I’m an atheist, and one of the things I am absolutely tired of hearing about is how humans need religion in their lives to be and act morally.  It’s outrageous.  So, I’m declaring war on the idea that morality is strictly the providence of the religious.

You tell me.  Take a look at that chart and tell me who has morality and who doesn’t.  Let me give you a clue … it aint the non-religious folks who condone torture.  In reality it appears to be, well, a huge majority of the religious who condone torture.

So, do me a favor.  Next time you want to spout off about the morality of the religious as opposed to the lack of said morality in us atheists … re-consider the argument.  BECAUSE IT IS FUNDAMENTALLY UNTRUE!

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A Peek Inside

I went to the county fair this morning for a couple of hours.  I’m not a fair person, but I was there to visit the younger Princely Midget.  He’s got a pig there and today was auction day.  Yes, for the second year in a row my Jewish son raised a pig.  Last year’s pig was named Chuleta — Spanish for pork chop.  This year’s pig was named Kosher.  Go figure.  That’s not the point here though.  Parking was $10, Admission was $5.  When I went to the Giants game this past Wednesday, we parked at the lot controlled by the team.  We paid $35 to park.  Each of our tickets was $18.  In other words, we paid $1 more for two admissions than we paid to park our car.  So, my question is this … when did parking at an event begin to cost more than actually attending the event?

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TheSelfPublisher has gotten off to a pretty incredible start.  Only a couple of days and we’ve got six authors contributing and almost 30 followers.  Want to join the fun?  Let me know.

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I’m fine with the opening paragraph to this piece:

Rationalists and secularists in the old plain style were very clear about death and dying, or at least they tried to be. “It’s just a nothing,” they would say: “the lights go out and then the curtain falls.” I won’t exist after I die, but then I didn’t exist before I was born, so what’s the big deal? It’s going to happen anyway, so just get over it. We are only forked animals after all, and when the time comes you should give my body to medical science, or burn it and use it as fertiliser; or why not eat it, if you’re hungry, or feed it to the pigs? And for goodness sake, don’t worry about how I died – whether peacefully or in pain – and don’t speculate about my last thoughts, my last sentiments or my last words. Why attach more importance to my dying moments than to any other part of my life? As for the business of seeing the body and saying goodbye, and the trouble and expense of coffins and flowers and funerals: what are they but relics of morbid superstitions that we should have got rid of centuries ago? So no fuss, please: the world belongs to youth and the future, not death and the past: go ahead and have a party if you must, with plenty to drink, but no speeches, nothing maudlin, no tears, nothing that might silence the laughter of children. And I beg you, no memorials of any kind: no stones, no plaques, no shrines, no park benches, no tree-plantings, no dedications: let the memory of who I was die with me.

In fact, for those five years I made my own beer and always had several dozen bottles of homebrew in a cabinet in my garage, my only requirement was that my friends had to get together and finish the beer.

A Peek Inside

Driving around town today with the youngest of Princely Midgets, I saw an Adopt-A-Highway sign.  It was sponsored by the First Atheist Church of True Science aka FACTS.  Hmmm.  An Atheist Church.  This requires further inquiry.

First, I needed to research the definition of church.  “A building for public especially Christian worship.”  That’s the primary definition.  The secondary definitions equally apply to worship, clergy, and the like.  Which, of course, leads me to the ultimate question.  How can atheists have a church?

I’m one.  A fire-breathing, devil-worshipping atheist.  To me, at least, besides the lack of belief in a god or a supreme being that created our world, being an atheist also means the absence of any belief.  It’s the absence of the need for rituals or of symbols.  Yet, FACTS website identifies symbols to reflect their beliefs, created rituals to reflect important matters.  There are sermons.  I realize that much of this website may be somewhat tongue and cheek and rather than trying to establish an atheistic religion is really a sarcastic way to critique real religions, but … stop calling yourself a church.

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As near as I can tell, at my peak yesterday, One Night in Bridgeport hit #338 on the rankings for all books on Amazon yesterday.  Over 400 Kindle downloads yesterday.  Another 60+ today, shortly before 5:00 p.m.  I’d love it if these downloads were at a more “legitimate” price.  Established authors and those who are lucky enough to have a publishing contract are able to charge almost full price for downloads.  As a reader, and as a writer who has now self-published and knows a little more about the costs of a hard copy paperback, I’m offended that they’re not discounting downloads.  We shouldn’t have to pay $9.99 or $10.99 or more for a download.   That said, there’s some price between there and .99 that is legitimate and reasonable to ask.  The problem is when it’s little ol’ me and I don’t have a publisher behind me, when there’s no marketing budget, when there’s no reviews in the NY Times or from Publisher’s Weekly, and when the reader has never heard of me, it’s perfectly understandable that the reader won’t buy for anything more than .99.  Why take a chance?

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More on this later, but, Poetry Month in April, opened me up to a larger supporting cast of bloggers who write and read and support the efforts of those who do.  I’m talking about you Sahm King and Ranting Papizilla.  And Kira and Basket.  And others who I don’t have on the tip of my tongue, but you’re there nonetheless.  You get added to others like Carrie Rubin and Olivia O’Bryon.  It’s an on-line support group as we all traipse down the path of writing.  It’s huge.  And, I’ll be writing more about it soon.

Atheism is not a Religion

Since I’ve taken my shots at the Catholic Church and religion in general around here, I need to be fair.  Atheists who think their mission is the destruction of religion are no better than the believers they are trying to destroy.

Yes, in the name of religion, much harm has been done to this world and more will be done in the present and future.  But, it is not the religion that does it, but the men and women who fail to understand their religion is a faith that is not based on proven fact.

Atheists’ mission should be to allow for tolerance of all beliefs.  It’s really what everybody should be pushing for, whether believers or not.  You have a right to believe what you wish and live your life consistent with those beliefs.  But you don’t have a right to try to force those religious beliefs on others.  Catholics shouldn’t be trying to convince me that Jesus is the Son of God.  Catholics should be allowed to live their lives consistent with Jesus’ teachings.  Atheists shouldn’t be trying to destroy Catholicism, Christianity, Islam, or any other religion.  Atheists should be allowed to live their lives without being forced to do so based on the tenets of a faith they don’t believe in.  Neither should Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, and all of the rest.