The Out Campaign

The Scarlet A Located on the left is a link to  Outcampaign.org.


Set up by Profesor Richard Dawkins, the site aims to encourage Atheists to come "out of the closet" and offers encouragement and support to do this. 


This may seem trivial to many of you, but consider this:-


I am an Atheist, very openly so, but I wasnt always. My mother and her side of the family are Christian, and attend church regularly,   and until the age of about 12, I did too. Over time I lost whatever small part of faith I may have had, and eventually decided, after much thought, to tell my mother that I was an atheist, and did not believe in God. It was not easy, telling your parents "no" is hard enough, but this was a belief system that had been (completely wrongfully i.m.o.) imposed on me since birth. It was a big part of my life, or rather it was made to be. No-one wants to upset their family, and this occasion was no different.


I'll never forget what she said and how she reacted. She got very upset, became tearful and told me that she thought that she had failed. She supposedly, at my christening (something which I had no choice in) promised to bring me up "in a certain way". It was quite shocking, how much importance she places on things that cannot be proven. And whatever she might say, I maintain that faith is not a virtue.


 I am fortunate that my family are not stricter, otherwise they probably wouldn't be speaking to me right now, but regardless- I was deeply hurt by that statement. All I could say to it at the time is that there is good without god, and you're looking at it. You don't need to believe in god to be a good person. In fact I know (and know of) a few thoroughly despicable Christians- and lets face it, God isn't much better. Thankfully, me and my mother still get on very well, despite our difference in belief coming up often, even today. She despises debating it although I would quite happily. Belief cannot be exempt from debate.


To an Atheist, if you are in a religious family, coming out can be as difficult as coming out as homosexual. and indeed there are some similarities:-

• A fear of persecution and discrimination
• Fear of rejection by loved ones
• Conflicting ideas with those of your upbringing
• Hiding it can be upsetting

But there's no need to. You shouldn't have to be miserable in the dark- putting up with things and putting on a front for a quiet life. It never did me any favours. which is why I say to all atheists who read this-

Please stand up, speak out and be true to yourselves!

If anyone reads this and feels that they are in a similar situation, please send me an email on ChasingOblivion@live.co.uk where I shall more than happily talk with you privately and offer you help and support, and maybe some advice if you feel you need it. You never see "Atheist pride" marches, (as daft as that might sound) but you should still not be afraid to voice your thoughts and opinions.

In the meantime, please visit outcampaign.org!

Feeling awful funny...

It has come to my attention that I have now been awake for more than 34 Hours


I woke up at quarter past 3 in the afternoon on 9/6/11 for nightshift that night, into today- the 10th. I'm  supposed to go for a nap after nightshift to keep myself level, but for some reason I just didn't. Started to suffer at about 10pm there, once all my caffeine and sugar was starting to wear off, and well, it's now 01:25 on the 11th June.


Glorious.


Actually starting to feel slightly lightheaded, so I'm going to jump into bed now, to go into a temporary coma of sorts. Well, at least until 8am. Need to have breakfast and go a shop at ALDI before dad arrives at 10 to help me with decorating the livingroom.


Ach, fuck-it: plenty of time to sleep when I'm dead. 6 hours is enough!

Maddie-ness (Tumblr)

So, Scotland Yard are to independently open and analyse the Madeleine McCann case again. To hopefully find this wee girl, and find the culprits responsible for her disappearance.
Well guys, if you want to find the latter you need only look at her parents. 

                   

Yes, Kate and Gerry are to blame for the abduction. Not directly- the initial (and probably sub-standard) investigation by the Portugese Police has seen them cleared of actually doing the deed. However, it was through their blatant negligence that this was allowed to happen. While wee 4 year old Maddie was left in a room with her twin siblings completely unattended in an unlocked room, (in a foreign country) her parents were over at the hotel's tapas resteraunt, eating, drinking,  and no doubt, being quite merry also.  What kind of fucking parent does that?  So with that in mind I can say- frankly and without pity- that they brought it upon themselves.
I do hope she's still alive; who doesn't? That said, given the fact that she has now been missing for 4 years, which is the same age as she was when snatched, It doesn't look good. Her parents say  

"There is no evidence to suggest that she has come to any harm, so she must be alive."
               

That statement I'm afraid is a few words too long, there is next to NO evidenceeither way. Having no evidence is not proof she's alive- its not proof of anything! Sorry folks, but that's the way the truth is.
My theory (and sincere hope) is that she was perhaps taken by, or on behalf of a childless couple. If that's the case, and she's abroad, she will likely never be found, or at least not until adulthood. The reasons for this is her "new parents" may well have changed her appearance (even more so than what the  sun may wreak on a white girl living abroad.) and possibly even her name. She may not answer to Madeleine anymore, because young children are notoriously impressionable; If she was told that her new mummy and daddy were her real mummy and daddy, and that they had "rescued her"... if they told her that enough each day, and they treated her well, at that age she'll likely believe it. 
Another thing that has royally pissed me off about this whole four year hunt is how much of a circus it has become. The number of children that go missing in the UK alone, annually, is in the region of 144 THOUSAND. This works out at around 383 per day. This of course is inclusive of "different types of disappearances, including parental abductions, runaways, the disappearance of unaccompanied migrant minors, criminal abductions and lost, injured or otherwise missing children." (Missing Children Europe- Via Wiki) So in that respect  the number of abductions is substantially lower, Madeleine disappeared on the 3rd of may 2007. but several years earlier, in England and Wales alone, according to the NSPCC there were 846Child abduction offences recorded. Many of these were never heard about, why? And why, therefore, has Madeleine had such a massive undertaking? I think the fact that her parents were both professional, well off, white middle class British people, and she is an adorable, pretty little blonde girl, has a hell of a lot to do with it. I mean, fucking  look at this kid.
                               
I really hope she's still safe and well. Perhaps she is actually safer where she is now, away from parents who left her alone long enough for some despicable individual to kidnap her. Kate and Gerry, while not directly guilty, are the ones at fault- and no matter how many times they burst into tears live on television; no matter how many copies of Kate's new book are sold; no matter how many newspapers and magazines and daytime TV shows they share their story with as this huge search continues for this wee lassie- it will not change that fact: that they were unfit as parents. They should count themselves lucky that their twins were not put into care, because I think that's what I would have done, were I in child services. 
There will be a time to shelve this case, eventually, although I know for a fact her parents will never accept it- Perhaps they too feel what I feel is resting upon their heads.