Humanist Mama

Why Approve Referendum 71?

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:15:00 +0000

Here is a great handout about why one should approve Referendum 71. It was downloaded from Approve71.org. The only arguments I've heard against Referendum 71 have been irrational and biased. I've challenged people to come up with rational arguments, but they can't because there aren't any.

Vote Approve on Referendum 71
PROTECT ALL FAMILIES

There are over 12,000 people in Washington state registered in domestic partnerships. These families live in every county, in all parts of the state. The domestic partnership law ensures that all of these families have the same protections and responsibilities as their neighbors, regardless of where they live.

Gay and lesbian families need domestic partnership laws to provide essential protections for their
families. Committed couples who want to take care of each other should be allowed to visit each other in the hospital, take family and medical leave when a loved one is seriously ill, and have insurance coverage. By voting to Approve Referendum 71, you will vote to ensure that all families are provided the same protections under the law.
Families with children need the protections provided by domestic partnership laws, especially when a parent dies. By voting to Approve Referendum 71, you will vote to ensure that all children are provided the same protections under the law.

Seniors need the protections provided by domestic partnership laws. For seniors, domestic partnerships mean that their hard-earned social security, military or pension benefits are not put at risk. By voting to Approve Referendum 71, you will vote to ensure that all seniors are provided the same protections under the law.

Police officers and firefighters who risk their lives to protect our communities need domestic partnership laws if they are hurt or killed in the line of duty, so that their families are taken care of by their pension or workers’ compensation. By voting to Approve Referendum 71, you will vote to ensure that all of our communities' first responders’ families are provided the same protections under the law.

By voting to Approve Referendum 71, you will vote to ensure that all families should be treated fairly, especially in times of crisis.

PROTECT ALL FAMILIES EQUALLY UNDER THE LAW
Vote Approve on Referendum 71

The Good Book

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:34:00 +0000

This is hilarious! A new facebook friend posted this today and I had to share :)

Approve Referendum 71 my fellow people of Washington

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:28:00 +0000

It seems to have become a trend for me to start out my blogposts with something along the lines of, "It's been a long time..." So, I'm going to try to refrain from saying that anymore and just hope everyone realizes that I just get to this blog when I can.

I recently had a conversation with a conservative Christian about Referendum 71 on facebook. For those of you who do not live in Washington, Referendum 71 extends the rights of people who are in domestic partnerships. People in domestic partnerships are not necessarily gay, but the conservatives have decided that this is a gay marriage issue are strongly opposed to it. I don't know why the ignorance and hatred that emanates from peoples' comments surprises me, but it still does. My facebook friend (FBF) has made it clear that he is not interested in having a rational conversation because he refuses to speak about the points I've made. Instead, he makes false accusations and ignorant remarks repeating the same statements over and over even after I've pointed out how wrong these statements are.

I have decided to post our facebook conversation here in hopes that people who are not as close minded as FBF can possibly see how irrational religious arguments are against gay rights. Warning: I did not correct spelling errors....everything is copied exactly as it was written. I only replaced names to protect privacy.

Here's the post I put on my wall:

I encourage all my Washington friends to Approve Ref 71.....there is absolutely no rational reason not to. If you think you have one, try me. Watch this video and explain to me why it is right for a person to bring their stepson to the hospital an...d be denied treatment until the biological mom can get there. It is wrong and I think everyone knows it. Nobody has the right to deny other people their rights.

FBF: I don't know the details of Referendum 71 but I do not vote for anything gay. Sorry just my personal beliefs.

Me: So, you're admitting you are prejudiced against gay people? How about replacing gay with black and see how that sounds. It is absolutely irrational to deny people rights because you don't like the way they are. And sorry, you don't get off the hook by saying that's just what I believe. People used to believe slavery was right, but that doesn't make it right. You do not have the right to infringe on other peoples' rights. If you don't like the lifestyle, don't live it.

FBF: You can get angry and call me a racist if you want and if believing that homosexuality is morally wrong and a psychological disorder is wrong than God will judge me. That is my opinion and I am not racist. As a matter of fact when YOU think of racism why do you automatically think "black". Take the plank out of your own eye before you try to remove a spec from mine. We are all entitled to our opinions and MY right to disapprove of homosexuallity is just that, myt right. God bless you *Humanist Mama* for your kind heart.

Me: I did not call you a racist...I was trying to point out your prejudice against gay people by showing you how terrible it would sound if you said, "I do not vote for anything black." All I did was replace one word. I am not claiming that you would say that. And by the way, I chose black because black people are a minority like gay people. I could easily have said Jew, Asian, Muslim, etc to make the same point. So, not that does not make me racist to point out your prejudice.

By the way, homosexuality is not a psychological disorder....there is plenty of evidence that it is natural. You saying it does not make it so, and if you choose to believe irrational things without evidence that is your issue. But, I also have the right to point out to you that you are being prejudiced and archaic with your beliefs.

FBF: Sorry *Humanist Mama*, I beg to differ about homosexuality not being a psychological disorder. Fact of the matter is that there is no concrete proof either way in this matter. I am a psychology student and have actually done research into the matter so when I say my opinion is that homosexuality is a psychological disorder there is no prejudice there. That is my personal opinion and as far as that goes being of a certain race or creed cannot be helped. "I" believe that homosexuality can. I do not believe that one is born as a homosexual. I believe that it is learned behavior.This is not prejudice this is just refusing to buy into what someone says just because they say it is so. They call that critical thinking. I do not treat anyone cruelly. I do not "bash" homosexuals just for being what they are. I actually have compasion for them because I believe that they are lost. I believe in Jesus Christ and I also believe that every word in the Bible is true and fact. Because of that belief I have to take my stand that homosexuality is nothing more than an immoral person. God demolished the city of sodom (sodomy) for being evil and imoral people. As you know I personally am NO angel but I have seen the error in my ways, have accepted Jesus Christ as my savior, have asked for forgivness, and now live my life as best I can to follow God's will for me. I do apreciate your tender heart in this matter and I actually do have empathy for those people; however, I will not vote for anything giving rights to sick and immoral people. It is the same thing as saying there is nothing wrong with a child molestor.

After all this we may have to agree to disagree. My intentions were not to make you angry, I was just sharing my opinion and perspective.

Me: *FBF*, I guess you differ with the consensus of professionals in the world who know that homosexuality is not a psychological disorder. Link to American Psychological Association

And critical thinking involves looking at all evidence and not being biased when doing research. I am quite surprised that a professor would take your research seriously because all of my professors had strict requirements for my sources when I was studying for my Bachelor's degree in Psychology 10 years ago and my recent degree in Nursing. Sources had to be current (no sources greater than 5 years), they had to be from peer reviewed articles, and they had to be unbiased. When one cherry picks invalid and outdated studies one can come up with the same conclusion you have to justify your "personal opinion". You may not have done this intentionally. Some people want to believe something so bad that they refuse to look at the evidence that contradicts their beliefs or they twist it to mean something it does not.

You may not think you are cruel to homosexuals but many of the comments you have made on this thread today have been extremely cruel and hateful. And I think it is justifiable and proper for me to be anger about your outright prejudice and denial of it. In the real world hate does not equal love and by saying that you do not think homosexuals should have rights you are being very hateful. So, no matter how much you want to believe you are showing them the "love" of Jesus Christ you are actually showing them quite the opposite. There are many Christians who realize that homosexuality is not a choice.

You summed up your paragraph by saying that homosexuality is equivalent to child molestation. I will tell you the difference *FBF*.....homosexuality is not harmful to anyone while child molestation is. Nobody has the right to infringe on another person's rights. It's as simple as that.

