I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.
The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so
What I have been telling you, from alpha to omega, what is the one great thing the sigil taught me — that everything in life is miraculous. For the sigil taught me that it rests within the power of each of us to awaken at will from a dragging nightmare of life made up of unimportant tasks and tedious useless little habits, to see life as it really is, and to rejoice in its exquisite wonderfulness. If the sigil were proved to be the top of a tomato-can, it would not alter that big fact, nor my fixed faith. No Harrowby, the common names we call things by do not matter — except to show how very dull we are ...
February 22, 2013 - 10:48 a.m.
I didn't do anything interesting yesterday, that means I have to think about what to write about again. I actually remember one thing I wanted to write about. I wonder if I lose it before I get to it.
I was going to see Miss Tess last night but it was at Jalopy, not an easy place to get to and more importantly I was tired. I was so tired that when I got home I couldn't stay awake.
My finite math class is dead. I can't get any reactions out of them. They just sit there listless. I hate it when that happens. If I ask a question that everyone should know the answer to nobody will respond. I'm afraid of how they will do on the test. As you might guess I'm a lively teacher. It isn't like I'm up there droning in a monotone.
The precalculus class is doing better. Is it because finite math is the first class of the day? It could be. Early and late classes are more likely to have listless students.
I can't think of a good segue so I'm going to just jump into something I've been meaning to write about for ages. As I make clear here I'm a devout atheist. I feel very strongly about it. Yet when I read things by other atheists I'm often infuriated. Making fun of religious people does no good whatsoever. It does harm. If you want people to accept what you believe the first thing is to get them to like you. People don't trust atheists. Polls show that atheists are by far the identification that voters are most likely to find objectionable. Insulting people who disagree is the worst way to go about getting accepted. Being a nice and good person will create a lot more acceptance than pointing out the flaws of religions, especially the logic of religion. People don't follow religions because of logic. It's because they fill needs. One need I'd like to see atheists fill is pastoral care. It is perhaps the greatest driver of religion. It does real good. A friend of mine told her husband that they have to join a shul because when she had a medical emergency when he was away she had no one to turn to. I worry about that myself. When I get back to living alone who would notice if something happened to me? If I hurt myself or got sick and couldn't call for help? It would be nice to have someone check up on me. When I finally get medical insurance when the AFA kicks in I'm going to get surgery. I'd love to know that someone would come by when I was in the hospital and help me when I was convalescing at home. Who provides that other than religious groups?
Figuring out how to provide those things is what atheists need to do. I don't know the solutions. I could join the Ethical Humanists but except for getting help when I need it I don�t see the point. My guess is that there are a lot of atheists that feel the same way. We don't want to join something just to be part of something. What I'd really need is something like having pastoral care from NERFA, an organization that I enjoy. How about from Met fans? WfUV volunteers? These are the kinds of things I actually do. Those are my communities. And none of course have anything to do with atheism. That's my quandary. I wouldn't want to join the kinds of organizations that come to my mind. I don't see a point to organized atheism.
Well that didn't come out nearly as coherent or as long as I wanted it to but it's what came out. Now I'm going to make breakfast and help get the Last Homely House West of the Mountains ready for a house concert. I hope there are eggs in the house.
I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge:
please hold me accountable.
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Horvendile February 22, 2013
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