Saturday, July 31, 2010

The Search for God

I recently spent the day attending a massive concert based event, called The Warped Tour. The day was pretty normal for the event, but the thing that stuck in my head-and caused me to write this article-was a little insert by a vocalist between songs. He suggested we should constantly "...Search for god in our lives." According to him, we can and will find our own personal connection to god if we search long enough. I believe this idea is a pleasant fiction, as is religion itself.

It is easy to wish for something. The idea of having a greater being that is always smiling down on you, will always forgive you, and has given your life a meaningful purpose is great. Also, the thought that after you die in this life you will go on for eternity in total bliss is appealing to most. Those are great reasons to want to believe in a god, and religions give you a structured belief system to make all that wishing easier.

Problem? I'd say having to search for a connection to god is one if them. Besides blind faith in something drilled into your mind by both a church and your parents from the time you were born, or in a book written thousands of years ago (which i could go on about but that is for another post); you have to search your life for something that you do not wish to rationally explain via science to connect to god. Some may bring up "miracles," but that is large enough for another post as well.

Why do we have to search for god? Why doesn't he show himself, or make evident his existence? We are to believe he exists, based on hopes and dreams rather than actual evidence. What is the point of hiding his identity? Is this great being too shy, or too pompous to show himself to us? Why do people believe that god has given our life meaning beyond our comprehension? Why do we not accept the fact that when we die, it is over? Why must we create something to look forward to after death in order to be happy today in life?

In reality, any connection you may make with your god is a fallacy. You wish to believe there is a solid connection to your god so you have a greater meaning to your life. You want to find that connection so badly, that you are blinded to the truth and create the connection in your own fantasy.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Alms for the Poor

I recently visited St. Pats cathedral in NY and was struck by the hypocrisy of the church asking for money for the poor when the cathedral was incredibly opulent - everything seemed to be marble and gold. There was a huge (>10ft tall, ~3ft max radius) chandelier completely covered with gold. Now I have no faith that throwing money at the poor is much help, but if the church wishes to raise money maybe they should re-evaluate how much god enjoys luxuriant cathedrals.

I have always been aware that the church is a wealthy, greedy entity. Sometimes I am just astonished at how wealthy some cathedrals really are. Talk about the ultimate hypocrisy. If the churches could be more humble and merely the bare necessity of a structure for large congregations, then a vast wealth would be available for the poor. Unfortunately, businesses don't operate that way.

I think aiding the poor requires building infrastructure, strengthening economies, and providing better education - not simply throwing money at the poor. However, so long as humans can grasp the idea of ownership there will always be poor.

Anyway, here are some pictures are hypocritical christian institutions:
Quick question - do Muslim's raise money for the poor at mosques?




Thursday, July 29, 2010

A Short Story Called Bullshit

Let me tell you a story:
      You get a phone call.  A man informs you that the government has deposited $5000 in your bank account.  He then informs you that you must put in 40 hours of work at a government facility because they paid you. 
How do you react? 
You ask why the government paid you and than man responds, "they are kind." You tell the man that you don't want to work at the government facility.  He then tells you that you will serve life in prison if you do not work.  You then ask the man to remove the money from your bank account.  He says that taking the money back is not an option.  You have only two choices, do a weeks worth of work or go to prison.  
 How do you feel?

This story is analogous to a tale called the bible. 
In the the bible a power-hungry god creates man.  This god, if he exists, created you.  Once you were created, god demanded that you praise him.  

How do you react?  

You ask god why he created you and he responds, "I am kind."  You inform god that you do not want to spend eternity praising him.  He then tells you that you will spend eternity in hell if you do not praise him.  You then ask god to un-create you.  He says being un-created is not an option; you have only two choices, praise god for eternity or go to hell.

How do you feel?

I feel pissed.  As humans we realize that it is wrong to force a 'gift' upon someone and then demand something in return.  Linkin Park summed it up, "The sun doesn't give light to the moon assuming that the moon is gonna owe it one - so find another place to feed your greed while I find a place to rest".  That is exactly my attitude towards god - piss off and feed your greed else where.  If god did exist, is he really the type of entity you wish to praise?  Do you really want to go to heaven only to spend eternity praising a pompous spirit with an inflated ego?  When measured by human standards, god is a jerk.  

