temperament; from any culture, time period, or civilization;  as just one more "gnome".  We don't need to find some replacement. 

In lieu of dependence on / belief in supernatural beings, most atheists tend to invest their lives in scientific reality, reason; in family and friends; in education, civility, fairness, and justice; in empathy for those less fortunate and the ethic of reciprocity; trying to make the here and now in the only world we will ever know as good as it can be.   No boogieman, or man-god, or four armed elephant god need apply. 

This is often difficult for the religiously indoctrinated to wrap their arms around, an alien concept, their having known nothing else but supernaturalism. 

Alas, while belief in gnomes is harmless, belief in supreme beings and the expectations and requirements they are  perceived to demand from their followers and practitioners is often quite malevolent and destructive. That is what makes me an anti-theist as well as an atheist.

Anyway... I'll work this aspect of our exchange into a second blog, and invite my readers to add their own perspectives.  We have no doctrine or dogma, so  I'm speaking for myself and from info gleaned from my association with many non-believers over the years.

Yours in reason,
Bart

A Believer's Inquiry Part 1: Of Gods and Aliens. Your Participation Requested.

Occasionally I receive emails from believers asking my perspective on religious matters / matters of belief. I try to be has helpful as possible to aid them in understanding the atheist perspective.  The other day I received one from a believer and fellow author, Dick Gist.  We have exchanged two email discussions thus far. This is Part 1 of a two part discussion. 

I am posting our exchange here to solicit your active input as to whether or not my answers represent my readers' positions. Since atheists do not share anything in common except having no belief in God or gods, I am always cautious in providing input that may be mistaken for "doctrine" or "dogma", since we have no such thing. I'm hoping you will share your thoughts, objections, agreements, alternative views so as to give Dick (and I) greater insights to atheist thought.

PLEASE, share your input on my blog page by clicking on "COMMENTS" located at the end of this article on my blog site. Or by clicking on the following link (or copying and pasting it into your address bar) which will take you to this article's comments page. It would be greatly appreciated by Dick and I.  Thanks in advance.
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3488651241352366915&postID=3217691742468991837

Hello Bart,

Dick Gist here "You don’t understand the Bible because you are Christian" is my most current book.  I have a question I hope you might respond to. And as I ask I realize there probably is no one answer. When an atheist says he/she does not believe in God, does that mean the theistic god of Judaism and Christianity (a lot of we believers reject that one), or does it mean an atheist believes we are alone in the universe? I’m reminded of Buckminster Fuller’s words, “Sometimes I think we are alone. Sometimes I think we’re not. Either way the thought is staggering.”

Busy here, and enjoying periodic give and take with the fundamentalist element, one a relative who recently grieved that I’m on my way into eternal darkness. Almost enough to tempt one towards atheism.

Hope you are well. I suspect the colors might be beginning to change there.

Dick Gist

 Hi Dick,

So nice to hear from you.  I am familiar with your book and have read some excerpts. Nicely done.  Having read the Bible more than once myself, the KJV and NIV, and after years of debate with Christians, your premise that they don't understand the Bible because of its Jewish roots is dead on.  In fact, very few have even opened its cover,  by my experience. 

To your question:  I 'd say there is one answer, and it's relatively simple - atheists do not have belief in ANY God or gods, period.  I'm comfortable speaking for atheists when I say we take all gods to have been inventions of man - made in man's image, one might say - with all of man's most malevolent attributes (i.e. jealousy, anger, hostility, vengeance, barbarism)  and some of the good ones too...albeit with an even more intense level than the emotions and attributes of man... supercharged so to speak.

I have also yet to meet an atheist who does not totally dismiss the supernatural as well as God/gods, although nothing in the definition of atheist / atheism prohibits one from believing in ghosts, faeries, demons and leprechauns, et al, aside from one's common sense and innate skepticism. 

As for being alone in the universe I can only speak for myself and most atheists I know.  It is highly unlikely, in my opinion, for earth to be the lone planet to sustain life among the billions and billions of planets in the vastness of the universe.  The very fact that earth supports life is evidence that life can exist elsewhere, given similar conditions. Thus, no...we are not alone, in my opinion. [Note: this is much different than believers in God / gods, who believe God/gods exist based solely on faith, with no observable evidence or supporting examples.]  Whether that life / life form is more or less advanced than us is any ones guess.  

Hope that answers your question.  If you do decide to "come to the dark side" as we freethinkers like to joke, be sure to let me know so I can be among the first to congratulate you on your final stage of evolution toward modernity.

Yours in reason,

Bart

Bart Centre
AKA Dromedary Hump, "The Atheist Camel"

Remember

Fourteen years ago today my eldest son experienced first hand the horror of the 911 attack. That morning he escaped World Trade Center Tower II as his mom and I waited for hours to know if he was alive or dead.  Almost three-thousand other Americans, and their tens of thousands of family and friends who loved them, were not so lucky.

For as long as my son, my wife and I live, that day will be indelibly etched into our memories.

