left biblioblography: 2015

Sunday, December 27, 2015

2015 - A Good Year To Be Secular

Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis


As the hours and days and months all draw to a close, a winding down of events and lives, 2015 was a very good year to be secular.


Religion is more and more going into decline, and the landslide decision of Obegefell vs. Hodges made gay marriage constitutional in every state of the land (though how they pulled it off without scumbags like Scalia, Roberts, and Thomas interfering, I could not guess).


And for the wistful, sentimental thought:


As an atheist, I would not force my views onto others, anymore than I would appreciate that being done to me. My issue is not with crutches for the weak of heart and mind: it gets you through the bad nights, who am I to piss upon it? No, rather my problems is with the religious who would force their beliefs on myself and others. Gay marriage is a one instance; in the ancient world, gay marriage was not only practiced, but most folks couldn’t give a fuck if it didn’t inconvenience their days or their lives. Once the Christians took over, they stopped it right fast, even tried to stomp it out of existence (homosexuality). Also as point of fact, the Catholic Spaniards were horrified at the ‘abomination’ being practiced in Central America, that they proceeded to slaughter and torture countless innocent victims.


No, much as I’d like to see religion vanish/disappear, the fact is that nobody should play the thought police, or the ‘morals squad’.


And that should apply in all things. I want a country where the rich and the poor are treated equally, not based on pay scale. I want a country where everyone is treated the same, a level playing field. I want a country where atheist, muslim, christian, jew, all are equals, no free passes, no special treatment. No more ‘non-debates’ – climate change is real, evolution is a fact, nobody is getting ‘persecuted’, and nobody is better than anyone else.


Because let’s face it: religion tears down individuals, and rebuilds them. In the meantime, they get infused with all sorts of nonsense – the master-slave mentality, that precursor of xenophobia that is tribalism, that dishonest elevation of the religious person being ‘saved’ (which is shorthand for un-equal).


So here’s to the end of a pretty decent year overall, and hopefully more inroads will be paved for the secular folk that are to come.


Cheers!


Till the next post then.

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Sunday, December 20, 2015

Actual Journalistic Integrity: Words Mean Nothing

Cross posted  @ the Atheist Oasis


“Actions not words bespeak me” – Unknown.
I actually rather appreciate the sentiment, but not the event that prompted it:
Daily News provokes with cover on Calif. shooting: ‘God isn’t fixing this’
The front cover of the New York Daily News for Thursday takes a strong stance against how some politicians are reacting to the San Bernardino shooting with calls for prayer instead of tighter gun control laws.
The headline says, “God Isn’t Fixing This.”
“As latest batch of innocent Americans are left lying in pools of blood, cowards who could truly end gun scourge continue to hide behind meaningless platitudes,” the cover reads.
House Speaker Paul Ryan and GOP presidential hopefuls Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and Lindsey Graham all responded to the attack with tweets about “prayers” for the victims of San Bernardino.
The Daily News’ tweeted image of its provocative front page is currently the most retweeted of 2015 for the news organization, according to Twitter.
Meanwhile, Democratic presidential hopefuls, including Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, took a different tone and called for “action” to stop gun violence.
President Obama underscored the need for stronger gun control laws in the United States after Wednesday’s mass shooting, which left at least 14 dead and 14 wounded.
“There’s some steps we could take, not to eliminate every one of the mass shootings, but to improve the odds that they don’t happen as frequently,” Obama told CBS News.
Some twitter users also called out for more congressional action.
David Mignery tweeted “@SpeakerRyan We need more from you than prayers.”
But others tweeted that calling for prayer should not be mocked at a time like this.
Yes, because prayer comes down HARD on people who mock it. Oh, wait. It does absolutely no such thing. It does not take guns out of the hands of anyone, it changes no minds, it alters nothing in the slipstream of reality. A prayer is an unanswered knee-mail that accidentally comes true once in a blue moon, but only because the person praying is asking for something available.
Of course the spineless Republicans are caterwauling for prayer. It fixes zero, it maintains the status quo, it’s a crippled placebo that works on the more feeble of minds. It also keeps the NRA lobbyists off their backs.
So get off your knees: nobody’s home nobody up there not even a ghost in a machine or a brain in a vat.
We are all alone here, so let’s take care of each other, and stop passing the buck to someone who doesn’t exist.
Till the next post then.

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Sunday, December 13, 2015

Republicans Gone Retarded: The ‘Donald’ Trumps The 1st Amendment

Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

Honestly, I know I bang on about Islam, how it’s barbaric, how it’s a vast steaming pile of supernatural crap – and yes, there are occasions where I advocate the actual shooting of some of these people, but not full scale (there are millions of Muslims I don’t have a real problem, I can’t tell them what to do, think, say etc.). But in this country, there are no (and should never be) a ‘thought’ police, or better yet, a ‘secular’ police. Just like there shouldn’t be a ‘morals squad’ anywhere in the known world.

And when it comes to reality, maybe the ‘Donald’ should actually become an apprentice to a politician with ethics (yeah I know, an oxymoron) or somebody who actually understands the constitution.

  Donald Trump: Ban all Muslim travel to U.S.

  (CNN)Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump called Monday for barring all Muslims from entering the United States.

  "Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on," a campaign press release said.
      Trump, who has previously called for surveillance against mosques and said he was open to establishing a database for all Muslims living in the U.S., made his latest controversial call in a news release. His message comes in the wake of a deadly mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, by suspected ISIS sympathizers and the day after President Barack Obama asked the country not to "turn against one another" out of fear.

      Trump's comments are likely to roil the Republican presidential race, forcing many of his opponents for the nomination to engage in a debate over whether there should be a religious test to enter America.

      But his proposal was met with enthusiasm by many of his supporters, who showed their approval via social media as well as at his rally on Monday night.

     
      "I think that we should definitely disallow any Muslims from coming in. Any of them. The reason is simple: we can't identify what their attitude is," said 75-year-old Charlie Marzka of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.


      Moreover, the Muslim travel ban will likely do little to dent Trump's own popularity among Republican primary voters. The billionaire businessman has dominated the GOP contest for months despite repeated controversies that would likely sink other White House hopefuls.


      "Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension. Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine," Trump said in a statement. "Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life."

      Trump's campaign added in the release that such a ban should remain in effect "until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on."

      The release pointed to an online poll from the controversial Center for Security Policy, which claimed that a quarter of Muslims living in the U.S. believe violence against Americans is justified as part of a global jihadist campaign. Critics have questioned the reliability of the organization's information. It also pointed to a Pew Research poll, which the campaign declined to identify, which the campaign claimed points to "great hatred towards Americans by large segments of the Muslim population."

      Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told CNN on Monday that the ban would apply not just to Muslim foreigners looking to immigrate to the U.S., but also to Muslims looking to visit the U.S. as tourists.

      "Everyone," Lewandowski said when asked if the ban would also apply to Muslim tourists.

      "Great surveillance and vigilance must be adhered to," said Trump in an additional statement Lewandowski provided to CNN. "We want to be very fair but too many bad things are happening and the percentage of true hatred is too great. People that are looking to destroy our country must be reported and turned in by the good people who love our country and want America to be great again."


      Trump confirmed that his policy would not apply to current Muslims in the U.S. during a Fox News interview on Monday evening.


      "I have Muslim friends, Greta, and they're wonderful people. But there's a tremendous section and cross-section of Muslims living in our country who have tremendous animosity," he told Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren. "It does not apply to people living in the country, except we have to be vigilant."


    That old trope from Franklin seems salient: 'Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.'


    And all I can think when Donald Chump blathers on is, ‘Oh, great. ANOTHER moronic Republican president who’s going to fuck this country right up.’


    There oughta be a law. No, better yet, there should be a test. See if any of these mental midgets are qualified to hold office. And denial of reality should be an automatic flunk. You know, people who deny climate change, evolution, all those key NON-ISSUES.


    Till the next post then.

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    Sunday, December 06, 2015

    More On The Madness Of Muslims: Self-Radicalizers?

    Muslim-Cartoon1This latest tragedy has been splashed across the pages lately (Web pages? Does that metaphor still work?)

    California shooters likely planned multiple attacks

    U.S. investigators are increasingly convinced the California shooters planned multiple attacks, given their stockpile of weapons, and are looking at whether the Pakistani woman involved radicalized her American husband, officials said on Sunday.

