tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10649108421575045832024-02-19T06:23:29.679+00:00Why I Left ChristianityMy Journey from Christianity to Atheism Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-61572365802999613722018-04-29T19:56:00.000+01:002018-04-30T19:32:08.062+01:00Love The Sinner, Hate The SinMany extreme Christians have phrases and comments that I consider beyond ridiculous. I often just ignore their sayings and move along. However, the phrase “Love the sinner, hate the sin,” is one that I refuse to allow without saying pointing out the ignorance. Here, we will explore why I think the saying is complete bullshit and people need to stop saying it!<br />
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1)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>There is no verse in the Bible that says, “Love the sinner, hate the sin.” Go ahead and look. I will wait. Okay, now that we have settled that, can we agree that you can’t say it is in the Bible anymore? It is not. You can twist a few verses around to try to make it fit for you, but Christians like to do a lot of that anyway, so that is not a shocker. Just stop saying it because you sound ignorant when you do.<br />
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2)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This phrase is used against LGBT people to justify hatred. So, it’s ironic to think about the fact that some Christians preach about how God is love and try to act like they are such good and moral people, yet their hateful, abusive, and bully-like behavior toward LGBT people is pathetic. I have been taking a class for foster parenting for the past few weeks with my daughter, who is considering taking in a foster child. At least two families in the class have adamantly admitted that they do NOT want an LGBT child/teen in their household. One mother implied that having a gay boy around her sons will corrupt her sons. Really? With up to 20% of youth in foster care identifying as LGBT, I find this kind of attitude disgusting! But, when I think about it more deeply, I realize that LGBT kids would not want to be in their home either. Who wants to be preached at and told they are not okay being who they are. How about Christians worry more about their own hateful attitude toward LGBT people and less about this ridiculous saying. Telling people to love a person yet hate who they are is a sad way to act like a person who is supposed to show love. To love someone is to show unconditional love toward that person.<br />
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3)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Who are you to decide what is a “sin” and what isn’t? It seems to me that many Christians choose to identify sins as something that they themselves feel negative feelings toward. Some Christians see tattoos and piercings as a sin. They think you should not modify your body. They may also see alcohol, cigarettes, smoking pot or even dancing as a sin. Does that make those things wrong? No. The thing that Christians can’t get into their heads is that, as much as they are free to practice any religion they would like, they are not free to force those views on the rest of us. Including other religious groups, agnostics, atheists or anyone else.<br />
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4)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It sounds so damn self-righteous! Maybe some people have heard this saying so much that they think it sounds normal. It does not sound normal at all. It sounds mean, holier-than-thou and just plain rude and hateful. As I stated before, feel free to believe the way you want, but don’t expect the rest of us to go along with you. When you say that you love a sinner, but hate their sin expect a lot of people to see you as an asshole and NOT a good, moral, decent human who cares about other humans.<br />
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5)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I know I touched on this above, but it needs to be said again. Telling a person that WHO they are is “sinful” is horribly messed up and damaging. Especially to young kids and teenagers. With all of LGBT kids committing suicide in the United States, it is time that we try to make them feel loved, safe and protected. NOT THE OPPOSITE! I would think that Christians would be more focused on things that are offensive and immoral to most of us. Most Christians use this phrase as a passive-aggressive weapon against LGBT people. However, you rarely hear them say, “Love the murderer, hate that he murdered someone,” Or “Boy do we love that child rapist, but we hate that he raped a child.” Rarely does anyone who has a normal set of morals and ethics try to show a lot of love toward these kinds of people. Which proves my point that it is another cherry-picking technique that is used as a microaggression toward people of whom Christians disapprove.<br />
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Let's work on trying to show kindness and love to others, the way you claim that Christ has commanded you to do, and leave the rest of us who are just trying to live our lives alone. It would be great if you would consider stopping using this offensive phrase.<br />
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Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-30317313676068816972017-06-27T23:13:00.001+01:002020-02-20T10:29:01.699+00:00Control IssuesWhile watching the Hulu Original show, <i>Handmaid's Tale</i>, I started having some memories of having similar conversations with myself; The same kinds of conversations that Offred has with herself while under the control of the Commander and his wife. Even though she is in captivity, and almost every activity that she does is monitored and controlled, they can't have her brain, her thoughts, her memories or her opinions.<br />
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I remember sitting in church as a teenager and thinking these thoughts:<br />
1) If there really is a god, why have they not shown me a single reason to believe in them?<br />
2) I hate the pastor and he is a creepy crook.<br />
3) Attending church is a waste of my time and I wish I was doing something else.<br />
4) I hate these fake people.<br />
5) If there was a god, why would he allow kids to be harmed and molested by pastors?<br />
6) Why is this damn church more important to my parents than me having my own opinions?<br />
7) Why does it matter what I wear? If I was born naked and this god created me, why is it so horrible to wear a bathing suit and swim around men/boys?<br />
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Those are just a few of the thoughts I was having. Plus more. If I would have voiced any one of these thoughts to my parents they would have freaked the hell out. I was not allowed to think these things.<br />
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It is sad how much I can relate to Offred and the other women in <i>Handmaid's Tale</i>. At least I got to grow up and form my own views, opinions, thoughts, desires, political views, etc.. Even though I feel that my relationship with my parents is irreparable (in most ways), I was able to come out of the closet, decide I don't believe in their god and form relationships with the kinds of people I was drawn to. I also refuse to waste my Sunday mornings in church.<br />
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Being raised to be a zombie with (They hoped) no brain of my own makes me realize how dangerous and damaging this kind of control is. How do we solve this? Question everything! Don't believe people who say things like "Everything happens for a reason," or "God works in mysterious ways." That is just bullshit. Question, read, research and come to your own conclusions.Don't let anyone control you. Ever! Pay attention to politics. The dystopian world of Handmaid's Tale is not as far-fetched as one might think!<br />
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<br />Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-70634361081172438542017-05-10T17:05:00.000+01:002017-05-24T13:59:24.669+01:00Arrogance of ChristianityI recently attended a birthday party for a good friend of mine. I put aside my highly sensitive, introvert messages to myself (Like, ugh, people) and went because I care about her and I know she would come to mine. Her mom invited me and I really did enjoy myself. The party was at a beautiful park on a lake. They rented out a gazebo close to the lake. Overall, it was very pleasant.<br />
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One incident stood out to me that illustrates the complete and utter arrogance of many Christians today. There was a group at the gazebo next to us called "Earth." (At least that is what the sign said.) I thought they looked cool and interesting. Immediately one person pointed out to me (in a very condescending tone) "Those people over there are worshipping Mother Earth." *eye roll I said nothing, but thought to myself "So fucking what?"<br />
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Just before we ate, everyone gathered and held hands and forced the group into a Christian prayer to thank God for the food. I awkwardly looked around in disbelief at how often I am subjected to being forced into religious rituals as an atheist.<br />
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Toward the end of the party, someone else said to me, again, condescendingly, "Did you see those crazy Mother Earth worshippers over there? I was going to go over and ask them if they were worshipping Jesus" Since I don't hide my facial expressions very well, she quickly added, "I mean I didn't though." All I said was "That's good."<br />
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Why do people (and by people I mean mostly Christians) think it's ok to force their beliefs on others, but don't recognize that others have a right to believe how they want? It is the ultimate example of Christian privilege. Think about this, Christians. Think. If you were suddenly told, during a birthday party, a work event, or really, anything, that the majority of Muslims there wanted to have a prayer, how would you feel? Awkard? Appalled that they would be arrogant enough to assume you want to pray to their God? Annoyed? Well, guess what? That is how others feel when you force them into your religious rituals. If you want to be allowed to worship as you please, then you MUST allow others to do the same.<br />
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Thanks for reading. I have been on a long break working for crappy places that sucked the life out of me and I am now taking time for myself to write and relax a bit. So, you will see more blogs from me in the future. Please share!<br />
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<br />Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-13039049324960329782013-11-11T18:48:00.000+00:002017-05-12T16:01:41.038+01:00Prayers at Work. Please Stop!<br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It has been a while. I guess all bloggers must go through stages like this. I write and write and write and then I feel drained. I get away for a while. I think. I write blogs in my head. I think some more. I deal with people at work and situations at work that just annoy the crap out of me. I write another blog in my head but I am too tired to get it down. Repeat. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So, a friend of mine has encouraged me to write again. I have resisted writing for a while now. Mostly because I need so much down time and I never get it. So when I am off work, I avoid activities, like writing, that drain me emotionally. However, after writing this morning, I decided that writing also heals me and moves me forward. So I decided to come over here and write. Even though my family reads this blog (which is why I have not written for a while- I feel like they are so distant from me since I have become honest and open about who I am… and it’s painful).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I mostly want to write about being an atheist in a VERY Christian work environment in the Bible Belt. I recently joined a new department at work. This was a good move for me because the job is much less stressful and overwhelming. Two of the main department heads are gay: A gay man and a lesbian. I thought that this would be an ideal place to work because it is honestly rare to find LGBT people who are extreme Christians. I guess I was wrong about that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We had a get-together a few weeks ago and shared some food. Just as I was about to grab a plate and get some food, I heard the dreaded words, “Let’s pray.” I was momentarily shocked. My thoughts: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">um WTF? Seriously? Am I working in a public, State College?? WOW</i>! I looked around, desperately hoping to see someone who did not have their head bowed and their eyes closed. At first, I saw no one. I started to feel suffocated. I started to feel angry. I heard movement behind me in the kitchen area and I saw a coworker in there acting busy. I don’t know if she was trying to avoid the prayer like I was, but maybe one day I will find out that I am not the only person there who resents being subjected to a Christian prayer every time we eat together. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Let me tell you what I have concluded after several weeks of thinking about this incident. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">1 1)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I am not being too sensitive to think that this is WAY wrong. Forcing a department to pray to your god is not only rude; it isolates people in other religions (and people with NO religion).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">2 2) </span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I find it very wrong to conduct a public prayer session in a place of employment. This is one place that people do not feel safe to say, “Hello? I am an atheist and I really don’t want to pray over the food.” We have to bite our tongues because we have a mortgage to pay and children to support. We also work 8 hours a day with these people and who wants to be the person who makes a big deal about a stupid prayer?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">3)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri";">If you claim that you do not discriminate based on race, religion, gender, etc… then this means that you should not PRAY over your meals in a public college.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">4)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Doesn’t your religion teach you to pray in private? This public show of religion is just arrogant and wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I asked my son what he thought of this incident. He said this: “How would they feel if you threw down a prayer rug and fell to your knees saying, praise Allah?” Exactly! How about if a room full of people started doing that and there is one person who wants to pray to their Christian god? How would they feel?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I feel that I don’t really fit in anyplace I go in the south. I am a bisexual. I often annoy lesbians who think I should “Pick a side.” I feel lonely at work when people have religious conversations about god, and how things are meant to be. I have had to hear long conversations about how god has a plan for everything, Some of these people are also the worst backstabbing bitches I have ever encountered. So, I vent on my blog.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I have let go some of my anger. I think this blog has helped. I have a few acquaintances at work who are Christians. We do not talk about religion or politics. I still respect them as humans and see the good in many of them. Some of them, I’m sure, pray for my soul every night. (The ones who have seen my house and my paintings and who know I do not attend church). <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I think it’s important for people to realize that the world is made up of many different religions and many different kinds of people. Don’t be the type of person who is arrogant. Not everyone worships your god!</span></div>
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Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-13960340509193876522013-01-18T20:44:00.000+00:002020-02-20T09:51:35.600+00:00So Persecuted<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have been absent from writing in my blog for a while. Life has been stressful, and, obviously, I don't handle stress too well. I do however get comments sent to my email. I am normally pretty tolerant and let comments go a lot of the time. But I was thinking while reading a comment the other day how annoying most Christians are when they comment on my blog.<br />
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First of all, the last few have had various "Churchy" names. I guess they don't realize that they all link back to some stupid church in Canada. I have no idea how they have the time and energy to seek out a blog that is very OBVIOUSLY not Christian and have the nerve to comment that they are offended by what I say. Um, WHAT? I really am shocked that I have to even say this, but I don't give a flying damn flip that you are offended by what I say. I live almost every day of my life hearing rude, hateful, bigoted comments from people. My blog is a place for me to vent, share my thoughts and views and to allow these thoughts to be read by others who may have had similar experiences.<br />
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Christians are NOT a persecuted group and I am so disgusted that you like to put yourself in that category. This is not going to be a long rant, but I want to make it very clear that if a blog offends you because the writer does not believe in your sky daddy, or does not share your bigoted views or does not think that some ancient book was written by stupid, controlling men who wanted to keep their followers in line is the TRUTH, then go read a blog that you can agree with. You will be the first ones to rant and rave about your right to bear arms, your right to believe in god, your right to (Insert whatever you want to here...). But somehow, when others practice the same freedoms, you are all of a sudden offended. Who cares? I have ZERO interest in your feelings or whether or not I offended you. Most people who blog about humanism, atheism, or whatever, DO NOT CARE that you don't like it.<br />
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The chances of you coming to my blog with your bible verses and preaching and winning me over to "god's side" are 0.000000% Is that clear? I would NEVER, EVER go back to that kind of delusional, ridiculous thinking. EVER! So go waste your time on gullible, dumb people who are too stupid to think for themselves. Maybe you can control them and they won't offend you so much.<br />
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<br />Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-43755173274141536012012-08-26T16:16:00.002+01:002017-05-12T16:05:06.610+01:00Hate is Hate <br />
