I’m sorry, but the above photo is ridiculous.  You have every right in the world to be concerned for your children’s safety when a man dressed like a gangster walks in the room.  You could place a Buddhist Monks robe on this guy, it doesn’t change the fact that he is capable of both great good and great evil.  The Nazi’s employed thousands of doctors to conduct experiments on prisoners; I wouldn’t want to be alone in room with any of them either.

“HE” is making the statement about who is by how he chooses to present himself.  And we have every right to treat him accordingly.  Your ancestors wouldn’t have survived long in the jungle if they were not keenly adept at profiling strangers.   The truth is, we all are screaming and begging to be profiled by others every single day.  Just walk in your local mall and see the plethora of boys and girls peacocking for attention, or trying not to be noticed, or broadcasting how wealthy they are by their behavior and dress, or pretending not to care about their appearance.  Profiling is something we do constantly and for very good reasons: survival being one of them even today.

We are simply lying to ourselves when we pretend that it is wrong to do it.  Our current political correctness forces us to lie to ourselves and others when we all sit around pretending not to profile, and it’s ridiculous.  We all need to grow up.

I’m not saying that profiling can’t be abused, because it certainly can.  And bigotry and racial bias can easily use our inherent profiling as a justification for maintaining equally unrealistic and unreasonable prejudices.  This we of course need to fight at every turn.  But the pendulum of political correctness can swing too far, and this is a perfect example.  I’m sorry, but if you choose to dress like a gangster, a junkie, a burglar, a biker, or any other form that says you are willing to break our laws, then don’t sit back and be offended when you are treated accordingly.

And needless to say, if I walked into a preschool  and saw a catholic priest alone with the kids… yah, you bet I’m calling the cops.

David Stockin

May 3, 2012

Ultimately, this is exactly why I am “up in the air” on this issue. Let me begin with this analogy. If a morbidly obese woman who swallows Big Macs like Tic Tacs shovels food down the throat of her kids at the same rate she heaves food into her own fat mouth, the kid is going to have a few problems. Weighing 140 pounds in the first grade is a reality for some children. They are already unhealthy, but must also endure agonizing torture at the hands of their peers. Obviously, these kids are going to be rejected from day one and will probably suffer from long-term lack of self-esteem as well. I believe it is the duty of teachers and parents to report this problem to Child Protective Services. These enormoparents are endangering their children and subjecting them to misery. In several cases, the government steps in and forces these irresponsible parents to correct the problem. This happened just a few months ago in Ohio when a 200+ pound 8-year-old was taken from his mother and placed in foster care.

Now, let’s look at an issue closer to our interests here. As you probably know, I live in the great, backward state of Texas. As a parent of three and a lover of science, I want my children to receive a great education. This is difficult. I live in a small town. Our schools are failing. The pass rate of the state standardized test is 27%. I want my children in private school. The dilemma here is that every private school in the area is owned by a church or is a private Christian academy. Every day, parents drop their kids off at these schools in order to protect their minds from the evils of true education. At the Alpha Omega Academy, children are taught that the Earth is 6,000 years old. Reasonable standards of education do not apply here.

Granted, they are doing better than the public schools. Students at these schools are still given standardized tests to measure their abilities. Please spare me the “teaching to the test” comments. That is not the point. These students, however, are not required to know what evolution is, they don’t have to understand how the world truly works, and thanks to recent legislation, they are free to ignore those founding fathers whose views do not measure up. For example, Thomas Jefferson now receives two brief mentions in textbooks—one for writing the first draft of the Declaration of Independence, and one for being president.

But fat kids are taken from their mothers. It’s possible that I am blowing this entire thing out of proportion. Hell, obesity is clearly a health issue. But am I wrong for believing that a solid education is a necessary part of a healthy mind? Once again, I do not like the idea of the government being able to tell parents how to raise their children, but when parents decide that their children should ignore verifiable and proven information in order to maintain a presence of ignorance, should it be the responsibility of the government to say, “No! Just because you are an idiot doesn’t mean you can force your kid to be that way.” They may be succeeding in teaching a child to read above their grade level, but if this advanced reading level is used to learn mythology in place of fact, it is useless.  At what point does the government go into these private schools and force them to teach real information? And when does the government tell parents the same thing?

I don’t identify with any party, and for the foreseeable future, I won’t be registering with one. It is interesting how sensitive people are about these things. Concerning the upcoming presidential election, I will not be voting. I didn’t vote in the last one either. And don’t say I can’t complain because I didn’t vote; I can and I will. Although I won’t be looking for a ballot any time soon, there is one thing for certain if I were to be: I most certainly would not vote for a Republican candidate.

