Tofur's Ramblings

Fun With Dry Ice: Part I

2011-12-07T18:04:00.000-07:00

We received a package of tasty meat products from Omaha Steaks (cheap plug to possibly get free stuff)(fingers crossed), all courtesy of my pop. As usual, the package is loaded with a HUGE chunk of dry ice to keep said tasty meat products from Omaha Steaks (another cheap plug) fresh.

This, of course, means I get to have some fun with the geeklings...

Science Will Be The REAL Religion

2011-12-04T02:52:00.000-07:00

I have seen this video a few times and it ALWAYS astounds me. It makes me want to learn as much as can about the universe a the science that makes it tick.

When you actually open your mind and really begin to see how big our universe is just from what we can see here on this little rock we call home, you will actually begin to understand why god and religion starts to look quaint and silly. There is so much more out there to see and learn than be confined to a narrow minded mythical human construct that restricts your knowledge to a fraction of what "they" deem acceptable.

Now I never followed my destined career path of programming or engineering that I went to school for and instead got sidetracked into another passion In any case, I have still kept my hunger for knowledge in the sciences. I still read science documents and blogs daily and try to keep current on the newest technological advances we (the human race) make. I "geek out" almost daily whenever I see new breakthroughs and discoveries in the sciences.

However, I am almost instantly heartbroken see these advance and breakthroughs denied by politicians due to power or monetary greed some of the time and religious reasons the other times because they think their imaginary figurehead has demanded that. What makes me sadder is when I see some of my older friends that I have known for years that have yet to remove the blinders of faith and still subscribe to rules written in the bronze age and arbitrarily cherry pick those rules from their playbook. They limit themselves mentally. I pity them. Maybe they want to stay in a tiny pocket of the universe. However, if they could just only take a step back and see the real big picture, they could possible enjoy the awe and wonderment I experience when I see how big the universe is and the exponential growth in humankind's acquired knowledge. They may think or say they experience some of these things with that imaginary friend of theirs, but that is just their spiked Kool-Aid talking.

Like many of the thousands of religions that have come and gone, Christianity, Judaism and Islam will all fade into mythology just like the others. Hopefully, these three will be the last fictionally and spiritually based religions and will be replaced by science. By the way, science has been the one thing that has truly stood the test of time as every cult and religion fell into oblivion. Science has taken a few punches to the chin by religion over the centuries. There is a reason why the Dark Ages were called "The Dark Ages". With that being said, science is coming on strong in a big way and people are losing faith with their god(s) around the world. Europe in particular is seeing this spread quickly like a firestorm. Countries like Scandinavia, Norway and the like are seeing the majority of the population being atheist now. I have a friend in the UK that told me that most of England is seeing Christianity disappear there. America is seeing this happen and people like me are coming out of the closet and being outspoken. The religious right is entrenching unfortunately and getting ready for what they see as a war and willing to step all on our governing document, The Constitution. Sigh.

However, it is inevitable that science and reason will prevail because knowledge and the way it is communicated is now to the point that it cannot be held back. The people WILL wake up and replace all of their imaginary friends with science and reason with a good dash of skepticism. I just hope that it happens in my lifetime.

My Theatre Origins

2011-10-02T05:27:00.001-06:00

It has been a very interesting week in my personal online life. It all started early this week when I received a blip on my friend request button on Facebook. It was from a former coworker and friend that I have lost contact with over the years. Upon accepting Cheryl’s friend request I saw that she posted a picture of herself and another, Don, at the job in 1987. From that point, between her, me and two others (Rich and Arland), we ended up having a nostalgia fest from those days that is currently a 1000+ comment thread on that very picture. Others have joined in that conversation but it is primarily the 4 of us talking of the glory days. All four of us had a ton of memories flooding back from back then and it prompted me to create a Group Page dedicated to those memories on Facebook.

For those that have been reading my tripe on this blog, Twitter, Facebook and Google+, you should know that I am currently in the movie theatre biz. That was also my first job and it started in 1986.

Depressing...

There she is…Lynnhaven 8 Theatres. It was AMC’s former and now closed flagship theatre in the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area that opened in May of 1986. It is now a sad pathetic shell of a gutted building that now houses an indoor go-cart track. It is always sad to see something like that happen to a movie theatre. It is even sadder to see it happen to this particular one. However, for the years it was opened, I know it was filled with many memories of good times. I remember the summer or fall of 1985 seeing the structure start to go up. I would zip by on my bike wondering “What the hell is this building? The architecture doesn’t make sense.” I knew it looked like a theatre but there was one already in the mall no more than 200 yards away. In any case I watched it go up over the winter in anticipation wondering what it will be. Spring rolls around and signage is going in place. By then I KNEW what it was and I was giddy. As you already know, I love movies…I mean I REALLY love movies. I always have too. By having more screens in the area meant more movies for me to watch. Little did I know how many that I would end up watching in my near future.

The building opened in May of 1986 with their big title being COBRA with Sylvester “You are the disease and I am the cure.” Stallone. LABYRYNTH was the first movie I saw there in theatre #6. July of that summer, I saw ALIENS in 70mm with 6track Dolby in their #8 house. That may have clenched it I think for me. I was so enamored with that presentation that I came back a couple more times to see it. Not the movie…the presentation. The sound and the picture just blew me away. I had never seen a movie with sound like that and the picture was so damn big compared to the shitty shoebox theatres I had been to before that like the shit box that UA had at the mall across the way.

Holy shit...I am LITERALLY almost half the guy I am now. Seriously...I am about 115 lbs there and now 200.

So, it was the summer of 1986 and I am a 17 year old scrawny geek (see pic above from 1987 at theatre) and I am about a month away to starting my junior year of high school. I was lazing about the house and my father came to me and said those fateful words that most fathers say to their boys, “Dammit boy, go get a job and stop laying about. Make yourself useful.” Therefore, I got on my bike and started picking up applications for things nearby like McDonalds, grocery stores, hardware stores and the like. I got a wild hair up my ass and decided to bike on over to the new theatre 3.5 miles away from the house and pick up an application there too. I really did not think I had a chance but I thought “what the hell”. Took them all home and filled them out. On Tuesday morning 8/5/86 I grabbed the applications, got on my bike and headed out. My 10 year old brother tagged along with me as I was turning in applications from place to place making my way down towards the theatre slowly. At the last stop, I dropped off the application and an assistant manager, Annette Belanga, takes the application and looks it over as I was about to walk it out. She stops me and asks if I was available for an interview later that day. Stunned, I nervously said yes and said I will have to go home and change. I race home with my kid brother as fast as I could and came back about an hour early in an Oxford shirt, dress pants and a tie and waited outside. A few minutes before I had to be there I walked in and Annette greeted me and led me to what was the employee break room to interview me. After what felt like an eternity for me probably babbling and stammering nervously, she said that she wanted hire this spaz and to have me start that Friday. FUCK YES!!!!!!!! My planned course for my life was forever changed at that moment. I did not know it at the time but it was. I need to say this here before going on any further…thank you Annette. You had probably had the biggest affect on my life other than my parents by taking a chance on this geek and hiring me that day.

