Atheist Ethics

10:00:19 AM EST
Feeling Frustrated
Hearing the inner whirlings of my mind... One of my best memories of high school was when I had a paper returned by my well-respected English Lit. Teacher with this written on it:  “A well written and lucid paper.”
She may have said that I had written in an “articulate” manner.  Both convey the notion that I was able to get my point across in a way that would be understood by the reader.

As an Atheist who debates with Christians on a regular basis, I struggle to always be articulate.  Working in these situations with words bearing subtle connotations, and with language barriers at times, I feel that I often succeed to articulate my ideas.  Sometimes not, and then I find myself seeking to work harder to make myself understood.

Articulate is apparently, according to those who know, an insult of the highest magnitude when used to refer to Black people.  It is, so they say, implying that the Black person speaking in an articulate manner is actually speaking “White” and that the further insult is that it implies that inarticulate Blacks are inferior, that is, not “White.”

Can my mind be blown any further!?

Well….yes, it can.  Apparently according to at least one Black member of journalism considered to be articulate, the “A-word” is a worse insult than the “N-word.”  

Who knew?

While being articulate to me does not imply speaking “White” I suppose that it can mean speaking with proper grammatical style and not making much use of slang or street speak or filling your talk with idiomatic terms that would be lost on those from different locales.  However, if groups for whom those styles are common are speaking to each other in a way that the group understands, and such that their ideas are also understood, they would be considered to be articulate.  I certainly have heard high society types of considerable intelligence and education speak very inarticulately.  And while I have not understood much of some speaking Ebonics, I have no doubt that those speakers and listeners have no problem with articulation.

Being articulate does not mean you are educated or intelligent or rich or in politics or even journalism, it means making a clear point to whomever is listening to you.  Do your readers or listeners understand what you mean for them to understand?  Perhaps it goes further than that: is your point understood by most people?  When people of different backgrounds who speak a common language,such as English, understand a person then I would say that person is very articulate.

Is that an insult?

There are occasions when I find it necessary to limit my use of words with multiple syllables and to avoid compound sentences just to make myself clearly understood. The listener may be challenged by circumstances, which limit concentration, or the listener may be unaware of the meanings of some of my words, and confused by linking too much information in one utterance.  In these cases, unless I change my style, I am not being articulate.  Neither is articulation achieved when an accent is so heavy that it limits understanding between speaker and listener, and that is unfortunate, but can be a real problem when reaching across multi-cultural boundaries.  Hopefully the written word will be able to suffice in very important cases such as this, but it doesn’t help in day-to-day association.  Unless one party makes a great attempt to be articulate, our meaning is lost to each other.

When the citizens of one country fail to communicate with understanding, the lack forms a great divide in our unity.  I find it saddening that the term “articulate” is considered by many or our Black co-citizens to be an insult to their entire race and culture.  While I understand why it is “believed” so, I do not understand why it is.







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3:30:49 PM EDT
Feeling Quiet
Hearing a summer storm approaching When I began taking my antidepressants over five years ago, there was an unexpected benefit; I no longer experienced episodes of sleep paralysis.  SSRIs are a class of antidepressants, which work by suppressing seretonin.  When I recently weaned myself off of the drug…guess what?....my episodes returned, unfortunately.

I am including a link to a site which I found when I googled “sleep disorders” in my search to find out why my “waking nightmares” had returned.  The site not only discusses how to help avoid the episodes, but also of what significance such episodes have been to various religious and non-religious convictions.

I have discussed christian's revelations in other forums, and discussed whether or not atheists have any ability to relate to such an event, as well as, what atheists may consider the event to be.

I thought there might be some interest in the linked site, and possibly further discussion pertaining to Christian revelations.

As for myself, I am dismayed that I once more have to contend with sleep paralysis episodes disrupting my sleep …and my husband’s sleep…and sometimes awaken everybody in the house with my screams of terror…oh joy…

However, trying the “avoid caffeine” and “sleeping on the back” and I’ll let you know if it works.

Anyway, I wonder if religious revelations are rare in devoutly theistic people who are currently taking SSRIs.

That such episodes follow a typical pattern, and occur after typical life experiences is obvious if one reads from a batch of theistic revelations.  I accidentally caught one on the radio while tuning for my favorite talk show.  It was given by a woman named Lillie Issacs on “Focus On The Family” and was without a doubt a very moving testimony, but to the atheistic ear was riddled with every cliché possible…down to a dying father.

If my sleep paralysis episodes present me with a fantastic vision, I will be sure to present it to you.  I had some really strange ones in the past before I started my SSRI…not hoping for any like those, but I probably won’t be so lucky.

