Weekend Libertarian: On Hitchens, The Suffering Atheist

Weekend Libertarian: On Hitchens, The Suffering Atheist: "B.P. Terpstra “Christopher Hitchens is undergoing radiation treatment and wasn't able to write this week's column on his usual schedule,”
..."

"it’s politically-incorrect for Christians to share their faith, but acceptable for militant atheists to evangelize 24/7."

Yet another Christian with a persecution complex. From what I see and have seen all my life, Christians never hesitate to "share their faith." And they freak out if someone even casually say they're an atheist. Where do these people get off acting as if those mean old atheists are keeping them down? I've never known of a situation where a person was afraid that people at their job might find out they're a Christian. Yet I know people who are concerned that even their own family might find out.

And, as I said in my earlier rant, they've been putting up billboards and church signs and different displays for as long as I know and yet they have a hissy-fit if an atheist group dares to put up a sign.

Even after all these years, the audacity amazes me. Can they really be this blind or are they being deceitful? I guess some are one; some are the other.

"You can easily lose count of all the famous Protestant/Catholic intellectuals and their great contributions to healthcare/medicine." And the same goes for atheists, agnostics, and free-thinkers.


And his ending: "Are we surprised that atheists pray though?" Who?! Show me. Give me an example of an atheist who prays.

And, of course, as usual, there is no way to comment. Well, my comments are open. And unlike those forwarded messages I get from religious folk, I don't say, "If you agree, pass this on. If you don't agree, just delete it and shut up." Grrrr... If you agree with me, say so. If you don't, tell me why and back it up. If you have questions, ask. I believe people who disagree can have a reasonable discussion.

Sorry to rant twice in a row but just read this and it pissed me off.

And what really irks me is that this guy is a libertarian. I expect libertarians to be more reasonable. Guess I was mistaken.

Hypocrisy and whiners

I recognize that there are many Christians to whom this does not apply and who are just as appalled as I. If you are offended by what I have to say about this, it's because you see yourself in it. In that case, know that I'm offended, too.

So the Freedom From Religion Foundation is putting up signs across the country that say things like "Imagine No Religion." There have been a few other cases where atheist and freethinker groups have put up billboards or signs on buses that say similar things like, "Be good for goodness sake." and "Sleep in on Sunday."

It never fails that we get a bunch of whiny religious people saying how wrong it is that atheists get to put up signs like that because THEY find the signs offense. What a bunch of hypocrites! They've been putting up their signs since the beginning of signs! How can they say they shouldn't have to see our signs when we have to see theirs?!  I just saw one guy on the news say that theirs was a religious neighborhood and if someone didn't like that, they should move. !!! Excuse me?! I cannot believe how bigoted people can be!

Then they have the nerve to say how atheists are angry and 'on the attack' against them! Like we go around to sick and dying people in the hospital and try to scare them into believing our way. I think Hitch says it well here:



Anyone with a brain can see that atheists are just tired of having to hide so now they're saying, "Hey, we're here!" And with few exceptions, they're also saying, "You're free to believe as you choose. We just want that freedom, too." Why?! Someone tell me WHY that cannot happen?! Why can these bigots not respect the rights of others to their own beliefs?


Many of them think it's also perfectly fine for them to knock on our doors and tell us what they believe. What would they think if an atheist knocked on their door and told them what he believes? I'll tell you what. They'd be crying about how persecuted they are.


(I can't believe that old guy hit him with a broom! Oh, wait...yes, I can.)

Of course, I don't mean every religious person. Or even every Christian. Just the ones who think they have special rights over other people. Just the ones who think they're being persecuted because someone else wants the same rights that they have.

Sorry for the rant. Oh, wait...no, I'm not. Ranting is what I do. I don't mean to offend anyone unless they deserve it. If none of this applies to you, then great...I don't mean you. If you see yourself in this, know that you're showing me that you believe you're better than me and that you have special rights over me and, if you call yourself my friend, then perhaps you should reconsider because you hurt my feelings daily.

