Spill, Baby, Spill

The oil continues to ooze from the oil well at an estimated 5,000 barrels a day.  This disaster comes at a time when President Obama proposed opening more areas of the Gulf coastline to oil and natural gas drilling.  Was I disappointed?  YES.  For one thing, offshore drilling is dangerous work, as this tragedy reminds us.  It puts our oceans at risk.  It threatens the marine life and anything else that crosses it.  Currently, the oil slick in the Gulf is threatening to poison the Mississippi Delta and the coastline along four states.  And the best solutions officials have come up with is to set it on fire?!  Jeez Louise, we have to do better than that!  How 'bout NOT drilling offshore AT ALL?! 

If you recognize the title of my post, yes, I stole it from half-governor Sarah Palin.  Remember when she shouted, "Drill, baby, drill!" while campaigning in 2008?  Hmm, she's been pretty silent so far on the latest development.  Hey Sarah, how's the cat-got-yer-tongue workin' far ya?  Where's that big mouth now you...o#@$&**^%!?  I'm with Bill Maher's tweet:  "Every @!$%# who ever chanted 'Drill Baby Drill' should have to report to the Gulf Coast today for cleanup duty."  Excuse me Bill, I will go even further.  Everyone who is for offshore drilling and who stated, "It's about time Obama changed his position on offshore drilling" should also report for cleanup duty. 

Mr. President, there is no excuse for you to be on the side of Big Oil and the GOP on this one in the first place.  That is NOT what you were elected to do.  Offshore drilling has been widely opposed by Democrats.  Your fellow Democrats should have let you have it when you announced that you were joining Mitch McConnell and the fine folks at Exxon on this one.  Now the chickens are coming to roost...if they aren't covered in oil!  Bust out the Dawn dishwashing liquid!

I know I have my critics asking, "Then what should we do if not drill offshore?"  Well, let's see, I'm thinking about the disaster in the Gulf.  I'm thinking about the coal mining disaster.  The way I figure it, this country should be actively trying to shift from dirty to renewable energy.  Oil and coal are dead.  Wind, sun...these things should be our future....Conservation...Alternative energy sources.  We cannot drill our way out of our energy problems.  The risks of doing so are there.  Why tempt the gods?  

Unfortunately, the worst for the Gulf Coast's economy and wildlife is yet to come.  Tsk, tsk, tsk.  The oil companies have had almost everything on their side--money, power, influence.  Everything, that is, except reality.

My message to President Obama:  RETHINK YOUR PROPOSAL TO DRILL OFFSHORE!  DON'T!

As for the mess in Arizona, I can't help but to shake my head in disbelief...still.  Now there is talk in my own state of Texas of passing a version of the Arizona statute.  My response:  No creo yo.  (I don't think so.)  Oh my gosh Mr. President.  What are you going to do about it?  You have called the Arizona law "misguided" and promised to keep an eye on it.  But when racial separation finds a foothold in any of the fifty states, you...ahem...need to do more than mildly criticize.  You should act.  In fact, you should have acted sooner.  Do you remember how the Hispanic Congressional Caucus consistently reminded you to do something about immigration reform?  You heard, but you didn't listen.  Now we have to deal with Arizona and possibly Texas.  With all due respect, you must react forcefully to the Arizona statute...before things get out of control.

The book featured with this post is Offshore Drilling (Opposing Viewpoints) by Margaret Haerens.  The title speaks for itself. 

BIRTHDAY SHOUTOUTS FOR MAY:  

We have one birthday for the month--J. J.  (May 31st).  Happy Birthday dude!!!!  We also have several members of our family graduating...two nieces and one nephew will be receiving their high school diplomas:

1.  Felicia

2.  Dominique

3.  Jacob

We have a member of our extended family who will be receiving her Bachelor's degree from Sam Houston State University and moving on to grad school (University of Houston)....Jana.

Pictures above:  FELICIA (left) and DOMINIQUE (right playing with her cell phone; her baby boy AYDEN is being held by BETTY, her great aunt [and Dora's sister])

                        Pictured above is JANA with her daughter WILLA.

CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATES!  THE FUTURE IS YOURS!

Protection or Profiling?

During the summer of 2007, Dora and I traveled to Phoenix, Arizona on business (but took in the sights as well). In today's post, I have included some pics of that trip as a “tribute” to a state we now refuse to visit in protest to the new immigration law.

