The Atheist Mama

On Monday night, my oldest son started throwing up. My husband started at 3 am, and I started at 7 am on Tuesday morning. Ugh… something in that chili we made was NOT good.
We were all better in time for Solstice though, and had a great day hanging out. The boys got a fish tank from us for Solstice. We’ll be going to get the fish tonight.
Today I am SUPER busy getting myself and the boys ready for a trip to Northern VA to visit my folks. We’ll be going up to Northern NJ for New Year’s Eve, and my husband will be meeting us there. New Year’s Eve is our 4th anniversary!

Anyway, I probably won’t be blogging again until after the 1st of the year.

Oh!! BTW, my letter was published, right underneath someone who certainly disagrees and suggests that if you don’t like “merry Christmas” then just “shut up.” Nice…

Have a great new years everyone!!

Here’s an article on WashingtonPost.com that states:

Democrats and Republicans called separately yesterday for congressional investigations into President Bush’s decision after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to allow domestic eavesdropping without court approval.

What do you think will happen?? Is it possible?? Oh please, oh please, oh please…

Tags:
bush, Politics, President, patriot act, Civil Liberties, impeach

…the evolutionists worship… uhhh… atheism. I mean, that’s their religion and evolution becomes their religion.

He also claims that it’s “an establishment of religion contrary to the First Amendment.”

Media Matters has the whole story, w/ video.

Tags:
atheist, atheism, Religion, Science, evolution, Creationism, Intelligent Design, pat robertson

Excerpts from The President’s Radio Address, December 17, 2005

This is great. You have to watch twice. Once to listen to it and once to read it (unless you’re really talented).

Tags:
bush, Politics, President, patriot act, Civil Liberties

I got a call from the editor of the Gahanna News, which BTW is a teeny, tiny local paper, and they are going to publish my letter in next weeks issue! Yay! Ok, not really that big of a deal, but it is the *first* thing that I’ll have published. Yay for me! Now, hopefully it’s in there.

This morning my husband went to the next door neighbor’s house to ask to borrow their ladder so that he could take a look at our broken garage door opener. An hour later, he opens the door.

I thought that the opener was fixed and was thrilled that it didn’t become an all day ordeal!

The first thing he tells me was that our neighbor “started into the Christmas war.” As they were making small talk, she starts telling my husband that she’s sickened by this “war on Christmas” and continues to tell him that “this is OUR country and if they don’t like it, they can get out.”

I guess the garage door wasn’t fixed yet afterall.

My husband, an atheist, proceeded to tell her that there was no war on Christmas. So what if Target, or Walmart make it company policy to say “happy holidays” instead of “merry christmas.” How is that an attack on Christianity? Like it or not, there are people in this country who aren’t Christian.

On December 15, 2005, House Resolution 579, sponsored by Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-VA), received an overwhelming amount of “Yeas”.

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the symbols and traditions of Christmas should be protected.

When Davis was asked “if she would permit the symbols of Chanukah and other holidays to be included in the protection of the resolution,” she refused and also said, “We realize that the spirit of Christ and of the day itself will be a barren, charred, corpse of its former self, but that’s the price we are willing to pay for 100% allegiance to the symbols of Christmas . Sometimes you have to hurt something you love in order to save it, and we are the right people at the right time to do just that.”

What is happening here? I’m so sad about the state of our country. My own neighbors are non-Christian haters, along with the majority of the House of Representatives. Here are some of the remarks that were made during this circus.

Ahhhh…. How proud Jesus would be of his people.

Thanks to the National Jewish Democratic Council and the New Patriot.

Tags:
atheist, atheism, christmas, solstice, war on christmas, holidays, Religion, columbusblogger

Let’s back up even f*&#@^g further, shall we? Can anyone tell me how old Christmas is? Anyone? Two thousand years, give or take, right? Gee, who’s been reading their No Child Left Behind History Textbooks? Try f*&#@^g four thousand years. Huh. Twice as f*&#@^g long as your little baby king has been around. How could that possibly be, unless. . . waitaminute. . .

Read more here.

Yes, I did edit that a bit, but hey! I’m tryin’ to run a family friendly site here, for the most part… Wow. This person has somethin’ to say!!

Thanks to The Un-Apologetic Atheist.

