Monday, May 31, 2010

The Bar

I am sitting in a hole in the wall bar. Yea I drink, but I know my limitations so don't so don't worry about me. So far I have met some great new people. There is the guy who cooks great tacos outside on the patio and the old timer who was talking to me about Philosophy the last time I was here, and he pulled off the conversation quite well.
This evening I got a handshake and a hug from him so I must have held up my end of our last conversation quite well. This evening I got a handshake and a hug from him so I must have held up my end of our last conversation too.
There is the weightlifter sitting to my left who is worried about inviting his girlfriend down to drink with him because he doesn't want trouble. Funny thing is he could beat the shit out of anyone in the bar with one damn hand. There are the fellas to the right of me who have said hello but otherwise had their eyes glued to the flat screen over the bar. Even the loudmouth regular who hates the music I play in the jukebox has been cool tonite.
Some people think they can judge me because I drink. They can but I have learned to drink slow, and go to bed when it starts to hit me. My Dad taught me this even though I am pretty sure he didn't mean too. I like to hang out, whether it is in a friendly bar or in front of a sidewalk cafe in the city, and watch the people go by.
I sit sipping beers and talking to my fellow drinkers as they pass through. Every one has a story and I love to hear every single one. Even though I can talk til the heavens burn listening is one of my favorite pastimes. I have heard incredible stories from people all over the country, people of all ages and lifestyles. Our bartender does a benefit cookout for Breast cancer and I will be happy to help him anyway I can on our radio show.
There is the fellow who asked permission to talk to my girlfriend about our laptop. The request was met with a laugh, and a smile. He was a nice guy named Felix and he was looking for a laptop to buy for his Grand daughter. I was glad to meet him, we parted with another laugh and a handshake.
The weight lifter I mentioned earlier came up on me at the jukebox and asked me to play styx, I was happy to oblige him. A pitcher of beer landed in front of us not long after, a handshake, and a thank you followed. I went out to have a smoke and heard a classic story about a guy who likes to ask homeless people for cigarettes and when they give him one he gives them ten bucks. There is a group of guys from out of state playing the pool table asking me where they can find the nearest country bar.....I gave them directions, that was an hour ago, they are still playing pool now.
I go outside to smoke a cig and a drunk girl is telling a story about ending up 50 miles from home and calling her Dad to pick her up. The story was told at decibels which would rival a jet airplane on take off. I just nodded smiling and smoking as fast as possible.
My new weight lifter friend who is named Sam is at this moment telling me how to shoot steroids. I don't like needles and with all likely hood I will never have use of his advise, but I listen. My girlfriend who has worked as a personal trainer is talking about concepts beyond my understanding with Sam the weightlifter. The music plays on more, and more people come and go. Some stopping to talk and others just head out the door. I know my limitations, but the number of people I can meet just by listening and watching is unlimited.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

I Remember

I remember digging a hole in the backyard to make an underground clubhouse.

I remember leaning out my bedroom window and tossing a ball to my little sister who was leaning out the bathroom window. My sister didn't catch well. The window broke.

I remember picking peaches off the trees in our backyard.

I remember when my friend let go of the string to my favorite kite.

I remember digging tunnels for my matchbox car city in the front of my house.

I remember falling asleep while I listened to Willie Nelson play on the jukebox my Dad had just bought.

I remember my Mom and me painting my bedroom ceiling black and the walls a deep blue.

I remember building a go cart out of an old lawn mower and a wooden crate.

I remember my mom teaching me how to cut up a whole chicken.

I remember my Dad lighting fireworks off in our backyard.

I remember spending Saturdays with my Dad and getting paid for it.

I remember listening to my sister talk to her friends on the wireless phone with my short wave radio.

I remember watching my new electric train set smoke its way through a figure 8 for hours on end.

I remember watching the pilot light in the hallway heater because there was a ghost in my room.

I remember watching a funnel cloud touch the ground in Utah, and my mother telling my Dad "get us outta here" which was met by a chuckle and a floored gas pedal and the roar of a V-8 in an LTD.

I remember buying a AMC Javelin for $50.00 and learning how to rebuild a carburetor.

I remember riding 30 minutes to a girls house just for the chance she may see me ride by.

