A moment of horror

     At some point in my career, I had decided to try out facility work. I am normally a caregiver for the mentally disabled. I love this work, because I get to make a real difference in the life of someone who needs help. The idea to try the facility work came up when I couldn't get enough hours for a decent income. Unfortunately, all I could find nearby were facilities for the elderly. Not that the elderly are a bad thing, it was just that I wanted to work with the autistic kids in the area. That was more my specialty. But, life happens and this was where I ended up.
     I found that working in a facility for the elderly was entirely different than the individual caregiver work that I had done before. This felt more like herding cattle. At the same time every morning, I would get them up, dress them, feed them, give them medications, whether they wanted to or not. Many would fight it, but state laws required me to be forceful in some cases. This was especially true with those who had developed dementia.
     The families of those in the facility would occasionally visit, and during that time we usually just left them alone unless they needed medication. In every facility that I had worked in until now, they were all understaffed, with underpaid workers who struggled to do all of the work in the short period of time that was designated for each chore. Something that really bothers me, is that in a facility that is a 'Resident Assistance' are supposed to only provide 'assistance' in daily activities. This means that anyone who is entirely incapable of even the basic abilities like speaking, or moving their limbs, should not be admitted. They should go to a Nursing Home.
     But this is never how it works. The families are so stretched financially, that they go 'shopping' for the best place to put their loved one, for the best price that they can find. So, those who have worse conditions are put into a Resident Assistance facility instead of a Nursing Home where they need to be for the level of care that they need. So the staff are stuck with trying to provide the extra care that we know they need, but are unable to keep up, and sometime legally unable to do so.
     In a Resident Assistance facility, the state laws forbid any kind of restraint. This means that we cannot legally restrain anyone for any reason. Now, when we get a resident who is unable to even hold themselves in a chair, or a wheelchair, this means that we are not allowed to put a 'seat belt' into their chair so that they can't fall out. In a Nursing Home, this is legal. Not in a Resident Assistance. So the staff are left with trying to find ways to make sure that this resident doesn't fall out of the chair and break a hip, which could then fall back on them as neglect.
     I remember the first facility that I worked in had one of these residents, as well as several others who should have also been in a Nursing Home. I was standing in the dining room trying to feed several people at once. I was standing behind the wheelchair of a resident who could not hold herself up in the chair and kept sliding down. I would have to reach under her arms every 20-25 seconds and physically lift her entire body by myself (this woman was easily twice my weight) to re-position her in the wheelchair so she wouldn't fall on the floor. At the same time, I am looking across the room at another woman who was unable to lift her limbs and feed herself, so she was sitting at the table staring at her food, then looking back at me, and then back at her food.
     I felt so horrible for this woman, knowing that I had to choose to either stand behind this one woman and pull her up so she wouldn't fall, or go over to her and help her eat so she wouldn't starve. The other staff were equally stuck with multiple residents, and were unable to help me. So I stood there, lifting and re-lifting this woman in her chair and watching the other woman miss her meal because I couldn't feed her. Legally, this is called neglect. But my choice was either neglect by injury, or neglect by starvation. I would be legally in serious crap for the injury, the starvation I could skirt off without getting in trouble.


Granted, this woman was going downhill pretty fast, but I am 100% certain that I had a few days window to get enough food in her to keep up her energy enough to live for a few months longer, and I chose the safe rout for myself because I would have been in serious legal trouble if I had left the other woman to fall. I am also 100% certain that all of the other staff had to do the same thing, in the exact same situation as me. So, combined I am not sure how much we were actually able to feed her. She gradually weakened, and then died in her sleep.

