So there I was, talking to and having my picture taken with a well-respected leader in my profession at the national conference last week.  She is getting up there in years now, and is a treasure to those of us who use the theories, research, and assessments she developed.

I was waiting to be a guinea pig for one of the tutorials they were putting on at the Expo, when I noticed the lady holding the Bible directly behind me.  She said, "Do you want a Bible?"  I said, "No, thank you.…

I knew they had been at my house because of their pamphlet they left behind.  Jehovah: Who is He? it asks.  I figured I'd read it, just to amuse myself.  It was not very amusing at all.  Quoting Michael Behe, it touts the Bible as a source to describe who designed the building blocks of life.  It claims that Jehovah is a living, being with appealing qualities like loving-kindness and mercy, and that it is nice to be in the presence of such a being.  Then it goes on to describe how those who…

I work with an outlaw-biker-turned-Bible-thumping-physical-therapy-assistant named Paul. *  He is, I believe, someone who needs Jesus.  The world is better for Paul having turned his life over to Him.  Paul is also opinionated, domineering, and just bright enough to be a nuisance in general.  

He and I have come to a peaceful detente regarding religion.  He is an evangelical Young Earth Creationist, while I am an unapologetic atheist .  After many discussions that went absolutely…

I just got off the phone, having talked with my mother at length about, mostly, Christianity.  I don't know how we got on the topic but it was a great conversation. It was nice to talk about something on an intellectual level, for a change, instead of whatever has gone wrong with whomever in the family.  I cannot believe what she just told me.  She asked me if she ever told me when she knew Christianity was over for her.  She hadn't, and I was afraid of what I was going to hear.  

My…

Yesterday at work I was working with a quiet, tired patient when in wheeled a guy in an electric wheelchair. He had come to visit the patient on the other side of the room. Before he got very far my patient pointed at him and bellowed, "I have NO sin!" The guy in the wheelchair looked a little aghast and backed out of the room without comment. I said to my patient, "What was that all about?" He said, "I was just messing with him." Although I felt bad for the gentleman who had been…

Last summer I camped in New Hampshire's Great North Woods with a friend for a couple of days.  We kayaked, hiked, and generally looked for moose.  We went very far into boggy inlets in the kayaks, we walked a ways down the Moose Alley Trail in the dark with our headlamps, and we drove up and down "Moose Alley" several times, hoping to have our lives graced with the presence of one of these immense, fearless creatures. From the top of Mt. Magalloway, I visualized the moose in the bog we…

The memorial service was at a church in my small New England village.  I have driven by it at least twice a day for 15 years but I had never been inside it until today.  Even though I am an atheist, I like churches.  I feel peaceful in the quietness of a church, and I understand that it is sacred to believers.  Somehow that means something to me even if it isn't logical.

This one was simple in design, having the basic pews, pulpit, and crucifix on the back wall.  Being a…

George, the rabid evangelical Christian at work, seems to finally understand that his constant "ministering" to me is offensive.  I used to freely initiate conversations with him, until I realized that he was incapable of leaving the conversation at an acceptable level.

I have noticed recently that he has not been doing it very much  so I asked him, "George, I have noticed you are not talking to me as much about God.  Is that in response to me asking you to not discuss it at work, or…

How many times do I have to be damned for all eternity, I wonder?  Is that like having 6 consecutive life sentences?  Is there ever any break between suffering, or is it non-stop misery for all time?  How will my body hurt if I don't have one?

A theist asked a ridiculous question about us being able to see in 3D and how that could only have happened if we were created by God yadda, yadda, yadda.  She asked me a question, so I answered it to the best of my ability.  Then, when she…

I was looking at some things I wrote in 2006-'07, and I found this.  It made me smile all over again.  It was written in response to some asshat's inquiry about, "Just why WON'T you believe in God?"

Top Ten Reasons Why I Can’t Just Believe in God:

10. I think wings would make my butt look big.

9. I spent way too many Sunday mornings hung over and broke to ever be able to make it to church regularly.

8. Jonathan Davis says God is a lie.

7. I’d have…

I just can't seem to resist getting into discussions with a certain woman on Facebook.  She's not my friend, but she's a friend of a friend, so occasionally we can both comment on the common person's posts.  

Yesterday she told me, again, that I'm not an atheist.  She says I am an agnostic because I don't think I can know for sure whether or not there is a deity.  This is true, but I also don't believe any deity exists.  This is a bit of semantics, really, but what I can't get over is…

Her email:

So, I don't know much about atheist forums....are they sort of like church only without the supernatural diety? I know what you mean about scripted questions/answers though....not so much with religious discussions but definitely with political conversations. I, myself, really love and value critical thinking. That is one of the reasons I am enjoying this e-discussion. You think things through and you don't get offended. I love to talk to people about…

When I am aware enough to really observe what is going on around me, I can't help but realize that life is sublime and absurd. As an occupational therapist in a skilled nursing facility, I am often in a ideal position to experience some wondrous things. One of the residents I’m working with wanted me to go with her to “mass”. To the extent that my presence was going to facilitate her participating in something meaningful for her, I went with her. Although I am not a Christian, I have a…

Have you ever read The Chronicles of Narnia? I think there are 7 books in all. They were written by C.S. Lewis, and they, along with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, are some of the books I've read and re-read the most in my life. They are the closest things to a "Bible" I've got.

Narnia was created and presided over by Aslan. Wikipedia says this:  "Aslan is a talking lion, the King of Beasts, son of the Emperor-Over-the-Sea; a wise, compassionate, magical authority (both…

I have been asked this question by several Christians, and it's a good question.  I suspect they might expect me to say, "I believe in sacrificing goats to Cthulhu," or "I believe in daily orgies."  Oh, wait.  It's the Christian Bible that supports animal sacrifice for seemingly just about any reason.  I'm so confused.  



I wish I didn't care about religion one way or the other.  Try as I might, I seem to be unable to stay under the radar.  I do not mean to pick on…