Thursday, May 29, 2008
Do it!
If you want to hear a beautiful song that includes both heavy metal guitars and orchestral strings, listen to Violence by Anathema. I don't know why such a moving song is called 'violence' but it's good. Beyond good. Amazing.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
You were one sperm cell away from not existing.
I finished the book that I was borrowing, The God Delusion, this weekend while sitting in an apartment building in Philly waiting for people to wake up and get things rollin' for the day. It is quite an extraordinary book and I am ridiculously pleased to find someone of such credibility and knowledge (such as Richard Dawkins) that writes about views and idea's that I've had since I was very young. The problem with being "young" and having ideas and notions of atheism is that there seems to be no one around you with similar thoughts. My parents never seemed highly religious, but my parents families were/are, particularly my mums side. I don't know if she took me, my sister, and my brother to church because it's something she believed in and wanted us to believe, or because her older sisters expected it of her. Either way, we only really went for the 'major' Christian holidays: Easter and Christmas Eve.
My point is, whether or not my parents are the kind to be duped into believing in a 'God,' they never really forced their ideas or beliefs on to me and my siblings. I thank my parents very much for this, for I think it gave me a much more unbiased view of religion and allowed me to make my own conclusion's about what I believe. Or don't, for that matter. My parents didn't force feed me their ideas, they taught me critical thinking - the ability to lay out the facts, put them together logically, and make my own conclusions.
I asked the boy a couple days ago, "How different do you think the world would have been if there hadn't been religion?" We had a difficult time imagining such a place. Think, for a moment, of the Earths history. Think of an event. Now is religion attached to it somehow? It's very difficult to come up with a war, a conflict, a movement, an oppression, compositions, buildings, an invasion, almost any event that occurred before the 1800 or 1900's that wasn't influenced by religion. It's revolting. My best guess for what may have happened if there had not been religion was that science, literature, music, art would have all been free to progress quickly and unhindered. It's 2008 and George W. Bush does not want research on stem cells to continue because it is against his religion. 2008!!!!!! There is something wrong with that. I am not religious, and if the stem cell research of today could save my life in the future, I want that technology to be available, not suppressed by an idiot that believes in fairytales.
To move on, if there had been no God, no religion, no anything of that sort, wouldn't people have felt a void? Do simple minded people need a God to feel like they have a purpose and that someone is watching out for them, caring for them? Does God give people's lives meaning? Do people need Him? I thoroughly enjoyed Dawkins view on the matter:
"There is something infantile in the presumption that somebody else (parents in the case of children, God in the case of adults) has a responsibility to give your life meaning and a point. It is all a piece with the infantilism of those who, the moment they twist their ankle, look around for someone to sue. Somebody else must be responsible for my well-being, and somebody else must be to blame if I am hurt. Is it a similar infantilism that really lies behind the 'need' for a God?...
"The truly adult view, by contrast, is that our life is as meaningful, as full and as wonderful as we choose to make it. And we can make it very wonderful indeed. If science gives consolation of a non-material kind, it merges into my final topic, inspiration."
From there he does indeed discuss what should be our inspiration. Not the 'awesomeness' of God nor the desire to go on to a heaven when we die. It's basically the Carpe Diem mentality. He uses rhetoric to make his point: out of the potentially trillions of people that could have been born other than you, you were born and here today. Of the hundreds of thousands of eggs that women produce and the millions of sperm that men produce, the chances of YOU being on earth were very very poor in favor. If your mother had not been impregnated by your father on that day and with that particular sperm cell, you would not be here. It is a very difficult idea to wrap your head around, but sit and think about it good and hard for a minute and the realization that you were a sperm cell away from not being here is very gratifying.
It truly is science, and not God, that is awesome.
Please check out the link for The God Delusion for any more info. As I've stated, I'm now finished with the book so will probably cease to write on this topic for a while. Until another book like this comes along, of course.
