Tuesday, April 26, 2011

DID GOD CREATE US, HOW AND WHY? Pt. 1

Where did we come from and how did we get here?
I used to ask my pappy this. His answer was, “A bird crapped on a fence post and you were hatched out by the sun.” Well, so much for my religious upbringing and biology lesson. The sad part about it, I believed this. I visualized a baby sitting with its tender skin scraping on the rough top of a weather worn fence post. Like other things in life, at some point I realized that’s not how it was. But then, it came closer to the truth than other concepts I have heard.
Some say God created us, and we are instilled with a living soul from the instant of conception. Some even say we are destined to follow a certain path through our lives and that God knows all, i.e., He knows everything that has ever happened and will happen. While others say no, we are free to make choices on which paths we wish to take, but, we must stand in judgment for these choices. Some say both are true. These are the ones who want to have their cake and eat it too. Some believe we leave this life and start another as someone else, somewhere else. And there are others with varied ideas of what happens to us when we leave this life.
Then there are the odd balls, like me, who don’t believe in any of the above. We believe we are conceived, and if we make it through the birth canal still alive ,we enter the world as a live human being like any other animal, all slick, wet and ready to take on anything, of course, with a little mother’s-help at first. What happens after that entails many things, from the makeup of our genes to our parent’s life styles and choices made for us, and eventually to our own choices, i.e., what we become is largely a result of our choices throughout our life.
We are what we are
First off, biology taught us our genes determine what we are long before we are born, given certain variables are followed from time of conception and during our growth in the womb, i.e., whether we are male or female, blond or brunet, black or white and on and on. After we are squirted out kicking and squalling into an alien environment, other things will determine our destiny in the world. If you don’t believe this, you can stop reading. So far so good, we are now normal human beings, or are we? We start a learning process that goes on for the rest of our lives, for some of us anyway.
Mistakes happen
What about all the flukes that happen? Disregarding birth defects and deformities, freaks of nature some call them. Some of these things are not known until a person reaches maturity, e.g., a female who feels like a male or a male with feminine feelings. These could range from slight to strong. The parents usually discourage the child from displaying these traits. Or in some cases acerbate them by shaming the misfortunate child. Some live a lifetime of pain frustration and guilt to the point of suicide while others give in to these feelings and live a life style matching their feelings brushing away the scorn laid upon by ignorant and biased individuals.
read part 2

Thursday, April 14, 2011

THOUGHTS ON RELIGION’S FUTURE



Is There a Future for Religion?
History
While cruising over the internet, I keep coming across more young adults, high school and college students, professing their atheistic beliefs, joining or establishing atheists groups and setting up blogs and web sites to express their views and beliefs. I remember, as a youth, it was blasphemous to utter the word atheist, and the subject was discussed in hushed whispers. It was on the same level as being gay or part of a mixed race marriage. Admitting you were party to any of these put you in jeopardy of being driven from your family, church and society. I remember my own feelings about these rebel rousers of that time. I thought they were evil, devil worshipers who, most certainly, were going to burn in hell forever and a day. That means a day longer than born again believers would spend in heaven. I wasn’t religious, in that I didn’t go to church every Sunday or every other Sunday. I may have attended a few times a year with my mother who, in our family, came closest to being a Christian. She was the only one in the family that didn’t cuss. I followed the opinions of the adults around me and figured everyone thought that way. It’s no wonder my life was so screwed up for so long.
Modern day beliefs
These days one can profess to be anything one wishes. You still face shunning and banishment from some, but you will never feel alone. In five minutes of computer time, you will find hundreds and thousands of others who share your beliefs or lack thereof. And they aren’t shy about it, in fact, they are quite proud. I’ve even come across blogs of closet atheists/priests who must remain anonymous for fear of losing their livelihood, i.e., they know nothing but the church. Fessing up would put them on the street, homeless and without any means of supporting themselves. There’s no demand for an atheist preacher. Of course, I know many Christians who would say, “That’s just what they deserve.” That is the curse of some Christians. They have no leeway for anyone not of their faith. Now don’t get all fired up. I’m not saying ALL Christians think or feel this way, and the ones that do, have a right to voice their opinion.
Conclusions
Point one: there is something out there for everyone. If you don’t feel comfortable where you are, look around, ask questions and forget what they say about “you can’t find everything on Google.” That’s a guise to keep you from learning the truth.  Do indeed use Google. This is where I found the truth I have been seeking for a coon’s age, and it didn’t come from one place. It’s all over. This truth gave me an exaltation greater than what I felt when I thought I found the light almost a half century ago.
Point two: more people at a younger age are crossing the line between believing and not believing, and they are not waiting as I did, until they reach their mid life crises period or they become a dried up old curmudgeon, to make up their minds. Nonbelievers, for whatever reason, study all religions and know more about the Bible than most blind faith believers. Knowing God, and knowing about God is quite different.
The future
The survey says, more people are selecting nonbeliever as their religion and out of the ones selecting Christian only 20% attend church. It makes one wonder just how many diehard Christians are really out there. If you claim to be a Christian why are you not supporting your beliefs? Never mind, I know the answer.  All one has to do is accept Christ as their savior at some point before they die. Does that mean I’m covered then because I’ve done that once? Some would say we, i.e., us nonbelievers or society as a whole, are going to hell in a hand basket. But then, there are surprisingly few religions that believe there is a hell. Another religion states that only 144,000 of their faithful will go to heaven, eternity on a new Earth for other faithful ones, and animation for all others. In that religion, it appears, Heaven is only open for the best of the best.
I say we are just starting to wake up and see the real light. As more youths grow into adulthood without the pressure of family and society forcing them into a religion they don’t feel comfortable in, it means more children will be raised in a family with an open concept of faith, love and cherishing and a religion that is not bound to ancient beliefs and worshiping an invisible supernatural entity with an uncertain and vague origin. It makes one wonder how long this will take to cover the world to where everyone is working to save the world.   
Think about this, if we all were nonbelievers there would be no cause for the religious wars that have been going on for eons stealing our young men and women from us, i.e., our precious stock for the future. Wouldn’t that be a real blessing?
Again, I thank you for your time. Have a pleasant day.


