mentor: profile 
about mentor
I am a freethinker...a scientific naturalist, if you will.
Freethought: a philosophical viewpoint that holds that beliefs should be formed on the basis of science and logic and not be influenced by authority, emotion, tradition, or dogma.
Philosophy is questions that may never be answered...
Religion is answers that may never be questioned...
Politically I would self-identify as a moderate, though some other golo members might still consider me a "moonbat." At times my political views tend to be more Libertarian, which is one reason I have so much admiration for Thomas Jefferson. It seems political points of view are treated as stereotypical caricatures by many members. It's always easier to attack your own cartoonish version of the other person's views than to understand what the other person's views actually are.
One of my favorite pastimes is studying the philosophers of history, especially in the area of religion. I spent years mentally "at sea" on the topic, knowing my Methodist upbringing wasn't ringing true in my mind...yet not being willing to entertain the possibility that what I had believed all my life might not really be true. I came across the writings of a man named Robert G. Ingersoll, and realized I had stumbled on what I was looking for. If you have never seen or read any of his speeches, do yourself a favor and do so! You can find his work (among others) at www.infidels.org He echoed all my unspoken sentiments about everything that was wrong with Christianity.
Why I Am An Agnostic (1896)
About the Holy Bible (1894)
I floated for a short while in the deist realm, along with the likes of (the much maligned) Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. After more study of the theist/non-theist debate, and soaking up all the modern evolutionary biology I could get my hands on, I began to realize that the universe is explainable without a god as a first cause...in fact it was more convoluted to insert a complex un-caused being at the beginning! Ockham's razor chops away the unnecessary complexity and leaves a simple conclusion: The universe, in some form or other, has always existed. A hard concept for us to grasp, but much simpler than a creator god who was there when it started - but who had done "god only knows" before that! (pun intended)
The hardest part of letting go of God is letting go of the idea of an afterlife...we all somehow feel we should continue on forever, even after our bodies die. I came to realize that this life is all we have. This bothered me for a bit, but it makes a lot more sense than tripping off into an eternity of existence after just a quick 'blip' of a biological life. Epicurus long ago noted that death need not be feared..."If I am here, death is not! When death comes, I shall not be here." Why fear something we will never "share the room with", so to speak? Mark Twain brought his wit and common sense to the topic as well when he said, "I was dead for millions of years before I was born and it never inconvenienced me a bit!" I expect it will be the same for all of us as well. My memory of 2112 will be the same as my memories of 1812! :-) The belief that our lives are just a quick prelude to some vague eternity to come later robs us of the full appreciation for the life we have right here, right now! When we can realize that this is our one and only life, it becomes all the more special and dear to us.
The other difficult part of letting go of religious belief is realizing that there will be no "final justice". Hitler is dead; simply dead. There is no hell for him to go to...his existence is ended except for the horrible memories of all the wrongs he perpetrated on humanity while he was alive. Horror was his legacy. Hopefully his miserable life will continue to teach us what the fruits of racial hatred and fascism really are.
You and I have our own opportunity to leave a legacy as well...hopefully a positive one! Maybe this is our shot at immortality after all - to leave behind good memories in the minds of people who knew us..to bequeath to the future all the best we could muster, seen through the eyes of our children.
But, I digress. If you want something to happen in your life, go out and make it happen! If you want justice, you will have to work for it. There is no celestial umpire that is going to call the game in your favor and fix all that was wrong with your life. Prayer is mind-talk and may help some people, but if you use your mind and your reasoning skills, one day you will realize that you're only talking to yourself. YOU are the architect of your future! Be proud of your successes, and don't beat yourself up over your failures. Life is short, and precious....live it for what it is: a rare and special opportunity!
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Please don't misunderstand my purpose here solely based on the amount of material I present relating to non-belief. Actually, I would characterize myself as more of a logic-based polemicist than an iconoclast. I have no agenda to "bash" religious faith per se, or to cast aspersions on anyone for whom faith and religion are important. In my contributions I will do my best to avoid contributing to the consequences and pitfalls of a world in which the lines between fact and opinion, informed expertise and amateurish speculation are willfully blurred.
Fun YouTube Destinations!
MadTV Carlin sketch.
A few notable quotes.
