By summerbreeze ~ I 'm on here to gripe again ( but it feels so good to vent, venting to rational free-thinking people that is!) Probably you have read about what bad shape my Husband is in. (100% disabled and a victim of Agent Orange )....well, last month we decided to get away from it all and take a genuine vacation, the first in a long time. No camping this time, because he can't handle it, just 2 weeks in Motels and Inns. We brought along his big oxygen converter, and he uses his Inogen machine ( the size of a purse ) for when he's out. We were helped by a lot of nice, and strong people along the way, moving that big thing in and out of Motel rooms. Three fourths of the way thru our vacation, my husband used our credit card at a gas station and it was denied. He called the card company to find out why, and received the splendid news that someone had been fraudulently using it (since we started) ... we cancelled the card, actually they said we HAD t...

By summerbreeze ~ L ast week my 14-year-old Grandson experienced a ruptured appendix . The Porcupine Mountains on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) This may have not been a very serious thing, if it had happened in or near his home, but unfortunately it happened 4 miles into the forest at Porcupine Mountains State Park , Upper Peninsula Michigan . My Daughter, Son-In-law and Grandson were backpacking with 50 pound back-packs each, just starting out on a week long adventure. It took them hours to get out of the forest once his tremendous pains took over.....carrying him and his 50 pound load, then 2 more hours to the nearest Hospital. It's funny, but when they planned this trip, I was very concerned about the Bears, Wolves, Mountain Lions , Moose, etc. ....never dreaming that the worst would come to them internally. Our Daughter called us from the Hospital, my Grandson's temp was 104 and his stomach was filled with infection...

By summerbreeze ~ I 've been attending a new Mega-Church here in my town for a while now. This is not the former Mega-Church that I had previously attended, it's a newly-formed non-denominational church now housed in a previous gigantic athletic club with thousands of members, and millions of dollars worth of renovations. It was a while back that I decided to start lying to my Husband. He had gone thru about 6 mos. of tests and interviews to finally get the diagnosis that he was a victim of Agent Orange. (He had done two tours in Vietnam )... He was declared 100% disabled with so many health issues, I couldn't count. Very soon after the diagnosis, I told him that I had had second thoughts about being a non-believer....that I now believed in God and Heaven. He seemed very relieved, even recommending a church that a lot of people he knew raved about. He had never been a church-goer, but was a solid believer. He has so little to cling to these days: o...

By summerbreeze ~ T his is a heads-up on a scam. I hadn't planned on posting an article so close to my last one, but something happened to us about 2 weeks ago that I thought I should share, as a kind of warning. My husband ( Mike ) had received a call from two guys with very thick Indian accents ( New Delhi Indian, not Native American ) who said they were from 'Windows' and wanted to help 'clear up' issues with our computer . They each took turns speaking with Mike. He thought that they were legit because we had been having a few minor problems. They had him do several things with the computer, then said that our anti-virus protection was not sufficient and we needed to up-grade it with their plan. They explained the different programs and the costs. Mike was very suspicious and said he'd get back with them after he searched other options. They got mad, real mad. They said that they'd shut down our computer if Mike didn't accept the...

By summerbreeze ~ L ately I've noticed that there has been a lot of news on the web, and particularly on CNN , about Nazis and the evil destruction that they brought to the world. Aside from helping my kids with school papers / reports, etc about the Nazis ( years ago ), I've tried not to think too much about that dark subject. But because of all this attention about that time in history, my mind has gone back to some powerful feelings that I had while living in Germany. My husband was an Army Major and we lived in Schweinfurt , in the center of Germany. We did a lot of traveling during our stay there, thanks to Uncle Sam and his shipping our old Oldsmobile over there, ( not because we were wealthy jet-setters ! ). It sounds gruesome, but we visited several concentration camps. I remember the day that we visited Dachau as if it were yesterday. As we stood at the front gate on a clear sunny day, I looked over at the town of Dachau, which was extrem...

