Median Age of This Website?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

I do not hide my age in general but when this site asked me whether or not to hide my birthdate, i decided to try just being me and not labeling myself as young, old, middle-aged or any other between-ness. on facebook, where i get all political, i see a lot of ageism. lots of people there want everyone over 50 out of government; others decry the outspokenness of the parkland survivors, since apparently they're too young to know anything. neither attitude makes any sense to me. let's see how far we get without knowing each other's physical ages, shall we? g

Agnostic Leader of State? When

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

I chose a date at random; i don't have a clue. i do know our democracy -- and the separation of church and state -- will need to be strengthened before we can even imagine a head of state that doesn't at least feel obligated to claim some ties to a branch of christianity. g

Religions: More harm then good?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

I checked the "bad" answer in the poll but i am not sure about the degrading beauty part. as for the depth of the harm it inflicts on its followers, there is that harm, no denying that, but i think also that people who are already in some way intellectually and/or emotionally harmed are the people who gravitate to religion in a serious manner (as opposed to irreligious folks who might believe in a god in some vague way but don't let that belief control their lives). g

Just saw this on Facebook: Why do toilet paper manufacturers need to advertise?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

They don't want you to buy toilet paper. they want you to buy THEIR toilet paper, not the other guy's! by the way, the koch brothers put out a lot of paper products, including toilet paper. i am very careful whom i patronize, and i sure don't give my money to the kochs. they can advertise all they want, but i won't buy anything they sell. g

What damage has social media caused to the individual?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

I think you have answered your title's question. i don't necessarily agree with your assessment, though. first of all, i am disabled and social media have opened the world up to me, to a huge extent, EVEN to the extent of getting out of the house and interacting more with live people! in addition, i don't use my phone for social media. oddly enough, i use it for phone calls (and taking pictures, i admit, and sometimes i upload the pictures to facebook -- they tend NOT to be of my dinner, though!) social media has not replaced social contact, not for me anyway. i am aware of the monitoring; that sucks but i am not worried about it. there are bigger things about which to worry. meanwhile, i keep my facebook page completely open to the public, so my privacy choice includes allowing anyone i don't actively block to read what i post. i know the monitoring you mention is not mainly about that, but rather following what i visit, what i buy, or at least shop for. that is annoying as i say, but not the end of the world. i know others have experiences that differ from mine -- but surely others have experiences like mine, or unlike mine but different too from your assessment. those who are being manipulated by social media may well be the same people who, without access to (or the existence of) social media would be manipulated by something or someone else. g

What is a book that has been important in the development of your worldview?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

Waaaay too many to enumerate. i know my writing style was more influenced by john lennon's books than by books i consider better written than those; i can't help it. they influenced me. but my worldview, apart from my writing style? hmm. maybe... oh gosh, i could list hundreds. before my eyes went bad i used to read an awful lot. i wish i still could. be that as it may, here are a few... or a few dozen... let's see how far i get before i have to stop myself. in no particular order: cancer ward and pretty much anything else by aleksandr solzhenitsyn, edith hamilton's greek mythology, cry the beloved country by alan paton, the danny kaye around the world story book, stranger in a strange land and pretty much anything else by robert a heinlein, the manchurian candidate, gentleman's agreement, the works of harlan ellison but in particular the glass teat and the other glass teat, all the books i could get my hands on by elie wiesel, elizabeth foreman lewis, chaim potok, stephen becker, charles dickens, thomas hardy, fyodr dostoevsky, primo levi, joanna russ (omg everyone go read all of her nonfiction, not that her fiction isn't wonderful, but her nonfiction is amazing), antoine de saint-exupéry (and pardon me if i have misspelled him), louisa may alcott, robert louis stevenson, mark twain, j d salinger, even albert payson terhune, though thankfully i did not adopt his racism, nevil shute, laurens van der post, desmond morris, robert graves, edward eager, maya angelou, ogden nash, robert lowell, john berryman, i am leaving out a boatload of important influences for sure but these came off the top of my head. oh, lewis carroll and edward lear. nonsense influenced me an awful lot, which is why lennon made such an impression, and that reminds me i should add s j perelman and h h munro to that mix. okay i'll stop but there are so many more.... g