Friday, April 8, 2011

INCONSIDERATE PEOPLE



Lousy Neighbors
Some people are inconsiderate S.O.Bs. They have little or no concern for how their selfish actions affect the lives of others. They act as though they are the only ones in the world and they can do just about anything they want. I admit some of what I am about to divulge has less impact on some than it does on others, but they all irritate me, i.e., the people and the things they do.
Why does this bother me so? Maybe it’s my up-bring within a large family, my twenty years serving in the military and my thirty years of serving clients in my various businesses. Or maybe, it’s just because I’m a fuddy-duddy old far_, ah man. All these situations bring about an awareness of and consideration for others, i.e., one must think about his actions and how they may affect those around him or all may suffer.
People and their lawn trimmings
Let’s start off with a somewhat minor irritant. Minor in that it may only affect one or two people, i.e., me and the person who owns the empty lot near the culprit in question. My first encounter with this encroachment is when I bought a four acre weed infested piece of land with a small home in dire need of repairs on it. It was in the country where most homes had lots of land surrounding them. Unfortunately this house was directly across the road from my nearest neighbor, but it was a deal I couldn’t pass up.
They were nice enough people, I guess. They never bothered me the eighteen years I lived there. Fortunately, there was a huge water oak growing in my front yard that blocked my view of my new neighbors.
The guy had a beautiful twenty acre piece of property, which right off made me jealous. It had a large neatly kept yard, and horses grazed in gently rolling pastures that surrounded a pristine two acre lake. He kept his large yard, dotted with azaleas, dogwoods, and Bradford Pare trees lining both sides of his drive, cut and neatly trimmed. This is where the irritating problem came in. All the trimmings from the past few years lay in the ditch in front of my newly acquired plot. Of course when he dumped them there the place was empty, yet I was the one who had to clean them up and cart them off. It made me wonder what he did with his trimmings before. I knew where I would have liked to put them.
I notice this happens in many subdivisions that have undeveloped lots, usually lots that haven’t been cleared of trees and underbrush yet, like the subdivision I now live in, or ones backed up with vacant land behind them. These people must have the idea that because the lot or land is empty, it belongs to no one and therefore it’s okay to dump their yard clippings on it. I’ve noticed these piles and heaps on my daily walks and it matters little the class of the neighborhood. If there is a vacant lot close by an inconsiderate home owner, one that keeps up his property himself, i.e., he doesn’t have a professional yardman. I’d like to give these inconsiderate, lazy slobs a piece of my mind. It makes me want to rub their noses in the pile of rubbish and scream “bad boy”. But no, I bite my lip and keep on walking.
Blocking the right of way
Then there are the clowns who put their kid’s freestanding basketball hoops, smack on the very edge of the road making it hazardous when two cars meet in that area. It makes me wonder, do these things come with instructions that state this is where to place the irritating contraptions? One has to slow down and ease around it and even stop and wait for the kid to take one more shot before he saunters to the side giving you a sarcastic look. These offenders have nice large driveways perfect for a basket ball court, yet they choose to put their child in the street. Maybe they have ulterior motives for doing this.
These same offenders usually place their garbage cans slap in the street or right on the edge of it, creating the same problem as the freestanding basketball pole with its hoop hanging out over the street so a driver has to swerve to the other side of the road to miss it, and if traffic is coming, one has to stop. It’s a real pain in the, you know what.
Once, quite by accident, one of these flapping nets snagged on the rack of my pickup. I kept going as the sports device topple over and lay prone beside the road. I felt a little guilty as a feeling of contentment filled me. Two months later the felled hoop still lay there like a fallen warrior well clear of traffic. The kid uses it fifteen minutes every other month while it hinders traffic twenty-four seven.  In contrast, another neighbor has their freestanding hoop properly set up in their driveway. Coincidentally, this family has seven well behaved children.
