It gets worse in US election years, many people spew rhetoric which includes making up new definitions for established words or concepts. The idea is to get under ones skin. I find it funny when theists claim atheism is a religion. First, unless it is in the context like "baseball is a religion," calling atheism a religion is a total fail. Religion requires belief in a higher power AND also requires faith that the stuff associated with that higher power isn't made up...in other words, there is no evidence support the higher power or supernatural force(s) that is the core of the particular religious belief.
The second thing is that those who claim atheism is a religion are generally theists who are trying to piss off an atheist by trying to make atheism seem foolish. The ironic thing is that the theist is kind of saying that religion is a foolish thing.
Anyway, Bill Maher put out the atheism is a religion fire much better than I can:
As for Mitt Romney's conversion of his dead father in law to Mormonism, I have a feeling that we haven't heard the end of it. Wait until he becomes the GOP nominee. How is Romney going to defend the Mormons who convert dead Jews?
I'm curious though. Was Romney required to open the grave of his dead father in law prior to converting him? Does Romney own designer grave digging jeans? These questions need to be answered.
Seriously, what is with my country these days? There is the left and there is the far left. The far left is full of wingnuts who try to blame society or other external factors for the actions of criminals. No, criminals are not victims. Unless someone is mentally ill, and I mean really mentally ill, the criminal is completely responsible for their acts.
Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu told reporters Wednesday the most heinous of criminals and ``assassins'' with no hope of rehabilitation should ``have the right to a rope in his cell and make a decision about his or her life.''
I would agree with the comment from anyone (Boisvenu's daughter was raped and murdered in 2002), and the fact that other politicians are jumping all over his comments taking a hissy fit just makes me feel less happy about being Canadian. No need to get sensitive when it comes to criminals who carry out heinous acts.
What doesn't make sense though, is that Boisvenu is against the death penalty. Over 60% of Canadians are for the death penalty.
Offering despicable criminals the right to choose sounds like a great idea. But if they choose to live, I see nothing wrong with the state deciding differently, as long as there is 100% certainty that the right person is behind bars. It is a great deterrent, since murder and rape are choices. You should lose the right to be rehabilitated when you rape a child or commit first degree murder.
Lets face, atheists are not trusted as much as theists are. Not only that, there are quite a few people out there who wouldn't vote for an atheist politician, especially a President. Not to say that some Presidents in the past may have been agnostic or even atheist (they feigned belief in Zombie Jesus to get the vote), but that is another story.
Not to take anything away from the studies, but I'm pretty sure that atheists are disliked because we throw away the crutch that believers hold near and dear to them, and have no problems surviving our lives without belief in a higher power. I don't think there is much of a difference between why atheists are disliked today versus how Jews were disliked at many times during the past 2000 years (in the case of the Jew, it was not accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior that was the root cause).
I do think that atheists hit believers square in the eye though, because based on the same information we conclude it is highly unlikely God or Gods exist. In other words, atheists create more doubt than the theist really wants to deal with.
OK, back to the study. I do think, intuitively, it makes sense that an atheist would be more likely to commit a crime or do something ethically wrong than a theist. However, unless atheists are that much better at outsmarting the law, empirically, this belief is wrong, as atheists are underrepresented in prisons.
Although atheists go through life under the guise that no one is watching or making judgment, it is also realized that we only have one life, and the last thing most of us want is to be Bubba's boy in 3 by 4 cell.
A theist on the other hand, might be more inclined to break the law or throw away ethics. Why? Because most believe they are dealing with a forgiving God. Catholics just have to spill their guts to their Priest, Baptists just have to accept Jesus prior to the Big Sleep (and though they can't do it on purpose, they are allowed to turn their back on God as many times as they like, just as long as they believe in the end), and Muslims just have to bang their head on the ground 6 times a day just before they meet Allah. Jews are a bit different. Jews sort of believe that if there really is a heaven, it is a bonus, but don't piss God off too much while you are living, because it could get bad for you either while you or on earth, or in the thereafter.
Back to reality, even I would concede that there are certain positions where I would rather deal with an everyday church goer if I had a choice over an atheist. For instance, a car mechanic and a home renovator comes to mind. However, when it comes to leading a country, I don't want belief in a deity to even enter the equation. No country should be run by someone who even considers Armageddon to be a realistic scenario. I can't trust that they won't try to help it come along.
Finally, I would really like to see a study that asks the question: If your 10 year old boy had to be locked in a room with an adult for an hour, would you prefer the adult to be an atheist or a Priest?
Why is the GOP bothering with certain individuals that have no chance of ever becoming President?
