Modern Religion #2: Religion and Bigotry

5/14/25

The more fundamentalist that a person is the more likely that they are bigoted. As far back as you look, the most conservative denominations have chosen hate. In 1845 the Southern Baptist church split away from Baptist church, because the Southern Baptist Church wanted slavery. So, remember that any time you talk with a Southern Baptist; they started their entire denomination because they wanted God to let them enslave other people.

American Religion has always been all about keeping LGBT community members down. The Methodist church recently split over LGBT inclusion. About half of the churches have left, forming the new, more bigoted Global Methodist Church, where it is acceptable to exclude gays and lesbians from church leadership. It seems that these conservatives are willing to form a new denomination to avoid supporting gay rights. A decade earlier, the Presbyterians also split over gay clergy. There is always a conservative portion of any congregation who truly holds on to hate.

The worst, most insidious, most damaging bigotry from conservative religion is the discrimination against women. Females cannot lead and must submit to male authority. Recently, the Southern Baptist Convention ejected three churches because they had female pastors. Yes, once again the Southern Baptists are leading the way confidently in the wrong direction.

Remember, when anyone tries to sell you religion, they are selling hate. God gave them the right to be chauvinistic pigs, as well as gay bashers, and racists. The fundamentalist truly believes in horrible things. They think men are superior to women and should control them, gays and lesbians are evil, and other races are inferior. Worse, they want to make you believe those awful things too.

When a Good Man Goes to War

5/7/25

Who knows what finally pushed me out the door. Like the rest of the nation, I watched in horror for weeks, feeling hopeless and stressed. Breaking law after law, Trump abused power with an authoritarian swagger. He worked aggressively to destroy checks and balances, attempting to take complete control of our country. I had followed the recent protests, but I just haven’t been the kind of person who goes to the street with a sign. I always had something better to do.

Perhaps it was Trump defying the Supreme Court. Maybe it was him purposefully destroying our economy, or his attack on the Free Press. The concentration camps in El Salvador might have been it; how could the America I love have concentration camps? I don’t know for sure what woke me up, but I realized that no one was coming to save us. I needed to be the hero of my own story. I was going to my first political protest, and I made a sign.

I wondered if anyone was going to show up. It was rainy and cold, and Americans are famous for not protesting in bad weather. I decided that I would stand there alone, in the cold, holding my sign, no matter how embarrassing or dangerous it might be. I couldn’t say that I did nothing when Trump destroyed the world. Holding a sign in public, expressing my opinion, no matter how small an act, is something, even if I no one else was there. However, when our car came into view of the protest site we broke into wide grins. We were not going to be alone.

The gang was all there. Men and women, young and old all lined the streets in protest in the least likely place of all, the very buckle of the Bible Belt. The atmosphere was rowdy and festive. Honks of support and smiling waves from car after car drew loud cheers from the protesters. We did get the occasional rude shout from the random MAGA yahoo, always male, always white, usually in a massive pickup truck.

Ours was a colorful lot, full of joy. So many characters made up our motley crowd. We had a masked free-Palestine protester with a boom box and a bull horn, a guy in a rascal sporting three American flags, and the bright red specter of Ester from the Handmaid’s Tale, who marched resolutely up and down the street past protest signs of all levels of skill and preparation.

The signs told the story of a nation in trauma. The sheer number of crimes Trump had committed against the people was staggering to see laid out visually. Written on these signs were the reasons that these good people had gone to war. Like me, they needed to speak out, to hold a sign for everyone to see what kept them up at night and ruined their breakfasts. There were so many reasons to protest, all together that day, many voices blending into a single harmony.

The passing cars constantly pumped energy into the crowd. Every wave, every honk, every thumbs up gave us a thrill, so many supporters, even here. I saw the face of a teenage girl light up like a lamp at the sight of us, full of wonder and hope. I hadn’t seen hope like that in a long time, and I realized that that was why I was here. It was for her and all the other young people that I saw driving by. I need to hold their hope, as well as the hope of all the people who are losing so much right now. I must fight for them. They all deserve a future full of opportunity, and I will go tooth and claw with the fascists to give it to them.

I am so happy to not be alone in this. It was crazy. The crowd didn’t ever thin out. It got larger all day. The energy was flowing, and I could feel the different threads of protest weaving together around me. The scene was electric, and I knew that this was happening all over the nation, all over the world. Hope, perhaps, is not in vain. We may be facing America’s darkest hours, but ladies and gentlemen, we have a movement.

Roevember

3/4/25

Remember, Remember,

To Vote in Roevember!

