I suppose the question that I hate being asked is, “Why don’t you believe in God?”
I hate being asked that question because no matter what words I use to answer that question, I am then presented with all of the reasons why I should believe in God — and not just in any god, but in their God — and with an itemization of all the bad things that are going to befall me if I don’t save my immortal soul by embracing their God.
It’s not that I have anything to hide, as much as it is none of anyone else’s business why I don’t believe in God. I have never asked anyone, “Why doyou believe in God?” except in response to when someone asks me why I don’t believe in God.
I really don’t care if someone believes in one God, in no God, or in many gods. It’s their business, their choice, their decision. Whatever helps them make it through the day; whatever keeps their boat afloat.
But I think I know what my answer is going to be the next time someone asks me why I am so sure that God does not exist:
For this week’s Thursday Inspiration prompt, Jim Adams has asked us to respond to this challenge by either using the prompt word “day,” or by means of the song “Legend of a Mind,” or by going with another song by the Moody Blues, or any other song that mentions a counterculture icon that you like, or you can go with anything else that you think fits.
I decided to go with another Moody Blues song today. This song is arguably a counterculture song, even though it doesn’t specifically name an individual counterculture icon. According to Moody Blues guitarist/vocalist Justin Hayward, who wrote this song, it reflected the thoughts of many young people who were questioning the war in Vietnam.
Why do we never get an answer When we're knocking at the door With a thousand million questions About hate and death and war? 'Cause when we stop and look around us There is nothing that we need In a world of persecution That is burning in its greed
Hayward said he was just expressing his frustration around the problems of what many at the time, including yours truly, felt to be an unjust war. This was something that really concerned the students and young adults who formed the band’s audience. They were concerned for their own future and how having to fight in that war, should they be drafted, would be a moral dilemma for them.
He was personally angry at what was happening. “After a decade of peace and love,” Hayward said, “it still seemed we hadn’t made a difference in 1970.”
Well, Justin, I hate to break it to you, but more than half a century later, we are still waiting for an answer to that question about hate and love and war in the world of persecution that is burning in its greed.
Linda’s challenge for this week’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt is to “start with a question.” She asks us to begin our post with the first question that comes to mind when we sit down to write our post. Bonus points if we end our post with a question, too.
So it’s 11 pm Friday night and I’m in bed. I wasn’t around for a good part of the day on Friday, so I decided to go through and read and respond to the comments I received today. The legit comments, that is. Not the spam comments from Bokep, Memek, and friends.
The legit comment that posed the question I asked at the top of this post came from my Tasmanian blogger friend Taswegian1957. She wrote a comment to my post, Prosecuting His Enemies. She ended her comment by writing, “If America were a person, I think I’d want to shake it and say, “What the hell is wrong with you?”
I wish that, as an American, I could answer her question, but I can’t. Here we are, five months away from an election, the outcome of which will determine whether or not the constitutional democracy and democratic republic I’ve lived in for my entire life will continue to exist. I’m very afraid that the answer is going to be no.
I know that will be the case if Trump wins the election. If Biden wins, Trump won’t accept it. He still hasn’t accepted his loss in 2020 and he instigated a failed insurrection attempt when he called upon his MAGA maniacs to assault the United States Capitol building on January 6, 2021. If Trump loses again, he’s going to mobilize his MAGA maniacs to arm up and take it to the street in what will be a second American civil war.
I truly believe that no matter who wins the election in November, the United States of America is fucked.
So to earn my bonus points, let me end this post with a question.
What do you think will happen after the November presidential election in the U.S.?
For today’s JusJoJan prompt, Linda has given us the word “tenacious,” as suggested by Cheryl, who resides here.
Tina was an investigative reporter for the local newspaper. Her job was to ask probing questions and to get answers from local officials in her dogged pursuit of corruption.
Together with her assigned photographer, she would conduct interviews with council members and was known to occasionally tear one apart with her relentless questioning.
It wasn’t log before Tina’s reputation for rooting out corruption in her home town earned her the nickname, “Tenacious Tina.”
This is a repost of something I posted on January 16, 2021 for Sammi Cox’s Weekend Writing Prompt.
“I’m going to ask you something and you have to answer me honestly,” Kevin said to his wife. She started to respond, but he put up his hand to stop her. “You should not be reckless in your response, Linda,” he added. “I think you might want to take your time and give my question some serious thought. A candy floss answer might put us on a path that would be a disgrace.”
“If you’re asking if I’m having an affair with your business partner, John, then the answer is yes. Ever since you introduced us late last year, the feeling of limerence between him and me has been overwhelming,” Linda said. “So yes, my honest answer is that I want a divorce, Kevin, so that I can be free to be with John.”
Kevin’s eyes grew wide. “Oh dear me,” he said. “I was just going to ask you if you knew about the dent in the fender of the Mercedes and hadn’t yet told me about it.”
Written for this week’s JSW Prompt from Athling2001, which is the sentence, “I’m going to ask you something and you have to answer me honestly.”
Also for these daily prompts: Fandango’s One Word Challenge (reckless), Ragtag Daily Prompt (candy floss), Your Daily Word Prompt (might), The Daily Spur (path), My Vivid Blog (disgrace), and Word of the Day Challenge (limerence).
