News Flash: The World Is Not Flat

I know that I will never be politically correct and I don’t give a damn about my lack of etiquette.

 I spent most of yesterday on the Sun Journal website in a discussion about Question 1 on the Maine ballot this year.  Of course as always happens with online discussions, the people posting started getting further and further of topic with their posts, at points comparing marriage equality with pedophilia and bestiality.  I understand people have an indoctrinated fear about homosexuality, whatever they may call it, it all boils down to fear and misunderstanding.  All Question 1 is doing is establishing marriage equality for all people.

Woman Kept From A Dying Partner’s Bedside

Read that news story carefully and if you chose read related articles about the judge’s decision and exactly what he stated in his decision.  This article, or more precisely the judge’s decision, has scared the shit out of me.  This is a huge thing, despite all that most people see if the homosexual side of it.  Much more is needed than a simple redraft of the legal definition of marriage.  What we need are federal guidelines establishing marriage across the country once and for all.  What happens if you go to a city/hospital that is against interracial marriages?  Or against May/December marriages?  This judge has opened the door for hospitals to be able to deny, and therefore, have control over the patients and their family.  The two women in this article had taken all legal steps available to them in terms of next of kin, power of attorney, etc. and still she and her children were denied from being at this woman’s bedside as she died, I can think of no worse fate personally, dying alone.

The reason I say we need to have federal guidelines is that it becomes all to easy for one state to say “We do not recognize marriages from YOUR state.”  When you think about it they already have a system in place for this, think about what the performer of a wedding ceremony says, “By the power invested in me by the State of Maine.”  That about says it all right there.

I am far from being politically correct, but I do believe in what is right and what is wrong, denying people the right to marry the one they love is a wrong thing.  We are all so focused on the wrong issues when it comes to Question 1, the lies that have been proven wrong over and over, that we are failing to take into account the basic matter of equality.  We have come so far as a nation in such a short relative amount of time, to take this next small step will help tremendously.

Religious reasons do not even factor into this subject for me, until you live 100% by your bible, anything you say to me means nothing, nothing at all.  Procreation?  What about the birth control you use?  And can you honestly say every time you have sex it is to have a child?  Get off your high horses already folks, this law is about marriage equality which will be a good thing for everyone.

Eeny Meeny Miney Moe….

Now, I bet you are wondering what that is all about, huh?  Well, honestly, that is my basic impression of the voting system here in this country.  Whether it be for class president or President of the United States, it seems like the majority of people just vote for whoever is deemed most popular at the time.  This is not a complaint on my part by no means, just an observation on my part.  It is a part of human nature that the most popular, the most appealing for whatever trait, is chosen to lead.  And so, because of a basic drive we, as a species, are sometimes given leaders that have attained their status for their own needs and not for the greater good of the people that they rule over.

So now we come to an admission on my part.  Here I am, 35 years old, and not only have I never voted in my adult life, I have never even registered to vote.  I can hear the high and mighty of you laughing now and proclaiming, “What right then do you have to speak out against things?”  Well, the Constitution of this great country gives me that freedom and I don’t speak out against the government in this blog, rather against those members of society that live with their heads in the sand.  For seventeen years I have made the choice not to vote, to not assist putting people into office that I feel should not be there.  In that span of time, there has not been any serious candidate for any position that I approved of, and I doubt there ever will be.  As my blog posts have shown, I have very defined beliefs on the issues and I will only cast my support for someone that demonstrates full beliefs in those ideas to me.

However, this year is different in a big way for me.  This year in the state of Maine we have the issue of marriage equality on the ballot.  More specifically, we have a group of Archie Bunkers who want to get the law allowing same-sex marriages repealed.  This is an issue that hits close to home to me for a lot of reasons.  At the top being my own sexuality, it affects friends and family members and then we have the lies that the Yes people are pushing out.  They are using blatant lies and scare tactics to obscure the issue at hand;  equality for everyone.  They hide behind the threat of homosexual marriages being taught in school (they won’t be), they use religious reasons (sorry folks, religion is not supposed to affect government decisions and if you want it to then guess what, the reverse needs to happen and churches will start having to pay taxes.) 