Of course I am well aware - we can't impose human morality upon god because he is god.  Or maybe it is because Christians don't enjoy their god being a tool. 
Denny Burk, a Christian, wrote: 
God is love. Therefore He must exalt Himself so as to draw people into worship. This is not narcissistic because it is no vice for Him to exalt the beauty of His own perfections for His creatures’ enjoyment and blessing.
I totally forgot that god is love!  Sorry, I must have lost the loving somewhere along the story of the great flood, no wait - it must have been when I was reading about god killing the first born of each Egyptian - No! I know, I forgot that god was love while I was reading my old favorite, the bible, and these two girls got their father drunk so he would have sex with them and they could bear offspring!  Silly me.  It cannot be narcissistic for some being who was here before us to conveniently label himself as the definition of perfect and demand that we praise him for being the epitome of love.

Try finding god's love in a hospital room where his plan for a newborn was to strangle to death on its umbilical cord during delivery.  Think about all the Christian mothers who had stillborn babies.  God is love.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Re: Cordoba House / Park51

I looked into the Cordoba House - which may have been been renamed Park51 - and learned some more.

An article from the New York Daily News mentioned that the Cordoba House is a community center and also a prayer space.  Now I am typically not for building a prayer space as I am completely against praying in the first place.  However, as much as I wish religion to dissipate, being unreasonably tyrannical will not make it so.  I truly hope Cordoba House turns out as more of a community center than it does a prayer space.  Since the goal of the project is to build better relations between Islamic people and Western culture and to help Islamic people feel accepted - something they are not in many American's minds - I would except the community center to play a large role and that Christians and others could also pray. 

A meeting about the property where Cordoba House would be built got out of hand and ended with people revealing their strong feelings on the project (NY Daily News Article).
"People were murdered on 9/11 because the terrorists believed in the power of Islam," said Sierra Rose, 19, of Manhattan. "Anybody who is an American knows what caused those people to attack us on 9/11 was their religion," Rose added.
Why is this news story quoting a 19 year old girl?  Out of all the people with opinions on the topic the reporter picked a loud mouth 19 year old girl who should have been in 5th grade when 9/11 occurred.  Good job.  While this girls may be correct - the "terrorists" where followers of Islam - she is demonstrating the need for a community center aimed at showing not all Islamic people are crazy.  The director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement, Daisy Khan, made clear that her organization responsible for the Cordoba House consisted of moderate Muslims who wished to show that the extremist ideology is not their way.  Khan also stated "For us it is a symbol..that will give voice to the silent majority of Muslims who suffer at the hands of extremists. A center will show that Muslims will be part of rebuilding lower Manhattan" (Wiki).

I am not sure as to how "mosque-like" the center will be.  I do not think it matters, besides what kind of mosque has a pool?  This project is and will continue to bring out the bigotry of Americans who naively blame the entire Muslim community for 9/11.  They need to relax and be more tolerant even though I enjoy seeing Christians making themselves appear very unchristian. 

In the long run the project will either (1) allow expression for moderate Muslims, leading away from extremism which is always good.  To eliminate religion it needs to slowly be watered down.  Unlike many Christians, most Muslims seem to be intensely devoted to their faith and actually center their lives around it.  This project may help develop an Americanized watered down Islamic faith where the community no longer practices what they preach - Hallelujah!  The project may also (2) gather more Muslim people together and lead to a group of extremists Muslims who want to influence political decisions with their faith.  In this case the Muslim group will show Americans exactly what they were afraid of and bring down further intolerance for their faith.  Hopefully the political disputes that would break out would highlight the error of letting Christian faith sway our politics as well.  Seems like a win-win situation for me.  

Holy S**t: Terrifying Political Ad

Check out this lovely Republican political ad against building a mosque at 'ground zero'.
I am absolutely terrified by this video:



First the video claims that all the Muslims declared Jihad on us - freaking crazy!!