     After I had quit this facility, I had moved on to a different one across the road that had a better limit on the state of the residents, so that they wouldn't be impossible to take care of. There was only one resident that made things difficult, but the facility allowed it because she was a 'private pay' customer. This means that she was paying the facility out of pocket cash in order to live there because they were afraid of the horrors of the nursing homes. This was okay and it didn't bother me much, until she started to decline and her dementia made it hard for her to eat. She had CDIF, which meant that she was quarantined in her room, so we would bring her food to her room.
     So one day I brought her breakfast to her room, and set in down on the tray in front of her. She just looked at it, and then looked back to me and started talking to me. I kept trying to re-direct her to the food in front of her, but she couldn't focus long enough to get the food onto the fork and into her mouth. Her dementia had progressed to the point where she couldn't remember to eat the food in front of her. I had other chores to do in a very short time-frame, but I was damn determined not to let the same thing happen to this woman that had happened to the one at the other facility. I sat down and spoon-fed her myself, making sure she ate every bite.
     I was written up for neglecting my other duties, and leaving the work to the other caregiver who was forced to pick up the slack, on top of her other normal duties. She was pissed, and had a good reason for it too. It took me an extra 20 minutes to feed this woman, when I was supposed to be helping all of the other residents back to their rooms after their breakfast. This meant that ALL of the other residents were left to the only other caregiver on staff at the time.
     After that, every morning I would take her tray to her and feed her a few bites, then go back to the dining room for a resident and take them back to their rooms, and on the way back to the dining room I would stop in her room and feed her a few more bites. This slowed me down significantly, to the point where I was getting complaints from both the staff and the other residents who had to wait for me. But you know what? She recovered enough of her strength back after the period of getting so little to eat, that she was able to recover from the CDIF and her cognition improved enough that she was able to eat by herself again.
     Her family was so worried that she wasn't going to make it, that they had all come to visit her to say goodbye. When she suddenly bounced back 2 weeks later, they were all astounded. I remember her daughter was with her one morning as I brought in her breakfast (no longer needing to stay to spoon-feed her) and she had said, "This was the work of God, who saved my mother." I knew that she didn't mean any offense by it, but I couldn't help but think "No, God didn't save her. I did. And with plenty of time, effort, pissed off co-workers, and write-ups."
     It was a sudden moment of horror when I realized that the facility was actually encouraging us to allow the residents that we couldn't handle, to die. As I stood in front of the family of the woman I had been determined not to let starve, they showed their grief at the near-death of their loved one, and their gratitude at her pulling through against all odds. They had no idea what actually happened, and they probably never would.

     This moment of horror made me quit. I knew I was better off working as a 1-on-1 caregiver for the autistic kids. They aren't cattle. What I do for them is more personal and more appreciated. Anything that I do that produces positive results is accepted, and I get to actually help them, instead of forced to neglect them. I obviously was not fit to work in this kind of environment, and was not able to adhere by the rules. I know that I could have responded differently, better than I had, and I wish I knew what the best way to handle these issues were, but I can't turn back time to try again. These issues were daily, not just the ones that I wrote about here. There were incidences every single day that I was forced to work with, and witness others doing as well, that I had no ability to change. I had tried complaining to the higher ups, but they pretty much just ignored me, or told me to deal with it because that was state law. What else could I do?

The So Called War on Women

This is getting out of control America.  You can not and will not be allowed to violate our constitutional rights any longer.  We all need to stand up and say enough is enough.  In another states attempt to strip women of their constitutionally granted write to choose what to do with their body.  This is incredibly un-American.  These law makers in Mississippi whom just passed a bill that will effectively close the states only abortion clinic a few days ago.  The law states that any doctor perform abortions in the state must have admitting privileges at a state hospital.  What does this do for anyone? Nothing.  What it does is restrict who can give abortions in the state, and it's already really impossible in Mississippi, this makes it so.  Now I doubt that this law will stay in effect for very long, it's so blatantly unconstitutional that it screams to me undone.  If you're reading this and live in Mississippi do whatever is in your power you can to get behind having this bill overturned.

This is not the only legislation working its way around the country in these weeks.  In Pennsylvania the congress there is trying to pass a bill that is similar to the bill that passed in Virginia recently that would force all women claiming to have had a miscarriage to be subjected to an ultrasound.  The ultrasound would be done by shoving a twelve inch long probe into their uterus.  The most disgusting part is that part of the law requires that the screen for the ultrasound be in full view of the woman.  When asked how forcing a woman to watch that could be considered right, the Governor said that they weren't forcing the women to watch, that they could just shut their eyes.

Oh my GOD, how is this okay?  I know that we are calling this a war on women in this country, but it's not a  war on women.  It's not a war at all.  This is the end of justice.  People in this country have the right not have their bodies invaded by the government because certain super-right tea party politicians and Americans have a religious problem with abortion.  This is something they have no right to do.  They even agree with this.when the helped defeat another law that democrats where trying to pass in another state that said that conception began at fertilization and that anything that prevented fertilization was against the law.  Making male masturbation illegal.  The same right wing political pun-dents that think a women should have no right to
decide what to do with their body, feel it is unconstitutional to say what a man does with his.  For now.  Some states have actually passed laws that make it illegal for a man to masturbate, like Alabama, for instance.  This is the greatest miss use of our taxpayers dollars.  It has to stop.  Our state, our country has so many more important things to worry about than whether or not I play with myself.  We need to fix the economy, lower gas prices, fix the health care system.  Why are things like this even being discussed?

Mississippi articles:
http://news.yahoo.com/miss-gov-signs-limits-abortion-providers-230051341.html

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/75218.html

http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/03/11002420-mississippi-anti-abortion-bill-obviously-unconstitutional

Pennsylvania articles:
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2012/03/13/pennsylvania-postpones-debate-on-abortion-ultrasound-bill/

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/27/pennsylvania-poised-to-enact-most-restrictive-abortion-law-of-2012/

Regarding the Right's War Against Homosexuality

And with a simple veto, New Jersey finds itself held back from advancing civil rights in their state to some of its citizens. This isn't anything new, unfortunately, as many states seem to be under the impression that not everyone is deserving of equal rights. And yes, it is a matter of equal rights being granted to same-sex couples, NOT special rights, no matter how much the Right may whine about it. If anything, given how many rights same-sex couples DON'T get, a better case could be made that heterosexuals are currently on the receiving end of special rights. And yes, marriage is a right.

