July 4th, 1863 and November 6th, 2012
July 4th, 1863 was a big day for the North. On the 3rd, Lee had been defeated at Gettysburg and on the 4th he began his retreat. On the 4th, Vicksburg fell to the Union.
While historians will argue whether or not these two events were the turning point of the war, they heralded the end of a long war and ended a long string of Union failures.
I bring up the date because there is a difference between winning a battle and winning a war. If you study the civil war enough, you will realize that the Union always had better resources. They had more industry. They had more men. They had better technology. I don’t want to say a Union victory was inevitable but it was certainly the most likely outcome.
One Vote is all that Matters
My friend Carr Hagerman has a thoughtful blog today that provides, I think, an important perspective on our choice to vote. He’s right, of course, you don’t have to vote. Voting is not an obligation, it is a right.
You do not need to take advantage of that right.
And yet, if I could ask all those who are disenfranchised enough to skip voting this year to do one thing, it would be this: vote anyway. Vote on one thing and then go home.
If you don’t like any of the presidential candidates, then don’t vote for any of them. If you have no idea who your senator is (or should be), don’t vote for them.
But take the time to go to the polling booth and vote no on the marriage amendment. Even if you are sick to death of the political process you need to understand that this one issue will have a major impact on a great many people and they need your help.
If you want government out of your life, you need to vote no. Otherwise you set the dangerous precedent that our constitution can be used to deny the rights of those who are not like ourselves.
This fight will play out in the courts if the amendment passes. It will not be over.
So please, don’t go to the polls because it is your duty. Go because on this one issue, you can make a difference. Carr is right, the choice to stay home is completely valid.
But this year, that choice will have consequences.
Check one box and go home. Nothing could be easier.
Listen to a New Episode of Geeks Without God Right After you Vote!
Hey everybody, Tuesday means a new Geeks Without God episode! This week, we talked with Bill Lehto, who edited Atheist Voices of Minnesota. The book features several essays by Minnesota Atheists, including one by me. My first (and likely last) published work!
Bill talked with us about the process of putting the book together and it was a really interesting conversation. Also, if you listen to the podcast, you will learn how you can win a free signed copy of the book! What a deal! Go listen if you want!
And whether or not you listen, please make sure you get out and Vote No.
Geeks Without God Editorial
Molly, Nick and I have posted an editorial over at Geeks Without God about marriage equality.
While our opinions on the topic have been quite clear, we wanted to take one more opportunity to voice our support for marriage equality and to offer some logical arguments against constitutional discrimination.
Please read, share and help us stem the tide of discrimination in the United States.
I Wrote Something “Funny”
I’m still contributing content to the Vilification Tennis website on a pseudo regular basis. For those unaware, I write columns as The Movie Dick approximately every other week.
This week, I wrote an article about the movie Flight. The idea came to me in the shower yesterday morning. I’m not sure if that will make it more or less likely anyone will read the article.
I am Fearless
So if you look at the right hand side of the page, you will see a new button that says I’m a proud supporter of Fearless. You probably don’t care what that means but I’m going to tell you anyway.
Fearless Comedy Productions is a new theatre company conceived to bring together several different comedy companies under a single umbrella that will, we hope, help increase the visibility of all of the. It is also a company that will be producing and supporting new work.
The idea for this company was mine but I was lucky enough to be working with a bunch of other comedians who thought the idea was a good one. We’ve been talking about the idea for about six months now and we’ve finally reached a point where we can tell everyone about it.
Shit that Pissed me off This Week – 11/2
Crazy Christians Claim Hurricane Sandy is the Wrath of God
Any time a random act of nature affects human beings, god is getting all up in our face for something, according to the crazy wing of the Religious Right.
Now why god flooded the east coast is up for debate. It might be gay marriage. I could have something to do with Israel. It could have something to do with the fact that it is a coast and getting hammered by a storm once in a while is about as likely as floods happening on flood plains.
If you look really closely at the cloud formation, you can see god flipping off the east coast.
Once again, why believe that God is such a colossal dick? Why would he put the lives of believers at risk? There are, unquestionably, a large number of New Yorkers who don’t support gay marriage. So god is punishing them because they didn’t oppose gay marriage hard enough?
When can we all settle down and accept that natural events are not the act of a vengeful god?
At the very least, can you all have a conversation and figure out what he’s punishing us for before you start talking out of your collective asses?
Can we Stop Saying Horrible Things about Rape?
This election year has been filled with white, male Republicans falling all over themselves to say dumb things about rape. They talk about legitimate rape, the rape thing, forcible rape and they even imply that rape is god’s will. Every time you think they have gotten the “shut up about rape” message, one of them trips up and thinks they finally have a way to talk about pregnancy resulting from rape without sounding like a dick.
But here’s the thing – isn’t this all just a distraction?
The conversation about safe, legal abortion in this country has shifted from “you don’t get to tell a woman what she can do with her body” to “well, sometimes you can, but what about when she is the victim of sexual violence? Surely you don’t mean then?”
Alphabetical Movie – Just Like Heaven
Anybody remember Terri Schaivo?
I bring her up because Just Like Heaven came out right around the time Schaivo’s name was a big deal on the political scene. In fact, it came out about six months after she finally passed away.
While it is probably just an amazing coincidence, I find it striking every time I watch this film, which involves someone who is in a coma and a doctor who is pressuring her family to pull the plug. While it is just a cute romantic comedy, it feels like there is a deeper message at play.
Some Art for Upcoming Vilification Tennis Shows
I have completed art for the next two Vilification Tennis shows and I thought I would show it off. Both are by the lovely and talented John Newstrom.
First up is the November show, The Civilification Tennis War. Yes, the pun is horrible. The art is great! Check it out!
Grail Diary 