{"id":6858,"date":"2011-08-17T07:52:56","date_gmt":"2011-08-17T11:52:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.discovermagazine.com\/collideascape\/?p=6858"},"modified":"2011-08-17T07:52:56","modified_gmt":"2011-08-17T11:52:56","slug":"the-godless-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.keithkloor.com\/?p=6858","title":{"rendered":"The Godless Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> 
<a href="http://masterfacilitator.com/belbinteamroles360/"></a> Despite my many faults, I&#8217;m a nice guy. I can be too sarcastic for some, and lately I&#8217;ve been cranky because of a growing sleep deficit, but those who know me know I&#8217;m a caring, good-natured person.<\/p>\n<p> 
<a href="https://forgive123.com/watch/">Klonopin For Sale Online</a> This is not meant to sound self-serving. Think of it as background context for the anecdote I&#8217;m about to share.<\/p>\n<p> 
<a href="https://theroyalstagproperties.com/contact-5/">https://theroyalstagproperties.com/contact-5/</a> So I have an out-of-town cousin staying with us this month. She&#8217;s 25, bubbly, very sweet, and hoping to make her mark in NYC as a singer. She&#8217;s crashing on our living room couch until she finds a place of her own. I&#8217;ve known her since she was a toddler. Her family has treated me like one of their own since I was a boy. I have a deep bond with them. There&#8217;s a lot of love and respect between us. My 25 year old cousin knows this.<\/p>\n<p> 
<a href="https://castlehomecomfort.com/drain-cleaning/"></a> For a few moments yesterday, she couldn&#8217;t find her checkbook amidst the clutter of our living room, where kids toys now share space with her sprawling luggage (and impressive shoe collection). She was getting a little frantic. Then, presto, there it was behind the couch. &#8220;Thank you, Jesus!&#8221; she exclaimed.<\/p>\n<p> 
<a href="https://rgprincipal.com/equipo-chile/">https://rgprincipal.com/equipo-chile/</a> I couldn&#8217;t resist. &#8220;What did he have to do with you finding it?&#8221; I asked, trying hard not to smirk.<\/p>\n<p> 
<a href="https://andiroberts.com/leadership-questions/">https://andiroberts.com/leadership-questions/</a> It was just an expression, she said, but since I asked, she told me that she recently had her faith in God affirmed after a few health scares. (She is half-Jewish, half Christian.) \u00a0&#8220;My prayers were answered,&#8221; she explains.<\/p>\n<p> 
<a href="https://dinoeliadis.com/recommended-reading/"></a> I tell her I&#8217;m skeptical of such things, since I wonder why God would answer her prayers but not those from other people who are in dire straits and just as worthy as her.<\/p>\n<p> 
<a href="https://www.secpeinvestments.com/sreach/">https://www.secpeinvestments.com/sreach/</a> She said that God must have his reasons. &#8220;Don&#8217;t you believe in God,&#8221; she asked?<\/p>\n<p> 
<a href="https://dentalprovidence.com/implants/">Buy Carisoprodol Online</a> No, I said. I&#8217;m an atheist.<\/p>\n<p> 
<a href="https://ramedicare.com/modified-power-yoga-routine/">Diazepam Online Purchase</a> A look of horror and shock spread across my cousin&#8217;s face. As if I wasn&#8217;t the same person she thought I was. I could see that she was trying to reconcile the good soul I am thought to be with the confessed heathen. <em>How could they be one and the same?<\/em><\/p>\n<p> 
<a href="https://forgive123.com/online-school/">Pregabalin 300Mg Buy Online</a> I share this anecdote because coincidentally, a collide-a-scape commenter from yesterday <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.discovermagazine.com\/2011\/08\/15\/the-triumph-of-home-grown-fundamentalism\/#comment-71880\" target=\"_blank\">explained<\/a> the religiosity of American politicians this way:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p> 
<a href="https://raceflowdevelopment.com/tech/"></a> Americans expect and are comforted if our leaders believe in a Power greater than themselves. That they have a known and familiar set of guiding moral principles in which they follow. Another way to look at it is we want some proof that our politicians have a conscience.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> 
<a href="https://disneycruisinggroup.com/marksnews/">https://disneycruisinggroup.com/marksnews/</a> This association of personal morality with belief in God (widely held, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.christianity.co.nz\/moralit2.htm\" target=\"_blank\">especially among Christians)<\/a> is something I reject. I know I have a conscience and that I am guided by a firm set of moral principles, though I am sure my cousin is now suddenly doubtful of this.<\/p>\n<p> 
<a href="https://forgive123.com/secrets-revealed/"></a> I decided to be playful with her and see how far my star had fallen. I told her that I used to debate a group of super polite born-again Christians in college, who tried hard to get me to see the light. It was no use. They had ruefully said I was going to hell, but that they would still pray for my soul. It was almost touching how badly they felt for me.<\/p>\n<p> 
<a href="https://raceflowdevelopment.com/tech/">Buy Online Soma</a> I asked my cousin if she too thought I was a condemned man.<\/p>\n<p> 
<a href="https://rgprincipal.com/chile/"></a> &#8220;No, I don&#8217;t think you&#8217;re going to hell,&#8221; she said. &#8220;But you can&#8217;t get into heaven. You&#8217;ll just be in purgatory.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> 
<a href="https://castlehomecomfort.com/humidifiers/"></a> Bless her heart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> 
<a href="https://dentalprovidence.com/about/"></a> Despite my many faults, I&#8217;m a nice guy. I can be too sarcastic for some, and lately I&#8217;ve been cranky because of a growing sleep deficit, but those who know me know I&#8217;m a caring, good-natured person. This is not meant to sound self-serving. Think of it as background context for the anecdote I&#8217;m about&#8230;<span> <a href="https://andiroberts.com/webresources/">https://andiroberts.com/webresources/</a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.keithkloor.com\/?p=6858\">Continue Reading&#8230;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2939],"tags":[1532],"class_list":["post-6858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-religion","tag-religion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithkloor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithkloor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithkloor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithkloor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithkloor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithkloor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6858\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithkloor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithkloor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithkloor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}