Freethinker's corner

I will not go quietly into the night!

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  • The Door is Ajar… December 17, 2025

    Before humans there were only assorted animals. Of course, they had brains but they did not think in the way humans thought. There is zero evidence that they worshipped a god or believed in one. Not saying they did not have rituals. If they went through a series of movements that produced a result that was desired, they tended to repeat those movements. To humans these movements resembled rituals. Humans also tended to repeat movements to acquire what they needed. Humans developed rituals, which developed into, at a later date, rituals honoring fabricated gods.

           Where was god before humans? Nowhere. God is in the same place today. No where. Yet, there were many things happening on a scale that primitive man could not comprehend. These large scale natural occurrences frightened man. Man’s world was out of his control, out of his understanding.

           Ways were fabricated to explain these large scale events. Lightening became god’s anger. At one time or another thunder became a bowling ball. Meteors became fallen angels. Mudslides, avalanches, tornados, and flooding became something for which humankind must appease a mighty being… or be destroyed. They had no knowledge of natural events at that time, so they made some up.

           Every separate group developed their own belief system. Each having a god not like any other.

           Today humans worship many gods, each group considering their god the only one and true god.

           This god thing became something ingrained in the brains of humans. It became difficult to separate oneself from your religion without adopting another. Believers frowned mightily upon those that did not believe in their specific god, or any god at all.

           That’s how it sits today. All of these groups of humans under the auspices of differing gods and beliefs. There yet remains no gods.

           There are atheists today who are aware of reality and know there are no gods. There exists agnostics who just are not sure. There has never been found a legitimate supernatural miracle. Some claim to know of one but can not present evidence of it. Praying to god produces results very much like those occurring if you did not. Nevertheless, fear preserves gods.

           Fear preserves the term agnostic in the same way. Leave that door ajar, lest you missed one god when out looking for them. Just a crack of course. Some will never leave the zone of agnosticism. After all, it’s a vast universe that gets bigger as humans become more enabled to look at it. Such a big universe in itself eliminates any gods that might be partial to humanity. All that… that.. everything.. and god prefers the inhabitants of one small dirt speck in the cosmos. Ridiculous.

           I feel the word agnostic is of no value. If there were a god of the magnitude capable of creating the vastness of space there is no way that god could hide. Things unexplainable, would be found, seen… that could only have been created. As yet none have been found. Everything in nature seems to align itself with the results expected from natural selection, evolution. In fact there are things that cannot be explained any other way. Peculiarities in human and animal development indicate a building on one creature to produce the next, adding things and hardly ever subtracting.

           Close the door. We do not need gods. As thousands of years of history show, gods are more trouble than they are worth.

  • Mirror Image … November 26, 2025

    Offense is taken so easily these days. If you do not agree with people, they become apprehensive about you. They figure that you are so nice that you must be just like them, just like a long-lost twin. The only issues that you can disagree about are the superficial ones… like, I like chocolate, you like vanilla. My favorite color is green, yours is red. They want carbon copy friends.

           Public issues are a different matter. Groups are usually made up of individuals who have near duplicate opinions on matters of public interest. If you are new they test you. They inform you. They insist you must look at an issue in the same fashion as they do or you cannot belong. A lot of times the issues have nothing to do with the stated goals of the group. Conform or get lost.

           When confronted about this, individuals in these groups insist that it simply isn’t so. You are assured that you are your own person as long as you believe this, this, and this. Somewhat contradictory, if you ask me.

           As an example I will take atheist groups. If you ask them what the hell feminism, LBGTQ, and many other issues, has to do with atheism most likely you will find yourself out on the sidewalk wondering what went wrong. They vehemently disagree that this is the case, but then they carry out the sentence.

           Atheism is a disbelief or lack of belief in a supreme being, a god. Possibly, the position that there are no gods, no supreme beings, and that the supernatural is simply a fictional creation. This should be the concern of atheist groups. However, some just think it should encompass more. After all, what would such a limited group do?

           Before you know it you have humanism. This belief system conforms to the times, like most religions. Do not tell me it is not a belief system. Asking a list of “why” questions can dispel that.

  • How to Deal with Flaws… Nov. 16, 2025

    Why do people do the wrong thing? Anyone with morality taught by parents or others, should know right from wrong. Is it greed? The desire to amass great quantities of acquisitions way in excess of what is needed?

    Why the callous murder? What is to be gained from that? One can imagine scenarios where a murder would result in great wealth, that is, as long as the murderer is not apprehended. What about the murder of a stranger?