My point is, whether or not my parents are the kind to be duped into believing in a 'God,' they never really forced their ideas or beliefs on to me and my siblings. I thank my parents very much for this, for I think it gave me a much more unbiased view of religion and allowed me to make my own conclusion's about what I believe. Or don't, for that matter. My parents didn't force feed me their ideas, they taught me critical thinking - the ability to lay out the facts, put them together logically, and make my own conclusions.
I asked the boy a couple days ago, "How different do you think the world would have been if there hadn't been religion?" We had a difficult time imagining such a place. Think, for a moment, of the Earths history. Think of an event. Now is religion attached to it somehow? It's very difficult to come up with a war, a conflict, a movement, an oppression, compositions, buildings, an invasion, almost any event that occurred before the 1800 or 1900's that wasn't influenced by religion. It's revolting. My best guess for what may have happened if there had not been religion was that science, literature, music, art would have all been free to progress quickly and unhindered. It's 2008 and George W. Bush does not want research on stem cells to continue because it is against his religion. 2008!!!!!! There is something wrong with that. I am not religious, and if the stem cell research of today could save my life in the future, I want that technology to be available, not suppressed by an idiot that believes in fairytales.
To move on, if there had been no God, no religion, no anything of that sort, wouldn't people have felt a void? Do simple minded people need a God to feel like they have a purpose and that someone is watching out for them, caring for them? Does God give people's lives meaning? Do people need Him? I thoroughly enjoyed Dawkins view on the matter:
"There is something infantile in the presumption that somebody else (parents in the case of children, God in the case of adults) has a responsibility to give your life meaning and a point. It is all a piece with the infantilism of those who, the moment they twist their ankle, look around for someone to sue. Somebody else must be responsible for my well-being, and somebody else must be to blame if I am hurt. Is it a similar infantilism that really lies behind the 'need' for a God?...
"The truly adult view, by contrast, is that our life is as meaningful, as full and as wonderful as we choose to make it. And we can make it very wonderful indeed. If science gives consolation of a non-material kind, it merges into my final topic, inspiration."
From there he does indeed discuss what should be our inspiration. Not the 'awesomeness' of God nor the desire to go on to a heaven when we die. It's basically the Carpe Diem mentality. He uses rhetoric to make his point: out of the potentially trillions of people that could have been born other than you, you were born and here today. Of the hundreds of thousands of eggs that women produce and the millions of sperm that men produce, the chances of YOU being on earth were very very poor in favor. If your mother had not been impregnated by your father on that day and with that particular sperm cell, you would not be here. It is a very difficult idea to wrap your head around, but sit and think about it good and hard for a minute and the realization that you were a sperm cell away from not being here is very gratifying.
It truly is science, and not God, that is awesome.
Please check out the link for The God Delusion for any more info. As I've stated, I'm now finished with the book so will probably cease to write on this topic for a while. Until another book like this comes along, of course.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
STOP EVERYTHING!!!!
Starbucks came out with a new logo! That, though, is not the big deal and actually isn't even the complete truth.
When Starbucks opened some 35+ years ago (1971 I do believe) their brand logo of the female bust with flowy hair was not on their cups. It was a happy little mermaid with two tails, long hair, and breast's flaunted. Sounds un-classy, but anyone familiar with old sailor tattoo's and/or drawings and style will recognize it as being of that sort and not distasteful at all. It's actually, dare I say, a rather aesthetically pleasing design.
The 'new' design is actually less 'offensive' than the one from the 70's because that mermaid had nipples whereas the 2008 one does not.
'Offensive' to whom, you ask? Well, to who else but a religious group!!! I believe it's a Christian group called The Resistance (yeah, resistance to rational thinking maybe) that says, more-or-less, Starbucks should be called Slutbucks if they have that naked women spreading her legs like a prostitute as a logo. Jesus Titty Fucking Christ. The 3,000 offended Bible huggers want a nationwide boycott of Starbucks coffee.
Uh huh...
