I'm a Movie Star!

Well, not really. But I sure felt like one when I saw the latest Mrs. Betty Bowers video on YouTube! I feel so honored that America's Best Christian saw fit to include me in her invitation to join the GOP! Check me out at 0:19!

To celebrate this momentous occasion, I'm releasing the never-before-published sister picture, without my lovely self in the frame! (Since a few people have told me that they're pretty sure I'm just covering up the word "heart" on that sign with my lovely self...)

Seriously, I have no idea what was going through that designer's head when they made that billboard.

In Which I'm Jealous & Spiteful

If you're going to the Reason Rally today, I just want you to know: I hate you.

Have fun.

Good On You, Stony Brook

Congratulations, Stony Brook University. Good job on discouraging preferential treatment to specific religions. Obviously, Rush Limbaugh doesn't like it, but, well, it's Rush Limbaugh. I don't think there's much of anything that he actually does like; the man's show is a putrid fountain of hatred and idiocy.

But that's beside the point. In February, Stony Brook made some changes to their calendar for 2012, which will presumably apply to later years as well, provided no one has a big enough tantrum first. Religious holidays will no longer be holidays from classes – specifically, Christian and Jewish holidays won't, since no other religion's holidays were recognized by the school calendar.

A-Week – Are You Shouting, Or Are You Just There?

It's that time of year again... It's A-Week!

Last year, I didn't participate. I had my reasons. But this year, I'm ramping it up with an 'A' as my profile pic! Nothing as gauche as last year's scarlet A, though. This year, it's a nice, sedate blue.

Really, though, I have to wonder... Am I making a difference?

In Defense of Naughty Words

So, I wanted to talk about words a little bit. As you may have noticed, I tend to use them a lot. In fact, you might have noticed that I even use words that are –gasp– not really very fucking polite.

So I'm going to tell you how I feel about words, and the words I use.

Now, words are tricksy things sometimes. For example, I have no fucking problem being a little obscene here – I mean, it is my personal goddamn blog, after all. But there are some places that naughty words like "fuck" and "damn" and "shit" and what-have-you just shouldn't be used. Such places include things like:

• Telling stories to young children,
• School and professional papers and correspondence, and
• Talking to one's grandparents (This varies, I understand, but I wouldn't be caught dead swearing around mine!)

But in the end, there are reasons why every human language has some form of obscenity in it.

Small Government

Not a full post today (stay tuned, though; more this week!), but I thought that you might... appreciate... this.

(Click through for full comic!)

Dear Virginia, I'm Ashamed

Dear Virginia,

Recently, your government has been looking at a few bills that, if passed, would be an abominable injustice to women in your domain. I know, I know, everyone and their mother's been talking about this for the past few days. But I'm not sure that you've really thought this through. I mean, Virginia, you do realize that these bills would be hugely harmful, right? Both to the women whose rights would be infringed upon... and to the cause you're presumably trying to serve here.

At the end of the day, Virginia, restrictions on abortions only lead to more illegal abortions. There aren't any fewer "dead babies" in the end, but there are more injured, maimed, and dead women. I realize that maybe you don't find women as cuddly and cute as zygotes and fetuses, Virginia, but they're people too. In fact, they're much more people than any clump of cells with no personality, no memories, no independence. When you pass bills such as the Personhood and Informed Consent bills currently in the state Senate, the primary effect of your action doesn't protect those clumps of cells. The primary effect of such bills is to put women – women with personalities, women with memories, women who would have a good measure of independence if only the government would stay out of their bodies – in a situation where they will put themselves in serious danger to do something that should be easy. Not to mention legal.

Hello, World (Redux)

So... I'm ashamed to say that I never actually updated after the SSA Conference last summer. I could make excuses and promises to keep updating now, but frankly, it doesn't seem like it would make much of a difference. I do think I'll actually start updating again now; my schedule's a lot less hectic these days.