What is your definition of integrity?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

integrity is keeping the whole whole. if you are not true to yourself, you're not whole. g

Do you care if you are remembered when you die?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

Yes. i don't know why. i won't know if they do. somehow i do anyway. g

Was becoming atheist difficult?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

Easy as pie. i examined my beliefs at the age of 15, and some remained while others fell by the wayside. god went right out the window. g

I wonder how many people here were born Atheist/Agnostic or were perhaps brought up religiously then...

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

One doesn't DECIDE to stop believing in a god, if one has believed in one. one just no longer believes. if you were a jw and left, more power to you; it takes guts to walk out on that as there is some heavy brainwashing, nay, mind control going on there. kudos to you. i was raised a secular jew, still consider myself a jew, but an atheist as well. believe it or not, that's not a conflict! i am culturally jewish but have no religion and hold no gods. as i say, i was raised quite secularly i didn't have a battle on my hand. as for science, i don't think there is an everything. there is too much to know. i'm okay with that. g

No belief in a god but belief in the supernatural?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

Which atheists do you mean? i don't know any atheists who believe in such things. but if some do, i don't know why we should expect consistency from any human beings, whether or not they are atheists. g

New to this so bit confused

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

I'm new too but i've been exploring so go ahead and ask something! g

Being various levels of non-belief, do you think “evil” is really a thing?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

Evil isn't a thing or a force but it's a characteristic some people have, or that their actions have, or that their motivations have. g

Would you prefer it if there WAS a Creator of some sort? If yes, why? And if no, why?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

i am rather happy that there isn't. life is complicated enough. g

To reuse or not to reuse, that is the question.

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

When i lived in japan, i would save plastic containers that had contained, oh, say, yoghurt, or margarine, and use them to store leftovers, or nails, or paper clips, or whatever. my japanese friends thought i was a genius. they'd been throwing them away and then going out and buying the japanese version of tupperware! i save jars -- any foodstuffs that come in boxes are susceptible to bugs, and that goes double for grains, so i seal that all up in jars. i just ground up some coffee beans that came in bags. i put my fresh grounds in an empty french fried onion container, and i put the leftover whole beans in jars. i use egg cartons to start seedlings indoors before planting season. jeans ripped beyond repair? patch material for stuff that CAN be repaired! i even made a quilt once, but i'm no good at it lol. pill bottles? i made beaded jewelry; beads can be sorted and stored in those bottles. yeah, i am big on containers, and i do use them -- i don't just save them. i go to adult daycare with my alzheimer's-afflicted fiancé, and sometimes the lunch they provide is either short on veggies or long on white bread. when i know this in advance i use a nice, sturdy saved container that once had something else in it to bring a salad along to eat with the provided lunch. i have even repurposed ugly prints on canvas, since fresh canvas is so expensive and i like to paint! and i had a cat, now gone, alas, having succumbed to a brain tumor, whose favorite toy was a nose spray bottle he stole from me! once i discovered his love for such things, i made sure not to throw the bottles away when i was done, but instead rinse them and let him play with them to his heart's content. orange peel you say? soak in white vinegar to make a wonderful nontoxic cleaning fluid! egg shells you say? calcium for the garden -- and those coffee grounds acidify the soil so your pink hydrangeas can blossom blue! we compost all our other discardable vegetable matter (even some kinds of paper); we don't have to pay for plant food. i always wrap birthday and chanukah presents in pictures i cut from old magazines and catalogues (yes, i recycle the remains). tubs that have no lids? poke holes in the bottom: instant planters! and what's wrong with a little judicious scavenging anyway? in japan, people would throw away entire sets, like 40 pieces, of china in perfect condition, and rocking chairs, and book shelves -- i missed out on a wok once (someone else grabbed it). it's not as if i rummaged through icky garbage; there were special locations to throw out furniture and stuff. i think the only furniture i had in my house that wasn't acquired from one of those sites was my fridge and my bed! (oh, i miss my rocking chairs!) as for thrift stores, what ...

