The Mikey Times

Eloquence:

2009-04-21T18:19:00.000-07:00

Pay Up

2009-03-17T01:28:00.000-07:00

Count it up, guys and girls. The American taxpayer subsidized $450,000,000 in bonuses for the executives responsible for the failure of AIG, I suppose, as a way of saying 'thanks' for playing such a central role in this financial mess. Thanks a buck-fifty from every man, woman, and child in the USofA. Have you coughed yours up yet? If you don't, those brilliant execs might get upset and threaten an early retirement or something. But we really need their smarts over there at AIG, and God knows they gotta pay for those primo wax jobs on those Bentleys. Make sure Grandma forks it over, k? Oh and tell her to just set aside a ten spot actually cuz I've got a feeling we're gonna be rewarding a few more companies' failures before this is all over. What? Her savings just evaporated cuz Wall Street gambled it away? Oh well, I'm sure your Dad can cover her. What's that? He just got laid off and is filing for chapter eleven because he can no longer afford those medical bills his insurer found a reason not to cover? Hmm, well I suppose you can borrow from your kids you haven't even had yet. Oh wait, does Social Security even exist anymore? Look here, my friends: these guys planned their Tahitian getaways long before they burned the house down. Let's all just call China and ask them for some dough. Oh, each of us owes them well over three grand already? Aw then they wont mind if we each borrow a quick twenty bucks more. We can toss half to make sure the rich stay rich and use the rest to celebrate over a box of Samoas.

Bailouts for Bonuses

2009-03-14T20:47:00.000-07:00

Why can't the US Government, upon agreement to hand AIG $170B, include in the contract that the US taxpayer will not subsidize executive bonuses? I mean, perhaps they were "contractually obligated" before they went flying off the cliff, but the only reason those bonuses can even be dscussed at this point is because we saved their asses. For that, we should have the power to say NO BONUSES FOR FAILURE, but we shouldn't even have to say it. This is disgusting.

WASHINGTON (AP) - American International Group is giving its executives tens of millions of dollars in new bonuses even though it received a taxpayer bailout of more than $170 billion dollars.

AIG is paying out the executive bonuses to meet a Sunday deadline, but the troubled insurance giant has agreed to administration requests to restrain future payments.

The Treasury Department determined that the government did not have the legal authority to block the current payments by the company. AIG declared earlier this month that it had suffered a loss of $61.7 billion for the fourth quarter of last year, the largest corporate loss in history.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has asked that the company scale back future bonus payments where legally possible, an administration official said Saturday.

This official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said that Geithner had called AIG Chairman Edward Liddy on Wednesday to demand that Liddy renegotiate AIG's current bonus structure.

Geithner termed the current bonus structure unacceptable in view of the billions of dollars of taxpayer support the company is receiving, this official said.

In a letter to Geithner dated Saturday, Liddy informed Treasury that outside lawyers had informed the company that AIG had contractual obligations to make the bonus payments and could face lawsuits if it did not do so.

Liddy said in his letter that "quite frankly, AIG's hands are tied" although he said that in light of the company's current situation he found it "distasteful and difficult" to recommend going forward with the payments.

Liddy said the company had entered into the bonus agreements in early 2008 before AIG got into severe financial straits and was forced to obtain a government bailout last fall.

The large bulk of the payments at issue cover AIG Financial Products, the unit of the company that sold credit default swaps, the risky contracts that caused massive losses for the insurer.

A white paper prepared by the company says that AIG is contractually obligated to pay a total of about $165 million of previously awarded "retention pay" to employees in this unit by Sunday, March 15. The document says that another $55 million in retention pay has already been distributed to about 400 AIG Financial Products employees.

The company says in the paper it will work to reduce the amounts paid for 2009 and believes it can trim those payments by at least 30 percent.

Bonus programs at financial companies have come under harsh scrutiny after the government began loaning them billions of dollars to keep the institutions afloat. AIG is the largest recipient of government support in the current financial crisis.

AIG also pledged to Geithner that it would also restructure $9.6 million in bonuses scheduled to go a group that covers the top 50 executives. Liddy and six other executives have agreed to forgo bonuses.

The group of top executives getting bonuses will receive half of the $9.6 million now, with the average payment around $112,000.

This group will get another 25 percent on July 14 and the final 25 percent on September 15. But these payments will be contingent on the AIG board determining that the company is meeting the goals the government has set for dealing with the company's financial troubles.

The Obama administration has vowed to put in place reforms in the $700 billion financial rescue program in an effort to deal with growing public anger over how the program was operated during the Bush administration.

That anger has focused in part on payouts of millions of dollars in bonuses by financial firms getting taxpayer support.

In his letter, Liddy told Geithner, "We believe there will be considerably greater flexibility to reduce contractual payments in respect of 2009 and AIG intends to use its best efforts to do so."

But he also told Geithner that he felt it could be harmful to the company if the government continued to press for reductions in executive compensation.

"We cannot attract and retain the best and brightest talent to lead and staff the AIG businesses, which are now being operated principally on behalf of the American taxpayers - if employees believe their compensation is subject to continued and arbitrary adjustment by the U.S. Treasury," Liddy said.

Jon Stewart vs Jim Cramer

2009-03-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

Here's the complete interview between Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer. VERY interesting.

An Audio Journey

2009-03-11T23:05:00.000-07:00

Here's a fascinating audio interview I heard tonight on 'The Story', presented by National Public Radio and American Public Media, following this introduction copied directly from TheStory.org

About 10 years ago, William Lobdell was at a church retreat. He felt a warmth spreading in his chest and next he knew, he was raising his hand - he felt he had been saved. His faith gave him new purpose in life. After a couple of years as an evangelical Christian, he began taking steps to convert to Catholicism. Around the same time, he convinced his editors at the Los Angeles Times to allow him to become the paper's religion reporter.

At the beginning, the religion beat was a dream job. But as stories of clergy abuse and religious hypocrisy kept making the news, Bill found himself shaken, increasingly skeptical of both the church and its teachings. He began to question his own faith, and ultimately the existence of God.

Listen Now to the mp3 in a New Window

The Coming Evangelical Collapse

2009-03-11T09:50:00.000-07:00

Here's an excerpt from an article I came across yesterday on the Christian Science Monitor:

ONEIDA, KY. - We are on the verge – within 10 years – of a major collapse of evangelical Christianity. This breakdown will follow the deterioration of the mainline Protestant world and it will fundamentally alter the religious and cultural environment in the West.

Within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants. (Between 25 and 35 percent of Americans today are Evangelicals.) In the "Protestant" 20th century, Evangelicals flourished. But they will soon be living in a very secular and religiously antagonistic 21st century.

This collapse will herald the arrival of an anti-Christian chapter of the post-Christian West. Intolerance of Christianity will rise to levels many of us have not believed possible in our lifetimes, and public policy will become hostile toward evangelical Christianity, seeing it as the opponent of the common good.

Millions of Evangelicals will quit. Thousands of ministries will end. Christian media will be reduced, if not eliminated. Many Christian schools will go into rapid decline. I'm convinced the grace and mission of God will reach to the ends of the earth. But the end of evangelicalism as we know it is close.

WHY IS THIS GOING TO HAPPEN?

1. Evangelicals have identified their movement with the culture war and with political conservatism. This will prove to be a very costly mistake. Evangelicals will increasingly be seen as a threat to cultural progress. Public leaders will consider us bad for America, bad for education, bad for children, and bad for society.

The evangelical investment in moral, social, and political issues has depleted our resources and exposed our weaknesses. Being against gay marriage and being rhetorically pro-life will not make up for the fact that massive majorities of Evangelicals can't articulate the Gospel with any coherence. We fell for the trap of believing in a cause more than a faith.

2. We Evangelicals have failed to pass on to our young people an orthodox form of faith that can take root and survive the secular onslaught. Ironically, the billions of dollars we've spent on youth ministers, Christian music, publishing, and media has produced a culture of young Christians who know next to nothing about their own faith except how they feel about it. Our young people have deep beliefs about the culture war, but do not know why they should obey scripture, the essentials of theology, or the experience of spiritual discipline and community. Coming generations of Christians are going to be monumentally ignorant and unprepared for culture-wide pressures.

3. There are three kinds of evangelical churches today: consumer-driven megachurches, dying churches, and new churches whose future is fragile. Denominations will shrink, even vanish, while fewer and fewer evangelical churches will survive and thrive.

4. Despite some very successful developments in the past 25 years, Christian education has not produced a product that can withstand the rising tide of secularism. Evangelicalism has used its educational system primarily to staff its own needs and talk to itself.

5. The confrontation between cultural secularism and the faith at the core of evangelical efforts to "do good" is rapidly approaching. We will soon see that the good Evangelicals want to do will be viewed as bad by so many, and much of that work will not be done. Look for ministries to take on a less and less distinctively Christian face in order to survive.

6. Even in areas where Evangelicals imagine themselves strong (like the Bible Belt), we will find a great inability to pass on to our children a vital evangelical confidence in the Bible and the importance of the faith.

7. The money will dry up.

Is this really how Kennedy was assassinated?

2009-03-07T18:29:00.000-08:00

Niiice :)

2009-01-23T16:15:00.000-08:00

i was the old man on a moped, you were 19ish on a skate board - m4w - 70 (Disctrict of Columbia)

Reply to: pers-1003405187@craigslist.org [?]
Date: 2009-01-22, 7:34PM EST

I was on a moped and you were on a skate board. we looked at each other and you gave me a "i wanna suck your dick off" look and I almost crashed my moped into a blue usps mailbox with lots of people watching. i could tell you didn't mind other people watching, thats hotttttt. I was wearing an old Davy Crockett hat with the racoon tail in the back. So if that little tight ass skate boarding girl wants to get banged by me and some of my retirement home friends, let me know....or without the friends, i can use my cane on you and see how much you can take.

Location: Disctrict of Columbia
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
PostingID: 1003405187

2009-01-16T09:44:00.001-08:00

$10 Need TEMP place to crash for a couple nights? Share bedroom (Santa Monica)

Reply to: hous-995213126@craigslist.org [?]
Date: 2009-01-16, 9:15AM PST

Please - this is a platonic offer! And for females only.
We think it's important in nowadays to help out as much as you can. What we can do to help is offer you a place to crash for a couple days, if you need a break, just relocating into town, in between places or money is tight. There's currently a guest sleeping in our living room couch so we'd like to offer you to stay in our bedroom and share the bed with us. It's a really comfortable queen size bed. Yes - this means we have to be very respectful of each other. Low-key and laid back. Non smoker only. We have done this in the past and the girl that stayed with us felt safe and secure. We're a young couple living in a clean 1 bedroom apartment in Santa Monica. Close to everything. Very respectful and friendly. We'd like to be honest and upfront - we are open-minded but this is a strictly plotonic offer (unless you're interested in more, in which case we can talk about it). Let us know if you're interested and please provide some info about you, like who you are, your age, what you do, some myspace or photos, etc. Have a wonderful weekend.

Location: Santa Monica
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
PostingID: 995213126

Excerpt from 'Letter to a Christian Nation'

2009-01-10T11:06:00.000-08:00

Here is a brief list of figures and a few quotes compiled by Sam Harris in his book 'Letter to a Christian Nation', a follow-up which responds to many religious criticisms of 'The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason', which spent 33 weeks on the NY Times Bestseller List in 2005. Harris is a Stanford-educated philosopher and the son of a Quaker and a Jew. Data collected from Pew, Gallup, and Newsweek polling.

More than 50% of Americans have a “negative” or “highly negative” view of people who don’t believe in God. 70% think it important for presidential candidates to be “strongly religious.”
“A person who believes that Elvis is still alive is very unlikely to get promoted to a position of great power and responsibility in our society. Neither will a person who believes that the holocaust was a hoax. But people who believe equally irrational things about God and the bible are now running our country.”
44% of Americans think Jesus Christ will return in the next 50 years. 22% are “certain” that he will, another 22% think he “probably” will.
“According to the most common interpretation of biblical prophecy, Jesus will return only after things have gone horribly awry. Imagine the consequences if any significant component of the U.S. government believed that the world was about to end and that its ending would be glorious. The fact that nearly half of the American population apparently believes this should be considered a moral and intellectual emergency.”
Only 28% of Americans believe in evolution (and two-thirds of these believe evolution was “guided by God”). 53% are actually creationists.
“Despite a full century of scientific insights attesting to the antiquity of the earth, more than half of our neighbors believe that the entire cosmos was created six thousand years ago. This is, incidentally, about a thousand years after the Sumerians invented glue.”
87% of Americans say they “never doubt the existence of God.”
28% of Americans believe that every word of the Bible is literally true. 49% believe that it is the “inspired word” of God.
“We read the Golden Rule and judge it to be a brilliant distillation of many of our ethical impulses. And then we come across another of God’s teachings on morality: if a man discovers on his wedding night that his bride is not a virgin, he must stone her to death on her father’s doorstep (Deuteronomy 22:13-21).”
80% of Americans expect to be called before God on Judgment Day to answer for their sins. 90% believe in heaven. 77% rate their chances of going to heaven as “excellent” or “good.”
“In the year 2006, a person can have sufficient intellectual and material resources to build a nuclear bomb and still believe that he will get seventy-two virgins in Paradise. Western secularists, liberals, and moderates have been very slow to understand this. The cause of their confusion is simple: they don’t know what is like to really believe in God.”
65% of Americans believe in the literal existence of Satan. 73% believe in Hell.
83% of Americans believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. (11% disbelieve. 6% don’t know.)
“The president of the United States has claimed, on more than one occasion, to be in dialogue with God. If he said that he was talking to God through his hairdryer, this would precipitate a national emergency. I fail to see how the addition of a hairdryer makes the claim more ridiculous or offensive.”