So, yes, on November 3, I will be going down with my fiance, registering and casting my vote to support equality in Maine.  It is time to show these bigots and haters that we are out of the dark ages, it is the 21st century and everyone is entitled to equal and fair treatment and respect in the laws of this state and nation.  We should no longer be purposely ostracizing people for anything at all.  We are all one species, one race, the people of Earth.  Love and acceptance is the only way we are going to be able to move on and progress as a species, as one people united.

Question 1 was introduced by interest groups from outside the state of Maine who’s only agenda is to spread their hate and fear mongering.  It is time for all of us to stand up and declare that we have made our choice and we will not outcast members of our state merely to make bible thumping cave men happy.  This is why I have decided to set aside my own feelings and register to vote this year.

Men As Homemakers; It’s Not A S.A.H.D Thing

Okay, so now that I have gotten that pun out of my system, let’s get onto the the topic at hand, and for those wondering S.A.H.D means Stay At Home Dad.

For many personal reasons I enjoy being a stay at home dad.  I tend to have a lot of problems interacting with people out in public and being able to stay home and “work” is much more beneficial to me.  It also helps to keep the house clean and organized as well as providing a steady safe environment for the children.  This is something Jenni and I have talked about a lot, as well as discussing it with friends that ask why I do not work.  Aside from my disability that prevents me from working, I prefer to have this steady environment we have created for the kids and there is always the fact that we cannot afford to have both of us working.  It’s true, we have done the math a few times.  Daycare for four children ranging from the ages of 2 to 13 would be astronomical and then you need to figure in a second vehicle with insurance and maintenance for that vehicle and there goes any paycheck I would make and more.  Also, due to my varied work history it is nearly impossible for me to find a job that I could actually do that would equally the money that Jenni is able to make in her field.

Being a homemaker suits me very well.  I am able to maintain the home as I like it to be, everything from the dishes and organizing the kitchen, to making sure everything is picked up and put away.  I know statistically day cares are safe places, but I still get spooked when I see the stories on the news.  We have had problems with the day cares that we have found and it is not something that I am willing to risk with our children.  Having them able to come home after school is much better for them in my opinion.  This is the environment they are used to, where all their toys are, where all their friends are and where they feel safe and comfortable as it is home.  I am able to interact with the kids, do things with them and talk with them.  These are things that either would nto get done or done only in small amounts if I was working and just wanted to relax when I got home.

Our children spend all day at school in the presence of semi-strangers, speaking from my own memories as a child it is very nice to come home to, well home.  Having to go to a day care or a baby sitter where you are under a different set of house rules and possibly around being you do not like or cannot stand.  For me, having the time with the kids is precious and something that I would not willingly give up if I could help it.

Men get a lot of shit for being the stay at home and in this day and age it really makes no sense.  We are just as capable of taking care of the house and the kids as the mom is, and we deserve the same respect that a woman gets for doing the same thing.  People are always talking about and fighting for equality, but why is it we do not have it in this aspect yet?  It seems to me that people have this image of what a man should be and what he should do and when he falls out of that role he becomes a bum or even more crudely “a glorified sperm donor”.  As I have said before, nowadays it is a bad thing to be a white male in this society and that needs to change.  The saying used to be “A woman can do anything a man can do”, well folks here is a shocker, a man can do anything a woman can do.  We are just as capable of being the homemaker in the relationship and should not be looked down upon for doing so.

It all really boils down to one simple concept, if it is good for the goose it is good for the gander.  If you want to be treated and seen equally then you need to do the same with other people and not judge them for their thoughts, beliefs or how they live (provided it is within the laws of society).  We all have our individual ways of living and being a stay at home dad is perfectly fine.  For far to long people have complained about the lack of relationship a father has with his children, yet now that we are trying to you complain about something new.  It is time for this society to wake up and realize we are not all Quakers anymore and we have truly and for good moved on from that concept of people’s roles in life.

