Picture An Atheist

    I met a gentleman named Daniel while at the American Atheist convention. He asked to take a picture of my shirt. I gave him permission to do so and we struck up a bit of conversation about his project. Daniel told me about the many interesting shirts people had been wearing and how he had been collecting pictures of them. i suggested he post them on-line so others could enjoy his efforts. It turns out Daniel has a real life and it keeps him pretty busy. I could relate to his situation, real life is always screwing up my internet endeavors too.
    Since Daniel didn't really have time or a place to post his work I made another suggestion. I could post them for him. He agreed and told me he didn't need to be given credit for his work.
    To give credit where it is due the following examples of expression recorded from the Reason Rally and the American Atheist convention were taken by Daniel and sent to me. If anyone is pictured here and wishes it be removed simply contact me. I doubt that will be an issue because, like I said, the photographer made a habit of asking permission to take these photographs.
  Anyone who couldn't make it to either of the above mentioned events can now get an idea of what was in style.
   If a picture is worth a thousand words this is probably the longest blog you will ever see me post....
 Thanks for your efforts Daniel and it was nice to meet you....

 

That's me

                                              

Walking the high-wire of belief

There are a group of people who think a lot like me. In my time dealing with paranormal people and groups and dealing with skeptical people and groups I kinda find myself caught in-between. I know that there are people in the paranormal camp who will believe in every outrageous claim that comes along and there are those who need some actual proof. The level of proof is where the line is drawn.
In the skeptical camp there are those who will reject any claims that are in anyway paranormal.And of course there are those who realize we can not explain everything because we do not know everything. The level of knowledge that those people think they possess is where the line is drawn.
The problem is where those two lines cross, That is where I reside and neither extreme likes the spot much, some won't even admit it exists.
Beliefs come into play here whether anyone wants to admit it or not. Atheists will tell you their way of thinking is not a religion. That may be true but it is a belief system and it effects what they accept and what they do not in other words, it creates a bias.
In many arguments I hear the logical thinkers ask the paranormal camp 'what are the odds of that occurring?' Well what are the odds we are here as a matter of chance and there is no higher power that had a hand in our creation? Look at how well nature works, from here on earth to across the universe, there are rules, laws, a system, a method to the madness. Scientists talk about there being a certain set of numbers that they must use to explain the theory of everything. It is order, not just a result of randomness that makes what we see around us. Even if we do not know everything yet,what we do know tells us plenty. For every force there is an equal and opposing force so far it continues to be true and even if it were to be shown as incorrect there are enough examples to convince me there is something that exists beyond us here on earth.
The other side of the coin are those who believe in paranormal occurrences and think that some have abilities to tell the future or communicate with spirits of the dead. I've used the number 110,000,000,000 as the number of human who have ever lived, that is not an exact figure, that number is impossible to reach but it is pretty close. If spirits of the dead were somehow residing here wouldn't we likely be over run be spirits? Most investigators or hunters will be found searching a dark cemetery or an old house when the sun has gone down. What is it about the dark that makes us think ghosts prefer it? I think it is the fact that ghosts are an unknown and the dark is where we find ourselves surrounded by things we can not see. That is how the relationship is created.
There is a smaller group who fall between the paranormal fundamentalist and the cynical skeptics. That is where my group of friends and myself stand and fight for our cause. We fend off the extremist from both sides while we attempt to build the middle. We stand for balance and true openmindedness. This is where we will find our answers in the middle of incredible claims of mystical unknowns and the scientific soul-less lack of creator.
In case by writing lacks the talent needed to make my point here, it is balance and it serves us best in every aspect of our lives, from the food we choose to eat to the time we spend sitting in front of the TV to the way we look at our relationships with others, to the way we believe, and what we believe.
The island in the middle where the lines cross and my friends and I stand is not as large as it should be but that will change, it will have to before we can truly move forward in our understanding of our universe because it is balance that keeps us from falling down.