For the next 3 years at this theatre, I had the most influential period of my life. The people there I worked with and for were like family. Yeah, we had our share of working alongside morons, bullies and jerks but all families have those too. You have to take the bad with the good. And there was much more good than bad when I look back. I am not even going to dignify this post with calling out the idiots there because in looking back…I would not be the person I am today if it was not for EVERYONE there. The managers there acted more like parents and counselors than bosses. We recieved guidance more often than punishment when we screwed up. There was an air of camaraderie among the staff even if we were all part of different cliques and went to different schools outside of work. We would playfully call each other awful names, play pranks on each other, bust our asses together, have parties after work and fought with each other. Much like a strong family unit, we had respect and dare I say it…love for one another. I strongly believe that the head honcho there was the chief person responsible for setting up that environment.

Ed Moyer was the General Manager. When he walked in the building, you knew he was the one that was in charge by the way he carried himself. He really never had to repeat himself. Whenever he said something, that was it and it was understood. He surrounded himself with most dynamic and versatile team. Each one of them had very different strengths and he used them effectively. Moyer was really good, but his team made him appear nearly infallible. To this day, I try to emulate him in many of those aspects. I try to surround myself with strong team with different skill sets. I try to be fair but firm. I am a strong believer of second chances and giving out guidance instead of doling out punishments. I do not think I am a fraction of how good he was there. However, using what I have learned from him, I have done quite well for myself in this industry. It has gotten me the GM spot at a theatre in Colorado that is about to expand with IMAX. I could not be any happier either. Thanks Ed…maybe one day I could live up fully to what you have become.

While at Lynnhaven, I became a projectionist or what they called a “booth usher”. It was a double duty position where we ran projection and helped the ushers. I remember hounding the managers all the time when I first got there to learn the booth. A couple a months later, the managers put me in. I do not know if it was because they felt I had the talent or I just wore them down and they just gave in to shut me up. In any case, I was taught by some really talented projectionists…Liz and Jonathan. They really set in me the importance of proper presentation and showmanship. I eventually got a key to come in the building early in the mornings to build up and screen the new prints every week. Even though I loved running the booth more than anything else there, it afforded me to fuel my passion for movies.

Similar projector head that we used at Lynnhaven 8

I saw so many movies while I was there. I would skip school and stay there all day watching movies sometimes. I would see movies that I would never have given the time before starting there. As of now, in 2011, I have calculated that I have probably seen, give or take a few hundred, about 20,000 movies. That equals about 4 years of my life of solid continuous movies. Hell, as I write this, I just finished watching THE THING from 1981 and rolled into watching 3 O’CLOCK HIGH from 1987.

While at Lynnhaven 8, I was in high school up through the first year or so of college. Even though school was teaching me for what I originally thought was going to be my career path of computer programming, Lynnhaven 8 was making me like a heroin junkie for the biz. However, with me being a male hitting twenty and going to college, I started getting all sorts of head strong and self righteous. You can say that I caught a case of swelled head syndrome with a dash of know-it-all-ism. I felt I should have been pushed up in rank and further along than what I was then. I was feeling combative and resentful as result and by the spring of 1989, I said fuck it and left so I could concentrate on my school. I probably burnt a few bridges, but I did not care at that time. I had a couple different jobs in the video game industry repairing arcade machines and then got a programming gig near the mall. Even though I was think that I was fulfilling my work I did in college by programming, I was not happy. It did not help that the boss was a religious nut job that had us indirectly working for an even bigger religious nut job, Pat Robertson. I felt like a fucking sell out and I got progressively more depressed because this was not what I went to school for. I kept looking back at the time I had at the theatre and wondered why I had my head up my ass. Luckily for me, I also had a second job repairing games and managing a game room in Pembroke Mall and the theatre across the hall from me was just bought out by Regal Cinemas. One of their assistants that I knew was promoted to GM to take over a new theatre going up in Chesapeake. I saw an opportunity and I jumped all over it.

I basically came back to the first job that I loved in 1995. I had surgically removed my head from my ass that I had firmly placed up there 6 years earlier from feeling self entitled. I started at the bottom of the food chain there and busted my ass for 2 years until they gave me the keys to my first building to call my own and to be cliché, the rest is history.

And I owe it all to that little 8 plex that was at 2736 North Mall Drive, Virginia Beach, VA.

Now I have some catching up to do with some old “family” members…

The Frustrated Atheist

2011-08-24T01:19:00.001-06:00

I know that it seems that I have been getting angrier and angrier with these posts but I am tired of seeing many of my friends, colleagues and family wasting their short precious time on this planet with religious garbage. I know it is garbage because there is ZERO evidence to your claims of your imaginary friend. I know it is garbage because I have blasphemed your god's name almost daily since I was ten years old and I have not been taken out by your imaginary friend. I know it is garbage because the historical record shows not one instance of Jesus, the twelve guys he hung out with and his whore except when a historical document references the bible itself. Only ONE book says that it does exist but there are literally millions of historical documents that don't. You know...that fucking frustrates me to no end.

I have many frustrations too. The people all around me walk around with the blinders on to all the overwhelming evidence to the contrary but they take them off for some guy in a big hat and fancy robes because he says the stuff in bible are true. I am frustrated because we, the formally greatest country in the world, are being past by in education, science research and technology in other nations that have dropped all ties to their former gods and religions. They are no longer being held back by ancient beliefs. I am frustrated that this country could have found cures for many types of diseases, injuries and disorders but the religious extremists in this country have forced that kind of research out of our labs and into other country's labs. I am frustrated that people like me are being persecuted, maligned and being labeled as evil by the religious when in reality, nearly all of the truly insidious evils in the world have been perpetrated by the religious. I am frustrated that 10% of people are BORN with different sexual orientation and they get treated like social lepers and denied the same freedoms that the other 90% can enjoy. I am frustrated that I see all the potential intelligence being wasted on sticking to Bronze Age, dogmatic thinking when we could be applying it to the betterment of mankind.

