Arrogant Atheist

Saying for the Day:Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last.” Charlotte Bronte
The stereotype of the arrogant, obnoxious, Christian , fundamentalist is seen often on television. You know the person who is so sure their view of life and faith is the only one that they are willing to make other people miserable in the effort to share it. They will turn you into a Christian despite yourself. There is some truth in the stereotype, there always is. Some fundamentalist Christians act like that. But the majority I think are neither arrogant nor obnoxious.
Thus it was good last night to see somebody else portrayed as arrogant and obnoxious because of what they believed. I was watching House , one of my favorite TV programs. If you have seen the program you know that House is a great Doctor and an evangelistic Atheist . He makes fun of people who believe in God on a regular basis. But last night he reached the edge. He had a man who was dying of cancer ( well he thought he was). House could prolong his life for several months by removing his eye which was the center of the cancer. The man refused saying he was tired of suffering and he was ready to go home and see his loved ones. House told him there was no home, no God, no heaven, no loved one’s waiting for him. You can not get more arrogant or obnoxious than that. A Doctor who works with House chided him for not letting the man die with what little peace and joy that he could. House’s answer was that it was better to die miserable with the truth than to decide to die happy based on a lie.
The next time I see a TV program that depicts an arrogant fundamentalist I will think of House the arrogant atheist.
What do the two share in common? Both believe the truth is more important than people, than feelings, than anything else.
And they have the truth.

@@@@ News from Pigeon Falls-The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life goes on. It is still zero in Pigeon Falls and there was a light snow last night.
All over Pigeon Falls people are trying to reason out why this is happening to them. According to Nancy these are the theories:
1. Somehow Petrovich and his driblets made it happen.
2. It is somehow related to Global Warming.
3. There is a secret government base someplace in the woods that is using Pigeon Falls for an experiment.
4. It is the Hemilah curse. When Max Hemilah was dying he cursed the whole town for not keeping the road clear . He prayed they would be stuck in winter forever.
5. It is somehow related to Arab terrorists. They set off some kind of snow bomb.
6. There has been a global shifting and the weather that should be at the North Pole is now in Pigeon Falls.
7. When drilling in the mine they hit some kind of gas that got out into the air and is acting as a refrigerant.
8. The cold is leaking in through the portal the dragon uses to enter our world.
9. God has punished Pigeon Falls for its evil ways. ( no wonder the prayer meeting didn’t work)
10. It is the work of demons who are punishing Mrs. Trumble for shooting the dragon.
Nancy says that what scares her are not the ideas of what is causing the problem but some of the solutions. Somebody, for example, wants to dig up Hemilah’s body and pour Holy Water over it and possibly drive a stake through his heart. ( Too many late night horror movies) Somebody else wants to haul Petrovich out of his office and force him to leave town. Let him go and inflict his driblets on somebody else. For the moment, though, the majority are putting their hopes on Saturday’s wrestling match.
Are any of these theories right? Will we ever know. Will it be winter forever. Can somebody from Pigeon Falls rise up and win that match ? Will poor old Hemilah stay buried? Can Eino and reason protect Petrovich? Is there a leaky dragon portal? How do you close dragon portals? Has Pigeon Falls really been that sinful?( How come it’s not winter in Iron River then?) And of course is Tommy UK really the undertaker’s kid?
*****

Today's Link:Confessions of a Dumb White Guy-Some beer drinking tips.
I had a good day. Again my oxygen level was up to the bottom edge of normal which meant I didn't have to haul an oxygen tank around all day. Betty and I finished the dining/living room cleaning. There is not a cluttered flat space left. The new rule is open it, read it, then act on it, store it, or throw it away. We'll see how long that lasts. We gave Maggie a dog mattress because we felt sorry for her sleeping on a bare tin floor in her crate. She took one look at it, grabbed it buy the corner and pulled it out. As far as she was concerned it didn't belong in her space. In the afternoon it was back to the basement. That job will never get done but we keep chipping at it.Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA