Something something darkside...something something complete...
I was still in my jammies and not wearing shoes this morning when I took little Daisy Ann for her pee in the yard. There was a woman next door leaving pamphlets in the neighbors mail box. She said hello to me and I said hello back. I'm friendly like that. She asked me if I wanted her to leave an invitation in our mailbox. She explained it was for an Easter celebration at her church. I politely expressed that we are atheists.
Obviously, this piqued her interest.
She asked how I became an atheist. When I told her that I was raised that way she was taken quite aback. For some reason, people don't get that you can be raised atheist as much as you can be raised with religion. It seems that the vast majority of people think that people become atheists because they lose the faith they were raised with or that they're simply going through some rebellious stage and they'll re-join the flock at some point.
Having been raised atheist, it's what's normal to me. When I was a child, religion fascinated me. In fact, I'm still fascinated by religion.
She tried to counter my atheism with the typical Christian questions. I told her that this life and this world and universe are miraculous enough and that God was not necessary for beauty. That everything on this planet is sacred. That bad things happen so that we may appreciate the good even more. That we were all a part of a universal subconscious, and that even the animals are included in that. I told her that I didn't need the promise of heaven to do good things and to be a good person, that being a good person is reward enough for me. I explained that my mother raised my brother and I to be non judgmental and loving people and, above all, raised us to practice critical thinking and to never just blindly accept anything without first hearing the evidence from all sides.
She appreciated what I had to say and I think she was surprised by it. Perhaps most of the atheists she encounters are combative, as many atheists can be. She really was a very nice lady and I didn't mind sharing my thoughts with her. I also didn't mind that she shared her thoughts with me. I'm comfortable enough in my beliefs that I don't feel the need to be mean or terse with proselytizing Christians. They're only doing what they think is good and just and as long as they're respectful I don't mind having a peaceful discourse with them.
Because this is how we open each others minds. We don't open minds with mud slinging. We don't encourage critical thought with insults and snark. We don't spread a message of love through disdain and coarse language.
Anywho...The other day Clyde and I went to a second hand store up in Statesville. I found two really awesome books from the twenties. I love old things, especially books, and for $1.50 a piece I couldn't pass them up!
I loved looking at the writing on the inside of the books. It looks like they belonged to the same woman and that she went to Smith College between 1937 and 1938. I especially loved the little horse doodle on the inside of one of the pages. It's drawn in the same fashion that I draw horses, so that was really wild to find.
I also love opening the books and smelling them. There's nothing quite like the smell of books, both old and new. In fact, I think it's that book smell that will keep me from ever owning a kindle or other sort of e-reader. Sure, they're convenient, but it's really not the same as a physical book.
Anyway, without further delay, here are todays naked selfies. Because where else am I going to post them?
