27th October 2008

The visitor (and other stuff)

posted in Reader Input, Religion, Wildlife |

Yesterday afternoon, OmegaDad came to me as I was folding clothes, and said, in an urgent, worried voice, “Come upstairs and listen to this!”  I grabbed some clothes on hangers, planning to drop off the jackets in the coat closet, listen to his mystery noise, and then drop the remainder in our closet.

He was very perturbed, and almost wouldn’t let me stop at the coat closet.  “Do you hear that noise?  In the corner?  Over by the TV?”

I listened, and smiled, a world-weary, tolerant smile.  Tap.  Tap, tap, tap.  Tap.  Tap.  Tap, tap, tap, tap.  Tap.  Tap, tap, tap.

“It’s our woodpecker.” I said.

“Our what?”

“Our woodpecker.  He’s pecking the house.”

“Our what?  We don’t have woodpeckers!”

“Yes, we do.  I swear I’ve told you about it before.  We get woodpeckers who peck at the house, up by the eaves.”

“Nooo!”  He sounded astonished.

“Yes!”

So he had to go outside to look, and the dotter had to go with him, and sure enough, just like I’d said, there was the woodpecker.

Now, mind you, I’m not happy about a woodpecker pecking at our house.  We’re going to have to have the eaves inspected next summer, just to see what sort of damage the beast has been doing.  But I certainly wasn’t surprised.

What I was surprised by was the woodpecker decided to move to the other side of the house, and then move over to the birdfeeders.  And then stay there as the dotter and I oh-so-carefully opened up the kitchen door, and I oh-so-carefully aimed the camera, and I oh-so-carefully got the picture before the bird flew off due to the blinding of the flash, which I had not oh-so-carefully turned off.  Oh, well; at least I got the one good picture.  He is, I think, a hairy woodpecker; the downy woodpecker has some black spots along the outside of the tail feathers which this dude is missing.

So that’s the nice stuff.  Onto other things:

My post yesterday stirred up a bit of emotion.  The first commenter was a regular reader and commenter who was offended by my characterization of those who believe in the Rapture and in the anti-Christ as “bat-shit crazy”.

Sigh.  I have never hidden my lack of religious belief.  I have actually written posts about it in the past.  I may not say things like what I wrote in yesterday’s post except once in a blue moon (or, more accurately, once in three years and three months), but I have to admit, I think it on a regular basis.  I typically avoid discussing religion for that very reason; it is worse than politics, in my books, because some of the nicest, friendliest, smartest folks just go…daffy…as soon as religion raises its head.  Magical thinking takes over, and rational thinking flies out the window.  People who believe “other” are suddenly seen as “less than” simply because their magical over-being is different or because they don’t believe in a magical over-being at all.

I said that it was not tolerant of me.  It’s not.  The mindset baffles me.  It baffles me that groups that profess to follow a set of “loving” precepts use that belief as an excuse to hate others.  It bothers me that there are people out there that believe, since I don’t follow any religion, don’t believe in any religion, that I can’t be moral.  Or good.  Or kind, thoughtful, gentle, blah, blah, blah.  And, believe me, there are plenty of folks of religious bent who actually write columns that get published in national newspapers that say exactly that, and additionally say that the only thing that holds all of humanity back from being greedy, rapacious, murderous, thieving, vile, sociopathic, psychopathic bastards is religion.  This has been written multiple times, in multiple columns and magazine articles, from followers of different religions.  It is, to be blunt, a bunch of horse hockey and a sad commentary on people’s viewpoints of humanity in general.

I think humanity is much, much better than that.  I don’t think we need an omnipotent magical parental figure overseeing our every waking and sleeping moment to keep us moral and striving to do the right thing.

Furthermore, I feel there are plenty of existing things that hold people apart without adding belief in mythology into the stew.

If any generic reader feels that knowing this about me means you can’t read my blog any more, I certainly accept that, and wish you well. 

This entry was posted on Monday, October 27th, 2008 at 9:14 pm and is filed under Reader Input, Religion, Wildlife. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

There are currently 11 responses to “The visitor (and other stuff)”

  1. 1 On October 28th, 2008, susie said:

    We have woodpeckers, too. Of course, we also live in a log cabin, so there’s lots for them to chow down on. Unfortunately, one problem leads to another - the carpenter bees attract the woodpeckers, and both of them do a lot of damage.

    I am an atheist too, and it is very true that many Americans believe that means I have no moral compass, no values, no ability to understand the difference between right and wrong. In fact, our current president’s father (George H. W. Bush) put it this way: “I don’t know that Atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.”

