The "Evolution" of Children's movies!

Hey Dears!

Today we had a chance to screen "The Pirates - Band Of Misfits" in 3D.  While I was less than thrilled about a claymation-esque pirate movie - out tickets were free and my kid was excited so, we went.

Before proceeding, please know that I accept that everyone believes something different and that's ok.  BUT - when mounting, proven science is thrown out in the face of religious hypothesis, it REALLY pisses me off.  IE - Creationism vs Evolution.  This is not a debate.  It is the one area where I get most worked up.  Evolution, and the Earths age - are proven scientific facts.  If you think that the Earth is 6,000 years old and that we were all created by God and took a ride on Noah's Dinghy, then don't read on, you'll just piss me off for having wasted my words.

I thought that the high point would be the sultry voice of Hugh Grant as the main character, "Pirate Captain".  Let's face it, 80 minutes of pirate claymation are really not a mother's high point in life. From imdb.com, this is the jist of the movie:

After years of humiliation and failed attempts to win the coveted Pirate of the Year Award, Pirate Captain and his oddball crew take on the cream of the pirating crop - Black Bellamy, Peg Leg Hastings and Cutlass Liz - in a race to pillage the most booty. They soon cross paths with lovelorn scientist Charles Darwin, who persuades the Captain that the crew's prized 'parrot', Polly, could be the answer to the 'untold riches' they are searching for. Their adventure takes them to Victorian London where they meet Darwin's sidekick 'man-panzee' Mister Bobo, and the notorious pirate-hating Queen Victoria herself. It soon unfolds that Darwin's motives for helping the crew are not what they seem, and the Queen has an evil hidden agenda of her own. The Pirate Captain must choose between basking in the glory of being crowned Pirate of the Year, or staying faithful to his trusted crew.

Basically, the pirate captain thinks that his parrot is a parrot, when she is in fact the last living specimen of Dodo bird.  Darwin persuades PC to bring Polly to London for a science fair (essentially)  with the likes of Edison, etc. Countless great scientific minds are in attendance with their life changing discoveries and inventions.

I won't ruin the whole thing for you but rather, I'm pretty jacked to get to my point.

As Atheist parents, it's not as though I feel like there is an underlying Christian current to everything that is produced for children anymore but rather - we treat children like idiots.  There are far too few movies and programs that reflect anything scientific beyond "Sid the Science Kid" (which is all well and good but, past the age of 3, loses it's luster).  I really am in awe of just how happy I was to see Charles Darwin portrayed in a movie.  He's a less than sympathetic character at times and really, I could give a shit less.  There is a great message in there about how precious resources, specimens, and science are to future generations.

My son happens to already have a "Who was Charles Darwin" book and he was actually excited to see Darwin in the movies because he knew who he was.  Now granted, my child is only 7.  I can't help but wonder though, without my influence - how long would it take him on his own, to learn about the likes of Charles Darwin, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens - to name a few.

I'm just excited.  I may have rambled a bit too long but, that's sadly a freethinking parent's life these days.  To be excited over something as small as this - because it is one of the few mainstream victories we get in the pursuit of real, fact based knowledge of evolution and where we really, truly came from.

Love.  Each.  Other

The View From The Glass House

Greetings, pets!

With Easter around the corner, I want to pose to you a question and ideally, both believers and non-believers alike can weigh in.

I have been asked by several of my believer friends and family to please keep my Facebook "attacks" to a minimum and that I was hurting feelings.  I don't see them as attacks so much as I see them as funny little "haha's" on the part of religiosity but alas, I was hurting feelings of people I love.  That certainly isn't my goal so, I try to oblige as much as I can but, I've had a rough few months with the likes of the believing community so I'd like to pose an issue I had and see what people think.

I had a situation where I was flat out disliked by someone, for no other reason than the fact that, while in my home it came to their attention that I am a non-believer.  My husband, (who makes my non-believing look painfully pale in comparison - I'd actually refer to him as a militant Atheist) did not receive the same judgement for a smattering of reasons, none of which really matter.

It was a very confusing situation because I pride myself on not judging people, even believers.  You can't look at one part of a person's life and make an assumption about who they are.  Well, you can but, that makes you a dick.

