MINISTER OF RANTS

FLASHBACK: PSYCHEDELIA...

Current Status and Future Trends in Psychedelic (LSD) Research
- Robert E. Mogar

When employed as an adjunct to psychotherapy, most investigators have associated the beneficial effects of LSD with reduced defensiveness, the reliving of early childhood experiences, increased access to unconscious material, and greater emotional expression. In contrast, when used as a primary vehicle for rapid personality change, emphasis is usually placed on the transcendental quality of the experience, the resynthesis of basic values and beliefs, and major changes in the relationship between self and environment.   

       With regard to effectiveness, both orientations have reported impressive results... The Article 

Da Pagan Baby & I took a few psychedelic trips (LSD, Peyote, Mescaline (Chocolate-Flavored) in the '70s. I don't recommend it or put it down. We were merely curious mellow,,,

It's important to be in a comfortable environment with supportive companions. A Lazy Boy lounger seemed to work best for me. ALWAYS Pink Floyd on the stereo... or BROTHER MILES...

One time we were trippin' on LSD with our close friends Rick and Brenda at Dayton Mountain Days - an annual Appalachian festival held in a large park in East Dayton. I'm sure some o' the straights wondered why we were laughing so much.

At times I was floating overhead peering down on the festivities, the crowd, the bluegrass, and, oddly - meself. (I was a huge balloon-like caricature of myself, all swathed in brilliant pink material - lying in - and hovering above - the green pastures of Eastwood Park. In particular, I still recall focusing on a red-faced fat dude with his hair cut in a severe flattop. I looked at Rick and I could see that he seemed to be struck with the same impression as mine. "Flattop" had his Marlboros rolled up in the sleeve of his white t-shirt - which triggered uncontrollable giggles among the four of us, that seemed to have lasted a 1/2 hour. But who knows?

Our ladies found the experience quite pleasant until they made a trip to a deteriorating wooden outbuilding that housed the women's toilet. Rick and I were somewhat distracted from our reverie by screeches and squeals that sounded like our wives. The clamor seemed to be emanating from the shed which seemed miles in the distance.

As things turned out, we managed to meet them - halfway from the building - and learned that upon entering the stall they had been presented with a massive complex of webs and some of the BIGGEST spiders they had ever seen - well, at least when stoned...

A Caveat: NEVER cross the swinging (rope) bridge at Glen Helen Reserve in Mellow Springs after doing peyote buds...

FURTHER INFO (Important):
The effects of LSD can vary greatly, depending on factors such as previous experiences, state of mind and environment, as well as dose strength. Generally, LSD causes expansion and altered experience of senses, emotions, memories, time, and awareness for 8 to 14 hours. In addition, LSD may produce visual effects such as moving geometric patterns, "trails" behind moving objects, and brilliant colors. LSD does not produce hallucinations in the strict sense but instead illusions and vivid daydream-like fantasies, in which ordinary objects and experiences can take on entirely different appearances or meanings. At higher doses it can cause synaesthesia. The drug experience sometimes spurs long-term or even permanent changes in a user's personality and life perspective.

CONTINUE READING: @ Wikipedia 

Drawings on an Acid Trip... 

 
Good fortune. COMMENT! Please spread the meme. Don't smoke in bed... Peace out...

ENTRAPPED! INTERNET SEX STING RESULTS IN 2 SUICIDES...

Coretta Scott King as Our Lady of Sorrows
Artist: Erin Currier
Black Commentator 

SUICIDE FOLLOWS NET SEX STING / ARREST
Indiana firefighter trying to meet teen girl in Fairborn
Dayton Daily News

FAIRBORN | — An Indianapolis-area firefighter, Timothy Carney, is the second person whose death has been linked to an arrest by an area Internet sex investigation unit.

David Lang of Toledo also killed himself 10 days after members of the Xenia Police Division Internet Child Protection Unit arrested him in November 2001 on allegations he attempted to meet a 14-year-old girl for sex. Carney had not been formally charged with (the ususal) single counts of importuning and attempted unlawful conduct with a minor.

Hey Pokey!
Roq La Rue Gallery

Tricky shit... Most of these guys have NEVER been busted before. NO PREVIOUS ARRESTS - let alone, convictions.

This causes me to wonder, "What if?" What if this guy cruises chat rooms and gets all warm and runny talkin' dirty with young butts for a period of months or a year or more and never acts on his impulses? Then Deputy Bootie-Dawg - a "professional" player on these sites - lays a well-honed enticement on him and he breaks his pattern for the first time to meet this hot little horney-pot who has pushed all his buttons and made the sale.

I'm sorry. I don't defend this troubled individual - but I don't put him in the same category as the guy who cruises in his car, picks up trade that is obviously offering commercial sex and gets busted when he agrees to pay for it. I wonder why they don't put underage girls on the street and bust guys who try to date them? That's the way they bust stores for sellin' cigarettes and beer to minors.

These sleazey cross-talkin' deputies in chatrooms are certainly pushing the limits of what characterizes entrapment and it's just damn unfair. The cyber cross-talking deputy dawgs are making the sale! They're roping in guys who have no record of deviance.

Meanwhile our gummint says we don't have manpower and other resources to patrol the US borders. I cringe when I see large numbers of Americans willing to accept easy solutions for social aberrations - even when the result is more sanctioned snooping and less expectation of privacy. I realize that this is a hot-button issue for many. As usual, I ask more questions - like, are the underage teens that we seek to protect from predators really less likely to become involved in sleazey, experimental sex with strangers because a couple of deputies are settin' traps for clueless boo-hoos?

I don't know what the deputies say in those chat rooms.
The only chat room I've ever visited was an AOL-administered room for atheists only. We could feel fairly confident that participants were what they claimed to be. Nobody was trolling for sex. I continue to correspond with people I met in that chat room. (I  received two signed, numbered wildlife prints from an artist in Chicago who frequented the forum.) Another became my editor when I wrote articles for an atheist mag. That editor is now the Guest Blogger hereabouts...

POEM: "laid off"
by Richard Vargas from McLife: Selected Poems
Writer's Almanac 

laid off

they hold their heads high say they saw it coming (they did)
and knew how to take it in stride (they didn't)
all week whispered conversations
about unemployment benefits
and maybe going back to school
then the planning out loud for all to hear
about meeting at a local bar
Friday after work
to get blasted and let it all hang out
if you were one of the lucky ones
you'll pass because after the 3rd round
weird looks will begin to come your way
the comic book bubbles over their heads
where you can read their thoughts
will say the same thing: "why not him?"
then you'll blink an eye and see it reflected
back at you in their faces
the shotgun someone will clean tomorrow
and come Monday you're sitting at your desk
taking a phone call whipping around to see
what made the loud metallic click behind you
you'll blink again
now you're back in the bar
Hank Williams is on the jukebox
they're all lifting their glasses in your direction
you read someone's lips as he/she says:
"watch out man, you could be next."