But first, here's what's been going on in my life over the last half a year! (I know, it's kind of like excuses, but hey, cut me some slack...)

• The Freethinkers had an awesome fall semester, which I am proud to have been a part of. Meeting attendance and general interest have skyrocketed over the past year, and I'm sure that I've only seen the very beginning of the great things the group will do.
• I kept volunteering! I think I can safely say that volunteering with the Raft Crisis Hotline is one of the things I'm most proud of doing in my life so far. I really felt like I was making a positive difference in the community, and I hugely encourage anyone who has considered a similar kind of volunteering to go for it!
• I was sick for half of the semester. Recurring tonsillitis that coincided with a lapse in my health insurance gave me an even stronger conviction that health care should be a right, not a privilege. If I could barely drag myself to class (even with my low-cost medications through the university!), how can we as a society expect people working low-wage jobs to survive?
• I got engaged the day after Thanksgiving! I mean, it wasn't really a surprise, since we planned it all out beforehand for the most part, but it's still really exciting.
• I graduated! I'm really happy to be done (at least for now!), but I'm also sad to leave that part of my life behind.
• Speaking of leaving things behind, I'm not in Virginia anymore! I'm currently in Vancouver, B.C., living with my fiancé for a few months while I try to sort out a summer internship or a job, and also all the details for our wedding!

Just Another Tiny Post

I got in late last night, and I had to work all day today, and I need to clean and pack everything I own tomorrow for the first of two moves in two(ish) weeks....

So here's a picture from this weekend as my apology for not writing about all the fabulousness that was this weekend!

Whaaaaaaatt?!??

We actually pulled a u-turn on the highway so that we could get a picture of this ridiculousness.

Abortion... stops a beating.

Somehow I don't think this is what they meant to say. Anyways, more on this, and everything else, later. Sometime. Seriously, I don't know how I manage to be so busy; it's exhausting.

SSA Conference!

Just a short post, as I'm leaving soonish and still need to pack (curse you, procrastination!), but I'm heading off to the Secular Student Alliance's annual conference in Columbus, Ohio today, and I am excited!

As far as what I hope to get out of this, I'd really like to learn more about how to make a group female-friendly... but not in a way that's just targeting females. I'd also like to hear any opinions on making to whole "ladies' issues" engaging to guys without resorting to "it might get you laid." Quite frankly, I'm of the opinion that most problems are "human issues," rather than men's or women's specifically, but there I don't run into a whole lot of agreement on this.

To put it frankly, how the hell do I get a (mostly male) group to talk about something like the proposed requirement for health insurance providers to provide birth control free of charge without having them think that the only reason it's important is because they're less likely to knock someone up if it's put into effect?

Also, how to run better events. How to strike the right balance between what some people want and what others disagree with. How to forge good relations with faith-based groups. How to figure out whether something's a rumor or not, and how to keep it from spreading while we find out (more on this later). And whether anyone knows if Rock Beyond Belief is actually going to happen (seriously, I want to go)!

All that said, I'm mostly excited to meet everyone else there. I mean, c'mon, it's a conference which, if I extrapolate based on previous experiences with the Freethinkers, will be full of awesome people. Also, the awesome speaker list.

And I can't lie; I really just want to hug PZ Myers.... he just looks so huggable!

Lipstick Feminism, or Why Dressing Like a Prostitute Still Promotes Sexism

I'm sure by now everyone and their mother has heard about the whole "Elevatorgate" thing, and the ensuing blogoshpere explosion over... well, everything involved (if you didn't – and I'll admit, I was in the dark for a while myself on this one – you can learn more about the whole controversy via Jen McCreight's blogpost on the matter or Greta Christina's great piece on why it's important, or really, just about any blog with any kind of opinions on atheism/feminism). Maybe you also saw Matt Dillahunty's awesome first (and probably only) go at drag this week on Atheist Experience.