First...I must address the idea that all sleep paralysis episodes are nightmares; they aren't.  Obviously in my episodes which awaken me screaming or jumping out of bed or flinging myself over my husband to protect him, the experience is one of terror.  But in my episodes of joyful interaction with a benevolant presence, or with my husband(dreaming not physical) or in episodes where I feel that I get up and go to the bathroom or to check on the kids...there is no terror, and I just drift out of it, recognize it for what it is, and go back to sleep.

http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/S_P.html


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3:02:37 PM EST
Hearing The wind and chimes... While there are "things" that cannot be seen even with a powerful microscope or telescope, scientists have recorded effects of these very tiny or very far away objects in action. (really simple, nontechnical explanation here). And these "things" exist in what is generally acknowledged to be the material world.

Now, God and angels, Satan and devils, souls, heaven and hell; are these of the material world? If they are, then we should be able to sense them or their actions in some way. If they are not part of the material world, but are part of a spiritual or supernatural world, then those who claim to be able to sense their existence must supply the proof with their spiritual sense.

And the evidence must be such that those who cannot sense them may give authority to those who do, and then believe that the supernatural or spiritual entities and worlds do, in fact, exist. I have yet to be presented with any evidence from believers which would cause me to yield over to them the attribute of authority, so that I would choose to believe based upon that authority.

Nor, have I ever received a sense from a supreme authority giving evidence, and so I remain, an atheist.


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8:37:33 PM EST Evolutionary Creationism is when “God the Creator uses evolution to bring about the universe according to his plan.”

Theistic Evolution is when “god creates through evolution.....the view of creation taught at mainline Protestant seminaries, and it is the official position of the Catholic Church.”

These quotes are taken from “Science Friction” by Michael Shermer.

How can a creator deity which exists in an other than material realm create matter for the universe?  And, whence God?  If God is supernatural, then where did he exist and how did he gather natural matter?  If God is part of existence, that is the material realm, where did he exist before anything else existed...in what realm of nothingness?

How did a creator deity begin if not created by a previous creator..and from what was God created?

There is absolutely no reason to assume that the condensed matter was the first, nor the last, of universe creators.  Nor is there any reason to assume that matter has not always existed, nor that universes in what ever form have not always existed.

Matter has always existed or a supernatural deity has always existed?  I choose matter because it is natural...deities are supernatural.  That is, if one has a choice...why not choose that which actually is proved to exist.

If something has always existed, then there was never nothing.  Only creation speaks of nothing.  ..nothing but the creator which is not nothing nor abides in nothing, or does it?

I know the universe exists.  As far as I am concerned, it always has existed, and will exist in some form or another...perhaps collapse and expand again, perhaps bud off another universe, perhaps there are multiple universes that exist in a megaverse...eternal and never ending.


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8:33:04 PM EST
Feeling Quiet
Hearing Pachebel's Cannon in D There have been three times in my life when I have been touched with utter clarity of being; when I declared myself an atheist, when I experienced an awakening which gave me serenity forever more, and when my husband first took my hand.

Nothing about my life shrieks of greatness or gives testimony to an unlimited legacy, but my relationship with Virgil fills all the empty spaces that could be instead filled with boredom, with insanity, with less than eccentricity.

Together we form what apart would be formless, plain, common, and absolutely dull.  Love, I suspect, and lust even, but more an abiding friendship and an enduring partnership in life.

                                                           

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2:36:44 PM EST
Feeling Quiet
Hearing the sound of a southwest wind Someone once wrote to me:

<<It actually takes more guts to believe what you don't see, than to rely on only what you can.>>

Guts to believe in a God who cares for everything you do, who is with you always, who will gather you home upon death, who will punish those who do evil to you for all eternity? That isn't guts, that is eternal parental security for those who believe, and who want a parent to always be there for them. To perceive THAT as a reality, as do most of the people in North America, does not take guts.

It takes guts to say...there is no deity, I am on my own, I am to blame for my faults and mistakes and I have to pick my own self up and start over.  I have to deal with those who are evil to me in this one life I have.... and I will no longer exist when I die. The only ones I can count upon are other humans who have something in common with my life, but they need to count on me too...and that is how society works.

Life stares us all in the face, and we all have a choice. (not free will but an illusion of choice). Sometimes life sucks big time, and we gotta get up and keep going. Sometimes some of us don't make it. Sometimes some of us need assistance, and the number one form of assistance is deity belief. What ever it takes to get you through...... but a whole bunch of humans do it with only human assistance.