Dishonesty in reporting and blogging

I am so sick of dishonesty! Okay... Christopher Hitchens is an atheist. And he's dying from cancer. He has a friend who is a doctor and a scientist who is working on finding a cure for cancer from the human genome. Francis Collins also happens to be a Christian. Did I mention they are friends? So Hitch agreed to be a guinea pig for this experimental treatment. It probably won't even help him--although, I sure hope it does because he's awesome!--but the experiments will be useful in finding a cure for cancer eventually.

So today I'm seeing all  over the place headlines saying something like "Atheist turns to Christian doctor for cancer treatment." They're trying to imply that an Atheist went begging for a Christian to help him. Even with being the cynic and skeptic that I am, I am still flabbergasted. And truly pissed. People should be more honest. The truth is that Hitch has already said that knowing he will die soon is not going to make him change his mind about whether there is a god.

And the experimental treatment came about through science by a scientist [Francis Collins] who is a Christian and also believes in evolution.

What really gets me is how certain people will post something like this and then close the comments so no one can dispute it. I see it all the time on blogs and on youtube. The Atheists almost always leave their comments open. So, anyway, I read this on some woman's blog today and, of course, she had her comments off. Heaven forbid someone post the truth.

Sheesh. I'm already worried about Hitch and sad about losing him so soon. Now people gotta twist his situation around to support the lies they want to tell. Lying is also a sin.

Evolution is JUST a Theory?

While I respect everyone's right to believe and teach their own children as they choose, I need to clarify the statement that "evolution is just a theory." If we're going to do science, we need to understand the terminology.

Evolution is indeed a theory but the word "theory" as in common use is not the same as a "scientific theory."

scientific theory: a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena <the wave theory of light>

Scientist use the scientific method; which includes
-observation
-hypothesis
-experiments to test the hypothesis
-publish findings to a peer-reviewed journal
-Other scientists will to try to prove it to be wrong
-if scientists cannot prove the theory is wrong, it becomes a scientific theory

The theory of evolution has been through this process. This means there are facts to back up the theory of evolution. It couldn't be called a theory otherwise. No theory can ever be proven as 100% accurate. Science is never 100% sure of anything. There are always new facts to be found and adjustments to be made. Our knowledge of science is always growing and changing based on continuous scientific research. That's what makes it science. Claiming you know all the answers and it's settled is NOT science.

Scientific theories must be falsifiable and must be able to be modified according to new findings.

Other scientific theories include, for example:

-Germ theory of disease
-Cell theory
-String theory
-atomic theory
-plate tectonics

Many scientific theories have been disproven, such as:
-expanding earth
-emission theory
-recapitulation theory
-geocentric theory of the solar system

Scientific laws are similar to theories and can also be referred to as theories because there is always being a chance we'll find other facts that will require modification, such as:
Theory of gravity
Hubble's law of cosmic expansion
Kepler's law of planetary motion

Hope that clears that up and is helpful to someone.

Earthchild has spoken. Thanks for listening.

Rock Beyond Belief

Last year, the army at Fort Bragg spent about $50,000 plus other perks and services that is estimated as closer to $100,000 for an evangelical Christian membership drive. Which, of course, was unconstitutional because the government is not allowed to support one religion over others. Some soldiers were forced to attend and, those who didn't go were punished.

That was wrong in and of itself. However, when the MAAF [Military Association of Atheists and Free-thinkers] contacted them, they were told that they could stage their event and get the same support that the Christians got.

Cutting the budget

This is something I wrote on Facebook a while back: 
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Why is it when discussing where government should cut expenses, the most popular one is to cut assistance to poor people?

Why don't we consider cutting the politicians' pay? They make way too much. They could live on way less.

The president earns a $400,000 annual salary, along with a $50,000 annual expense account, a $100,000 non-taxable travel account and $19,000 for entertainment. Plus he gets all of his living expenses paid (including all food, tailor made clothing, gasoline, transportation, utilities, medical care, security, golf outings, vacations, grand parties and banquets, theater performances seated in the Presidential box, private showings of new release movies, command performances by the greatest musical artists, personal servants, private secretaries, master chefs, and personal trainers).

So what exactly does he need the $569,000 for?

New Liberty Party?

Okay, I’m looking at the platforms of these three groups:

Libertarian Party:
http://www.lp.org/

Democratic Freedom Caucus:
http://www.democraticfreedomcaucus.org/

Republican Liberty Caucus:
http://www.rlc.org/