So far to the right they've fallen off the edge of the world...

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The latest Harris poll shows just how far to the far-right the right wing has gone - way, way, way to far.  Holy cows.

I suspect this poll marks the point where Republican party leadership has lost its grip on its' own party name.  To a Republican "Republican" can no longer feel or mean what "Republican" meant just two years ago.  The party name, it seems, has been stolen away from the greatest number of conservatives, moderate conservatives, and traditional right-wing voters, i.e., the name "Republican" has been jerked out from under the feet of most of the people who would have once called themselves Republican.  And who's to blame?  Can you say Sarah?  Can you say Glen Beck or Fox News?  Can you say hawk radio?

Honestly...!  Who in the world would still be wacko enough to call themselves "Republican" after reviewing the wacko ideas and beliefs of what this, the latest poll, exposes about conservative America... See these current poll results (current ... as in 'right now'). The Harris Poll. Now, ask yourself: Is this for real..?  Well, guess what, it is!!!

Extremism, far right radicalism, is being exposed for all of us to see.  It's coming out in the open  self-righteously, all on its own and it is ugly.
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About the poles...?

I find it perplexing, even amusingly so, that two groups of people of reasonably equal intelligence can both live in and observe the same world, review the same data, digest it, and then arrive at entirely opposing points of conclusion on the question of gods, prayer, miracles, after-death life and such.  Like North and South poles, that's the way things are on the topic of religion. And how strange all of that is.

But its a mirage, and an obvious one in fact, whenever one takes the time to look more closely.  One of the polarized groups does more speaking from its pole than it does believing in it.  Which group?  Do you really have to ask... honestly?  The religionists, of course.

How often do we here terms like cherry picker, hypocrite, and apologist preceding or following the name of anyone who would claim belief in gods?  Not often enough, I'm disappointed to say  since the facts of the matter, if anyone would bother to gather those facts, might tell us just how prevalent falsifying ones claim of belief truly is among believers.  My impression is that they are all liars... none of them come close to believing what they say they do.  And aren't they all so willing to admit their occasional struggle with doubt... Good gosh.  When in the world will they ever think wisely enough upon that doubt to change their habits?

Ask a believer to tell how much he believes in a particular tenant of his religion, such as intercessory prayer or after-life or original sin, and then listen.  The gyrations and mental gymnastics displayed while answering are amazing... and often very amusing.  It's my habit to remind them of such whenever I get the chance.  It's a conviction of mine that I have a moral obligation to feed the doubt of believers until they finally act upon it rationally.

In a world where atheists would occupy the North pole and believers would gravitate in precisely the opposite direction, I'd say the South pole would never see a first foot set upon it.  The faithful don't believe even half of what they claim to believe.... They lie.  And that's the truth.     

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About the poles...?

This is fun... and useful all in one.

It wasn't my idea, I'm sorry to say, but its a darn good idea and I hope you'll all have some fun with it.  FREE WANT ADS.

Apparently it began with a few student-types down in Little Rock Arkansas who were tired of reading one after another of 'prayer items' and 'Bible quotes' in the daily want ad section of the newspaper.  And taking an attitude of "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," they decided to send in a few of their own opinions... but theirs were freethought and atheist opinions.  The aim was to give the personal and announcement classified columns some better balance.  The result was that it caught on... Atheist "Mystery" posts started popping up and nobody knew who or where they were coming from. 

It reminded me of something I've discovered... you can't go into any community anywhere no matter how churchy it looks and expect it to be devoid of atheists.  We are!  And, we are everywhere. Now, even the personal ads and classifieds of the newspaper bares it out.

So have some fun... Post a free want ad or two.  Here's my latest: a Chapman Cohen quote, "Gods are Fragile things; they can be killed by a whiff of science or a dose of common sense."  Truer words have seldom been spoken, and now, perhaps gods can also be killed by a FREE WANT AD.
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UPDATE:  Since posting this, I've elected to run a couple of ads in the paper and (funny thing) I received an email from a newspaper employee, the classified supervisor, about my ads.  Hmmm... I wonder if they do that for every FREE classified requested?  Here's the email:

Randall,  if we run your opinion ads they must state your name and city you are in.  

Do you wish to go ahead and place the ad?   Also we will only run one at a time.  

Thank the gods that you have reason and then realize by reason there

are no gods. 

Thank you,

Cathy Wiles

Classified Supervisor

479-571-6421

Was the purpose of this communication meant to dissuade me to fearfully change my opinion or to cower and keep my opinion tucked away in the dark of a closet?  I wonder...