    Are the creatures involved in some way defective as compared with the ideal? There certainly people with anomalies in their brains that produce undesired actions. There are people that can end another’s life without a second of regret. Is there something wrong in the area of the brain associated with empathy? There are those who might commit a crime for whatever reason and regret it the rest of their lives, whether or not they are caught. I would categorize that as the normal response.

    What about scanning people’s brains for anomalies? Although you might have a list of those who cannot be trusted, not everyone with cranial anomalies commit crimes. There would be little that could be done from such a list.

    Many brilliant people do immoral things for differing reasons. Perhaps they are peeved at humanity? Bored?

    It cannot be denied that someone who commits crimes, or abominations, is very much flawed. Society could not exist if such behavior is not considered atypical. Should such people be locked up in advance? Watched? 

    Indeed, if crimes and other moral behavior is to be eliminated, those that commit such need to be isolated from society. There being no way to predict who would act immorally, action must be delayed till crimes, or immoral acts have been committed.

    Impractical as it may be, the isolation of those who act immorally should be permanent. It can be expected that most offenders will keep offending if returned to a free society. The solution imagined would be a separate highly controlled society for those who cannot act morally in a free society.

    Then again, perhaps morality should be taught.  

  • Capitalism and the Failure of Humanity… October 25, 2025

    Recent figures show that almost three-quarters of a million people are homeless in the United States. Almost 2/3 of that occurs in urban areas. About 1/3 of the homeless are chronic cases, enduring lengthy or repeated homelessness.

              There is a shortage of low-income housing available. There is nothing for at least 2/3 of those suffering homelessness due to low income.

              Business centers on profit. Unfortunately, you cannot generate the income investors want from the pockets of the homeless. Not to say there are no generous people, kind enough to help those in need. There are just too few of them.
    Ignoring the education level of those who are homeless, and the fact that many of these downtrodden are mentally ill, there are simply some who cannot pull themselves up by themselves. They do not have the clothes to wear to look for employment, nowhere to bathe, no decent place to sleep. Yet, to simply say “The poor will always be with us”, as a way to dismiss the problem is extremely callous. They are human beings. To expect them to live in the streets like rats is incomprehensible.

    Yet, the disparity continues. The rich lacking nothing, the homeless lacking everything. As time passes, the gap grows ever larger. Many rich have so much currency that they could  not spend it all in a human lifetime. Sitting in their fine estates they are content. Content to look at those who have nothing and remain silent. Wait, they are not silent, they speak against the poor as if their condition is of their own making. They yell at them, “get a job you misfit”, or other heartless exclamations. They do not care to remember 1929 and the deepest economic downfall ever. All they see is their ever growing bank account, fretting that it isn’t growing fast enough.

              Capitalism feeds this system. Competition is the only guideline. If you aren’t rich to begin with your chances are no better than a lottery. It is a hopeless state. No capital to invest, no clothes fine enough to work anywhere, you can’t even make it to the starting line. It’s off limits for you. This is a failure of the majority of humanity. Those who have do not care whether others are destitute.  The poor cannot even eat cake.

              The solution is to adopt a new system that works for the people, not for the rich. Taxes go towards the people’s needs. Healthcare for everyone, education for everyone… help for the least capable, the poor, the destitute. It is my belief that Democratic Socialism, the government taxing the rich to care for everyone. Business still privately owned, but taxed to even the playing field. No one need be homeless. No one need starve. The only way this would not appear acceptable are to those rich who revel in the misfortunes of the poor. Nearly inhuman trash that sees delight in the man living in the gutter. Yes, pure capitalists. There is simply something not right in their heads.

  • NO KINGS DAY OCTOBER 18,2025

    Richland county Ohio’s No Kings day went amazingly well and very peacefully. Several hundred people were in attendance carrying various signs proclaiming “No Kings”, as well as many other pro-America, anti-Trump messages.

    I only observed one possible intruder for Trump, and I’m not sure he was either. Nevertheless, there were still Trumpies afoot. One of them with a large truck made sure we were forced to breathe his dank, black exhaust. One trucker did a tire spin leaving that rubber smell everyone knows. Two diminutive cars did a race up and down Park Avenue. A couple of misfits gave us the finger as well. All in all, this behavior was ignored, and the day was made a success.

    I hope the demonstrations nation-wide went as well. Even so, Trump will fail to notice that a great number of Americans would rather have him gone. What is left then? Voting, if it is permitted to prevail and is not discontinued by the wannabe King.

