On the whole Chick-Fil-A thing...

It really isn't about Chick-Fil-A at all, that has just become the catalyst for the culture war to jump into the light... This has got to happen in a natural progression. Just as other forms of bigotry have been defeated in the past, part of the process is it being pushed into the mainstream and no longer simply whispered about. We just live in an information overload age compaired to when we were talking of women's rights or the rights of blacks, for example. This event is basically drawing the lines out in public... showing who is supporting the freedoms & rights for all, and who is supporting restriction of rights & freedoms for some. As it was said so well the other day, "Thank you C.F.A. for pointing out who the bigots are".

Everyone has the right to believe anything they want... but if your beliefs are bigoted (such as believing another person is "less than you", "second class", "undeserving of the same rights or privelages", "missing something", "of less morals", or in any other way "bad" based on sex, race, nationality, sexual orientation, or any other accident of birth), then they are deserving of criticism and certainly not of respect.

I totally support the rights of Chick-Fil-A, and it's owners, to believe any way they wish and to run their business any way they wish. I also support the rights of their opponents to challenge, criticize, protest, and to opt not to spend their money there.

Here is my favorite picture that I have seen on the subject

It is of a straight man, named Tim who fathers two boys in the "bible belt", who took his sons to the National Same Sex Kissing Day at Chick-Fil-A protest. His caption was simple "Me and my boys! I want a better world for them." What I found great was that he was not only teaching his boys a lesson about equality, rights, and freedoms but he was also doing it to give them a better perspective about bullying! I think that point needs to be made since there are many people using bullying tactics trying to stop the free speech of those that would oppose them... Good job on you, Tim, for showing the world how to do parenting RIGHT!

As far as my personal experience with the chicken place goes.... Some years back I tried Chick-Fil-A. I wasn't that impressed with the food... the waffle fries were "good". I noticed they were closed on Sundays and in doing my research to find out why I noticed that they not only position themselves as a fast food restaurant, but also a christian organization. I try not to support any religious organization with my money, so I didn't go back... the waffle fries weren't that "good".

Bottom Line:

If your religion supports, promotes, or appologizes for bigotry... I would suggest you take a good hard look at why you believe in such a religion.

~John V.

Answer on atheist activism

I post a lot of things on facebook. Some things are about my family, some are just for fun or to be funny and others are about religion (and my lack of it).

Things like this (that I shared from another's wall)

"If I am wrong and there is a Judeo/Christian god, the day of mydeath will truly be judgment day. I do hereby affirm that I will give him a fair chance to account for his deeds before I pass judgment upon him."

This sparks a lot of good discussions. I don't really consider myself an activist (that term always tends to make me squirm a little bit), but I suppose I am by definition. I do hope that at some point at least one person feels a little bit less "alone" as an atheist by me opening my big flapping jaws. I tend not to get much for mean, angry, hateful, and vile comments (I know, just wait). I believe that most people are good, honest, and loving (religious or otherwise... religion does not hold the market on morality).

Every once in a while I get a message or comment like the one I'm posting below. It is far from mean, but it does imply that they would like me to post less. To tell anyone to post less of anything is a little thing called an attempt at censorship and is an example of the bad form of discrimination. To threaten in any way (this person did not) if the request is not met is a threat of persecution. I actually consider what this person posted more of a question than anything... I look at it as if he is asking "why?" and that is the most important question there is. The question "why?" is the reason I left religion.

I actually agree with two things this person wrote (I mentioned in my reply).

I am posting this because it is likely to get lost amongst all the "atheist propoganda" I post on my facebook page (LOL) and I really would like feedback on my response. I am leaving names out, since they are totally unimportant to the issue, and I will refer to the person as "Theist A" (I would use "Theist Z", but I'm saving that one for a zombie).

Theist A ~
"Ok we get it, you and G*d don't see eye to eye!

But your fight is'nt with G*d, it's with the Church and the idiots who would use G*d's name to hide their own misdeeds.

G*d exists, even if only as a figment of our imagination . . . but even that is infinately beyond anything we can understand or imagine . . . just as it is human arrogance to claim to speak on G*d's behalf, it is utter hubris to deny the existence of something that obviously created all that is, however it happened.

