Three big screw ups for atheists like me

Being a non-believer, aka an atheist, I've encountered a variety of situations where I've been harassed, attacked, and ostracized for not having the same beliefs as those around me. Upon looking at my past experiences, all I can really hope for in the future is to learn from those experiences, and not repeat my mistakes. I've noticed a pattern in my own life which I must change. There's simply no point to expecting “the world” to change to suit my whims. The burden is on me, rather, to adapt to my environment.

Big atheist screw up number one: Discussing religion honestly This one gets me every time. Someone (anyone...co-workers, family, friends, random strangers) comes along and brings up any certain religious figure. In my stupidity I respond with what I believe to be an educated response, all the while failing to realize this individual is not looking for anything other than the pre-programmed response.

See, what I normally do is make the mistake of expecting others to “see” what appears so obvious to me. But it never works. We end up parting ways, each of us considering the other a fool for not agreeing on what seems so logical to us. (The difference being I don't consider them evil and demon-possessed – just tragically gullible.)

Take, for example, last night. I met a co-worker for the first time. At the point of introducing ourselves to one another, I learned she's not from Louisiana. Out of curiosity, I asked “What brings you to Louisiana?” She says “God.” For once, I didn't ask any smart-ass questions like “Really? What kind of car does he drive? I came in on a Greyhound.” I simply kept my mouth shut. No need to smart off. Let her have her beliefs, if she wants them. Her beliefs are too deeply-rooted for me to ever affect them, anyway. (Admit it. You're picturing Jack Nicholson yelling “You can't HANDLE the truth!” Aint you? Yeah, me too.)

If someone is ever looking for the truth about the fraud of religion, they'll probably be on the ThinkAtheist blog anyway, where we can discuss free thought openly and honestly. But out here in the world, where the hyper-religious get hyper-vicious, it's just best to leave them to their own.

Big atheist screw up number two: Not playing along. Since a non-believer understands there are no invisible sky-fairies flittering around “up there,” just who in the heck are we worried about offending by not being completely honest, anyway? Ourselves? Big deal! Just give 'em what they want to hear. It's what their preachers do.

This is tied in with the aforementioned Big atheist screw up number one, referenced above. Most people just aren't ready for the plain, brutal truth. They've been told for years that non-believers want to do terrible things to them, such as eat their babies, or to enslave them to our benevolent alien/demon/robotic overlords. They're scared of us, and for no real reason.

The last time I was dumb enough to be completely honest with a mystic, I was on a job where someone else began discussing religion. I blurted out “I am an atheist, and don't want to waste my time with this.” (Paraphrasing) Little did I know what kind of a threat I announced myself as to these folks around me. One co-worker did warn me a certain other co-worker was a practicing minister, and that I should be careful. It was from that day forward, I found myself entirely alone in my work, and alone in the break-room.

Nowadays, I know better. When I'm on the job, my co-workers will even enjoy the occasional “Oh my God,” and “amen” from time-to-time. There's noone to be truthful to about it all, so why not fib a little, when necessary? The truth only gets people like me hurt. I've learned to play along. Direct, insistent questioning of my beliefs will only elicit a response of “I don't discuss my beliefs on the job.” Play along.

As for my personal life, I've actually encountered many very accepting people from within the church. The love of my life is a believer, and I'm fine with that. I've no desire to change her, or to tell her how she must believe, because it's her life and not mine. There's even a sister, whom I cherish, who is devoutly religious. But in neither of these two cases are they trying to ruin me for not believing as they do. On-the-job religious discrimination is always a different critter, though.

Big atheist screw up number three: Accepting the label of “atheist.” The brilliant Sam Harris explained it the best. “If you don't believe in astrology, are you labeled a 'non-astrologer?'” (I'm paraphrasing again. Sorry Sam.) So, as a non-believer, am I to accept the label of “atheist?” There are times when the label is a little easier to spell than one of “A-Guy-Who-Simply-Asks-For-Evidence-Of-Why-You-Want-My-Obedience-Devotion-And-Money.” So, sure, I'm not exactly offended by the short-hand of a label. I'm no more offended by the label, than different denominations of Christians would be, were they both labeled “Christian.”

But labeling myself as an atheist, on purpose, is akin to a military target painting themselves for enemy bombers. With all of the myths and pre-conceived notions about “those evil atheists” I just find it much easier to no longer identify myself so readily.

Let's hear it for theoatmeal!

Let's hear it for theoatmeal!

No, that's not a typo. This isn't about food for the stomach, but food for the funnybone. I've only been a fan of theoatmeal.com for a short few months so far, but the genius behind this website will have to smack me unconscious with a stick to make me stop following him now.