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<span style="font-family: "alternategothicno2bt-regular" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">The following letter to the editor was printed in our local Folio Weekly August 14, 2012 edition.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"></span><b><span style="font-family: "alternategothicno2bt-regular" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Chick-fi l-A Supporter<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">To: Denise M. Reagan, Editor<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">First, let me congratulate you on becoming </span><span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12pt;">the new editor of Folio Weekly. I’m sure you’re </span><span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12pt;">finding it exciting and most challenging as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">Anne Schindler’s spark will also be missed, </span><span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12pt;">I’m sure. I appreciate seeing my testy opinion </span><span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12pt;">letters appearing for reader reaction from time </span><span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12pt;">to time among a sea of differing views. </span><span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12pt;">As you stated, the president and chief </span><span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12pt;">operating officer of Chick-Fil l-A, Dan Cathy, </span><span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12pt;">offended the gay community by expressing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">his biblical stance on marriage [Editor’s Note,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">July 31]. However, as I see it, his words in that<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">Atlanta radio interview express exactly what<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">mainstream Christianity believes. God’s way<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">always leads to a happier and healthier lifestyle<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">with a better ultimate outcome.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">I can’t believe that the highly respected<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">John Delaney, UNF president and former<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">Jacksonville mayor, would write a letter to<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">The Florida Times-Union “supporting the<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">gay rights ordinance based on the teachings<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2QhIVUMZMso493AvTy9PKSvWfON1R1U9uvMhcCFWAeZ1i7QKxWqJaSpBQEKavux1fl7JlkMhr46jhHkbicQuGjaKMPzwIGTAOJayziGrVS1EZMnVRtOYhZXYwgpTGU9wB0MaMrqkhrk3P/s1600/chick-fil-a-torrance-california-vandalized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2QhIVUMZMso493AvTy9PKSvWfON1R1U9uvMhcCFWAeZ1i7QKxWqJaSpBQEKavux1fl7JlkMhr46jhHkbicQuGjaKMPzwIGTAOJayziGrVS1EZMnVRtOYhZXYwgpTGU9wB0MaMrqkhrk3P/s200/chick-fil-a-torrance-california-vandalized.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">of Jesus.” What kind of Bible and strange<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">teachings of Jesus is Delaney referring to?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">Certainly not found in my King James Version!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">[The destruction of] Sodom and<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">Gomorrah was merely a fireworks display<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">compared to what we’re provoking the<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">Almighty to do. God has said, “I will tread<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">them in mine anger, and trample them in<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">my fury … for the day of vengeance is in my<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">heart, and the year of my redeemed is come”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">(Isaiah 63:3&4). In the meantime, I’ll be<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">among the thousands enjoying Chick-Fil-A<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">nuggets. Hope to see you there sometime,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: MinionPro-Regular; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular;">where God is always smiling. </span><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneueltstd-bdcn" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">William H. Shuttleworth<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneueltstd-bdcn" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Jacksonville<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneueltstd-bdcn" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">When I finished reading that I was pissed. Then I was sad. Then I was pissed some more. Then I wanted to write back in response to the letter. But my new job has me so stressed out and tired that I did not find the energy to write back before the next printing of the paper completed. So I decided to write my response here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Not- so- Dear William Shuttlebutt:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneueltstd-bdcn" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I am shocked and sad that you could actually think/believe that your “mainstream Christianity” is so mainstream that you could write something like this to a local paper and expect that everyone believes the same way that you do! Your letter is so full of contradictions and stupidity that I hardly know where to begin!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneueltstd-bdcn" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">First of all: Although this may come as a shock to you, not everyone is a Christian. Not everyone believes the crazy irrational way that you do. There are many different religions and views in this country, in our world, and even in little old Jacksonville, Florida. Just because a few idiots at your church agree with your bigoted, narrow-minded views does not mean that everyone does!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneueltstd-bdcn" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Second of all: How do you believe (and try to force the rest of us to as well) that a god who is willing to “trample in his fury” [you imply anyone who is gay] is also a fair and just god and who is “always smiling” on people because they choose to eat greasy chicken from a chain restaurant whose owner uses his ignorance and stupidity to bring in business is anything close to fair or Christ-like?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaCe2TQQ1qzQFLDpHca7FQJ3O40-2IOKPzWI_AhpP7uLqlzKe2gauKex7LLD05dmycSADDIOfU7JvcuMwTJusNMjKKxwY1g3slmf1PM0oHkZXmiOZTlHVC81hLgF26C-U8gXBEqpjupFng/s1600/chick_fil_a_protest_149657632_620x350.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaCe2TQQ1qzQFLDpHca7FQJ3O40-2IOKPzWI_AhpP7uLqlzKe2gauKex7LLD05dmycSADDIOfU7JvcuMwTJusNMjKKxwY1g3slmf1PM0oHkZXmiOZTlHVC81hLgF26C-U8gXBEqpjupFng/s320/chick_fil_a_protest_149657632_620x350.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneueltstd-bdcn" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Third: Although I do not share the religious or political views of John Delaney (most of the time) I can tell you that he is right in this case. You don’t have the right to twist and interpret [your] bible to make sure it lines up with your ignorance, hate and lack of love for others. In fact, if you were following the teachings of Christ, you would not support a man or his business who so obviously hates a group of people simply for being who they are. It is not “strange” to want equal rights for all people. It is strange to think you can speak for Jesus (who never said a word against LGBT people if you read your holy book) and it is strange that you feel so strongly about this that they only way you can make a stand for your odd views is by continuing to eat greasy chicken and write to the paper about how right you feel you are. Do you not see how stupid, bigoted, angry, hateful, judgmental and hypocritical you sound? Not sure your Christ (if he existed at all) would approve of your attitude! You can take your "healthier and happier lifestyle" and shove it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneueltstd-bdcn" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Sincerely,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helveticaneueltstd-bdcn" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Lori ( a bisexual atheist who believes in equal rights for all people, whether you like them or not.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> Rachel Maddow said it best! Equal rights should be automatically granted to all people. Our right to live freely and share the same privileges of heterosexual couples should not be up for vote by bigoted, homophobic haters who hide behind their holy book and have no idea how </span>ignorant<span style="font-size: small;"> they are to people who use their brains. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.edgeboston.com/news/workplace/news//136136/jacksonville,_fla,_rejects_adding_lgbt_protections_to_anti-discrimination_law" target="_blank">It is sad and lonely living in a place that would vote down a SIMPLE bill allowing LGBT people to avoid discrimination</a>.</span></div>
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<br />Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-70453202352434071582012-06-24T14:51:00.001+01:002017-05-12T16:06:46.355+01:00You have questions? I have answers!<div style="text-align: left;">
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<i style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">I recently received this series of questions on my Facebook wall and thought it would be a good idea to share the answers here. Thanks for asking them, Shane, and I hope I have answered them clearly enough.</i></div>
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<b>Hello, Lori,</b><br />
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<b><br />So far from what I can discover on your blog, Lori, is that you haven't been an atheist for an extended period of time. I like to ask new atheists a few questions to see how much in common I have with them. Perhaps you can ask these questions of your readers.</b><br />
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<b>1. When you outgrew your need for faith did it emotionally hurt you? Did you mourn the passing of your faith?</b> The short answer is yes. I did feel hurt emotionally. I did mourn the loss of my faith. Losing my faith hurt for many reasons. One of the most painful things was losing the support and close relationship I had with my family. I am not sure I will ever regain that. Even recently at a family gathering, I felt like an alien or, more appropriately, the black sheep, when everyone had to pray over the meal and many conversations revolved around church. I just don’t have much in common anymore with my flesh and blood family. I love them all very much, but I feel that being an atheist has put a huge wall up and I am not sure it will ever come down. Outside of my family issues, I also feel that when I started reading and seeing that I just did not believe in a deity any more, I went through what I feel was mourning. I often felt angry (if you read my blog you can see evidence of that), depressed, went through some denial, and in general felt a huge upheaval happening inside me emotionally. Change is sometimes painful. My entire world view began falling apart. I had to rethink things like the afterlife, morality and so many other things in which I believed. I firmly believe the change and emotional turmoil I experienced (still experience at times) was normal and I would not ever go back to blindly following a faith, god or religion without concrete evidence. I think it is important to note that I feel like a more fulfilled and complete person now, without faith in a god, than I ever did when I was religious, Religion and faith, for me, caused doubt, distrust, lack of questioning authority, feelings of confusion, and I was in a state of constant unhappiness and darkness. I felt that my core belief of treating other humans with love was NOT a part of Christianity. I feel Atheism more closely aligns with my core values. (See question number 5 for more elaboration on this)<br />
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<b>2. What were the key factors for you to conclude that neither god nor gods exist? </b>This is a tough question for me and is really the main reason I wrote this blog. There were several factors and the transition was gradual as I began reading and studying different religions. When I attended classes to obtain my degree, I learned about a variety of different religious views and cultures. Learning these things made me begin to question things like: Who has the “real” God” and who are we to say another religion is wrong and ours is right? I also began to see that there were hundreds of thousands of different branches of different types of religion and most of what I experienced and saw was people locking themselves into a certain doctrine- based on the way THEY interpreted their holy book- and then they would surround themselves only with people who felt exactly the same way and criticize and belittle anyone who didn’t. That seemed very “un-Christ-like” to me and I began thinking a lot about things like…who really is right? The conclusion I came up with is that religion is a crutch that people use to exclude others. Many religious people also twist the Bible around to cater to their own fears. The way some Christians (and other faiths) treat people treat LGBT people is a prime example of this. I do know that many people use religion as a way to feel comfort about death and to feel closer to loved ones who have died. They find it easier to believe the people that they love are waiting for them in heaven. I understand that, to a point, but I also I think there is a time when people need to grow up and face the reality that when we die, we are gone. It is natural and the way it is supposed to be.<br />
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Another factor that turned me away from religion and god was the fact that rich people had a god who answered their prayers. Poor people didn’t. Kind of like Santa Clause. Santa likes the rich kids. But the poor kids? Screw them! Same idea here. Rich people have everything they need, simply because they are fortunate enough to have the money to buy it. But they say things like “Thank god! We got a new car this week,” But that same god neglected to make sure that the homeless family in downtown Jacksonville got food. When you ask religious people about this they say ignorant things like “god works in mysterious ways.” Well, your god is an ass hole then! This kind of thinking led me to believe that there is NOT any evidence of an all-knowing, all-powerful GOOD deity, because if there was, he/she would be kind and not allow bad things to happen to innocent children.</div>
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3.<b> Now that you're an entity that values reason over faith how has your life improved?</b> <b>How has your person-hood evolved?</b> I feel that my life has improved because I no longer worry about things like heaven, hell, or an afterlife. I do not worry about which religion is the right one to follow. I follow none of them. I feel free and happy to be able to wake up each day- glad that I am still an inhabitant of the earth and I can make a difference every day in THIS life. I have taught my kids to question everything and to read and study on their own and to value evidence and logic. I do not blindly believe everything I am told. If I question something, I research to find answers. I read a variety of books, blogs and articles and feel that I am constantly evolving and learning more about the world- based on science and reason- not on what I was told as a child or on what an outdated book tells me to do/be.<br />
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4. <b>For the sake of argument let’s say we both decided that the individual written about in the Bible named Jesus existed. If you could converse with this person now what would you ask him?</b> Hey Jesus, what’s up? :) Can you believe this crap? These crazy nuts in this day and age are using your name and influence you had to have an excuse to be ass holes! How do you feel about that? What would you REALLY do? Haha!</div>
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5<b>. In your own words please tell me what does being an "atheist" mean to you?</b> I know the word atheist has negative connotations to many people. But to me, being an atheist means that I am good and kind for the sake of being good and kind. I do not expect a reward in the afterlife. I believe I am a moral and ethical person who listens to my own instincts. If something feels wrong to me, I don’t do it. So far, this is working for me. I don’t have to follow a book to be a decent person. I just have to decide each day that I am going to try to make a difference, try to be kind and understanding to others, try to accept people and love them in spite of their flaws, try to give to people less-fortunate, try to continue to be a positive influence in the lives of my children, try to take care of the body I have, try to live this life to the fullest. I have always strived to live with what I call “the big picture” in mind. When I am lying in bed dying, whenever the end of my life is close, will I be able to look back and be proud of who I was and how I treated people? At this point, fancy diplomas, big houses, expensive cars, money in the bank, how far up the corporate ladder I climbed and many other things that seem so important in life just will not seem as important to me as leaving behind a legacy of goodness, kindness and love and knowing that I passed that on to my children. Am I perfect at it? HAHA NO! Some days I struggle. Some days I want to give up. But, I can honestly say that living life with the big picture in mind is a much healthier way to live than trying to score points with an imaginary deity in the sky.<br />
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<b> I can think of more questions to ask but I think that is a lot to think about. I really am interested in reading your answers. I've been an atheist for 12 years now and I've never once regretted my decision nor have questioned my decision to disavow faith. You and I both share common experiences on our treks to becoming atheists. <br /> <br />Shane</b><br />
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<i>Thanks Shane! I am glad you encouraged me to write in my blog. I always feel better when I write. :)</i><br />
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Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-3380045601488446822012-04-29T21:16:00.000+01:002017-05-12T16:17:45.802+01:00Random Thoughts on "Attack of the Theocrats!"<br />
Sometimes I really want to write in my blog, but I don’t have one cohesive, coherent thought. So, today I decided, so what? I am just going to write what is on my mind right now.<br />
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I just finished the book “Attack of the Theocrats: How the Religious Right Harms us all.”<br />
Here are some awesome quotes from the book:<br />
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“If there is no God, no afterlife—indeed, if your life on this one small planet is infinitesimally short—then it makes you humble and it might inspire you to plan more carefully.” Sean Faircloth<br />
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I would also add that not worrying about an afterlife makes me feel free to enjoy this life and to take advantage of the time that I know I have here to be a good, kind, loving, decent person and to spend every day knowing that I will die. I do not try to be a good person because I fear being burned in hell or because I want a mansion in heaven. I want to be and do good simply because it is the right way to treat my fellow humans.<br />
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Here is another quote from the book along these lines from Steve Jobs:<br />
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“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important thing I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life, because almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”<br />
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Even though I have no idea what it feels like to know I will die soon, I have always tried to make decisions based on the “big picture” and tried to make sure to choose my battles carefully and see things from a “death-bed perspective.” When my oldest daughter was born, I remember having a conversation with my parents on the phone about how to raise her. They thought I should follow the James Dobson/Focus on the Family model and see my child as sinful from the beginning and make sure she was properly disciplined. I have always tried to live my life with the philosophy that life is short and I honestly try to use my own judgment and intuition as a mom, rather than listen to some dumb ass preacher who thinks that beating your kids makes them good. I have not been a perfect mom, but I can say that using this philosophy has worked for me and my kids. My kids have all turned out to be wonderful, kind, and productive members of society who have a good heart and who try to be good, moral and loving people. I raised them to think for themselves and I raised them to question things that did not make sense. I never wanted to teach them that just because someone claimed to be in authority over them, they had to “obey” them. I continue to believe that this has helped them to be confident and awesome adults who have their own mind and their own views.<br />
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“You will hear Rush Limbaugh complain about “special rights.” Fundamentalists tell us to fear the specter of special rights for gay citizens, though of course, gay Americans aren’t after special rights—merely equal rights.” I won’t go on and on about this, but I am so tired of people trying to say that gay people are trying to get special rights. I am sorry that Rush is secretly gay and that is why he hates gay people, but it is not special rights to want the same thing everyone else has!!! Maybe one day Rush will come out of the closet and stop his ridiculous nonsense, but until then, I guess he has a right to say what he wants to say. I have a right to say he is an idiot!<br />