A few thoughts from Sam Harris.
It's not always easy to be secular in the U.S.
"Of all religions, the Christian should of course inspire the most tolerance, but until now Christians have been the most intolerant of all men." - Voltaire
"I would defend the liberty of consenting adult creationists to practice whatever intellectual perversions they like in the privacy of their own homes; but it is also necessary to protect the young and innocent. - Arthur C. Clarke
The Bible is not my book, nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma. - Abraham Lincoln
In religion and politics, people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination. - Mark Twain
Fear is the mother of all gods. Nature does all things spontaneously by herself without their meddling. - Lucretius
About the name Mentor: Years ago, when I was running a bbs, I had a user with this handle. He was an old guy who had a way of bringing just the right mix of wisdom and common sense to a discussion. He's long gone now, and I use the name mostly as a tribute to him.
We now have a group for atheist/agnostic golo members! Please apply if you would like to be part of it:
An expanded blog on these topics is under construction on Wordpress HERE. Comments and discussion are welcome! If you prefer, you may reach me directly at free.thought2@gmail.com.
favorites
favorite music: now playing on youtube...movits! - fel del av gården
favorite movies: good sci-fi
favorite hobbies: computers - philosophy - astronomy - audio production
favorite tv shows: any good educational show covering science topics...the daily show... the colbert report
favorite restaurants: good mexican restaurants
favorite web sites: pandasthumb.org (recently)
favorite vacation spots: uhhh....vacation?
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He's capable of decent creative writing...unless the blogs in question were plagiarized, but aside from that my only regret is that so many goloers seem to hang on his every word...what a waste! ;-)
GOLO member since March 18, 2008
July 10, 2008 10:36 a.m.
Based upon what? You won't find me singing praises for the Bush Administration. Global Climate change is indeed happening. However, man's influence is highly exagerated. The 'warmers' even had to change their names because their junk science was not keeping pace with reality.
Increased solar activity (documented over a four hundred year period) and wild variations of the Earth's magnetic field (well documented longer than solar record keeping - The Royal Navy has ages upon ages of magnetic records) have much more of a direct role than greenhouse gases. Wild speculation and alarmist scientistic data make for some good movies perhaps, but governence based upon junk science should never be tolerated.
And don't rabbit track over to evolution - I have never advocated not teaching evolutionary theory.
July 10, 2008 9:19 p.m.
GOLO member since August 2, 2007
July 11, 2008 11:11 a.m.
And in political terms, these words when used as labels have morphed so much during my lifetime as to be meaningless to me. The biggest difference I see between today's opposing political camps is in their ability, or willingness, to see nuance in political discourse. I don't think most conflict is between a "good" value on the one hand versus a "bad" value on the other.
Real conflict is usually between competing good values. But if one side can only see the world in black and white, he'll never agree with one who sees shades of gray.
GOLO member since January 25, 2008
July 14, 2008 8:53 p.m.
I hope I'm better at content than process, because I clearly suk at the process part of Golo. Must be due to my advanced age.
GOLO member since January 25, 2008
July 15, 2008 2:55 p.m.
GOLO member since July 2, 2007
July 15, 2008 3:21 p.m.
GOLO member since January 25, 2008
July 16, 2008 3:40 p.m.
GOLO member since August 2, 2007
July 16, 2008 9:23 p.m.
wait, I do that now...nevermind...Yes, please send the invite
GOLO member since August 2, 2007
July 17, 2008 9:31 a.m.
GOLO member since March 9, 2008
July 17, 2008 9:45 a.m.
GOLO member since August 2, 2007
July 18, 2008 11:49 a.m.
July 19, 2008 2:12 p.m.
I love that.
GOLO member since July 18, 2008
July 19, 2008 10:07 p.m.
Just saying hello, my friend. :)
GOLO member since April 10, 2008
July 20, 2008 5:59 a.m.
This is but one of many areas where government has no business whatsoever. Personally, abortion as birth control (about 90% of all abortions performed) is vile and morally repugnant to me. It goes to my views of personal responsibility. It's the 21st century - and people still have unwanted pregnancies?
Unlike my liberal fellow citizens however, I don't support legislation based on my personal whims.
Sadly, abortion seems to be nearly a right-of-passage for some....
