Now I'm certain that this post will be enough to stir lots of people into a thick, rich lather. Good.
I am atheist. No, not "atheist" like the anti-religious crackpots out there who hate on religious folk as much as religious folk hate on them---but in the literal sense of the word: "without theism". I'm not "anti-theist", which is really what the non-religious haters are, I'm just without religion. And I'm very happy and secure in my spiritual beliefs.
Now, I have to say that it does irritate me that the anti-theists have really screwed it up for us atheists. I mean, when you actually mention to someone that you're atheist, you get looks that are normally reserved for the Jehovah's Witnesses that roll up on your doorstep or the terrorists who kill in the name of (wonderful, peace-loving, tolerant) Islam. Anymore, today's atheism is just the other side of religion's mystical coin.
I found a refreshing treatise that not only points out some of the more ridiculous aspects of today's atheism (anti-theism), but also shows that many of those are so analogous to the views they claim to oppose. If you like, take the jump:
10 Things Christians & Atheists Can Agree On
PS. Yes, I was quite surprised to find such a coherent read on Cracked.com. But it is what it is.
PPS. For all you anti-theist religion-haters out there: if you can provide a properly cited quotation from the founding documents (the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence) of this country where "separation of church and state" is guaranteed, please enlighten me. BTW, The First Amendment states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, ... ". Putting religious quotations on public buildings does not constitute making a law, last time I checked.
PPPS. My post-postscript reminds me of those who believe that this country is a "democracy", although there's no mention of this word or derivatives thereof throughout the founding documents (but this is another post for another day).
Showing posts with label independence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label independence. Show all posts
9.11.2007
I will never forget.
Though September 11th has been declared a national holiday, I cannot find it in myself to be very festive. In fact, I celebrate 9/11 much like I do Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Veteran's Day: with deep introspection and reverence, and great thanks. Many heroes died 9/11/2001---heroes protecting the American nation. These are the Patriots that today was set aside for.
The writing below is not my own, but states better than I ever could the way I felt that day and still do today.
First Battle
By Jim Quinn, 9/16/2001
As we sift through football fields of rubble with cement dust clogging our eyes and throats it may hardly seem that there is victory anywhere in this landscape of catastrophe, but there is. The first battle of the war has been fought and it was a decisive victory for America. It didn't happen on the ground, it just ended up there. It happened sometime between 10:00 am and 10:37 am in the sky over Somerset PA on United Flight 93.
This was not just a symbolic victory; it was a win for the practical utility of freedom versus the robotic behavior of programmed fanaticism. In other words, it was a test of who we are versus who they are, and we won!
While there is some evidence that our military may have been forced to make a terrible choice last Tuesday it's clear that with or without an "assist" from one of our flyers, whom we shall hold blameless. The other members of our military on board the plane had already made their decision. The contents of cell phone calls from the plane bear witness to this. "But military?” what in the world are you talking about Quinn? Allow me to explain. These people weren't in the military when they boarded the plane. They enlisted in flight. They did it without a recruiter. There was no paper work and no promise of a college education or a career skill to secure their future. They signed up knowing their future would be less than 15 minutes.
The significance of the outcome of this battle will be lost on these over funded, over educated, oil saturated former Nomads. It should make them drop to their knees and make them pray to Allah for forgiveness, but it won't. Here's why:
The Battle of Fight 93 was a short but decisive encounter where the fanatic met the free. Where a group of people who have been programmed from birth to believe in the sanctity of self destruction and mass murder in the name of a god who does not exist as they envision him, came face to face with something they never understood; free people who are used to thinking for themselves.
It took decades of preparation, training and pseudo religious indoctrination to prepare these men to sacrifice their lives for their twisted purpose. It took a bunch of free Americans about two minutes to prepare to sacrifice theirs. These men and women who began their day with a toothbrush and a plane ticket and nothing more on their plate than the expectation of a business meeting and dinner at Fisherman's Wharf; these people with husbands, wives and children to consider, unhesitatingly chose to give their lives for their fellow Americans in less time than it takes to boil an egg.
Advantage: Freedom!
As I write this, God is probably hearing from a vast number of people He hasn't heard from in a while. In times of difficulty we are moved to turn back to that which we have neglected. Freedom will be the tool of victory in all battles as it was in this one. It is of desperate importance that we understand from whence the tool of victory emanates. You'll find it in the writings of the Framers of our Constitution. Faith and Freedom will triumph over fanaticism.
In those few dreadful seconds over Somerset, the template for the coming battles emerged from the fires in which they were forged. Free Americans fought the first battle "on the fly" and "by the seats of their pants". They did it with the only tool they had the resourcefulness of people who can still think for themselves. They earned victory and the admiration of the Free World. The fanatics earned a smoking hole in the ground.
The writing below is not my own, but states better than I ever could the way I felt that day and still do today.
First Battle
By Jim Quinn, 9/16/2001
As we sift through football fields of rubble with cement dust clogging our eyes and throats it may hardly seem that there is victory anywhere in this landscape of catastrophe, but there is. The first battle of the war has been fought and it was a decisive victory for America. It didn't happen on the ground, it just ended up there. It happened sometime between 10:00 am and 10:37 am in the sky over Somerset PA on United Flight 93.
This was not just a symbolic victory; it was a win for the practical utility of freedom versus the robotic behavior of programmed fanaticism. In other words, it was a test of who we are versus who they are, and we won!
While there is some evidence that our military may have been forced to make a terrible choice last Tuesday it's clear that with or without an "assist" from one of our flyers, whom we shall hold blameless. The other members of our military on board the plane had already made their decision. The contents of cell phone calls from the plane bear witness to this. "But military?” what in the world are you talking about Quinn? Allow me to explain. These people weren't in the military when they boarded the plane. They enlisted in flight. They did it without a recruiter. There was no paper work and no promise of a college education or a career skill to secure their future. They signed up knowing their future would be less than 15 minutes.
The significance of the outcome of this battle will be lost on these over funded, over educated, oil saturated former Nomads. It should make them drop to their knees and make them pray to Allah for forgiveness, but it won't. Here's why:
The Battle of Fight 93 was a short but decisive encounter where the fanatic met the free. Where a group of people who have been programmed from birth to believe in the sanctity of self destruction and mass murder in the name of a god who does not exist as they envision him, came face to face with something they never understood; free people who are used to thinking for themselves.
It took decades of preparation, training and pseudo religious indoctrination to prepare these men to sacrifice their lives for their twisted purpose. It took a bunch of free Americans about two minutes to prepare to sacrifice theirs. These men and women who began their day with a toothbrush and a plane ticket and nothing more on their plate than the expectation of a business meeting and dinner at Fisherman's Wharf; these people with husbands, wives and children to consider, unhesitatingly chose to give their lives for their fellow Americans in less time than it takes to boil an egg.
Advantage: Freedom!
As I write this, God is probably hearing from a vast number of people He hasn't heard from in a while. In times of difficulty we are moved to turn back to that which we have neglected. Freedom will be the tool of victory in all battles as it was in this one. It is of desperate importance that we understand from whence the tool of victory emanates. You'll find it in the writings of the Framers of our Constitution. Faith and Freedom will triumph over fanaticism.
In those few dreadful seconds over Somerset, the template for the coming battles emerged from the fires in which they were forged. Free Americans fought the first battle "on the fly" and "by the seats of their pants". They did it with the only tool they had the resourcefulness of people who can still think for themselves. They earned victory and the admiration of the Free World. The fanatics earned a smoking hole in the ground.
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