If you have recently seen the new Superman: Man of Steel movie than you may have been able to catch the not-so-subtle Christian overtones laced in between the partial destruction of Metropolis.
The movie starts out as we all know the Superman saga to play out: Superman's planet is destroyed, he ends up on Earth, he becomes a caped hero in red undies. (Except in this rendition he has finally learned the the underoos go inside the pants. Like a big boy!) During one of his fight scenes with Zod's minions he is destroying a small Kansas town with Faora. She makes a pretty bold statement about evolution and morals. I've included a link to the YouTube clip of the scene of which I am referring:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnbPbkFUCPs
This was the part in the movie where I had finally determined that Iron Man is my favorite.
I always found it slightly amusing, if not incredibly terrifying, that religious people always have a hard time grasping the concept that morals do not automatically come from religion. It's hard enough having to explain this to people on the street but to have this kind of stupidity in a major blockbuster film is disheartening.
Portraying the bad guys as evolutionary, moral-less, killing machines bent on world destruction is not good for the atheist image. I mean...we aren't actively trying to take over the world just now...maybe later once were done showing off our underwear, destroying a city, and being an illegal immigrant...oh wait....
I was once asked where I got my morals. I answered, "From my parents, society and my own sense of right and wrong." As Penn Jillett once said, "I've killed and raped all I have ever wanted. And the number of rapes and murders I have committed is ZERO." But once I said 'parents' I was quickly asked where my parents got their morals from. Their parents was my guess. I was then asked where my grandparents got their morals. I was being led to say that my family originally got their morals from their church.
Ok, yes, sure church can teach good morals. There are some passages and stories in the bible that can teach good lessons. There are also teachings in the Quran and Bhagavad Vida that show the same lessons. None of which are new to any of these religions. Humans have been able to figure out how to live among one another without killing, harming, or stealing from one another for thousands of years. Some less than others but the idea of not killing one another did not magically happen once Christianity was thought up.
The newest remake of the Superman comic left me annoyed and upset but, then again, it was a movie. I can't be mad at a fictional story- just like atheist aren't mad at gods. It's like being mad at Santa. You shouldn't waste that kind of energy on something that doesn't exist.
What drives us crazy is the people who will see this movie and see those who speak of evolution as evil people who are looking to destroy humanity. I'm just a blond preppy chick from Louisiana. I need humanity...for diversity, love, kicks....and laughs. People are too funny to destroy.
Except for Fred Phelps. I hate that dick.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
SELUSHAN
So, the name of the college group, of which I was president, is SELUSHAN. This is an acronym for Southeastern Louisiana University Secular Humanists and Agnostic Network. (Catchy, right?) Pronounced: 'solution'. We were affiliated with the Secular Student Alliance. I did not start the group but I did take it over from the founder. I was so proud of that group. It's hard to be a secular person in the south and having a place to go, having people to talk to, being able to express your concerns about separation of church and state....it was a bit of sanctuary for me.
The founder did an amazing job finding faculty support and interested members. When she needed more time for her demanding school schedule I was all too happy to run meetings, set up tabling events and even protest the WBC a time or two. When she graduated I was asked to lead the group. I feel like I did a descent enough job of it. We had weekly meetings, we held lectures and panel discussions and we even got called on to counter our regular 'campus preacher'. I feel like, when I left, our group was growing and would continue.
I was wrong.
I'm so disappointed in my university right now. When I graduated in 2011 I handed over control of the group to a Junior biology major. He seemed really active and interested in the group. I have no idea what happened but, since I left, the group is no longer affiliated with the SSA, no one seems to know where the banner, brochures, fliers or funds for the group have gone and it's now being called a 'dead group'.
Since moving to Denver I have found it so much easier to be an 'open' and 'out' atheist. I started this blog to document the amazing transformation I am seeing in the secular community. My southern atheist friends have no idea how hard it really is to be a southern atheist. Sure, there are countries in the world where it's a deadly thing to proclaim; being an atheist. But, it's not all peaches and cream in the US. People here may not lose their physical life but they will lose their social one. I have known many people who have lost their jobs, relationships, homes, friends and family once they came out against religion. I, myself, have lost relationships and have been denied employment for my lack of belief.