    Investigators believe the weapons cache collected by Tashfeen Malik, 29, and her husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, points to more attacks but they do not have evidence on other possible targets, a senior U.S. government source told Reuters.

    The couple stormed a gathering of his work colleagues in San Bernardino, California, on Wednesday, opening fire with assault-style rifles and killing 14 people. The pair were killed a few hours later in a shootout with police.

    U.S. authorities were trying to learn what contacts Malik might have had with Islamic militants in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, where she grew up, the official said on condition of anonymity.

    They lack clear evidence that the wife was radicalized overseas or that she in turn radicalized her husband, though they are actively investigating that, the official said.

    Authorities are investigating the shootings as an act of terrorism. President Barack Obama scheduled an Oval Office address Sunday to outline how the country is responding to the broader threat of terrorism.

    Malik's estranged relatives in Pakistan have said she appeared to have abandoned the family's moderate Islam and become more radicalized in Saudi Arabia, where she moved as a toddler.

    She returned to Pakistan and studied pharmacy at Bahauddin Zakaria University in Multan from 2007 to 2012.

    "There's a serious investigation ongoing into what she was doing in Pakistan and in Saudi," U.S. Representative Michael McCaul said on "Fox News Sunday." "We think that she had a lot to do with the radicalization process and perhaps with Mr. Farook's radicalization from within the United States."

    "The wild card here is the wife Malik," said McCaul, the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. He said investigators were also looking at where they got the money to acquire the guns.

    U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said U.S. authorities have no evidence that the shooters were part of a larger terrorism cell but were working with their counterparts overseas to gather information about their lives.

    "We are trying to learn everything we can about both of these individuals," Lynch said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "It will be a long process, it will be an exhaustive process."

    "And we are trying to learn as much as we can about her life before they met, after they met and frankly, after she came here as well. What we are trying to focus on again is what motivated these two individuals."

    McCaul said it was unclear what ties the couple had with the Islamic State, which has said the pair were "followers." At a minimum, he said, the militant group inspired the attack. Malik is believed to have pledged allegiance to the group in a Facebook posting shortly before the shooting.

    "We have the computers. We have the devices. We are currently going through the forensics," he said. "The investigation is ongoing to find out what is precisely the connection between ISIS, say, in Raqqa and in the United States, and what was going on."

    McCaul also noted that Farook had a large arsenal of semi-automatic guns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and pipe bombs.

    "We are looking at the terrorist financing aspect to this case. I believe on his salary, he was not able to buy this on his own," said McCaul.

    U.S. officials have acknowledged they had no information about the couple before the killing other than routine matters related to Malik's immigration status in the United States.

    Susan Rice, Obama's national security adviser, said the case illustrates the difficulties in detecting self-radicalized attackers. "That's a very real challenge and it's one that preceded ISIL and I presume one that will endure beyond ISIL and its defeat," she said on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS."

    The savage lie of the afterlife prompts events like this. If these two crazies had no belief in it, they likely wouldn’t have gone off and shot a bunch of innocent people. In fact, in all the major shootings and crimes, white collar or otherwise, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who DIDN’T believe in an afterlife. Some cheap rationalization of how it would be ‘judged’ or weighed or whatnot. The Pavlovian component is undeniable (unless you’re religious, in which case everything is subject to interpretation and then denial) – these idiots wanted to impress their slave master Allah. And of course, like all of the big 3 in monotheism, this requires blood.

    Judaism is now barely a blip on the radar press-wise, Christianity is slowly (TOO SLOWLY) mellowing out, now we’re stuck with the last of the savage creed, Islam.

    What we need now as a species, is to stop sugar coating reality, stop blindly obeying our less rational impulses (most adults should be able to, but can’t), and put aside this primitivistic nonsense. Our ancestors were for the most part, assholes. History was written by drunken teenagers. We are at this point now so much farther ahead than some of these pompous assholes they call ‘prophets’ – you know, those weird crazy assholes that wandered in out of the desert, driven so mad by heat and dehydration that their drooling gibberish should have earmarked them for a lunatic asylum, not a leadership role.

    Shooting someone doesn’t make someone’s epistemology correct. Nor does self-sacrifice. The only point religious violence makes, is that fantasy ideology makes for the worst of the worst, blood sacrifices made to a mad bloodthirsty imaginary friend.

    Till the next post then.

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    Sunday, November 29, 2015

    Republican Gone Retarded: More Naïve Nonsense From The Nincompoop Right

    clowncar

    Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

    If you were wondering if the clown car of village idiots has room for one more – you’d be spot on:

    Marco Rubio: The United States is Governed by God, Not the Constitution

    While most of the attention this election cycle has been given to presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ben Carson, several others such as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio have slowly been inching their way up the polls, solidifying themselves as viable Republican candidates.

    Well, one of those candidates, Rubio, recently professed his belief that the United States is governed by “God’s rules,” not the Constitution:

    “We are clearly called, in the Bible, to adhere to our civil authorities, but that conflicts with also a requirement to adhere to God’s rules. When those two come in conflict, God’s rules always win. In essence, if we are ever ordered by a government authority to personally violate and sin, violate God’s law and sin, if we’re ordered to stop preaching the gospel, if we’re ordered to perform a same-sex marriage as someone presiding over it, we are called to ignore that. We cannot abide by that because government is compelling us to sin.”

    In other words, he believes that any Constitutional right given to Americans that he thinks goes against “God’s rule” should be ignored – because “God’s rule” supersedes Constitutional law.

    While that sort of rhetoric isn’t exactly new among Republicans, it’s still extremely dangerous. The United States isn’t (and has never been) a theocracy, but that’s exactly what conservatives like Rubio want to turn it into. They want a nation that ignores our First Amendment rights to freedom of religion in order to force millions of Americans to adhere to religious dogma that they don’t believe in.

    I think it’s important to point out that this isn’t just Marco Rubio pandering to evangelicals for support. He’s a Republican who doesn’t even support abortion in instances of rape. He honestly believes that if a woman is impregnated following a brutal and violent sexual assault, that she should instantly lose the right to have control over her own body.

    It’s rhetoric like Rubio’s that prompted me to declare that any politician trying to interject religion into our government should be disqualified from running for office. Our First Amendment explicitly states that Americans have the freedom of religion. This means that any politician who’s trying to force their views on others is instantly trying to infringe upon our rights as Americans, thus is not acting in good faith of the oath they took to adhere to our Constitutional law. Therefore, I don’t believe they should be allowed to hold public office. That’s obviously my personal opinion, but I believe it stands on solid ground.

    This is why I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for progressives and liberals to get out and vote in large numbers next November. We can’t let Republicans win the White House in 2016. If we do, not only will that essentially give the GOP power over the Supreme Court for the next 20-30 years, but Republicans will undo all the progress we’ve made over the last few years – potentially setting progressives back decades.

    We absolutely cannot allow that to happen.

    It is nice to hear my own (repetitive) declamations echoed by another on the internet, but I’d rather be wrong about this.

    The Christians teach that everyone believes in this gawd character, that anyone who denies that is in denial, that anyone who speaks against their holy book is a liar, and that we all have to bend a knee at Jebus’ whim.

    Obviously (to the brighter among us) this is just a load of shit. I wish Rubio and the rest of the Grand Asshole Wankers Party (GAWP) would just leave and go live in the mountains with the other feeble-minded fairy beggars, and leave us to our own devices.

    For absurdity, the GAWP party has no equals. Pusillanimous puling pious political pipsqueaks, all of whom are as sharp as a marble. This ridiculous tribalism, where one group has ALL the truth, and nobody else does, it’s gotta go. Deep-sixed. 86’ed. Vaminos. Adios. buh-BYE!

    We need to change this mindset where opinions and feelings take precedence over facts and rights. Where the people who DON’T hear voices in their heads are the crazy ones. I could go on (I have before), but let’s keep it simple.

    Believe what you want, but mind your own fucking business. Legislating based on one superstition is not giving equal time to other similarly ridiculous nonsense.

    Or as someone (else) once put it, ‘we should legislate for this life, not the next.’ Which is dead on, since there is no afterlife.

    Till the next post then.

