It is clear that gay marriage hurts nobody, so why all the fuss? For millennia, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam have each discriminated against the gay population. Why? Their god tells them to. Now while that is FAR from ok in Islamic society, or in Christian states, or even Jewish states, it has NO place in America. America has a “wall of separation” between church and state, not strictly guaranteed by the constitution as commonly thought, but invented by Thomas Jefferson. Religion has been used to justify oppression throughout history. In ancient Rome, Jews and Christians were second-class citizens. The Romans were very accepting of other religions, as long as you accepted theirs. However, the rule against false idols made it impossible for Judaism or Christianity to be practiced, and it went underground for quite some time, before Constantine ruled it the official religion of Rome. Religion has also justified countless atrocities, including the Crusades, and imperialism, based on anti-Hamitic (hatred of Africans) and anti-Semitic (hatred of Jews) beliefs, both biblical in origin. As well, religion justified slavery in America. Now it is oppressing another segment of society, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender, and queers, more commonly known as GLBTQ. Many people even consider those words I previously said as insults, and thus my words would be construed as an insult. However, I see them as badges of the self, and I would be glad to add “straight” to that list, so that it may define that which is more commonly known as humanity. In America there is a divide. The conservatives, who tend to want a ban on gay marriage, or at best, civil unions. The liberal party general aims for civil unions with equal rights. But nobody seems to champion the rights that these people deserve, except a few radical judges who passed legislation briefly for gay marriage certificates, mainly in San Francisco and Massachusetts. These marriages have since been annulled by the government party currently in power.

I've been doing some thinking recently... and it doesnt make sense that there could ever have been a being like this, but it also doesnt make sense that almost the entire world seems to have been drawn in by the idea of a god... not just the Christians, but the Native Americans, the Chinese, the Indians, the Africans... so ive been thinking... what if there was something back in those days? beings who were involved in our early devolepment? throughout the ages, people have been asking another question... Where's the Lost City of Atlantis? what happened to it? its legend is almost as unbelievable as a god's, but the only reason is because for a city like that to have existed would mean that there were people back then that were as advanced as we are now, or more so, back during the days of the wheel.

Okay my original post was much much longer. My stupid computer froze up so now I am just going to do a short summary of my thoughts.

The statement that instigated this train of thought was as follows: "There are no bad people, just good people who do bad things."

If people are not characterized by their actions, then what is it that makes a person what they are? People's actions are based on their beliefs, no matter how brief or minor those beliefs are held. When one performs an action, they believe it to be the right thing to do at that exact moment, whether or not they agree with it in reflection. At the time the action was performed, the person's beliefs and feelings had them do what it is they did. If people were characterized and judged by their thoughts rather than their actions, it would be a rather complex time. People's actions are a result of their thoughts. When I say thought, I am not speaking of premeditated actions. I mean that at that exact moment the person did what they thought they should.

1) Prayer=wishful thinking. When one prays for results, they often put off their own responsibilities and hope that their "god" will take care of it for them. While you are praying for results, people are out there doing what is necessary to obtain those results. If people always simply prayed for results, we would never be able to find cures to disease and bad situations. Science is doing something about fixing the problems while you are simply praying for results to favor your cause. I always find it funny when a team prays for god to let them win because they deserve it. It is quite arrogant to assume that god should favor you over the other team. Instead of praying, try doing something about your problem.

Psychological/Psychiatric Anaylysis of the Judeo-Christian God of the Bible
Possible Psychological Disorders present in the Judeo-Christian God:
1.  Alzheimer's Disease - Alzheimer'd Disease (AD) is a type of dimentia that usually becomes present later in one's life. In approximately 20f the cases, the first noted symtoms are personality changes of either negative types such as apathy or withdrawal, or postive types such as agitation or suspiciousness. The common symptoms in all cases are gradual decline in memory and intellectual ability. Those afflicted do not have changes in personality from day to night, in what it is called "sundowner's syndrome."

What if God is real? Well then alot of good people are spending an eternity burning in hell and alot of bad people will have the pleasures of heaven. Is this fair? Of course not. Is it right that the people who are in tribes in the jungle worshipping the sun should burn in hell if they haven't even heard of the Bible. I thought Christianity was supposed to be a just and fair religion. Why is it that when confronted about the fact that there is no proof that Christianity is more right than any other religion, Christians respond with faith. It sounds good, but faith is easy for the ignorant and hard for the skeptic. You can't logic faith. It is the belief in something not sensed. What if the Jesus was just a prophet. What if the Bible was just written by normal men speculating about philosophy? Well then Christians spent their lives worshipping something that doesn't exist. As long as they were happy that's great. But if God is real, then I burn in hell. Is this fair? Just because I choose not to accept what someone is saying is true without any good reasoning for it being true? Here is a quote from the movie "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure":

Alright, basically every week or so I'm going to examine a theist argument, or a theists response to an atheist argument, and refute it. I'm mainly doing this for myself, the best way to defeat your opponent is to know their best arguments and have the ability to take them apart. Also, I'm a Philosophy major at Syracuse University, and I’ll probably end up using some of these blogs as essays. Please, if you think I am wrong, or have another point to add to the argument, respond to this. On to Pascal's Wager.

Pascal's Wager is basically an attempt by Pascal to prove that believing in God is more rational than not believing in God. Please note, Pascal is not trying to prove God exists, in fact, he did not believe it was possible to do so. He is attempting to give a reason to believe in God, which would make atheism or agnosticism, irrational.

This was going to be a much longer post, but somebody just posted a blog about gay marriage, so I'm just going to touch up on some of the ridiculous arguments that pop up in conversations with people who denounce gay marriage (not just Christians). Here are some common excuses:

1) Marriage is between a man and a woman.
-This is the point of inequality, but for some reason people think that it's a valid argument against gay marriage. The reason this issue exists is because the definition of a legal marriage is too narrow and exclusive. The defining of marriage between a man and woman is compeltely arbitrary, considering what a marriage is - a union of (at least) two consenting adults. The main benefit of this is benefits that aid one of the partners after another dies or get ill. Beyond that, at least in today's age, everything else attached to is an extra.

Gays getting married. There is barely a debate here at all. It’s not on me to say why it’s right; it’s on the fanatical brainwashed masses of hate and bigotry called Christians to say why it’s wrong. So, let’s look at a blog. I’ve seen a few of these, and they’re all the same. The all make the same logically fallacious arguments so I’m only going to show you one.

Okay, here it goes:

“First off i really dont care what anyone thinks about me writing this blog. I do not please man. I please God. Deal with it. And if you do not like my opinion and the facts i give..fine by me. I dont care if i even lose friends over this topic.

I have a blog? sweet deal.

With the help of a few trusted teens we have developed a myspace page for Freethinking Teens today. Check it out, add it to your friends list:

http://www.myspace.com/freethinkingteens

Development of this site is still underway.

I am supposeldy a Moderator to this wonderful site you see before you. :) Needing ideas for what this site should be used for.

I'm testing the blogs, bee-och! This is cool, now any member can have their blog right there! Woot!

Hey guys, this is basically a test to see if blogs are working!