I've seen the word "plausible" thrown around quite a bit here in regards to spiritual/religious ...

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

I have not seen this use of "plausible" but i am new here. maybe i will some time. if i did see it used that way, with regard to what i consider the supernatural, i, too, would balk. i don't find such things plausible at all. g

What is your Idea about the "SUPREME BEING"?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

The answer, if any, to your last question depends on what you mean by "reason." (i like sushi because it tastes good.) people use the word to imply someone's will, and if this is what you mean, then you have to say whose. other people use the word to mean "cause." (the reason the lamp fell is that someone bumped into it -- but it has nothing to do with the will of the lamp, or necessarily of the bumper.) assuming that someone who doesn't believe in a supreme being has no reason to live is not logical. on what basis do you make this assumption? the willpower of a supreme being is the only reason one should live? or is that the only cause of our living? i don't buy that. as for what DOES cause our living, i am interested in scientific matters but i do not pretend to be well enough versed in them to be able to explain such things to you, nor vain enough to pretend i understand them completely whether or not i can express them cogently. my inability in no way reflects on the way things work. things chug along with me just fine, did so before i was born and will, i trust, continue to chug along after i am gone. even if NO ONE knew how the universe worked, even in part, that would not be a reason to just grab an ancient belief system and cling to it just to have something in hand. g

Does society owe lazy or stupid a living?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

how do you define stupid or lazy? someone perhaps who thinks "there" means "their"? and if so, which is it -- too stupid to know the difference, or too lazy to learn it? how does THAT feel -- being judged by someone who doesn't know you? maybe you used voice and it put in the wrong word; maybe you were tired and typoed. maybe someone who can't find a job isn't lazy; maybe a disabled person doesn't have a missing limb and YOU can't tell that person is disabled, and yet that person -- me, for example -- is? maybe society shouldn't make assumptions about a person's value. maybe the person who doesn't work now worked for a lifetime and contributed more to society than the clerk who makes the judgment. is my answer a little bit offensive? well, maybe loaded questions are offensive. but i'll now answer it straight anyway: i would rather 10 lazy or stupid people got benefits so that 90 others who "deserve" it (again, by whose standards?) wouldn't be left to rot. however, studies show that there is extremely little welfare abuse among recipients. providers abuse the system -- not, in general recipients. g

I hate when my congressman emails me to "take action" on an issue.

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

i'll add one more thing: if your congressman asks you to take action but doesn't say what action, maybe your congressman is indeed sending an annoying email. if i knew anything about the congressman, i would know how to respond: if i liked the congressman, or at least didn't dislike him/her, i would write back and ask "what kind of action do you want me to take?" if i didn't, then i would unsubscribe and/or block. g

I hate when my congressman emails me to "take action" on an issue.

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

i have a different take on it. often a congressperson or senator asks me not for money but to show support that would make his/her job easier. a representative who can show congress what the public wants theoretically has more of a chance of making that happen than one who doesn't. sometimes it is a matter of helping your rep stay in office, in which case knocking doors or helping people get registered to vote would be a good course of action that citizens can do, that reps can't do alone. sometimes it's about an initiative that may end up on a ballot; knocking doors or talking to friends about why to vote for or against an initiative, and voting for or against it oneself, is what is needed. yesterday i went to a labor day bbq hosted by my congressman, who is running for attorney general of my state now. he's a good guy and he wasn't asking for money. he was asking for help getting out the vote (not just for himself). i see nothing wrong with that. but if you don't like getting email from your elected officials, it's easy enough to get off the list. g