An Oxford Debate

2009-01-08T11:19:00.000-08:00

Here is an interesting intellectual debate over the existence of God between two extremely bright men.

Bios taken from Wikipedia.org:

Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL (born 26 March 1941) is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and popular science author. He is a professorial fellow of New College, Oxford.

Dawkins came to prominence with his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, which popularised the gene-centred view of evolution and introduced the term meme. In 1982, he made a widely cited contribution to evolutionary biology with the theory, presented in his book The Extended Phenotype, that the phenotypic effects of a gene are not necessarily limited to an organism's body, but can stretch far into the environment, including the bodies of other organisms.
Dawkins is a prominent critic of creationism and intelligent design. In his 1986 book The Blind Watchmaker, he argued against the watchmaker analogy, an argument for the existence of a supernatural creator based upon the observed complexity of living organisms, and instead described evolutionary processes as being analogous to a blind watchmaker. He has since written several popular science books, and has made regular appearances on television and radio programmes, predominantly discussing the aforementioned topics.
Dawkins is an atheist, secular humanist, skeptic, scientific rationalist, and supporter of the Brights movement. He has widely been referred to in the media as "Darwin's Rottweiler", by analogy with English biologist T. H. Huxley, who was known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of natural selection. In his 2006 book The God Delusion, Dawkins contends that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and that faith qualifies as a delusion − as a fixed false belief. As of November 2007, the English language version had sold more than 1.5 million copies and had been translated into 31 other languages, making it his most popular book to date.

Alister E. McGrath (born January 23, 1953) is a Christian theologian, with a DPhil in molecular biophysics, as well as an earned Doctor of Divinity degree from Oxford, noted for his work on historical, systematic and scientific theology. In his writing and public speaking, he promotes "scientific theology" and opposes antireligionism. McGrath was until recently Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Oxford, but has now taken up the chair of Theology, Religion and Culture at King's College London since September 2008. Until 2005, he was principal of Wycliffe Hall.

Nigerian Child Witches Part 2: Videos

2009-01-04T09:23:00.000-08:00

Below is a collection of videos pertaining to my earlier post on Nigerian Child Witches. Please take the time to watch these.

Dispatches: Saving Nigeria's Witch Children: BBC Television Documentary (in six parts) which focuses on The Child Witches of Akwa Ibom State; Gary Foxcroft and Stepping Stones Nigeria; Sam Ikpe-Itauma and Child's Rights And Rehabilitation Network; evangelist Helen Ukpabio; and 'Bishop' Sunday Ulup-Aya.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Helen Ukpabio's 'End of the Wicked': Nollywood blockbuster which describes how child witches are inducted into covens and eat the flesh of their victims.

Journeyman Pictures have made three films on the subject of Nigerian witchcraft, but they have disabled embedding of their YouTube videos. Nevertheless, these are very interesting and informative. Please click the links below to open each in a new window.

Child Witches in Akwa Ibom State
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbDu0-K9cPk

Prophet TB Joshua 'removes demons' from White South Africans on a pilgrimage to Lagos, Nigeria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7cGK9OodVY

Nollywood Film Industry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpPXgStqjfs

'The Bishop' Sunday Ulup-Aya, who boasted to having taken the lives of up to 110 children in 'Dispatches: Saving Africa's Witch Children' speaks in police custody, December 2008

Nigerian Child Witches: Hate and Hope

2009-01-02T00:29:00.001-08:00

Gary Foxcroft traveled to the Niger Delta in 2003 working toward a master’s thesis on community perceptions of the oil industry. What he discovered changed his life: children abandoned, littered along roadsides, hacked with machetes, doused with acid, nails driven into their skulls, slashed, maimed, or poisoned, as punishment, to extract confessions, or to exorcise demons. And these are the lucky ones, mere outcasts -- ostracized, beaten, rejected, but with warm blood still pumping through their tiny hearts. Untold numbers were not so lucky.

Sorcellerie are literally everywhere across the African continent -- in the newspapers, on the radio, on television, and pervading the consciousness of the African populous. Anyone at any age could be branded, perhaps even you.

With a population of 140 million, and a staggering growth rate of 9%, Nigeria is now the 8th most populated country on Earth. The Niger Delta boasts the world’s 12th-largest known reserves, and is widely regarded as a bridge away from American dependence on Middle-Eastern Oil. A member of OPEC, Nigeria was the United States’ fifth largest supplier of crude and petroleum in 2008, just above Iraq. The West-African nation’s oil industry, of which the Nigerian government owns a 65% share, experienced windfall profits of over $60 Billion in 2005. You’d think, with such massive positive cash flow, that they’d be well on their way to first-world status, but roughly half of Nigeria’s inhabitants still live on less than one dollar a day. Poor sanitation, a poor education system, severe environmental degradation, massive oil spills, theft, and widespread corruption have all stripped the abundant wealth from under the feet of Nigeria’s people and left them famished and desperate. When the Nigerian government failed to safeguard its people, they turned to religion.

This is the story of child witches in Nigeria. It begins fifty years ago, around the time Nigeria gained independence from England. Christianity has influenced the region since the 1800’s, but the last half century has brought a massive influx of Pentecostal churches, blending Christian Evangelism with traditional African religious beliefs to give rise to the modern witch hunt.

In the years immediately following independence, Africans tended to follow in the footsteps of their predecessors, trending toward opposition of witchcraft in favor of modernity. But most will point to racial lines rather than reason. White man didn’t believe in sorcery, so the notion of magic was squelched in colonial Nigeria. But in the waning influence of British colonialism, Africans, ever mindful of the glowing reality of witchcraft, have pushed the issue back to center stage.

Now, you’ve heard of Hollywood. I suspect you know Bollywood. What about Nollywood? Respectively, these are the three biggest film industries on the planet, and Nollywood’s most prolific output are Christian films. Nollywood blankets the entire African continent with titles like ‘Holy Ghost Fire’, ‘Private Sin’ and ‘End Time’. The most widely viewed of these films is undoubtedly Helen Ukpabio’s ‘End of the Wicked’, which depicts the process of possession and induction of child witches into covens, engaging in cannibalism and bringing disease, chaos and death to their families. Supporting this wild claim with Biblical passages like Job 41:24-25 (“There is no power upon earth that can be compared with him who was made to fear no one, He beholdeth every high thing, he is king over all the children of pride. He is king...He is superior in strength to all that are great and strong amongst living creatures: mystically it is understood of the devil, who is king over all the proud.”), popular evangelist Ukpabio (pictured above), General Overseer of the 150-branch Liberty Gospel Church and a proud mother of three, professes three distinct types of witchcraft: black, white, and red.   “In white witchcraft, people are organized into various cult groups or religions and thought certain things contrary to the word and will of God. Some of the things they do are believed to have the potential of protecting the member and making him prosperous while harming the others in the work place, business place, school, the neighbourhood, or family. All the same, it is witchcraft and harmful to him and others. In black witchcraft, the spirit gets directly into the human spirit. It can be dropped into someone’s food and it develops. If you are initiated into it, you can do a lot of evil to people in the society. The black witchcraft is crude and dangerous. They act like beasts and have no sympathy or pity for humans.” Ukpabio professes that witches practice their craft on their beds, and covet others’ fields and properties.

Given such widespread anguish, it can be difficult for anyone to avoid coveting a neighbor’s field. Scholars point to starvation, destitution, and poor allocation of resources as prime catalysts for fear and suspicion of neighbors, friends and family.

While Ukpabio might be a standout figure, her kind is far from rare. The Niger Delta region boasts a higher number of churches per square mile than any other place on Earth. Ministries such as the Church of God Mission, New Testament Assembly, Glory of God, Mount Zion Gospel, and Brotherhood of the Redeemed literally pepper the landscape. High birthrates and aggressive evangelization have rocketed the number of believers from a little over 150,000, or 1% of Nigeria’s population in 1960, to 60 million, over one-third today.

Humble and unadorned nganga of the mid-twentieth century have given way to newer and glitzier healers who drive expensive cars, wear designer clothes and live in large houses. They profess great knowledge of magic, Christian rituals and medicine, and make salaries sufficient to support copious material indulgences. These wealthy, conspicuous and arrogant modern nganga now arbitrarily point fingers, diagnose many each day, and foster growing panic over the supposed proliferation of witchcraft which consequently triggers violent witch hunts by not only more ngangas and ministers but also state judges and police.

One ironic characteristic of the modern nganga is that they are self-proclaimed ‘super-witches’ who have developed their evil power to a degree which allows them to provide protection against pervading sorcery. Here’s a brain-bender: these super witches are often called as witnesses or consultants to provide testimony in court trials against defendants who have been accused of witchcraft. Also, state officials call on nganga to cast spells on their political opponents while simultaneously accusing their opponents of participation in sorcery.

There are some basic trademarks regarding witchcraft. Anyone can be accused of it, and suspicion draws hidden aggression from within the family and community sphere. There are infinite possible interpretations of magic, making falsification of accusation essentially hopeless. Sunday Ulup-Aya, ‘The Bishop’, asserts that well over half of Akwa Ibom State’s 4 million inhabitants are probably witches.

Clearly visible symptoms of sorcery can be seen in children under two years old: crying at night, fevers, and degrading health (nevermind that these are common symptoms of children in impoverished regions). The clergy widely threatens that child witches will not only bring destruction, disease, and death to families, but they may also cast spells and contaminate others. For a price equal to a poor Nigerian’s annual income, ‘The Bishop’ will perform a two-week program of deliverance employing ‘African Mercury’, a mixture of pure alcohol and his own blood, which must be swallowed and poured into the eyes of the afflicted. One regimen is not always enough. Sometimes two or more of these two-week procedures are necessary. Often, parents cannot immediately pay the exorbitant fee; if so, ‘The Bishop’ will imprison children until the balance is covered. Ulup-Aya eventually resorted to simply killing supposed witch children, having claimed to have personally taken the lives of up to 110 in order to protect their villages from the spread of contagious evil spirits. Increasingly, parents are left to struggle with difficult choices: drain the family account in a potentially futile cycle of exorcisms or abandon their children altogether.

This is what witches do - they ruin families. But it’s the neighbors who exert the strongest influence with malignity and strength in numbers. Once diagnosed, it’s practically impossible to reintroduce these children to their communities. Instead, they are ostracized, beaten, hacked, driven from villages or killed in any number of brutal, primitive ways. Mothers are frequently forced out of desperation and terror to take their children away from the community and dump them on the street. Many wind up on the doorstep of CRARN.

Sam Ikpe-Itauma and his wife Elizabeth started the Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network (CRARN) in 2003 by opening their home to four children who had been branded as witches. A handful of children are stigmatized each day and few hospitals or clinics will accept them. Today, he and five others care for more than 150 witch children at the CRARN Children’s Centre, a modest tin-roof and cinderblock structure where every day is a fight for the rights of these abandoned, maimed, and uneducated youth.

Having witnessed the frightening humanitarian crisis first-hand, Gary Foxcroft, 29, vowed to return to the region and do whatever he could. He founded Stepping Stones Nigeria (SSN), a UK-based charity organization which has since partnered with CRARN to provide children of the Niger Delta with education and quality resources and also to provide protection from abandonment, stigmatization, murder, and slave trade. SSN-funded radio and television jingles have also helped raise awareness about stigmatization and abandonment.

Five years ago, the federal government passed the Child Rights Act which forbids such child abuse, but not all of Nigeria's 36 states have adopted it. It was only after SSN and CRARN staged a large public demonstration in front of the governor’s mansion in Uyo, with British cameramen and many abandoned witch children present, that Akwa Ibom State finally adopted the legislation, and in early December 2008 ‘The Bishop’ Sunday Ulup-Aya was taken into police custody. Foxcroft questions whether any long-term effect will take hold as a result of the mandate. ‘The Bishop’ is only one of many of such ngangas, and may have only been arrested because he boasted his murderous ways on the UK television documentary ‘Dispatches: Saving Africa’s Witch Children’. International media pressure appears to have been what ultimately brought about the adoption of the Child Rights Act in Akwa Ibom State, not the true will of Governor Godswill Akpabio. Foxcroft told the Guardian UK on December 8 "the fact remains that the vast majority of Akwa Ibomites including commissioners, legislators, policy makers, police and social welfare teams believe that children can be 'witches'. Until a radical reorientation of these mindsets takes place, the abuses of child rights that occur due to this belief system are likely to continue for many years to come.” Handfuls of children are still showing up at the rescue center every day.

Not only is English the primary language spoken in the Niger Delta, African discourses on witchcraft have made their way onto the internet. Any English-speaking person with access to the internet can visit Helen Ukpabio’s website and peer insider her ministry. Just as witchcraft is practiced by those who aim to destroy it, modernity is embraced by those who fear it. The atrocities which have been committed in the Niger Delta are by no means localized to Akwa Ibom State. They are taking place across Nigeria and the whole African continent. Humanitarian crises in Africa all appear to share a common thread of poverty, disease, environmental degradation, corruption and a severe lack of birth control and education. Rwanda and Darfur are two shining examples of how such circumstances can quickly spiral into chaos.

Problems in Nigeria and the rest of Africa have been getting out of hand for so long that it’s difficult to do anything but shrug and wonder if there is even a solution. These travesties are ubiquitous in Africa. Maybe this is simply how Mother Earth controls Her human population -- in stark, darwinian terms. Dwindling resources, environmental decline, exponential population growth, more and more ignorant and pecunious people all clamoring for the same barren fields -- certainly these are fertile grounds for hatred, violence and plague. As with any gaping and festering sore, infection will surely spread if untreated. Africa’s poor, overcrowded villages and slums are an evolutionary laboratory for disease. What can anyone really do?