Granted, as a philosophy tool on living a good life in the Bronze Age, the bible and religion has helped mankind in its infancy. And just because I am an atheist, don't think I don't know about the bible. I do. It was one of the many reason why I became an atheist...I fucking read it.

"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Corinthians 13:11"

Mankind is no longer in its infancy. Religion was the warm blanket that kept us warm and feeling safe. We don't need it any longer. We are growing up and can fend for ourselves but there are many that are still clinging on it like a baby clings on that beat up blankie. That REALLY frustrates the shit out of me.

I have said some really horrible things about believers in the past. Some of it I meant but most of it I did not. I said it out of frustration. What I truly feel about the faithful in this world is pity and it frustrates me that most of them ABSOLUTELY cannot see a much bigger universe around them because they refuse to come out of their blanket. They say I live in a world of despair, unhappiness and anger. They could not be any further from the truth (much like the bible). I am actually a very happy person. I marvel at the wonders in this universe...natural and manmade. I have much love in my life unlike what the faithful have to say about me. I am a good person and try to do the right thing because it IS the right thing to do. Not because I fear some made up eternal damnation.

Despite all that, I am unfortunately frustrated. Ugh, I am so fucking frustrated with all of this. I think am going to do something entertaining now to put a smile on my face.

American Delusions

2011-08-24T00:12:00.000-06:00

This post is SPECIFICALLY to those people that I see post on FB and Twitter that think that the U.S. is a Christian nation. If you truly believe that, then you know nothing of the Constitution and WHY this country was founded. It was founded on many principles and reasons but #1 reason in the Bill Of Rights was for religious freedom. Freedom to worship and have faith in whatever religion or deity you want...or not. Like the writer of this article said, "America is not one nation under God, but one nation under a Constitution." I could have not said it better.

For you Christians that have been saying things like "This is a Christian nation and if you don't like it, get out." Let me correct you by saying to you...go read the Constitution (THE GOVERNING DOCUMENT OF THIS COUNTRY) and if YOU don't like that...YOU can get out.

Yes I am trolling...but I am allowed. It is my Constitutionally given right. Just like it is your Constitutionally given right to be deluded into thinking that there is some imaginary sky guy controlling our lives and destinies.

Now that I have set this up, please go read this MUCH better written article from the AMERICAN ATHEIST website...

Congress Shall Make No Law…

Ignorant Panicky Christians, I Have No Time For You Anymore

2011-07-30T07:20:00.002-06:00

Warning: I will be a dick. However, for my religious friends and family, you need to hear me out.

I am wound up tight real right about now. The whole cross thing at the Ground Zero memorial is working up atheists and Christians in a frothing frenzy and the stupid is rising quickly to the limelight. I guess I should throw in a little of a back story for those that have no idea what I am on about.

Unless you were living under a rock everybody should know what happened 10 years ago this September. I am not going to go into the conspiracies, the politics or the possible reasons this attack happened except that it happened. Out of a the rubble of the twin towers, a riveted section of two girders fell to the ground that happen to look like the Christian cross. Humans have a driving urge to make sense out of the senseless, see patterns in chaos and anthropomorphise things that are meaningless. This is called apophenia. So when this random hunk of girders was found, the Christians gravitated to it immediately and saw it as a ”sign from God”. Whatever…

Here we are…10 years later and a new building is going up and there will be a memorial. Here is where this story gets dicey. The memorial is a public works project funded by the taxpayers. This means the government is building it. The Christians that have now turned that random piece of metal from the buildings into a religious symbol and now worship it. They want it placed at the memorial. Let me digress again…

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution: 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 highlighted part in red is referred to as the “Establishment Clause”. I am no expert in constitutional law but I do know what that part is. Thomas Jefferson and the founding fathers wrote that part to create that little thing called the “Separation of church and state.” They meant this to be a secular country. No religions are to influence the government and vice versa. This was one of the reasons why they left the Old World. Govern ourselves and not be controlled by the church.

Now where were we…oh yeah…the placement of a religious symbol on publicly owned land. You see, if this were to happen, this means our government will be publically endorsing a religion which is expressly forbidden by our bill of rights. Atheist groups are now suing to keep this from happening and this is stirring up the Christian nut bags around the country. Fox News is also fanning the flames of this controversy to boot on their Facebook page. The extreme ignorant Christian nutters come out of the wood work in the name of their “loving god” and their “religion of peace” and start calling for the death of atheists everywhere. Now Fox News tried to save face and had the posts removed but not quickly enough. Some clever people were able to screen grab them and have them posted here http://me.lt/9P8u6L .

Now let’s get to meat of this post.

For people claiming to be “Good Christians”, what they are saying is not very Christ like at all. Just pure evil if you ask me…as evil as the extreme Islamic radicals that took down the towers. Both calling for the deaths of people that do not line up with their outdated bronze age beliefs that should have no bearing on this modern world. Now, I realized I was an atheist by the time I was 10 years old and kept pretty much to myself about it except for a select few around me out of fear of being beat up, teased and rejected. I silently sat by for years knowing that there were people secretly wanting me dead or hurt…even by some I personally know. Luckily I could hide in plain sight form these hateful people.

Thanks to social networks I have found others like me and discovered that atheism is growing by leaps and bounds. This is scaring Christians around the country and they are afraid. Actually panicky is a better word to describe them. This is causing the most hateful thoughts come to light. With our growing numbers, we are gaining the courage to uncloset ourselves and speak out. I did the same in the last 10 years. I have actively decided to push back at the risk of losing friends and family and it has given me some peace. My eyes are more open to the short sightedness, the ignorance, the hate and evil that religion(s) have wrought on this world. Only the death of all religions will see this end but as long as ignorance and the willingness to be a sheep lingers we will continue to see more 9/11’s and Norway bombings.

With that being said, let this serve as a warning to all my religious friends and family:

I will only get more outspoken in these matters. If you truly value my friendship, I plead with you, PLEASE WAKE UP and see the light of reason. Embrace humans and scientific progress…not dogmatic principles made up by fearful and ignorant men to control you. If you are truly intelligent you will see that there is no invisible sky guy controlling everything. For those that will not and refuse to be mentally free from religious slavery, I am about to break a cardinal rule of a few of us atheist…I am going to be a dick.