No prayers for the fallen; no accolades to an imaginary being for sparing our son's life while said fantasy being allowed thousands to die in agony and fear.  No.  Just sadness at our nation's losses, and anguish at the suffering made possible by religious fanaticism. 

 'Science flies men to the moon, religion flies men into buildings.'  -Victor Stenger
 

“All Glory goes to God.” : The Ultimate Delusion of the Religiously Afflicted.

After four and a half days in jail for contempt of court, the Kentucky county clerk religious fanatic who refused to issue gay marriage licenses because of her religious convictions has been released.  .

The faithful were jubilant as she emerged from the jail; waving cutout crosses, signs with religious verse, and of course, the obligatory Confederate battle flag.  Because nothing says freedom, support for justice, and equal rights under the law like the Confederate flag.

Sandwiched between Mike Huckabee, the Al Sharpton of the right; her lawyer from Liberty University, a school that makes an associates degree from a third rate community college look like a doctorate; and her husband, the ultimate caricature of the white Southern under-educated trailer dwelling redneck dressed in his overalls and a straw hat … the three time divorcee and protector of family values and the faith proclaimed “All glory goes to God.”

To paraphrase Saturday Night Live’s Dan Akroid: “No, Kim…you ignorant slut…all glory goes to the reason and sanctity of a secular judicial system.”  The judge released her with the understanding that she will not interfere with her deputy clerks issuing marriage licenses to any qualified applicants including gay couples.

But never mind reality - Jesus set her free. For you see she serves “a living God” who, quite coincidentally, hates gays as much as she does, but who also it seems telepathically told her it’s cool to eat shrimp, marry four times, and wear her tacky polyester/cotton blend garments… never mind the biblical  admonishments against those things.

If there was ever a reason to despise the South and Christian fanatics it was the scene outside that jail - a veritable orgy of religious delusion and religiously supported bigotry. I sense this will embolden other office holders to misinterpret the judges reasoning and  largess and test the waters by similarly defying the law of the land. 

But it is of no matter. Gays will now be legally married, even in that Kentucky county. The protestations, and hallelujahs, praises and appeals to their god thing will not stop the advancement of freedom and equality, and the evolution of civility…anymore than did their for-bearers’ invoking the bible as justification for segregation and opposition to mixed marriage.  And as annoying and grotesquely laughable as that jail house celebration was, in the end, that’s all that matters.

{ Note:  My thanks to those of you who emailed me asking about my absence and expressing concerns for my health.  I’m well rested and eager to resume sharing my perspectives on religion.  Thank you all for your patience and continued support. - Hump}   

Professor Hump’s Three Minute Quiz: Relax...it's Pass / Fail

Quiz time, ladies and gentlemen.  Please put your books under your desk,  keep your eyes on your own computer, and no talking to your neighbor. You’ll have three minutes to complete this quiz.  Ready?  Let’s go:
Question 1:  The following are actual head lines taken directly from internet news sites. What two things, besides homophobia, do all of the people referenced in the body of these articles have in common?

 -  Alan Keyes: Gay Marriage Ruling A 'Just Cause For War'

-  Rick Wiles Warns Of 'Fireball From Space' If Supreme Court Strikes

    Down Gay Marriage Bans

-  Pastor Hagee: Putting an end to Gay Marriage is 'A Matter of Survival'

-  Rick Santorum Warns Gay Marriage Could Lead to Christian Persecution

 -  Texas lawmaker: ‘What is going on in Baltimore’ is because of too 

     many gay marriages

-  Church Marquee in Georgia Calls For Death To All Gay People

-  Pastor calls for killing gays to end AIDS

-  California’s ‘Kill The Gays’ Initiative Sparks Outrage
 
-  Mike Huckabee: Justices Can't Overrule God On Gay Marriage

Answer:  if you said “**Fundie Christian” and “Republican (GOP)” give yourself 10 points for each of the two possible answers. 
(**If you said simply “Christian” give yourself  ½ credit = 5 points)

Question 2: Given the inherent and well documented bigotry, social regression, and mindless hate that pervade these two groups, compounded by their traditional misogyny, obsession with your genitalia / sexuality, racism, distrust / denial of science, theocratic mindset, and jingoistic war endorsement -  if they were your neighbors would you align yourself with them by voting for them for mayor, or selectman, or town council, or dog catcher, much less a higher office?

Answer: if you said “No!” or / “Hell No!!” give yourself 10 points.    

Question 3:  Are you a registered Republican and/or an Independent who votes GOP?  If yes: how in the name of reason, modernity and humanity do you live with yourself being aligned with these people?

Answer: if you said “NO” give yourself 20 points.
If you answered “YES” and justified your position with “smaller government, and/or bigger defense spending, and/or  because blacks don’t vote GOP, and/ or lower taxes for the rich” deduct 30 points and unsubscribe to this blog at the bottom of your email notice.  Our common atheism is insufficient to justify our continued relationship.   

Okay pencils down.
If you got 40-50 points congrats, you pass! Proud of you.
If your score is 30 points or less, you fail … why are you still here?