Dude, It’s Jesus!

The November Meeting…

Is today!!! It kind of creeped up on me seeing as how the first Sunday was the 1st of the month. We are still meeting at the Round Table Pizza here in Tulare. It will be from 2pm to 3pm. That’s right, 3pm. We’ve cut them down to an hour to streamline them a bit. Hope to see you all there!

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God, Ghosts, and ATMs

I sometimes get strange looks when I say I don’t believe in God.  Most people haven’t thought much about the issue, and just accept that everyone does.  Oh, they know there are atheists out there, but for most of them, it’s a rather odd thought.  They’re not quite sure how to think of atheists, and suspect that we really do believe but just say we don’t. Maybe they think it’s a test from God, or something.  And I’ve been capitalizing “God” on purpose, since most people, at least around here, when they ask if you believe in “god”, mean “God”.  They’re not asking if we believe in Zeus, or Jupiter, or Quetzalcoatl, they’re referring to the god of the Hebrews of the first century.  The one handed down to us by Rome and subsequent western cultures.  Most of the believers are fine with the Trinity, Lucifer,  and the angels, but I suspect most don’t really believe in too much beyond that.  You don’t often read about folks who actually believe in demons, evil spirits, and witches in the old style.  If you want a good laugh, read this one, about demonic Halloween candy.  You’ll have to read about it here, because it was taken down from the original post at the Christian Broadcast Network’s site .

I don’t believe in God, gods, ghosts, demons, evil spirits, good spirits, angels, or zombies.  I have had two experiences, however, that keep that sliver of wonder alive, that makes me say “what if there is something more than what we have knowledge of?”  Not that I’m ready to believe in the supernatural, but we have had paradigm changes in our view of the nature of the universe before, and I’m sure we’ll have more in the future.  Perhaps we’ll find something that explains the “ghosts” so many are willing to say exist.

My experiences involve the ghost of my paternal grandmother, and an ATM machine.

Another Myth Bites The Dust

God?

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?  Then he is not omnipotent.

Is he able, but not willing?  Then he is malevolent.

Is he both able and willing?  Then whence cometh evil?

Is he neither able nor willing?  Then why call him God?

Epicurus

 

I have examined all the known superstitions of the world, and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology.

Thomas Jefferson

 

Why should I allow that same God to tell me how to raise my kids, who had to drown His own?

Robert G. Ingersoll

 

It has served us well, this myth of Christ.

Pope Leo X

 

I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.

Mohandas K Gandhi

Knock, Knock….

Boy, did I miss a golden opportunity recently!  A couple of Saturdays ago, mid afternoon, my doorbell rang.  When I opened the door, there were two people standing on my porch, holding a book that looked suspiciously like a Bible, and some pamphlets.   Immediately starting their little speech about having something they wanted to share with me about God’s love (or some such usual script – I really didn’t pay attention to exactly what they said), they wanted to give me one of their flyers.

The two were hispanic, one a middle aged man, the other a boy in his mid-teens.  The older man let the boy do most of the talking, most likely training him to go out and spread the good word.  I asked which church they represented, they replied  “Jehovah’s Witness”.  I told them “thank you, but I’m not interested”.  They immediately said thank you, wished me a good day, and turned and left.  I closed the door and was walking back down the hall to my bedroom, when it hit me…  I had just missed an excellent opportunity!  Usually they catch me when I’m still in bed asleep, and by the time I get to the door they’re gone.  If they wait long enough, I drag myself to the door and tell them in a groggy voice that I’m not interested and close the door.  This event reminded me of one years ago, when I did engage a woman in a discussion, and had her trembling with nervousness at having actually found an atheist!

When I Knew

I remember quite vividly the day I quit going to church.  I was 12 years old, and was trying to drag myself out of bed on a cold Sunday morning to catch the church bus.  I hadn’t really thought it out, but I had been sure for some time that something just wasn’t right.  Over the preceeding several years, my family had been going to different churches, from your basic Church of Christ, then a Baptist denomination, and at the end, a Pentecostal church.  Being the precocious kid I was, and wanting the attention and respect of the adults around me, I was all into knowing my Sunday School lessons, and usually had the gold star on the attendance roster.  It was a case of knowing the subject, but wondering how any of it could be true.

Happy Blasphemy Day, Goddammit!

That’s right, it’s that time of year. Time to get together with your loved ones and blaspheme your little hearts out! Click here for more information on this joyous day. Remember: Blasphemy is a victimless crime!

The September Meeting…

Is today! The details are here. Now people, we have been having less than stellar turnouts lately although we have had some very interesting conversations. The bottom line is that we need more of you to show up. I have a question for you. What would it take for you to come to meetings? What’s stopping you? Is it getting to Tulare? Is it the date and time? Are you uncomfortable with being acknowledged as an atheist in public? Please, give me some input here. This group is about all of us and I want to accommodate as many people as possible. This will also be posted to the MySpace page. Hope to see you soon!

A Friend Request From Jesus…

It’s missing the most appropriate response: “Spam”