I remember forgetting the way home on my first day of school.

I remember falling off the bench seat of my Dads truck and landing on a glass Pepsi bottle, slitting my wrist.

I remember playing football in the street and not caring if we fell down.

I remember cutting my head open running from a girl with a horse head on a broom handle.

I remember listening to puff the magic dragon, over and over on a plastic phonograph which only played 45's.

I remember accidentally hitting my girlfriend in the face with a pair of vice grips while she watched me fix the brakes on my car....Sorry Suzie.

I remember having the longest hair of any guy in school.

I remember my Dad allowing me to have a glass of wine from a bottle which was taller then me.

I remember how proud I was when my Dad put a sign on the side of his pickup the read "Dan Paden and Son Landscaping"

I remember falling off the swing set in the backyard, and breaking off my teeth.

I remember building a tree house and being to afraid to sit in it.

I remember my little sister digging her nails into my arms, whenever we fought.

I remember playing Black Sabbath so loud the neighbors came over to complain.

I remember the sheet my parents used to put up in the hallway so we couldn't see what Santa brought until they woke up.

I remember finding my cat dead on the side of the house.

I remember bowling my first 200 game.

I remember sitting in a old school bus getting drunk and watching my friend punch the windows out.

I remember watching people piss off the balcony of my 3rd floor apartment.

I remember running down the street with my little sister dragging a stolen Christmas tree.

I remember the doctor telling me my son was disabled and expecting me not to want to deal with it.

I remember going on field trips with my daughters classmates.

I remember doing drugs and thinking they hadn't changed who I was (I was wrong).

I remember going to a Iron Maiden concert instead of my girlfriends prom.

I remember lighting wooden park benches on fire and watching with my friends when the fire department came to put them out.

I remember waiting for a trucker to bring me some weed.

I remember paying a pinball game in a Santa Cruz arcade so long it drew a crowd.

I remember losing the tip of my finger to a bowling machine.

I remember when a fish jumped out of my 50 gallon tank and landed on my heated water bed, I really remember the smell.

I remember getting sick on root beer schnapps.

I remember my first kiss at the skating rink.

I remember the first time my Dad punched me (I deserved it).

I remember sneaking my girlfriend in my bedroom window.

I remember learning to ride a bike and splitting open the scar from my wrist injury (See above).

I remember going to buy a dozen donut holes at 2am.

I remember eating sunflower seeds, and reading books for hours on end.

I remember getting to the hospital after my Grandmother had already died.

I remember my Dad waking me up at 2am to talk to me about life.

I remember my Mom telling me I couldn't go outside without shoes, and me running away from home over it.

I remember the day Elvis Presley died.

I remember paying a guy 2 bucks at a Mettalica concert to drink all I wanted from the keg in his van.

I remember finding my sisters boyfriend boyfriend, and my girlfriend making out in her car.

I remember the night my dog Twister died and hearing my Dad cry for the first time over it.

I remember wearing my first Tuxedo for my sisters wedding.

I remember driving 140mph down the freeway racing with my best friend.

I remember being put in a program for gifted children, and wondering what was wrong with me.

I remember beating the shit out of a guy for making fun of my little sisters teeth.

I remember the Vice principal telling my Dad I was in need of mental help, and my Dad telling her to go to hell.

I remember soaking a tennis ball in gasoline, lighting it and kicking it up and down the street.

I remember training dogs and winning a first place trophy at the dog show.

I remember my sister firing me from my fast food job because I ditched my shift to go see AC/DC.

I remember coming home and finding my apartment empty, and my daughter gone.

I remember many things. They have made me who I am, and I cherish every memory.

Tonya Hacker- Truth be told

Listen to the story of Tonya Hacker and her need for drama. Even after people tell her to stop making trouble she just goes on and on.

