The Evolution of Seeking Truth

I’ve been tagged by Stardust to do a post on the Evolution of my Blog. It’s certainly not the normal 20 Questions type Meme so took more than the usual time and effort to put together.

I was prompted (actually badgered) into Blogging by my good friend Aginoth who discovered it some two years ago. Being the persuasive person that he is – and very persistent – most of the group produced our own Blogs. To begin with I really didn’t know what to Blog about. I certainly wasn’t going to Blog about my life which is far too boring to interest anyone else. The only thing that I could even conceive Blogging about was ideas, a subject I love with a passion. So it began on Sunday October 16th 2005 with this quote from Leonardo Da Vinci:

Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals open your eyes!

Pretty soon the mix of postings took shape – basically politics, religion and philosophy. I have always liked asking annoying questions and have been accused on more than one ocassion of never knowing when to stop. When I get my teeth into something (or someone) I am pretty much relentless especially when I scent blood in the water – hence my Blog warning of watching out for sharks! I like to know how people think especially about things I struggle to understand. Like my hero Socrates I find that people most of the time don’t really understand why they think and believe what they do. Blogging about various things I find helps those willing and able to debate on hot topics to actually discover their own thoughts and beliefs. Whatever dosen’t kill them makes them stronger.

Almost from the very start my Blog has attracted Christians who stongly oppose the things I post. One of the earliest was Q (now rebranded as stephen who shows up from time to time on Jewish Atheist's Blog) who, like his sucessors, slowly come to the realisation that I am not a fly-by-night atheist who doesn’t really have a firm grounding in their unbelief. After some rather heated exchanges – at least from his side – Q finally gave up on me presumably to look for easier meat. This patern has been repeated in the subsequent two years.

One of the great things that has emerged over the life of this Blog is that I have become the regular (or semi-regular) haunt for about a half dozen commenters. Most of them appear to be in general agreement with my point of view which is always good to hear. Being a lone voice in the wilderness might seem pretty cool but it is nice to have a few friends around for a metaphorical beer too. They also, when the need arises, back me up against the ocassional asshole that inevitably shows up from time to time.

Any regulars will have noticed that I’m a huge book reader. From December 2005 I started Blogging about books starting with Books that Rocked my World. Rather inevitably the first book I reviewed was The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins which quite literally blew me away in my 20’s and made me a convinced Darwinian. It didn’t prompt me to lose my faith in God – because as my readership will already be aware I never had any to begin with. It did however have a huge impact on my view of the world and much else besides. Since that date I have been posting more regular book reviews some of which recently have actually provoked reactions from the authors themselves. Books are a significant part of my life so it’s no real surprise that they’re also a significant part of this Blog.

Another significant thread that runs throughout the two year life of this Blog is discussions about Terrorism and the so-called War on Terror. More often than not they generate no comments at all and I’m even unsure if people read them but I feel that certain things must be said. My readership will already be aware that I am opposed to the War on Terror and have repeatedly pointed to the dangers such a faux war represents to Western style Democracies with our increased survellience of citizens and imprisionment without trial. It seems saddly that I will need to post on these things for the forseeable future.

One of the things I was rather sloppy with to begin with was the providence of the things I posted. I had assumed, wrongly in turned out, that it was obvious when a posting was from me and when it was from another source. After several comments I made efforts that the origin of the posting was as clear as I could make it.

I love cartoons. Often they can speak volumes on a subject with just a single well drawn image. From early 2006 cartoons became a regular feature of this Blog. I now post two every week on Wednesdays and Sundays. Normally I alternate a religious and non-religious cartoon for variety.

Also early in 2006 I discovered the Ministry of Homeland Security who recycle old propaganda posters from WW2 and The Cold War and redesign them for the political realities of today’s screwed up world. These posters have now become a regular bi-weekly post on this Blog. Most of them barely cause a comment whilst others really strike a cord.

So not long after this Blog was launched on an unsuspecting world it pretty much settled down into the style you see today. No doubt the content will change over time. I have a butterfy mind and have always failed to keep an interest in most things (except just three that I can think of right off) for very long. But we shall see – after all that’s part of the adventure of living, not knowing what’s just around the corner.