Answers for PixieKitten

PixieKitten’s question was:

Give me the reader digest edition of where you stand on all the big issues – religion, politics, sex, drugs and music =)

Wow, you don’t go for the trivial, do you? Ok, here goes.

Religion
I’m an atheist. I was brought up as a vague sort of Christian (I think we were technically Presbyterians, but as we didn’t go to church other than weddings and funerals the exact denomination we were wasn’t exactly a big feature of my childhood spiritual life), but somewhere in my early teens I started questioning the existence of God. As I learnt more about science I came to the conclusion that the universe works perfectly well without needing a God to look after it, after which the application of Occam’s razor led inexorably towards atheism – basically, my universe doesn’t have a God-shaped hole in it needing to be filled.

However, just because I’m an atheist, I don’t think everyone else has to be. I strongly respect everyone’s right to their own beliefs (as long as they show me the same respect – I don’t take kindly to proselytisng), and when I am in a church or mosque or other place of worship I always try to act with the appropriate respect.

Politics
Mostly Green, with a hint of Labour. I don’t really agree 100% with the policies of any of the parties, but the Greens are probably the closest match. How I actually vote depends on the issues of the day and the best voting strategy (e.g. since I’ve been living in Gerry Brownlee’s electorate I’ve given my electorate vote to the Labour candidate, because that seemed the most effective way to register a vote against Brownlee, who I seriously dislike).

Sex
Um… yes?
Basically, as long as it’s between consenting adults, I’ve got no problem with any of the myriad forms sex comes in (although I might not want to partake in *all* those forms myself). I think I’ll cry privacy on any more details than that 😉

Drugs
I don’t partake myself (with the exception of alcohol (in moderation)), but that’s mostly because I value my mind too highly to want to risk ruining it. But I have no particular objection to other people’s drug use, as long as it doesn’t harm anyone else. So if you want to use marijuana I don’t care, as long as you’re not blowing the smoke in my face or driving under the influence.

When it comes to harder drugs, especially the really addictive ones, my criteria of not harming others includes the financial harm of my tax dollars having to pay for your health care after you’ve destroyed yourself, so I’m less tolerant. For the same reason, I’m not particularly tolerant of tobacco smokers.

Music
This is the tough one to answer! I don’t listen to a lot of music, really – MrPloppy is a huge music buff, so tends to hog the stereo (and occasionally mock my choice of music), so in the last few years I’ve got out of the habit of putting my own music on. What I do listen to when I get the stereo to myself depends greatly on my mood. My rather sparse CD collection includes (off the top of my head, because I can’t be bothered going through to the other room to make a full inventory) Catatonia, Extreme, Timbuk3, Aerosmith, Split Enz, Mr Big, Talking Heads, Crowded House, Guns n Roses, Pulp, and a few classical composers.

Phew! That question took a lot of answering! Just be glad I didn’t go for the uncondensed version!!!