Freethinker's corner

If there is one single thing that sticks out since I decided to shed the myths it is the fact that Atheists seem obsessed about the Bible and religion in general.

I have been exposed to more biblical references and thoughts about God since declaring myself an Atheist than at any time previously.

Is there a hidden faction within the Atheist movement itself that is silently promoting religion by directing those interested in Atheism to the Bible? Do many Atheists simply have an unconscious desire that the myth be true despite all the preponderance of the evidence to the contrary?

Free choice is one thing. Providing the necessary information to allow the individual to make a choice about religion may in it’s deliverance create more religious bigots. Teaching individual youngsters such information with the stated intent of constructing mental barriers to it cannot be said to be any more free choice than the indoctrination of pliable minds engaged in by the religious institutions.

Then again, a hands off attitude may leave vulnerable minds to the foils of religion.

What to do?! Should one provide the ammunition a child needs to resist such propaganda, or should one leave well enough alone? Providing the information without hinting at the intent might be more harmful and push more down the drain of religious bigotry. Providing the information with intent removes some aspects of free choice. Religions do this all the time and have been quite successful.

The best possible scenario would be to raise a child without exposure to any religious doctrine and try to instill the concept of thinking with reason. However, such non-exposure environments would be akin to living on a deserted island, with no outside contact, similar to the Amish or Mormon polygamists. This also, would be a form of mind-washing, eliminating some aspects of free choice.

It is truly a wonder that humans are able to relate to one another at all. Each individual over time with accumulated knowledge fabricates their own reality. Although each reality observes the same environment a different view is seen in each case.

For some a thunderstorm is gloom, for others a welcome relief. For some overtime at work is a dread, for others, its that chance to get a new sofa.

Perspectives, outlooks, it’s all in the individual programming one has had instilled by parents, siblings, teachers, and friends.

Misery loves company, and has produced great numbers of whining complainers. A positive attitude displayed in someone actually sickens these people. These whining milksops take great delight in tearing down someone they perceive might have a positive outlook.

It has been said should an alien species finally make it through the void to our speck of dust that there would be no basis for communication. There is little more relating between the varied realities each person creates. So many opportunities exist for misunderstanding.

Religion may have tried to make it easier to relate between these realities. Unfortunately religion has led to many misunderstandings  between the varied factions. In the end religion created many more problems than it solved and should be discarded.

In some cases individuals create realities merely to escape the reality which is presented. They know their own position is false, and yet it is the only thing holding them together. Sanitariums are full of these people. Self deluded nut cases whose minds are lost to the perceptions of derived realities. With enough time any reality can be made to seem real.

For example: Have you given your car a name? Do you talk to it? Don’t you realize it is a dead inanimate piece of metal whose only movement is made at the command of it’s driver? Granted, this may change someday, but for now that nifty piece of machinery has no consciousness and doesn’t care whether you own it or someone else. If you live or die is of no concern to it. In fact, it has no concerns at all.

Belief is irrelevant.

There are no gods of any kind.

What is believed does not produce what is not.

Blasphemy does not exist. This is so as there are no gods of any kind.

How can you profane a god when said god does not exist?

The only thing that can be said to have occurred is a show of disrespect for a set of ideas fabricated long ago by people who in their ignorance tried to explain natural occurrences that they could not in any other way. Fear was the basis for this construction.

Is it Blasphemy that I refuse to use a capital letter for the word "god"?

There seems to be a connection, directly or indirectly, between mental clarity and environmental order.

When a room is in disarray, mental clarity becomes fogged, uncertain. Even depression results. Productivity in thought and deed becomes slowed or non-existent.

A place for everything and everything in it’s place. This saying is evidently accurate. Order creates order. Disorder creates disorder. It is as simple as that.

People try to make things more complex than they are. Perhaps it is because they expect something to be complex and when it isn’t their mind goes to work overtime to make it so.

It is so true that the simplest answer usually turns out to be the best and most accurate.

We attended the Mansfield Cruise in for 2008, an annual gathering of antique and custom car aficionados.

Although there was a breeze blowing if you did not remain in the shade the sun became uncomfortable in short order.

There was a considerable gathering of enthusiasts, more so than last year. We found many areas of the blocked off streets full of cars whereas last year those areas were empty.

I took a few pictures which are now displayed on the site here. I marvel at the amount of work some of these antiques and custom cars must take to maintain. Some of these old automobiles have never looked as good, not even when new. I did take some video that reflected the atmosphere present at this event, however, I have not found a way to upload it to this site. Perhaps there is no way.

I found the loud music more of an annoyance than an entertainment. Perhaps if they had speakers scattered around the park, set at a more reasonable decibel instead of a central point with blaring speakers that threaten to melt you into the ground, I might have enjoyed it more. After all, they were playing tunes which were from the bygone eras, long before they were even born.

I think young people trying to relate to old people are just as pitiful as old people who try desperately to relate to young people. Your reference points are just not similar, and you end up looking the fake you are. Many people can relate to differing generations and understand completely what the reference points are. Even so, they face the appearances test, and usually fail to relate on those grounds. "You just look too darn old, or young, get away".

Some of my musings included looking at diehard smokers and wondering how long the political correctness police will allow that activity to continue. They weren’t exactly well received by people and most left when someone fired up. The smokers seemed to congregate, sharing their addiction, like some kind of death club.

Another thing that attracted my attention is how the strangest people seem to appear at these events. From midgets to the deformed seem to relish in these events. If you even so much as glance in their direction, I found, you get the ‘evil’ eye from them. If a look can kill, I would most certainly be dead, simply for a glance. Maybe these people are always in the central park and it is the people who are attending the show who are invading the turf of these rude and un-sociable individuals.