Then the video goes on about Muslims killing us and shows some awful clips of fighting.  My guess is some very christian people made this video.  The whole video is made as if we are in a situation where we have America vs. Every Muslim on Earth.  If we let them build their giant mosque at ground zero, then they have won! Oh no!

The republicans forgot to mention the part where the mosque isn't really a mosque and how by ground zero they actually meant not ground zero!  You see this building is being built a couple blocks away from the world trade center site and looks to be in the center of a block where it will not even be in view of the site (depending on its size).  Also, the building is not a mosque, it is called the Cordoba House.  The Cordoba House is a Muslim led project to help build better Muslim-Western world relations.  The Cordoba House is actually a large community center.  The website states:
This proposed project is about promoting integration, tolerance of difference and community cohesion through arts and culture.  Cordoba House will provide a place where individuals, regardless of their backgrounds, will find a center of learning, art and culture[...]  The site will contain tremendous amounts of resources that otherwise would not exist in Lower Manhattan; a 500-seat auditorium, swimming pool, art exhibition spaces, bookstores, restaurants...
Oh man, that sounds like an awful place to have in New York.  Especially not at ground zero.  We really need to stop this project!

Kudos to the Republicans on belligerently lying and making a nightmare inducing propaganda fest out of their 1 minute bullshit story.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Sceintific Theory: Fact?

What is a scientific theory?
The theory of evolution is a scientific theory.  So... that means evolution is theoretical, it is just an idea?  Not something that has been proven?  In which case creationism is just as viable a theory right?

ABSOLUTELY NOT

I sat through a 15 minute power point presentation from some kid about how evolution was just a theory and creationism is on equal foot and has better evidence.  Too bad he was speaking to a philosophy class and everyone besides him knew the truth.  Evolution has been proven - many many times over again.  In fact, evolution has never been disproved.  If something is shown to be wrong, then it cannot be a scientific theory without being remodeled.  Scientific theories have withstood intensive testing and have only ever been shown right.  As quoted from the University of Rochester:
A scientific theory or law represents an hypothesis, or a group of related hypotheses, which has been confirmed through repeated experimental tests[...] The validity that we attach to scientific theories as representing realities of the physical world is to be contrasted with the facile invalidation implied by the expression, "It's only a theory." For example, it is unlikely that a person will step off a tall building on the assumption that they will not fall, because "Gravity is only a theory."
Evolution has not been put to trial  nearly as many times as gravity, but it has been and is continually tested.  Creationists often try to knock evolution by saying, "It's only a theory."  Now you know a little better what being a theory means.  Only being a theory is damn impressive.  Very few things every make it to the status of Law.  Almost all scientific facts are actually theories.  Creationists will try to put creationism on equal footing with evolution and claim that creationism can be a scientific theory too - it is not and cannot be a scientific theory.  Creationism evokes supernatural claims which are not testable.  However everything creationism describes about the natural world is easily falsifiable.  The world is not 6,000 or 10,000 years old, try 4.5 billion.  Creationists come up with 'clever' ways to make people who know little to nothing about real science believe that science is deeply flawed; they quote stupid radiation experiments to disprove evolution and claim that carbon dating is drastically wrong and go on and on.

There is a reason creationists' evidence and theories never make it to scientific journals and why their work is so easily set aside - and it is not a big conspiracy by all scientists to discredit creationism.  Evolution happens - hence many creationists concede to micro-evolution but not macro-evolution.  Micro-evolution means that animals like dogs can change - but they never become a totally different animal, for example horse don't become whales.  Oh, wait - primitive horses did become whales.  Oh shit!  The problem people have is grasping time spans of millions of years.  Wolves have been bred to become chihuahuas in only some thousands of years.  Millions of years passing is unfathomable - a wolf could easily be imagined to become a frog in the time span.  If a being from another planet were to show up here on Earth he would clearly see wolves and Shih Tzus as different species - Macro-evolution.  

