Angie Jackson's Blog – July 2009 Archive (11)

This excerpt begins with me watching 30 children for 3 days while their parents attend my grandmother's faith healing lecture, held in the clubhouse of a south Florida trailer park. This all happened in the fall of my Freshman year of high school.



Alexander was two years old, blond, quiet and sweet. He was one of the kids still in diapers, but he was the only one in cloth ones. I thought they were gross, messy, and more work; I was worried about sticking him with one of the… Continue

Sarah Palin's leaving Alaska for a "higher calling". Here for your snarking pleasure, I give you her farewell speech - with commentary.

What an absolutely beautiful day it is, and it is my honor to speak to all Alaskans, to our Alaskan family this last time as your governor.

The honor part was cool, but actually being your Governor? That part sucked.

And it is always great to be in Fairbanks.

Check. Fairbanks = always… Continue

My mom and I are both working through the effects of being raised by her cult-leading mom/my grandma. She recently wrote this about her own childhood, and I related it to my deconversion.



One striking aspect of how our mother raised us was how actively she defined and described the world to us. Some of the time she would teach us things, perhaps when we were in the car on the way to… Continue

I've added a new weekly feature to Angie the Anti-Theist full of recommended reading from blogs I follow or stumble on.

To nominate a post, send me the permalink and one line description. Thanks and happy reading!

Well, there seems to be a new one every week, a Christian who claims atheism is a kind of faith. So let's parse this nonsense and explain again the chasm of distinction between belief and non-belief. (You'd think it would be so obvious they aren't the same thing, but you'd be surprised.)



Irish Times Op-Ed writer Breda O'Brien claims



Atheists often appeal to science to underwrite their disbelief, but the decision not to believe in God lies ultimately in the arena of gut… Continue

I agree that believing in God is not what made the NJ rabbis launder money, or makes a Catholic priest rape an alter boy. But it is what makes a Jehovah's Witness deny a life-saving blood transfusion for their kids. It is what makes some uneducated people decide to homeschool their kids, and doom them to a life of minimum wage ignorance. It is what makes people treat their fellow man intolerantly, and demand that followers of other faiths (or no faith) or people who are gay or of a minority… Continue

In this week's installment, I'll be posing as Andrew, a married man whose wife doesn't want him to convert to LDS.



You are speaking live with Jule', who is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Information provided in this session is to provide assistance only and is not an official statement of the Church.



Jule': His this is Jule' and Kenzi, how can we help you?



Me: Hi I'm really interested in the Church of LDS, but my wife has a… Continue

Come check out my new post ripping on creationist literature from the Worldwide Church of God. I'll give you cookies if you leave a comment!

I got married four years ago today. Of course, I'm just realizing that at 8:12 pm so I suppose that's a sign of how long four years really is, and how little this date matters to me anymore. We got separated a few months later, so it wasn't by any stretch a long-term marriage. But still, it's weird to think I haven't had a single vacation day since then. I'm leaving town (and my kid, with family) to go on a vacation the 20th through 27th. I hope I have a freaking blast. I'll be sure to update… Continue

The following is an excerpt from "Exodus from Zion".



It rained nearly every day that summer, one brief storm over lunch and then over within an hour. Rain would beat against the thin trailer windows of my grandmother's home as my sister and I picked a black-and-white movie to watch while we ate. Giggy would eat one giant bowl of Santa Fe rice and beans or else half a sleeve of saltine crackers dipped in the egg salad that was a staple of that refrigerator for the fourteen… Continue

My 3 year-old son is awesome. He was having a rough time the other day and was walking off to the bedroom, looking dejected. I asked him, "Are you happy or sad?" He turned around and came back into the living room. "Sad" he said, in the lowest, clearest voice. Then his face lit up, he smiled at me and yelled, "Oh well!" Then he babbled something I couldn't discern for a minute and resolved with asking me "Sad or Appy?" and when I asked him this question (He often feeds me my "lines".) he… Continue