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    Sunday, November 22, 2015

    Republicans Gone Retarded: Presidential Pope-ful Buries Leg In Mouth

    Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

    fuckabee2016This is the latest shithead to hop out of the Republican Clown Car to change one flat tire out of all four:

    Mike Huckabee says Obama will make us memorize the Koran after Mali terrorist attack

    Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who is pursuing an ever-more unlikely bid for the presidency, responded to Friday’s terrorist attack in the West African nation of Mali on social media with a non sequitur about something President Obama never said.

    “After today’s attack in Mali, the Obama-approved domestic anti-terror plan: Give up your guns and memorize a Koran verse,” Huckabee wrote. According to reports, the attackers in Mali freed some hostages who were able to recite verses from the Koran.

    Huckabee — or someone hired to manage his Facebook page — seems to delete all negative comments, but the response on the more unwieldy platform of Twitter was not positive.

    Eighteen people died when gunmen raided the Radisson Blu Hotel and more than 100 hostages were taken, according to the BBC. Malian special forces raided the hotel and have rescued the hostages. The attack was carried about by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and an offshoot group.

    Earlier this week, Huckabee made a strange analogy comparing Syrian refugees with tainted Chipotle food, and last month agreed with a fringe radio host that slavery is an appropriate punishment for the American criminal justice system.

    Seriously? What, is Fuck-A-Bee smoking crack or something? And of course, my familiar refrain: “There should be a competency test for people in public office.” Because apparently, every Republican politician is mentally deficient. It seems like the GOP goes and recruits all the village idiots they can – and where else would someone like that have any credence? We should dub these charlatans the New Know-Nothing Party, but that they accept Irish Catholics now, and they hate all other immigrants.

    Religion is the symptom of the lazy mind. Instead of taking intellectual inventory of being human and examining it, instead the lazy mind slips into ‘god mode’, and rather than analyzing reality based on evidence, promotes a master-slave relationship with an imaginary being.

    Thus far, I haven’t seen ONE Republican politician competent enough to be president, let alone be a Governor.

    Let’s stop electing psychopaths for office – we should settle for someone like Obama, who has actually done an excellent job (well, in comparison to his predecessor, which actually doesn’t say much)

    Till the next post then.

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    Sunday, November 15, 2015

    More On The Madness Of Muslims: Paris And The High Cost Of Accommodationism

    Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

    islamiccrazyBy now you’ve heard the news (unless you’re living in a cave) – Paris was savaged by a pack of mad dogs bent on asserting their dominance over an unwilling world:

    Paris attacks: Authorities hunt for a French national

    Paris (CNN)Authorities are hunting for a Belgium-born French national who is suspected to have been involved in the Paris terror attacks.

    Belgian and French officials want to find Salah Abdeslam, the French prosecutor's office told CNN. Belgium has issued an international warrant for him.

    French police released his photo and warned people not to interact with him, saying that he is dangerous.

    Salah Abdeslam is  suspected of being involved in the attacks.
    Meanwhile, the death toll has risen to 132, according to news agency Agence France-Presse, citing hospitals. At least 352 people were wounded, many of them seriously.

    Investigators are working around the clock. The Islamic terror group ISIS has claimed responsibility for the slaughter.

    Reflecting just how nervous Paris is right now, a panic broke out Sunday evening in a crowd gathered at a memorial erected at one of the sites of Friday's terror attacks.

    Video showed mourners suddenly spooked, though it's still unclear why. People ran away screaming. Some jumped over lit candles of the memorial, others grabbed their children and sprinted away. The panic ended quickly and police have cleared the memorial, saying no one is allowed to gather, at least for the time being.

    It's possible that suspects directly involved in Friday's Paris terror attacks remain at large, a French counterterrorism source close to the investigation told CNN on Sunday.

    A number of arrests linked to the attacks have been made in Belgium, but it is unclear whether they include the occupant or occupants of an abandoned car with weapons inside found in eastern Paris, the source said.

    The outrage, the horror, the utterly unnecessary loss of life – it almost defies description. Almost.

    The roots of all the big 3 – Judaism, Christianity, Islam – the roots are soaked in the blood of innocents. Where some psychopath romps in the fields of ‘divinity’ – bloodshed is soon to follow. The Koran says, ‘do not compel religion’ – this rule is broken regularly, buried away under an onslaught of ‘re-interpretation’, hypocritically rejected because it doesn’t suit the needs of the interpreter, doesn’t bend to the need for control and slaughter.

    It seems that we as a species really need to redefine the overly-liberalized concept of ‘belief’. For too long this has been used as a free pass…from religious exemptions for child abuse to genocidal madness. Too long we have ignored the obvious dissonance between belief and reality, too long have we dwelled in fear because of a carte blanche rule that these mad dogs use to their advantage.

    Living in fear is no way to live at all. Living under the rule of some hairy-eyed lunatic chained to an antique piece of esoterica? No thanks.

    And this latest act of terror? We should use every means to find these cowardly little shits, and bring them to justice, rough or otherwise. These people have abdicated their humanity, and have shown the rest of the world how a human being can lose his/her humanity.

    And I say this again: the concept of the afterlife, it poisons everything. It’s a good likelihood that if this afterlife was NOT a hard and fast rule in just about every culture, terrorist attacks would dwindle to near zero, because no afterlife? No fucking WAY would anyone strap those bombs on and harm innocent people unless there was a big reward in it for them. Religious people deny that, but it’s the truth.

    This is what we have. There is no afterlife. Time to treat each other equally, time to stop killing others over some trifling medieval esoteric guesswork unsupported by either reality or empirical reasoning.

    Time to just…stop.

    Till the next post then.

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    Sunday, November 08, 2015

    Republicans Gone Retarded: Crazy Carson And The Pyramid Silos…

    hopenchangedcarson

    Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

    It seems simply unbelievable: that a group of disconnected schizoids, psychotics, and borderline personality disorders are elected, let alone listened to. And yet here we are, stuck with the biggest boobs in the political world, morons who never fact-check the noise they blurt out at press releases.

    And so to show their alleged ‘diversity’, these pusillanimous political pipsqueaks try to bring in some token black, probably to offset the idea that the rethuglickans are an old white boys club, and failing miserably.

    In 2012, it was Herman Cain. In my book, if you’re a tea(bag) party member, you’re on auto-moron. (Though his call for a 3rd party in US politics is actually a strong point.)

    And now we have…drum roll please…Ben Carson!

    He’s a neurosurgeon who believes that evolution is a ‘tool of the adversary’ and that the big bang theory is a fable. WTF is that? How can someone smart enough to become a neurosurgeon be that fucking stupid? Better yet, the General Surgeon Idiot has proclaimed this:

    Ben Carson: Archaeologists Are Wrong, The Pyramids Were Built To Store Grain

    In the speech -- given at Andrews University, a school with ties to Carson's Seventh-day Adventist faith -- the neurosurgeon shot down claim that aliens had built the pyramids. But he also disagreed with the archaeological consensus that the pyramids were constructed as tombs for the pharaohs.

    “My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids to store grain,” Carson said. “Now all the archeologists think that they were made for the pharaohs’ graves. But, you know, it would have to be something awfully big if you stop and think about it. And I don’t think it’d just disappear over the course of time to store that much grain.”

    In the video surfaced by Buzzfeed Wednesday, Carson goes on to lay out his argument that the pyramids were constructed for grain storage.

    So regardless of all the actual evidence that says otherwise, he builds what is risibly called a ‘theory’ based on his own person preferences rather than any reality whatsoever. What a fucking surprise.

    And of course, he tries to be magnanimous about this nonsense:

    Carson: 'Secular Progressives' Are Welcome To Ridicule Pyramid Theory

    Ben Carson is standing by his theory that the Egyptian pyramid theory -- that the pyramids were built by the biblical figure Joseph to store grain -- which has come under scrutiny since Buzzfeed surfaced a 1998 video of Carson referencing it.

    "Some people believe in the Bible, like I do, and don't find that to be silly at all, and believe that God created the Earth and don't find that to be silly at all." Carson told reporters in Miami during a stop on his book tour. "The secular progressives try to ridicule it any time it comes up and they're welcome to do that."

    A book tour?!?! Seriously? What is wrong with the American public that they even pay to read crap written by complete idiots? Television has turned the majority of them into uninformed drooling jukes and kalikaks, incapable of a rational or original thought whatsoever.

    Some people are not only silly, most of them are just stupid. Adjectives for this are beginning to fail me.