What if you are wrong and there IS a god

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

Well, the god you address is a nasty creature but you address him as if you believe in him and are angry. atheists are often accused of being angry at god, which is ridiculous because you can't be angry at someone who doesn't exist. the observations you make about the particular god you've chosen to observe are good and valid observations... of a particular fictional character. i can't tell from what you wrote whether you're just riffing on how it would be IF such a god existed, or whether you really do believe in one and don't like him/are angry at him, which, again, is NOT the definition of "atheist" (no matter how much some theists love to tell us it is). i am not accusing you of not really being an atheist. i am just telling you the impression your post leaves, at least how it impresses me. now, i am not worried about a hell (or a heaven for that matter -- it sounds terribly boring anyway!) since if i don't believe in a god, i don't believe in hells or heavens either. but let's imagine for a minute that i am wrong. is the god that turns out to exist really the kind of god who punishes people for being mistaken? then maybe that is also the kind of god who punishes people regardless. is the god that turns out to exist a forgiving, reasonable god? then well oops. my point is, finding out there is a god or gods is not necessarily the same thing as finding out there is a hell or heaven or finding out that the god that exists has any particular interest in whether or not i believed in him/her/it. i don't give it a lot of thought. finding out there is a god or are gods after all is about as on my list of things to worry about as finding out i am really a unicorn and my horn got bitten off by the tooth fairy. but if i try really hard to imagine there is some kind of god who reveals him/her/itself to me, presumably after my death, i still have to imagine WHICH god(s), and what KIND of god(s) before i could imagine what, if anything besides "oops," i would do or say to that entity. g

What is the bible to you?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

The christian bible is nothing to me. i have not read it and cannot comment on its contents, other than that what little i have seen seems inconsistent and, well, rather a reversion to paganism from its presumed origin, judaism. as an entity, setting aside its contents, it is, i am aware, a patched-together, much edited, much censored, much tweaked collection of forgeries, purporting to be about a guy who (if he even ever lived) had been dead about 60 years by the time any of its purported authors began to write about him. if he existed, he was jewish, and those purported authors god pretty much everything wrong about him, and emperors, popes and kings not only selected which writings should be included and heavily changed the writings for their own political purposes, but retroactively reinterpreted the jewish bible (without understanding a damned thing about judaism) to fit in with their version of the christian one. the jewish bible is a collection of writings, by humans, that range from creation mythology (talking serpent, interesting!) to genealogical records (all those begattings -- they're so boring, they HAVE to have some basis in reality; there could be no other logical reason for their inclusion!) to fabulist tales which may or may not have some basis in reality. was there a king david? i like to think so. i like harps. i like imperfect people. he is certainly drawn as imperfect. i don't get how, within his story, modern folks interpret the bits about onan as life instructions, but there you have it: a book written by committee is going to have major flaws. i can't figure out why the science channel and the history channel spend so much time trying to explain the bible (and they don't really define "THE" bible). they may as well try to explain harry potter (i wouldn't watch that either, but it would make as much sense). i've read shorter novels and better written ones, and more interesting ones, but i've read worse as well. no one founded a religion on most of my reading list, and that certainly does set the bible apart. g

Did you ever notice about history?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

Since the losers don't get to write the history books that is unlikely. g

As atheists how many of us have set atheistic goals to be accomplished by a certain time ?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

I don't feel an ongoing need to explain myself or "convert" people to atheism. sometimes i feel a need to correct misapprehensions, either about atheism and atheists in general or about myself as an atheist. often i feel the need to act politically to combat the erosion of the wall between church and state. i don't have atheistic goals. i have human goals. this human happens to be an atheist. g