Note to the Religious Right: Whatever you want when it comes to social issues is not what the majority wants, and as days go by, and then years, and then decades, the more marginalized you will become.
Gay marriage, abortion, and creation in public school are not national political issues, except in third world cesspools and/or Muslim nations. No matter how badly the Religious Right wants to turn the USA into a theocracy, it aint gonna happen. Those days are gone, gone, gone.
Yet, one can't deny the amount of influence the RR seems to have on the GOP Party today. It is the ruination of the Party. As long as the Palins, Bachmanns, etc. matter politically, America is basically a one party system...The Democrats.
The internet, awareness of science mainly, has marginalized the Religious Right. Thank you Darwin, Hitchens, Dawkins, etc.
So who is completely unelectable?
Rick Santorum.
Rick Perry.
Michelle Bachmann.
Ron Paul.
The first three are obvious. They are gay hating, pro choice jailing Scienceaphobes. Ron Paul could take away some Obama support: the Far Left Anti-Semite and non Anti-Semite, the conspiracy theorists, and the pot smoking hippie type. But there is a big but:
The thing is that even though Ron Paul was a medical doctor, he also denies evolution (this is completely scary considering his education). If someone denies mounds and mounds of evidence because of either peer pressure or religious beliefs, that person is not qualified to make major decisions on the behalf of a powerful nation. This is why Paul will get chewed up and spat out if his campaign gains any more steam. The internet is Ron Paul's best friend (attracting his whacko support) but it is also his biggest enemy because most sane intelligent human beings also know how to turn on a computer.
"Well, first i thought it was a very inappropriate question, you know, for the presidency to be decided on a scientific matter," he said. "I think it's a theory...the theory of evolution and I don't accept it as a theory. But I think the creator that i know, you know created us, every one of us and created the universe and the precise time and manner and all. I just don't think we're at the point where anybody has absolute proof on either side."
To the best of my knowledge, Romney, Gingrich and Huntsman all accept evolution. Something that makes the Religious Right cringe. I love it when they cringe.
OK relax, Pharyngula is alive and well. However, fictional South Miami biology professor Dr. Trent Casey met a gruesome death on the show Dexter. The Doomsday Killer did him in.
He was murdered and chopped up for only one reason, he was an atheist, and the psycho who killed him was a religious freak acting on behalf of God.
Unfortunately, the premise for the murder is not far fetched at all. And another thing, I have to wonder how many theists who watch the show perceive the killing of an atheist as something less tragic than the death of a non atheist....or if they perceive the death of an atheist to be tragic at all.
Anyway, Dexter is my favorite show these days. I really look forward to the episode each week.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find a clip of the show. Specifically, the professor's lecture about the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics and the how creationists misuse it in order to try to disprove evolution.
While searching for the video, I came across this funny short "How To Destroy An Atheist In An Argument:"
Edward Current, the hysterical atheist who usually pretends to be a Christian Fundamentalist did a series of videos close to the 10th Anniversary of 9/11. In one, he admits to have been a 9/11 Truther himself until all evidence and logical inferences led him away from the nonsensical belief.
Now this video is pretty short, and very funny. He photo shopped some special effects and stated that it was a new video from a new angle:
Again, there is a special list of nut jobs out there:
There are of course the willfully ignorant evolution and climate change deniers too.
There are probably very special people on this planet who fall into each of those seven categories. Are they among us (not in an insane asylum)? I would say, yes.
Earlier this week Herman Cain was on the Piers Morgan Show on CNN. Piers asked him a question regarding rape and incest pregnancies and what should happen (who should make the decision on abortion is how Cain supposedly interpreted it):
"No, it comes down to is, it’s not the government’s role — or anybody else’s role — to make that decision. Secondly, if you look at the statistical incidents, you’re not talking about that big a number. So what I’m saying is, it ultimately gets down to a choice that that family or that mother has to make. Not me as president. Not some politician. Not a bureaucrat. It gets down to that family. And whatever they decide, they decide. I shouldn’t try to tell them what decision to make for such a sensitive decision."
When asked if abortion issues should become a directive to the nation?:
"No, they don’t. I can have an opinion on an issue without it being a directive on the nation. The government shouldn’t be trying to tell people everything to do, especially when it comes to a social decision that they need to make."
So Cain seems to respect separation of church and state, and he is also pro-choice though he has stated on numerous times he is anti-abortion personally (this is not a big problem, as many people who are pro-choice would either never consider abortion themselves or would only consider it under extreme circumstances...I believe I am that way too).
