Tonight I am making Chris one of his favorite meals. It is a recipe inspired from his favorite Thai restaurant in San Jose: Krung Thai

Red Curry Chicken

2 cans unsweetened coconut milk
1 or 2 tbs red curry paste
1lb chicken breasts cut in cubes
2or 3 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs sugar
2 cans bamboo shoots or 1lb green beans
1/2 c. fresh sweet basil
3 Thai chilies cut into strips

Pour half of coconut milk into saucepan. Add curry paste and mash and stir until blended. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and cook until coconut milk becomes oily. Add the rest of the coconut milk and cook for 30 minutes. Add chicken and bamboo shoots and cook for 15-20 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Stir in fish sauce and sugar. Add Basil and hot peppers. Stir. Serve with steamed rice. (take the peppers out before eating they are super hot!)

Chewy got his collar off and he is feeling so much better! He is running around and chewing on everything. We are so glad to have our doggie back! Lily has been having a great time playing with him.

Lily has been doing so many new things lately. She talks a lot…  all the time. She likes to play this game where she names off everyone that she knows while pointing at each person. She’ll say momma, daddy, grandma, Gracie… and so on. Then she would point to herself and say “Lily”. Lately she has been yelling, “No, I not Lily!!” when I call her Lily.  I am beginning to think that she doesn’t like her name.

She has developed an aversion towards the potty. We bought her a potty chair a couple months ago and she loved it. She carried it around the house and sat on it while reading books. She even pretended to pee in it. She’d sit on it and go, “sssssss”. I never pressured her to use it. I would ask if she wanted to and if she said no I didn’t press the issue. Suddenly she seems to hate the potty. She will not sit on it under any circumstances. She even hates it when other people use the bathroom. She will stand there and yell and cry, “Nooooo potty!!!” She has even tried to push on my legs to get me off of the toilet. I guess she is not ready to get rid of the diapers yet.

My husband was not as hopefuls as I. We were very unfamiliar with the UU church’s philosophy and we were not sure how open it really was. As atheists, we have experienced bigotry and disdain, even from our own families. My husband even prepared for church by writing out passages from the bible that condone and even demand things that are not very moral by today’s standards, just in case. We just hoped that there would be were people who accepted us and believed that we could be moral people without religion.

The sermon was more than I had hoped for. I am fascinated by psychology, and how the brain works. I was thrilled that the speaker used psychological studies to back up her hypothesis that atheists are indeed moral. I have studied Kohlberg’s theory of moral development numerous times throughout my education, but this was the first time I ever thought about it in a purely religious context. It was so eye opening! I sat there in my chair and I couldn’t help but to get teary eyed, knowing that there are other people out there that accept atheism, even in a church.

The congregation was so welcoming and friendly too. We really felt welcomed, even with our noisy toddler! I am not sure if we will be regular church goers at this point. I felt a bit uncomfortable with some of the more “churchy” aspects like the hymn singing and offerings. The population of the church was older too. Lily was the only young child there. I was reassured that more kids are members, but in the summer attendance slows down. It was Memorial Day weekend so many people were out of town. We will definitely be keeping an eye on the upcoming services page.

Chewy is the first male dog i have had, and he was already doing those things that males do. Lily has this little soft, pink, baby doll that he was particularly attracted to. He kept, uhhh, “hugging” the dolly. He even bedded down with her a few times. Now that he is sans-balls, he just looks at the doll nonchalantly, like their torrid love affair never existed. He seems painfully unaware of what was done to him.  The day we brought him home, he was running around and playing before bed (against the vet’s orders).  The thing that does seem to bother him is the 4 doses of meds a day and the Elizabethan collar. He has to wear it for two weeks! It is so funny to see him running around with this huge cone around his face.  And the hugging has seemed to stop, at least for now.

My sweet doggie got me thinking about something a bit more sinister: the idea of castrating sex offenders who do horrible things to children. Just as Chewy so quickly lost all since of sexual desire he had toward Lily’s dolly, a pedophile could lose his desire to harm children (I say “he” because most child molesters are male, and I don’t know if there is an equivalent driving force for women who do these things). I am not advocating this, because, honestly I have not thought it through at all. I am not even sure if this would curb all of those tendencies in people who sexually harm children. It’s barbaric, sure, but so is the death penalty. Maybe it could be an elective procedure for men who are drawn to children this way, who don’t want to be?

