Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Respecting the Ridiculous is… ridiculous!  And wrong.

Yesterday I wrote an entry inspired by an SEB guest post by Bachalon, in which he cites an article by Muriel Grey in the Sunday Herald, ”Religion Itself is the Fount of Most Evil.” Unfortunately, I didn’t save the post to my notepad, and by the time I hit “Preview” I’d been logged off of EE, so I lost the whole damn thing.

Since I wrote something similar today as a comment to Bachalon’s post, I’ll cheat and repost it here:

I think it’s quite interesting that the articles in Bachalon’s posts, which are straightforward and unapologetic in their call for an end to “respecting” religion, were published in mainstream media.  Anything of a similar nature written here in the US would likely only be found in non-mainstream publications.  It’s ironic that such opinions find a wider audience in the UK, where there’s an actual state religion, than they would here in the supposedly secular US, as yet not declared a Christian nation despite the militant and unceasing cries of the fundies for it to be so.

By and large, people don’t think twice about calling Scientology a total crock of shit, and considering its adherents to be delusional nut cases; but to say the same of Christianity and ITS adherents is considered “persecution” or “hate speech” by many of those same people.  It stands to reason (which is why it can’t be grasped by most Christians) that an adult human being with an IQ over 30 who believes in an invisible superfriend like “God” or “Jesus” should be considered just as delusional as if they truly believed in the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy.  Belief in invisible beings is something to be laughed at, not respected.  And certainly not respected to the point that the supposed “words” of those invisible beings are looked to as a source from which the laws that govern a civil society should be taken.  If our leaders told us that the Easter Bunny commands all people to immediately cease killing rabbits, and therefore a law would be enacted, we’d call them insane and kick them out of office with all due haste.  Yet not an eye blinks when our leaders propose laws according to “what God says” in the Bible, as if that somehow makes their proposals any less ridiculous than those of an Easter Bunnarian.  Rational and reasonable people rightly see no difference between such ludicrous claims.

Sure, I can still respect people I know who cleave to such nonsense as a belief in gods in order to get through their lives, but I admit that my respect for their level of intelligence and maturity drops a few notches.  Only children and fools should give credence to the notion that fairies, dragons or gods are somehow real; their ignorance is excusable (and often curable).  Not so any adult who can manage to tie his or her own shoes and is convinced that Jesus is going to return to earth and run the place for a thousand years.  I refuse to “play nice” and pretend that it’s ok for adults to go on in their delusion, especially when their invented deity and his “laws” seem to take precedence over the very real needs and problems of the rest of humanity.  Presenting myth as fact is the height of insanity, and using that myth to make law is intolerable.  Moreover, employing the force of law to prop up one belief system over all others is unconstitutional - and that’s what’s happened here in America.

Rather than “honoring our Christian heritage” as the fundies claim as justification for reconstructionist policy, we should be a little bit embarrassed about our ignorance at the time the country was founded, and embrace the fact that we’ve smartened up over the past two centuries and start correcting those laws that serve to highlight our former ignorance, intolerance and delusion, while simultaneously supporting discrimination against those people who’ve embraced reason and reality. 

The Den’s Nearly Done!

Click to go to the gallery

We were hoping the Den Makeover would be completed by Rob’s birthday this Friday, but the custom built-in desks can’t be installed until next week.  I’m kinda bummed about that, because it’d sure be nice to get the computers out of their temporary location in the living room, and to have all of my office supplies neatly stored rather than in the fuckillion storage tubs we’ve got all over the house.  In any case, what’s finished looks absolutely awesome thanks to the design skills of Cyndi Seidler and the execution of her team, Marty & Amanda from Splendid Space Makeovers.

I had a great time going shopping with Cyndi to find furniture and decorations for the room.  It was nice to have someone to go to thrift stores, antique shops and swap meets with, since I’m pretty much alone in my fondness for such things unless my mom, one of my sisters or Sha happens to visit.  I decided to hire a designer because although I know what I like, I just have no skill at putting things together, nor of planning and designing a room.  Cyndi sees a room and can envision something beautiful; I see a room and can’t imagine it any way but its current state.  It was also extremely helpful to have Cyndi point out what would and wouldn’t work in the room when I was shopping.  It’s not uncommon for me to buy something just because I like it, and then I get it home and it either doesn’t fit or isn’t quite right in the room somehow, in spite of my good intentions.  Cyndi, with her designer’s eye, could tell me right away if something I’d take an interest in was the right style but wrong in scale, or if the color or pattern was OK for the room.  She’s been wonderful to work with, and I’m glad she’ll be helping me get the kitchen finished soon, too!

Thursday, July 21, 2005

The Show Must Go On

Ugh… I’m really not feeling well at ALL, but I’m quite determined to make it through the work week so that the co-worker I’m covering for (and more importantly, a friend) can have an actual vacation.  When you’re the only one who does what you do, it’s rare to take time off and actually relax without being interrupted with the inevitable question or problem that can ONLY be addressed by you.  *sigh* On the other hand, I’d suppose there’s a bit of job security to balance it out somewhat.  Just trying to be optimistic!  Thanks to the help of another unsung colleage (the “secretary” of course), I’ve not been truly overwhelmed by jumping in to do a job that I’m quite rusty at for lack of practice.  And I may be hardly able to do much of anything else because I feel so shitty, but at least I can fulfill my professional obligations.  It’s something to focus on other than my roiling, swollen innards.

However, I’ve been up since about 4 AM, and I’m pretty sure I feel better today than I did yesterday at this time.  I’m sure I look better, since I took advantage of some of that extra time this morning to slap a little makeup on my mug.   So it goes… the worse I feel, the better I try to look.  And the older I get, the longer it takes to de-hagify!  May as well put the extra waking hours to good use.

Eh, I’m going in early again today.  Maybe I’ll get a decent fucking parking place if I hurry.

Sunday, July 17, 2005

The Word’s Out

Apparently the neighborhood wildlife have their own grapevine… and word’s out that anyone and everyone will get food at water at Casa Moreno!

I was outside watering the front yard this morning, when from behind me I heard some wing flappage and saw some movement in the jacaranda tree / giant birds-of-paradise cluster.  I figured it was one of the doves that hang out, so I went to say Hello.  I looked up into the foliage and got a view that looked rather like this:

And it took me several seconds to figure out… what the hell?

So, evidently now I’m not just the Crazy Cat Lady, but I’m apparently the Bird Woman, too!  We rigged up a way to give him (?) some seed, and I set up a bird bath nearby for water… but I also used the hose to create a nice misty shower, which he seemed to thoroughly enjoy, preening and making funny noises.  He talks a little (in English and Spanish), so he must be an escaped pet.  Guess I’ll have to look in the Lost & Found ads to see if anyone’s listed him.  Meanwhile, he’s been in my tree up front for about 7 hours now.  As long as he’s there, I’ll make sure he’s fed!

Check out this whole gallery of shots, which I took with my brand new digital camera!  I took some video with it, too, and as soon as I can get a short clip encoded, I’ll get that uploaded.