Tags:
atheist, atheism, christmas, solstice, war on christmas, holidays, Religion, columbusblogger

To the Editor:

According to The Harris Poll (conducted online by Harris Interactive between September 16 and 23, 2003), 82 percent of adults in the United States believe in God. According to Adherents.com, 84 percent of adults believe in God and according to Nationwide Opinion polls, only 79 percent claim to believe in God. Also, the American Religion Identification Survey states that over 30 million Americans profess “no religion.” Two weeks ago, Ms. Chiero stated that 92 percent of Americans celebrate the birth of Christ. That information is incorrect and misleading.

Christ is not the “Reason for the Season.” The Winter Solstice (the shortest day of the year) has been the celebrated by humans all over the planet since the ancient times, long before the birth of Christ. This is the original “Reason for the Season.” Christmas was not actually celebrated as the “birth of Christ” until sometime during the fourth century and it is unlikely that Jesus was even born in December, according to historians. So what actually happened is that someone took the Solstice out of Winter!

Mr. Yanni is right, the word “holiday” does come from “holy day” (as stated in his letter last week). But the Christmas celebration actually came from the Solstice celebration! How easily this is forgotten.

A simple “happy holidays” is all inclusive, pleasant, and is a polite greeting. There are several days being included in the phrase “happy holidays”: the Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, and even the New Year. How is this offensive? What makes Christmas superior to the rest of the holidays celebrated in December?

It is my opinion that those who are most upset about the lack of “merry Christmas” greetings are intolerant, and excluding the minorities that live and work around them. This is the true cause of the “war on Christmas.”

Cassandra Cox, mother

We’ll see if it gets published! :-)

Thanks to The Un-Apologetic Atheist and NoGodBlog.

Tags:
atheist, atheism, christmas, solstice, war on christmas, holidays, Religion, columbusblogger

Make sure you cast your vote! So far, 21% say no.

Tags:
atheist, atheism

The Evangelical Atheist posted a wonderful version of this little story, in response to Bill O’Reilly’s parody.

Everywhere you look online, everytime you turn on the radio, and everytime you tune in to the news, you hear about the “War on Christmas.” You can even find books on the subject!
Conservatives are claiming that the “War on Christmas” is part of a “secular progressive agenda’” (which also includes the “legalization of narcotics, euthanasia, abortion at will, gay marriage”).
Liberals are saying that “religious conservatives have a cause this holiday season: the commercialization of Christmas.”

But no matter where you turn, there he is. Bill O’Reilly, right in the middle of the battlefield. Now he’s taken to flat out lying. On December 9, he stated on The Radio Factor (his syndicated radio show) that a town in Michigan had banned the Christmas colors on clothing.

In Saginaw, Michigan , the township opposes red and green clothing…on Anyone, In Saginaw Township they basically said anybody, we don’t want you wearing red or green. I would dress up from head to toe in red to green if I were in Saginaw Michigan .

But according to WNEM TV-5, he is “dead wrong.”

That’s not all. Apparently he also claimed that students in Plano, TX were told they could not wear Christmas colors. Another lie.
This one was cleared up by Dr. Doug Otto, Superintendent of Schools.

But it doesn’t end there!! During a conversation with a caller about how the USPS wasn’t offering stamps other than “Holiday Cookies” he said, “I think it’s the first time in my lifetime that the United States Postal Service has not had a spiritual stamp for people like you who would like them…”
The USPS stated that they usually have a new design for the “Madonna and Child” yearly, but this year they had an overstock of last years version. Since they are increasing the cost of stamps to $.39, they decided not to print a new design (but they are coming out with a new design in 2006). You can still buy the “Madonna and Child” stamp at The Postal Store. You can find them under “Holiday“.

More and more, it’s seeming that maybe there is no war on Christmas, Virginia.
Maybe the war on Christmas is Bill O’Reilly.

Thanks to Media Matters.

Tags:
Christmas, War on Christmas, O’reilly, Media Matters, Politics, News, Religion, atheism, atheist

UPDATE: I sent The Refiner’s Fire my responses to the questions. He responded to my responses (in italics).

The questions we, at The Refiner’s Fire, would like to pose are as follows:

* Since you are an atheist, why do you celebrate Christmas or Easter? Why do you take vacations during that time? Why do you sing Christmas carols?

I don’t celebrate xmas or Easter. I don’t take vacations (I’m a stay at home mom) and neither does my husband (networks are best worked on when no one is in the office anyway). And I don’t sing xmas carols.

