Godless Mom in the Bible Belt

My brilliant hubby managed to switch out my defective keyboard with one he scavenged from an old laptop and now I am back in business!

I'm sure everyone is sick and tired of talking/reading about the Libby indictment and the Fitzgerald investigation so I'm going to completely leave that one alone for now. There is something weighing very heavy on my heart and I'm in the mood for a bit of a rant.

I was raised to believe that the United States of America is a pretty cool place. As I've grown older I've seen and understood the flaws in our system and I've tried to do my part as a citizen to remedy those flaws. I hold no illusions that the USA is the best country in the world, there are several areas where we fall short and need to strive harder. However, I love my country and I'm happy to be a part of this great social experiment. While I love the rest of our planet and I want to experience and enjoy every inch of it, I don't want to live anywhere else.

Call me a Pollyanna, but there are some myths from my early childhood propaganda experiences that I truly want to believe. I want to believe that while individual human beings might have failings, as a whole we are a noble species. I want to believe that our country is set up in a manner designed to make the most of that nobility while striving to suppress those tendencies which draw us in the other direction.

Like most everyone in the world I was mortified when I first learned that American troops were torturing prisoners at Abu Ghraib. I was shamed at the thought of the name of the United States being associated with such a thing, I was heartbroken at the thought of our troops (these men and women who are our friends and family) being reduced to such an animalistic level that they would conduct themselves in such a manner. I was terrified of the repercussions which would inevitably be felt by our country, our troops and our citizens as the wrath of our victims manifested itself in revenge.

As I looked into the issue more thoroughly and discovered that Abu Ghraib was merely the tip of the iceberg, my disgust and shame only grew. Here we were on this supposed noble mission of bringing democracy to Iraq yet we were treating our prisoners and "enemy combatants" in a manner so far removed from that nobility of purpose that the entire notion of our actions being justified was rendered not only laughable but pitiable. This was not the United States of America I had been raised to believe in, my country couldn't possibly be guilty of such things.

Then came the investigations and trials. We were handed a scant handful of people and blame was laid entirely at their feet. Janis Karpinski, Lyndie Englund...They were set forth as the those who were to blame. Yet after both women were removed from the situation the abuse continued, reports surfaced from Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan and other prisons in Iraq. Citizens of the UK and Canada came forward to tell their stories of mistreatment at the hands of American soldiers. It became plain that Alberto Gonzales and Donald Rumsfeld were not only aware of the torture but were instrumental in making it happen. And still Bush claimed that it was the work of "A few bad apples."

Well, John McCain has attempted to put forth a bill that would make it illegal for anyone acting on the behalf of the United States to mistreat prisoners or detainees in any matter. Basically it makes the Geneva Convention rules into national law. The bill passed with a huge majority of 91 votes. Yet Bush, who has never vetoed a bill in his entire term as president has threatened to veto this one. Dick Cheney went to McCain and said that Bush would sign the bill if an exception were made for the CIA. Basically, the Bush administration (who still insists that we don't torture people) is looking to make a nice little loophole for itself.

Now, the Bush administration is attempting to claim that while it is illegal for us to torture anyone on our own soil, it is okay for us to do so when in other countries (Guantanamo Bay is a prime example.) And still the buck has traveled no higher than Karpinski.

I have written emails and letters and dialed the phone until my fingers are ready to fall off. I'm quite certain that all my elected officials think that this and election reform are the only things I think about. But you know what? These guys have dragged my country through the mud and they continue to do so with every prisoner they mistreat and each time they deny due process to the "enemy combatants." I understand that, for better or worse, we are at war. I know that many of our prisoners would as soon kill us as breath but I refuse to believe that we can accomplish any noble goal while our actions have been reduced to this level.

I think this administration is guilty of crimes against humanity. I am constantly floored by the fact that they still try to claim the moral high ground. I can only hope that the nobility which I know exists in the heart of my country will eventually see justice served.