If you are so small minded to actually think these written fairy tales in these “scriptures” written by men to be true…GO FUCK YOURSELF. You are truly mentally retarded. I may be at some peace that I have embraced and opened up on who I am but I will be at true peace when I stop hearing and seeing the violent and progress stopping bullshit that you and your fucktard brethren have brought forth on the human race. If you cannot use your brains and see that religion is holding back humanity AND YOU, then you are too stupid for me to even entertain the thought of being around you. I want to lead a good life and I want my kids to grow up in a world of peace and progress and I do not need a fucking retarded idea of a “god” in my life or my kids lives bringing us down to a primitive mindset.

To sum up, religious types are getting squirrely over the fact their numbers are dwindling and they are starting to show how stupid they really are. I do not have the time or patience to deal with that anymore and I asking my friends and family to either wake the fuck up or fuck off. Free your minds or crawl into a hole to talk to your imaginary friend. Learn to questions things instead of attacking them. I do not wish any of you religious types harm, death or ill will like you would upon me. I just wish that you will embrace the intelligence that evolution has brought us on this planet or go away and let evolution completely eradicate the need to believe in the unbelievable.

I am, as always willing to debate talk about things. However, I have ALWAYS seen it break down into name calling and circular logic on the side of the religious types. If you can control yourself and want to talk to me off line, I will. If you want to talk shit to me, don't waste your breath. I have better things to do that do not include killing kids and bombing buildings.

Only a test...

2011-07-29T03:01:00.001-06:00

Just testing the BLOGGER app in the phone. Pay no mind to this post.

Why are gou still here?

May Have To Cut Some Ties

2011-07-03T00:26:00.000-06:00

I am not going to name names and get into detailed specifics on this one person because I do not really want to rail against him in any way. This person was like family and I have known him and his family since childhood. We were like brothers for years until I had to move away. We completely lost contact all together with an occasional brush here over the years. Whenever I heard he was going to be in town, I was sincerely excited because he was somebody I could relate with that around my age and I had such fond memories of our childhood.

In the past few years with the explosion of social networks, I have been able reconnect many of my friends back east, new friends around the world, family and my old childhood friend and his family. This brought hope that I could at least vicariously and virtually relive our friendship through a great distance over the intertubes. We both have our own families now and quite a few similar interests in the geek world. Much hope indeed for a rekindled old friendship. Then I see some of his posts here and there.

ಠ_ಠ

It was little things regarding prayers and religion at first. I was slightly disappointed because I actually thought he was smarter than believing in that crap but then again I am in the minority when it comes to religion and faith. I then thought, “What the hell…we still have a lot in common and we were the best of friends.” I have other religious friends that put up with my anti religious spewing and I have no issues with friends that have faith. With years of friendship under our belts, it should be no problem getting along.

Then I see some Bush loving garbage and Obama hating stuff. OK politics. I am not an Obama fan but I did not like Bush…Bush put us in the shit we are in now. Obama and the new congress is not fixing our shit that well either. I am a Libertarian…social liberal and fiscal conservative. Regardless, I have a few friends and family on both sides of the political spectrum and can get along with them too. Fine…should be OK.

However, in the past few months, I have seen some of his posts that just boggle my mind. Extreme close minded ideology dealing with religion (via subtext), politics and social issues that were just plainly put…hateful. He appears to have been brainwashed by the religious and political right. He is not using his brain skeptically or in a way that he would question his surroundings. He is following the twisted Tea Party mentality and it is just plain sad.

To quote and internet meme…”I am disappoint.”

That closed minded school of thought is something I do not really want to be associated with in any capacity. After nearly 40+ years of growing up together and friendship, it may be time to walk away and cut all ties. It just pains me that I will have to do that but I know if I stick around and read anymore of his misinformed, bullheaded, close minded and hateful posts…I will end saying something that I will regret. I would rather just plain walk away, forget the present and remember the good childhood days. That may be best for his as well too. He probably thinks I am some sick minded godless heathen that has lost his way. Walking away may allow him to preserve the past as well.

Said It Better Than I Could

2011-05-30T21:12:00.001-06:00

I just read this blog post and it nailed what I have always thought about when dealing with closed minded Christians (ie: all of them) and why I have been so vocal over the past few years. I am exhausted of being silent and putting up with the closed minded, ignorant and self righteous religious types. Even the so called "open minded" religious types that say they are tolerant end up saying things similar to what is stated in the blog post below. Mainly back handed crap that makes me want to pummel them for being purposely ignorant.

The excerpt below is from the blog ATHEIST OASIS by Ray Garton. Click the link below to read the whole post.

But That’s Just Me: One Atheist’s Explanation – Part 1: "

You can be a Grinch at Christmas time, or have no interest in baseball, or refuse to vote or salute the flag, or sneer at the mention of Mickey Mouse, or even hate apple pie, animals, children or your own mother, and while people might not agree with or understand you, they probably will shrug it off. “That’s just him,” they’ll say. “That’s just the way he is.” But if you don’t believe in god and/or you think religion is a bad thing, you’d better have a steel helmet, a bullet-proof vest and a bunker to hide in because a lot of people aren’t going to like it. Even the people in your life who claim they don’t care that you don’t believe in god may actually care very much. If they do, you’ll know, because they’ll get in a little dig every now and then, or when telling you they don’t care, they will word their statement in a way that reveals just how much they do care. A friend might say something like this.

“I don’t care what my friends believe. You have your beliefs and I have mine. I believe in god and because you’re an atheist, you have to believe there’s no god.”

This happens a lot. “I believe and you don’t believe” is too easy. It’s too cut and dried. It’s accurate, of course, but for some people, it’s just a little too accurate. Simply stating that I do not believe boards a train of thought that a lot of believers simply do not want to ride or even acknowledge. It means there is a choice. It means there is a viable alternative to believing in god. That opens the possibility that the decision to believe might be wrong. You don’t have to say it’s wrong or even imply that it’s wrong. To a lot of people, simply acknowledging the mere possibility is scary. One might be a thieving, alcoholic, child-beating adulterer, but if one at least believes in god, somehow all of that other stuff is softened. The mere act of believing is, to many, a redeeming quality, a virtue in and of itself. To suggest that belief could be in error is personally threatening. So it must be couched in terms that transform the lack of belief into an alternate belief. Then the atheist is also a believer — he just happens to believe in the wrong thing.

