TGIF

It's Friday morning. Esteemed Spouse and I have had our coffee and breakfast and we're now companionably each sitting in our adjacent home offices, pecking away at our keyboards. He's probably working or reading his online cartoons. I've checked Facebook and read Tassina's blog. I've been checking Ellie's blog lately but nothing new, so I don't know if she's just up past her eyeballs in work or is just not in the mood to add a new post. Me, I have to write. I've semi-abandoned my other two blogs, figuring it's about all I can do lately to keep this one and Facebook going. Though, if I keep on throwing kerosene onto blazing conservative fires, I'm going to wind up being un-friended by half the people I know. Happily, the other half believe as I do, so I'll get to keep the ones who aren't offended by my politics and beliefs.

My latest is to ask a woman whom I don't even know (she's the daughter-in-law of my cousin), "WHOSE prayers do you want to have returned to the classroom?" (She's a "fan" of bringing prayer back to schools.) I told her that I had B'Hai, Muslim, and atheist friends who wanted a say in the matter. Today she has disappeared from my Facebook, so I can guess what happened. People really really really don't like to question their beliefs. It's too scary. It's akin to walking naked through the mall. They feel if they don't have this belief to rely upon, then they don't have anything. And I can understand the need. But to those of us who don't believe, it's like saying, "My life isn't worth living, and I'm too scared to go on, if I can't throw salt over my shoulder if I spill it."

I also have probably alienated my husband's sister-in-law, who is a "fan" of the pro-life ad being promoted by this football player and sponsored by Focus on the Family. First, Focus on the Family is just another front organization for people who believe in killing women or ruining their lives, as long as they can preserve the sacred "fetus," even if that fetus is badly deformed or disabled. I'm really pissed that the decision-makers for Super Bowl ads say they won't accept ads that are selling ideas rather than products, but then they allow this one to be aired. Money talks. The reason given for not accepting the gay dating service ad was that "they couldn't afford it." Hah. However true that might be, that does not negate the acceptance of a political/religious position ad in violation of their supposed policy. But back to the topic. The sister-in-law had put up that she was a "fan" of the ad, and I had "jokingly" put up that I was a fan of the gay dating service ad. One of the sister-in-law's friends, a woman I don't know, tried to engage me in a war of words. Her weapon of choice was, of course, the Bible. But since I don't regard the Bible as sacred or as authoritative "truth," why should I accept her argument? It isn't rational.

I do grow so weary of the conservative arguments, the Obama-bashing, the religious wars. I need my own country. President Obama is a good man. He's intelligent, well-educated, honest, and rational. He can be my president, even if there are thousands of racist assholes out there who can't seem to see past the color of his skin. My country would have no religion except Humanism. No churches. All that money would go to education, not to giant buildings that sit empty most of the time and serve no real purpose other than to give a space for social gatherings for like-minded believers in myth. Take away churches' tax-exempt status in this country, and it would be a better country. We could probably solve the deficit, as well as the even-more-desirable side-effect of putting a few million churches out of business. Those buildings could be used to house the homeless. We could do away with building new police stations and town halls for the next few decades just by converting the church buildings. After all, there's a church on every street corner and sometimes three or four in a row, of different denominations, all sitting empty except for a few select hours per week.

Okay, enough ranting. Today marks the one-month-until-Hawaii date. We've ordered beach shoes, and my bathing suit has come in. (Now, if I could just work up the courage to try it on!) Esteemed Spouse and I don't get to have an uninterrupted day with each other since he has some kind of committee meeting this afternoon, so I should probably get some work done.