    As a friend once told me, ‘just because you’re smart, doesn’t mean you’re not stupid’. At this point, I wonder if Carson paid extra money for his degree, or maybe he learned neurosurgery at Wal-Mart.

    It’s high time we set a higher bar for US politicians. Look, this guy has a degree, and he’s STILL an idiot.

    Any suggestions?

    Till the next post then.

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    Sunday, November 01, 2015

    More On The Madness Of Muslims: Overpopulation Is NOT The Answer!

    Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

    no_more_than_2_children_per_familyThere is an ongoing attitude in our species – MORE is BETTER, especially when it comes to having children. The medieval concept that some cosmic babysitter is going to come swooping in and clean up our collective messes is simply stupid. And the religious concept? Why, we need more ‘believers’ because they’ll lead the charge against the un-believers! Let’s face it: religious people need soldiers because they’re always at war with someone. And all this is just an extension of sexual dimorphism, which has run its course, and we should just discard.

    One of the more ridiculous statements ever heard: “I want to have a MILLION kids after we get married!”

    This sort of short-sighted idiocy is all too prevalent. The presumption is that there always has been and always will be, room on this planet. The assumption that women are just around to be uteri with heads is just bullshit. It’s this attitude that fosters the rape culture of the Big 3: Judaism, Christianity, Islam.

    And this medieval attitude is expressed in this headline:

    Muslim men having '20 children each' because of polygamy, peer claims

    Baroness Cox, a cross-bench peer, says that Sharia Law is leading to 'shocking' discrimination against Muslim women.

    Muslim men in some communities are having up to 20 children each because of polygomy and the rise of "religiously sanctioned gender discrimination" under Sharia Law, peers have warned.

    Baroness Cox, a cross-bench peer, highlighted a series of "shocking" examples of the impact of Sharia law on Muslim women in Britain as she called for them to be given greater protection under equality legislation.

    She disclosed one case in which a 63-year-old man tried to divorce his 23-year-old wife and arrange her marriage to a Pakistani man who needed a visa.

    He asked a gynecologist to "repair the hymen" of his wife so she could remarry, and stood to make £10,000 "for effecting the arrangement".

    "Such shocking cases surely cannot be allowed to continue," she said. "The rights of Muslim women and the rule of law in our land must be upheld."

    In other examples, Baroness Cox revealed that Muslim men divorce their wives by simply saying or writing "I divorce you" three times.

    She added: "My Muslim friends tell me that in some communities with high polygamy and divorce rates, men may have up to 20 children each.

    Clearly, youngsters growing up in dysfunctional families may be vulnerable to extremism and demography may affect democracy."

    She put forward proposals to close a loophole in the Equality Act which she said enables Sharia courts to practice sexual discrimination.

    Baroness Deech, another cross-bench peer, supported the bill and said: "We must not tolerate the sweeping of violence against women or children under the carpet by any religion in the name of faith."

    Labour's Baroness Donaghy, a former chair of the arbitration service Acas, also backing the Bill, said it was not that long ago that women were unequal before the law.

    "We cannot afford to go backwards and tolerate a situation where any woman is living in fear and isolation.

    "More needs to be done. This is not confined to Sharia law or Muslim religion. These parallel laws which discriminate against women have existed and may still exist in other religions."

    Lord Green of Deddington, chairman of MigrationWatch, said Britain was entirely different to Muslim countries, adding: "Those who come must accept that."

    The independent crossbench peer said: "We must be prepared to insist that there can be only one law.

    "We must get away from what I call the Rotherham complex where the authorities were so afraid of offending a minority community that they turned a blind eye to the appalling abuse of young mainly British girls."

    Lord Faulks, the justice minister, highlighted a government review of the operation of Sharia Councils but said that new laws were not needed as there are already protections in common law and existing legislation.

    All of this nonsense is insane. Women aren’t inferior beings to be treated like chattel, no matter what some book of fairy tales says. Religious polygamy was created to forge armies of believers, because religious people are always at war. This is just sexual dimorphism taken to an idiotic level. The concept of ‘if there’s more of us, we WIN” is short-sighted and moronic.

    And for those readers who say, ‘so what?’, here is some alarming news:

    The human population has been growing continuously since the end of the Black Death, around the year 1400, although the most significant increase has been in the last 50 years, mainly due to medical advancements, increases in agricultural productivity and the historically unique availability of abundant cheap energy. The rate of population growth has been declining since the 1980s. Most contemporary[clarification needed] estimates for the carrying capacity of the Earth under existing conditions are between 4 billion and 16 billion.[citation needed] In 2013 the human population was 7 billion. By 2025 the world population is expected to grow by an additional 1 billion. Depending on which estimate of overpopulation is used, human overpopulation may or may not have already occurred.

    The InterAcademy Panel Statement on Population Growth, circa 1994, has stated that many environmental problems, such as rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, global warming, and pollution, are aggravated by the population expansion. Other problems associated with overpopulation include the increased demand for resources such as fresh water and food, starvation and malnutrition, consumption of natural resources (such as fossil fuels) faster than the rate of regeneration, and a deterioration in living conditions. However, some believe that waste and over-consumption, especially by wealthy nations, is putting more strain on the environment than overpopulation.

    The fact is, we as a species WILL run out of room, very very soon. This ridiculous concept of some imaginary cosmic baby-sitter coming down to ‘clean house’? Never gonna happen. Instead, imagine your grand-children and great grand-children being stacked like cordwood while they’re still alive, millions (perhaps billions) fighting and struggling, breathing and eating the only worthwhile occupation.

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    Sunday, October 25, 2015

    Because The Holy Cee Is A Center Of Stupidity

    Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

    villageidiotteresaI was raised Irish Catholic. Yes, I was once was a Papist bastard (though I couldn’t tell you any of the popes prior to Ratzinger). I did the whole holy communion, catechism, the whole schlemiel. I’m willing to bet that most atheists who were raised in a specific cult (yes CULT) likely despise their historical hogwash. As a result, when that veritable vacuousness that is the Vatican is mentioned, my lips curl in a sneer and my eyebrows furrow, and I try to be civil in my opinion of it, which is near impossible given my level of contempt for this ‘institution’.

    Madness. Worshipping statues and crackers. Virgin birth. Unproven ‘miracles’. Complete folderol.

    Which is why I get…irked, when I see shit like this:

    Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity refuse to allow Indian orphans to be adopted by single or divorced parents

    How many lives are injured by Catholic dogma, with the Church’s response that Dogma is Dogma, and All Will Be Set Right in the New Life? This one’s particularly noxious, as the policy of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity is dooming orphans to a life in state custody, and preventing them from getting forever homes.
    According to The Catholic Herald, the Catholic News Agency, and The Telegraph, the Missionaries are closing down their adoption service after changes in Indian law that now allow single and divorced parents to adopt children. (Gays in India are still forbidden to adopt children—an odious law that should be changed NOW.) India recently streamlined its notoriously labyrinthine adoption laws because there is a huge backlog of orphans compared to people willing to adopt them via the old cumbersome process.
    The closure of 30 adoption agencies means that the Missionaries prefer children to live on the street, or abide in government homes for destitute kids, than to find a home with a single parent. Why? Well, first, because single parents can’t provide “real love”. From the Catholic Herald:

        Maneka Gandhi, head of the Women and Child Development Ministry, said the Missionaries of Charity have “cited ideological issues” with the adoption guidelines and that “they do not want to come under a uniform secular agenda.”

        Sister Amala of Nirmala Shishu Bhawan, a New Delhi orphanage run by the Missionaries of Charity, said: “We have already shut our adoption services, because we believe our children may not receive real love. We do not wish to give children to single parents or divorced people.

        “It is not a religious rule but a human rule. Children need both parents, male and female. That is only natural, isn’t it?”

    Yeah, moron, so is starving to death in the streets, getting killed by members of your own species, and dying by ingesting a ‘natural’ poison. Yeesh, these people get right under my fucking skin.

    Because in the olden time, one parent died, they took the kid away. Wait, what? They didn’t? When parents get divorced, guess what? One of them has to take the child, not put it up for fucking adoption. It’s this sort of lopsided reason that is just plain idiotic.

    And what is ‘real love’ anyways? Is it different from ‘fake love’? How so? Try pinning a religious person down on definitions, and watch the clumsy mental gyrations ensue. I’ll bet it takes either of those ‘sisters’ at least an hour to cough up a semi-ambiguous explanation that explains nothing at all.

