Posted by: Mikel on: November 1, 2009
My husband and I took the kids out trick-or-treating last night. As it turns out, one family in the neighborhood thought they could help put some wayward child on the Christian path by taping some Bible verses onto pieces of Halloween candy. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: Mikel on: October 27, 2009
These are my reasons why I don’t need religion, even kind and gentle liberal religion.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: Mikel on: October 24, 2009
This morning at the the local abortion clinic was a bit different from the usual. The Kentucky Right to Life Association is having their convention in Louisville this weekend, so we were expecting a lot more protesters than usual. What we got were a lot more escorts and about the usual number of protesters. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: Mikel on: October 22, 2009
I’ve been reading a book called “The Atheist’s Way: Living Well without Gods” by Eric Maisel. I recommend this book to anyone who has considered him or herself to be a ’spiritual atheist,’ because I have found a concept in this book that has changed my mind about how atheists should address ideas of ’spirituality. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: Mikel on: September 22, 2009
I just read Bill Hampl’s book review of The Magicians Book by Laura Miller in American Atheist magazine. It brought back memories of laying up in the top bunk of the family RV, with the whole box set of the Chronicles of Narnia that my Mom gave me just before a long trip. The books were my childhood and teen favorites, and it was not until the Harry Potter series came along that the series were displaced in my mind as the best books in the world.
Unlike Laura Miller, when I was a child the Christian symbolism of Narnia was the most obvious and natural thing in the world to me. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: Mikel on: September 21, 2009
I was thinking back on times I had questioned a religious teacher, and thought up a short list of questions I asked. I asked all of these perfectly sincerely, maybe a bit naively. Anyone is welcome to try answering–most of the time I was just given “that look” as if I was just trying to disrupt the lesson, or was told that “that’s just what we believe.”
I should also point out that none of these thing stands out as “the one thing” that caused to to leave Christianity. They are just little things that got my skeptical juices flowing.
And here is one that I have not asked, but would be curious to know an answer for.
If you believe that a person will not be judged harshly by God for sincere and honest disbelief, or mistaken belief in the wrong thing:
Like I said, anyone is welcome to volunteer answers or make comments.
Posted by: Mikel on: September 15, 2009
I’m a recently joined member of Toastmasters, and I gave my Ice Breaker speech yesterday evening. For those who don’t know, this is the first in a series of 10 beginner-level speeches in the Competent Communicator manual.
My speech was titled “Finding My Voice” and my three main points were about “Thinking for myself,” “Trusting Myself,” and “Finding My Voice.” Thinking for myself means finding my own conclusion and not merely absorbing what those around me think. Trusting myself means not being intimidated by other’s disapproval of my conclusions. Of course, this doesn’t mean I can’t change my mind as I learn new things or think about a topic in a different way. The third “Finding my voice” is about speaking out what I need to say with boldness and without fear of disapproval.
It took me some time to figure out just exactly what I was going to say. I did mention that I help organize a group called Louisville Atheists and Freethinkers. An example of a time when I “lost my voice” was the story about how I had been afraid to tell the cashier about the Atheist group once for fear of how he would judge me. (Same story I told in “My New Darwin Fish“.) I also mentioned where I work, and that I like to sing karaoke. My opening idea was that it is easier for me to get up and sing songs that someone else wrote then to get up in front of people and speak my own thoughts in my own words. That is risky.
It took some serious thinking for me to mention the Atheist Group, and that I help to organize it, in the speech. To my atheist friends: Do you think that was a good idea, and do you think you would consider outing yourself to a Toastmasters group in that way? I’m just curious.
Posted by: Mikel on: August 30, 2009
As anyone who has seen my tweets or Facebook page yesterday knows, I have added a new role to my personal resume. Yesterday, I got up at 6am and went down to the local abortion clinic and volunteered as a clinic escort.
I didn’t even know this opportunity existed until last Tuesday, when a lady at my Atheists and Freethinkers meetup spoke up about the situation at the clinic in Louisville. I sought her out after the meetup and talked about what was going on. I found out that every morning that the clinic is open, there are protesters standing outside the door harassing women who need the services provided within. And that there are a handful of people who regularly volunteer as escorts to help these women get though the gantlet and exercise their autonomy. So, I decided to get up early on Saturday and see for myself what was going on. The lady I meet at the meetup keeps a blog about the goings-on at the clinic, so if you want a good general idea of what I saw yesterday morning Every Saturday Morning is a good place to start.
It was not until May 31 this year that I really got galvanized on the abortion rights issue. That was the day that Dr. Tiller, at the time one of only three doctors who perform late-term abortions in America, was murdered right in his church on Sunday morning. To be perfectly honest, I’d never even heard of the man before, nor had I known just how rare were doctors who provided late-term abortions. I was actually very ambivalent about late-term abortion and whether it should be legal or not, until I read the stories of the women and the men who love them who went to Dr. Tiller for help. He knew the danger that he was constantly in, as previous attempts had been made on his life. I could not help but admire the man and the risk we was willing to take for women’s health and lives.
You can read and watch about Dr. Tiller and the lives he has touched here, and here, and here.
What I found particularly hateful and repugnant about this murder was the reactions and words of some of the leaders of the “pro-life” movement. I wrote a bit about that in this previous post, and the way I felt about it when I wrote that post has not changed.
So after all this, when I saw that I had this sort of opportunity to stand up for the rights of women, I had to stand up and take it. I’ve never felt so galvanized about anything in my whole life. It’s the bit I can do and I’m doing it!
Posted by: Mikel on: August 16, 2009
Once when I was in Sunday School the teacher told us that the difference between happiness and joy was that happiness depends on your circumstances but joy comes from God. I was not the only one in the class to question that analysis. It looked to me as just an example of a word game, namely changing the definition of a word to fit one’s own preconceptions. This also was right about that time that I decided that going to Sunday School was a total waste of my time.
But that does leave the question, what is joy, and where does it come from? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: Mikel on: August 13, 2009
Haven’t been writing much lately–haven’t had a lot of inspiration or time to write.
I have been working on developing a daily practice. I get up at about 6:40, and go in the spare bedroom and do a couple of sun salutations and a few other poses depending on how I feel. I’ve done that every day since last Sunday. Let’s see if I have the discipline to keep this up.
