The Sacrament of Creation

I consider myself an atheist that follows the basic philosophies of Taoism. I loved reading Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins and I respect their conviction and passion however, I consider myself a "live and let live atheist". If someone wants to believe in things that cannot be proven to make their short existence on this planet more bearable or even enjoyable, who am I to criticize.
While I do not begrudge anyone their beliefs, I must say that through out our history organized religions have been,for the most part, a gigantic cluster fuck. They have been a very destructive and violent group of pyramid schemes that have weaseled their way into an accepted, untaxed part of the culture.
So, in order to buck the historic trend, I have decided to start my own religion. And it will consist of only one belief, one tenant and one sacrament. The one belief is that the ONLY thing that is truly sacred in this world is the act of creation. The tenant is that we all should strive to create things that are positive and beautiful. And the one sacrament is the completion of the creative act. That's it.

I would like to call this religion "Creationism" but that name has been taken by what I think used to be called Luddites. Lately I have been going with Creativecompletionism but that is just a bad tasting, mouthful. So I am now leaning towards Artisticism. I am open for suggestions.

The great thing is that my religion will begin by already having millions and millions of practitioners. There are people all over the world who already live for the sacrament of completing a creation of beauty. There are people like me whose experience of God IS that feeling of "loss of self" during the creative process. That feeling that you get when you turn your entire being over to the act of creation. It is the one time most of us feel completely connected to everything. There is a tangible vibration to it. A subconscious hum that fills you and filters out all the misperceptions of day to day reality that we fool ourselves into believing. It is holy and spiritual in a way that cannot be faked of manufactured. And it is somehow tangible enough that the skeptic in me cannot deny its existence.
So I challenge all of the current and future followers of this religion to try to participate in our sacrament on a regular basis. Create more beauty as often as you can! It is a good and noble cause and you will be rewarded in heaven or in another life or in the dirt that you turn into. Or maybe you won't be rewarded at all. Who cares, you created something beautiful and that is better than eternity in heaven any day.
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Location:Derby lane poker room

Yes, We Want Free Stuff!

So the election is over and we are still hearing a bunch of Republicans (including Romney himself) whining about "Makers and Takers", and saying that Obama won because of the people who "want free stuff". First, YES! I WANT FREE STUFF! Who doesn't? It's not just "those lazy poor people" that want free stuff. I am a business owner! I am a "job creator"! I am reasonably well-off, and I WANT FREE STUFF. The only difference between the rich guys who want free stuff and the poor people who want free stuff is… THE RICH PEOPLE ACTUALLY GET IT!" My father hasn't paid for a ticket to a sporting event since 1975. When he wanted to go to a MLB game or an NHL game he would make a call to one of his brokers or to a business associate and get FREE tickets.
And, as a business owner, If I decide to move my business to another area, I get with the local government and ask what FREE STUFF are they going to give me to "create jobs" in their community. Larger business have lobbyists that spend all their time trying to get FREE STUFF from the government. Ethanol Subsidies for ADM? FREE STUFF! Local sports franchise get's huge subsidy to build a new stadium? FREE STUFF! Banks lose huge on a big gamble and the federal government bails them out? FREE STUFF!
Yes we all LOVE FREE STUFF. So, I guess when these politicians are talking about how "it is terrible that people want FREE STUFF", they must be leaving out a word or two. I think what they really mean is that "it is terrible that POOR people want free stuff". Or, more likely "it is terrible that BLACK people want free stuff. Come on mow, I have been hearing this kind of nonsense since Reagan and the "Welfare Queen" bullshit. Just look at all those middle class white people who are dying to change places with that poor person on food stamps. Those poor people have it so easy! And god knows, there are absolutely no WHITE people living in poverty that get government assistance. No, poor white people are all apparently "just between high paying IT services jobs". It is all ridiculous nonsense.
Then there is the 47%ers. Yes all those terrible, lazy people who do not pay ANY income taxes. They are the "Takers" and we are supposed to despise them. "They are the problem", we are told. But then we look to actually see who those people are. Mostly they are your Grandparents. Hate them if you must. The rest are mostly the working poor. And who was the socialist idiot who moved those poor people off the tax rolls? Ronald Reagan! Hate him too then.
So Republican rich folks, here is how the system works now. You guys get every day to lobby government on every level to get your FREE STUFF. The rest of us get one shot every four years to vote for someone who might be able to change things a little so we get a minute amount of FREE STUFF too even though you now get to spend billions of dollars to convince us to vote against our own acquisition of FREE STUFF so you can keep it all for yourselves. So for the most part, YOU ALWAYS WIN! STOP YOUR BITCHING PLEASE!


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