Face the Big Lie, treason, and plot;

I know of no reason,

The January 6 Treason,

Should ever be forgot!

Or that Thomas and friends,

Gaveled the doom,

Of women’s rights, travel to womb.

Now twenty-seven states conspire,

With denier’s gloom,

Dimming Democracy’s fire.

Remember, Remember,

To Vote in Roevember.

Face the Big Lie, treason, and plot;

Our women and our freedom need you lot!

If you love liberty’s breath,

Cast your ballot against Democracy’s death!

Modern Religion #1: It’s Just so Dumb

2/28/24

One of the main problems with dealing with religion in America is the Bible. How and why are we supposed to take this crap seriously? If you cannot prove it with science or empirical evidence, it isn’t real. It just isn’t. If not attached to a worldwide organization, it would be considered mental illness to believe biblical stories as fact.

Modern christianity is a whole system of Faith Illogical. It is really disturbing that these religious crazies use this “faith” to apply to life decisions and political affiliation. We are literally surrounded by insanity, and we are told to accept it as the ultimate truth.

There are so many absolute gems in the Bible. Perhaps the best place to start is with creation. According to all reputable scientists, the Universe is somewhere near 13.8 billion years old, and the Earth is a little under 4.5 billion years old. There is absolutely no chance that the Earth is 6 thousand years old, no matter what the Bible says. Anyone who believes so, is a few billion years off the mark. The science on this is deep, wide, and clear.

Noah’s Ark is another fantastic example of absolute insanity. Just about everything in the Noah story is impossible. Noah could not have been 950 years old. There was never a worldwide flood. No boat or ship ever built could hold two of every animal on Earth, not even if it was built in cubits. No way a single family could take care of a pair of everything. Where would the poop go? How could they feed them? For that matter how did any fish survive when the freshwater rains connected the seas, leaving nothing on the planet but brackish water? None of it happened. It is a crazy story.

The Bible is full of crackpottery. You will find fireproof men, a lionproof hero, a long-haired Superman, a flying chariot, a flying man, a man swallowed by a fish and puked up alive 3 days later, a bet between God and the Devil, and a woman getting pregnant without sex. So much of “The Book” is primitive mythology, and yet we are expected to put aside logic, science, and evidence, shut up, bow our heads, and swallow that bullshit sandwich.

Modern Religion #1: It’s Just so Dumb

2/28/24

One of the main problems with dealing with religion in America is the Bible. How and why are we supposed to take this crap seriously? If you cannot prove it with science or empirical evidence, it isn’t real. It just isn’t. If not attached to a worldwide organization, it would be considered mental illness to believe biblical stories as fact. Modern christianity is a whole system of Faith Illogical. It is really disturbing that these religious crazies use this “faith” to apply to life decisions and political affiliation. We are literally surrounded by insanity, and we are told to accept it as the ultimate truth. There are so many absolute gems in the Bible. Perhaps the best place to start is with creation. According to all reputable scientists, the Universe is somewhere near 13.8 billion years old, and the Earth is a little under 4.5 billion years old. There is absolutely no chance that the Earth is 6 thousand years old, no matter what the Bible says. Anyone who believes so, is a few billion years off the mark. The science on this is deep, wide, and clear. Noah’s Ark is another fantastic example of absolute insanity. Just about everything in the Noah story is impossible. Noah could not have been 950 years old. There was never a worldwide flood. No boat or ship ever built could hold two of every animal on Earth, not even if it was built in cubits. No way a single family could take care of a pair of everything. Where would the poop go? How could they feed them? For that matter how did any fish survive when the freshwater rains connected the seas, leaving nothing on the planet but brackish water? None of it happened. It is a crazy story. The Bible is full of crackpottery. You will find fireproof men, a lionproof hero, a long-haired Superman, a flying chariot, a flying man, a man swallowed by a fish and puked up alive 3 days later, a bet between God and the Devil, and a woman getting pregnant without sex. So much of “The Book” is primitive mythology, and yet we are expected to put aside logic, science, and evidence, shut up, bow our heads, and swallow that bullshit sandwich.

All the Best People Die

12/20/23

If Birth is an everyday miracle, what is death? Everyone that you have ever met is going to die. Some day, some way, some body part will break beyond repair, and they will cease to live. This is true of absolutely everyone, even the most important person in your life. Tragedy will find us all, and one day that person that sits across from you at meals will no longer be on this Earth. Whether you die first, and they experience your loss, living out the remaining years without you, or you lose them to go on alone, your significant other will breath their last breath some day.

