Still a Lie

Sorry I haven't posted much lately(does anyone still read this anyway?). Anyway, I saw this and laughed so hard, and had to share.

Ban Conservative Christianity!

Because, if you follow their logic on gay rights, Christianity should be banned too.

This is the best video i have ever seen!

Apologies for Being Christian

Rechelle over at My Sisters Farmhouse wanted to apologize for all of the jackassery she did because she was Christian. I have one I'd like to apologize for myself.

I apologize for ever having pushed my mom to go to church. This caused my mom to get into it, and bring my brother, and get him surrounded in it. I apologize for being the one who caused my brother to be absorbed into their lies.

Is There Life After Death?

I could respond like the Digg comments I saw for this article and say 'No' and leave it at that, but that would be an uninteresting post. I read that article, and right from the outset knew it was ludicrous. It was about an author and his book about near death experiences and how they prove the afterlife. The instant thought to that is that there are many explanations for how a person could be convinced of something that isn't real. His response to this is that there are many explanations for why it doesn't make sense to accept near death experiences, and thus they are wrong because they need many reasons instead of just one. He then contradicts himself by saying that awareness of near death experience has raised drastically one sentence, and in the next saying that the possibility of the increased awareness causing an increased susceptibility to having an experience by saying that since the stories weren't copycats of the ones they read, it doesn't matter.He then makes mention of how believing in an afterlife makes him feel better treating cancer patients. As warm and fuzzy as it is that it makes him feel better, it doesn't help his case.

All in all, the article was a poor argument for an afterlife(but, im sure this blog post is almost as poor, as it is late, and im burnt out from calc homework.

What Arguing About Evolution Feels Like

Some Awesomeness From Assassin's Creed 2

*THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR ASSASSIN'S CREED 2!*

I was browsing the Codex of Altair last night and saw some cool quotes

Attis. Dionysus. Horus. Krishna. Mithra. Jesus. Simlilar stories color their 
lives. Too similar, I think. Divine birthright. Persecution. Disciples. 
Miraculous acts. Resurrection . . .

How is it possible?

Perhaps it isn't . . . merely a single story told over the ages? Borrowed 
then changed to fit the times? Evolving as our tools and language do? Is this 
tale borne of fact or fiction? A bit of both? Could these figures be the same 
person - their life extended and transformed by a Piece of Eden?

Al Mualim spoke of Jesus as a real person - a mortal who had mastered the 
arts of manipulation. But what if he was wrong? If these men are real - and 
if they have walked amongst us many times before - does it means they'll come 
again? Perhaps they are here now? So many questions, and every day, even 
more . . .

I have always been fond of this. Attis, Dionysus, Horus, Krishna, and Mithra are all obvious myths to a Christian. Yet they are just like Jesus.

I have studied the ancient pagan faiths that came before this more recent 
obsession with a single, divine creator. They seem to have focused more on 
the fundamental forces at play in the world around us and less on arbitrary 
moral rules . . .

The sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. The tides ebb and 
flow. Grass grows, withers, dies and then in time, emerges from the ground 
once more. The air turns warm then cools and back again. Some hidden energy 
keeps us fitted to the ground and pulls us back when we attempt to leave it.

Each of these movements was represented before by a god or goddess. Each 
force given face, but recognized as something distinct and powerful. Which 
is not to say there were not connections between these forces - a pantheon 
of individual spirits - of rules. Invisible hands guiding to progress of 
the world around us.

And so here there was an attempt to categorize, study, explain, and understand 
the way things work - even if it was flawed. But no more. Now we are asked to 
succumb to a far more simplified explanation. How naive to believe there might 
be a single answer to every question. Every mystery. That there exists a lone 
divine light which rules over all. They say it is a light that brings truth 
and love. I say it is a light that blinds us - and forces us to stumble about 
in ignorance.

I long for the day when men will turn away from invisible monsters and once 
more embrace a more rational view of the world. But these new religions are so 
convenient - and promise such terrible punishment should one reject them - I 
worry that fear shall keep us stuck to what is surely the greatest lie ever 
told.

