Category Archives: The Atheist’s Pulpit

One believer’s view.

The Atheist's Pulpit

I hate July 4th

I see little difference between nationalism, patriotism, and religion. All have arbitrary rules made sacrosanct, designed to impose conformity. How do humans cooperate? Not through reason, which is often literally the afterthought. Our guts rule our minds. Control the viscera and the mind won’t matter. Tyrants do it crudely. Great nations do it more subtly. One key is a good show. Shake a bent stick and bellow and the world will follow you.

Above all, I hate the senseless noise. When I was I child, I loved all fireworks. I loved the noise, as well as the light. These days, I like quiet and more than resent the irony that my quiet disturbs no one while their noise destroys my quiet. Our interests simply cannot coexist and the herd doesn’t give a damn about my interests. Years ago, my resentment became rage when I saw my dog terrified to the edge of death by the entertainment of mouth-breathing dimwits. Now, my stomach is in knots days before and after the Fourth. We discuss strategies: Is there any place one can go where there are no fools? No. So, we hunker down, generating our own noise grinding our teeth.

In the end, I usually turn my back to the thing that demands everyone’s attention and will not be ignored. I will not add my fuel to someone else’s fire. Let the children kick their can noisily down the block. This too shall pass and return, another cycle outside my influence.

obituaries, photos, The Atheist's Pulpit

Remembering My Dad

mjh0018My Dad died 40 years ago, 5/28/71. I had just turned 16 and we had just moved into a new house, a quirky fixer-upper that would become Pine Street in many memories.

Dad came home early that day in a cab, not feeling well. He went upstairs while I threw a ball against the back of the house for Barnabus, our St Bernard, to catch. The ball got slobberier and muddier with each iteration and a Pollack of brown spots broadened on the white stucco between windows on the second story. Those blotches stayed there for years. I heard a thunderous crash and ran inside to find my Dad prone on the landing where the stairs turned. He was unconscious but breathing. I tried to rouse him, then ran for the phone. I didn’t know what to do, so I called my sister, Elizabeth. (This was before 911.) She called emergency rescue. I sat on the steps near my Dad, listening to his last breaths. Rescue arrived too late to save him.

I remember when my friend Dave Stilwell came over the next day I said, in effect, if things seem weird around here today, it’s cuz my Dad just died. My first obituary.

My Dad was a farmboy who grew up to be an engineer and work for a series of communications companies, ending with Comsat. Mom loved to say it was his job to figure out the cost of the phone call between the President and the astronauts who first landed on the moon. By hobby, he was an excellent carpenter. Just this weekend, I saw a bench around a tree whose hexagonal design reminded me of a far-sturdier version he build for Mom years earlier. To this day, when I concentrate on certain chores, I whistle tunelessly just like he did.

Dad was a military man, proud of his service in Asia as part of the Army Corps of Engineers. He was a Colonel in the Army Reserves at death. Military service played a huge role in his largely-self-destruction. I have no affection for the War Machine. We need to outgrow the waste and destruction we celebrate too often.

I don’t remember crying when Dad died. We were unhappy with each other then. However, many years later, I wrote a letter to Dad, imagining he had outlived Mom and lived in Montana with dogs and a pickup truck. Then, I cried.

2011 A Virtual Chapbook, The Atheist's Pulpit

this simple truth

I wish the stories all were true
that we love to tell
and I could be again with you
in Heaven or in Hell.
That I could be again with you,
and all our friends as well,
would bring the greatest joy to me
in Heaven or in Hell.

But we all know this simple truth
that on this earth we dwell
in measured days of age and youth
not Heaven nor in Hell. mjh

1/13/06

For my Mom, who taught me language and love.

Listen to this simple truth

My Virtual Chapbook (table of contents)

The Atheist's Pulpit

Swiping Two Cites from Two Sites

dangerousmeta!

The Independent.UK: ‘Pantheist’ Lincoln would be unelectable today.

”At one time in his life, to say the least, he was an elevated Pantheist, doubting the immortality of the soul as the Christian world understands that term. He believed that the soul lost its identity and was immortal as a force.”

dangerousmeta!

NewMexiKen | Provocative line of the day

“I often argue that the concept of ‘atheism’ is unnecessary and misleading. Nearly everyone rejects Zeus, Thor, Isis, along with the countless other dead gods of antiquity, and yet no one feels the need to name this condition of unbelief.”

Sam Harris

Penn Jillette says it best: “I believe that there is no God. I’m beyond atheism.”

NewMexiKen | Provocative line of the day

I’m beyond antagonosticism (my coinage), but not yet beyond anti-theism.

The Atheist's Pulpit

Sheep do not usually have to work hard. Good things just happen naturally.

The Sheep

THE SHEEP

Sheep are the good samaritans of the Chinese zodiac. They are gentle mannered and on the shy side. Being very sincere they are easily taken by a sob story. Sheep people are compassionate,understanding of others’ faults, and quick to forgive.

Sheep like to set their own hours and will not tolerate too much discipline. They are also very offended if they are criticized. They cannot work well under pressure and must be allowed to do things at their own speed. Sheep need somebody to discipline them, though, in order to utilize their talents. They usually find someone to look after and care for them.

Good fortune smiles upon the sheep. They benefit from wills and inheritances. Even in the roughest of times, the Sheep always acquire the basic needs. Sheep get their own way without force or violence. They have that passive endurance that drives you mad. Eventually they wear you down with their pleas.You just can’t break them!

Sheep never come right out and discuss what’s bothering them. You pry it out of them bit by bit. When all else fails, yell at them, and bang things around. They should be impressed and might unfold all their secret woes; then, you can clear the air. The Sheep are family people. They never forget anyone’s birthday, and you had better not forget theirs! Sheep worry, too. They want others to cheer them up and tell them everything will be okay.

Sheep overspend and should avoid dealing with money. They find it hard to be practical and would love a life of luxury and ease. Ugly things will depress Sheep. They hate to displease anyone especially their loved ones. They will edge around an issue rather than take a firm stand. Difficulties are a delicate issue with Sheep. They are too sensitive and often overreact. Reassure them often.

Romance is a part of the Sheep’s being. Moonlight and roses, soft music and candlelight will get them every time. They tend to view the world through rose-colored glasses. Sheep do not usually have to work hard. Good things just happen naturally. They need bright, airy surroundings and excel in creative fields. Appreciation of their talents make Sheep glow, and with encouragement, they can go far in life.

The Sheep

Mer is a horse. How about you?

The Atheist's Pulpit

Happy Candlemas, Everyone

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The Sky This Week, 2011 February 1 – 8 — Naval Oceanography Portal

February 2nd is one of our more popular "semi-holidays", Groundhog Day. It is similar in character to Halloween in that most everybody is aware of it and "observes" it in some fashion, but they’re not really sure why they do. … Groundhog day falls mid-way between the winter solstice and the Vernal equinox … [T]he roots of Groundhog Day date back well over a thousand years to an early Christian feast known as Candlemas. This was one of the so-called "cross-quarter" days of ancient timekeeping tradition, which, along with the quarterly seasonal markers, were the dates when serfs paid rent to their feudal lords. Halloween is the other cross-quarter day that’s still widely observed here in America, and Europeans still observe May Day. Lammas, the final cross-quarter day, falls on August 1st, which is the traditional start of summer vacation days in many parts of the world.

The Sky This Week, 2011 February 1 – 8 — Naval Oceanography Portal