The dissonance of being human is the denial of mortality. We don’t like to think about it, our death. Each of us wish to avoid it. We lie to ourselves, we deny, and we make up religions. If only we could control our fate, dominate death, defeat the mortality that we fear. It is so human to want to beat the system, to cheat nature. We want to weave a happy narrative where everyone is safe, that everything will work out in the end for you and your crew if you are fortunate, but that is the biggest lie of all.

In fact, this is the furthest thing from being true. Life is not some solid thing that is safe as long as nothing really unlucky happens. No, it is ephemeral, a sentient bubble destined to pop. Life rides along a razor’s edge, and when an important physical system fails, it’s over. The finality is stunning.

When a person dies, they do not come back. It is a shock, impossible to believe. How can such a vibrant personality with a whole universe of possibility inside them, so many hopes, dreams, jokes, and complaints just be gone? Nothing is left of them, not their voice, their touch, none of the things they do. It is all just gone. They are just gone. No more conversations with them, no more jokes, no more fights, just empty space and silence where a human being once was.

When you look at your person across the room, you should realize that one day, a day that you cannot predict, they will be gone. What would life be like without them, that person that loves you, that person that you love? Cold and gray, where there was once warmth and color, boring when it used to be fun, lonely, when you were once a pair, alone when you were once part of a formidable team. Painful, yet it is important that each of us at least think about it. Nobody should be caught off-guard by the mortality of people who make life complete.

Not only should you be prepared to take on life alone, you should live life better now. Appreciate that wonderful person across the room from you. Remember what they have brought you, materially, in terms of what really matters. Gold and jewels, property and status, these things can be lost, again and again, and gained again and again. A person that shares your life is the treasure that you cannot replace. That unique human being is a miracle, and they will never happen again, not in an infinity of multiverses. That person is the rarest and most valuable stuff in all of eternity.

Find ways to make their life better and do it for them as well and as often as you can. Listen to their thoughts, and care. Give them gifts, do chores, touch them sweetly. Replace their drink when it is empty and anticipate their needs, whenever you can. Remember their favorite ice cream. Cuddle with them on your free nights and find excuses to spend more time with them. Have great sex, great for them too. Tell them often about how amazing they are and how much you adore them, while you both are still here.

There will be a number. Nobody may know what that number is, but there will be an exact amount of decades, years, hours, minutes, and seconds that you will spend together. Gather your time carefully. None of us can beat mortality. Yet, with the right person you can, for a time, count up beautiful moments that matter, floating on this big rock, revolving around the sun.

Tommy Tuberville might be a Duck by M. Rider

11/05/23

Tommy Tuberville has been on a personal campaign to force the military to bend to his will. Until a bipartisan group finally coalesced to stop him, the old football coach refused to allow any promotions to go through committee because he does not like the abortion policy of the armed forces. A great deal has been said in the news about Tuberville’s low IQ and how holding up promotions harms not only morale, but actual military readiness.

I think we should see beyond his flagrant stupidity and take a close look at Tuberville’s loyalty to the country. Harming the military’s ability to face global threats sounds downright unamerican. I have a name for people who intentionally weaken our nation’s military to face worldwide threats. So, if Senator Tommy walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, he is probably a traitor.

The Crimes of Donald Trump #1 New York v Donald John Trump

11/05/23

It really doesn’t get more tawdry than this. A rich man behaving badly, using his money and connections to hide is sleazy deeds, directing and taking part in an illegal scheme to cover it all up. New York has all the proof, and it paints a disgusting picture of a Donald Trump, who obviously feels he should never face the consequences for his many bad actions.

On March 30th 2023 D.A. Alvin Bragg announced the indictment of Donald John Trump on 34 counts of falsifying records with the intent to defraud the people of the state of New York while committing another crime.

Donald didn’t want people to know that he cheats on his wives, a lot. Then candidate Trump needed to hide the fact that he had a child out of wedlock, had a sexual relationship with a playmate, and fucked a porn star. It is the sort of information that could have sunk his hopes of the Presidency.

To solve this problem, Trump paid a ton hush money, so that the public would not know about his serial infidelity before they voted. Then he covered up the payments by committing fraud, 34 times.

Since payments like this are considered a campaign contribution, it must by law, be openly claimed and reported. However, Trump could not to admit to making the payments, which were in violation of election law, because of the huge amounts paid. In the end this is the convoluted story of an irresponsible man doing crimes for the benefit of himself, the story of justice deserved!