Nine not-so-good reasons to be an atheist | Pakistan Today

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

But... i only have one reason for being an atheist. i think there aren't any gods, and "atheist" is the word for that. a reason for thinking there aren't any gods? i wasn't aware i needed one. i think one needs a reason to think there ARE gods. as for the listed reasons, 1 is ridiculous. thinking something is evil isn't the same as thinking it doesn't exist. 2. is true but not a reason to be an atheist; it's just a fact, and people may make of that what they will. 3. science isn't a belief system. 4. i don't need an EXCUSE to become an atheist! i didn't even become one; i just realized that there were no gods. it wasn't a decision. it was a realization. i was kind of sad about it. i liked my god. realizing he was fictional wasn't traumatic or anything but it was as i say, a little sad. 5. free will's being incompatible with god only holds true if that's how your particular god operates. some people believe in gods who just sit back and don't interfere with human activity. belief in a god doesn't automatically mean belief in the god of the bible. that reason is a bit culture-bound. 6. it is not unreasonable to ask for proof when someone asserts something ridiculous. however, i am not seeking proof. i don't seek proof that pigs can fly either. i know well enough no such proof is coming. i'd be pretty skeptical if someone did show me a flying pig. wouldn't you be? 7. i have never heard bad theistic behavior used as an excuse for atheism. atheism isn't about what you think of religionists. it's just a belief that there are no gods. theists make up ALL kinds of crap about why they think we hold no gods. this would be a bad reason, but it's not anyone's actual reason! 8. this is a good reason not to follow a religion. i don't know anyone who uses it as a reason not to hold any gods. 9. it's cool to be prevented from running for office, be mocked by religionists and be subjected to these nine ridiculous assumptions about why atheists are atheists? i don't THINK so! these are not nine bad reasons to be an atheist. these are nine bad, incorrect assumptions ABOUT atheists and why they're atheists. g

Who was the first person you told that you were an atheist?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

Oddly enough, when i realized that i held no gods, i didn't make any announcements. i suppose i must have mentioned it to my then-best-friend (in school); i know we discussed it. it turns out she didn't believe in any gods either. it really wasn't something that ordinarily came up in conversation in most settings. my family never discussed such beliefs. we were secular jews. "what do you want for chanukah?" was about as close as we ever got to discussing religion. g

Are you an open or closet agnostic/atheist, and why?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

I am open, always have been. i don't live in circumstances that threaten me physically for being an atheist, and i am confident enough in this area (by no means ALL areas!) not to be threatened mentally by the disapproval or misunderstanding of others. that is NOT to say we are not discriminated against! there are still a lot of states where atheists can't run for office; there are people whose families disown them for being atheists, or even just joining a different congregation. people are attacked and killed for their religions and sometimes for their lack thereof. i don't know how i would behave if i found myself in such situations, but i do not find myself there, and am open. g

For atheists - what makes you believe no deity exists?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

The concept of their being a god, or gods, seems ridiculous to me. i can't entertain a "maybe" about it; it's like reserving judgment on whether or not the tooth fairy exists, even after you've seen your mom sneak a quarter under your pillow (is that still the going rate?) the line between not believing in something and believing in the absence of something is slim, and sometimes (not always) just semantic (not to knock semantics). i don't go around trying to convince everyone there are no gods, but i don't go around wondering either. i think that makes me an atheist. to me, an agnostic feels the verdict is still out. i just do not feel that doubt. g

How to Be Happy

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

You can be happy ABOUT certain things without being happy as a person (i am not saying you're not happy as a person; i'm just pointing out the difference). i have a lot of real problems, some of which may render me homeless in the not-so-distant future, and some of which may render me dead as well (in which case i won't mind being homeless, unless that precedes my death). other things rightly concern me as well. i am still capable of laughing when i watch murphy brown in syndication, or eat lox on a bagel, or kiss my guy. that is momentary, situational happiness and collectively may raise my mood, but it doesn't make me a happy person. i am doing what i can toward solving my serious problems but i am also aware that i cannot solve every problem and i really haven't got a good chance of avoiding disaster. this doesn't make me a pessimist, and it also doesn't mean i am causing my own unhappiness. in fact, micro-managing in some areas of my life would be tantamount to avoiding seeing the big picture and hastening the disaster. i don't think there is a solution. i don't think there is a formula. everyone's situation is different, and everyone's happiness is predicated upon different things. g

