It's your funeral

No, really, it is.

What do you want done when you die?

I think atheists have a different outlook on death, or at least the ceremonies surrounding it, since we don’t believe in an afterlife. I’ve seen two themes: making the funeral as happy as possible for your remaining friends and family, and making your body as useful (or unobtrusive) as possible. For funerals people either don’t want one at all, want it to be happy and full of fun stories or in a pub, or want it to be whatever their family wants. For the body, I’ve heard mostly cremation (instead of wasting all the money and space on a coffin and embalming and all that), donating organs, donating your body to science, or just plain donating your body to the worms.

Being a strapping 21 year old, it scares me a bit to think about death… but I think I would want my organs donated, or if that’s not possible (or using the rest of it), donated to science. Straight cremation just seems like a bit of a waste. As for the funeral…as long as it’s not super religious, my friends and family can do whatever they want.

What are your preferences?

This is post 10 of 49 of Blogathon. Pledge a donation to the Secular Student Alliance here.

It’s your funeral

No, really, it is.

What do you want done when you die?

I think atheists have a different outlook on death, or at least the ceremonies surrounding it, since we don’t believe in an afterlife. I’ve seen two themes: making the funeral as happy as possible for your remaining friends and family, and making your body as useful (or unobtrusive) as possible. For funerals people either don’t want one at all, want it to be happy and full of fun stories or in a pub, or want it to be whatever their family wants. For the body, I’ve heard mostly cremation (instead of wasting all the money and space on a coffin and embalming and all that), donating organs, donating your body to science, or just plain donating your body to the worms.

Being a strapping 21 year old, it scares me a bit to think about death… but I think I would want my organs donated, or if that’s not possible (or using the rest of it), donated to science. Straight cremation just seems like a bit of a waste. As for the funeral…as long as it’s not super religious, my friends and family can do whatever they want.

What are your preferences?

This is post 10 of 49 of Blogathon. Pledge a donation to the Secular Student Alliance here.

Rejected blog topics

First, I want to thank everyone for all the questions and topics they’ve suggested for the blogathon. They’re all great – a lot are too good for me to answer in a half hour, so I may have to save them for later.

Though I did get one question a while back in response to my Evolution of Penises piece that was…well, didn’t quite make the cut:

“Anyway, I found the part about fake sperm of interest… I know it was conducted for the experiment, but I’m wondering what would be the medical ramifications if a woman placed the fake sperm in her vagina as a way to trick her mate into thinking that she had had sex with another man. I don’t know, perhaps she or her mate has a cuckold fantasy. I wonder if it would be safe provided the lady used a douche afterwards… your medical thoughts/opinions?”

First, … …….. ………………….. wtf?

Second, I’m not a doctor, not even a med student, so I’m not so sure I should be the one you’re going to for medical advice.

Third, that being said, I don’t think putting a flour concoction up your vagina is a great idea. Sounds like a yeast infection waiting to happen, or at the very least, a horrible mess.

Finally, douching is bad for you. I know that much. So I guess if you have a cuckolding-fake-sperm-fantasy, you may want to find another way to acting that one out.

I actually got that email right after “poop” had followed me on twitter. Just a day full of laughs!

This is post 8 of 49 of Blogathon. Pledge a donation to the Secular Student Alliance here.

Galapagos Tortoise Gets His Freak On

…That title is what happens when I’m listening to dance music in order to stay alert. Anyway.

90 year old Galapagos Tortoise, Lonesome George, may soon be a daddy.

“No wonder they were amazed – a team of scientists have been doggedly coaxing the sullen creature to mate since 1993, when they introduced two female tortoises of a different subspecies into his pen. Until now, George, the last known Pinta Island tortoise had shown little interest in his companions.”

There…there are too many possible jokes to make about this! Here, choose your favorite:

a) But with the advent of Pfizer’s new Tortoise Viagra, there’s now hope for George.

b) Unfortunately for the species, Lonesome George has finally come out as being homosexual. His main keeper isn’t surprised.

c) 90 year old virgin? But who could resist a face like this?