July 20, 2008 8:14 a.m.
I guess some folks really are more equal than others...
July 20, 2008 8:18 a.m.
Did you read the posts on that blog. It was deliberate poke at the liberals. You never meet a nastier hateful bunch of fools in your life. I am the one who promotes live and let live. Why am I not afforded the same (at least in theory) by those that claim to be so opened minded and tolerant?
Do you think that Mr. Jefferson, smiling at us next to your screen name, would hold to my ideals or to theirs? Do you think he had love and compassion for Tory folks that supported the oppressive legislation of the King? Did he want to 'get along' with the Red Coats?
July 20, 2008 8:30 a.m.
Hopefully it'll be slow for you today. Stay well!
GOLO member since April 10, 2008
July 22, 2008 6:33 a.m.
GOLO member since September 1, 2007
July 22, 2008 2:45 p.m.
Braintree is the birthplace of John Hancock, Sam, John, and John Quincy Adams, and General Sylvanus Thayer. I grew up in a house about 200 yds from the steps where the British Procalmation procalimimg the Stamp Act was first publicly read in the colonies. Played on Thayer's tomb all the time - it had the best lilac bushes, and all the best blossoms were at the top. The graveyard it's in is fascinating if you like that kind of thing, very old slate tombstones, starting 1700's flaking at the edges. Many people came and did gravestone rubbings there.
Nixon was born about 15 miles away in our HS rival town of Milton, which ironically had the best public sledding area. Nearly got killed there once - plowed down by an out-of-control toboggan with 6 teenagers on it - I was 12. No damage, tho - except my nose and my 12 yr old p
GOLO member since April 10, 2008
July 23, 2008 5:43 a.m.
LOL! TTYL
GOLO member since April 10, 2008
July 23, 2008 6:05 a.m.
LOL! Have a great one.
GOLO member since April 10, 2008
July 24, 2008 5:26 a.m.
GOLO member since July 25, 2007
July 24, 2008 12:43 p.m.
GOLO member since July 25, 2007
July 24, 2008 12:43 p.m.
From the red star, go ENE until you see Storrs Ave. That's the street I grew up on. My house was where the 'A' is! If you go WSW from the star, you see Blue Hills Cemetary - that's where my dad is buried. Wow, huh? If you follow the roads from Storrs Ave to the red star, about 4/5 of the way along (right between the Plaza to the north and the reservoir to the south) is where my first school was. I walked it, even in the snow. All 8 of us kids had the same kindergarten teacher - her name escapes me now!
You have just taken a virtual stroll down my memory lane... :)
Have a great weekend -- and THANKX!
GOLO member since April 10, 2008
July 25, 2008 5:29 a.m.
Just wishing you a great day and relaxing weekend! *smile*
GOLO member since April 10, 2008
July 26, 2008 5:38 a.m.
Fair enough. provided you refrain from referring to that bottomless pit of hatred, bigotry and vitriolic sarcasm, (yourself) as a Christian. I'm sure there are Christians here who may not appreciate the summary judgement you just passed on the Unitarians." - Mentor
Have I told you lately that you're my hero???
Thanks, Mentor - for always having a very logical and cool head on your shoulders. Methinks I'm too darned hot-headed sometimes to deal with some of this Golo-istic stuff...
GOLO member since July 14, 2007
July 27, 2008 11:14 p.m.
I have an idea for a blog that I'd like to float by you.
I realise that we don't have a "private message" sort of thing going here on Golo... is there any way I can contact you outside of this forum? If so, please let me know... I'll supply you with my personal e-mail address - I'd just like to have your cool-headed logic applied to something that might be quite explosive here on the old Golo pages...
I'll post my private e-mail if you request.
Thanks!!
Jacqueline (aka JBunny)
GOLO member since July 14, 2007
July 29, 2008 4:41 a.m.
July 29, 2008 6:37 p.m.
July 29, 2008 8:47 p.m.
My husband is an officer in the USAF and we've got two younger Airmen staying with us for a couple of days (both are in transit to somewhere else and need a place to crash). As soon as I get a chance, I'll e-mail you...
Thanks, Mentor!!
GOLO member since July 14, 2007
July 30, 2008 3:01 a.m.
