I was looking for the wrong person for the quote. The following is the one I was think of. Sorry for the confusion.

"Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones."
-- Marcus Aurelius

John, this is excellent and a keeper! I am very glad you found it and shared it. I am reposting. 

I never heard that quote before, but it's pleasing to the eyes. I need my Christian family to read this.

John, perhaps you meant this quote?

"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?"
- Epicurus

Laurel, one of my favorite quotes, and one well worth repeating. Thanks. 

Love the quotes Joan.

I hope everyone is having a good day.

Check out my megafauna prehistoric animal illustrations in the Yale Scientific Review: http://www.yalescientific.org/2012/12/megafauna-art-capturing-the-e...

It has been 38 years since I decided I wanted to live without violence in my home and packed up three 10-year old children and drove 2,000 miles, bought a little patch of Earth where kids, cats, and cabbages could grow and develop into all they are created to be.

That year I planted a vegetable garden and neatly labeled all the rows according to the seed packs that were given to me by family. When seeds came up, a row came up beets but were labeled something else. That is a metaphor for my parenting style. Provide the proper conditions and the seed will come up according to its own kind and I don’t have to mold them into some imagined way of being.

All three grown children will be 49-years old by February 2013, and all have learned to live using good communication skills, able to solve problems and conflicts without violence, and know how to treat others, as they want to be treated. They learned how to assert themselves and to listen actively. 

This festive Yule season I am spending with my daughter and son-in-law and their families. My daughter has 2 daughters, and I am blessed with 5 great grandchildren and their pets and I enjoy all the activity. They do not quarrel, nor fuss, nor whine. They act as though they belong as members of the same team, doing what needs to be done to make life productive and interesting and fun. They laugh so much, enjoy being with each other, cooperate doing daily chores, they like school and participate in all kinds of activities. They have horses and pets to care for, as well as the usual chores to be done on a rural place.

They live some miles away from a very small farming/lumber town in the middle of a large forest. Wild animals come and go creating risks for pets; Dominic, the large black Lab that we brought home from the pound on Dec. 24, 2011, keeps smaller threats away and warns when coyotes and cougars come through. He knows how to open and close latch doors and even takes care of Spaz, their tiny Chihuahua and Spice, a roly-poly cat.

Right now, we enjoy deep snow, and many forested hills on their property. The children start high on a hillside south of my daughter’s home, which runs more than a city block and slide down a curved gravel road to my granddaughter’s home. The two houses exist invisible to each other because of the forest density.

From deep in the forest of northeastern Washington state I send you best wishes for a new year. May you share the season with family and friends you love and who love you. May all your wishes come true, you have good health and cheer and are able to live nonviolently.

Fondly,

Joan 

Thanks Joan, I love your view of a harmonious family! That's a real comfort - I hear far too much about broken families.

A happy New Year to you!

Joan, you are a role model for others. It is a pleasure that you share your story with us. To you and everyone I wish a Happy and a Healthy New Year.  

Arrived home last night and my son who lives with me held down our hearth in great fashion. I took him out to lunch this afternoon as a great big "thank you" to him. Sitting in a booth about six booths away from us two men spoke so loudly about Christ, and the work they have been doing in the name of their savior, I could not hear Cary. So I got up, walked calmly over to their booth, sat down beside one of the men and told them they had very loud voices that disturbed us, not only because of them speaking so loudly, but because the things they discussed did not interest me nor my son. We are atheist and did not come out to a nice restaurant to have to listen to a Christian sermon. As I walked away, the dining room thanked me and applauded. The men thanked me and turned their volume down about 1 degree on a ten degree scale. 

They responded by paying our bill; quite a pleasant surprise. We thanked them and they gave us their blessings. Religious people will have to get used to non-believers standing up against such thoughtless conduct because we are becoming legion! Have you noticed the increased enrollment in non-believing sites? 

Congraaatulations Joan. I'll add my applause to those of the other diners. 

Joan you are always the bearer of such positive, encouraging news. 

Good for you Joan

I agree with Lillie.

Joan, I sincerely wish I had your confidence and ability to speak up for myself...but I know you have earned those skills.  Thank you for sharing that story.

The process is very simple: "Be the cause in the action."
If there is a problem or a conflict or something that bothers you, take the kind of action you would would want done to you. No name calling, blaming, accusing or criticizing. Just state your problem to the one offending you as clearly and honestly as you can; take the kind of action that will make your position clear and what you expect from them.

This doesn't always stop the behavior, but it does make known to them  how they intrude upon you, and you are not a victim. The funny thing about this episode, I am a little old lady, spoke quietly and politely and yet the dining room quieted when I approached their table, sat down and said what I had to say. What was that old commercial when a financial planner spoke in a restaurant and everyone quieted and listened? It was a scene kind of like that. 