The-space-bar-on-my-computer-isn't-working-and-I'll-be-damned-if-I'm-gonna-do-a-whole-post-using-the-hyphen-key-to-separate-my-words.

I've-got-some-new-pictures-of-New-Orleans-to-post-as-soon-as-I-can-get-some-time-with-a-keyboard-that-works.

Stay-tuned!

Hey all! I'd like to introduce you to our new puppy, Savannah. We're calling her Savvy for short. She is an eight week old tri color Sheltie. We found her in La Grange, TX (yes, the same La Grange that ZZ Top sings about.)





Unfortunately the puppies in Arkansas both died from Parvo and I was forced to look elsewhere. Lucky for me I found this little girl a lot closer to home. (La Grange is about 95 miles from Houston.)

Scott and I usually put a ton of thought into the names we give our pets, it is something we mull over and talk about until we are certain we have found the right one. However, this time there was a four year old in the mix and she was determined that the pup be called Savannah. I have no idea why. The name is too long to be effective for training purposes, hence the nickname Savvy.

Okay, now on to political stuff. Boy there is a ton to talk about, isn't there?

I don't know about you but I've actually got butterflies in my tummy while I wait for the possible Rove/Libby (and Cheney?) indictments. I suppose we will know by Friday.

Did you hear about Brent Scowcroft? Apparently he will be publishing an article in the New Yorker today regarding the Bush administration's policies. I don't think he will be saying nice things. Rumor also has it that Bush 41 has a few things to say about his son's presidency.

It looks like Miers is going to go down in flames.

This ought to be an interesting week.

I'm sorry I've been so absent from the blog world lately. I've seriously overcommitted myself lately and have had very little time or energy left at the end of the day. Silly me, I thought that I would have MORE time after Liz started kindergarten.

I'm going to take the rest of the week off and try to get back to blogging next Monday. Scott will be going to New Orleans to (hopefully) reopen the office there so I may have some interesting photos to post when he returns.

Take care and have a wonderful weekend.

Hmmm. How odd. I have absolutely nothing to say and very little energy to say it.

So, here are my feeble thoughts for the evening.

Woo Hoo Astros!
I hope Wilma isn't as big a pain in the neck as Rita and Katrina.
My little girl is having trouble adjusting to the long hours at her new kindergarten, it breaks my heart.
I'm really curious to know what Fitzgerald is going to do about Rove and Libby.

Okay, that's it. I'm going to bed now and it isn't even 8:00. How sad is that?

Some of my favorite things.

Puppy breath
My daughter's hair
Fresh coffee in the morning
Watching caterpillars eat leaves
The smell of line dried sheets
Geckos
The constellation Orion
A cat in my lap
My daughter's smile
Painting walls
Gingerbread trim on Victorian houses
My husband's wrists
Turtles and Tortoises
A good book on a rainy day
Wild columbine
Koi ponds
My husband's eyes
My daughter's eyes (they are just like her daddy's)
Ben and Jerry's Phish Food
My piano
My mom's biscuits and gravy
The smile lines around my eyes

My puppies in Arkansas aren't doing so well. One pup in the litter has died and the little girl I was going to adopt is pretty sick. I may have to look elsewhere for my therapy dogs.

I'll be back on Monday. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

I really enjoy watching Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday nights. For those of you who might be unfamiliar with the program, Bill Maher hosts a program where political and social issues are discussed in a no-punches-pulled kind of way. He usually does a personal interview with someone famous and then has a round table discussion with a panel of three guests. Current events and current topics are bantered about and I usually walk away having learned something.

Now, I don't always agree with Bill. He is a far Left kind of guy with some extreme ideas but I respect the way he calls it like he sees it. He stirs up controversy and gets people thinking. I like that.

Last Friday's show was a really good one. First off, he interviewed Ann Coulter. Now, for reasons too obvious to go into, I don't much like Ms. Coulter. I think she is evil. During the course of the interview I got to see Ann Coulter back step on her support of George Bush due to her dislike of his recent Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers. That made me smile. Annie dear, you made your bed, you lie in it.