It is a sad day, indeed, for the state of Arizona. Governor Jan Brewer (R) signed the immigration bill into law. What does this law mean for our raza in Arizona? Among other things, the law allows the authorities to demand proof of legal entry into the U.S. from anyone suspected of being in the country illegally. Check out the language used in the bill. It “requires police officers, if they form a ‘reasonable suspicion’ that someone is an illegal immigrant, to determine the person’s immigration status.” 'REASONABLE SUSPICION?' What the hell is 'reasonable suspicion?'

I speak Spanish part of the time. However, my grandmother speaks Spanish all of the time. Could the fact that she speaks Spanish all of the time trigger this ‘reasonable suspicion,’ even though she was born in New Mexico? Could the fact that Dora’s mother speaks Spanish most of the time trigger this ‘reasonable suspicion,’ even though she was born in South Texas? Could someone with darker skin dressed in blue collar worker clothes be an undocumented immigrant? Perhaps an undocumented immigrant could be a very pale European who has overstayed his visa. But do you think the authorities in Arizona are going to detain him for questioning? My answer is no. Why? Because he doesn’t look Mexican…Hispanic…Latino…or whatever label you choose to use.

Interesting how Senator McCain, who had refused to back the most extreme anti-immigration measures (once upon a time), came out in support of bill hours before it was passed! What?! Did the man forget to take his frickin’ Geritol?!

There is a misconception that undocumented immigrants are troublemakers. C’mon, give me a break people! Get real! Typically, undocumented immigrants live in the shadows. They work, try to save money, send some money back home, and avoid the authorities as much as possible for fear of deportation. Why would they sabotage their stay in the U.S. by making trouble? According to Senator McCain, this isn’t the case. As I stated before, the man can’t seem to remember to take his Geritol.

Wanna know what I think of this immigration bill? Having studied the 1960s as a grad student and learning about the social unrest that seemed to permeate the decade, the present seems pretty tame when it comes to race relations. However, the signing of this immigration bill only means one thing (and I will borrow a line from the Old South): THE GRITS ARE GONNA HIT THE PAN!!!!

In my opinion, this law is a sure fire progression toward more racial profiling. Moreover, the racial divide will worsen. It is an open invitation for harassment and discrimination against Hispanics regardless of their citizenship status. And finally, the law will further flame the civil disobedience Hispanics need to get politically involved. Bring it on my Hispanic brethren. ¡Todos, adelante por la causa!

Friends, how many of you have wished to challenge the position of those angry anti-immigrant people who want millions of immigrants deported immediately?  Then the following book is for you!  In "They Take Our Jobs!":  and 20 Other Myths about Immigration, Aviva Chomsky provides you the arguments at your fingertips to counter their charges that immigrants use up our resources, take U.S. jobs, and give nothing in return.  Just so you know, Chomsky is an outspoken advocate of immigrants' rights, primarily undocumented immigrants.  She is also a Professor of History and Coordinator of Latin American Studies at Salem State College.  You can purchase the item by clicking on the book, which will direct you to Amazon (and if you do, I get a nice commission).

Actions and Words Matter: Chose Them Wisely!

"Americans have more freedom and broader rights than citizens of almost any other nation in the world, including the capacity to criticize their government and their elected officials. But we do not have the right to resort to violence--or the threat of violence--when we don't get our way. Our founders constructed a system of government so that reason could prevail over fear. Oklahoma City proved once again that without the law there is no freedom." --Written by President Bill Clinton in a recent op-ed for The New York Times. 

April 19th...19th day of April...19 April....04/19...however you choose to jot this date onto paper, the date lives in infamy. This year marks the 15th anniversary of a great tragedy in American history--the Oklahoma City bombing. (Incidently, the raid in Waco also took place on April 19th...1993)

Fifteen years ago, Timothy McVeigh, an anti-government extremist inspired by the '93 raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, blew up the federal building in Oklahoma City with a truck bomb, killing 168 and injuring almost 700.  The book (at the top left-hand corner) and its author were featured on Rachel Maddow's "The McVeigh Tapes," which aired on MSNBC.  If you'd like to purchase a copy of this book, simply click on the link and you will be directed to the appropriate site. 