    These assholes fucked up the whole Western world with their presuppositionalist bullshit. And that manure, it’s gotta stop.

    Just tired of Italian assholes dictating their weirdnesses to the world, and watching the flocks of sheeple showing their simian side by doing as they’re told.

    Till the next post, then.

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    Sunday, October 18, 2015

    The World I Want To Live In…

    Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

    betterworldViolence is the last resort of the failed argument, and the first resort of the coward. - Zen Proverb.

    Let’s take a step back for a second, from the complaining and outrage, to get a better overview.

    Recently, a Muslim poster from a couple of posts ago, accused me and/or this site (Oasis), of advocating murdering Muslims. This is untrue. The only times I advocate something like that, is when faced with the crazy assholes (of any religion) who go about blathering about how their version of their religion is hollering for genocide, slavery, ideocide, and how blood and fire is the only way to ‘cleanse’ an unclean world. These people (if they can be called that: there is a point where any human can abdicate from humanity) are a blight. A crazy-ass bloodlusting hairy-eyed fanatic is for the most part a rabid dog. I consider a member of ISIS or Boko Haram to be equal to that mad asshole Manson. Or McVeigh. Anyone who is willing to resort to violence to enforce their vision of the world on others, is bugfuck crazy. I don’t care if you hale from the Middle East or Minnesota, Arabia or Indiana. It’s not geographic, it’s not demographic. If I were handed a gun, and told to shoot Manson in the head, I’d do it. Probably without hesitation. ‘Cause that guy, he’s abdicated. He only looks human. This is neither a failed argument nor cowardice: some things just need to be done, regardless of how distasteful they are.

    Certainly this falls under the purview of Hume’s Is/Ought guillotine – that is, my idea of a ‘perfect’ world is based on how mucked up this one is. It’s easy to preach reform, it’s harder to instate it.

    Here then, is my idealized version of the world.

    The world I want to live in….

    Is free of mentally deranged individuals hiding under the umbrella of religion. (Yeah, likely impossible)

    Is not based on payscale. Everyone gets free housing, food, medical care. Anything else, you gotta work for it.

    Does not discriminate based on religion, or the lack of it.

    Only gives free passes to the mentally and physically challenged (and even those should be limited: having Down’s Syndrome, for instance, is not a free pass to massacre people, any more than is someone’s religion).

    Where everyone is equal, where everything is equitable. Where women and gays have equal rights, where someone’s belief doesn’t fuck up my (or anyone else’s) life that doesn’t believe likewise.

    It’s too much to ask, I realize that. Our species, we’re pretty amazing critters when we’re not being idiots.

    I hope that we’re drawing to the end of the Age Of Tribalism. That someday, people can live in peace not fear, where poverty is gone, and we as a species use reason as a tool, where being intellectual is acceptable and not a disease.

    The old explanations are just that: old. We were born in sin, fucked up from the start, that’s a terrible justification. Who would do that to a child, let alone a nascent species, except some terrible psychopath with too much time on his (imaginary) hands.

    I say there is no sin, only responsibility. We are responsible to and for one another. Because there is no Allah, Yahweh, Brahma, Jesus, or any other daft deity looking out for us. We are on our own. It is the weak mind that looks for external excuses or validation: there is no fate or destiny outside of what we forge for ourselves. We are like swords, our wills hammering out our purpose on the anvil of reality.

    Remember this: we are alone, but not to each other. Be responsible. Be exceptional. Be good, be safe, but not at another’s expense if it can be helped.

    But take no shit from anyone – because there’s limits to everything, even the universe. Prompt no harm, cause no harm, but don’t allow harm to come to you.

    Till the next post then.

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    Saturday, October 10, 2015

    Homophobes Gone Bonkers: Kim Davis Is Wagging The God (Whoops, I Mean Dog)

    Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

    kimdavishypocriteJesse Helms and Newt Gingrich were shaking hands congratulating themselves on the introduction of an antigay bill in Congress.  If it passes, they won't be able to shake hands, because it will then be illegal for a prick to touch an asshole.  ~Judy Carter

    Up until now, I’ve kept my big yap shut about the latest ‘salvo’ from the religious right, mostly because it’s…well, sad and ridiculous.

    It says a lot, however, about how damaged our society is, that anyone would cheer for some homophobe’s ‘belief’ rather than be outraged that such a two-faced hypocrite hasn’t been fired for her refusal to do her job.

    And this latest little bit of news…well, it’s pathetic.

    Kim Davis Sought Support From Lawmakers Months Before Marriage Equality Decision

    If there is anyone left in the world who views the Kim Davis as a simple county clerk standing up to the might of the United States government for the love of God and the U.S. Constitution, this article should dispel those notions.

    From Vice News:

    Five months before the Supreme Court's landmark decision declaring same-sex marriage legal in all states, Kim Davis, the Rowan County Clerk in Kentucky who was jailed last month for defying a federal judge's order to issue same-sex marriage licenses, wrote to state lawmakers asking them to back legislation that would exempt her and other county clerks from having to grant anyone a marriage license.

    Davis sent the letter to legislators about two weeks after she took office. In it, she sought support for "possible" legislation "that would give county clerks the option to exempt themselves" from issuing marriage licenses. She wanted clerks to have the option to not only refuse licenses to same-sex couples, but to refuse them to "all parties, as to not discriminate anyone."...

    "I can not ask my deputies to issue or be a party to 'the implementation of a contentious societal philosophy change' (per Florida clerk with same views) if I myself would not," the 49-year-old county clerk wrote to dozens of lawmakers. "I know the deadline is close for presentation of bills on the floor, but in light of the Supreme Court's decision to look at this in April, I feel it imparitive [sic] that we be ready to stand with our uncompromising convictions, holding strong to our morals."

    Davis' communications prove that not only was her protest premeditated, she was aware of the possibility that she might have to provide marriage licenses to same-sex couples before she took the job. She spent the months leading up to the marriage equality decision gathering support from lawmakers for her push against Gov. Steven Beshear and her own constituents. When she didn't get what she wanted as quickly as she wanted it, she took the nuclear option of unilaterally denying people marriage licenses. We've all seen the fallout of that.

    In addition, Davis asked lawmakers for a clear exemption to deny anyone a marriage license, whether they were part of a same-sex couple or otherwise. This is not a "reasonable accommodation", this is a carte blanche for a civil servant to not do one of the key aspects of her job while still pulling down a hefty salary.

    This is not a story of David and Goliath. This is a low-rent House of Cards meets reality TV culture in which political machinations are used to make a nationwide spectacle.

    It’s enough to turn anyone into a hardened, jaded cynic. The entire event orchestrated well in advance, cloaked to look like a spontaneous ejaculation of faith.

    I suppose Christians have to have it that way, but there are better means of foreplay, self or otherwise.

    Oh, and the bunch of them plagiarists:

    Survivor Condemn Mike Huckabee, Kim Davis for 'Eye of the Tiger' Usage

    So they stole a popular song that WAS NOT public domain (them thar Fox viewers, ain’t none too keen on doing homework), and they bore false witness.

    They broke their own rules. Wish that was shocking. But, putting impossible constraints on human nature, that is what the religious do.

    Yeesh. Some salvo. More like a sprinkler. And it doesn’t help that Davis actually lied about her meeting with the Pope.

    People shouldn’t make rules they can’t keep. How does this keep escaping them? All this does is confirm something I already knew: that intelligence is most definitely NOT a criterion in natural selection.

    Till the next post, then.

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    Sunday, October 04, 2015

    More On The Madness Of Muslims: Who Cares Where The Beef Is

    Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

    jesusandmomuslimviolenceIt’s a sad day in the 21st century, when something this ridiculous and trite leads to tragedy:

    Muslim man beaten to death over rumours he had eaten beef in India

    Mohammad Akhlaq was attacked by around 100 people and despite being taken to hospital, police said "his life could not be saved"

    A 50-year-old Muslim man was beaten to death over rumours he had eaten beef, a taboo in India, a Hindu-majority nation.

    Mohammad Akhlaq was dragged from his house on the outskirts of the capital and attacked by around 100 people on Monday night, a police officer told AFP.

    "When our team reached the spot a crowd was there outside his house. They (police) managed to rescue him and take him to the hospital, but his life could not be saved," said senior police superintendent Kiran S.

