Fish People

You know, I don't usually get into religious discourses with anybody. My personal beliefs are mine. Recently, a fish person, Christian, Jesus freak told me to just trust in God. Trust that He will work it all out for the best.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell, that Hopey Changey thingy really doesn't work well for me. The hope I have is that I am as prepared as I can be for what ever is coming down the pike. That my friends is a tall enough order. I am a firm believer in the Universe, the Force or whatever you wish to call it.

Not really counting on religion to bail me out. Reason, maybe. Passion, for certain.

I don't think it is wise to believe that God is going to pull this one out of his. . . . um. . . . hat. Generally, the old adage, "God helps those who help themselves." seems to ring true for me.

The loss of a our Grand Republic is a tragedy and I believe those of us with an intellect and the ability to reason can see where this train wreck is headed.

To go into the next decade unprepared for what awaits will only end in a sad and lonely place.

There are five stages of grief and if we can't make it through them all to the end, we are doomed. No healing, no good feelings, no sunshine. So here ya go.

Grief is very confusing to many of us. A very misunderstood emotion. Sooner or later, we all go through it. Somehow we will have loss in our lives. Death, divorce, the fall of the greatest republic the world has ever known.

The five stages of grief are:

1-Denial-"this can't be happening to me", expecting the old familiar Republic to be there right where you left it. Acting as if you can still exercise your God given rights. No crying, accepting or even acknowledging the loss.

2-Anger-"why me?", How could this happen? feelings of wanting to fight back. Writing, demonstrating etc. Heavy on the etc.

3-Bargaining-bargaining often takes place before the loss. Begging, wishing, hoping, praying for. . . well for the love of GOD, the familiar country you knew and loved, to come back. Attempting to make deals with God to stop or change the unbelievable loss.

4-Depression-overwhelming feelings of hopelessness, frustration, bitterness, self pity, utter and complete aloneness, mourning loss of a republic as well as the hopes, dreams and plans for the future dashed before your very eyes. Feeling a complete and total lack of control, feeling numb, disoriented, disenfranchised.

5-Acceptance-there is a difference between resignation and acceptance. You have to accept the loss, not just try to bear it quietly. Realization that the republic is gone. Make plans anew. Get help. You will survive. You will heal, even if you cannot believe that now, just know that it is true. To feel pain after loss is normal. It proves that we are alive, hope of one day being healed and finding happiness again. Something to look forward to.

That or get more ammo and guns. While your at it, Bitterly cling to your Bible or use the Force or whatever you believe in!


A few thoughts to ponder from thinkers of the past.

"In Christianity neither morality nor religion come into contact with reality at any point." - Friederich Nietzsche

"The Christian god can easily be pictured as virtually the same god as the many ancient gods of past civilizations. The Christian god is a three headed monster; cruel, vengeful and capricious. If one wishes to know more of this raging, three headed beast-like god, one only needs to look at the caliber of people who say they serve him. They are always of two classes: fools and hypocrites." - Thomas Jefferson

I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.
- Susan B. Anthony


The Epicurean Riddle

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God? - Epicurus



I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.
- Galileo

"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest" - Denis Diderot.

“Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet”
–Napoleon Bonaparte

“Hence today I believe I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator”
–Adolph Hitler

"Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Give a man a religion, and he'll starve to death praying for fish." - Anonymous

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." Voltaire

Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man -- living in the sky -- who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do.. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time! ..But He loves you. -George Carlin


"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all
fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a
vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist,
infanticidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent
bully."--Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, ch. 2.

We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing/ all-powerful God, who creates faulty humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes. - Gene Roddenberry

With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. - Steven Weinberg

He that will not reason is a bigot; he that cannot reason is a fool; he that dares not reason is a slave. - William Drummond

Religion does three things quite effectively: Divides people, Controls people, Deludes people. - Carlespie Mary Alice McKinney

Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones. - Marcus Aurelius

When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion. - Abraham Lincoln

"Those to whom his word was revealed were always alone in some remote place, like Moses. There wasn't anyone else around when Mohammed got the word either. Mormon Joseph Smith and Christian Scientist, Mary Baker Eddy, had exclusive audiences with God. We have to trust them as reporters---and you know how reporters are. They'll do anything for a story."
--Andy Rooney


Here is what Martin Luther says about reason:
Reason is the enemy of faith
Reason should be destroyed in all Christians
Reason is a whore, the greatest enemy that faith has.
Faith must trample under foot all reason, sense, and understanding.
Whoever wants to be a Christian should tear the eyes out of his Reason


"Everything is what it is because it got that way." -D'arcy Thompson


P.S. I believe the resounding principle demonstrated by the quotes in my signature line is that one must take care of one's self cause no one else will.




If you look like prey, you will be eaten. Clint Smith

Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid. Han Solo

They say God created man, Sam Colt made 'em equal. . . More or less. Matthew Quigley

9/11 Remember