I also take great issue with one of your last statements, "I will not vote for anything giving rights to sick and immoral people." I'm assuming that by "sick" you're referring to this imaginary psychological disorder since that was the purpose of your more recent paragraph. If so, I have to assume you believe all people with psychological disorders should not be given rights. Our world has been there and done that too and we've come out of the dark ages to realize the error of our ways. Do you also believe that all people with psychological disorders have chosen to have these disorders?

I think as you continue your education you will find that this is not the case and I can guarantee you that you will never be taught in a reputable psychology class that homosexuality is a "disorder".

As far as you saying immoral people should not be given rights....what makes homosexuals immoral in your eyes.....your religion? The word immoral is generally reserved for people who actually hurt other people. They have done nothing to hurt other people yet you call them immoral simply for being who they are? In many countries you are "immoral" because you are a Christian.....should you have rights? A few years ago it was "immoral" for people of different races to marry each other, and god forbid if they had children! And, the Bible was often used to justify this prejudice too. Hmmmmmm....kind of makes you wonder.... are people who eat shrimp immoral too?

FBF: I never said anything about hating homosexuals. Congratulations on your Bachelors degree, however that does not make you right. Reputable psychology classes. Yap, yap, yap. All you have done is state opinion and none of it is truth or fact. All I'm saying is that I believe that homosexuality is wrong. As an American I have that right. I don't hate anyone. So as for saying that I am not showing the love of Jesus is plain ignorant on your part. If you want to think that I am prejudice let me help you and I will tell you you are damn right I am. Homosexuals are sick people and I don't think they should have the right to polute society with their illness. At the same time I absolutely am against mistreating anyone. I think they need help. Someone much wiser than myself called homosexuals an abomination...oh yeah that was GOD. I am agreeing with Him so if you still want to say I am wrong go ahead that is your right and I definately don't want to take that away. But through your anger you are showing your bias in this situation. Once again before you start attacking me consider yourself. Your degrees do not automatically make you right.I know some homosexual people and I do not treat them any different than anyone else. Bottom line is that you do not know me and accusing me of hate is unfounded. I have more compasion than you could ever know. Let me say again that there is no evidence either way that homosexuality is or is not a mental disorder and I side on the is side. That is my opinion and only that. My vote will be against Ref 71 as a simple power of attorney will allow DP the same rights they are whining about not having.

FBF 3rd grade teacher: Well said *FBF*!

Me: It's clear that you don't want to respond to any of the actual points I made so I guess our conversation is at an end. I'll close with a quote from the American Psychological Association:

"Is homosexuality a mental disorder?

No, lesbian, gay, and bisexual orientations are not disorders. Research has found no inherent association between any of these sexual orientations and psychopathology. Both heterosexual behavior and homosexual behavior are normal aspects of human sexuality. Both have been documented in many different cultures and historical eras. Despite the persistence of stereotypes that portray lesbian, gay, and bisexual people as disturbed, several decades of research and clinical experience have led all mainstream medical and mental health organizations in this country to conclude that these orientations represent normal forms of human experience. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual relationships are normal forms of human bonding. Therefore, these mainstream organizations long ago abandoned classifications of homosexuality as a mental disorder."

If you do not care to respond with actual information as I have, then don't bother. Maybe someone without a closed mind will learn from this exchange.

It is so sad that some religious people can't see past the noses on their face or have reasonable conversations. On a related note, as my kids and I were driving to my mom's house last night, we saw some people standing on the corner with signs reading "Reject 71." Alongside their parents were two small girls holding signs. So sad. Of course I support the free speech rights of the adults who wish Referendum 71 to be rejected. I am disgusted that they would use their children in this way.

It brought up a conversation in the car because my kids wanted me to "Honk for support". I explained that the people were wanting us to support something that was wrong and I will not honk. I explained what Referendum 71 is and that it is wrong to take away people's rights simply because they are different than us. It's just like people telling black people they couldn't drink from the same drinking fountain. It is wrong and I will always stand up and point out people's prejudices until they are few and far between. My son and daughter both responded with the same question: "Well how would those people feel if somebody told them they couldn't love the person they love? I bet they'd be really sad and then they would understand."

Get Ready for Darwin Day!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 22:48:00 +0000

Did you know Darwin Day is on Thursday?? My husband and I started celebrating it with our kids a few years ago, but I had a hard time finding resources at first. So, I thought I'd post a blog with some websites, books and ideas for celebrating Darwin Day. What is Darwin Day? It is a day to celebrate science and humanity and we do this on Charles Darwin's birthday, February 12. This year is his 200th birthday!!

The best site to go to for information and events that may be occurring in your area is the official Darwin Day Website. Unfortunately there have not been any family friendly events in my area since I first discovered Darwin Day. If you can't find anything in your area, I'll list some ideas below on how to create your own celebration.

I first learned about Darwin Day through Agnostic Mom. She is a former Mormon turned atheist who lives in Arizona. She has a fantastic blog although she is not as active on it now as she was a couple of years ago. Here is a link to an article on how she and her family celebrate Darwin Day for the entire week of Darwin's birthday. It's a great article and offers some good ideas.

When we first started celebrating Darwin Day, I discovered it a little too late to have some books on hand for my kids. I looked at all of our local bookstores and found NOTHING...so I ended up getting them on Amazon. Here are a few of my favorites:

The Tree of Life: The Wonders of Evolution

Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story

Mammals who Morph

Life on Earth: The Story of Evolution

Darwin and Evolution for Kids: His Life and Ideas with 21 Activities

The above book has some great activities and I will be using it quite a bit to plan our Darwin Day celebration. It should also be noted that these books can be read by adults who are unfamiliar with the actual theory of evolution as well as children. The explanations are a good start for people who are interested in learning about the theory.

Of course, everyone should also read The Origin of the Species at some point in their lives. It is nice because although it is explaining a scientific theory, it can be read by anybody.

Some websites to look at for information on evolution include:

Talk Origins There is so much information available at this website and it offers a section on common misconceptions about evolution. It is surprising how many people are misinformed and this website is a great tool for people to learn about evolution and to find answers to common questions.

Understanding Evolution This site was created by the University of California Berkeley and offers some great information about evolution. It is very easy to navigate and offers teaching tools for many different age groups. It also offers an option to sign up for e-mail updates about current news that relates to evolution.

I'll post some old blog posts from my myspace below that discuss some of our first Darwin Day celebrations with our kids. This year, I had hoped that we could take a weekend trip to Seattle and visit the Pacific Science Center. They currently have the exhibit Lucy's Legacy through March 8. Wouldn't that be a GREAT way to celebrate Darwin Day??? Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it is going to work out for us to go.

January 31, 2007
Last year was our first year to celebrate Darwin Day. I didn't receive the books I ordered in time for Darwin Day, so we looked up some information on the internet and I told my kids a very simplified version of what evolution is.
On Darwin Day, I planned a nature hike with my kids. It is a little cold in Spokane for this, but we bundled up :) Our goal was simply to observe nature. We talked about the fact that Darwin loved to observe nature and that is why he was able to discover clues that led him to his theory of evolution.
We had ordered "The Tree of Life" and "Our Family Tree" last year, but they didn't arrive until a few days after Darwin Day. As we read them, I encouraged the kids to think of questions they had. So, when they began coming up with questions, we would research answers on the internet. Lastly, we noticed that our library did not have a book about evolution for children. So, as part of our celebration, we ordered an extra copy of "Our Family Tree" and donated it to our local library. This year we'll have to go and see if it's still there :)

I don't have any specific plans yet for this year's celebration, but I did order a couple of new books to help with this years Darwin Day. So, we have now added "Life on Earth" and "Darwin & Evolution for Kids". They're both great and I've found quite a few fun activities in "Darwin & Evolution for Kids." I'll have to post another blog once I get a plan together for our little family celebration :)

February 15, 2007
We ended up having a great Darwin Day celebration with our kids! I combined some ideas that I got from Agnostic Mom with some ideas of my own.