My theme for this year’s A to Z Blogging Challenge is classic rock songs. Each day during the month (except for the first four Sundays, I will post a classic rock song: a video from YouTube, along with a brief bit of background about the song and the recording artist(s).
This is much more difficult than I thought it would be. For every letter of the alphabet there are dozens of fantastic classic rock songs to choose from and picking just one song for each letter is maddening. But this is what I signed up for.
My Q song is “Question” from The Moody Blues.
“Question” was a 1970 single by the English progressive rock band the Moody Blues. It was written by guitarist Justin Hayward, who provides lead vocals. “Question” was first released as a single in April 1970 and remains their second highest-charting song in the UK, reaching number 2 and staying on the chart for 12 weeks. The song reached number 21 on the Billboard Top 40 in the U.S. It was later featured as the lead track on the 1970 Moody Blues album, A Question of Balance.
“Question” is one of the Moody Blues’ most popular songs, and has been included in virtually all of their compilations and live albums. The song was actually pieced together by Hayward from two unfinished songs, which accounts for the change of pace in the middle of the song. It starts with an acoustic guitar introduction and then alters midway to become a brilliantly presented ballad in the band’s own tradition. The merging of two unfinished songs achieved a sense of emotional turbulence of the late 60s and early 70s.
Hayward said that the song, particularly the first part, reflected the thoughts of many young people at the time who were questioning the war in Vietnam. He said he was just expressing his frustration around the problems of what many at the time, including me, to be an unjust war. This was something really concerned the students and young adults who formed the band’s audience. They were concerned for their own future and how having to fight in that war, should they be drafted, would be a moral dilemma for them.
He was personally angry at what was happening. “After a decade of peace and love,” Hayward said, “it still seemed we hadn’t made a difference in 1970. I suppose that was the theme of the song. And then the slow part of the song is really a reflection of that and not feeling defeated, but almost a quiet reflection of it, and mixing with a bit of a love song, as well.”
Here are the lyrics to “Question.”
Why do we never get an answer When we're knocking at the door With a thousand million questions About hate and death and war? 'Cause when we stop and look around us There is nothing that we need In a world of persecution That is burning in its greed
Why do we never get an answer When we're knocking at the door? Because the truth is hard to swallow That's what the war of love is for
It's not the way that you say it When you do those things to me It's more the way that you mean it When you tell me what will be And when you stop and think about it You won't believe it's true That all the love you've been giving Has all been meant for you
I'm looking for someone to change my life I'm looking for a miracle in my life And if you could see what it's done to me To lose the love I knew Could safely lead me through
Between the silence of the mountains And the crashing of the sea There lies a land I once lived in And she's waiting there for me But in the grey of the morning My mind becomes confused Between the dead and the sleeping And the road that I must choose
I'm looking for someone to change my life I'm looking for a miracle in my life And if you could see what it's done to me To lose the love I knew Could safely lead me to The land that I once knew To learn as we grow old The secrets of our soul It's not the way that you say it when you do those things to me It's more the way you really mean it when you tell me what will be
Why do we never get an answer When we're knocking at the door With a thousand million questions About hate and death and war? When we stop and look around us There is nothing that we need In a world of persecution That is burning in its greed
Why do we never get an answer When we're knocking at the door?
Welcome once again to Fandango’s Provocative Question. Each week I will pose what I think is a provocative question for your consideration.
By provocative, I don’t mean a question that will cause annoyance or anger. Nor do I mean a question intended to arouse sexual desire or interest.
What I do mean is a question that is likely to get you to think, to be creative, and to provoke a response. Hopefully a positive response.
I remember back in the day when I was still working, I would often get invited to interview for jobs with other companies than the one I was working for. And I would, if the position sounded interesting enough, agree to the interview. It seemed at the time that many interviewers liked to ask what they considered to be probing or provocative questions that had nothing to do with my previous experience or my qualifications for the job for which I was being interviewed.
One such provocative question that they often asked was, “Where do you see yourself five years from now?” I was an excellent interviewee, if I do say so myself, so, if I was at all interested in the position, I’d come up with some bullshit answer that I figured the interviewer wanted to hear.
But I always thought that question was a ridiculous question to ask a candidate for a job, and what I really would have liked to have said in response to that question, although I never did say it other than in my imagination was, “Where do I see myself five years from now? Anywhere but here working for an asshole like you.”
For this week’s provocative question, it’s my turn to be that asshole who asks you the question…
Where do you see yourself five years from now?
If you choose to participate, write a post with your response to the question. Once you are done, tag your post with #FPQ and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Or you can simply include a link to your post in the comments. But remember to check to confirm that your pingback or your link shows up in the comments.
When I first started blogging back in 2005, my big question was what I should title my blog.
I wanted something unique and catchy, and I remembered having read about Dizzy Dean, an American professional baseball pitcher. Dean was struck in the head by a thrown ball while breaking up a double play in the 1934 World Series. Afterwards, Dean told reporters, “They X-rayed my head and found nothing.”
I titled my first blog, “They Took an X-ray of My Head and Found Nothing.”
Facts, Fictions & Fantasies 