[MD] new blog

[Steve Peterson]

Hi Ian, Marsha,

> Welcome to the blogoshpere Leela.
> That's pretty much the line I take too, so I'd have no problem linking
> or helping anyway I can.
> The anonymity can't last once discussion gets "serious", but it's good
> to have the anonyous handle whilst you're in blogging mode.
> Good luck - the one eye and the pony-tail suit you ;-)

Thanks for your support, Ian. I'm still not sure about using an alias, 
but there are a lot of wackos out there on the internet for whom this 
is more than just a touchy subject. Let me know if you ever would like 
to contribute an article. I don't want it to be MY blog, just a blog 
about the things that I would like to be having conversations about.

Marsha, I was thinking of you when I posted here about my blog. I 
thought it may be a project that you could help with or at least be 
interested in--especially when I wrote in my intro:

"If atheists hope to be convincing to believers, we must espouse a 
philosophy of hope for a better future that is also intellectually 
honest. We must present a better option to theism than nihilistic 
philosophical materialism. We have to learn to tell better stories 
about the possibilities for human flourishing, love, morality, and hope 
than the theists do but with the constraint that our stories must be 
true. And I believe that the philosophy that is needed to communicate 
that vision in America where we are uniquely religious in the developed 
world is the uniquely American philosophical tradition of pragmatism."

What do you think? Do you think you can tell a good story of hope for a 
better future that doesn't include lies about virgin births and 
resurrections?

Clearly, the dominant SOM culture has left Americans with a false 
choice between romantic "religious bamboozlement" and classical 
"yeastless factuality" and materialism. Pirsig offers a way of keeping 
our heads and our hearts that I hope to be able to communicate in my 
blog.

Regards,
Steve

atheistichope.blogspot.com