Hey this is introduced by Richard Dawkins, but the Mr. Krauss does an insane job explaining just about everything you would ever want to know.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ImvlS8PLIo
Hope you enjoy.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Idaho
Some odd things happened Sunday - Monday and I want to write about them. This discussion will include some viewpoints that will likely offend people but I don't really feel the need to hold back punches so much today so read at your own risk, risk of molting your exoskeleton that is.
The beginning of this conversation must begin with some links that we've been watching at the house "back to back" sometimes. A friend shared them with us and it kind of tied together some other clips we'd been watching.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/03/25/ted.sam.harris/index.html?hpt=P1
http://www.ted.com/talks/sam_harris_science_can_show_what_s_right.html
There are things that I have to say about what it made me feel about. Basically I like the idea that science actually can explain why we should be good to each other and work together logically to build a flourishing human cooperation on earth. It makes no sense logically for us to fight and disagree on who's version of the sky god is more accurate. It makes no sense to strap bombs to our chests and blow up a market. It makes no sense to have nuclear weapons and handguns. Yet every year, people all over the world die or are subject to human suffering as a result of religious beliefs and their ramifications.
Additionally, In a world that has unmanned guided missiles and expanding nuclear capabilities it is horrifyingly frightening to me that the leaders of countries still live in a reality of faith where their conscience is guided by a fictional sky god and corresponding story/set of morals. In a world where technology that could take down so many is controlled by fallible humans and those humans often times operate under religious/faith notions it utterly frightens me that the world population is still so staunchly opposed to convergent scientific thinking and collaboration based on reason and examination.
Point being, a logical scientific view of human success and fitness would say that machete-ing someone to death in Africa, or the Nuclear Armament of a Christian led super power, or a father murdering of recently raped women in the Middle East, or AIDS in Africa, or Rainforest destruction, or Climate Change, or any other seriously morally important issues would be more biologically important issues to deal with as a species than half of the religious nonsense that occupies so much time.
Moral Talent and Moral Ignorance is a cool idea also. I like the idea that if a seriously stupid person tried to have some input into a very very difficult idea like String Theory Physics or Global Economy the experts and most would agree that Billy Joe Bob hasn't really got anything helpful or valid to add to the conversation. We can all agree that there is skill/talent/authority of certain knowledge and those who don't know things are ignorant on the topic. BUUUUUUUUUT when it comes to morals/beliefs/faith and everything that realm "Everyone's beleifs must be valued." NO THEY SHOULD NOT. There is moral talent. There is Moral Ignorance. And I don't really feel the need to allow ignorant morals about "Gay Rights" and "Abortion" and "Creationism in School" into the conversation. Some of these things are morally ignorant but because we are so fearful of not being Politically Correct everyone has an equal part of the pie. Some things just aren't ok.
So yesterday Kyle and I (thanks be to Allah that I have an Atheist Roomate) drove his friend to Idaho and back. I needed to get out of the house and it gave me a chance to knit some hats and enjoy some scenery. As the landscape changed and we left the soft pillowy inner liberal folds of the Puget Sound and went further and further into the heart land all of the words of these lectures started making more and more sense.
As we drove through the vast expanse of spokane with its factory stores and mcdonalds and malls and box buildings I kept thinking about how we will never change as a species. This huge expanse of Christian consumers just plodding away.
As we drove into the track housing mega complex to drop off our friend, monster truck after SUV parked in each seemingly identical driveways, I felt like I was in the heart of the problem. We had been warned by our friend that his step dad was a redneck and his mom was really religious. In the front driveway a Ford 350 diesel on 43 inch tires sat. They weren't home yet but we walked around the house, RV in the back, four wheelers, snowmobiles, and 4 guns nonchalantly placed on the pool table, many many many bible verses posted around the house, bible versus hand written on the fridge, I just kept having flashes of these lectures and the words in my brain. We had to wait to meet the family before we could return to Tacoma. The family was late because they were getting Starbucks and then going to the GunStore to get more ammo for their new Beretta 9mm gun they had purchased. They finally arrived and after a short discussion about why a single action handgun is better than a double action the step dad left the room and came back in with a loaded gun and unclipped it, checked the chamber and removed a bullet and then pointed it at his dog and fired a bullet-less clip to demonstrate double action.