Of course not all theists are christians. Other people's gods comfort them and guide them, and they are just as real to them as God is to christians. And they are just as non-real to me.

With or without deity belief, humanity is going to evolve into one family. It is the future, the future of human beings. Just call me...Pollyanna.




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3:54:56 PM EDT
Feeling Hopeful
Hearing the gentle whir of my iMac I have no opposing belief to deities, I have no belief at all. I only know what I know and what has been proved, and what has been my experience in my own life. The christian deity has no place in my life, nor do any of the other deities.

I give my own meaning to my life. I am here to do my part in the continuence of my species, to make my offsprings' world better for them to live in, and to make the present as great as I can for me and my family and loved ones, because this is the only chance I get to do so.

I know that the human species will continue to expand to other inhabitable planets if we can, but I don't know when. I know that if we can't, and the human species becomes extinct, then another species will dominate our planet. Our planet didn't form just for humans, but for life in general, and life will continue until the planet ends. And that is it.

Why do we have to have a meaning or purpose beyond that which I stated. We are just another species which has come to dominance on this planet, and we may pass away without leaving a trace or we may leave a great legacy and expand that legacy beyond our solar system.

Either way, no deities need be involved...life will continue...religions will come and go...and maybe religions will eventually become less of a force in the story of humanity and our progress.

But the human intellect and will power and reasoning ability and inventiveness and ingenuity and humanism will continue despite religion and in the end we may have something worth remembering....a legacy of humanism, of scientific discovery, of ethical truths which will span the universe leaving all religions bound in volumes of mythology.

I hope all our descendants will see that day and revel in their own humanity.

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5:31:15 PM EDT
Feeling Quiet
Hearing Enya "Shepherd Moon" When my Daddy was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease quite a few years ago, he had all ready passed through a time when an early mini-stroke had made him into an irritable old man....like his brothers and father before him, and had, thanks to another mini-stroke, become the lovable, huggable, very funny, and kind fellow he was to the end.

 I know how very lucky we were to have an Alzheimer’s parent like he was.  The week before he died, we were in the ER with him over some gut pain that forever came and went, and he (now without any pain at all of course) took the nurse’s hand, asked her name, and both created and sang a song for her based on  her name.  She was delighted.

What a lovely, smiling, handsome, wonderful fellow was my Daddy...and so soft in his last years....just like hugging a snugly soft teddy...and warm, always warm, especially his hands.

He and I were bonded by an appreciation for listening quietly to beautiful music, by a gentle and peaceful attitude...serenity like breathing softly while the snow is falling......  

And I let him go....when he needed to go, before it got too late, before he was completely erased, before we could only remember the pain of extreme indignity....we all let him go as quietly as we could, surrounding him with love while shallow breaths drew ultimate serenity upon him.....

Let him go, let him go.  But I really wanted to keep his soft, warm hands forever with me..... listening...listening in the quiet.

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8:13:32 AM EDT
Feeling Hopeful
Hearing morning sounds Harmony of Humanism.  It is not one world united under one law, it is one world united under one concern for human progress. It is not one religion or one ruler, it is many religions and none, it is many rulers but all agreed on tolerance and respect for human rights. It is not perfect, it is better for progress.

It is an understanding that we share the only planet available to humanity, and a hope that what we each do will benefit the continuence. It is the final understanding, just before we destroy what is left, that will finally save humanity and lead to harmony.

A small hope, but one worthy of my faith.

Maybe I just got tired of waiting...maybe a lot of us got tired of waiting, so now we place our hope in humanity's desire to continue.


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3:18:25 PM EDT
Feeling Happy
Hearing The voice of my father inside my heart Whether or not we evolve to become our parents, there will most likely be at least one time when we will be responsible for driving some young person STARK RAVING MAD!

While we are still not-yet-our-parents, we should take deep breaths, heavy sighs, count to ten, smile and have patience.  Such little things will make you crazy about your elders....but such little things will make them happy.

What we must decide is how to make them happy while maintaining a semblance of serenity for ourselves.

Something my Mom has been after me to do...a little thing, and finally I got around to it.  I may as well have done the greatest thing in the world, parted seas, arose from the dead, popped a pearl out of my mouth for her...she was that happy.

I remember how little it took to make my children happy when they were small.  Now I am sandwiched between grown, but still needy, children, and my Mom who is growing more childlike, yet still very independent.  

HEAVY SIGH.....  A little grace is what is needed for a little patience.

That and a glass of wine.

I love you, Ma.

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