Smorgasbord

Ok, so classes have started and I already have some things to say.

First off, every once in a while I wear one of my atheist shirts around on campus, but so far no one seems to recognize what they mean. I got on Cafepress and bought some more, they have like 10k+ atheist related items or something on there. Honestly, Cafepress is amazing, expensive, but wonderful. I've gotten a couple shirts from there and I just ordered a couple more. One says 'Skeptic' and I think I will wear it around campus. So, for all you lurkers, if you see me come up and say hi! And for the BYU Secret Police, I bought dozens of shirts for friends so there is no way you will ever know who I am, hahaha.

Seriously though, if you are a skeptic, a free-thinker (being Mormon and a free-thinker is not possible), atheist, humanist, agnostic, or simply non-religious, go to Cafepress and buy a fuc**** shirt. Be out spoken and vocal. Be the loud minority!

With a couple new shirts in the mail I also debated on buying this bumper sticker:


But I decided on this one:


Yup, I am putting this on my car. Go me.

So I went to a SHIFT meeting on Sunday. Secular Humanist something freethought I believe. It was a meeting about Dawkins book, The Greatest Show on Earth. I plan on making several posts about atheist books I've read at some point, over a dozen this year so far, so I won't explain it now, but the meeting was fun. Really fun actually, I enjoyed the atmosphere, and free pizza. Obviously the group isn't strictly atheist either, and there were 'believers' there, gasp, but I really enjoyed it.

I also used the restroom while there, TMI, and was amazed at their 'sinks.' They were basically a hole in the wall where you stick your hands in, soap squirts out, then water, then dryers turn on. It was amazing! The whole hand washing experience done while just standing there in one place. Not too amazing, mind you, but when I was having this exquisite experience I thought, "Ha, BYU, where's your God now?"

Now, I have to apologize. As much as I harp on BYU and Mormons, I still love'em. Much like how you love a runt puppy, or an old dog that is half blind, or a 2 year old kid. I bring this up cause I went to my Biology class and guess what was the first subject we went into? Evolution. Yup, the prof went right into it, and did a good job! I have never heard about evolution in any sophisticated way at BYU, in all of my classes, I'm over 70 credits mind you, till this last Monday.

The prof focused on how mutations can be beneficial and natural selection will weed out the unbeneficial ones or older versions of the species in favor of the new and improved ones. Thus leading to evolution over time. He did a good job, and since I've studied this on my own a lot, I got to answer some of the questions he posed whereas no one else in the room had the faintest idea what he was looking for. I felt pretty good about myself. And I noticed he watched me a lot after that while he continued through the class. Props to him. He's a creationist, old earth, and accepts evolutionary theory. Course the LDS church declared that man did not evolve, so they have some explaining to do about human evolution, but mainly they just shot themselves in the foot.


Lastly, I am happy to hear from random people, and some people have managed to find out who I am. Props to you for being such amazing stalkers. Honestly though, it makes me feel like I should try to organize a group or something. I am in some atheist groups, go on FB and find them, plus I'm in the underground group down here. But I think there should be a larger group down here. One of my friends is thinking of maybe starting a humanist type club at UVU, which them could be advertised to BYU students. Having a 'generalized' group down here to gather secularists and non-religious people, or even doubters, I think would be a great thing. I am all for community, and I think a lot of Mormons are, especially those who are becoming agnostic or doubting. You need to get out, the church will make you miserable.

And also, the Church is false. I happen to go further, and have good reason to, and declare that the bulk of the gods in our history are equally as false, but when pertaining to Mormonism all I say is look up anti. Actually do it. Some is skewed and out of context, some is outright lies, I know, I've read dozens of LDS books and studied extensively, and some anti is completely false. But some of it is good and true. I no longer understand how I supported the Church on blacks and women. I no longer understand how I got past some of the inconsistencies in the BoM, and I can no longer look at the Book of Abraham and the facsimiles in the same way ever again. Joseph Smith and all his women, Brigham Young just being himself, the church reeks of cover-ups, white lies, half truths, and a vigorous effort to skew things in its history to not sounding so bad. The PR of the church is quite amazing, but after really getting into the stuff, I cannot deny that the church purposely tries to rewrite history and hide things from its members.

That was a tangent. I will someday begin writing against the church on some points, but not right now. Right now, if you are following my blog, then become a follower! And make comments. I look forward to comments, but I rarely get them. And they don't all have to be in agreement with me, I like hearing opposing views. Though, often I just make funny posts with little to argue about. Lastly, get other people to read this! Tell friends who you know have doubts, or are more secular. Talk about it, that's the big thing. Not my blog, but your doubts or concerns. I didn't really step out of the church till I felt like I had some support. I wish I would've had more friends, back then, who were atheists or non-religious.

So, find your inner strength to stand up for your unbelief. Be open to criticism, against yourself, and to criticize others, including the Church and God. One sign of a cult is when they do not allow you to criticize their leadership. Enough said.