That last paragraph sums up religion well. The Glyphs are another great source of myth and conspiracy. If any other AC players have any cool things to share, let me know.

Apparently I've Reached the Big Time

I got the "honor" of being trolled by that jackass David Mabus. If that name isn't familiar, he is the guy who rants about how evil atheists are, and mentions Nostradamus. Here is his comment, in full. It seems to be the same screed he has been copypasting on several sites.

Looks like your website is under attack from supernatural forces...

First of all: Nostradamus demolishes "atheism"

__________________________________________________ __

wait, wait...

I forgot something...

you little shits even talk about me....

GOATS ON FIRE....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssFaIhJkLsk

LIBERATION!

Sing from the rooftops:

"Atheism is dead!"

http://www.conspiracycafe.net/forum/index.php?/topic/25104-atheist-ap.

..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK50So-yYRU

BYE BYE ATHEISM

these little insignificant fools try to use science to destroy every mystery in the universe...

but not this one! 

 Oh yay me! Im popular enough to get trolled... lol.

Is there a way to block a commenter on here?

If Religions Were Real

So THIS is what 2 Kings 2:23-24 would look like! I like it.

I Was Inspired by Greta Christina's Meme of the Day to Do My Own Today

To be an atheist is not to positively affirm the non existence of god, but to not positively affirm the existence of god. Even if it were a declaration that there was no god, it would still be reasonable. I can confidently say faeries, unicorns, and pixie dust don't exist to the same level that I can about god. They have just as much evidence.

I Love the Onion

Sumerians Look On In Confusion As Christian God Creates World

"I do not understand," reads an ancient line of pictographs depicting the sun, the moon, water, and a Sumerian who appears to be scratching his head. "A booming voice is saying, 'Let there be light,' but there is already light. It is saying, 'Let the earth bring forth grass,' but I am already standing on grass."

That is awesome!

Some Conversations I've Had in the Last Week

I've had 2 interesting discussions with Christians this week. The first was me 2 friends, 1 Wiccan, and one Christian. I cant remember what we were talking about, but the Christian said we were a Christian nation. I countered with the fact that Jefferson, Paine, and Adams, to name a few, were all non Christians, and were founding fathers. In addition to this, the first amendment makes it clear that we, as a nation, have no religion. The counterargument that the Christian said (after saying that she was a history major, so she knows what she was talking about), and the Wiccan agreed to, was that we were a Christian nation because of the Puritans. Because the Puritans came over here, and slaughtered Indian tribes, we are a Christian nation... apparently. Nevermind that couple hundred year gap between those events and our nations founding. By the time our nation was founded, the Enlightenment had begun, and because of this, many of our founders were openly skeptical of Christianity. I gave up on the argument once it began to devolve into "no you are wrong."

The second discussion I had was at a Christmas party on campus. I was hanging out, waiting for my friend to get out of class so I could bring him home. As I was waiting, a couple of girls came over and asked if I wanted to come to the party. I went, and began talking to people. I saw one guy with a picture of Christ Pantocrator on his shirt. I started chatting with him, discussing the history of the image on his shirt(turns out I actually DID learn something in art history) and it drifted into a theological discussion. He told me he was a reformed Calvinist, and I let him know that I was an atheist. He began asking me how I live knowing my life has no purpose. I told him my life has plenty of purpose. My life purpose is to be happy, make others happy, enjoy my time here with my friends, and hopefully, make a significant societal contribution. He said that because that purpose was not eternal, it was meaningless. We continued talking, but nothing else meaningful was said. I ended up leaving soon thereafter.

God Believes the Same Things I Do!

I read about a series of studies in PhysOrg that showed that what a person feels that their deity believes is lined up with what they believe. Not only do they line up, but if yours change, you suddenly have a 'better understanding of god' and now know what he really wants. One study showed that we use the same part of the brain that we use on our own beliefs for god's. It seems our brain knows he is something we made up ourselves, and not a separate being. Now if the brain could just convince the conscious. Many religious will say that the reason is because their beliefs are molded on their god's views. If so, god must have no idea what he wants, because the beliefs of his followers are always changing. Take time to read some of the Digg comments. They are interesting.