With all that as a lead-in (and also because I feel like it), I figured now would be a great time to talk about how pissed it makes me when people either claim that feminists are manhating ugly women who need to get laid, or make the seemingly opposite claim that women embracing the culturally-prescribed social norm of looking hot will magically make misogyny a thing of the past.

Actually, now that I think about it, I really don't have to talk much about that first thing other than to say, "That's wrong, as well as stupid." Feminism opposes misogyny, but this is not the same as hating men; wanting to take privilege out of the equation doesn't mean feminists think males are inferior, but rather that we'd all like to be equal, thank you very much. Feminists aren't uglier than non-feminists any more than atheists are uglier than theists (though Conservapedia would have you think we're all fatties). Feminism is not restricted to females, just as advocating for gay rights isn't restricted to people who identify as LGBTetc. As regards to getting laid, well,  I doubt we need it any more desperately than anyone else, and certainly less than some!

I'm Still Alive, I Swear

Well, I am apparently ill-suited to regular updates in the summer. I suspect it's the lack of structure in my schedule; I feel like I have more time than I really do, so I keep putting things off. This is clearly something I need to work on.

Basically, this is post is just an update on my personal life combined with a promise of actual posts to come. I promise! I'll write something! Maybe even this week!

All in all, this summer has been completely awesome. It's also been busier than any summer except, perhaps, for the one prior to my senior year of high school. This summer, I have done the following:

Giles County's Unconstitutional Ten Commandments Decision

I know everyone thought I'd been raptured, since I've been terribly neglectful of this blog for the last month, but I promise, I'm still here, and still in Blacksburg, even.

In fact, I'm still meeting up with the Freethinkers, and we are doing epic things this summer! Yesterday's epic adventure was our trip out to the Giles County School Board Meeting to show our support for keeping the “historical documents” display – the one that includes the Ten Commandments – out of public schools. This has apparently been an issue since at least 2004, and probably much longer.

Just to be clear, in my personal opinion, the Ten Commandments has no place in a display of historical documents that were instrumental in the formation of American law. In fact, 70% of the Ten Commandments aren't addressed at all in American law codes. Last I checked, we were still allowed to disrespect whomever we pleased, have whatever deities or idols (or lack thereof!) we care to have (in whatever order we want), party all day on Sundays, swear however we like, covet anything we damn well want, and, in many states, have sex with anyone willing and of age and sound mind (at any rate, there's no federal law governing adultery); only murder, theft, and bearing false witness are illegal on a federal level. Beyond that, I think I can go out on a limb and say that most – if not all – legal codes have always and still do include admonishments against murder, theft, and lying to get other people in trouble and/or cover your own ass. There is no real evidence or support for the claim that the Ten Commandments are historically significant in the codification of United States law.

On a related note, I'd like to put forth that if they wanted to put up something really old that influenced United States legal tradition (and probably legal traditions in much of the modern world), they need look no further than the Code of Hammurabi. It is the oldest recorded legal code ever discovered, after all, and it even covers murder, theft, and false witness.

National Day of... Really, Guys?

So, I can't pretend I've actually been paying a whole lot of attention (what with studying for exams and writing end-of-term papers taking precedence over even my blog-reading addiction), but even I know that today was the National Day of Prayer.

A friend of mine put forth the opinion that given that today is Cinco de Mayo, the National Day of Prayer probably should've come afterward, so that folks could easily repent for their tequila-fueled transgressions.

Of course, I opined that the whole thing was planned on the fifth on purpose so as to try to offset some of the terribly unamerican partying that goes on. I mean, what's less American than celebrating a Mexican holiday?? We'll only encourage illegal immigrants like that! Clearly we should all get down on our knees and pray for those damn dirty Mexicans to get out of our country and stop doing the jobs no one else wants to do. Like construction. Or farm work. You know, all those unnecessary things that we couldn't possibly pay a fair wage for.