However, the point of this post is not Ann Coulter. What I would like to discuss is a comment Bill Maher made and the resulting conversation on his panel. His panel was made up of conservative blogger Andrew Sullivan, actor Ben Affleck and author Salman Rushdie. I've cut some of the text out for the sake of brevity (and by brevity I mean I didn't transcribe the entire hour...grin.)

Bill Maher: There is no diversity of religion in the country. George Bush does have a diverse cabinet when it comes to race, they've done a pretty good job: Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, so forth. But, you know, I don't think race makes someone as diverse nowadays as how you think about religion and there is no secular voice, there's no voice of Me in this cabinet. Everyone who gets appointed has to be not just Christey but Super-Christey; Double-dog Christey. Twice-born Christey. But you know what? People of faith, and when I hear "people of faith" I think "Well those are people who suspend rational judgment for nonsensical bullshit that they believe." Where is the diversity of the people who think like myself and perhaps like you [points to Rushdie.]

Ben Affleck: I think that's oversimplifying and perhaps a bit insulting.

Andrew Sullivan: Thank you Ben.

Ben Affleck: People of faith aren't stupid [just because] they're people of faith. I mean, I just disagree. I think that's stupid, in fact, to suggest that. I think that ultimately-

Bill Maher: What they have is a mental block.

Ben Affleck: Well there may be on the edge of whatever religious extreme of whatever religious spectrum you want to look at, but there is certainly a gamut, and just saying well someone who is religious whether they are Jewish or an Orthodox Jew or a Christian who goes to church once a week or four times a week or believes that every word that is in the Bible is literal. Or, like the president thinks, well it isn't all literal but I believe in it. [Their belief] Doesn't inherently make them stupid.

Bill Maher: Really? If you believe the word of the Bible literally, if you believe the world is five thousand years old, that's not stupid?

Ben Affleck: I think most religious people, like, don't think that Jonah lived in the belly of a whale for two hundred years-

Bill Maher: In America they do-

Overtalk regarding how many Americans believe in Biblical inerrancy.

Andrew Sullivan: Bill, I'm a person of faith and I rather resent being called stupid.

Bill Maher: I'm not calling you stupid-

Andrew Sullivan: Yes you did-

Bill Maher: No, I'm saying it's a mental block.

Andrew Sullivan: I'm saying you have a mental block when it comes to people of faith.

Bill Maher: No, I had a mental block when I was a child, when they taught me this nonsense and when I got to be an adult I got over it.

More overtalk.

Salman Rushdie: A couple of years ago before the Iraq nonsense began I was invited to Washington and I got to speak to a group of senators of both parties and the thing that was most obviously different between the Democrats and the Republicans was that the Republicans exclusively used religious language. Exclusively. And the Democrats did not. That really scared me. There was one of the Senators, which I guess I shouldn't name, who asked me why it was that Osama Bin Laden said that America was a Godless country? He was really offended by that, he said, "We're not Godless, we're very Godly." And I said, "Well, I guess Mr. Bin Laden doesn't think so."

Bill Maher: If only he knew us better, he might like us better.

Salman Rushdie: Yes, [there is] a lot in common.

Andrew Sullivan: People of faith are not talking about what is known, they're talking about what is not known and what we cannot know. And genuine people of faith are not going to make these asinine statements like Franklin Graham or these nutcases that you point out. They are going to be humble in front of God, they are going to recognize that there are some things science cannot tell you: The meaning of the universe, the point of our lives, what morality is, what happens to us after death, how we should treat our fellow human beings. Those questions, I think, in true people of faith who don't seek to impose on other people, who are just trying to find a way to live their lives in a good way. By demonizing all people of faith what you are doing is playing into the hands of these fundamentalists. The United States is based on a separation of church and state and that is why religion is so strong in this country. The Republican party has betrayed that tradition and you're right to call them on it, but don't, DON'T conflate that with the greatness of many religions and the greatness of many people in them.