Welcome To America; Fit In or Go Home

So, now that I have pissed off a lot of people with just the title of this blog post, I guess I should not pull any punches with this one.  This is a topic I feel very strongly on as I will show as you read on, if you decide to read on that is.  This is one of those issues that I have given a lot of thought to regarding how I feel about it and I figure it is time for me to get it all out in a forum where I can write out all of my feelings and reasoning’s and  try to make as much sense of them as I can.  This topic will cover legal as well as illegal immigrants as the illegals are becoming a “minority force” all their own in this country.  This really should be two blog posts, but as they are rather similar in a lot of arguments I have decided to write about the both of them together.

America is in fact The Great Melting Pot, something in which I support and believe in very much.  However, as we are also an established society there are certain rules of that society that need to be adhered to so as not to upset, offend or unbalance said society.  Within the privacy of your own home it is well within your rights to practice whatever beliefs you have, provided that those beliefs do not go against the laws of this society.  That is a a very important concept there.  It does not matter which to societies you use for comparison there is always going to be something that is accepted in one that is offensive or even illegal in the other.  When a person decides to become a citizen of a new country they need to take that concept into account when making their decision.  The new society should not have to change it’s rules for them, that is not the way the system works.  Now, before you jump all over that statement notice I said rules, or laws if you prefer.  As long as something is not against a countries laws in my eyes it is fine to practice it, but if it is against the laws of that country, well, you become a criminal, plain and simple.  Yes, in America we have religious freedom, however, there are things that we have laws against and they do need to be adhered to or our society will descend into anarchy.

The area that in which I live in Maine has fallen under a lot of these issues in the last decade with the significant influx of Somalians into the area.  Now, I am not saying they are all bad, having an introduction to other cultures of the world is a great thing and can be an incredible learning experience for both children and adults both, however, the established rules do need to be followed and this instance they have not been.  Below you will find a few examples of what I am referring to.

• Religion – again, America does grant freedom of religion, however there are laws in place regarding this ever hot issue.  Take schools for example, there are people that want the phrase “One nation under god” taken out of the Pledge of Allegiance, yet the Somalian children are allowed to partake of their prayers throughout the day despite the disruption this causes to other students as well as to the education of the Somalian children.  Another imbalance issue is the fact that American children are not allowed to wear hats or bandannas on their heads but the Somalian children are allowed to wear their wraps.  Both of these are prime example of what I have been saying, when you go to a new society it is you that needs to change to conform to that society not the other way around.
• In Lewiston, and I do not know if it is still there, there was a Somalian owned store.  A friend of mine had gone into that store and was told “Hey, nothing here for white people, you leave now.”  Umm, excuse me, but that is racial discrimination.  We got rid of the separate fountains and bathrooms 40 years ago and now you are trying to bring them back?  It does not work that way, if a white person were to do that with his store, not only would he face criminal charges he would probably wind up losing his business.
• These people, and I am sorry if that seems derogatory but it is they that have created this situation, have done everything in their power to separate themselves from our society and then cry out for fair treatment.  They abuse the welfare system and the public housing areas (one four bedroom unit in our complex has somewhere between 8 and 10 people living in it) and the authorities are afraid to do anything about it for fear of being called racist.  Since when is it racist to make everyone follow the same damn rules?

I fully welcome people to come to America, we are truly one of, if not the, greatest nation in the world in terms of personal freedoms and the recognition of basic human rights.  The laws we do have in place, while some may find them restrictive, are there to mostly protect people equally.  However, the people I do not welcome here are the ones that are trying to make this into another version of their home country.  Seriously, think about it this way, if you were to become a citizen of Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany or any of the other nations out there, do you think that they would allow you to have the same freedoms that you are used to here just because of your origins?  No, sorry to break your rose colored glasses, but they wouldn’t, and if you pressed to hard about your American rights (and remember, I said became a citizen of another country which would mean giving up your citizenship here) in some countries you could face jail time or death and could even be expelled from the country.  We as Americans take our freedoms and rights way to much for granted, we do not realize just how harsh it is in some of these other countries.  However, that does not mean that we have to change our societal structure for every individual that comes here just to keep them happy and make them feel at home.