I think that you'd be pleasantly surprised at just how many of us ARE actually out there! The problem is that there are people (as mentioned before) that have an absolutely one-track mind... the "if you're not with us, you're against us" mentality. It really does feel like a crazy communist rhetoric when it comes right down to it. So, many of the more progressive thinkers that are affiliated with the military are uncomfortable speaking what they really think - because of the crazies that will make life on base miserable.
My husby is actually Libertarian - which always makes me laugh - he's a Major in the USAF and would like to see LESS government.
We are an "odd" couple - I'm 33 and he's 37, we don't have children, we read and travel and are both active in our progressive intrests. (cont...)
GOLO member since July 14, 2007
August 1, 2008 3:03 a.m.
In all honesty, I was really *hoping* to meet other locals with some of my interests, but all I seem to see lately is idiotic conversation with people who post hateful things. And it gets quite depressing.
On another note, I *probably* will take you up on your offer to rattle some cages (while the monkeys are still in them) quite soon. It's no fun to be the only one with a dissenting opinion - but with TWO of us??? I'm game if you are!!
Thanks for listening to me ramble on. I've got some other stuff to think about this morning.
Cheers!! ~ Jacqi
GOLO member since July 14, 2007
August 1, 2008 3:11 a.m.
GOLO member since July 5, 2007
August 1, 2008 9:35 a.m.
So did I! I was actually impressed. The blog's slant was definitely tongue-in-cheek, but the idea for it was rattling around in my head last night and Friday morning seemed a good time to unleash it. I don't think it will make a huge difference who wins the White House. The DC machine is much bigger than one chief executive. The bigger issue that confounds me is how the Republican party is caught in the wave now, and is going to have to field a candidate that their base doesn't even like. If he wins, it's no mandate. We're all going to know he got there by virtue of being seen as the lesser of two evils.
GOLO member since March 18, 2008
August 1, 2008 10:01 a.m.
GOLO member since July 5, 2007
August 1, 2008 1:00 p.m.
GOLO member since August 2, 2007
August 2, 2008 12:19 a.m.
Also, this is giving McCain plenty of time to do stupid things, like running that Paris Hilton/Britney Spears TV ad.
I dunno that it was wise of him, the Hiltons were contributors to his campaign and all. hehehehe.
I do want to get things rolling though. The conventions can't come early enough for me!
I really do wish that people would just come out and admit that they have a problem with this man being half black. Half African, at that.
I just don't feel like a white guy who happened to have Hussein for a middle name (but was a Christian) would be getting such aspersions cast at him. I mean, sure, people would all flip out a little... but not this much.
It's an easy way to be critical and pretend not to be a racist.
GOLO member since December 4, 2007
August 4, 2008 5:36 p.m.
I fully expected to be bombarded by Tmed and Pikemom, but they were absent today. Wonder what's up with that?
And I was pretty surprised that it didn't get very hateful. I mean, Tidbit went off a little bit, but that was it.
Maybe my satire hit home for some?? :0)
GOLO member since July 14, 2007
August 4, 2008 7:57 p.m.
GOLO member since November 21, 2007
August 5, 2008 11:11 a.m.
August 5, 2008 9:25 p.m.
GOLO member since August 2, 2007
August 5, 2008 11:42 p.m.
GOLO member since February 20, 2008
August 11, 2008 7:20 a.m.
GOLO member since February 20, 2008
August 11, 2008 10:08 p.m.
Thanks again. :)
GOLO member since December 4, 2007
August 13, 2008 8:30 a.m.
If one continually puts 3/4 of a tank in all the time, one avoids ever having to put a full tank in, except for the very first fill -up in a new vehicle, of course. ;)
I dunno why this doesn't seem logical to a good many people.
GOLO member since December 4, 2007
August 14, 2008 1:13 a.m.
GOLO member since August 2, 2007
August 14, 2008 10:58 a.m.
You have an excellent memory. After seeing 7,ooo profile pics in golo, you could remember a cat profile pic? I am impressed.
GOLO member since July 2, 2007
August 14, 2008 4:10 p.m.
GOLO member since July 2, 2007
August 15, 2008 5:55 a.m.
GOLO member since December 4, 2007
August 15, 2008 6:59 p.m.
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