Listen Here-
http://dreadradio.podomatic.com/entry/2010-05-27T19_47_11-07_00

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Tonya Hacker..at it again

Here is my dramatic story this week.
I had an argument with a lady named Tonya Hacker. She was telling some friend of hers that I was abusing my girlfriend and this friend of Tonya's came at me and my girlfriend like a lunatic. She went on rants to us in emails saying I was going to be raped by satan and a bunch of other crazy shit. We didn't know where this crazy woman was getting her information so we started asking people we thought were our friends. Tonya was one of them. Tonya at first denied knowing anything...then we informed her that other friends of hers had assured her she did know this lunatic. Then Tonya admitted she had been talking about me to her crazy friend. All the emails are documented in one of my blogs which was written on April 2nd 2010. I wrote that blog and left it alone after that.
Last week my girlfriend, Polly was contact by another person we thought was our friend named Amanda. Amanda told Polly that Tonya had contacted her to have Polly tell me to remove Tonya's name from my blog titles. Tonya was looking for a job and my blogs came up when her name was searched on google. I thought about it and figured I had said my peace so I would change the titles. I did. Not long after a couple of pages making fun of and just plain hating The Ghost Divas popped up. Tonya and Amanda are members of the Ghost Divas. While I was not fond of Tonya still I did not think what was being done and said was fair. I contacted one of the page creators and he agreed to remove the page making fun of the Divas, it portrayed them as pigs.
Then I went to the creator of the other site and started to talk smack about how the guy was off base in his hate of the Divas in this case. I had dealt with this guy before and used the appropriate methods (with help from others) to try and get him to remove the page, it worked.
Tonya contacted me about how I had gone about getting the pages removed and I told her. She asked for a recording of the call, I didn't have one and even if I did it was over so why she asked for it made the little voice in my head say...."look out, she wants more drama"
The day after the pages went away I got a ranting email from Tonya about how I had not changed the blog titles. I had changed the titles but I had not gone through the emails and removed her name from the emails she had sent, besides it takes time for goggle to update search findings sometimes. I do not have control over the google search engine.
I told Tonya I would look and make sure they were changed...before I could Amanda sent a reply. (she had been copied in) Amanda's reply was that both Polly and myself were liars.
Like I said, we had considered Amanda a friend and were shocked that she would accuse us of being liars. Why would I lie, and what had Polly said which could be considered a lie? She had just passed the request on to me.
Some emails went back and forth and I had grown tired of Tonya's rants and accusations. I then informed her I would be changing the titles back, after all she obviously had no trust in the fact I had done so when she ask yet she called a liar so what would the difference be?
I then tried to call Tonya...to address this. She in true form avoided the call. So I left her a voice mail telling her to fuck off I was sick of her shit. She had started this whole mess by telling lies about me.
Then Tonya proceeds to go to her webpage and start cackling about how I give my daughter booze and weed. I don't know where to get any weed because I don't smoke it. As far as the booze goes my daughter has come home drunk a couple of times, she is 17. I did the same thing when I was her age and it was dealt with in the way I saw fit so that it would not happen again.
Any real parent know when your kids get to a certain age you can not control their behavior at all times. I guess Tonya is not aware of this even though she has two children.
Then today I hear from my friends Tonya is posting on her Ghost Divas facebook page that I had been to prison and that I was stalking her. I have not been to prison. I have been to jail a couple of times but it was a city jail, and the the second time the charges were dropped. None of my crimes were any more than health code violations meaning I went to jail for crimes of substance abuse. I learned to change my behavior and I am doing very well at sticking with those changes.
The thing that strikes me as odd about all of Tonya's claims about me is she lives in Oklahoma.....I live in California. I met Tonya one time in person for about an hour. She didn't ask me my life story...to be honest she was having an issue controlling her youngest daughter and was a bit distracted.
How Tonya managed to believe she has intimate knowledge about my personal life...well I don't know she seems to just make things up at random.
There are a couple of things which bother me the most about Tonya and her need to lie and create drama. It drags the rest of the Ghost Divas down....I do not hate all the Divas, but I will not allow them in any form to come up on me as a group unchecked. Tonya seems intent on making this happen. The only reason I can think is because Tonya likes drama.
Another thing is the fact that Tonya is supposed to be an adult and responsible for her actions...she has lied and I have told the truth. when I called her on it she starts to tell more lies and cry like a little child, it is pathetic.
Now it seems Tonya will be playing my voice mail on her radio show, I hope she does I am glad I could provide her another way to show her true form.She had after all been searching for a phone call to play before I called her, hadn't she? My little voice tells me "I told you so"
Now I am done unless Tonya wants to continue this...it is her choice.
That concludes this week's drama....I hope