Bill Maher: I'm sorry, but they are your fellow travelers-

The conversation breaks down a bit, some argument regarding the beauty vs. darkness of organized religion.

Andrew Sullivan: The people who take their faith seriously I think are also respectful of people of other faiths and also respectful of people with no faith at all.

Salman Rushdie: That's not true. That's not true at all.

Andrew Sullivan: I'm not saying that everybody is, I'm saying that people who really, for example, listen to the words of Jesus and the Gospels are not going to try and depress other people. The message of Jesus, if you listen to it, is of compassion and tolerance of people.

Bill Maher: I love Jesus, I just don't like the Christians who don't believe in what he says.

Ben Affleck: See, now you're making a good point. If you look at the Old Testament, the New Testament, The Quran, the practices none of this is explicitly preaching violence or oppression. There are idiots and assholes in all walks of life. They're everywhere.

Salman Rushdie: They do seem to be in charge.

End transcript


This is the type of conversation that plays out over and over again when we speak about religion in our country and the roll it plays. I think that this conversation with this panel had the potential to really go some wonderful places. Unfortunately Bill opened the whole thing by being unnecessarily inflammatory which set the whole thing off on the wrong foot.

Bill has a good point, it is hard to know the exact numbers but it is estimated that between 10 and 16% of our country would fall into the atheist/agnostic category. Granted, it isn't even close to a majority, but it isn't a percentage to sneeze at either. Yet, you see virtually no secular people in our government, particularly in the Bush cabinet. I would like to hear a discussion on that matter as it is one close to my heart. However, Bill had to go and make the "nonsensical bullshit" comment which sent the whole conversation in the wrong direction.

Ben Affleck also makes some good points. People of faith in our country really do run the gamut, there is a whole spectrum of beliefs out there ranging from quiet personal spirituality tempered by logic to wild-eyed zealots who wield their beliefs like a sword and accept no disagreement. It is unfair and wrong to judge all religious people by those who make the worst impression.

Andrew Sullivan is absolutely correct when he says that the teachings of Jesus are about love and tolerance and Bill Maher echoes my sentiments exactly when he said, "I love Jesus, I just don't like the Christians who don't believe what he said."

I also think Andrew Sullivan makes a very good point when he tells Bill that by demonizing all people of faith Bill is playing right into the hands of the fundamentalists.

I think Salman Rushdie sums up the entire thing though when he said, "They (the assholes) do seem to be in charge."

I like Bill Maher, I think he serves an important role in a society where the media is lame and all but useless. His confrontational nature serves to cut through bullshit and put the real issues front and center. However, like any other pundit he is extreme. It is unfortunate that his is the lone voice of atheism in news/entertainment media. Almost like Jerry Falwell being the lone voice of Christianity and Osama Bin Laden being the lone voice of Islam...Okay, maybe he's not THAT extreme but you get my point. Sigh.

Well, last night as I was getting ready to leave for Arkansas I received a phone call from the Humane Society. One of the pups I was scheduled to adopt has come down with Parvo Virus so now my pup and all the other young-ens at the shelter are under quarantine and won't be able to leave for at least another week.

Parvo is a really weird virus. It likes cool air so you see it more in the spring and autumn, (although some seasons it will go straight through summer and winter too.) It also changes from season to season. Some years it is VERY virulent and will plow through like a freight train in a really nasty way, killing almost every pup who comes into contact with it. Other years it is a little more benign, merely making pups sick for a few days and never really spreading like wildfire. Even the less evil strains of the virus are still difficult to deal with though. There is always severe bloody diarrhea and vomiting, dehydration is a big issue. Some years there is horrible fever that accompanies the virus, other years not so much.

Apparently, the strain going about Arkansas this season isn't too bad so I'm hoping that my sick pup will survive and my other pup will escape infection. Unfortunately these pups didn't get to nurse from their mother for very long so they don't have the maternal antibodies that would normally boost their little immune systems.

So, needless to say I won't be going to Arkansas after all, at least not this week. I'll post if I get any new news.