[Please note: There were many sympathizers for Koresh and the Branch Davidians. Personally, I think Koresh was an evil, manipulative man who molested young girls. To give my blog readers a little trivia, Koresh was born to a 14-year-old mother. Two months before Koresh was born, his father left his mother for another teenage girl. Koresh never knew his father. Koresh manipulated his way into the minds of his followers. He proclaimed that he was "the Son of God." At first, he subscribed to monogamy, but later announced that polygamy was allowed for him. He preached that he was entitled to many wives and concubines. It's been reported that Koresh fathered at least 15 children with various women and young girls at the compound. Some of the young girls were as young as 12-years-old! It's fair to say he had exclusive sexual access to the women. Keep in mind that the young girls' parents were there and allowing Koresh to engage in sexual activities with their daughters. Personally, I don't understand how parents could sit idly by while this perverted man had his way with their daughters. But because they gave parental consent, the problem became sticky...fast...especially when the age of parental consent for a minor to marry in Texas at the time was 14. For these reasons, I had little sympathy for Koresh and the Branch Davidians. My sympathy went to the children...the young girls who were sexually abused.]

Recently, there has been much speculation about the extremist political climate. There are hundreds of extremist militias and so-called patriot groups. And it doesn't help when political figures like Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh (to name a few) fuel the fire with their fiery rhetoric. Bachmann spoke against what she called the "gangster government" at a Tea Party rally. After the passage of the health care bill, Palin suggested that Democrats should be put on "the firing line" and that opponents of reform should "reload." At first, I thought, "Is this kind of rhetoric the price we pay for free speech? After all, we shouldn't stop reading 'Catcher in the Rye' because Mark David Chapman (John Lennon's murderer) was a fan of the great literary piece. But where do we draw the line between acceptable rhetoric and something more...horrific?"

Before I answered my own question, I wanted to understand who or what I was dealing with--the Tea Party. Let's see...the group is mostly caucasin...older...to be sure, quite angry. Most members are from the South (no shocker there). They rail against taxes and absolutely hate gun control and government interference. Recently, Bob Schieffer labeled the Tea Party "a force to be reckoned with...they weren't a bunch of yahoos." He also said the Tea Baggers possessed "legitimate anger." Hmmm, I beg to differ. Most tea partiers think Obama raised their '09 taxes when the truth is that Obama lowered taxes! I don't have a Ph.D., but their belief that Obama raised their taxes is proof that tea partiers are illegitimate with their anger and are nothing more than yahoos. But hey, who am I to rain on their Klan rallies?! This is what I think: The Tea Party movement (and I'm using the term "movement" loosely) is nothing more than a racist gathering hiding behind "high" taxes and government spending. The party was created, not because of the tax issue but because of an African-American president. Granted, 1% of African-Americans have joined the party, but African-Americans are not immune to prejudices. We had a great deal of government interference under the Bush administration (i.e. Patriot Act), where was the Tea Party then? And I'm not alone in my thinking. Occassionally, I log on to the "History News Network" website. According to Alan Brinkley (Allan Nevins Professor of History at Columbia University), he blogged: "The real issue, I believe, is a sense among white males that they are somehow being displaced, that the country is no longer 'theirs,' that minorities and immigrants are becoming more and more powerful within society."

In a nutshell, the Tea Party movement is rooted in a deep-seated racist issue and the members are nostalgic for an era when minorities were essentially "invisible." This is quite evident in their loaded statement--"We want our country back!"

So back to the question: Where do we draw the line? Well...do I think Americans have a right to dissent. Yes. Do I think Americans have a right to speak out against the government? Yes. I was consistently at odds with the Bush administration. But when your protests take on a violent nature because you didn't get what you wanted, that's where the line is crossed. So what should we do? Bill answered it best in his op-ed:  "We are again dealing with difficulties in a contentious, partisan time. We are more connected than ever before, more able to spread our ideas and beliefs, our anger and fears. As we exercise the right to advocate our views, and as we animate our supporters, we must all assume responsibility for our words and actions before they enter a vast echo chamber and reach those both serious and delirious, connected and unhinged."   Word!!!

P.S. April 19th also marks the 5th anniversary of the election of Pope Benny, who was recently in Malta in an empty attempt to quiet the abuse storm. I've got news for you Ben. People want more than just an apology!  Heads need to roll!  People need to be punished for their crimes...including YOU! You are NOT infallible despite what you tell your flock! I'm not a Muslim.  I'm not a Jew.  I ain't even Christian, but even I...I, an Atheist, believe that you will get what you deserve. Some call it "karma." Actually, it's scientific as well. Remember one of Newton's laws of motion?   "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY CATY!