I was so uncomfortable that I could have run out of the room. I mean seriously. I know I didn't grow up around guns but this was totally f**ked up. What the hell was going on. Could these people fulfill anymore of the stereotypes? The conversation slowly moved from conversation topic to conversation topic. They were foster parents of local Indian girls and were so thankful to give them a Christian Upbringing. This and That and although I refuse to hold my tongue on many topics (having lived in a native village) I had to keep my mouth and opinions in check because an Atheist in a room with a loaded gun was probably not the smartest place to make a stand against moral ignorance.
If I had any delusions about the prospect of humans finding some sort of reason based common ground on which we could elevate our conscious for flourishing and collaboration and elimination of human suffering they had been squashed by a gun waving fat man in a SUV. So Kyle and I spent almost the whole drive home discussing what had happened relating it to these lectures and trying to decide whether anything is ever going to change.
We spend billions of dollars shoring up our oil life line in the middle east every year. We veil it under the eminent attack of terrorist forces from deep in the mountains of afghanistan and Saddam Hussein. Over 104,000 Iraqi civilians have perished from our occupation (if not many more) yet it is never on the news anymore.
Our schools are understaffed. Our elderly and disabled can't get proper care. Genocide in Africa. Suicide Bombings world wide. Catastrophic events are ongoing with not nearly as much aid as needed. AIDS epidemic in Africa. Catholic Priest Rapists and Molesters. China pumping pollution into the air. Human Trafficking. Animal Poaching. Torturing. Habitat Loss and biodiversity destruction worldwide. Pedophiles. Massive pollution. Yet instead of coming together to think about these things every sunday, instead of learning about sustainability, ecosystems and resource management and medicine and education and actually doing anything billions of people spend countless hours every week meditating on the same religious texts that have put our societies directly in the line of massive suffering. All retellings of the same story from before the Egyptians, just with different prophets, different versions of Abrahamic descendants, and we all just go along with it despite all the suffering and all the injustice and all the morally and logically ignorant crap going on.
So when you say we should respect religion and people's beliefs, I think not. When you say we should teach creative design in school I think not.
When I say the pledge of Allegiance every day I leave out the "One Nation Under God." If you are out there and you want to combat the injustice of religion then you need to get active. The reason it is so biologically/culturally successful is that it is so reproducible. The genetic code of the religion is its text which actually tells its body (the believers) to replicate it self, to spread the word. The reason "reason" isn't making it into popular culture body is because we are not reproducing it fast enough to combat the Bible (and its many versions) or the Torah or the Koran.
If you want to help then you have to do something. This blog isn't enough.
The beginning of this conversation must begin with some links that we've been watching at the house "back to back" sometimes. A friend shared them with us and it kind of tied together some other clips we'd been watching.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/03/25/ted.sam.harris/index.html?hpt=P1
http://www.ted.com/talks/sam_harris_science_can_show_what_s_right.html
There are things that I have to say about what it made me feel about. Basically I like the idea that science actually can explain why we should be good to each other and work together logically to build a flourishing human cooperation on earth. It makes no sense logically for us to fight and disagree on who's version of the sky god is more accurate. It makes no sense to strap bombs to our chests and blow up a market. It makes no sense to have nuclear weapons and handguns. Yet every year, people all over the world die or are subject to human suffering as a result of religious beliefs and their ramifications.