Another type that I do not welcome to this country at all are illegal aliens.  This bullshit of allowing amnesty, looking the other way, it really needs to stop.  We have a very simple system of becoming a citizen our this country and without good reason people are not turned down, provided they are willing to become citizens, which per law, a part of that is supposed to be to learn the language.  Goddamn, doesn’t that piss me off when I go into a business and cannot understand what the fuck the employee is saying to me because someone was afraid of offending them and making them learn the language.  Illegal aliens are criminals by the simple fact that they are here illegally, it does not get any similar than that.  Yes, I am sorry that your home country is a bad place, but do not abuse my home for your own needs, that creates a flawed system that you are only helping to make all the worse.  So, what do I feel we should do about illegal aliens?  You are really not going to like this one at all…  But the way I see it, we give them two options:  1 – Grab your shit and go, now.  If they claim they cannot afford it, or won’t leave….  2 – Prison work camps, make them earn the cost of flying them back to their home nation with a federal escorts to make sure they get there.  Now remember, these people are not American citizens and as such are not subject to our laws regarding the judicial system.  I am not saying making WWII era work camps, keep them humane and safe places, but goddammit, make them work for their ride home.  These people should not be offered citizenship until they have been back in their home country for at least seven years and proven they are worthy of being considered an American citizen.

It is important to keep in mind that these people are criminals, here illegally, more than likely not paying income tax and in a lot of cases making use of the welfare system.  Before you say it, I cannot feel sorry for their children, they made a choice to either bring children with them or have them here.  There are systems in place to help people in troubled countries to get here quicker, they need to make use of these and come to our country legally and follow all of the laws once they are here.  Make us want you to be a citizen, prove you have what it takes to fit into our society.

So, as I said at the start, Welcome to America, fit in or go home.

My Political Side

So, after having been accused of being a bleeding heart liberal way to many times,  I went out and found this little quiz.  Now, instead of asking your favorite color and other bullshit, it actually asks your feelings on the hot button topics of the day.  So, whether you have read my blog posts or not, here it is in a nut shell where my political feelings lay.

You Are 70% Conservative, 30% Liberal

Social Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal Personal Responsibility: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal Fiscal Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal Ethics: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal Defense and Crime: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

How Liberal Or Conservative Are You?

Blogthings: A Fine Line Between Insight and Stupidity

But Mom I Don’t Want To Be A Borg

So, I was sitting in the waiting room of my doctor’s office today and reading an issue of Newsweek, when I came across an article that caught my attention, it concerned the topic of End of Life Care.  Now, it is a given that this is a highly emotional issue and the feelings of the family members of those concerned should be taken into account, but what about the wishes of the patient themselves?  If someone is terminally ill and knows it and knows that all options have been exhausted, if they make the choice to want to end the pain and suffering, shouldn’t we honor their decision?  Yes, it is hard to let go of those we love, but this is a prime example of where you need to put their wishes and desires ahead of your own.  Living in pain with no hope can be a very depressing and agonizing state especially knowing the only reason you continue to live is because your loved ones cannot, won’t or are afraid to let go.

All to often I have seen accounts in the news where someone had living will or DNR type paperwork put into place, yet the wishes of their family were honored, even to the point of going to court to keep someone alive that had made the decision long ago that they did not want to be alive under those circumstances.  We do not know what kind of existence these people that are in long term comas are experiencing, how do we know they are not in a living nightmare, locked within their own pain?  Or stuck in some sort of limbo where they are experiencing nothingness, or even worse, trapped behind a figurative piece of glass, able only to watch their loved ones agonize over what has happened to them with no way to interact with them at all.

Doctors are being more and more forced into what is called defensive medicine, keeping people alive even though they full well know that their is no hope at all, all because they fear family members suing them and losing the ability to practice medicine because of it.  This is not acceptable at all, it is a waste of resources as well as being more harmful to the patient and the families involved as well.