Agnostic Mom celebrates over a 7 day period. I wanted to extend the celebration beyond one day, but I thought 7 days might be a bit much for my kids. So, we decided to have a 3 day celebration. Instead of discussing one animal group each night, we combined some animal groups.

We were supposed to start celebrating on Saturday Feb 10, but other things came about and we had to postpone. So, we started our activities on Sunday and ended them on Tuesday. Our first activity was to make our own family tree. We talked about everybody as we placed them on the family tree and noticed differences and similarities between ourselves and our family members. We decided that it would be silly if everyone was the same and it's nice to have differences. That night we had crab and salmon. These represented some of the first things to evolve on the Tree of Life.

The next day, we had chicken for dinner with a side dish of dinosaur Ritz crackers and some mint green cookies for dessert. This night was our night for reptiles and birds. Our activity after dinner brought about much excitement! and I had found a book about Triceratops that included information about how paleontologists study bones. It came with a little dig site. So, we all worked together to dig out our Triceratops' bones and then we pieced it together. We took this opportunity to discuss how Darwin came to the conclusion that life evolved and how scientists need evidence to back up their claims.

For story time that night, we read the book, The Tree of Life by Ellen Jackson. This was our best night of the celebration because we could tell that it was really starting to make sense to our son. He had so many questions and ideas while we read the story...he was exhilarated.

On our final night, we had pot roast for dinner with banana cream pie for dessert. I showed the kids a series of pictures in my Biology book that displayed evolution occurring in a population of insects. As we looked at each picture, we tried to guess which population of insects would survive and which would struggle. For our final activity, we made a Tree of Life. I had printed out pictures from each of the groups of animals that we had talked about. Then, we drew trees and the kids had to figure out where each animal's place was on the Tree of Life. They had a lot of fun with it and we ended our celebrations eating banana cream pie and the story, Our Family Tree by Lisa Westberg Peters. It was a great time.

I think as they get older, we will focus on smaller topics during our celebration. Right now, they are just getting some basic knowledge. But, when they're older, it will be fun to look at the evolution of horses, dogs, etc. Agnostic Mom also mentioned that she was thinking of a new activity this year involving paint and mixing colors. We may have to try that one out next year. We are having a lot of fun with our new family celebration and look forward to future Darwin Days !

I hope these resources will help anyone who is interested in having a Darwin Day celebration of their own. I want to offer a challenge to everyone. For Darwin Day this year, learn something new about evolution or teach someone else something about evolution. What a great way to celebrate science and humanity!

New Releases

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 00:47:00 +0000

I am *so* excited!! Studying for my licensing exam, job applications, job interviews and unfortunately a death in the family have kept me from my regular internet activities. And to my surprise, I discovered that a book I've been eagerly waiting for is being released early! YEAH!

As soon as this came to my attention, I went straight to Amazon to place my order. The book is Raising Freethinkers: A Practical Guide for Parenting Beyond Belief. If this book is half as good as the first book, Parenting Beyond Belief: On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids Without Religion, I will LOVE it.

These books address the issues where atheists may differ from theists in the subject of raising children. Some of these subjects include: death and dying, values, holidays, living with religion, meaning and purpose, wondering and questioning, etc. It is very difficult to do things differently from one's parents. I was raised by fundamentalist Christian parents who thought that James Dobson wrote the best parenting books. I felt like I was starting from scratch and had to question every reaction I had when I became a parent...I often still do. Is this reaction reasonable? Why do I feel that their actions were wrong? Is that a good reason? I couldn't rely on the answers I was given when I was a child. No...thunder and lightning is not happening because god is bowling. I had to figure out a way to explain these things in kids terms so that I was giving a real answer. If I don't know an answer, which happens a lot, we look it up together. Reading how others have dealt with similar situations has been very helpful to me. I have referred to my PBB book many times and I'm sure I'll do the same with Raising Freethinkers.

I should also add that the feeling that I was starting from scratch was not only because of my change in views on religion. My sister and I had our first children 1 month apart. She is a Christian and she also has her Master's degree in Social Work. We both do things very differently from our parents and have relied on one another for advice and ideas. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that we both have degrees in Psychology and have learned better behavior modification techniques than what our parents used. For example, neither of us spank our children because we know that the science just doesn't back it up as an effective form of discipline. This change was challenging for both of us, but we've helped each other find research on different methods of discipline and other parenting issues. My non-belief compounded my feeling of starting over and it's nice to have these books available....kind of like having another sister to talk to ;)

While I was at Amazon, I also ordered 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God. I've heard the author, Guy Harrison, interviewed on many of my favorite podcasts and have been anxious to read it. The other book I ordered is Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became one of America's Leading Atheists. Now that I'm finished with school, I should have more time to read the books I want to read. I'll call these my early Darwin Day presents ;)

Happy Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 17:11:00 +0000

I had wanted to put a list together like Edwin Kagin did, but didn't find the time. You should go check his post from December 22.

As I wrote on my blackboard this morning,

Happy Birthday to:

Horus 3000 BCE,
Osiris 3000 BCE,
Attis of Phyrgia 1400 BCE,
Mithra of Persia 600 BCE,
Dionysus 186 BCE,
Tammuz 400 BCE,
Adonis 200 BCE,
Hermes,
Bacchus (crucified in 200 BCE),
Prometheus,

and...

last but not least....

Jesus of Nazareth somewhere between 8 BCE & 6 CE

Merry Mithrasmas everyone! I hope you have a wonderful day whether you celebrate at this time of year or not.

Happy Solstice Everyone!

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:14:00 +0000

Today is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the reason for this celebration season. Most cultures have held a celebration at this time to acknowledge rebirth and many of our current symbols have been adopted from ancient cultures. I find it fascinating to learn about how different cultures have celebrated this season and hope to pass that curiosity on to my kids.

Beginning after Thanksgiving, my son's class learned about different cultural celebrations around the world. Each child made a passport and they pretended to travel to other countries. Not only did they learn about the holidays that these cultures celebrate, they also made the country's flag as an art project and wrote a recount about what they had learned as a writing project. I have been really impressed with my son's teacher this year.

As I've looked through his projects, I've been excited to see that he is learning about cultures other than his own. Since my kids were tiny, we've read them stories about Hanukkah, Ramadan & Eid ul Fatr, Kwanzaa, and ancient solstice celebrations. We wanted them to see that all people have different beliefs and different ways of celebrating. There is no such thing as the "right" way to celebrate or the "wrong" way to celebrate. We need to appreciate each other's differences.

Some of our friends and relatives were offended by this. They were appalled that we were teaching our kids to be tolerant of other cultures. Not only that, we weren't teaching our children that our way is the right way and those other people are wrong. This makes me wonder how other parents might react to their children bringing home projects about other cultures. Does the teaching of other views threaten them? Or are most of them as thrilled as I am that our kids are learning things in elementary school that we didn't learn until we were adults?

We celebrate Christmas every year simply because that is what our families celebrate. For me, that is what the holiday is about...family, friends, caring for others, helping people out. In a time that could be depressing because of the hours of darkness, these are the things that help us overlook the darkness. We look beyond our differences and come together to celebrate.

I am lucky to have a very tolerant family. My mom & sister are quite religious and were surprised when I first told them that I was an atheist. However, that has not changed the way that they treat me. We are able to look past the differences we have and find common ground. Actually, it's amazing how many things we do have in common and it's quite easy to overlook our religious differences. They are respectful of us and the way we raise our children and we are respectful of them. We all realize that disagreements do not equal attacks or disrespect.