Many on the Christian Right rant on and on about how prevalent issues and stories related to homosexuality have become. What many fail to realize is homosexuality has been thrown into the spotlight by the very people who oppose it. If it weren't for hate groups vocally and financially opposing the advancement of civil rights, the suicides related to gay youth being bullied, gays being beaten and bashed, discrimination against gays, the Christian Right proposing laws to make it okay to bully gay kids for Jesus, the Right's desire to criminalize homosexuality, and so on, then there really wouldn't be much left to cover regarding homosexuality.

(News clip discussing a 2010 convention featuring the Christian Right
showing their Dominionist beliefs, with their anti-gay views taking the spotlight)

The sad truth is, the Christian Right are mobilizing whatever forces they can through blatantly false propaganda to oppose the advancement of civil rights in the US. Being armed with knowledge about the issues and subject matter is important if we are to defend against the encroaching fascism being advanced through Dominionist politicians and lobbyists.

So what is the main (and really, only) source of opposition to homosexuality and same-sex marriage? If you said, "religion," you'd be correct. As I'm in the United States of America, I'll be speaking on matters related to it, as such, in the US it is the many denominations of Christianity that are leading the charge against granting homosexuals the same civil rights as heterosexuals. Their primary argument? The Bible, of course. By citing various "clobber passages," they say this is proof that gays are abominations to God and unnatural. They tend to ignore that the passages they cite are less than 100% agreed upon in their interpretation, as you'll see if you check out the article linked in the previous sentence.

Regardless of the uncertainty of the Biblical passages used to oppose homosexuality, it doesn't stop the Christian Right, not in the least. Using said passages, they love to argue that homosexuality isn't natural. The fact is, some 1500 or so animal species have been documented as practicing homosexuality. Of course, the anti-gay Christians will usually do one of two things in response to that information; ignore it or move the goalposts. If their response is the latter, it usually comes with a variation of, "But animals do all sorts of things people don't do," sometimes they'll give examples to drive their newly fabricated point home. If you find yourself in this situation, stick to your guns and make it clear that you know what they are doing, and their original argument is wrong.

Many of the same Christians who fight tooth-and-nail to oppose homosexuality also oppose evolution, and they seem to think this topic gives them an opportunity to mix the two together. Some will try to argue that homosexuality can't be natural because it can't be explained through natural selection. The simple fact is, it can. Sure, we might not know the exact details or reasons behind the process, but that doesn't mean it can't be explained.

(Richard Dawkins offers up possible explanations regarding

the survival of homosexuality via natural selection)

So that's a few arguments taken care of, what is another? A common one is, "Homosexuality is a choice!" Opponents of homosexuality love to say that there is no gay gene, so people can't be born gay. Well, it is true that we have yet to find a gene responsible for homosexuality, though we haven't found one for heterosexuality either, and I'm pretty sure straight people exist. A common response to the above question from homosexuals and those who support gay rights is, "Well, when did you choose to be straight?" In my experience, the anti-gay individual ignores the response and moves on to one of their other ignorant arguments.

The "Ex-Gay" programs are another thing the Christian Right likes to point to, claiming it proves homosexuality is a choice. These programs have been shown to not only be harmful, but to also be ineffective, creating not ex-gays but rather repressed gays. Even the president of a prominent "ex-gay" program admits the program is ineffective.

If you should find yourself in a debate with some intolerant sad sack who is using the ex-gay program as evidence, make sure the two of you are arguing the same thing. It has been my experience that many in the anti-gay crowd thinks that homosexual acts are the same thing as homosexuality itself. Gay or straight, anyone can have gay or straight sex and not be attracted to their partner. "Gay-for-pay" expresses this point perfectly.

Beyond the above points, there is still plenty of evidence that homosexuality is not a choice. There are numerous physical traits that are more common amongst gay men than amongst straight men, evidence of gay male brains being more like straight female brains than straight male brains, evidence of prenatal hormonal influence and genetic links, and so on. So while we might not have figured out the exact cause of homosexuality, there is ample supporting evidence in the corner of "born this way."

(Clip from a BBC special showcasing the gay male brain being more

akin to the straight female brain than to the straight male brain)

Of course, we can't forget same sex-marriage! Why are people opposed to it? Because marriage has only ever been between one man and one woman, as God dictated, of course! Never mind that many different types of marriage existed in the Bible, that marriage has changed with both time and between cultures, and that there is evidence which suggests European Christianity once supported gay marriage. Yes, ignoring all that, we are still left with the hilariously unsupportable argument that same-sex marriage harms "traditional" marriages. The simple fact that these same "pro-marriage" people aren't actively pursuing an end to divorce with the same level of zealotry they oppose same-sex marriage with shows the hypocrisy of this argument. A single couple divorcing does more damage to marriage than two men or two women marrying ever could.

