finally...an update of sorts

I really am sorry for not writing more recently. Somewhat sorry to you the reader, but more sorry for myself because I love writing way more than you love reading my writing, seriously. I do plan to carve out more time for this soon. I have not waned in my lack of faith….I am still very much an atheist….but life has been getting in the way of life lately.

Interesting issues coming soon…
-my newest baby’s baptism into the Catholic Church
-my telling more family members about my “struggles” with faith
-the possibility that my Christian boss and coworkers may be putting some clues together about my not quite fitting in with them…
-an update on how my Christian wife is handling things

Meanwhile, I really have been having a good time lately. Work is going well and has been recently involving more fun and interesting extracurriculars outside of normal business hours. In fact, my only recent downer has been that a very good friend and atheist has moved many many miles from me…(she sometimes reads this blog, so a good loud “boo” from the choir would be helpful right about now).

Thank you to those of you who were reading regularly and have continued to check in on me. To those of you who quit checking in…well, I’ve got a few words for you but since you won’t see them, I’ll keep them to myself.

Happily Distracted

Yes, I've been a bit quiet here lately. I've been preparing for the arrival of a new addition to my family. My wife gave birth to a beautiful boy today!!!!!!!!!!!!



So...thank you for your patience, I'll resume posting very soon.

Children

When an atheist and a Christian find themselves married with young children, surely the question comes up regarding what to teach the children. And surely some will be of the opinion that there is no need to fuss about religious issues with the children at a young age, you just wait until their older and explain the differing viewpoints and allow them to choose, right? Well...what if it's not that easy? What if the Christian wife is homeschooling the children and desires to use Christian based curriculum? I am a recent deconvert from Christianity, so a relatively short time ago, I obviously raised no objections to this notion of schooling which heavily involves Christian tenets. Now, I'm in a pickle. According to the curriculum publisher, "Little Saints" includes the Word of God in every lesson.

Lest Thee Be Deceived About Deceipt

“Ah! lips that say one thing, whilst the heart thinks another.” – Edmond Dantes, Count of Monte Cristo…in reference to a distrusted neighbor.

Where is the line between deceipt that is acceptable and deceipt that is not? A woman may compliment a friend’s new hairstyle while thinking that the new style is not at all worthy of a positive remark. A father may encourage a young child about how beautiful a drawing is while actually considering it to be quite terrible. In the quote above, Dantes suggests that his neighbor is insincere in congratulating his good fortune.

Whether the matter involves a social situation, a family encounter, or even a business arrangement, surely it can be universally acknowledged that there are times when telling the full and complete truth would be inappropriate. In fact, it may be that not only will some portion of the truth be withheld, but also a false or insincere statement may be substituted. And even the casual observer will quite readily identify the point in such a situation as being to “deceive” or “mislead” or “lie,” though these words may be disliked in such a scenario.

So, when is it okay to deceive and when is it not? No, please don’t rush to an easy answer; this is not a black and white sort of thing. Ultimately, this is a “gray area” where circumstances dictate the appropriate path. If someone tries to tell you that they disagree on this point and that they always speak only the complete truth, you may rightly call that person a liar. Deceipt is a tool, a means to an end. Everyone does it. Sometimes it is right and sometimes it is wrong.

If the government decides to exterminate all children under the age of 12, you would be right to tell the soldiers at your front door that you do not have any children of that age and do not know of any in the neighborhood, though in actuality you are hiding 14 of such children in your basement.

If you witness a car which runs a red light and causes an accident with another vehicle, you would be wrong to tell the investigating police officer that you saw nothing, because this deceipt would be working against an orderly and safe society.

Sometimes things aren’t so clear and we end up with a real dilemma. Then begins the process of weighing various possible injuries and/or benefits that may result from one path or the other, striving to maintain some sense of balance and objectivity lest we overestimate some perceived benefit or underestimate some perceived injury.

Brush with Greatness

We took the children to their cousin's first birthday party last night at Chuck-E-Cheese. It was their first time at such an establishment and they had a blast. (Note to self...remember their enjoyment of this for future reference.) I admit, it was a bit tough keeping an eye on the girls because in that sort of place, children can disappear very quickly. But we managed to leave with the same quantity of children that we entered with, so I'd call that a successful trip.

On the way out the door (quite literally there were double doors and we were in the doorway together), I saw a former undisputed middleweight boxing champion of the world with his family. Jermain Taylor (www.jermaintaylor.com) is still an active boxer, but is on a break at the moment and apparently enjoying some of the same amusements that me and my family are enjoying. However, his transportation is a bit more high class. We were in a dirty ten-year-old suburban, while he was in a spotless new Rolls-Royce Phantom (yes, the one with coach doors).
Very nice.

Some People

Every Saturday and Sunday morning, I get up and make pancakes from scratch (with a memorized recipe) for my family. Generally, our Saturday mornings are pretty lazy, at least for the first couple of hours. The children watch cartoons, momma takes it easy, and I’m in charge of the kitchen. This morning, my oldest daughter (4 years old) came out with an interesting thought: “Some people scream and some people can’t hear the TV.” You see, usually we continue watching cartoons while we enjoy the fruit of my labor, and this morning, we struggled to hear the TV because my younger daughter (age 2) was acting up. I’m not sure why the statement was not: “I can’t hear because my sister is screaming.” For some reason, she framed up the idea in a much less confrontational way.