Additionally, In a world that has unmanned guided missiles and expanding nuclear capabilities it is horrifyingly frightening to me that the leaders of countries still live in a reality of faith where their conscience is guided by a fictional sky god and corresponding story/set of morals. In a world where technology that could take down so many is controlled by fallible humans and those humans often times operate under religious/faith notions it utterly frightens me that the world population is still so staunchly opposed to convergent scientific thinking and collaboration based on reason and examination.
Point being, a logical scientific view of human success and fitness would say that machete-ing someone to death in Africa, or the Nuclear Armament of a Christian led super power, or a father murdering of recently raped women in the Middle East, or AIDS in Africa, or Rainforest destruction, or Climate Change, or any other seriously morally important issues would be more biologically important issues to deal with as a species than half of the religious nonsense that occupies so much time.
Moral Talent and Moral Ignorance is a cool idea also. I like the idea that if a seriously stupid person tried to have some input into a very very difficult idea like String Theory Physics or Global Economy the experts and most would agree that Billy Joe Bob hasn't really got anything helpful or valid to add to the conversation. We can all agree that there is skill/talent/authority of certain knowledge and those who don't know things are ignorant on the topic. BUUUUUUUUUT when it comes to morals/beliefs/faith and everything that realm "Everyone's beleifs must be valued." NO THEY SHOULD NOT. There is moral talent. There is Moral Ignorance. And I don't really feel the need to allow ignorant morals about "Gay Rights" and "Abortion" and "Creationism in School" into the conversation. Some of these things are morally ignorant but because we are so fearful of not being Politically Correct everyone has an equal part of the pie. Some things just aren't ok.
So yesterday Kyle and I (thanks be to Allah that I have an Atheist Roomate) drove his friend to Idaho and back. I needed to get out of the house and it gave me a chance to knit some hats and enjoy some scenery. As the landscape changed and we left the soft pillowy inner liberal folds of the Puget Sound and went further and further into the heart land all of the words of these lectures started making more and more sense.
As we drove through the vast expanse of spokane with its factory stores and mcdonalds and malls and box buildings I kept thinking about how we will never change as a species. This huge expanse of Christian consumers just plodding away.
As we drove into the track housing mega complex to drop off our friend, monster truck after SUV parked in each seemingly identical driveways, I felt like I was in the heart of the problem. We had been warned by our friend that his step dad was a redneck and his mom was really religious. In the front driveway a Ford 350 diesel on 43 inch tires sat. They weren't home yet but we walked around the house, RV in the back, four wheelers, snowmobiles, and 4 guns nonchalantly placed on the pool table, many many many bible verses posted around the house, bible versus hand written on the fridge, I just kept having flashes of these lectures and the words in my brain. We had to wait to meet the family before we could return to Tacoma. The family was late because they were getting Starbucks and then going to the GunStore to get more ammo for their new Beretta 9mm gun they had purchased. They finally arrived and after a short discussion about why a single action handgun is better than a double action the step dad left the room and came back in with a loaded gun and unclipped it, checked the chamber and removed a bullet and then pointed it at his dog and fired a bullet-less clip to demonstrate double action.
I was so uncomfortable that I could have run out of the room. I mean seriously. I know I didn't grow up around guns but this was totally f**ked up. What the hell was going on. Could these people fulfill anymore of the stereotypes? The conversation slowly moved from conversation topic to conversation topic. They were foster parents of local Indian girls and were so thankful to give them a Christian Upbringing. This and That and although I refuse to hold my tongue on many topics (having lived in a native village) I had to keep my mouth and opinions in check because an Atheist in a room with a loaded gun was probably not the smartest place to make a stand against moral ignorance.
If I had any delusions about the prospect of humans finding some sort of reason based common ground on which we could elevate our conscious for flourishing and collaboration and elimination of human suffering they had been squashed by a gun waving fat man in a SUV. So Kyle and I spent almost the whole drive home discussing what had happened relating it to these lectures and trying to decide whether anything is ever going to change.
We spend billions of dollars shoring up our oil life line in the middle east every year. We veil it under the eminent attack of terrorist forces from deep in the mountains of afghanistan and Saddam Hussein. Over 104,000 Iraqi civilians have perished from our occupation (if not many more) yet it is never on the news anymore.