I can’t let that pass. I probably should because life would be a little easier and more comfortable. But I can’t. Letting it pass without comment would be allowing someone else to rewrite my thoughts for me, to characterize me in terms with which they are comfortable, but which are inaccurate. And I simply cannot do that. Well … not anymore. There was a time when I did nothing but that, and by doing it, I made myself feel … less than. I made myself feel that, because I did not fit into the mold approved of by those around me, I was somehow unworthy, somehow inferior, and I had to misrepresent myself in order to be accepted. I buried myself under a mountain of self-loathing doing that. I don’t do it anymore, even if it creates some tension. But that’s just me.

Instead of lying to fit in, or deceiving with silence, I try to explain the difference between “I don’t believe in god” and a statement like “As an atheist, you have to believe there’s no god.” And there is a difference — a rather large one. Roughly the size of a cruise ship. Actually, that’s probably a conservative estimate. The exchange can go something like this:

“No, I don’t have to believe anything. Atheism isn’t a dogmatic belief system. It doesn’t mean I believe something, it means I don’t believe something — specifically, the existence of god. If you’re Muslim, you have to believe in Muhammad, and if you’re Christian, you have to believe in Jesus Christ. Otherwise you’re not Muslim or Christian. Atheism isn’t a belief, it’s the rejection of a belief. And it’s not a club I decided to join one day, it was the eventual result of years of experience and careful contemplation and study.”

After a frustrated sigh: “Why does it matter? I mean, what difference does it make? You believe there’s no god, you don’t believe in god, it’s all the same thing. Why is it such a big deal to you?”

“It’s a big deal because there is a difference. A significant one. One is correct, one isn’t. I don’t believe there’s no god, I simply look at the evidence and, based on that, reject the belief in god.”

“I’m trying to say that I don’t care what you believe. I’m being open-minded and accepting. We all believe in something. You just believe there’s no god, big deal.”

There’s really no easy way out of this and if pursued, it often ends unpleasantly — or with cold silence. But it’s common. Sometimes the people who say they don’t care actually care a great deal — enough to insist on defining your thoughts on their terms while rejecting what you really think because it doesn’t work for them or they find it threatening. It gets tiresome. In fact, I’m exhausted.

It occurred to me recently that it would be nice if I could avoid the conversation altogether by directing the person to a thorough written explanation. He or she could read it and I wouldn’t have to go through the arduous song and dance about the difference between not believing and believing something different. That’s what this is — the thorough explanation.

================================================================

My Nightmare On Elm Street

2011-05-04T01:05:00.000-06:00

Some of my favorite horror movies are the ones that came out of the 80’s. My favorite hands down is HELLRAISER 1 & 2. I also have a special place in my heart for the ELM STREET series. I remember seeing it in 1984 reluctantly. It came out the same time as A CHRISTMAS STORY and wanted see that instead of ELM STREET. I judged ELM STREET on the really bad TV ads it had ended up waiting to see that a week later after CHRISTMAS STORY. For the first time in many years, I had finally seen a horror movie that that kicked major ass. They never scared me but the monster, THIS monster was so much more different than before. Freddy Krueger instantly became my new monster hero. Smart, witty and bloody dangerous. I even learned how to do the prosthetic makeup for Freddy and did the costume for a number of Halloweens in a row. This picture below is the only one I have access to of me from about 20 years ago and it really does not do justice of how the makeup came out. So washed out. I digress…

I just watched the remake of THE NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET earlier tonight. I have now had a couple of hours to mull over it. Was it bad as everybody claimed it was? Not really. Did I like it? Yes and no. Let’s break this down…

What did I like?

Well, the first thing out of the gates I noticed that the movie shed its budget B-class roots the original had. The cinematography was fantastic. It was vibrant yet dark at the same time. I also liked the seamless back and forth into the dream world and real word. The higher production values were seen in the makeup job for Freddy and the cheesy synth soundtrack was eliminated with something more traditional and less dated sounding. The make up looked more like a rotting burn victim. However the biggest thing I saw in the better values was that the acting was LEAGUES better than the original. The line delivery did not seem like a bad high school play like the original movie. However the number one why I like this movie is Jackie Earle Haley. He absolutely is the high point of the movie. He did not have the same swagger that Robert Englund had but he made up for it in other areas. He came across absolutely creepy as hell. He really had some big shoes to fill and did just that and made the role his own. Mad respect for Jackie.

What did not really mind or give a shit about?

The fact that they changed the origins, major plot points and characters…I did not really care at all. What I cared about is that they kept to spirit and it, for the most part, did do that. Purists will take the movie to task for mucking with the story and origins. Whatever.

What didn’t I like?

I did not really give a shit about any of the characters. AT ALL. Everything about the character development in the story made them feel like cardboard cutouts…just plain flat. That was very disappointing. A key point to horror movies is that to create the tension needed for proper horror, you need to actually care for the main characters. This movie with all the slick special effects and almost infinitely better production values trickery to help create the sense of horror could not overcome the soulless and uninteresting characters. The only character worth a damn was Freddy himself. That is because they actually took the time to actually develop that character. In fact…I actually think they made Freddy more of a nasty monster within his back story. I won’t spoil that. Sigh.

Could I do with or without this movie?

Pretty much without BUT…

I really think the makers were on the right track and had all the pieces and star aligning for this movie and they totally fucked up by not remembering to make us give a damn about the main characters. Heather Langenkamp may have been a shitty teen actress in the original but at least Wes Craven took the time to make us care for her in the original as Nancy. I did not even take the time to learn the name of the actress that played Nancy in the new one…I just did not care. With this all being said, if the producers want to continue to making this franchise and make it truly successful, do not be afraid to go darker and MAKE US CARE for the main characters. The producers really missed the mark because of this small little detail and that is enough to really ruin a movie. At least the original series waited until the later sequels to fuck this up.

Are you listening Robert Shaye? You can still get this right. You are already on the right track. Freddy is the man that built your studio. If you do more ELM STREET films, do it right and it would not hurt if you let Craven be at least a consultant. That was a grave error on your part to not include him on this new ELM STREET.

