GODLESS WEDNESDAY: I Married An Atheist!

For today's edition of Godless Wednesday I point you to an amazingly well-written blog post about atheism which just so happens to have been written by my husband, at his blog sentientmeat.net. So, yes, I married an atheist!

Here's an excerpt from "Atheists Do Not Have Faith":

Atheist. I don’t believe in god. Believe is a verb, and I don’t do that verb with most people’s concept of God. Or if you like, belief is a kind of confidence, a sort of mental wager or opinion about some infinite being who typically:

• Answers prayers
• Demands tribute or worship
• Exacts vengeance or judgment
• New! Favors one religion over others, or over no religion

I say no to this wager. I think it’s a bad idea. I refuse it, I negate it. I withhold belief in it. I abstain from believing in god, praying to Him, or living my life in perpetual fear of His judgment. This abstention is enough to call myself an atheist. I don’t need faithin His nonexistence. That’s silly.

I’m not sure I’m right, but I’m pretty sure. I’ve evaluated all the reasons people give for believing in God—I believed in God for 20+ years, so you may be sure my evaluation was very thorough. I’ve had many, many spiritual experiences, but I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t need God to explain these. Neuroscience, physics and other disciplines are enough. Science doesn’t have all the answers, but God doesn’t offer any better ones. If not science itself, then the assumptions behindscience are enough for me to frame all the stories I ever care to invest in with that wager called belief.

You should really read the entire piece.

US OPEN 2011: DAY 6 Recap (What I Saw)

Italian tennis player Fabio Fognini, practicing shirtless on
the outer courts (photo credit: Ron Buckmire)

So, yes I was at the US Open yesterday. I had a grounds pass, so I was just walking around when I saw this incredibly hot guy, hitting balls, shirtless. Who did it turn out to be? None other than Italian stallion Fabio Fognini, who we last saw withdrawing from a quarterfinal match with Novak Djokovic at this year's french Open (and some say giving the Serbian 5 days off so that he then lost his first match of the year to Roger Federer).

Anyway, it was way out on Court 10 with some unknown female junior practicing with her coach on Court 9 next door. Fabio was hitting balls with his coach and playing some points with his doubles partner, Simone Bolelli (who is also gorgeous, but sadly was not shirtless). I was literally less than 10 feet from the players. The above picture was taken seconds before Fognini threw his racket into his bag and complained to his coach about his playing. There was quite a crowd around but almost nobody knew who the players were, except that they were speaking Italian. I recognized Fognini immediately and later figured out it was Bolelli he was hitting with. Leaving the court dazed, I literally walked into 80-year-old(?) Nick Bolleteri (watch where ya going, kid!) as he dashed off to another press interview I guess.

Oh, yeah what about the tennis?

I don't have more money than sense, so I didn't see the Serena Williams - Victoria Azarenka match in Ashe stadium, but you could literally hear it all over the grounds. Ashe is so big so that unless you are willing to spend 3 figures, you are better off watching the match on television. Bizarrely, the big screens around the grounds were mostly showing Mardy Fish's blase' dismissal of South African beanstalk Kevin Anderson in 3 sets. There was a huge line to get into Grand Stand to see the 3rd round match between Juan Monaco and Tommy Haas. Why, you ask? Because next on that court was Fernando Verdasco playing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and there are no assigned seats. First come, first served! About 5 thousand people sat patiently through Haas hitting some 71 unforced errors to lose to Roger Federer's next victim in order to experience the magic of Tsonga-Verdasco. Sadly, we didn't get to witness repeat magic of last year's incredible Verdasco-Ferrer match (with one of the greatest match points of all time). This time, Tsonga was just too good for 'Nando on the day. The Frenchman was routinely hitting serves into the 130s at will and showing incredible defensive skills. Still even with a scoreline of 6-3 7-5 6-4 it was two hours that were well worth the price of admission. I was in the 2nd courtside row, close enough to Tsonga I could see what color underwear he was wearing (brightly colored boxers). It was quite a treat to see two once and future Top 10 player in such a small stadium. I know there's a lot of hype about Mardy, but I suspect there's going to be another Federer-Tsonga grand slam quarterfinal. Surely he can't beat the Swiss great three times in a row?