doughyatt.org

Welcome to my personal web site! I am Doug Hyatt, an aspiring writer living in East Tennessee, as well as an expert in the field of bioinformatics (biology meets computers). Tired of the straitjacket nature of blogging software, I have finally decided to design my own pages. Instead of struggling to make sense of a single 'harmoniously confused' blog, my humble readers may now select which of my varied jumble of interests they wish to learn more about. Each mini-site features its own static content as well as a running blog detailing my latest exploits related to its subject. Enjoy!

My blog has fallen strangely silent these last few months. Truth be told, I find myself with little to say on the subject of Bush vs. Kerry that has not already been written/spoken/blogged about. I am ready to turn my attention and my blog to other subjects. The primary dividing line for these two candidates is, simply, RELIGION, and that is pretty much the end of it. Those of us who are not religious find Bush's very presence offensive. He is simply a disease that has infected the country and must be isolated and sent packing back to quarantine in Crawford, Texas. Christians, on the other hand, are not innately offended by Bush's existence or his views. This indifference to the religious/social issues enables them to focus more clearly on other differences between the two candidates. I've come to respect this opposing view; there is not much I can do to argue against it. When I ignore Bush's positions on prayer in schools, flag burning, gay marriage, stem cell research, etc etc. the list goes on, I find that, really, I don't favor Kerry by that large a margin. It's just all the Christian-Right-infused issues that press my buttons and get me so riled up that I can't even consider voting for Bush. Since religion is the key dividing line, what is there, really, to say? I can't even relate to the idea of the son of God taking mortal form, walking among people, and dying for our sins and all that. Given such a vast gulf in worldview between myself and someone who believes in all that stuff, what could possibly be done to bridge the gap? If I actually bought into the whole Judeo-Christian belief system, I'd probably be voting for Bush myself. So, I am done. I live in a country where most of the people do not believe what I believe. I just have to accept I am in the vast minority as an agnostic and move along. I guess there is just a part of me that wants to understand religion, and how people come to believe in a single, particular one, at the expense of all other belief systems. (I don't even claim that Christianity is incorrect; hell, I'm an agnostic... I just don't know, and that's that.) Regardless, that is what this election boils down to. In order to win, Kerry is going to have to garner a fairly large percentage of Christian voters. That will be a real challenge. We'll see if he can succeed come November.