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Tonya Hacker..you have been warned about her

So Tonya Hacker got made cause I wrote a blog about her .....well the problem is she is a moron....I would not hire her to watch over my tomato plants....she lies and lies and lies I don't want to come off as a hater I am just telling the truth.....funny thing is many agree with me so if you are looking to be friends, associate or otherwise deal with Tonya Hacker.....think twice . You have been warned.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Strange

My life is strange. Not a bad kind of strange but strange none the less. The people I have met along my travels have been for the most part, nothing less then incredible. I have met some real jerks but the majority have become my friends.
Sure we have different opinions about things but isn't that why we like them in the first place?
I had tonight a woman call me who had no idea who I was, in real life. She called me just to talk. We spoke on the phone for about 20 minutes and she was nothing less then wonderful. It trips me out the way some people shy away from my personality and others will call me just to "chat"! I think this speaks to the differing mind sets in the world. It defines the way we all see people and things in an alternate light. I also think this is a good thing.
If we all thought about people and issues the same way our lives would be very boring indeed, what I like about my dealings with people are the types of people I meet.....Did I say that? It cannot be said enough times. There are those who believe in ghosts to those who think Jesus was a son of a bitch, and they all get at least a few minutes of my time. There are times when people expect me to be their attack dog that is not me. I do not just attack people while they are doing things that may be considered wrong or unfair. I will never roll up on anyone "just because."
There is a method to what may be considered my madness, it is about truth, at least in perspective. It is about doing right, it is about thinking about the thoughts of other people. We all think we know it all, well we may in our own minds, but we donnot know the truth of every person. That is the only truth there is when it comes to opinion.
If we think we know it all then that is a thinking even stranger then my life and that is hard to find.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

After Life

There are different types of Atheists. There are some who simply dismiss the possibility of God, then there are some who just do not believe in God because God has not been proven to exist. I had someone ask me if there could possibly be an after life and a God.I thought about this for a while and figured I would write about it too.
I don't claim to know if there is a God or not. I also know that in my opinion there is no proof of God or an after life. There is no proof that we will meet up with our loved ones who have passed away and there is no proof we carry on in any way. Again this is not to say that doesn't happen but from what I have learned so far.....it doesn't.
Maybe we will learn as we go along whether our spirit goes on, maybe we are not meant to know, or maybe we lack the ability to understand the full scope of reality. I don't know. Now it may seem pretty bleak so far, well I don't see it that way. I see it like this...
It really doesn't matter if there if there is a life after the one we have here on earth.
We should live the life we have here the best we can and try not to take for granted the life we know exists. Love our family and friends while they are with us because we never know when the time with them will be done. If we do this then any after life will be a bonus if there is none, it wont matter.

Ronnie James Dio

I remember my youth and most of all the music of it. I got into Black Sabbath at about age 14. Ozzy was one of my rare heroes. Satanic music was all the rage, if it wasn't satanic we twisted the lyrics and song titles, or played it backwards so it fit our evil tendencies.
When I walked into the record store and saw an album cover showing a Satanic looking figure looming over a mountain top holding a chain which was attached to a priest flailing around in fear for his life, I had no choice but to buy it. I listened to the voice, the music and the message, I was hooked by Ronnie James Dio. He felt the same about religions and society as I did, he was the best friend I had never met before.
When the Holy Diver Tour came to town I waited in line to get my tickets. I remember getting a guy to buy my friends and I a bottle of peppermint schnapps at the liquor store. We drank it on the train on the way to the show. I remember saving my friend from choking on pizza as we made a stop at the mall along the way. I remember sitting in line waiting to get into see my friend Ronnie and doing speed right out of the bag while we waited to get in.
Most of all, I remember the show. You know when you are lit off your ass and still the memories with you 25 years later you have been a part of something good. The albums kept coming and I kept buying (or on occasion stealing) them. As the years went by I saw DIO many times and every time the show was awesome.
Ronnie James started to fade away but I did have a chance to see him a few years ago playing with Black Sabbath. He had aged but his vocals were unaffected by the years. Ronnie James Dio died today from cancer and I lost a best friend I never got to meet along with a part of my youth.