By summerbreeze ~ A aaahh, Christmas is coming, and along with Christmas come those horribly annoying Christmas newsletters. I don't know how you feel about them, or even if you annually put them out, but for myself, I cannot help but cringe over the ones that come our way every year. Never in the History of mankind has there been more bragging, exaggerating, gloating, half truths, and denial of real facts than in that "friendly" print-out inclosed in an innocent looking Christmas Card. Just once I would like to hear some honest news ( warts and all ) instead of folks going on and on ad nauseam about their cake lives. ......and the worst of the worst are from fundamentalist friends and relatives. How much more enjoyable and heartwarming the Christmas Season would be, if something more like the following was lurking in the mailbox for me. ( A bit of a stretch, but lets have fun with it ) Hi All. The Smith clan here wishes you a very Merry Christma...

By SummerBreeze ~ W hat is it about the Fall that makes me want to make buckets of soup, even though it's just the two of us? Autumn is my favorite season, and probably the reason it's so special to me, is that it is so short lived. Last month when the leaves just started to turn, we went up-north to our daughter's for a long week-end to celebrate Autumn. In addition to helping her can tomatoes, we saved the best to the last and planned on Sunday (our last day there) to go to a popular Cider Mill with hay rides, pumpkin buying, fresh pies , jams & jellies, cider & doughnuts. We had been there a few years ago, and I was looking forward to their Apple Butter with extra cinnamon. This place is located in rural Northern Michigan , rolling hills & forests, in a large red wooden building (cutsie-pie place) with hundreds of acres. ( are you all nodding off yet ? ) Outside is a corn maze , a huge orchard, wooden playground, hay rides (tractors or horse...

By summerbreeze ~ I haven't been visiting exchristian.net for quite a while now, and I've missed my almost daily conversations with you all. I feel that I need your help / input on something that has come up in my life. I know that I've talked about my ultra-fundy Brother, Sister-in-law and my two Nieces who live in the buckle of the bible belt . They think that I'm a christian, and the reason for that is because if I come out to them, they will not only disown me, but will disown my Daughters and their families. Over the years, our family has dwindled down to just a very few ( with the deaths of 'the Elders' unfortunately ). ......so it's important to keep the ties with the Tennessee clan going, as much as I hate the religious crap-o-la that goes with it. Long story short, in the last month I've had 3 not-so-great things happen health wise. I want you to know sincerely that I am NOT asking for sympathy or anything like that. Afte...

By summerbreeze ~ W hat I saw in the T.V. coverage of that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus accident a while ago, got me to thinking. Before the accident, they showed the women hanging and twirling from their hair and I noticed a silver colored cross in the middle of that contraption that they hung from. Yeah, what an excellent idea....hang a cross there, and then there's no need for a net ! The women all said that the act is very painful, but it is a "tradition" in several circuses. Suddenly I saw red flags . It had the smell of domineering patriarchal men all over it. ( let the weemon folk suffer ). Methinks that if the situation were reversed, and say, those men were to hang by their underarm hair , it might be a short lived "tradition". Christians look upon the cross as a symbol of their faith and a symbol of Gods' protection. I ask, WHEN has God protected any human being, or animal for that matter ? Think of all th...

By summerbreeze ~ W ell, Easter is soon upon us. It's my least favorite Holiday. In fact, I hate it. With it coming in March or April, and in our neck of the woods, that means the snow has mostly melted, and the ugly fast-food paper bags, cups, wrappers, french-fry holders, combos bags, empty cigarette packs, beer cans, one boot or one shoe laying by the road (it's always one...why is that?) plastic bags, and who knows what all, is right there to see and be appalled by. Then there's the mud, cloudy skies, and no flowers and no leaves. And if there IS snow, it's covered with dirt. What a perfect time of the year to celebrate the Lords' being risen ! Don't mind me, I'm just in a bad mood thinking about Easter. We always "celebrate" it with my husband's sister. Or, better known as the christian ding-bat. She has always been a christian ever since I've known her. And she has been married six times. She and her 1st husband stol...