He was consistent recently when it came to gay marriage:
“I wouldn’t seek a constitutional ban for same-sex marriage, but I am pro-traditional marriage.”
Cain still believes homosexuality is a choice, which of course means that heterosexuality is a choice too by default. Why can't or won't Cain read a few studies. Almost all scientific literature points to homosexuality being formed in the uterus. How come fetus experts like Cain won't go there?
I watched the interview, and I knew that Cain would be in trouble with the nearly insignificant and mostly marginalized Religious Right. So now Cain has backtracked completely.
Yesterday, Cain kissed Religious Right ass in Iowa:
“In terms of preventing abortion on demand, I would not sign any legislation for government-funded abortion.
I would not sign any legislation that in any way allowed the government to be involved in it,” he said. “I would strengthen all of our current laws that prevent abortion. I believe that abortion should be clearly stated and illegal across this country and I would work to defund Planned Parenthood.”
Cain had a shot to be a mainstream candidate, but has now thrown it out the door to try to appease anti-science Religious bigots. Pathetic. But this is why the GOP is the anti-science Party as well.
Cain is now unelectable. Kissing Religious Right Butt will do that to a politician who wants to go national. That is a great thing.
Did you know that separation of church and state is a myth? Did you know that if a President accepts evolution it leads to mass executions?
How come God is needed as a source of rights in the US and not Canada? How come there separation of church and state isn't a myth in Canada? And why aren't secular government like in Canada, Sweden, Norway, etc. chopping heads off random people?
The evolution thing really gets me. Accepting reality causes genocidal behavior and threatens the rights of the masses??? By the way, Hitler believed in God and special creation, and had a bunch of Catholics doing his dirty work.
I don't make excuses. I'm a fifty year old who can't get enough of Family Guy and American Dad. I watch The Simpsons, but I could actually cut the strings if I had something better to. I can't put my finger on it, but that show has become a bit cliquish and it sort of tries to talk down to its audience in a way I just can't explain. The Cleveland Show is good, but why wouldn't it be as it is the creation of Seth MacFarlane (who is responsible for both Family Guy and American Dad for those living under a rock).
I'm not just into cartoons on Sunday nights. I discovered Boardwalk Empire over the summer, a series that is loosely based on actual happenings on the East Coast of the USA in the 1920's. It is a good replacement for The Sopranos.
And of course, my favorite non cartoon show is Dexter. Its new season kicked off last night. No disappointments.
Six shows, 4 straight hours of being in a TV zone. I'm kind of like a shark in a feeding frenzy by the time Family Guy begins at 9.
What was really neat about last night is that 3 or the 6 shows brought up atheism.
The Simpsons was first. Bart was at a National Park with Superintendent Chalmers. Chalmers told him that Teddy Roosevelt built the park. Bart replied that he alway thought God did it, and then acknowledged that Chalmers gave him a lesson in atheism, much to Chalmers embarrassment.
Next, was the most cringing reference. It came on The Cleveland Show. During a hurricane, Cleveland Jr. came out and told his family he didn't believe in God. However, when Cleveland "accused" him of being an atheism, Jr. quickly denounced that by calling atheism a religion, referring to Brian (the atheist dog on Family Guy) as preachy.
OK, so whoever wrote that part of the script yesterday is basically making a distinction that a non believer is just a non believer, but an atheist is someone who doesn't believe and makes a big deal about it. Wrong. Someone who doesn't believe in God is an atheist. End of story. The degree of militancy matters not. And atheism is not a religion unless one wants to argue that baseball is a religion too.
Bottom line: Cleveland Jr. is an atheist.
A case was made for faith by Cleveland's wife. It was sort of a why not have the crutch?
The third atheism theme appeared in Dexter. It appears that the idea of faith will be a big issue for the entire season. (Spoiler Alert)
Dexter's child is now ready for preschool. He has heard good things about a Catholic school. During the interview process, when the head nun (no her knees were not dirty) asked what faith Dexter was, she received a no for everything rattled off on her list. Dexter admitted he is a non believer. The word atheist was not mentioned. Dexter basically stated he lives his life as if there is no higher power.
Dexter has to deal with the dilemma of having to give his child the option to believe or not, so he winds up selling himself on going out of is way to get his kid into the school. Throughout the series, Dexter believes he is a monster, and now being a single parent, he wants to avoid having his kid turn into one too, though he believes the writing is already on the wall.
This years serial killers are a couple of weirdos who are looking to speed up the Apocalypse (something that could be a worry if someone like Rick Perry ever wins Presidency).
