The Season, Now with Reason

“Would you even celebrate Christmas?” asked concerned family members when considering December plans. Though my first publicly, this will actually be my second Christmas as a self-admitted atheist and there have been several as a skeptic. Surprisingly few of the traditions I cherish most about Christmas have anything to do with in-a-manger Jesus. Time with

Testing 1, 2, me

As I wrote about a week ago, the end of my radiation therapy was less of a celebratory time than it might have been. Upon investigating my personal observation, my doctors agreed that my sarcoma appears to be growing and not shrinking. I have joked about getting what one pays for with free healthcare, but I must hand

Why are you writing this?

A good friend sent me a list of questions. With their permission, I am answering them here. And wow to the blog post. I’ve read it a few times. I don’t question your beliefs, but my question is why are you writing it? It was my sister’s pleas that pushed me from having a vague

(Adam)ant Doctrine

When the preponderance of evidence forced me to accept the fact of evolution, it was a short trip to discarding the Bible I had studied, memorized and believed all my life. Until that point, I held firmly to Biblical inerrancy. In my view, the Bible itself asserted this with claims like “all scripture is God-breathed” (2

Zap to it

This morning I finished the last of my radiation treatments. As I described earlier, each of the ten sessions had me laying front-down on a metal slab with my hand clamped down in a three-phase apparatus. I had a technician take some pictures for me one day, which you can see above. My sister, the

The Chromosome that Broke the Camel’s Back

I’ve been asked what the tipping point was for me to accept the Theory of Evolution after resisting it for most of my life. As I researched, the weight of the evidence was cumulative, so the fact that flipped the switch for me was more a function of timing and the order I just happened to have

I’m happy for you, Star Wars. I am.

In just a month, Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens in movie theaters. In October 1999, my life-long fandom and involvement with the popular Star Wars website TheForce.net landed me at a lunch on Skywalker Ranch which lead to my recruitment to take over the efforts at StarWars.com. I picked up my family, moved to the

Spock was the Worst Wookiee

Most people enjoy lively conversations about topics that they are knowledgable and passionate about. An attentive conversant to whom you’re introducing ideas and experiences can reignite one’s own spark. Finding someone who shares your passion on the same level is invigorating. The best stimulation can be a person who has a differing, but equally-knowledgeable, take on the

Unforgi(Venn) Diagram

I do not love everyone I hate. I do not hate everyone I love. Those who found their way to the overlap middle are they who define, shape, shatter and grind the million-pieces-of-a-man you find on the floor today. Center-most in the union is me.

Cognitive Dissonance and Intellectual Dishonesty

Cognitive dissonance is the mental stress and discomfort that comes from holding two or more contradictory beliefs at the same time. This is not the mere hypocrisy that might come from a career nutritionalist who secretly binges on bacon-covered donuts. This is more akin to poor HAL 9000 whose programmed purpose was to relay accurate information,