Which is why I am now so livid at the lack of leadership at my university. Maybe I'm more upset about it because I continually took a leadership role at school. But last night as I watched one after another student say that they just are 'too lazy' to take a stand and run the group. I'm disgusted.
"Too lazy."
I'm not sure if it's the generation, of which I'm a part, or if it's the southern in them coming out. The southern part in them that tells them to stick with conformity, 'don't rock the boat' and 'do as you're told'... Whatever it is, I'm sad for the south today. I'm sad that they don't want to fight for the equality of secular people. I'm sad they feel it's acceptable to be told that they have little to no moral standards, they are broken and angry and be generally distrusted. I'm sad that they feel that the status quo will suite them just fine.
I just hope that they are never put in a position where their rights are denied. Oh wait...
The founder did an amazing job finding faculty support and interested members. When she needed more time for her demanding school schedule I was all too happy to run meetings, set up tabling events and even protest the WBC a time or two. When she graduated I was asked to lead the group. I feel like I did a descent enough job of it. We had weekly meetings, we held lectures and panel discussions and we even got called on to counter our regular 'campus preacher'. I feel like, when I left, our group was growing and would continue.
I was wrong.
I'm so disappointed in my university right now. When I graduated in 2011 I handed over control of the group to a Junior biology major. He seemed really active and interested in the group. I have no idea what happened but, since I left, the group is no longer affiliated with the SSA, no one seems to know where the banner, brochures, fliers or funds for the group have gone and it's now being called a 'dead group'.
Since moving to Denver I have found it so much easier to be an 'open' and 'out' atheist. I started this blog to document the amazing transformation I am seeing in the secular community. My southern atheist friends have no idea how hard it really is to be a southern atheist. Sure, there are countries in the world where it's a deadly thing to proclaim; being an atheist. But, it's not all peaches and cream in the US. People here may not lose their physical life but they will lose their social one. I have known many people who have lost their jobs, relationships, homes, friends and family once they came out against religion. I, myself, have lost relationships and have been denied employment for my lack of belief.
Which is why I am now so livid at the lack of leadership at my university. Maybe I'm more upset about it because I continually took a leadership role at school. But last night as I watched one after another student say that they just are 'too lazy' to take a stand and run the group. I'm disgusted.
"Too lazy."
I'm not sure if it's the generation, of which I'm a part, or if it's the southern in them coming out. The southern part in them that tells them to stick with conformity, 'don't rock the boat' and 'do as you're told'... Whatever it is, I'm sad for the south today. I'm sad that they don't want to fight for the equality of secular people. I'm sad they feel it's acceptable to be told that they have little to no moral standards, they are broken and angry and be generally distrusted. I'm sad that they feel that the status quo will suite them just fine.
I just hope that they are never put in a position where their rights are denied. Oh wait...
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Orange Blossoms
Last night my boyfriend and I had a long (and perhaps boring for him) conversation about social norms within marriage. He has lived in Colorado since he was six and has a bit of a different perspective of marriage than I. Growing up a southern woman means that it has been ground into my head from an early age that I am meant to marry, have kids, keep house and love God.
I want none of this.
None.
First, I lack the internal, and supposedly 'natural', urge to bare children. I have no intention of having children. In fact, I am currently looking into permanent birth control. (Which is a story for another day) Second, my apartment is usually in a disaster state. Sure, dishes get washed (in the dishwasher), laundry eventually gets laundered and I make sure the bathroom is acceptable for guests but, if I could pay someone to come in weekly and mop the floors and dust the furniture, I would. In a heartbeat. I can't imagine having to be a 'housewife'. And don't get me wrong; I know many great women who have run a household, raised children, and somehow manage to make it all seem easy while completely loving their life. I'm in awe. Really. But, just as they chose their life of homemaking I wish to choose my life of...not.
And, do I really need to explain the 'god' part of my prescribed childhood? I'm an atheist. Any deities have no place in my life.
