Starting All Over Again

So, I started this blog over a year ago when I turned 40 years old. Frankly, I forgot all about it. So, now, I'm working on it again. I have a ton of time on my hands, plus, suddenly, I find I have more to say.

So, this blog will be a lot about religion and a bit about politics. It's hard to avoid combining the two, because as I've heard said, one rides the other like a drunken whore.

Oh yeah, I said it. Didn't you see the adult warning as you logged in?

Here's a little bit about me. I grew up in a little logging town on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. I've always had a spiritual bent. When someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I told them I wanted to be an astronaut and a minister. So, in a bout of religious mania when I was a teenager, I joined one of the most virulent religious cults in the world, Jehovah's Witnesses. I was ordained at 17, unusually young for a Witness, but not for me. (When I want something, I go after it like a pug chasing a cheeseburger.) This was in the face of strong opposition from my family. They didn't understand and I did a poor job of trying to explain it. Eh, I was young. It's an excuse but a valid one.

To make a long story short, about the time I was 28, I had a series of metaphysical experiences that led me to a discovery. I'm an atheist. I only believed in God because I'd been taught to believe and I swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. However, I respect others religious beliefs and mock them when necessary.

God and spirituality are still my favorite topics of conversation. I can't understand how anyone can go through their lives without exploring questions of the spirit. What happens after death? Why is evil allowed to exist? How can I learn if God is real? Who is the Devil? All that rubbish.

So, I'll be talking about my journey, what I continue to learn, what continues to amuse and enrage me about religion and our culture in general, and what I admire about ethical individuals in the field. I encourage civil debate. When we challenge our ideas, we learn. I refuse to debate dogma. It serves no constructive purpose.

So, without further ado, on with the show!