For you science types out there - string theory is another example of bullshit dressed up as a theory.  String theory has not been tested and is in no way at the level of a scientific theory.  It cannot currently be tested experimentally.  Also, always remember that science is not above criticism and nothing can be proven 100%.  Calling something a scientific fact ensures that it has been reliable but not that it always shall be or that it is perfect.  Often science rests on empirical observations that could be wrong for a host of reasons, the most powerful of which is that our mind constructs our sensory experiences.  Evolution is a scientific theory and like most science, it has only ever proven right; this does not imply that the theory of evolution will never be modified or that no alternatives could exist.  However, there is not other explanation that can stand on equal footing to be compared to evolution - which will probably only undergo very slight modifications in the future.

Perhaps god created everything as is including fossils and the carbon levels and the layers of rock and vestigial body parts.  Sounds like a lot of unnecessary work for a universe with a god and it sounds like he deliberately wishes to fool us but alright.  So he's a tricky son of a gun who wanted to create a world that would appear to be completely godless... so why does he want praised then?
-------
If I hear someone discredit evolution as just a theory again - or when I read about public schools wishing to teach creationism I'm going to snap.

If you don't believe me read "The Origin of Species" dang it.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Honor Killings are Pathetic

Question: What do you do when your daughter refuses to follow through with the arranged marriage you set up when she was ten?
What do you do when your daughter wants a divorce?

Answer: You kill her for dishonoring you.

Do you agree with this answer? If so you are probably religious and more than likely Islamic and absolutely deserve the death penalty. If you do not agree - congratulations! you are not among the most pathetic group of humans. Although you are pretty far down there if you inoculate young children with religious teachings. Right now the focus is honor killings. I have seen multiple news reports popping up lately regarding honor killings. According to Fox News honor killings may be on the rise in the U.S.
The United Nations estimates that as many as 5,000 women are murdered in such honor killings each year for offenses like immodesty or refusing an arranged marriage
5,000 women. That's a lot. It is absolutely disgusting that some people put their own "honor" before the lives of their family. There is nothing honorable in killing and god is not going to suddenly smile upon you because you killed an adulterer. I think when people commit an honor killing in America they should be killed in return. Why keep such a pathetic excuse for a human alive? The Fox News story highlighted a couples reports of honor killings:
On July 1, Kanwal filed for divorce, a prospect her father, a 52-year-old immigrant from Pakistan, would not entertain. Investigators say that after an argument on the night of July 5, he strangled Kanwal with a bun-gee cord.
Are you disgusted? There are more killings mentioned in the news story - feel free to read at your own leisure.
The Last Psychiastrist wrote an excellent piece on the story of Noor Almaleki, a 20 year old girl who was killed by her father in Arizona. She didn't marry a suitable Iraqi man and after being abused my her parents moved in with another Iraqi family. Her father just couldn't handle the MASSIVE shame. So he ran her and her friend over with his Jeep - twice. As The Last Psychiatrist said:
He doesn't care that she's Americanized or even an adulteress. He cares that people are laughing at him. This is narcissism, and here I do not hesitate to spell it out explicitly. The obvious is that he sees her only as an extension of himself, only as she impacts his own existence and not as an independent entity. He's not better than her, she's just not a fully formed character, she's an extra. But the more telling and scary part of the narcissism is that he thinks that by killing her, he has not merely stopped her but fixed things, erased his shame, as if it never happened. As if the people back in Iraq aren't still snickering, as if human nature and reality are subservient to the magical thinking of a man who believes a Jeep can alter what God already saw.
The same article goes on the mention some more killings in America:
In Texas, teen sisters Amina and Sarah Said were shot dead in 2008, allegedly by their father, because they had boyfriends. That same year in Georgia, 25-year-old Sandeela Kanwal was allegedly strangled by her father for wanting to leave an arranged marriage. Last year in New York, Aasiya Hassan, 37, was murdered in perhaps the most gruesome way imaginable: She was beheaded, allegedly by her husband, for reportedly seeking a divorce. And this past spring, 19-year-old Tawana Thompson's husband gunned her down in Illinois, reportedly following arguments about her American-style clothing.
I don't think honor killings are going to be come an epidemic - they are not going to be common place. However, they occur an despite what people may wish to say - the killings occur for the most part in Islamic communities. Some people say we (non-Islamic) cannot understand because, well we're not Islamic! There is nothing to be understood here - no matter what your religious affiliation is killing your family members because of your narcissism is wrong. Even if your religion sanctions honor killings, they are still wrong. Morality exists outside the realm of man made religion and no matter what a group claims, honor killing is pathetic and it is wrong.