Marriage is a tricky thing. Part of me wants to have a partner. Someone with whom I can share problems, experiences, sorrows and joys. Doesn't it sound nice to be able to have someone at your side when things go wrong? That was how I was taught to view marriage. Of course being a good southern woman meant that I would also be the 'help-mate' of my husband. I would be the woman at his side who would give advise but not really make decisions. I may decide which room to clean or what to make for dinner, sure. Women in a southern household, especially a religious one, are not meant to be the head of the household. We are raised not to be the head.
I always knew that I could end up being 'put in my place' by a husband. When the elders in my church noticed that I wasn't going along, as the other children were, with the Sunday School lessons I was placed on 'the list'. I had never heard of it before. I was only made aware of 'the list' after one of the elders' son informed me that I had been on it for sometime. You see, my parents had divorced when I was four. My mother moved herself, my two sisters and I to Kentucky to live with my grandparents while she went back to college to earn her bachelor's degree. (I'm still so proud of her for that) My sisters and I were immediately viewed as 'broken children from a broken home'. It sounds harsh, but, many people who are a bit older and from a divorced family understand the social stigma of the situation. (Especially in church)
Once we moved to Florida I felt more of an outcast in the church. People in our new 'church family' knew us less and seemed to judge us more. The elders were all old, stuffy, white, Republicans who sat in the front pew on Sunday mornings and seemed to almost watch the preacher as if waiting for him to say exactly what they had told him to say. They were always meeting in secret rooms, talking with only themselves, and looking at those who stepped out of line with contempt. What was weirder were the deacons. This was a group of slightly younger, stuffy, white , Republicans who sat directly behind the elders during sermons. They were 'elders in training'. I'm still not sure to this day what the main difference of these two groups of men were and what their overall function to the church consisted of. All I knew was that I made sure to not go near these men. Yet...
I may be over exaggerating this next part but I don't feel I'm off by much. There was the elders' son, let's call him Jack, who took an immediate liking to me. I pretended for the longest time that I had no clue of his affections. But, to my exasperation, he followed me around and made it clear to everyone our age that I was going to be his. No one talked to me without his knowing of it. I never did anything in that church without his knowledge. No other guy in my church ever attempted to ask me out or flirt with me. Until one day that our small church combined with another small church. 'Adam' was a year older than me and seemed interested in asking me out in the 7th grade. He walked with me around the church playground and flirted with me. He tried to hold my hand... All hell broke loose. Jack came out of nowhere with a spiky branch of a palmetto bush. It took me 30 minutes to talk him into putting the damn thing down. I look back on it now and think of how crazy it was but, back then, it was Jack being Jack. After that, no one even came close to me. I could not have dated within our church even if I had wanted to. At least, I couldn't have dated anyone else but Jack.
The weirdest thing was that my church thought that me being with Jack was the best thing for me. He would be my salvation. He, the elder's son, would set me straight. If I was ever sitting alone in a pew people would ask me, "Where is Jack?" His own mother would ask me first about what Jack was doing, or where he was before she would call his cell. If I went anywhere it was to be assumed that Jack would be with me. We once took a church trip to Tennessee and it was understood that Jack was my chaperon and he stayed with me the entire time. I didn't really fight it. At first. Once I got to high school and began dating boys from my public school the church noticed. They would ask me why I wasn't dating a 'nice guy' like Jack. They would tell me how good he was for me. I was once told that God would want me to be with Jack. He was 'God's choice for me'. I was livid.
Jack, oddly enough, became a good friend of mine when I started college. He eventually moved on from me and dated other girls. We became better friends the more we BOTH moved away from religion. (LOL) We actually did date for about a month. It wasn't meant to be. We both knew it. I've since lost contact with him. I have a feeling that if we somehow reconnected we would act like old friends; as if nothing bad had happened before and no time had passed.
But, what did this experience teach me about what I should expect or look for in marriage? My current job, working for a vocational rehabilitation counselor as a research assistant, has taught me that 'marriage' is a fragile and, sometimes, disregarded thing.