Bible-Thumping Democrats Should Be a Curiosity - TheHumanist.com

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

I've done it myself -- speak the language of the opposition. calling on separation of church and state just raises sessions' hackles, since he has even SAID he doesn't believe in that separation. better to correct him within his own realm. speaking of correcting, it's suffer the little children to come to me. suffer means "allow" in this context. it has nothing to do with what we think of as suffering. by the way, i would not consider clinton's response anything remotely resembling bible-thumping. g

Do you think marriage or relationships are a privileged position?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

You cite two different issues. one is that open marriages turn out not to be as open as they promise to be. the other is that society expects us to be married and considers single women as inferior. i will address the second issue first. live your life the way you feel is right and to hell with those who want you to conform. be an example that disproves what people think, if you care what they think. as for the first issue, marriage may or may not be a privileged state, but the situation of open marriages is not proof of that. if you want to deal with couples instead of individuals, then you will have to deal with jealousy, and hierarchy. it will always be there. i don't know a cure for it. it's human nature. marriage may be a societal construct, but human nature isn't. g

For all the Agnostics are your Political Party choices as "Independent" as your religion or does ...

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

Oh these are nice thoughts indeed but they bear very little relation to reality. first of all, if you're really independent, you do what you think and feel, and that means voting for the people who say and do what you like. i like what most democrats say and do, and i can't stand what ANY republicans say and do. i don't have to eschew democrats because of the damned WORD "independent." second of all, voting third party gives us republicans, so if you vote third party, you're not independent; you're republican. g

How do you tell religious people that you're an atheist?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

I don't have one way of saying it. there are occasions on which the subject may come up. i might say "i'm an atheist" or i might say "i hold no gods" or, when appropriate, "i'm not christian" (which may then be followed by clarification -- but it DOES tend to be christians who bring such things up). if asked, i certainly am open. if not asked, i might mention it myself, depending on the context, or not. i don't introduce myself "hi, i'm an atheist" but i tend to let people know if i have a continuing relationship of any kind. there are no circumstances under which i lie about it. g

Should public nudity be legal?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

I think if everyone was publicly naked, there would not be less (nor more, i hasten to add) sexual violence, but there might be less stigmatization of the victim, since no one could try to blame the victim's attire for the assault. on the other hand, patriarchy would still find a way to assert itself. anyway, i think we'd be better off as human beings if we were not compelled by law or even tradition to hide ourselves. clothing should be for protection from weather or for adornment when desired, not to cover up some secret that's no secret because everyone has more or less the same couple sets of parts. i view the illegality of public nudity much the way i view not having women in the classroom because we might distract men from their studies. it's silly. g

are you afraid of death?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

I am afraid of dying more than of death. i definitely do not believe in an afterlife, reincarnation, a soul that just sort of floats around, ghosts or any other supernatural thing, so death won't hurt; i just won't BE anymore. i don't know why i should care what happens in the world after i die, since i won't know about it, but somehow i DO care. i want my writing to be read and i want people to remember me. that may be foolish but it is how i feel. g

How comfortable are you with the word "Atheist" ?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

I am an equal-opportunity atheist. my atheism certainly includes the tooth fairy and santa claus. i'm not worried about it :-)) g

Advice needed please

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

With people outside your family, maybe there is nothing you can do, especially as you work for a church. with your family... you can be subversive. ask little questions designed to make them think, without coming out and saying "this is untrue." for example, you could ask "who created god?" or "find me six different translations of the bible and tell me something that is very different in each translation." someone should ask you "why are they so different? which one is right?" this will lead to a discussion of who wrote the bible. it may take a long time to chip away at the brainwashing but trying to do it fast will just bring up the defensive walls and it'll be harder to get through. g

