Why merely voting never brought hope or the pursuit of happiness to a close and never will OR why Obama's "Hope", "Progress", and "Forward" posters should scare you..

Bruce Wayne:

Why didn't you just kill me?
Bane:

Your punishment must be more severe.
Bruce Wayne:

Torture?
Bane:

Yes, but not of the body. Of the soul. I will build you and Gotham up with hope and then destroy you. Hope is really the key to torture. Gotham will build to a point of joy and then be wiped from the map.
Bruce Wayne:

You are a madman.
Bane:

When Gotham is ashes... then you have my permission to die.
[Capitalist statists hope, waiting for permission to vote "yes now" or "yes in five weeks" on whether they get permitted to die; anarchists simply rise and then, through powers even Batman can't fathom, the power of truly loving thy neighbor, rid the horizon of inequality--no more tall tales, tall men, tall towers, tall debts, tall CEO jockies]

Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.

Thich Nhat Hahn (via ageofreason)

submitted by thepandagod

hopefulheathens:

sixlessthansixty submitted:

Symphony of Science: DNA and Life

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow.

Learn as if you were to live forever.” - Gandhi

You can’t go wrong with the Symphony of Science. Thanks for contributing!

-Allyson

hopefulheathens:

christiantheatheist submitted:

Testimony of 12-Year-Old with Two Moms Moves Some Vermont Legislators to Support Gay Marriage

Testimony of 12-Year-Old with Two Moms Moves Some Vermont Legislators to Support Gay Marriage Bill
Evann Orleck-Jetter testified at the public hearings on gay marriage last month before Vermonts Joint Senate and House Judiciary Committees. Many legislators later told Evann and her parents that her testimony had moved them to support the bill.

I know that this isn’t directly religion related, but this is fantastic.
-Christian

So, um, I love Regina Spektor and eeeeped when I heard her song at the beginning of this video.

Anywho, haha, this video just hits all the right notes. This isn’t directly related to religion, but if you ask me, arguments against LGBTQ marriage are all somehow rooted in religious beliefs. Seeing young people like Evann speaking so eloquently for equality gives me more security about the society we’re going to have in the future. She sounds a heck of a lot more levelheaded about this issue than most adults I’ve spoken to.

Thanks for the contribution!

-Al

The Advance of Reason

hopefulheathens:

I have watched a colossal upsurge of atheist and secular memes and ideas. It is getting to be a much more common news and media theme.

This truly gives me hope of a future when the religious power to create racist, sexist, bigoted and insular communities is blunted. I do not mean any particular religion and I do not intend to insult anybody with that statement, but even if you are religious yourself you must be able to look at the other religions in your experience and see how they either separate themselves from other communities or how they teach their youngest that the other communities are wrong in their beliefs.

I do not intend to insult anybody, but I honestly am hopeful that the religious insularity you see in so many communities is going to recede and lose its power.

Simple memes like the one below can make a massive difference simply by making people question their own beliefs

That dog looks like my first dog Ginger eep! I totally agree. Thanks so much for your contribution! -Allyson