“But at age 90, George, now said to be in his sexual prime, was finally spurred into action.

…Galapagos Tortoises, among the species Charles Darwin observed to formulate his theory of evolution in the 19th century, were hunted for their meat by sailors and fishermen to the point of extinction, while their habitat has been eaten away by goats introduced from the mainland.”

It always saddens me when people do something so extraordinarily stupid, and then we have to desperately try and fix it a hundred years later. Of course, that seems to be a prevalent pattern in human history. Good luck, George!

This is post 7 of 49 of Blogathon. Pledge a donation to the Secular Student Alliance here.

Catholic Priest by day, techno singing Drag Queen by night

This is pretty much the best thing ever (from The Freethinker):

“THERE is much wailing and gnashing of teeth in Roman Catholic circles in the US over the recent revelation that a Catholic priest, Father Anthony (aka Vincent Capretta), is a drag queen who performs as Big Mama Capretta.

Drag queen and priest Father Anthony

Not only that, the gay priest, from Columbus, Ohio, has a single that is currently No 25 on Billboard’s Club Play dance chart called “Big Mama’s House.”

Said Capretta:

It’s Big Mama, y’all! And I am no longer afraid to come out of the closet as a gay Catholic priest! … I am enjoying my life being who I am and who God intended me to be! Now let’s dance, y’all!”

Apparently Catholic Online is in a tizzy about this story, no surprise there. They’re saying he’s not a real Roman Catholic – he’s part of the Old Independent Catholic Church – so it doesn’t count at the Catholic church endorsing gay rights. Because that would be a horrible, horrible thing. Uh, okay. I actually think the world would be a better place with more drag queens, but we all know I’m a little strange.

Here’s the video for his song, for those of you who are interested:

(Thanks to Grant for the tip)

This is post 6 of 49 of Blogathon. Pledge a donation to the Secular Student Alliance here.

Why giving money to the Creation Museum isn't the end of the world

Ever since PZ’s grand trip to the Creation Museum was planned, people started complaining. Why the hell are we funding something we don’t support, they asked. It’s a valid concern. With approximately 200 people going at the discounted rate of $10, that’s $2000 a bunch of atheists are handing over to young earth creationists. So why the hell are we going? Shouldn’t we all be ashamed of ourselves?

Let me break it down as to why giving money to the Creation Museum isn’t horrible.

1. $2000 is a drop in the bucket compared to the Creation Museum’s million dollar budget. It’s hardly going to help them out compared to the amount of traffic they get on a regular basis.

2. Many of the atheists going on this trip have wanted to visit the Creation Museum, and probably would have done it at some point in time on their own anyway. The regular entrance fee is $22 dollars. So 91 people going on their own cost the same as 200 people going as a group. Might as well get more people into the museum for the same price.

3. Even with that, the registration for the trip included an option to donate to the Secular Student Alliance to offset the money you’re giving to the Creation Museum. While $2000 dollars in nothing for the museum, it’s a ton of money for the SSA’s small budget. So if anything, this has been a great fundraiser for a wonderful secular group.

4. Speaking of fundraising, tons of the people going will be blogging, tweeting, posting photos, uploading YouTube videos…all calling out the Creation Museum for its ridiculousness. While we’re probably not going to convert any museum goers (which isn’t our goal), we are going to spread the word about the museum’s shenanigans. People have done individual posts about it, but this trip is so publicized – not only because PZ is going, but because so many atheists are going – that it’s going to get more press.

5. And speaking of more press, this isn’t just going to be some internet thing. News stations have already got wind that we’re coming, and the word is going to spread. Everyone has been told a thousand times to behave themselves, so as long as we don’t give them any trouble, it’ll be good news coverage for us. I can see the headlines now: Atheists respectfully visit museum to see what alternate views are being presented: Status? Not convinced.