Sometimes it is hard to say what exactly the things I agree with Republicans on are. But the root of vexation with the party is based on a series of political issues that put them and me at odds. And it isn’t necessarily a general thing. Some of the positions on issues I look for, that are important so as to gain my vote, are the willingness to uphold the separation of church and state, the legality of embryonic stem cell research, and gay rights, among others. Basically, all of the GOP candidates fail miserably in these categories. And what’s worse is that these matters, and others, go even deeper into subsets of their own.

I can only sit, incredulous, while watching people campaigning to be the President of the United States look a debate moderator, and the whole country and world for that matter, in the face and flat out say that they plan to deny some Americans the rights that most others have should they be elected. Just as bad are the “justifications” they give in interviews and speeches. And when they do so in debates, they receive applause.

Imagine that; people cheering because a presidential candidate says he will overturn the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Or because they bragged about how much they’ve approved the murder of people in the form of the death penalty. Or because they support the idea that some people shouldn’t be allowed to get married, adopt children, and a litany of other things simply because of who they are attracted to.

Well, no need to imagine these instances. They have happened and are happening all the time. It’s a disgusting occurrence to be sure, but too large a number of people are engaging and encouraging this activity.

It just seems that these people and their supporters are trying too hard to stay conservative as a lifestyle. Young generations have already realized we aren’t in an age in which oppression is an option. Old generations seem proud to be raised in a time when they were taught that the way things are now is wrong, that change is bad. They still want women with their shirts buttoned up to their chin and people not able to say something as plain as “shit” on television shows. These boring complaints of theirs come from the want of 1) oppression of human nature, 2) oppression of human desire, and 3) oppression of human expression. Have tattoos? You must have been in a gang or prison. Have long hair? You must be a drug user. Use profanity? You must have been raised by a gang member/drug user. Sometimes stereotypes are funny, but a lot times, they are lame, predictable, and so far away from reality.

Also apparent is that these people also either know nothing of stem cell research or just ignore important facts about it. You can find news stories all the time about how donated stem cells have helped cure or cure symptoms of people with all sorts of afflictions, from diabetes and strokes, to spinal cord injuries and cancers. Yet, the study and use of stem cells when attained via an embryo is off limits for many of these candidates. At this time, it is quite obvious to point out that a lot of these issues, including this one, have their basis in their religious beliefs. And this is why basing political opinions and issues on faith is a dangerous idea. Just with this issue alone, we are losing a massive amount of possibilities and one of the most important new developments of medical science of the last century.

The simplest break down I’ve seen of this kind of research, as it pertains to its morality, comes from Sam Harris. And no, this isn’t some spin job done by a liberal zealot. This is as plain as the truth gets; from his book Letter to a Christian Nation, p.29-30:

“A three-day-old human embryo is a collection of 150 cells called a blastocyst. There are, for the sake of comparison, more than 100,000 cells in the brain of a fly. The human embryos that are destroyed in stem-cell research do not have brains, or even neurons. Consequently, there is no reason to believe they can suffer their destruction in any way at all. It is worth remembered, in this context, that when a person’s brain has died, we currently deem it acceptable to harvest his organs (provided he has donated them for this purpose) and bury him in the ground. If it is acceptable to treat a person whose brain has died as something less than a human being, it should be acceptable to treat a blastocyst as such. If you are concerned about suffering in this universe, killing a fly should present you with greater moral difficulties than killing a human blastocyst.

Perhaps you think that the crucial difference between a fly and a human blastocyst is to be found in the latter’s potential to become a fully developed human being. But almost every cell in your body is a potential human being, given our recent advances in genetic engineering. Every time you scratch your nose, you have committed a Holocaust of potential human beings.”

If you have a problem with this research knowing this, you have more problems than you realize. And Sam might know what he’s talking about, considering his B.A. in philosophy from Stanford and PhD in neuroscience from UCLA.

Each of the candidates also poses a major threat to the separation of church and state, be it in the form of mandatory prayers in public schools, tax breaks for faith based governmental organizations (we can just call those “surreptitious subsidies”), the exclusion and intolerance of non-Christian faiths in the public arena, etc. I’m pretty sure everyone can continue to fill in the blanks.

Mitt Romney, via Mormonism, believes in just plain silly things. Rick Santorum is on a homophobic crusade and hates abortion, despite his wife having had one. Newt Gingrich’s hypocrisy in the form of “sanctity of marriage” rhetoric, although I don’t know which of his wives he has preached it to most. Unfortunately, and nauseatingly, the list goes on. The amount of moral inadequacies with these candidates is appalling, and yet these people (a few) are serious candidates for the job. I can do no less than consider it morally irresponsible to vote for anyone in this lot, and I’m sorry more people don’t.

Quick update. I am working toward an M.A. while being a T.A. Add the whole single dad thing to that, and I have quite the load. Brian has been pretty busy himself. Recently, he opened his own business–one which will go nameless until I know if he is comfortable saying what it is on this site.