          I am not sure whether there will be more demonstrations, or whether I will participate again. There is always that possibility that Trump will have loyal slaves attack those that disagree. We saw no evidence of this, but it was always on your mind.

  • Should you laugh? October 12, 2025

    Should you laugh? October 12, 2025

    Should you laugh at religious beliefs? If you have no religious beliefs of your own, you might be tempted to make fun of people who do. If you do it in their face, you risk physical attacks. The fashion today is to ridicule the various religions via social media on-line. That way they would have to find you first.

    Photo by Amir Ghoorchiani on Pexels.com

             Should you do it? There are people with incredibly weak minds, they simply do not realize that, as a friend of mine says, the only reason most believe in god is because someone told him/her that there was one.  They have not one iota of evidence for a god’s existence. They have never seen or, if they are honest, have never heard god. Some, of course, whether truthfully or not, claim that their entity speaks to them. If they are being truthful, that is when you must suspect the believer of being compromised mentally.

             Should you do it? How do you view it? If you see it as naïve and childish having been there, done that, or not, the temptation is to ridicule them into adulthood. The nature of many religions is such that it boggles the mind that anyone would believe them. Add to that the fact that many pastors, some who do not believe themselves, are hilariously rich. Somehow, this charlatan has convinced the gullible that an all-mighty entity capable of producing the Universe… needs your money. Quite naturally, he poses as the conduit for God’s wealth.

             Being a non-believer, you know that claims of the existence of gods is false. You have spent a horrendous amount of time examining the evidence and found only evidence that speaks negatively of a god’s being possible. Unless your friend, or acquaintance, is being pretentious you have to suspect a mental problem. How can you know if he/she is just pretending? You can’t. In light of what you hold as the truth you know that they are wrong. Either they are pretending or they are crazy.

             Should you laugh at the mentally ill? Of course not. A compromised mind is something to pity. You realize that the individual, whoever they may be, needs to come out of their delusion on their own. They would resist every effort you might make to help them. Religion is very much like a mental virus that takes over your ability to think clearly.

             It can’t be left there. You know that there are those who are simply using religion to feed their greed. Those can be ridiculed. You know they don’t believe. Such riches are frowned upon by religious dogma. But, no matter how you portray them there are “believers” who will hand over great sums of money. Unless they, the believers, wake up one day and realize the scam, they are permanently deluded.

             So, use social media, maybe even post a billboard or two, in order to ridicule such baseless belief. You might help a few. Realize that there are those who do not have the mental means to effect escape. No matter how reasonably you present the truth they will not accept it. Many are invested in this and they do not want to lose their seat in some kind of heavenly ever after. They will fight you tooth and nail, insist that you are endangering your own soul. They might become violent. Yes, the hold religion has on them is that strong.

             I doubt there is a solution to this. Even educating people is dependent on their ability to be educated. Some will forever be incapable of escape. “There’s a sucker born every minute”, he said. He must have been a pastor.

  • ARMAGEDDON … October 7, 2025

    ARMAGEDDON … October 7, 2025

    As an atheist, I do not believe any god of any kind is returning to planet Earth.

    I do not believe any god exists out there in the Universe, to come here. Nevertheless, I do believe an end of humanity, call it what you will, may come within a frightening short time.

    Is this something inherent within the species that causes a human to fear or expect an end to the world around the corner? Humans have religions that not only suspect an end but express a desire for it to occur. There are death cults like Christianity and Islam. A disdain for this world is actually expressed in the pages of the tomes of these religions.

    Myths all. The religions all claim to be the one true faith, yet none of them are true. They were all created by humans who did not have a clue about how the world works. Ignorant wanderers who thought the stars were lights placed there by their god. They thought the world was a platform held up at four corners. Not only were they ignorant, but their religions kept them so.

    Yes, myths, yet I think an end will come. The form of this end cannot be discerned now, but I expect it will materialize very soon. There will be no gods involved. Humans are quite able to put an end to themselves by themselves.

    Will it be nuclear?   Will it be some disease component? Maybe it will be a natural disaster. Perhaps some mass in space will pass close enough to strip off our atmosphere. Maybe a rogue world will collide with Earth. There are some rogues out there, some traveling at enormous speeds. Maybe numerous volcanoes, only threatening now, will suddenly exhale poisonous gases, lava, accompanied by Earth shattering quakes. Can a feeling predict a closing act? Perhaps not. Even I have some inherent fear that everything will come to a crashing end. Such programming is difficult to edit out.

