Author Archives: Jen

About Jen

Jen isn't quite sure when she lost her mind, but it is probably documented here on Meditatio. She blogs because the world needs her snark at all hours of the night... and she probably can't sleep anyway.

Reflections on Atheism (VII)

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I reading my Twitter feed a few days ago and saw some tweets from Jen McCreight of BlagHag who was frothing at the mouth with anger. Why pray tell? (No pun intended. Seriously.) A student at a Louisiana high school had protested against a school-sponsored prayer being offered at graduation and was receiving death threats. (Hemant Mehta of Friendly Atheist has a timeline of the events.) His parents have disowned him and he has moved to be with his brother in Texas.

Oh boy…

As I’m all about providing fair and balanced commentary on this blog, let’s look at both sides of the coin.

HEADS!
As irritating as it might be for Damon Fowler to have to sit through a prayer to a deity in which he doesn’t believe, his classmates’ wishes for their graduation ceremony got ignored because one person felt their rights were violated. It sounds like those students who planned the graduation and chose the speakers *WANTED* this prayer to be part of it and the majority of their classmates agreed. It’s unfair that the desires of many got ignored to appease one person and I understand people being upset over it.

TAILS!
This is a *PUBLIC* school and having a prayer at graduation is a violation of Lousiana state law and a violation of the First Amendment. Yes, this is the Bible Belt and yes, the vast majority of people are Christian but it’s a public ceremony and Damon should not have had to participate in something that violated his right to freedom of religion.

My Take
Neither side is in the right here. Damon should not have reacted as he did but… he also didn’t deserve to receive death threats, his family disowning him, one of the teachers from the school making some really nasty comments about him and how he “hasn’t contributed anything to graduation or to [his] classmates”, or any of the bad things that have happened to him. It is really tragic that these things had to happen.

Update and a Compromise
Hemant put up a ChipIn widget on his blog to create a scholarship for Damon and as I’m blogging this, people have donated $6,657 toward Damon’s education. Duuuuuude… The Freedom From Religion Foundation has also given him a $1000 scholarship. In other words, people are making sure he’s being taken care of during all of this. His sister and older brother have gotten (or are getting him) to Texas to live with his older brother.

OK… so here’s the compromise that could theoretically have happened if all parties had reacted rationally and not emotionally: the prayer could have been replaced with an invocation that was some other creative form like a poem, a song, or even a reading from a famous speech. For example, the San Jose City Council has an invocation before every meeting and I’ve never seen it actually be a prayer given by a clergy person. Then again, this is northern California and hardly a stop on the Bible Belt so people would probably not tolerate a prayer being given. (I live in a rural community here so it could theoretically happen.) Another alternative would be to have a baccalaureate service separate from the graduation where the student giving the prayer was invited to participate in the service.

As I said before, it is tragic that things had to turn out this way.

7 Quick Takes Friday — Positives If Apocalypse Happens Tomorrow

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7 Quick Takes

According to Harold Camping at Family Radio, the world is ending tomorrow. With my tongue firmly planted in my cheek, here are the positives of the apocalypse if it does indeed happen tomorrow.

–1–

No campaigning for the Republican ticket in 2012. The election isn’t until next November. I don’t give a rat’s butt about who is running and who isn’t. And seriously, I don’t think the Republican Party can put forth a candidate that I’ll actually *like*.

–2–

No more “Real Housewives of ______”. The mere teasers for the shows make me turn off the TV and run screaming. I’m looking forward to less botox, less hair-pulling, and less DRAMA in heaven.

–3–

Getting to see my deceased loved ones again. I am missing my grandfather (who is in the picture in the frame holding my hand when I was five years old) a lot and the Rapture would mean that I’d get to see him. There are some other people I’d be excited to see as well.

–4–

No more fibromyalgia pain. I’m not going to lie — Revelation 22 describing no more pain and suffering is really tempting when random parts of your body start hurting at bizarre times.

–5–

No more church politics. I’m getting kind of sick of churches splitting left and right and hearing how ________ aren’t Christians or how ________ are deluded. C’mon people! We love Jesus. Let’s focus on that!

–6–

No more Fox News and Bill O’Reilly and all the talking heads. Enough said.