Finally, Dexter's kill of the week was a cross wearing wife killer who had a tattoo of Jesus on his chest. Dexter asked him how he could rationalize killing his wife while being a Christian, and was told that Jesus forgives, to which Dexter said that is way too easy (or something like that).
Dexter didn't buy into any of it but I think he might have his faithlessness tested this year in coming episodes.
By the way, the best laughs in the evening came during American Dad. All three Seth shows took place during a hurricane. Seth was probably hoping for some hurricane news going into this week. Unfortunately for him, not too many people care about whether Newfoundland exists or not.
I'm sort of tired of the anti-Israel stance taken by many free thinkers. I really don't think half of them know much of the history of the conflict, nor do they give Israel any room when it comes to the fact that almost every country on this planet began through might and/or negotiations. Thus, I put up this video, though admittedly one sided, it is full of real history, not rhetoric.
Also, the false idea about Palestinian land is a non starter to me. Land has no DNA, and the land between where two Arabs live is not Arab land by default. Especially when we are talking about non sovereign land, which was the case in Israel prior to 1948 and still is the case in the West Bank and even Gaza today.
I don't get the shot at Obama at the end of the video. Using the 1967 borders (which really never existed) as a starting point isn't a new idea. George Bush Jr. used the same line of thinking when he wanted to come to a solution.
I still believe the settlements were a mistake. But the Palestinians have never shown a desire for a lasting peace either. The settlements are pretty much a diversion, as the ethnic cleansing of Jews in Gaza showed.
However, with the world getting smaller, this perpetual conflict cannot last very much longer, at least when it comes to definable borders. Something is going to have to give, and very soon.
Finally, I really think the support coming from the GOP (which is blaming Obama for the upcoming UN vote...somehow) is not helping when it comes to overall support of Israel by the West, right now.
The GOP is despised at this time by the majority, while Obama is someone who squandered his ability to lead the way he wanted to. The GOP is doing a great job of alienating the middle and lower class by emphatically stating that they won't cut taxes on the rich, while they are for doing away with the payroll tax credit (thus taxing the lower classes more). They are also viewed as the anti-science/anti-progress party.
Today, both Romney and Perry brought up their undying support for Israel. This could lead to a lot more Americans rethinking their support for Israel. The cognitive dissonance that goes on when someone you disagree with on very important issues (the government and the economy) makes any statement regardless of whether they are bringing in good points or not, can cause people to change their minds about what were lesser issues (like supporting Israel to the average American). This could even spill over to Europe and Canada as well.
I just learned about a new movement today: The Dominionists. Sounds benign enough, but the goals are not, and with Perry leading Obama in some polls right now, it is downright scary.
....Rick Perry examined his relationship with the New Apostolic Reformation, a Dominionist variant of Pentecostalism that coalesced about a decade ago. “[W]hat makes the New Apostolic Reformation movement so potent is its growing fascination with infiltrating politics and government,” wrote Forrest Wilder. Its members “believe Christians—certain Christians—are destined to not just take ‘dominion’ over government, but stealthily climb to the commanding heights of what they term the ‘Seven Mountains’ of society, including the media and the arts and entertainment world.”
In many ways, Dominionism is more a political phenomenon than a theological one. It cuts across Christian denominations, from stern, austere sects to the signs-and-wonders culture of modern megachurches. Think of it like political Islamism, which shapes the activism of a number of antagonistic fundamentalist movements, from Sunni Wahabis in the Arab world to Shiite fundamentalists in Iran.
Dominionism derives from a small fringe sect called Christian Reconstructionism, founded by a Calvinist theologian named R. J. Rushdoony in the 1960s. Christian Reconstructionism openly advocates replacing American law with the strictures of the Old Testament, replete with the death penalty for homosexuality, abortion, and even apostasy. The appeal of Christian Reconstructionism is, obviously, limited, and mainstream Christian right figures like Ralph Reed have denounced it.
"Dominionism is simply that Christians of this belief system must take control over the various institutions of society and government. Some things that make this group unique is that they have some unusual concepts of what they call spiritual warfare that have not been seen before in other groups. Spiritual warfare is a common term in evangelicalism and in Christianity but they have some unique approaches and some unique spins on this that distinguish them from other groups."
On the topics at Rick Perry's rally
"The major topics at these events [are] anti-abortion, anti-gay rights and the conversion of Jews in order to advance the end times," she says. "And this was very visible at Perry's events as these Apostles led all of these different prayers and repentance ceremonies at [his rally].'"
Have a listen here. Rachel Tabachnick is an expert on the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), which is the Dominionist Movement. Tabachnick was raised a Christian Fundy but converted to Judaism because of marriage.