6. As an extra bit of advertisement, everyone is going to be wearing atheist/skeptical/science shirts. This will be the first time for many religious museum goers to come into contact with someone they know is an atheist. If they can see that we’re just normal, smiling human beings looking at the exhibit, that’ll be a plus. Anything to get rid of the baby eating, puppy kicking stereotype.

7. We’ll be able to meet and network with a ton of other freethinkers. Sounds pretty cool to me!

8. And finally…you know, not all atheists are a bunch of nihilists. Sometimes we like to have fun too. As terrifying as the Creation Museum will be, it’ll also be hilariously entertaining. I’m willing to pay $10 for the shits and giggles.

So even though lots of people have concerns, I’m still looking forward to it. Hopefully the don’t sick the dogs on us, though.

This is post 5 of 49 of Blogathon. Pledge a donation to the Secular Student Alliance here.

Why giving money to the Creation Museum isn’t the end of the world

Ever since PZ’s grand trip to the Creation Museum was planned, people started complaining. Why the hell are we funding something we don’t support, they asked. It’s a valid concern. With approximately 200 people going at the discounted rate of $10, that’s $2000 a bunch of atheists are handing over to young earth creationists. So why the hell are we going? Shouldn’t we all be ashamed of ourselves?

Let me break it down as to why giving money to the Creation Museum isn’t horrible.

1. $2000 is a drop in the bucket compared to the Creation Museum’s million dollar budget. It’s hardly going to help them out compared to the amount of traffic they get on a regular basis.

2. Many of the atheists going on this trip have wanted to visit the Creation Museum, and probably would have done it at some point in time on their own anyway. The regular entrance fee is $22 dollars. So 91 people going on their own cost the same as 200 people going as a group. Might as well get more people into the museum for the same price.

3. Even with that, the registration for the trip included an option to donate to the Secular Student Alliance to offset the money you’re giving to the Creation Museum. While $2000 dollars in nothing for the museum, it’s a ton of money for the SSA’s small budget. So if anything, this has been a great fundraiser for a wonderful secular group.

4. Speaking of fundraising, tons of the people going will be blogging, tweeting, posting photos, uploading YouTube videos…all calling out the Creation Museum for its ridiculousness. While we’re probably not going to convert any museum goers (which isn’t our goal), we are going to spread the word about the museum’s shenanigans. People have done individual posts about it, but this trip is so publicized – not only because PZ is going, but because so many atheists are going – that it’s going to get more press.

5. And speaking of more press, this isn’t just going to be some internet thing. News stations have already got wind that we’re coming, and the word is going to spread. Everyone has been told a thousand times to behave themselves, so as long as we don’t give them any trouble, it’ll be good news coverage for us. I can see the headlines now: Atheists respectfully visit museum to see what alternate views are being presented: Status? Not convinced.

6. As an extra bit of advertisement, everyone is going to be wearing atheist/skeptical/science shirts. This will be the first time for many religious museum goers to come into contact with someone they know is an atheist. If they can see that we’re just normal, smiling human beings looking at the exhibit, that’ll be a plus. Anything to get rid of the baby eating, puppy kicking stereotype.

7. We’ll be able to meet and network with a ton of other freethinkers. Sounds pretty cool to me!

8. And finally…you know, not all atheists are a bunch of nihilists. Sometimes we like to have fun too. As terrifying as the Creation Museum will be, it’ll also be hilariously entertaining. I’m willing to pay $10 for the shits and giggles.

So even though lots of people have concerns, I’m still looking forward to it. Hopefully the don’t sick the dogs on us, though.

This is post 5 of 49 of Blogathon. Pledge a donation to the Secular Student Alliance here.

Yet another reason why I love Richard Dawkins

From the comments on an article on fungus farming ants at the Richard Dawkins Foundation website:
Oh Richard. Heart. And yes, that is actually him commenting.

I’m sure some faitheists would be annoyed by such a comment, but I’m just struck by the sheer awesomeness of Richard Dawkins telling some trollish commenter to fuck off.

This is post 4 of 49 of Blogathon. Pledge a donation to the Secular Student Alliance here.