I read stories all the time of religious groups doing things that confuse, annoy, and outright disgust me. However, usually these tales are from other states, or even other countries, and I can be hopeful that my home is immune to such things. Then I read this article.


Valley High School, not too far from my own alma marter, has had a monument of the Ten Commandments in front of their school for years. When asked to remove the monument, because it obviously goes against the constitution, the school board replied with: "I personally believe the complaint is ludicrous," board President Bob Pallone said. "We as a district do not intend to take down the monument. We feel confident this is not a violation of church and state."

Let me break that down for you:

1. "The complaint is ludicrous." Really? So it is ludicrous to request that a school district adhere to the rules and standards of any other public, government-funded institution? It is ludicrous to be law-abiding citizens? What kind of example is this setting for the youth at this school? I would argue that Pallone's remark that the request is "ludicrous" is setting an example for the students that reads, "its okay to defy authority and break laws."

2. "We as a district do not intend to take down the monument." Again, this is the school board basically saying "its okay to break laws, as long as its for religion". People have been using that argument for far too long.... There is no argument that keeping the monument up is against the constitution.

3. "We feel confident this is not a violation of church and state." This is just hilarious. Maybe the board President should go back to school if he doesn't understand how this is a violation of the separation between church and state. In fact, maybe we should replace the Ten Commandments monument with the Bill of Rights, so students (and faculty) could actually learn something useful as they walk into the school every morning...

I can only hope the school removes this promply. Not only does it send a negative message to the students, as I mentioned above, but if the school district takes this to court, they will be wasting tons of money. In the current state of public education, no penny should be used for anything except the well-needed education that every child deserves. Maybe the school board should be putting the students first, instead of their over-sized christian egos.

Halloween: Post 3

Posted by clarinetchloride comments (0)

Well, I do believe my costume is "FINISHED"!!! I will need to add a few final touches, but I am quite happy with how it turned out!


Brackenridge trick or treating is October 31st, 6 to 8 pm, so I might try giving out treats that night! There is also a "Trick or Treat" event at the mills Thursday, October 27th, 6 to 8, so I might go to that too! I am so looking forward to halloween weekend!!!! I hope to go to approximately 898908357 halloween parties and haunted houses! I hope all of my sewing will hold up! I wish there was a "official" halloween party with all of my friends, so maybe I will try to put one together. :)

Anyway, here is my FINAL CLUEEE!!!

Ncc-1701(-d!)

^^^That pretty much GAVE it away. happy halloween week!

Halloween: Post 2

Posted by clarinetchloride comments (0)

I was hoping to be farther along with my costume by now... Oh well, here's a new clue:



Halloween: Post 1

Posted by clarinetchloride comments (0)

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. I really don't understand why....


Is it the dressing up into a new character? That's certainly fun. Pretending to be someone new is a nice escape from being yourself. Especially when those new characters get to be extraordinary, like a princess, superhero, or vampire. Plus, you can showcase your interests in who you chose to become. I think a costume says a lot about a person. But there's more to Halloween than just dressing up.

Is it the food? Well, it's no secret that I enjoy candy. Free candy, especially. Plus, pumpkin is so deliciou

s too. But I could eat these foods anytime, and it just isn't the same.

Is it the weather? Ah, the crispness in the air. The cool nights by the bonfire. Wearing hoodies, jeans, and flip flops. This is the perfect weather. This is the conditions I long for all year long. And I certainly love the fall, in general. But Halloween is only a few days in the fall.

Is it being frightened? Haunted houses, scary music, and horror movies seem to consume this time of year. Although the release of adrenaline from being frightened is intriguing (and I love enjoying a good haunted house or having a scary movie night), I don't believe that the fear alone is what makes this holiday so special.

Is it the drinking? Halloween is up there in those wonderful "celebrate by getting drunk" holidays. Topped by only St. Patrick's Day and New Years, Halloween is a wonderful excuse to get wasted. But I've loved Halloween before I even knew what alcohol was.

It must be a combination of everything. Halloween is a compilation of almost everything that I love. Cool weather, hoodies, pumpkins, black and other pretty colors, dressing up, candy, alcohol, hanging out with friends
, corn mazes, fog, witches, vampires, etc. etc. etc.

Most importantly, it is full of happiness and spending time with my best friends.







P.S. Here's a hint at what my costume will be this year (although most people probably won't know who I am. That's okay, I'm still excited) !!!!!!!:


"I was born that way. I have had those feelings, those longings, all of my life. It is not unnatural. I am not sick because I feel this way. I do not need to be helped. I do not need to be cured. What I need, and what all of those who are like me need, is your understanding. And your compassion. We have not injured you in any way. And yet we are scorned and attacked. And all because we are different. What we do is no different from what you do. We talk, and laugh. We complain about work. And we wonder about growing old. We talk about our families, and we worry about the future. And we cry with each other when things seem hopeless. All of the loving things that you do with each other, that is what we do. And for that, we are called misfits, and deviants, and criminals. What right do you have to punish us? What right do you have to change us? What makes you think you can dictate how people love each other? "


- Quote from Star Trek, The Next Generation (The Outcast episode)

So, I was talking to my mom about celebrities my dad likes, and I remembered he used to have this one poster in his room. All I could remember was that it was a brunette actress and she was wearing jeans and maybe a pink-ish shirt? First I said, "The Pink Ranger?" But no, it wasn't. Then I said "Neve Campbell?" It wasn't her either. Then I said, "Julie something? It starts with a J"...... Of course, I wouldn't be able to focus on anything else until I figured it out so I went to google.