Yesterday was Echo's 15th birthday. Echo is my little white poodle mutt. I love her dearly! She is blind, deaf and arthritic but the tail still wags, she still loves to cuddle and her overall health is very good. She is such a wonderful being!

I've also been approved as an adoptive home for the sheltie pups, so I will be driving to Beebe, Arkansas to pick them up tomorrow! Beebe is just a bit north-east of Little Rock, about a 10-11 hour drive from Houston (I'm glad I have my Civic...Gas prices being what they are!) so I will be out of the loop for a couple of days. I'll be adopting a little girl and a little boy, they are nine weeks old. These are the pups that Liz will grow up with, the ones who she will share her childhood with. I'm so looking forward to watching their relationship develop. I'll post pictures as soon as I get a chance!

It will also be interesting watching the pups around Stuey, my cat. He is a really cool, laid-back animal. I'm sure he'll take the whole thing in stride and will eventually develop a great friendship with the new little ones but the first couple of weeks ought to be interesting.

By the way, fellow Houstonians...What a game, huh? Yeah Astros!

I'll be back on Thursday after I get home from Arkansas.

I'm posting a link to Cyberpols today which I feel is incredibly important. Doug has an excellent post regarding a House vote which took place yesterday on an energy bill. Basically the vote went through and the Republicans were not happy with the results, so they kept the vote open while Republican leaders went around the room and pushed some of their Republican colleagues to change their votes and toe the party line. A vote which would normally have lasted 5-10 minutes was still being "discussed" after 40 minutes. The vote was not closed until after the Republicans (DeLay was among them) "convinced" enough people to change their votes.

The Democrats were very angry and were shouting "Shame, shame, shame!" But this obviously doesn't mean a damned thing to the Republicans and their "Hammer." They have no shame.

The most disgusting thing about the situation however is the MSM coverage of the event. Doug has links in his post to the CNN coverage with Wolf Blitzer and to the C-Span actual footage. He makes excellent observations regarding the spin put on the situation by Blitzer versus what really happened. CNN has been turning into a FOX wannabe for a long time now and this is another prime example of how the myth of the media liberalism is a bunch of bullshit.

I was born in Utah. I'm a Utahn.
My daughter Liz was born here in Texas, she is therefore a Texan.
Scott is originally from California so he can be called a Californian.

What do you call someone from Connecticut?

I hate it when I can't sleep.

Here I am at 2:00 in the morning, sitting in the living room listening to the faucet in the kitchen drip. I've got to fix that. Why does it sound so much louder now than it does during the day?

I still haven't heard from the shelter regarding the puppies, I'm disappointed but I suppose I still might hear from them later on this week.

Last night's episode of Lost was really weak. They tried to make out this huge conflict between the man of faith versus the man of science. All they succeeded in doing was to make both characters look like fools by putting them in a stupid situation and having them act in totally illogical ways. I like Lost very much, the characters are very well written and complex. All shows have bad episodes but last night's was especially bad because the bar has been set so high by all the episodes that came before.

I found something that cracked me up. It is a sarcastic bit of bile toward Christian fundamentalists, so if you don't like that sort of thing you might want to skip the next bit. I found it at a site called evilbible.com. I'm not endorsing the site, I haven't spent enough time there to know what it's all about...I'm just tellin' ya where I found the following list. (Number four is the one that really gets me!)

You know you're a fundamentalist Christian when...

10 - You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.

9 - You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt.

8 - You laugh at polytheists, but you have no problem believing in a Triune God.

7 - Your face turns purple when you hear of the "atrocities" attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how God/Jehovah slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in "Exodus" and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in "Joshua" including women, children, and trees!

6 - You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who got killed, came back to life and then ascended into the sky.

5 - You are willing to spend your life looking for little loopholes in the scientifically established age of Earth (few billion years), but you find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by Bronze Age tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that Earth is a few generations old.

4 - You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs -- though excluding those in all rival sects - will spend Eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering. And yet consider your religion the most "tolerant" and "loving."