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Moving on to religion and how it is bad for women:<br />
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“According to a 2004 study, the most irreligious nations were the most likely to treat women and girls equally. The nations with the most sexist policies tend to be the most religious.” Sean Faircloth<br />
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This one seems obvious to me, but this book backs statements up like this with facts and statistics. Most religions, when examined closely, try to keep women down. I mean, read the Bible! It is full of verses that basically tell us we are second-class citizens(or worse!). Preventing women from health care and giving them full disclosure to options available to them is the only way to prevent women from being thrown back to stone ages. Women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and so many others worked hard to help women get the freedom to vote, access to birth control and many are still fighting for women’s rights today. Why would we want to let one religion’s beliefs from an ancient book tell us how we can live in this day and age? We don’t!! So we need to say NO to politicians who want to take away women’s rights and the right to choose what is best. We need to TRUST that most women are smart and capable of making their own decisions and we don’t need anyone telling us what to do with OUR OWN BODIES!<br />
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The most important message of this book is in the second half of the book where Mr. Faircloth talks about how we can make a change in our government and how secular governments needs to become the norm, rather than having our country run by extreme fundamentalists who: Hate women, hate gays, hate equality, and who think that blending religion and government is a great idea.<br />
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He suggests Ten Guiding Principles of a Secular America. “Our rejuvenated secular America will be guided by these moral imperatives:”<br />
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1) Our military shall serve and include all Americans, religious and nonreligious, with no hint of bias, and with no hint of fundamentalist extremism coloring our military decisions at home or abroad.<br />
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2) Any federal- or state-funded program, whether offering services domestic or foreign, that relates to reproductive health and intimate sexual decisions shall be based on science and public health, not on religious bias or the denigration of women or sexual minorities.<br />
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3) Health-care professionals shall fulfill their ethical and professional oath to address the needs of their patients, and they must do so with no hint of religious bias and in respectful service to the needs of the patients they are sworn to serve—or they must find another job.<br />
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4) There shall be no bias based on religion or lack thereof in any land-use planning or environmental laws, and discrimination based on religion or lack thereof shall be prohibited in any employment setting.<br />
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5) While marriage can be defined by a religion as that religion so chooses for the purposes of its internal ceremonies, our government shall never impose a religious bias on the definition of marriage.<br />
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6) When facing the end of life, all Americans shall be guaranteed control over their own bodies, without being thwarted by religious bias.<br />
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7) America’s youth shall never be subjected to religious bias in education. If there is one penny of government funds involved, there must not be one iota of religious bias or propaganda.<br />
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8) The composition of our Congress and legislatures shall include Secular Americans, and there must be no political bias against secular candidates<br />
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9) There shall be one consistent standard pertaining to the health and welfare of children, no matter the religion of a child’s parents, school, or child-care center. Religious extremists can do whatever they want to their own bodies, but children shall be treated as human beings, not as pawns to be sacrificed in the name of religion.<br />
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10) Medical, technical, and scientific innovation shall be dedicated to the health and advancement of our fellow citizens and must never be impeded by religious bias.<br />
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When you really think about it, doesn’t this make sense? There are so many religions and so many sects of those religions and so many people from so many different backgrounds, why would we think that choosing ONE religion and trying to blend it with our government is a good idea?<br />
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Feel free to leave your respectful comments. Any hateful comments or anything that is just plain RUDE will be deleted. If you feel the need to rant and preach, feel free, but you are better off going to a Christian blog where people will agree with your silliness. I don’t need you to quote the Bible for me- I have read enough of it in my lifetime. Thanks!<br />
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Hugs and love to all of you!<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Attack-Theocrats-Religious-All--ebook/dp/B005OKYYGM/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1335730467&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Get the Kindle version of Attack of the Theocrats here!</a><br />
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Faircloth, Sean (2011-09-13). Attack of the Theocrats!: How the Religious Right Harms Us All—and What We Can Do About It (Kindle Locations 2726-2727). BookMasters. Kindle Edition.<br />
<br />Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-2835521029916834442012-03-28T03:20:00.001+01:002017-05-12T16:19:02.045+01:00Justified AngerI just finished the book “WHY ARE YOU <span style="color: red;">ATHEISTS</span> SO <span style="color: red;">ANGRY</span>? 99 Things That Piss off the Godless.”By Greta Christina. I was inspired to keep writing in my blog and to keep talking about my lack of belief and let others know the reasons I am ANGRY too! This book made me feel justified in my anger. As most readers of my blog know, I have dealt with a lot of anger in the process of writing this blog and coming to terms with the fact that I no longer believe in a god. Of any kind.<br />
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As I read Greta Christina’s book I realized that I have not been vocal enough yet about my feelings toward religion and the harm it does to people. So, even though I may be repeating things that other atheists already say so well, like Greta Christina, I still need to say them too! So I will continue to blog!<br />
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Here are the thoughts I have about the book:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4AVEbswvOSilS-NSuEqZ1VJOendpYmy5iVwCP7p6l9xjDGRMSrqkA7yaP6xu1jF3qpmcZlVfMs4VImBG2UzhvSNF_t9FqhvLlwsV7dzBkdW0b4W3WO8HoMAAXCOboP7eFZBnot9sMwOnO/s1600/angry+atheists.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dea="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4AVEbswvOSilS-NSuEqZ1VJOendpYmy5iVwCP7p6l9xjDGRMSrqkA7yaP6xu1jF3qpmcZlVfMs4VImBG2UzhvSNF_t9FqhvLlwsV7dzBkdW0b4W3WO8HoMAAXCOboP7eFZBnot9sMwOnO/s400/angry+atheists.jpg" width="266" /></a>1) I don’t need to feel guilty anymore that I have a lot of anger toward churches, religion and the way I was raised. I can take this anger and channel it toward something useful. I can let others know how harmful religion can be. Great Christina points out that this anger is justified- and I agree- and says that we should use this anger to, in her words, “become a political force to be reckoned with.”<br />
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2) My anger will help me to be more active in other social movements as well. Like LGBT, feminism, race issues, women’s reproductive rights, etc…<br />
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3) I realized reading this book that I do NOT want to be one of the kinds of Atheists who are just like the fundamentalists and take a drastic approach and not allow people the right to free speech and a voice for their beliefs. I am going to try to be a more respectful person when I debate people. I find that Greta Christina is very convincing, in a very respectful way.<br />
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4) I am not an intolerant person when I voice my views against religion! I have been told this so much that I was starting to believe it! If someone says, “There is a magic sky daddy and he is my heavenly father and my family and you are hurting me for not believing in him” (well, maybe not those words, exactly, but someone said this to me on Facebook recently) I can say back to them, “Prove it! If you have an extraordinary claim, YOU have the burden of proof, not me!” People, please stop asking ME to prove that there is no god. If you claim there is one, you have the burden of proof. Great Christina says so! Also, when people tell me things like, “You have no absolute basis for morality without God, The Bible or religion, I can tell them that I AM a moral and ethical person and I am an atheist! I will also continue to do awesome things and show people that atheists ROCK!! Anyone who knows me knows I am a very compassionate, kind and helpful person who does far more good in the world than some conservative Christians who sit on their asses and judge me. I can work circles around them all! (Ha!)<br />
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5) I think it is really awesome that Great Christina mentioned that many atheists are not only angry for ourselves but that we are angry at what religion does to other people. We are angry when we see the harm that religion and religious leaders have done to their followers. She says, “Atheists are angry because we have a sense of justice. Atheists are angry because we see millions of people being terribly harmed by religion, and our hearts go out to them, and we feel motivated to bloody well do something about it.<br />
Atheists aren’t angry because there is something wrong with us.<br />
Atheists are angry because there’s something right with us.”<br />
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Exactly! Thanks for always saying it so very well Greta Christina!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAaaxHX6YdwkWxrhqRnkmkHG4rKyzGd1CNWlSJEmfbI-zAXxCSITZUY2DMfvlucFzr98Q_KfLLDP21DGQ_dNTjH3X_l-O_NzDMHfB46z0DPdtVxTM1Rxyey-lH1AZYzMwaTPDRxrOum2rD/s1600/My+phone+290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dea="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAaaxHX6YdwkWxrhqRnkmkHG4rKyzGd1CNWlSJEmfbI-zAXxCSITZUY2DMfvlucFzr98Q_KfLLDP21DGQ_dNTjH3X_l-O_NzDMHfB46z0DPdtVxTM1Rxyey-lH1AZYzMwaTPDRxrOum2rD/s320/My+phone+290.JPG" width="240" /></a><br />
Here is my own personal list of top 10 reasons I am <strong>ANGRY</strong>.<br />
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1) I am angry that women are being taught by their church leaders every day that they are “less than” and are beneath men simply because they have a vagina. Grrr<br />
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2) I am angry when I think about children in my life that I love and adore being told they will go to hell and burn in the lake of fire forever if they don’t believe in the Christian God.<br />
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3) I am angry that the principal at Clay Hill Elementary School (Right down the street from our house) thinks it is okay to allow a local pastor to come on public school property and ask kids and parents to meet him at the flagpole for prayers. This is a clear violation of the separation of church and state. If these people were Buddhist and wanted to lead prayers at the flag pole these very same people would pitch a HUGE FIT. <a href="http://www.theblaze.com/stories/atheists-christians-school-officials-clash-over-morning-prayer-at-a-public-school-flagpole/" target="_blank">Details of story here</a><br />
4) I get angry when people tell me there is no way I can be a moral and ethical person. Some of these people KNOW me and know that I AM a moral and ethical person!!<br />
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5) I get angry when I find out that my ex-girlfriend’s mom said that she would never allow an atheist into her home- like we are some kind of demon or something.<br />
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6) I am angry that I calmly read Christian Bible verses and religious crap all day on Facebook and either ignore it or hide it because I love the people who post it. But when I want to post something about my atheism or being bisexual, I get told I should not put that on Facebook, or that I should focus on other things, or that I should consider giving their “god” a chance. Blah blah blah They have a right to say it. I have a right to get angry and say what I want back on MY FACEBOOK PAGE DAMN IT!<br />
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7) I am angry that I feel cut off from my parents and some siblings because I don’t believe in their god/religion. I miss feeling close to my mom and dad.<br />
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8) I get angry when I hear people use the Bible to hand pick verses that justify their hatred of LGBT people. I would rather hear someone say they hate gay people than to hear them say, I love the sinner and hate the sin kind of bull shit that comes out of the mouths of so-called “Christ-followers.” (p.s. either way, I get angry lol)<br />
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9) I am angry that for the longest time, I have felt guilty about sex, and have had a difficult time coming to terms with my sexuality simply because I was raised to be ashamed of my body, to hide my body and to feel like I need to cover my body.<br />
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10) I get angry when I realize that I live in the Bible Belt and there are not many people who live around me that feel this way. Or are there? Come out!!!<br />
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If you have not read Greta Christina's book, buy it today! It is so well worth the read and I am going to keep it on my Kindle on my iPhone so that when I get into a religious debate, I can whip out that book and say, “Well, Greta Christina says….” SO THERE!!<br />
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<a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/greta/2012/03/24/why-are-you-atheists-so-angry-available-on-kindle-and-nook/" target="_blank">Here is a link to a video introduction of the book. </a><br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_7?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=why+atheists+are+angry&sprefix=why+ath%2Caps%2C256" target="_blank">Here is a link to Amazon where you can buy the Ebook</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">By the way, I am aware I have other "angry" lists and a blog about my anger. I wanted to write another one. Just call this blog my angry rant update.</span><br />
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<br />Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-57086863563650736972011-11-27T16:05:00.001+00:002017-05-12T16:03:28.113+01:00God is not good, or existent (that I can see) but life is....Sometimes when I don't write in my blog for so long, it is because I am having a difficult time. But lately, I really am doing well.<br />
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I have been working on healing myself. I am no longer in a relationship of any kind. I feel fulfilled and happy to be on my own for the first time in my life. My breakup with my last girlfriend was tough, but I learned a lot about myself. Rather than ask myself (when I make mistakes) what was I thinking? I am learning to ask myself, What was I learning? I can definitely say I have been learning a lot.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyT1TC2DX7uA99qTuROGIP372St8kIum3CPrmxpAlgjwE6T03f5G4bXOLFoHxqSZ-HK2ncOaWyzwLxpAJO3-bFvPfl630-BdgnqXLgahKjh71lRjgwxyUM4O6Zb0WaQiTidip1PaSUmUj8/s1600/20111001205118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyT1TC2DX7uA99qTuROGIP372St8kIum3CPrmxpAlgjwE6T03f5G4bXOLFoHxqSZ-HK2ncOaWyzwLxpAJO3-bFvPfl630-BdgnqXLgahKjh71lRjgwxyUM4O6Zb0WaQiTidip1PaSUmUj8/s320/20111001205118.jpg" width="240" /></a>I have learned to ignore people who don't like or understand the fact that I am bisexual. Nothing is going to change that. I really don't think I would change myself, even if I could. I like being this way. It is difficult when my parents don't acknowledge the fact that I am, or when they think I am choosing to be this way, or when other people judge me and think I am just unable to make up my mind. But honestly, I like myself! I still feel pain every day when I think about my parents and the way they disapprove of me. No matter how old I get, I still want my parents to love me and to be proud of me. I am pretty sure they love me, but I wonder if they will ever accept me as I am and be proud of the person that I am.<br />
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Yes, I am still an atheist. I always will be. Until I see some real evidence that there is a god, which every day convinces me more and more that there isn't, then I will stick with logic and just say we have this one life, so I am going to do everything I can to make it great. I feel less angry about the way I was raised. I can see my parents were just doing the best they could. I can see they turned to religion as a way to cope with life. I understand that. I am trying to learn to judge them less and to understand things from their perspective. They are really good grandparents to my kids and I appreciate that they spend time with Noah almost every week and that they drive him to Boyscouts. He enjoys spending time with them too.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwFcsYdFWvRALLzi3L1eZKuuWbrqSHFLHlXWDEltUZZToRDOe2otS-Mx_81NhIRXGTYd_FE9k6sj8WHZN76i_tcwbvGevVwi1DYcnIkdRXvzJiCD0p1wEWTNQW45uA8NgmIdMoyjb2SQ53/s1600/DSCN0077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwFcsYdFWvRALLzi3L1eZKuuWbrqSHFLHlXWDEltUZZToRDOe2otS-Mx_81NhIRXGTYd_FE9k6sj8WHZN76i_tcwbvGevVwi1DYcnIkdRXvzJiCD0p1wEWTNQW45uA8NgmIdMoyjb2SQ53/s320/DSCN0077.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Noah and me on his birthday: November 1st</td></tr>
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I have also learned that I am stronger than I thought possible. 75 days ago, I started working out and counting my calories. In the beginning, my reasons for this were strictly to get into my favorite jeans that had become tight. Now I realize I have gained a whole lot more out of this experience. I have gained confidence! I never thought I would be motivated enough to stick with a program like this. But I just keep telling myself I can do it!I realize I can do so much more than I give myself credit for- which has helped me in every area of my life. So far I have lost 13 pounds. I have about 7 more pounds to my goal weight. My jeans that I wanted to fit me are now baggy. :) I bought some news ones!<br />
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Things I want to continue to work on:<br />
1) Being more accepting of people who have different beliefs than I do.<br />
2) Trying to see things from the perspective of others.<br />
3) Forgiving people who have hurt me.<br />
4) Letting things go. Sometimes I am just too sensitive and I get my feelings hurt very easily.<br />
5) Being the best and most moral person that I can be so that I can show others that imaginary beings are not what makes us good people. WE are what makes us good people. WE have it all inside of us.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJz7C0LLf65UODpT71r6wEKOnfCmR48XE2VbKu3WNZQQFTLFZlyVyzGVQGU229Qdw8oJS-hfbOf1FsXFrN2zm7VR10PVBe5QDJzx6M-cd2VD6x2vWiMWIX91gReVf57HZr9t-SddK58lAS/s1600/me+abs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJz7C0LLf65UODpT71r6wEKOnfCmR48XE2VbKu3WNZQQFTLFZlyVyzGVQGU229Qdw8oJS-hfbOf1FsXFrN2zm7VR10PVBe5QDJzx6M-cd2VD6x2vWiMWIX91gReVf57HZr9t-SddK58lAS/s320/me+abs.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who would have known there were abs under there?</td></tr>
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I will be writing again soon. I just wanted to give a quick update.<br />
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Thanks to those who read my blog! I appreciate it!<br />
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A special and BIG thanks to Vyckie Garrison for all the mentions on Twitter. Check out her awesome blog here:<br />
<a href="http://nolongerquivering.com/">http://nolongerquivering.com/</a><br />
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<br />Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-12059438141280640602011-08-19T21:38:00.000+01:002017-05-12T16:23:10.984+01:00Those Angry Atheists!<br />
“<em>I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Mahatma Gandhi</em><br />
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I recently had a Facebook show-down with my ex-sister in law. (And others who had to put their two-cent about religion on my page) I have posted the positive replies and the supportive responses here as well as the stupid crap that people feel they HAD to say. Here is how it went.<br />
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I posted this status update on Facebook:<br />
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I just realized a bunch of people deleted me as a friend from Facebook. Pshh What was it? That fact that I am bisexual and speak out for gay rights? Or wait.. maybe it was the post about not beating your kids? No? Ohhh It was the fact that I am not a Bible thumping conservative? Oh well. No big loss! If you dump people who have been your friend that long because they think differently, you are more close-minded that I thought!!<br />
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Now, I am all for people stating their opinion and disagreeing with me. But I DON’T appreciate people telling me how to feel, how to believe, and what kinds of things I should or should not post on my OWN Facebook page. Here are some of the responses I received:<br />
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1) Friend Joyce: “No way I'm deleting you as a friend! I love you and to be completely honest I love you more now that you're being honest about who you are :) I’m too old for lying about who or what or when or why or where LOL just tell me the truth...I’m a big girl...in lot of ways :) “<br />
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2) Friend Amy: “good riddance. There’s a reason spring cleaning feels good. (I know it's not spring but you know what I mean.) Adios, nut-jobs.”<br />
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3) Friend Step Up: I ♥ this post! Keep being you!<br />
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4) Friend Eric Ragle: Florida sounds just as backwards as Tennessee. Stay strong! You're awesome.<br />
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5) Friend Laura Caton-David: As a native East Tennessean (now in FL), I can tell you that in many ways it is just as backwards or even more so!<br />
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6) A friend and former boss: Lenroy Jones ...can't get rid of me that easy :-) much love coming from Lexington! You’re still the beautiful person that I met in Jacksonville Florida! Awesome Lady!!! ..and highly intelligent. Me back: Lori Graham Atkinson Thanks Lenroy! :) That made my day!!!<br />
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7) Former student Kelsey: Love you, Ms. Atkinson :) You've always been one of my biggest Role-Models ♥<br />
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8) Cousin Jennifer: Hey You, Lori! I won't leave you...I am totally the proudest sister of a gay man and am very grateful to have an open mind! I love you, cousin of mine :)<br />
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9) Cousin Jim: Lori, there is a God as I know deep down that even when things are not going right as they rarely do, God is there. I can't prove it anymore than I can prove the existence of infinity. The God we all hoped for and believed in as a child has been replaced by the God of mercy who lets us learn from our decisions. Pray for mercy, be merciful, and you will see God act in your life. I'll keep you in my prayers.<br />
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10) My response to Jim: Hi Cuz, I respect your right to believe in a god. I like things that can be proven and I like evidence. I don't like blindly following something because of a vague feeling or because of a deep down feeling. When I see some evidence of a god, I will believe it. Thanks for your input though.<br />
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11) Cousin Jim’s response back: I understand Lori, I'm an Engineer and have studied science my whole life and still can't find evidence for many of the theories that have been put forth. Get under the stars for several hours and keep looking, if you don't believe in God after spending several hours looking at creation and trying to imagine that it was all created randomly from nothing with no beginning, you must be looking at something else. There is nothing vague about the feeling you should get when contemplating the vastness of the universe. Maybe a bottle of wine will help?<br />
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12) My Response back again to Cousin Jim: Cuz Jim, I live way out in the country with a lot of trees and an acre of land. My son and I love to lie out on the hammock and look at the stars. We love to name them, talk about them, etc... The feeling I get is one of amazement at the beauty. I don't give credit to a god for the beauty any more than I give credit to a god for my awesome son! Just because something is awesome and beautiful and can't be explained by science, does not mean we have to "fill in the blanks" with a god.<br />
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13) Cuz Jim back to me: <u>Not just "a god" the one and only God; Jesus Christ as taught and preached by the only institution revealed to preach Him, that, of course, being the Catholic Church Lori. Set up by God himself to teach us. He's as real as it gets and unlike a lot of scientific ideas, Jesus Christ has stood the test of time.</u> Look into the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church and what truth they teach before you listen to all the "modern" ideas, most of which will be gone with the wind before you know it. Truth; whether it be scientific or religious can never be contradicted by truth, there is nothing to be afraid of.<br />
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14) My response back to Jim: I don't agree with you, Jim. But I respect your right to believe the way you do.<br />
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15) Cousin Jim’s final words: I love you Cousin Lori, hope to see you soon! It was a lot of fun getting to know you the little bit of time that we did while you were here. By the way, you don't have to agree with me Lori Graham Atkinson, I'm just a flawed guy trying to make my way in the great big sandbox.<br />
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16) Other friends:<br />
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I think you're awesome, Lori!<br />
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Not me lady!!!! We haven't even met but I respect you and you stay on my Facebook!!!!!!<br />
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For what it's worth, you're still one of my favorite people.<br />
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AMEN SISTER!! Good for you! If someone doesn't like who you are or your thoughts, they can go piss off. :)<br />
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(Best friend and more... Mel) I understand all of your views on religion, or whatever point you're trying to make to Lori. You say you love her and then try to push your own beliefs down her throat. Do you honestly think you get her to quit believing what she does by being pushy? Probably not. No more than she can make you abandon your beliefs. Why not try something new. How about simply saying I love you no matter what you believe, or who you are. I am here whenever you need a shoulder. I don't know...just a thought. Here's a little bit of education for a few of you that like to use the word 'CHOICE'. Being gay, bisexual, straight, transgendered or whatever is not a choice. That's why it's called a lifestyle NOT a “choicestyle. “<br />
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17) Ex sis-in-law, Myrna: I'm not dumping you! God isn't dumping you, either! Love yourself enough so that it doesn't matter if those you think should love you, don't. I miss the happy, joyful Lori with a great sense of humor. Reading angry posts all the time makes me want to sign off FB. Just my thoughts! Love you!<br />
18) My reply to sis-in-law Myrna: Myrna, If you were in my situation, you would be angry too. I have LOST MOST OF MY IMMEDIATE FAMILY because of religion and ignorance. Please DO take me of Facebook if you can't handle the good, the happy, the angry and the rest of me. I am still the same Lori that you helped with birthing Angie. I am the same Lori that loved and took care of Helen when she was ill. I am the same Lori that laughed and had fun with you and Chuck when I was still with Joe. I am the same Lori- only more outspoken and I WILL NOT be silenced by people when I am having a difficult time. I keep Facebook as a way to stay in touch with friends and family. I also feel that MY page is MY page and I can vent when I want to vent. If people do not SPEAK UP and STAND UP for injustice and ignorance than it will continue. I LOVE MYSELF enough to speak my mind. Sitting by quietly is not the way to accomplish change. I love you Myrna, and I will always see you as my sister-in-law, but please know I will understand if my FB posts upset you and you delete me as a friend. p.s. I no longer believe there is a "god." If there was a god, so much injustice would not be going on in the world. If this "god" is all powerful, then he/she/it needs to step up and start doing some good in the world!<br />
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19) Ex sis-in-law back: Lori, I'm going to say this again and I hope you hear me. I LOVE YOU! You are my friend. I'm not going to remove you as a friend on FB or in life. It isn't that your posts upset me as much as I miss the balance of good happy thoughts along with your personal views on life and politics, religion and loyalties. I don't see happy Lori anymore. If you weren't my sis-in-law, I wouldn't bother to offer my thoughts. <u>I'm sad you renounce God because I do and always have believed He is the only One who has the answers you are looking for</u>. I just hate to see you go through life as an 'angry person'. It will suck the life out of you. Of course, you can have your 'voice' on things and issues that you are passionate about, but <u>you were never taught the love of God whose Peace passes all understanding</u>. I hope you will have as open of a mind about that as you hope others will have about your <u>choices and sexuality</u>. There is a lot of ignorance and intolerance about Christianity and relationship with God as well. Be forgiving! Sending you big Hugs and I will continue to pray for you to find happiness and peace.<br />
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20) Me back to sis-in-law: Myrna: I miss the old Myrna that was less conservative, more fun, more open minded and accepting and less judgmental, but I don't go on your page and tell you that. Why? It is your page and your voice. Please don't pretend to know how many versions of "god" I have had crammed down my throat. I WAS taught about god in every way, shape, and form and I have found it all to be a bunch of shit. That is part of my anger. I will pull out of the anger and move ahead, but I need supportive friends who understand this. Many, I should say MOST, Christians deserve the intolerance because they try to cram god down the faces of others in every aspect, including politics. Please don't tell me to be forgiving. You have no idea how it feels to be me.<br />
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The same day of this exchange, I came home to find my 14-year-old cat, Casper dead. So I was not having a good day anyway. But the point I would like to make here is this: Please don’t tell people how to feel when they are having a difficult time. Also, trying to cram your religion down someone’s throat is NOT going to make them post more positive and happy Facebook statuses. For the record, I don’t think my posts are very negative. When I am going through a tough time (Like a recent breakup with my girlfriend, or having to take my ex BF for to court because he would NOT LEAVE ME ALONE) I was quiet and did not post much on Facebook.<br />
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My choices when reading these kinds of responses (the annoying ones) were 1) Ignore them 2) act like I agree with them and not let them know they made me angry 3) Be myself, realize this is my Facebook page and tell people what I NEED to say. Obviously, you see I chose number 3!<br />
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Many anti-theists have written about why we are angry. We have a good reason to be! Here is one of the best explanations of <a href="http://gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2007/10/atheists-and-an.html">why atheists are angry by Greta Christina.</a> <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn6XA1k1U_gkE25g3swmqzzTWjLJJGbs-dNRedVJoMjEMVhwhkpLRP7UVoU2x3wZeCMunZIQevRumOAgCgPoiF4rXpif5RoxzYX7MEbNhg03kP8XPiTPtDDKwGRnXpu4HkI7ONtwWtKqr8/s1600/imagesCA4MRVJW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn6XA1k1U_gkE25g3swmqzzTWjLJJGbs-dNRedVJoMjEMVhwhkpLRP7UVoU2x3wZeCMunZIQevRumOAgCgPoiF4rXpif5RoxzYX7MEbNhg03kP8XPiTPtDDKwGRnXpu4HkI7ONtwWtKqr8/s200/imagesCA4MRVJW.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
I would like to add a few of my own reasons that I am angry.<br />
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1) When I took my ex- partner of nine years to court for harassing me, jeopardizing my job by stopping by, emailing and leaving notes on my car, my father, my very own DAD, wrote a letter FOR my ex. Not only did he, or my mom, not support me, but they wrote a letter FOR the man who has made my life miserable. WHY? Because they don’t agree with my “lesbian lifestyle” and they think I have gone off the deep end because I came out as an atheist. THIS MAKES ME ANGRY. But most of all, it hurts me. Some days I cry every day because I feel a major loss. If my parents had died, it would have been sad. But having them ignore me, and basically disown me is far more hurtful. Anger is a natural stage of mourning. So get off my back!<br />
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2) I am angry because I live in the Deep South and I am a minority any place I go. There are very few atheists or bisexuals where I live. It is lonely and I often feel angry when I am in a conversation with someone and they ASSUME that I believe in their god. I DON’T!<br />
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3) When I want to put a post on Facebook, I get the above responses. The ones that make the angriest are the ones that, again, ASSUME that everyone agrees with them. Like this: “You were never taught the love of God whose Peace passes all understanding. I hope you will have as open of a mind about that as you hope others will have about your choices and sexuality. There is a lot of ignorance and intolerance about Christianity and relationship with God as well. Be forgiving! Sending you big Hugs and I will continue to pray for you to find happiness and peace.” <strong>PLEASE don’t tell people what they were or were not taught! It tends to make them upset, and yes, angry! Don’t tell someone to be forgiving either. I will forgive… in my own time.</strong> And, if you want to know how I feel about someone telling me they will pray for me. <a href="http://whyileftchristianity.blogspot.com/2010/02/please-dont-tell-me-you-will-pray-for.html">Read this</a>.<br />
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Finally, I feel that I am not defined by my anger. I AM angry sometimes and sometimes I feel at peace. But just because I am angry, does not mean I have to be defined as an "angry person." I am going through the motions and going through the stages in the best way that I can. Please, please, please people who claim to be Christians: If you want to come across like your Christ, then stop judging and start showing love and compassion. Whether or not someone believes the same way that you do.<br />
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The longer I am out of Christianity, the more I can clearly see how much of a cult it is. I will NEVER go back and I feel freer every day. Angry? Sometimes. Get over it!!<br />
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<br />Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-91478244165891543832011-06-17T20:41:00.000+01:002017-05-12T16:12:02.012+01:00Focus on Hatred<br />
Let me just put this out there:<br />
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I STRONGLY believe that MANY fundamental "Christian" churches are doing more harm and spreading more hate than anything else in the United States at this time.<br />
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Not only are they not helping families and NOT supporting humans with love and support, but they are teaching, preaching and living pure hatred every time they try to put themselves in the position of god.<br />
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Consider a quote from the website for "Focus on the Family:"<br />
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"Homosexual behavior violates God's intentional design for gender and sexuality."<br />
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Homosexual behavior? James Dobson and all of the other haters in this organization believe that people choose to "behave" like they are gay. They believe they can interpret their fictional book in any way that they want to interpret it and think it is okay to spread hatred and misinformation to their blind sheep. They take what they want from a book that they claim is god-inspired and use it as a weapon of hatred. Way to be like christ!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZxHIq1FtsmEL_UnzlSd1fAdqqCDTA0ykh7nDLEfBELzudQP872V_wCcZiKMHv10_5VhHLT084AkJIM3aAVsxqi8E1kOCt21P4QIEBH1gTDkKiGnBUtgolAasLRoVdj8ssp7FwdM0egVNl/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZxHIq1FtsmEL_UnzlSd1fAdqqCDTA0ykh7nDLEfBELzudQP872V_wCcZiKMHv10_5VhHLT084AkJIM3aAVsxqi8E1kOCt21P4QIEBH1gTDkKiGnBUtgolAasLRoVdj8ssp7FwdM0egVNl/s1600/images.jpg" true="" /></a><br />
Here is another quote from those family-friendly folks:<br />
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"Focus on the Family is dedicated to defending the honor, dignity, and value of the two sexes as created in God's image – intentionally male and female – each bringing unique and complementary qualities to sexuality and relationships."<br />
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Um.. Sorry but what about the honor and dignity of people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transsexual/transgendered? What about our own unique qualities? Didn't your "god" make us the way that we are?<br />
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A group that claims to be "Christians" which literally means christ-like, and uses a title for their organization like "Focus on the Family" should be concentrating their efforts on helping people and making lives better for people who blindly follow their organization.<br />
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In order to claim to help families, you should be teaching love, acceptance, and compassion for our fellow human beings. Shouldn't this organization be one that people turn to for support, love, and acceptance? Isn't that what your christ would do?<br />
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One more fun quote from the kind, loving folks over at Focus on the Family:<br />
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"From the Christian standpoint, marriage is a relationship of love in which a man and a woman model for each other the self-sacrificial nature of Christ's love for His church."<br />
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There is a lot in this quote. First of all, I am glad they recognize that this ridiculous view is coming from their [demented] "Christian standpoint."<br />
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Second of all, who says marriage has to between a man and a woman? Oh, wait... that is your standpoint. Not mine. So leave your silly views about love out of our government.<br />
