Godless Rachel

When it comes to evolution, many people don't understand what Darwin saw and why he believed that even humans had evolved. We have genetics now to solidify our evidence for evolution, but we also have a greater understanding for how similar to all our cousins we are. In biology there is a Taxonomy which classifies families and groups of species. It separates others, but tells us how the lines are drawn. One important feature of evolution to understand is Pleisiomorphies and Synapomorphies. These are how things arose, who shares them and who doesn't. Pleisiomorphy is an appendage which has a similar function, but arose from different lines of evolution. Synapomorphy is an appendage which is similar in form and arose from common ancestors. The importance in these is expressed in the photo above. The Bat, which is a mammal, has five digits on its upper appendages, it has evolved to have them at different lengths, and four of the five compose the wing portion of the bat,...

I spent the last week or so listening to people tell me their negative ideas about fat people, obese people, what ever you might call us. I listened to people plagued with it themselves. I watched numerous videos on You Tube about morbidly obese people. I watched surgery after surgery, people going through gastric bypass surgery, having gastric bands put on. I watched scientific shows on what we eat and what it does. Then I went through information on what eating healthy food does for the body. It was all a big lump of a few things. 1. High Fructose Corn Syrup seems to be crucial in adding obesity to people. It's in everything, almost. People are more obese than ever and the numbers are growing every day. 2. It is not just America getting obese, but every country with fast food. 3. Gastric Bypass surgery is for those who know they are going to fail at another and another diet, because some people are predisposed to over eating. 4. Shaming people because they are obese, o...

Most people would say the new pope is a brand new curtain dressing for a dying, stagnant organization that has been loosing thousands of members the last few years while Ratzinger held the role of Pope. Others would say that he is another trickster looking to reel people back in. Some would say he is here to shake up the masses, and others yet would say he is the pope of the people. No one seems to know quite where his loyalty lays, but even atheists have been ranting on about him. His move to do away with the golden throne, shed the fancy robes and sneak out at night disguised as a priest has people scratching their heads. Then came the blow to corporate America when he spoke out about poverty levels increasing while the rich get richer. Suddenly he is the right winged agenda's enemy number one. After all, how dare he speak out against a perfect relationship with money and religion. How dare he not be on the side of the people using his name to say horrible, cruel things abou...

In the interests of preserving feelings and saving face there is a PC crowd out there so overly ambitious they want us all to just stop talking. That's right, noting you can ever say will be PC enough for them, and next our cold and bitter stares, sad and empathetic looks will be on the line. Because you are biggoting with your eyes. PC has gone from making the world a better place to making this country full of a bunch of whining morons who don't get the difference between help and harm. They are so worried someone is being damaged by your use of language they want you to just be silenced. Contrary to this line of utter garbage, it does nothing to solve any problems. PC people are just a unch of whiny malcontents looking for a place to happen. They are actually doing the worst harm by stopping intellectual discussions about how to inform, educate, and change minds. Because changing minds is also not PC, unless you are a PCtard looking to spread your vile message of just stop...

In a recent interview with Dr. Hiten Soni on The Pink Atheist Podcast we discussed what makes relationships last. He specifically pinpointed communication as a major factor in what makes relationships work. Communication is a vital factor, but still before the communication breaks down, there is something else that goes first. Something which is lethal to relationships. Being the uncommitted committed in the relationship. We all know that voice inside our minds we call a conscious. We make many decisions in there long before we make them outside of there. One of the worst ones is to not be committed to commitment. It is a very serious and hard choice to make to be committed, and some do it more serious than others. Once someone decides that they can do better than you, though, they will. Or at least that is what they tell themselves. But the top of the mountain is always another climb. This is not only tragic for the person you just mentally abandoned, but for your self and your f...

In a recent article " It's time to get skeptical about the ""Selfish Gene"". "  Richard Dawkins book was taken to challenge, but not as much as many would think. The discovery in recent years that evolution can be driven by environmental factors has changed some thinking but not all. There are many dynamics on how genes work, and as much as we think we have figured out, we are still figuring out so many more. Environment does play an important role in evolution. In certain environments genes which function for specific traits work well, or work enough to pass on, so here a selfish gene is fine. But in another environment, it doesn't work at all, so no matter how selfish that gene is, he is likely to be the one passed over, and possibly silenced or even bred out of the population. What people fail to understand is that there is not 1 selfish gene, but 10 books worth of selfish genes. When a gene is expressed and amped up, it is usually in a phy...

I must say, the last year or so has been a wild ride. Meeting so many wonderful people, getting so many hugs, showing and being shown so much love. It warms the heart, it makes me proud and feel like this is what life should be. Lately though, those feelings have turned to a kind of sadness that I just can't explain. One that haunts and disturbs me. When I first came into activism, it was just a passion. One girl with a blog, a vocabulary that was utterly passionate, and a dream. I was charged, and madly, deeply driven by passion I had gotten from the likes of Dawkins and Hitchens. I could see the way I wanted life to be, and how oppressive religion was, how it tore men down and broke their spirits, and destroyed the very natural fabric of man. Now almost two years later, I sit at my kitchen table thinking, how do I go on? How can I do this, when the fire is dying inside. I don't feel inspired, worst of al I don't even feel like writing, or doing a podcast or standing ...