I marvel at these people. Had it been any other group, with the exception of the entire female population of the United States, that had been 'offended' by this silly, quarter sized logo that smiles out from a passersby coffee cup, it would have gotten very little attention. But, because it offends a group of religious people, a (sarcastic) whopping 3,000 of them, it's in the news. So what? Offend the 'followers of God.' Who gives a rats ass? These people are delusionally superior and need a fucking reality check to sit them back down and tell them exactly how trivial they are, how trivial we all are, in the grand scheme of things. Shut up, sit down, and listen. Your religion offends me. Are you going to stop being religious? I didn't think so. The logo on my coffee cup offends you. Am I going to boycott it? Fuck no.
Anyway, here's the link for the article I read: http://www.startribune.com/nation/18969709.html?location_refer=Homepage
And here's a poem that we had to read in Intro to Lit that I thoroughly enjoyed: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-man-said-to-the-universe-2/
When Starbucks opened some 35+ years ago (1971 I do believe) their brand logo of the female bust with flowy hair was not on their cups. It was a happy little mermaid with two tails, long hair, and breast's flaunted. Sounds un-classy, but anyone familiar with old sailor tattoo's and/or drawings and style will recognize it as being of that sort and not distasteful at all. It's actually, dare I say, a rather aesthetically pleasing design.
The 'new' design is actually less 'offensive' than the one from the 70's because that mermaid had nipples whereas the 2008 one does not.
'Offensive' to whom, you ask? Well, to who else but a religious group!!! I believe it's a Christian group called The Resistance (yeah, resistance to rational thinking maybe) that says, more-or-less, Starbucks should be called Slutbucks if they have that naked women spreading her legs like a prostitute as a logo. Jesus Titty Fucking Christ. The 3,000 offended Bible huggers want a nationwide boycott of Starbucks coffee.
Uh huh...
I marvel at these people. Had it been any other group, with the exception of the entire female population of the United States, that had been 'offended' by this silly, quarter sized logo that smiles out from a passersby coffee cup, it would have gotten very little attention. But, because it offends a group of religious people, a (sarcastic) whopping 3,000 of them, it's in the news. So what? Offend the 'followers of God.' Who gives a rats ass? These people are delusionally superior and need a fucking reality check to sit them back down and tell them exactly how trivial they are, how trivial we all are, in the grand scheme of things. Shut up, sit down, and listen. Your religion offends me. Are you going to stop being religious? I didn't think so. The logo on my coffee cup offends you. Am I going to boycott it? Fuck no.
Anyway, here's the link for the article I read: http://www.startribune.com/nation/18969709.html?location_refer=Homepage
And here's a poem that we had to read in Intro to Lit that I thoroughly enjoyed: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-man-said-to-the-universe-2/
Saturday, May 3, 2008
A suggestion for how to live your life (morally)
Even though the United States is supposed to house a secular government the Ten Commandments can still be read at most government buildings. This is mildly disturbing. Considering, of course, the extremely violent context and selectivity behind the original Ten Commandments. Perhaps I should back up a bit first though...
A good friend of mine lent me a book entitled The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. Now, ever since I was young enough to make my own decisions, I had began to question the legitimacy of religion. I like to think I have a rational, scientific mind. Rationality and science are two of religions biggest nemeses (that is why religion works best with those kinds of people that have no trouble blindly following and not questioning what is being 'preached' to them). I was never one to believe without quetioning. This questioning lead me, of course, to my interest in science. Anyone with commen sense and a small amount of scientific knowledge could easily figure out for themselves that religion, of any form, is ludacracy. While the idea of a creator, a supernatural being for that matter, watching over us and telling us what is right and proper (the Ten Commandments) and answers our prayers (when he/she/it feels like it) is romantic, it's completely absurd. There are too many details that would take a long time (and a lot of blog space) to go through, and perhaps I will do that at another time to further support my arguement, but for now, just consider (if you can) that there is no God.
There is an arguement that those that do not believe in a god have no morals to live by. Again, ludacris. There are (or, at least, should be) examples in a childs life other than religion that influence that childs ability to live a moral adult life. The history of the mindset of people of today and knowing what is and what is not acceptable is a long and tedious one so, for the purposes of keeping this relatively short, just know that there is information 'out there' about this topic and it is in favor of my arguement.
