Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Special Guest Wednesday

This week, I'm honored to have a4g (Atheist for God) as a guest. His definition for us is:

Atheist, n. A lone mariner in a sea without shores.

Left, Sandals for the unfaithful.




About a4g: a4g and his conspirators, The Evil Emperor Mindstation and Prof. Stephen Hawking (not the author of A Brief History of Time, but remarkably similar) write Point Five, a journalism satire site that I hate to admit I find sharper than my beloved The Onion. OK, nobody believes me. At least read it and see if it isn't a worthy conservative alternative. While clearly leaning right, Point Five is no more forgiving of Republicans than The Onion is of Democrats and the balance makes good satire. The production quality is impressive as well. a4g's articles in particular perfectly parody contemporary newspaper articles and while he may get ahead of himself now and again, I'm always impressed that a4g can put together whole articles of sharp satire while on an up day, I'm only good for a sentence.

a4g has another very noteworthy blog Atheist 4 God. More personal and very compelling, it seems to follow the arc of Augustine's Confessions except a4g isn't dead yet, nor wholly converted. It's the story of an atheist, married to a Catholic who has found a role for the Church and Theology and is coming to suspect God. Like so many of us enamored with cynicism, a4g is a confounded earnest and curious man. a4g is married with five children, God bless him.

How to be a Special Guest: If you would like to provide a guest definition some Wednesday on this site, please either email me at dpascover at mac dot com or leave a comment here (I will need an email address to contact you.) On some glorious Wednesday, I will send you an email with a word for you to define. I ask you to have the definition and a graphic (old shoes are grand) to represent you by the following Saturday night. The only rules are no profanity and, um, no profanity.

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

A4g: Nice to meet you.
We may be lone mariners, but at least we're not wearing any albatrosses round our necks.

Anonymous said...

Something better than the Onion? If anybody else said this I wouldn't believe it, but coming from Doug....Hi A4g

Sar said...

Nice job, a4g, another admirable definition. Nice to know the meaning behind your blog identity too. :)

Athiest: One who ought to be, but never will be, a Supreme Court nominee, especially during this administration's reign.

TLP said...

Atheist, n., An orphan, some of whom gather other orphans to themselves to make a family. They have no parent to promise them an inheritance, or to threaten them with punishment, but still try to do the right thing, because they have a conscience.

Hi A4G. I'll go check you out.

Doug The Una said...

Weirsdo, of course you habe to use a harpoon to bring down a whale.

Pia, I actually think so but you may need to warm up by getting angry at, say, Michael Kinsley first.

Sar, not Bishop?

Come on sevens, Tan Lucy, Bookworm needs a new pair of shoes!

Minka said...

Atheist,n. person with a profound belief in the existence of nothing and the possibility of everything.

Lila said...

Atheist, n., Not to be confused with "a theist". 1. A cosmic party-pooper. 2. An over-achieving agnostic.

I'll have to check a4g out!

Tom & Icy said...

The illusion of not having illusions

A Little Bar of Soap said...

One who denies The Truth.

Jamie Dawn said...

Atheist: One with a lot more faith that a non-Athiest.

Very cool guest. I like him.

dddragon said...

Atheist: one who has the strength to live and do right without the promise of anything in return.

Doug: and we all need haircuts, too.

Doug The Una said...

Monika, that's beautiful.

All good, Aral, but I love number 2. And do, some of his articles are beyong brilliant.

Icy, wow! Good dog! That's perfect.

Thanks, Soapy. An infidel, in other words.

Jamie Dawn, that's an interesting perspective. I think you may be right. Never saw it that way before.

Let it grow, Dddragon.

Author! Author! That's an interesting way to jump in. Did this all make you grumpy?

Minka said...

Atheist,n. A person believing in the conviction of his own eyes. What he saw is that if a god exists in this world than he does not seem to care very much. So he figures if God does not care, why should he!

Spacemonkey said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Spacemonkey said...

I've got to get me one of them personal blogs.

Spacemonkey said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Doug The Una said...

Not at all, a4g. I look forward to the five that follow.

Monika, that's pretty close to Bierce's definition of a cynic.

Actonbell, it's really interesting that you say that. If you go back on Atheist 4 God to October there's a political post that uses Occam's Razor to explain his vote. I don't recall if he cited it specifically. a4g?

LeMas. said...

You know, I swear I posted something here this morning...

Doug The Una said...

Welcome, Space Monkey.

I didn't get notice of it, Masil, but I bet you have something to say on the topic. I bet the verifier got you. Reason #227 that I'm not an atheist is I need to believe in an eternity of torment for spammers.

TLP said...

I've read all these comments, and visited A4G, and thank God, I am still an atheist.

Fred said...

Those sneakers reminded me of when I was a kid, some 40 years ago. (Crap, I am old.)

When I got a new pair of sneakers, the first thing I did was run in the grass and dirt to get them as "worn" as possible. Nowadays, a spot on their sneakers is a major problem.

How times change.

Cooper said...

A4G
Nice going.

Atheist,n. One who realizes that the failure of man is simplY the failure of man

Cooper said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Doug: I think you Pansified me. I hope you're not getting Melville and Coleridge mixed up again.

Doug The Una said...

You're lucky, TLP, God trusts you.

It was like that for me, too Fred. Clean sneakers meant you hadn't done your chores. Do kids still have chores?

Alice, you're so reality based. And so young.

Weirsdo, I'm always careful not to confuse two authors I haven't read. It was a mariner metaphor. Do you pick on Ms. Mall Diva like this? Can't wait to read about it.

Doug The Una said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
S A J Shirazi said...

You know I would like to be a guest here. Count me in.

Kevin said...

don't read my blog
---
http://prisonerofgravity.blogspot.com/

Goa'uld said...

I don’t like when they sing the birthday song at restaurants, either, but sometimes it’s worth it if they have good ice cream or cake...:-P

...a ten year old was singing that?! Wow...she’s good...

Oh! I’ve always wanted to go to Italy! Well...at least since I started taking Latin...it seems like a really fascinating place.

Doug The Una said...

Shirazi, I'm completely delighted. Thanks.

Excellent advice, Kevin. $100 for a CD?

Me too, Goa'uld, and Spain and East Africa and Samarkand. The only advice you'll get from Doug the Una (if you're lucky) is make time to travel while you're young. Stargates, airplanes and railroad cars are all good forms.

Minka said...

I swear to God I have not read any Bierce dictionaries :)
It is really just me!

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