Category: Religion
and Philosophy
So
I was in the midst of a heretical stint when I decided to organize my
thoughts. First on my adventure was a collection of videos entitled
"Why do people laugh at creationists." The link can be
found Here
where all the complicated answers from the scientifically trained are
expounded upon. I found this particularly awesome because it included
some characters I've wasted frustration towards in the past who've
become more than apt in their guilt trip and disaster scenario
conversion videos which do wonders when you appeal to the
uneducated.
Next, I got my doses of Pat Condell and Penn and Teller who in their stark and defiant manners elaborated the ridiculousness of a potential Mormon(when right clicking to spell check de-capitalized Mormon is it any coincidence that my only other choice was moron?) president and the failing nature of, which I recently learned to be a Christian institution, Alcoholics Anonymous. All I can feel the more and more I watch these things is a sense of shame for how childish and primordial people act. That smile, that arrogant I'm going to pat you on the head smile, is so loaded with childhood innocence that just doesn't look right when it's on a 50 year old pastor. Perfect example would be Kent Hovid who was a centerpiece in the clips used to tear through the creationist crap in the link above.
I also stumbled upon, this "Skeptical Christian" webpage where some obvious fence sitter tries to portray this level head, but still demonstrate how one can rationalize their faith. A passage in a review of Breaking the Spell that struck me was this:
"There is no reason for Christians to worry about theories which naturalistically explain the tendency for people to be religious. There are several reasons for this, not least of which is the fact that providing explanations of the origin of beliefs are not grounds for dismissing the belief. To make such a dismissal would be to commit the genetic fallacy. The rationality of any given belief must be analyzed on its own merits."
Don't stir in your seats just yet Christian brethren, no matter how much they tell us why holding on to explanations helpful to cavemen are no longer helpful, we are still allowed to call it true if we want. Our book, our rules. What a reassuring and very telling side of the "logic" that goes into being impartial and understanding the significance of evidence. If anyone reads my stuff and thinks me "informed" or "persuasive" I pass along any credit to the authors and activists. Ah, but don't let me shed any less light on the Christian folk themselves who do more damage in their own struggle attempting to twist language, than I could ever hope to do in a blog.
Let's take a moment to slow things down and catch our breath. Does your religion ever degrade you? No, I don't mean that your pastor calls you a pussy. I mean, does it ever call you nothing, sinner, not worthy of the grace of god, unable to make decisions, and simply a flailing fish struggling for air? If so, how the hell do you build such a sense of self-esteem and self worth? This is one of the many things that will never cease to confuse me. I have a friend who constantly reminds me that "the devil," the you-know-who of super-demon-beast-super-powers, can make you think such terrible things that you might want to kill yourself. Now my own speculation about where my friend's mind has been in the past aside, I ask what idea has lead to more people killing themselves than any other? If you guessed the love of god your mostly right. Of course other social, sociological, and mental factors play into it, but when you're about to meet your maker, who in their right mind wouldn't want to die as soon as possible? Especially in the case of Islamic martyrdom where you get to bring your family along to meet your 70 sum new wives.
I keep harping on it and nobody seems to agree with me. YOU make YOUR decisions. That's it. Penn and Teller keep reaffirming why they are in the league of my heroes for explaining this fact so clearly and bluntly every time they bring up religion. When is it going to sink in and why hasn't it gotten there so far? Does that old friend fear come back when you think to yourself "holy shit, I actually do have the choice when it comes to killing myself, or being happy, or even thinking about both while feeding ketchup to the dog!" A little too much freedom? I have a solution, bring real logic and truth to your life, the decisions will get smaller, simpler, and get you farther than "god did it, the devil "while technically unable to physically manifest himself and make you do something" is "portraying negative thoughts that disable me from having the life that only god can provide" and "will be kept at bay with my unshakeable, unquestionable FAITH, power word, that the poor disenfranchised "rest" will only have to dream about, but don't worry I'll still pray for them when I forget about praying for my own life's problems because I can't pray for too long, I have to get up early in the morning to go pretend like I'm still part of the real world."
That last bit was a tip of the hat to this, I'll call her little girl, who left me this at the end of our facebook chat ensuing after a barrage of "you just don't get it, I'm here to help" type messages from her.