I guess that is why I find it sad that many people see the holiday as a time to fight over who is right or wrong. There is no such thing as a "War on Christmas" in the real world...it's all in peoples' heads. Each person may celebrate how he/she wishes. When someone celebrates differently than someone else, that does not mean they are attacking that person. If I like white bread and you like wheat, am I attacking you when I eat white bread? How ridiculous!

My hope is that one day people will realize that our differences make the world more interesting. Just because I am not like you, does not mean that everything I do is an attack on you. Celebrate the differences....don't be afraid of them.

Finally finished!

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 23:55:00 +0000

I feel free! Yesterday, after what felt like a never-ending period in my life, I graduated from nursing school! I don't know what to do with myself :) There are no papers to write, no diseases or disorders to study, or skills to practice! I can actually read what I want to read :) Now, I just need to pass my licensing exam and I will officially be Humanist Mama, R.N.

Unfortunately, my busiest time in school coincided with a big uproar across the nation about a holiday display in my own state's capital. I'm not going to write a huge post about this because everyone else already has. But, I figured I should put my opinion out there since I am actually a resident of the State of Washington:)

First, there was not an issue in our state until a couple of years ago. I am not clear on the reason, but Governor Christine Gregoire decided to display a Menorah alongside the capital's holiday tree in 2006. A citizen then petitioned to display a creche and was denied. Last year the Alliance Defense Fund, a religious right legal group, sued the state of Washington on behalf of that citizen. In the settlement, it was agreed that there could be no discrimination when it comes to displays in a government building. So, a member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation asked the foundation to help her by posting an atheist sign in our capitol building identical to the one they place in Wisconsin's capital each year. They petitioned for it and they were allowed to put up the display.

Now personally, I think it would have been much better if the state had just been able to remain neutral...no religious displays allowed. But, since they weren't, then atheists have every right to put up their own sign. It is called freedom of speech. It may not be the display I personally would have chosen to put up, but I support their right to display it.

I've had many Christians tell me that they support freedom of speech. But oddly enough, I didn't hear an uproar from Christians when Bill O'Reilly spewed his hate or when the sign was stolen from the capital building. The Freedom from Religion Foundation has since decided to post a reminder next to their display proclaiming, "Thou Shalt Not Steal." Oh, the irony.

Hmmmm....is it that most Christians only like free speech when it's speech they agree with? If that's the case, then they need a wake up call....one does not support freedom of speech unless one supports speech he/she does not agree with. If you are a Christian and you truly do support freedom of speech, then your voice needs to be heard. Otherwise, people only hear the extreme Christian position and believe that all Christians feel the same way.

On the other hand, I read via Dale McGowan's blog, The Meming of Life, about a church's drive through nativity scene being destroyed in Georgia. What is wrong with people? This is deplorable and I hope that they find who did it. In the meantime, Dale has posted a link to send an e-mail of support to the pastor of the church. They need to know that this was unacceptable. As an atheist, even though I don't agree with their message, I support their right to display it. I hope they are able to put it back together quickly.

Maybe what needs to be learned this holiday season is tolerance for views other than one's own. If we want peace on earth, it's going to take more than just saying it. We need to speak out against intolerance and stand by our Constitution's Bill of Rights. In some cases, people need to recognize their own intolerance of others and make a change. Each little change will lead to a big change. Stand back, take a look, make a change. WE have to make the difference...it's not going to happen on it's own.

My road to atheism Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:50:00 +0000

My son was born during finals week of my last semester of college. My husband's parents, my mom, and my grandma all traveled across the mountains to Missoula to greet my son when he was born. It was an exciting, unforgettable day. We moved back to Spokane two weeks later and I settled in as a stay at home mom. Eighteen months later, my daughter was born and we had another celebration at the hospital with all of the family. Even my son came in the middle of the night with Grandma to meet his new sister.

As a mom, I've experienced every emotion: love, fear, happiness, sadness, worry, pride...the list goes on. It's an indescribable feeling to realize that your baby is totally dependent on you. I was confident I could take care of my kids' physical needs. As they've gotten older if I have questions about parenting, I'll do some research and look for the best methods for my kids. If something doesn't work, I'll look for something that might. I just wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing for my kids....I did not want to screw them up:) It didn't take long to realize that nobody is a perfect parent. However, I promised myself I would do my best.

I know that many people turn to religion when they have children. But, I honestly don't know exactly why this is. Perhaps people who went to church when they were little feel that church is a requirement in childhood. Or maybe some people correlate church with a moral upbringing. I don't know what the feeling is because I never experienced it. In fact, I had quite the opposite experience.

My instinct was to shelter my children from church. Not because I had terrible church experiences when I was little, I didn't. I have fond memories of going to church on Sundays and seeing my friends. Rather, I wanted to shelter them from the ideas that church puts in young minds. Our belief system is right.....everybody else's belief system is wrong......you are a sinner.....if you are not saved by Jesus, god will torture you forever in hell. I wanted my kids to grow up to be tolerant of everyone....and church tends to do the opposite. As one Christian told me, "tolerance is bad".

By this time in my life, I didn't accept a literal translation of the Bible. I had learned enough to realize that many of the stories just didn't make sense logically or scientifically. I thought that maybe everybody in the world was worshipping the same god....we just didn't know it :) That allowed me to account for the different belief systems in the world, and in my mind it exonerated everyone from hell....except for the really bad people of course. This didn't quite add up though. If we all worshipped the same god, why were so many wars fought over religion? Why was everyone so hateful towards people who believed something different? Not to mention the many discrepancies one finds between different religions....if we all worshipped the same god, I think there'd be more similarities than differences.

Then, when my son was 9 months old to the day, we woke up to a phone call from my in-laws. They told us to turn on our TV. The United States was being attacked. I remember feeling numb that day. We had a doctor's appointment for my son and the lobby was silent. Everyone was focused on the TV. It turned out that some commercial planes had been hi-jacked and flown into the World Trade Center. The pilots were Muslims and thought that they were doing what god wanted them to do....they believed they would be rewarded in heaven.

Until that point, I don't think I realized how strongly people believe in other religions. These men truly believed that Allah wanted them to do this terrible thing. Their belief was so strong, that they died because of it. I recalled being told some time ago that this was one of the evidences for Christianity....the early martyrs would not have died for a false belief. Well, if that were true, did that make Islam true? They couldn't both be true because they had teachings that contradicted one another.

OK, well it was time to delve back into the research I had started in high school. After reading Josh McDowell's book, I had not dug deeper even though I had not been satisfied. I think I had been a little scared of what I would find when I was in high school. I just needed to decide where to start. I had two young kids and my time for reading adult literature was extremely limited....almost non-existent. Well, in every other situation, I would examine both sides of a story and see which side made sense and had evidence to back up the claims. If I had not been exposed to new religions, cultures and ideas, I may not have thought to do the research. But, I knew that there were many religions in the world and one's beliefs tend to be highly correlated with their location of birth.

Since I had been raised as a Christian, I knew what the basic beliefs of Christianity are. (I say basic beliefs because there are many different denominations and each has its differences.) So, I decided to look into why people did not believe in the Christian god. Luckily, we live in the age of the internet where information can be found at our fingertips. I quickly found The Secular Web and its library along with many other sites....some good, some not so good.

My first shock came when I found out that some people were not certain whether Jesus even existed! As my heart raced, I thought to myself that this was totally ridiculous, but then I looked at their arguments. The Jesus I had read about in the gospels had many followers...wouldn't there be some other record besides the gospels to account for his existence? Then the shocks kept coming....The gospels authors are not known? The gospels were written decades after Jesus' death....how could they be eyewitness accounts? Wait a second....there were other gods with stories similar to Jesus? There were other "miracle workers" in Jesus time? The more I learned, the more I was blown away. Nobody had told me this in Sunday school!