QUICK!! - STICK THIS IN BEFORE BLACK HISTORY MONTH RUNS OUT OR CUTS OFF OR GETS BRANDED UNAMERICAN...
W.E.B. Du BOIS, Ph.D.
by Garrison Keillor - Writer's Almanac

The sociologist and founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, W.E.B. (William Edward Burghardt) Du Bois, was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts on February 23, 1868. He grew up in New England and didn't experience racial inequality until he went to college at Fisk University in Nashville. He did his graduate studies at Harvard; he was the first African American to get his Ph.D. there. He became an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, and for his first sociological study he personally surveyed five thousand African Americans living in Philadelphia about their background, family structure, employment, income, social activities and other aspects of their lives. It was the first serious sociological study of blacks in America and it was the first time that someone had attempted to prove that poverty and crime in black communities was the result not of racial inferiority but of racial barriers and in education and employment.

He's best known for his book The Souls of Black Folk (1903). It was a collection of essays, and one of the first attempts by an African American to describe the experience of racism in post-slavery America. Du Bois wrote, "It is a peculiar sensation ... this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his two-ness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder."

Du Bois went on to found the N.A.A.C.P....

PASCAL'S WAGER? IT'S A SUCKER'S BET!

WARHOL'S "Scream"

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QUOTE / UNQUOTE

"A man is accepted into a church for what he believes and he is turned out for what he knows."  [Mark Twain]
 
"For god so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son,
that whosoever would believe in him would believe in anything." [Anon.]

SO - WAS PROF. BLAISE A COMPETENT MATHEMATICIAN?

In the seventeenth century the French mathematician and theologian, Blaise Pascal (1623- 1663) put forward a wager in his Pensees:

If there is a God, He is infinitely incomprehensible, since, having, neither parts nor limits, He has no affinity to us. We are then incapable of knowing either what He is or if He is ... you must wager. It is not optional. You are embarked. Which will you choose then? Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager then without hesitation that he is. Rejection of Pascal's Wager - Tobin  

RANT, REV, RANT!
I don't mind those who are born again, just as long as they don't think that they get twice as many rights. However we came to find ourselves on this miniscule, floating hunk of detritus in the universe, we have discovered within ourselves the ability to reason, to weigh evidence and form conclusions. This capability differentiates us from all the other mammals (so far).

Whether man has ascended from ancestral microbes in the primordial ooze - or he has been stuck here purposely by some overarching entity - it seems counterintuitive to this rational inquirer's way of thinking to assign legitimacy to anything that cannot be proved through the use of our reason. Other folks, believers, disagree, sometimes vehemently, insisting that God has revealed himself and his plan for us. They're quick to point out that if one does not understand so-called revealed truths, then the fault lies within one's self - that is, we have insufficient faith.

All "revelation" has been relayed to us by other humans. If a creator has spoken to them, shouldn't he speak to us all - in unequivocal terms that do not clash with the rational minds that he surely must have intended for us to use? I see no evidence that any of the "revelations" and rules for living that fill all the sacred texts are not the product of human cogitation. I refuse to order my brief moment living in the material world to the dictates of other humans, as Pascal suggested in his Wager.

In reality, if one lives according to the dictates of a religion that does not derive from his own rational intelligence, he squanders the essence of what it means to be human. That is a sucker's bet. Screw it. If God is viewing the infinite picture without benefit of controls or a joy stick - that's all the more reason to live life without irrational boundaries. It's like the JWs say, it's all cut & dried. You either have a place in heaven or you don't - nothin' you can do will change the big picture on God's Gameboy.

This is just presented as food for thought - derived from what believers have said about God. God's omnipotence conflicts with his omniscience, because if God knows everything that is going to happen in advance, he cannot do anything in the present; he must simply watch the future unfold as previously foreseen, because changing anything would falsify his prior belief concerning the future

God's omniscience and omnipotence conflict with his omnibenevolence, since a god who could prevent evil would do so unless he were unable to do so or were unaware of the evil. For purposes of this rant, I'll refrain from speculating on the possibility that God is sometimes drunk, or that the universe is the product of a committee, 'cuz the fundangelicals always scream at me when I make light of the stuff in their "sacred texts".

Maybe God is on such a higher plane of existence - and consciousness - that he (or she, or it) is unaware of us - you know, like we haven't discovered nearly half the microbes that share the planet with us, mostly inhabiting the dirt, whether cultivated, paved over  or unspoiled.

So - Blaise Pascal, that rascal, presents his simplistic challenge:

...Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager then without hesitation that he is.

I concur with Atheist philosopher J.L. Mackie, who wrote:

...Once the full range of such possibilities is taken into account, Pascal's argument from comparative expectations falls to the ground. The cultivation of non-rational belief is not even practically reasonable.

To my rational inquirer's way of thinking, if God really revealed important stuff to the guys who assembled the "sacred texts", why doesn't he appear on Public Television with Bill Moyers and resolve all the questions, doubts, and fears?

When I consider the Creator, as presented in the doctrines of the three major monotheist religions, I am presented with the question: If God equipped me with reason and free will, why would he expect me make decisions counter to what I can discern and decide with those faculties? All  arguments for the existence of God go round and round and end up copping out - saying we're incapable of understanding God's plan. Well, excuse me, then I'll just continue to do the best I can with what I'm capable of understanding.

I don't believe in anything unless I can eat it, drink it, drive it, fuck it or perceive evidence of it.  [Rev. Art]

To me faith to humans is as sand to ostriches. I don't mean to disparage what may get others through the days and nights, but I must admit I enjoy exchanging with other unbelievers, as well as thoughtful believers. As always, your COMMENTS are solicited... 

I received a response to Brian Flemming's tongue-in-cheek exercise involving prayers to save people such as the trapped coal miners from dying:

"I don't see death as a terrible thing, I see it as something to embrace. I believe our time on earth is worthwhile and has great meaning, but I believe there is more to come that makes this part of the journey pale in comparison." 

I've heard this so many times, particularly at funerals, but for the life of me, I can't understand the point of praying to keep someone alive. If one really believes death is to be embraced, what's the point of trying to interfere?
OH, PLEASE!!

“Democracy originated in the mind of a rational being who has the deepest hatred for God.” - [Robert T. Lee, Society for the Practical Establishment of the Ten Commandments]

Good fortune. COMMENT. Please spread the meme. Don't smoke in bed...

WHOSE SOLSTICE IS IT, ANYWAY?

Far be it from Da Rev to wanna piss off the fundangelicals anymore than they already are, but in their zeal and outrage over what may be a waning interest in the traditions and symbols of their particular sect, they miss an important point in the larger scheme of things. They celebrate the birth of their "Baby Jesus", while other folks may think its the birthday of Bing Crosby. But that's it - even Solstice isn't universal.  If ya live somewhere south of Brazil,  you may celebrate the Summer Solstice, probably wearing less clothing than those of us in the Northern Hemisphere who celebrate the Winter Solstice. It's another year around the Sun, but in Chile the Sun's goin' away; in Metro Fairborn, Ohio, it's comin' back.

Our friends over @ American Atheists sent us the following:

...What is a Baby Jesus? It is a fable.  A precious little story set
out in the bible about the imaginary son of god whose father god
conceived him in the body of an unwed underage teenager, the goddess
Virgin Mary.  Maybe a god, like a man, is only as old as the woman he
feels.  God thus made the Baby Jesus so he could grow up and be killed
as a child sacrifice to his god father for your sins...

...Among the new fake ancient symbols of a Christmas heritage that never was is the beloved "creche," or "manger scene."  This is a manufact of three dimensional living or fake figures representing the Baby Jesus in a feed trough, surrounded by his mother the teenage goddess Virgin Mary, his cuckolded wanna' be father, Joseph, sheep, shepherds, lambs, sheep crooks in the shape of candy canes, a star, angels, a cow, a jackass, some straw, and three terrorists (riding) camels bearing gifts to the "Christ Child."

 

A creationist version of the sacred scene includes a stegosaurus.  This godly diorama is often offered on public property, especially in Kentucky, in open violation of the First Amendment... [Edwin Kagin]

American Atheists simply repeats what most of us already know:

There is a renaissance of interest... in events like the Solstice as people seek new rituals and means of celebration appropriate to our increasingly diverse, secular world... Different groups including many Atheists, Freethinkers and Humanists have taken up the call, and various organizations sponsor Winter Solstice events. Under a tapestry of names, we search for new ways to re-connect with the natural world in the spirit of friendship and conviviality without the need for religious dogmas.

KIDDIN' THE FUNDANGELICALS!!

In the face of incessant sectarian harrasment from Christianist proselytizers, Da Rev has hit upon a series of responses to the infliction of their insistent "Merry Christmas" upon everyone they see. They could not care less about the personal beliefs or wishes of others. So, let's play a little word association with 'em. It won't stop 'em, but it'll slow 'em up:

THEY SAY                                   REPLY
Merry Christmas!                    No! Happy Solstice! (smile)

Have a Blessed Christmas.  Uhhmmm - nope, probably             more like a cool Yule!

I hope you get what you         Run, run, Rudolph!
want for Christmas.

Jesus is the reason for          Reason is never out of season.
The Season.                     

Feliz Navidad!                      Jose Feliciano!

Y'all have a cool Yule and a frantic First, y'hear?

Peace...

"THANKSGIVING: THE PRODUCER'S HOLIDAY"

HAPPY THANKSGIVING - whatever that may mean to you,  - if anything.

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Da Rev has usually urged anyone he could buttonhole this time of the year to "THANK A FARMER!" Drawing upon me Celtic roots and any memes passed from ancestors through to me subconscious or unconscious any excuse to throw a shindig; 'tis the season to reap and revel in the harvest of the past year and to thank those who produced it!

Tossed together in the mix of Thanksgiving messages - so many of which sound like the unceasing cacaphony of mindless gobbling and from the usual gaggle of turkeys - served up with syrup and sappiness across the land -  is this defense of THE FEAST as our JUST DESSERTS insofar as we worked to put it there!

The opinion here is a radical capitalist assessment that presents the cold, hard, libertarian philosophical view from where the owner class sits. The owners argue that they produce the wealth that drives the economy from which we all derive benefits - and, indeed, many of them do that. Surely, they deserve greater rewards than those of us whose contributions of labor, intellect and risk contribute less to the GDP. I suggest you read this essay on Thanksgiving because the viewpoint presented without irrational and/or emotional flourishes to be known and understood.

The primary fallacy in Doc Hull's worldview that presents itself to my admittedly rationalist-progressive way of looking at things, is his adherence to Randian dogma concerning the virtue of pure, unfettered capitalism. I find it naive to expect the theories of Adam Smith, which, of necessitiy - must assume uniform conditions to yield uniform results - to perform outside the lab and off the printed graphical analyses - as if every nation, every corporation, every trading partner and every merchant, and every potential investor and purchaser were operating on an even playing field. Randian capitalism requires unquestioning faith in the free market to sort it all out and to provide a square deal to all honest participants. In a nutshell: No gummint is needed - except for national and civil defense.

OK. let's get into it. Try to keep your left knee from jerkin' and seriously consider substantive RATIONAL responses to assertions that you find offensive. Prepare to prove we're right and they're wrong! If we know where the ownership cla$$ is coming from, then, perhaps we can meet them half-way, with our own rational presentation of who owes what to whom in this decidedly complex socio-political economy.

Doc Hull and I start out on the same page - we'll either make our fortune or we won't. GOD has nothin' to do with it. From there the Randians toss you in the deep end to sink or swim strictly according to your abilities and your will...

Gary  Hull, Ph.D. is a senior writer for the Ayn Rand Institute in Irvine, California. The Ayn Rand Institute promotes the philosophy of Ayn Rand, author of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead.

Thanksgiving Is Designed to Celebrate, Not Faith and Charity,
But Thought and Production...

Thanksgiving celebrates man's ability to produce. The cornucopia filled with exotic flowers and delicious fruits, the savory turkey with aromatic trimmings, the mouth-watering pies, the colorful decorations -- it's all a testament to the creation of wealth.

Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday, because this country was the first to create and to value material abundance. It is America that has been the beacon for anyone wanting to escape from poverty and misery. It is America that generated the unprecedented flood of goods that washed away centuries of privation. It is America, by establishing the precondition of production--political freedom--that was able to unleash the dynamic, productive energy of its citizens.

This should be a source of pride to every self-supporting individual. It is what Thanksgiving is designed to commemorate. But there are those, motivated by hatred for human comfort and happiness, who want to make Thanksgiving into a day of national guilt. We should be ashamed, they say, for consuming a disproportionate share of the world's food supply. Our affluence, they say, constitutes a depletion of the "planet's resources." The building of dams, the use of fossil fuels, the driving of sports utility vehicles--they insist--are cause, not for celebration, but for atonement. What if, they all wail, the rest of the world consumed the way Americans do?

If only that were to happen--we would have an Atlantis. For it would mean that the production of wealth would have multiplied. Man can consume only what he first produces. All production is an act of creation. It is the creation of wealth where nothing before existed--nothing useful to man. America transformed a once-desolate wilderness into farms, supermarkets and air-conditioned houses, not by taking those goods away from some have-nots, nor by "consuming" the "world's resources"--but by reshaping valueless elements of nature into a form beneficial to human beings.

Since human survival is not automatic, man's life depends on successful production. From food and clothing to science and art, every act of production requires thought. And the greater the creation, the greater is the required thinking.

This virtue of productiveness is what Thanksgiving is supposed to recognize. Sadly, this is a virtue rejected not only by the attackers of this holiday, but by its alleged defenders as well.

Many Americans make Thanksgiving into a religious festival. They agree with Lincoln, who, upon declaring Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863, said that "we have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven." They ascribe our material abundance to God's efforts, not man's.

That view is a slap in the face of any person who has worked an honest day in his life. The appropriate values for this holiday are not faith and charity, but thought and production. The proper thanks for one's wealth goes not to some mystical deity but to oneself, if one has earned that wealth.

The liberal tells us that the food on our Thanksgiving plate is the result of mindless, meaningless labor. The conservative tells us that it is the result of supernatural grace. Neither believes that it represents an individual's achievement.

But wealth is not generated by sheer muscle; India, for example, has far more manual laborers than does the United States. Nor is it generated by praying for God's blessing; Iran, for example, is far more religious. If the liberal and conservative views of wealth are correct, why aren't those countries awash in riches?