Saw this in the comments, and had to include it:

“You can tell you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do” - Anne Lamott

Using Faith To Push Choices of an Elected Official

In a post over at Friendly Atheist, I saw that Patrick J. Kennedy, Democrat Representative from Rhode Island, has been barred from taking communion at his church. Apparently his support for abortion rights as a public official make him an unfit Catholic. The act of preventing him from taking communion is pressuring his political position with denying him a holy sacrament. A tax exempt organization should not be allowed to politically pressure(they are not technically allowed, but as is so common, religious privilege gets in the way of justice). I hope this story gets accurately picked up by the media, and the Catholic church is held under criticism for these actions.

Churching an Atheist: Respect Your Leaders

Church was interesting today. When I got there, I had a discussion with a member of the church named John. We had a civil discussion on why I don't believe. I explained that I had began an inquiry into other points of view, because only hearing one point of view doesn't allow one to hear a dissenting opinion and see if they could be wrong. He was one of the very few Christians(I could count the number on one hand) that have agreed with that. The rest have said something to the tune of "that is dangerous" or that it is from Satan. Then again, I expected such an intelligent response from him. he is a brilliant man.

The sermon was given by Robert, my personal favorite of the people on the sermon rotation(possibly because he is a bit of a geek like me). It was over the point that we should respect our leaders, but not revere them to the point where their actions are what makes ones belief in god. He makes the point that they deserve respect for being a leader, and because they were appointed by god. I disagree, because a leader deserves no inherent respect just for being a leader. They deserve the respect that is given to any human being, and earn or lose it based upon their actions thereafter. And to say they were picked by god seems rather foolish. I don't think he would accept the priests who use their position as a tool to rape children was chosen by god. He does, however, make the valid point that being a leader puts you in a spotlight that practically begs you to be attacked. Finding fault with the guy who is visible is much easier. Just look in a tabloid to see how true that is. He makes the point that we shouldn't nitpick on the things we see as a problem with our leaders. I agree that we should not nitpick and gripe over every little thing we hold as a problem, but we also should not discard any potential serious issues on the fear of being 'nitpicky.' He then transitioned into the point that we should not revere our leaders to the point where we do not think for ourself. This is very true, and common of many people. Blindly accepting what your pastor says, or what Glenn Beck says, or Keith Olbermann, or Obama, or Richard Dawkins is a stupidly ignorant act. Inquire for yourselves, and do not blindly accept what you are told. He gave a brief history on how for over a thousand years no one other than the priests had access to the bible, so they couldn't examine it themselves. He made the point that many people feel they do not need to read the bible, because they have the preacher to explain it for them.

Class was largely uneventful. It was over chapter 3 of 1st Corinthians. The only interesting thing was a comment. John, the speaker, and the same one I talked to before class, made the comment that if people are too hardline in their beliefs, they can become incapable of changing their viewpoint. If new evidences are presented to them, they will either try to incorporate it in what they already believe, or throw it out. I immediately thought "Isn't that what fundamentalist Christians do in regard to evolution?" I did not say this, because I learned last time that such things are not tolerated. There were a few other comments, but I cant quite remember them exactly, and I don't want to paraphrase wrong and make anyone look unduly bad.

Great Quote From a Friend

My friend Dave said this to me a few minutes ago, and I felt it was great, worth posting for sure.


"God has no moral basis, allowing the corrupt to prosper. While those with dignity and morality are left to defend themselves against odds far beyond what should be faced. Those who do not see this are either blind or too naive to acknowledge reality for how it truly functions. May he be held responsible for the lives that he has failed to save and those he's embellished, who are not worthy.  If I am doomed to hell through his flawed judgement, so be it. I will no longer shake upon the thought."

Are Religious Visitors Questioning Their Belief?