    Indian police said on Wednesday they had arrested six people and "deployed additional personnel to contain any further repercussions".

    Mr Akhlaq's 22-year-old son was also seriously injured in the attack and was in intensive care at a nearby hospital.

    Killing cows is banned in many states of India, a majority-Hindu country that also has sizeable Muslim, Christian and Buddhist minorities.

    In March, the state of Maharashtra toughened its ban to make even possessing beef illegal, a move seen by religious minorities as a sign of the growing power of hardline Hindus since nationalist prime minister Narendra Modi came to power.

    The rumours that the family had eaten beef began when a calf was reported missing in Dadri village, 22 miles from New Delhi.

    "An announcement about the family consuming beef was made at a temple, after which the mob descended on the man's house," said Kiran.

    The Indian Express quoted Mr Akhlaq's daughter Sajida as saying the family had mutton in the fridge and not beef.

    "They accused us of keeping cow meat, broke down our doors and started beating my father and brother. My father was dragged outside and beaten with bricks," she told the daily.

    Horrible. Wish it was unbelievable but over the last decade of watching religious crazies do all sorts of maniacal acts, this is not exclusive to Islam. Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, the list goes on. The vast collective cognitive dissonance of our species may very well cost us our existence. The hairy-eyed psychopaths, the imams, the priests, the ministers, are going to lead us to another extinction event, and all because none of them can agree on an epistemology or an afterlife.

    And all of them seem to lust for blood and fire, to purge the other, twisted tribalism declaring supremacy and demanding subjugation.

    I for one will never submit. Fear is their weapon – I will not live in fear. Intimidation is their tool – I will not be intimidated. Terror is their objective – I skin my teeth back and growl at it.

    I am infidel. I am kafir. And proud of it. There is no afterlife. So I will live this one as it is all we have.  And all the charlatans of history shall not convince me otherwise.

    Till the next post then.

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    Sunday, September 27, 2015

    More On The Madness Of Muslims–Even MORE Proof Islam Is A Rape Culture

    Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasispedomohammed

    As if there weren’t enough, the evidence is still mounting:

    ‘He Said That Raping Me Is His Prayer to God’

        “He told me that according to Islam he is allowed to rape an unbeliever. He said that by raping me, he is drawing closer to God. … He said that raping me is his prayer to God.”

    These extraordinary statements come from girls who were kept as sex slaves by jihadis of the Islamic State, as reported in a lengthy and revealing New York Times piece that was published Thursday.

    Not only does the piece illustrate the horrifying ordeal that Yazidi and other non-Muslim women endure at the hands of the Islamic State when they are forced into sexual slavery, but — most surprisingly — the article explains in detail how these monsters believe they are pleasing their bloodthirsty god by destroying these girls.

    Reported the Times’ Rukmini Callimachi:

        In the moments before he raped the 12-year-old girl, the Islamic State fighter took the time to explain that what he was about to do was not a sin. Because the preteen girl practiced a religion other than Islam, the Quran not only gave him the right to rape her — it condoned and encouraged it, he insisted.

    Both before and after he raped her, he prostrated himself in Islamic prayer:

        “He told me,” the girl recounted, “that according to Islam he is allowed to rape an unbeliever. He said that by raping me, he is drawing closer to God.”

    This was no isolated incident. A fifteen-year-old girl who had been forced into sex slavery recalled:

        “He kept telling me this is ibadah” – that is, worship of Allah. “He said that raping me is his prayer to God. I said to him, ‘What you’re doing to me is wrong, and it will not bring you closer to God.’ And he said, ‘No, it’s allowed. It’s halal.’”

    All this is reminiscent of Hamas’ statement:

        “Killing Jews is worship that draws us closer to God.”

    What kind of god is this?

    What kind of moral blindness has overtaken non-Muslim leaders? They sit and drink tea and “dialogue” with Muslim clerics while being careful to avoid mention of anything like this — if they’re even aware of it at all — much less ask them what they’re doing to combat within Muslim communities the theological basis for sex slavery.

    It must be faced: in Islamic texts and teachings, such a theological basis manifestly exists.

    The Times quotes Kecia Ali, an academic Islamic apologist at Boston University:

        In the milieu in which the Quran arose, there was a widespread practice of men having sexual relationships with unfree women.

    “Unfree women”: for some reason, Ali doesn’t want to say the word “slave.” She goes on to claim:

        [I]t wasn’t a particular religious institution. It was just how people did things.

    However — and surprisingly, considering the track record — the Times had the integrity to cite Cole Bunzel of Princeton University. The article noted that Bunzel points out:

        [There are] numerous references to the phrase “Those your right hand possesses” in the Quran, which for centuries has been interpreted to mean female slaves. He also points to the corpus of Islamic jurisprudence, which continues into the modern era and which he says includes detailed rules for the treatment of slaves.

         There is a great deal of scripture that sanctions slavery. You can argue that it is no longer relevant and has fallen into abeyance. ISIS would argue that these institutions need to be revived, because that is what the Prophet and his companions did.

    Religion of peace my homesick ass. Pedophiliac fanatics is what these ass clowns are. As a left wing liberal atheist, I’m supposed to tolerate such behavior? I used to be against the death penalty, but this psychotics are obviously mad dogs, and should be put down toot sweet.

    Women should off limits. Children should be off limits. Female children ARE NOT CHATTEL, just because some musty old tome written by some illiterate pedo says so.

    Religion: giving excuses to sociopaths for centuries to date.

    Till the next post then.

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    Sunday, September 20, 2015

    Philosophy 101–Essence Vs. Existence

    “Existence precedes essence” – Sartre. Existentialistsheep

    Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

    As a nice change of pace, let’s discuss an existentialist concept, a very divisive one. It cuts to the very root of the dissension between theist and atheist.

    Is this the ‘what came first, the chicken or the egg” question? Well, the reality is, the egg precedes the chicken by some millions of years. (Of course, the creationists still think this is a pertinent question – which is why nobody engages them in a ‘debate’ anymore.)

    What prompted this post (no, this is not a ‘blog’, it’s a blog POST – I wish people would get this right!) was that I was watching a new show on Netflix, called ‘Madam Secretary’. It’s quite good. However, at one point in the pilot episode, Dr. Elizabeth Faulkner McCord’s husband is introduced, a one Dr. Henry McCord, a professor of theology. The moment was showcased by his claiming that ‘essence precedes existence’.

    Now, due to the entrenchment of religion in our culture, my response a decade ago would’ve been, ‘wow, how interesting’. But this was one of those ‘yell at the TV moments’, and caused me to straightaway look this nonsense up. (Despite one of my recent muck-ups, yes I do indeed research 99% of the time, even when I’m confident I’m right.)

    This then, is the source of ideological divisiveness in this country. Claiming that essence precedes existence is essentially a dualist concept (and we all know how much I detest dualism) – and it is what fuels the conflict between the ‘pro-lifers’ (another nauseating neologism I despise) and the pro-choice crowd. It is the belief that a soul exists.

    This is presuppositionalist nonsense. It is anything but rational, anything but scientific.  It is, however, an invidious, insidious concept that we are surrounded by, in multiple forms, both blatant and subtle. It is so much in our culture, that when someone says ‘energy is never destroyed, it only transforms’ (in reference to the claim of soul existence) that I almost pop a vein.

    As a reductive materialist, everything is rooted in the physical. And until there is some replicable results that prove otherwise using strict empirical methods, that’s it. Done. We’re here, we are, get used to it.

    Because as I constantly tell people (being an aged flatulence means I get to repeat myself more often than someone younger), it’s not about whether the energy is still there – it’s a question of, what happens to the information? Because that is the actual crux of that issue lies here – if the book is burned, what happens to the words?

    They become ash. That’s all. Any other proposition is wild speculation without scientific proof.

    Till the next post, then.

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    Sunday, September 13, 2015

    Never Forget, Never Forgive: The 14th Anniversary Of A Tragedy

    This Friday marked the historical tragedy of 9/11 – a tragedy we should never forget. This then was the wake-up call our country needed…would that we hadn’t needed or experienced it.

    The largest red flag since the Holocaust, it is more proof that indeed, there is no one looking down on us. If there were, the clouds should’ve parted, and ethereal hands come down to slap those planes down.