Atheism, however, is alive and well. Every day, I am still amazed at the ridiculous frame of mind in the Bible Belt. I’m not sure how many of you are from the South, but it is quite a place. I was talking to my sister yesterday about the almost uniform personalities down here in Texas. This is known as the “Solid South.” Everyone votes the same. There is also widespread courtesy. If I can say anything about this hellhole, it’s that the people are nice. But think about it. The massive majority of people in this area are connected by similar views on religion and politics. These are the two things Mom says not to discuss at the dinner table. More than anything else, these two belief structures will create combatants ready to go at the throat of anyone who holds a different view.

If the people here are connected by a Christian Conservative ideology, then courtesy is going to be easy. My dad is a Christian Conservative. He is respectful of other people and respected by people as well. I see him once every six months or so. He becomes vicious when I visit. That’s the trade off. Courtesy lasts so long as the comfort zone isn’t breached. Pops is well aware that I am an atheist. He also knows that my views become increasingly liberal with each passing day. When these two ideas are brought up, he turns into a monster. He will curse, scream, and insult. He is not a stranger in this behavior. I have been insulted by many people who do not like my views. I don’t talk about them that often. All it really takes is for someone to find out that I am an atheist. When that happens, they are on alert. Always distrusting. Always on the defensive. Southern courtesy is only skin deep.

One of the funniest things about this place is how quick people are to assume that you are a Christian. Until you state otherwise, you will be asked to pray, guess god’s opinion on topics not mentioned in the Bible, and yes–pray. More often than not, I have kept my mouth shut and gone along with the crowd, all the while feeling very awkward and doing all I could to hide my disgust. Many would not do the same if they were in my shoes. I avoid conflict when possible. Hell, that’s why I am writing this from behind a computer screen right now. I don’t invite Christians over to watch what I write. The simple fact is arguing the same thing over and over again gets exhausting.

Atheists seem angry for one very simple reason. We hear the same ridiculous arguments over and over again. We give the same logical and reasonable answers over and over again; only to have it dismissed by the simpletons we are speaking to. It’s much easier to speak to like-minded people. That is why AtheistConnect exists. We could spend our time finding Christians and going after them, but hell, isn’t it more fun to make fun of them behind their backs?

So here is the real question:

Recently, my sister was at dinner with some people she had just met. A man, obviously assuming that everyone was a Christian, asked what everyone
“believed” God thought about suicide.

What would you say?

Previously posted on Project-Reason.org and Truthsaves.com
Re-posted with author’s permission

Joe (www.truth-saves.com administrator) recently posted a blog featuring Adam Corolla talking about his atheism, and it got me to listening to some of his other comments on the subject. On one of his radio shows, Adam stated that he is often asked “What made you an atheist?” I have also been asked this question many times over the years, and Adam’s response really got me thinking.

As America is the most religious industrialized nation in the world, it seems that most Atheists in this country have a “story” regarding how they transitioned from religiosity, or at least the tacit support of religion, to deciding to declare their rationality. Every time I told my “story” to a person who believed in the supernatural, they would declare triumphantly how I had a “bad experience with religion” and that it was those events that made me an atheist. I have never been comfortable with that analysis of my experience, as it minimized the role of critical thinking and reason, and emphasized a specific event that occurred. Yes, events occurred that got me to thinking, but that does not mean that those events caused me to be vengeful against religion. When the apple fell and hit Isaac Newton on the head, did the blow cause him to start thinking critically about physics? Or did the pain cause him to go on a tree killing rampage? Clearly it is possible for one to suffer through a traumatic experience and become a better person because of it.

First of all, nothing makes someone an atheist, and I mean literally nothing. Simply NOT having religious dogma forced upon you as a child, is all it takes. Christopher Hitchens often points out that every child in Sunday school can see right through the preposterous claims of the religious, as is evident by the astonished looks on their faces, and they only succumb to these irrational beliefs after being threatened and intimidated by their elders. Every child is born an atheist; they become religious when their parents teach dogma as fact. If you want atheist children, all it takes is to simply protect children from people who pretend to know about the existence of supernatural creatures and the divine authorship of certain books.

Some people become atheists after being religious. This takes a high degree of critical thinking, rationality, and understanding the difference between right/wrong and true/false (note that this is the definition of Morality). The ability to work through the various dogmatic teachings one has been raised with and to identify the errors, really does take a lot of introspection and self-reflection. Anyone who claims that changing your life-long beliefs is easy has never done so. While it is certainly possible that folks have become atheists due to a willful blind choice against religion, many of us are simply taking responsibility for our beliefs. This is something that the religious do not do, the responsibility for their beliefs, right or wrong, lies with their imagined supernatural creature.

