This represents me better than simply saying FORWARD.  Maybe it should say A LOT more to the left…

We will be enjoying a solar eclipse this weekend.  Andy Fell of UC Davis points out that this will be an annular eclipse as opposed to a total eclipse. That does not mean it will be any less spectacular.  The annular eclipse of 2136 BCE so freaked out the Chinese emperor, that he had the royal astronomers, Hi and Ho, beheaded for not warning him.

Try to imagine what it was like thousands of years ago, when people looked up in the sky and saw the sun turn black.  It’s a pretty scary thought and it’s not hard to see why people believed in gods back then.

Thankfully, today, we have science to explain many of these phenomena.  So why do so many people still reject science?  Why do they hold so strongly to their religion?  Science helps us understand this as well.  If you have an hour, watch this excellent presentation by Dr. Andy Thompson:

I had the pleasure of hearing Andy speak here in the Triangle.  Other than the bible, I don’t own a lot of atheist geared literature.  I’m not a big reader.  I enjoyed his talk enough to buy his book. It’s inexpensive and an easy read - a great place to start if you are trying to fill your atheist book shelf. 

Enjoy the eclipse this weekend!

We need equality EVERYWHERE, but if we can achieve it here in the south first, we will give hope to the rest of the country.  This is a wonderful video by the kind people at SouthernEquality.org.  I cannot say with 100% certainty that I have the courage to get arrested for the cause, so I am grateful that people better than me are out there fighting for love and civil rights.

When a hawk drops a puppy, it becomes a story about God dropping a puppy from the sky. 

Don’t get my wrong, it’s a SUPER CUTE puppy, but why do people have to bring religion into everything?  I could see if the puppy fell from way up in the sky with no evidence of what dropped it, but they saw a hawk drop it.  Why ignore that fact and say it was God?  SIGH.

Will you honor my wishes when I die?  To honor them, you need to know them.

1. If I don’t die of old age, donate money to fund research for the ailment that took me or to create awareness about something unsafe that killed me.
2. Donate my material possessions to a secular charity.
3. Donate my body to science.
4. Plant something that will help our earth recover from the beating we give it.
5. Make a positive change in the way you live to ensure the health of our planet.

Will you honor me when I die? Will you pray for me?  If you must pray because it makes you feel better, I would never want to take that away from you, but know that it is not one of my wishes - it is not a suitable substitute for fulfilling one of my wishes.  

I am not asking for anyone to honor me, only to make my wishes clear.  I am only speaking for myself, but I would ask that you also think outside your own views on death when interacting with my living loved ones who do not share your views.  Think twice before saying “She’s with God now” or “I’ll pray for you/her” unless you know and share that person’s religious views.  There is nothing wrong with saying “I’m sorry for your loss” or “Please accept my sincerest condolences”.

If you’re still reading this and care about my feelings, please keep these words in mind when you see me grieving the loss of someone I love.  I am an Atheist and I believe death is final.  That is a hard pill to swallow when someone dies.  I grieve hard.  Please don’t make it worse for me by saying  ”It’s all part of God’s plan”.  This is probably one of the most hurtful things you can say to an Atheist during grief.

And now that the thought of losing my mother in the near future has taken over my thoughts I will end this post.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”

Let’s break it down into two parts:

1. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion
2. Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise thereof

Have we violated both of these parts?  Let’s see.

How do these two parts relate to gay marriage?

1. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion:

NC Amendment One was clearly designed to respect God’s definition of marriage.  That is exactly how the proponents framed it.  Franklin Graham’s commercial aired repeated here in NC before the election:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABuai7-NxdQ

That is a violation of the constitution.

2. Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise thereof:

Imagine an amendment that prohibited churches from refusing to marry gay couples.  That would be a clear violation of the constitution.  That would be disrespecting someone’s right to practice their religion.  Is that happening?  NO.

NC Amendment One should be declared unconstitutional.

How do these two parts relate to birth control?

1. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion:

Arizona has a law on the books allowing a religious pharmacists to refuse a person service if they bring a script in for birth control. They are clearly respecting the establishment of religion here.  That is unconstitutional.

2. Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise thereof:

Imagine a law that required churches to remove passages against birth control from their Bibles and prohibited them from preaching about the Quiverful movement.  That would be a violation of the constitution.  That would be disrespecting someone’s right to practice their religion.  Is that happening? NO.

These are just two examples, I could come up with many more, but you get the point, right?

It seems as though when we violate, we only violate one clause.  I feel violated and disrespected.

This just occurred here in the Frey house about 20 minutes ago:

Zack (my son): This bowl of carrots isn’t going to fill me up.

Me:  It’s not supposed to fill you up, it’s supposed to make you healthy.  Carrots make you see better.

Dan (my husband): No they don’t.  That’s just World War 2 propaganda. 

And this is when I look at my husband cross-eyed and say “Really?!”

Yep, he’s correct:

In the Battle of Britain, in 1940, the British fighter pilot, John Cunningham, became the first person to shoot down an enemy plane with the help of radar. In fact, in WW II, he was the RAF’s top-scoring night fighter pilot, with a total of 20 kills. Some pilots were better flying in daylight, while others, like Cunningham, were better at night. His nickname was “Cats’ Eyes”. The RAF put out the story in the British newspapers that he, and his fellow night pilots, owed their exceptional night vision to carrots. People believed this to the extent that they started growing and eating more carrots, so that they could better navigate at night during the blackouts that were compulsory during WW II.

- http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2005/10/26/1392430.htm

Conversations like this happen a lot at our house.  My husband has a ton of random knowledge in his head.  It comes from the fact that he is an avid reader and always has been.  I told him I should start a blog called “Shit my husband says” to share and cite these things he blurts out. 

This is not to be confused with https://twitter.com/#!/Shitmydadsays - which is hilarious.

A friend posted this to her facebook wall and she actually had a nutty religious relative agree.  Apparently, we have lots of righteous religious folks who don’t read facebook posts any more thoroughly than they read their Bible.  Who knew?

Top 10 Reasons Why Gay Marriage Is Wrong

1. It’s Not Natural

Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.

2. Other People Will Be Gay

Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

3. It Will Lead To Other Crazy Behavior

Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

4. Marraige Isn’t Open To Change

Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all. Women are still property, blacks still can’t marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

5. The Sanctity of Marriage Will Be Broken

Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed. The sanctity of Britney Spears’ 55-hour-just-for-fun and Kim Kardashian’s 72-day-highly-profitable marriage would be destroyed.

6. Marriage Should Produce Children

Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn’t be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren’t full yet, and the world needs more children.

7. Gay Parents = Gay Kids

Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

8. It Is Not Supported By Religion

Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That’s why we have only one religion in America.

9. A Male And Female Role Model Is Required

Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That’s why we as a society expressively forbid single parents to raise children.

10. It Will Change the Foundation Of Society

Gay marriage will change the foundation of society. We could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven’t adapted to cars, the downfall economy, or longer life spans.

I’m not sure of the original source, but I also found it here 

When you donate to a charity, you often don’t know how much of your money will actually benefit the cause.  Charities have administration fees and other overhead, which is fine - as long as it’s not ridiculous.  I’m also NOT for proselytizing - just help!  

But who has time to research charities?  Not me.  Which is why I give a portion of my monthly donations to Foundation Beyond Belief!  They make sure the charity is efficient and effective and here’s the big thing, not many charities will do this:

“At the end of each quarter, all donations are forwarded, no percentage is retained” 

You donate in ongoing monthly installments so you don’t even need to think about it each month.  Just set it up and let them take care of it.  IF (and I say BIG IF) they are distributing to a charity you have a problem with, you can specify which charities your money will benefit. 

People are saying all sorts of things about the timing of President Obama’s statement yesterday.  I can’t say what his true motives are, but I can tell you that it has brought comfort and optimism to many who felt hopeless after the North Carolina election outcome.   Mr. President, thank you for being a positive leader among all this hate.