My name is Wes Jernigan. I am a retired archaeologist, anthropologist, art historian and artist. I presently make silkscreen prints. I have written and illustrated a number of scholarly works and also a number of children's books with my wife. My purpose in establishing this blog (the word sounds vaguely unsavory, like "blotch", but I must adapt to the new ways) is mainly to urge people who do not accept the existence of supernatural entities to make their politicians and leaders aware of our numbers and voting potential. Or, indeed, to urge anyone who is neither Christian nor Jewish nor Muslim to press politicians to stop acting as though they are controlled by ancient Middle Eastern religions. I have been an atheist for as long as I can remember. I can remember sitting in a church Sunday School listening to the teacher relate Bible stories and wondering if she was serious. Fortunately the commitment of my parents to Christianity was at best sporadic so I did not have to suffer often the inexpressible tedium of listening to a preacher trying to make sense of the King James Bible. There are many issues that I consider related to non-belief such as science and the scientific way of thinking, environmentalism, the existence of morality without religion, the aesthetic appreciation of the nature of existence and the beauty of the Earth and all of nature. With respect to all of these questions we thinking people must strive to get politicians, who are obviously very slow to understand the nature of the profound changes that are occuring, to at least face up to their existence and urgency. I will make a more detailed set of appeals later, after I have established some rudimentary mastery over the blog process. Wish me luck.