Update On Life And My New Band!

Wow, I haven’t updated in awhile. Is anyone still reading this? Leave a comment if you are. I’ll try and update at least once a week from now on, but that means that not all of my posts will be about atheism.

I’ve been busy lately. It’s the end of the first quarter, and I’ve had a lot of work as of late. I also suck at math. I’m really nervous about the benchmark, a test that’s given every quarter. It counts for 5% of my final grade. I have an 85 (a B) right now, but the benchmark can drop me down to a C. I also need to study for PSATs (preliminary standard admission test) because I’ll need to take it so I can go to a magnet high school. I’m also studying for the ACLS (advanced cardiac life support), which is substantially harder, and also for the magnet, since it’ll look really good on my application for South Cobb, a medical magnet.

Anyway, that’s boring. I have good news! If you didn’t guess by the title, I am now the lead singer and guitarist in a band! We don’t have a name yet, but if you want to come out to the Lindley school talent show (to those in Atlanta) and see us, then feel welcome to do so.

Anyhoozer, I have some crappy news, too. Three years ago, I told one of my “best friends” that I was an atheist. Turns out that she’s the type who can’t shut up for five seconds. Somehow, on the bus, when I was listening to music, there was a discussion about religion. My “friend” decided to tell everyone that I was an atheist. Unfortunately, another girl, Renee, is the type who takes everything way too far, and they decided to have in “intervention” the next day. My “friend”, who had previously been accepting, Renee, and another girl decided to “talk to” (harass) me about my lack of religion. When someone asked if “atheism” meant worshipping the devil, my denial seemed to only strengthen that accusation in their eyes. They wouldn’t leave me alone, calling me a satanist or hateful or a horrible person. I hate these people. I’ve had to deal with this since I started school, almost eleven years, and I’m getting sick of it. I know I’ll have to deal with it for the rest of my life.

On a lighter note, check out my awesome sauce outfit I get to wear for the concert ^_^:

I’m Back! Reviews of Rozen Maiden and Nanoha

Hi, anyone who is still reading my blog. I’m sorry for the lack of updates recently. To be honest, I forgot I even had a blog. I didn’t actually go anywhere, though. I stayed at home for the whole of spring break, except for when I went to CNN with my dad.

I didn’t get to go to the convention. Did anyone here go? How was it? I love conventions, so I wish I could have gone.

Speaking of which, the next anime con isn’t until August. I have a costume to finish! I haven’t even started! >.< I’m going as Suzumiya Haruhi (so original! :D) and I’m making the sailor top myself. Well, my grandma’s helping me. I’ve never cosplayed before. I bet it’ll be fun! ^_^ I’ll post pictures.

I haven’t talked about anything related to anime yet, have I? We’ll have to fix that :).

There are some new series I’ve gotten in to.
I never thought I’d watch Rozen Maiden, mostly because it’s by Shugo Chara authors Peach-Pit, but I’m on episode ten and it’s awesome. ALI PROJECT does all the openings for all three seasons and the background music is great, too. The stylization in the openings fits the music and lyrics perfectly and it’s not overdone. The art, while traditional Peach-Pit style, works well in the series, especially for Shinku. However, the main male protagonist is very bland, much like any other anime boy in any other series.

Overall, I give it a 7.5/10.

I also used to avoid anything related to Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha. I always thought it was a hentai XD. Yes, it is magical girl, and that’s one reason I avoided it. However, it’s not the traditional Sailor Moon-style magical girl, it’s more like Negima-pactio-style magical girl. Though the art style itself is bland and forgettable, the execution is great. Camera angles, while not as imaginative as, say, Negima!? , flow well and work with both dialogue and music extraordinarily well. The openings for all three seasons are sung by Mizuki Nana, whom I absolutely love. The battles are well-paced and detailed, a trait that many magical girl and moe series don’t have. The series also covers a wide variety of genres including sci-fi, military drama, shounen (:O), moe, comedy, onsen (it’s like a genre in and of itself), romance, and, of course, magical girl and action.