Being judged

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

You can't control what other folks do, unless they violate your space. if people insist on judging you, you can only control your own reaction to that. if strangers judge you, it should be easier to be philosophical about it. when someone you care about judges you, that can hurt, but then, on the other hand, with someone about whom you care, you can discuss the matter and try to explain yourself. it doesn't always work. sometimes you just have to live with being misunderstood. but race traitor, wow, people who say crap like that can be dangerous! be careful of your personal safety! geez, you have to like the same kind of music or risk being called a traitor? g

Should religion be taught in schools?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

Of course not. not in public schools, anyway, paid for with our tax dollars. that violates the separation of church and state. teaching children that religions exist, where they came from, what they mean and how they differ can be taught in schools. that's not the same thing as teaching religion. not teaching religion is not the same as ignoring anything. it's the same as obeying the law. teaching ABOUT religion and teaching religion are not the same thing. g

How do you deal with Door-knockers?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

I have been SO lucky! i had ONE pair (always a pair, right?) of door knockers, and that was in japan, where i lived for a decade. they were mormons, and they got mad when i wouldn't open the door, and were quite rude. i reported them to their mormon superiors. i forget whether i mentioned, in reporting them, that i had told the knockers, quite truthfully, that i was naked and thus could not open the door. meanwhile, i was bothered by mormons every time i went to a kinko's in japan; i got them to leave me alone by answering their inevitable "have you heard the story of joseph smith?" with "yes, i have. have you heard the one about the rabbi...." and telling them a nice long story i knew about a rabbi. you should have seen the smiles freeze on their faces! g

For those of you who are atheists and were from a Jewish background like me.

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

I never did have anything like jewish guilt. i love the high holidays. it is hard to say the god parts in the service unless i just think of those parts as fiction -- i mean, i love doctor who, too, so that's not so hard! -- and the messages, about repentance (not to be confused with jewish guilt, but rather to be taken as a call to reassess one's behavior annually), about forgiveness, about caring for the world around us, all of those are good messages. my experience of the sermons in the services is that they're surprisingly devoid of religion and instead full of philosophy. i always liked the humanism of judaism. i feel a bit sad that it all gets attributed to an imaginary entity, but at least in judaism the imaginary entity has no gender nor any corporeality, so there is no possibility of, say, its having a son who then dies for anyone's sins (very different from the jewish concept of sin, anyway). if i had been raised christian i would find it much less pleasant, i think, to revisit christian ritual, or celebrate the holidays. i am not sure that this feeling is logical but it is how i feel. g

What's the most ridiculous experience you've had with religion?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

There are so many, including the folks who assure me i cannot be a good person if i don't believe in god, since i am being good of my own volition and not in obedience (i'd have thought that worked the other way around); the people who insisted to me that atheism is a religion because i BELIEVE something (and i also believe my cats love me, but that doesn't make that belief a religion) and those who tell me i am going to hell, as if that will scare someone who doesn't believe in hell. but probably the most ridiculous experience was when i was car-pooling in to my job at the department of justice and heard a chanukah song on the radio. i'd never heard one on the radio before, and although i don't believe in any gods, i do identify with the culture of my people, and hearing the song made me happy. (i have a couple of favorite christian songs too, and i certainly have never been a christian!) so i got to work and mentioned hearing the song to a coworker. her response was "well, if you don't believe in jesus christ what have you got to sing about?" i hadn't told her i was an atheist (we weren't that close and she had never asked) so i decided to answer in a manner she might be able to understand. "his father," i said. "huh?" "you know... god?" she frowned, and then said, "well the catholics have been suffering a lot longer than the jews anyway!" -- and with that she huffed off. there is just no pleasing some people. g