To be quite serious, though, government sponsorship of this kind of event is unconstitutional and divisive. I'd also suggest that the people in charge of this nonsense bone up on classics like the Treaty of Tripoli. Not that they'd actually give a damn about anything that didn't support their desire to push their beliefs on others.

And it's not that I've really got much hope left for politicians, especially any in the "moral" majority, but somehow my opinion of the government just keeps sinking and sinking. Oh well, I'm surely getting old and jaded.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the little protest at the Planned Parenthood here in Blacksburg. Because just praying for all the poor little bunches of cells isn't enough.

Sigh.

Temporary Leave of Absence

Hey, sorry for all the lack of posting that's going on.

And for the fact that it's going to continue until I've finished writing the billion papers I need to turn in, and studying for and taking finals. And acquiring a job.

I'm just really busy at the moment. I'll be posting again once the semester's over, and maybe I'll sneak something short in between then and now.

More Information

As more information comes to light, I would like to restate that Mr. Alex Huppert needs help and support, not judgment and condemnation. Free@VT has extended our support to his family and friends, should they need it, and we hope for the best for Mr. Huppert as he faces a difficult period in his life.

At present, it appears that Alex's behavior may have been due to his taking a drug that he believed to be Paxil -- for which he had a prescription -- but wasn't.

More information is available in this follow-up article in the Virginia Tech Collegiate Times.

Today's Events: the Awesome and the Terrifying

Today was National (or International, depending on who you ask) Ask an Atheist Day. I planned and ran the Free@VT-sponsored booth here at Virginia Tech, and as one of my fellow participants said, the day was "99% totally awesome open dialogue, and 1% horrible obscene worst-case-scenario."

First, the awesome stuff. While the day started off slowly, we had a definite increase in interest and traffic as the day went on. By noon, we had a pretty much constant group of students around the booth, and several atheists who hadn't known about Free@VT had dropped by to pick up a meeting schedule or sign up for our listserv (including a student in the Corps of Cadets, who was feeling a bit out outcast in the military setting and was excited to hear of an atheist-friendly group on campus!). Even more delightful was the number of people who were actually asking us questions.

We had a veritable flood of students from some of the on-campus Christian organizations, most notably from Campus Crusade for Christ. Both sides of the discussion -- and, surprised as I was, it was, in all cases, a discussion, not an argument -- were very polite, and genuinely interested in having an open dialogue. Questions ranged from wondering whether we celebrated Christmas, to where we got our morals, to our thoughts on the origin of life and the universe, to whether we believed if Jesus ever existed, and beyond.

Perhaps a measure of the respect we were treated with was due to the fact that many of our volunteers were grad students, but I don't really think that's what it was. At Virginia Tech, there seems to be a high expectation from everyone, not just from the establishment, that others be treated with respect until they've done something showing that they're not worthy of that. Hokies, as a whole, are a family, and while we may disagree on some things, we try our utmost to be, at least, civil.

As I said, however, there was that 1% of the day that was heinously awful.

The "Problem" of Gay Marriage

Just to be clear, I fully support the legalization of gay marriage.

Reposted from Hanlon's Razor

It's My Birthday, Have A Present!

So, I just turned 21! Fear not, I'm safely in a bar somewhere having my parents buy me alcohol in a strange attempt at parent-daughter bonding, and this is being published automatically! (Assuming I do this right and it works...)

Because I'm awesome (and also because I wanted an excuse to post this up), here's an excellent Flash game, Tower of Heaven, as a backwards birthday present:

Is it Our Duty to Come Out as Atheists?

I'm sure many of you know it, but just to set the stage for my discussion of this topic, last week was 'A' Week. Atheists have been encouraged to set their Facebook (and other social profile, I suppose) picture to the scarlet 'A' -- or, in a twist on the concept that I personally prefer, to take a picture of themselves smiling with a small sign saying that they are an atheist, and use that for their profile picture.

'A' Week is a strategy which I highly support.

'A' Week is an event in which I do not participate.

What gives?