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Ray

No Fallacymongers!

About Me


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Tuaj los! I'm not very good at describing myself, but I found a couple of BlogThings that seemed to be accurate. Maybe its just the Forer Effect , but some of them seemed on point, though many more were way off. If you want to know more about me, send me an email or check out my Web Site - I'm just getting it up and running, but this is where you will find my Blog .

I am finding MySpace to be much more fun than I expected it to be, and I have no idea why. Maybe it is just that my natural inclination to trust people can't cause so much trouble here. My friends here can't disappoint me the way my friends in the real world sometimes do. I am told that my expectations are too high. They probably are. I would rather be punched in the face than lied to by a friend. They say truth hurts, but distrust hurts more.

I am a proud Bright. I am a vocal defender of Separation of Church and State. Reverend Bush and his Faith Based money laundering scheme do not belong in the Secular government of this great nation. I have no problems with religion as long as it does not interfere with individual rights, mutual respect, or understanding of science - which is to say that I have a great many problems with religion.

I find it quite odd that religious leaders say that Brights have no reason to respect their fellow man and at the same time teach the evils of sex, science, and different faiths. I respect my fellow humans enough to allow them to love and please whom they wish, to pursue whatever philosophy they wish, and to enjoy whatever activities they wish - provided that they hurt no one and share this same respect with others.

LOL - show me the Bright without a soapbox. I promise to be very surprised.

Despite my problems with religion, I have no problems with people with religion. I simply treat them the same as people without religion. If they say something ridiculous (such as 'you need Jesus' or 'evolution is stupid') I will call them on it. I see no reason to tip-toe around goofy ideas just because someone calls them 'religious'. Religious people would be very offended if I claimed that they were mentally ill, but if they are not ill, there is no reason to humor them as if they were.

So, deal straight with me and I will deal straight with you. Respect my opinions, and I will respect yours. Get in my face, judge me prematurely, ask me to believe silly things just 'cause you would like me to . . .
well, what would you do? Really?



View my Playlist at MyTunesLive.com


Some Christians charge Atheists with arrogance, claiming we believe that we are responsible for all the good in the world. And they are right about our belief, but completely wrong about how we perceive it. It’s not that we think that the world is a noble place because we are in it. One only has to look around to realize that there is little of nobility in life. There is wonder and beauty, but there is also greed, violence, and horror. The Atheist acknowledges why this is. Without a supernatural guardian to redress the evils in the world, we realize that the only good we can expect in life is that which we create ourselves.
There is no arrogance in this. This is the essence of humility, for we acknowledge that the world is not a better place because we have not made it so. This is the awesome responsibility which frightens so many away from Atheism. And this is the heart of all Atheist morals. This is why the Atheist, without hope of heaven or fear of hell, finds it so very important to be good to his fellow man.
- Ray


My Psalm of Origin

Dawkins is my shephard; I shall not fantasize.
He maketh me to climb Mount Improbable:
He leadeth me beside the River of Eden.
He restoreth my intellectual integrity:
He leadeth my memes in the paths of understanding for humanity's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of creationism,
I shall fear no dogma: for Darwin is with me;
His reason and his theory, they comfort me.
He preparest explanations for the challenges of mine enemies;
He annointest my head with understanding;
My complexity is found to be reducible.
Surely goodness and mercy shall proceed from me all the days of my life,
For I will dwell in the House of the Neo-Darwinian Synthesis 'til it be refuted.
Ramen

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My Interests

I delight in the study of evolution.
I defend Separation of Church and State at every oportunity.

I enjoy bicycling and woodworking, and I LOVE my computer. I started messing with computers in the early '80s - back before the World Wide Web when you had to dial up individual bulletin boards.

I actively advocate civil rights for Brights. If you are not a Bright, you probably do not realize how many areas of civil and social interaction are limited or even closed to a Bright who is honest about his convictions.

I am very interested in the secular history of the United Church States of America ;) . The claim that this is a Christian Nation is either meaningless, ignorant, or deceitful. America was the first nation to reject the authority of kings and gods and form an entirely secular government. Any claim to the contrary is a rejection of the history of this great nation.