Overall, I give at an 8/10.

New Look!

So, what does everyone think of the new banner and theme? Like it, hate it?

Rant: The Destructive Power of Faith

I know I haven’t been posting lately, and I apologize for that. But this one will be pretty long. Before I get started on this one, I want to say that a new banner is coming. It’ll probably on the site tomorrow or Sunday. I’m going to start it right after I finish this post. By the way, I think I’m going to keep the new signature name.

Oh, and this post WILL have swearing in it, so don’t let the wee lil’ tots read it. Now, back on point:

Being what I call a “mini-atheist,” I’ve come across many examples of children being made into fundamentalists at shockingly young ages – as young as four or five years old. Now, I don’t know as much about the inner workings of the religious mind since I was raised without one, and, to be frank, I don’t want to know what goes on inside of the minds of people who worship a deity who says to love everyone equally and turn around and say “go to hell,” or even “fuck you” to people who aren’t just like them. Honestly, they’re pretty bitchy for people who supposedly form their basic thought patterns on the teachings of “loving thy neighbour.” What happened to “thou shalt not steal” or practicing religion in private? I guess it went in the same place that “kill your kids if you think God told you to,” and “stone your wife.” Anyone living in the south (also know as the “Bible Belt”) will tell you the same; just about every argument you’ll hear from the fundies down here it “how was mankind created without Adam and Eve?” and “you’re going to Hell if you don’t believe this 2000-year-old book with multiple contradictions and things that wouldn’t be thought of as alright in today’s society.”

But the Jesus bit, you know, that’s good. You know, the love and peace and acceptance bit? That bit’s fine, just not the stuff about killing. The only thing I can think of that has more contradictions than the religion itself is the people who follow it. The ones who have stalked me on the phone for the sake of calling me an un-American bastard. The ones who made me say “fuck off” for the first time ever, the ones who made me cry in public for the first time in a decade. Yes, these are the people whose basic principles are love, peace, and loving your fellow man. When you look at it like that, it’s shocking, isn’t it? The detachment from reality is just the beginning; they’re detached from their own, imaginary “reality.” 

Some people will tell me to stop bitching and get to trying to fix the problem. The thing is that the problem isn’t willing to listen long enough to hear the solution. You see, I’m one of the people who hates retrospect because I’m kind of stupid and emotional in spur-of-the-moment acts and the only other atheist I know who’s my age doesn’t really think it’s that important. I think that I, unlike many of my kind, have been “blessed” (pun intended) with relatively accepting and kind colleagues and coworkers. I’ve always found it astounding that no one has ever said anything about me reading Hell Girl and saying “Oh, my god!” rather than “Oh, my gosh!” A couple preaching teachers, some public humiliation, and that’s really it. But I know that it’s much worse for other people. In the working world, people can be rejected from applying for a job or fired for being atheist. I know it could be much worse, and I’m glad it isn’t. You know what’s going on in Texas, with that group whose name I can’t be bothered to remember trying to put creationism in the textbooks? If that ever gets passed, I’m going to call in sick and protest with whoever else is protesting. One day out of school is worth what happens in the rest of them. 

You know, if by some massive stretch of the imagination the Christians are right about something, we won’t even need the Second Coming. I think that, by that time, religion and the greed and hatred produced by it will have cause us to self-destruct. We’ll have already destroyed ourselves from the inside.

 

-Chiu-chan

Merry “X”-mas! (Free Pactio Card Inside! :D)

Merry “X”-mas to all of you! It would seem that all of my holiday posts are late…I have made a special X-mas Pactio card for everyone to enjoy while throwing out the uneaten ham.

Latin Translation

Rubor & Viride: Red & Green

Tonus: Colour

Astralitas: Star Affiliation

Jupiter: Jupiter

XII/XXV: 12/25

Charta Atheos: Atheist Card

Anyone who actually knows Latin, please inform me of any mistakes I made anywhere. Thank you and I hope you all had a happy holiday season. ^_^

- The Geeky Admin

Happy Winter Solstice!