Wealth is the result of individual thought and effort. And each individual is morally entitled to keep, and enjoy, the consequences of such thought and effort. He should not feel guilty for his own success, or for the failures of others.

There is a spiritual need fed by the elaborate meal, fine china and crystal, and the presence of cherished guests. It is the self-esteem that a productive person feels at the realization that his thinking and energy have made consumption possible.

Come Thanksgiving Day, when some success-hating commentator condemns America for being the world's leading consumer, tell him that he is evading the underlying fact: that this country is the world's leading producer. And then, as you sit down to dinner, celebrate the spiritual significance of the holiday by raising a toast to the virtue of your own productive ability and to America's productive giants, past and present. The Ayn Rand Institute - Opinions

I'd like to point out that I think Ol' Abe was an atheist, which would not have stood him well in his pursuit of political office, and most assuredly would not have been a positive factor in favor of helping him to unify the disparate states of the sorely-tattered Union. Drawing upon shared belief in (and servility before) a provident deity offends me and may have given Abe some conflicted moments, but he was nothing if not a most astute politician. He was correct. National Holidays are unifying occasions if they're managed effectively...

"My ancestors were Puritans from England. They arrived here in 1648 in the hope of finding greater restrictions than were permissible under English law at that time." [Garrison Keillor]

Good fortune. COMMENTS!! SPlease spread the meme. Don't smoke in bed...
 

 

 

WHERE WERE YOU WHEN KENNEDY WAS SHOT?

"A MAN SHOT DOWN IN A SOUTHERN TOWN
IN THE SUMMER OF HIS YEARS . . ."

After 42 Years the  memory of that the Weekend
Of the Kennedy Assassination Remain Vivid.

FRIDAY: November 22, 1963

, I was 21, working as a purchasing clerk at the Sucher Packing Company on the West Side of Dayton. I was assisting the stockroom clerk in counting and posting the monthly inventory of Visqueen luncheon loaf bags and bologna casings by thousands and spices and nitrites by pounds and ounces.

I worked in an office separated from the main plant and suite of offices by a sort of courtyard with loading docks at one end and our three-room outbuilding at the other. It housed the offices of the facilities engineer, the truck foreman and the purchasing group, where I had a desk across from the secretary, Sandy, and in front of the purchasing manager, Jack Gannon.

Jack was an Irish Catholic, as was I until I left the church at 19. But Jack was raised in Georgia, which separated us culturally. Jack was not only a Republican, but a right-winger who blamed every social, economic and strategic shortcoming of the United States on the Roosevelts, Frank and Eleanor, and the Kennedies.

On the 4th floor of the main plant, in the stockroom, big, black, Jim Nelson, who dabbled at the edges of civil rights activism, and I were seated on either side of his big, rough wooden desk, running down the list of supplies and checking counts, when he reached suddenly for the radio and turned up the volume. I found the intrusion of the newscast distracting, thinking we should be getting on with it, rather than listening to an account of the Presidential motorcade through Dallas. Jim raised his hand, as if calling for silence or attention. He said, “It’s from Dallas.”

I heard the words, “shots fired”. Then, there was a rambling account of the foregoing few seconds, and after what seemed an interminable length of time, more words in incomplete sentences, “President believed wounded... Not seriously wounded... Head wound.”

Jim and I looked at each other in shock. I know I did not fear the worst. It was impossible to imagine that JFK, strong, vigorous and heroic, larger than life, movie-star handsome, could be killed. I could not imagine him dead. He was human, but not mortal, not now, at 46.

I said, “I’ll call Jack.” I told the boss that they said on the radio that President Kennedy was shot. He expressed disbelief. Finally, convinced there was no joke, he calmly retorted, “Uhmm, look, Art, You and Jim have an inventory to do. Don’t call back unless the son of a bitch is dead, OK?”

Jim and I looked at each other in shocked disbelief after I relayed Jack’s comment to him. We continued the task in silence, arousing only occasionally to look dumbly at the radio. “Unconfirmed reports of a head wound... Fighting for his life.” 

Later, between 2:30 and 3pm, I was in a large storage shed counting corrugated cartons for shipping pork loins and hams, wieners and bacon, when I heards footsteps on the concrete floor behind me. I turned to see Jack, doing an exagerated, loose-limbed affectation of being relaxed or unconcerned. He said, “Art, your hero didn’t make it.”

Then he turned on his heel and sauntered out of the shed as if he had no care in the world.

"A man shot down in a Southern town in the summer of his years. . . " 
[Song, Connie Francis]

SATURDAY MORNING: November 23 found us all at work until 11 or noon to reconcile the inventory. We said little. Jack ridiculed upper management for declaring a day of mourning for the slain president and canceling work on Monday. He referred to Mrs. Kennedy as “that slut”.

Sandy exclaimed, “Jack, you’re kidding, right?”

He said, “KIdding? About Jackie Kennedy? She’s a Goddamn slut!”

Sandy was almost brought to tears. Deafening silence deadened the outrage in the room.

We had to take a recount of some lard buckets in the main plant. As Jack and I walked in silence across the courtyard, we passed a pork department foreman named “Whitey”, who hailed from Alabama. "Whitey" and Jack said not a word to each other, but their faces broke into broad expressions of glee, barely stifling giggles, as they nodded, knowingly. I said, as much to myself, or the wind, as to Jack, “The unreconstructed Southerners must be very happy today.”

Jack turned and shouted, “Hey Whitey! Art just said, ”The unconstructed Southerners must be very happy today!"

Whitey’s face reddenned, not from embarrassment, but from trying to control his laughter. He said, “YES! THEY ARE!”

2005: Jack Gannon is still living in the Dayton area. I see him from time to time at Clancy's Pub. He's in his '70s but he hasn't changed so much. I guess I have. If he has recognized me he hasn't acknowledged so. I've had no contact with him since I left Sucher's to work at a slaughterhouse across town. I'm sure I have the capacity to greet him with civility - but I would rather  just leave him be.

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well  or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any     burden, meet any hardship, support any friend,    oppose any foe to assure the survival and the     success of liberty."                              

[John F. Kennedy Inaugural Address Washington, D.C. January 20, 1961]

"The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie: deliberate, continued, and dishonest; but the myth: persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic."

[John F. Kennedy] 

Don McLean - in his great pop-folk epic, AMERICAN PIE, may be referencing the assassination (or may be not... )

"... Oh, and while the King was looking down The jester stole his thorny crown... "

 One interpretation of the lyric has Lee Harvey Oswald as the jester who ended the reign of JFK and "stole his crown."

"The courtroom was adjourned, No verdict was returned."

No verdict was returned for the assassination of JFK because the assassin was killed - (assassinated by mob-connected nightclub owner Jack Ruby) - so the court was adjourned.

"They shot him in the backseat of a Lincoln Limousine . . . "  [Song, Jerry Lee Lewis]

Doing Stand-up in Front of House Cats

A year ago in April I realized my life-long ambition to be a retired eccentric. I have prepared extensively for these days when the only commitments to be met are self-imposed, sometimes only after lengthy negotiation with myself and/or procrastination. I spend many hours reading, writing and surfing the internet. I am Master of my Domain-Name, “Minister of Rants”, from whence I blog. (That’s it?)