I read the arguments from the side of the non-believers and I understood why they didn't believe. So, then I needed to look at what Christians answers to these questions were. There had to be some good explanations, maybe some of the claims of these non-believers were not accurate. Surely, the Christian answer would include some good evidence. However, none of the rebuttals I found did that. OK, this was getting scary. My curiosity was overtaking me and I wanted to learn more....but the more I learned, the more my beliefs in god were fading away. Things that I had thought were proven truths....were nothing but stories.

I finally came to the conclusion that the best I could say was, "I don't know if any of it is true". This terrified me...I like to be in control and know exactly what is right and true. But, the evidence just wasn't there. Oh. My. God.(figuratively speaking :))!!!! What was I going to do? It seemed like everyone had a religion. I needed to find a religion to hold on to. I couldn't follow Islam or Mormonism because their stories seemed silly. Wait a second, every religion I looked at seemed silly. Of course, some seemed sillier than others, but I didn't find any that offered me anything that I couldn't have without religion.

Pause....do I needreligion? What would I be if I didn't have a religion? What box would I mark on the surveys when they ask for your religion? I had been marking the Christian box all my life....even when I stopped going to church and didn't believe in the literal Bible. My identity was falling apart....could I be an atheist? NO...I couldn't be!

I searched the term atheism for the first time. As I typed it, it felt like I was doing something wrong. Atheism had been ingrained in my brain as a bad word....those were bad people. Well, the only way to find out was to see what atheists had to say. And it turned out that the atheists I found, felt the same way I did about religion! They just didn't believe that any of the religions were true. They weren't Satan worshippers, they weren't claiming that there was absolutely no god....they just didn't believe in any of the gods that other people believe in. And it hit me.....I was an atheist! I couldn't put my finger on an exact moment when it had happened, but it had happened.

I was free!! Free from a stifling belief in a god who watches everything you do and listens to every thought in your head. I no longer needed to wonder what god's reason was for allowing things to happen in my life....it was just life. And life was so much more precious because it was the only one I'd have. Wow....what a feeling!

***Disclaimer****

Given that this is written in story form, it may seem that events occurred more closely together than they actually did. However, my searching did not take days or even months. This was a very long process because I wanted to look at all angles. I was searching for truth and that is not something that I take lightly. I continue to educate myself about these things today and read articles and books about all different religions. My mind has not been closed....it was opened when I began to consider that my religion may not be true.

Dilemma?

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:11:00 +0000

First, I do realize I haven't finished my de-conversion story. I will get to that soon....things are just a little crazy right now.

As I am nearing the end of nursing school, everyone is asking where I want to work. It seems that the standard place to start is in a hospital, but I'm not sure that that is where I want to be. My ideal job would be at a Planned Parenthood or free clinic. However, I'm looking in to local hospitals, simply because I know they hire new grads and that may be the place I need to start.

I thought I had decided which hospitals to apply to...until I saw one of their websites today. The first thing one is assaulted with on the website is a box entitled Death with Dignity?. For those of you who are not from Washington, voters recently passed a Death with Dignity initiative by a large margin. It is almost identical to Oregon's in its stipulations. The person who seeks a lethal prescription must be deemed terminally ill with less than 6 months to live. I believe that this has to be determined by a minimum of 2 doctors....but I'm not positive. Then, if they choose, they can request a lethal prescription from their doctor which the patient would have to administer if and when they choose to. Doctors are not required to prescribe these prescriptions if they choose not to.

Ok, so I went on to read the article on the hospital's website. It says, "Providence Health & Services will not support physician-assisted suicide within its ministries. Our ministries will not provide lethal prescriptions to patients." It's not really surprising because it's a Catholic hospital. (I wonder if they allow their physicians to prescribe birth control?)

But, now I have a dilemma. Do I really want to work for a company that will not allow their doctors to make their own choices on this matter? I think it should be up to each individual doctor. I admit...I do not know what type of contract these doctors are under with the hospital. I know many of them have their own practices...would this hospital be upset if they prescribed a lethal prescription in their private practice? I really don't know enough about the politics of the hospital to understand the ramifications. But...now I'm really not sure I would want to work at either of the two hospitals in our city that are run by Providence. That puts a huge limitation on my choices.

What to do, what to do......

Oh, and just for fun, you can go to the hospital's website and take their online poll about whether the death with dignity initiative is ethical :)

My road to atheism Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 19:50:00 +0000

Our church search eventually led to no church. I just wanted to worship god my own way and not have to deal with the politics of the church. I did my daily devotionals, read books by Christian authors, listened to Christian music and enjoyed nature.

Now, before I continue, I must say that none of these events occurred in any certain order. Everything was happening in the same time frame when I was in my sophomore and junior years at high school. So, in random order, these are some other things that were going on in my life.

I was curious about yoga and meditation. I was warned that these things were satanic, but my curiosity overcame my fear. I went to the public library and started reading some books about yoga. (The library was my FAVORITE place when I was a kid).

I wanted to be an effective witness to other people. So, I read Josh McDowell's Evidence that Demands a Verdict. I struggled with it because much of it just wasn't logical. I felt that he wanted me to believe something simply because he said it or provided a quote from someone else. There wasn't much evidence presented. That just wasn't good enough for me....I wanted the evidence. So, if Josh wasn't going to present it, I guess I'd have to look for it myself.

I read a book about Mormonism. My heart raced every time I took it out. I'd look around to make sure my mom and sisters didn't notice what I was reading. Why? Because everyone knew that Mormonism was a cult...it might be dangerous to read about it. But, I found it intriguing. We had a church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints right next to my high school and I had many friends who would leave during the day to go and take a class at the church. Hey, they couldn't be all that bad. I mean, they believed in Jesus too.

In my senior year of high school, I didn't really think about religion much. I was having fun with my friends and had just started dating my boyfriend (now my husband :)). I graduated as one of the valedictorians of my high school and something I overheard one of my religious uncles say at my graduation party will never be forgotten: "She's a valedictorian, but it's at a public school. She couldn't have done it at local Christian school." This hateful statement hit me like a brick. It was one of my first glimpses of Christian hate and it opened my eyes to many other hateful things done in the name of Christianity. I had been naive enough to believe that all people who go to church are good, loving people. This was a rude awakening.

I had given up on the idea of Bible college sometime after our visit to the school in Montana. It just wasn't for me. I had big dreams...I wanted to help people who had family members with mental illnesses. I had been lucky to have support from friends, teachers, school counselors and my mom's family. But, I knew that many people didn't have that support. A Bible school that was not accredited wouldn't help me attain those goals. So, I had applied at a local university and was accepted into their Honor's program.

The Honor's program laid out my first year of college. The advanced courses I took focused my studies on philosophy and the modern sciences. I was also allowed to be part of a research group in my selected area of psychology. I went on to take more science and philosophy courses...I loved them. My high school education had not exposed me to the works that I was reading by Plato, Epictetus, Kant, Euripides, Aristotle and Darwin....just to name a few.

At this point, I may have still called myself a Christian...but I was a very liberal Christian. My husband and I got married after my second year of college. We did not want to get married in a church, so we found a beautiful place for an outdoor wedding. We didn't want to be married by a pastor, but didn't know any other options. So, we found one of the most liberal pastors we could find :) I remember catching my breath when he said shit one time :) I distinctly remember my wedding day as being the first time I kept my eyes open during prayer. I know that sounds silly, but when you're raised from birth as a Christian...you just don't do that. It was very liberating :)

Another random memory I have from this time period is about Noah's ark. Someone told me very excitedly that "they" had found Noah's ark. (I don't recall which "they" this was...it was sometime in the late 1990's). When I was younger, I probably would have been really excited. But, it was at that moment that I realized...I didn't believe the story. I had been raised to believe that everything in the Bible was literally true....but come on, it just didn't add up. So, I just smiled, but knew that nothing would come of it.