My Pal Tony and his Scary Music

2011-02-04T02:41:00.000-07:00

Sometime ago this last fall (actually August, but who’s counting) as I was prepping for my Halloween haunt I was I was approached by my Twitter/Facebook buddy from the UK, Tony Longworth, to add some my music to my haunt. He is a film soundtrack composer and is part of a dark industrial band. I really dig on his sound but my first thought about music at a haunted attraction was “Ugh.” I have been against using music at haunted attractions because they are usually some hybrid of Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN or something schlocky and hackish that you would hear on those lame Halloween CD’s sold at the costume stores during the season.

However Tony insisted. He sent me some tracks to convince me that I needed to do it. I can tell you that I am now taking back everything I have said about using music in my haunt.

Tony has written music for these type of haunts that will get under your skin. You do not realize that you are listening music at first due to the fact it is raising the hairs on the back of your neck. That tracks I used Halloween night demonstrated perfectly that if used in the right conditions, music can invoke emotions. In this case, fear and dread. One track in particular, I found it gave a sense of oppression in the air bearing down on you. Very unnerving…and I loved every second of it.

Now, you take Tony’s music, couple it with some high quality sound effects, great sound system, mood lighting and some scary props (some mechanical) you will get some crying children. I seriously had children that refused to come to the door and were crying. I didn’t make it any better by coming to them in my undertaker costume and a shovel from the graveyard I built. This last Halloween was my best yet and a big part was thanks to Mr. Longworth.

Here is some video of my haunt using Tony's music...

In any case, if you are looking set the PROPER mood for a haunted attraction, professionally or for home, you really need to look up Tony Longworth over at Sinister Symphonies. His great sense of the dark and macabre in writing this music is perfect and I don’t think I will have it any other way now.

Me looking like a tool during the setup of my haunt...

What is the worst way to be betrayed?

2011-01-24T00:47:00.001-07:00

Being cheated on...hands down.

Ask me anything...I may answer, I may not.

Why is marijuana illegal anyhow?

2011-01-08T19:55:00.001-07:00

Long story.

1. William Randolph Hearst and his many manufacturing plants was threatened by hemp production. He lobbied successfully to convince the government with a mud slinging campaign against cannabis.

2. It was a way for the establishment (read as: white man in control) to control the counter culture and minorities on this country. Hip cat poets, artists, blacks and others considered ne'er do wells by the ruling majority had it denied by legal means.

Ask me anything...I may answer, I may not.

Andrew Wakefield called out as a fraud.

2011-01-05T19:53:00.000-07:00

BREAKING: BMJ calls Andrew Wakefield a fraud

Yet another great post by Dr. Phil "The Bad Astronomer" Plait. This man is a personal hero to me and continues to shed more light on subjects that are obscured by misinformation, lies and superstition.

This post is about the lying fraud, Dr. Andrew Wakefield that falsified research claiming the autism is caused by the MMR vaccination. This post now points to fraud...or INTENT. The man is no longer a doctor (stripped of his license) and his research has been retracted.

Another fantastic win for skeptics and free thinkers. Even more so this win means better health for children.

One last note...

FUCK YOU ANDREW WAKEFIELD. YOU GOT WHAT YOU DESERVED YOU LYING SACK OF SHIT.

This still exists?!?

2010-11-24T13:22:00.000-07:00

So...I just got this email from this guy... qmmm14@me.com and he sent me a letter. This letter to be exact...

Doesn't everybody know about this scam yet? I thought everybody was wise to this scam now but yet we have this douche wagon trolling the interwebz for suckers. I am truly dumbfounded that this is still going on.

Now that we have that out of the way. As you can see, I posted mister douche nozzles e-mail address above. Please feel free to troll him back if you want. If you do, please let me know what you do. I personally think mail bombing is the way to go however, do what you will...fuck this guy up.

Would would you say is your biggest fear

2010-11-20T02:02:00.001-07:00

Not being able to care for my family.

Ask me anything...I may answer, I may not.

#haveuever tried to #slapyourself all night long?

2010-11-19T13:32:00.001-07:00

No...just the hooker I took home once.

Ask me anything...I may answer, I may not.

TWELVE YEARS?!?

2010-10-30T03:30:00.001-06:00

Usually this time of year I am futzing about Halloween and getting ready to scare the bejeezus out of snot nosed panhandlers looking for some candy. I seriously love setting up my haunt and try to add something new every year. No exception for this year as well. The one thing I have not mentioned is that I was also married on Halloween. No shit. Really was.

Now before you start saying, "Well, that's no surprise here. He was always a dark creepy child into morbid things". True, I did receive gifts on Christmas when I was in the 4^th grade that were things like skulls and Rick baker make prosthetic make up kits, but I did not intentionally set out to get married on Halloween. It was a bit of fate but in no way did I look to do it.

I am in no way a romantic guy. Never was. The proposal was not even one at all. Viki and I knew that we were going to get married but never said much about it except "Hey, when do you want to do this? Got any ideas when we should get married?" "Uh…not sure." One day, I just said "How about an anniversary date like in April when we started dating or half anniversary in October?" We both agreed that a fall wedding date would be cool. I then just blurted out, "How about the last Saturday of October next year?" Agreed. No idea it would be Halloween until we physically checked out the calendar at a later date. Surprise!

Now for the wedding, we would have been happy to go to the Justice Of The Peace and got hitched right there in an office. No ceremony. However, our moms would have killed us…especially mine I think and I am SUCH A MAMMA'S BOY and I could not disappoint her. We quickly decided that in NO WAY that it would be in a church and that it would not be themed. We were not targeting Halloween and that was that. We both had traditional wedding clothes. I in a tux & tails and she in a proper wedding gown. No ghosts, ghouls or goblins…well maybe some of the guest her mother invited were creepy and old looking. The only thing we allowed were some bags of Halloween themed confetti instead of using rice. The wedding was held at her mom's house and we kept it small with just our closest friends and family.

The next part is for Viki…if you, the reader, do not want to deal with the sappy sentiments about to come up, it is time to leave now.

Now here we are twelve years later. First…HOLY SHIT! TWELVE YEARS?!? Second, wow! What an amazingly fast but great twelve years this has been. We have the two best kids in the world (to hell with all those other kids…ours RULE.) Now let's hope the years slow down just a bit for the rest of lives so we can just relish what we have. I know I don't say it enough and I tend to be somewhat stoic about it but I love you…always have and always will. Happy anniversary Viki.

Creature of Habit

2010-10-14T03:37:00.001-06:00

I am programmed like Pavlov's dog. I hit my spot on stage like the great Lawrence Olivier. October roles around and my mind swings immediately into Halloween. Actually, I started thinking about Halloween in August but October just puts into hyperdrive in a big way.

