Why don't I believe in a god?

I was raised in a family that usually only went to church on Sunday and sometimes Sunday evening. I know I didn't like going but most kids would prefer anything to sitting in a church. I have at least 2 brothers who are heavy into religion but it is possible one other is but really can't see it. My 4th brother is probably a believer but not the kind that attends church unless he is chasing pussy. I have one sister that is Mormon and the other is a bit indifferent to church and it seems she only has much to do with it because she thinks that is what you are suppose to do. My mother is heavily involved with  the church but it seems it is more social then hard core believing. I have no real clue about my dad since we have never talked religion and when it is talked about he seldom if ever says a thing. I was raised in a family that really wasn't to serious about religion since I really can't remember praying before meals other then on holidays or when with extended family.

      I don't even know when I decided there was no god. I have been trying to figure out what is it that has caused me to see the world of religion for what it is. I can't say it was because of reading the bible. I can't say it is because I have more then the normal education in sciences. I can't say it was because of some terrible thing that has happened in my life. The things that have gone wrong with my life are for the most part my own fault, so I can't blame it on some imaginary being. There are things I wish I had been more prepared to deal with as an adult but I can blame that on anyone other then myself. When I was younger I never really thought much about the future and what I would need to know to deal with it. I tended to live in just the moment and boy did that come back and bite me in the ass. I think it is what I see in the world that tells me there can't be some all powerful being watching us. I see so much hate coming from so many claiming their lives are based on love and peace. I don't think that we would always turn to force if religions really were about love and peace. I know there are times that the only answer is using force but if you have to lie to justify using that force you never tried anything else. I see religion using force all the time to try and push their beliefs and will hear them whining when someone pushes back. I say if your god is real force isn't necessary for that to be shown. If you can't show your god is the truth without forcing that belief on children, I don't see it as anything more then indoctrination.

It sickens me.

I used to believe that America was the greatest country in the world. Since I have opened my eyes to reality, I am embarrassed by what we are. We have politicians who have said they are only worried about insuring that President Obama doesn't get reelected. We have a former President who has admitted he ordered a person to be tortured and no one says anything in the media. We have politicians who say they will fight all attempts to change election financing. You have a small number of people who wish to kill health care reforms.

What has caused people to forget what has usually made this country great? I am not well educated in history but know enough about the history of this nation to know it is a new type of attitude that has come around. Is the problem religion? Is the problem the media? Is the problem the major money thrown at elections? I would say the biggest factor is actually the media.

What do I mean that the media is the major factor? I believe the biggest problem we have as Americans have is the fear of the truth. I saw a comment at a blog, I believe it was at vjack's blog,  where someone said how we don't see the dead women and children from both our attacks and the attacks of the Afhgan rebels. Why don't we see the effects we are having on real people? I think it is the fact that many Americans don't understand how childish we have become. It is to the advantage of religion and politicians that we have this attitude.

I read several blogs and it amazes me that so many are willing to ignore how their actions will harm others as long as they get their way. I don't see the liberal nor conservative views as helpful in solving problems. The liberals seem to think that we need to throw money we don't have at problems while the conservative want to ignore the problems we have and throw the money into the military. They expect violence to solve the problems.  Who can we turn to to help us out of this?

I would like to say me but damn if I was the one put in charge so many would truly hate me. I would end extreme greed and privilege for those who avoid responsibility yet think they are special. If I could do anything I felt would bring the world back from the brink of failure, there are some select things I would do. I would start in the USA, since I am from here. I would give the military 6 months to bring all forces home from foreign soil. That would include all military equipment and troops. I would stop all foreign aid and would provide only material support for humanitarian aid. That would mean no money but supplies that are needed. I would make all elections publicly funded and any private ads would cost triple or more to insure all sides got a fair shake in the press. I am afraid I would actually be a bit to socialist for many people yet in the end they would see the advantage of not worshiping money but the well being of all people.

Why I seldom post.

I have been asked by a few people why I don't post more and I think it is pretty simple for me to explain why I don't. Most of what I have to say is based on my own observations and not based on any evidence beyond that. Many people want evidence and the people who have that are writing on other blogs. If you look down the right side of my page you will find a list of blogs and you will find much better writers on the subjects I tend to post about. I tend to defer to these bloggers because they are much better at presenting their evidence and making it easily understood where they are coming from.

