Hi, All,
I live in Lansing, and haven’t had a chance to make any meetings, and, until I find a good bike route to Grand Rapids and a place to stay overnight (I’m boycotting the oil companies by not using my car unless absolutely necessary, yes, we have two cars, both paid for in full. Unfortunately, I still have to mow the lawn and put gas in the lawnmover.). I’m a distance bicyclist, so Grand Rapids is not outside my range. I’d love to meet all of you, and spend time talking to people who have grip on “reality”, and not this religious fantasy stuff. Most of my family are “religious”, and I was raised to be a “Christian”, but after experiencing the real world and searching for reality, not an escape from the world as it is, I just finally had had enough and told my family I’m done with the nonsense. No church, no fantasy, I’m done. Of course, everyone thought I’d go careening off the face of the earth (mentally) and would start committing major crimes and murders, and whatever comes to minds to those who are brain-washed with the religious programming. So far, I haven’t even committed a tiny “sin’ (ROFL) such as speeding, etc. No murder, no theft. But, I do speak my mind (freethinking), and apparently, that’s just as scarey as “mortal sins” to those who insist upon clinging (like a vine) to their religious programming (Religions are designed with the full intent of controlling people and hopefully turning them into productive serfs who are too afraid of “God” to object to their mistreatment in the name of “law and order”, and “being good”. Yes, a little sarcasm.--Ha, ha, a Catholic aquintance suggested that I had become “possessed”! That suggestion should scare anyone into the desire to submit to the “norm”! Right?) --These religious types automatically think that if you don’t have “religion” that you also don’t have a moral compass. Nothing could be further from the truth. My moral compass has guided me quite well through-out my life, and I might add, better than many preacher types I know of who are obviously devoid of any sense of right and wrong conduct. Most people, excluding psychopathic types, have the moral compass built in. You don’t have to stuff it in after birth and continue to for years after by going to church every Sunday to refresh your moral compass. It’s doesn’t need refreshing; it’s fully functional all the time. (But, it can be distorted by artificial, forced, thought systems, religion being only one of those.) The military is another system that takes person who has been taught for their whole lifetimes to NOT kill, and teach them to be efficient killers in two months or so.
I had a near death experience or two, and met, what I considered at the time, to be “Jesus”, but, discovered that It (he,she) was really whatever energy or force created the universe, so that makes me a deist more than an atheist. Those brief (I’m told) moments when I was dead, were more revealing about what religions are really about, and what or who this Creator really is, than a whole lifetime of study. It gave me my freedom. But, I am definitely anti-theist! Basically, theiism is a criminal act. It’s an assault on rationality and deductive reasoning. And, no surprise, hell is only a figment of the human imagination.
And, this emphasis in politics about whose religion is what, is a violation of separation of church and state. Every time Bush uses religious talk and says God this and God that, he’s violating the Constitution. Religion being emphasized in our politics is really bothing me. We shouldn’t have a clue about what any candidates theological (or not) preferences are. That’s their private business. What’s more relevant to me is how does he treat people, and is he honest? What do those who know him think of his character? Does he have any common sense? Has he ever held a real job, punched the time-clock, or is he/she an “elite” who doesn’t have a clue about the working world? Plus, any right-wing, nut-cases having infulence over how our goverment is run, just plain scares me. Pat Robertson advocating assassinating Hugo Chavez comes to mind. What’s next? An American form of Inquisition? Guantanomo comes to mind.
In short, I’m opinionated.