I let her sleep in late, until 9:00 a.m. so we were a little off schedule. But, I am actually pretty happy with the way things have gone so far today. After we got up, I managed to do all of my morning chores and get Lily ready to go for a walk. I walked for 30 minutes, then Lily and I played outside until 11:00 a.m. Then, we came inside and I cleaned the lizard tanks, straightened up the house, and cleaned the upstairs bathroom. We ate lunch (Lily had a turkey dog and a banana. I had a salad with tomatoes, mushrooms, broccoli and diced ham) Then, I cleaned the kitchen and did some sit-ups and stretches. Now Lily is napping and I have some free time to play on the computer. All in all, it seems to be working well.

I have decided to give up soda (again). Hopefully, I can stick with it this time. It is a huge vice for me, with its sugary, carbonated goodness. When Lily wakes up we will do snack (peanut butter crackers and string cheese). For the art project today we are going to draw with chalk on black construction paper. Then we will play outside for while, until I need to come in to get dinner started. Lily has not watched any tv today. Limiting her tv time was really my main motivation for writing the list.

I am off now to find some more art activities that can be done with a 20 month old.

8:00-9:00: Mom: Make bed, get dressed, feed dog, make breakfast, eat, clean up kitchen Lily: eat, free play

9:00-9:30: Get dressed and dress Lily

9:30- 10:15: Go for a walk

10:15-11:00: Mom: give Lily snack, Clean up outside, water plants Lily: snack, free play outside with Chewy

11:00-12:00: Mom: Indoor chores Lily: Free play indoors

12:00-12:30:  Mom: make lunch, eat, clean kitchen Lily: eat lunch,

12:30-1:15: Mom: Exercise dvd, Lily: exercise or free play indoors

1:15-1:30: Read Lily a story

1:30-3:00 Mom: shower, feed lizards, free time Lily: nap

3:00-3:15 Lily: Snack

3:15-4:00: Art project (play dough, finger painting, chalk, coloring, etc..)

4:00-5:00: outdoor play (sand box or swimming pool)

5:00: Mom: Prepare dinner Lily: Free play, can watch a tv show

6:30: (or when dad gets home) eat dinner

7:00:  Mom: Clean kitchen Lily: play with daddy

7:30:  Give Lily a bath (every other night)

8:00 Story time, goodnight

So this our tentative schedule. I may have to change some things around. After a couple weeks of doing this, I plan to add some kind of eating restrictions to my routine. I have been feeling really sluggish lately and I need to get active before I change anything else.  I am excited to start this routine tomorrow!

This book mentions Unitarian Universalist Churches as a good starting place for humanists and nonbelievers to find community.  I decided to use google to see if there are any churches in my area. I found one that had a nice welcoming message. http://www.stanuu.org/ I was a little worried about some of the Christian overtones in the writings. Then I took a look at the upcoming services. One in particular peeked my interest: May27, 2007: “The Morality if Atheism. It is common in our culture for ‘religious’  people to claim that ‘godless’ atheists are not moral and that belief in God is required in order to be moral. But the truth is that atheists, because they don’t believe in God, ,must search for their personal values from a different source – which often results in a higher level of moral development.”

We might go. I think this ‘sermon’ would be an interesting introduction back into the church. I am very weary of leaving Lily in the nursery. I have never left her alone with anyone except my mom or Chris. They have a picture of it on the web site and it does look very nice. It is also good for her to play with other kids. I guess I will have to go and see if I feel comfortable leaving her there.