My husband had been accepted into pharmacy school, so we moved to Montana after we were married. I ended up taking classes in Buddhism, Anthropology, Literature, Biology, Art and various other subjects. My anthropology class focused on belief systems around the world. I had never dreamed that there could be so many! My sheltered life was being blown away by my education. I helped out at the Sunday school of a UU church once in awhile while we lived in Montana and found it to be very interesting. I was being exposed more and more to different points of view and my curiosity just kept growing.

Then....I got pregnant.

My road to atheism Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 23:46:00 +0000

I hadn't really thought about writing my de-conversion story until a couple of readers asked about it. There is not one specific point where I could say I became an atheist. It was an accumulation of life experiences that led to it. So, I'll start from the beginning and go from there. I'll try not to make it too boring, but I also don't want to leave anything out :)

I was raised in a Christian home. My parents started out as Lutherans and baptized me in the Lutheran church when I was a few months old. Three years later my middle sister was born and 13 months after that my baby sister was born. I do not recall them being baptized in the church, but I'm not sure why. We moved around a lot when I was little....I lived in 7 houses by the time I was 8! The only church I actually remember from that period in my life was a little Baptist church in Pinehurst, ID.

My best friend at that time was a girl whose parents were missionaries in Papua New Guinea. My family went to church every Sunday and we were also involved in the youth group at the church. I also remember being a part of the Primroses, a Christian version of Campfire girls :) Church was just a part of life.

When I was eight years old, my family moved back to Spokane. From that point on, we attended a non-denominational church. Basically, the church believed the Bible to be literally true and didn't want to define itself by any denomination. Now, we went to Sunday School, morning church service, sometimes evening church service and AWANA on Wednesday nights. I was up to my neck in church stuff :)

Honestly, I think my mom needed church to get away from things. She was raising three young girls, basically on her own. Our home life was crazy because my dad has schizophrenia. We never knew when he'd have a bad day. I can remember being scared for our lives. Unfortunately, I think the beliefs of our church encouraged my mom to stay with him longer than she should have. Divorce is wrong....god won't give us anything we can't handle...there's always a reason for everything god does....god made dad the way he is, we need to accept that.

I only mention this because my early experiences had a strong influence on my personality. I was angry with my mom for cowering when my dad would hurt her. I wanted her to stand up for herself and fight back. As I became older, I started to stand up to him and tried to protect her. If she wasn't going to stand up for us or herself, then I would. I made some vows to myself at a very young age: 1) I would never feel obligated to marry someone, 2) I would never allow anyone to treat me poorly and 3) I would fight back whenever someone tried to intimidate me.

When I was 14, my mom finally left my dad. He had tried to hurt me and that was the final straw for her. Up until that point, I think I went to church because it was a way for me to get out of the house and go to a place where I was always accepted. I was the little girl who asked everyone at school to go to AWANA with me on Wednesdays. I rarely had friends over to our house and church was the next best place to play with my friends. I memorized my assigned Bible verses and did my devotionals every day. I asked Jesus into my heart whenever it was offered. I think that deep down, I hoped that god would make everything better if only I was good enough.

Once my dad moved out, I became even more religious. Maybe I felt that I owed god something...I'm not sure. I went to church as often as I could and I also met with my Sunday school teacher for a Bible study on Saturday mornings. I had read all the Bible stories that I was told to read and flipped from verse to verse during sermons, always highlighting and making notes in the margins of my Bible. Sometimes, as I was reading, I could feel god talking to me. I'd be overcome with emotion that somebody actually loved me. I decided to get baptized by submersion in front of the whole church to recommit my life to Christ and I felt everything get washed away when I did it. I also started looking at Bible colleges between my freshman and sophomore years and my mom planned an entire spring break vacation around visiting a Bible college in Montana.

But, then I decided to read the Bible from cover to cover. I was about 15 at this point and wanted to know everything about God and the Bible. Groan....I even tried to calculate the age of the earth by using the genealogies in the Old Testament. As I read on, I came across some really terrible things. At first, I'd try to tell myself that God did these terrible things because he had to...he knew what was best. But, eventually I wasn't buying that explanation.

It was also at this time that I started to notice some things about my church that I didn't like.
Observation 1: One of my aunts also attended the church. She had divorced the father of her children many years before because he had cheated on her. When I was 15, she had met someone else and they had become engaged. When they approached our pastor, he refused to marry them because she had been divorced. I guess she wasn't allowed to get married again.

Observation 2: My church had a special showing one night of a movie (I can't remember the name) about the rapture. They encouraged kids to come. So, I went to the movie and it scared the crap out of me! It was terrible! It didn't seem to bother any of the adults around me, though. I was confused because I didn't remember reading some of those details in the Bible....but I was at church, my pastor wouldn't show something unless it he knew it was true. Would he?

Observation 3: My church was constantly asking for money...I swear we'd pass the plate at least 2 times per service. At home, I saw my mom working on her budget stretching every last penny to make ends meet. Yet, the church never offered to help....they were saving to build a new gym. As I thought about this, I realized that the people at church had never offered to help us when my dad was living with us. It was the pink elephant in the room that everybody pretended wasn't there. I came to the conclusion that everyone at church has to pretend to be happy even when they're not.

By this time, I was 16 and had my driver's license. My best friend and I decided that we didn't care for this church anymore and went searching for a new one. We church hopped for awhile, but never found a church that we liked. I wondered why it was so hard to find a good church....

(I had originally intended to make this one post, but it's just getting too long. So, I'm going to break this down into parts.)

Join the Protest!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:06:00 +0000

I know this is a little late, but I just found out about this protest today. On Saturday, November 15, every state has a location for protesting the recent passage of Proposition 8 in California. Here's an excerpt from the mission statement of JoinTheImpact.com:

"Our movement seeks to encourage the LGBTQ community not to look towards the past and place blame, but instead to look forward toward what needs to be done now to achieve one goal: Full equality for ALL. We stand for reaching out across all communities. We do not stand for bigotry, for scapegoating, or using anger as our driving force. Our mission is to encourage our community to engage our opposition in a conversation about full equality and to do this with respect, dignity, and an attitude of outreach and education."

Click on the link above for a listing of all the scheduled protests. I'm not going to be able to make it to the one in Spokane because I don't have a babysitter....but I fully support it and hope there is a good turnout! If you are free tomorrow, consider joining a protest near you and help get the word out.

Yeah, it's a week late...but WHOOOOHOOOOOOO

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:59:00 +0000

I know....the election is old news. But, I had to write a post about my excitement over how the election went. I was excited that Obama won...along with most of the other people and issues I voted for. But, it was also exciting because my kids are getting to the ages where they can begin to understand the democratic process. They watched the debates with us this year...and did they have some fun comments!

With the first debate, my son spoke up early in the debate and declared that he would vote for the dark skinned man. When asked why, his reply was classic. "That other guy looks really old....mom what happens if a president dies?" After laughing a little to the side, my husband and I explained the Vice President's role to him. My daughter was more curious about why someone so pretty would marry such an old guy :)

After each debate, we'd ask the kids who they would vote for (if they could) and why they chose that candidate. It's very interesting to hear the reasons young kids give. At one point, my son wanted to vote for McCain because from his perspective Obama kept talking about war and "mom, I don't like war." My daughter thought she might vote for McCain at one point too, but then decided he just looked way too old.