Just what is theoatmeal.com? Technically, theoatmeal.com is a web-based comic strip. But, oddly enough, what author Matthew Inman (Holy shit! Was I supposed to keep his name a secret? I can't remember! Aw shit! Awwwww SHIT!...meh) contributes such genius as How To Pet a Kitty, Dear Sriracha Rooster Sauce, and If You Do This In An Email I Hate You. He impressed me to such a point I even bothered to find out his email address, and lifted my fat fingers enough to type out a simple thank you message to him.

I do not recommend everyone do this, as he is a busy man, and might send a squad of trained ninja monkey assassins whose eyes are also lasers to your home or office. I also do not recommend my fellow fans move in under his front porch either, as I have done, but only because that would now not be original, and there isn't much room now anyway next to my fat ass.

There are a lot of people publishing online these days. Many of them intend to inform and educate us. Others try (in vain) to make us laugh. While still others try to shock us. Matthew...I mean...theoatmeal.com manages to pull off all three at once. With his 4.5 million visitors per month, the odds are good you've already discovered the site for yourself. But, in case you haven't yet, scooch on over to his site and give him a look-see. Enjoy yourself.

Avoiding aTax Audit by Janet Hunt on the YCN

The words "tax audit" strike fear into the hearts of business owners as well as individual tax payers. A tax audit is not the end of the world; and chances are, if you have documented your finances well, you will emerge "unscathed." While you cannot be 100% certain you will not be audited by the IRS, there are several precautions that will reduce the probability of an audit.

Documentation

Save all your receipts and document all expenditures you will report on your tax return. Tax filing time is not a good time to rely on memory. Do not claim deductions you are not entitled to receive. If you are unsure if you qualify for a specific deduction or do not have the documentation to back it up, your tax preparer can help determine if you qualify. You should retain all records and receipts for your tax returns a minimum of three years. This will save you headaches down the road if you are audited for a previous year's...Go here for the rest!

Your Tax Filing Status - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com

Your Tax Filing Status - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com

Your tax filing status provides the IRS and you one of the most basic pieces of information about how you should be taxed each year on the income you earn or receive. As a result, making sure you use the right status each year can mean the difference of hundreds to thousands of dollars, depending on your specific tax situation.

For the most part, the categories are pretty straightforward. They include:

* Married Filing Jointly (which is both you and your spouse reporting equally on the same tax income filing)
* Married Filing Separate (you're filing your own tax filing and your spouse does his or her own, so they need to be coordinated)
* Single (you're an individual filing tax income reporting and you're responsible for no one else)
* Head of Household (you're the main income earner and everyone in the house depends on you financially to...Go here for the rest.

Movie Review - Johnny Depp in Rango

I had the pleasure of seeing Johnny Depp as Rango in the theater the other day. I invite you to read the quick review of the movie that I published through ListMyFive.com. Check it out. You can find it at: The Top Five Reasons to See Rango Starring Johnny Depp.

Greg Johnson
My Journey to Wellness
List My Five
Associated Content - now known as Yahoo! Contributor Network
IM Faceplate
VIDACELL® and GreatLife International
Twitter

Greeting and Salutations

Let me start by saying Thank You to Don for inviting me as a guest contributor to this blog.

So, who am I anyway?

My name is Gregory Johnson, but you can call me Greg. I can be found in several places under the name 'Thorgrym' (years ago, I began writing a fantasy adventure novel with the main character by that name, so I have used it in many of my online exploits). Don Pennington and I met through Associated Content over three years ago (I know! Such a long time ago!). I was just getting my start in the world of internet writing. I had dabbled in blogging prior to joining AC, but really hadn't done much of anything with writing online. My first published article for AC was: My 10 Favorite Songs by Rush. I have written 26 articles for AC with more on the way, though I am not as active there as I once was.

I began writing online as a way to earn some money working at home to replace the income I lost due to disability. I was hospitalized in September of 2006 due to increasingly severe symptoms that made walking difficult among other things. While I was only in the hospital for 4 days, it took the doctors until February of 2007 to deliver a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis.

Recovery had been slow until October of 2008 when I was introduced to VIDACELL®.
Not knowing if it would help, I decided to give it a three month long test. Because it was cheaper to buy VIDACELL® as a distributor, even if only for the three month test, I did so. While it has never been a focus for me as a business, I do actively promote both the product and the opportunity.

Around the beginning of 2009, I decided to begin blogging about my experience with VIDACELL® and other alternative therapies. I called it My Journey to Wellness.

In March of 2009, I published my first book through Lulu.com. The Armor of God is the result of a Bible study that I did on Ephesians 6:10-20. I had written and had it performed as a play several years ago but always wanted to release it as book. I was introduced to Lulu.com by the same friend that brought me to AC. We had been talking about collaborating on a book that we would publish through Lulu.com, but other than knowing about it, she was unaware of how the process worked. I decided to investigate it. Within hours after starting my exploration, I had a proof copy of my book on its way to the printer!

