Are the "New Athiests" fundamentalists??

Go HERE and find out:


You decide.

HH =)

Pat Condel has something to say...

This plays a "small" part in the discussion we had Friday night. Are the "new atheists" hostile? Intolerant? Ranting? In my opinion Hitchens, Dawkins, Dennett, and Harris are docile pussies. 2:55 - 3:30 hits the nail on the head. How does one differentiate the religion from the dogma? I remain unconvinced that one can. Calling one mythologically dead ideology a "religion" as an example of the non-effective is silly. Anamism with NO human following, is useless when there is nothing ceremonial, or derivative to its antecedents and consequences.

Just sayin' (perhaps antagonizing)


HH =)

Happy Holidays.

I just love this one.


HH =0)

Err...

the world has gone completely kooky. up is down... down is up... cats are sleeping with dogs... real Armageddon stuff.

Not really. For the fundies reading... I fart in your general direction.

It does seem, however, that the variable nature of life-as-a human is kicking in. My son has a B in his physics class. He has "A"'s on all of his assignments, and an "F" on his surprise quiz last Friday. Am I being too harsh that he got caught with his pants down? Am I being Hypocritical given that my GPA was lower (at the same point educationally) than his? Am I just too fuckin' uptight about pushing him farther than my parents could push me? Is my comparing him to my same-aged self even appropriate?

Being the parent of a 16 (almost 17) year old young adult sucks! I will trade anyone for a rambunctious lapdog.

I ran into an old elementary-school chum today. I was walking, just feet from my office door, when I heard, "Travis? Is that you?"
I turned to see a friend I had not seen in 20 years (Holy Shit that is a long time). He smiled and it took me 5 seconds to recognize him. He was taller, less-old, and more delightful than I.

He married my first high-school girlfriend. She is now a principal at an elementary school just 2 blocks east of my high-school house. Just one block from her childhood home as well. Yes... Utah is sometimes full of people who are NOT smart enough to move the HELL AWAY!!!

My chum and I sat in my office catching up. He is an Architect who works in offices just blocks from my own. The parallels of our lives are almost freaky. HI parents divorced, his father dated my mother (once), we both dealt with the fallout of divorced parents in similar ways, we both dated his wife, we both rebelled against our parents idiocy, and have distant relations with our families. He is close to his in-laws. I am close to mine.

I think of my childhood and he was a part of the happiest part of it. Now, he is a good father of two kids (boy and girl), happily married to a wonderful woman (same one we both dated), and went through hell because of his parents vast quantity of "dumb." That we would meet each other today, after all these years apart, but just feet in distance, is (to my mind) extra-ordinary. The odds were low, but not impossibly so.

So... today is a mixed day. I am furious with my son. I am hopeful about a childhood friendship that just seemed to fall back into place.

HH =)

Pale blue dot...

This is a classic from Carl Sagan. It reminds me of an Einstien qoute:
"I ponder the vastness of the universe, and I see the smallness of mankind. And it makes me happy." Letter to his wife.




Perspective is a wonderful thing.

HH =)

My thoughts on Feyman Extended...

"The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this. These subtilised interpretations are highly manifold according to their nature and have almost nothing to do with the original text. For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions. And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people. As far as my experience goes, they are also no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything 'chosen' about them." -- Albert Einstein


In such company... Can't wait for "hell."

HH =)

Firsts...

My son went on his first official formal date last night. He went to the homecoming dance. This is him and his date below:





They were very cute. I am often being surprised lately by how many "firsts" I am experiencing as a 43-year-old human on this planet. There has been such a long pause between my "first" child, and now.

There is the "first" understanding of elderly frailty. My parents are getting older and the thought of "death" is just beginning to take on a new meaning for me. I, frankly, used to long for them to be dead. I have a conscience mind you... just longed for the freedom to be free from their incessant judgments, and moral platitudes. Now that I have an "adult" relationship with them, I find that their "peculiarities" have become somewhat charming.? The thought of them not being around to wisely smile, as I deride my teens for their lack of judgment, will be a bit... errr... unusual.

My teen daughter and I, just finished a discussion about why arguing with dad is pointless. "Sometimes, it would take hours..weeks...days...months... years... for her to understand all the little steps between "why" and "ought". There are just times in which we come to understand that others simply understand "more." And we ought to accept their understanding at face value. Those others may be right, and they may be wrong, but they have "more" experience qua experience to make such decisions.

I think that the truly wise find out when they have more knowledge to make a "better" decision than some others. Either way... my boy had a great time. He danced. He cuddled. He savored one of life's most rich experiences. And, is the better for it.

HH =)