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Marriage is a commitment that two people who love each other make. YOU can't define that for the rest of the United States! Everyone deserves equal rights. Not just the select few who happen to fall into the realm of "normal."<br />
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Finally, if christ loves his church so much, then where is he? Is he answering your prayers? Is he showing up to prevent natural disasters, starvation and other horrific ordeals humans have to endure? No? They why do you love him. God sounds like an abusive spouse. Maybe you should consider a divorce. Or at least choose to follow an organization that does not claim to focus on the family, but only spread lies, misinformation and deceit.<br />
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I really wish I felt love and acceptance from my family. The only way to show a family member love is to accept them, care about them, treat them with dignity and respect and welcome them into the family fold, no matter who they choose to love. I am the same old Lori I always was. I still love my kids. I am still more moral than most Christians I know, I am a good mom, a loving person and sometimes a bit too tolerant of family members. I have not changed who I am. I have only chosen to BE who I am without shame or guilt. I am asking for love and acceptance. Nothing more.<br />
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Check out the video below. When did you choose to be heterosexual?<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJtjqLUHYoY">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJtjqLUHYoY</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp8S_BONDW8-EZFQHSdVP8H4FEdT8acIllzM3aq8HGYUDKxUxVq3OyT975jzZ-POBCu9FxZoKyD8aAxMYHdSJBgOCftCAPR8LRWMd9Od_bVjTWlZ2XGBfpbSAyYHE53q8mmFPkWd3ZwpH1/s1600/imagesCAAM3S12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp8S_BONDW8-EZFQHSdVP8H4FEdT8acIllzM3aq8HGYUDKxUxVq3OyT975jzZ-POBCu9FxZoKyD8aAxMYHdSJBgOCftCAPR8LRWMd9Od_bVjTWlZ2XGBfpbSAyYHE53q8mmFPkWd3ZwpH1/s1600/imagesCAAM3S12.jpg" true="" /></a>Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-3908177652552155592011-03-21T20:47:00.000+00:002017-05-12T16:10:32.784+01:00Not a Happy CamperMost kids like it when you mention summer camp. Right? My son went to camp for two different summers and attends Boy Scout Camp sometimes and he really seems to like it. When I hear about camp, I inwardly cringe and have to keep my negative camp views to myself. Why? Because camp, for me as a teenager, was nothing but an anti-woman brainwashing session.<br />
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My most vivid memory of my Christian camp experiences is not of me cruising the lake in a canoe or falling in love with the cutest boys. Nope. I actually remember that I felt TORTURED that we had to attend a “church” meeting every day 3 times a day. How boring! Girls sat on one side of the outside (i.e... miserably hot in Florida) auditorium and boys sat on the other. (I guess they thought there would be too much temptation if we sat next to one another?). Many times we were broken into groups. The girls would go listen to a woman talk and the boys would hear a man.<br />
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The one session that stands out in my memory the most is one that was called something like “Women of God.” We were told that we were to save ourselves for our future husbands. We then talked about what a good woman of God does. Here is what I remember:<br />
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1) You should remain pure until God’s choice finds you and asks you to marry him.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhapTBkw6elgn64_F03lJPrnnNTY6aZejY4Cvw50kLyxdlnPVjYjqfIC5DrR7RfGKQMMM9SKWZO9l3l8EOxHSptVOnPF4MAHYos99vcIy1ao1vTqn3mxNSDKA4t21Cm4LrfSghtmWY0kexy/s1600/canoe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhapTBkw6elgn64_F03lJPrnnNTY6aZejY4Cvw50kLyxdlnPVjYjqfIC5DrR7RfGKQMMM9SKWZO9l3l8EOxHSptVOnPF4MAHYos99vcIy1ao1vTqn3mxNSDKA4t21Cm4LrfSghtmWY0kexy/s200/canoe.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
2) After you get married, you should always strive to make your husband happy. He is the head of the household and he makes the rules. You follow his lead.<br />
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3) When you wake up in the morning, the first thing you should do is get dressed, smell nice and put on makeup for your husband. He deserves a woman who does not “let herself go.”<br />
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4) You should plan good meals and find out what your husband likes.<br />
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5) Limit time with girlfriends and others who will take time away from your husband.<br />
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6) We should always aim to be pure in actions and dress. Always dress modestly! (Which meant, as I said from other blogs, dresses or “Culottes.”)<br />
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7) Never argue with your husband. When he makes a decision, you should back him up with a smile on your face.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU6LcfNcsKcIGRis4ekgVNFnSsEYFRQwQJGj6XLJZBR-Phwu2zaa6sWQUT7mlwkE6aD0wLTzFAAMI77AiK4xriNWxr4kPLu8iH3hnEF4pEfyjhQkokYXlNQtx2UJ7Nb1dAuYwrNuLd2z9g/s1600/slide_bledel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU6LcfNcsKcIGRis4ekgVNFnSsEYFRQwQJGj6XLJZBR-Phwu2zaa6sWQUT7mlwkE6aD0wLTzFAAMI77AiK4xriNWxr4kPLu8iH3hnEF4pEfyjhQkokYXlNQtx2UJ7Nb1dAuYwrNuLd2z9g/s200/slide_bledel.jpg" width="189" /></a></div>
Well, I could go on for a while, but I think you get the idea. We were supposed to turn into Stepford Wives and become robots for God. I remember thinking at age seventeen while I sat there at camp… Wouldn’t my husband love me even if I did not wear makeup? I honestly got stressed out and wondered if I would be able to keep a man happy if I changed, gained weight, forgot my makeup or neglected to make dinner.<br />
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As time went on, I began to become bitter about these camp lessons. (Which were also reinforced in church and Sunday school as well)<br />
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Here is what these lessons failed to consider:<br />
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1) What if I did not like God’s choice?<br />
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2) What about my happiness? Shouldn’t our relationship be a mutual respect for one another?<br />
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3) If my husband loved me, he would not care if I was wearing makeup.<br />
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4) Both people should cook and care for the house. Why was I a housemaid? Because I had a vagina? Grrr<br />
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5) Not having a relationship with other people outside of my relationship felt like torture and solitary confinement.<br />
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6) Men in religious “cult-like” churches always worry so much about what “their” women wear. The only conclusion I had for this was that they had personal problems with lust and did not want the women to “tempt” them by wearing something that actually showed they had a shape.<br />
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7) If a woman is told to not argue with her husband and that he is always right, where will she ever gain confidence in who she is as a person? What if he is abusive? What if he is an alcoholic? (as my first husband was) What if he is just a control freak jerk? Why should a woman “submit” to a man like that?<br />
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8) What about what SHE wants? What if she wants to be a lawyer, a doctor, a teacher, a military pilot, or a bank executive? Why are the woman’s needs not considered?<br />
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9) Okay, I know this one is obvious, since if you know me at all you know I am in a relationship with a woman…but what if we don’t want to be with a man? Then what?<br />
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I raised my daughters completely opposite from any of this bullshit and I am glad to say that they are both very intelligent, kind, loving women who have a voice, an opinion and their own mind. I would rather have had them be a bit on the “sassy” side growing up, knowing they have a voice and their own identity.<br />
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I am also raising my son to respect women and to know that they are his EQUAL, not beneath him. He calls me a “Femi-Nazi,” which annoys me, but I would rather have that label than one in which I am subservient to men. I tell him that a feminist is a woman who wants EQUAL treatment. Nothing more. Nothing less!<br />
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The problem with Christianity and most religions is that they fail to see the worth of women. They fail to raise their daughters to believe that they are special and worthy of equal treatment. This kind of message tells girls and young women that they don’t deserve anything good, that they should settle for the first schmuck that comes their way, and that their lives are to be controlled by others. I don’t know about you, but that is NOT what I want for my daughters, or anyone else’s’ for that matter. Christianity, to me, was mostly anti-woman! As time went on, the messages that they tried to put in my head began to change. I realized my worth and I began to see my life as a better place without religion.Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-67253373537910388852010-12-19T18:03:00.001+00:002017-05-12T16:24:16.480+01:00Picking and Choosing<br />
So, listen up Bible thumpers! You can't pick and choose what you want to follow from the Bible. Either you follow all of it or none of it.<br />
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Personally, I think the bible is a book written by a bunch of racist, slave-keeping, sexist, men. But, if you want to believe it and follow it like it is some god-ordained book, that is your business, but don't be a hypocrite. If you want to take Leviticus 18:22 ("You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination") as the holy, spoken word of god, then take everything else in the old testament as god's word too.<br />
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<a href="http://www.11points.com/Books/11_Things_The_Bible_Bans,_But_You_Do_Anyway">This article says it better than I could</a>. The point of the article is that people are being ignorant to take one tiny verse from the bible and use it as the basis for their entire belief system. If you eat any kind of meat that comes from a pig (which I know damn well a lot of you ignorant redneck, "god-fearing" people do) then YOU should be treated the same way you treat gay people; at least according to your precious book.<br />
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Who gave you the authority to only pick verses that back up your homophobic tendencies? Why is it more wrong to be homosexual than it is to wear polyester? If you took a minute to THINK FOR YOURSELVES and really look into things, you would realize that you are being hateful, hypocritical, arrogant, and just plain stupid to hate someone for how they are from birth. You are also extremely ignorant to follow a book that depicts your god as a murderer. You sit there and tell your children stories about how god wiped out the entire earth and killed everyone on it and let Noah and his family live. You tell your kids this story like it is a good story. If you really thought about this story you would realize it is a terrible story to tell a child? Some of the bible stories people tell their children are just downright disturbing, but because they come from the bible, they are okay? THINK!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfKQdy6GHeXj8CjQl4fnln0UHVN5EzHmJ8cMgr6AKxCjzXDulPuGltXJ9RbR04C9k-Xh4Yk5jbPi6IBrt_0fPu22VB8TdJJEqV4tZnivcqjeiq4gtDQtcsn2YNzRgYQovILijjA5OgOm2H/s1600/bible-idea.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfKQdy6GHeXj8CjQl4fnln0UHVN5EzHmJ8cMgr6AKxCjzXDulPuGltXJ9RbR04C9k-Xh4Yk5jbPi6IBrt_0fPu22VB8TdJJEqV4tZnivcqjeiq4gtDQtcsn2YNzRgYQovILijjA5OgOm2H/s320/bible-idea.jpg" /></a><br />
The same people who stand in the pulpit and preach against being gay are the very ones who would never let their children make fun of someone who has black hair, blue eyes, dimples, gray hair, freckles, glasses or anything else that can’t be changed. Why do you teach your children (or congregation) that people who are gay are going to hell?<br />
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This week, I found out just how sad it can be to be treated as an outcast in your own family. My girlfriend invited both of my sisters over for dinner at our house the day after x-mas. She also sent them a friend request on Facebook. Neither responded to her or accepted her friend request. One sister wrote to me and told me that they had to do what was best for their children and hoped that there were no “hard feelings” about it. Then said she would love to see me and my kids (but did not mention my girlfriend). Apparently, my parents are not inviting my girlfriend over for x-mas; just me and the kids. Well, I will not accept that kind of hatred from my family. If they can’t invite my partner, then they are going to miss out on our company.<br />
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How any family can be so hateful and mean-spirited to their own daughter/sister is beyond my understanding. My kids are welcome to go over there, but I am NOT going. If it is more important for them to be "right" and to hold on so tightly to something so obviously ridiculous, then they deserve to be sad. They deserve to miss out on having me and Catherine in their lives.<br />
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It is so disturbing to hear my sister say she has to do what is best for her family. What the hell does she think I am going to do? Talk about my lesbian sex life with her kids? WTF? I have never been anything but kind, loving, accepting and understanding to my sisters and would do just about anything for them or their kids. I would protect their kids with my own life. I have raised my own kids and have done a decent job at protecting them and teaching them about life. THANK GOODNESS I was smart enough to raise my kids not to hate and discriminate against other people.<br />
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I have honestly never felt so hurt and sad in my entire life. Being rejected by your family is really, really painful. I know I need to move on. They are never going to change or accept the fact that I am in love with someone who has a vagina, rather than a penis. Just WOW!<br />
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Why am I no longer a Christian? Exactly because of bullshit like this!Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-77808532034263239142010-11-10T19:09:00.000+00:002020-02-20T09:43:50.153+00:00Christians and Sex- One More Reason to Run!*This post is about sex and some sexual practices. If you are easily offended, consider yourself warned. When I speak of sex here, I am talking about mutual sex between consenting individuals who are old enough and mature enough for sex!<br />
I have never understood the obsession that Christians had/have with sex (well, really the fear of it). I mean, if you use their reasoning, (which I don’t, but let’s try it for a minute) God made humans in his image. God is perfect and does not make mistakes. So, the way we are is the way “god” made us, right? Okay. So, god created us needing sex. All humans crave sex when they hit puberty (at least most) and I think it is pretty natural for humans to want to fulfill their cravings for sex as much as they need to eat, sleep, and drink water. Right? So why do Christians have so many hang-ups about sex? It seems that sex, homosexuality, premarital sex etc…are on their list of “serious sins.”<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFpqimfvOZo0VrVZVgCWdXENmGSSsM17Wyo13W3mc0jr5miBKaUMS_72cbuTCDlMqTXe8qvmBD_kcX08R95Gz-Jh9uzXcVFGW_sOf5Au-vvXY448PMT0oGYkTSWvH3VC5K9jxvQdXiUDrM/s1600/teen_sex.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFpqimfvOZo0VrVZVgCWdXENmGSSsM17Wyo13W3mc0jr5miBKaUMS_72cbuTCDlMqTXe8qvmBD_kcX08R95Gz-Jh9uzXcVFGW_sOf5Au-vvXY448PMT0oGYkTSWvH3VC5K9jxvQdXiUDrM/s320/teen_sex.jpg" width="320" /></a>When I was a teenager I was not really allowed to talk to a person of the opposite sex, and I especially could not be alone with them. I guess my parents knew that if I was alone with a boy/man that I would try things like kissing and stuff. But really, what harm was there in me kissing my boyfriend when I was age 17? Why was it seen as so evil? I felt that if my parents found out I was kissing (not to mention other things) I would be kept in the house until I was 35. So, it had to be kept very secret.<br />
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Human touch, kissing, hugging and sex are very pleasurable and we NEED them! Demonizing our sexual desires and making teens (and adults) feel bad for craving sex will only set them up for sexual dysfunction later! We should be concentrating our efforts on teaching teens to respect their bodies, use protection, be respectful of others, and being safe. Isn’t that more important?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi15_c77E5t4I3Y590Jj6Orv9lKGz_oioS3l-dTtkiQAqrNwaDA4Q74IKUx4fkfkwvHZyfVOYxcbbRFpveDs-QQLrKMmzDHeB3epJxQm96l7H_8sOCKPllfpof49k2wIxstgnCYaAqXlt3c/s1600/teen_activities_size480x360.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi15_c77E5t4I3Y590Jj6Orv9lKGz_oioS3l-dTtkiQAqrNwaDA4Q74IKUx4fkfkwvHZyfVOYxcbbRFpveDs-QQLrKMmzDHeB3epJxQm96l7H_8sOCKPllfpof49k2wIxstgnCYaAqXlt3c/s200/teen_activities_size480x360.jpg" width="200" /></a>Along these lines is the stupidity with many Christians who say that being gay is wrong and a choice. Let’s use the “Christian” logic again. God made us in his image. God is perfect. God made us with a sex drive. We are sometimes sexually attracted to the opposite sex, the same sex, or both. Yay god! Where is the problem?<br />
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The problem sets in when religious leaders preach and push their own sexual repression and dysfunction from the pulpit and all the sheep followers begin to think of sexuality as an evil that needs to be avoided. However, somewhere inside them, they feel ashamed because they love sex. They lust after people and they get excited when they see the human body. They take this shame and guilt and push this belief onto their kids and people in their church. I guess if they can’t feel good about their sex drive, no one should. As I have mentioned before, I think a big problem with Christian preachers (and others) is that they repress their own desires- often for people of the same sex- *shock- and this turns into a hatred of the LGBT community. Why? Because they hate THEMSELVES!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXmHif2B8xgCc7T9YYeZ8jjlegCTgb33mKOyxyz-Fb8Xzl8xsQdEurT9MPhBFRWw3Qkoxmlwbc2mvi5eRV0Rp-e40Wp0ICgqD3L8cQaxc7gLMV9J8a_6Lg4N8LGfMcCdPqCwVddXTHQ9ox/s1600/071112140723-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXmHif2B8xgCc7T9YYeZ8jjlegCTgb33mKOyxyz-Fb8Xzl8xsQdEurT9MPhBFRWw3Qkoxmlwbc2mvi5eRV0Rp-e40Wp0ICgqD3L8cQaxc7gLMV9J8a_6Lg4N8LGfMcCdPqCwVddXTHQ9ox/s200/071112140723-large.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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What does this do? It makes people feel ashamed when they feel good. It makes people feel like freaks when they are attracted to the same sex! It causes teenagers to try to have sex before they are ready, keeps them from talking to their parents, and may keep them in the dark about the protections that are available to them. Why would loving parents do this to their children? All in the name of god.<br />
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Some religions even attempt to tell married couples what they can and can't do within their marriage. Things such as masturbation, sex toys, other partners, period sex, and watching porn, use of contraception, where they ejaculate (Catholics believe a man should "cum" inside of a woman only!) and other crazy rules are seen as a sin and are not allowed for married couples. I find it beyond ridiculous to think that people will continue to follow a religion that dictates what they do in their own bedroom!<br />
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No wonder I ran from Christianity! Who wants to stick around for that kind of abuse when you find yourself attracted to someone of the same sex? I prefer to be around people who love and accept me the way I am!<br />
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Let’s teach our teens that sex is natural and good and fun! Let’s teach them to listen to their instincts and respect their body and others’ bodies too! Let’s teach our kids that sex (when they are old enough and mentally ready) is part of life and love and goes with being human!<br />