Proof of no god?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

Atheism's premise that there are no gods is a religion the same way being bald is a hair color. is not believing in the tooth fairy also a religion? how about not believing in unicorns? you are certainly entitled to remain a skeptic and an agnostic but i do take issue with your labeling atheism a religion. as for proof that there are no gods, the onus of proof is on those making the positive claim. if we have to prove there are no gods, we have to prove there are no unicorns too. we'd be awfully busy with an awfully long list of imaginary beings to disprove. bring me a unicorn and then we'll talk. g

Should I attend a wedding at church as an atheist?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

I cannot say you are being silly if a church building bothers you; i can only say it wouldn't bother me, and i have never been a christian, and have been an atheist for half a century. i don't know whether telling you how i feel about it will help, but i'll tell you in case it does, and hope for the best :-)) you are allowed to rethink your promise to yourself on this basis: a church is a building. to you it represents religion, and that is what it usually represents, but it doesn't have to threaten you. it's just a building. if there is no god, you're not walking in the shadow of a god by entering the building. to me christianity is getting worse and worse, more and more intrusive, not only into the lives of nonbelievers but into the lives of other-believers, and interfering in american politics to a disgusting extent. however, if i were in london, i would definitely visit the parish church of st. martin-in-the-fields at about 12:45 on a weekday, since that church has wonderful chamber music concerts, free for anyone who shows up before 1:05 (and the pews fill up fast). i have been to churches and synagogues (and on beaches!) to see friends and relatives get married. i wasn't injured, i didn't feel as if i was tacitly accepting the religion or the deity of the place of worship involved (i didn't turn into a mermaid on the beach either) and i hope i made my friends and relatives happy by being there. so regarding your promise, i think you were promising yourself something different from what you thought you were. you did not want to enter religious buildings -- but buildings cannot be religious. if you do not believe in a religion, then you do not believe in the sanctity of a mere building, even if it is used for religious purposes. you are therefore not being a hypocrite entering such a building for a purpose that has nothing to do with your worship of a god, and will not make you appear to worship a god. you know, and everyone else will know, that your presence isn't about that, but, rather, about witnessing the happiness of your daughter and your son-in-law. (keeping good relations with his family, without compromising yourself, is a good thing, too!) g

How old were you when you came to disbelieve?

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

I was 15. i was raised as a secular jew (i had to phone my folks long distance, as an adult, to ask them if they believed in god, when someone asked me about it and i didn't know!) and decided, at age 14, to become more religious. after a year i decided that i liked judaism but not the jews my age i encountered in shul. they seemed to be there to prove something; i was there to learn something. about a year later i discovered that something my parents had told me as fact wasn't true: boys with long hair were dirty and rebellious. i could see that this was false. i had believed them! i wondered what else i believed that wasn't so? i did a bit of belief-examination and god went out the window pretty fast. i promised myself to reexamine my beliefs periodically and i have been true to myself. i still like the humanistic aspects of judaism, and will always culturally be a jew, but as i age i am more and more disgusted with what i call superstition, and i very much doubt i will "find god" (i'm not looking!) even on my deathbed. g

The need for religion, not God came up today.

genessa comments on Sep 2, 2018:

Religion may bring the illusion of order to an individual's life. since order is not a normal characteristic for individuals, the illusion is pretty easily shattered, unless to that illusion one adds DElusion, rituals may feel calming to come. i even enjoy some rituals now and again (lighting the chanukah candles, for example) but neither rely on them for a sense of well-being nor mistake them for more than they are. i really enjoy passover a lot but have never read the same haggadah two years running. i don't WANT to do things by rote, rote activities lose their meaning. on passover i want to think about how slavery has not been abolished in the world, not even in the usa, and how until everyone is free, no one is free. one does not have to believe in an imaginary boss to appreciate those thoughts. one does actually have to think, though. so one can use ritual to stimulate thought, or to replace thought. i have reason to believe most religionists use it, and religion itself, to replace thought. no wonder ritual seems so calming to such folk! g