By summerbreeze ~ Roxana Rodriguez, circled, on the day she joined the order of the Little Disciples of Jesus   I 'm sure that you've heard the recent news about the Nun from the 'Little Disciples of Jesus' convent, near Rieti Italy, who gave birth to a bouncing baby boy. ( I'm glad that her convent wasn't named 'Little Disciples of Innocenti ')... now THAT would be embarrassing! She was another one of those women who said " I didn't even know that I was pregnant "....OH NO !...could this be another gift to the world from God ? His last gift, 2000 years ago, helped to screw things up big time, for rational people that is. The local Pastor in the town said "I guess she's telling the truth when she says she arrived at the Hospital unaware of the pregnancy"....totally ignoring the question of how a Nun could get pregnant in the 1st place. This is just more proof of how the Catholic Church pig-headedly clings t...

By summerbreeze ~ W hat a guy ! This is what the Lord did = English: Saying grace before carving the turkey at Thanksgiving dinner in the home of Earle Landis in Neffsville, Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) ( 1 ) Went to the Bank, withdrew a boat load of money to buy food and drinks. ( 2 ) Drove round and round at several grocery stores, looking for that elusive parking spot ( next to Siberia ) ( 3 ) Stood in L.O.N.G check out lines, usually stuck between people coughing and babies throwing hissy-fits. ( 4 ) Cleaned my whole house top to bottom. ( 5 ) Wrestled with a slippery Turkey, even dropping it on the floor once, only to find out that the inside was STILL frozen and the Turkey roasting pan was too small. ...........The Saga Continues ( 6 ) "He" peeled, shucked, diced, simmered, sliced, stirred, chopped, fried, basted and roasted while balancing 8 entrees plus side dishes to all come together at the same exact time ! I learned that it wa...

By summerbreeze ~ L ittle Sophie is a lamb that was the last to be born of twins. Image by paulafunnell via Flickr The mother Ewe had a hard time delivering Sophie, and when she was born she was not breathing. My Daughter had to use her 'lamb smarts' and do mouth to mouth, cleaning all the passage ways, then take the little lamb by its hind "ankles" and gently swing it back and forth while being held upside-down. Finally Sophie started breathing. Staying in the sheep barn all night, after the births, my exhausted daughter slept with her head on a bale of hay. The next morning brought a grim sight. Mother Ewe would not let Sophie nurse, instead she would head-butt the tiny lamb, sending it cartwheeling across the pen. For four whole weeks my Daughter bottle fed the lamb every two hours, night and day. Having a job where she works at home, made it easier for her, however she was bone tired just trying to get through the days. On Mother's Day we wen...

By summerbreeze ~  Religion forces us to lie. I t's ironic I think, that the giant lie of religion, in turn, forces the enlightened among us to lie our socks off. We have just returned from New Mexico and Arizona , visiting relatives that I hadn't seen in decades. It was my first trip to 'The West'. My initial reason for going was to see my last Aunt on my Dad's side ( Step Dad actually, but he adopted me ) while she was still in the early stages of Alzheimer's . I knew if I waited, it would be too late. In a terrible twist of fate, her 22-year-old Grandson ( my 2nd cousin , who I'd never met ) died about two hours before our plane actually hit the ground there in Albuquerque . We arrived there to meet relatives who were deeply in shock and heavy with grief. This was a fine young man who loved life, loved helping and giving to others, and was a dedicated hiker in the mountains there....being as close to nature as he could get. He also was a ver...

By Summerbreeze ~ L ife can throw us some weird coincidences. I had typed my article " Entering the NO-FUN ZONE " ( about the health benefits of laughter )to Dave on a Monday. Then three days later I flatlined three times in 14 minutes. The day prior to my flatlining I had been outfitted with a cardiac event monitor because of weird squeezing sensations in my chest. (This is a little box that you are wired up to 24/7 & you wear it.) Image by zerok via Flickr Three Doctors called me in the space of five minutes, telling me that I needed a heart catherization and a pacemaker. "WHO, ME ?!?"....."I'm too young," I cried to them. I was horrified and mad. All of a sudden I felt very old... How could someone who was Jr. High School age when she idolized James Dean, Natalie Wood & Ricky Nelson need a pacemaker?! In a nut-shell, I had the heart catheterization, then the pacemaker surgery. Never during the entire time from beginning t...