"yeah well i aint got time for this shit okay you said you didnt want to talk me me so shut the fuck up okay all of your morals are screwed up i tried to help you but you dont listen so guess what burn in hell bitch and ur all wrong about everything youve said and you know what i give up on you"
Always refreshing to see the teachings of Christ flow through the words of his disciples.
Next, I got my doses of Pat Condell and Penn and Teller who in their stark and defiant manners elaborated the ridiculousness of a potential Mormon(when right clicking to spell check de-capitalized Mormon is it any coincidence that my only other choice was moron?) president and the failing nature of, which I recently learned to be a Christian institution, Alcoholics Anonymous. All I can feel the more and more I watch these things is a sense of shame for how childish and primordial people act. That smile, that arrogant I'm going to pat you on the head smile, is so loaded with childhood innocence that just doesn't look right when it's on a 50 year old pastor. Perfect example would be Kent Hovid who was a centerpiece in the clips used to tear through the creationist crap in the link above.
I also stumbled upon, this "Skeptical Christian" webpage where some obvious fence sitter tries to portray this level head, but still demonstrate how one can rationalize their faith. A passage in a review of Breaking the Spell that struck me was this:
"There is no reason for Christians to worry about theories which naturalistically explain the tendency for people to be religious. There are several reasons for this, not least of which is the fact that providing explanations of the origin of beliefs are not grounds for dismissing the belief. To make such a dismissal would be to commit the genetic fallacy. The rationality of any given belief must be analyzed on its own merits."
Don't stir in your seats just yet Christian brethren, no matter how much they tell us why holding on to explanations helpful to cavemen are no longer helpful, we are still allowed to call it true if we want. Our book, our rules. What a reassuring and very telling side of the "logic" that goes into being impartial and understanding the significance of evidence. If anyone reads my stuff and thinks me "informed" or "persuasive" I pass along any credit to the authors and activists. Ah, but don't let me shed any less light on the Christian folk themselves who do more damage in their own struggle attempting to twist language, than I could ever hope to do in a blog.
Let's take a moment to slow things down and catch our breath. Does your religion ever degrade you? No, I don't mean that your pastor calls you a pussy. I mean, does it ever call you nothing, sinner, not worthy of the grace of god, unable to make decisions, and simply a flailing fish struggling for air? If so, how the hell do you build such a sense of self-esteem and self worth? This is one of the many things that will never cease to confuse me. I have a friend who constantly reminds me that "the devil," the you-know-who of super-demon-beast-super-powers, can make you think such terrible things that you might want to kill yourself. Now my own speculation about where my friend's mind has been in the past aside, I ask what idea has lead to more people killing themselves than any other? If you guessed the love of god your mostly right. Of course other social, sociological, and mental factors play into it, but when you're about to meet your maker, who in their right mind wouldn't want to die as soon as possible? Especially in the case of Islamic martyrdom where you get to bring your family along to meet your 70 sum new wives.
I keep harping on it and nobody seems to agree with me. YOU make YOUR decisions. That's it. Penn and Teller keep reaffirming why they are in the league of my heroes for explaining this fact so clearly and bluntly every time they bring up religion. When is it going to sink in and why hasn't it gotten there so far? Does that old friend fear come back when you think to yourself "holy shit, I actually do have the choice when it comes to killing myself, or being happy, or even thinking about both while feeding ketchup to the dog!" A little too much freedom? I have a solution, bring real logic and truth to your life, the decisions will get smaller, simpler, and get you farther than "god did it, the devil "while technically unable to physically manifest himself and make you do something" is "portraying negative thoughts that disable me from having the life that only god can provide" and "will be kept at bay with my unshakeable, unquestionable FAITH, power word, that the poor disenfranchised "rest" will only have to dream about, but don't worry I'll still pray for them when I forget about praying for my own life's problems because I can't pray for too long, I have to get up early in the morning to go pretend like I'm still part of the real world."
That last bit was a tip of the hat to this, I'll call her little girl, who left me this at the end of our facebook chat ensuing after a barrage of "you just don't get it, I'm here to help" type messages from her.
"yeah well i aint got time for this shit okay you said you didnt want to talk me me so shut the fuck up okay all of your morals are screwed up i tried to help you but you dont listen so guess what burn in hell bitch and ur all wrong about everything youve said and you know what i give up on you"
Always refreshing to see the teachings of Christ flow through the words of his disciples.
