Quote of the day:
There is only one day left, always starting over: It is given to us at dawn and taken away from us at dusk. Jean-Paul Sartre
One of the gifts I received (well, it was on my wish-list) was The God Delusion. My oh my, am I enjoying it! Me, oh my! Am deep into the book, and devouring and savoring every word. There are so many pieces I want to quote for the world to see. But let me just quote two that mean a lot to me from the Preface:
... raise consciousness to the fact that to be an atheist is a realistic aspiration, and a brave and a splendid one. You can be an atheist who is happy, balanced, moral, and intellectually fulfilled.
My fourth consciousness-raiser is atheist pride. Being an atheist is nothing to be apologetic about. On the contrary, it is something to be proud of, standing tall to face the far horizon, for atheism nearly always indicates a healthy independence of mind and, indeed, a healthy mind. There are many people who know, in their heart of hearts, that they are atheists, but dare not admit it to their families or even to themselves. Partly this is because the very word 'atheist' has been assiduously built up as a terrible and frightening label.
It reminds me when I dared to come out publicly - that was quite stormy, but also a lot of fun. Not only am I relishing Dawkins' timely and much needed book, I am also deeply grateful to him for writing it.
Oh dear, was I traveling and missed FP's B'day? Happy belated Birthday, Frank! I hope it was a great one.
Oh well, it was sad to leave our loved ones but home I am again, and so looking forward to the New Year. I wonder what you all will be doing?
I can't believe I will be celebrating two years of blogging coming up in January. Time surely flies when you're having fun, matey.
And that's about all I can muster for now. There's a cat who is waiting for her tuna.
Happy New Year, ainelivia. Thanks for stopping by.
Posted by: tamarika | January 02, 2007 at 07:58 AM
Thank you so much for the link to the Dawkins-Lynchburg reading. The question and answer session was very interesting and I learned a lot. Laughed when he spoke on Catholicism and the Trinity, I've always had trouble with that.
Richard Dawkins confirms for me some doubts and questions I've had since I was a teenager. He is also highlighting an issue that is really very important, the right of all of us to what we believe, and that it is moral not to impose any belief on others.
Posted by: ainelivia | January 02, 2007 at 07:41 AM
MaryB,
Thank you for sharing your "Episcopalianism" here, and passion for freedom.
Ampersand,
I appreciate the links to your posts. Thank you.
Posted by: tamarika | December 30, 2006 at 07:30 AM
Well, I'll go against the grain here to say that I'm not an atheist or agnostic BUT this doesn't make me wary of Dawkins, Harris, et. al., - I enjoy reading other folks' take on the big G(_d) and can see where they're coming from. Especially in light of a world rampant with fundamentalism of every stripe. Yikes! And I will fight to the death for the right of everyone to believe (or not believe) whatever the heck they want. Oh, my Episcopalianism is showing, I fear. ;-)
Posted by: MaryB | December 29, 2006 at 09:59 PM
Yes, Tamar, I do think about this stuff too. I think about it all the time and I love learning about what others think.
My dear son is an atheist and he keeps thinking that I will be (or maybe should be) upset with him. But I most certainly am not. I admire anyone who is truthful with themselves and others in matters concerning God (or lack thereof).
I just posted this --http://ampersandprime.blogspot.com/2006/12/where-i-am-today.html -- on my blog, describing my views on God as they are today.
I also posted this -- http://ampersandprime.blogspot.com/2006/09/what-if.html -- a while back, on the possibility that there is no God.
Posted by: Ampersand | December 29, 2006 at 06:01 PM