We had a case recently where a young woman who, after giving birth, went into septic shock and renal failure. She woke up a few weeks later a quadruple amputee. I can't even imagine... Two years later, she is getting a divorce from her husband who 'can't handle the stress of her disability anymore'. Now, I've never been a part of something so tragic nor do I know what they are going through as a couple or individually but, this right here? This. This is what scares the living shit out of me as a woman. As a southern woman who was taught to be the silent partner in a marriage this petrifies me beyond belief.
If I were to marry am I supposed to be the woman that quits work and keeps house? Surely not. I've studied the changing social norm of today's generation and economic needs. There is no way that I could stay home unless I marry a very wealthy man. But, does that now mean that, as the woman, I must now work full time then come home to keep house and potentially raise the children as well? It happens all the damn time. Many southern women get married but still have to work full time and keep up with the usual expectations of a 'good southern wife'. It's not just a southern thing. Many cultures around the world keep this ideology. But, I can only write about the culture with which I have experience.
Another thing I've been having a problem with is the fact that so many people stand up and swear to their personal deity that they will stay faithful and true to their new spouse. They swear to keep by them in sickness and in health, richer or poorer yada, yada, yada... But, when things actually do get sicker or poorer one of them bolts. If half of all marriages in the U.S. don't make it and nearly 85% of Americans are religious than that must mean that there are a lot of people out there who are swearing, to the one thing that should matter most to them, that they will do this specific task of marriage for the rest of their life...and they are breaking their word.
If Christians can't keep a promise of marriage to their own maker, the ruler of their universe, the master of their lives and afterlife...then what hope do I have, as an atheist, of finding someone who will make that promise to me?
I want none of this.
None.
First, I lack the internal, and supposedly 'natural', urge to bare children. I have no intention of having children. In fact, I am currently looking into permanent birth control. (Which is a story for another day) Second, my apartment is usually in a disaster state. Sure, dishes get washed (in the dishwasher), laundry eventually gets laundered and I make sure the bathroom is acceptable for guests but, if I could pay someone to come in weekly and mop the floors and dust the furniture, I would. In a heartbeat. I can't imagine having to be a 'housewife'. And don't get me wrong; I know many great women who have run a household, raised children, and somehow manage to make it all seem easy while completely loving their life. I'm in awe. Really. But, just as they chose their life of homemaking I wish to choose my life of...not.
And, do I really need to explain the 'god' part of my prescribed childhood? I'm an atheist. Any deities have no place in my life.
Marriage is a tricky thing. Part of me wants to have a partner. Someone with whom I can share problems, experiences, sorrows and joys. Doesn't it sound nice to be able to have someone at your side when things go wrong? That was how I was taught to view marriage. Of course being a good southern woman meant that I would also be the 'help-mate' of my husband. I would be the woman at his side who would give advise but not really make decisions. I may decide which room to clean or what to make for dinner, sure. Women in a southern household, especially a religious one, are not meant to be the head of the household. We are raised not to be the head.
I always knew that I could end up being 'put in my place' by a husband. When the elders in my church noticed that I wasn't going along, as the other children were, with the Sunday School lessons I was placed on 'the list'. I had never heard of it before. I was only made aware of 'the list' after one of the elders' son informed me that I had been on it for sometime. You see, my parents had divorced when I was four. My mother moved herself, my two sisters and I to Kentucky to live with my grandparents while she went back to college to earn her bachelor's degree. (I'm still so proud of her for that) My sisters and I were immediately viewed as 'broken children from a broken home'. It sounds harsh, but, many people who are a bit older and from a divorced family understand the social stigma of the situation. (Especially in church)
Once we moved to Florida I felt more of an outcast in the church. People in our new 'church family' knew us less and seemed to judge us more. The elders were all old, stuffy, white, Republicans who sat in the front pew on Sunday mornings and seemed to almost watch the preacher as if waiting for him to say exactly what they had told him to say. They were always meeting in secret rooms, talking with only themselves, and looking at those who stepped out of line with contempt. What was weirder were the deacons. This was a group of slightly younger, stuffy, white , Republicans who sat directly behind the elders during sermons. They were 'elders in training'. I'm still not sure to this day what the main difference of these two groups of men were and what their overall function to the church consisted of. All I knew was that I made sure to not go near these men. Yet...