People who engage in honor killings are only hurting their own religion by giving the world a clear example of what can happen when the religion is followed too strongly. If too much of your religion leads to violence - you have yourself a pathetic religion. Not that other religions are not pathetic - yours is just worse.
If that last remark made you mad - just refrain from killing. Besides you deserve it, your religion makes me mad.

Wave Goodbye to Your Children

A recent article from a CNN blog claims that the religious right is losing its children.

Rev. Jim Wallis, an evangelical leader, said the children of ultra-conservative Christians are deserting their parents’ theology in droves.
Hooray! But seriously, Wallis claims the children are tired of the fighting over abortion and homosexuality.
I'm not sure if I agree with him because evangelical christian groups appear to be popping up everywhere and many children are leaving the older traditional sects of Christianity, like Catholicism, and turning to new christian communities with radical, outspoken leaders. Just recently gay marriage became outlawed almost everywhere in the United States. We shall see if the "leaders of tomorrow" really stray from their parents view and let homosexual couples be legally wed. The Creationist movement seems to be chugging ahead and many government policies seem to be based more and more off faith.

I truly hope the Religious Right had lost its children (though I don't believe it). It is amazing that as our culture progresses, religious fundamentalists will hold it back, fighting to keep homosexuals unequal, keep evolution taught poorly, discredit science, and halt medical progress. If religious people could forget about god's stupid rules and put humanity first such as letting missionaries in Africa accurately inform the populace about STD (AIDS) prevention and distribute condoms. Telling people that god wants abstinence is not slowing the spread of AIDS or benefiting the impoverished people who are still going to have sex - it is natural! If god were so concerned, then sex would not be so pleasurable. Sadly religious people have to put god first, unless of course they are a very poor believer - in which case they might as well stop believing.

Anyway, to cheer you up, check out this news article about women with two Uteruses - Uteri if you will.
Oh, did I mention she is pregnant in both!! Wha-bam!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

"Less Money for Dead People"

Yahoo! News was headlining an article that said:
President Barack Obama on Thursday signed legislation intended to slash by $50 billion the taxpayer money improperly paid to dead people, fugitives and those in jail who shouldn't be getting benefits.
According to the news story $110 billion was spent last year (yikes!). I'm always happy to see the government cutting the money they spend on stupid things - but there far more cuts the government should be making. That is another story though. To see the full article about how Obama wants to give less money to dead people (oh yea - and fugitives and those in jail) click here.

This article reminded me of just how much money people blow on death. According to Funerals with Love , many funerals cost over $10,000 not including the burial! Caskets easily cost from $1-5,000 dollars. Holy crap! Cremation is a cheaper alternative, running from $800 to $2,000 - just don't get a fancy urn! Why are people so obsessed with death and burial? What good is a dead corpse?

A dead corpse can actually do a world of good - but not when buried or cremated**.
If everyone would get over themselves and donate their bodies to science / medical facilities, their families could save money and our society could reap the benefit of more science / medical research and more organs available for transplants. An average of 18 people die each day from the lack of available organs for transplant! These are needless deaths. Many religious people think they need their bodies for the rapture. I would think people would only care about their soul, but no. Churches always have a cemetery. Church goers should be humane right? So maybe churches should stop letting people use their cemeteries and demand that people donate their cadaver. You don't need your corpse, your family doesn't need your corpse, and god doesn't need your corpse.

If you want to a) help people and b) save loved ones a possible $10,000+ then donate your corpse!

Christian sects for the most part no longer oppose cremation - praise Jesus! - but most people still pick burial. The body is not sacred, and if god exists, then he can resurrect you without your decomposed corpse. The church and all people should stop devoting so much time and energy to the dead. Catholics pray incessantly for the dead - something which many of their other christian brethren do not comprehend. Catholics will pray for a deceased person to go to heaven or to be happy with god etc. Excuse me? If god and heaven exist in the biblical sense, then your dead family member is immediately either there or not there - permanently. This is irrevocable. Not even Moses gets to go to heaven - why would your prayer change the big G's opinion?

