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?
brat is kestrel posted new profile info.
Nov. 24 9:11 p.m.
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speak up, patriots! a great american hero!
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thanksgiving cooking
Nov. 24 2:05 p.m.
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not bashing guns, but why.
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free cat
Nov. 24 11:35 a.m.
squirreling dervish loves pie posted new profile info.
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using one old rule! one simple trick!
Nov. 23, 2009
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riddle me this...wake up golo - time for some trivia!!
Nov. 23, 2009
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don't worry........be happy!
Nov. 23, 2009
merry christmas and happy xanax posted new profile info.
Nov. 22, 2009
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intrepidcalvin@aol.com
I'm sure you appreciate I'm flying under the radar.
GOLO member since March 17, 2009
March 27, 2009 3:21 p.m.
March 27, 2009 5:32 p.m.
GOLO member since March 31, 2008
April 1, 2009 8:53 a.m.
http://gaapster.com/economic/36-economic-analysis/49-responsibility-for-the-financial-crisis.html
GOLO member since March 31, 2008
April 1, 2009 8:53 a.m.
GOLO member since October 17, 2007
April 1, 2009 11:14 a.m.
I don't think they would believe me if I posted that I knew it was made up when I posted it as a joke. And people think something like the H.G. Wells war of the worlds radio show could never happen again.
GOLO member since October 17, 2007
April 1, 2009 11:38 a.m.
My firt reaction exactly!... LMBO! Hope you are having a good today, sir.
GOLO member since April 10, 2008
April 6, 2009 5:01 p.m.
Not Christian, just a believer in a power that created us all from a vaccum and a thought. I believe religion reflects both the worst and best in man. It reflects man's unending search for anwers to imponerable questions, but lays bare his desire to control and judge all he sees.
GOLO member since April 10, 2008
April 8, 2009 9:52 p.m.
Did you get in on the FSM blog? I saw morsdeus - I can't remember if I saw you. I really enjoyed that blog... on many, many levels, especially that it stayed mostly civilized. I love blogs like that! Gucci did a fabulous job!
GOLO member since April 10, 2008
April 9, 2009 12:42 a.m.
April 9, 2009 2:25 p.m.
April 9, 2009 3:17 p.m.
If I had to guess, I'd say the ratio of confrontational to polite is about the same for Golo atheists as for Golo believers of any denomination. Fortunately, it's a small percentage of jerks in either camp.
Mea culpa!
GOLO member since August 1, 2007
April 10, 2009 11:19 p.m.
Hope you enjoy your weekend, too!
GOLO member since August 1, 2007
April 11, 2009 9:29 a.m.
GOLO member since April 10, 2008
April 14, 2009 9:30 a.m.
Hope you've been doing well. Have a good hump day. Tomorrow is my payday! Yippee!! It takes so long to earn it, but seconds to spend it!
:-)
Beth
GOLO member since July 2, 2007
April 14, 2009 11:42 p.m.
GOLO member since March 6, 2009
April 15, 2009 11:28 a.m.
Come to think about it that Michelle is always smiling
GOLO member since July 4, 2007
April 21, 2009 1:32 p.m.
GOLO member since March 12, 2008
April 22, 2009 9:06 a.m.
GOLO member since March 6, 2008
April 23, 2009 9:07 p.m.
Darn! I thought it was just Scientology and the galactic overlord Xenu we weren't allowed to discuss...It gets so confusing
GOLO member since January 16, 2009
April 23, 2009 9:49 p.m.
GOLO member since March 31, 2008
April 24, 2009 8:59 a.m.
GOLO member since August 22, 2007
April 27, 2009 6:38 p.m.
Have a great evening! Gucci
GOLO member since November 20, 2007
April 27, 2009 8:06 p.m.
I've been "lurking" on Golo quite a while - finally decided to make a profile because, quite frankly, I couldn't keep my virtual mouth shut any longer. I cannot stand some of the things that people post here!!!
Should be interesting, to say in the least -
GOLO member since April 28, 2009
April 29, 2009 3:21 a.m.
GOLO member since May 8, 2008
April 30, 2009 10:31 p.m.
I guess my 'affinity' is really for the writing styles.
I read 1984 as part of our high school's literature program and I saw it as a warning - turns out it was an un-intended self fulfilling prophecy.
I tend to think of it as my "Taylor" moment from Planet of the Apes as he rode along the beach and saw The Statue of Liberty - finally realizing where (and when?) he was.