OR, 'That Damned Humorless Bible' By summerbreeze ~ I have seen fundamentalists defend their Bible with a tenacity close to that of a Mother Bear protecting her cub. However, there is one thing that believers cannot defend, no matter how they dance around the issue......that is the complete lack of humor in the Bible. Years ago, while in Bible Study, I actually heard a woman say, "Jesus has a subtle sense of humor, you just have to look for it." Then the 20 or so Bobbleheads around the table bobbled their heads up and down. How odd that their God, in all his wisdom, deleted humor, since laughter is the ONE constant that humans share, no matter what or where the culture. The need to laugh is in our DNA, and its health benefits are astounding! When researchers from the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore tested the "humor quotient" of 300 people, they found that those with Heart Disease were 40% less likely to laugh and less likel...

By summerbreeze ~ N ow that prayer failed, and the Crystal Cathedral is in bankruptcy, the higher-ups are scrambling to keep that monument to deception going. These people have whined to the press for a while now about how "Tough times never last; every storm comes to an end. Right now, people need to hear that message more than ever." ~~~Sheila Schuller Coleman ( dtr. of Robert Schuller ) (Tough times never last? Tell that to the countries where, since time began, have struggled to achieve even a level of sub-poverty ) What sticks in my craw (Grandpa's phrase) is how they had put the paying of ills to the vendors on the back burner... meanwhile the cogs of the Chrystal machine just kept turning, keeping the status quo, for the most part. Quoting Jim Penner , a church pastor: "What we're doing now is we're trying to WALK WHAT WE PREACH" ....Hmmm.... Was it the lawsuits against them that lit a fire under that "walk?" Abraham Li...

By summerbreeze ~ W e have just returned from two weeks of camping in Northern Michigan . It's wonderful to reconnect with nature, and to feel such appreciation for our beautiful earth, and its creatures.....an earth created not by a God, but by a series of beneficial events. Image by ihave3kids via Flickr I honestly can say that I know very few Christians that value our earth to the degree that the non-believers I know, and those I hear about, do. Maybe this is because, to believers the earth is just a pit-stop on the way to that all glorious place, Heaven. After all, their hero, God, had such little regard for the earth and its creatures, that he flooded the place in a snit. Much could be written about God's dismissal, and sometimes downright bloody disregard of animals. This would be far too long a report if I gave examples of every single atrocity against animals from strongly religious countries. It seems the more religious the country, the more abuse its animals...

...so what are we gonna do? By summerbreeze ~ W hat an upbeat title, huh? But as an atheist, lately I've been thinking about the fact that I absolutely do not want a Christian funeral, or any funeral, and I'd better get on the stick to see that that doesn't happen. I'm writing this article to help my fellow free-thinkers with information I've dug up on this subject. It's not too early to think about these things, after all, any one of us could be hit by a bus tomorrow ! I found that the majority of free-thinkers prefer to be cremated, and when you think about it, it makes sense. Putting yourself in the hands of a funeral home, whether you are religious or not, can cause a lot of unwanted things to happen. I have been responsible for the planning of 4 funerals at 4 different funeral homes, and I can tell you that the calm, smiling and seemingly 'concerned' funeral directors ( and sales staff ) have one goal in mind, to extract as much moo-...

Forgiveness is for people who never walked in your shoes. By summerbreeze --  T he bible demands that YOU MUST forgive, absolutely, regardless of the situations involved, regardless of the individual make-up of the person wounded. Colossians 3:13 "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as The Lord forgave you." Luke 6:35-38;42 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven......." Religion made me feel guilty about forgiveness. I thought that I was a poor excuse for a christian for wanting revenge on someone that I despised. I tried as hard as I could, and I could not forgive... religion had yet again given me another reason for feeling like a failure, and not to forget the knowledge I had that I surely was going to hell, because I could not forgive. I know that each person reading this must have at least one person, p...