Why Are Atheists So Smug?

This weekend I was matter-of-factly told by an atheist

on Twitter that I can't be a critical thinker because I'm

a theist. It got me to thinking: Why are atheists

so smug? This Tweeter doesn't know my intelligence

level but according to him I'm a theist so my mind

must not be running on all cylinders. He's probably

surprised I know how to read and write. (We might

not want to inform why the printing press was invented.

Heart-ache will ensue.)

In almost every encounter I've had with an atheist they

automatically think they are more enlightened than me.

If you think of prominent atheists they have something else

in common besides the fact they don't believe in God.

Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins and Bill Maher

are all smug. Note to atheists: If you truly want to have

a discussion about God and belief, it's probably not a

good idea to insult someone's intelligence.

Another thing I don't understand is why atheists value

intelligence so much to begin with? I'm guessing we all

would like to be highly intelligent individuals. But I don't

find any meaningful value in intelligence. Intelligence has

no moral value. Intelligent people have done some incredibly

good things. Intelligent people have also created some

bad things. (See: Atomic Bomb.) To me intelligence is like

beauty. Some people are born beautiful and some aren't

but it's not worth a thing to me.

You see that's the beauty of being a believer of God.

As a believer, God has given me worth. The things

we value as humans (intelligence, beauty) are meaningless

to God. He still loves us.

Purified by Fire

We are two flawed and broken people

just picking up the messes of our lives.

But together we make tragic sense.

This you can't possibly deny.

A picture perfect scene you can't capture

with a lens.

Like gold our love has been purified by fire.

Burned over again and again.

Perfected by the scars of life.

My confidence in love finally regained.

I have felt the pain of a love not yet fulfilled.

I've waited so long for you to come my way.

I know the yearning for something real.

Nothing else explain us but fate.

Girly Girl Post

For some reason I've been spending a lot of time on

YouTube watching make-up tutorials. I've never been

a real girly-girl type that likes shopping and

make-up. But I watched a couple of make-up

tutorials on YouTube and now I'm addicted!

I want every color of lipstick and blush now! LOL!

There are two lipsticks I want in particular.

Mac's Russian Red

Maybelline's Color Sensation Coral Crush

I don't have a lipstick in a coral color and would

like to try it out!

Be Grateful For Your Job

With unemployment still incredibly high be grateful
if you are employed.

If you hate your job, be grateful you have one.

If your boss is mean, be grateful you have a boss.

If you feel you get paid too little for the work you do,
be grateful you get a paycheck because there are
plenty of people who would like to have the job
you have.

Be grateful.

Tonight's CNN GOP Debate

Before the debate tonight I thought I would give my quick
analysis of the candidates debating tonight.

Mitt Romney - Was for him him before I was against him.
Easy to flip flop on a flip flopper!

Tim Pawleny - Zzzzzzzz. Sorry I fell asleep.

Hermain Cain - Who?

Newt Gingrich - People are fleeing his campaign for a reason.

Michele Bachmann - Flamethrower

I will be live tweeting the debate.... twitter.com/terryannonline

Sarah's Colonoscopy

I'm of two minds on Sarah Palin's colonoscopy, as Greta van

Susteren puts it. First, news organizations are cutting jobs

like crazy so why not ask for some free help? We now live

in a world where bloggers are breaking stories instead of

traditional news outlets. However, it strikes me as extremely

biased. Would these news outlets be asking for the same

type of help if the subject was President Obama? I think not!

Standing for Something

It's hard to actually believe in something; to stand for something.

When you believe in something you actually have to be held

accountable for your beliefs. Life is an easy summer breeze

when you don't claim to have a distinct moral system. "Hypocrite!,"

they yell when you fall short of your proclaimed values.

The cry of "Hypocrite!" is the favorite slur of people who

attempt to discredit people of religious beliefs. Example:

This makes no sense to me. Just because people don't always

live up to their beliefs doesn't mean the whole belief system

should be thrown out. People don't always live up to marriage

vows but does that mean we should do away with marriage?

I think not. Christians don't always live up to the example

Christ set for us, but that does not mean Christianity has

been discredited.

We are flawed human beings. We aren't always going to

live up to the standards we set up for ourselves. And

sometimes those standards are incredibly high. Just

because you might fall short doesn't mean you should

aim high. Aim high! And if you don't hit the target. Shoot

again.

Don't fear being called hypocrite. I would rather be

called hypocrite and believe in something than to

never be called hypocrite and believe in nothing.

Let's Talk About Consumerism

I've been thinking about this question a lot: Where are my

fellow conservatives on American consumerism? Why aren't

more conservatives vocal about the ills of consumerism?

If you were to look up online negative articles on consumerism,
I bet the majority would be written by liberal academics or
writers. Conservatives have no problem delivering the message
that government needs to be more frugal but what about as
a culture as a whole? It's not just government that is in debt.

Consumerism is part of the reason we are in this recession.

People were buying homes they couldn't afford, which led

to the housing crisis. No government regulation is going to

fix a culture that says, "You deserve the very best, new things
in life."

I think being anti-Consumerism is a very conservative idea.

We don't want financial resources being wasted on junk.

However, for some reason liberals have been able to make

conservatives seem pro-Consumerism. They continually say

that Bush said after 9/11 to "go shopping." I don't quite

remember it that way but the image has stuck. We can reverse

this image.

When liberals talk about economy they like to talk in moral

terms. Funny how they can't talk in moral terms when it

comes to abortion or other social issues but I digress. They

talk about the "injustice" of the rich being too rich or something.

We should talk in moral terms too. To put it bluntly: Consumerism

is immoral and we shouldn't be afraid to say so.

While I don't agree with everything in this video, you gotta

admit this very popular YouTube video makes some compelling

moral arguments:

Gruene, TX

Gruene, TX, originally uploaded by terryarendon.

Gruene, TX

Gruene, TX, originally uploaded by terryarendon.