I googled "list of brunette actresses", which led me to a long list. As I was going through the list the name Sarah Michelle Gellar stopped me for a second. I knew it WASN'T Sarah Michelle Gellar but something about the name sparked something in my head. I realized it was the fact that she had THREE "names" in her name. So now all I had to do was find a brunette actress with a 3 "name" name. Although there are quite a few, the list was much shorter than "brunette actresses", haha. Eventually I came to it..... Jennifer Love Hewitt.

It all made sense... it began with a J and she looks a lot like the Pink Ranger. Neve Campbell was in Scream and Jennifer Love Hewitt was in I Know What You Did Last Summer. I was satisfied, but not completely. I wanted to FIND that same exact poster that was at my dad's house, just so I could prove it. So a new google search began.

I googled Jennifer Love Hewitt poster and found a bunch of images and websites. After 20 pages of pictures of the actress in bikinis, I was very discouraged. I SWEAR the poster was of her in JEANS. I decided to go to ebay and amazon and look. I finally found it on ebay after a few seconds. My mind could finally be at ease.

This past Friday, a piece of glass got lodged into my foot while I was at a bar. In the ambulance, they told me that we were headed to the closest hospital, which happens to be an extremely Catholic hospital. My stomach began to flutter as I imagined how uncomfortable I might feel in such a place. (In fact, it is the only branch that does not recognize the "domestic partners" of employees as eligible to receive health insurance.)


As I arrived, they asked me the typical hospital questions, such as my date of birth and what medications I was taking. Then, the dreaded question was asked: What is your religious preference? Shyly, I answered, "um... just leave that blank." I felt so embarrassed, like I had done something WRONG for believing what I believe. This is the kind of emotions that I fight to prevent. NO ONE should feel ashamed of being who they are.

Racial minorities and women were the first to be treated as "below" the white male. But people began to fight for the freedoms of these individuals. Although many people are still racist and sexist today, society has began to accept these individuals. Hopefully, no one feels GUILTY for being in a certain racial class or gender. Next, homosexuals began to be ridiculed. But once again, people began to fight for their freedoms. Slowly but surely homosexuals have began to be accepted, and they are more able to openly express themselves.

Today, I believe that the group that is most repressed is atheists. At the hospital, I told the nurse to "leave it blank", because I was genuinely worried that my religious preference may interfere with my treatment. I didn't want to listen to someone explain to me that my choices are WRONG, and that I should be ashamed. Just as with race, gender, and sexual preference, in order for atheists (and other religious preferences) to be treated with respect and openness, people will need to help fight for our freedoms. We have finally had our first black president... how long will it take to have an openly atheist president????

Many people have different approaches toward dealing with my atheism. Most people I encounter are generally "okay" with it, but I think it secretly disgusts them. For instance, when fighting with my mom earlier, I sneezed. She responded by saying, "GOD bless you", which emphasize on the "god", as if I am some sort of horrible, disgusting person for not believing in a god. She sometimes accidentally lets it obvious that she hates me for being atheist.

At the hospital today, this very nice nurse was teaching me how to walk upstairs using crutches. She was teaching me to put my "good" foot first when going upstairs and my "bad" foot first when going downstairs. She said that the way she remembers it is that "good things go to heaven, and bad things go to hell." My mom blurted out, "well, she's an atheist.", with all of the disgust she could render. There was this long moment of silence where I turned bright red, and a few people stared at me. The nurse was silent for a few seconds and said something like, "well, that's okay, you can use any way to remember it..." She actually said "that's okay", as if it was something that needed some sort of apology.

The hospital is filled with signs that mention their "mission and values", which includes many things that aren't relevant to me. There are also crosses on many of the walls. Although I didn't feel comfortable being surrounded by these reminders that I have essentially committed the worst sin in their eyes, I feel that everyone treated me with kindness and performed their jobs efficiently. After all, one of their missions was to protect the "sacredness of human life". Even though I don't believe that human life is necessarily "sacred", I still believe that my life should be protected at all costs. Ultimately, atheists and non-atheists have a common goal: to live a long, healthy, happy life. After all... If you prick us, do we not bleed?



As a side note, I notice that many atheists have different ways of handing their beliefs. Michael and I were attending a graduation ceremony in which we had to say the pledge of allegiance. When it got to the dreaded "under god" part, I chose to simply not say anything and skip over that line. However, I heard Michael say "under gods", which I thought was funny, because in our favorite television series, Battlestar Galactica, their society believes in polytheism. However, there is a small group of people that believe in "the one true god", and they constantly get ridiculed and beaten. No matter what religious beliefs a society has, it will always be taboo to believe in something different. When will we reach the point where religious preference is unimportant? When will we live in a society where all people are treated equal?

I am a recent graduate of Carnegie Mellon University. I received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Psychology. This blog will be about how I view the world, including my opinions and lessons I have learned throughout my life. Enjoy.

Copyright 2009 - Reality as I know it...

Blogspot Theme designed by: Ray Creations, Ray Hosting.