Another blow for women today

Today the Supreme Court of the United States said that employers have the right to decide what I do with my body. They said that a for profit corporation has religious rights. I have no idea how to deal with this. It would never have occurred to me that this could happen in my country.

A friend posted this on Facebook

Apparently, the company Hobby Lobby is considered more of a person that I am in certain ways since it doesn't have a vagina. We women call that par for the course.

Since Hobby Lobby is quite person-like with its government-approved right to interfere with women's bodies just like the mostly white men in power have, I feel it is possible to tell it "Fuck you." You can't tell a regular ole business "Fuck you," so I don't feel silly saying it now.

Thanks, Supreme Court, for again upholding the comfort and sensibilities of rich white people while the rest of us continue to scramble for enough scraps to fill our bellies and maintain some form of dignity as human beings. You know what? Fuck you, too.

Harsh, but I get it. How can this have happened? I know how, religion; clear and simple.

Another friend posted this:  

Ok I know most of you are pissed about the SCOTUS decision on HL today but it's not as bad as it appears on the surface.

First if the religious can exempt themselves from things they are morally opposed to so can we.

Like insisting the insurance we offer does not include religious hospitals as in network and preferably not allowed at all. This will drive out of pocket costs up for the employees. Their problem not ours according to the court now.

But the best thing from all this is the long term outlook.

Religious owned companies of which many will now appear are going to screw so many people that they will turn from Christianity at faster and greater rates.

 Let's see what happens.

Mormons and Miracles

Last night I watched a movie about the Mormon handcart journey to Utah. I was moved to tears. It was sad and pulled at my heart strings. The movie portrayed the difficulty of the journey and the death of many. It gave me the sense that these were the most devout believers in history; and then I got mad.

How could any god, seeing the devotion of so many, be such a son-of-a-bitch? I could never worship such a selfish, cruel bastard. What could he possible want above total commitment? These people left their homes and their belongings to travel, in the worst of conditions, thousands of miles to a 'promised land' without so much as a horse to pull their wagons.

That is one selfish, narcissistic, egotistical maniac. Glad I am an atheist.

Being Good without Heavenly Reward

I don't wish to step on toes but I just have to repeat this

"When an atheist does good things for other people, they're not doing it for their rewards in heaven, or to save their souls from hell. They do it because they want to help other people. End of story."

I posted this on my FaceBook a few days ago. I find it interesting how the discussion progressed.In the beginning statements like: Good people are just that! ...and that is the bottom line. And because it is the right thing to do.

Then a surprising comment: Maybe they do it because they are selfish and want to feel good about themselves...hmmmm...Could that be the reason I help others? Maybe so, maybe I have my reward in that I feel good.


Then came the 'but what about when atheist do bad things because they know there is no permanent consequences"? Stalin, Dahmer, Jim Jones...wait wasn't Jim Jones a Christian?


Then comes the retort "what about Christians who do bad things" and so forth.


There was even a comment from my son who recited my telling him to always act if I were present....they way Christians say "God is watching"..he was more afraid of what I would do...interesting...good.


There is even a discussion about giving to the beggar on the corner and whether they are beggars or just scan artists.


I wonder if anyone got the point?

The Meaning of Words

I recently had an interesting conversation with a friend about the meaning of spiritual or spirituality. Some consider it acceptable to be 'spiritual' but not 'religious'. I can't wrap my head around that because the definition of the word refers to religion.

               spir·i·tu·al·i·ty

plural spir·i·tu·al·i·ties
Full Definition of SPIRITUALITY
1   something that in ecclesiastical law belongs to the church or to a cleric as such
2   clergy
3   sensitivity or attachment to religious values
4   the quality or state of being spiritual

: the quality or state of being concerned with religion or religious matters : the quality or state of being spiritual                                                                             

   My friend stated that different people have different meanings for words so if my meaning includes a reference to religion it is not necessarily the same as another's meaning.  Hummmmm.....That is a problem for me:

Case in point: I was at the airport recently and I asked directions to a particular elevator that I knew would take me within a few feet of my parking spot in the overnight garage. I knew that I had taken the elevator to the tunnel and then walked to the escalator that took me to ticketing. The person giving the directions told me to go through the tunnel past the second 'crosswalk' and the elevator would be on my right. 

crosswalk  

1.  a marked path where people can safely walk across a street or road 
2.  a specially paved or marked path for pedestrians crossing a street or road

Now that is a crosswalk to me. It crossed a street. I knew I had not gone outside when arriving at the airport and I could not understand why I had to go outside to return to the garage. The gentlemen was kind enough to walk me part of the way and I soon realized that my meaning of 'crosswalk' was quite different than his. He was referring to the 'people movers' or moving sidewalk as I have known it called.

Meaning matters. If everyone can have their own meaning then we can not communicate. We cannot do business, have relationships, become educated. The English language is fraught with double meaning words, fuzzy meaning words and even nonsense words but for the most part the important parts of communication are based on an accepted meaning. There are times when it is necessary to'define the terms' but I must hope that ordinary daily conversations are exempt from such formality.