Francis Bacon put it concisely 500 years ago: “Knowledge is Power.” Adults become set in their ways. Self-transformation is not occuring from the top down. Children, however, are impressionable. If we can protect and teach these children, perhaps they will grow away from voodoo. Imaginably, a new generation of Africans could reform their nations if given the tool of intelligence. Leverage to solve the African crises could be achieved through international efforts to quell violence coupled with simultaneous implementation of a sweeping educational revolution aimed directly at children. But stifled UN efforts in Sudan exemplify the roadblocks to peacekeeping. Certainly, any imposition on the part of any foreign government agency has its own pitfalls and implications, and nation-building should never be our enterprise. Nevertheless, eradication of epidemic ignorance could build a robust foundation which might empower Africans to overcome a huge amount of their own obstacles, from within. Perhaps the only way is through non-governmental organizations like Gary Foxcroft’s Stepping Stones Nigeria and the Ikpe-Itaumas’ Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network: one tiny heart at a time.

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

-- Lao Tzu

A Word, My Lady?

2008-12-30T20:57:00.000-08:00

I think it’s really amazing how many of you have been reading along, and I especially appreciate those of you who have participated by responding and giving this examination a life of its own. I’m thinking that it might be time to let God breathe a minute and move on to other curiosities. Shouldn’t we? Its a big world out there; I’d hate to get caught up on one thing for too long. Regardless, I’d like to respond to those of you who posted comments in the last few days:

*******************

“Mikey, you wish there was a benevolent God. There totally is a benevolent God. What greater gift could He have given than to die in our place. He wanted us to have the perfect world all along. No suffering or pain...but we had to go and mess it up.” -- Amanda

Amanda, I respect your response. Perhaps you’re right, and there is a benevolent God who has given us free will to act without God’s knowledge or prediction. However, if we are acting outside Her wishes, then She cannot be omniscient. This simple impossibility is mentioned in my blog post “The Free Will/Omniscience Paradox.” What should be noted here is that if God isn’t omniscient, then the very foundation on which Christian theology is based becomes significantly compromised.

“I still think there is both. Yes, God has a plan. But He can not decide what you will do with it. . .There is no way I can ever believe that we don't have free will. People do too many stupid, cruel, and selfish things.” -- Kathryn

Kathryn, your steadfast belief in free will makes a lot of sense and appears to be grounded in reason, because you have seen concrete empirical evidence which suggests that you and everyone you know makes many choices on her own, every day. The notion of free will, in this context, is merely a philosophical, not religious, principle with connotations ranging from religion to ethics to science. I am sure that you will see what I mean when I say that ‘free will’ can exist without divine origin; however, if you’re saying God has a general plan, but doesn’t know if we will follow it, then you’re suggesting that God might not be omniscient. Once again, God-given free will disproves the notion of omniscience, which is a central tenet of Christianity.

'All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. As it is with the good man, so with the sinner; as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them.’ Ecc. 9:2 -- KD

KD, this was a good find. Certainly, if there is a preponderance of biblical evidence to support an omniscient God’s divine plan, then this must suggest that free will cannot exist, as proven in my article “The Free Will/Omniscience Paradox.” However, since many have responded to my blog posts in firm support of the notion of God-given free will, it appears the very existence of God must be put under tough scrutiny.

“I pretty much stopped studying religion when I was 12. (I also started slacking in science, until college, because well, studying the two of them together at the same time made for alot of confusion). . .Yes, logic, reason, science, in most cases they make the most realistic case, and against them, God does not make sense. Alot of things in this world do not make sense to me though, and therefore, I don't believe everything has to fit into the 'realistic' category. . .Though I don't KNOW God exists, I feel he does. I don't really know how to explain it.” -- Kathryn

Well, Kathryn, it appears you found an interest in philosophy. We can never profess to know everything. We should never profess to know anything without proof. Emily Dickinson penned “faith is doubt.” Perhaps the reason science makes the most sense is because it is the correct path. Perhaps the reason God does not make sense is because She just isn’t sensible, having been conceived by man before the advent of science, and hence subsequently and continually disproved by the slow but consistent momentum of scientific progress. If, however, realism is unnecessary, and you only need to just feel that God exists, well, it sounds like you don’t need to be having this exercise of free thought.

“As far as God being omniscient, I believe that He is, to a point. He may know what is going to happen, He may know what situations we will find ourselves in, and He may even know how we will react, but I don't believe that means He chose our reaction. Its more like a prediction. Perhaps He even hopes for us to prove Him wrong at times, though we can never really know.” -- Kathryn

There is no such thing as God being omniscient ‘to a point.’ Nor can an omniscient God hope to ever be proven wrong. Those very statements are a paradox. Perhaps God is not omniscient?

“Hurricane Katrina didn’t take the lives of over 1000 people...the levee’s that man made that broke did, and then they went and rebuilt them. There’s weather everywhere, God doesn’t have to stop that, but maybe not building levees where ocean is SUPPOSED to be might have let over 1000 God-loving, church-going, poor black people keep their lives....annnd I believe most of them were warned to evacuate and they didn’t...so that’s not God’s fault.” -- xoTLExo

Alright, I will give it to you that an argument can be reasonably presented which proposes that God didn’t kill people in New Orleans, but rather our government’s mismanagement of a levee system in a city constructed below sea level. However, this does not disprove my original point, which was that if there is a God, She is not benevolent. If mismanagement of levees killed NOLA’s poor, what killed over 225,000 innocent people in the tsunami in December 2004? There are plenty more examples, but I think you’ll get my point. There was no free will, nor was there any possibility of mortal lapse. This was purely a deadly “Act of God.”

“As for Skid Row, well...Getting addicted to crack or heroin is your own choice, not God’s. If you’re stupid enough to do drugs because your friend told you it was cool or for whatever reason people get into drugs and now you can’t work because of it, that’s your own fault.” -- xoTLExo

I think it would be a good thing for you to learn more about Skid Row and how people wind up in such circumstances. Yes, often humans make decisions to do drugs which will ruin their lives, but what about the children which are born into this life? What about the babies who are born addicted to crack? What about the children who grow up on the streets of Los Angeles and are raped and beaten and uneducated and hungry? Surely you can see that free will does not apply to them, right?

“He gave the world to us all and we went and f%#&ed his s!*^ up.” -- Noelle

I would agree with you if each child born into this world shared an equal shot, but the very fact that this isn’t true completely disproves the idea of a benevolent, omniscient God who give us all free will. A simple brainstorm will raise plenty of examples where you will see that we are born into this already-cruel world. Perhaps human history has created the cruelty, but the simple fact that we cannot control it is what contradicts the idea of equal dissemination of God-given free will.

“I am a realist, you may disagree with that based on my faith but then as you do not personally know me.” -- Claire

Claire, faith requires you to let go of a certain measurable amount of realism.

“Like Claire said, God gave us free will and I believe that as he gave us, he leaves us free to help others. . .God is not good, God is Just.” -- Bruna

Bruna, is God just? A simple history query will raise plenty of doubts on this point. One that immediately comes to mind is the dogma which proclaims that a benevolent nonbeliever will go to hell even if she haphazardly follows the Ten Commandments. That is not divine justice; it makes me believe that I, and most people I know, can be more just than God.

“You want to know why i dont blame God....because he gave us free will.” -- Claire

A Christian God is proclaimed to be omniscient. Its a central pillar of the faith. If God gave us free will, then She understands that She gave us the ability to defy the will of God; hence, God would no longer be omniscient. If God knows how and when we will defy Her, then she is not benevolent and also the idea of free will ceases to exist because our actions are predestined. Please see “The Free Will/Omniscience Paradox.” Perhaps there’s nothing to blame for the way things are except the slow progression of history, evolution, nature, etc. Remember, I’m not arguing against the notion of ‘free will,’ I am only arguing it in the sense that it is given to us by an omniscient God.

“There are many many countries where survival is very hard, but this is MAN MADE, how can you blame God who gave us all free will.” -- Joanna

The point I was attempting to make is that free will can be overridden by a host of circumstances, or can be precluded by forebearers. The notion of God-given free will in the context which you write can only apply to the very people who messed these places up originally. This is not a religious debate point, however. This is merely an empirical observation.

“Do you really want God to wave a magic wand, to dictate what we can & can't do, so you want to be a robot in fairy land? Ever heard of Idi Amin???” -- Joanna

I’m not sure what you’re talking about, and yes, I am quite familiar with Idi Amin. I’m not sure how he supports your argument. Idi Amin stripped an entire people of free will.

“I have many instances where God has stepped in I can never not believe.” -- Joanna

In one sentence, you say that God doesn’t intervene because he gave us free will, which is how such tragedies can occur under the nose of a benevolent, omnipotent God. Now you are suggesting that God has chosen to intervene in your life. If you say She did, (and I cannot argue that She didn’t) are there others on this planet who might deserve some divine intervention? If so, why has God chosen you and not them?

“Yes he can wipe out whole nations, he can destroy the Taliban & all terrorists, he can hold back nature BUT YOU DONT WANT TO BE A ROBOT, YOU WANT FREE WILL WHICH IS WHAT WE HAVE.” -- Joanna

Joanna, this is not about being robots, and it most certainly isn’t about what we want. If God exists, it’s exclusively about what She wants, isn't it?

“As for science DNA has proved we come from one set of parents, that all babies start as female.....” -- Joanna

Please produce concrete scientific evidence to support this fantastic claim. It should also be mentioned here that even the discoverers of DNA are nonbelievers.

"You know if enough people followed your beliefs you would be considered a religious icon, then would that make you a hypocrite?" -- Noelle

I think I can see your point, but it deserves mentioning that Agnosticism and Atheism merely suggest a lack of belief. Therefore, no one would be following my beliefs, since I don’t have any regarding God.

“No proof????!!! proof is everywhere...in everything you "can't explain" -- emotion, nature, death, EVERYTHING.. that's god, because there is no need for explanation when we all know the un- tangible feeling.. the all knowing, all powerful, all good god.” -- Noelle

Noelle, please put down the Koolaid. Proof is everywhere in everything we can’t explain? That’s an oxymoron if I’ve ever read one. Furthermore, if your God is all-knowing and all-powerful, She has not given you free will and She certainly isn’t ‘all good.’

“Sometimes I find myself changing the way the bible goes.” -- Noelle

Read above about the Koolaid.

“We can update the bible a bit. IF he can forgive a murderer, not to sure he'd mind an updated bible, especially for some new aged truth. maybe with new true stories and a pixstar advertisment campagin, we might have some REAL people back on our side... FOR REAL.” -- Noelle

One more time, sweetie.

“What is the definition of a god? The presence of mountains, the colors of a flower, the smile you got from your dad, the way you feel when you get hurt, the knowledge of the difference between green and red.” -- Noelle

If you're looking for the origin of the presence of mountains, I’d point to geology; the color of flowers, botany; the smile you get from your dad, love; the way you feel when you get hurt, doctors; and the knowledge of difference between green and red? Well, I’m red-green colorblind.

“The death of the people helping at ground zero did not come from God hating us. . . Yes he created those people who f#%^ed our s&*t up, but he also gave them free will to kill or love.” -- Noelle

I’m sure you can see how this is a perfect example of a few Islamic terrorists overriding the free will of thousands of Americans.

“I personally know that God does not enjoy suffering or cause it to happen. I know He orchestrates everything for good even in the midst of despair.” -- Lisa

How do you know? And you cannot say that you ‘just know.’ There’s an abundance of abject misery in this world. If you know that God is good, then why and how does She arbitrarily ‘test’ so many with such intolerable cruelty, while others are given comfort and ease? And if God is orchestrating, then there’s no place or need for free will. It simply ceases to exist by definition of Divine Orchestration.

“i believe that God has given us free will because of His love and allows us to use it, rather than control us.” -- Lisa

This contradicts what you said above about God orchestrating everything. Please see "The Free Will/Omniscience Paradox."

“Christian belief is that God is holy & perfect and we are sinful (since the Garden of Eden), so the only way anybody can be with God in relationship or in heaven is by having his or her sins atoned for... in Judaism it's through sacrifices of animals, but Christians believe that Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice for everyone's sins.” -- Lisa

If Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, then why must we worry about sinning? If God is holy and perfect, than why has She created such an imperfect species as the human race?

“God gave us free will, 9/11 was a result of that. We can torture eachother and kill eachother all we want, we can kill our unborn children, and even our children after they are born... We think and act for ourselves, God doensn't do it for us. We lie, cheat, steal, and God has nothing to do with how we behave.” -- Kathryn

I can see your point, but therefore God cannot be omniscient. Also, the act of killing removes free will from the victim. Why would God allow such a loophole?

“I believe that God does have wrath - but that the wrath of God was satisfied in Christ.” -- Lisa

Given the overabundance of misery in this world, it’s hard to see how God (assuming She exists) has gotten all her wrath out on Jesus.

‘The other thing was the way you described the Bible - if you actually study the Bible it is not a message of laws and damnation, but rather a huge story of God's love for the world, expressed most fully in Jesus.” -- Lisa

No reasonable person argues the fact that the Old Testament is rife with messages of strict laws, cruel vengeance, and fierce damnation. For a mere handful of examples, please see “My God Your God His God Her God.” Furthermore, it is not “a huge story of God’s love for the world expressed most fully in Jesus,” as the simple exercise of dividing the Bible at the end of the Old and beginning of the New Testaments will prove that the Bible is much more heavily weighted toward the Old.

“In response to the above, yes there were people on that list who i have also respected but i personally just because i respect someone doesn't mean they will shape my beliefs.” -- Claire

Actually, many of the people on that list have shaped your beliefs; its just that you might not even think about it since their contributions to the scientific world are, by now, so widely dispersed and part of general knowledge. You believe in Ego, yes? Freud shaped your beliefs. The Socratic Method? Thank Socrates. Do you wish for the return of Monarchy? No? Thank John Locke for your freedom. Do you support the practice of Civil Disobedience over violence? Thank Henry David Thoreau and Gandhi. Evolution? Thank Darwin. I’ll stop myself. I think you’ll see my point.