Thanks for the music my friend and your memory lives on.

Friday, May 14, 2010

The Art of Being a Jerk

In case you didn't know it, some people think I am a jerk. I am sometimes. I am going to share with you some of my beliefs and they way I go about things ....The art of being a jerk,if you will....
I have always figured people deserve some measure of respect until they deserve to loose that respect.
Always listen to the other side of the story, there are always two sides and the truth, almost always lies somewhere in the middle. There are some exceptions to this depending on the mental state of one or both sides.
If both parties in a dispute are reasonable people you can usually chalk up any differences to a misunderstanding of facts or actions.
Talking on the phone or in person for 5 minutes can settle a text-only dispute which has dragged on for 5 years.
Always admit when you are wrong and put more energy into admitting it than you did into
being wrong in the first place.
Never assume you know the real story unless you were personally present for any and all
events involved (and even then you may still be wrong)
Before you speak, write or act out about another persons actions on the Internet,or anywhere else always remember those actions can never be taken back completely, ever.
Remember many people are quite different behind a keyboard than they are in real life. Many times even they are not aware of it.
Do not confuse facts with opinions. For example-
Fact-Helium is lighter than air.
Opinion- Balloons are pretty.
When someone offers an olive branch, never beat them with it. I can not stress this one enough. I have made many very good friends following this rule. It has sometimes caused me to be betrayed but the good FAR outweighs the bad effects of this rule.
Never make up stories or tell lies about people to save face....this one is a duh but I feel like it should be said.
Keep in mind everyone has made mistakes, everyone has baggage, EVERYONE. Anyone who says they have not or don't is lying.
Remember, many people learn from mistakes. Do not hold one mistake (or even two) against a person when they are trying to make things right.
Do not allow a person to say things about you which are untrue unchecked. This is not a good idea because humans have a tendency to view silence as supporting an accusation, besides that you
should have enough self esteem to stand up for yourself. This does not mean becoming an 'instant asshole' it means addressing things true to your form and allowing people to figure out what rings true. If you are honest it does not matter if people believe you or not you know the truth.
Never allow one person's opinion (or a group's even) to drag you down. As long as you can look yourself in the mirror,in the eye for one minute then you usually are doing the best you can do.
There are times when you should keep your mouth shut and listen.....
There are times when no answer is the correct answer. I wish I could give you some hard rules on this....trust your instinct is the best I can do.
'Taking the high road' doesn't always mean not addressing things, it is the way you address things which indicates which 'road' your are taking.
Sometimes the low road is the only way to go.....make sure you get back on the right road ASAP, but a little detour can be good at times.
If you follow these rules then you can be assured people will think you are a jerk.....Speaking for myself...I am OK with it....

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Psychic Puzzle

I read an article today about a psychic who has pulled out of a charity event because of skeptics. She says she "fears for her life". As a part of the skeptic group who are working to stop psychics from using dead children, murder victims, victims of tragic accidents. and the promise of false hope to further their ego and or bank accounts, I can assure you this is nothing short of silly.
No one is being threatened, at least from the skeptic side. The only threats I am aware of have come from certain psychics. There have been threats of physical violence as well as legal threats. Then there are the blatant lies such as an anthrax scare at one psychic's event (robbie thomas) Robbie has gone out of his way to try and make himself a victim.
He has stolen from friends, he has lied to people in order to make his low ticket sales look like they are a result of a "skeptic hate group". I suppose you could label the skeptics who are speaking out as "hateful" if you want to be technical about it. I know I hate the way people like Robbie Thomas stick their noses in the lives of grieving families, even though those families have made it clear they want no part of him.
Why or how a person like Robbie Thomas thinks he has some sort of magical abilities when it is crystal clear he does not, leads me to only one conclusion. Robbie Thomas is a sick man. Robbie needs to find professional help and find it fast. He steals, lies, cheats, and threatens anyone who questions him. He is not a nice person in any way.
For anyone who wants to be critical of my statements about Robbie I offer this....The claims I make are all well documented by numerous sources. Those sources include skeptics and people who are involved in the paranormal.
What more proof do you need to at least question the motives of Robbie Thomas? It would be quite different if this was a one man crusade, it would be different if it was only skeptics calling things into question, that is not the case.
When you have people who used to call Robbie friend, people who have worked with and for him, skeptics, believers and people he has tried to victimize by playing on their loss all telling the same tale there must be some truth to at least part of it.
I ask anyone who reads this and still believes the lies of a sick man named Robbie Thomas to step away, do some research, ask some questions and rethink the pieces of the puzzle, they only fit one way, and the resulting picture is very disturbing.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