The Real Meaning of Prayer

Do you pray? Yes? Well please take a moment and think about what you are doing. I won't discuss whether prayer works or not; let's say it does. So now...what are you really asking?

Some years ago I was taking a college course in American Literature and Mark Twain was required reading. As I perused the list of his works I came across a short work written during the Civil War.

The War Prayer

At the time I read it my son was 13 years old and participating in the Junior Olympics in Tae Kwon Do. He was to compete in Tulsa the next day. Being an on the fence believer at the time I often found myself praying. It seemed natural to pray for my son's success...until I read this work.

 It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and sputtering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spreads of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country and invoked the God of Battles, beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpouring of fervid eloquence which moved every listener. 

Then as now, patriotism was inextricably connected to god. The churches were filled with the loved ones of the soldiers fighting in the war.

And they prayed. They prayed for the success of their soldiers without a thought of what they were asking...just as I did when I asked for victory for my son.

But, as in Twain's story, two not one prayer is offered.

uttered in fervent appeal,"Bless our arms, grant us the victory, O Lord our God, Father and Protector of our land and flag!" 

When a mother asks for her son, victory over the other, she is also asking for the opponent's  defeat. . When the preachers stand before the congregants on Sunday morning and prays for the victory of 'our side' two prayers are said, not one. 

Something about that seems unchristian.

State as Murderer

The first recorded history of an execution in the British Colonies (no United States of America) was in 1608 for treason. Hi name was Captain George Kendall and it seems there was no clear cut evidence that he actually committed a crime. REF We will never know now.

How many other have been murdered by the state who were innocent? We will never know now. But, you say, that doesn’t happen very often. Well there are at least 15 known cases since 1992. REF Can we justify even one?

That is the problem with state sanctioned murder. There is no turning back. Once a person is dead there is nothing more that can be done. Clearing his/her name notwithstanding. Although important, it is of little value to the family of a wrongly accused and murdered loved one.

Now before you begin to admonish me for having sympathy for the criminal, just stop. I think criminals should be punished, period. But death is only punishment for the family of the criminal not the criminal. I want him/her punished. I want them to live in humane but minimal circumstances. I want him/her to work every day, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week and earn minimum wage which will go to support his/her sustenance. I want him/her to have to think about what happened and live with the knowledge that he is being punished. Death is the end and therefore not a punishment.

Some will say he gets his punishment in hell, but...how many criminals find jesus on death row? Most of them. So now, if you buy that crap, he is going to heaven where he will spend eternity with his victims! Oh my god, how can that be just?

State murder is murder. It has nothing to do with punishment and everything to do with revenge and states should not be in the revenge business. It doesn’t deter crime. REF  Long sentences in minimal conditions in maximum security facilities does. Making criminals support themselves will work.

It is time to get the state out of the murder business.

Borrowing again from Seth Andrews

If you're a non-believer in a highly religious family, perhaps you can relate. 

For years, my mother and father have expressed deep embarrassment and shame over my atheism and activism. Every time the issue came up, they seemed to approach my castle wall from a different angle, testing for weaknesses. One day was the argument from authority. Next time might be the tactic of quoting scripture to prove scripture. Then might come condescension or mockery of secular science. They'd tout their religious education and claim authority. Mom would give me Christian "science" books. Dad would warn about hell fire. I've even seen them toss out the Hitler grenade.

Other family members aren't as confrontational, but they lace each exchange with a pitiful tone one might use on a wounded animal. Poor Seth. If only he wasn't so misguided. We'll pray for him and do our best to show him the love of Jesus, and one day the prodigal will come home. (In the meantime, we'll keep tabs on our kids to make sure they don't read too much of his atheism-related stuff, as we've already force-fed them the Truth!)

It's...insane. The burden of proof lies upon them and their bible-based claims that animals can talk, humans can live 1,000 years, people can live for three days submerged inside a giant fish, corpses can parade through a city street, chariots can fly, and that all the species of the world's animals lived within walking distance of Noah's house, AND I'M THE PROBLEM.

For my skepticism about these wild charges, I've become radioactive. And until I'm decontaminated and brought back into their culture of superstition, cult-speak and woo, I'll be the black sheep, the mid-life crisis, the guy who "is going through a phase," a pain in the ass, an inconvenient branch on the family tree. I'll be welcome to participate as a member of the tribe, but each conversation will be slightly tainted with distance and disappointment.

All I really want is to be able to enjoy my family without the undercurrent of pity, patronization and shame. I'm not required to carry some generational mantle or stay within narrow boundaries built for me by another. I don't owe it to my family to keep them comfortable and happy. And I'll continue to work for a world where parents will never pledge love and lifelong allegiance to an invisible wizard that would torture their flesh-and-blood son in the obscenity of Hell.

What a screwed up world.