My love affair with Halloween started in the early 70's when I was just a child. The combination of dressing up as something scary and putting up scary decorations struck a chord with me. Even then, by August I was drawing Jack O' Lanterns and skulls and plastering them all over the house. My mom thought I was weird…well, I guess I was…er…I am. Well, my mom and dad both encouraged me delving into my darker side. My mom got me a Dick Baker prosthetic makeup kit when I was in the 4^th grade. I learned how to make facial feature enhancements and so forth. I won the costume contest at school for Mr. Hyde with latex and hair all spirit gummed to my face. My father was teaching me the classic pranks of Halloween like soap on the windows, TP in the trees and eggs on the doors. He also taught me how to make tombstones out of cardboard boxes, build dummies and using string to simulate spider webs even before fake webs were created. Even by my family got involved into feeding my morbid side. One Christmas I received two model anatomically correct human skulls from an aunt and my parents. I still have one of them now.

Through the years I have tried to make trick or treating a big deal at my place with limited success for mainly two reasons. 1. Lacked the funds. 2. Was part of the cast of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Being a cast member really tied up my Halloweens. However, that did not stop me building a Harvey the Reaper and Fred the reaper. Harvey was built when I was in high school out of wood scraps and my clothes. I mounted one of the model skulls on it and put a grim reaper cloak on it. Later after I was with Viki and working my first gig as a GM of a theatre, I built Fred the reaper. Same M.O., same skull. It was a sad day to destroy him. Still have the cloak, the sickle and of course, the skull. Things have changed however. In the last four years I have been able to start building up my haunt here at Duvall Manor. I started off with some tombstones, some theatrical lighting, an angel of death/reaper and a severed head. The next year I added more tombstones, a remote control severed torso zombie, a severed head on a no trespassing sign, a ground fogger and jerry-rigged flying crank ghost. Last year I rebuilt and improved the flying crank ghost, improved the lighting and added a few items in some windows. This year's newest additions is using some of the Christmas flood lights for better yet eerie lighting and I have a flying ghost that travels a 25' line over the yard back and forth. I wanted something that traversed the circumference of the yard but the lack of funding got in the way. By the way, each year I had eerie sound effects (NO MUSIC) to add to the atmosphere. The first year I was a grim reaper using prosthetic skull appliances on my face and the last two have been an 1800's under taker. This year will be the same.

As you can see, I don't do the "cute" Halloween. Halloween is about monsters, ghosts and various other scary bloody things. I have said it before and I will continue saying it for years to come, it is not Halloween unless I have children crying and pissing themselves. The plus side is if they brave the haunt, then they can get the good candy. We don't skimp on that cheapskate bullshit like Tootsie Rolls or Dum Dums.

Another thing that has been on my OCD things I do every year is watch horror movies. I have already watched POLTERGIEST and ALIEN recently and I am currently watching THE THING on Blu-Ray (stunning transfer BTW) as I type away on this. I will catch a plethora of horror flicks throughout the month before Halloween. I have already got my kids watching these some of these flicks too. I believe SLEEPY HOLLOW will be in order this week as well as ALIEN with my daughter.

I love Halloween so much and it is probably my all time favorite holiday. I even got married on Halloween 12 year ago. Ain't love grand?

America: Mosque or Mausoleum?

2010-09-02T14:39:00.001-06:00

He was spot on. This post is more of an addendum to my previous post about the mosque. He just plain said it better than I could. Brilliant.

Should that Islamic Mosque be allowed? A patriotic atheist’s view on the whole damn thing.

2010-08-19T02:47:00.003-06:00

OK, let me convolute my stance on things a bit. For quite a few of my blog posts I have been pushing back at the religious majority and venting some of my atheistic angst that I have been feeling more and more over the past few years. So why am I saying that I am about convolute things?

The new hot buzz right now is the building of the Islamic cultural center and mosque near the ex site of the World Trade Center twin towers. People are up in arms over it. They want the government to step in and stop it. There are "patriotic Americans" that want the construction halted or the location moved elsewhere. Being an atheist, where do you think this places me on this whole fiasco? Well, not only am I an atheist, I am a strong supporter of the Constitution and particularly the Bill of Rights. I am a patriot and I love this country. I totally dig the founding fathers and what they set up.

Those amazing and wonderful bastards wrote the Bill of Rights and they were amazingly simple and do not leave that much room for interpretation. I am targeting the first amendment in particular…

First Amendment - 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.

Wow, those short 45 words say quite a bit. Now I will target the part I highlighted and that will be the crux of our little debate. In simple language, that highlighted part states that the government cannot make ANY laws in respect of religion. It cannot prohibit the practice of religion. It cannot back or officially endorse a religion. The government cannot do ANYTHING in regards to religion. ANYTHING. This is where the separation of church and state comes from. It means that religion cannot influence our laws. It means you can worship as you want too. If that means you want to be a practicing Catholic, you are allowed. If you want to be Muslim, that's OK too. If you have had true enlightenment and realize like me that there is actually no God or any other supernatural power running the show, that is absolutely fine as well. This country, as some like to claim, was NOT created to be a Christian country. Our fore fathers left the old country to get away from the oppressive dogma being forced upon them and came here to practice how they wanted to, IF they wanted to. It appears that dogma is creeping around here now and starting to oppress as well.

Now as much as I would absolutely want this to be a religion free country, it is not. It is free religion country and it is one of the basic freedoms guaranteed since day one. Also, as much as I think the Islamic cultural center and mosque going up a couple blocks away from the ex site of the World Trade Center taken down by Islamic EXTREMISTS is in extreme bad taste, it needs to be left alone. If an Islamic group wants to build this mosque, it is their right and nobody can do anything about it. Nobody. Not even the government. Period. END OF ARGUMENT. And you know what? That is fine with me. I love the freedoms that this country gives us. That means I can also use my intellect and reason to NOT practice superstition.

I would like to think that the people behind the mosque are not trying to stir the pot but I strongly suspect that is not the case. I feel they are trying to get a reaction and it is working. However, if anybody interferes with this, it goes against EVERYTHING this country was founded on and I cannot condone that. As much as I hate and pains me to see yet another religious building go up when that money can be going to better things like education, research and the like, this is absolutely allowed to happen. It is a fundamental right. Now if everybody that has their red, white and blue undies in a bunch and actually read the Bill of Rights like good patriots they claim to be, they will understand this as well. DO NOT GIVE the extreme religious nut bags a reason to call us hypocrites. All this will do is to reinforce the hatred the extremists have against us. Taking the right away to build this mosque near (not at) ground zero puts us on a very slippery slope. That will pretty much allow the government to nullify the Bill of Rights and it will be all downhill from there. I do not think anybody wants that to happen.