OurCelves

The things that have changed our lives are numerous these days. The one that sticks out to me is the invention of the cell phone. Sure you can say we have made more extensive achievements in medicine and/or science in general but the one advancement which we use everyday and effects us in our daily interaction is the cell phone.
I remember using the phone when I was young, waiting for the rotary dial to spin back as I longed to stick my finger in another hole and spin the wheel again.
I remember using the phone when I was young, waiting for the rotary dial to spin back I longed to sick my finger in another whole and spin again.
I remember a big yellow device hanging on the kitchen wall and the wire attached to the hand set would only allow me to wonder a mere 10 feet or so away. If we were to communicate with others by phone, we had some serious limitations as to where we could do it.
If you were in your car you had to find a pay phone. Luckily pay phones were placed at every local gas station, at every convenience store , yes even at your public school, payphones were an easy find and they only cost a dime.
Those days are gone now and so are many of the payphones, considering the cost of those phones before they went away I think the cell phone has saved us money too.
I can call anywhere in the nation, get on the Internet an send unlimited text messages for about $50.00 bucks less then what my parents paid for a month phone bill paid for when I was young. Now we can call home to make sure nothing needed is forgotten while at the good store, we can call the restaurant to make sure we don't miss that important dinner date, because we can not read a street sign.
Our phones allow us to text friends without worrying about bothering them with talking on the phone. Our cell phones have brought the demises of the roadside trouble boxes which only allow you to call a tow truck, now we can call our family to pick us up and then the tow truck. We can drunk dial our friends with a couple pushes of a button. This can be both good and bad depending on which phone you are on the end of.
Let me call you to make the rest of my points, you are only couple of button pushes away.

Hope

So I am sitting alone. I have no complaints, sitting alone is a good thing at times. I like it.
I sit and I think about the day. It was good. As I listen to the the wind blow through the trees above me, I think. As I watch the fire burn in front of me, I think about the day.
I think about talking to my daughter, I think about talking with my girlfriends son and his girlfriend....there is hope for us yet.
I think about the way they look at the world and their thoughts give me hope.
I have a hope that we will find find the strength to make fun of things as required.
I have hope that when people say things that make no sense someone will stand up and tell those people "that makes no sense".
I have hope we will find the road to common sense.....I hope I am correct.

Original Atheist

I did not really grow up around religion, not any organized one anyways. Sure I went to church a few times when I was young and I even believed in Jesus being god's son and all that for a while. I watched the 700 club with my grandma during our visits every other summer but to say I was a born again christian or fell into any other organized religion would be incorrect.
I guess I would have to thank my father for my way of thinking.....well, for the fact I think about everything, a lot.
I remember when I was young he had a book called 'the lost books of the bible'. it was a collection of the books King James did not include in his version of the good book.
My father was raised in Kansas, in a small town. His family, from what I could tell by their words were all born again, even though their actions made it hard for me to believe at times....
My father always questioned religion, he would get into debates and arguments about it with others and I remember the conversations we had which helped me to learn how to think logically not just about religion, but about life.
Now that I think back about those talks, my father was an atheist before it was cool.
I am not sure he would admit it if you were to label him as such because he is one of those people who is smart enough to realize he does not have all the answers (unless he is talking to me that is)
I used to call myself agnostic but the term has become one that reminds me of a fence -sitter, someone who is unable to accept the fact there is no scientific proof of god and is a bit afraid to ruffle the feathers of friends and family or others who may think less of them if they were come down on the side that questions organized religion.
I watched a video today about a 'creationist museum' in KY. The people who run the place think that god created the earth 6000 years ago and men walked with dinosaurs. They believe Noah had prehistoric beasts on his ark.......The thought that some people think this way still after all the advances we have made in science makes me sad for them. These people have seen science save lives, answer questions about how the world works and they most likely enjoy the fruits of scientific advances everyday yet when that same science calls into question a 2000 year old book of fairy tales they dismiss it out of hand. Science has been shown to help us progress and understand the world we live in. All the bible has done is attempt to hold us back and to cause us to fight amongst ourselves about what has been tested over and over and shown to explain the things that were unexplainable when the bible was written. I am sick of this backwards way of thinking and the people who want to believe in what makes them feel fuzzy and warm. Is it so bad to learn about the word? Is it so bad to realize maybe a 2000 year old book does not have all the answers? Is it so bad to move on and try to use what we have been given so we can help future generations answer the questions we have about why we are here? I would like to think 2000 years from now humanity will look back at us and think we were the atheists before it was cool and have the same respect for us I do for my father who was an atheist before his time.......