To many Americans, April 15th is a day of infamy. "The tax man cometh!" To us, however, April 15th is our cat's birthday. And, if you have pets, you can understand how pets are special members of the family. We adopted Caty (pronounced like "Katie" or "Katy") from an animal shelter sponsored by PetSmart. She was a teeny-tiny kitten sitting quietly, all alone in her kennel. Not a peep came out of her, which attracted Dora's attention. But the look she gave us was much like the look Puss 'N Boots gave to Shrek--big watery eyes no one with half a heart could possibly resist. Needless to say, she came home with us. Her original name given to her by the adoption agency was "Fraily" because when she was born, she was frail. Her mother had abandoned her because Caty was the runt of the litter. When the agency rescued her, Caty was suffering from a severe respiratory infection. She was connected to a breathing tube for a while. Caty was born fighting for her life...literally. Caty has given us much joy. She always knows when we are feeling under the weather or sad. She is very vocal, which drives Dora nuts sometimes, but we wouldn't trade her for all the tea in China. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CATY!

COULD SOMEONE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, I'M BEGGING ONCE AGAIN, FOR SOMEONE...ANYONE TO BITCH SLAP SARAH PALIN. AND WHILE YOU'RE AT IT, GET MICHELLE BACHMANN, TOO! Alice Paul is rolling over in her grave and if she were alive today, she would be thoroughly disgusted with these two idiots. If the likes of Palin and Bachmann had been alive during the woman's suffrage movement, women would have never gotten the vote!

Kudos to President Obama for mandating that nearly all hospitals extend visitation rights to the partners of gay men and lesbians and respect patients' choices about who may make critical health-care decisions for them. The mandate is a HUGE step! Now I don't have to lie to hopspital personnel. Thank you Mr. President!

The Unholy Art of Spin

Birthday shout-outs go to:
1. Matthew Narciso Veliz, my nephew from Lubbock, TX (April 2nd)—Happy 6th birthday Matthew. Spend your day the way you want.
2. Caty, my colorful female cat with a sweet personality (April 15th)—Get ready for your favorite treats…Temptations.
3. Alex Hernandez, D’s niece, Midland, TX (April 18th)—This birthday is her Sweet Sixteen. She grew up too fast!