Happy winter solstice, everybody. Yes, I’m aware that I’m late by two days, but I was busy with vacation things like sleeping and eating peppermint sticks. This is a short post, but I just woke up and I can’t really think of anything good to say, so I’ll just leave it here.

Happy Winter Solstice!

 

-The Geeky Admin

Is Anyone Going to the Atheist Con in April?

In the September issue of American Atheists, there was an ad for the convention in April. It’s kind of early, but is anyone here going? I might be going with my parents and a few friends of mine, but I’m not sure if I can make it.

I don’t have much convention experience (only been to three), so I was hoping to meet up with someone. I’m sure Ed’s going. Well, I think he is, anyway. In any case, if anyone’s going, leave a comment or email me at istanblul1@mac.com. Thanks in advance and I hope to see some of you there.

Hello, All

Hi to whoever bothered to look at this page. I am Haley Fant, also known as the Otaku Atheist or The Geeky Admin or just “hey, you!”. I’m a student attending secondary school in the southern United States. Georgia, to be exact.

Some of you may be my friends from the Atlanta Freethought Society. Some of you may be friends from school. Some might even by a casual reader with no association to me. It doesn’t matter, I welcome everyone.

Now, anyone who knows me will know that I am a rabid otaku. Keep in mind that a fair amount (half, maybe) of posts on this site will be anime/manga-related. And if you’re just a religious troll looking for an atheist to preach to, I will block you without hesitation and proceed to Asuna-punch you. However, if you’re a religious or spiritual person who is starting to doubt their beliefs, you’re very welcome here.

I’m just a novice blogger, but I hope that I can gain experience soon! Thank you for reading and more will be added to the site soon.

-The Geeky Admin

To Alabama I Go! (And the Story of My Loser Uncle)

On the first of January, I’ll be packing my bags to visit my grandparents in Foley, Alabama. The good news: I get presents and family time. The bad news: my forty-two-year-old uncle is still living with his parents.

Names have been changed to protect the lazy.

My uncle, “Bob,” didn’t go to college. He turned to his parents to help him and ended up staying with them for six years. My parents and I thought he’d finally moved out for good when he found a lesbian couple to live with. But, as it turns out, the couple broke up. Bob lived with one half of the couple until they were too far behind on their rent and were kicked out of their small apartment. And thus, Bob is back with his parents and my mom and I have chosen to sleep in a hotel room for the trip.

I’m also unsure of what my grandparents think my religious beliefs are. My mom told me that they didn’t know I’m atheist, so I guess they think I’m Christian. It worries me that, if they pray or something at the dinner table, I’ll have to tell them I’m atheist and I’m not sure what they’ll think. I mean, they’re Republicans, after all, and that, on top of being Christians, doesn’t make for a very tolerant person.

I’m not sure I can stand a whole week without my manga archive and Photoshop on my computer. Maybe I’ll just read blogs the entire time, I’m not completely sure what to do. Any suggestions?

In any case, I’ll still be posting while I’m gone. I just wanted to let you guys know that posting will be rather slow while I’m there.

-The Geeky Admin

On the Subject of Holidays…

So, everyone, I want to know what you guys celebrate this time of year. Christmas, sans praying and church-going? The winter solstice? Family time? Nothing?

I personally celebrate Christmas (or “X-mas,” as I prefer). I am often asked by Christians how I, being atheist, could possibly celebrate Christmas. My reply is usually something like “It’s easy enough. I just stay home and don’t pray.” For my family and I, it’s more about family bonding and gift-giving than anything else. And, in reality, it’s not hard for an atheist to celebrate “X”-mas. Just take out the religious rituals and you’ve got yourself a good excuse for family time, vacation and getting free stuff.

Really, what’s better than that?

-The Geeky Admin