Emmylou Harris. It really is a quarter moon and this town is worth at least ten cents on any market. Supernatural or what?
I'm thinking along those lines because today I received a National Opinion Survey form from the American Humanist Association, and frankly, I'm stunned. Is this an alternative to dancing with venomous snakes?
These people lost me at hello, but the survey questions are bizarre enough to be interesting. I'm going to answer them in sentences rather than yes, no, or undecided.
Political Opinions
Do you support the teaching of "intelligent design" alongside evolution in public schools?
Well why not. One guess is as good as any other (although some do dress better).
Do you support a woman's full range of reproductive choices, including abortion?
I don't know what reproductive choices refers to. Even Wikipedia only has reproductive rights as a topic. Maybe those are similar, and the only rub here is that for some reason I would expect people who regard themselves as a "progressive life-stance, free of supernaturalism, that affirms our ability and responsibility to lead meaningful, ethical lives that add to the greater good of humanity", and who feel that "The methods of science and reason coupled with compassion and ethics are the essential ingredients of Humanistic living", would be, I don't know, maybe - more compassionate toward the unborn.
Do you support the words "under God" added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954?
Don't support it, and don't oppose it. As long as it isn't "under Allah".
Do you support the right of the terminally ill to choose death with dignity?
I can't relate to this question in any sense. I certainly don't think that the terminally ill should be humiliated and stripped of their dignity as they die, but this evokes images of an abortion-like event for the elderly and others with a "terminal" diagnosis. I don't think that humans (or any other living organism) at any stage of life (from the barely fertilized egg to the terminal cancer patient) willingly give in to death.
Do you support legislation that would prohibit employers from firing gay and lesbian employees because of their sexual orientation?
I support legislation that allows employers to fire anyone who aggressively flaunts sexual affectations in the workplace (except strippers in strip clubs, prostitutes of either sex, spies and politicians). Keep your genitals covered, and keep your stories, demonstrations, and insinuations about their adventures, to yourself.
Philosophical Opinions
Do you think working to benefit self and society maximizes individual happiness?
Now why would I be thinking that? If the question is about happiness, then different things make me happy at different times. I've been happy while working to benefit myself before, and some of the happiness could have been about the work, or related to the work in some way. And I've been happy while working to benefit society before, but once again, I was a happy person anyway. Did either of those maximize my individual happiness. I have no idea what that means but feel the impulse to say "definitely no".
Do you think revenge is a valid basis for imprisonment and for U.S. involvement in global conflict?
Yes, and I also feel that serious revenge is a valid basis for killing, and for U.S. involvement in global conflict.
Do you think people should be treated equally regardless of their ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation?
No, but I think that people should be treated as fairly as they deserve in any given situation.
Do you favor progressive change and humanistic ethics over traditional views and conservative values?
I favor lumping all of it together and picking through at my convenience.
I guess I'm not only not cut out to be a Humanist, I might even be Anti-Humanist. According to the survey prelim, there are tens of thousands throughout the country, seeking a sense of community and a platform from which to be heard over the attention/power mongering Religious Right (which "rose to power during the days of the Moral Majority and Christian Coalition and is becoming institutionalized in all branches of government."). First of all, they need to stop with the lies. Our government is full self-serving grandees, not conservative Christians.
Another smashed dream, and oddly enough (now this has to be supernatural) Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream caresses my fragile mind until I feel better.
Good enough to put on Bush and start reading about the Cumberland, and that's my day.