And I do stand-up in front of the cats. Who are these cats, you ask? They, along with my long-suffering wife of 44 years, Rosalee, are the women in my life.

Sylvia is a mostly black kitty with white tuxedo front and paws. Her white whiskers and eyebrows create a strikingly beautiful contrast with her black velvet face. Always well-mannered, Sylvia has a highly developed system of communication that runs from “Meow” to “No”. Sylvia is 14 and looks half her age. Our kitties don't DO "cat-years"!

Sylvia concedes little to age. She recently caught and killed a mouse, the second in her life. We’re pretty sure Carmen, who is more the “fraidy-cat” is the enthusiastic spectator during Sylvia’s great adventures.

 Carmen is Siamese, if you please, with lavender points and expressive blue eyes. Rosalee and I agreed to be adopted by her at the Society for the Improvement of Conditions for Stray Animals (SICSA) in

Kettering, as we did with Sylvia. Carmen had been dropped off unceremoniously from the window of a car, they told us, as is the case with so many dogs and cats, at the age of 5 weeks.

 5 WEEKS! We guess that may be why she doesn’t make that “Siamese sound”, which is an unmistakable long shriek. She probably wasn’t around her mom long enough to learn it. I think that’s a good thing.

She doesn’t really meow, either. I wasn’t sure how to characterize the usual vocalizations of Carmen until one day during the U.S. “monkey pox” outbreak of a year or two ago I saw a special program demonstrating how the virus is passed on to humans by infected prairie dogs. The cute and apparently lovable rodents had become popular as household pets. The prairie dogs were “barking” - -"Hoonh, Hoonh!"

That's it! Carmen barks like a prairie dog, usually when she’s hungry or when she is begging Daddy for a belly rub. Carmen is 11, but acts like a spoiled baby kitten. Daddy wouldn’t have it any other way.

SYLVIA
Several years ago, Rosalee and I entered Sylvia and Carmen in a cat show. Show cats, as a rule, are accompanied by adopted humans who wait on them like little royals. The thoroughbreds display uniform disdain for the entire spectacle, in particular, all the mere humans who turn out to view them. This particular group of savvy feline fanciers tacked on a separate exhibit of mostly unknown or mixed breed house cats, who, unlike their uppity thoroughbred counterparts, seemed mostly contented.

The house cat competition suffered from some unfortunate publicity that year. The winner was disqualified. It was revealed he wasn’t a house cat. He turned out to be a squirrel with a makeover. Our girls were not amused.
CARMEN
Communication with cats is either daunting or emotionally rewarding based on whether one anthropomorphizes them or logically maintains an arm’s (or paw’s) length with non-humans. We know that interactions between domesticated felines and humans are mostly instinctual, at least on the part of the cats. When we speak the cats sometimes seem to listen, though. It’s not difficult to project an emotional response onto a cat that is purring or soliciting a cuddle or letting one know it’s meal time. 

Nevertheless, I realize that most of what I hopefully infer as dialogue with Sylvia and Carmen is probably analogous to creating empty dialogue balloons over my head as I shuffle around the shack talking to the cats. (Sylvia, he’s making his noises again.)

“Hello, Girls!”

“Daddy’s home.”

“Sylvia, Carmen, Come see Daddy.”

“Kitty, Kitty, Kitty!”

Sylvia: “?”

Carmen: “Food?”

Well, it IS all about them, isn’t it? No matter how emotionally needy some adopted humans may be, we must respect the wishes of the cats, inscrutable though they may seem at times. And no matter the season of the year or cause for disruption to usual family routine, the cats will sleep 20 hours each day, thank you very much.

ART & ROSALEE

TELEMARKETERS NEED TO GET A LIFE - AND A REAL JOB!!

A stupid man's report of what a clever man says is never accurate because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand.   

[Bertrand Russell ]

A tip of the tight-fitting, brain-cramping Deerstalker Cap to YOU, Gentle Readers

See the "MAN WITH A PIPE", the photo atop the page of a red-headed stepchild in a deer stalker with a pipe? That's me, rev. Art. This is exactly the persona I am trying to project - strange . . .

“I want to find the secret of the universe and put it on a T-shirt. ($9.99 + tax + handling)”

Da Rev solicits your comments, suggestions, bitchin' and moanin'.

Yup, this blog is here to discuss RELIGION & POLITICS (& more) without fear or equivocation, but with an avowed purpose to improve the landscape, to increase the opportunities for rational discourse and to expose religious and/or political extremists and to debunk their rumors of wars and going to HELL in a handbasket.

If we can talk religion & politics without fighting, maybe others will get the same idea. Spread the meme, please. I’m not as clever as the fundies when it comes to getting the word out.

Even Aquinas said, “Beware the man of one book.”

I'VE FINALLY BECOME WHAT I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE -
I'M A RETIRED ECCENTRIC!

One of my final jobs in the global marketplace was telemarketing ... {{{ cringe }}} ...
I was NOT displaced by the "Do Not Call" list - I had sense enough to quit. WHAT A PHONY, DEMEANING WAY TO PULL DOWN A PAYCHECK! The "Call Center" is the most oppressive, inhuman, mind-numbing, uncomfortable workplace outside of, maybe, a foundry - and foundry workers make a lot more money!

Remember the soulless telemarketing lobbyists' disgusting, heart-tugging counter argument: Millions of people will lose their jobs!

Counter-counter argument: Muggers have jobs, too. That doesn’t mean they deserve to keep them.

For what it’s worth, a couple years ago, even Congress gets it right twice a year or so. They gave the FTC the authority to implement the "Do Not Call" list.

“We are confident this ruling will be overturned and the nearly 50 million Americans who have signed up for the do not call list will remain free from unwanted telemarketing calls in the privacy of their own homes,” Reps. Billy Toejam (R-La.) and John Dingellberry (D-Mich.) said in a statement.

I'm on the "Do not call list" here in my home studio/office. It has worked well, except for the occasional anti-social and/or desperate sub-cretin who has so few marketable skills that he or she ends up in a "call center" or cube farm. Sitting at a cramped computer desk wearing a headset, the employee is under a lot of pressure - to make a minimum number of calls and to secure positive responses from a certain percentage of actual people. I've been on both sides of this midway. As I said, these days I'm a respondent - or not, according to how I feel about a call. I find that with fewer calls I tend to try to make the most of the ones who slip through. I'm what's known in the telemarketing industry as a "smart ass" - or worse.

Caller: “How are YOU today?”

Rev. Art: (Who the f*ck wants to know? And why do you give a f*ck?)

“How are YOU today?”
(Bummer,

Man.

Like, I’m on “home incarceration”. Would you bring me some beer? HELLO? YOU STILL THERE?!)

“How are YOU today?”
(HEY!! ARE YOU THE !^@#%$ RATSLELFRACAS *$&# MAMMYJAMMER WHO’S BEEN BOINKIN' MY OL' LADY?!?)

“How are YOU today?”
(I’m OK. Who’s this?)
“My name is Trampalene, and I’m calling to ...
(”GET OUT! TRAMPALENE! WOW, I NEVER EXPECTED A CALL FROM YOU AFTER ALL THIS TIME. WHAT’S IT BEEN - - FOUR YEARS?