They only thing that matters in the relationship between man and G*d, is the relationship between man and G*d."

My Quick Response ~
"I agree with some of what you said & firmly disagree with some."

My Full Response (Once I had time to sit at a computer) ~
"Ok, I finally have a couple minutes so I can reply:
No, obviously you don't "get it"... lol
It is not that any deity & I "don't see eye to eye", there would actually have to be a deity and there is no reason to believe there are any gods.
My argument is more with religion itself... the hate, bigotry, elitism, biases, persecution, death, immoralities, pain, and other bad crap it promotes and causes more than with religious people (unless they themselves do the same). The average person (religious or non-believer) is a good person.
I agree that to believers their god(s) exist in their imagination... but that is not beyond what we can understand. A deity that exists outside of their imagination, as long as it has any connection/association with our physical world is also something that is not beyond what we can understand (or test, for that matter). A deity that has no connection or association with our physical world should be of nobody's concern because it may as well not exist, there would be no difference.
"it is utter hubris to deny the existence of something that obviously created all that is, however it happened" Where is the evidence for this claim you are making? I (and many others, including almost everyone in the scientific community... you know, the experts in that field) strongly disagree that there was "obviously" a creator.That implies a vast amount of evidence... more than just asking for some to even support anyone's belief in a creator. To say something of this magnatude about that is truly human arrogance.
I agree that the only thing that matters in the relationship between a person and their personal god(s) is just that... untill they bring someone else into it and impose their morality, restrict their rights, etc. That is simply wrong.Everyone has the right to believe whatever they want, as long as it doesn't restrict anyone elses rights, freedoms, or liberties.
All that said, atheist activism is basically the same as any other activism... it is really similar to gay activism since there are many many (you would be surprised how many & who) atheists who are afraid to "come out" due to the persecution they may (and often do) recieve.
Yes, I post things I agree with because I like it (just as many theists post woo on their walls all the time)... It is my wall and I can do whatever the fuck I want. If someone doesn't like it they don't have to look at it. They can ignore, block, delete, etc... that is their right. But I also post things to let others know that when they use logic, reason, and rational thinking they are not alone... Maybe, just maybe someone will "come out" and not feel trapped to hide who they are. When I finally broke the chains of religion I felt so free and relieved, the guilt for nothing was gone! Everyone should be allowed to freely express themselves and who they are, without reprocussions from people who disagree with them. I am not out to "convert" anyone. Actually, the only good thing that comes from debating with someone who has closed their mind and refuses to use skepticism is that there are others who will see/hear and that might help them. Cognitive Dissonance is a powerful thing."

------------------------

Ok, doing this blog post I realized I did miss one very important key issue... I forgot to ask him who was this "we" he was speaking of in his first sentence.

So let me know what you think... I thank you in advance.

And because my blog posts get the most traffic for the horny (according to the search engines) here is a picture of Megan Fox:

Sooooo freakin' true!

~John V.

New Logo, Does It Suck?

I have been working on a basic logo for the new MidwestComedy.com website. Below is what I have thrown together so far. Please check them out and give me your feedback as to what you like and don't like.

The basic font I am pretty set on:

To "flair" it up a bit I put it at an agle:

That is "fine", but I just feel it needs a little something extra... so I tried a couple basic things:

The last one says "Funny" (in red) & "in the heartland" (in black)

Sorry for the low quality images. These are smaller version transparent .gif files so you will have to excuse the sloppy edging.

I want to keep the logo simple, and I am certainly NO graphic designer. I thought about using a laughing face or microphone, but those are soooooo overdone on comedy websites. Maybe I am best off without any added graphics... I'm not sure and that is why I am asking for help!

Please give me your imput, your comments & suggestions are greatly appreciated!

From reviewing my site traffic I have noticed that a majority of search links were from images and the top search word was lesbian... so here is some hot lesbo action to increase the traffic to this post:

~ John V.