Let's celebrate life - use death to help those living.

**Cremation could have benefits if the heat produced from burning bodies was used to produce electricity. Sadly though, no one would go for that choice. Fossil fuel is running out, but human fuel is increasing.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

The Bible: A Cultural Myth

As an atheist I think the bible is fictitious. Fictitious because the bible describes a spiritual side to reality which does not exit and does not accurately describe historical occurrences (as far as I know). However, I would proclaim that the bible is ‘based on a true story’. That true story is a tale of a culture and of history. The Old Testament describes many things like the tower of Babel which can be defended as historically existing. However, the Old Testament was passed down via word of mouth for thousands of years and the stories are exaggerated and warped versions loosely based on the true tale. The Hebrews originated from nomadic tribes of which many were enslaved to different cultures or merchants and saw much of Mesopotamia and northern Egypt. Many historians think when the Hebrews arrived in Babylon the great tower already lay in ruins. Babylon was the trading hub of Mesopotamia so many cultures and many languages came together there. Hence the Hebrews witnessed diverse languages and remnants of a great tower. Over generations they formed the tale which wound up in the bible to explain the tower of Babel. In my opinion a majority of the Old Testament is composed in similar fashion. There are also tales such as the great flood, which seem to be based on other myths, in this case The Epic of Gilgamesh.

The bible is a novel text for portraying a cultures world view and assimilation of ideas from other interacting, ancient cultures. Reading through the bible we can see a progression of the Israelites’ culture. Their way of life, laws, morals, and world view are all catalogued by the bible. Studying the personality of God in the bible reveals a change in the Israelites’ attitude and morality. The bible starts with a jealous, powerful, spiteful god. His morals seem backwards to the modern Western world, but coincide with the older eye for an eye philosophy. Many of God’s punishments are stoning to death. The early God does not appear omniscient and behaves like an emotionally unstable pre-teen. As the bible progresses we see God slowly change into a more forgiving, caring entity. In the New Testament the Israelites in ancient Rome have a different sense of justice and morality than their Hebrew ancestors. God begins to encompass the idea loving one another and being humane instead of being obsessed with rules involving worshiping himself. As man’s morality and culture changed so did their description of God. A long essay could be written on this topic, but the important point is that God changes and does so due to changing cultures. If God was perfect, omniscient, omnipotent, and helped dictate the bible he would be a stable character and would have a static morality – likely not mirroring that of his followers. Instead we see an embodiment of cultural values that changes through the exaggerated collection of tales we call the bible.

I am not aware of any other text which provides such a detailed an interesting view of the dynamic nature of human culture. If one were to follow up the bible with current religious writings he would find God has again changed his morality and his personality. Interesting.


Nature and Religion

Early Man: Nature’s Deities

Unique among life on earth, mankind developed a sophisticated imagination. Our imagination enabled us to survive changing environments and in a wide assortment of environments. Tragically, the imagination also brought us massive amounts of fear and confusion. Humans can imagine horrible frightening things and have the ability to contemplate why and how the world works. Human experience reveals cause and effect relationships that all or most other animals do not recognize. Because early humans realized they were powerless in the face of nature’s forces and because of the desire to eradicate inexplicable causes humans invented gods. We believe the first gods consisted of natural entities, chiefly the sun and moon. Some cultures imagined gods of the forest, the ocean, the trees, the grass, each distinct lake; everything contained its own minor god. Inventing gods provided our ancestors with the origins of natural occurrences and let them feel secure in being able to appease the gods thus protecting themselves. Parents would tell their children about the gods and so for many generations the traditions would carry on and people would think their beliefs were correct.

This form of religion was completely rational for the ancients who had no other way to account for many natural phenomena. Modern cultures would not benefit from such a belief system and our increased understanding of nature makes praising the moon or ocean seems silly.

This is the same thinking atheists share for all religions, where religion is referring to a belief system including spiritual entities. Meditation and self reflection do not count, unless they are seen as a way to contact your soul which is a spiritual entity and utter crap.