–7–

It’s giving Christians a chance to laugh at ourselves and joke about things. I can’t think of anyone in my Christian circle of friends who believes that the world is going to end tomorrow. However, it doesn’t mean that we’re not enjoying the opportunity to laugh at ourselves a bit while feeling embarrassed about being associated with the Family Radio crowd. It was actually one of my pastor friends who alerted me to the post-Rapture looting plans on Facebook. 🙂

(For more of this, head to Conversion Diary.)

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: May 16, 2011

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY

Outside my window… rain that started around 5:30 this evening.

I am thinking… about some tenuous situations going on right now.

I am thankful for… my snuggle time with Daniel every morning while watching PBS cartoons.

From the kitchen… veggie chips and pub cheese from Trader Joe’s. (It’s comfort food.)

I am wearing… an old blue shirt and black sweats

I am creating… this entry and plans for global domination.

I am going… to UCD Medical Center at some point this week for Daniel’s bloodwork.

I am reading… The Body in the Belfry by Katherine Hall Page.

I am hoping… the birthday gathering happens on Saturday and we’re not all raptured away. [/sarcasm]

I am hearing… He Man and the Masters of the Universe on TV.

Around the house… trying not to think about this.

One of my favorite things… Trader Joe’s Iced Tea and Lemonade

A few plans for the rest of the week: my birthday on Thursday and whatever comes of the situations.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing… Long long ago in a galaxy far far away… (My parents are still bitter about having to give up their tickets for The Empire Strikes Back because my brother and I came two days early.)

Sean and I as babies.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

Reflections on Atheism (VI)

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I have to say that the beginnings of the comments from Peter and Sean to my last post saddened me.

From Peter:

First off, thanks for stating the blindingly obvious. I genuinely mean that: I??ve read all too many blogs and forum posts which say that morality without religion is impossible, so thanks for being reasonable.

From Sean:

I??m glad that you so easily come to the right conclusion here.

The reason it saddens me is that it should be pretty obvious that atheists do have morals. I even posited a number of rules or norms in my last post on which we could pretty much all agree and both Peter and Sean seemed to agree that those were fair game though Peter didn’t like the thought of rules as the basis for morals.

One interesting thing about Peter and Sean being the atheists with whom I am in dialogue is that Peter is in the UK (national church of which the queen is head) and Sean is in Colorado which is home to the Focus on the Family people. I’m in northern California which tends to be a fairly secular part of the U.S. compared to the Bible Belt, the Midwest, and maybe even parts of New England. The UK apparently has had atheist prime ministers and has what I’m guessing is a more secular society than the U.S. does apparently. As far as having a secular society is concerned, I think a problem is that there is division on what would be too secular and what would not be secular enough. An extreme example is Turkey which is a Muslim country but… veiling is forbidden in government and in a university setting. Another example would be the burqa ban in France which wants to make men and women the same… but is disenfranchising a number of Muslim women who want to be niqabis because they view not doing so as being immodest. (Note that this is the women who are making this distinction, not the men.) Of course, you can cite a number of Muslim countries as examples of the extreme of not being secular, the worst offender probably being Saudi Arabia where churches/synagogues/temples are banned.

So what would it look like for the U.S. to be a completely secular country? Things I’m envisioning:

[+] No laws banning homosexuality or abortion
[+] Evolution taught in school instead of the Genesis account or Creation Science
[+] No National Day of Prayer
[+] The Bible not taught in public schools except perhaps as literature

Other than not having laws banning homosexuality and abortion, this is pretty much what I grew up with in California. We *DID* have to read the Bible for Junior Honors English and AP English but that point of that was understanding the context of the literature we were studying, not for the purpose of indoctrination.

OK… ready for comments on this.

7 Quick Takes Friday — Weird Things About Me

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7 Quick Takes

I figured I’d do one of these posts where I name some quirks that I have.

–1–

I separate M&M’s, Skittles, jelly beans, and other candies by color and number. Why yes, I have seen “As Good As It Gets” and the jars of separated candies in Jack Nicholson’s apartment. Shut up.

–2–

I like my drinks cold. Stuff has to be refrigerated and cold for me to drink it. I even chill my glass.

–3–

I like my sheets cold. Jon knows not to “warm my spot” on the bed. The sheets have to be reasonably chilly. Cat-warmed sheets are acceptable however.

