We have cats. Lots of cats. They also like to play with my glasses. For the last year I have been using my subscription sunglasses because I couldn't find my regular.

I found them. The little demons had hid them in a pathway behind boxes, boxes, and more boxes. (Our house is always in construction, because my father says yes to helping people. We haven't finished since he got the permit years and years ago...I wonder, do you need to renew permits if you never finished?)

So yes, I can see again without the darkness! Yay! Par-tay!

I am also closer than ever to getting my bedroom. I can't wait! Of course, I might move out before the room is completed...

I can live with that.

Women Atheists

I was reading comments on the Friendly Atheist, and someone made a point that most Atheists that are 'out there' are male, older, and not really-run-of-the-mill. This was in response to Julia Sweeny getting married and dropping the 'atheist label'.

He or she asked to think of an atheist, I'm presuming in the public sphere.

I thought of two females right of the bat, and both are normal women who left because it was healthy for them to do so - at least from what I understand. I don't know them, so you can't really take what I say as truth, just my opinion.

One is 'the Whore of All The Earth', a reference to 1 NEPHI 14:10, which says any woman who isn't with the Church is a whore. Her real name is Leah Elliot and she is a blogger.

The other is ZOMGitsCriss. Her name is Cristina Rad, and she is a Youtuber. Both are brilliant but normal, both are female, and both are not old.

Oh, and then there's us, but we're not famous enough to count. We're both female, young (23 and 18 to be exact) and Atheists.

Am I normal? Well, my imagination is quite, erm... elaborate :).

Let's not get into that.

Palm Reading

I like learning about people's beliefs. I've learnt many things along way, including palm reading. It is a fascinating art, one which tells you what you already know, and if you like hands you can see many different ones!

I tried reading my own today, and it was actually dead on. My mom read hers and even though she denied it, it was pretty much dead center as well.

Do I believe that palm reading can tell the future? Not any more so than if you thought back to what you did, then made predictions about what you will do according to what you have done. Keeping a diary and reading it to discover what you will do would work just as well.

But it wouldn't be as fun.

Youtube is Allowing Illegal Activity While Banning Fully Legal Videos

You probably know this, but for quite some time Youtube has been a coward. Or perhaps just a bigot, I'm not too sure.

It has to do with Creation Science. These Christians don't like it when someone proves they are wrong. Instead of talking about it, they claim that the Atheist - yes, videos that they would never make let alone own - are their property to get them off Youtube. And Youtube is allowing it.

So why should you care if you aren't an Atheist? When they are done with our videos, where do you think they are going to go? That's right, they will start in on another group that opposes their world view. That means if you are not a Conservative Christian, your account could be banned.

Think I'm making a leap? If they successfully continue doing what they are doing, they will know they can get away with it for anything.

They will go after other Christians if it gets so bad they can silence anyone.

Do you believe in reincarnation? They don't. They see those videos as offensive. Do you want to keep those videos up there? Then help us stop them - stop them from being bullies.

I want a Youtube where I can watch videos - not be forced fed one version of Christianity. It isn't that far off unless we do something about it.

This Is Me

There are many things I love about being Canadian. Four distinct seasons and wide open spaces are only two things in a long list about why Canada is one of the best countries to live in. (Still, I'm in love with Australia and New Zealand. I at least want to visit them before I die)

Since becoming an Atheist I learned about how religion plays roles in other countries. It horrifies me. I never thought about it before, as religion doesn't play a part in how my life is run in Canada - certainly not by law.

The best thing about Canada is religious freedom. It amazes me how many rights are taken away in far too many countries just for not being one with the crowd. It is so foreign. I don't have to worry about my rights being taken away simply because I don't believe in Ra or Luna, or any other god or goddess.

I am lucky I was born in a country where my journey could be navigated by me, and not by anyone else. I was born, raised Christian, and in an attempt to get closer to God read the Bible. Well, tried to. I read all of the NT, and bits of the OT. I decided the Bible was wrote by men, and had no divine hand at all. I still believed in a higher being though, so I went searching for a religion that fit what my parents had told me about God. Strangely, it was the one religion that Christianity spoke out against that fit the bill: Wicca. I became a self-proclaimed Wiccan, only to discover magic didn't work, and anyway, I was really just going around in circles.

At 21, I was tired of trying to make everything fit. But I decided to try one last thing. Sylvia Brown! Everything she said made sense. I remembered bits from her books (like when you in heaven and such) but I read one line that made me rethink the whole thing. It said insects are not in heaven.

Let me get this straight, I thought, God made us, all creatures, and he loves us and we will join him. All will live and work together in heaven. Lions with deer, Elephants with coyotes. But no insects?! Insects are alive, and they are creatures. I also remember them in heaven. I've done research on memory and come to the conclusion I remembered 'heaven' because I wanted to.

Throughout my whole journey I had been reading up on science. Evolution really held my interest. Far from what most creationist say, I loved evolution because I thought it confirmed God existed. He's the perfect father, right? Patience is a key element of that - and evolution is never finished.

After Sylvia Brown, though, I really looked at the world around me. What did I see?

Well, nothing different actually. I just removed intelligent design from the equation, and you know what, for the first time in my life I understood.

Fast forward two years, and what you have is me. I tried to be Wiccan for most of the last two years because I felt I needed something, (and when I was little I was more Wiccan than Christian) but a few weeks ago I realized I didn't need the security blanket anymore.

There are many things I love about Canada. Oddly, freedom wasn't on my list. Now it's at the top.

Tigger

We let Tigger off his leash, and the silly doggie has ran away. We can't find him, but Tash thinks someone might have picked him up since there are no paw prints leading away from the yard. But....why would someone take our dog?! And why would he go with them?

A Snippet of Life

The house is eerily quiet, and I am trying to decide on whether or not to put on music. Maybe I'll play the Sims. Tash and Steph are with mom at the store. Dad's at work. Tigger's not howling and barking at the cats.

two

thirty

afternoon

Wow, my day's going by slowly. I've accomplished everything I wanted to do except play the Sims, (and write a blog post, which I am doing obviously because you'll read it when I'm done). Perhaps I'll study my Japanese. :)