It may seem like a useless endeavor, arguing with an anti-gay individual, but always remember; even though the average anti-gay bigot won't hear anything you say, or see any evidence you share, others on the fence may be paying attention and your arguments could be the nudge they need to stand on the side of both truth and progress.

Woman Forced to Watch Her Baby Die

If you are one of those people who are against abortion, and believe that there is no situation where an abortion is a good idea, then watch this video. It is one thing to try to prevent women from using it as a form of birth control, but most abortions are NOT in that category. 

A woman from Nebraska was forced to watch her baby suffocate to death because she was not able to get an abortion regardless of the situation.  Her water broke at 23 weeks, which, without the amniotic fluids, the baby would not develop lungs to survive after birth. So when she was forced to wait to go into labor naturally, and when the baby was born, watched as her baby girl gasped for breath until she died.

So. With that short re-cap of this woman’s story, how can you honestly believe that banning abortion after 20 weeks regardless of the situation is a GOOD thing?! A woman makes her choices for a damn good reason (at least most of us). The choice to abort a baby is not something that we would take lightly, and it’s certainly not something that you have the right to take away!

So I have a question for the legislators of Nebraska. What the hell would it have hurt, to allow this woman an abortion? If you can’t respect a woman's choice to do what is likely the hardest thing that they will ever do, then YOU do not deserve the respect to create laws that govern us. There are about a dozen states who are looking into copying this law, because they don’t actually CARE what is best for the woman or their families. That is not important to them. 

States that are next in line for this law? (click the links for more info)

Oregon.

Minnesota.

Georgia.

Idaho.

Iowa.

Florida.

Missouri.

Ohio.

States that already have a ban on abortions

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Michigan

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

New Jersey

New Mexico

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Utah

Virginia

West Virginia

Wisconsin

The Civil Rights of Atheists

To define, in simple terms, the civil rights movement for atheists in America; it is to end the repression by the christian majority of those who lack belief in any form of higher power or god, to allow the unhindered free speech thereof, and to stop the progression of religious theocracy in the government of the United States. This country must NEVER become a christian theocracy. If so, the religious freedoms of all, believers and non-believers alike, will immediately become illegal. For a country to throw support behind one belief or the other turns them to be biased toward anything that is NOT that belief. If Christianity is to become that theocratic element in the government, you can kiss your freedom to oppose religion goodbye. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered individuals will have no rights whatsoever. Women, for the most part, will have no right to control their own bodies. The pregnancy rate and rate of progression of sexually transmitted diseases will both increase to unimaginable levels. Parents of atheist children will have no way to stop the indoctrination of their children in public schools. The institution of prayer in school will be forced upon every individual whether they like it or not, not to mention the possible institution of bible study being added to the general curriculum as well as the elimination of proven scientific teachings that oppose their beliefs. Religious theocracy must NEVER happen. It will oppose everything that this country was founded upon.

“Congress shall make NO law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
The first quote is the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States. The second is Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli. Both are from the time of the founding of this country and both clearly state in general terms that this is NOT to be a religious nation. Religion should remain private, as their teachings profess:

“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”

The first quote is the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States. The second is Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli. Both are from the time of the founding of this country and both clearly state in general terms that this is NOT to be a religious nation. Religion should remain private, as their teachings profess:

“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”

“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”

Now is the time to stand up and oppose religious oppression. Stand up for your right to speak freely about your non-belief. Stand up for your right to be in control of your own bodies, ladies. Stand up for your right to love freely, those of the homosexual community. Stand up for your right to NOT have someone else’s belief shoved down your throat. Stand up for your right to do what ever it is you’re genetically programmed to do. If you don’t believe in their god or any god, voice that opinion. If you don’t want the government telling you that you can’t protect yourself sexually, tell them. If you believe you are naturally attracted to those of the same sex and that you truly love them, voice it. The time is coming, very soon I’m afraid, where these rights may be taken away. WE have to educate the public that it’s not wrong to be different. WE have to because no one else will stand up for us. Conservative, right wing religiosity is on the verge of changing all of that for us. NOW is the time to make a stand. NOW.

Now is the time to stand up and oppose religious oppression. Stand up for your right to speak freely about your non-belief. Stand up for your right to be in control of your own bodies, ladies. Stand up for your right to love freely, those of the homosexual community. Stand up for your right to NOT have someone else’s belief shoved down your throat. Stand up for your right to do what ever it is you’re genetically programmed to do. If you don’t believe in their god or any god, voice that opinion. If you don’t want the government telling you that you can’t protect yourself sexually, tell them. If you believe you are naturally attracted to those of the same sex and that you truly love them, voice it. The time is coming, very soon I’m afraid, where these rights may be taken away. WE have to educate the public that it’s not wrong to be different. WE have to because no one else will stand up for us. Conservative, right wing religiosity is on the verge of changing all of that for us. NOW is the time to make a stand. NOW.