I have made sure that Jenni is well aware of my wishes concerning this issue and once we are married I have planned to get the necessary documentation to make it legal.  I do not want to have my family suffer while I lay there either in a coma or only alive through machinery.  The necessary members of my family are fully aware of my wishes as well and I sincerely hope that no one will go against those wishes if anything were to happen to me.  I am the type of person that I want to be able to live fully and not have to depend on others to take care of me.  Short term is one thing, I have had surgery in the past and I will soon again in the future and Jenni has and will take care of me there.  However, if I was to be put into a situation where she had to take care of me full time that is not something I would want.  It would cause more of a depressive state for me to have her keeping me clean, changing my diapers, feeding me, etc.  I cannot even fathom the thought of living like that and I would not want to have to at all.

Proper medical care is a very important thing, however we need to know where to draw the line.  Keeping someone alive against their wishes or when there is no hope for a proper recovery is not a viable option.  This is even more important when the patient is an elderly person, someone who’s siblings and most of their friends have passed away, who’s spouse is more than likely passed on as well.  If they have made an informed decision to want to die, why shouldn’t we let them?  And why shouldn’t we have doctor’s able to assist them to do it properly and not make a mistake and not complete the process and wind up in an even worse state.

Yes, I know what the bible says about suicide, but as I have posted long before I do not place any stock in the bible.  Human decisions should be left up to humans and not trying to justify them by words written long ago by men that were seeking only to have more power than the kings of the day.  We should not artificially extend the lives of people at the cost of their quality of life, living in misery is not at all preferable to death on one’s own terms at all.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Recognize that phrase?  You very well should, it is the central theme for The United States Declaration of Independence.  “All men are created equal”, such a powerful and simple concept, yet so easily overlooked when your own picture of how the world should be is changed.  History is chock full of examples of changes that were fought very hard for, at times at the cost of personal freedom and life, as an example, the US claiming independence from the tyrannical king of England.  We are again faced with a historical change to our outlook on our beliefs and the country as a whole, the rights for homosexual partners to legally marry.

Among these inalienable rights, as proclaimed in that great document, is the right of men to pursue their happiness, by which is meant the right to pursue any lawful business or vocation, in any manner not inconsistent with the equal rights of others, which may increase their prosperity or develop their faculties, so as to give to them their highest enjoyment.

 The phrase “the pursuit of happiness” is one of the most misunderstood phrases that has ever cropped up in history.  It is not about entitlement, it is about having the freedom to do whatever it is you want to do instead of being aside a certain role from birth based on your station in society, again an archaic concept that does not translate all that well into the modern age.  In 1967 the Supreme Court ruled that interracial marriages were legal, Chief Justice Warren himself said  “The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.”  

So, where does that leave us now?  We’ve gotten over the idea of women voting and working outside of the home, for the most part we have come to terms with non-Caucasian Americans yet here we are, battles raging across the entire country for people fighting for the simple right to be married.  Why does this scare everyone so much?  You cannot bring religious concerns into this as you have fought for so long to separate church and state, to the point of taking the Pledge of Allegiance out of schools and wanting to take In God We Trust off the money and yet you use it now, how convenient for you.  You cannot have your cake and eat it too, all you wind up with is a lap full of crumbs my friend.

Natural law?  Pssh, it has nothing to do with it.  There are around 1500 observed species of animals that display homosexual tendencies and over 500 well documents species.  These are hard numbers and they cannot be denied.  They are not abnormalities within the species as multiple animals display these tendencies.  Oh sure, you can throw out the argument “They are just animals” but guess what, it doesn’t float.  We, humans, are animals as well, we have just taken ourselves out of the natural order of things. 

It is time to fully come into the 21st century and let all people live happily in their lives.  A homosexual couple will not cause any harm to a child raised in that environment.  A child needs a loving and caring home to thrive, it should not matter if it is a mom-dad, same sex or single parent family.

Life is far to short, it is time to stop living in fear, time to stop judging everyone because they are different from you or have different beliefs than you.  We need to learn to coexist as a species or we are almost certainly assured of dying off and being replaced….  most likely by gay rhinoceri.

The Apple Of My Window. Huh, What?

So, to what I am sure will be the surprise of many, we arrive at an issue that I really do not have a definitive stand on; PCs vs Macs.  Before I get into this discussion I first need to jump into the WABAC Machine and give a little history about my computer experiences.

