Remember, remember, the 5th of November

Today is November 5, 2008. A day I will never forget.

It's the day after America stood up and told the Religious Right where they could shove their agenda. (Mostly. All of the gay-marriage bans passed. We're still working on that.)

It's the day after America voted a bi-racial man as President of the United States of America. For the first time EVER, there will be a (half) BLACK man in the White House. I am so proud to have had a part at this moment in history. I'm amazed that it happened before my children could vote. Absolutely amazed.

Yesterday, America stood up and rejected hate. Yesterday, America stood up and rejected fear.

Do I think that Barack H. Obama, our president-elect, is the be-all, end-all, savior of the nation? Fuck NO! He's just a man. A politician at that. There will many of his "promises" that he does not keep. But he does know the Constitution, and he believes in the constitution.

He has charged us all in rebuilding our country. It is OUR responsibility to pick up that challenge, and hold him to OUR ideals. To hold him responsible for what he said he would do. And yes, our country DOES need to be rebuilt. Have you not been paying attention to what W has done to our nation? We are a laughing stock to the world. Our economy is in shreds. Our privacy has been stripped away from us.

But god-dammit, this is a start in taking back our country from the crazy nuts that are trying to impose their religious dogma on the rest of us. And they are, whether you believe that or not.

I grew up in a religion that wouldn't let me hold any office in the church. A religion that believed the only place a woman had was in submission to her husband. A religion where I had no voice. A religion that told me what to think, how to dress, who to talk to, who I could be friends with.

I walked away from that religion, and in doing so, lost my blood family. I walked away from every friend I'd ever had. Twenty-eight years of friendships and family, reduced to nothing.

So yeah, when religious people try pass laws based on their particular beliefs, I get really pissed. I've paid a very high price for my religious freedom, and I will let no one take that away from me.

This country was founded with freedom for religion, which includes ALL religions, not just the Christian faith, and the freedom FROM religion.

Keep YOUR religion at home, out of our public schools, and out of our government.

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Just because you think the majority has the right to impose their beliefs on everyone else doesn't make it right. Sometimes we do whats right because it's the right thing to do, not because it's what everyone thinks should happen.

If we didn't, women still wouldn't have the right to vote, and blacks would still be slaves.

So all you Republicans who think that the world just ended and are wondering why, stand up and take your party back from the Religious extremists. Maybe then the rest of us won't mock you anymore.

People should not be afraid of their governments.
The governments should be afraid of their people.

7 years ago...

I'll let you look at that day through the eyes of an atheist Muslim...

Seven years ago today, I sat in a cold, windowless classroom, staring at a puddle of tears on my desk. I should have skipped class today, I repeated in my head. Today would have been the best day to skip class. Some of the other kids, boys mostly, were yelling back and forth about how we should just nuke them. We. Them. On an ordinary day, I’d be included in the we. But I was one of them that day, and the 20 pairs of eyes burning holes through my skin reminded me of that more and more with every passing second.

It wouldn’t have done much good to tell them that I wasn’t really a Muslim. I was an agnostic. Or a cultural Muslim. Or an I-dunno-what, but I certainly wasn’t a Muslim. I didn’t know what to say, so I sat there in silence, watching the puddle ripple as it grew bigger and bigger until it finally spilled over the edge of the desk and left dark spots on my jeans. For some reason, that was my breaking point. I grabbed my bag and walked out.

The grad student / teacher came running out in the hall after me and asked if I was OK. I’m not sure what I said to him — incoherent mumbles, I’m sure — but the next thing I knew, he was giving me a hug and apologizing. He said he thought asking the class to share their thoughts and feelings would help them cope. And he was sorry for what it turned into.

*snip*

That day, seven years ago, I walked out to the parking lot and found my tires slashed. All four of them.

Go to her site and read the whole post, and all of the comments.

The best comment, imo, is this one:

We should not be arbitrarily proud of our country because it’s where we happen to live. We should be proud of what our country does when it does the right thing, and criticize it harshly and unceasingly when it does the wrong thing. It really bothers me when people eat up this crap about dissent being unpatriotic. It is truly the only patriotic thing to do when your country fucks up.

I'm ashamed of what the white people in this country do to those that are different, be it in skin color or sexual preference. And I'm pissed off over what religion has done to this country, and to the world. And I'm including Christianity in that mix, for sure.

rudely woken up this morning

So the kids managed to drag me out of bed a bit before 8 am this morning (they were HUNGRY), and sitting at the table watching them eat their oatmeal, listening to the radio, trying to fall back asleep, I heard the most awful news. I think I'm going to cry.

Pro-life, Anti-woman:



Religion is bullshit:



10 Commandments:



Bye, George.

Pascal's Wager

Stolen from Fiery.

This man has embraced Pascal's Wager to its fullest extent.

Stupid Weather.

It's March 15th. Wednesday, it was so nice we went to the park and didn't wear our jackets! Josie had to do what all the big kids were doing, so she learned how to walk on the concrete wall all by herself.


Yesterday was my nail appointment, and we both got our toes done up for St. Patrick's Day. Aren't these the cutest green toes you've ever seen?!


My toes aren't nearly as cute. But they're green none-the-less.


Today, despite the SNOW, we took the kids to the Garmin annual Easter Egg hunt. Because of the weather, it was held inside, not that our kids cared, they still refused to take their coats off. They had the kids hunt in age groups, so I took Josie and Keith took Matthew.

She figured out pretty quickly the name of the game!

Josie's haul (and Keith's hand):

Matt's haul:

The prize bunny basket that Josie won and both of the baskets:

Happy boy!

Too busy eating candy to smile for mommy:

Yes, the Godless Atheist Heathens took their kids on an Easter Egg Hunt! The irony does not escape me, but damn! the kids had so much fun! And that's what it's all about, right?

This makes me ill.

People like this woman are why Huckabee ran for President.



Intolerance breeds hate. And just because you say you're not gay-bashing, it doesn't mean that you aren't. With views like this, is it any wonder that people are turning away from organized religion as a whole?

Hate traveled to Kansas City today.

Today, while out running errands, I passed the funeral home on Holmes by I-435. There were several men lining the drive holding flags. I thought maybe a veteran had died or something.

Across the street by the exit ramp, were protesters with the standard "god hates fags" protest signs. (we all know who they are, I refuse to name them)

I quickly deduced that the funeral was not for a veteran, but for an active soldier who has fallen. I almost turned the car around to attend the service, just to piss the protesters off (stopping to thank them for making me aware that this was a soldier's funeral). If my children were old enough to learn the lesson, I would have.

The only point these protesters make with their hate is how insane they are. Is it any wonder so many people turn away from religion?

I'm very much against this war our current Governor-acting-as-President has embroiled our nation in, but like many others, I realize that our soldiers are (usually) following orders. They don't really have a choice about where they're assigned.

Here's to hoping that our next President will get us out of Iraq quickly and safely. I'm not holding my breath or anything, but I am hoping.

Proud to identify as an Atheist.

Many here know that I'm a huge fan of the PossumMomma. I've even quoted her before.

Now, P-momma has Lupus. The kind where going into a room with windows on a sunny day causes her pain. This means she cannot even go into her children's rooms to help them with their homework or watch them play.

Never let it be said that "Organizing atheists is like herding cats." Berlzebub has started a donation drive to buy UV film from 3M for the P-family. You can read about it here.

Now, this post isn't about drumming up donations for P-momma, but rather this post is about how awesome the Atheist community really is, and I for one am PROUD that we have created our own community, thanks to the wonders of technology. And I am very proud to identify with this awesome group of people.