Agnostics Do It Better

"I do not consider it an insult, but rather a compliment to be called an agnostic. I do not pretend to know where many ignorant men are sure—that is all that agnosticism means." —Clarence Darrow

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"Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear."
—Thomas Jefferson


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"The mystery of the beginning of all things is insoluble by us; and I for one must be content to remain an Agnostic."
—Charles Darwin

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"'It would be safe to say that I'm agnostic. However, I do feel as though we owe a faith to the world and to ourselves. We owe a grace and gratitude to things that have brought us here. But I think it's very ignorant to say, `Well, for everything, God has a plan.' That's like an excuse. ... Maybe the real faithful act is to commit to something, to take action, as opposed to saying, `Well, everything is in the hand of God.'" —Dave Matthews

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W. C. Fields, a lifetime agnostic, was discovered reading a Bible on his deathbed. "I'm looking for a loop-hole," he explained.

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"I have observed that the world has suffered far less from ignorance than from pretensions to knowledge. It is not skeptics or explorers but fanatics and ideologues who menace decency and progress. No agnostic ever burned anyone at the stake or tortured a pagan, a heretic, or an unbeliever." —Daniel J. Boorstin

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“There's nothing an agnostic can't do if he doesn't know whether he believes in anything or not.” —Monty Python

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“Q: What do you get when you cross an insomniac, an agnostic, and a dyslexic?
A: Someone who stays up all night wondering if there is a Dog.”
—Groucho Marx

It's That Time Again! Bring on the Pity!

Okay, just a warning: I think this is going to be a big ol' infertile pity post.

In keeping with my "productive" musings, I feel that I should point out that my fertility issues are very confused right now. Last night in my Intro to Special Education class, we were talking about kids with disabilities and the professor asked, "Doesn't it seem like some people shouldn't even have kids?" That, of course, got me thinking. It's so true. Almost every day on the news there is a story about a woman who threw her kid in the Dumpster or an innocent child beaten to death. And even if it's not that drastic, I could go to any McDonald's and point to a few sad recipients of children who should have won a lifetime of birth control...

...or better yet, infertility.

I know many of you are Christians, but there remains one burning question in my agnostic mind: How can you justify God letting certain people have children and not others? Why was Andrea Yates able to conceive? Why is Pat Robertson still alive? Why is God a big lazy bum when it comes to homeless kids and children with cancer? Why does God allow priests to diddle little boys? How could Matthew Shepard die? And if God has nothing to do with these things, why do people pray? Why (this is my personal pet peeve) do people tell you that "God will take care of you" or that things are meant to be?

(Don't say I didn't warn you.)

State of the Union

No, I didn't watch Bush's State of the Union address. To be honest, I haven't ever been able to look at him for more than 20 seconds. He's like a gruesome car accident or maybe some dog poop. I just don't have the stomach to look at that.

Okay... [pulling out my worn-out soapbox]

Men and women should be able to love and marry who they choose. They should be without persecution and we should all understand that tolerance is NOT acceptance.

Women should be able to have access to safe, legal abortions. Every child should be a wanted child. It IS a choice, especially when it is in my body. If women cannot have abortions, men shouldn't be able to whack off without it being a crime since one drop of semen contains millions of potential children.

The minimum wage must be raised. Did you ever do the math? If a person works full time for 52 weeks earning minimum wage, he or she will make a little more than ten thousand dollars! Minimum wage is $5.15 and gas is more than $3 a gallon?

As a general side note, why did everyone feel so duped and hurt by James Frey's memoir lies, but the leader of the United States has lied and cheated the American people and no one seems to care or notice? Men and women are dying each day, our rights are being questioned, our privacy is being invaded...maybe we should get Oprah involved and then people would be outraged!