Our schools are understaffed. Our elderly and disabled can't get proper care. Genocide in Africa. Suicide Bombings world wide. Catastrophic events are ongoing with not nearly as much aid as needed. AIDS epidemic in Africa. Catholic Priest Rapists and Molesters. China pumping pollution into the air. Human Trafficking. Animal Poaching. Torturing. Habitat Loss and biodiversity destruction worldwide. Pedophiles. Massive pollution. Yet instead of coming together to think about these things every sunday, instead of learning about sustainability, ecosystems and resource management and medicine and education and actually doing anything billions of people spend countless hours every week meditating on the same religious texts that have put our societies directly in the line of massive suffering. All retellings of the same story from before the Egyptians, just with different prophets, different versions of Abrahamic descendants, and we all just go along with it despite all the suffering and all the injustice and all the morally and logically ignorant crap going on.
So when you say we should respect religion and people's beliefs, I think not. When you say we should teach creative design in school I think not.
When I say the pledge of Allegiance every day I leave out the "One Nation Under God." If you are out there and you want to combat the injustice of religion then you need to get active. The reason it is so biologically/culturally successful is that it is so reproducible. The genetic code of the religion is its text which actually tells its body (the believers) to replicate it self, to spread the word. The reason "reason" isn't making it into popular culture body is because we are not reproducing it fast enough to combat the Bible (and its many versions) or the Torah or the Koran.
If you want to help then you have to do something. This blog isn't enough.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Request to Post
Thank you friend of the non believers for inspiring yet another post.
Today's focus, faith as utter stupidity.
Many so called "enlightened" believers will say that they don't believe in literal religious text interpretation and that they believe in God but not in the literal translation of the bible because its not realistic. I love that you can pick and choose that no the earth isn't X years old, and no not all animal species come from Noah's Ark, but the stuff about the Virgin giving birth to the Son of an Un-seeable sky man who we only know through people's delusions is real. The picking and choosing is ridiculous because Christians/Religious people make assessments everyday on what to believe or not. They will believe that the H1N1 vaccine will protect them but not in the fact that the only reason we contracted the Virus is because it evolved. They will believe that God cured their cancer but no that the medicine they took was developed by people operating under the evolutionary laws of biology/anatomy/physiology training and education.
So I guess believing in God and his power is really about choice in believing in whatever you want to fit your situation. (Unless you grew up in a super religious family and had no choice and were brainwashed for life then you have no choice until someone demonstrates reality for you.)
I think that this is really refreshing because it means that the people who believe whatever they want and I aren't separated by all that much. They choose to believe in things that are ridiculous logically and by so doing rationalize the world around them in said context. I choose to believe in something based on data, study and collaboration of the global community of people who analyze and test said theories of other people.
SO Christians, you and are aren't so different we both believe, you in whatever degree of ridiculous you see fit at the time needed and I the always debatable and testable explanations reached by thousands/millions of people worldwide to an exacting degree of certainty.
NOW THIS:
MARK COLVIN: For nearly three decades, opinion pollsters have been asking Americans whether they believe in the literal truth of the Bible's creation story.
Asked whether God created human beings pretty much in their present form sometime in the last 10,000 years, more than four in every 10 Americans say yes - most recently in a national survey last year.
And yet every year carbon dating produces more evidence that humans have been around for far longer than that and palaeontologists produce more fossil evidence showing how we evolved from apes.
Since the discovery of DNA in the 1950s, even more evidence has been added to the theory of evolution, yet creationism and its sibling, intelligent design, are in some places stronger than ever.
Kale Iverson::::::
Ah America, gotta love it. 40% of American believe God created the world ten thousandish years ago in their present form. Awesome. Way to go Intelligent Design and Creationists, you will always have a chunk of people to give you money every sunday for sitting them in a room and telling them about a fictional man that doesn't exist. Its money for nothing, the perfect business model.