Most of the time I'm too cowardly, but I'll try to take a leaf out of your book, Joan.

Oh Paula and Chris, I know you both are strong, wise and compassionate; this is just an unfamiliar process for you. 

I'll put my hands together for you also Joan.  And I will remember your story the next time I'm in a position like that and it will give me extra courage.

'....was that as good for you as it was for me ?'

Go Team! One for the Atheist Brigade! Powered by good sense, refusing to be a victim, standing up for ourselves and each other, strong, decisive, clear, specific, a backbone of steel and arms of velvet, confident, competent, and compassionate!

NO blaming, accusing, criticizing, nit-picking, name calling, slandering, apologizing,  asking for permission or whining.

Just the facts.

No whining?  Well, OK, I'll try :)

I like the go team smilies :)

The Venus Project Tour With Jacque Fresco Trailer

Something similar to the premise of Idiocracy, in other words.

Joan, thanks for the Big Think article.  I'm not familiar with that site, but have added it to my Bookmarks.

Joseph, I've not seen Idiocracy.  It has a very good premise, but sounds like it beats you over the head with it's moral.  What did you think of it?

Its premise is over-exaggerated, even if it wasn't horribly flawed.  And its premise is simplistic and flawed, in its treatment of the factors that contribute to intelligence.

You can translate the metaphor into other areas, though.

A more serious issue is the spread of memes, with nut-jobs like the Duggars pumping out 19 kids and passing on their fucked-up, fundie-Christian memes to their children.  On our side, we have people like TNT666 not having any children, when I think she'd do a much better job of raising contributing members of society, were she so inclined.

The bright point in that is that we're siphoning off members of the religious community, into our number.  The internet and the increased spread of scientific information is helping with that.  We've got almost no attrition due to children from secular families becoming religious, later in life, since religiosity requires childhood indoctrination, which they're not getting.

Hell, we've got at least one of the Phelps clan who's gone secular, so maybe we can pick off a couple of the Duggar children, if they ever receive sufficient outside education ... although, I admit that's doubtful, considering that they're all home-schooled.

All that aside, Idiocracy is a fairly amusing movie.  I wouldn't put it on any list of greats, but it's worth watching.

Speaking of Fred Phelps's clan, did you know that:

Conservative bikers turned out yesterday to protect Newtown mourners from Democrat Fred Phelps and his Westboro cult from protesting.

From http://nation.foxnews.com/connecticut-elementary-school-shooting/20...

You didn't know that the Westboro Baptist Church was a left-wing cult, did you?

Left-wing, right-wing, the key word is church. 

Those who hate, ostracize, monger-war, dominate, exploit, and exclude do not engender honor.

... hate, ostracize, monger-war, dominate, exploit, and exclude do not engender honor

You're referring to Fox News with all of that, right?

Rights for Whites - Spell of the Albino

"You know the elephant seal I made"

Evolution "fixes problems ... like dirty noses. 

Happy Darwin day everyone.

Mea Maxima Culpa : Silence in the House of God

The fact that we are here due to the deaths of many stars makes life more awesome than we were created by some being for that being's amusement.

Wisely put, Troy.

Yeah, my wife says we are "animated stardust". It's one thing to make up stories about how we came to be, but to try to pass off them as true is just wrong. And it's worse to make laws and public policy based on those stories.

And OI see no reason to remain silent about playing "Let's Pretend" when it comes to the origins of the universe and the beginning of life. Some say respect the believer even as we disrespect the beliefs. I am not able to compartmentalize that way. I know the grief believers put me through when I first expressed doubts and then renounced the existence of god and the spirit world. 

There is certainly no doubt that our existence is not attributable to a god. However, in my opinion, being in awe of the physics to which it is attributable would be almost as bad as worshiping. Remember, nature is indiscriminately ruthless. It would sacrifice good as much as anything. Accordingly, I don't care to honor it. I think our perspective should be to understand it, not only to satisfy our curiosity, but to render it harmless against us.

I saw this earlier today and thought the group might be interested.  Betting has commenced for the next Pope and it appears that we might have a horse in this race, albeit a long shot.  The line on Richard Dawkins as the next pope is set at 666/1...  fingers crossed.  http://www.paddypower.com/bet/novelty-betting/current-affairs/pope-...

Chris, that is one hilarious comment you got there! haha.

Evolution evidence:

Glyptodon Skeleton & Shell 

Glyptodon,  Pleistocene epoch,  2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. It was roughly the same size and weight as a Volkswagen Beetle,  relative of modern armadillos.

Armadillo, modern, The giant armadillo grows up to 59 in. and weighs up to 130 lb, while the pink fairy armadillos are diminutive species, with an overall length of 5 to 6 in. All species are native to the Americas, where they inhabit a variety of environments.