I also rather like Orwell's essay on language and how words are manipulated to better manipulate people. Almost prophetic like 1984 sadly turned to be.
Double think was nearly unbelievable to me "way back then" - if one is honest to one's self it can be seen everyday. The concept is more accurate than 'hypocrisy' due to the aspect of willful self delusion.
Even scarier, the state has passed its first thought crime law . It's a willful dissonance. Is the person you just killed more dead because you hated him? What if you didn't 'hate' your victim?
May 2, 2009 6:02 a.m.
GOLO member since October 3, 2008
May 6, 2009 10:31 a.m.
I don't truly think any of them could intelligently discuss what they regurgitate if their lives depended on it. They've merely found a poster book for their angst and anger at a world they feel has wronged them by not staying like they wanted it to be.
I don't take them seriously, which is probably the worst insult I can deliver, given how seriously they seem to take themselves.
GOLO member since September 6, 2007
May 6, 2009 10:55 p.m.
I think it's a tad deeper than that. After a while, you learn to recognize what people are trying to hide by the way they try to hide it.
GOLO member since September 6, 2007
May 6, 2009 11:01 p.m.
Nope. Benny Hinn told me Ernest is a big phony! ;)"
I loved Benny Hill and Little Jackie Wright ( in think that was the little bald fellows name?) when they would run all over the place. But I found it rather hard to understand the British accent.
GOLO member since November 6, 2008
May 13, 2009 1:21 p.m.
GOLO member since November 6, 2008
May 13, 2009 1:37 p.m.
I remember when you started the atheist/agnostic group under the contention of it being more of an informative blog. You welcomed Ryoung(?) and myself with open arms because we were both curious. THANK YOU
GOLO member since September 7, 2007
May 15, 2009 3:28 p.m.
*smile*
Ahh, are you thawing toward my "Big Banger" theory? LOL
I'm just grateful something put us all here together, however it happened. There is such eloquent beauty in the simple checks and balances of the self-sustaining carbon-based sytem we call Earth.
GOLO member since April 10, 2008
May 21, 2009 2:36 p.m.
GOLO member since September 7, 2007
May 22, 2009 3:19 p.m.
May 29, 2009 7:49 a.m.
I never knew! What a shame....
GOLO member since August 1, 2007
June 1, 2009 9:44 p.m.
GOLO member since July 20, 2007
June 3, 2009 7:58 p.m.
GOLO member since January 25, 2008
June 4, 2009 12:07 p.m.
GOLO member since October 17, 2007
June 8, 2009 4:09 p.m.
To sum it up... he'd be happy to have the rapture happen, because then all the believers would be gone - leaving the rest of us down here without them...
I about choked on my coffee when I read that...
And... I am going to post something soon - it's a paragraph or two from Ben Bova's "Jupiter". Made me really think...
GOLO member since July 14, 2007
June 9, 2009 12:31 p.m.
GOLO member since October 29, 2008
June 10, 2009 9:48 a.m.
GOLO member since October 29, 2008
June 10, 2009 9:52 a.m.
"Place the bag of chicken wings into your sweatpants and act casual!"
ROFL - thank you for the laugh
GOLO member since July 2, 2007
June 11, 2009 6:16 a.m.
GOLO member since August 14, 2008
June 11, 2009 9:31 a.m.
GOLO member since November 27, 2007
June 11, 2009 11:59 a.m.
GOLO member since October 29, 2008
June 11, 2009 12:14 p.m.
Yep. I'm a little worried that the feature might take a little fun out of golo, but then again it will also create new forms of entertainment.
GOLO member since July 18, 2008
June 11, 2009 1:31 p.m.
Indeed. Funny thing is, I wasn't being pejorative when I used the term "gibberish" -- that's exactly how the comments have read in the case of one troll. I had a blog one night that was shredded by his/her non-sequiturs; all I could think of was Tom Cruise in "Rainman" saying, "He is answering a question from a half hour ago!"
Btw, how'd you like the new Trek? We finally got to see it last weekend, and for me, it lived up to its hype!
GOLO member since August 1, 2007
June 11, 2009 1:38 p.m.
Bet on it. I highly recommend it for the big screen, even as there are fewer and fewer compelling reasons to pay that much money to see a movie. The cinematography makes this one of the few. If you're serious Trek fans, do yourselves a favor and see it on the big screen!
GOLO member since August 1, 2007
June 11, 2009 10:02 p.m.
Ye Gods.
BTW hello there...
GOLO member since August 2, 2007
June 16, 2009 1:10 p.m.
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