3 - While modern science, history, geology, biology, and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" may be all the evidence you need to "prove" Christianity.

2 - You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers. You consider that to be evidence that prayer works. And you think that the remaining 99.99% FAILURE was simply the will of God.

1 - You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history - but still call yourself a Christian.

GodlessMom Disclaimer...No, I don't believe all Christians are like the above mentioned Christians. No, I'm not slamming the religion, I'm simply slamming the zealots. I don't like zealots, they bug me.

Okay, I'm kind of grumpy so I'm going to try to go back to bed now.

My great grandfather was a sonofabitch. A huge red-haired man with eyes like ice and fists like meat mallets, he plowed through life with little thought to the consequences of his actions leaving misery and scores of children in his wake.

He immigrated to the US from Denmark as a child, finding his way to Utah where his family joined the community with gusto. At the age of 19 he returned to Denmark to serve his mission for the LDS church. He served the mission without incident (as far as we know) and on the ship ride home he met great grandma. She was young, petite and beautiful, a heart shaped face and enormous blue eyes framed by pale blonde hair. She was immigrating with her family to the United States but had no idea where they would end up once they arrived. I guess grandpa was still in mission mode because he had converted her entire family before the ship docked and convinced them all to join him in Utah.

They were married five months later, within six years they had five children. At this point he became bored with his Danish bride and he left her for her sister. He fathered eight children with my great aunt then left her and returned to my great grandma who gave him three more children. Eventually he died and left both women without a cent to their names. Rumor followed his death that he actually had another wife somewhere south of Salt Lake, I'm sure there were plenty of children involved in that relationship too.

I don't know if he had delusions of following the traditional Mormon doctrine of polygamy but couldn't manage to bring himself to openly defy the law or whether he was just a scoundrel who couldn't keep his unit in his pants. Whatever the reason, I share DNA with a whole lot of Utahns because of that man.

My grandma was asked if she remembered anything about him. The only story she could remember was watching him carry a Shetland Pony across a bridge on a bet. So aside from being very fertile he was also very strong. It's sad that she couldn't remember anything better.

My grandma grew up without her father and married my grandpa when she was 14 years old. She had my father when she was 16. My daddy's eyes are ice blue too. That is where all similarity ends between him and his grandfather.

Well, we saw Serenity on Friday. I really, really enjoyed it! It was exciting and funny and everything I had hoped it would be. I had to drag Scott along, but he actually enjoyed it as much as I did. In fact he even said he wouldn't mind seeing it again and he almost NEVER wants to see a movie more than once.

I may be getting a new puppy soon. I've put in an application to adopt one or two sheltie pups that are currently in a rescue shelter. I've wanted to get a pup to train for therapy work and agility competition for a long time now. Since Liz is in school now I have the time to devote to a new little canine (or two.) I'm also really interested in training for search and rescue work but I don't think I'm quite ready for that kind of time commitment yet.

I'm hoping I hear from the shelter this week!

Okay, now here is the Bush part, if you don't feel like reading political bile you may want to stop right here. I love reading Juan Cole. If you're not familiar with his blog, he is a professor at the University of Michigan, he is very knowledgable about the Middle East and writes a daily post about what is going on in Iraq and the US policies that effect that region. He leans left so there are a lot of people out there who don't like him but he calls it as he sees it and frankly his analysis of the situation has always been dead-on. This morning he posted about about where the buck stops regarding the leak of the name of CIA agent Valerie Plame. It is easy reading and not too long. If you have the time I highly recommend reading the whole post.

Basically, the implication is that we are foolish if we believe that the entire leak took place as something between Rove and Libby. Rove, the right hand of Bush and Libby, the right hand of Cheney must have had approval of their bosses to do something as severe as outing an agent. Now, I'd be really surpised if Cheney didn't know about this, but Bush? I'm not so sure. It depends on how stupid he really is and that is always an issue which is up for debate. If he didn't know, he should have.

I'd be interested in your thoughts.