Referendum 71

28Oct09

Hey all, I know it’s been a while (more than a year!) since my last post here, but I decided it was probably time to resurrect this old blog.  And what better reason to do it than this?

It’s become clear in the last few weeks that we really need to get the word out about all of the LGBT rights “battles” going on across the US right now.  Now, I may not be in the same league as G-A-Y or Pam’s House Blend, but better to have proper information available where anyone can stumble upon it, rather than keeping it locked away on the big sites that your average person isn’t going to find unless they’re looking for them specifically.

The truth is, it’s down to the wire and we can’t just sit back and ride the wave of Hope from the 2008 election and Barack Obama’s historic new presidency.  Not when it comes to this issue.  Right now in Maine, Kalamazoo (that’s in Michigan, folks), and in my home state of Washington, we have three separate movements going on which will either help or hinder the advancement of civil rights for LGBT citizens in the foreseeable future.  All three were passed by legislature, but are now up to a vote due to opponent-backed referenda.  And while all three are incredibly important civil rights battles, I’ll be focusing my post on one in particular.

Filed under: Equality, Life   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: Equality, gay, GLBT, GLBTQ, lesbian, LGBT, LGBTQ, marriage, Referendum 71

平等結婚

24Aug08

Here’s a comment I made on someone’s blog about how non-biblical marriages (i.e., featuring homosexuals, cheaters, divorcées, etc.) are destroying the concept of family and are therefore a detriment to society.  Basically the OP was arguing that for a society to flourish, it must follow the Bible, especially in the area of marriage and family.  So I asked:

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Atheism survey

17Jun08

Well, I dunno if I’d call myself an all-out atheist, but i thought this survey would be interesting to take nonetheless. Enjoy!

Q1. How would you define “atheism”?

Atheism is nothing more or less than the lack of belief in a god or gods. It’s not a religion or philosophy. It’s a simple yes/no stance on an issue (in this case, it’s a no).

Q2. Was your upbringing religious? If so, what tradition?

I was raised in a Christian home, though for my dad and brothers it was almost a non-issue. That is, until something came along that they saw as a threat to tradition or wholesomeness or some such. I was the only one who read his Bible daily and actively sought and tried to discern and discuss God in his life, without it having to be triggered by “those damn gays” or “the Feminazis”.

Q3. How would you describe “Intelligent Design”, using only one word?

subversive

Q4. What scientific endeavor really excites you?

CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. Will it unlock untold new information about our universe, possibly furthering scientific development on a grand scale? Or will it destroy the world? Who knows? Who cares?! We might actually have an cartoon supervillain-scale doomsday device on our hands here! Now let’s all strap our enemies to the LHC and spend 20 minutes telling them every detail of our nefarious plot!

Q5. If you could change one thing about the “atheist community”, what would it be and why?

I would try to insert a bit more respect for religion and the religious in a few areas (including my own little corner of nogod’s land). Respecting people and their beliefs isn’t the same as condoning or approving of them, but I read so much atheist material online that totally blasts all religion, no matter what, sometimes in total ignorance; the mentality of “If it’s religion, it’s ridiculous” is disrespectful and unfair, just like “If it’s not Christianity/Islam/Hinduism, it’s evil”.

Q6. If your child came up to you and said “I’m joining the clergy”, what would be your first response?

“Are you absolutely sure this is what you want to do with your life? Do you truly believe in the religion, and do you really believe you are making this decision for the right reasons? Yes? Okay then, you have my blessing, as it were. Go forth and do good.”

Q7. What’s your favorite theistic argument, and how do you usually refute it?

“Christianity is the true faith, because the Bible, and therefore God, said so.” I usually reply with something like “Hinduism is the true faith because Krishna said so.” It doesn’t work though, because then they just say that only their Bible is God’s word, to which I have to reply that the Vedas or some such also make that claim, and the cycle never ends.  Oh well.

Q8. What’s your most “controversial” (as far as general attitudes amongst other atheists goes) viewpoint?

Maybe that religion isn’t totally worthy of ridicule? Maybe that it’s possible that there exists some kind of “Supernatural” or “Divine” out there (or in us) somewhere. I’m not really part of the “atheist community” so I dunno.

Q9. Of the “Four Horsemen” (Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens and Harris) who is your favourite, and why?

Well I haven’t really read anything from these guys, so I can’t choose. I already don’t believe in an involved or personal god, so instead of reading books trying to convince me of such, I like reading books that tell me what other people think on the subject (the Bible, Qur’an, Upanishads, Dhammapada, etc.).

Q10. If you could convince just one theistic person to abandon their beliefs, who would it be?

Ray Comfort. Christians following Christianity is fine, but this bastard wields the religion like a gays-and-atheists-and-science-smiting sword of wrath. He takes his swings, then hides behind his shield of sarcasm and biblical literalism. The man oozes hate and disrespect and subversion like an infected pustule, all the while smiling and trying to convince you that he is acting out of love.

Filed under: Christianity, Religion   |  1 Comment
Tags: Agnosticism, Atheism, Christianity, Religion

Back to the Gita

10Apr08

After forays into the worlds of the Upanishads, the Dhammapada, Tao Te Ching, Analects of Confucius, and the Qur’an, I have decided to read the Bhagavad Gita again. It was a part of the curriculum for my Sacred Texts class last quarter, but to be entirely honest, I didn’t read it then because I have already read it several times. This means the last time I read it was when I was in Japan back in October, so I think I could do with a refresher-read. Plus, back then I was reading Stephen Mitchell’s translation, which was written to be more a poetic English rendition than Eknath Easwaran’s Classics of Indian Spirituality translation (which is what I’ll be reading this time).

I suppose before I go back to the Gita, I could write here about some of my impressions from the other texts I’ve read recently:

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Tags: Bhagavad Gita, scripture

Ashta jaharam.

26Oct07

Like I mentioned in my last post [since deleted. sorry!], I have lately been feeling a reconnection with Christianity, specifically with the character of Jesus. This is all well and good, because Jesus was a great guy, and I think he had some really good ideas and a firm base in God. But in the past few days, I have made a terrifying realization: the idea of returning to the blind faith of Christianity has become appealing to me. Well, no, that’s not exactly right. I do not want to go back to that world. Ever. Still, the idea of belonging to a religion in which I don’t have to think for myself seems so much easier than what I am doing right now. No more moral dilemmas or questions of theology or philosophy, because all the answers are conveniently found in this one book! No more floundering for answers when asked what I believe, because the Church tells me what I believe. So simple. So easy.

Filed under: Christianity, Craziness, Religion   |  1 Comment