    Thanks for expressing what you did in your previous post; I did not see a way to comment without fanning the flames (because I agree with you 100%) but I enjoyed it very much. My feeling is that many of the people who are citing crazy religious reasons for their fear of Obama are just unwilling to say what (I hope) would be even less acceptable in public discourse - that they simply are not willing to vote for a black president. That appears to be the subtext of many of the comments I’ve read, at any rate.

  2. 2 On October 28th, 2008, Anne said:

    I don’t comment often (1 or 2 x I think) but just want to say that I love your blog. Two of the many reasons that I read it are because of the open mindedness and tolerance reflected in many of your posts. Thanks.

    BTW, I am also baffled by some that profess to be following “loving precepts” but do not practice what they wear so prominently and proudly on their sleeves. For example I live in a state that offers followers the chance to put their trust in god on their cars in the form of a free (funded by taxpayers) license plate option (the other is the regular non-vanity type state plate). Trust me when I say that the plate doesn’t dampen the road rage for quite a few.

  3. 3 On October 28th, 2008, del said:

    I think you’re right - that’s a hairy woodpecker. I used to have a couple of hairy woodpeckers that visited my feeder and it was awesome. I never managed to get as clear a pic as you have, though. Then my neighbor went BSC (bat shit crazy) and I had to take the feeder down. Something about the birds chirping away in the tree interfering with her hangovers. Blah.

    Susie - I believe you have hit the nail on the head in your third paragraph. Couldn’t have said it better myself.

  4. 4 On October 28th, 2008, lisa said:

    Looks like a hairy-can you believe my parents get them all the time at their feeder in Chicago?
    As another atheist, I do know how hard it can be socially. My mother has only “come out of the closet” as an atheist in the last 10 years. When we were growing up, she kept it quiet outside the house. I seem to meet a lot of atheists here though-maybe they come out more in the bible belt?

  5. 5 On October 28th, 2008, carosgram said:

    I’m still here and reading. I don’t expect all my friends to share all my beliefs, even bat shit crazy ones. You go girl!

  6. 6 On October 28th, 2008, youknowwhereyouarewith said:

    I commented yesterday, a long one, but my comment got eaten, which has happened a couple times of late. Sorry it didn’t show up.

    I grew up with a woodpecker pecking the house just outside my window. They’re loud but fun.

    As to biblical literalism, well. I’ve been trying my whole adult life to teach folks how to read texts. But the fact is that taking texts (especially sacred texts) literally is a political act, not an aesthetic or intellectual one.

  7. 7 On October 28th, 2008, Halcyon Mama said:

    I, too, was going to comment yesterday, but then I read lizard’s comment and that pretty much summed up exactly what I wanted to say, so I kept quiet.

    But I’ll tell you this — I was speaking to my father this morning. He told me that he and his wife voted for George W. Bush in 2000 *and* in 2004 because they had received information from their church that GWB was “chosen” or “ordained” by God to eradicate terrorism. Now, my dad has multiple degrees, including a Ph.D. and his wife is no slouch in the brains department, either. So what explanation for this IS there other than religion can make a person batshit crazy? I’m sorry, but that is some CRAZY shit right there. No rational thought involved whatsoever. Which is why religion scares me so much.

  8. 8 On October 28th, 2008, preTzel said:

    I must say that I find it comical, in a BSC - kind of way, that people will get their feathers (pun intended) ruffled over religion.

    Thou Shall Not Judge
    Do Not See The Speck In Your Brother’s Eye for the Forest In Your Own (totally not verbatim)

    Some of the most judgemental people I’ve ever met are die - hard bible - thumpin’, God - fearin’ people. I know. My uncle is one. He is even ordained. He told me that the rapture is coming and it can be proved by the black stripes on our Driver’s Licenses.

    My mother has tea with Christ and/or God in her living room. She does! She told me! She even calls and says that she knows so and so is doing wrong because God told her over a nice cup of orange pekoe.

    Like I said: I’m Bat - Shit - Crazy and I don’t deny it. If I did one would only need to meet my extended family to prove me a liar. ;)

  9. 9 On October 28th, 2008, noreen said:

    Whatever it is you write about, it’s well written and I wouldn’t miss a word. I’m the person who thinks you should have a daily column in a major publication writing about anything!
    And, I want you to know that here in Western New York we have a woodpecker(s?) that makes such a wonderful racket on our maple tree every spring. I know they can do damage to a house, but the sound of their tapping is amazing.

  10. 10 On October 28th, 2008, GrannyJ said:

    Well, kid, you came by it via at least 4, if not 5 generations of non-believers! I recall a portrait of Ralph Ingersoll, the great 19th/20th century atheist orator, in one of my grandfather’s family albums. On the other, more religious side of the family, there were minor problems with such sins as playing cards or the violin on Sunday on the roof.

  11. 11 On October 29th, 2008, Steve said:

    I stopped by from GJ’s site. Nice picture. They are so hard to capture of picture of.

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