Moving forward, there is no reason that an atheist cannot live a moral life becaaaaaause there are more sources of 'right' and 'wrong' than just the ten suggestions offered by a fairytale in the sky. Oh, and there is the minor fact to take into consideration that Jesus was a Jew. The Commandments were 'sent' to Jews. Therefor, unless you and your "neighbour" (Thou shalt not bear witness against thy neighbour) are Jews, it doesn't pertain to you anyway.
Therefore, in order appease all those in favor of religion, against religion, and those who just haven't decided yet, it has been suggested to adopt a new set of commandments. These are not religion based, but morally based and can be adopted by anyone and everyone. They are not selective of anyone. Some of the 'updated' commandments may seem similar to the 'old' ones, but the new ones are not religion based. It's just saying that some of the original ten commandments were not complete crap, just most of them.
I know, you're tired of waiting. So here is a list of the new set of commandments, suggested by an online group, to replace the existing ones. They are just suggestions and not a perfect set by any means... but it's a start. Please, Enjoy:
1. Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you
*This is almost a "duh" one
2. In all things, strive to cause no harm
*Again, "duh"
3. Treat your fellow human beings, your fellow living things, and the world in general with love, honesty, faithfulness and respect
*Similar to one, but including all living things
4. Do not overlook evil or shrink from administering justice, but always be ready to forgive wrongdoing freely admitted and honestly regretted
*Everyone is wrong some of the time. YOU will be wrong some of the time. Others will not hold it against you to be wrong, if you do not hold it against them.
5. Live life with a sense of joy and wonder
*This is not saying "be naive." This is saying "enjoy the little things; enjoy everything; don't take anything for granted." Those days when you can drive with the windows down, is a good day, no matter what else has happened.
6. Always seek to be learning something new
*The saying goes, "conflict builds character." I believe "challenge builds character." Challenge yourself mentally, physically everyday. Be the most interesting person you know.
7. Test all things; always check your ideas against the facts, and be ready to discard even a cherished belief if it does not conform to them
*This one pretty much speaks for itself. Listen to the opinions and ideas of others, but don't take them as your own until you've researched it enough to form your own ideas and can support them.
8. Never seek to censor or cut yourself off from dissent; always respect the right of others to disagree with you
*Not everyone will believe what you do. Learn to accept that.
9. Form independent opinions on the basis of your own reason and experience; do not allow yourself to be led blindly by others
*This is directly the opposite of what religion would like you to think. Do NOT blindly follow what someone else says.
10. Question everything
*The idea behind science: question something and look for evidence for or against it.
Again, these are not perfect, but it's a good start to a replacement for the current ones. I hope to follow up/add to this in the future. This is a new favorite topic of mine. I suggest you check out Richard Dawkins. I don't bow down to everything he says, but when I read his work, everything that I questioned as a youngster makes sense. It's refreshing to know that someone of his calibre has the same ideas that I developed at such a young age. There others out ther that believe what I do.
You can find the New Ten Commandments and more thorough commentary on each at:
http://www.ebonmusings.org/atheism/new10c.html
A good friend of mine lent me a book entitled The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. Now, ever since I was young enough to make my own decisions, I had began to question the legitimacy of religion. I like to think I have a rational, scientific mind. Rationality and science are two of religions biggest nemeses (that is why religion works best with those kinds of people that have no trouble blindly following and not questioning what is being 'preached' to them). I was never one to believe without quetioning. This questioning lead me, of course, to my interest in science. Anyone with commen sense and a small amount of scientific knowledge could easily figure out for themselves that religion, of any form, is ludacracy. While the idea of a creator, a supernatural being for that matter, watching over us and telling us what is right and proper (the Ten Commandments) and answers our prayers (when he/she/it feels like it) is romantic, it's completely absurd. There are too many details that would take a long time (and a lot of blog space) to go through, and perhaps I will do that at another time to further support my arguement, but for now, just consider (if you can) that there is no God.