Imagine a hot ad executive going in to NBC or Nabisco or Ford with this sales pitch.
AD EXEC: "We are very excited to unveil our new product line for you this year. Our business model is as follows. Build a building with lots of seating, nay build many buildings all over the nation, invite people there every sunday, hire a man to interpret a book from 2000 plus years ago that is the same story as a book from 6000 years ago about man that biologically couldn't exist and is the son of a sky man that watches us all and at the end of every sunday session tell the people to donate money to the cause of the impossible man and his sky dad.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Whats the catch, what service do they get? Where does the profit go?
AD EXEC: Well that's the beauty of the system. Once you scare the stupid people into believing that if they piss off the sky dad and his impossible son bad things will happen to them you can make all your overhead as you go along and keep the profit. But,in reality the money goes to a national organization of other ancient book interpreters and then sent to a bank account where it can be invested and used on the open stock trade and real estate. And we all know that's where the money is.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS: If only enough Americans were dumb enough to believe this we'd be rich.
AD EXEC: Well 40% of American already do. We just need to come up with a more intriguing, older, more impossible son of sky dad-ish version to capitalize a corner of the market.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Like the Mormon's Did?
AD EXEC: Exactly.
Hope that'll tide ya over.
Today's focus, faith as utter stupidity.
Many so called "enlightened" believers will say that they don't believe in literal religious text interpretation and that they believe in God but not in the literal translation of the bible because its not realistic. I love that you can pick and choose that no the earth isn't X years old, and no not all animal species come from Noah's Ark, but the stuff about the Virgin giving birth to the Son of an Un-seeable sky man who we only know through people's delusions is real. The picking and choosing is ridiculous because Christians/Religious people make assessments everyday on what to believe or not. They will believe that the H1N1 vaccine will protect them but not in the fact that the only reason we contracted the Virus is because it evolved. They will believe that God cured their cancer but no that the medicine they took was developed by people operating under the evolutionary laws of biology/anatomy/physiology training and education.
So I guess believing in God and his power is really about choice in believing in whatever you want to fit your situation. (Unless you grew up in a super religious family and had no choice and were brainwashed for life then you have no choice until someone demonstrates reality for you.)
I think that this is really refreshing because it means that the people who believe whatever they want and I aren't separated by all that much. They choose to believe in things that are ridiculous logically and by so doing rationalize the world around them in said context. I choose to believe in something based on data, study and collaboration of the global community of people who analyze and test said theories of other people.
SO Christians, you and are aren't so different we both believe, you in whatever degree of ridiculous you see fit at the time needed and I the always debatable and testable explanations reached by thousands/millions of people worldwide to an exacting degree of certainty.
NOW THIS:
MARK COLVIN: For nearly three decades, opinion pollsters have been asking Americans whether they believe in the literal truth of the Bible's creation story.
Asked whether God created human beings pretty much in their present form sometime in the last 10,000 years, more than four in every 10 Americans say yes - most recently in a national survey last year.
And yet every year carbon dating produces more evidence that humans have been around for far longer than that and palaeontologists produce more fossil evidence showing how we evolved from apes.
Since the discovery of DNA in the 1950s, even more evidence has been added to the theory of evolution, yet creationism and its sibling, intelligent design, are in some places stronger than ever.
Kale Iverson::::::
Ah America, gotta love it. 40% of American believe God created the world ten thousandish years ago in their present form. Awesome. Way to go Intelligent Design and Creationists, you will always have a chunk of people to give you money every sunday for sitting them in a room and telling them about a fictional man that doesn't exist. Its money for nothing, the perfect business model.
Imagine a hot ad executive going in to NBC or Nabisco or Ford with this sales pitch.
