Isaac Asimov

Tucson Weather Today

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ISAAC ASIMOV

(born Isaak Yudovich Ozimov)

Word For Today

Asimovian
Of or pertaining to Isaac Asimov (1920-1992)
or his writings, especially science fiction.

Isaac Asimov was a long-time member and vice president of Mensa International, but he took more joy in being president of the American Humanist Association.

Isaac Asimov was an atheist, a humanist, and a rationalist.

12 Most Asimovian Reads Worth Your Time

Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right.
--Isaac Asimov

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Not Always What It Seems To Be

Tucson Weather Today

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Believe it or not, the latest picture of Hillary Clinton has actually made me soften up a bit about my ongoing, often overly harsh criticisms of her. The surprising lady has now won my approval and my respect. Not that she would care or even know about that. But at last she seems to be casting off some of her old phony persona along with the extreme makeup. Good for her. Good for the real Hillary.

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Taslima Nasreen is an award-winning writer, physician, secular humanist and human rights activist, known for her powerful writing on women's oppression and unflinching criticism of religion, despite forced exile and multiple fatwas calling for her death.

But sometimes Taslima goes a bit overboard in her blogging enthusiasm.

For example,when she wrote:

"Atheists need more enlightenment to become humanists  -- I dream of a day when all atheists would be free from racism, misogyny, homophobia, megalomania, and other silly problems."

Taslima and others who write with passion for an ideal seem to believe that those {deluded idiots?} with other convictions need to become more enlightened, -- and enlightenment is what I believe, no matter what it is that I believe.

I Am Woman . . . Hear Me Roar!

That is not a criticism . . . well, yes it is; it's criticism.

Taslima's words above appeared HERE

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Because I am an atheist . . . is an open invitation to readers to tell their personal reasons for not bowing down to the pressures of conforming to traditional religious beliefs. One of these, from Jennifer, I found to be simple, clearly-written, and sensible. Below is Jennifer's first paragraph:

Because I am an atheist I am able to truly appreciate my marriage. It’s not foreordained that I love my husband, which means that every minute I spend with him is a conscious choice to invest time and love and energy in this relationship. I don’t feel like I’m failing God when I fail to do my part to maintain the relationship; instead, I just recognize that it’s a failure on my part to put in the work necessary to sustain this choice that makes me so happy, and I fix it. I don’t get complacent about it because, again, it’s a choice, and it takes work. We’ve only been together a few years, and we are a good enough fit that it hasn’t felt like work yet, but in the more difficult moments we’ve had I have reveled in the fact that no, I am staying *here* because it is what *I* want, and that he is doing the same, because we love and value one another, not because we feel like we have to. It’s glorious.

Read the rest of it HERE

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WORD FOR TODAY

apocryphal [uh-pock-ruh-fuhl]
adj
1.  of questionable authenticity
2.  of or like the Apocrypha
3.  untrue; counterfeit

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Fred Astaire


Born May 10, 1899
Died June 22, 1987

Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz) was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years,

ALSO

Gary Owens

Born May 10, 1936

Gary Owens was the deep voiced announcer on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. Remember?

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Man is certainly crazy. He could not make a mite, and he makes gods by the dozen.
--Michel De Montaigne

America's Fastest Growing Religious Status

"The fastest growing religious status in the United States is no religion" is a statement that is becoming more and more ubiquitous, at least in the many readings of one citizen (me) of The United States. I have read that particular statement in many blogs as well as in articles in various issues of respectable print media.

As I have stated previously on this website: "I am not an atheist." But neither am I a proponent of organized religion. If I had to classify myself regarding religion I would say that I am irreligious -- irreligion being the absence of religion.

Atheism is a lack of belief in gods, from the original Greek meaning “without gods."

But, in the majority of minds an atheist is one who thinks not only that there are no gods but that 'god' or 'gods' absolutely do not exist. This conception (or misconception) separates me from atheism; while I do not believe in the existence of a personal god who is responsible for the creation of mankind, who is concerned with the welfare and behavior of human beings, and who relegates the dispensing of divine knowledge to preachers, priests, and assorted Sikhs and seers... While I do not believe in any conventional god, I do not deny the possibility of the existence of beings or entities within the cosmos in forms (or even formlessnesses) undetectable to human senses who possess powers and abilities that would appear miraculously God-like to we biological beings.

So: an atheist, especially the new-atheist, knows there are no gods. I, on the other hand, doubt there is a god, but I do not know that there isn't.

Here's a thought. What if the vast expanse we humans perceive as the universe is, in its totality... the actual essence of God?


Am I, perhaps, a humanist?

Humanism . . . what is it?

According to Wikipedia -- Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In other words it is an outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters.

A simple definition I read somewhere is: "Humanism is about being a good person for the sake of being a good person."

Am I a humanist?

I don't think so. After all, I do not even know what a 'good' person is.

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Being a humanist means trying to behave decently without expectation of rewards or punishment after you are dead.
--Kurt Vonnegut