I cannot remember exactly which one came first into our house, the Atari 400 or the Commodore 64, but those were the very first computers that I was introduced to as a kid.  At that point and time there was no Windows or OS, there was DOS (And we were grateful!).  Everything was done at a Command Prompt and we thought it was the greatest thing in the world.  Eight color games, a very simplistic word processor program and for those geeks of us out there, which at the time we are talking about only geeks had computers, there was Basic for programming, and it was very basic.  We move forward a few years and now we had a Tandy 1000 TX and we thought we were the shit!  Some more color into the games, I think 16 at this point and the word processor was a little better.  In school I encountered my first PC and Apple type computers in the form of a TRS-80 and an Apple IIe, at that point in time both machines were close enough in their capabilities that there really was not much of a difference between them, hell a lot of the 5 1/4″ floppies we used were interchangeable between the machines.  It wasn’t until High School, that I encountered Windows for the first time in the form of Windows 3.11 and it was pretty sweet, it was also at this point where PCs and Apples really started splitting away from each other for good.  However, even at this time computers were still only used by either geeks at home or in schools/offices for specific purposes.

1995 brought us Windows 95 and with it the face of computers and the internet changed forever with the advent of the World Wide Web.  Now everyone could use computers with ease (generally speaking) and quite quickly the price of computers came down and the number of people owning personal computer went up dramatically.  In general terms little as changed with the appearance of Windows since Windows 95, it has gotten shinier and has some new bells and whistles thrown in but let’s face it, a car is still a car no matter how many neon lights you throw on it.

So, present day and the constant fight over Macs and PCs.  For me this is really a none issue.  Personally I use a PC because overall they are more affordable for what I do and they have more of a mainstream acceptance with software than Macs do.  Yes I do I can emulate Windows on a Mac, but I don’t want to, I am to lazy for that.  It is the same reason I do not dual boot Linux and Windows.  I want to get a machine and have it be able to do what I want without having to jump through hoops.  Macs are nice machines, do not get me wrong there.  They are stable and great for multimedia but the biggest turn off for me is the fact that the same equivalent machine as a Mac costs 2 to 3 times as much as a PC and for a general type user such as myself that is not a justifiable expense at all.

One thing that concerns me about this issue is the fact that some schools use Macs as a teaching tool with students.  Take our oldest, he is in middle school now and they give the students Mac laptops to use for school work and home work and what not.  This is not a benefit for the kids, they are going to spend 6 years on a Mac and then get dumped into a PC world and have to play fast catch up.  I do not know if it is just bias on the part of the schools to prefer Macs or if they just got a better deal from Apple than a PC distributor, either way it is not of benefit to the children.  No, it is not a bad thing to know both, but what about those kid’s that don’t happen to have a PC at home and that Mac laptop is all they are exposed to?

Questions About The Christian Bible

Now, before you go getting your panties in a bunch, don’t worry.  I am not going to be slamming The Bible or pointing out it’s faults or inconsistencies.  This blog post will consist of questions that I have on The Bible that have never been fully or properly answered for me.  With each question I will give some sort of description or thought on it as I can.

One thing I have not really mentioned in this blog before is the fact that I am not really Anti-Christian.  I fully believe that everyone is entitled to their own thoughts and beliefs and if they are right for them,then so be it.  The only time that it becomes wrong is when you attempt to force those thoughts and beliefs on other people.  I do not know the ultimate answer of what is out there controlling everything that happens, I am only a simple man and that is far beyond my purview.  I know what I believe in, and it is sufficient to me.

Now, to the best ability of my research, The Bible spans an amount of time approximately 4100 years long.  That is from the first moments of creation to when the Jews were scattered throughout the world.  Many may argue over some of the finer points, but this will suffice for a rough estimation of time.  Now if you add on from 70 A.D. to present day, that is 1,939 years, for a grand total of 6,000 years, approximately.  This is the first of my confusions, 6,000 years is an incredibly short amount of time, history wise at any rate.