AD EXEC: "We are very excited to unveil our new product line for you this year. Our business model is as follows. Build a building with lots of seating, nay build many buildings all over the nation, invite people there every sunday, hire a man to interpret a book from 2000 plus years ago that is the same story as a book from 6000 years ago about man that biologically couldn't exist and is the son of a sky man that watches us all and at the end of every sunday session tell the people to donate money to the cause of the impossible man and his sky dad.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Whats the catch, what service do they get? Where does the profit go?
AD EXEC: Well that's the beauty of the system. Once you scare the stupid people into believing that if they piss off the sky dad and his impossible son bad things will happen to them you can make all your overhead as you go along and keep the profit. But,in reality the money goes to a national organization of other ancient book interpreters and then sent to a bank account where it can be invested and used on the open stock trade and real estate. And we all know that's where the money is.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS: If only enough Americans were dumb enough to believe this we'd be rich.
AD EXEC: Well 40% of American already do. We just need to come up with a more intriguing, older, more impossible son of sky dad-ish version to capitalize a corner of the market.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Like the Mormon's Did?
AD EXEC: Exactly.
Hope that'll tide ya over.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Sorry for the Hiatus
I still don't believe in god, and I'm too busy to write about how much it still sickens me to live in a world full of fantasy filled weirdo's.
Oh one thing though...Did you hear about Tim Tebow's "purity ring?" Not only does he cry at football games where he is the number one quarterback in the nation but he's also a virgin in the name of god. I'll exclude further ridicule here.
Oh one thing though...Did you hear about Tim Tebow's "purity ring?" Not only does he cry at football games where he is the number one quarterback in the nation but he's also a virgin in the name of god. I'll exclude further ridicule here.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Militant Atheism
I just read the CNN article suggested by my brother. "Darwin and the Case for Militant Atheism."
http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/11/23/dawkins.darwin.atheism/index.html
Richard Dawkins continues to be the champion of outspoken Atheism but he raises some good points in this article/interview.
First and foremost I am glad that I'm not the only one who recognizes that Atheism and Religion can't really coexist and shouldn't. In a world that is rapidly facing real consequences of action, having a majority of the population base their reality off of a sky god is simply the greatest injustice for the survival of a homeostatic population of homeosapiens on the planet.
Dawkins: Evolution is almost universally accepted among those who understand it, almost universally rejected by those who don't.
This point is backed up by study. The more education a person has the more likely they are to recognize its reality, and less religious they are. Biblical literalism is possibly one of the most debilitating mental deficiencies American's could contract. I say contract because religion is a mental virus that prays on the youth.
Dawkins: "We are survival machines -- robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes."
People just don't want to believe that we are actually expressions of cooperating genes and not the product of some sky hero that controls all matter time and space. once you begin to understand how you fit into the real world, you can begin to live a life of logical reasoning (and satisfaction), while still enjoying emotions, sentiment, and dualistic ideas as is your evolutionary birthrite as a human, it doesn't mean you should base your reality off of it. But a true understanding of Darwinian evolution by natural selection is one of the most destructive ideas to religion because it renders biblical literalism completely ridiculous.
Where this is all going is to simply agree with the artical in its call for all Atheists to stand up and be proud, you are right and also you are part of the solution.
Like the article says, Great Britain has Darwin on the face of their money, and America has "In God We Trust." At fourteen percent, Atheists are on the rise, help educate the believers to evolve beyond it.!
http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/11/23/dawkins.darwin.atheism/index.html
Richard Dawkins continues to be the champion of outspoken Atheism but he raises some good points in this article/interview.
First and foremost I am glad that I'm not the only one who recognizes that Atheism and Religion can't really coexist and shouldn't. In a world that is rapidly facing real consequences of action, having a majority of the population base their reality off of a sky god is simply the greatest injustice for the survival of a homeostatic population of homeosapiens on the planet.
Dawkins: Evolution is almost universally accepted among those who understand it, almost universally rejected by those who don't.