Recently, I began writing for ListMyFive.com. LM5 is:

"a platform where people can earn money by creating, publishing and sharing their own Top Five Lists online. We provide a Free and Fun way for people to earn residual income by sharing information, opinions, knowledge, humor, interests, and input in the form of a Top Five List."

One of my goals in life is to help others get the most out of their lives. I hope that what I write can do that for you. Please check out my previous (and future) works. Maybe the help will be as innocuous as finding a new favorite song or as important as recovering from illness and improving your quality of life - you never know!

You can find me at:

• My Journey to Wellness
• List My Five
• Associated Content - now known as Yahoo! Contributor Network
• IM Faceplate
• VIDACELL® and GreatLife International
• Twitter

Has Dr Richard B Hoover, NASA Scientist, Found Proof of Alien Life?

While strolling through my news today, the story grabbed my eye: “NASA Scientist Finds Evidence of Alien Life,” dated March 5th, 2011. Exciting would be such an understatement. According to the report on Digital Trends on Yahoo News, Dr. Richard B. Hoover, an astrobiologist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, claims to have found fossilized bacterium which are similar to Earth bacteria, but are not identified as anything known on the planet.

Two reasons I find this credible from my admittedly limited standpoint: 1) For the bacteria to be fossilized within the meteorite, the little critter would've obviously needed to be inside of it before falling to Earth, and yup, that would mean it's extra-terrestrial. 2) Dr Hoover is inviting critical analysis from the scientific community.

It's the second reason that really gets me. In the past, when anyone has claimed to “prove” existence of ...well...anything not only is criticism discouraged, the results are defended. Real scientists know to let skeptics have a free reign of their evidence since science is, after all, skepticism itself. It's that willingness to let his findings be shot down, if need be, which wins me over.

Imagine how exciting this must be for Dr Hoover. Heck, I'm just sitting here at home, and the thought of proof of life from other world's has me giddy like a schoolgirl. To actually be Dr Hoover must be an amazing thought right now. As long as this evidence pans out, he'll be in the history books of science, and not just a footnote.

College Students: Get Free Help from McGraw-Hill here!

It is time, once again, to try to get some of the bills paid by telling my readers about another sponsor. Don't be afraid, though. This isn't some sort of singles ad, or any sort of “income opportunity.” This time, the message goes out to all US or UK college students.

GradeGuru is brought to you by McGraw-Hill. Yes, that's the same McGraw-Hill that printed all of your school books. They're an established and reputable company which has been around longer than I've been alive.

GradeGuru is an online learning network that is: * Free to every user * Endorsed by professors * Legitimate and fully supported by McGraw-Hill Higher Education * Social and community-based * A source of academic tools to help with coursework

The benefit to students on GradeGuru that they wish to highlight is that it provides free access to study materials created by your class mates for your specific school and class.

The objective of McGraw-Hill’s online advertising campaign for GradeGuru, it’s award winning educational start up, is to drive new registrations on the site by actively-enrolled university students. The site is free to join. The advertiser monetizes registrations via ads placed on Grade Guru.

College is hard. Give yourself every advantage you can.

Signup for free here:

Free Writer's Tools for Writers of All Types.

Being a hopeful writer, myself, too much time is spent chasing good reliable resources down. So, in order to keep everything in just one spot, help others, and to maybe earn a little advertising revenue myself, I've put together this page!

The site itself is free, as are the resources. I've made sure that nothing included on the site is for sale, except for what the sponsors might offer. If you happen to know of any great little tools which aren't already listed here, I'd sure love to hear about them via our suggestion box. Comments are encouraged, too.

So you know, the site is completely supported by advertising. Any link you visit will result in an advertisement for someone else, and in just five seconds, you're welcome to click the "Skip ad" button, to get to the content. At that point, I'd recommend you bookmark the resource, but you're welcome to visit my page all you like. I'm just trying to save you a little time.

Whatever you might be looking for in the way of resources and tools to help you write better, and more frequently, you'll probably find something there to help you. Share us, too. Heck,share this blog post. Thanks, in advance.

List Makers Wanted at Lm5!

Those who hope to earn some income online may be glad to know there's another site looking for writers! This site is pretty unique, though, in that the articles you'll write for ListMyFive.com aren't your usual pieces. As the name implies, you'll be making lists of "The Top Five" this, or that.

Here's my profile on ListmyFive.com. From there, you'll be able to get a pretty good feel for what the site is like. At the bottom of the page, you'll find the Terms of Service, and the FAQ. Signing up is free and easy. I went to work in five minutes after I joined.