Online Social Media

How many freakin' different online social media outlets should I be hooked up with???? Ugh, I try to be "everywhere" because you never know where an opportunity may come from... but it is hard to keep up. Below are a list of sources I use and the links to my "pages" (of course I'm sure I will forget at least one)

Please let me know if you have any others to suggest

LoserWhiteGuy.com (My Website)

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

Flickr

MySpace

Tumblr

Break.com

LinkedIn

FourSquare

Google+

Any suggestions and/or ideas you have would be greatly appreciated... thanks

~John V.

One more time... breaks help, lol

Well that last test post didn't work for crap and I'm thinking this Bloggeroid app will only be useful for basic text posts. I'm tring this one using the online interface through the browser... if anyone knows of a good android tablet app to use with Google Blogger please let me know.

For the most part this post is a test and should be ignored... I am used to composing this blog using html & php, not Wiki syntax, so this post is an initial test of the formatting.

Heading

h1

h2

http://www.loserwhiteguy.com
My Website
Italic
Bold
Italic and Bold

Hopefully I will get this all figured out and at least some of this formattig will work correctly. I am writing this random useless nonesense to work on line spacing and paragraphs. Overall I like this blog posting app. It is fairly simple and straight forward, I am just not used to writing this way and it is on me to conform.

It hasn't "really" snowed here yet this winter. There was one dusting about a month ago, but it barely stuck to the grass and what little did stick had melted by noon. Don't get me wrong... I'm not complaining. I would be fine with it staying this unseasonably 40-50 degrees and sunny till spring!
I believe it was about 11 years ago we went through an entire winter without any mentionable snowfall. I can only dream about that happening to us again this season (especially since I still need to put two more new tires on my car), but I have a feeling we are going to get dumped on with snow in the next week or two (certainy before I get new tires... that is just how those things work).

Oooops, wrong slash :)

Well that last test post didn't work for crap and I'm thinking this Bloggeroid app will only be useful for basic text posts. I'm tring this one using the online interface through the browser... if anyone knows of a good android tabket app to use with Google Blogger please let me know. For the most part this post is a test and should be ignored... I am used to composing this blog using html & php, not Wiki syntax, so this post is an initial test of the formatting. Heading

h1

h2

http://www.loserwhiteguy.com My Website Italic Bold Italic and Bold Hopefully I will get this all figured out and at least some of this formattig will work correctly. I am writing this random useless nonesense to work on line spacing and paragraphs. Overall I like this blog posting app. It is fairly simple and straight forward, I am just not used to writing this way and it is on me to conform. It hasn't "really" snowed here yet this winter. There was one dusting about a month ago, but it barely stuck to the grass and what little did stick had melted by noon. Don't get me wrong... I'm not complaining. I would be fine with it staying this unseasonably 40-50 degrees and sunny till spring! I believe it was about 11 years ago we went through an entire winter without any mentionable snowfall. I can only dream about that happening to us again this season (especially since I still need to put two more new tires on my car), but I have a feeling we are going to get dumped on with snow in the next week or two (certainy before I get new tires... that is just how those things work).

Yet another test post... ugh!

Well that last test post didn't work for crap and I'm thinking this Bloggeroid app will only be useful for basic text posts. I'm tring this one using the online interface through the browser... if anyone knows of a good android tabket app to use with Google Blogger please let me know. For the most part this post is a test and should be ignored... I am used to composing this blog using html & php, not Wiki syntax, so this post is an initial test of the formatting. Heading<\H>

h1<\h1>

h2<\h2> http://www.loserwhiteguy.com<\a> My Website<\a> Italic<\i> Bold<\b> Italic and Bold<\i><\b> Hopefully I will get this all figured out and at least some of this formattig will work correctly. I am writing this random useless nonesense to work on line spacing and paragraphs. Overall I like this blog posting app. It is fairly simple and straight forward, I am just not used to writing this way and it is on me to conform. It hasn't "really" snowed here yet this winter. There was one dusting about a month ago, but it barely stuck to the grass and what little did stick had melted by noon. Don't get me wrong... I'm not complaining. I would be fine with it staying this unseasonably 40-50 degrees and sunny till spring! I believe it was about 11 years ago we went through an entire winter without any mentionable snowfall. I can only dream about that happening to us again this season (especially since I still need to put two more new tires on my car), but I have a feeling we are going to get dumped on with snow in the next week or two (certainy before I get new tires... that is just how those things work).