Now it’s time to get on my soap box. Easter weekend has come rather quickly this year. Many people, especially the church-going type, will be attending religious services, with a tasty meal and Easter egg hunt afterwards. But the holiday seems sort of tainted this year.
The actions of religious people dumbfound me. First, after the passage of the health care bill, we see many of these people shouting at the tops of their lungs how the bill is the first step towards socialism and how Obama is the “anti-Christ.” Then, members of the House and Senate are getting threats of physical violence. Boy do I admire their Christian attitudes! Am I shocked? Yes. Am I surprised? No. And now, even after all the malicious talk, these people will be dressed in their Sunday best, driving to their respective churches to listen to the Easter sermon, all the while letting the information go from one ear and out the other as if the message was totally irrelevant to them.
And then, voila! We have breaking news from the Vatican…the Catholic Church finds itself in quite a dilemma and it’s not another Protestant Reformation either. It’s the same crap…AGAIN. What timing! Perhaps Holy Thursday and Good Friday should become Cover-Up Thursday and Blame-Others Friday. First, the Church is marked by scandal in Europe, which tells me the situation not only exists in America, but the problem is worldwide. Obviously Vatican officials did not learn from the lessons of the scandal in the U.S., where hundreds of priests were dismissed over a 3-year period. But then we read Laurie Goodstein’s disturbing report in The New York Times about how Pope Benny, while he was still a cardinal (Ratzinger), was personally warned about a priest (Murphy) who had molested as many as 200 deaf boys. But, as usual, church leaders chose to protect the Church instead of the children. They’re even trying to demonize gays! Dora and I were watching CNN the other night and Bill Donohue, the Catholic League president, offered this comment: “The Times continues to editorialize about the ‘pedophilia crisis,’ when all along it’s been a homosexual crisis.” What a crock of shit! Needless to say, we were both pissed off about his remarks.
Long story short, Ratzinger failed to respond to two letters. I read these letters and I do not comprehend how Vatican officials can claim that Pope Benny knew nothing of the Murphy case. Some of the letters and memos I read went through Ratzinger’s office! So what happened next? Murphy the molester wrote to Ratzinger, making the case that he [Murphy] should not be put on trial because he [Murphy] had already repented and was in poor health and that his case was beyond the church’s own statute of limitations. Are you, Mr. Murphy, kidding me?! First of all, Murphy claims he had repented…after molesting 200! Oh my, is he truly remorseful. Secondly, Murphy claims he was in poor health. What about the mental and emotional health of the children he molested?! Lastly, he claims his case was beyond the church’s own statute of limitations. Are you serious?! Fuck the church! What about the federal crime that was committed? Murphy wrote: “I simply want to live out the time that I have left in the dignity of my priesthood.” What an MFer! What about the children? Their lives will forever be haunted by your sick actions!
To make matters worse, Murphy was never tried or disciplined by the church’s own justice system. In fact, according to the memo I read, he was still receiving a salary and he was still benefitting from health care insurance (Blue Cross/Blue Shield). Ain’t that a holy bitch?! Furthermore, Murphy was quietly moved to the Diocese of Superior in Wisconsin in ’74, where he spent his last 24 years working freely with children in parishes, schools, and a juvenile detention center.
I also read some of the written statements by some of the victims. The following statement is from a former St. John’s student (May 15, 1974): “In 1964, I went to Father Murphy’s office with my problems and he scolded me as a bad boy. Then he encouraged me to his bedroom and taught me about sex. At the first thing he spanked my ass with his belt and he started to touch my penis while he explained sex things to me. This continued even in the confessional." I’m disgusted!
I guess we will continue to observe the Catholic Church’s tone deafness and hypocritical attitude. What do I mean by this? Well, let’s see…Pope Benny has continued the church’s ban on female priests and is adamant against priests having wives. He has started 2 investigations of American nuns to check if they’ve grown “too independent.” As a cardinal, he wrote a Vatican document urging women to be submissive partners and not take on adversarial roles toward men. Give me a damn break Benny! I’ve always known that the Catholic Church is very patriarchal in nature, but could you be any more sexist?! Seems to me that your religion would be better off with female priests since your male priests can’t keep their hands off children.
Also, American bishops have gotten politically militant in recent years, opposing the health care bill because its language on abortion wasn’t vehement enough, and punishing Catholic politicians who are pro-choice and who favor stem cell research. Perhaps if they spent as much time protecting the children already under their care as they do championing the rights of those who aren’t yet born, they’d be in a better position to offer their two cents, which is exactly what it’s worth.
I do want to provide the following disclaimer before I go any further. By my harsh criticism of the Catholic Church, I’m not saying that most Catholics are not good people. I am simply suggesting (subtly) that given the history of torture, subjugation (including the oppression of women), and now child abuse, isn’t it time to look at an alternative path to God? The Bible preaches that man should remove thyself from the lap of luxury. The leaders of this church have their own opulent little country to live in, built on the backs of the people they are supposed to guide (which is one reason I have no desire to visit Rome as it sits too close to the Vatican). Many Catholics have cried out for reform and it’s obvious the church hierarchy will never go for that because it means conceding some power to the laity.
In February, I checked out a new book release from the public library: Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America—and Found Unexpected Peace by William Lobdell. Lobdell is a journalist who reported many scandalous stories in various religious sects from Mormonism to, yes, the Catholic Church. In fact, during the time he was reporting on hundreds of stories, he was attending classes at his Catholic Church. He had planned to convert to Catholicism. He is now an Atheist.