"As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Musselmen; and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."

That bible verse is Matthew 6:6. Yet all the christians want to do is spread their beliefs on everyone and seemingly force them down your throat. That is an oppression of your right NOT to believe as THEY do. I don’t doubt that if christianity were to become something that the government endorsed, they would have every right to beat your door down and force feed their beliefs into your life, your family’s life and everything that you do. I don’t doubt that mandated “times of prayer” will be forced on the people, such as is present in muslim countries. Not only would this be an infringement upon your right not to believe, but if you are a woman, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered, you will be reduced to a non citizen of this nation.

A Mockery of Science; Creationism in the Classroom

Oh, science, is there anything you can't do?

Well, sure. Of course there is. Just as there are many things science either cannot (currently) or does not (currently) know. Almost no one with even a basic understanding of science will say otherwise, not seriously at least. And that is where what I consider the main problem facing science today, in America, comes in.

Creationism.

You see, many Creationists believe that science cannot be trusted because it changes frequently (as new discoveries replace old models shown to be incorrect) and can't (currently) answer every question we've ever had. What never changes and can answer everything? Their holy book of choice, in the USA this tends to be the Bible, of course! I suppose we should ignore all the changes that have been made to the Bible, and how it gets interpreted, over time, right?

So, how did the universe come into being? God did it! How did the Earth form? God did it! How did life appear on Earth? God did it! Scientists, when met with something they don't know or understand, work to seek the answers. Most Creationists don't seem to be able to handle any mystery, any unknowns, and attribute everything to variations of, "God did it." There is nothing scientific about this sort of world view regarding life, the universe, and everything.

Yet, whether under the label of Intelligent Design or Creationism, those who believe such nonsense are pushing their scientifically illiterate opinions about the nature of the world onto everyone else. Whether it is in Tennessee, Indiana, New Hampshire, or any number of other states, science (and more specifically, science education) is under attack. Sure in some states these bills are meeting defeat, like in the above article about New Hampshire's bill or in Oklahoma, but in others they aren't meeting their demise like they should be.

Look, if you want to believe that the world was created 6000 years ago by man being sculpted out of dirt and a cosmic geneticist cloning a woman out of a rib, go for it. If you want to believe, despite there being no evidence for it, that the entire Earth flooded and two (or seven depending on whether they were "clean" or not) of almost every species on the planet boarded a small boat and survived an absolutely complete global flood, you go right ahead. Frankly, I don't care if you believe that a giant walrus regurgitated the universe into being five minutes ago, complete with everything we would need to falsely believe the cosmos is about 14 billion years old.

You are, after all, free to your beliefs. However, the very instant you begin to push your unsubstantiated beliefs as fact onto others, the very moment education and progress become blocked because of magical thinking, then you've just over stepped your bounds and we've got ourselves a problem.

Much of this hostility towards science is based on evolution, and the theory of evolution. Evolution, you see, disproves the stories of, basically, every religion's creation myth. Naturally this would lead to the religious opposing evolution (with its corresponding theory), and please do not confuse the process of evolution with the theory of evolution. Evolution is a fact, whether you like it or not.The theory of evolution, however, is different from simply saying, "evolution." Evolution is the process, the theory of evolution explains the process.

There is a difference.

Many of the assaults against evolution, it seems, are based on the use of the word "theory," as in, "the theory of evolution." In science, ample evidence is required for something to become a theory, it is not just a random idea someone has. The latter is what Creationists seem to believe the word "theory" means, even when used in a scientific manner. Personally, I'm fond of Isaac Asimov's take on this,

“Creationists make it sound as though a 'theory' is something you dreamt up after being drunk all night.”

So what, exactly, is the definition of a scientific theory?

The appropriate definition to use when looking up the word at Dictionary.com is the first one;

a coherent group of tested general propositions, commonly regarded as correct, that can be used as principles of explanation and prediction for a class of phenomena.

About.com explains it as;

 A scientific theory summarizes a hypothesis or group of hypotheses that have been supported with repeated testing. A theory is valid as long as there is no evidence to dispute it. Therefore, theories can be disproven. Basically, if evidence accumulates to support a hypothesis, then the hypothesis can become accepted as a good explanation of a phenomenon. One definition of a theory is to say it's an accepted hypothesis.

It is rather sad that the most common argument against evolution seems to be over the misunderstanding of a word's definition. Then again, you never see Creationists/ID-iots arguing against the theory of gravity or germ theory, do you?