“You did have alot of people I've spent my life respecting in there too though, so I'll give you that. I can only hope that they are the ones who are wrong though.” -- Anonymous

If I were you I would be thankful that these people were right. Otherwise, we would not be here having this conversation.

“In my opinion, the first Biblical passage that should have been mentioned regarding free will is in Genesis when God told Adam & Eve not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil, and they did (therefore introducing sin into the world). That was a free will decision. God didn't prevent them from eating the fruit.” -- Lisa

You’re right. I should have mentioned this; however, the question remains: Did God know that they would eat the fruit? If so, it was predestined, and therefore disallows free will. If he did not know that they would eat the fruit, then God is not omniscient. The two are mutually exclusive.

“He created us and knows us intimately, so that is why He knows what we will choose. He doesn't force us to do what He wants, or we wouldn't have any sin in this world at all. He doesn't cause us to sin or hurt others.” -- Lisa

If God knows our moves before we make them, then free will does not exist. However, for the sake of argument, if God knows what we will do, but chooses not to intervene, then not only does free will not exist, but God is also not benevolent. If an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent God would choose to stand and watch in cases where free will is overridden by bad people exercising free will to commit atrocities and overriding the free will of his people, then only one reasonably conclusion can be reached: God is malevolent.

“Jesus called us to start fixing things down here - "the Kingdom of God is at hand" - the Kingdom God created where there is no suffering and pain and inequality (even though that's what you are saying that God endorses).” -- Lisa

If God is omnipotent, why doesn’t She just fix things Herself? If Jesus, as the flesh of God, called on us to fix things for Her, why did God create such a flawed species in the first place? Did God make some kind of mistake somewhere along the line? If God is omniscient, didn’t She know things would come to this level of misery and chaos for so many of Her people?

“I think one thing, though, that would be nice is if you at least had some respect for believers, understanding that they might have used reason and logic to arrive at a faith decision.” -- Lisa

Since only 10% of the United States are nonbelievers, it’d take an awful lot of disrespect. I love people. I love seeking knowledge and asking questions. I love diversity. If you have searched within, asked yourself all the tough questions, found all the contradictions and malevolence in the Bible, learned all that science has discovered, exhausted your free will to challenge assumptions and prophesy, and learned in depth about all the other other religions that exist and have existed rather than accepting the one you’ve been given or is closest in proximity and history, and you still come back to Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior, I will not only have the highest amount of respect for you -- I will want sit down and learn from you.

An Exercise in Perspective

2008-12-30T09:24:00.000-08:00

If God actually exists, how lucky we are to be the only thing he cares about or mentions! How lucky we are he chose a land so close by to bear a son. A lot of wasted space indeed. Come, have a look:

The Slow Conversion of One

2008-12-29T14:30:00.000-08:00

Here's another aim conversation I had today. This person was a firm believer in God before I started blogging this subject a week and a half ago. Don't forget to read my earlier post about the paradox of the coexistence of an omniscient god and god-given free will. This is the Age of Reason. Stay a while.

1:43 PM
You blog is causing me sleepless nights!
aww, don't worry....consider this
if there actually IS a god
lol
she will be happy to know that you exercised the mind that she gave you
And she will have you to thank for that!
I have a lot of respect for your blog
thank you
from my perspective, if god exists, and i get to whatever place of judgement when i die, and god says to me "mikey, you chose not to believe"
i'll say "God, you gave me intellect which i used to come to some pretty clear conclusions about your existence."
"now that i'm seeing you standing here, i'll buy it"
"and furthermore, let me make a suggestion"
"why not just do something....ANYTHING...if you are omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent...why not just make yourself a tad more obvious to the people of earth? you know, EVIDENCE..."
"right now, it seems down there like you're running amok...harming good people, protecting bad people...allowing such misery to exist when you don't have to"
"why not do something to show your grace and mercy and power?"
"cuz you're really starting to lose credibility down there, you know?"
Can i ask you something.........Do you wish that there was a God and that you had faith?
i don't wish i had faith
faith defies reason
i'd rather have reason, but
yes, i wish there was a benevolent god
wouldn't that be nice?
Yeah
suffering would end
there would be concrete and visible consequences
You continue to amaze me
its not me; its just reason
i'm just the messenger
No its you.....the fact that you have had enough sense to actually research it...
as well as have thought out a conversation with God if he showed himself to you
hahaha well some would say i need to stop thinking so much
I disagree
you are a rare breed!
I think its great
thanks :)
Honestly i have enjoyed myself thinking about these things
so i take it you read my free will argument?
yes i have read it briefly
I need to read it and think
lol
haha yes you do
I see where you are coming from on every point
Which is why i respect you....you dont talk rubbish without fact and logic
and even though i disagree with you
i understand why, if that makes sense
Im pleased you changed direction too
2:00 PM
haha oh changed direction to free will?
Yeah
off of the existence of god?
No because to argue that we are still basically arguing the existence of God
otherwise there would be no argument
fully
i suppose there's no sense continuing to argue it after the facts have been presented
scientific facts are irrelevant to the pious
2:05 PM
true
or they're molded to preexisting beliefs
It was going to turn nasty at some point too
yeah i saw it starting to
But im impressed it lasted so long
i mean, there comes a time when reason will not only not work, but will also really piss people off
its like telling someone their dad is an alcoholic
even though they may see every bit of evidence that's cited, no one wants to believe it, so they don't want to hear it
but denial of facts do not make them go away
See in that case i wouldnt be like that
my faith is the only thing im like that over!
but why? does that make sense?
Dammit no it doesnt

But that doesnt change it
if you saw someone from another time and place saying this about another, perhaps obsolete god, would you think it sensible?
How can i answer that?
only with faith or reason
i do not know how i would react
id prob freak the f^*% out!
do you think they'd freak out if they saw what and how our civilization believes?
Probably i dont know
Mikey i haven't spent any of the kind of time you have thinking about these things
well thats just it
i think most believers haven't thought much about it
and i think thats wrong
I think i need to start thinking more
and reading more
believers believe and facts and evidence are totally irrelevant
Its not irrelevant
you know -- "god is good"
god is not good
god can be awfully malign
what did the poor children of africa do to deserve their fate?
that should be reason enough to say "know what? a good god would never allow such things"
you have a healthy child
you're lucky. you should thank your country's wealth and health care system
not god
haha
why did god pick you to have such a beautiful child?
when he arbitrarily causes such suffering elsewhere?
this is not about free will
this is about simple fact
Mikey if i didn't look after my child she wouldn't be healthy
this is true
and thats science
I accept that at any moment my life could all go to s*^#
I take responsibilty for my actions
and i am aware of others actions
thats just simple cause and effect
do you think that bacteria can go to heaven or hell?
or are humans the only ones who fit the paradigm?
Humans only
so, what happens to animals?
do they only die?
i dont know the answer to that
why not? surely God has a plan for them too, right? why hasn't he mentioned it?
lol I dont know, Mikey
scientific evidence states that we are products of evolution
therefore, we ARE animals
so all life, including humans, must, if God exists, be judged by the same rules, no?
i know this sounds ridiculous
but thats my point
this whole idea of God is a tad ridiculous
there have been countless gods over the ages
and you don't believe in any of them
and you don't lose any sleep over it
why not go one more?
itd be a mere drop in a bucket
Which is true
Even i wasn't aware of how many
It seems that i am not aware of much
well, to believe in God/Jesus, one must either twist or deny a lot of knowledge
its not that you aren't smart
its just that religion doesn't want us to learn too much
because if we do?
Faith is lost
right
I think you are right
2:25 PM
i know it can seem a depressing thought to 'lose god'
but really, it's the most liberating experience of all
now there's a whole world in front of you
so much to learn
and pieces will start to fit
What about if i learn it......
but still keep my faith
If i have all the facts and am aware
but still have faith
isn't that what a lot of scientists do?
umm, not really
Are you telling me scientists are not religious?
i can't speak for all scientists
but i’m confident most advanced scientists are either agnostic or atheist
How do you know this?
scientists say god with respect to their awe at the complexity of the universe
for that which is not yet understood, they may say ‘God’
for example
einstein mentions god throwing dice, but he is an out and out unbeliever
i could name more scientists
but lets just name the important ones off the top of our heads
einstein, newton, galileo
Darwin
all nonbelievers
What about believers?

nikola tesla was a firm believer, but it was i think because he was completely insane and was brought up in a weird religious environment
ben franklin? didn't believe
jefferson? didn't believe
watson and crick, discoverers of dna? didn't believe
edison? didn't believe
marie and pierre curie, pioneers of radiation? didn't believe
Dude
seriously
I need to read more
carl sagan? didn't believe
Direct me
2:35 PM
cicero, aristotle, plato, socrates, voltaire? didn't believe
When you were younger
and you had faith
did you really?
or was it your parents influence
epicurus, nietzsche, freud? didn't believe
Freud was a fool
haha no he wasn't
he might've gotten some things incorrect, but he is the father of psychology
Which i have studied
carl marx? didn't believe
napoleon? didn't believe
stalin? didn't believe
Marx i study every year
john adams? didn't believe
protagorus, hobbes, hippocrates? didn't believe
bill gates? doesn't believe
wozniak, maker of the apple pc doesn't believe
jung, kant, kierkegaard? didn't believe
st thomas aquinas didn't believe

What made you lose faith
reason
So you woke up one day and thought...fuck it
basically
but the kicker?
an old girlfriend with whom i am still friends
her father was on the board of mensa
and head of the edgar allen poe society
BRILLIANT man; didn't believe
his wife was agnostic
daughter, my ex girlfriend, is also brilliant....and was raised in a totally nonreligious fashion
yet that family has more moral authority than many religious people i have seen
and to them it's not even worth discussing. the answer is blaringly obvious
see, the only people who have a hard time with this are believers
everyone else is like CMON MAN
example:
yesterday i took my nephew out on a 4-wheeler
i put a helmet on him that was way too big for his head
and it shook around and prolly hurt him
but when i found the helmet that would really fit his little head?
no way!!! i like this one!!! don't take this helmet from meee!!!
lol
he didn't want reason
in his mind, the helmet he had been initially given was the right one, period
so i snatched it off his head and put on the smaller one...
awww
and POW!!
happy boy
2:45 PM
things are obvious when you're on the outside looking in
take relationships:
you can see clearly when its not your relationship
"get out, honey! he's no good for you! you guys fight all the time! can't you see its not gonna work? it hasn't been working since day one!"
ever had someone say that kinda stuff to you?
Haha ooh yes.
so you get my point
Totally
when your on the inside, you cannot apply logic the same way as when youre on the outside looking in
things are less obvious on the inside; there are ways to bend truths
people believe what they want to believe in the face of irrefutable evidence
and that's why the believer shuts her eyes and ears
and says 'you're wrong...i don't even have to get into why you're wrong, you just are'
ahhh
and thats what faith is
faith in god
faith in our choices in life
faith in our relationships
faith in our parents
and reason doesn't work where there's a protective shell of faith
when faith is vulnerable a second, and reason is allowed to permeate
things start to make more sense
and there are moments of aha!!
and it all just begins to click
because the whole of knowledge is symbiotic
everything is a part of everything else
and thats what science is all about
and thats a really amazing and beautiful thing
Frank Lloyd Wright: "I believe in God; I just call it NATURE"
Wow
now, want your mind to really be blown?
go on then
go watch part one of 'Zeitgeist'
What is it?
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-594683847743189197
there are three parts, with a long intro
just watch the intro and then part one
should be like 40 mins altogether
then get back to me
will do!
kk

The Free Will/Omniscience Paradox

2008-12-28T20:42:00.000-08:00

There’s been an argument in favor of ‘free will’ put forth in several comments. It’s a common go-to which fills gaps in reason within the framework of Christian dogma, especially when believers confront and try to come to term with illogical aspects of God’s mercy or lack of mercy. The concept of free will suggests that we are given, by God, the freedom to exercise control over our thoughts and decisions.

Before we tackle the subject of free will, it should be noted that “free will” is not specifically mentioned anywhere in the bible. Here are the pertinant verses with respect to predestiny and free will:

"And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed." -- Acts 13:48

"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate.... Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified." -- Romans 8:29-30

"Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." -- 2 Timothy 1:9

"See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the Lord your
God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong [your] days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live. -- Deuteronomy 30:15

"If you love Me, keep My commandments." -- John 14:15

"He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will." -- Ephesians 1:4-5

"God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation." -- 2 Thessalonians 2:13

"God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned." -- 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12

"For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation." -- Jude 4

"For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. .... For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction." -- Romans 9:11-22

I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life. -- Dt.30:19

Choose you this day whom ye will serve.... But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. -- Joshua 24:15

As you can see, the whole concept of “free will” takes creative interpretation to find as a concrete and inarguable biblical tenet. Lets assume, though, for the benefit of the doubt, that free will is clearly implied in the above scriptures.

Most Christians subscribe to two main points:

Determinism, which states that God has a divine plan, which is to say that God knows our fates and who will and will not be saved; and/or
God is omniscient.

Here, I will argue that the two aforementioned concepts, Free Will and Determinism, can not coexist.

To begin, free will can only apply to voluntary behavior. No philosophers or theologians debate this important point. If man has not chosen his thoughts or behavior, then the concept of free will cannot be applied to a situation. In addition, most suggest that free will is a necessary component of social responsibility. That is to say we must choose to be good people in order to be saved. Running this theory backwards implies that if free will didn’t exist, there would be no social responsibility since our actions and thoughts already would have been predestined by God; thus, if God is omniscient and has a master plan, social responsibility is predetermined, and ‘free will’ ceases to exist. I know this is a brainbender, so take a moment to chew.

