A mandatory moment of silence for Texas schoolchildren has a secular purpose of encouraging thoughtful contemplation and does not advance or inhibit religion, a federal judge said this week in a ruling upholding the 2003 state law. U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn of Dallas ruled in a lawsuit brought by a North Texas couple who objected to the law as an unconstitutional promotion of religion. … The lawsuit was filed by David and Shannon Croft, whose children attended the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school district.

What sort of folk are the Crofts? Well, I didn’t find much on Shannon, but David has quite a large web footprint, whereby we find that he’s an:

Optihumanist Transhumanist Bright Physical Determinist Atheist

He forgot to include “jerk” on his list.

But seriously, this is a fellow who is obviously searching for something - some place where he can belong and find a religious-like comfort. I can only imagine that his fruitless quest to find solace in a philosophy that provides none is the source of his anger against those who have already found theirs.

I should probably confess that I’m an agnosticky kind of atheist myself. I was raised Catholic and wouldn’t mind going back, but I just can’t reconcile the teachings with my own beliefs. But I believe that atheists should support others in their religious pursuits, and should certainly not mock others or prevent them from worshiping as they choose.

• Optimuhanist
• Transhumanist
• Bright
• Physical Determinist
• Atheist

It’s interesting, isn’t it, that opinions are so divergent that some will see this as a good argument for atheism, while others will see it as self disproving. I am seeing more and more of that lately, like for instance the HRC Christmas political advertisement.

All these ‘renounce the Holy Spirit’ people have no idea what the passage to which they are referring is saying. It is not referring to some lame public declaration, like ‘I renounce salsa’. It has to do with a much more personal, inward decision to reject God when He draws you to him. Not that it really matters, but I do find it amusing when such ‘reasonable’ people don’t fully understand the meanings, nuances, and, well, reasons, for the things they reject. Religious people are not the only irrational people out there, it seems.

It is also interesting that in a perfectly physical determinist society, aperson with views divergent from the norm would likely be exiled or killed. Like it or not, our cultural values of tolerance and freedom are fruits of the tree of our religious tradition. Why should matter give a damn about other matter? Our society is a humanist society, to be sure, be even humanism and its ideas of progress and ascendancy are fruits of the tree of our worldview.

Dogshit? Maybe. But were it not for that “dogshit”, my man with the sweet ‘fro would likely be some peasant trapped in a pile of his own waste at the bottom of the caste system, or grist for some invading tribe’s bloodlust.