I am an atheist, not because of an experience or event in my life; I am an atheist because I strive to know the difference between right and wrong, true and false, accurate and inaccurate. I am an atheist because I can think critically about new information, ideas and concepts, and am willing to go through the difficult process of changing my beliefs when they are proven in error or incomplete. I am an atheist, because there is no more evidence to support the biblical Hebrew gods, than there is to support Zeus and Thor. I am an atheist, because I do not believe in the supernatural. I am an atheist because I was born one, just like everyone else.

David Stockin

Jeremiah 10 (KJV)

1. Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
2. Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
3. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
4. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
5. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.

Yes, you read it correctly; the Bible strictly forbids Christmas trees!

Please don’t think that this is taken out of context, the chapter itself is actually entitled “God and Idols” (by Christians in the NIV) and all 25 versus of it go on about how horrible people are that would decorate trees for celebratory events. We could go into detail on each of the versus, but needless to say the entire chapter says that the heathens that practice the decoration of tree’s for celebratory reasons are vain, brutish, and foolish. Of course, it then backs up these claims with threats of violence and eventually calls upon God to “pour out thy fury upon the heathen”.

Keep in mind, that when the book of Jeremiah was written, there was no Christmas; it merely bans God’s followers from practicing this heathen ritual. Merry Christmas everyone!

So here is a brief history of the Christmas tree for you:

• The shortest day of the year in the Northern hemisphere falls on December 21 or December 22 and is called the winter solstice. Too many ancient peoples the sun was a god and the winter solstice signified that the sun had become sick and died. Evergreen’s reminded them of all the green plants that would grow again when the sun god would be “reborn” and summer would return. The winter solstice celebrations, which we now call Christmas, were and still are a celebration of re-birth, and are almost certainly the single oldest celebration in human history.
• The sun god Amen-Ra was worshipped by the ancient Egyptians, he had the head of a hawk and wore the sun as his crown. In keeping with tradition, Amen-Ra was considered to be sick and week leading up to the solstice, and would begin to recover 3-days later (when the sun began to move in the sky again). To celebrate, the Egyptians would fill their homes with green palms which symbolized rebirth and the triumph of life over death. To this day, Jew’s, Christian’s, and Muslim’s end their prayers in honor of this Egyptian god, with the word “Amen”.
• The Roman celebratory feast called the Saturnalia marked the solstice in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. They decorated their homes and temples with evergreen boughs to celebrate the coming spring when farms and orchards would again be green and fruitful.
• The sun god Balder was celebrated in Northern Europe at the winter solstice by the Druids, the Celts, and the Vikings. They would decorate their homes and temples with evergreen boughs as a symbol of everlasting life.
• In the 16th century, Germany is credited with starting the modern Christmas tree tradition by bringing decorated trees into their homes. There was even a tradition of building pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens. It is said that Martin Luther himself, added the very first candle to a tree.

To conclude, I would just like to say that no matter what you may believe or don’t believe as it were, having a celebration at the winter solstice is a very ancient human tradition. For me, weather you call it Christmas, Saturnalia, Festivus, Dongzhi, Hogamanay, Hanukah, Inti Raymi, Cuanza, etc., they are all just words representing a damn good reason to have party!

So weather you are celebrating the winter solstice in honor of Jesus, Horus, Amen-Ra, Zothar, Mithra, Balder, Saturn, Bacchus, Amaterasu, Bona Dea, Callieach Bheur, Demeter, Dionysus, Frau Holle, Grigga, the Holly King, Odin, the Spider Woman of the Hopi, etc., or you are just glad that the cosmic forces of the universe allowed our rock to make one more revolution around our sun; then I say to you, happy holidays from all of us at Atheist Connect!

David Stockin
December 24, 2011

In 1981, Hitchens emigrated to the United States. He wrote for The Nation, where his liberal ideals and penmanship were used to attack the Reagan administration. In 1989, he met Carol Blue, whom he married and later gave birth to a daughter, Antonia. In 1992, he became a contributor for Vanity Fair. In 2006, Hitchens published god is not Great–his greatest work. In this book, he attacked religion using historical references, personal stories, and analysis of religious texts. He contended that religion was violent and harmful. god is not Great received mixed reviews, but was a huge success.

Hitchens’ death is a tragedy–a shocking blow to all of us even though we knew it was coming. With so much fight left in him and so much more to give, he slipped through our fingers, leaving behind powerful words through which he will gain immortality. His words and passion will remain with us. His battle will be picked up by another, but it will certainly be a long time before someone with the same zeal and thirst for knowledge is able to rise to the challenge. Not since Carl Sagan has a leader in the atheist community been so genuine and spoken with such brutal honesty. Farewell, Mr. Hitchens. You will be missed. You will be remembered.