So, does God have a plan or do we have free will? Therein lies the Christian paradox. You can find evidence of it in St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans 9:21: "Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?" If God preprograms us to be either good or bad, then any human behavior is just part of God’s plan, and God remains omniscient. If God is omniscient, then he knew each choice we make in our entire lives before we were ever conceived; therefore, free will cannot exist.

I know that this is a toughie, so lets take a little break from the paradox and talk about cases in which free will can not apply, like rape, murder, theft, etc., where actions of another override one’s ability to practice free will. Remember, free will can only apply to voluntary behavior. Consider this famous case: In the early morning of February 4, 1999, Amadou Diallo, a Guinean biochemistry student was standing on a sidewalk near his Bronx apartment upon returning home from a meal. Four undercover NYPD officers crept by in an unmarked Ford Taurus. Tensions were already high in this area -- criminal activity was commonplace on this Bronx block, so the “Street Crimes Unit” maintained a low profile in order to catch criminals in the act. What happened next took place in a matter of mere seconds. The officers spotted Diallo, and mistook him for a wanted serial rapist. Diallo, noticing the fast approaching unmarked Taurus, made a dash for his front door, believing he was going to be robbed. The plainclothes officers sprang from their vehicle, in hot pursuit. Mid-panic, Diallo reached for his wallet to throw to his would-be attackers, which was, in the immediate chaos, mistaken by the four officers as a gun. 41 bullets were fired in rapid succession, and Diallo died on his own front porch, shot nineteen times. While the whole episode probably took less than 20 seconds, the officers' decisions to fire took place in the fraction of a second. This is a tragic story, and it shines a light on the concept of free will, which requires a moment of reason to function. Without that moment of reason, the decision to open fire on Diallo was completely involuntary. Immediate circumstance and misunderstanding caused the officers behavior. There was no freedom of thought; this was pure animal impulse. The Diallo story and many others are dissected in Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘Blink,’ a pop-psychology book which focuses on the science and consequences of split-second decision making.

The concept of free will, if it can exist at all (God is not omniscient/predestiny, though covered ad infinitum in the Bible, nonexistent), can only apply to voluntary behavior. Man must be in control of his actions for free will to function. If man cannot control his behavior, then consequenses as a result of the free will concept cannot apply. If free will exists, it only exists when the mind and its perception of reality are united. Man must also be responsible for his mental state in order to have so-called ‘free will’. Other examples of cases where free will cannot apply include mentally incapacitated individuals (Schizophrenia, Tourette, OCD, etc.) and addicts who cannot control their actions, despite their will. Within this paradigm, it could be successfuly argued that the 9/11 hijackers suffered from delusions, whereby extreme societal and religious idealism overtook their mental state, thus removing free will. Consider African children, who were not their mother or fathers. They were not their society’s originator. They did not make themselves, nor shape their surroundings. Their mental state and decision-making processes are, at least partially, beyond their control. Their will, therefore, is not entirely free. Thus, if God hasn't predestined this fate for Africans, then at least their free will was overridden by circumstance or never existed at all. Other examples of the removal of free will are instances of rape, slavery, and torture. Inner and outer freedom must coexist for will to be free.

If God grants some of us free will, others not, and allows for situations where free will can be circumstantially overridden, why and how does she arbitrarily decide not only who can exercize it, but also when and where? The existence of omniscient God negates the notion of free will through a simple exercize of logic. Ask yourself: Does God know if an individual will be good or bad? If you answered ‘no’, then God is not omniscient. If you answered ‘yes’, then free will does not exist. So, which do you choose: an omniscient God, or free will?

Lets look at this a slighty different way. If god is omniscient, then he knows all. If he knows all, then he can accurately predict behavior. Free will assumes that God either cannot or does not predict our decisions. This implies that God doesn’t always know how we will act. If he doesn’t know how we will act, then he is not omniscient. Therefore, an omniscient God cannot exist if we have free will. That is the paradox: An omniscient God and free will cannot coexist. There is, however, one reasonable counter-argument, which is that perhaps God is omniscient with regard to everything that can logically and reasonably be possible to know. But this is the point at which we ask if God follows rules of logic and reason. If so, then the believer must rework her entire stance, applying logic and reason to the very existence of God herself.

And that is a discussion for another day.

The Harsh Truth

2008-12-27T19:32:00.000-08:00

Toby and Claire, you're right. There is a lot of beauty in this world, and much of it is concentrated in your respective filthy-rich first-world countries. It might seem to cover this vast planet of ours when we drive down our nice streets through charming towns. I, for one, sometimes forget how fortunate we are to be citizens of such civilized nations. England and the United States happen to be the two most recent world-dominating powers. North America and Europe collectively are home to only 15% of the world's population, but we own over 50% of its wealth. It would make sense that we see beauty everywhere we turn. Asia is home to over 50% of the earth's inhabitants, and owns 30% of its cash. This leaves a whopping 35% of the earth (South America, Australia, and Africa) owning less than 20% of its remaining wealth. Please take a moment to digest these figures.

It probably won't surprise you then to know that we, our European friends, and other wealthy first-world nations share the lowest infant mortality rates of anywhere on our planet. England's is less than 0.5%. Perhaps, Claire, your pregnancy might not have fared so well in Angola, where almost 20% of newborns die before their first birthday. But since we're talking about Angola, lets look at some more statistics. There, almost 50% of children under 5 are malnourished and over 25% will die before they reach that age; less than 40% of their population has access to clean water and proper sanitation; over 10% of children under 14 have lost one or both of their parents; over 30% of children 5-14 are working, and most can expect to die by the time they turn 42. Is this the beauty you speak of? This issue is not specific to Angola, either. They are but a drop in a larger bucket of peoples who do not see the beauty you see; in fact, of the thirty countries on earth with the highest infant mortality rates, almost all are African. To boot, these same nations have the highest birth rates of anywhere else. So, if you run the numbers, its safe to say that there are a lot of unlucky parents in Africa, assuming they even survive long enough to see their children make it to their fifth birthday.

Why does your God turn a blind eye to these people?

Lets get back to the first world. We are rich. Our friends are rich. Our neighbors are rich. Places we visit are rich. Even the places we visit abroad generally tend to be wealthy tourist centers. We, the lucky civilization, sometimes have to really try to place ourselves in situations that aren't very pretty, but we all know that they exist.

Why are we more qualified for God's mercy than anyone else?

It's easy to cite Africa, however, as a cesspool of despair, so why don't we talk about what we know?

Hurricane Katrina took the lives of over 1000 God-loving, church-going, poor black people. Did they not pray enough? Claire, you say you don't go to church, but you're still alive. Does this make sense to you? This is the part where you say God works in mysterious ways.

Los Angeles is a pretty enough place. But the palm tree-lined streets of Hollywood are less than five miles from Skid Row, a world-famous human landfill where up to ten thousand under the age of 18 are addicted to crack or heroin and sell survival-sex for food and shelter, right now. Is this what you mean when you say 'there's too much beauty in the world to not believe in God?'

If the terrible loss of almost three thousand innocent mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, cousins, and friends in the September 11th attacks is not shocking enough, consider the countless volunteers who worked tirelessly to clean up ground zero only to wind up with serious pulmonary diseases, sarcoidosis, and cancer as a result of their exposure to the toxic dust below their feet. If I had a God, he would treat good people better than this. Wouldn't yours?

Some children in your neighborhoods are born with birth defects. Some wind up in trash cans. I'm not sure what to call this but it isn't beauty. This is reality, and it's happening right now in our beautiful isolated enclaves among a vast world full of misfortune.

I don't thank God that I am alright. I am no more deserving than any poor Angolan child. I am just one of the lucky ones so far.

Oh Musikavanhu!!

2008-12-26T13:28:00.000-08:00

Kathryn, I'm glad to hear you got an A in science, but it worries me that your inability to grasp the complexities of the mass of factual information within the world of science causes you to doubt its truth. The fact is that there is absolutely no information about your god except what exists in the Bible and in your imagination. A lack of understanding does not make evidence go away. You also mentioned that you 'live with the knowledge that [you] will be punished for [your] life." On what what evidentiary foundation do you base this knowledge? Let me ask you this also: If I, an Agnostic, lived a decent life -- don't kill anyone, don't lie, don't cheat, don't steal, I'm still going to hell because I denied God; however, the murderer across town who lied, cheated, killed, stole, repented, and believed, gets a ticket to heaven? I've asked ministers this question. They give me some really twisted answers. Turns out it's true: the murderer goes to heaven, and the good nonbeliever goes to hell. This is your jealous God? This is your omniscient God?

Anonymous, you've taken a comprehensive list quotes from history's smartest people, grabbed one name that isn't as powerful or historically significant, and used it to make a blanket statement about the entire thing. I'm sorry to say it, but Woody Allen's presence on this list does not detract from its importance, nor does it in any way negate the words of the most respected minds in recorded history.

How much smarter or more qualified to answer questions of the unknown than these people do you believe yourself to be? What reason, if any, do you have to suggest that these people might all be simultaneously incorrect about one god in a million for whom not one single shred of evidence exists? What do you know that they do not? More importantly, what do they know that you do not? You can only hope that Cicero, Einstein, Jefferson, Adams, Plato, Aristotle, Franklin, Galileo, Lincoln, Buddha, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, the Curies, Watson and Crick, Voltaire, Darwin, Nietzsche, Freud, Newton, Madison, Marx, Locke, Hobbes, Napoleon, Gates, Socrates, Jung, Kant, Epicurus, Aquinas, Taft, Cleveland, Quincy Adams, two Popes, Edison, Paine and countless mentioned and unmentioned luminaries are all wrong? I'm not sure I understand what you mean. These are the brightest minds in history. If they were all wrong, we would still be living in the Dark Ages.

What if YOU are wrong?

Claire, a cult is a religion generally considered to be false. Since no one has proof of any of this, the only thing that sets religions apart from cults are sheer numbers. Secondly, you say you have nothing to lose, but if you are wrong, you have everything to lose. At least if you hold off on solidifying a choice, you can make up your mind when you meet your maker, whoever she may be. After all, no one really knows. Are you suggesting you do? Not even the most respected believers would claim that. Also, are you suggesting the Egyptians were wrong? The Romans? The Greeks? The Muslims? The Assyrians? The Native Americans? How convenient that you and your Christian neighbors are the only ones who got it right on your first and only try. I bet believers of every other religion think the same exact thing.

Lets try another exercise here:

Here's a list of deities. Find yours within. Why are you hopeful or sure that you picked the right one? Keep in mind that in different places and in different times, societies were just as sure as you are now that theirs was or were the only correct path to salvation. I would venture to guess that almost everyone who reads this post is Atheist with regard to all of these gods except Jesus. Why not go one further?