To draw things to a close, I'd like to suggest that if you don't accept evolution, odds are you don't understand it. Whether it is intentional or not (as many religious speakers make sure their audience gets a very biased, very inaccurate, view of evolution and its theory), simple conversation reveals that most Creationists seem to lack even the most basic of understandings of evolution. Destroying science education  for the sake of what amounts to fairy tales will not help anyone. It will, in fact, only hurt those no longer learning actual science.

Now, since I touched on evidence earlier, here are some links to read a little about some of the evidence we have for evolution;

Fossil Evidence:
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-transitional.html
http://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/benton.html
http://www.enotes.com/topic/List_of_transitional_fossils#Human_evolution

Gene Evidence:
http://www.brighthub.com/science/genetics/articles/42290.aspx
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-intro-to-biology.html
http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/genetics
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100512131513.htm

Observational Evidence:
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-speciation.html
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/speciation.html
http://evolutionguide.blogspot.com/2010/07/observed-speciation.html
http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/13511-observed-speciation/

To be fair, here are some links to evidence we have for Creationism/Intelligent Design; 

*crickets chirping*

Bomb at Planned Parenthood in Wisconsin

What the freaking hell is this? There isn’t much information on it so far, but apparently there was some kind of bomb planted at a Planned Parenthood near Appleton. A homemade explosive device was placed on a windowsill at 7:40 pm on Sunday. There wasn’t much damage, and nobody was in the building at the time so nobody was hurt. They will be reopening the facility on Tuesday.

They don’t know who did it yet, but I can pretty much guess WHY they did it. This has everything to do with abortion, and how Planned Parenthood is a clinic that provides women with that service. I understand what Wisconsin is more politically motivated after the whole deal with Governor Scott Walker and his goonies, but really? A bomb? What the hell, Wisconsin?! If one person acts on it, that means there are dozens, if not hundreds of people who think it. This person who bombed a medical clinic is probably a republican extremist (I say extremist because not all republicans are crazy, and quite frankly, this is terrorism), and I just happened to notice that the Republican primaries are happening today.

The reaction to this story seems to be mixed; some who approve of the actions of this individual, and some who (like me) clearly dislike what has happened. One theory that seems to be common, is that Planned Parenthood planted that bomb themselves to get publicity and pity.

“I'll bet you 10 to 1 it was the work of the pro-Aborts to try and gain support and sympathy for their murderous agenda or the place would have far more damage. More election time stunts and distractions by the stupid and transparent psychos on the left.” - Lucas4440

“It was probably an M-80 someone from PP or the left planted themselves to blame True Christians or the Right since have been caught using tax dollars and Susan B. Komen dollars to perform abortions, as a distraction. A real bomb would have done some serious damage.” - FLHR12

Those on the other side of the argument, point out how Christianity seems to have their own brand of the Taliban in the sense that those who are overly religious become violent.

“Ah yes, the Christian Taliban strike once again. Just like every religious fanatic, when they world will not listen to your religious ramblings - you turn to violence and bombings. I will guarantee Jesus would have been proud of you .... NOT!” - afmcalax

“Do you have evidence the bomber was not Christian? Citing in this case an applicable use of statistics -- the Pro-Life movement's targeting of Planned Parenthood and other medical facilities is a documented fact.

According to the most recent statistics from the National Abortion Federation, there were 114 violent attacks against abortion providers in 2011, including three physical assaults, one bombing, one incident of arson, 27 counts of vandalism and eight burglaries.” - reality_sanity

Republicans are noticeably more religious than others, so my point is that this person (who was probably a little disturbed) had gone home after church and saw this video that had aired in Wisconsin because of the upcoming primaries, and got pissed off because his religious extremist views made him think that he was personally responsible for preventing other people from seeking an abortion.

Or maybe he was entirely against how Planned Parenthood gives free health care. Who knows? Some of these republicans are actually congratulating this person for doing what ‘everybody has been thinking’. Others are outright condemning the violence that has resulted from a likely religious nutcase.

Political Secretions

Why oh why do people think that America is still a Democracy?  Seriously, when the major corporations of the world govern those who govern us, how can we justly say that this is a country of the people?  We don't have a voice and when we try to, we get called whinny children who are just upset that we lost and didn't get our way.  The worst part is that people like the country bumpkins that flock to there Republican masters, will talk about how liberals are un-American for not wanting to fight needless wars, or for the poor to have access to health care, or unemployment benefits, or college educations, or bargaining rights, will with same mouth say that limiting the freedoms of gays, and women, and immigrants, and minorities are amazing examples of the freedoms our founders fought and died to give us!  How is this possible?  How can we all be so blind that we can think that this is how we should live?