I may be over exaggerating this next part but I don't feel I'm off by much. There was the elders' son, let's call him Jack, who took an immediate liking to me. I pretended for the longest time that I had no clue of his affections. But, to my exasperation, he followed me around and made it clear to everyone our age that I was going to be his. No one talked to me without his knowing of it. I never did anything in that church without his knowledge. No other guy in my church ever attempted to ask me out or flirt with me. Until one day that our small church combined with another small church. 'Adam' was a year older than me and seemed interested in asking me out in the 7th grade. He walked with me around the church playground and flirted with me. He tried to hold my hand... All hell broke loose. Jack came out of nowhere with a spiky branch of a palmetto bush. It took me 30 minutes to talk him into putting the damn thing down. I look back on it now and think of how crazy it was but, back then, it was Jack being Jack. After that, no one even came close to me. I could not have dated within our church even if I had wanted to. At least, I couldn't have dated anyone else but Jack.
The weirdest thing was that my church thought that me being with Jack was the best thing for me. He would be my salvation. He, the elder's son, would set me straight. If I was ever sitting alone in a pew people would ask me, "Where is Jack?" His own mother would ask me first about what Jack was doing, or where he was before she would call his cell. If I went anywhere it was to be assumed that Jack would be with me. We once took a church trip to Tennessee and it was understood that Jack was my chaperon and he stayed with me the entire time. I didn't really fight it. At first. Once I got to high school and began dating boys from my public school the church noticed. They would ask me why I wasn't dating a 'nice guy' like Jack. They would tell me how good he was for me. I was once told that God would want me to be with Jack. He was 'God's choice for me'. I was livid.
Jack, oddly enough, became a good friend of mine when I started college. He eventually moved on from me and dated other girls. We became better friends the more we BOTH moved away from religion. (LOL) We actually did date for about a month. It wasn't meant to be. We both knew it. I've since lost contact with him. I have a feeling that if we somehow reconnected we would act like old friends; as if nothing bad had happened before and no time had passed.
But, what did this experience teach me about what I should expect or look for in marriage? My current job, working for a vocational rehabilitation counselor as a research assistant, has taught me that 'marriage' is a fragile and, sometimes, disregarded thing.
We had a case recently where a young woman who, after giving birth, went into septic shock and renal failure. She woke up a few weeks later a quadruple amputee. I can't even imagine... Two years later, she is getting a divorce from her husband who 'can't handle the stress of her disability anymore'. Now, I've never been a part of something so tragic nor do I know what they are going through as a couple or individually but, this right here? This. This is what scares the living shit out of me as a woman. As a southern woman who was taught to be the silent partner in a marriage this petrifies me beyond belief.
If I were to marry am I supposed to be the woman that quits work and keeps house? Surely not. I've studied the changing social norm of today's generation and economic needs. There is no way that I could stay home unless I marry a very wealthy man. But, does that now mean that, as the woman, I must now work full time then come home to keep house and potentially raise the children as well? It happens all the damn time. Many southern women get married but still have to work full time and keep up with the usual expectations of a 'good southern wife'. It's not just a southern thing. Many cultures around the world keep this ideology. But, I can only write about the culture with which I have experience.
Another thing I've been having a problem with is the fact that so many people stand up and swear to their personal deity that they will stay faithful and true to their new spouse. They swear to keep by them in sickness and in health, richer or poorer yada, yada, yada... But, when things actually do get sicker or poorer one of them bolts. If half of all marriages in the U.S. don't make it and nearly 85% of Americans are religious than that must mean that there are a lot of people out there who are swearing, to the one thing that should matter most to them, that they will do this specific task of marriage for the rest of their life...and they are breaking their word.
If Christians can't keep a promise of marriage to their own maker, the ruler of their universe, the master of their lives and afterlife...then what hope do I have, as an atheist, of finding someone who will make that promise to me?
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