Chup Kamui, Sin, Illat, Hilal, Hubal, Sin, Ta'lab, Wadd, Coyolxauhqui, Metztli, Tecciztecatl, Ixchel, Sin, Ilazki, Menily, Jarih, Nikkal, Góntia, Lair báln,Chia, Chie, Gleti, Napir, Chons, Thoth, Losna, Artemis, Hecate, Phoebe, Selene, Rhea, Kaskuh, Anumati, Chandra (Indu), Soma, Kusuh, Coniraya, Ka-Ata-Killa, Mama Quilla, Dewi Shri, Silewe Nazarate, Alignak, Igaluk, Tarquiup Inua, Marishi-Ten, Tsukuyomi, Shitta, Meness, Ataegina, Kidili, Ahau-Kin, Ixbalanque, Ixchel, Tilion, Si, Yoołgai asdząąn, Mani, Papare, Madonna Oriente, Aglibol, Pah, Mah, Mayari, Men, Avatea, Fati, Ina, Hina-Kega, Hina-Uri, Lona, Mahina, Marama, Sina, Ul, Arebati, Diana, Luna, Terah, Dapie, Myesyats, The Zorya, Nanna, Udó, Bendis, Ari, Selardi, Kalfu, Teshub, Adad, Hadad, Tarhunt, Zeus, Jupiter, Summanus, Brontes, Indra, Parjanya, Taranis, Ambisagrus, Leucetios, Þunraz, Þunor, Donar, Þórr, Thor, Perkunos, Perkunas, Per(k)un, Perëndi, Gebeleizis, Zibelthiurdos, Ukko, Perkele, Horagalles, Aplu, Lei Gong, Ajisukitakahikone, Raijin, Tenjin (kami), Susanoo, Thunderbird, Xolotl, Chaac, Apocatequil, Cocijo, Aktzin, Jasso, Haokah, Tupã, Set, Shango, Oya, Azaka-Tonnerre, Mulungu, Xevioso, Xewioso, Heviosso, Haikili, Tawhaki, Kaha'i, Uira, Vayu, Anemoi, Boreas, Notus, Eurus, Zephyrus, Venti, Anemoi, Fūjin, Njord, Norðri, Suðri, Austri, Vestri, four stags of Yggdrasil, Stribog, Atum, El, Elohim, Kamui, Izanagi, Izanami, Mbombo, Unkulunkulu, Vishwakarman, Ranginui, Hathor, Ra, Helios, Sol Invictus, Surya, Amaterasu, Sól, Gaia, Inanna, Amaterasu, Odin, Tyr, Horus, Awondo, Nyambi, Tonatiuh, Amun, Wadjet, Sekhmet, Hathor, Nut, Bast, Bat, Menhit, Isis, Chalchiuhtlicue, Tlaloc, Savitr, Adityas, Karna, Kunti, Mithras, Brahma, Allah, Pangu, Demeter, Persephone, Hermes, Hecate, Heracles, Hecate, Chaos, Aether, Uranus, Hemera, Chronos, Eros, Nyx, Erebus, Ophion, Tartarus, Poseidon, Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus, Dionysus, Hera, Aphrodite, Oceanids, Pontus, Nereids, Naiads, Hades, Iacchus, Trophonius, Triptolemus, Erinyes, Athena, Nereus, Atlas, Hestia, Tethys, Mnemosyne, Themis, Iapetus, Sunna, Svarog, Triton, Proteus, Phorcys, Helead, Anapos, Aegir, Nerthus, Rán, Manannán mac Lir, Dylan Eil Ton, Manawydan, Llŷr, Nabia, Nabia, Mazu, Idliragijenget, Sedna, Aipaloovik, Arnapkapfaaluk, Bangpūtys, Susanoo, Ryūjin, Watatsumi, Repun Kamui, Tangaroa, Nyami Nyami, Varuna, Yemaja, Davy Jones, Ochún, Mami Wata, Breksta, Nótt, Ratri, Shalim, Tezcatlipoca, The Zorya, Cyclopes, Anulap, Coeus, Erlang Shen, Fabulinus, Mímir, Ogma, Omoikane, Saraswati, Frigg, Cofgodas, Lares, Gabija, Bes, Ekwu, Chantico, Berehynia, Matka Gabia, Hob, Heinzelmännchen, Tomte, Brownie, Kobold, Domovoi, Cybele, Dione, Ninhursag, Tiamat, Ninsun, Asherah, `Ashtart, Ishtar, Çatalhöyük, Potnia theron, Juno, Frau Holle, Umai, Mahimata, Durga, Devi, Aditi, Kali, Krishna, Yashoda, Yaganmatri, Mary, Jesus, Triple Goddess, Jord, Lakshmi, Sita, Parvati, Navadurga, Ganesha, Murugan, Hanugan, Indra, Deva, Shiva, Matrikas, Sati, Freyja, Opis, Saturn, Tawaret, Brigid, Dyaus Pita, Dyeus, God the Father, Aizen Myō-ō, Albina, Anteros, Astarte, Astrild, Cliodhna, Freyr, Himerus, Huehuecoyotl, Hymenaios, Milda, Kamadeva, Peitho, Prende, Qandisa, Turan, Venus, Xochipilli, Ayao, Izanami, Larentina, Eingana, Morrígan, Belet-Seri, Gefjun, Hel, Meng Po, Loviatar, Chicomecoatl, Cihuacoatl, Alaisiagae, Dea Tacita, Mana Genita, Maman Brigitte, Proserpina, Nephthys, Neith, Naenia, Tuonetar, Yami, Miru, Ereshkigal, Itzpapalotl, Ixtab, Marzanna, Mania, Melinoe, Rohe, Merau, Keres, Kalma, Kebechet, Ah Puch, Anubis, Charon, Hapi, Acolnahuacatl, Baron Samedi, Daiske, Mictlantecuhtli, Jabru, Supay, Varuna, Dis Pater, Batara Kala, Imset, Viduus, Eshu, Flins, Osiris, Yama, Peklenc, Qebehsenuef, Andjety, Aken, Imiut fetish, Ta'xet, Saa, Tuoni, Wepwawet, Wōden, Whiro, Degei, Enma, Nga, Seker, Pluto, Picollus, Peklenc, Orkus, Duamutef, Donn, Aker, Agrona, Alaisiagae, Anann, Ankt, Anat, Cariocecus, Cocidius, Camulus, Brigantia, Boudihillia, Bellona, Ekchuah, Ffraid, Honos, Ekchuah, Chi You, Indra, Maahes, Macha, Laran, Kukailimoku, Hadúr, Mextli, Neit, Nike, Nemain, Rudianos, Segomo, Ricagumbeda, Resheph, Perun, Oro, Set, Trebaruna, Victoria, Vacuna, Sopdu, Smertios, Ogoun, Neith, Menrva, Mars, Enyo, Jeebo, Jengu, Waaq, Amlak, Jah, Ngai, Mwari, Nyadenga, Musikavanhu, Brekyirihunuade, Kwaku Ananse, Anansi, Asase Ya, Bia, Agé, Da, Gbadu, Gleti, Gu, Logo, Lisa, Mawu, Nana, Buluku, Zinsi, Xevioso, Abassi, Atai, Ala, Adroa, Adroanzi, Mantis, Prishiboro, Ajok, Tsui’goab, Gamab, Heitsi-eibib, Sakpata, Arebati, Chiuta, Nana, Babalu Aye, Olorun, Ozain, Khonvoum, Iemanja, Tharapita, Oxossi, Orunmila, Two Ladies, Cleopatra, Tefnut, Satis, Khnum, Anuket, Heket, Mut, Ammit, Aten, Apis, Apep, Hapy, Iusaaset, Heget, Kuk, Mafdet, Meretseger, Khepry, Mnevis, Naunet, Nekhbet, Menthu, Min, Ptah, Reshep, Satis, Selket, Sobek, Seshat, Qebui, Swenet, Wadj-wer, Wosret, Shu, Bmola, Azeban, Gitche Manitou, Gyhldeptis, Lagua, Kokopelli, Aholi, Nankil'slas, Malsumis, Tabaldak, Angwusnasomtaka, Muyingwa, Koyangwuti, Airesekui, Heng, Iosheka, Taiowa, Nanook, Nerrivik, Pinga, Torngasoak, Kewkwaxa'we, Niskam, Estanatelhi, Glispa, Tonenili, Tsohanoai, Yolkai Estasan, Canopus, Whope, Wi, Haokah, Onatha, Hahgwehdiyu, Gendenwitha, Gaol, Adekagagwaa, Gohone, Hastshehogan, Eagentci, Hagones, Hawenniyo, Kaakwha, Amotken, Sila, Nuliajuk, Atlaua, Atlacoya, Chicomecoatl, Citlalicue, Cochimetl, Chiconahui, Chalmecatecuchtlz, Chalchiuhtotoliq, Camaxtli, Amimitl, Mayahuel, Mixcoatl, Matlalceuitl, Macuilmalinalli, Macuiltochtli, Patecatl, Paynal, Temazcalteci, Oxomoco, Tlaloc, Tonacatecuhtli, Tonatiuh, Xochiquetzal, Chicomecoatl, Yacatecuhtli, Ah Ciliz, Alom *PV*, Balam, Chaac *L*, Colel Cab, Cum Hau, Ekchuah, Colop U Uichkin, Cizin, Hun Hunahpu, Hun-nal-ye, Hunab Ku, Huraqan, Ixtab, Kinich Ahau, Kinich Kakmo, Qaholom, Tohil, Vucub-Caquix, Yaluk, Zipacna, Votan, Apocatequil, Cavillace, Ataguchu, Ekkeko, Illapa, Inti, Kon, Mama Pacha, Mama Zara, Pacha Camac, Paricia, Mama Allpa, Viracocha, Urcuchillay, Illapa, Coniraya, Cavillace, Arasy, Tupã, Teju Jagua, Mbói Tu'ĩ, Moñái, Jasy Jatere, Kurupi, Ao Ao, Luison, Bondye, Loas, Erinle, Nana Buluku, Obà, Aganju, Eshu/Legba, Orunmila, Shango, An, Enlil, Enki, Ashur, Inanna, Nanna, Ninurta, Marduk, Ki, Utu, Shamash, Nergal, Adramelech, Nimrod, As Shalla, Oannes, Samnuha, Kubaba, Adonis, Anat, Chemosh, Derceto, Melqart, YHWH, Elyon, Astarte, Moloch, Resheph, Yam, Yarikh, Qetesh, Amurru, Ereshkigal, Lahmu, Mummu, Amesha Spentas, Ahuras, Angra Mainyu, Tarhunt, Kumarbi, Pegasus, Kushuh, Ea, Shimegi, Hebat, Mitra, Varuna, Atys, Hipta, Lukos, Pldans, Omfalē, Asterios, Anax, Artimus, Damasēn, Gugaie/Guge/Gugaia, Kandaulēs, Kaustros, Moxus, Mēles, Hullos, Bacchus, Hucau, Uastyrdzhi, Uacilla, Safa, Donbettir, Tutyr, Fælværa, Æfsati, Kurdalægon, Satana, Saubarag, Huyændon Ældar, Kutkh, Tengri, Ame-no-Uzume, Amaterasu-Ō-Mi-Kami, Ame-no-Koyane, Fūjin, Hachiman, Hachiman, Inari, Izanagi, Izanami, Omoikane, Raijin, Ryūjin, Sukuna-Biko-Na, Susanoo-no-Mikoto, Tenjin,Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, Rama, Rudra, Bathala, Bakunawa, Kan-Laon, Mangindusa, Altjira, Anjea, Bagadjimbiri, Baiame, Banaitja, Bamapana, Bunjil, Dilga, Eingana, Gnowee, Julunggul, Karora, Pundjel, Numakulla, Kunapipi, Mangar-kunjer-kunja, Wuriupranili, Rhiannon, Sabazios, Zalmoxis, Darzalas, Kotys, Fufluns, Laran, Selvans, Tinia, Turms, Wōdanaz, Donar, Nerþuz, Frījō, Fullō, Ermunaz, Wulþuz, Boldogasszony, Hadúr, Abiafelaesurraecus, Albucelainco, Ataegina, Debaroni, Dominus Cusus Neneoecus, Coso, Cabar, Coniumbricenses, Igaedo, Nabia, Dercetius, Luruni, Ocaere, Moelio, Luruni, Laepo, Laho, Vestio, Saur, Trebaruna, Tongoe, Miraro, Erbina, Epona, Edovio, Quirinus, Belobog, Cislobog, Crnobog, Dajbog, Hors, Jarilo, Juthrbog, Perun, Podaga, Marowit, Radegast, Stribog, Svarog, Triglav, Vesna, Zirnitra

A Little Help From My Friends

2008-12-25T23:49:00.000-08:00

I'm sure that with enough brainwashing and blind faith there are ways for the more devout believer to brush off the magnitude of the quotes below. Perhaps he'll say he needs more context. Perhaps she'll say that the argument presented is one-sided. Perhaps, in quiet denial and defiance, he will simply close this page resigned to remain proudly ignorant. The way I see it, these are the words of many of the greatest thinkers of recorded history. Its almost 2009. Its really time we turn on our minds. God is an addiction from which we must break free.

WAKE FROM YOUR SLEEP

Abraham Lincoln -- 1809-1865 (Sixteenth President of the United States)

"The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma."
“It will not do to investigate the subject of religion too closely, as it is apt to lead to Infidelity.”
“My earlier views of the unsoundness of the Christian scheme of salvation and the human origin of the scriptures, have become clearer and stronger with advancing years and I see no reason for thinking I shall ever change them.”

Albert Einstein -- 1879-1955 (Theoretical Physicist and Nobel Laureate)

"I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religion than it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."
"I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism."

Plato -- 428-348 BC (Classical Greek Philosopher, mentor of Aristotle, and student of Socrates)

“For though a man should be a complete unbeliever in the being of gods; if he also has a native uprightness of temper, such persons will detest evil in men; their repugnance to wrong disinclines them to commit wrongful acts; they shun the unrighteous and are drawn to the upright.”

Thomas Jefferson -- 1743-1826 (Architect, Inventor, Archaeologist, Founding Father, Author of the Declaration of Independence, Political Philosopher, Third President of the United States, and Founder of the University of Virginia)

“Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear.”
“The hocus-pocus phantasy of a God, like another Cerberus, with one body and three heads, had its birth and growth in the blood of thousands and thousands of martyrs.”
"The Christian god can easily be pictured as virtually the same god as the many ancient gods of past civilizations. The Christian god is a three headed monster; cruel, vengeful and capricious. If one wishes to know more of this raging, three headed beast-like god, one only needs to look at the caliber of people who say they serve him. They are always of two classes: fools and hypocrites."
"Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man."
"Religions are all alike – founded upon fables and mythologies."
"And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerve in the brain of Jupiter. But may we hope that the dawn of reason and freedom of thought in these United States will do away with this artificial scaffolding, and restore to us the primitive and genuine doctrines of this most venerated reformer of human errors."

Siddharta [Buddha] -- 563-483 BCE (Spiritual Teacher and Founder of Buddhism)

"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it .. or who said it .. no matter if I have said it .. unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense."
“Doubt everything. Find your own light.”
“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions only because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”

Benjamin Franklin -- 1706-1790 (American Founding Father, Author, Printer, Satirist, Political Theorist, Diplomat, Statesman, Scientist, Enlightenment Figure, Inventor, Activist, and Founder of the American Public Library)

"I have found Christian dogma unintelligible. Early in life, I absenteed myself from Christian assemblies."
"Lighthouses are more helpful then churches."
“The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason: The Morning Daylight appears plainer when you put out your Candle.”
“Many a long dispute among divines may be thus abridged: It is so; It is not so. It is so; it is not so.”

Gandhi -- 1869-1948 (Spiritual Leader of India and Pioneer of Civil Disobedience)

“The most heinous and the most cruel crimes of which history has record have been committed under the cover of religion or equally noble motives.”
“Do you think I am superstitious? I am a super-atheist.”
“The concepts of truth may differ. But all admit and respect truth. That truth I call God. For sometime I was saying, "God is Truth," but that did not satisfy me. So now I say, ‘Truth is God.’”

Upton Sinclair -- 1878-1968 (Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author of ‘The Jungle’)

“There are a score of great religions in the world, each with scores or hundreds of sects, each with its priestly orders, its complicated creed and ritual, its heavens and hells. Each has its thousands or millions or hundreds of millions of "true believers"; each damns all the others with more or less heartiness -- and each is a mighty fortress of graft.”