There is an arguement that those that do not believe in a god have no morals to live by. Again, ludacris. There are (or, at least, should be) examples in a childs life other than religion that influence that childs ability to live a moral adult life. The history of the mindset of people of today and knowing what is and what is not acceptable is a long and tedious one so, for the purposes of keeping this relatively short, just know that there is information 'out there' about this topic and it is in favor of my arguement.
Moving forward, there is no reason that an atheist cannot live a moral life becaaaaaause there are more sources of 'right' and 'wrong' than just the ten suggestions offered by a fairytale in the sky. Oh, and there is the minor fact to take into consideration that Jesus was a Jew. The Commandments were 'sent' to Jews. Therefor, unless you and your "neighbour" (Thou shalt not bear witness against thy neighbour) are Jews, it doesn't pertain to you anyway.
Therefore, in order appease all those in favor of religion, against religion, and those who just haven't decided yet, it has been suggested to adopt a new set of commandments. These are not religion based, but morally based and can be adopted by anyone and everyone. They are not selective of anyone. Some of the 'updated' commandments may seem similar to the 'old' ones, but the new ones are not religion based. It's just saying that some of the original ten commandments were not complete crap, just most of them.
I know, you're tired of waiting. So here is a list of the new set of commandments, suggested by an online group, to replace the existing ones. They are just suggestions and not a perfect set by any means... but it's a start. Please, Enjoy:
1. Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you
*This is almost a "duh" one
2. In all things, strive to cause no harm
*Again, "duh"
3. Treat your fellow human beings, your fellow living things, and the world in general with love, honesty, faithfulness and respect
*Similar to one, but including all living things
4. Do not overlook evil or shrink from administering justice, but always be ready to forgive wrongdoing freely admitted and honestly regretted
*Everyone is wrong some of the time. YOU will be wrong some of the time. Others will not hold it against you to be wrong, if you do not hold it against them.
5. Live life with a sense of joy and wonder
*This is not saying "be naive." This is saying "enjoy the little things; enjoy everything; don't take anything for granted." Those days when you can drive with the windows down, is a good day, no matter what else has happened.
6. Always seek to be learning something new
*The saying goes, "conflict builds character." I believe "challenge builds character." Challenge yourself mentally, physically everyday. Be the most interesting person you know.
7. Test all things; always check your ideas against the facts, and be ready to discard even a cherished belief if it does not conform to them
*This one pretty much speaks for itself. Listen to the opinions and ideas of others, but don't take them as your own until you've researched it enough to form your own ideas and can support them.
8. Never seek to censor or cut yourself off from dissent; always respect the right of others to disagree with you
*Not everyone will believe what you do. Learn to accept that.
9. Form independent opinions on the basis of your own reason and experience; do not allow yourself to be led blindly by others
*This is directly the opposite of what religion would like you to think. Do NOT blindly follow what someone else says.
10. Question everything
*The idea behind science: question something and look for evidence for or against it.
Again, these are not perfect, but it's a good start to a replacement for the current ones. I hope to follow up/add to this in the future. This is a new favorite topic of mine. I suggest you check out Richard Dawkins. I don't bow down to everything he says, but when I read his work, everything that I questioned as a youngster makes sense. It's refreshing to know that someone of his calibre has the same ideas that I developed at such a young age. There others out ther that believe what I do.
You can find the New Ten Commandments and more thorough commentary on each at:
http://www.ebonmusings.org/atheism/new10c.html
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Yes, I want 'mine' too.
My what, you ask? My 15 minutes of fame. Oh, but wait, I thought everyone was owed 15 minutes in the limelight. I'm not sure what for yet... let's break down my options:
1. Dating show
Hello!!! Who doesn't want to be glamed up and taken out for 10 dates a night with highly attractive members of the opposite sex? Not only are you surrounded by a hoard of hotties, but you get to play ulitmate bitch and pick and choose and manipulate. Ultimate power and tons of booty.