This point is backed up by study. The more education a person has the more likely they are to recognize its reality, and less religious they are. Biblical literalism is possibly one of the most debilitating mental deficiencies American's could contract. I say contract because religion is a mental virus that prays on the youth.
Dawkins: "We are survival machines -- robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes."
People just don't want to believe that we are actually expressions of cooperating genes and not the product of some sky hero that controls all matter time and space. once you begin to understand how you fit into the real world, you can begin to live a life of logical reasoning (and satisfaction), while still enjoying emotions, sentiment, and dualistic ideas as is your evolutionary birthrite as a human, it doesn't mean you should base your reality off of it. But a true understanding of Darwinian evolution by natural selection is one of the most destructive ideas to religion because it renders biblical literalism completely ridiculous.
Where this is all going is to simply agree with the artical in its call for all Atheists to stand up and be proud, you are right and also you are part of the solution.
Like the article says, Great Britain has Darwin on the face of their money, and America has "In God We Trust." At fourteen percent, Atheists are on the rise, help educate the believers to evolve beyond it.!
Monday, November 16, 2009
O.C.A. Volume 2
Organism of the Day
Pleurotus ostreatus or the common oyster mushroom. Very delicious with white wine and in stir fry and also recently being researched for use in the cleaning up of oil spills. Using them in "Mycoremediation" could be a new step in cleaning up some of the skrewed up shit we do to the earth. Go fungus.
What God Allowed to Happen Today:
Bon Jovi will be going on tour "The Circle Tour" to support they're new album "The Circle. Despite the fact that this already horrible band has gone godly did we really need more of this noise pollution?
Organization of the Day
American Atheists. Now in its fourth decade, American Atheists is dedicated to working for the civil rights of Atheists, promoting separation of state and church, and providing information about Atheism.
http://www.atheists.org/
Atheist Quote of the Day:
"I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature."
[Thomas Jefferson]
My Thoughts:
I've been thinking a lot about the propagation and replication of ideas in a biological sense, or that religion itself is a biological agent much like the gene for fur on mammals or the behavior of fluffing feathers to attract a mate. Just like the expressed features of the replicating genetic code manifest in the phenotype of organisms and a species so do the ideas of religion and faith based belief systems. The religions that survive time are the ones that are best at replicating themselves. Mistakes in the replication/interpretation of ideas/beliefs can account for all the diversity of religion that we see today (just as the mutations in the genetic code can account for the diversity of life on earth). The most successful replicating ideas/beliefs are ones that persist because of the human slavery to replicating duality ideas (separating our souls from our body). Some false ideas that seemed to survive and replicate in many diverse forms of religion and people's beliefs are:
You will survive past your death (when you don't, your mind is part of your body and you just die)
Believing in God is a Virtue (but why isn't not believing)
Faith is a virtue and the more you have the more virtuous you are (I think reason is a virtue too)
Everyone must respect virtue (except that the virtue has nothing to do with good)
We aren't meant to understand things (upon investigation we can)
Beauty is the result of religion and religious ideas (rather than simply being beautiful)
Its because of persisting dualistic ideas such as these that we continue to be afflicted as a species with the false sense that being religious is good, right and correct and any opposition to this is evil and amoral.
If you can realize that these kinds of ideas and beliefs are not actually true or even a good thing but rather the result of their own replicating biological vector then maybe you can start to evolve your own mind past such falsehoods.
Evolve Beyond Belief.
Pleurotus ostreatus or the common oyster mushroom. Very delicious with white wine and in stir fry and also recently being researched for use in the cleaning up of oil spills. Using them in "Mycoremediation" could be a new step in cleaning up some of the skrewed up shit we do to the earth. Go fungus.
What God Allowed to Happen Today:
Bon Jovi will be going on tour "The Circle Tour" to support they're new album "The Circle. Despite the fact that this already horrible band has gone godly did we really need more of this noise pollution?
