tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1218399700426454782011-04-21T16:57:18.343-04:00The Pensive Poethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851725468877659084noreply@blogger.comBlogger161100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121839970042645478.post-469205771741091672008-06-11T12:41:00.005-04:002008-06-11T12:55:46.734-04:00

I notice a lot of bloggers in the blogosphere do a lot of typing and talking. But I oftentimes do not see any action to follow-up all the hot-air. I do not wish to be one of those bloggers who only talks and types. I really have a driving urge to get out into the community and make a change. (Since I live in the deep south, this is not nearly as easy as it might sound).So, in order to help

The Pensive Poethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851725468877659084noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121839970042645478.post-47377144220794235012008-06-05T13:09:00.002-04:002008-06-05T13:26:36.953-04:00

A point was made to mean on my last post about tolerance and Fahrenheit 451. While I don’t agree with most that this person believes, I must address this issue. When I started writing this blog, I never got around to defining what I meant by “tolerance”. I figured that ‘tolerance’ was a commonplace enough word that I did not need to define it for the purposes of this blog. I figured that

The Pensive Poethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851725468877659084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121839970042645478.post-19294369862306882662008-06-02T21:30:00.003-04:002008-06-02T21:46:28.251-04:00

I've been waiting a while to pen this exact piece. This is for various reasons. One of the foremost of these reasons is that I was unsure of where I stood on the issue. But I have since resolved that personal dilemma.I now know that I am firmly and whole-heartedly against the inclusion of "In God We Trust" on our national currency and of "One Nation Under God" in our pledge (even though the

The Pensive Poethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851725468877659084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121839970042645478.post-21728812476845447282008-03-19T08:21:00.003-04:002008-03-19T08:23:42.321-04:00

This is a copy of a letter that I sent into the newspaper. If I have time to write another post abuot the war and elaborate on some points, I will be more than happy to. However right now I am unable to do this because I am in the middle of class.Thanks,Chris.Dear Mr. Editor:Wednesday, March 19, 2008 marks the five-year anniversary of the beginning of Mr. Bush’s war. I find it loathsome,

The Pensive Poethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851725468877659084noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121839970042645478.post-52446128965937469932008-02-25T09:52:00.002-05:002008-02-25T09:57:04.341-05:00

I have been thinking about writing something like this for a few weeks now. However, this lady did a much better job that I could ever have done. Here is the article, copied verbatim from http://www.kansascity.com/273/story/501516.htmlI do not try to claim any authorship nor any rights for this article. I own some debt and a beat-up car. If you want to have either of them, don't go through the

The Pensive Poethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851725468877659084noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121839970042645478.post-48770384387556205012008-02-15T21:34:00.003-05:002008-02-19T17:14:40.820-05:00

I'll type a little introduction about this. Basically, the idea behind this is that we are five years into an illegal war. I will be posting on the five-year anniversary (March 19th) of the beginning of Bush's vendetta. I might do more posts about the War between now and then, but I will be posting an outraged "letter" to those in charge about how the war is illegal.Please urge your friends who

The Pensive Poethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851725468877659084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121839970042645478.post-23364853951371515132008-02-15T09:27:00.005-05:002008-02-19T17:13:54.062-05:00

Apart from our use of fire and our own consciousness, Religion is the only thing that separates us as humans from other animals. I have never heard of an animal that sops what it is doing five distinct and separate times a day so that it can talk (telepathically, no less) to a city that is several thousand miles away. I have never heard of any animal who is circumcised by its birth-parents,

The Pensive Poethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851725468877659084noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121839970042645478.post-13514288555180275472008-02-05T09:03:00.001-05:002008-02-05T11:53:28.014-05:00

Poor Mike Gravel. Poor Ron Paul and poor Alan Keyes. Poor Kucinich and poor Edwards.I was looking through the Sunday paper in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution and I noticed in the politics section (Page F3) that they did this lovely little chart that puts, succinctly, in black and white, the candidates and their views. And it's all very nice, it helped me better understand some of the stances on