I'd like to meet:

Someone I can trust, someone who can trust me. If you are a Christian woman looking for a man, open your bible. Hidden amongst the fantasies and fables, the fallacies, and the imaginative failures, are a few scattered pearls of wisdom such as this one: 2 Corinthians 6:14 - "Do not be unevenly yoked with unbelievers." Listen to the voice of experience. I've tried it 3 times, and it doesn't work.

So, who am I looking for? I'm looking for a woman of integrity, pride, and determination. A woman who sees the world as it really is. Not someone who will talk to her imaginary friend about our problems for hours, but won't discuss them with me. I'm looking for a woman who will assert herself and claim her place in a relationship. A woman who won't take any nonsense from a priest, or from me either. I'm looking for an Atheist. Or maybe two . ;) When I find her, I'll pack my belongings and move, one last time.




Its good to be Bright!



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Music:



I LOVE music - R&B, New Age, Electronica/Techno, Dance, Classic Rock, the New Country, whatever. I like music with energy and a bright positive sound. I like a strong beat. I can't resist a good love song. I don't like dark or depressing music.

Movies:

Ooooooh, gimme action. Or a good drama.

Jack Nicholson
Jet Li
Sean Connery

Television:

Ack! The zombie machine! Get it away from me!

Books:

I'll read anything by Richard Dawkins

Freethinkers by Susan Jacoby

The Red Queen by Matt Ridley

Endless Forms Most Beautiful by Sean B Carroll

The Science Of Good & Evil by Michael Shermer

I used to LOVE Sci-fi (Asimov freak), but now I find science fact much more rewarding.

Heroes:

Richard Dawkins
Sam Harris
V S Ramachandran
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Robert Green Ingersoll
Elizabeth Cady Stanton

I admire people of conviction, courage, and integrity.

My Blog

The consequences of Racism

Does anyone remember the film A Time To Kill? In the film, a black child was raped and murdered and her father killed the rapists. The father was arrested for murder, and faced a death sentence from a...
Posted by Ray on Wed, 28 Feb 2007 10:31:00 PST

I got a Lion in my pocket

A joke that started on a friend's blog is turning into a fundraising project, and I need some feedback from my free-thinking friends. Between the Religious Right, products like the Left Behind video g...
Posted by Ray on Mon, 19 Feb 2007 10:34:00 PST

I've been tagged!

Here's how you play: Once you have been tagged, you have to write a blog with 10 weird or random things, facts, or habits about yourself. At the end, you choose 10 people to be tagged, listing their n...
Posted by Ray on Sat, 10 Feb 2007 03:16:00 PST

Religious discrimination - again

I just recieved the following bulletin from Angelic Atheist:Kevin's (aka: CaptinOAwesome) Atheist website is censored: THEY SHUT IT DOWN. They won't even let him transfer his service. THEY HAVE 48 HO...
Posted by Ray on Mon, 05 Feb 2007 08:00:00 PST

Another friendship in the crapper

You ever meet someone who just seemed wonderful? It's not a romantic or sexual thing, just a personal connection - someone you can really relate to. Have you ever wondered how they would feel about yo...
Posted by Ray on Tue, 30 Jan 2007 11:38:00 PST

War on religion?

This is a bit of a re-hash of ideas I have presented elsewhere in response to comments posted in "an angry Bright" - Jan, 1.I have had many people ask me why I am at war with religion or why I hate it...
Posted by Ray on Sun, 07 Jan 2007 06:18:00 PST

The Dark Royals

I'll tell you up front, this is a strange one.Purple and black. Magenta, burgundy, or royal blue and black, but mostly purple and black. Specifically, a shiney, dark purple and a soft, deep black - s...
Posted by Ray on Sat, 06 Jan 2007 02:56:00 PST

an angry Bright

I know the title of this one sounds a little contradictory, but I need to vent a little bit, for conflicting reasons. I belong to a group, the Brights, which is trying to do a very good thing. In a co...
Posted by Ray on Mon, 01 Jan 2007 09:45:00 PST

My Angel

The times, they are a changing. When I was 15, there was no world wide web, there was no email, and there were no real PCs. We had the C-64, the Amiga, the CoCo, and the TI-99. We had bulletin boards....
Posted by Ray on Sat, 30 Dec 2006 11:26:00 PST

Already have a Blog at sedroray.com/blog

Maybe I will use this later, right now I am starting a Blog on my own site - sedroray.com
Posted by Ray on Wed, 06 Dec 2006 02:09:00 PST