Author: shauny

How shall I respond if you ask me,
What are you?
Do you believe in God?
If not, What do you believe in?
Don’t you believe in anything?
Shall I make a list and carry it around
Lest you judge me for not having any beliefs?
“Judge not, that ye be not judged”
I wonder who said that?
Oh yeah, It was the same guy who judged
Those who didn’t like his preaching and said:
“Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers,
How can ye escape the damnation of hell.”
How civilized. How tolerant.
What a gentleman.
I shall respond civilized.
I shall respond with tolerance.
I shall rise above the fear, which controls you,
The fear, which holds you prisoner and,
I shall proudly say:
I am a Humanist, a Free Thinker
A Naturalist, a Skeptic
A Secularist, a Scientist at heart,
An Agnostic, a Nontheist
A Rationalist, an Empiricist, and a Positivist.
And Last I am an Atheist.
“For I am a destroyer of Gods
In a world of Demons,
A giver of hope to those who know not,
For I am Human,
And Humane is what I long to be”.
I believe in life before death.
I believe this is the only life we will ever have.
I believe we can do in life what we could never do in death.
I believe in love, compassion, justice, equality,
Forgiveness, and freedom for all.
Did I mention I believe in social, economic, and racial equality?
I believe in your right to believe, and say what you wish.
I believe in not saying that which will cause
Physical and mental suffering to others.
I believe that no human is collateral when seeking justice.
I believe that those in power should be
Held accountable for the deliberate deaths of the innocent.
No life is expendable, No life at all.
I believe war is a crime if it can be avoided.
I believe the innocent should be defended
From their oppressors through shared international law.
Did I say I believe in justice?
I believe I don’t know the answers, but neither do you.
Most of all I believe in hope,
That someday humankind can live in peace.
And accept his place within nature
And put aside his selfish needs
For those who suffer,
For those that are disabled
For those with no voice,
For those less fortunate
And for all the creatures that can co-exist with us.
I’ve contemplated the big picture since I was a child,
And know in my heart
There is no God,
Which by definition makes me an Atheist,
But as you can see,
I’m a whole lot more!

Written by David Yanez

Binker—what I call him—is a secret of my own,
And Binker is the reason why I never feel alone.
Playing in the nursery, sitting on the stair,
Whatever I am busy at, Binker will be there.

Oh, Daddy is clever, he’s a clever sort of man,
And Mummy is the best since the world began,
And Nanny is Nanny, and I call her Nan
But they can’t See Binker.

Binker’s always talking, ’cos I’m teaching him to speak
He sometimes likes to do it in a funny sort of squeak,
And he sometimes likes to do it in a hoodling sort of roar…
And I have to do it for him ’cos his throat is rather sore.

Oh, Daddy is clever, he’s a clever sort of man,
And Mummy knows all that anybody can,
And Nanny is Nanny, and I call her Nan
But they don’t Know Binker.

Binker’s brave as lions when we’re running in the park;
Binker’s brave as tigers when we’re lying in the dark;
Binker’s brave as elephants. He never, never cries…
Except (like other people) when the soap gets in his eyes.

Oh, Daddy is Daddy, he’s a Daddy sort of man,
And Mummy is as Mummy as anybody can,
And Nanny is Nanny, and I call her Nan…
But they’re not Like Binker.

Binker isn’t greedy, but he does like things to eat,
So I have to say to people when they’re giving me a sweet,
“Oh, Binker wants a chocolate, so could you give me two?”
And then I eat it for him, ’cos his teeth are rather new.

Well, I’m very fond of Daddy, but he hasn’t time to play,
And I’m very fond of Mummy, but she sometimes goes away,
And I’m often cross with Nanny when she wants to brush my hair…

But Binker’s always Binker, and is certain to be there.

A. A. MILNE, Now We Are Six