Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Free speech censorship

I received a phone call the other night from a company that sounded religious by it's name. They wanted to know if I was tired of the movies Hollywood was putting out and wanted family friendly movies. I said the movies that Hollywood puts out are fine. My frame of mind was I have a choice to go see them or not. This guy's response was a rhetorical, "Excuse me?". He then went on his speech again and I said he didn't have to buy or watch the movie right? He just kept talking about what they wanted to do and asked for money. I asked him one more time if he had to go see those movies and he said, "ok bye" and hungup. I found their organization on the web and sent a letter. The policy states I will receive a reply in 24 hours. It's been a week and nothing. Is there anything wrong with supporting movies you like and not demanding others not be made? I bought Heart of the Beholder because of these censorhip attempts on The Last Temptation of Christ movie.

Monday, February 27, 2006

Why must people do this to non-xians?

This Sunday I helped my ailing grandma move into a nursing home. As we passed by the entertainment room there was a xian sermon going on and I overheard the preacher say "The Universal Unitarians spread lies and deny Jesus....." so I waited and listened. A young guy, preacher's assistant, saw me standing there and brought me a chair to sit. I said no thanks but informed him I was Unitarian. I waited and after the sermon approached the minister. I introduced myself and said I'm a Unitarian, atheist. She asked if I believed in god to which I replied there is no god. She asked about JC and I said JC never existed. She said there is evidence and I said it was changed after the fact so there is no evidence. We shook hands and she said that it's important for us to understand each other. I said "Maam, I completely agree" and left with a smile.

Friday, February 24, 2006

Atheists and morality

I understand that Christians, usually Christians, find their morality in the bible. What is the presumption that atheists can't be moral when most are aware of the bible but also take secular ideas into consideration? Last I heard there are almost no atheists in the US prison system. Does that imply that we understand moral code in a societal sense?

Atheist in the South

I wanted to start out with prejudices right off the bat. Why is there such a connection with the bible belt and the South. Why is it that way? The earliest Pilgrims from Europe came to the New England area in the North but now we associate the south with the bible belt. Is it a fair stereotype or is the North just as much a bible belt and conservatively religious?