    But it was more than that. Never more clearly has the message been delivered: religion is toxic. Religion poisons the mind. It breeds psychotics by the boatload, or gives them unwise shelter. It devalues our lives by valuing a vague promise of something other. It suppresses the natural sex drive of people (and look how fucked up some of us are because of that). It teaches hate and tribalism wearing the mask of love. It lowers the sense of self-esteem by deeming all unworthy. And it is all vague guesswork – there is no proof that can be replicated in a lab, no bat-phone to the great beyond. It is all wild speculation, and that, simply put, is no good.

    The religious were put on notice that day, regardless of which one, that there are things beyond the pale, that no amount of sincere belief can change.

    Till the next post then.

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    Saturday, September 05, 2015

    More Blather, More Drivel: Another Delusionist Who Takes Delusion Too Seriously

    Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

    atheisthousemate"The Bible is a mass of fables and traditions, mere mythology." -Mark Twain

    I keep rolling across badly written pieces on the Interwebs, and sometimes they anger me, but this one? Actually, pretty funny:

    7 Ways To Tell If An Atheist Is Not Worth Your Time

    Christians sometimes find themselves engaging in dialogue with people identify as atheists. Often, these conversations will amount to nothing more than intellectual sparring or preaching. The atheist is only looking for a platform to recite the latest one-liner that they read in a meme. Yet the conversation persists out of pride. The Christian does not know when to back away from the conversation because they may not have a lot of experience with atheists. One needs to realize that congruence is unlikely. There are times when continuing in the conversation with an atheist is no longer prudent or helpful. Hence, we should withdraw when the conversation seems to reach its’ capacity (with atheists, this capacity is often quite limited). I would like to suggest that there are 7 ways to tell if an atheist is not worth your time.

    Right out the gate: ‘Christians sometimes find themselves engaging in dialogue with people identify as atheists’. Properly translated, this means ‘All those people you harass on the street and on the internet’. For the most part, Christians continuously bombard (most) atheist blogs, blither blather, refusing to listen, steadfastly insisting that they’re right and you’re wrong, no matter how many times you patiently re-explain the point, until you get fed up and lash out at the willful ignorance. Regular ignorance is forgivable, as we all make mistakes, but refusal to submit to reason?

    And no, we don’t go about blindly reciting memes like they recite their fairy tale quotes: there’s a thing called context, and this needs to be apropos. Anyways, there’s more (there always is):

    1 – They tell you what you believe. Atheists often come from a Christian background wherein they were taught certain precepts. Upon investigation, these precepts were found to be lacking and this led to the eventual abandonment of the Christian faith. Now, when this atheist encounters Christians, he assumes that they all believe exactly what he did. It is unthinkable that there is a more robust version of Christian theology. For if the breed of Christianity that you represent is less defeasible, it follows that they could have been wrong about their criticisms of Christian belief and will have to re-evaluate the system and question their atheism. This means that many atheists will accuse you of believing certain things and will not listen what you summarize your views in a different way. This is one of 7 ways to tell if an atheist is no longer worth your time. Why should you bother talking to somebody who thinks that they already know what you are going to say?

    Now not only is this a bad hasty generalization, it’s a tu quoque statement. It’s an automatic assumption that the atheist does the same thing as a theist: follow blindly, think blindly. There’s as many variations on Christianity alone to boggle the mind.

    Here’s the other caveat: we have heard all of this before. A variety of ways, a variety of verbiage – sadly, most Christians don’t do any due diligence, they just listen to a priest or minister, and if that person is wrong, they don’t check it, hey this guy’s in the upper hierarchy, he must know what s/he’s talking about. Now in atheist circles, if you get something wrong, nobody cares about hierarchy: you hear about how wrong you are, and usually there’s proof to back it up. My point here is, atheists and theists can both be wrong, but the atheist usually tends to be more honest about it.

    2 – Both of you are trying to have the last word. Discussions between people who disagree are often perennial and lead to frustration because neither party is willing to end the discussion. If they do not have the last word, then they think that they have left a particular point hanging in the air and have conceded the entire debate to them. But when you are at a point wherein you are just trying to have the last word, then it is likely that you are just repeating earlier content. That is just unnecessary and it makes you look foolish. Rather, if you already outlined or summarized your case, and you feel confident in your arguments and counter-arguments, there is no need to repeat it again. Even if the atheist brushes passed your arguments and repeats their original point, or summarizes your argument in an unsympathetic way, you should not feel inclined to repeat yourself. If their last word is pathetic and unimpressive, rest in the confidence in the arguments that you already made.

    This is actually good advice if standalone. Sadly, in this culture, it is the person who has the last word who seems to win (even when they don’t).

    3 – They start talking about the Flying Spaghetti Monster. This would also apply to Santa Claus, fairies, leprechauns and other nonsense. If they start comparing your belief in the existence of God to that sort of thing, then this individual obviously has no respect for you and they are not worth engaging. For nobody comes to believe in Santa Claus as an adult. There are no adult conversions to belief in Santa Claus. There are no scientists who come to believe in Santa Claus the basis of scientific data. The agnostic astronomer with NASA, Dr Robert Jastrow said in his book God And The Astronomer, “For the scientist who puts his trust in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance. He is about the conquer the highest peek. As he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.” There is no equivalent to this with regard to belief in Santa Claus. The atheist who renders this comparison is not a critical thinker, has no respect for you and therefore, this is one of 7 ways to tell if an atheist is not worth your time.

    Ahem. Horse manure. Your ‘gawd’ is just the same as all those other mythical creatures: you can’t prove this critter exists. Pointing to phenomenon and saying “Look! Proof!” is just….well, just stupid. You may as well as claim that reindeer prove the existence of Santa Claus. And who really cares about this Jastrow fellow? Dim appeal to credentialism. Newton was fantastic at physics, but he was wrong about the bible’s alleged worth. Linus was fanatical about Vitamin C as a universal silver bullet, but he was wrong. I respect your right to have an opinion, but I don’t have to respect the opinion itself. There IS a difference (and if you can’t tell, you may want to work on your self-awareness).

    4 – They imply their intellectual superiority. The most common method of feeding pride is by contrast. People will contrast themselves with others to demonstrate their intellectual superiority. Atheists are fond of exercising this. They will tell religious people that that once they read the Bible, they began to read the Bible, they become atheists. Therefore, they reason, if religious people read the Bible as well, they would be atheists. Since they are not atheists, it follows that they do not read the Bible. This also chauffeurs with it the implication that atheists know more about religion than religious people. They will cite Pew Forums wherein atheists may have scored high in a particular category. But what is interesting about that survey is that atheists score lower in the category of Christianity than Christians do. However, they score higher in general religion. Atheists and Mormons lead the knowledge of general religion. Well done to the atheists and the elders. But still, again, they score lower in their knowledge of Christian belief. Either way, the only reason that they would bring up this misinformation is to feed their pride. If somebody is just trying to elevate their intellectual repute by stomping on yours, that is one of 7 ways to tell if an atheist is not worth your time.

    Can’t speak for all atheists, but I do try to talk to people on an even keel. However, it is difficult to explain to the stubborn theist, that it is possible to be smart in one thing, and stupid in another. Or as an old roommate once said, “Just because you’re smart, doesn’t mean you’re not stupid”. See the Newton example above. Also, I have found (as many of us have) that most of us ARE better versed in that biblical folderol than most theists, only because most mammals prefer the easy meal, therefore prefer the easier explanation. Human beings tend to be lazy thinkers (now there’s a broad generalization that sticks). As for this accusation of narcissism, there are atheists and theists alike who do this, but more for the former than the latter (yeah, really sucks being the majority). But for me, it’s not about dishonestly elevating myself above others: I am genuinely worried about our species and our world. There are HUGE amounts of people actively trying to trigger the ‘apocalypse’.

    5 – They caricature Christian belief. Atheists are often caught attacking straw men. This means that they will conjure up versions of Christian theology that are easier to attack and refute. They will attack the cartoon version of Christian belief rather than the robust and carefully nuanced theology that we believe in. For example, atheists have constructed a meme that says that Christianity is the belief that “A Jewish zombie will make you live forever… et cetera, et cetera.” Obviously, this is just a poor and insulting caricature. Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead, but they do not believe that he is a mindless zombie. For a zombie is one whose body is no longer inhabited by the human mind. It is just a walking virus. But in the case of Jesus, he was raised in an incorruptible body to glory and immortality. But that is not at all akin to a zombie. If the atheist renders that criticism, they are just trying to construct a version of Christianity that is easier to refute. They are not interested in an open and honest discussion. Hence, this is one of 7 ways to tell if an atheist is not worth your time.