Henry David Thoreau -- 1817-1862 (American Transcendentalist, Philosopher, Naturalist, and Author of ‘Walden’ and ‘Civil Disobedience’)

"There is more religion in men's science than there is science in their religion."

Andrew Carnegie -- 1835-1919 (Industrialist, Philanthropist, and founder of Carnegie Mellon)

"I don’t believe in God. My god is patriotism. Teach a man to be a good citizen and you have solved the problem of life."

Blessed Mother Teresa -- 1910-1997 (Albanian Catholic Nun and Nobel Laureate)

"Where is my faith? Even deep down… there is nothing but emptiness and darkness... If there be God — please forgive me."
“Such deep longing for God… Repulsed, empty, no faith, no love, no zeal.”
"If there be no God, there can be no soul. If there be no soul then, Jesus, You also are not true."
“In my own soul, I feel the terrible pain of this loss. I feel that God does not want me, that God is not God and that he does not really exist.”

Pope Pius XII -- 1876-1958 (Leader of the Roman Catholic Church 1939-1958)

“Teaching Authority of the Church does not forbid ... research and discussions ... with regard to the doctrine of evolution.”

Max Planck -- 1858-1947 (German Physicist, Nobel Laureate, and Founder of Quantum Theory)

“Religion belongs to that realm that is inviolable before the law of causation and therefore is closed to science.”
“An important scientific innovation rarely makes its way by gradually winning over and converting its opponents: it rarely happens that Saul becomes Paul. What does happen is that its opponents gradually die out and that the growing generation is familiarized with the idea from the beginning.”

Richard Dawkins -- 1941- (British Ethologist, Evolutionary Biologist, Popular Science Writer, and Oxford Professor)

“We are all atheists about most of the gods that societies have ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.”

Gertrude Stein -- 1874-1946 (American Author and Poet)

“There ain’t no answer. There ain’t going to be any answer. There never has been an answer. That’s the answer.”

Edgar Allen Poe -- 1809-1849 (American Poet, Editor, and Author)

“The idea of God, infinity, or spirit stands for the possible attempt at an impossible conception.”
“No man who ever lived knows any more about the hereafter ... than you and I; and all religion ... is simply evolved out of chicanery, fear, greed, imagination and poetry.”

Noam Chomsky -- 1928- (American Linguist, Philosopher, Cognitive Scientist, Author, and Political Activist)

“It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and expose lies . . . as for the various religions, there’s no doubt that they are very meaningful to adherents, and allow them to delude themselves into thinking there is some meaning to their lives beyond what we agree is the case.”

Blaise Pascal -- 1623-1662 (French Physicist, Mathematician, and Religious Philosopher)

“Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.”

George Orwell -- 1903-1950 (English Author of ‘Animal Farm’ and ‘1984’)

“In 1984, the concept of Big Brother is a parody of God. You never see him, but the fact of him is drilled into people’s minds that they become robots, almost. Plus . . . If you speak bad against Big Brother, it’s a Thought-crime.”
“One defeats a fanatic precisely by not being a fanatic oneself, but on the contrary by using one’s intelligence.”
“What can you do against the lunatic who is more intelligent than yourself, who gives your arguments a fair hearing and then simply persists in his lunacy?”
“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”

Jean Jacques Rousseau -- 1712-1778 (Genevan Enlightenment Philosopher, Writer, and Composer)

“Christ preaches only servitude and dependence.... True Christians are made to be slaves.”

Robert Frost -- 1874-1963 (Pulitzer Prize-Winning American Poet)

“I turned to speak to God, About the world’s despair; But to make bad matters worse, I found God wasn’t there.”
“Forgive, O Lord, my little jokes on Thee, And I'll forgive Thy great big one on me.”

P.T. Barnum -- 1810-1891 (American Showman and Founder of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus)

“The orthodox faith painted God as a revengeful being, and yet people talk about loving such a being.”

Francis Bacon -- 1561-1626 (English Philosopher, Statesman, Scientist, Lawyer, Jurist, Author, Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England)

“Atheism leaves a man to sense, to philosophy, to natural piety, to laws, to reputation; all of which may be guides to an outward moral virtue, even if religion vanished; but religious superstition dismounts all these and erects an absolute monarchy in the minds of men.”
“Truth can never be reached by just listening to the voice of an authority.”
“Knowledge is power. (Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est.)”

Aldous Huxley -- 1894-1963 (English Writer, Humanist, Pacifist, and Intellectual)

"You never see animals going through the absurd and often horrible fooleries of magic and religion. Only man behaves with such gratuitous folly. It is the price he has to pay for being intelligent but not, as yet, intelligent enough."
“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”
“Maybe this world is just another planet's hell.”

Robert Pirsig -- 1928- (American Philosopher and Author of ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’)

"When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity; when many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion."

Isaac Asimov -- 1920-1992 (American Physicist and Science-Fiction Author)

"I am an atheist, out and out. It took me a long time to say it. I've been an atheist for years and years, but somehow I felt it was intellectually unrespectable to say that one is an atheist, because it assumed knowledge that one didn't have. Somehow it was better to say one was a humanist or agnostic. I don't have the evidence to prove that God doesn't exist, but I so strongly suspect that he doesn't that I don't want to waste my time."
“Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.”
“If I were not an atheist, I would believe in a God who would choose to save people on the basis of the totality of their lives and not the pattern of their words. I think he would prefer an honest and righteous atheist to a TV preacher whose every word is God, God, God, and whose every deed is foul, foul, foul.”

Mikhail Gorbachev -- 1931- (Russian Politician, General Secretary of the Communist Party of The Soviet Union, and Final Head of the USSR)

"Nature is my god."

Marie Curie -- 1867-1934 (Polish Physicist, Chemist, Nobel Laureate, and Pioneer in Radioactivity)

“[Pierre Curie]. . .belonged to no religion and I did not practice any.”

Kurt Vonnegut -- 1922-2007 (American Author of ‘Slaughterhouse-Five’, ‘Cat’s Cradle’, and ‘Breakfast of Champions,’ and Honorary President of the American Humanist Association)

“Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith, I consider a capacity for it terrifying and absolutely vile.”

Ernest Hemingway -- 1899-1961 (Pulitzer Prize-Winning American Writer, French Expatriate, WWI Veteran, and Nobel Laureate)

"All thinking men are atheists."

Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso -- 1935- (Spiritual Leader of Tibet)

“God in the sense of Creator or something absolute, that is difficult to accept.”

Carl Sagan -- 1934-1996 (American Astronomer, Astrochemist, Author, Astronomer, Natural Scientist and SETI Promoter)

"My view is that if there is no evidence for it, then forget about it. An agnostic is somebody who doesn't believe in something until there is evidence for it, so I'm agnostic."
“The method of science is tried and true. It is not perfect, it's just the best we have. And to abandon it, with it's skeptical protocols is the pathway to a dark age.”
“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”

Steven Pinker -- 1954- (Canadian-American Psychologist, Cognitive Scientist, and Popular Science Writer)

“I never outgrew my conversion to atheism at 13, but at various times was a serious cultural Jew.”

Daniel Dennett -- 1942- (American Philosopher)

“God is like Santa Claus, a myth of childhood, not anything a sane, undeluded adult could literally believe in. That God must either be turned into a symbol for something less concrete or abandoned altogether.”

Ayn Rand -- 1905-1982 (Russian-American Novelist, Philosopher, Playwright, and Screenwriter)

"Faith is the commitment of one's consciousness to beliefs for which one has no sensory evidence or rational proof. A mystic is a man who treats his feelings as tools of cognition. Faith is the equation of feeling with knowledge."

Bertrand Russell -- 1872-1970 (British Philosopher, Logician, Mathematician, Historian, Social Activist, and Pacifist)

"I am myself a dissenter from all known religions, and I hope that every kind of religious belief will die out."
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts."
"We may define faith as the firm belief in something for which there is no evidence. Where there is evidence, no one speaks of faith. We do not speak of faith that two and two are four or that the earth is round. We only speak of faith when we wish to substitute emotion for evidence."
“One is often told that it is a very wrong thing to attack religion, because religion makes men virtuous. So I am told; I have not noticed it.”

Dr. Francis Crick -- 1916-2004 (English Molecular Biologist, Physicist, Neuroscientist, Nobel Laureate, and Co-Discoverer of DNA)

“If revealed religions have revealed anything it is that they are usually wrong.”
“A knowledge of the true age of the earth and of the fossil record makes it impossible for any balanced intellect to believe in the literal truth of every part of the Bible in the way that fundamentalists do. And if some of the Bible is manifestly wrong, why should any of the rest of it be accepted automatically?”

Lucretius -- 99-55 BC (Roman Poet and Philosopher)

"Nature does all things spontaneously, by herself, without the meddling of the gods."

George Carlin -- 1937-2008 (American Comedian)

"Religion is just mind control."
“I would never want to be a member of a group whose symbol was a guy nailed to two pieces of wood.”
“And the invisible man has a list of ten specific things he doesn’t want you to do. And if you do any of these things, he will send you to a special place, of burning and fire and smoke and torture and anguish for you to live forever, and suffer, and burn, and scream, until the end of time. But he loves you. He loves you. He loves you and he needs money.”
“If this is the best God can do, I'm not impressed.”

Grover Cleveland -- 1837-1908 (22nd and 24th President of the United States)

“I know that human prejudice -- especially that growing out of race and religion -- is cruelly inveterate and lasting.”

Cicero -- 106-43 BC (Roman Statesman, Lawyer, Orator, Political Theorist, Philosopher, and Roman Constitutionalist)

“In this subject of the nature of the gods the first question is: do the gods exist or do they not? It is difficult, you will say, to deny that they exist. I would agree, if we were arguing the matter in a public assembly, but in a private discussion of this kind it is perfectly easy to do so.”

Voltaire -- 1694-1778 (French Enlightenment Writer and Philosopher)

"Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror."
"Nothing can be more contrary to religion and the clergy than reason and common sense.”
“The truths of religion are never so well understood as by those who have lost the power of reasoning.”

Epicurus -- 341-270 BCE (Greek Philosopher and Founder of Epicureanism)

“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is God both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”
“If the gods listened to the prayers of men, all humankind would quickly perish since they constantly pray for many evils to befall one another.”

Rev. Jerry Falwell -- 1933-2007 (American Evangelical Christian Pastor, Televangelist, Conservative Pastor, and Founder of Liberty University)

“I feel most ministers who claim they've heard God's voice are eating too much pizza before they go to bed at night, and it's really an intestinal disorder, not a revelation.”

Charles Darwin -- 1809-1882 (English Naturalist and Father of Modern Biology)

“Generally an agnostic would be the more correct description of my state of mind.”
“I am aware that the assumed instinctive belief in God has been used by many persons as an argument for his existence. The idea of a universal and beneficent Creator does not seem to arise in the mind of man, until he has been elevated by long-continued culture.”
“When I view all beings not as special creations, but as the lineal descendants of some few beings which lived long before the first bed of the Cambrian system was deposited, they seem to me to become ennobled.”
“It appears to me (whether rightly or wrongly) that direct arguments against Christianity and theism produce hardly any effect on the public; and freedom of thought is best promoted by the gradual illumination of men's minds which follows from the advance of science.”
"I do not believe in any revelation. As for a future life, every man must judge for himself between conflicting vague probabilities."

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -- 1859-1930 (Scottish Author and Creator of Sherlock Holmes)

“It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgement. Insensibly, one begins to twist facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts.”
“Dogmas of every kind put assertion in the place of reason and give rise to more contention, bitterness, and want of charity than any other influence in human affairs.”

Emily Dickinson -- 1830-1886 (American Poet)

“Faith is Doubt.”

Sir Julian Huxley -- 1887-1975 (English Evolutionary Biologist, Humanist, and Internationalist)

“The sense of spiritual relief, which comes from rejecting the idea of God as a supernatural being, is enormous.”

René Descartes -- 1596-1650 (French Philosopher, Mathematician, Scientist, and Writer)

“The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest men of past centuries.”

Demosthenes -- 384-322 BC (Greek Statesman, Lawyer, Logographer, and Orator)

“A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true.”

Galileo Galilei -- 1564-1642 (Tuscan Physicist, Mathematician, Astronomer, Philosopher, Scientific Revolutionary, Father of Modern Science, Father of Physics, and the Father of Astronomy)

"They know that it is human nature to take up causes whereby a man may oppress his neighbor, no matter how unjustly. ... Hence they have had no trouble in finding men who would preach the damnability and heresy of the new doctrine from the very pulpit."
“You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself."
“I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.”
“In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.”

Nietzsche -- 1844-1900 (German Philosopher and Classical Philologist)

“Faith means not wanting to know what is true."
"The most serious parody I have ever heard was this: In the beginning was nonsense, and the nonsense was with God, and the nonsense was God."
"A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything."
“Christianity was from the beginning, essentially and fundamentally, life's nausea and disgust with life, merely concealed behind, masked by, dressed up as, faith in "another" or "better" life.”
“What is it: is man only a blunder of God, or God only a blunder of man?”

George Bernard Shaw -- 1856-1950 (Irish Playwright and Orator)

"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one."
"No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says: He is always convinced that it says what he means."

Ethan Allen -- 1738-1789 (American Revolutionary and Guerilla Leader)

“I have generally been denominated a Deist, the reality of which I never disputed, being conscious I am no Christian, except mere infant baptism makes me one; and as to being a Deist, I know not strictly speaking, whether I am one or not.”

Rev. Doctor Bird Wilson -- 1777-1862 (Post-Founding Episcopalian Minister)

"The founders of our nation were nearly all Infidels, and that of the presidents who had thus far been elected [Washington; Adams; Jefferson; Madison; Monroe; Adams; Jackson] not a one had professed a belief in Christianity....Among all our presidents from Washington downward, not one was a professor of religion, at least not of more than Unitarianism."