Good for you.

* Nearly every American partakes of the pagan holiday of Halloween. As an atheist, do you allow your children to partake of this “fun” holiday? If so, you are, in essence, bowing down to pagan gods!

Yeah, we “do” Halloween. But since we don’t believe in Pagan Gods, we’re not bowing down to them. It’s not going to hurt the kids to dress up like chickens and beg for candy. It’s not like we’re telling them that a candy god is going to fly across the world being pulled by flying pumpkins to deliver candy to all of the children.

Whether you do it consciously or not, you ARE bowing down to pagan gods. It might not hurt your kids to dress up like chickens, but what about the witches and other weirdos who each year take that time to sacrifice animals to their gods?

Anyone who doesn’t believe in the Creator is bowing down to “other gods.” God gave us all the choice to do things HIS way, or Satan’s. When you’re not doing it His way, well….

* Why do you take a “day of rest”? Do you take off Saturdays and Sundays, or some other day of the week? Why? It was YHWH who commanded us to rest on the seventh day. Since you’re an atheist, why bother taking a day off from work at all?

Again, no vacations for me. My husband usually works on weekends, but from home. His company isn’t open on Saturdays or Sundays, and neither are the companys that he works with. But if given a choice, I’m sure he’d much rather take Mondays or Fridays off!

Maybe YOU don’t, but the rest of the world does. What I was getting at by asking these questions is why the world has latched onto the Sunday Sabbath (actually God said the SEVENTH day is the Sabbath, so “the world” is being deceived, anyway, and making Satan happy). Why does “the world” celebrate Christmas? My atheist relatives all “celebrate” Christmas because it’s a “nice tradition” (never mind that it’s steeped in paganism). Why do Americans have a holiday such as Halloween that is absolutely a pagan holiday which is in direct contradiction with God’s commands to stay away from pagan things?

Ack!! Well this is a discussion that could go on until the end of time (if time has an end, that is).

Tags:
atheism, atheist, christmas

Egg Nog fact #134 -
The canned eggnog from Borden® will actually keep in the can for 18 months without refrigeration!

Mincemeat Spice Cake with EggNog Topping

1 (18 1/4-ounce) package spice cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 (9-ounce) package NONE SUCH® Condensed Mincemeat, finely crumbled
1/2 cup canned BORDEN®® Premium EggNog
1 (1.3-ounce) envelope whipped topping mix

Preheat oven to 350°. In large mixer bowl, combine cake mix, water, vegetable oil and eggs; mix well. Beat on high speed 2 minutes. Stir in NONE SUCH. Pour into well-greased and floured 10-inch fluted or tube pan. Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely. In small mixer bowl, combine BORDEN Premium EggNog and whipped topping mix; mix well. Beat on high speed 4 minutes or until mixture forms soft peaks. Serve topping over cake slices. Refrigerate leftover topping.

I am laughing my ass off.
So, incase you aren’t familiar with the Million Dollar Challenge, here’s the bottom line -

“…we offer a one-million-dollar prize to anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event.”

So I’ve been reading The Log of Applicants and I’m laughing so hard that I’m crying.

JOHN N. MAGUIRE, Assisted by “Gosts” - note the spelling in this one. Too funny!!

The PROPHET YAHWEH, Maker of UFO’s - this is the one that I was cracking up at. It gets really funny when you get down to the end. Oh man… My stomach hurts.

Kramer, the “challenge facilitator” is just hysterical. I would LOVE to be doing his job!!

The Westboro Baptist Church (the fanatics that run godhatesfags.com and a few other disturbing sites) didn’t show up for their planned protest today. I’m glad that they didn’t. Regardless of what you believe, people are in mourning over the death of a man. I hope they continue to keep their distance from funerals.

Tags:
Westboro Baptist Church, protest, hate

I’m happy to have read Dave’s most recent post on NoGodBlog.com.

“Recently, certain questionably ethical news outlets have asserted that American Atheists is also trying to get the crosses on graves at Arlington National Cemetary removed as well. This is NOT TRUE. We have made no such statements, no press releases, and have made no effort in regard to Arlington, and WILL NOT DO SO.”

As I commented there, I support what American Atheists are doing in Utah, but when I heard this about Arlington Cemetary, I didn’t agree. So glad to know the truth about this once and for all.

