We all live in a yellow submarine

I got a raise yesterday at work, and this time, it wasn't just in my pants. 50 cent. Not bad, if I do say so myself. I'm now making 8.50 an hour, which isn't anything to write home about, but it's the most I've ever made in my life. It's progress, I tell you. It's progress.

Is it just me, or is anyone else fed up with daylight saving time? Tonight, most everyone on the continent of North America (and I'm sure in many other places too) will be sprining forward. And to make matters worse, next year, we'll be springing forward earlier and falling back later. Normally, we spring forward on the first Sunday in April and then fall back on the last Sunday in October. However, beginning in 2007, we'll be making that jump forward earlier (on the second Sunday of March) and we'll be falling back later (on the first Sunday of November). For more information, click here.

It is important to note that this change is experimental. In the above article, the reasong given for the change is as follows:

"Under Section 110 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the U.S. Department of Energy is required to study the impact of the daylight saving extension no later than nine months after the change takes effect. Congress has retained the right to revert back to the daylight saving schedule set in 1986 if it cannot be shown that there are significant energy savings from an extension of daylight saving time."

In essence, this little experiment is being done to conserve energy. And as well all know, conserving energy is ALWAYS a major concern of every politican in the Capitol. Nothing keeps them up more at night than energy concerns. As you can probably tell, I'm being sarcastic. And yes, my sarcasm will be made in vain. However, I'd still like to get to my point. Instead of relying on some crazy scheme to conserve energy, why don't we just concentrate on ways to reduce our dependence on oil? Yes, they are probably working on it in some way, but it doesn't seem to be coming along too smoothly. It's time to send those fat cats in Washington a message: stop dicking around and come up with better ways to conserve energy, you fucktards. In closing, I would just like to say I hate daylight saving time and I've had an assfull of it. I guess that's better than having an assfull of cock, but I digress.

::hops off his soapbox::

Well, know that I've got that off my chest, I'd like to turn the conversation over to something else. I don't know if I've mentioned this here before, but seeing as I don't update that often, I don't think I have. Here's the deal. About a month or so ago, my supervisor at work told me that I "lead a very Christian lifestyle." I was taken aback when he said this. I really didn't know what to say to him.

Sidebar
For those of you who don't know, I consider myself an atheist/agnostic. Yes, you can be both. As an atheist, I do not believe that there is a god. Theism deal with belief and nothing else. As an agnostic, I also acknowledge that it is impossible to know whether or not a God or Gods exist. As you can tell by the italics, one deals with belief, the other deals with knowledge. In my opinion, everyone is agnostic. No one can truely know the existence of a God or Gods. Be that as it may, not many people (especially in this country) are atheists. And here in lies my problem. So, without further ado, on with the story.
End Sidebar

As I was saying, I was left speechless when he told me this. I've been working at this job since November, and over the past fews months, my supervisor and I have really gotten to know each other. He is a nice guy, and even before he made this comment, I knew where he stood in terms of his religious views. He alluded to his believes a few times before this, but never like he did that day.

Now, I have no problem being told that I lead a Christian lifestyle. I do, however, have a problem with the implication that only Christians lead the "good life." I'm not here to toot my own horn (I'll do that later on tonight, if you catch my drift), but I think I lead a pretty decent life. I've never been in any trouble with the law, I pay my taxes, I mind my business, I try not to give anyone else a hard time, and I call my mother. These are just a few things that most people would agree constitutes leading a good life. My problem, however, still remains. Why do people associate leading the "good life" with Christianity?

Why does Christanity have a stranglehold on morality? Well, I guess you can look no further than death row itself. Yeah, all those people on death row? They are all atheists, every single one of them. No Christians on death row. Nope. None at all (/end sarcasm). Oh, so I guess I was mistaken! Atheists don't even make up the majority of those on death row. In fact, there probably aren't many atheists on death row. The vast majority of those on death row are Christians. Amazing, huh?! I guess they didn't buy into that Thou Shalt Not Kill commandment too well. As if it wasn't already a fucking given not to kill anyone. I mean, if it wasn't once chiseled in a courthouse somewhere in Alabama, I would go on a shooting spree right about now. If you don't believe in anything else, believe that.

Okay, enough with the sarcasm. I'll stop now. I would like to be serious for justa moment. I realize that most Christians aren't cold blooded killers. You might have assumed after reading the above, but I don't think that. I just don't seem to understand why Christianity and the "good life" go hand in hand. I'll probably never understand it, but damn it, I'm going to try. If I can understand it, maybe I can deal with it better.

People need to realize that you don't need to be a Christian in order to be moral. If that's your stance now, then congratulations. You're a-okay in my book, not that that should mean anything to you. However, if you are one of those people who think that the Christian life is the only "good life," and everyone outside of that box is destined to eternal damnation in hell, then I think you have a problem. You may not think that you have a problem, and that is fine. This is where I differ from people with that mindset. I want you to lead your life however you see fit. If you want to have that mindset, then fine. Just please, let other people lead their life how they see fit. Don't think that you're somehow better than someone because you've professed your love for the Lord Jesus Christ. You're no better than me, and I'm no better than you. That's just the way it is, and that's how it should be.

Wow, what a tangent I just went off on. Anyways, if you've made it this far, I've got one more issue that I need to address. Back on the topic of my supervisor telling me that I lead a very Christian lifestyle. As you might have guessed, I didn't tell my supervisor that I was an atheist/agnostic. I don't know why I didn't, but maybe I should have. The reason I say that is this. A few days after he made the comment, he gave me a book to read. You might have heard of this book. It's called The Purpose Driven Life. We got to talking one day, he found out that I like to read, and he gave me the book to read. So now, I feel compelled to read it because I don't want to be a dick about it. Although, on the same token, I really don't want to read the book. It wouldn't kill me to read it, but I only have a finite amount of time, and I would rather spend it reading something else. So, I ask you, the reader, what do you think I should do? Should I just bite the bullet and read the book? Should I get a Cliff's Notes of it somewhere online? Should I just return it to him and tell him I didn't read it? Should I tell him to go have sex with Jesus Christ, you faggot? What do you think I should do?

I leave you with a quote from Mark Twain:

"April 1st: This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three-hundred and sixty-four."