One of the stories he reported involved a priest by the name of Michael Harris. (Google his name and you will get more details about the case.) Long story short, in ’95, a former student of his filed a lawsuit, accusing Harris of molesting him. Two other accusers stepped forward, but the diocese and community backed Harris. No shocker there. The lawsuit was thrown out because the statute of limitations had passed. How convenient. But who essentially brought him and the Roman Catholic dioceses of LA and Orange down? A former Texas Tech Lady Raider (bb) by the name of Katherine K. Freberg, the attorney for Ryan DiMaria. The dioceses agreed to pay her client a record $5.2 million to settle the case. And Harris agreed to leave the priesthood.
But boys are not the only targets. Lobdell reported a story involving a young teenaged girl named Rita Milla. As an awkward, overweight young teen, Rita had caught the eye of a parish priest named Santiago “Henry” Tamayo at St. Philomena Church in Carson, CA. In ’78, after grooming her with special attention and visits to her home, the priest molested Rita, then 16, through a broken screen in the confessional. He later introduced her to six other priests, who took turns having sex with her—once allegedly at a hotel room that was rented by the hour and then in the parish’s rectory. When Rita became pregnant in ’82, Tamayo wanted her to get an abortion (now he’s suddenly Pro-Choice), but she refused. So instead, he shipped Rita off with $450 to the Philippines, where she and her baby almost died in childbirth. When the scandal surfaced, the bishop blamed Rita for luring the priests into bed. She filed a lawsuit against the priests and the Archdiocese of LA. Unfortunately, because all seven priests fled, none of her rapists were arrested because of the statute of limitations.
It wasn’t easy for Lobdell (the author of Losing My Religion) to finally come to the conclusion that there was no God. In fact, I found that I had many things in common with him. For years, I, too, tried to quiet some nagging thoughts about Christianity. As a kid, I didn’t believe faith could be questioned, so I kept these “heretical” thoughts to myself. But the wheels in my mind kept turning. As I became an adult (and an ordained minister), I found it strange that church leaders be given grand receptions fit for a king. Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and told his followers that the first shall be the last, but today’s church leaders (like the pope) are treated literally like royalty. I doubted the wisdom of giving 10 percent to the church. It felt like a gimmick by religious leaders to make sure their organizations were well funded. Church leaders live in the lap of luxury. Does anyone not dare to question their resources? Through all my religious training, the one passage in the Bible that stuck out the most for me was when Jesus went into the temple and, in a rage, tossed the collection table. He preached out in the open and never asked for money. Organized religion in any form is a twisted version of what Jesus admonished when he said, “Keep your eye simple.” Then, too, the Bible contains many contradictions. The Apostle Paul wrote that God is not a God of confusion, yet the Bible is perplexing enough to spawn thousands of different interpretations and Christian denominations. And what about the story when God tests Abraham, commanding him to sacrifice his son Isaac? It seems like a sadistic request, especially when God abruptly stops Abraham just as he’s about to plunge a knife into his son. But Abraham had to have known that Isaac would either be saved or resurrected by God because God had promised Abraham earlier that Isaac would have many descendents. How could Isaac have children if he were dead?
And what about the many awful things that have been carried out in the name of religion (or Christianity in this case)? The Inquisition? The main way a church liked to perpetrate its crimes was to outlaw all competing religions in the territory it controlled so that it would have a “legal” excuse to kill or torture those who did not conform.
So in light of what happened in history and what is happening today, religion, I believe, is the root of all evil. It’s divisive. And like Lobdell, I have come to the conclusion that there is no God. How could there be? But the conclusion is mine. I know only what is true for me. If God is real, it would make sense for God-fearing people, on average, to be superior morally and ethically to the rest of society. Statistically, however, they are not. I also believe that God’s institutions, on average, should function on a higher moral plain than governments or corporations. I don’t see any evidence of this. The Church of Scientology has been on the news lately for its abuses. The FLDS in Eldorado, Texas was in the news for weeks last year. And now, the Catholic Church, one of the biggest branches on the Christianity Tree, finds itself in a spiritual hole. Besides, it has been my experience that religious people tend to be the most bigoted and non-accepting people on earth. To me, religions are off-switches of the human mind. They are authoritarian hierarchies designed to dominate your free will. I have learned that if you value the ideal of unconditional love, you won’t find it in religion. Real compassion doesn’t arise from believing in God. Compassion can only result from conscious choice, and this requires the freedom to choose without the threat of punishment or the promise of reward.
My decision to adopt Atheism is one I have made with no regrets. I feel no vacuum created by my lack of faith in God. The faith I do have is faith in myself, my family, and close friends. My life makes better sense now. My mind isn’t troubled by the unsolvable mysteries that plagued me as a believer. At least now, when I see injustice and suffering, the randomness is just that. A God in heaven didn’t sit idly by while the little boy died. Because I don’t believe in God, I don’t credit Him for the things I have, but I don’t blame Him for the bad things that happen. My morals and values haven’t changed. At least now, when I do something thoughtful or good for someone, I do it because I want to, not because I’m working to gain entrance to some heavenly bliss. When I stumble, I don’t blame Satan. It wouldn’t make sense for me to do so because if I don’t believe in God, then I don’t believe Satan exists either. When I do wrong, it’s due to selfishness or poor judgment on my part. Ultimately, what is gone is the placebo of faith. And when I admitted that I had been taking the sugar pill of faith, relief swept over me. I have gained a tremendous sense of gratitude for the things I have and for the people in my life. I find myself wanting to better my life and accomplish goals to avoid wasted time. I’ve tightened my circle of friends, wanting to maximize time with the people I love, my friends and my family. More importantly, I’ve become more true to myself because I’m not worried about what others think of me. I feel wonderfully free—not to go on a binge of debauchery like the Prodigal Son, but to stop wrestling with the mysteries of Christianity or any other religion.