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Palms Together

I spend a lot of time being critical of religion publicly. I do a couple of radio shows, blog regularly, and share thoughts on facebook as well as the occasional guest appearance on other radio shows and writing for the HauntedAmericaTours.com web magazine. I also attend skeptical conferences and meetings.
Being so vocal about my beliefs sometimes results in people thinking I lack respect for their own beliefs... I suppose some people could feel that way and be correct.
I do however refrain from posting my beliefs or thoughts on other people's walls, for the most part. Occasionally I will comment on a friends post, but I try to do it respectfully.
I really have no problem with anything that helps a person to be better, so to say I dislike religion totally would be incorrect. I do however dislike the way religion is used to excuse or allow the harming of others. I dislike the way religion is used to indicate if a person who has no religious beliefs lacks morals. That kind of mentality is stupid and only shows how unable a person is to pay attention to the types of people who are committing crimes against other people.
My father recently told me to figure out if I was mad at god or religion.
I can't be mad at god because he isn't here to be mad at.I am mad at much of religion because it has a habit of keeping people from acknowledging truth and instead, accepting things on faith. That keeps some chasing their tails due to the inability to realize we need to move past old stories written thousands of years ago.
Revelation has not come upon us...it has been well past the two-thousand years the bible told of.
Does that mean god does not own a watch? No, it means those biblical stories are just that, stories.
It is time to realize we are on our own. We need to do our best to understand the universe we live in without insulting ourselves by believing in an invisible presence who cares about us making wishes and talking to ourselves. We should not expect a higher power to make things happen while we sit with our palms together.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Without god???

My son is disabled. When people talk about religion I often wonder where they think he is going to go when he dies. Allow me to go a bit deeper into things....My son has Cerebral Palsy. He does not walk, he does not talk, in English anyway. He will never be able to feed himself, dress himself, go to the bathroom, out to dinner, or sit and drink a beer outside on a starlit night and wonder if there is a god.
He lives in his own world and there is no god, or religion involved in it. Since the bible of Christians says those who do not accept Jesus will be dammed to burn for eternity I guess my son, who laughs easily, loves sponge-bob cartoons, and couldn't do another living thing harm on purpose, is doomed.
This brings me to another thought...If the bible is the word of god, why were so many important issues left out, or giving cryptic passages? Why would God leave us to wonder about things? Why now, when there are 7 billion people on the planet does he leave us to wonder about him, to kill in his name and flounder about trying to make sense of a two thousand year old book and apply it to our lives today?
I have tried to search and find out if the Christians have answer for my son's plight. The consensus seems to be that he will be allowed into heaven and he will be given the opportunity to accept god when he is "old enough" well this causes me several questions.
Do we keep aging in heaven? Will my sons soul be able to comprehend the concept of god sometime after he dies? My sons disabilities have helped me to grow and question organized religion as well as my own perspective on the world and why we are here.
Some sad fools may try to use my change in thinking to excuse god's presence in my sons life, telling me it is all "in gods plan". My issue with this argument is god's plan sucks and it makes us live a life of wonder, sitting through our existence never knowing what the answers are and dying while we wait to find out.
I have learned through my reading, listening and learning that my son is good with who he is, his life, and without a god who wants to play childish games.... and so am I.