I also have to really feel passionate about something to really take the time to write about it. I haven't found anything that has gripped me in a way that I feel I need to get my words out there other then making small comments at a few of the blogs I go to. I think some of it is also the fact that at a small number of these blogs I go to atheist actually make it easy for theist to point out how atheist are elitist.


It was a few months back that I saw a comment by an atheist that really made me feel many atheist aren't that different then theist. The basics of the comment was that he wasn't going to speak in terms that those not as well educated as he was would easily understand. He didn't want to dummy down his comments. This type of attitude is really no different then the ones most theist have it seems to me. This is the ignorance of elitist and it is a shame.

Lets really look at who is more likely to change their minds about something. How many leaders of most any group change their views knowing it will take away their power? I figure though history there have been a few but they are an extreme rarity. How many leaders of a group will change their views when the people within the group start to change their views? Look at history and you will find examples of this all over the place. The people who need to have their views changed are those that are following other not the person leading. When atheist won't dummy down their comments they are just enforcing the views many theist have of them and that makes the job of people who are actually trying to make things better for all harder.

A good example of how to make comments all can understand with little work is the book The God Delusion.  Yeah I am still working on finishing it but all I have read of it has been easily understood and makes many good points without making someone feel stupid. When people have to spend half their time going to dictionaries or do some heavy research to understand a comment, the average people will ignore it.

I also think these types of elitist atheist are why I won't call myself an atheist. I don't want my views in line with their views. The elitist atheist aren't living in the same world as most people just like most theist in leadership roles aren't.

I can't help it but I love this commercial.

I know that I shouldn't but I really do love this commercial.    I'm sorry for this but I can't get enough of it. Every time I see this I just start laughing.

Honesty: Is it really important?

Am I an idiot? I had the chance tonight to make 10 dollars and cost a girl 10 dollars. I went out tonight for the first time in a few months and when I ordered my beer the barmaid give me change for a 20 even though I only give her a ten. Why should I have been honest and corrected her mistake? I was actually 5 or 10 foot from the bar when I noticed that it seemed to me that I got to much change. When I went to her and asked about it, she was really surprised that I came back. Hell she even knew I had given her a ten and was really thankful that I came back. I wonder how many people would have done what I did? I doubt most people would have done what I did. I'm not talking about just theist but I am afraid many atheist would have walked away without returning the incorrect change. I wish more people understood that money is important but not what we should really focus on. Sometimes I wish I could be like the people that have ruined the economy but I can't be. Yeah, money is important to me but not so important that I screw someone over making less then I do.

We need more of this.

A real American. I don't think I really need to say much about this link. It speaks for itself.  You will have to copy and paste to view this video. I'm not sure why it won't let me embed it in the blog.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4zwCMf8dsc&feature=player_embedded

Free Will: Does it really exist?

I have really been doing some thinking on this and am almost to the point that free will is an illusion. I would say that if it does exist it is very limited in most situations of every day life. Many of the decisions we make aren't based so much on what we really want but on what we need and what society says we should do. Lets look at many decisions we make in a day that aren't really based on what we want but what is decided for us. How many of us really want to wake up as early as we do? How many of use really want to wear what we do when we go to work? How many of us really want to drive the speed limit? Ok I do get up earlier then I really have to but that is because I use the time to catch up on the news and read any blog post I find might be interesting. I would still have to get up earlier then I would like due to work. I don't mind wearing the clothes I do for work other then I am expected to wear boots due to safety. I am not a big fan of boots but understand the safety issue. How many people don't really like wearing what they do for work? I would guess a good percentage don't like it. The few questions I asked are just a few you can ask yourself about decisions you make daily not based on what you want but what others want.

I also believe that the amount of wealth one has can make free will more easily used to decide what you are going to do. How many people have enough wealth to allow themselves to do what they want? I think there are a few but anytime you have enough extra cash don't you feel more willing to go against the norms when you feel you will enjoy it?

I guess what I am really saying is that society and those within the group or groups we belong to tend to make many of the decisions for us about what we will do every day. The more involved we all get into the lives of others the less free will we allow ourselves and others. If you look into history you find the only people who have really had any thing close to free will are those that go against society norms and live in isolated areas. I figure those that lived before society became so important had much more free will then we do today. I figure having more free will will actually make life harder for others.

I also believe that both conservative and liberals want the government to involved in our lives. I know many conservatives claim to want less government but the areas they want removed sure aren't the parts that spy into the lives of us citizens. They seem to want to use more money to oppress the citizens. Neither side is really wanting to allow the citizens of this country to run their own lives but want to impose their way of life on all.