We have dinosaur bones and other archaeological finds that date back over millions upon millions of years, how is this possible?  Is it as the Christians say and God put all of that there during the creation of the world as a test?  Why would he do that?  Why would any “benevolent” creator do that to his creation?  If you wanted your creations to love and honor you, why trick them, why cause confusion and doubt?  If we were to practice these same things as parents we would be considered bad parents…

During the course of The Bible, that 4,000 year span of time, we see a lot of miracles and God proclaiming his existence to the people.  Now, it was not a daily occurrence but it happened often enough and definitively enough that we are lead to believe that the people had no doubt that God existed and who he was and their place before him.  Now in the almost 2000 years since the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ we have not had any of these appearances, why is that?  It is said that he is watching us and waiting for the “right moment” to come back to Earth and judge us all then, but again, using the same analogy as before if we did something similar as parents our children would wind up in a lot of trouble with use getting the blame.

Now, 6000 years…  that very small amount of time, please keep it in mind.  From extrapolation of The Bible stories we now that the middle east had people living in it, as well as parts of Africa and Europe.   But it really does not say anything about the American continents.  Were there people there at the time of The Bible or did they appear after?  If they appeared after, where did they come from?  If they were there already, how come God did not make his presence known to them, and also the entire world at the same time?  We have Christian Missionaries that “bring” the word of God to the savages, but wouldn’t it have been easier for God to announce himself to all of his creations at the same time and instead of many bloody wars and deaths from people arguing over his word, having a peaceful and harmonious world that shares in the love and bond of God as professed by The Bible?  Yes, I understand there is work involved to being a faithful Christian, knowing the Bible, believing in the love and word of God, but it seems wrong to me that only a few “know” the word and everyone else are the savages…

There are several stories in the Bible that cause concern for me and lay the foundation for my doubts in the Christian religion.  At the top of this list is the story of the hereditary line draw up about Jesus.  Through the bloodline of Joseph they should the lineage of Jesus all the way back to Adam…  umm, the Bible says that Jesus was the son of God, therefore to do a hereditary bloodline of him through man would mean using Mary’s family line, not Joseph’s.

“Mark 11:12-14 and 20-22 “The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig-tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, ‘May no-one ever eat fruit from you again.’ And his disciples heard him say it. . . . In the morning as they went along, they saw the fig-tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus. ‘Rabbi, look! The fig-tree you cursed has withered!’ Have faith in God,’ Jesus answered.”

The above is another of those passages from the Bible that make me cock my head and go, what?  The Savior had a temper tantrum?  Now many have argued over the lesson that this presents, but let’s face it folks, Jesus was having a bad day and flipped out.  Wouldn’t it have been much easier to merely use his powers to cause the tree to blossom into fruit?

2 Kings 2:23-24 (King James Version)

 ²³And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
 ²⁴And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.

These verses were brought to my attention a few years ago in a book I was reading, Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein, and it caused me to chuckle.  Now kids are kids, we all know that and because they teased one of God’s prophets they were torn apart by bears.  How is this a loving and caring God?  I think it would have been better for God to laugh at Elisha, tell him to grow a pair and give him a Holy wedgie.

There are many such examples as these in The Bible, things that just really do not make sense to me at all.  Call it what you like, parables, different accounts, the literal word of God, it all boils down to one very simple concept:

If you want me to believe, give me a basic clear system to believe in.  Don’t make me question that belief system in its basic cores and do not give me puzzles and questions that cause me to doubt in the faith.

P.S.  Just a quick note here;  for those that call yourselves faithful Christians, keep in mind the following things the Bible says:

You cannot eat swine
You cannot eat shellfish
If your wife displeases you, you can stone her
Misbehaving children should be stoned
You can sell your daughter into slavery
It is the duty of a man to impregnate his Brother’s widow
Leviticus 20:13 clearly states “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.” 
Don’t cut your hair nor shave. (Leviticus 19:27)
Kill anyone with a different religion. (Deuteronomy 17:2-7)

Class Time

So, over the years I have gotten to know a lot of people.  Some provided some interesting discussions and debates while others were stuck in “common thought” ideals.  Common thought ideals, being things that people think are true but really are not.  The reasons people have these thoughts are based on the mob mentality or thoughts that just are passed down over time and becomes true, even though they are not.  I figured here would be a nice place to post a list of the most common misconceptions and hope to help people out and perhaps have them help others out and we create a domino effect.