*Switch to smooth, husky delivery* (Hey, Baby, it’s about time we hooked up again.)
“I don’t know you.” Or, “Do I know you?”

Proceed to sketch the one-night stand scenario jumping quickly to grapic descriptions of sexual positions.
( Oh, Trampalene you are without a doubt the finest piece of . . .)

Yeah, it wastes as much time as the spiel would have consumed, but it’s so much more fun. And, who knows - you may convince Ol' Trampalene that she should sample a slice of the ol' direct marketer salami again!  ... click! ...

The Appointment Setters

Everyone who lives in a brick home (or, better yet, a brick rental unit) has had some dipwad call to say,

“We’re offering 50% off on aluminum siding installation on your street, because we have several other jobs at this time. This offer is good only while we are working in your neighborhood.”
(Oh? Who are these idiots, anyway? Our whole plat has nothing but brick homes (or is an apartment complex! Give me the names of these imbeciles - - let me write them down - - I think they’re ready for another kind of home!)

Da Rev loves it when storm window salespeople call. I listen politely for a while, then break in with

"Excuse me. I hate to interrupt, but I really should tell you that we live in an underground home - we don’t HAVE windows!
The usual reply is credulous: “Oh, really? You know I’ve read about those, but I’ve never known anyone who ...”
(Yeah, we save a

LOT

of energy. And you should have saved YOUR energy, too!") ... click! ...

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Good fortune. Please spread the meme. COMMENT!! Don't smoke in bed ...

THE VAST ATHEIST CONSPIRACY... ARE YOU A "REAL REVEREND"?... SERMON FROM DOCTOR OF MOTIVATION... JESUS, A GRRL?... WHEN ATHEISTS SNEEZE... SAME SEX BLAH, BLAH, BLAH... INCEST IN THE BABBLE... THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS "PARTIAL BIRTH"... OHIO'S "GOD MOTTO"!

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   Let the infidel insurgency begin!

PEOPLE ASK ME, SO ARE YOU A REAL REVEREND?

Brethren and Sistern, I’m a self-ordained Minister of Rants in the Universal Life Ministries, where Bishop Kirby Hensley, who has since tripped over a rainbow, conferred upon me the Doctorate of Motivation; I am an Atheologian, a Heathen Epistler, a Freethought Evangelist, poor but honest, and much more clever than you.

If you would like to contribute, send $20. minimum to The Church of the Gooey Death and Discount House of Worship, Metro Fairborn, Ohio, USA.

Da Rev don’t send out no crappy prayer cloths. Act now and mail in your love offerin' and Da Rev will send you a CD of Original Holy Land Hits, such as the original unwed teenage Mother Mary singin', “Rock-a bye Your Baby Jesus to a Dixie Melody”!

For now, just put your hand on your PC, and repeat after me - “It could happen, sure it could!”

Say Halleluiah! Say it again!

I AM THE DOCTOR OF MOTIVATION!!

I do affirm. Da Rev won’t rest 'til every man, woman and REPUBLICAN LOST OUT IN SIN AND IGNORANCE has a positive mental attitude. Whatever the mind can believe and perceive, it can achieve. If it were not so I would not have told it to you.

Brace up and face it! The sun shines on him that gets out in it. And the sun, my dear friends, is a-shinin ((((GASP!))) ON BOTH SIDES-uh - OF THE STREET! SAY HALLELUIAH!

For it is written, what doth it profiteth a man if'n he worketh from sun to sun and he don’t get none?! Da Rev pays attention to the little people. Da Rev knows what the little man needs-hah! Every little man NEEDS A LITTLE WOMAN (((GASP!))) ! SAY HALLELUIAH!

And don’t forget - HAH! To dig down deep in them jeans and pull out them greens. The sound of coins hittin' the offerin' plate rattles Da Rev somethin' terrible. SAY HALLELUIAH!

THANK YOU HIM! !   +   +   +

"Among mammals, a virgin birth (parthenogenesis) can only produce female offspring, for chromosomal reasons. Messiahs are mammals. Therefore, Jesus was ...
On the other hand, among turkeys, the chromosomal situation is such that all products of virgin birth are males. So if Jesus was a male, he might also have been ..."

[ - Frank Zindler, CORI, Amer. Atheists ]

AND WHAT DO YOU SAY WHEN AN ATHEIST SNEEZES?

She asked, “As an atheist, where do you turn when things get rough?”

Da Rev answered, "Or what does Da PaganBaby call out when Da Rev brings her to climax?

Seriously, I’m happy to answer:
I subscribe to a realistic alternative to theologies of despair and ideologies of violence and I embrace the material world as a source of rich personal significance and I take genuine satisfaction in service to others. I have no “god” or higher authority than me. I am what I am and that’s all that I am. At the end of the day, all we have is ourselves and, if we are fortunate, friends and family.

I believe in optimism rather than pessimism, hope rather than despair, learning in the place of dogma, truth instead of ignorance, joy rather than guilt or sin, tolerance in the place of fear, love instead of hatred, compassion and the virtue of selfishness, beauty instead of ugliness, and reason rather than blind faith or irrationality.

I believe in the fullest realization of the best and noblest that we are capable of as human beings. Prayer may bring comfort to the believer, but, as I have indicated, I would rather deal with life straight on as consistent within Nature than depend upon an entity for which I have no evidence and no reason to believe. Unlike many religionists, I have no doubt that works are more important than faith.

Rev. Art – Atheologian

I’ve been accused of vulgarity. Christians mostly, send me angry e-mails. I say that’s bullsploot. I’m reminded of the Greek proverb: “Think with the wise, but talk with the vulgar.” Vulgarity is the garlic in the salad of taste. Isn’t it? Well, damn it, I think it is!

As Gloria Steinem said:
“The truth shall set you free, but first it will piss you off!”

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SAME-SEX BLAH-BLAH-BLAH

The point is that everyone is not a Christian and the Christians are not all on the same page when it comes to cultural change. If our gummint was run according to a sacred text, this could be the United States of Iran

Please remember that for many people religion is not a search for truth but a search for security. I am always amazed at how fundamentalists and evangelicals try to put an academic face on their rather poor evangelical education. They subscribe to dogma spewed forth by people with degrees from evangelical schools like Bob Jones, Oral Roberts and Liberty Baptist that are worth something only to those who value the kind of education one receives in such a place. If you were to see a teacher’s contract at Liberty Baptist College you would find that it tells the teacher what he or she cannot teach, like evolution, for example.

These schools and the Church leaders who put pressure on them are infected with the idea that they both know the truth and possess it. This means you do not admit into your world anything that challenges your version of truth, which is the process through which a teacher becomes a propagandist rather than an educator.

Evangelicals and conservative Roman Catholics attack what they call “liberal” scholarship and, by implication, suggest that they possess “conservative” scholarship. That is self-serving propaganda. There is no such thing as conservative or liberal scholarship. There is only competent and incompetent scholarship. Competent scholarship may be interpreted in a liberal or conservative direction but the scholarship itself must be competent.

