Here is a picture of the barracks I'm in right now. They are actually pretty nice, as long as you don't like chairs or desks or dressers or wall lockers that lock. The one chair you can see in the picture is the only one in the barracks. It's so weird the things that you take for granted. I would love to sit down on a couch and watch a little bit of tv. Oh well, what are you going to do. It's really not to bad here. The chow is pretty good, and even though the it's really cold (at least compared to Texas), they gave us very nice cold weather gear. Brand name Polartec cold weather gear with 7 different layers that will keep us warm down to minus 40 degrees (supposedly).I'm also not the only atheist around, so that is nice. There are 3 other full blown atheists. There is also one spiritual but not religious, and one that is basically a diest that enjoys the community that a church provides. There are also some young earth creationists, and a few very devout catholics. One of the catholics was passing out rosemary beads that were blessed by the pope. I touched one of them and it cured the cancer that I didn't have. It's really quite amazing. I have already sat through two prayers, one praying to a general god, and one to (baby) Jesus. They weren't mandatory per say, but they were both following official military classes that were mandatory. I could have made a stink and gotten released I'm sure, but I don't really mind and I'd rather not have the whole battalion (minus 5 others) against me.
Well it sure isn't home but it looks cozy:) Love you Boopie and I'm glad your staying warm in your nice cold weather gear. Love you and can't wait to see you for the Holidays:) Hugs and Kisses from me and the babies.
ReplyDeleteLove you too. Can't wait to see you and the little monkeys. They moved me to a different barracks, and at least now my wall locker actually locks. Another cool thing is that instead of having one master switch for all the lights, each section has control over their own lights. Doesn't make it completely dark, but it's much better than a light right above your head on if you are trying to sleep.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of sitting through mandatory prayers... At my daughter's elementary school, they combine the school plays with PTA meetings. Well, my daughter's play was last month, and guess how they started off the meeting - with a prayer. I know it was illegal, and I could have raised a stink about it, but you've gotta know when to pick your battles.
ReplyDeleteSo, you're in Yakima. My parents just moved back to Maryland after a few years in Richland. It sure gets cold & windy up there.
Yeah, we are in Yakima for the next couple of days, and then we will be heading back to Ft. Lewis. It does get pretty cold here. It hasn't gotten colder than Texas sometimes gets, but it is consistently that cold. The sun comes up a lot later, and is gone even earlier.
ReplyDeleteI wonder...When an Atheist admits he or she doesn't believe in God, aren't they actually admitting there is a God, or why would they even be thinking about God. You know, the one that doesn't exist.
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
Thomas R.,Disabled Vietnam Vet.
No, saying that you don't believe in god doesn't mean that there is a god. We could for example, talk about the African god Bumba. If you and I were to have a talk about him and you stated that you don't believe in him, would that make him exist? If that is a legitimate line of reasoning then there are thousands of gods that humanity has thought of that must exist, simply because so many people don't believe in them.
ReplyDeleteIt may seem to be a logical argument when applied to something that you think exists, but if you apply it to something that we both know doesn't exist, the argument becomes rather silly. Do you believe in Cinderella? No? Then she must exist simply because we don't believe in her. Why else would we talk about her if she didn't exist? The terminator? Santa Claus? Goblins? Bogeyman? Ronald McDonald? All of these things must exist because we are talking about them, but don't believe.
There are plenty of legitimate reasons to think about whether or not a god exists. The majority of the human population believes in one form or another of a god and lives their lives accordingly. Just because I don't believe in a god, doesn't mean I don't believe in the belief of god. I know a lot of people that have a very strong belief in god, which neither proves nor disproves whether there actually is one. I've also never said that god doesn't exist, just that I doubt it.
Thanks for coming by and please feel free to comment more. Thank you for your service to our country.
Oh, and just in case non-belief means it exists, I just wanted everyone to know, I don't believe that I have millions and billions of dollars in my bank account right now. I don't believe it one bit. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got millions and billions of dollars that I don't have that I need to spend.