    That ‘zombie’ meme – it’s not too far off. Definition: Zombies are undead creatures, typically depicted as mindless, reanimated human corpses with a hunger for human flesh. (Also ahem: that cannibalism shtick is strictly movie crap) And let’s face it: the Synoptics and John are so contradictory to one another, it’s hard to believe  that anyone accepted it at face value. Of course, centuries of burning documents and people that disagreed with their set of fairy tales tends to shut folks up right quick.

    6 – They do not listen to your responses and are only out to refute you. When we engage in debates with people, it is often the case that they do not really want to hear what you have to say. They do not want to take your arguments seriously. They do not care about arguments and they do not care why you believe what you believe. They only care about what they believe. Your beliefs stand in the way of that, and therefore, they need to find a way to refute it. Symptoms of this will be that no matter what you say, they are presenting little ways to refute it. They are only interested in refuting your arguments and debating you. But they are not interested in considering that you may be right.

    Here’s where this entire paragraph is silly: Christians constantly parrot the same dreck over and over again. There’s a ‘meme’ about this too – PRATT is an acronym for Points Refuted A Thousand Times. I have read and carefully considered most (if not all) religious ‘arguments’ – they always fail to stand up against the cold light of logic, they tend to wilt. One of the items I carefully considered in my early days, is presuppositionalism. Rather than insist “God IS!”, the rational mind must consider, “Is God?” Logic took care of that rather nicely.

    7 – They reply in memes and one-liners. Anybody who has spent a significant amount of time speaking with several atheists will notice something astonishing. They all say exactly the same things. They will recite clever little soundbites that they heard somebody else say which they have committed to rote memory. They will say things like, “I just go one God further,” Or “who designed the designer?” or “If you had been born in India…” These are not to considered to be serious arguments. Rather, they are one-liners and memes. They read these arguments in pictures that they saw on the internet. They are bumper-sticker arguments, but there is really no latitude behind them. Atheists will often promulgate these bumper-sticker arguments. When they do that, you can be sure that they are not really thinking seriously about the conversation that they are engaging in. They are just looking for a platform to recite their favorite one-liner. Thus, this is one of 7 ways to tell if an atheist is not worth your time.

    Again, this is mostly tu quoque. I can very easily prattle this off about the delusionists as well. ‘These are not to considered to be serious arguments.” Ummm, no that’s a strawman AND an ad hominem poison-the-well.  ‘Who designed the designer’ is actually an argument against infinite regress, and “If you had been born in India…” speaks to cultural influences (if a Hindu has an NDE, why does he see Ganesh or Vishnu? The answer of course, is that some malign demon is trying to trick the poor idolatrist out of his soul).

    My nutshell point is this: I don’t attack religion out of some childish churlish need to be ‘right’ – how I feel and what I believe are irrelevant. The facts point to religion being an anachronistic, barbaric holdover that humanity is too fond of and needs to be freed from. And this infantilization of our species needs to end. While all these well-fed Christians are shouting hosannahs to the sky, nobody realizes that their alleged god plays favorites. Why are you, these Christians in America, eating 3 squares a day and living in a house, more privileged over some starving child in Africa with an eyeworm in his/her eye? Why on earth would your deity step in on a football game, when a few decades ago, his ‘chosen people’ were lined up for extermination?

    Religion is just humanity’s infantile effort to force its shadow upon the universe.

    Till the next post then.

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    Sunday, August 30, 2015

    Welcome To The First Episode Of WTF Theater: Never Trust The Fox..

    Cross posted @ the Atheist OasisFAUXnews

    Really, this sort of finger-pointing bullshit got old 10 years ago:

    Fox News Presenter Bill O'Reilly Blames WDBJ Shootings On Rise Of Atheism

    Fox News presenter Bill O’Reilly reacted to the WDBJ shootings on his Thursday show, concluding the latest tragedy in America’s cyclone of gun-related horror was the product of atheism.

    The host of 'The O’Reilly Factor,' who has secured a personal fortune with a series of books on the decline of the Republic (including the best-selling ‘Killing Jesus’), ascribed the deaths of WDBJ TV reporter Alison Parker and station cameraman Adam Ward on America “turning away from spirituality.”

    Paraphrasing Smerdyakov from 'The Brothers Karamazov,' O'Reilly noted: "If you don't believe in anything, anything goes," while blaming the "liberal media" for "openly mocking" religious beliefs.

    Bill O'Reilly, host of Fox's 'The O'Reilly Factor' at Fox Studios on December 15, 2011 in New York City

    The host, who has the highest–rated show on cable news, offered a “rise in nihilism” and a decline in the number of Americans who identify as Christian as the cocktail responsible for producing alleged killers such as Vester Lee Flanagan, who have “few restraints on their lives.” He also managed to get in a plug for his latest tome 'killing Reagan.'

    Karen Ruskin, a psychotherapist appearing in the segment made the counterpoint that plenty of murders are spiritually motivated. Bill shot back demanding she name one “outside the Jihadists.”

    He continued: “Every single murderer over 40 years that I have covered in these circumstances has been either atheistic, agnostic, no religious basis at all,” adding: “Can you point to one person who committed mass murder recently that had a religious background? You cannot.”

    O’Reilly concluded: “The spiritualism falls apart in the face of the jihad, okay, which is a perversion of Islam, we all know that. But over the years and centuries, religion has been used to justify murder, even in the Christian precincts. That has happened. But individuals in this country now, I believe, are tending away from spirituality and into the secular-progressive ‘it’s all about me.’ And when you combine that with a mental illness, you have what you had in Virginia yesterday.”

    Earlier on Thursday, Donald Trump responded to the killings by insisting the issue was one of mental health, and restricting gun access was not a solution. “This isn’t a gun problem, this is a mental problem," he told CNN. "It’s not a question of the laws, it’s really the people.”

    Alison Parker and Adam Ward were gunned down live on air by alleged shooter Vester Lee Flanagan on Wednesday morning

    Peddling NRA-scripted Republican orthodoxy, the GOP presidential frontrunner said banning weapons would leave “bad guys” with guns, and everyone else defenseless, while noting that Flanagan, also know as Bryce Williams, was a “very sick man.”

    On Wednesday, Dana Loesch, a conservative author and radio host, similarly refused to countenance any correlation between the country’s right to bear arms and its monstrous gun-related death rate.

    She said: “We don't have a gun problem. We have a criminal problem. We have a society that thinks it's completely permissible to shirk responsibility. We have people who have no problem with what Planned Parenthood does in terms of fetal parts harvesting. We don't teach a respect for life. We glorify violence in movie, music, film, and books. This is what our society is. This is Frankenstein's monster. This is what society has created; it is a reflection of us."

    WOW – never thought I’d agree with anything Trump said, but that is the most sensible thing to come out his mouth in decades. But this horseshit really got my eyes rolling:

    He continued: “Every single murderer over 40 years that I have covered in these circumstances has been either atheistic, agnostic, no religious basis at all,” adding: “Can you point to one person who committed mass murder recently that had a religious background? You cannot.”

    More definitive proof that these assholes DON’T use fact checkers. In fact, I’ll bet there’s no such job opening at Faux Noise. Veritibly, I can name 10 Christian terrorists right off the bat in the last 40 years. Adding to that, Dr. Tiller is a victim of Christian terrorism that O’Lie-ly facilitated. Serial killers by and large tend to be Republicans (a fact which the Tealiban will try to obfuscate by claiming ‘left wing liberal media LYING TO US!’ or some such folderol), and even some of the most prolific among them: Bundy, BTK, etc..

    One must wonder: what is the cause of all this short term memory loss? It can’t be that every Republican was dropped on their head as a baby – but it sure seems that way. There must be some reason for all this cognitive dissonance.

    There are too many madmen in the mix: we should vote in psychological testing for politicians, to make sure they are mentally capable of actually taking care of their constituency, not forcing their delusions on the great unwashed masses. Actually, we should do that for anyone in the public eye, including news anchors.

    Of course, probably the entire ‘journalistic’ side of that network would fail. Miserably.

    Till the next post then.

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