Tags:
atheism, atheist, Politics, utah, Religion

There was a woman on the air this morning representing godhatesfags.com on Rover’s Morning Glory. I can’t remember her name, and I can’t seem to find it on their site.
What a disgusting woman spreading a sick and absurd message.
They aren’t only about hating gays, the have other beliefs and messages that are equally as disturbing.

They are (were?) actually planning to protest at the funeral of a marine killed in Iraq today (December 12th) at 10:00 am.
Here is their press release for today’s possible protest.

It is absolutely scary that there are people like this on the planet.

Tags:
Westboro Baptist Church, protest, hate

“we make our space available for diverse advocacy groups as long as the copy is not obscene and as long as the advocacy group is willing to accept an attribution that can be read from the road.If it is political speech we ask that it be true. I note that you have left out of your list of refusals “david duke ads” ,anti abortion copy with images of dead fetuses, anti union copy, nazi party copy, RNC ads, peta ads, Focus on the Family copy and the list goes on and on. I find your selective use of “liberal” advocacy groups that have had copy or attribution issues to be disingenious.

now lets talk about briggs- i find the message distasteful, and believe it to be untrue. its not political speech so truth is not a test, note the attribution, it is large enough to be read from the road. crazy speech but we know who is speaking, pls take it up with briggs. I would prefer to be defending the schmidt ad rather than a 80 yr old religious fanatic, but he agreed to the disclaimer and the dnc would not. I don’t blame you for being disgusted if it was true that we used our space to propagate one view over another. I can assure you that even though we make mistakes when trying to edit political and social speech, we make our space available to all.”

Wow, I didn’t really expect a response.
He did get me though… All of the examples I listed on my letter to him were “‘liberal’ advocacy groups.” I didn’t even think about all of the other ads that have been refused out there. So, I learned a lesson today.
Anyway, I’m thrilled that I got a response at all!! That means that my letter was read, and that’s just cool. ;-)

I’m going to reply to him and thank him for his time.

Tags:
atheism, atheist, american family association, lamar advertising, billboards, columbusblogger, ohio, dnc, Democrats

Mr. Reilly,

I’m writing you to express my concern, as well as my disgust in some of the decisions made by Lamar Outdoor Advertising.
I’ve have recently learned that Lamar Outdoor Advertising has refused or discontinued ads for several organizations and businesses around the country.

These include:
- Georgia Equality in Georgia (an ad that states, “We are Gay and We are your Neighbors”)
- Environment2004 in Wisconsin (an ad stating, “Mercury. It’s what’s for dinner. Served up by the Bush Administration.”)
- Planned Parenthood (ads supporting emergency contraception)
- Working Assets (an ad in Texas supporting troop withdrawal from Iraq)
- DNC (ads criticizing state legislative leaders for voting to give themselves raises)

I respect your right to refuse certain ads. What I don’t understand is how you can allow an ad that is so disturbing and hateful, paid for by Reverend Everett Francis Briggs, to stand in West Virginia.

“Attention Lunatic Atheists & their Lawyers
Anti-God is Anti-American
Anti-American is Treason
Traitors lead to Civil War”

Not only is this completely offensive and disgusting, it is simply NOT true.

Let me reiterate, I do respect your right to choose your advertisers, even though censorship is “anti-American.” But how can Lamar Outdoor Advertising allow such a hateful ad to stand and be so inconsistent?

I am a frequent traveler and depend on outdoor ads just as many other travelers on the interstates do. However, I will not give my business to the companies advertised by Lamar Outdoor Advertising if your company supports censorship.

I respectfully demand that this ad is taken down, or the other ads be allowed to stand as long as they meet all of your requirements.
Thank you for your time. I hope that you give my concerns some thought.

Sincerely,
Cassandra Cox
Gahanna, Ohio

cc: Sean Reilly
Gerald H. Marchand
Robert B. Switzer

Unfortunately, the address listed for Gerald H. Marchand is incorrect or has been taken down. It bounced.

Tags:
atheism, atheist, american family association, lamar advertising, billboards, columbusblogger, ohio, dnc, Democrats

“The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s gilt ‘Winter Solstice’ sign is back in the first-floor rotunda of the Wisconsin State Capitol for the month of December.”

Joelle Parks less than thrilled.

Tags:
Religion, atheism, atheist, christmas, holidays, solstice