Articles written by David Neil Bain

What is Helium

About me - David Neil Bain

I was born in Nashville, Tennesee in 1939. In the intervening years I got old and now I am observing the aging process with morbid fascination. But I digress.

After a couple of years in Detroit during WWII my family came back to Nashville. My Dad joined the

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Politics, News & Issues > Presidential Elections 2008 Will Americans vote for a black man or white woman?: 1 of 77
"My friend," said my daughter, "is voting for the chick. I'm voting for the Negro. Who are you voting for?""What about the good ole boy?" I asked.According to identity politics, my daughter had a choice between the woman, Hillary Clinton, and the man, Barack Obama, who, like her, was biracial. The Southerner, John Edwards, wo... More..
Relationships & Family > Romance & Sexuality Why there isn't more interracial dating: 1 of 37
"Why isn't there more interracial dating?" It wasn't long ago that the question was "Why is there so much interracial dating?" The more people date interracially the more likely we are to ask why more don't.How much interracial dating should there be? I grew up on the white side of Jim Crow in the Old South (I'm an old guy). ... More..
Sciences > Biology (Other) The theory of evolution: 1 of 18
We didn't come from monkeys in Tennessee. Now, strictly speaking, I know none of us descended from monkeys or any other species now living. We and the monkeys have a common ancestor. They are our cousins, not our ancestors-except in Tennessee, where we were all descended from Adam and Eve.Dayton Tennessee was the scene of the... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Atheism & Agnosticism What was the cause of atheism: 2 of 25
The cause of atheism is theism. I can think of two ways to interpret that counterintuitive statement. Some say atheism springs from religion badly practiced-a reaction to hypocricy, for example. I mean it in a different sense, simply that if no one had ever advanced the concept of God, no one would ever be moved to argue that... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Theories of Spirituality Mind and body connection: Do we have a soul: 3 of 34
Do we have a soul?Do we have a soul? No. Or yes, if you hold that the body and soul are one and when the body dies, so does the soul.A native of darkest Africa, so the story goes, puzzled over the Coke machine in the Christian missionary's office. "Is there a little man in the machine who takes you coin and gives you the drin... More..
Creative Writing > Reflections Reflections: Grandparents: 7 of 49
"My mother is your grandmother," my mother said."What a coincidence," I thought.Now I am a grandfather. My daughter is a grandmother. Grandparenthood, like parenthood, is a template that is passed down from generation to generation along with the expectations that go with it.Today I am Grandpa Dave. Grandparents, like aunts a... More..
Creative Writing > Poetry Poetry: The future: 9 of 58
If you were the past,You would not know who I've become today.If she is the present,Her future's just a cutting edge away.If I were the future,You'd never know my name from day to day.A nanosecond from nowThe light from your close face will come to mine.A millisecond from nowMy brain will fire a cell and change my mind.A seco... More..
Sciences > Astronomy Do you believe that aliens have already visited our planet?: 9 of 44
Have aliens visited our planet? I have a simple answer, but only if I reframe the question as a simple question.If by aliens you mean any life forms that originated off earth, it has been suggested that microscopic life forms seeded the earth from somewhere else, perhaps space itself. We may be our own Martians. But I don't t... More..
Society & Lifestyle > Cultural Relations Overview: Culture relativism: 1 of 4
Are all cultures equal? Most conservatives would answer with an emphatic No! Americanconservatives hold that American culture (at least past American culture) is the best. Someattribute the belief in cultural equality to liberals, but I am a liberal and I don'tconsider all cultures to be equal either.Cultural relativism goes ... More..
Creative Writing > Humor Humor: Life after death: 11 of 22
I died. Or maybe I dreamed that I died. This was not at all what I was expecting. I had decided long ago that Heaven and Hell were myths. I was an atheist even in fox holes. My last words as I lay dying of cancer were "You'll never catch me in Heaven, and there sure as Hell ain't no Hell." But here I was standing and tremblin... More..