I most certainly cast aspersions at “people of faith” when they go way beyond even acceptable levels of aggressive faux piety and evangelical delusion to cross the line and force their religion on public institutions in the United States, which should be secular. Nowadays evangelicals of the extremist variety have reached appallingly high levels of assholeness and arrogant certainty in their quest for a theocratic dominion over all of America.

I’m an atheist and completely indifferent to all religious beliefs. I don’t spend even a millisecond contemplating spiritual beliefs, especially your nutso and deluded interpretations of a book I rejected when I was seven years old. So, trying to force these beliefs on what I think are secular public institutions is an abomination. Moreover, their delusional belief they stand on higher moral ground is ridiculous and completely false, and, frankly, the most insane aspect of their delusion; they are not better human beings because of their faith. They only imagine they are with absolute certainty, which makes them dangerous.

I honestly believe the Enlightenment, now reaching 400 years of its influence on human consciousness, has affected some human brains to evolve and become immune to religious irrationality. I was lucky to be a member of this new human leap forward. Sorry if this seems arrogant and harsh—I assure you it’s not; it’s just an objective truth that I’m incapable of embracing superstition and faith in things that do not exist and never have. Religious belief and religious institutions sprung out of the fearful, ignorant, and irrational minds of our barbaric and less-evolved human selves, who created gods and religion to explain the universe around them that, without science and reason, often terrified and confused them. It was in this intellectual void that gods were created. The intellectual freedom to not think like this is exhilarating! Scientific method and reason are human constructs that led us out of darkness. Morality is a combination of empathy, altruism, and common sense; we must get along to achieve peace and be good to each other because it’s in our best interest. Religion often contradicted these simple humanist concepts.

I don’t care if people have religious faith, in fact as a soldier I swore to defend with my life this Constitutional right, but please stop trying to force your delusions on those who don’t agree with them. I’m not forcing my beliefs on anyone—in fact I find that appalling. People need to find their own path, and however they wish to think or feel or believe is their right, no matter how nutty it can become in my view. If it’s not mine, fine, but don’t tread on me with your silliness. I will never believe what you believe, nor will I ever think you are better for this faith you have in what I don’t think exists with a shred of proof after thousands of years of all the sermonizing and dogma created to sway humanity to these beliefs. I categorically reject it all. Moreover, I am not the least afraid to declare this publicly. Does this make me a better person? No. Does it make me a jerk? Maybe. Does it make me wrong? Doubtful.

Read this from the Guardian UK.

Its headline:

Dexter Filkins in The New Yorker presents an alarming report on the state of our military and its inability to recruit sufficient young people to keep our military strong and ready. Kids don’t want to serve their country any more, and why not after two wasteful wars that led to nothing except death, horrible mutilation, and deep psychological distress for so many patriotic young people who were thrown into the wars.

Our great victories against Nazi Germany and warmongering Imperial Japan gave our military great esteem as conquering heroes, men like my Dad and Uncle Don Scheck. Then in wasteful wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, we squandered the goodness of our cause with horrible civilian and military leadership in conducting these wars badly and without any real strategy for victory, which led to zero gain for our national security, let alone victory, and which killed tens of thousands of good young people and destroyed so many who survived. Korea was a tie at best, and we lost the wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. LOST. Men and women served honorably, of course, and there were many heroes, but our leaders were war criminals and villains who tainted the great honor our military earned in World War II.

And here we are. We face serious threats from Russia and China, both of whom have nefarious imperial ambitions against our allies in Europe and Taiwan. And our military, once designed to be able to fight and win one great war while also waging a second to at least a standstill, at least until we can rally the American like we did in WW II to unite the country to do what it takes to win the second, is now weakened and undermanned.

Our enemies know this. We face a world of shit.