Christopher Hitchens Talks About Cancer

2010-08-09T22:21:00.000-06:00

This man is somewhat a hero to me. Seeing him in the midst of chemo and still keep his intellectual wit and cool is awe inspiring.

Christopher Hitchens Talks About Cancer: "

Interview with Christopher Hitchens on CNN with Anderson Cooper. As a commenter asked, “Have you ever seen a man with more dignity?”

Test upload from updated software...disregard

2010-08-05T00:05:00.001-06:00

Download now or watch on posterous

OldSpiceQuestions.mp4 (2435 KB)

Posted via email from tofur's posterous

I Am A NOT SO Closeted Atheist

2010-08-01T02:23:00.000-06:00

As I mentioned in previous posts, I came to my realization that there is no god and religion is utter bullshit when I around ten years old. I also learned from my mother that I could not be open about my revelations to other because I will be shunned and ostracized by the blind faithful…and she was right.

Over the years as I got older and wiser, I started to see that not only that religion was a way to force morality by attrition; it was a way for the religious groups to gain dominion over society. Religion is as bad and pervasive as skunk spray. It is in the very fabric of our culture now. Even though there is to be a separation of church and state, however, just look at any form of currency of the U.S. It all says “In God We Trust”. You have celebrities thanking god whenever something good happens to them. Our pledge to the flag was changed in the fifties by adding the words “under god”. I had somebody say to me that they were going to pray for me because I had said “fucking” in a post. There are numerous vehicles with stickers and decals that have the “Jesus Fish” or praying for troops. Religion is everywhere and you cannot escape it.

With religion in every aspect of our culture, it makes it extremely difficult like somebody like me who actually woke up and started using my brain. The second I mention to somebody that I am atheist, I have to be on the defensive. I get attacked verbally for being evil and usually shut down from any open dialogue or debate. I am automatically wrong. Basically I have to listen to what they say, but I cannot return any counter statements. Period. Done. Case closed. When I was in my late teens and early twenties, I had made, at that time what I thought was a mistake, comments about being an atheist and an antitheist. I was immediately shunned by friends and some family. Totally shut down. At that point I made a conscious decision to closet myself in regards to god and religion. It wasn’t until the last ten years that I was brave enough to face the world openly about it. Basically, I said to myself “If people cannot accept who I am and my non-belief in the supernatural and fantasy…fuck ‘em. Life is too short to deal with close minded fools that refuse to deal with truth in this world, live in fear of the unknown and live a life of hatred of those that do not follow them.”

However, lately it seems that the faithful are gathering more power in fear of losing more of their flock to the free thinkers, skeptics, atheists and antitheists in this country. The attacks have more barbed. Their shunning is more severe than what it has been in the past. What has formally been a “don’t fuck with us and we won’t fuck with you” attitude and a sense of toleration has turned more to an attack mode. Case in point: The other day I was making a series of posts on twitter from my favorite philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche. He has a very humanist and anti religion viewpoint. Best known for saying things like “God is dead” and “If you stare into the Abyss long enough the Abyss stares back at you.” After those posts I was immediately put on the defense by a few people. Some of them were just kidding around because they like to tease; however, there were a few that took it to another level. I did not say anything hateful at all but I was being treated like Adolph Hitler reborn. Again, I have to give THEM a platform to spew hate and venom, but I have to be censored even though I said nothing hateful at all. I want to be out of the religious closet and be true to myself and the human race but the fanatical want me shoved back in and without a voice. I am putting the faithful on notice right now.
Listen up fuck heads. I will not shut up. I will continue to be an atheist. I will continue to condemn the brainwashing you, the faithful, do to your children and raising them to be the next generation of hate mongers. I will continue speak truth, science, reason and humanity and champion them. I will continue to use whatever language I fucking choose. I will continue to say that organized religion is nothing but a power play to control YOU. I will continue to know what is morally right and wrong without the fear of an imaginary fantasy person lording over me to torment me if I fuck up. I will continue to do the tormenting of myself when that happens. I will continue to call out the inconsistencies or religion. I will continue having a freedom that NONE of you will ever know. I will continue NOT living in fear of an imaginary hot place that has no empirical evidence of existing. I will only fear and stay clear of REAL things in this world like hateful, fear mongering zealots like you that want reason to be hidden away.
If YOU, the faithful, continue to push me, I will push back and you will not like it. I have only given you just the very tip of my feelings on what I think you are. I am not trying to start trouble, but I am letting you know that I will not stand down either if you bring trouble to me. I am tired of being on the defense and I will go on the offense if you keep pushing me. Therefore: I am saying that I want to go back to the “don’t fuck with me and I won’t fuck with you” attitude. You let me live my happy life with unbound freedom and I will let you go back to your deluded, small minded, narrow view of the world.

Agreed?

Amazing atheist post I read...

2010-07-20T13:45:00.000-06:00

Today I read an amazing post by a fellow atheist. The post on her blog was called ATHEISTS AND ANGER. I agree with everything she put down in that post even though it was written about 3 years ago. It is about an anger that most of atheists deal with on a daily basis.

I have a tiny example of some of that anger. The other day I was driving to work and along the way I pass this immense church and "learning center". I saw construction workers doing cosmetic work on the building so they can look good for god I guess. It really pissed me off to see that money that was collected from the blind sheep being put to use to dress up a building and not for something good in the community. Grrrrr. By the way, the leader of this church was recently caught up in a gay sex scandal that hit the news big here. A man that claiming that he has a direct pipeline to the big G and bashes gay women and men but takes up the ass by one of the parishioners that he claimed he was trying to help. Double grrrrr.

I know most of my REAL friends and atheists will read the link above. The "faithful" friends I have will just dismiss this and mark it as another ranting of a lunatic on the fringe. If you are truly my friend or even a good acquaintance, I strongly urge you to read that post to see what us fellow atheists have to put up with. We are good people with morals unlike what your pastors, rabbis, priests and spiritual advisers are telling you. Go ahead...read it. It won't send you to hell. Mainly because hell does not exist but there is nothing truly evil there at all.