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Question for all you LGBT haters out there? At what point in your life did you choose to be heterosexual? Think hard now! <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJtjqLUHYoY&feature=youtu.be">Watch this video!</a><br />
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Peace and great sex to all of you!Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-59727589306418997042010-09-15T15:48:00.000+01:002017-05-12T15:53:50.604+01:00Quotes and Comments<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As you can see from my blog, there are many, many things that turned me off to Christianity and religion in general. This blog is about the ignorant things that “men of god” have said that made me want to run fast and far from any organized religion. I will just include a few quotes and my comments about them. <br />
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<strong>"AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals. To oppose it would be like an Israelite jumping in the Red Sea to save one of Pharaoh's charioteers ... AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals." Jerry Falwell</strong><br />
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Okay, Do I really need to comment on this? No, but I will. The day Jerry Falwell died I did a happy dance. How can you call yourself anything close to moral and say something so horrible about your fellow humans? Jerry, why did you care who someone loved and showed love for in the privacy of their bedroom? And one more thing… What kind of “just” god would create humans the way they are (some of us are gay, deal with it!) and then give them AIDS to punish them for being the way he created them? Have you thought about that Jerry? No? You can’t because you are dead? Oh damn!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhynd3YqeKTN8b4aaXbt0cAd3V_DCY850NxSPj_OgliCyof2A0EWtktLiP8x_EeoGqeRv2RNk3BS8a6fDhNgJZWe8s7qn1DxxMAM9Vd3bjnPfCyNnNuGfWnnKZS25hMOaSgbcu9eZw-UAsI/s1600/CartoonJerryFalwell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhynd3YqeKTN8b4aaXbt0cAd3V_DCY850NxSPj_OgliCyof2A0EWtktLiP8x_EeoGqeRv2RNk3BS8a6fDhNgJZWe8s7qn1DxxMAM9Vd3bjnPfCyNnNuGfWnnKZS25hMOaSgbcu9eZw-UAsI/s320/CartoonJerryFalwell.jpg" /></a></div>
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<strong>"The idea that religion and politics don't mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country." Jerry Falwell</strong><br />
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Ignorant ass! You are a perfect example of why religion and politics should not mix! Not everyone in the U.S. is a Christian and it is arrogant to assume that this is <u>your </u>country! How would you feel if a Muslim or Catholic said the same kind of thing? Scared? Controlled? Worried for the future of your country? <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpckDwzde7k_AqpV3dz4Be-JY_xTeNoH47ziqPrIszl5qASMcv449hld0YgiFqQIpeooBLLgNxp_WCfAUGl6fbA3fIKXA-eQzpOIWcqKWWxFA0uMZ7UqDU_gqukWoyPx-NjkgYtkZwdGGz/s1600/falwell_moon_cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpckDwzde7k_AqpV3dz4Be-JY_xTeNoH47ziqPrIszl5qASMcv449hld0YgiFqQIpeooBLLgNxp_WCfAUGl6fbA3fIKXA-eQzpOIWcqKWWxFA0uMZ7UqDU_gqukWoyPx-NjkgYtkZwdGGz/s320/falwell_moon_cropped.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jerry seems to like this a little too much. Could that be his problem?</td></tr>
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<strong>"Rail as they will about 'discrimination,' women are simply not endowed by nature with the same measures of single-minded ambition and the will to succeed in the fiercely competitive world of Western capitalism." </strong><br />
<strong>--Pat Buchanan (11/22/83)</strong><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinWn955FaoaXFk96qfNBvTGnFAOn9Mu0NzQDLnvcPWgfDsoDmrC6_Cd6DxcTMQk6KNY47Z7Et2Xc9vIJFeZE_iwD3MwgbdgAs5hRCY4K9Wano46GaiqU2rhXi-tITuetvbzIHlc6PD0FAX/s1600/pat_buchanan.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinWn955FaoaXFk96qfNBvTGnFAOn9Mu0NzQDLnvcPWgfDsoDmrC6_Cd6DxcTMQk6KNY47Z7Et2Xc9vIJFeZE_iwD3MwgbdgAs5hRCY4K9Wano46GaiqU2rhXi-tITuetvbzIHlc6PD0FAX/s320/pat_buchanan.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh Pat, you silly, silly freak. I would like to name a few things that you are not endowed with. Are women that much of a threat to you? </td></tr>
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<strong>"Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history." –Pat Robertson</strong><br />
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Mr. Robertson, how the hell can you think you are a persecuted group similar to the Jews? And what could homosexuals possibly do to YOU and other Christians to destroy them? Do you have so little faith in your god that you think he will allow the homos to hurt ya? You are a sad excuse for a human. You calling yourself a minority while you rake in millions every year from your sheep followers would definitely NOT put you in the minority group you ass clown!<br />
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So, as you can see by my comments. I don’t deal well with ignorant people who hate others simply because they choose a different religion from theirs. Why would I want to follow a religion that is controlled and run by fools like this? There is so much hate and discontent in the Christian community right now that I am shocked that some people stay as long as they do. I feel free and happy to be out of all the hate and control. I only wish that the people I love would see it. <br />
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P.S. Before you comment, please know that I understand that ALL Christians are not like Jerry and Pat. This blog is my therapy and my way of explaining why <u>I </u>am not a follower of Christianity. <br />
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<br />Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-12766263072398370572010-08-26T18:49:00.000+01:002017-05-12T15:39:51.516+01:00Where is the Love?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I just read a very inspiring blog by <a href="http://www.redheadedskeptic.com/2010/08/25/fuck-you/">“The Redheaded Skeptic.”</a> What amazed me about her blog is that I could have written it; almost word for word! She worded it so perfectly, that I am almost tempted to say- “What she said” for my whole blog entry this time, but decided I should write my own instead. Just know that I was so inspired by her words that I got off my lazy butt and decided to get back to blogging.<br />
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See, the reason I blog is not to impress other people, get tons of followers, or become famous. (haha) The reason I write my blog is to sort through my thoughts, feelings, views, and ideas. Writing my blog has been very therapeutic for me. It has also turned most of my family against me: which is what this blog entry will be about (Again, thanks for the inspiration <a href="http://www.redheadedskeptic.com/2010/08/25/fuck-you/">Redheaded Skeptic</a>!)<br />
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Since I have not heard one single word from my family this entire summer, (Except tidbits of things my ex-boyfriend has told me and a rude, uncaring email) I can assume that they are writing me off as a daughter. I am not going to lie and say I don’t care or that I am so over trying to mend things with them. I do care. A lot! That is really the problem. A good friend of mine once told me that after all this anger; not caring about what his family thought is what worked for him. I am hoping to reach that level soon, but for now, not feeling loved, accepted or conditionally cherished for who I am is the most painful thing I have ever experienced. <br />
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Although my parents like to sit there and judge me, gossip about me to my sisters, criticize me for my views and (I am quite sure of it) pray for/gossip about me in church, they have not once considered what <u><strong>I</strong></u> might need while going through this very difficult summer-The worst of my life. <br />
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Here is the short list:<br />
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• Being unemployed<br />
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• My boyfriend moving out to “work on himself.”<br />
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• The death of a close friend of our family and best friend to my boyfriend of 9 years in a terrible motorcycle accident (The one boyfriend moved in with).<br />
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• Taking boyfriend back after death of friend because he had nowhere to go.<br />
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• A break up with my boyfriend/best friend of 9 years.<br />
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• Being emotionally and verbally abused by my boyfriend of 9 years.<br />
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• Leaving my home (of 19 years) to get away from my emotionally abusive and cruel boyfriend.<br />
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• Living the entire summer at the home of a close friend and her mom with my 19 yr old and my 12 year old (I did not really even know her mom that well, but she was kind enough to take us in).<br />
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• Having my ex husband (12 year old’s dad) accuse me of not having my son in a safe place and threatening to take custody back of my son. I would NEVER have my kids in an unsafe place and he should know this!!<br />
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• Having my boyfriend/best friend of 9 years turn my family against me by telling them personal stuff about me that my parents will never forgive. He also hurt my daughter with his cold and hateful words. This is not forgivable. <br />
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• Not hearing from my family by phone (Except my brother) at all to see how I was doing. <br />
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• Having my dad write me an email telling me that I am better off with boyfriend and not once trying to understand why I left or see things from my perspective. (Implying that I am too stupid and incompetent to survive and raise my son on my own, even though I have a B.A. degree.)<br />
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• Being threatened on more than one occasion by my (ex) boyfriend that he was going to take the house away from me. (I have owned the house for 19 years- he has lived in it for 9 and helped me refinance it 3-4 years ago. I had both of my children in this house and it has been my children's home all of their lives)<br />
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• Having a family member (not quite sure who) tell my parents about this blog. I never intended for them to read it. Even though it is public, I never gave my parents the web address or any access to my blog because I knew how conditional their love was. <br />
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• Having to call the cops on ex because he refused to believe the relationship was over and dealing with so much stalking/harassment that I had to block his phone and email so I could have some peace.<br />
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• Moving back into the house with my friend and having ex say that if things were not working out, that he would leave. I needed to get my son back into school and had no where to live except our house (So far he has not moved out and we are living in one room, my son in one, and ex in the other. It is, as one friend put, awkward!) I found out later that my parents said to someone "If she is so abused by him, why did she move back?" Really? That is just so supportive coming from the people who brought me into this world. If you tried for one MINUTE to see thing from a perspective other than your stupid religion, you may understand why I had to move back. Also, have I ever- in my almost 46 years-been known to lie, exaggerate, be a drama queen or stretch the truth to make things look worse than they really are? NO? Then why would I start that now??????? Think about it!<br />
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• Being told by my ex that he hates me and wishes I was dead.<br />
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• Getting pictures sent to my email of my mom, dad, sisters, their husbands and all of their children at a house in the mountains where they all vacationed together in August. Not only was I not invited or even told about this trip, but neither was my son. That hurts. I honestly don’t think I can forgive this. Ever. I had no idea that the very people who are my flesh and blood could hurt me as terribly as they have this summer. If I voiced these hurtful thoughts to my family they would turn everything around on me and say that I had hurt them. That is the most sad of all. :(<br />
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• Finally, my 19 year old daughter moved out and into her own apartment in Orlando to attend college at UCF. This is a good thing, but she was one of my best buddies and I miss her terribly (Neither one of my parents have called her to see how she is doing, sent her a card, asked her if she needs anything etc…)<br />
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I swear that if I ever treated my children the way I have been treated by my parents I hope they disown me and move on with their lives. How Christian are my parents to totally <u>ignore </u>their own flesh and blood/oldest daughter? Don’t they remember that I am their baby? Can they not see past their own wall of religion and notice that I am in pain? Why must I believe in their god and see the world as they do to get their love and acceptance? Do they remember that I am, and always have been a good, kind, loving, supportive, intelligent, intuitive, caring, passionate, mom, sister, partner and friend? Do they see me as so different now that they know the truth about me that has always been inside of me long before they ever found out? <br />
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I even broke down and apologized to my parents for hurting them with my words in this blog. I offered them a truce and told them that we should forgive and accept and move on. I gave them a chance to see their grandson after he got back from camp and before he went back to school. They did not even respond to my letter. They have not contacted my son or daughter to see how they are doing. They choose to stay inside their anger, spitefulness, fear, and close-minded religion. That is their choice. I have come to the conclusion that many people cling to the church because they are so dysfunctional that they have no idea how to live without the rules and advice of their church/pastor. I find this a sad waste of a life and I am truly sorry to have lost my family the way that I have. But my emotional health as an adult is telling me that I need to stay away from my family until I can feel accepted by them. <br />
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Religion has never been good for me, the more I see from Christians, the more I know that seeking the truth and finding that god is a fairy tale has set me free. I feel freer than I ever did inside any church or growing up in a "CHRISTIAN" family. I only wish I had family to accept me as I am.<br />
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As the Redheaded Skeptic said in her blog "Fuck you:"<br />
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"Chew on that before you judge me. And after all the judgment and rudeness and <em><u><strong>emotional abandonment</strong></u></em> [my italics,underline and bold] I have received over the last several years from my parents and their little circle of friends, if you chew on it and decide that I am still a horrible daughter, then all I can say is fuck you."<br />
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Picture: My family last summer- during better times- long before they read my blog and decided to abandon me for being a bisexual atheist.Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-14113233323304697692010-08-05T17:06:00.000+01:002017-05-12T15:41:06.201+01:00Does Your God Hear?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Does Your God Hear?</span><br />
By Catherine T. Horan and Lori Atkinson<br />
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<br />
Does your god hear you<br />
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When you pray,<br />
<br />
And ask that your daughter<br />
<br />
Not be gay?<br />
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Is his voice a comfort<br />
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As you sleep?<br />
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Does he join in your sorrow<br />
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as you weep?<br />
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Does god really care<br />
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that she loves with her heart,<br />
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Beyond just a body,<br />
<br />
beyond just a part?<br />
<br />
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Didn’t your god<br />
<br />
Make her that way?<br />
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When he doesn’t answer<br />
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What do you say?<br />
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Does your god shun<br />
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And remove from his care,<br />
<br />
A person like me?<br />
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Would that really be fair?<br />
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His perfection so endless;<br />
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His mercy so pure;<br />
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You worship and love him;<br />
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And hope for a cure<br />
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But what if your god,<br />
<br />
Looks down on your tears,<br />
<br />
Wondering why you don’t love,<br />
<br />
Someone so dear?<br />
<br />
<br />
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Your own flesh and blood,<br />
<br />
Hurting from your disdain,<br />
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Begging for love,<br />
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So scarred from the pain.<br />
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Does your world only foster<br />
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Such anger and hate,<br />
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That your very own child<br />
<br />
Is only acceptable straight?<br />
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If your god is love,<br />
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Then I ask you to see:<br />
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Love comes in all forms<br />
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So can’t you JUST LOVE ME?<br />
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Although I don't believe in god, I think that this poem might be helpful for people who do. Does it make you think?Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-235344180420098652010-08-02T19:26:00.000+01:002017-05-12T16:33:00.221+01:00Love, Acceptance and Tolerance: All Christian Traits, Right?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Call me silly, but when I found out that my parents had read my blog (ya, this one) I expected at least a phone call, or a letter, or something that would give me some hope that they still love me. What I got was an email saying that although they love me, they cannot tolerate my “homosexual lifestyle.” (Somehow this felt like a knife stabbing into my heart and nothing like love.Without the love and help from my friends, my brother Mark and his wife and my children during this extremely difficult time I am not sure how I would have been able to keep my head above the water and not want to end it all. It has been a very challenging problem to work through) Why do we hope for the impossible? Now that I think about it, what did I expect them to say?<br />
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“We love and accept you even if you are bisexual?” Or, “Even though we don’t understand how you can be an atheist, of course we love and accept you.” Or maybe “Christ teaches us to love and accept all people, so we welcome and accept you, no matter what.” Well, a girl can hope, even at age 45, that her parents love her unconditionally. But that does not seem to be the case. Is it really that hard to say that your religion has perhaps taken the wrong stance all this time and that perhaps accepting others, no matter what, is a Christian thing to do?<br />
