There are many bloggers out there vying for your attention, and most of them have a little “donate” button on the side so that they can continue to provide you with information and entertainment. Or maybe they’ll do kickstarter campaigns for people. Or sell ads on their blog.
It’s not a bad idea — and it’s nice when people who create things can get compensated for their work.
I don’t do that. (The ads you see here are placed by WordPress, because I’m not paying them to host this blog.)
Still, for the blogger, it’s nice to be appreciated — to know that the people who enjoy reading the blog understand the work that goes into it.
So if you’d like to thank me for my posts and show your support for this blog, how about a donation of, oh, about $6? In exchange, you get to download my latest novel “Bloodsuckers: A Vampire Runs for President.” There’s also a kindle version, a nook version, an ibook version, and a paperback if you prefer.
This is even better than just donating something. We both win! I get a few bucks in my next royalty check, and you get to read a fun adventure. (Come on, if you enjoy my writing here on the blog, you’re sure to enjoy the novel.)
You can click here to read the first few chapters and here to read reviews.
Thanks for your support!
Often, religious folks complain that atheists are “intolerant” towards their religion.
Strangely enough, these atheists seem to be only “intolerant” toward Christians. Why is that?
Well, Jews aren’t trying to pass laws banning bacon.
Muslims aren’t trying to pass laws forcing women to wear veils.
Amish aren’t trying to pass laws to make us give up electricity.
Wiccans aren’t trying to make us say “One Nation, under the Goddess.”
But some Christians want to ban all abortions, make gay marriage illegal, restrict contraception, edit history books, enforce prayer in schools, and all because of their religious beliefs.
So when atheists say “No” to them, that’s not intolerance. That’s fighting against tyranny. That’s standing up for what America was founded on — freedom to believe or not believe. To have a secular country.
All the atheist “fights” are defensive. Atheists are not doing a thing to prevent religious people from practicing their religion however they want to. They’re just trying to stop them from making us all do it.
EDITED for clarification: I mean legal and political fights, not arguments and debates.
A couple of activists from a “Black Lives Matter” group interrupted Bernie Sanders’ speech the other day and quite a few people are mad about it. The primary “Black Lives Matter” group has disavowed the people who did this, and others say that this has hurt their message.
Well, I don’t know about that. I support their cause and still think their message is important. What I disagree with are their methods.
But now there are those on the left who are complaining about those of us complaining. We’re being called racists because we think these protesters shouldn’t have done that. How ridiculous.
Calling out people who disrupt speeches (or gallery openings, or live TV shows, or plays, or anything else where they are not invited) doesn’t mean I disagree with their position. It doesn’t mean I am demeaning them. It doesn’t mean I am a racist.
It means I’m calling them out for their rudeness and inconsideration.
I came to hear someone give a speech, and it wasn’t you. Go away.
If I go to see a concert by a band I like, I’m not going to be happy if another band takes over the stage by force to perform their songs instead, even if I like that other band.
The same applies to anyone who interrupts Republican speakers. It applies to Westboro Baptist Church making noises to interrupt funerals and it applies to liberals who go to Congressional hearings and shout at the Congress members.
Yeah, sure, there is a place for protests in America. And sometimes those rallies have to be a bit rude. So go ahead, have a loud rally. Give a speech. Have a sit-in. You have that right. But don’t come to my event and take it over for your own purpose. Have your own damn event. (I feel the same way about people who come onto my Facebook page uninvited and decide to use it to spam my friends with their own political propaganda.)
These people had a right to interrupt Sanders’ rally. That’s how rights work. And I have the right to say that they were rude, inconsiderate, and didn’t help their cause one bit.
An activist radical Muslim judge here in America has just used his religious views to force a defendant into an arranged marriage as well as demand that the defendant write out verses from the Quran as punishment.
“Get married within 30 days or do 15 days in jail” was the Judge’s Order.
The bride who was forced into this arrangement was quite unhappy with this as well, complaining that while she might have been willing to marry the man, they would never be able to have a nice wedding like she had hoped. The Judge didn’t care.
The Judge used his Muslim religion to force the man to read the Quran as well.
This is Sharia Law at its worst; it’s exactly what we were told would happen when we allow the government to force religion on us, and all good Christians — nay, all good Americans should be outraged.
No. Wait.
I’m sorry. I got a fact wrong.
The Judge was a Christian and he made the man copy verses from the Bible instead.
Well, surely all Christians should be just as outraged by this, right? If it’s wrong for the government to endorse one religion, it’s wrong for another as well, isn’t it?
(Insert sounds of crickets chirping and visual of tumbleweed rolling across an empty plain)
I’ve done my best to try to have a post a day (two if you count the editorial cartoons) but this week has just been bad. It’s been days since I posted anything. Is it summer that causes this? Is it my birthday celebrations that make me depressed about being old? Is it the move to my new office that has exhausted me? Is it the fact that every time I want to write something, there’s just nothing new to say about the clowns running for the GOP nomination who are debating tonight?
Tell me you wouldn’t rather be sitting by this creek reading a book right now.
A little bit of “all of the above.”
I dunno, I just can’t seem to find the energy to get excited about anything right now. Mostly when I get home from work, I just want to sit by the creek and read something light. (At this moment it’s Christopher Moore’s “Practical Demonkeeping.”)
But yet, people are asking me to blog about the debates, or tweet my comments. I appreciate it. I really do. It’s nice to see that there are people out there who enjoy this blog and look forward to it. It means an awful lot to me. Thanks.
But not right now. Maybe in a day or so. I just don’t have anything interesting to say right now.
So instead, here’s one of my favorite bad jokes.
I was conducting the orchestra, unaware that the upright bassists had been drinking. We were performing Beethoven’s Ninth, and about halfway through, they were so drunk that they kept knocking the music off the stands and we had to attach it back with string. Then, suddenly, two of the bassists fainted dead away.
So there I was, in the bottom of the Ninth, with the score tied, the bassists loaded, and two out.
Thank you, thank you. Be sure to tip your waitress.*
*an inside joke for those who have read my first novel “Arch Enemies.”
ventrellaquest.com 