The Pensive Poethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851725468877659084noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121839970042645478.post-77397152717603656752008-02-03T17:20:00.000-05:002008-02-05T08:52:05.394-05:00

I'll start this post with the note that my grandmother is a die-hard conservative. She knows that I am liberal, but not that I am an atheist. She knows how I feel about a good number of issues because we frequently discuss them. She and I recently went out to lunch together. We got into a discussion about the presidential election, as is bound to happen these days. The Primary is Tuesday here in

The Pensive Poethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851725468877659084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121839970042645478.post-66711973212351440032008-01-31T09:50:00.001-05:002008-01-31T20:41:53.492-05:00

If you recall, I argued for the fight against having the word "God" on currency and in the Pledge of Allegiance. I started my argument by acknowledging that it was, in fact, a petty fight. However I also acknowledged that it was a breach of civil rights and that it was an injustice. All injustices must be righted, I then reasoned. Well, I found a wonderful video on youtube ( http://

The Pensive Poethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851725468877659084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121839970042645478.post-84053087402365227102008-01-29T21:34:00.001-05:002008-01-29T22:15:56.887-05:00

As much as I hate to admit it and as much as I am against it, religion plays a very large part in American politics. As appealing as Thomas Jefferson's "wall of separation between Church and State" is, the idea has not caught hold on the masses in the freest country in the world. As tolerant as people have become towards the black community and towards women, tolerance runs thin with non-theists

The Pensive Poethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851725468877659084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121839970042645478.post-23127378363020342482008-01-25T15:59:00.000-05:002008-01-29T22:16:19.724-05:00

I'm sure that you've seen the debate of In God We Trust and the Under God almost everyone has an opinion about it, so I think I'll share mine.The first thing that anyone who is against removing these phrases from nationally-approved and regulated entities (namely, the Pledge of Allegiance and our national currency) points out is that this is a petty and tiny thing. While we could (and perhaps

The Pensive Poethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851725468877659084noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121839970042645478.post-5954968628548803152008-01-23T21:54:00.000-05:002008-01-23T22:09:40.579-05:00

So, yesterday I went on an epic-rant about education and things as such.Today, I was proven right in a discussion with one of my "friends" (we're friends, but not very close friends at all).He was talking about why one of the other people in the class and I always have in-depth conversations and the like (this friend is a true "Christian".... he doesn't judge anyone else, has never tried to even

The Pensive Poethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851725468877659084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121839970042645478.post-6756827529346450222008-01-21T20:07:00.000-05:002008-01-21T21:41:05.295-05:00

There is a problem with education in my country (the United States). The problem is that it doesn't happen. People in this country are very happy to take whatever someone tells them and believe it all day long without ever trying to find out if it is true.I personally am still in high school, so I get to see first-hand the youth of today having a hard time thinking critically. I am in almost all

The Pensive Poethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851725468877659084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121839970042645478.post-85417783371218627662008-01-17T21:32:00.000-05:002008-01-17T22:03:48.469-05:00

As an atheist, I understand the importance of ridding the world of religion. I also understand the non-theistic world's view on religion and why it is poisonous (Christopher Hitchens' god is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything). But as a former theist (or perhaps I was a make-believe theist.... there will be more on this topic in an up-and-coming post), I also understand the comfort that

The Pensive Poethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851725468877659084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121839970042645478.post-59381496229535898382008-01-17T00:56:00.000-05:002008-01-17T01:00:10.293-05:00

Well, here is a start, I suppose, to a new blog. I hope that I can keep this one as active as some others that I read. When it comes down to it, I don't really know why I am starting this, except perhaps as a place to record my thoughts and observations about the world.For the record, I am a liberal atheist who happens to live in the Deep South Bible Belt. Intolerance runs rampant here, but I am

The Pensive Poethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851725468877659084noreply@blogger.com0