    Maybe the factor threatening the planet is a concept called Capitalism. Companies made to dance dangerous dances so that stockholders can reap the maximum possible profits. Such corporations, forced to maximize profit, will take shortcuts, maybe skip entirely, steps to protect the environment. When no one is looking, maybe dump a few barrels of poison, or nuclear waste, into the deep oceans. No one will ever know… will they? That’s probably it. Dirty your own nests. Make the lakes and stream thick with pollutions so deadly they will dissolve your feet should you dare to wade in them. Really, this sounds like the most possible future.

    How long do we have? If nothing is done to impede the forces at work, it could happen sooner than we imagine, maybe twenty years… could be less. America has been and continues to be the Capitalist capitol of the world. A madman now reigns in D.C. He wants all forests clearcut. He wants all protects withdrawn that have held businesses responsible all these years. He doesn’t care about your National Parks. He doesn’t care about wildlife, except his own. He seems to possess no apprehension about the future. If humans end the ability of Earth to sustain life he seems to imagine he and his cohorts will survive anyway. Yes. This will be it. Earth will become a worldwide sewer. Plant life as well as fauna will perish. As human beings continue to expand their population, the systems the Earth possesses to cleanse itself will fail. Humanity will die. No water to drink, no air to breath, no food to eat. Perhaps 10 billion people will face this fate. Or, not. No one can predict what the future holds. Maybe AI will rein us in.

  • PROUD ATHEIST? 250814

    Does being a “proud” atheist make any sense? If you consider the millions and millions of individuals that have been co-opted by religion and how difficult it is in society to steadfastly be different, it does require a measure of courage to remain unaffected. There are multiple religions, using almost the same offer, that of immortality; the pressure to follow one is real. The desire for socialization is such in the human psyche that it becomes a need to belong, almost a requirement for mental health. This pressure was created gradually over time by evolution. Those that socialized were more likely to survive and pass on that trait to descendants. It is an inherent part of the species to want to be around others and use that power to survive. A solitary individual is not as likely to overcome selective pressures and survive.

    To remain unaffected by all of the social pressures to conform requires a strength of will, as some try to conform even knowing that religions, all religions, are balderdash. To proclaim you do not want to conform, in a society that nearly requires it, takes a mental strength that is rare. Atheists are a minority for this reason.

    My conclusion is then: Yes, it is good to be a “proud” atheist. In the face of pressure to adopt fictional religion, to remain steadfast is something to take pride in. Do you suppose that is why pride is considered a sin?

  • FEELINGS CANNOT BE IGNORED. MAY, 4, 2025

    As you progress through life, you gain experience. At some point you reach a plateau; it is inescapable, and that plateau becomes you. Everything is viewed and judged by those attributes present in the plateau. You can try to change, but you find eventually that the changes are superficial. They are like a front. It’s what you want on an intellectual level, but it isn’t you.
    You come to know what you consider normal. You might say this is at a gut level. No matter how you pretend, you, your self inside, have already set, like a gel, or even like cement, a viewing perspective.

    You can say that so and so is a normal behavior, but you fail inside to change your “gut” perspective. You simply cannot change the feeling that there are some things that dwell in the category of the mentally unstable. You can deny the feelings. The feelings remain. You feel like a hypocrite. If you do not deny the feelings, there are many who would label you a bigot. The artificial façade goes up.

    All of your life you have been given perspectives of what to expect from “normal”. No matter what you claim, you can never change, not inside.

    To be honest and truthful, you must admit to yourself that certain behaviors, certain anomalies, can only fit properly in the column designated “mentally ill”. To accommodate others, the façade remains in place.

    Then, is uncomfortable an adequate word as to how you feel? Or is it worse than that? Most certainly, how people see you is not how you truly are.

    Some will see through your artificial front. A slip here or there is impossible to avoid. Once they see through the veil their own prejudices, perspectives, and assumptions… form the vision they have of you. They really do not see the truth any more than you do. They only have, and will ever have, only what they assume.

    So what next? At that point I say to hell with everyone else, not that I believe in such foolishness, but you must be true to yourself.

  • There is no… February 23, 2025

    … Noah, was no Noah, he was the fictional character in a story written before humans knew better. He did not live 900 years.

    … Moses. Yet another creation of imagination. A supposed leader.

    … Jesus. There is no record of him anywhere. There is no evidence of a singular person with amazing powers roaming the landscape.

    … God. An invention of a human who could not bear living without the parents, or leaders that have past. A father figure, to keep that feeling of helplessness at bay.

    … Ark, to seek.

    … Biblical reality.