I read a fascinating post at Greta Christina's blog. In it, the case is made that many religious visitors to atheist blogs are looking for someone to challenge their belief so that it can be tested, to see if it is really rational to believe what they do. I can say I was that way. It wasn't blogs for me, but books. I read The God Delusion because I felt it was foolish to only hear the church's side of things. I felt that if I was in an isolated bubble from other arguments, my faith was falsely propped up. It was looking into a lack of belief that was a stepping stone to atheism.

I agree that we need to be patient with the religious believers, because they may be honestly looking for other ideas. If they spout stupid fallacies, such as that atheists have no moral basis, or that since we can't prove with certainty, we can go ahead and just assume god, then we have to be patient with them. This is all they get at church. If they are serious about expanding their knowledge and looking at other viewpoints, then patiently explaining the flaws in their argument may help them. Now, if they start ignoring or insulting you repeatedly, they are probably a troll, so feel free to ignore them, or, if it is your blog, block them.

What do you think? Are many of the religious people on the blogs sincere, or just trolls?

5 Tribal Stages of Atheism

I read the following at Andrea_TheNerd and had to post it here:

1. Atheist finds herself in a world dominated by religion (often Christianity or Islam). Shefeels alone and misunderstood and often angry at her circumstances, and seeks out similar people for protection and companionship.

2. Atheist forms a protectionist bubble around himself (into which only similar-minded people are allowed), from which he can sit and pass judgment on everyone outside it. He doesn't want to step outside his bubble to enact change, he simply wants the Powers That Be to leave him alone. [Edit: or as one commenter put it: I know what I think, and f- you all.]

3. Atheist sets out to struggle with what she sees as the force of opposition. She prefers to work on her own in this, seeing "winning" each encounter with a theist as a personal goal for herself to achieve. She is easily disappointed by the perceived lack of competence in other atheists at similar encounters with theists.

4. Atheist is motivated to join up with other atheists to act as a social force against the religious majority. He'll often donate his time and money to political organizations focused on separation of church and state, and attempt to motivate less passionate atheists to join his cause.

5. Atheist sees her atheism as part of the greater good of humanity. She is less concerned about personal survival or winning against an opponent, but instead focuses on personal fulfillment and communal harmony in a world without any gods.

Im not sure where I am on this scale. Thoughts?

How Can We Effectively Satirize Faith?

I saw this article at Friendly Atheist. It makes a point that satire is an effective way to point out flaws in an argument while not angering those who support it, because they are too busy laughing to see they just got owned. The article references Jon Stewart's Beck satire. I'll post it here because
a. if you haven't seen it, you should.
b. if you have seen it, watch it again! it is funny!
c. we all need laughs

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The 11/3 Project
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Now.... where were we? Oh yes... satire as a means of pointing out flaws. To satire effectively, you have to be close enough to the real thing to be recognizable. The question though, is how we get close to the flawed logic of faith without invoking Poe's Law? Any ideas?

Threats Over a Billboard...

Apparently a landowner was threatened over the following billboard being on his property:

It bothers me for many reasons:

1. threatening the land owner for the billboard seems like a stupid course of action. If you are going to threaten someone, you could at least threaten the right target
2. threatening ANYONE is a rather poor action choice. Instead of threatening someone, talk to them. Hell, hate them if you want, but to threaten them is over the line.
3. To think that such a docile billboard can be received negatively shows how far our culture still has to go. This billboard does not say that there isn't a god, and it doesn't insult those who do believe in one. It merely says that if you feel this way, you are not alone. This message is very important, to me especially. I could have used a message like this while losing my belief in god. I felt alone, scared, depressed, like I was some abomination. I had no support I could lean on. I couldn't take living the lie. The depression that the lying caused was tearing me up. I was beating myself with a belt just to feel something, and crying myself to sleep every night. I was on the verge of suicide. I was planning to go to the gun store in a few days the day I ended coming out to my mom as 'agnostic'. This provided a wave of relief over me, being open. If this billboard helped just ONE person know that they were not alone, and that there is help, then it is worth every penny in my opinion.

Via Atheism.org