I still strongly believe that the Religious Right is a marginalized group, so once an actual GOP candidate is announced, and if the ticket includes either Bachmann or Perry or Palin, I believe that Obama will win be a landslide. What bothers me is that I could be wrong.
No matter what, it seems Perry and Bachmann are on a mission. The idea of converting Jews to fast track the second coming is really disturbing.
Here is goes with the evolution is just a theory crapola:
No one really knows how old the earth is....it is really old though. 10,000 years is pretty old to Perry most likely.
On evolution and creationism: "I figure out you are smart enough to figure out which one is right" Obviously Perry isn't smart enough.
He doesn't even know that creationism isn't taught in his own state of Texas...but he said it is. Wow. And this guy is one of the GOP faves?
Not only the age of the earth and evolution, when it comes to global warming, he believes it is a scientific conspiracy as scientists are out to make a fortune from it:
What is going on in Britain right now is ridiculous. If rioters were raping or murdering in the open, they would be warned and then shot at. To me, there is no difference when it comes to vandalizing and looting a business.
Warn and shoot. It might take a couple of dead youths, but the riots would stop very quickly.
I'm a major proponent of deterrents. I especially believe they work well on the "devil made me do it crowd," but I'm also sure that it keeps the odd atheist from doing stupid things too.
When I first read about the Muslim prayer controversy at the Valley Park Middle School in Toronto the first thing that struck me was "wow, a public school in Toronto that has a Muslim population of at least 80%." Of course, most probably most of these kids and their families believe that Jews coming to Israel and becoming a majority there was something that had no business happening. And of course, they don't see the hypocrisy.
Now here are my major problems with this. It is a public school, when I grew up at least 80% of the kids in the school were Christian. It would have been terrible for me or any non Christian kid to have to have gone to a school with the knowledge that there was a special time set aside for most of the school's population to go to so that they can pray to Christ. It was hard enough at Christmas to be sort of an outcast because my family didn't celebrate the mythological Christ's mythological birthday.
Secondly, again, since it is a public school, tax dollars are involved. And tax dollars should not be spent on any religion (yeah I know that Ontario has a deal with the devil: The Catholic Church, that seems very binding). The fact that this prayer is organized and also happens during class time, is at best a misuse of funding.
Third, I don't buy the excuse that kids come back late from the Mosque, if they come back to the school at all. If they can't get the lunch prayers done on time, and come back late, they should be penalized in the same way any kid who is consistently tardy or truant is. Religion is no excuse for this. If you are taking advantage of the public system, play by the rules.
Fourth, because it is held in the cafeteria, anyone who wants to be there should be allowed. Apparently they ban non Muslims from entering the cafeteria during prayer. This is too organized. Empty classrooms should be used, and the amount of kids in a room should be reduced to what is allowable by the fire code. If you can't get enough volunteer Imams to show up....too bad. I have no problem with Christian groups, Jewish groups, atheist groups, etc. to have their own clubs after school....yes, after school. But the meetings need to be held in class rooms that are not going to be used or needed by anyone else in the school.
Fifth, to the people upset about menstruating girls having to be at the back of the prayer room....Get over it. Islam is a misogynist religion. This complaint is meaningless in the scheme of things, and has nothing to do with the fact that this type of organized prayer should not be allowed to happen during school hours.
Finally, there are two solutions. Turn Valley Park into a private school, and let the families pay for their kids education, or, ban religious prayer during class hours. If Muslims need to pray on Fridays, keep it to themselves, find unused classrooms at lunch or after school, or forget about it.
After watching the verdict in the Casey Anthony trial yesterday, a case of deja vu hit me. The same feeling I had after the OJ trial.
The defense selects the most dimwitted jurors in order to give themselves the best chance to win.
When watching a high profile trial, that fact is quickly forgotten.
But when the verdict comes in, it is clear that the most important job of the defense is to finding barely functioning idiots. Those who have major problems making inferences based on evidence. In other words, those who can't put two and two together. Possibly willfully ignorant individuals, the same who deny evolution because they've never seen a human come out of a monkey's vagina.
In fact, with the death penalty looming, the defense is best to look for Creationists, because they ignore science when it is convenient for them, and more importantly, they can be liberal when it comes to the evidence because if they are wrong in voting not guilty, God will ultimately right the wrong. If they sentence the wrong person to death, the juror might wind up in hell......I think I'm onto something, The Dumb Juror's Wager.
I just wonder when it finally hits the selected juror, that the main reason the person was selected, was because they just aren't the sharpest knife in the drawer.
I guess that is like asking if Creationists realize they are reality deniers.
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