When it came time to vote, my husband and I laid out our ballots and voter's pamphlet on the kitchen counter and invited the kids to join us. They found this to be very exciting. With each candidate or issue, we discussed both sides and asked our kids how they would vote. Then, we'd tell them who we were planning on voting for and the reasons we chose to vote that way. This led to some great conversations.

One issue on the Washington Ballot this year was a death with dignity law. (Quick background: When my son was 5, he cried because he broke a worm in half. He knew the worm's mom and dad would be looking for him, so he put the two pieces back where he had initially found the worm. This summer, a fly found it's way into our car on vacation. My kids decided he would be a good pet and saved some of their trail mix to feed to the fly so he wouldn't die.) My son's first reaction to this was that he would vote against it. My daughter was unsure and wanted more information.

In our state's case, only terminally ill people who have 6 months or less to live are qualified to get a lethal prescription from their doctors which they would self administer. A couple of years ago, one of our cats became very ill and was in a lot of pain. We used this example to help explain the law to our kids. We loved Kita soooo much that we didn't want her to suffer. We knew she was going to die and we were sad, but we didn't want her to be in pain if she didn't need to be. This helped the kids understand why we voted yes. We don't let our pets suffer, why would we want people to suffer?

That was just one of many interesting conversations that night. We reminded our kids that it's OK for them to disagree with us. That's what makes life interesting :) How boring would it be if we all agreed about everything all the time!

On election night, my kids and I watched as the results came in (my husband had to work). I thought that they would get bored of watching it after awhile, but they stuck with it and actually asked to stay up late so that they could watch more. We cheered together when it was announced that Obama was our new president! We also watched McCain's speech together. I thought McCain was very humble and thought his speech was one of the best I've heard through this entire election process. But, the kids were concerned with all the booing amongst McCain supporters when he mentioned Obama. I was too....I told them that sometimes people just don't think before they do or say something.

They missed Obama's speech because it was getting too late for a school night. But, as I watched it...I actually felt that this country could turn around. It was a nice feeling :) That was a great night....Obama won and I was able to enjoy the experience with my kids. None of us will ever forget it.

Oops...let me clarify

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:13:00 +0000

Instead of studying this morning while my kids are at school, I began to read some of my previous posts. I am a terrible procrastinator and any excuse to continue my procrastination is eagerly met by me :) Thus, a new blog post.

I noticed in my last post I spoke of "atheist-parenting." That term is very misleading and I apologize. The only thing that could be meant by that is that I am both an atheist and a parent. After all, the only thing atheists necessarily have in common is our absence of beliefs in god or gods. There is not a special dogma we all follow in regards to how we live our lives.

I should have said secular parenting instead of atheist parenting. This would be a more accurate description of my parenting techniques. My parenting methods are not based on any religion.

I'm going to claim that I had a brain fart when I wrote that last post :) Hopefully this will clear that up. I didn't want people to start claiming that there is some atheist parenting agendaLOL.

How do they do it?

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 23:31:00 +0000

I have many blogs that I like to read as often as I get the chance. Lately, I've been wondering how people like PZ Meyers at Pharyngulaand Hemant Mehta at Friendly Atheist can write more than one blog post a day!! I can barely find the time to write one blog post a month!

In the past couple of weeks I've seriously contemplated putting an end to this blog. The day that I posted my last post, one of our dogs became ill. The next day he died. This was really unexpected because he had been running around and playing that day. It really hit our family hard. If you're not an animal lover, you may not understand. But, I can only compare the loss of Toby to the loss of a family member. I think it was worse because it happened so fast. Running around and playing one day...gone the next.

His death was a reminder of how precious life is and that we need to make the most of each day and each experience. We're planning to have a little family ceremony to celebrate Toby's life...although I haven't been able to go through all of our videos and pictures yet to put it together. Once I do, I will write a post about it.

I'm sure you can infer from the previous sentence that I have decided not to end my blog. However, I will only write posts when I have the time to do it and therefore it will not be a consistent thing. I know as a reader of blogs that this can be frustrating...when you find a blog you like, you want a consistent schedule of posting. But, this is all I can do right now. I'm not going to stop writing because I've heard from many people that it's nice to have another blog that has postings about atheist parenting issues. I'm hoping that when I finish school (in 52 days...but whose counting?) I'll have more opportunities to write posts.

I'm Back!

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 22:38:00 +0000

No, I wasn't on vacation the entire time that I've been away from my blog. But, I have been enjoying life and just haven't found myself in front of the computer much. We had an excellent vacation...so much so that my kids were ready to move to the Oregon coast so we could be near the ocean every day :)

Since we got home, both the kids and I have started back to school, soccer practice and games have started,we've had some fun end of summer outings, I reorganized and redecorated our computer room, my husband and I painted our ceilings, and we've started babysitting my 4 month old niece on Mondays and Wednesdays. So, that hasn't left much time for blogging. But it's so nice to have all of my projects done and now I've been focusing on family and school.

I owe some people my deconversion story....yes I still remember :) So, I will try to get that finished up soon. I also wanted to address a couple of things that have come up in e-mails. First, I've been criticized for not accepting anonymous comments. I had felt that my explanation on this was clear, but since I've received some e-mails about it, I guess it wasn't.

Plain and simple: my blog is set up as a way to put my opinions out there and have discussions with other people. Imagine trying to have a discussion with 3 people of the same name on the telephone. How would you clarify which person you were speaking to if everyone had the same name? It may be able to be done, but it would be quite difficult. It's the same on my blog. If there is more than one anonymous comment, how could someone know which anonymous I am replying to. It's just easier for people to make up some name for themselves(this is called a pseudonym..kind of like humanist mama). The only reason I see people having a problem with this is if they are just here to criticize and have no interest in discussion. People whose minds are that closed need not bother to leave a comment. I'm not interested.

Another thing people seem to have a problem with is my quote generator. I've been told that just because those people are smart people does not mean that they know everything. OK...I never claimed that they know everything. That is called a straw man argument. I agree with most of those quotes because I believe they make valid points. That is why I linked to Secular Earth through their quote generator...I thought it would make a great addition to my blog and I could also link to a great website. If you disagree with any of the quotes, feel free to explain why. Hey, I might agree with you if you make some valid points of your own. Also, I don't always read every quote that goes through the generator, so there may be some that I already do not agree with. To those people who are so worried about my quote generator: ask yourself why these quotes bother you so much and let me know. Sometimes we have to go beyond our first impression to understand exactly what is bothering us.

Those were the main points I wanted to address. I'm going to post a link to my e-mail address in case there are any more concerns. Many people have already discovered that there is an e-mail link on my blogspot profile. I'm always open to honest questions or critiques of anything I've written.

Women's Suffrage

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:55:00 +0000

The Nineteenth amendment became law 88 years ago today. Here's a website with some information on the movement. Here's a small excerpt from that site:

"Opposed by a well-organized and well-funded anti-suffrage movement which argued that most women really didn't want the vote, and they were probably not qualified to exercise it anyway, women also used humor as a tactic. In 1915, writer Alice Duer Miller wrote,

Why We Don't Want Men to Vote
o Because man's place is in the army.
o Because no really manly man wants to settle any question otherwise than by fighting about it.
o Because if men should adopt peaceable methods women will no longer look up to them.
o Because men will lose their charm if they step out of their natural sphere and interest themselves in other matters than feats of arms, uniforms, and drums.
o Because men are too emotional to vote. Their conduct at baseball games and political conventions shows this, while their innate tendency to appeal to force renders them unfit for government."