Here's what I want for America.  WAKE UP!! Stop just listening to what your told like little sheep! Not even from me.  All you all seem to do is bleet liberal and conservative propaganda like a bunch of sheep or Lemmings.  I'm serious, if you're not going to learn to think for yourselves then stop talking, because this country could be a country of thinkers and progressives.  So if you're going to vote on Monday in the Presidential Primary here in Wisconsin than please, do your research, learn about the candidates and then vote for the one who you feels best represents the values that are a part of you!  Prove that we are stronger than the corporate evils that run this country think we are, prove we can lead ourselves, that change is coming and like a swift wind it will blow away the idiocy of the current era we live in.

Why I am an Active Atheist.

Where I am from, I have not personally come across any real resistance to atheism, or even a fixation on Dawin’s theory of evolution. It annoys me that there isn’t a single person in my area who is not religious, or that would stand for something. Now, granted, it is nice to know that if I am publicly ‘outed’ as an atheist, the general response is probably going to be “Really? You don’t believe in God?” and that’s about it. So far, that’s all that has happened. I am actually very grateful that my area is so tolerant. However, this also means that I am easily swept under the rug. That bugs me.

I had worked at a few old folks homes, and they are all pretty much religiously run. I don’t have a problem with this at all, it was just a little difficult to keep finding excuses to leave the room or to go do something else while they held prayer or sermons. Other than that, the religious part of it was fine. The entire staff that worked there were Christians, with the exception of me. One girl had even became a missionary teacher on some island near the Philippines. I liked her. We had a long discussion about why I don’t believe in a god, and why she does. She was very understanding of me, and I hope she thought the same of me. She had asked me some questions that probably would have irritated me if it had come from anyone else, though. One of these questions was basically asking if my parents were divorced. The answer was yes, however I don’t think that this had anything to do with my lack of belief in a deity because the divorce happened after I stopped believing it in. She suggested that maybe the way I was raised, and possibly the lack of union in my family might make me question things about life that those who had not been in my shoes would have. While this may be slightly offending in a way, the way she had meant it could very well be true.

This brings me to my next thought, which is ‘Had I been born and raised in the traditional Christian family setting, with parents who don’t hate each other, would I still be a Christian?’.  I hate to say it, but I probably would be. Looking back at it, the thing that made me question everything related to the Bible, was how my parents should have divorced 10 years earlier than they did. The reasons why they didn’t divorce, was because it was supposedly a sin, and that they didn’t want to break up the family. So, I was wondering why they don’t just get it over with instead of dragging it out and making it more painful for the entire family. The way that I saw it, was that if my parents had just gotten the divorce, it wouldn’t have been any different than the way things already were except that my dad would have been free to decide things for himself without the craziness of my mother, and my mother could decide things for herself without the constant feeling of being looked down on by my father. This would have drastically improved the relationship of the entire family. So the argument that they wanted to keep the family together was kind of a farce, especially since that particular idea failed. My mother kept saying something about how getting a divorce was a sin, but wouldn’t elaborate on the specifics of that.

So, without the internet at home and SO not up for reading the Bible, I just went along on my way with my own thoughts on the whole thing. I felt that it was a stupid idea that two people who hated each other so much should be forced to stay together in a way that did not benefit anyone, simply because it was ‘wrong’ to get a divorce. So, why is it wrong to get a divorce? Who said so? What makes a divorce so wrong? This idea is pretty much where it all started. Then I started to question why ANYTHING is wrong, and who decides what is right and what is wrong. I didn’t come up with any conclusions on this thought for a few years, and they definitely weren’t things that I was going to talk about to anyone at the time.

Another question that this missionary girl had asked me, was if I had any other friends who were atheists who might have influenced or convinced me not to believe in the religion I was raised with. The answer, was actually No. This bothers me a little bit now, but at the time it didn’t seem so important. Yes, I felt very alone with my thoughts and beliefs, but considering it didn’t seem to be something that people would zero-in on, I didn’t feel particularly hated for it. So it was okay. But this made me ask her the same question in return, with the same theory. What about all of the people around her? Would she be as religious as she is, if she had not been raised that way, or did not have all of the people around her believing in the same thing? She had admitted that no, she might not be. Her faith was based on how she understood life, and the values that she personally finds important. I have an enormous amount of respect for her and her way of thinking. I also hope that she understands how much this discussion has helped me to deal with others of the same religious background.

The thing that I find most important in life, is understanding. She didn’t immediately dislike me, or what I believe or don’t believe. She took the time to find out why, and try to understand it, and THEN decided that she RESPECTED me for my decision. If only everyone could do that… Now, the entire discussion was based on a ‘mutual’ respect for each other, which meant that I also respected her for her decision about her belief. Had either of us not held that kind of equal respect for each other, the entire conversation would have probably ended very badly.