The Church will either adapt to new knowledge or it will die. Any institution, religious or not, deserves to die if it becomes irrelevant.

DUBYA and the extremely dumb and annoying senator from Pennsylvania, Prick Santorum, pick and choose their counsel from the Bible concerning same-sex marriage. Is it a matter of convenience that they overlook the Bible’s apparent sanctioning of multiple wives?

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SPEAKIN' O' SIN OUTSIDE O' MARRIAGE

What did JHWH think when Lot’s two daughters got their old man drunk and jumped his bones? Y' know their reasoning was that he was the only seed-bearin' dude from their “tribe”. It just wouldn’t do t' shack up with folks from another culture, or ethnic group, or religion or people who didn’t believe in Baptism by immersion.

So - the “flood” was a mitigating factor, you say? How high’s the water, Papa?

HOW’S THE HOLY FATHER TODAY?
Have you noticed - that no matter how ill the Pope may be, they never transport him to Lourdes for a cure ... What kind of meat does the Pope eat on Friday? NONE - you say?

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"WITH GOD, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE"
MAY BE THE STATE MOTTO - ARE YOU A "REAL REVEREND"?BUT IN OHIO, THERE’S NOTHIN' HAPPENIN'!

Bill the Cynic writes: I am gratified to see that our state legislature has begun to take decisive action to solve the problems of low test scores, school funding, decaying school infrastructures, and poor school lunches. Yes, by demanding that every classroom, lunchroom, and auditorium be graced with the state motto our busy and creative state lawmakers have once again demonstrated what must be a statehouse dictum. When you cannot do anything constructive to solve a problem, do something stupid instead.

It’s a lame motto, isn’t it - the motto - “With God all things are possible”? I think it’s divisive 'cuz everybody doesn’t have the same God. Some don’t even have a God at all. I think there are several mottos that might be more helpful - if not inspirational - at least, maybe more representative of the State of Ohio. (These were picked up by the Cinn Enquirer!).

“Ohio — Road Construction Ahead”

“Ohio — A river runs through it."

“What a state we’re in”

“With casinos in every public school basement in Ohio, all things are possible”

“With Repugs runnin' the legislature, all laws are stupid.”

With the outsourcing of jobs from Ohio, maybe this one works:
“With Home-Based Envelope Stuffing and Sausage Stuffing Entrepreneurial Endeavors, all things are possible.”

“With ‘you know who,’ all things are possible.”

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"PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION"
IS JUST A PROPAGANDA PHRASE

90% of abortions are done in the first trimester. Later-term abortions, which may incorporate “D&X” procedures, an abbreviation of “dilate and extract,” or “Intact D&E,” or “Intrauterine Cranial Decompression” procedures, are often referred to imprecisely by the propaganda phrase coined by religious zealots, “partial birth abortion”.

These procedures are usually performed for one of the following reasons:

__There are mental or physical health problems related to the pregnancy.
__ The fetus has been found to be dead, badly malformed, or suffering from a very serious genetic defect. This is often only detectable late in the second trimester.
__3rd Trimester: They are also very rarely performed in late pregnancy. The most common justifications at that time are:
__The fetus is dead.
__The fetus is alive, but continued pregnancy would place the woman’s life in severe danger.
__The fetus is alive, but continued pregnancy would grievously damage the woman’s health and/or disable her.
__The fetus is so malformed that it can never gain consciousness and will die shortly after birth. Many which fall into this category have developed a very severe form of hydrocephalus.

Again, “partial birth abortion” is imprecise language selectively coined and employed by religious zealots to try to deny women autonomy over their bodies.

If YOU call them “babies” - these mostly damaged fetuses - do you volunteer to adopt whatever is born, to nourish and care for it, spending all your time and money on it? That’d be a good thing  - IF YOU feel that way. Then the husband and wife may be able to try once again to bring a healthy baby into their world. I love happy endings.

Faith: Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel. [ - Ambrose Bierce: The Devil’s Dictionary ]

                        Pray: To ask that the laws of the universe be nullified on behalf of a single petitioner, admittedly unworthy. [ - Ambrose Bierce: The Devil’s Dictionary ]

WHEN DUBYA CAME TO DAYTON (June '04)

Bush speaks out about faith / DDN, Letter to the Editor from Paul Harris

I was one of the lucky few who was fortunate enough to ask the president a question when he was in the Dayton area. I asked him about his faith, and was surprised that even before I finished the question, he received a standing ovation.
It wasn’t because of my question, but because of his outspokenness about his faith. Say what you will about President George W. Bush, but one thing cannot be disputed, and that is his integrity, honesty, and faith in a higher power that leads his daily life.
I wonder if Sen. John Kerry, when faced with a similar question, could answer with the same conviction. Would he even answer?
Paul Harris
Dayton

RESPONSE: DDN.

June 3, 2004

/ Letter to the Editor from Rev. Art

To the Editor of the Dayton Daily News:
What a fortunate opportunity for a recent letter writer to directly question President ("Bush speaks out about faith" / DDN, 6-3-2004. The writer asked the President about his faith and then took great satisfaction in the standing ovation of the partisan crowd, apparently assuming it was an endorsement of Bush’s ubiquitous, outspoken posturing on behalf of a particular evangelical Christian worldview. The writer even wondered how Senator Kerry would answer a question about his faith.

I find this line of questioning troubling, due to the extra-Constitutional character of the exchange, and because it excludes, by connotation every American citizen who adheres to a differing life view. What part of “NO LAW respecting an establishment of RELIGION” is misunderstood?
At a time when a small cadre of principals in this administration have placed thousands of young people in harms way in Iraq, one would hope the valorous performance and sacrifice of America’s troops will not end in the establishment of another majoritarian sectarian state or theocracy.
Consequently, I do not find it helpful for the President of the United States to blandly ignore the secular, pluralistic character of this great Republic since its founding. The continuing existence of our country depends on complete separation between the government and religion. That is best for the government and for religion.

Respectfully, Da Rev

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Out behind Doc Shuler's
"Feel Good" Crystal Cathedral . . .

I think - thererfore, I am an atheist . . . 
Good fortune!
 

NOTES FROM THE INFIDEL INSURGENCY... WHAT DA REV BELIEVES... DA REV'S CLERICAL CREDS... MADALYN MURRA O'HAIR - "SAINT"?!

 A tip of the tight-fitting, brain-cramping Deerstalker Cap to YOU, Gentle Readers!

"MAN WITH PIPE"
Yup, that photo atop the page of a red-headed stepchild in a deer stalker with a pipe is Da Rev. This is exactly the persona I am trying to project - strange...

“I want to find the secret of the universe and put it on a T-shirt ($9.99 + tax + handling).” [Rev. Art]

Yes, I am a member of the Vast Atheist Conspiracy (VAC).
"I don't believe in anything unless I can eat it, drink it, drive, fuck it or find some other way to perceive that it exists." [Rev. Art]

Did Ben Franklin say, "We’ve given you a Banana Republic. It’s up to you to keep it?"

It takes an informed public to keep a Republic. How many original thinkers have you encountered lately? According to the media whores the original thinkers are all lip-synching on cable-TV.

