Godless Rachel

In the grand scheme of things, your mind is as unique as your finger prints or your retina. No person has been like you or will ever be as exact as you. You are a special data bank of thought and information collected over your lifetime to the point where you read this, and then forever after. Have you ever stopped to think of the most unique events of your life, or even the ones which seem mundane and far from extraordinary? These events shaped the way you think, your neural responses, your patterns. Every one of them can trigger a preconceived action. You are at this point in time, all of your prior patterns. Those are broken when new information enters, and a new neural link is made. Many people will go a lifetime and make a minimal amount of re-linkings, some people will constantly create new information and links. Memories are accessed all the time in our minds, sometimes changing and adding new information to them, but it doesn't change large portions of our brain, neu...

Atheism, Lee Moore, Eric Jayne, Brandon Jones 08/04 by The Pink Atheist | Atheism Podcasts

Thomas Jefferson said it well, there is a wall between church and state, and that wall should not be breached. This is one off the largest and most substantial cornerstones of our Nation, and while the cracks have been coming by the way of constant hammering by the religious right, now they are adding dynamite. Churches are supposed to operate separate of the state and federal government. They have to buy land, build and insure it for the worth of the building. In the past they have gained federal funds by doing day care, and charitable donations to the poor. While that sounds fine, it is not, those are small and unforgiving breaches of the separation of state and church. "Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God; that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship; that the legislative powers of government reach actions only and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American p...

The overwhelming sting of second class citizenry hit home this last week when Governor Kasich a Ohio Republican signed into law cuts for planned parenthood, forced ultrasounds, and forbidden for rape counselors to talk about all options. This was the lowest blow in Ohio to date by Republicans, who obviously have no care for who their votes come from, well as long as they are women. A group of pro life, pro suffering which goes by a historic name, showing their outdated thinking, and clear disdain for women and their choices, The Susan B Anthony list have been pushing for this legislation. The claim that after a doctor was convicted of killing newborns, abortion needs restricted. Those were probably partial birth abortions. Which in a pro lifer's eyes is a baby. But then they know nothing of science or facts. They are simply pro life until it is born, then let it suffer a horrible life. Kasich stepped over the line this time. He didn't even let the legislation go through com...

One of the mistakes people make about fossils, is how we have fossils and what they really are. They can vary, and understanding them is key to understanding history, and why it can be so hard to time date them, while not at all impossible. When you think of fossil, many people think it is still the actual animals body that has somehow survived the ages, as many as millions to billions of years. If this were true, that would be wondrous. The reality is, though, those bones are mostly long gone. Fossilizing happens under certain conditions. It doesn't happen under all conditions. If the bones are eaten by predators, smashed up, or just not buried, we will never find them, and those will never be species we have in the records of history. Simply, somethings will never fossilize, even though bone is a tough substance. If the conditions are right, such as an animal, dinosaur, fish winding up in sediment, or being buried quickly, or a mass extinction leaving no predators to pred...

When I was eighteen I first made love with a man ten years my senior, and his love was jaded. I saw this, and it ached in me. My one promise to myself was that Ii would never let myself become that person lost to love and unwilling to reach out. Flash forward to the present and now I advise others on the risks to take, the chances to make and pull them back from the fear that binds them. Beautiful people, like flowers blooming, afraid to display all the beauty in their hearts. One of the hardest things for people to overcome is loss, it is inevitable in life, yet it is the one thing that we can't openly express enough. Love is more than just an emotion, it is a bond, a connection between people that lives in their minds, memories intact. It is a complex amalgam of chemicals, which produce emotions, an need, a desire, and it is not easy to explain in its entirety. But the down side of love is the loss, which has actually made people lose their will to live. I will never forget...

Last year in Ireland a woman paid the price for getting pregnant, with her life. She was denied  the termination if her pregnancy after it was discovered that the fetus would not be viable and she was going to miscarry. She went home and had the miscarriage three days later, and then four days after was in critical care, which ended in her death. This story cropped up last year. Now Ireland is facing historic decisions and unprecedented rage, and debate. For the women of Ireland, the battle is on, and the outcome may cost lives. Here in America abortion has been under attack, but in Ireland just being pro choice is dangerous, but making a fake depiction of abortion can get you arrested. The whole Country is up in arms over their side on the abortion debate. Meanwhile many lives are affected by these laws with complete disregard to the suffering of the most important parties, the women. Ireland laws currently allow abortion only if the life of the mother is at stake, not if t...