My career as a writer was inspired by the word delusion, more than any other word which can be found in the dictionary. Delusions are defined as "fixed false beliefs or opinions" that are resistant to reason even when confronted by actual facts. For this reason, the term is frequently used to describe symptoms of mental illness. The book The God Delusion by renowned atheist and biologist Richard Dawkins was the inspiration for my first published book, Divine Evolution, after I heard Dawkins say in an interview that cars, computers, and even his book were all intelligently designed, but human beings were not. I still haven't gotten over the absurdity of his comment -- I began learning about computers while matriculating as a student at UGA, which was followed a long career as a software developer before becoming a professional writer. So I am well aware that the capabilities of an "intelligent designed" computer actually pales in comparison to the human brain, that DNA is exponentially more complex than computer machine language, and that the "software" that operates the human body works independently of our conscious brain is infinitely more complex than the source code for Google's search engine. Richard Dawkins made it crystal clear in his book that he believes supernatural phenomena does not exist. According to him, only the "real" or material world exists -- no gods, devils, ghosts, angels, or demons. No miracles, no answered prayers. Of course, I couldn't write Divine Evolution until I'd done quite a bit of research into the science of evolution … [Read more...]
Georgia Fans Who Support Mark Richt
Dear President Morehead, I only have one football team I care about -- the Georgia Bulldogs. I've been a fan for more than forty years, as long as I've cared about the game. I'm a member of a Facebook group called "Georgia Fans Who Support Mark Richt," which has more than 13,000 members. I'm going to ask these friends of mine also voice their objections to the ridiculous, ill-conceived decision by Greg McGarity to fire Mark Richt. I'm fairly certain that Greg McGarity has destroyed the future of our football team by firing Coach Richt at this moment in time and set our program back for years to come. There just aren't that many coaches of the caliber and with the character of Coach Richt. When the coach who finishes the season at 9-3 is fired and the coach who finishes 3-9 keeps his job, something is really screwed up. If somebody needed to go, it was Greg McGarity. As long as Mr. McGarity remains as your athletic director, I cannot in good conscience continue to support Georgia football until he's gone. Neither shall I wear Georgia gear, attend games, wear the UGA apparel that I already own, or donate money to the school. Mr. McGarity has been the problem, and now he just fired the solution. No Georgia fan is dumb enough to believe the reports claiming this decision was mutual. Greg McGarity fired Mark Richt, and now you need to fire Greg McGarity. Please. Today. Get rid of him before he can do any more harm. I am asking my fellow members of the Bulldog Nation and UGA alumni to consider joining my boycott of UGA until Greg McGarity either resigns … [Read more...]
Unsolicited advice for Greg McGarity
Dear Mr. McGarity, I hope you'll forgive my presumption that you might listen to me -- on the other hand, if this message resonates with the Bulldog nation and becomes viral, and you won't be able to ignore it. I tried this "unsolicited advice" tactic once before, and things worked out pretty well. While I can't claim that my effort led to things working out to UGA's advantage, what I wrote obviously didn't hurt the Dawgs. And Roquan Smith sure looks great in red. Now I know you have a very difficult job, trying to keep the Bulldog fan base happy. Some "fans" have called for you to fire Mark Richt, even though our coach has managed to win nine tough games, including both Auburn and Georgia Tech on the road. This is in spite of the fact Coach Richt currently has the highest rated recruiting class during his entire tenure, with the chance to finish strong and dramatically improve the final ranking. Georgia could finish with the top ranked recruiting class. If Coach Richt and his staff can persuade blue-chip players like Isaac Nauta, Mecole Hardman, Derrick Brown, E. J. Price, Willie Allen, Demetris Robertson, Shyheim Carter, Tyler Simmons, Brian Burns, or a few similar highly prized recruits to come to Athens to play with Jacob Eason, we could have the necessary talent needed to play for SEC titles and national championships against the likes of Nick Saban, in spite of the advantage in financial support for his program at Alabama. Most of these kids have expressed strong interest or said they want to come to Georgia, but they want Mark Richt and Jeremy … [Read more...]
Anonymous internet trolls
The worst people on earth right now are surely the radical Islamic terrorists in ISIS. They are evil people who murder children and prefer decapitating their innocent victims or burning them alive over shooting them in the head. However, in my humble personal opinion, anonymous internet trolls come in a reasonably close second. In case you don't already know what an internet troll is, the definition describes a person who viciously attacks another human being with hateful rhetoric solely for the purpose of upsetting the victim and/or starting an argument. Most of the time, the troll won't even know the victim personally -- he or she will merely dislike the way the victim looks, or disagrees with something the victim said. Simply pick a target, set phasers to incinerate, and start blasting away. Trolls are so miserable in their own personal life that the only way they can feel better about themselves is by making another person feel bad. They take perverse pleasure from creating misery for another human being while cowardly hiding behind a cloak of anonymity. Sometimes troll attacks targeting a specific person may go on for years, with the victim unable to use the legal system to intervene because the troll has hidden his or her true identity. Many internet service providers have refused to reveal the real name and address of the troll to his or her victims until forced to do so by court order. I have had some personal experience with internet trolls. A few years ago I published articles under the title of the Atlanta Creationism Examiner after my … [Read more...]
Should Mark Bradley and Jeff Schultz be fired?
My father used to say that opinions were like anuses -- everybody has one, but they shouldn't be shown in public. Of course, he didn't actually say "anus" but used a very similar word that clearly meant the same thing. Before I start, I must confess to be perfectly honest, it feels...wrong to speculate about another man's livelihood. Nevertheless, I am compelled to ask this question: should the Atlanta Journal-Constitution fire sportswriters Mark Bradley or Jeff Schultz for their failures to perform their job with peak efficiency every day? Before we make any quick decisions, let's look at some of the evidence: Mark Bradley has been with the same newspaper for twenty-five years. But exactly what has he accomplished in all that time? According to his online biography, Mark Bradley freely admits that he "Has won some awards but lost many more." Sorry, but doesn't that make him a loser? If he's truly lost more awards than he's won, his overall record is below .500. By comparison, Mark Richt's winning percentage at Georgia is currently .739. His teams are ninety games above .500. Yet curiously enough, it was Mark Bradley who recently suggested it was time for Mark Richt to be fired. As if to further confirm my belief that it has become time for the AJC to make a move, Bradley put in his own bio that he "Isn't as smart as you might believe." However, Mr. Bradley might be surprised to learn just how smart I don't believe he is. And as for Mr. Bradley's co-defendant to my charge of journalistic malpractice, what should we say about Jeff … [Read more...]