Blocking the right away is a big problem. People with not enough parking spaces for their fleet of vehicles are the worst offenders. There are only three homes in my fifty-five home subdivision that shelters cars. Even police officers, who are allowed to bring their cruisers home, are offenders of this. There are four officers on my walking route and all are guilty. Three of them live in cul de sacs and park on the street making it impossible for anyone to do what a cul de sac is designed for, i.e., turn around without having to back into someone’s driveway. Others park half on or completely on the street. One guy left his travel trailer parked on the street for over a month before he or someone else backed into his driveway. Considerate neighbors park in their yard when their driveway overflows, believe me there are more than a few, rather than hinder others’ right-of-way.
A neighbor down the way has four pickups, two cars, two boats, a travel trailer and a utility trailer. None of them block any part of the street. His place looks like a used car sales lot but then it’s his property.
Things thrown into your yard
Free circulers, monthly and weekly sale and coupon fliers, and let’s not forget the tons of telephone books, all tossed onto our yards and drive ways. What’s the matter with these goofballs? First off, I resent the hell out of this and if I wanted a paper, I’d go buy one, I don’t use coupons and who uses a phone directory anymore? Second, I have to interrupt my program because the wife is screaming for me to pick up the dumb things and throw them in the trash that needs emptying. She must be obeyed at all cost, so I trudge out into the blistering sun or freezing or damp weather to pick up soggy items, place them into an overflowing trash can and drag it all to the street, next to the street that is. Isn’t there a law against littering, or is that only on the beach? By the way, have you ever seen so many DON’T signs as there are on the beach. By the time you read them all, you’re sunburned and ready to head home.
Then, to top it off, your phone rings jerking you from an important scene of the movie you’re watching. “Did you receive you blank blank phone book?” a perky female voice asks. “Was it in your drive or in your yard?” and she goes on and on and so does your movie.
“Yeah,” I say hoping they noticed the disdain in my voice, “now it’s in my trash can.” I quietly hang up while they ask yet another question. Can you imagine the audacity of these clowns? They liter you yard with unwanted crap then, interrupt you with an annoying phone call. They should be jailed and administered the Chinese water treatment at least three times daily.
Other ringing phone and door knocking annoyances
And then, there are survey calls and calls claiming they are affiliated with your local police and every other Thom, Dick and Howard, all with their hand out seeking donations for some worthy cause. I have a standing policy, i.e., I donate nothing to anyone that hasn’t donated something to me first, and I keep away from all surveys because they irritate me. Once one starts donating and answering surveys, calls increase exponentially. My sister complains vehemently about these calls, and yet she answers them and sometimes does what they ask of her. I shake my head, because I cautioned her many times.
Strangers pounding on your door: salesmen selling everything from frozen meat to vacuum cleaners, girl scouts selling cookies, boy scouts just begging, bible thumpers threatening you to hell and damnation if you don’t convert to their beliefs and people with just their hands out looking for donations for one thing or another. I’ve been sucked in too many times. You cannot be nice to these people. They are thieves of your time. I am too old to waste time with inconsiderate jaw hackers.
They pay no attention to “No Soliciting” signs. I don’t care when they arrive, it’s an inopportune time. If it’s a kid I calmly explain my reason for not wanting whatever it is they are selling. As for adults, I generally have to get nasty and drive them off with threats to their life and limb. For those with their hands out, I try to slam the door on them, their hand, their nose or whatever else they have sticking out. Hey, a person is entitled to his privacy. I have no kindness for these yahoos.
A possible solution
Of course, one could buy a home in a subdivision with a Home Owners Association where enforcers prowl the neighborhood searching for offenders. I’d rather put up with the inconsiderate fools where I live.
Now that you know what an irritating person I am, I’ll say thanks and good-bye for now. I hope you received some enjoyment from this. I did in writing it. It’s oh so good getting things off your chest. Have a pleasant day. If this annoys you in any way, let me hear from you. I’ll give you something else to complain about, anything to get someone to make a comment.