Cristan Williams

Cristan Williams
Location
Houston, Texas, USA
Birthday
August 23
Title
Director
Company
Transgender Foundation of America
Bio
I designed transhouston.com, tgctr.org, tgdor.org and my own site, cristanwilliams.com . I was born in 1972. I've been to the other side of the world and back. I enjoy coding sites. I have been friends with murderers and murder victims alike. I opened a homeless shelter. I was a program manager at a social service agency and now I run a transgender foundation. Though I used to eat almost nothing but meat, I've been a vegetarian for years. Though I used to smoke 2 packs of cigarettes a day, I haven't smoked in years. Though I used to smoke a ton of pot and loved dropping acid, I haven't used or drank in 20 years. I tend to love Asian style for it's simplicity. I had sex reassignment surgery in 2004. I love living alone. My life is really, really good. Other people did their best to make my life hard while I was in school. My father disowned me. I am a published writer. I'm a Theravada Buddhist. I've tried to kill myself before. I am not a Republican. I have run both food banks and clothing assistance programs. I've known several people who did kill themselves. I've been homeless more than once. I want to learn more Spanish and Thai. Some people hate me enough to send me death threats. I have had everything from rocks to beer bottles thrown at me. I was asked to speak to a crowd of several thousand people - and did it. I was featured as a "hero" in a magazine (LOL!).

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DECEMBER 21, 2011 1:10AM

Atheism: Cold, Hard and Heartless

Rate: 11 Flag
Views: 12

This video is one of my favorite Hitchisms.  Christopher beautifully elucidates what brings life to our existence… and what does not.

I’ve heard so many times that atheism is cold; that atheists see no real beauty or passion; nor can we truly experience marvel or the transcendent because, as the meme goes, ‘atheists believe that everything came from nothing, is going nowhere and doesn’t mean anything’.  Scores of religious apologists have attempted to paint the atheist position as something that is without the essence of life and that the only option which offers access to beauty, love and the transcendent is, you guessed it, their particular sect of their particular denomination of their particular religion!

To quote one apologist:

They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see.  They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell. They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats.

So long Hitch, thank you for helping me free my mind!

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That was really inspiring - thank you. (I frankly didn't know much about him until this post.)
Beth Mann
December 21, 2011 09:07 AM
This is one reason why I think the more vocal and unapologetic "new atheism" has been important (even if it isn't really new, just more visible). It's harder to maintain such stereotypes about atheists once you encounter them in the flesh.
Norwonk
December 21, 2011 09:19 AM
I opened this with steam already starting to hiss from my expected indignation only to gasp with pleased relief when I read beyond your title. Then I read your bio and gasped again in amazed admiration. You evidently are a credit to our species.
Chicken Mãâàn
December 21, 2011 09:53 AM
Shoulda said to the human species. Forgot I was the rooster this morning.
Chicken Mãâàn
December 21, 2011 09:56 AM
Religion might give meaning to life (it's not the only way to find meaning), but it brings as much negative as positive.
Myriad
December 21, 2011 09:57 AM
One needn't religion (or faith) to know Color and Beauty. r.
Jonathan Wolfman
December 21, 2011 10:13 AM
I've never been able to decide whether I'm atheist or agnostic. Either way, I'm a secularist to the core. I read Hitch's "Good is Not Great" and loved it. Not every word of it, but much of it, and the idea of it. Thanks for sharing this.
bluestocking babe
December 21, 2011 10:21 AM
How offensive it is to me that the way I view the world leads some people think I'm cold, hard, and heartless, and that I can't be trusted to behave with goodness in my heart! It truly boggles me.

I love what Hitchens says about what a letdown it would be to meet some of the people we most admire. How could it not be? And we already interact with them as often as we'd care to through studying their works.
LeslieCA
December 21, 2011 10:34 AM
Although I am not one who read Hitchens (or watched him) I know I have been influenced by his mind, which has influenced many others. Great talk, succinct, he and I stand on the same ground that way. The window of the mind must stay open.
Oryoki Bowl
December 21, 2011 11:43 AM
Thank you so much for posting this. I am currently reading 'God is Not Great' and will be writing about it in my next book blog. His words bring so much clarity to the doubts and the anger that I could not clearly define in myself before. True therapy!
Lauren J Barnhart
December 27, 2011 04:58 PM