As I thought about it for a few days I almost felt like I was going through the stages of grief (more so because of my relationship with other's in this person's family, than my actual concern for this person's thoughts alone).

Denial - There has to be something more at work here than me not accepting this person's God as my own.

Anger ( This is the one area in any situation where I thrive) - Fuck them! Who the fuck are they to judge what the Hell I believe (Spoiler alert - this is more or less where I laid the issue to rest when all was said and done)

Bargaining - Maybe if I spent more time with them or was more affectionate/nicer, they'd see the real me (Ultimately I realized that there's been more than enough time for this person to realize that and I'd be stupid to waste my time on such a benign task)

Depression - Depression came when I realized I could stay pissed about this and lose the love and support of an entire family.  The actions of 1 person was not worth this but, I was so pissed and hurt that, for a while I saw no other way.

Acceptance - It is what it is.   I won't change myself for anyone.

Where am I going with this?  I told you I'd get there, and here I am:

The Bible says that non believers are damned to an eternity in Hell.

Revelation 21:8  But for the cowardly and UNBELIEVING and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

Luke 12:42 The Lord answered, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose the servant says to himself, 'My master is taking a long time in coming,' and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

John 3:18-36 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.......Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. "

II Thessalonians 1:6-10 
God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you. "

Mark 16:16. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

 If our loved ones are true believers then A) Either they truly believe that we are going to Hell (which is sad for them)  or B) Believe that their God will judge us on our actions, and not our acceptance of Christ, in which case - not even they believe all the teachings and are themselves, sinners.

If it's "A", I'm curious about what kind of heaven you envision if you child isn't there with you (My parents are both staunch believers) and why you would live your life giving glory to a God that would punish a person for doing nothing other than exercising the free will that your creator claimed to have given us?  I'm not a murderer, adulterer, thief etc.....I just don't believe in something that there is no evidence of.


Let me make one thing clear here, before you start replying.  Please don't be afraid to tell me that you think we're going to Hell.  Honestly, I don't care.  You're not going to make me sad or cry.  You may as well threaten to punch me in my aura.  We don't believe in Hell, we don't believe in God.  I am genuinely on an information gathering quest to see what believers and non-believers alike think of this kind of situation

Before I close though, I did find this little contradictory ditty that says that we will be judged on our actions, and not what kind of baseless hokus pokus we believe in ;)

Matthew 16:27

For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct.

Peace, my pets. Love Each Other <3

Death of a Salesman

Well, it's official, Joe Paterno is dead.

Theres a lot of back and forth on the internet about what his legacy is, and hows the last years' revelations will consequently alter that legacy. So I give you, my faithful readers, the long and the short.

This is in fact a blog written by an atheist so, many of the "He's getting his judgment now by God" arguments, don't really apply here. This blog does not subscribe to the usual koolaid consumption that the masses partake of. Having said that, I'm kind of at a loss on this one.

If there is a kind and everloving God out there in the vast universe waiting to judge us on our human, imperfect choices, then I doubt that he'd be willing to overlook something as profound as a person overlooking the abuse of children.  Here are some things that we  DO know about Paterno:

He was aware of the exploitation of his university's athletic program to abuse participating children.

If I'm the almighty, there isn't shit all else you could say, If I'm the almighty I'm gonna look him in the eye and ask him how this is possible.

Paternos life literally cannot be judged based only on the athletic accolades that he received and championships won. No matter how many lifes changed for the better under his guidance - that number became completely inconsequential when he knowingly covered up the sexual abuse of children by his own staff,  If Paterno truly regarded the university as he said he did, in no way would he have allowed something so grotesque to take place on it's grounds. He'd have not allowed for the university to be the catalyst to such a thing, and he'd have not covered it up.  He'd have used the clout earned him through years of hard work and loyalty, to bring these men to justice and would have been a champion for these victims.

Paterno is dead. We can all play the "coulda, shoulda, woulda" game till we go blind. Or...we can look at the sad excuse for a man that Paterno was and vow to never, ever, allow atrocities like this to take place under our own roofs and remain silent. We can vow that, while athletics are a great and powerful resource -  we will not be sold on the ideals that, athletic fortitude begets you an all access pass at treating the world like you yourself are the God. Let Paternos life be a constant reminder of what not to do.

Don't buy the logic, that that weak old pedophile enabler was peddling.