–4–

I hate watching movies of books that I’ve read. I’d prefer to use my imagination to visualize characters and watching someone’s interpretation of them ruins it for me. (I’m also a stickler for following the book which is why I haven’t gone beyond the third Harry Potter movie.)

–5–

I’m not a fan of pop-culture Christianity. Many people swear by The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren. I’d rather swear AT it. (Seriously, I hated the book so much that I had to stop at Day 32 because I was going to burn the thing if I didn’t.) I’m also not a fan of Joel Osteen (long rant there), Joyce Meyers, T.D. Jakes, or anyone else like that. I am, however, a fan of Billy Graham and Tony Campolo because they preach the Cross and repentance and not the patsy crap that the others espouse.

–6–

I have to have the tabs on scrollbar (or whatever that bottom thing is) in a specific order. I think we’ve established that I’m a little OCD.

–7–

I prefer the older hymns to modern worship music. Give me a good hymnal any day. I could care less about overhead projectors — I want to read the music and words and turn the pages. The older the hymn, the better.

(For more of this, head to Conversion Diary.)

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: May 9, 2011

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY May 9, 2011

Outside my window… Sunny and warm.

I am thinking… about the stuff for Medi-Cal (getting stuff from February covered) and the home visit for the Regional Center.

I am thankful for… being able to participate in the Promise Walk for Preeclampsia with my family. Also for Mom and Jeanette taking over Daniel duty for two hours on Saturday so I could sleep.

From the kitchen… tomato soup with mozzarella.

I am wearing… grey shirt and black sweats.

I am creating… various entries.

I am going… to Target, Walgreens, and Trader Joe’s today.

I am reading… The Ladies Auxillary by Tova Mirvis — at least I’ll be starting it next.

I am hoping… to keep this week as unstructured as possible so I can enjoy things like morning snuggles with Daniel while I wake up and he has his apple juice.

I am hearing… Daniel making grunting sounds in his crib.

Around the house… I need to clean up the debris field from Daniel taking apart the diaper bag.

One of my favorite things… cat-warmed blankets and black cats who cuddle during naps.

A few plans for the rest of the week: errands and maybe the Strawberry Festival this weekend.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing… The Flathead County Courthouse in Kalispell, Montana taken in 2008.

Flathead County Courthouse in Kalispell, Montana

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

The Promise Walk for Preeclampsia

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On May 7th, I participated in the Promise Walk for Preeclampsia with my parents, brother, sister-in-law, and Daniel. As many of you know, I’m a preeclampsia/HELLP Syndrome survivor so it was a way for me to get some emotional healing from the experience. Originally, I was going to be helping with the social media presence but we had the move and then Daniel got sick.

They had a group of high schoolers helping with registration. There were tables with preeclampsia shirts, hats, and stuff and I got a survivor shirt from them. There were also face-painting and crafts for the kids, a silent auction, tables from various birth groups and an OB-GYN, a table for a sporting goods store, and a lot of activities going on. They had a speakers at 9:30 a.m. (one survivor who had lost her daughter and two publicity people for local blood banks who were also preeclampsia moms), a dove release remembering those who had lost kids/moms/daughters to the condition, and the two co-coordinators spoke. One common thread was that it is just awful that a condition this prevalent (5-8% of all pregnancies) is so relatively unknown. I think the first speaker would have moved me to tears if I hadn’t been so tired — Daniel woke up at 6 a.m. and I was feeling pretty flattened. The dove release was pretty spectacular — they were trained birds and were flying in formation around the area.

The walk itself was “interesting”. Somehow, we all missed the signs so we ended up taking a wrong turn on the trail and walking much farther than anticipated. I kept a good pace and was proud of myself since I was also dealing with a migraine and fibro pain.

Afterwards, Sean (my evil twin) and Dad headed home with the stroller while Mom, Jeanette (sister-in-law), Daniel, and I hit up Costco and Trader Joe’s.

I’m glad I got to do it — preeclampsia awareness is one of my passions and this was a way to use it. One really wonderful thing is that of the $200 I raised myself, $150 of it was from Jon’s congregation. (Go Metanoia!) I’m very thankful that there are now people in the congregation who know about it and I’m hoping that maybe one of them knowing what it is will save a friend’s life or a daughter’s life or a grand-daughter’s life.