1. George Washington did not have wooden teeth as commonly believed. According to a study of Washington’s four known dentures performed by a forensic anthropologist from the University of Pittsburgh (in collaboration with the National Museum of Dentistry, itself associated with the Smithsonian Museum), the dentures were made of gold, hippopotamus ivory, lead, human and animal teeth (including horse and donkey teeth).
2. Contrary to the popular image of the Pilgrim Fathers, the early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts did not dress in black, wear buckles, or wear black steeple hats. According to Plimoth Plantation historian James W. Baker, this image was formed in the nineteenth century when buckles were viewed as a kind of emblem of quaintness. This is also the reason illustrators gave Santa Claus buckles.
3. John F. Kennedy‘s words “Ich bin ein Berliner” are correct German for I am a Berliner. An urban legend has it that due to his use of the indefinite article ein, Berliner is translated as jam doughnut, and that the population of Berlin was amused by the supposed mistake. However, the phrase is correct for the intended meaning, and in fact the term Berliner for jam doughnuts is not used in Berlin, where they are generally called (Berliner) Pfannkuchen (“pancakes”).
4. Sushi does not mean raw fish, and not all sushi includes raw fish. The usual Japanese term for raw fish is sashimi. The term sushi actually refers to the way the rice is prepared with a vinegary dressing.toppings for the rice may traditionally include raw fish—but also cooked seafood, fish roe, egg, or vegetables such as cucumber, daikon radish, or ume plum. The dish constituting sushi and other fillings wrapped in a seaweed is referred to as makizushi, not sushi.
5. Entrapment law in the United States does not forbid police officers from going undercover, or from denying that they are police. It is a common misconception among persons engaged in low-level crime that if an undercover police officer is asked, “Are you a cop?” that the officer must reveal his identity to avoid an entrapment defense.
6. It is commonly claimed that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made object visible from the Moon. This is false. None of the Apollo astronauts reported seeing any man-made object from the Moon. The misconception is believed to have been popularized by Richard Halliburton decades before the first moon landing.
7. Shaving does not cause hair to grow back thicker or coarser or darker. This belief is due to the fact that hair that has never been cut has a tapered end, whereas, after cutting, there is no taper. Thus, it appears thicker, and feels coarser due to the sharper, unworn edges. Hair can also appear darker after it grows back because hair that has never been cut is often lighter due to sun exposure.
8. Hair and fingernails do not continue to grow after a person dies. Rather, the skin dries and shrinks away from the bases of hairs and nails, giving the appearance of growth.
9. According to urban myth, the Daddy Long-Legs Spider (Pholcus phalangioides) is the most venomous spider in the world, but it is harmless to humans because its fangs cannot penetrate human skin. This is false as Pholcus phalangioides can pierce human skin, however, the toxicity of this spider’s venom has just a weak effect on insects, let alone humans.  In addition, there is also confusion regarding the use of the name Daddy Long Legs, because Harvestmen (order Opiliones, which are not spiders) and crane flies (which are insects) are also commonly referred to as Daddy Long Legs, and share (also incorrectly) the myth of venomousness.
10. Humans did not evolve from chimpanzees.^[92] Instead, humans and modern apes share a common ancestor that lived about 5 to 8 million years ago. This common ancestor diverged into two separate lineages, one evolving into modern-day chimpanzees and bonobos, while the other eventually evolved into modern humans.
11. Many people confuse the Immaculate Conception with the Virgin Birth of Jesus when in fact, they are two different things. Immaculate Conception is the belief that Mary was herself conceived without original sin and therefore her conception was immaculate. Virgin Birth is the belief that Mary gave birth to Jesus while remaining a virgin.

So there we have it, not trying to cause any arguments, just laying out the truth like I always do.