Fuck that god.

I have no respect for a god that kills and maims children with parasites and disease. I have no respect for religion that causes people to kill and maim other people's children. I have no respect for a god who's imperfect body I am stuck living with. We are God's perfect creation?!? Are you JOKING? A brain susceptible to seizure at the slightest chemical imbalance, a nerve that controls the larynx that is routed from the brain to the heart and back up to the throat? Blood chemistry that allows for clogged arteries that kills my friend at 39 leaving two little girls without their father? 

 Fuck. That. God.

But then I don't believe that god exists. All of this is the evidence of evolution, the drawbacks of evolution, the consequences of evolution which is the beauty of life and our universe. I love life and how it works. I hate the false hope and delusions of religion.

Why Do I Dislike Ben Carson So Much?

I have to examine this to make sure I'm being reasonable. I don't need to consider why I dislike Trump, that is easy. The boorish bombastic loudmouth is easy to dislike for so many reasons. But calm, mild mannered Dr. Ben Carson?

I dislike him because he is either an ignorant fool or a liar.

On evolution, the spouted the trope that "mutations tend to lead to degeneration rather than improvement". As a medical doctor he should know that mutation can be benificial and natural selection can propagate that mutation. If not, he is ignorant, willfully. If so, he lied in the interview.

On guns, he thinks the Holocaust could have been prevented if the Germans hadn't demanded the guns Jews had. Or some such rot. "The Holocaust was a state-sanctioned outpouring of violence from the German public, so the idea that gun control stood in the way of Jewish survival “vastly overstates the effectiveness of a tiny minority resisting a genocidal machine,”"

Kim Davis is not a Patriot.

“The reason we separate Church and State is because the Founding Fathers believed government should be guided by a balance of morality and reason, not blind religious faith.  Practice your religion in freedom; just don’t make anyone else practice your religion.”

 

Am I Grateful?

At work they have these opinion pieces and viewpoints about our company and work.  This week they have one from a VP titled "Thirty Years and Still Grateful."

Grateful?

"After 30-years I remember one word. A word that describes best how I felt 30-years ago. That word is Grateful.
I am grateful to be part of a legacy. I am grateful to be part of the here and now—and also grateful to be part of the future. I am grateful to have had the lucky fortune to have been accepted into a great company. I am grateful to have served my nation through my service to that company."

Grateful?  I don't feel grateful.  After 35 years I've participated in successes and failures.  I've resolved problems and avoided creating many.  I have seriously supported our customers and made them successful (sometimes despite themselves), the direct ones who pay our contracts and the indirect ones who go into harm’s way almost daily since 9/11.  I've worked hard long hours for that success with teams who also worked hard long hours in support of our customers.  I'm proud of the things we did and do today.  I'm not grateful to anyone.  It's the country and company that needs to express some gratitude.  A 10" compound miter saw and a fancy dinner with a VP doesn't really cut it.

It continues...

This has been going on for 5 months now, 136 comments.

Countdown...

New retirement counter...

We Then Me?

This was posted at work as one of those "voices of..." things meant to be inspirational.  Or team building or something.

like it or not, ***** ****** has been depicted in the past as an arrogant company. It doesn’t matter whether that characterization originated from competitors, the press, our partners or our customers — it’s out there. And if we want to change this perception, we must start with making a change within ourselves, rather than expecting others to change and conform to our standards.

As a coach for the “We Then Me” pilot program for the Quality Assurance organization, I am even more aware of how the “Me” mentality can be disruptive to those around us. To foster change, it must start with each of us as individuals. We have the power to change from a “Me Then We” to “We Then Me” culture. Little by little, if we all have that mindset, we can change the perception those have of us as individuals and as a company.

I was going to comment with: "Many of us have worked with positive impact for our customers for decades.  We've worked "we then me" with dedication to mission success and performance which is I hope why **** **** is where it is today.  The "me" part has been a little lacking with economic purchasing and political power declining.  The "we" part is important but as the Soviet Union showed, not viable by itself."  But I didn't comment.

I'm pretty tired of working for the good of the company and country.  All this effort and the country fails to support it's people, only supporting the welfare of those in power.

Another YouTube discussion :-)

lougalou04

You must have faith to understand, Tom. I can never get over how dark, pessimistic and negative so many atheists are. You have no joy in your heart. Perhaps that is the difference between many of the faithful and atheists. I hear Stephen Fry with his histrionics bashing religion, cursing God, and being all negative. Then I hear you doing the same. You all remind me of that character from 'Lil Abner" who had a cloud of rain following him wherever he went. No joy. No happiness. In fact, I practically feel sorry for you all. 


Tom Hail

+lougalou04 It must be that you only know atheists online where we take on and ridicule religious beliefs like the priest's video here. I and all atheists I know lead fulfilling, meaningful and happy lives. I bet you know atheists and don't know it. I live with a beautiful and incredibly patient special needs teacher, I have daughters and granddaughter who are making meaningful and productive lives for themselves without religion. I have the respect and love from friends and family who I respect and love. I support my family, community, nation and many peoples with my work and charity. I give my time and resources freely in charity and community works. I am not a special or uncommon atheist.

I rejoice in seeing Venus, Mars, and the Moon in a tight triangle, the flight of an owl, the power of waves crashing into rock that will eventually give way to the ocean. When I fly my plane I celebrate the ingenuity that created the engine, wings, avionics, and the training that gives me the confidence to climb into my flying machine and rise above the earth for a little while. Looking at a hillside of trees and grass I marvel at the trillions upon trillions of cells in all those plants busily turning sunlight into chemical energy and replicating themselves almost always perfectly.

No joy?! I laugh at you! You have NO IDEA how unrestrained I am, no fear of death, only of dying painfully before I'm ready. I attack religion for this very reason, I feel sorry for those who waste so much of their lives with it. So much human endeavour wasted in the wishful thinking and false hope of this bullshit. It is almost criminal. And then I attack religion for trying to control my life, to say what is moral when it has no moral standing to judge me by, to say what my purpose in life should be when it has nothing real to offer, to claim truth when it is obviously fantasy to control the masses. Faith is NOT a virtue in any sense, to believe without evidence is to give up your touted free will. Faith is to be despised.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/+TomHail/posts/T5qVZXxpx1M

Just wanted to capture this in case Google crashes.