• 1 (3 pound) whole chicken
• 4 medium red potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 6 carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
• 2 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
• 12 whole fresh mushrooms
• 2 apples, cored and quartered (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place the chicken breast side down on a rack in a roasting pan, and roast 1 hour in the preheated oven.
3. Place the potatoes and carrots in a pot with enough water to cover, and bring to a boil. Cook 20 minutes, or until tender.
4. In a saucepan, mix the honey, mustard, butter, onion, curry powder, salt, cayenne pepper, ginger, and garlic. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and set aside.
5. Drain the drippings from the roasting pan. Arrange the potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, and apples around the chicken. Drizzle the chicken and vegetables with the honey mixture. Continue roasting 20 minutes, or until the glaze has browned. The chicken meat should reach an internal temperature of 180 degrees F (85 degrees C).

Sometimes I make it with cut up chicken pieces or chicken breasts, this cuts the cooking time in half. I have omitted the ginger and apples or mushrooms and it still comes out delicious! Instead of red pepper flakes, I just give it a splash of Tabasco sauce. Give it a try, especially if you like curry. I know the combination of ingredients might sound weird, but it is seriously good!

My dear sweet husband made me a video tribute. It is so much better than any material thing he could have purchased. I seriously wept when I watched it. It was a wonderful surprise.

here

I need to get my booty off the computer and make my family dinner, so I am just going to copy and paste the email I sent her about the article:

Thanks for the interesting article. Let me preface this by saying that I admire and respect Sam Harris and his work. He is a great scientist and rational thinker. It was good to see an article discussing faith in a mainstream publication like Newsweek.

I found the interviewer Jon Meacham to be somewhat biased. One of his questions was : “Sam, the one thing that I find really troubling in your arguments is that I am guilty, to quote “The End of Faith,” of a “ludicrous obscenity” when I take my children to church. That is strong language, and it doesn’t exactly encourage dialogue.” This question overtly implies that Meacham has read Harris’ work and disagrees and even takes offense to it. Also, the fact that the last thoughts were directed at Warren and Harris was not given an opportunity to respond, shows a bias.

WARREN Said: “I believe in both faith and reason. The more we learn about God, the more we understand how magnificent this universe is. There is no contradiction to it. When I look at history, I would disagree with Sam: Christianity has done far more good than bad. Altruism comes out of knowing there is more than this life, that there is a sovereign God, that I am not God. We’re both betting. He’s betting his life that he’s right. I’m betting my life that Jesus was not a liar. When we die, if he’s right, I’ve lost nothing. If I’m right, he’s lost everything. I’m not willing to make that gamble.”

In his “gamble”, he assumes that the only two possibilities here are Christianity and atheism. He does not take into account the 100′s of religions out there such as Muslim, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc… Technically, he could follow the bible and be a good Christian and still end up in some form of “Hell” if “God” is not Christian.

I also take issue with his idea that his altruism is only the result of his belief in God and rewards in the afterlife. He says, “If death is the end, shoot, I’m not going to waste another minute being altruistic.” Which is more noble: Performing good works for the betterment of humanity or performing good works to receive rewards in the afterlife?

The way I see it: We still don’t know everything about how life originated. I believe science has been and still is the best predictor of how the world works and provides us with the most accurate understandings of the origins of life. As an atheist, I don’t have to pretend to have all of the answers. I can say that science is getting closer everyday. I do know that science has provided us with much more information about how the world really operates. Science usually directly contradicts the bible (the earth being millions of years old rather than 6,000 years old, for one example).

Warren’s belief that, “If there is no God, if I am simply complicated ooze, then the truth is, your life doesn’t matter, my life doesn’t matter.” is completely false. Life is what you make of it. I think what matters is the legacy you leave. The things you do to better your family, your community, and the world certainly matter.

Chris wanted to add this:

Warren is wrong when he says that God doesn’t support slavery, but rather he allows it. Take for instance this bible quote:

However, you may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. (Leviticus 25:44-46 NLT)

That sounds like support to me. It doesn’t say you won’t be punished, or that this is something you should expect of your people, it says you MAY purchase slaves. Even worse is the next quote.

When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property. (Exodus 21:20-21 NAB)

Now this condones beating slaves to the brink of death. It also says slave owners are not to be punished as long as the slave doesn’t die the same day as the beating.

This is getting kind of lengthy, I just wanted to share with you a bit of our discussion about the article. Thanks again for sharing it with us!