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Tolerance- Not the best of terms!<br />
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I once read a blog written by a gay man that explained why he hates the word tolerance. I will keep looking for the link (I read it a while ago) but it went something along these lines: I pay my taxes, I volunteer as a big brother, I help older people with their groceries, I don’t steal, I live a moral and good life, I pick up my dog’s poop so others don’t step in it, I vote, I don’t drink and drive, I give to charity, I donate my time to clean up the city, I love my partner etc… (he goes on for quite a while) and then he makes a perfect point: As a gay man, why should he only receive tolerance? To be tolerant implies that you put up with something distasteful and deal with it anyway. Why should he not have equal rights as a human to receive love and acceptance and have people treat him with respect and concern, like they would expect for themselves. The word tolerant takes on a new meaning when you see things from this perspective. People deserve more than tolerance!<br />
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If you are truly a Christian and want to follow the teachings of Christ, why would you <strong>only </strong>want to tolerate a family member (or worse, shun them) simply because of whom they choose to love or care about? A great and supportive friend of mine named Amy says this: “Who cares what genitals a person has when it comes to love?” I doubt-if there really was a Jesus- he would think that rejecting another human being based on who they love was an acceptable way to live.<br />
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If you are reading this blog and you have a gay, bisexual or lesbian family member, maybe you should try to see things from what I call the “big picture perspective.” If they died tomorrow, would you still cling so tightly to your beliefs that they were a “bad” person? Or would you <strong>not</strong> go to their funeral because they were gay? You only have one life here on earth, and whether or not you believe in an afterlife, wouldn’t it be best to treat your loved ones with respect and concern while you are still here to do that? What kind of legacy do you want to leave? Do you want your grandchildren to remember you as the person who refused to love their mother/father and accept her/him for all that she/he is? Do you want your flesh and blood children to spend their life wondering why you do not accept them simply because they are gay? Or do you want to leave a legacy of love, acceptance and kindness to your fellow human beings? <br />
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I will continue to write my blog and voice my views because it has helped me to heal from a past that left me feeling repressed. I want to break out of being a victim and become someone who shows my children and loved ones that life is what we make it, and we can stay victims, or we can choose to become better people and strive to love and accept others as they are. I have decided to love and accept my parents, even though their beliefs are the polar opposite of mine. That is what love is about.<br />
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Picture: Me and my mom last Mother's Day before she read my blog. I will always love my mom.<br />
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Movie Recommendations:<br />
Crash<br />
Milk (With Sean Penn)<br />
Prayers for Bobby (Please share this movie with others who do not accept their gay children)Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-27958773228034066142010-05-11T21:14:00.000+01:002017-05-12T15:44:39.865+01:00Where Do I Get My Morality?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I recently had a Facebook conversation with someone that made me remember why most Christians annoy me and turned me off from Christianity. The conversation started as my son-in-law wrote a note on his page that I was determined not to comment on. I strongly believe that people have a right to state their views without having people become rude with them on Facebook. <br />
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Although I did not agree with most of what he wrote, I let it go. I love my family and usually find it is smarter to keep my views to myself when it comes to them. Then my other daughter made a comment to one of my son-in-law’s arrogant “Christian” friends and then I felt the need to jump in and defend her. Call me a mama bear. Whatever. <br />
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There were many things that annoyed me about what this arrogant dude said: “Evolution is a poor theory,” “I think it is perfectly rational that Noah got two of every kind of animal on the ark” and “Most wars were not fought over religion.” But this is what really pissed me off the most: (said directly to me) <br />
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“I need God as my “crutch.” But not as my crutch only but my only foundation, my presupposition for viewing the world. All other worldviews pale in comparison to the inclusiveness, The logical solidity and moral purity of following Christ..."<br />
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Then he said “The Bible says, ‘God looks upon the heart.’ He is not interested in outward expressions of morality and goodness.[Note from me: this must explain why so many “Christians’ are some of the most rude, unkind, unforgiving people I know, they figure it just does not matter to god] As I saw on a T-shirt once: God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.” [God must not want him then!]<br />
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Then, get this. He said, “Let me ask, where does your (or ANY morality) come from?” [Is he REALLY implying that I have no morals SIMPLY because I do not believe in his god?]<br />
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I have to say that since my daughter was just recently married and I love her and I love my son-in-law I refrained from telling their friend off in a not-very-nice way. In his thinking; as long as people are pious and arrogant like this dude, “god” is just fine if we never feed the homeless, give to the poor, help our friends when they need us, raise our kids to be good and kind and moral people, etc…? Their god just does not buy that? <br />
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Did he really ask me where my morality comes from? Did he really call himself logical and morally pure? I HATE it when people say things like “God is not interested in outward expressions of morality and goodness.” Really? Did he tell you that personally since you are such a good and spiritual person? I also hate when people say things like “God hates fags” and other dumb expressions like that. <br />
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Frankly I don’t really care what god wants or thinks. I have never seen any evidence of a god, therefore when people say things to me like:<br />
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You are going to hell<br />
Hate the sin, love the sinner<br />
I will ask god for guidance<br />
I will pray for you<br />
God loves you<br />
God hates you<br />
God wants to you __________<br />
God does not want you to _____________<br />
<br />
Or any other such comment, does not affect, distrub or encourage me. It does annoy me though because even if there were a god, I think it would be incredibly arrogant of a person to assume he or she knows what god wants and to believe that god personally talks to them (ie… see how special I am?).<br />
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So, to answer this dude's question, I get my morals and my ethics from my own conscience. If something seems or feels wrong to me- like stealing from a store, I don’t do it. If I feel badly when I do something, I stop doing that thing that makes me feel badly. <br />
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I was taught as a small child the difference between right and wrong, good and bad, and moral and immoral. If you are going to use the bible as your moral compass, do you really think you would kill your child (like Abraham was ordered to do) if god told you to? HELL NO! YOU WOULD NOT! You would realize that “god” was off his rocker and you would not kill your own child. Why? Because you love your child and you know it would be morally wrong to do it, no matter what. <br />
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I think all people should aim to be good, kind, loving, moral, ethical, understanding, tolerant, generous, affectionate, warm, devoted, honest, decent, honorable, open-minded, charitable and giving no matter what their religion may be, and no matter if “god” sees it, or cares. Living one’s life in fear of what will happen in the afterlife is a waste of time! Why don’t we aim to live this life to the fullest and while we are at it, try to make the lives of others good too?<br />
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_734418476">Watch this great video by the “Thinking Atheist” on YouTube about morals and god.</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_lM61aDyPg">This video, by Christopher Hitchens explains in a perfectly logical way why the biblical ten commandments are a waste of paper (or tablet) haha!</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC91GYEumyA&playnext_from=TL&videos=_Zwxo7Rwlsk">Okay, I am adding this too, don't want to leave out my favorite YouTube dude nonStampcollector. This video shows the irony of some chrisitans asking atheists where they get their morals.</a><br />
As always, respectful non-hateful comments are welcome. It is not a good idea to preach to me. Go to a relgious website for a preaching platform. <br />
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Peace!! :)Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-69710408211518555822010-04-18T15:44:00.000+01:002017-05-12T15:47:38.913+01:00Coming Out in Many WaysAs you can see from reading my blog, I have many different reasons for losing my faith in god and Christianity. There is not one event that caused me to lose faith overnight. <br />
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I actually can’t even give you an exact time in my life that I could have labeled myself an atheist. For a long time, I knew I was over god, but I just never thought to give it a label.<br />
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I know for sure that one of the main contributing factors for my turning my back on the faith I grew up with was the treatment of homosexuals.<br />
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Christians contradict the teachings of their Christ every time they mock, criticize, degrade, forsake, hate, judge, preach against, protest against, ignore, disown or neglect anyone who is gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual or transgender.<br />
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When I was growing up, the only thing I knew about homosexuals was that they were sinners who were bound for hell. (The way the preachers went on and on about those “reprobates” I thought they were going to hell a lot faster than I was- lol) <br />
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For some reason, fundamental Baptist preachers love to harp on this subject. I honestly think, after watching preachers like Jerry Falwell (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_8dSnKiaD4">Click here to hear Falwell's hate</a>), Pat Robertson, Ted Haggard- and most of the preachers I had to hear every agonizing Sunday- that many of them must have this phobia because they secretly like men and are scared to death to be found out. So, they preach against homosexuality to insure that everyone knows their stance. (Ted Haggard openly admitted this in an interview after being caught with a male prostitute) (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_8dSnKiaD4">Ted Haggard's apology</a>)<br />
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The problem for me was this: I was taught that everyone deserved to be loved. My parents were never racist, hateful or mean to anyone. My mom always taught me to love everyone. I experienced a lot of racism toward me when I was a young child because I was one of the only light-haired freckle faced kids in school in Hawaii. (Most kids in my class were very dark-skinned with dark eyes.) I knew how that felt, and I sure did not think it was right to treat people differently because of their skin color.<br />
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So, how was being homosexual any different from being born with dark skin, light skin, freckles, curly hair, or anything else with which we are born?? <br />
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During the time I still believed there was a god, I wondered why god would make so many people homosexual and then doom them to hell, just because they loved someone with the same body part that they had. What kind of “loving” god would do that? How could he expect humans to be more loving, if he (Mr. Perfect) was that evil?<br />
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I could never accept that there was anything wrong with being gay. I had arguments with my parents when I was a teen and in my 20s, but I gave up when I realized it was like talking to a brick wall. They are never going to accept that some people are homosexual because their church/pastor tells them it is wrong. So that is what they believe. <br />
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My parents think that most people either chose to be gay, or that they must have been abused while they were young children and that made them gay. Those were their only arguments. <br />
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This is what I have to say about choosing to be gay: SO WHAT?? Even if people choose to be gay, which most do not, why does this matter to you? Whether they were born that way, or chose to be that way. Why does it matter to you what someone else does with their body, their love and their heart? <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_8dSnKiaD4">Short video on choice</a><br />
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No one in my family knows this, but I guess they will now. I am bisexual. I am tired of fighting it and I am tired of hiding it. I guess growing up in an environment where this was unacceptable; I pushed my feelings deep down inside myself. After so many years of doing that, I am tired. <br />
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I have been inspired by my gay friends, like Eric-Equality- Kramer, who are openly gay and proud, and who fight for the rights of others to marry and live with equality. I am joining Eric in this fight! <br />
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Staying in the closet does not help the cause. I will lose family and friends over this. Sad, but true. Imagine the guilt and confusion I had as a teen when I felt excited seeing a naked woman. I have pushed my feelings and thoughts down for so long that I am just now trying to figure out who I am. The fact that I denied my own sexuality for so long is very sad. <br />
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To my Christian friends: <br />
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If you are Christian raising small children right now, please decide now that you will accept, love and support them no matter who they choose to love. I hope that you will put aside your judgment and hostility and learn to love one another. Just like your role model, Jesus, says to do. <br />
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Heterosexual friends: If someone told you tomorrow that the world has become homosexual now and the only way for you to be accepted would be to start liking people of the same sex, could you just “choose” to change sexual orientation? No? Well neither can anyone else. Live your life the way you want to live it, and let other do the same please!<br />
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A book about women’s sexuality:<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_8dSnKiaD4">"Sexual Fluidity" </a><< read the book review here!<br />
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Any other suggestions?<br />
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A movie that may give you a new perspective: (Please suggest other movies and I will list them here)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrVrFHgmQUsRI1rsneFwSNXa72Cx8ZHn0dfMlKGGdZmxUHjzo0H61dyRBxsA5LGc0aC0MmZoiNeep5LP6u4_E3Bl8_q0f4xUnMvVGJIFPrUHG1tg6kP-xKZ-QxUxX4GXQ2CxcLYSua_VhP/s1600/Jihad+for+love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrVrFHgmQUsRI1rsneFwSNXa72Cx8ZHn0dfMlKGGdZmxUHjzo0H61dyRBxsA5LGc0aC0MmZoiNeep5LP6u4_E3Bl8_q0f4xUnMvVGJIFPrUHG1tg6kP-xKZ-QxUxX4GXQ2CxcLYSua_VhP/s200/Jihad+for+love.jpg" width="133" wt="true" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_8dSnKiaD4">"A Jihad for Love" Part I</a> (watch all 6 parts on YouTube. It is also available on Netflix) Although I think these people are deluded to keep practicing a religion that is so... well, crazy, I do think that this movie demonstrates just how difficult it was for these people to be gay. Even when threatened by jail and death, they were still gay. What does this say? <br />
<a href="http://easygaylife.com/2010/02/ever-wondered-what-it-was-like-to-be-gay-in-another-country/">Read this awesome review of the movie by my above mentioned friend, Eric Kramer.</a><br />
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(Please note: If you are a Christian who is gay or if you are a Christian who accepts and loves homosexuals, please know that this blog is not directed at you. This blog is my own experience with MOST Christians who think that being a Christian means not acknowledging that gays are who they are. If you believe in “god” he made LGBT people that way, so please learn to be more Christ-like)<br />
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I will delete any comments that are “homophobic”(for lack of a better word. A phobia is a fear, most people who are homophobic are more hateful than fearful) racist, or hateful in any way. I welcome your views if you can state them in a respectful manner. As you can see this is an atheist blog, so if you are trying to preach to me or convert me, please give up and go to a Christian blog for support and acceptance.<br />
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(3 paintings are by me)Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-41752649841033224842010-04-06T00:30:00.000+01:002017-05-12T15:48:34.895+01:00God is Good?I have had a rough week emotionally and trying to write in my blog is a bit draining for me, so this week I am going to share some of my favorite atheist videos from YouTube and make some comments on each one. I hope to be back to my normal self next week! Each of these videos shows that if you read the bible, and really look into what it says, I hope you come to the conclusion that god is not good or merciful.<br />
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This first one is by my favorite YouTube Athiest, The NonStampCollector. This video demonstrates the silliness of Christians telling us that Jesus died for our sins. Is god really merciful? <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/NonStampCollector#p/u/33/vKgDDglSq2s">http://www.youtube.com/user/NonStampCollector#p/u/33/vKgDDglSq2s</a><br />
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Here is another of my favorites from the NonStampCollector: This one shows some things that god could have done to help humanity, but didn't. An all knowing, all powerful god really should have thought of these things. :) Very funny! (If you like that kind of humor. I do!)<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/NonStampCollector#p/u/12/zOfjkl-3SNE">http://www.youtube.com/user/NonStampCollector#p/u/12/zOfjkl-3SNE</a><br />
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Another of my favorite Atheist Youtubers is Darkmatter2525. This video gives us an excellent example of how silly it is for christians to believe that all you have to do is say a prayer, believe in god, and you will go to heaven. That kind of thinking offends me. If I belived in heaven, I would rather go somewhere else than share a place with the kinds of intolerant, hypocritical, judgemental chrisitans I live around.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuJoC7Lz6SI">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuJoC7Lz6SI</a><br />
