About

Well, I've made the plunge....I've started my own Blog.

Why you might ask?  Well, most of you probably don't care, but if you're reading this page you might actually be interested, so indulge me while I try to explain myself.

I guess it all started when I began reading about a few things happening here in Texas with religious fundamentalists working to impose their dogma upon the rest of us.  Before you shut down and stop reading, keep in mind, I'm not an atheist.  I agree with the concept of religious pluralism as guaranteed in our constitution.  I completely agree that everyone should be free to believe what they want, as long as they don't expect other to go along with them or force their views on anyone else.  That's where I draw the line.  Ok, now back to the commentary.  As I began to dig a bit deeper, I noticed that it wasn't just here in Texas, but these sorts of things were popping up everywhere.  What really woke me up were the happenings in Kansas with their re-writing of the school science standards, followed by the events in Dover, PA that eventually lead to the big trial there.

Like most people I really didn't pay much attention to these kinds of things...it just wasn't on my radar.  But now that I have a daughter who attends public school here in Texas, I decided I needed to begin paying more attention and as I looked deeper, I became very concerned.

I'm a big fan of science and the idea of trying to understand the natural world and I can completely reconcile science and religion.  To me they are separate and distinct.  What I find exciting about science is when you read or see something recently discovered about the universe in which we live and know that this is a new piece of the puzzel that previous generations did not understand or had no idea was even out there.  To know that we live in a time when we can understand so much and that knowledge keeps expanding at the pace that it does is incredible to me.  I don't want to see that pursuit hindered in any way.

My other reasons for starting a blog are more for my own development.  First, it helps me to organize my thoughts on various topics I'm posting about and makes me think through my arguments more thoroughly and by posting these things it's actually somewhat cathartic.  Second, it's a way for me to try to improve my writing skills.  I've always thought I was a pretty good writer, but once you actually sit down and try to do it on a regular basis, you find out it's actually pretty tough especially if you want to make it interesting to someone else.

So there you go.  That's the highlights about why I started this blog.  I will be posting on other things than the issues around science and religion.  I do actually have some hobbies, like home theater equiment, movies and such.  I'm not sure anyone will read this stuff, but at least I can get things off my chest.  If anyone does read it, I hope you enjoy it.

Initially written:  5-23-2007
Updated on:  5-15-2008