Good poem about us.

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anbuend,

I have to agree with you. It sounds too much like the New Age concept of indigo and crystal children. I don't believe that we are completely hopeless, but I also don't believe we are more "special" than anyone else. The word "special" has been way overused. When you hear "special" these days, you know it's used to refer to people who don't fit the narrow definition of "normal" as used in the psychiatric profession. They are determined early (sometimes as young as four, providing they don't have a condition, such as Down syndrome, which is evident at birth) to be "out of the box" and are considered "inferior." The educational system and mental health professions do a lot to destroy the self-confidence of children and cause heartache to the parents.

The word "special" was not in the original and the idea that individual variation is immensely significant goes back centuries and cannot be considered "new age." I think it's a question of how you choose to look at things, not a falsifiable hypothesis.

Scarab beetles could be contemptuously dismissed as "dung beetles" but they play a vital role in ecosystems. I can recognize this and also recognize the beauty of their metallic colors shimmering in the sunlight as they perform their strange labors. That doesn't mean I believe there's a giant beetle rolling the sun across the sky.

I really wish that you hadn't removed those lines from the poem. Not because I'm religious, I'm not, but because I don't think any work of art should be altered just because a few people find it offensive.
I did clink the link to read the entire poem and I really don't see what the big deal is. There is nothing about unbelievers going to hell or demanding that the government "restore this nation to its Christian roots," just an expression of personal belief. Disagree with that belief if you wish, but don't be upset that others have it, as long as they don't want to force it on you.

I agree here, people are MUCH too offended by things these days, or to be more correct, instead of just noticing that they have an aversion to something personally, they want to take the 'privilege' of it away from others too and that is a form of dictatorship.

The God line didn't offend me, I just thought it was an unnecessary direction that's all.

Yeah I just find it irritating, I never told anyone they had no right to say it.

What was the "god part"? It was edited out by the time I read it....

It does sound a lot like me as a kid and probably something my mohter would clip out and send to me... but I do agree it oversimplifies a bit.

On reflection, I think my last remark here was maybe a little careless and it wasn't aimed at anyone in particular on or offline, just an observation, it is an extension of what archduke said rather than relevant to the topic.

Funny that I did a similar poem with a god part too (before I became an atheist)...the thing is that I became atheist very gradually.


My life ‎


I was all cursed since my birth ‎
I didn’t belong to this earth‎
I looked around sad with my health
A child stayed alone in the quiet heath
and my only cure is just a myth.

I looked around and I had a sigh ‎
Sad, alone and depressed am I ‎
I asked my God who lies in the high ‎
Requesting death to be so nigh‎
No reply and I thought he 's a lie.‎

Alone in my room where I rest ‎
Looked into my mind, my own pest ‎
There‘s no escape I tried my best
But In heart inside the bony chest ‎
A slim hope is setting in the nest.‎

I was judged to not be a thing ‎
Labeled to live in a giant ring ‎
The shouts on me sound like a ping
I was described as an empty ding
That has nothing for the world to bring. ‎

With the help of my nurse of light
My mother came to put me tight ‎
So I can live the rest of my life right
And regain faith in the only might ‎
who provided me a new sight.‎

[before atheism]
To all the ones with the same case ‎
Do not ever quit the precious mace ‎
The mace of faith, be your ace ‎
Struggle in the world face to face‎
And faith in God is the only brace.
[/before atheism]


After I became atheist I changed the last part to this:

To all the ones with the same case ‎
Do not ever quit the precious mace ‎
The mace of will, be your ace ‎
Struggle in the world face to face‎
And faith in yourself is the only brace.



Now it's much better!! I realized later that It's the faith in myself that made me determined and not the faith in a fictive floating being!

Indeed, though I think that is supposed to be the message of some religions when you start thinking about it, it just doesn't sound like it.

The poem seems a little off, aesthetically, with the line omitted. When I first read it, I didn't realize something had been deleted, and I thought, "Why is this line sitting by itself, with no line to rhyme with it? That's weird." Then I read further, and I thought, "Oh."

Also, I can think of perfectly logical reasons for God to want to create people with Asperger's syndrome. He could be thinking, "This one could invent something awesome that will improve life for many people." "This one's complete and total honesty will be a breath of fresh air in world full of liars." "This one's technology skills will help this company, which will grow more powerful, and in turn, hire many other people who need jobs.." "This one's amazing talents will benefit this organization that will help many needy children." "This one will blow the whistle on the corruption in this company run by evil men." "This one will have to overcome many difficulties, but he will bring out the best in several other people who normally would not have found it in themselves to be so kind and patient and giving." "This one will be fascinated by penguins. Penguins are cool. I thought I did a good job on the penguins." I mean to ask God about these things someday.

See here: http://www.starfishadvocacy.org/?q=node/3678

SilverProteus and anbuend, I appreciate you clarifying your positions. Maybe DanteRF's removal of of it was an overreaction to the complaints. I still don't see what it is about the line that is disagreeable. I mean, I wouldn't care if instead of "God", it said "Zeus", and I certainly don't believe in Zeus!