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DarkMatter2525 made an excellent point with this video by demonstrating how odd it is that we are expected to accept the "gift" of god killing his son in order to go to heaven.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWAUhadJzTk&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWAUhadJzTk&feature=related</a><br />
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Finally, TheThinkingAtheist gives us some things to think about with this video about an invisible god. <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/TheThinkingAtheist#p/u/20/U8E0pRA9qxw">http://www.youtube.com/user/TheThinkingAtheist#p/u/20/U8E0pRA9qxw</a><br />
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Update 4/7/2010 After watching more videos on YouTube and hearing from some of you about some YouTube Atheists I missed, I would like to add a video here from an awesome fellow atheist and Floridian (who wishes to leave Florida as much as I do). Angie the anti-theist has a BUNCH of really good videos, but this one goes along with my theme of "God is good?" If you get a chance, you should watch all of her videos! She says it so much better than I can! Plus, how awesome to include a woman YouTube Atheist? Woo hoo!!<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pPoRnjFC6E">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pPoRnjFC6E</a><br />
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Take some time to view all the videos these great YouTube atheists make!<br />
God is not good, not merciful and certainly not here for us when we need him. He does not deserve for you to spend your days praying, worshipping, singing and praising him. Really! What has he done for you lately? Think about it! I think it is time that people are honest with themselves! Stop living with delusions and free yourself from christianity! You will be so glad you did!Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-25411717917042620972010-03-19T16:35:00.000+00:002017-05-12T15:50:03.893+01:00One God Further...<em>"We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. [Zeus, Apollo, Hermes etc…] Some of us just go one god further."</em> Richard Dawkins<br />
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When I was a teenager, I was very sheltered in my limited Christian world. I went to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, Thursday night (For visitation; another word for harassing people and trying to get them to come to church). I went to the school that was part of the church, every night we had “devotions,” we prayed before we went to bed and we did not have friends who were not part of the church and school. The only exposure to the outside world we had was when we went to the store, or visited “unsaved” family. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPJUTtCIlb_Czq50WoELogn0vA-3wYbyLJxBc3YLcLi8zA_AT92aaYPxA_Po1dbIcHv2DGtzhPn5YR6lPaF2xLdeRNE6lXgk7ZCX3Uw7laKBR_r4Qc-3G1vfXO_2iQc-DwnaT3kZrn_yng/s1600-h/DSCN2901.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPJUTtCIlb_Czq50WoELogn0vA-3wYbyLJxBc3YLcLi8zA_AT92aaYPxA_Po1dbIcHv2DGtzhPn5YR6lPaF2xLdeRNE6lXgk7ZCX3Uw7laKBR_r4Qc-3G1vfXO_2iQc-DwnaT3kZrn_yng/s320/DSCN2901.JPG" vt="true" /></a>The summer I turned eighteen our family took a trip to Massachusetts to see my dad’s side of the family. It turned out to be the last time my dad saw his father. We were having a good time: I played with my cousins (“unsaved” of course) we swam in the lake near their house and we got to see family we didn’t even know we had. We were there for about two days when I heard my dad and his dad in an argument. The argument went something like this: (very simplified version coming from my memory at eighteen, so it could be a bit flawed)<br />
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My Papa: So, if I leave you money after I die, are you going to give it to the church?<br />
My Dad: I will give 10% to the church.<br />
My Papa: Well, I am not going to give you any money then, I don’t want it to go to the church.<br />
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After some yelling back and forth, my dad told us all to pack our bags and get ready to leave. It was very disappointing to leave early! My dad was angry for a very, very long time and I remember we tried really hard not to annoy him on the drive home. I felt his anger was like a time bomb. <br />
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I remember thinking that my cousins were cool and nice people. I remember my aunt telling me she felt sorry for me that I was so sheltered, and I agreed with her. But mostly, I remember thinking: Why the heck are they going to hell? What made us so much better than they were? Were we being a bit arrogant and mean-spirited?<br />
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Most of them were catholics, and my parents belief was that anyone who does not believe the way they do is going to hell. I really started thinking about this. What made my parents think that my cousins and grandparents were going to hell? I could see that my parents did not know everything, obviously at age eighteen I thought I did. (haha) I did not dwell on this thought much, but it was there, swimming around in my thoughts, along with all the other ones. As the years went by I could not reconcile these thoughts. Wasn't I a disbeliever of Allah? And didn't they talk about how wrong we were? So I was an Allah atheist! (haha)<br />
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Didn’t the crazy people who flew planes into the Twin Towers on 9/11 believe that their religion was the only right one? Didn’t the pope feel strongly that catholics had the religion thing down pat? What about Jews? What about people who had a different doctrine than the one my parent’s church had? I started to wonder why they ALL felt they were right and EVERYONE else was wrong. There was something wrong with that! The more evil I saw coming from the church, the more I was convinced. They were all wrong! All of them! Not one of them had the right and true religion/god!<br />
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Of the main churches we attended growing up we had one pastor burn down the church to get insurance money, one who went to jail for molesting young girls (I was one of them) and one who <a href="http://www.news4jax.com/news/9477638/detail.html">died in prison while awaiting his trial for molesting who knows how many kids</a>. I saw<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/03/haggard.allegations/index.html"> Ted Haggard fall from grace</a> (a man who was so hateful toward gays and then had sex with a male prostitute) <a href="http://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/western/bldef_bakkerjim.htm">I saw Jim and Tammy Bakker fall off their god pedestal</a> and I I saw so many hypocrites in the churches I attended that I knew christianity was not going to work for me.<br />
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I remember being told how silly the stories were that other religions told about the story of creation. Then I began to think that ours was pretty unbelievable too. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/DarkMatter2525#p/u/36/3m0YYy9lqqs">Watch this funny video by a very funny youtube atheist comedian to put the creation story in perspective </a><br />
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The thing that bothered me the most was when Baptists would say that anyone who did not believe in [their] god was going to hell. If you asked for details, this meant innocent children, people in the jungles of Africa who had never heard of their god ( I was told this was why it was necessary to send missionaries out to save the lost souls) and, as I said, catholics, methoists, muslims etc… What kind of god would send innocent people to hell because they did not get to read “his” bible in their lifetime? Not the kind of god I wanted to worship anymore! I remember when my Papa died my parents said he was probably in hell. This was disturbing to me. Would god really let a person die in a lake of burning fire for eternity because he did not worship an unseen, unproven, useless god who had never done a damn thing for him or his family? Who would want a god like that? Who would be gleefully happy and smug knowing someone was in hell? Who would choose to spend their life worshipping this god? I knew I did not want to waste my life like that!<br />
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As <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/NonStampCollector#p/u/0/d0A4_bwCaX0">this video</a> by The non-stamp collector shows, no god is the right one. The concept of god is wrong. Religion is wrong and people who force it down the throats of others are wrong! <br />
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If you have a respectful comment, I would love to hear from you! I welcome all points of view. I do <strong>not </strong>welcome hate or disrepect and those kinds of coments will be deleted! <br />
I LOVE getting comments, it makes my day! Thanks!!Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-70040952949045980832010-03-11T19:43:00.000+00:002017-05-12T16:40:41.936+01:00One More Brick<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Many ex-Christians get questions from baffled people still immersed in religion about how they became an “ex.” What led them to decide that they were no longer Christians? I have heard varying answers and they are all as different as the people answering them. For me, it was not one thing, as you can see from this blog, but more of a journey in steps. Every step I took away from Christianity though, I felt a bit more light and a bit more free. Ironically, this is how Christians say they feel when the find god. I found that the more I learned the truth about religion, the more relieved I became that the little voice of reason has always been right; I was just not paying attention. I found it liberating to let go of the guilt, worry about after-life, worry about being "left behind" and all the other things that go along with Christianity.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr4lJ9qdExFOQ4y5TGS8IeZmfahcpn7u_hjq63Iv1_f-l_ZrZbYDje1ImtrWd8P3k8pGa8aEMfRSMbc2qbW5KuTN6yugagoIXJKE376WC6BaRZ4-QXPKUHAtWyHBZyNNnlTvXO-SmR4Lqg/s1600-h/Visit+to+Pittsburgh+132.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr4lJ9qdExFOQ4y5TGS8IeZmfahcpn7u_hjq63Iv1_f-l_ZrZbYDje1ImtrWd8P3k8pGa8aEMfRSMbc2qbW5KuTN6yugagoIXJKE376WC6BaRZ4-QXPKUHAtWyHBZyNNnlTvXO-SmR4Lqg/s320/Visit+to+Pittsburgh+132.jpg" vt="true" /></a>I like answering questions with one quick, easy answer. Maybe I got that from being a Baptist: “The bible says so” or “humans are not always meant to know god’s plan for us” or, along those lines, “We just have to have faith that god knows what is best.” These sound like answers if you are not a questioner, but after a while they sound like NON- answers and I began to think they were lame when I was a teenager. So, I began to see a few things wrong with religion, which made me wonder what else was wrong with religion. For a long time, while I was raising my kids, I did not have time to think about god or religion; I just knew that I was NOT going to church anymore. (Later, in another blog, I will tell a story about how I attempted, one last time, to get back into the church) However, I did not label myself agnostic, atheist or anything really, I just did not think about it. <br />
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One of the many events that I witnessed in the good old bible-belt that gave me a huge push away from the chrisitian church and everything it stands for was the story about the Fleming Island High School senior who was not allowed to wear a tuxedo in her yearbook picture At the heart of this story is homophobia, discrimination, intolerance and outright arrogance. <br />
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Read Story here:<br />
<a href="http://www.kidspeakonline.org/tux.htm">Short Version of the Story</a><br />
<a href="http://www.altweeklies.com/gyrobase/AltWeeklies/Story?oid=oid%3A143583">Longer More Detailed Version of the Story</a><br />
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Unfortunately, I know Sam Ward, the principal of this school very well. I worked there as a teacher two years after this happened. He firmly believes that his religion is the only right one. He runs the school like a Nazi camp and he is one of the most evil, rude, close-minded people I know. The only reason he would not allow this girl to wear a tuxedo in the picture is because he KNEW she was a lesbian. Even though 200 people showed up to support her, Kelli was not allowed to have her picture in the yearbook. I was working for a newspaper at the time of this story and I was asked to write about it for the paper. I naively believed I could write a story in support of Kelli Davis. I found out I was wrong. So, I quit my job at the newspaper. The editor of the paper wanted me to say that students nowadays need to know how to conform and how to follow dress code (as you can see from the article, there was no written dress-code for senior yearbook pics, just a tradition). I refused to write anything like that. I always taught my kids (and students when I taught at Fleming Island High School) that changes cannot be made in the world by conforming. If something is wrong, we need to stand up and say it is WRONG!<br />
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While this story was big in the Clay County news, I heard so many chrisitians run their mouths about Kelli and how she needed to be saved, turn from her “evil” ways, repent, dress like a “girl” etc… Even though I had seen Christians become evil first hand, I was blown away by how much they bullied Kelli because of her sexual orientation and the fact that she stood up for herself. I was proud of her! She had to deal with so much hate, arrogance and meanness, not just from her classmates, but from the principal of her own school, someone she should have been able to count on to protect her!<br />
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Many people saw Kelli as a rebellious teen who was just trying to break the rules. One woman, Karen Gordon, was quoted saying "When uniformity is compromised, then authority no longer holds." I have no doubt that this woman is a christian, the kind who tell their church members, “We cannot question god or the bible, but submit our wills to him.” In this extremely religious area, where most people just assume you are christian, Kelli had to walk the halls at school and be called “dumb fucking dyke” and I am sure many other rude comments by students who had heard their own “christian” parents bad-mouthing Kelli. <br />
When are we going to learn that questioning things that are wrong is a GOOD thing? When are christians going to stop being so judgmental, evil, rude, hateful and intolerant of others? Although I had thought that perhaps the churches I had grown up in were extreme, I found that most christian are NOT good, kind, loving people. So, for me, this incident added one more brick to the wall I had building between me and “god.” If this was what god was about, I wanted nothing to do with him!<br />
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P.S. Sam Ward still sits his big fat ass in his cushy office at FIHS. I am sure many teachers and parents will jump for joy when he is no longer spreading his poison to high school students.<br />
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Disclaimer: I purposely do not capitalize religious words. I don't think of them as proper nouns. Whatever!Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1064910842157504583.post-90329158415406630032010-02-25T15:56:00.000+00:002017-05-12T15:55:03.928+01:00Money for Jesus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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If you have been in any kind of church, you know that the offering plate will pass by you at least once during every service, but often they pass it around a second time, just to make sure God gets enough money. <br />
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As young children, we were encouraged to give 10% of our money to “god.” Yes, we were giving it to god. So, as child I bought that. My reasoning skills were not advanced enough yet to wonder why god needed money from a family with five children who barely had enough food to go around. My dad was in the military (later he became an assistant pastor) and let’s just say the military does not give a flying flip if you have more kids, the pay still sucks. My dad worked hard for us, I want to make sure I give him credit for that! He worked every day of his life until he retired to support his family the best way that he could, but I really wish that, rather than give his money to god, he would have saved it for himself! He is retired now and I would like to see him have enough money to travel the world, take my mom on a cruise and do things they have always wanted to do.<br />
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One day we were sitting in a church service with another boring message from the pastor (that he claimed god channeled directly through him- haha). At the end of the sermon the pastor decided that it was time the church “grew” (which technically means more money). So, since he knew that it was not that easy to get more money from his congregation, the pastor decided that he would start asking people to bring their gold, jewelry, and other valuables and put them in the offering plate so that they could gather the money for a new building. I stopped my writing and looked up in surprise when I heard this statement (okay, I know you want to know what I was writing. Well, in my boredom, I used to write the lyrics to “forbidden” songs. Songs like Madonna, “Borderline” and other sinful songs, this was the only way I could make it through the boring sermons about hell and how I was going to burn there.) I felt something twinge in the pit of my stomach.<br />
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Even as a teenager I knew that there was something wrong with taking valuables from the “sheep” members of the church. Right away I started seeing the pastor of our church as an evil and hateful man. The next week, I watched people bring their family heirlooms, jewelry and other valuables and place them in the offering plate. Months later, nothing new or different was added to the church.<br />
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I wondered why god needed our money anyway. If god was an all-knowing and all powerful god, then wouldn’t he have enough money anyway? So, it was explained to me that the money went to the church, so that the church could help people. But I never saw any evidence of the church helping people. So, the logical conclusion to reach is that the pastor was taking this stuff, selling it, and keeping the money for himself, in the name of god. The next conclusion I came to was that this whole church thing was a major scam. Finally, a bit later in my life, I realized that Christianity was a scam as well. I still believe this. I still wish my dad would keep his money. I wish that pastors of huge churches would stop using the money from poor, hardworking people to buy themselves luxurious homes, cars and private educations for their kids. <br />
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Another point I would like to make about this is this: If god wants to bless Christians who spend many days a week praising him and worshipping him, wouldn’t he bless them with free money, wealth and prosperity? And if there were a god, wouldn’t he spread this money around to the poor people all over the world?<br />
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God does not need your money! If you are rich and want to help someone, find a really good charity that you know will put that money where it is needed, and give it to them! Depending on the size of a congregation, churches can rack up thousands and thousands of dollars every Sunday. On top of that, since they call themselves “non-profit” they don’t have to pay property taxes for the church building. Non-profit my ASS! This money is free and clear! If hard working people who buy a house and barely scrape by each month paying the mortgage and the taxes on that property are required to pay taxes, then churches should have to do the same thing!<a href="http://mindprod.com/religion/taxsubsidy.html"> Click here for an excellent argument on why churches should pay property taxes.</a><br />
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God is not going to be around when your house forecloses, you lose your job, your child gets sick, or your car breaks down. If he was, I would say give him the money as an incentive/insurance policy. But, since he probably won’t be helping you out, I say, GOD DOES NOT NEED YOUR MONEY! Keep it!<br />
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Lori G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00401861923744458664noreply@blogger.com9