Leah Danielle

The New “New Atheists”

leahdanielle — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:01:58 +0000

A friend of my husband’s posted an article recently and I happened upon it. There were so many interesting things about this article. These Atheists 3.0 are saying that while they still don’t believe in God, they do believe that religion is beneficial to society. I tend to hold the opposite view, since even as of late religion has done a number on my self-esteem and world-perspective (making me cling to the existence of God and the saving power of Christ but reject the institution of religion for the most part). But I absolutely loved what the article had to say about atheists meeting believers in the middle and working together to love on people.

This quote is my fave: “When our goal is erasing religion, rather than embracing human beings, we all lose.”

I feel like this is what I’ve been trying to express in my rants and raves recently, only from the Christian perspective: When our goal is to promote (insert literally anything here – political views, religion, etc.), rather than embracing human beings, we all lose.

How incredible that both atheists and christians alike are starting to realize how important people are. I hope this attitude spreads like wildfire. Here is the article:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-10-19-atheism-belief_N.htm

Feels so good!

leahdanielle — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:25:11 +0000

I love when I can look back at a decision I made years before and still think “Ah, that was so totally the best decision ever!” And so I’d like to note this moment in which I have done just that and write it here in my blog as an encouragement to myself. See, Leah? You at least get it right when it counts!

Politics is just another word for Celebrity Gossip

leahdanielle — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:56:52 +0000

I remember now why I never bother with politics. It’s because no one will ever just present the pros and cons of an issue or policy and then let people form opinions based on them. That’s how democracy SHOULD run. Instead, it’s just like following a sports team or a movie star: you pick your side and your head guy and you avidly support them no matter what. And you absolutely have to bash the rival competition, even if they might be doing a good job. No thank you.

God, what I wouldn’t give to replace those asenine facebook statuses with ones that say “Helped a friend look for a job today” or “Talked to a group of teenage girls about the consequences of sex” or “Volunteered at a shelter.” What on earth are we trying to prove with our sarcasm and backhanded comments? When is the last time that anyone responded positively to a character judgment or an accusation??

Please, if you have something negative to say about a political figure, don’t say it out loud, and if you have an issue with a policy, use constructive language and relevant adjectives instead of fire-fueling jargon. I spend at least two hours every Sunday morning teaching preschoolers to treat each other with respect, then I go out into a world where grown-ups treat each other like crap. It has to stop.

2 Bd/1 Bath Condo for sale!!!!

leahdanielle — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:52:22 +0000

Ok, so I’m using my blog to sell something…sorry. But please read it anyway!

My friend and co-worker Kimberly is trying to sell her condo. It’s a spacious place with a kitchen, dining area, living room and small sunroom, as well as a small patio off the sunroom. They have done some re-modeling to make it nicer and newer. They are currently selling for 102k, but the price is negotiable on a case-by-case basis. It is located off Spring Road in Smyrna. You can message me if you are interested and I will give you her information.

Again, sorry for selling you things but they have been trying to sell for a while and I promised to help pass the word along! It really is a nice place. I’ve been there many times.

You can’t make this up…

leahdanielle — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:00:52 +0000

Here’s the set-up. I asked my friend Ashley to tell her sister about our Thursday movie night. So Ashley e-mailed her sister (and copied me) and said something like “Leah wanted to make sure you were aware of trivia night” So this is the g-chat conversation we had right after I saw that e-mail.

me: trivia? you’re ridiculous
Ashley: hahaha
i meant movie night
!!!!!
i was just talking to someone about movie on twitter
me: about trivia?
or about movie??
Ashley: trivia
me: hahahahahahahaha

Do you have a floater?

leahdanielle — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:27:46 +0000

This is how it all started. An administrative assistant appreciation lunch turned into something very wrong when my boss asked his secretary this question after she swung at the air a couple times. Having little experience with this term, my friend and I looked at each other like “wtf????”. Sure, it was funny. But we were holding it together as the “floater conversation” progressed - that is, until our supervisor added “Oh yeah, I have lots of those.” Both faces hit the napkins and stayed there as we endured comments like “My doctor says that everyone has floaters” and “You swung at them (the floaters) a couple times” and, in regards to the double-meaning of the word, “MY floater was born before YOUR floater.”

Yeah, Joel, that last one was your father. Come to think of it, all three of those last ones were his. *sigh* To put it best, I’ll use the words of my boss’s secretary (who was not familiar with OUR floaters…) “Oh, the floaters? I’m going to leave those alone.”

April 1st!

leahdanielle — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 13:01:33 +0000

My boss is a huge fan of practical jokes. So when I woke up yesterday, one of my first thoughts was, “he’s going to do something today.” Well, me and two other co-workers from my department were coming back from the break room. My friend scanned her card to unlock the door and gave it a nudge to open it. The look on her face and the fact that she tried to scan her card again let me know that the door wasn’t opening.

Next thing I know, she’s laughing and pointing through the tiny window towards the floor on the other side. I peek in and see the top of my boss’ pastel shirt as he his kneeling on all fours on the other side of the door. When we attempt to push it open again, he jumps up, and in his thick, Cuban accent yells “APRIL 1ST!”

Expansion of my FB Status

leahdanielle — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 13:38:16 +0000

Christians who constantly try to find reasons why other Christians aren’t really Christians are huge wasters of time and are completely missing the point. For all you “defenders of the gospel” out there, just know this: love is going to win out in the end. If you’re not spending every spare second loving on people, you’re not taking the proper stance. I’m tired of seeing Christians fighting and slandering one another. If you want to be heard, make what you have to say worth hearing. Earn some respect. Such was the tactic of Christ. Sarcasm, accusations, and blatantly rude comments are embarrassingly opposite the message of Jesus and the gospel.

Defend your faith through loving demonstration, keep your eye on the prize, and don’t get sidetracked with pride-induced fits of hateful banter. If you don’t take every opportunity to love on people in the name of Christ, someone else will love on them in the name of someone/something else. And that will be your fault. God help us.

YOGA???

leahdanielle — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:24:51 +0000

I joined a gym a month ago. Since then I’ve done many of their classes, one of my favorites being the pilates class on mondays and thursdays. However, on monday there was a substitute. Turns out we weren’t doing pilates that day. The sub was a yoga instructor and therefore we did yoga.

……….What the……

I hate yoga. And I hated monday’s class. And who wants to be tricked into doing yoga anyway? I spent an entire hour trying to follow instructions like “knees to your forehead” (we were on our backs) followed with “now one toe to the floor behind your head, and the other toe to the floor behind your head”. Do I even need to go on? No more tricks! Or I am quitting pilates forever!

Down, little feminist!

leahdanielle — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:46:07 +0000

So, I think I’ve told just about everyone I know, but I have a tiny feminist that lives in my brain. She just kinda popped up somewhere between 2004 and 2006. She doesn’t say much, but once in a while she pitches an ever-loving fit. Today, she threw a record-breaking tantrum after I read an article that quoted Mark Driscoll saying that women shouldn’t be elders or pastors because they are more gullible and easier to deceive than men. Of course, I reminded my little feminist to (quote Mark Driscoll) “not get all emotional about this like a woman”, but that just made it worse.

Mark Driscoll, I don’t know you, but you upset my feminist and that disappoints me.