The reason why I have become more vocal about my beliefs (or lack of belief in a deity) is because the mutual respect is not there. I try to show all people a general respect for their own lives and experiences that gave them the faith that they do, but most people completely disregard mine. Around here, they don’t become angry (at least I haven’t had an angry response to me specifically), but they just ignore me like my thoughts and ideas don’t matter anymore simply because they are different from what they ‘know’ to be the truth. I appreciate that those around me don’t become confrontational, but at the same time, they won’t even listen. So, I have adopted the title of Atheist. While it does draw a bit more of a confrontational response, I at least get the time of day. I feel like the naughty neighbor kid who gets into trouble just to get attention. : /

So, with the territory of announcing a position, I needed to arm myself with the knowledge to argue facts and reasons that I could defend myself with if someone decided to attack me for it. This particular step didn’t happen until last year sometime. I hadn’t felt especially ambitious about finding out this kind of information until I had found a website someone had posted on Facebook that was talking about how the theory of evolution was a load of crap. This sort of sparked my curiosity because I had thought it was common knowledge that evolution was a known truth because of science, and genetics, and different species, family trees, ect. What I had discovered with this article, was that people were actually denying that evolution was the truth because it didn’t match a story in the Christian bible. I remember my biology class from high school pretty well. We didn’t really talk about evolution very much, but we did talk about genetics, and how it was passed down through generations, and cloning, and how humans had evolved from Neanderthals and all of this was proven through science. But never once did the topic of evolution actually come up in this way. What I had learned by reading this article and then doing the research myself, was the actual meaning of ‘The Theory of Evolution’ and how the entire concept of Biology would not work without it. This is NOT something that I was taught in school. There needs to be some fine-tuning with the theory, but that is because it is a THEORY that Darwin ( ßan actual human, not a God) came up with to try to explain the origins of humanity.

Now, the outright rejection of the theory of evolution made me question why people think this theory is so wrong, especially if an entire study of science is based off of it. The answer, I found, was simply that the Bible says that God created Adam and Eve and evolution tells a different story, saying that we evolved from apes and we are not apes. So, me being naturally curious about why people would put so much faith in the Bible, but completely reject an entire category of science, I decided to find out where the Bible actually came from, and who actually wrote it.

As it turns out, the first testament (or Old Testament; OT) was the original word of God that the people were supposed to follow. It is also the part that the Jewish people follow, because they rejected the second testament (the new testament; NT) since you can't just 'change the word of God'. The second testament is basically a compilation of letters and gospels thrown together by the Church to ‘adjust’ the laws. This is my understanding of it, and if you don’t like it, then go look it up yourself and make your own judgment of what you find.

So, this totally blew my mind with the entire Christian religion, and I felt personally betrayed that nobody had actually thought to find out who said what, and why. I found out that a lot of the second testament were letters by Paul, that were written to his private church as a way to continue his preaching while he was away as a missionary. They were not written with the intent to be added to the Bible, and many of them were definitely not even written by Paul himself. Some of them were written in his name after he died. So, my problem then became ‘How can people follow every letter of this book if it wasn’t actually written by God, or even the people who the Church tries to say they were? And on top of that, with letters that were never intended to be added to the second testament?’.  An easy answer, they don’t. They cherry-pick the Bible and follow only what makes sense for them to follow, and only if they feel like following it.

This is probably where I became more ‘activist’ minded, in the sense of trying to stop people from being hateful and bigoted towards others, simply because they read something about it in the Bible, or that they heard God doesn’t like these people (if they didn't even read the bible, others telling them what to believe). My focus seems to be on freedom of religion, LGBT rights, feminism, racism, and any other kind of hate that comes from being religious. I am in no way against believing in God or having faith that the Bible is true, the part where I butt in is where individuals/groups of people's lives are physically and emotionally destroyed. If all people were as understanding of me or other people, I wouldn’t feel the need to actually speak up against them. If only everyone were as understanding as the missionary girl I had spoken too. Unfortunately, she may never know how grateful I am to her for how she helped me to personally grow and understand other people. She set one heck of a high bar for me to follow. J

SO! With my new-found enthusiasm for secular activism, I found several things to help me get more information and find other issues that I had previously not considered. This is where I found Greta Christina’s blog. Well actually I found a video of her, which then made me have to look up her blog… Anyway, this woman is responsible for opening up the can of worms in my brain. This video perfectly describes why I am an active atheist, and what an atheist really is. 

I am tired of being called a ‘devil worshipper’ and other ignorant names like it. Most people don’t even know what being an atheist means. It has nothing to do with the devil, because I don’t believe that there IS a devil in the same way that I don’t believe that there is a God. But also, that it’s not even just attacking religion and hating people. The whole point is that we want to STOP the hate. And we are tired of being ignored. So now we are starting to take a more confrontational approach, where we can’t simply be ignored as if we aren’t even here.

For example, when we say that we are not being represented as a group politically, we mean that in the United States of America we are supposed to have the freedom of/from religion but somehow the only group of people who don’t have a voice politically, are atheists. The non-religious outnumber all but Christianity and Islam. So why are the non-religious the only ones who do not have any say in politics?