The downside (I know it's hard to believe but there is one) is that the entire nation gets to see every one of your booty calls and, after you've narrowed the selection pool down to one desirable dude, you're a newspaper headline a month after the season finale reading "Dream Couple Calls it Quits!" And... you look like a fool.
Oh, and I have that handsome arm candy, Wesley. So, no dating shows for moi.
2. Living in a house with a bunch of emotionally unstable weirdos
First and foremost, I doubt that I'd ever get chosen to be on a show of that nature because I'm not fucked up enough. Although, I'm sure I could fake it (I think that's all those people are doing anyway). It would be interesting to see how I'd deal with the other personalities. I'm a rather tolerant person... but everyone has their limits.
Again, the drawback to this that you look like a fool on TV. I'm sure editing guru's are highly selective on the content they include for episodes (only the most disturbing and provacative footage will do).
3. YouTube
Gauranteed, if you put a piece of shit video of you doing something retarded online, you will become known. Ugh. Everyone is cashing in on their "owed" fame all at once!
4. MySpace
Hello, Tila Tequila did it! She was the first profile to have 1,000,000 "friends." That is why she's famous. She hides behind aspirations of wanting to become a singer... ok hunny. You're an exotic looking, pint-sized hottie. You don't need to fake a singing career. Oh wait, I forgot to mention, bi-sexual, exotic looking, pint-sized hottie. I, unfortunately, am none of those things. So, there goes my MySpace bit.
5. Being Rich
Example: Paris Hilton. Not good for anything, but insanely famous because her grandfather/father had good business sense and built a hotel empire, thus, making her an heiress. Stick figure, liquored up, and role model to young girls. Spectacular!
Again, I lack something: a stinkin' rich father. Oh well. Next option...
6. Oy... I'm getting bored of this list... I think I'm gonna put it off for now... it'll give the boy something to read for now :)
1. Dating show
Hello!!! Who doesn't want to be glamed up and taken out for 10 dates a night with highly attractive members of the opposite sex? Not only are you surrounded by a hoard of hotties, but you get to play ulitmate bitch and pick and choose and manipulate. Ultimate power and tons of booty.
The downside (I know it's hard to believe but there is one) is that the entire nation gets to see every one of your booty calls and, after you've narrowed the selection pool down to one desirable dude, you're a newspaper headline a month after the season finale reading "Dream Couple Calls it Quits!" And... you look like a fool.
Oh, and I have that handsome arm candy, Wesley. So, no dating shows for moi.
2. Living in a house with a bunch of emotionally unstable weirdos
First and foremost, I doubt that I'd ever get chosen to be on a show of that nature because I'm not fucked up enough. Although, I'm sure I could fake it (I think that's all those people are doing anyway). It would be interesting to see how I'd deal with the other personalities. I'm a rather tolerant person... but everyone has their limits.
Again, the drawback to this that you look like a fool on TV. I'm sure editing guru's are highly selective on the content they include for episodes (only the most disturbing and provacative footage will do).
3. YouTube
Gauranteed, if you put a piece of shit video of you doing something retarded online, you will become known. Ugh. Everyone is cashing in on their "owed" fame all at once!
4. MySpace
Hello, Tila Tequila did it! She was the first profile to have 1,000,000 "friends." That is why she's famous. She hides behind aspirations of wanting to become a singer... ok hunny. You're an exotic looking, pint-sized hottie. You don't need to fake a singing career. Oh wait, I forgot to mention, bi-sexual, exotic looking, pint-sized hottie. I, unfortunately, am none of those things. So, there goes my MySpace bit.
5. Being Rich
Example: Paris Hilton. Not good for anything, but insanely famous because her grandfather/father had good business sense and built a hotel empire, thus, making her an heiress. Stick figure, liquored up, and role model to young girls. Spectacular!
Again, I lack something: a stinkin' rich father. Oh well. Next option...
6. Oy... I'm getting bored of this list... I think I'm gonna put it off for now... it'll give the boy something to read for now :)
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