How will we protect our Western values from the rabid dog Islamist hordes when perhaps most of us would be hard put to articulate 3 or 4 Western values?

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<<<Science and technology are distractions put in our path by Satan! That's what I, Karim Jamocha, have posted on MY website, Reverend Demon-Spawn!

BELIEF?
(So - you’re a(n) atheist, secular humanist, freethinker, "bright", et al.)? Don’t you believe in ANYTHING?)

I believe in what I know.
I believe in personal autonomy.
I believe in the essential goodness of humans.
I believe in truth. Proof. Experience. Unrequited love.

A man should believe in something - - and I believe I’ll have another beer . . .

Why do so many monotheists - Christians, Jews, Muslims, exercise so much of their time and energy trying to prove what is not only unproveable - but is false. If there are lessons for living that one derives from these scriptures, why not take it and let it go at that? What is the need to change the minds of all the others? If only everyone could/would adopt a rational approach to words written by men - then we might eliminate the cause of most wars. Then we could work on the other stuff . . .

*TAKE A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE, REV.! - doot de doot de doot de doot . . .

(Gravelly, almost whispery voice, Man): Lou Reed has officiated at a wedding recently, so I heard on the radio. I should do that. I have ministerial credentials from the Universal Life Church in Modesto, California, along with a license from the Ohio Secretary of State to officiate at weddings. I’ve thought about it. I sang at a friend’s wedding once. He married a high school sweetheart with an off-putting bumpy complexion (she worked at McDonald’s). They chose Jim Croce’s “Time In A Bottle”. I accompanied myself on my American-made 1962 Epiphone Bard model 12-string guitar. I hope you know that you have to use both hands to play a 12-banger. I’ve tried not to take it personally - but Jeff and the bride with the poor complexion stayed together only 10 months.

I doubt there are many calls for atheist or unaffiliated or none-of-the-above weddings anyway. My son got married in a civil ceremony and opted for the Mayor of a posh suburban community where none of us could ever afford to live...

Note to Judge Roid Moore, Chief Idiot Thumper of the State of Alababble, and Jay Sekulow and every parasitic public official, preacher or lawyer who continues to contend before every court in the land on behalf of religious displays on tax-payer-supported property:

Thomas Jefferson would tell you (again), "It is in our lives and not our words that our religion must be read."

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Here's hopin' the Supremes put this big rock to bed this session.

And - why does it always have to be THEIR decalogue? I mean, why not Bruce's 10 Commandments?

1. Control yourself.
2. Don’t sweat the small stuff.
3. You fuck with the bull, you get the horn.
4. You can’t learn a damned thing from people who agree with you.
5. Sticks and stones will break your bones, but words will never hurt you.
6. Power corrupts.
7. Talk is cheap.
8. Love the one you’re with.
9. You will die.
10. Shit happens.

FROM SUNDRY SUNDAY FUNDIES

We’ve all gotten these kinds of forwarded e-mails for further forwarding ad nauseum. To what purpose? I dunno. I think it may trace back to primitive instincts that urge us to band together to expel outsiders and keep the tribe pure and strong. Isn’t that a fine set of kneejerk reaction to new ideas or different people in this 3rd Millennium?

Here’s a simple missive I received. Attached was a list of people I never heard of and one former co-worker’s name. He’s a Catholic convert who finds my rationalist view of how we came to be and why we are here unacceptable. I think he owes me a beer after all this . . .

< It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God. Therefore I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a mess about having “In God We Trust” on our money and having God in the Pledge of Allegiance. Why don’t we just tell the 14% to shut up and sit down????
If you agree, pass this on, if not delete... >

Da Rev answers: I’m sorry, but I disagree. Someone on this list has apparently mistaken me for an American Taliban. I’m a citizen of these United States and I have no basis to form a belief in a supernatural hierarchy. On the other hand, I have no interest in dispelling your faith - you’re welcome to it, and I have no interest in interfering with anyone’s free expression of their religion - as long as they do not seek
support from government coffers and as long as they do not proselytize in government venues.

By the way, this grand, brave, young Republic is not a Majoritarian state, not anything close to a pure democracy. Isn’t that a good thing? Our system of laws and representative democracy, along with the separation of branches of gummint have served to protect the minorities of most kinds from the tyranny of the majority - at least most of the time.

Separation of religion from gummint has allowed religions to flourish in this country where there are more sects with more folks adhering to them than any other civilized country in the world. Isn’t that what we purport to foster in Afghanistan and Iraq?

Secularists are often wrongly accused of trying to purge religious ideals from public discourse. We simply want to deny them public sponsorship. The tone of this forwarded e-mail is anti-American. I didn't delete it. I took time to respond - and I didn't "pass this on". I welcome serious discussion from anyone who agrees to think before he or she leaps . . .

An optimist finds the glass half full; a pessimist finds it half empty.

Da Rev's a skeptic, who dares to question. Is the glass half empty, half full - or twice as large as it needs to be?

RANT, REV - RANT!

<<< JESUS IS LORD!!

You’ve seen that brief acclamation almost everywhere, am I right? To what purpose? Are we invited to join in, add to it? I can do this:

RALPH REED IS TINY!

TYSON IS CANNIBAL!

FALWELL IS SLEAZE!

BUSHCO IS LIES!

VANILLA ICE IS FORGOTTEN!

Pi R SQUARE!

EM R SOME BIG 'UNS!

Or, as I saw on a religious discussion forum one time, from an overexuberant born-again - “JESUS IS LARD!”
Blasphemy, is it? I dunno. If it is, it’s a victimless crime, ain’t it?

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I'd like to see this: Christ died for our sins, descended into Hell, and rose again on the third day, in accordance with the Scriptures . . . And all I got was this lousy T-shirt!

IS MADALYN MURRAY-O'HAIR BURNING IN HELL? OR . . .

A few years back Madalyn Murray O'Hair came to a bad end when, according to newspaper accounts, she, her son and her adopted grand daughter were murdered, probably dismembered, probably for money. Ms. O'Hair was a thoroughly unpleasant person and the alleged killer supposedly told someone that he would just love to torture her, beginning by cutting off her toes one at a time.

Ol' Mad Maddy had a son William, who struggled against being the weird little atheist son of “the most hated woman in America” (many said) and having his name on the 1962 Supreme Court case that ruled against MANDATORY school prayer in public schools. He grew up and became a Christian preacher. He preached against atheism a lot. When his Mom, brother and niece were killed, he claimed the bodies, as such, and provided a Christian burial service, against the wishes of the deceased and over the protests of the successors to O'Hair’s American Atheists organization.

What does that buy you - a Christian burial? Hmmm . . . I wonder.
A few ideas come to mind:

Ol' Mad Maddy is dancin' in the sky with Elvis.

She’s gone over the rainbow to see Dorothy and Toto.

She’s at the decidedly left hand of Jahweh ripping the wings off angels.

She’s livin' large on the BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN! strong>

Whad'ya think? Is Madalyn Murray O'Hair the stuff of mythmaking? Send your suggestions to Da Rev - just post 'em in a COMMENT!

Be sure to document any miracles - we’ll alert the Vatican. Hey - maybe we can push OUR gal out front of the equally disagreeable Mother Teresa!