Introduction and explanation

Hello all and welcome to my new blog. I am very new at this and will make many, many mistakes along the way. I am honored that anyone at all besides myself is taking the time to read this, thank you.

One of the first things I want to address is the name of this blog; it is in response to and a satire of the bumper stickers I have seen proclaiming “real men love jesus.” As an avowed atheist, I would obviously disagree with such a statement. My initial response was ‘real men love reason.’ Ha, very clever I thought to myself, but am I really that caught up in what makes a ‘real man?’
Since I consider myself enlightened, I don’t really concern myself if things I like are manly or not. I like some traditionally manly things; a thick medium-rare steak, quality beer, American football, fast cars etc. I also like some less manly things; fruity drinks, mysteries with cats in them and fuzzy slippers. So I don’t care much if I am perceived as being a real man or not, but I do try to be smart. If any self identified real men infer something from the comparison, such is their right.

Secondly, I realize the modern politically correct title of my site would be ‘smart people love reason.’ Please don’t misunderstand, I think women are in every way the intellectual equals of men, and are just as capable of loving reason. But if I replaced men with people then the only word I have in common with my object of satire is love. While the Beatles advised that love is all you need, I wanted to keep more reference to the original. So I apologize if any women feel slighted or left out, I truly do value your opinions and feedback about this blog.

Lastly I am also aware that love might be inappropriate, especially from a purely logical point of view. What I mean is one can see the obvious value and merit of reason especially in comparison to dogma or superstition, but that doesn’t mean one loves it. From a quasi-Vulcan point of view, loving reason is illogical. However ‘smart persons realize the merit of reason’ doesn’t have the same appeal.
So exclusionary or illogical as it might be, the blog will remain titles “smart men love reason” perhaps with the subtitle ‘smart men love smart women too’ but then I might alienate the gay community, with whom I have no quarrel at all.

Now that that’s out of the way, what exactly is this blog about? Well, its goal is to be about reason, especially in response and contrast to religion .Its meant to be a place where I can share my ideas about free-thinking, atheism and how they fit into an alarmingly religious 21st century America. I make no secret of my general disdain and rejection of religion, and while I lack the education and fame of those such as Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris, I think I have some relevant ideas and observations to contribute. If this gets any readers, I look forward to reading what you think about my postings.

I will have tangents. Atheism and related subjects does not fill my entire life. I love food, and there will be mentions of cooking and restaurants and food in general here. I am also an avid board game collector and player and that topic will invariably come up also. But I will try to keep the main thrust of this blog about atheism and related world views.

As a final thought, I will also be re-reading the bible, probably in a fitful manner as I begin my blogging journey. If I come across any particularly noxious passages that haven’t gotten much airplay (unlike say the tale of Lot who is the most just man in Sodom because instead of letting the raving mob rape his angel guests, he offers his virginal daughters instead. Terrific example of biblical ‘morality’ but has been referenced in many works) I’ll be sure to mention them here and my reactions and thoughts about them. I’ve probably babbled on long enough for this first entry. See you in a few days.