As for how long this site's been around, I'm not entirely sure. But as for how they pay, there's a ten dollar minimum to reach for payout. The company offers revenue share, based on how many readers might visit a sponsor. Contributors there are required to be US residents, unless other arrangements are made with admin, somehow. And if you can't structure a sentence, we'll tell you.

As well, once you publish a list with ListMyFive.com, you retain ownership of the piece. You can go in and edit, publish it elsewhere, and of course, delete poor performers. The forums are open, also. Admin really pushes for a respectful forum and working environment.

So, give them a try. There's no particular referral link to go through. But my goal is to see the site grow, right now. Now's the time to join! While it's still a bit of a "ground-floor" opportunity, ListMyFive.com is beginning to rise in Alexa ranking.

Looking for guest bloggers and growth

When this blog began, it was with the sole intention of bringing readers to other works published online. While that goal is still true, the possibility was also explained to me of how I can earn from advertising, and also how I can do some good by having guest bloggers come on board.

So, I'm opening the doors to call folks in. Guest bloggers are being sought. There have already been three guest blogger invitations sent out. One was to my own daughter (Y'all will love what she has to share), another to my Aunt (She says “Sure send it,” to everything I tell her about. She's a good writer, though.), and a third was just sent to a friend and fellow blogger, who may just really catch your attention.

I'm still hoping to find others, but I'm finicky. There won't be a bunch of spam and crap here. For starters, I understand not everyone is a native English speaker. But if your work is worse than that of the average Maori tribesman, I won't let you here. So, if you ask to guest blog, and I don't already know you, I'll need to see a sample of other work.

Next is decency. I'm no prude, but since I do have my kids reading this sometimes, I'm going to insist on nothing “adult.” No porn, adult stories, or links to porn.

Other than that, fellow blog authors are welcome to comment below with the email address they want an invitation sent to (I won't publish it) and a link to their blog. As soon as you want, you can be building up back-links from here, too. And you'll be doing me a solid too.

Another Rainy Day is Fine!

Another Rainy Day is Fine!
Those Storms Aren't the Sky

Those stormy clouds of Life they hide
The stars at night and skies of blue.
Then, whichever way they will, they shift,
To let the sun so shine on you.

Be it for a second more (Still
Is it not your dream come true
To stand and feel the light so warm
To stand and stare into the blue

Sky that holds your dreams aloft?).
Still, as I live, and wonder who
I will become in times of change
After letting go of you,

I understand those shrouds of dark
And tempest tossed within my mind,
Are only water vapors...mists. And soon
They'll move to show the light behind.

(Watch me lose all my forget-me-nots.
I only got what's only due.
May the day now help you to see clear
The way to finally forgive me too.)

Originally published on the Yahoo Contributor Network, on August 29, 2008.

How to make our own miracles: Bring my kids and I back together

The purpose and goal of building this blog is to secure my own position as a writer for the general public. I hope to entertain, inform, amuse, or even anger you, the reader. Above all, I strive to be a “good read,” and if you enjoy anything of mine here, I am truly honored.

The purpose of being an established, well-read writer, is to provide for my own living in even the economically depressed area of Northwestern Pennsylvania, and be able to see my kids. I just need to be a part of their lives. They've told me they need me.

So, for each reader who visits this post, please send at least three more people by this link, after you also join me as a follower. I promise never to get too preachy, as long as you promise to read. I'm not offering anything for help, other than to be the best contributor for you,as possible. At the very least, please at least link me from your blog. Tell me who you are in a comment, and I'll link back to you, reciprocating your efforts. Fair?

Yet, were you to only help me by sharing me with just three others, who go on to do the same, in the next half hour, this dream could be attained within the next day. Would you/Could you do just that for a stranger? Would you share a blog posting with a few others, in order to help a man provide? The reading is absolutely free to you. There is nothing to cancel.

The goal here is simple: Were each visitor to this page,to become a follower, and then share us with just three others who do exactly the same, within just the next half-hour, The goal of finding one million readers will be reached in only one day! For some reason, I know it won't happen in one day. I just call it, the “reality factor.” BUT, were each visitor here to merely share us with just three others who do the same, this dream, maybe my only prayer,would occur – thanks to you.

In order to be sure to reach the three others you'd need to make this work, I'd suggest you share it wit “everyone” on social networking like Facebook, three times minimum.

In doing this, you're helping one man earn his way through life. Your readership is how I desire to earn my own keep,and provide for those who count on me. The more successful this turns out to be, the more I'm going to need to hire others as well. Passing this along isn't just helping me to build my own “dream come true,” but that of several others, also.

In this economy, if you can help just one man pioneer a new business-model, and it helps so many others, all while entertaining you, why would you NOT be a part? Please. Thank you! grin