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Not too thinky thoughts on the inauguration
I spent most of yesterday near-giddy. Not because I think President Obama will/can/should fix everything (I don't think anyone can/should do that), and my support has always had reservations. But the mere fact of him, the fact that we have a President Obama whose inaugural address told the world we are willing to take responsibility for our actions, that we all need to do so, fills me with joy.
I may also have been on a sugar high from the cupcake with his face on it I ate. People are weird.
I don't know where he'll go, or how he can possibly fulfill the expectations people seem to have lumped on him (curiously, since I feel he's made it pretty clear we all have a job of work to do), but perhaps shallowly I'm proud of us. I hope we can live up to his expectations. And thanks, Mr. President, for the shout-out. It's not the "non-believer" is how I'd choose to identify myself, but we are generally invisible in a country/government saturated with religion. I don't feel oppressed on a daily basis (though I surely could not run for office without lying), and I'm not putting this minority on par with others, but it's nice to know I exist.
ETA: There's a refereshing conversation about atheism on Talk of the Nation that I recommend to anyone interested. Also refreshing is Bishop Gene Robinson, whose inclusive invocation was not carried on the HBO feed on Sunday (link is to his Talk of the Nation conversation after the fact).
I may also have been on a sugar high from the cupcake with his face on it I ate. People are weird.
I don't know where he'll go, or how he can possibly fulfill the expectations people seem to have lumped on him (curiously, since I feel he's made it pretty clear we all have a job of work to do), but perhaps shallowly I'm proud of us. I hope we can live up to his expectations. And thanks, Mr. President, for the shout-out. It's not the "non-believer" is how I'd choose to identify myself, but we are generally invisible in a country/government saturated with religion. I don't feel oppressed on a daily basis (though I surely could not run for office without lying), and I'm not putting this minority on par with others, but it's nice to know I exist.
ETA: There's a refereshing conversation about atheism on Talk of the Nation that I recommend to anyone interested. Also refreshing is Bishop Gene Robinson, whose inclusive invocation was not carried on the HBO feed on Sunday (link is to his Talk of the Nation conversation after the fact).
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Way to hit the nail on the head. That was very well said. Yea, I missed the whole thing, but got the highlights from a housemate. He doesn't need to do miracles to be a miracle already to me. The non-believer thing made my heart skip a beat. I am probably the most laid back atheist of all time, but it does get old everyone pretending everyone has "religion."
Okay this is threatening to turn into a full scale-Ana-ramble so I'll cut it short! Haha.
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Agreed. I don't usually talk about it, because it's not a huge deal to me. But I do notice when these rituals are saturated with the language of religion--and I notice when it's implied that I myself can have no morals or worth without religion. I don't usually argue about it. But yeah--for what it's worth, we usually aren't mentioned in the multi-faith litanies. Partially because we aren't one, I guess. Not organized, anyway, which is sort of the point. But partially because we're, what? 9% of the population?
Okay this is threatening to turn into a full scale-Ana-ramble so I'll cut it short! Haha.
Never do so on my account! :)
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According to the Washington Blade, it was the Presidential Inaugural Committee that made the decision for the prayer to be a part of the pre-show and not the show, itself, with a spokesman from that committee maintaining the prayer was dropped through an unspecified "error."
I'm not sure what the fallout from this is/will be. But considering what I heard yesterday, it's a shame Robinson's message was not carried further.
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I've spent the past few years developing my world-views (atheist, just getting better at arguing it), and a lot of the stuff said in those comments makes me want to *facepalm*
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