Go Alice!! Celebrate the day by learning about some of the heroic women who helped advance women's rights.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Lucretia Mott

Susan B Anthony

There are many more than this...this list is just to get you started :)

Captain Disillusion

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 19:20:00 +0000

I recently discovered Captain Disillusionwhile listening to one of my favorite podcasts The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe. The interview was great and I decided to check out his youtube videos. I haven't had a chance to watch all of them, but so far I've liked what I've seen.

I'm Outta Here

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 04:22:00 +0000

Well, it looks like I will not have time to write a post before we leave for vacation:( I do have a couple of little posts scheduled while I'm gone, but not many. Also, comments will be allowed, but will not be posted until I get a chance to look them over. I'm not sure how often I will have internet access, so I may not post any of them until I get home. Have a great week and a great Labor Day weekend!

**I just added a blog list at the top of my page that shows the most recent posts and their titles. You should definitely check them out.

What would happen if we taught all the controversies?

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:59:00 +0000

I haven't seen this one before. I want to get some t-shirts made with all of the scientific theories and their "alternative" *wink*wink* theories. We are already behind other countries in regards to education...imagine if we actually did teach all of the controversies!

Gravity? Nope, angels hold our feet and keep us from floating away.
Germs? Nope, we's get sick when (place the name of your favorite deity here) is mad at us.
And hey, I'm sure those flat-earthers and Holocaust deniers would like their fair share of classroom time too. Gosh, we might need to extend the school day to fit in all of these "controversies" so our kids will be good and ederkated.

Changes

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 02:59:00 +0000

Some of you may have noticed a few minor changes I've made to my blog. I've added a feature where people can subscribe to my posts and to comments. I also added labels to my posts so people can find posts about specific topics. I still haven't labeled all of my posts yet, but I'll keep working on it. You can also e-mail my posts to people by clicking on the envelope at the bottom of each post.

The other changes I've made are changes that have been made out of necessity. First, the content of my blog will be somewhat different than it has been. In the past I've blogged about my experiences with my extended family. However, their church recently found my blog and felt it was more important to know who I am than to address the content in my blog. This has presented some issues for my extended family and I have decided that I will not write posts that specifically deal with them so as not to cause problems for them with their church. I'll still write about my personal experiences with other people, my opinions on different things, and secular parenting, and other fun stuff :)

Also, I received a comment on a couple of my previous posts today where the commenter used my initials. When I first started this blog, I was not as careful at protecting my identity. However, considering situations that other atheist bloggers have been through recently, I have decided that I must stay as anonymous as possible to protect my kids. I know that this is a little too late, but I'm going to do the best I can. So, I have a new commenting rule: You may NOT use any identifying information when addressing me in your comments. If you do, I will edit those things out. If it becomes a habit with a certain commenter, I will not allow comments from that person anymore. I would hope that any parent would understand and respect my wishes in regards to this. I cannot control who will read my blog, but I can control how much information about me is released.

I'm still trying to decide how to deal with comments while I'm on vacation. I'm hoping to schedule a few posts while we're gone. But, I won't always have internet access to view comments as they're made. So, at this point, I'm thinking that I will either need to disable comments or set them up for moderation. I'm thinking about it...and will be sure to write a post before we leave letting everyone know what I decide. I'm still open to suggestions, so if you have any let me know :)

Sorry this is such a boring post, I just wanted to acknowledge the changes being made and the reasons behind them. Here's an optical illusion to make this a little more interesting :)

"Co-op"

Circles appear to rotate. An op effect (scintillating lustre) is also include

Catching up

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:38:00 +0000

I'm so excited...I had two finals today and now I get a month off from school! Then, I only have one more quarter to go and I'll be a Registered Nurse :) But that month is going to be busy. We need to finish up school shopping, get haircuts, go to the Oregon Coast for vacation, and then the kids head back to school. So, I'm using this post to catch up on a few things. (If anyone has any good camping recipes, could you send them my way? I'm trying to make a menu for our trip and I'm always up for fun new things to try ;) You can leave a comment or send me an e-mail: humanistmama@gmail.com)

First, I usually try to respond to people's comments quickly, and I've done a terrible job at that lately. So, here are some quick responses:

@ vjack: Thank you for the resources you've directed me to! I have had so much fun with StumbleUpon and I will definitely check out the Atheist Blogroll. I rarely have time to sit down and find these things on my own so I appreciate it when someone points them out :)

@ Karen: You're not alone in voting Republican at one point. Unfortunately, I was raised in a family of Republicans and didn't snap out before I turned 18. I'm happy to say that I have fully recovered and am appalled that I ever voted without understanding the issues and researching the candidates.

@ enshoku: I'm glad you liked the video...it's funny how much of it is true. But, I wonder if some people might not realize that it is satire?

@ james tracy: I haven't posted a deconversion story yet, but I have had a few requests for one. So, I think I will start working on that during my break and I'll let you know when it's done :) I'm glad I found your website through Scoutle...I've enjoyed reading stories of other peoples' deconversions. It's interesting how many people come to atheism through similar routes.

@ whoever posted the Republican video on craigslist: That sent me quite a bit of traffic. At first, I wasn't sure why people were coming to my site from craigslist, but then I found the link. Thanks :)

I'll do my best to post a few things before we leave for vacation, but I can't make any promises. I'm ready to get away from Spokane for awhile and reelllaaaxxx. I have a HUGE list of books that I've been waiting to read, but school keeps getting in the way :) So, I'm planning on bringing:

Straight Into Gay America by Lars Clausen. My cousin knows the author and she gave me an autographed copy...I've been looking forward to reading it for a year!! The author is a pastor who unicycled 1000 miles over 5 weeks for LGBT equal rights. This book is a compilation of stories he heard on his journey.

How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker My sister gave me this book for Christmas, so my goal is to finish it before this coming Christmas :)

We also bought The Golden Compass audio book and The Subtle Knife audiobook to listen to on the long drive!

Voting Republican

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:29:00 +0000

This is pretty funny...I had to post it :)

I Stumbled Upon Ethical Atheist's Ten Commandments

noreply@blogger.com (Humanist Mama) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 01:58:00 +0000

Thanks to vjack at Atheist Revolution I found a new program called StumbleUpon. I've been having a lot of fun with it today :) It was really easy to get started with it...I entered my e-mail address and a password, then I checked my interests and downloaded the Firefox addon. Now, I have a Stumbleupon toolbar. When I come across a site I like, I give it a thumbs up or thumbs down. If I feel like browsing, I can hit Stumble! and it brings up different websites. It's really fun!

Anyway, in one of my stumble's today, I came across The Ten Commandments by Ethical Atheist. I'll list the commandments, but I encourage you to visit the site. It gives some explanations about each of the commandments or rather...suggestions:)

1.Thou SHALT NOT believe all thou art told.
2.Thou SHALT seek knowledge and truth constantly.
3.Thou SHALT educate thy fellow man in the Laws of Science.
4.Thou SHALT NOT forget the atrocities committed in the name of god.
5.Thou SHALT leave valuable contributions for future generations.
6.Thou SHALT live in peace with thy fellow man.
7.Thou SHALT live this one life thou hast to its fullest.
8.Thou SHALT follow a Personal Code of Ethics.
9.Thou SHALT maintain a strict separation between Church and State.
10.Thou SHALT support those who follow these commandments.

I think they sound pretty good. Hey, I think if everyone followed these Ten Commandments, we might find some peace in this world. Quick...without looking can you name the Bible's Ten Commandments? Just curious :)

To close out this post, I'll post a quote I stumbled upon:

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

Benjamin Franklin
Pennsylvania Assembly: Reply to the Governor, November 11, 1755.—The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, ed. Leonard W. Labaree, vol. 6, p. 242 (1963).

Very fitting for the current administration.