Organization of the Day
American Atheists. Now in its fourth decade, American Atheists is dedicated to working for the civil rights of Atheists, promoting separation of state and church, and providing information about Atheism.
http://www.atheists.org/
Atheist Quote of the Day:
"I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature."
[Thomas Jefferson]
My Thoughts:
I've been thinking a lot about the propagation and replication of ideas in a biological sense, or that religion itself is a biological agent much like the gene for fur on mammals or the behavior of fluffing feathers to attract a mate. Just like the expressed features of the replicating genetic code manifest in the phenotype of organisms and a species so do the ideas of religion and faith based belief systems. The religions that survive time are the ones that are best at replicating themselves. Mistakes in the replication/interpretation of ideas/beliefs can account for all the diversity of religion that we see today (just as the mutations in the genetic code can account for the diversity of life on earth). The most successful replicating ideas/beliefs are ones that persist because of the human slavery to replicating duality ideas (separating our souls from our body). Some false ideas that seemed to survive and replicate in many diverse forms of religion and people's beliefs are:
You will survive past your death (when you don't, your mind is part of your body and you just die)
Believing in God is a Virtue (but why isn't not believing)
Faith is a virtue and the more you have the more virtuous you are (I think reason is a virtue too)
Everyone must respect virtue (except that the virtue has nothing to do with good)
We aren't meant to understand things (upon investigation we can)
Beauty is the result of religion and religious ideas (rather than simply being beautiful)
Its because of persisting dualistic ideas such as these that we continue to be afflicted as a species with the false sense that being religious is good, right and correct and any opposition to this is evil and amoral.
If you can realize that these kinds of ideas and beliefs are not actually true or even a good thing but rather the result of their own replicating biological vector then maybe you can start to evolve your own mind past such falsehoods.
Evolve Beyond Belief.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
O.C.A. Volume 1
The First Volume of O.C.A. today:
Amazing Organism of the Day
Argentavis magnificens or the Giant Flying Bird
With a 21 foot wing span and a body mass four times the largest bird today this 6 million years ago organism was capable of flying over 100 miles an hour while also having the ability to pick up human sized pray. I guess the global legends of man eating birds is possible
What "god" Allowed to happen Today:
Police removed two more bodies on top of the six already found in Cleveland rapist Anthony Sowells yard today. Where is god's wisdom in this one by the way?
Organization of the Day
Freedom From Religion Foundation
This is one of the most important support organizations for Atheist/Agnostic/Freethinking/Separation of Church and State in the United States. They have a weekly radio show on Air America and have a plethera of many resources and news articles pertaining to the state of Freethinking in the world.
Atheist Quote of the Day
"Man is a Religious Animal. Man is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion -- several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven.... The higher animals have no religion. And we are told that they are going to be left out in the Hereafter. I wonder why? It seems questionable taste." ----Mark Twain
This is the first O.C.A. Volume and look for improvements and more features to come.
Evolve Beyond Belief
Amazing Organism of the Day
Argentavis magnificens or the Giant Flying Bird
With a 21 foot wing span and a body mass four times the largest bird today this 6 million years ago organism was capable of flying over 100 miles an hour while also having the ability to pick up human sized pray. I guess the global legends of man eating birds is possible
What "god" Allowed to happen Today:
Police removed two more bodies on top of the six already found in Cleveland rapist Anthony Sowells yard today. Where is god's wisdom in this one by the way?
Organization of the Day
Freedom From Religion Foundation
This is one of the most important support organizations for Atheist/Agnostic/Freethinking/Separation of Church and State in the United States. They have a weekly radio show on Air America and have a plethera of many resources and news articles pertaining to the state of Freethinking in the world.
Atheist Quote of the Day
"Man is a Religious Animal. Man is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion -- several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven.... The higher animals have no religion. And we are told that they are going to be left out in the Hereafter. I wonder why? It seems questionable taste." ----Mark Twain
This is the first O.C.A. Volume and look for improvements and more features to come.
Evolve Beyond Belief
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