Atheist Homeschool

I always wonder how religious people can be so upset about magical creatures on TV and in movies, but a Christian Author writes about Dragons and it’s OK? Just because the author is Christian? Whatever- Pssst… wanna sell a bunch of copies of your magical creature book in a saturated market? Tell them you’re Christian and you can break into a segment of the population that really wants to read that stuff but isn’t allowed. Psssst… One more thing. Don’t tell them you heard it here. Yeah, the idea that imaginary creatures are obviously evil (unless they’re invented by a Christian) but God and Jesus and Satan and Angels are real- OK, what logic is this? And reindeers fly.

Apparently my sister’s high school friend is a bitter atheist. I know the girl, she was raised Catholic and had quite a horrible childhood. Her father, a truck driver, was almost fatally injured when she was little. He was a vegetable in a wheelchair for almost 20 years after the accident. Her mother was, well, she meant well, but she was a bit nutty and a terrible housekeeper (way worse than me) and she was actually quite mean to the kids, it was very sad. I think there were 4 kids in the family. Anyways, this girl is the “angry with God” type, according to my sister. Whose perspective isn’t quite unbiased because she’s upset with the gal over other things. Oh well, it’s not even my story.

http://www.theipu.com/2008/11/atheist-awareness-campaign-continues-to.html

I loved this blog’s name; “The Invisible Pink Unicorn; Overcoming Irrationality one post at a time.” Genius. I really have a secret goal for atheism. I am hoping that social networking and music and the internet can reach some of these kids in the horribly religious homes and show them “the light” of reason, and expose them to the idea that it’s all bunk. I feel so sad for kids who are so indoctrinated with garbage that they don’t even realize it’s clearly ridiculous. I am hoping that the idea of “The Invisible pink Unicorn” can reach some of those poor kids. Because really, we have some personal power. I think people who lay all their hopes & dreams in the pink unicorn fail to see that they are really in charge. Maybe they like to be powerless.

Because apparently it’s one of the easier places to be an atheist. I also find it interesting that we have a higher concentration of millionaires than anywhere else in the country. Our residents also read more per week than in other places. I used to blame it on the rain but you know what, we;re just plain smarter. I used to live in Iowa. Now I wasn’t in a college town, I was in an area with about 8000 people within an hour’s drive, and 90% of them were retired. However, the working class average Joe was obese and clearly mentally deficient. I could never have shown a glimmer of atheism there, they would have hauled me out of the buffet line and had me forcibly exorcised.

I read an article today that talked about how Proposition 8 holds a lesson for atheists. Basically, the article stated that if we want true equality we should stand up, identify ourselves and stop hiding. Not me, though. I live in a really conservative area. Plus, my kids and I will be alienated by our “friends” I use quotation marks because how good of friends can we really be if we don’t share this perspective. Well, that’s not true I guess. We’re friends, I just don’t share a deep connection with them because whenever they start yapping about Jesus, my eyes glaze over and I puke in my mouth. I am sure if they knew what I really think they’d burn me at the stake or something, which brings us to the point about why we hide. Fear. Damn straight. That’s self-preservation, it’s how humanity has survived for so long.

I wanted to share an article with you, it’s about how prejudiced people are, and that the only minority group people simply can not “forgive” is the Atheists. Something like that. You should read it, and make of it what you will. I think it’s funny that people just can’t grasp the idea that the magic man in the sky is fake, because I just can’t grasp the idea that it’s real. Nor can I understand why so many people are so hung up on it. Why does there HAVE to be something invisible? Why is it so obvious to them that invisible things are real? How can so many people agree about things they can’t bee based on- what? Translations of translations and interpretations of several old books and manuscripts all translated and rewritten and bound together. What a crock of garbage.

In Rancho Cucamonga there is a billboard that says “Imagine no religion” and it was posted to get people to do just that. How can a culture who embraced John Lennon’s “Imagine” still be so hung up on religion. Society doesn’t need religion to function. It does more harm than good. How can people not see that? Religion creates a false sense of morality and detaches people from true spirituality. Not that spirituality is necessary, I believe myself to be a bit on the spiritual side, but that’s just me. I don’t think there’s scientific way to prove any of it, so how can people devote their lives to following those silly rules? It’s just ridiculous, I say.

Hmm, it seems that everyone has an opinion about the whole Santa thing.   I still think that it’s playful and fun.  I wonder if people who were traumatized by the lie chalk it up to the way that they first learned of it, or if they blame it on the lie itself. It’s all in perception. To be honest, I think of it more as a game. Or a gift. I don’t look at it as a lie, but maybe if I felt lied to as a child, I’d have a harsher view of the topic. I feel sad for people who were traumatized by it, but I have to wonder. Is their perspective defined by their reaction, or by the reaction of the people around them. I think of the lady, whose teacher asked the 3^rd grade class “Who here believes in Santa?” and the other kids laughed when she was the only one to raise her hand. I wonder, first of all, what was her teacher thinking? Second of all, if she had been of a different mindset, would she have been able to handle the situation without getting traumatized. I just wonder these things. I wonder if there has even been a formal study of the whole Santa thing, and if anyone has ever cross referenced the results with the overall pessimism or optimism of the people involved.

One family’s reason.. This lady, an Atheist mom, explains in her own words how she came to be an atheist homeschooler. I don’t know how any kindergartener can survive so many hours in a classroom. It really does seem like torture. Anyways, she started off in Arizona, and apparently the school looked like a prison, so when she moved to Oregon, they decided to continue homeschooling, but they participate in a free school program (not “free school” but “free” school. There’s a huge difference in a John Holt Unschool kind of way.) Anyways, her comments are thoughtful and the blog is really nice. You should totally go check her out. Let her know that we sent you. Have a great day.

Remember all that hype over the fact that the writer of the Golden Compass was an atheist. What the heck was that all about? That was the looniest load of crap I have ever heard. If God is so magical and amazing, then how do they possibly think that a book or movie is going to “kill” him the immortal? I bought my oldest daughter the three-set of Pullman books for Christmas last year (yeah- we do Stockings and the tree every year, I love holidays, gift-giving, and funky decorations. Not for any spiritual reason, but just because it’s fun) Anyways, I kept meaning to read them. Maybe I should. In the movie, the girl had on the most amazing knitted sweater thing. And I’m not the only one who noticed either, I researched it for an article I wrote back then, the knitting message boards were going nuts. You should totally see that movie. The hype was insane.