John Quincy Adams -- 1767-1848 (Sixth President of the United States)

“There is in the clergy of all Christian denominations a time-serving, cringing, subservient morality, as wide from the spirit of the gospel as it is from the intrepid assertion and vindication of truth.”

Robert Oppenheimer -- 1904-1967 (American Theoretical Physicist and Scientific Director of the Manhattan Project)

“There must be no barriers to freedom of inquiry. There is no place for dogma in science. The scientist is free, and must be free to ask any question, to doubt any assertion, to seek for any evidence, to correct any errors.”

Helen Keller -- 1880-1968 (Deaf-Blind American Author and Activist)

"There is so much in the bible against which every instinct of my being rebels, so much so that I regret the necessity which has compelled me to read it through from beginning to end. I do not think that the knowledge I have gained of its history and sources compensates me for the unpleasant details it has forced upon my attention."

Vladimir Nabokov -- 1899-1977 (Russian Novelist)

“The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness.”

Herman Melville -- 1819-1891 (American Novelist, Short Story Writer, Essayist, and Poet)

“I'll try a pagan friend, thought I, since Christian kindness has turned out to be hollow courtesy.”

Sir Isaac Newton -- 1643-1727 (English Physicist, Astronomer, Mathematician, Natural Philosopher, Alchemist, and Theologian)

“If the ancient churches, in debating and deciding the greatest mysteries of religion, knew nothing of these two texts, I understand not why we should be so fond of them now the debate is over.”
“I know not how I seem to others, but to myself I am but a small child wandering upon the vast shores of knowledge, every now and then finding a small bright pebble to content myself with while the vast ocean of undiscovered truth lay before me.”

James Madison -- 1751-1836 (Fourth President of the United States and Founding Father)

"During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry, and persecution."
"In no instance have the churches been guardians of the liberties of the people."
“Ecclesiastical establishments tend to great ignorance and corruption, all of which facilitate the execution of mischievous projects.”

John Adams -- 1735-1826 (Second President of the United States and Founding Father)

"The divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity."
"This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it."

John Locke -- 1632-1704 (English Philosopher and Enlightenment Thinker)

"Every sect as far as reason will help them, gladly use it; when it fails them, they cry out it is a matter of faith, and beyond reason."
“New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common.”

Lucius Annucus Seneca -- 4 BC-AD 65 (Roman Philosopher, Statesman, Dramatist, and Tutor and Advisor to Nero)

“Religion is considered by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.”

Christopher Hitchens -- 1949- (British American Author, Journalist, and Literary Critic)

“What can be asserted without proof can be dismissed without proof.”

Karl Marx -- 1818-1883 (German Philosopher, Political Economist, Historian, Sociologist, Humanist, Political Theorist, Revolutionary, and Founder of Communism)

"The wretchedness of religion is at once an expression and a protest against real wretchedness. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the feeling of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of unspiritual conditions. It is the opium of the people."

Andy Rooney -- 1919- (American Radio and Television Writer, Humorist, and Commentator)

“I am an atheist. I don't understand religion at all. I'm sure I'll offend a lot of people by saying this, but I think it's all nonsense.”

Gore Vidal -- 1925- (American Novelist, Screenwriter, Playwright, Essayist, and Politician)

“Once people get hung up on theology, they’ve lost sanity forever. More people have been killed in the name of Jesus Christ than any other name in the history of the world.”
“I'm a born-again atheist.”
“Once people get hung up on theology, they've lost sanity forever. More people have been killed in the name of Jesus Christ than any other name in the history of the world.”

Leo Tolstoy -- 1828-1910 (Russian Novelist)

"To regard Christ as God, and to pray to him, are to my mind the greatest possible sacrilege."
“Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking; where it is absent, discussion is apt to become worse than useless.”

Protagoras -- 490-420 BC (Greek Philosopher)

“As to the gods, I have no means of knowing either that they exist or do not exist.”

Federico Fellini -- 1920-1993 (Italian Film Director)

“Like many people, I have no religion, and I am just sitting in a small boat drifting with the tide.”

Pearl S. Buck -- 1892-1973 (American Sinologist, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Writer, and Nobel Laureate)

”When men destroy their old gods they will find new ones to take their place.”
“Believing in gods always causes confusion.”

Napoleon Bonaparte -- 1769-1821 (First Consul of the First French Republic and Emperor of the First French Empire)

"Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet."
"All religions have been made by men."
“As for myself, I do not believe that such a person as Jesus Christ ever existed; but as the people are inclined to superstition, it is proper not to oppose them.”

James Joyce -- 1882-1941 (Irish Expatriate Author)

"For me there is only one alternative to scholasticism -- skepticism."

Hippocrates -- 460-370 BC (Greek Physician and Father of Medicine)

“Men think epilepsy divine, merely because they do not understand it.... We will one day understand what causes it, and then cease to call it divine. And so it is with everything in the universe.”

John Lennon -- 1940-1980 (English Singer, Songwriter, Actor, and Peace Activist)

"Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try, no hell below us, above us only sky.”
"God is a concept by which we measure our pain.”

George W. Bush -- 1946- (Forty-Third President of the United States)

“Americans practice different faiths in churches, synagogues, mosques and temples. And many good people practice no faith at all.”

Thomas Hobbes -- 1588-1679 (English Philosopher and Modern Founder of the Social Contract Theory)

“Religions are like pills, which must be swallowed whole without chewing.”
“Fear of power invisible, feigned by the mind or imagined from tales publicly allowed, [is] religion; not allowed, superstition.”

Victor Hugo -- 1802-1885 (French Poet, Playwright, Novelist, Essayist, Statesman, Activist, and Exponent of the French Romance)

“There shall be no slavery of the mind.”
“Every step which the intelligence of Europe has taken has been in spite of the clerical party.”
“The true division of humanity is between those who live in light and those who live in darkness. Our aim must be to diminish the number of the latter and increase the number of the former. That is why we demand education and knowledge.”

Frank Lloyd Wright -- 1867-1959 (American Architect, Interior Designer, Writer, and Educator)

"I believe in God, only I spell it Nature."

Lord Byron -- 1788-1824 (British Poet and Leading Figure in Romanticism)

“If I am fool, it is, at least, a doubting one; and I envy no one the certainty of his self-approved wisdom.”
“I do not believe in any revealed religion. I will have nothing to do with your immortality; we are miserable enough in this life, without the absurdity of speculating upon another.”
“We have fools in all sects, and impostors in most; why should I believe mysteries no one can understand, because written by men who chose to mistake madness for inspiration and style themselves Evangelicals?”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe -- 1749-1832 (German Polymath)

“Strictly speaking, you only know when you know little. Doubt grows with knowledge.”
“We are so constituted that we believe the most incredible things: and, once they are engraved upon the memory, woe to him who would endeavor to erase them.”
“The web of this world is woven of Necessity and Chance. Woe to him who has accustomed himself from his youth up to find something necessary in what is capricious, and who would ascribe something like reason to Chance and make a religion of surrendering to it.”

Warren G Harding -- 1865-1923 (Twenty-Ninth President of the United States)

“In the experiences of a year of the Presidency, there has come to me no other such unwelcome impression as the manifest religious intolerance which exists among many of our citizens. I hold it to be a menace to the very liberties we boast and cherish.”

Stanley Kubrick -- 1928-1999 (American Film Director, Screenwriter, and Producer)

“I will say that the God concept is at the heart of 2001 but not any traditional, anthropomorphic image of God. I don’t believe in any of Earth's monotheistic religions, but I do believe that one can construct an intriguing scientific definition of God, once you accept the fact that there are approximately 100 billion stars in our galaxy alone, that each star is a life-giving sun and that there are approximately 100 billion galaxies in just the visible universe.”

Charles Bukowski -- 1920-1944 (German American Poet, Novelist, and Short Story Writer)

“For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can't readily accept the God formula, the big answers don't remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command or faith a dictum. I am my own God. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state and our education system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.”

Mark Twain -- 1835-1910 (American Author and Humorist)

“A man is accepted into a church for what he believes and he is turned out for what he knows.”
"Faith is believing something you know ain’t true."
"If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be -- a Christian."
"If there is a God, he is a malign thug."
"It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand."
“When one reads Bibles, one is less surprised at what the Deity knows than at what He doesn't know.”

Sam Harris -- 1967- (American Non-Fiction Writer and Philosopher)

“It is safe to say that almost every person living in New Orleans at the moment Hurricane Katrina struck shared your belief in an omnipotent, omniscient, and compassionate God. But what was God doing while Katrina laid waste to their city? Surely He heard the prayers of those elderly men and women who fled the rising waters for the safety of their attics, only to be slowly drowned there. These were people of faith. These were good men and women who had prayed throughout their lives. Do you have the courage to admit the obvious? These people died talking to an imaginary friend.”
“120 million of us place the big bang 2,500 years after the Babylonians and Sumerians learned to brew beer.”
“The president of the United States has claimed, on more than one occasion, to be in dialogue with God. If he said that he was talking to God through his hairdryer, this would precipitate a national emergency. I fail to see how the addition of a hairdryer makes the claim more ridiculous or offensive.”
“Atheism is not a philosophy; it is not even a view of the world; it is simply an admission of the obvious. In fact, "atheism" is a term that should not even exist. No one ever needs to identify himself as a "non-astrologer" or a "non-alchemist." We do not have words for people who doubt that Elvis is still alive or that aliens have traversed the galaxy only to molest ranchers and their cattle. Atheism is nothing more than the noises reasonable people make in the presence of unjustified religious beliefs. An atheist is simply a person who believes that the 260 million Americans (87 percent of the population) claiming to "never doubt the extended of God" should be obliged to present evidence for his existence -- and, indeed, for his benevolence, given the relentless destruction of innocent human beings we witness in the world each day. An atheist is a person who believes that the murder of a single little girl -- once in a million years -- casts doubt upon the idea of a benevolent God.”

Søren Aabye Kierkegaard -- 1813-1855 (Danish Philosopher and Theologian)

“Christianity demands the crucifixion of the intellect.”

Steve Wozniak -- 1950- (American Computer Engineer and Co-Founder of Apple Inc.)

“I am also atheist or agnostic (I don't even know the difference). I've never been to church and prefer to think for myself.”

Bill Gates -- 1955- (American Business Magnate, Philanthropist, and Chairman of Microsoft)

“Oh, I guess agnostic, atheist: I must be one of those things.”
“I'm not somebody who goes to church on a regular basis. The specific elements of Christianity are not something I'm a huge believer in.”
"Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There's a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning."

Robert E. Lee -- 1807-1870 (US Army General and Governor of Virginia)

“Is it not strange that the descendants of those Pilgrim Fathers who crossed the Atlantic to preserve their own freedom of opinion have always proved themselves intolerant of the spiritual liberty of others?”

Christopher Reeve -- 1952-2004 (American Film Actor, ‘Superman’)

“Even though I don't personally believe in the Lord, I try to behave as though He was watching.”

Woody Allen -- 1935- (American Film Director, Writer, Actor, Comedian, and Playwright)

“Not only is there no god, but try getting a plumber on weekends.”
“How can I believe in God when just last week I got my tongue caught in the roller of an electric typewriter?”

James Buchanan -- 1791-1868 (Fifteenth President of the United States)

“I have seldom met an intelligent person whose views were not narrowed and distorted by religion.”

Henri Frederic Amiel -- 1821-1881 (Swiss Philosopher, Poet, and Critic)

“Emancipation from error is the condition of real knowledge.”
“A lively, disinterested, persistent liking for truth is extraordinarily rare. Action and faith enslave thought, both of them in order not to be troubled or inconvenienced by reflection, criticism or doubt.”

Carl Jung -- 1875-1961 (Swiss Psychiatrist and Founder of Analytical Psychology)

“The word "belief" is a difficult thing for me. I don’t believe. I must have a reason for a certain hypothesis. Either I know a thing, and then I know it -- I don’t need to believe it.”

Immanuel Kant -- 1724-1804 (German Philosopher and Enlightenment Thinker)

“The wish to talk to God is absurd. We cannot talk to one we cannot comprehend -- and we cannot comprehend God; we can only believe in Him. The uses of prayer are thus only subjective.”
“The death of dogma is the birth of morality.”
“Reason can never prove the existence of God.”

St. Thomas Aquinas -- 1225-1274 (Italian Catholic Priest, Theologian, and Philosopher)

“What can be accomplished by a few principles is not effected by many. But it seems that everything we see in the world can be accounted for by other principles, supposing God did not exist. For all natural things can be reduced to one principle, which is nature, and all voluntary things can be reduced to one principle, which is human reason, or will. Therefore there is no need to suppose God's existence.”

Robert Ingersoll -- 1833-1899 (Civil War Veteran, Political Leader, and Orator)

"The inspiration of the Bible depends on the ignorance of the person who reads it."
"Why should I allow that same God to tell me how to raise my kids, who had to drown His own?"

John Updike -- 1932- (Pulitzer Prize-Winning Writer and Critic)

“Whenever religion touches science, it gets burned. In the sixteen century astronomy, in the seventeenth microbiology, in the eighteenth geology and paleontology, in the nineteenth Darwin's biology all grotesquely extended the world-frame and sent churchmen scurrying for cover in ever smaller, more shadowy nooks, little gloomy ambiguous caves in the psyche where even now neurology is cruelly harrying them, gouging them out from the multifolded brain like wood lice from under the woodpile. Barth had been right: totaliter aliter. Only by placing God totally on the other side of the humanly understandable can any final safety for Him be secured.”

Susan B. Anthony -- 1820-1906 (American Civil Rights Leader and Suffragist)

"I was born a heretic. I always distrust people who know so much about what God wants them to do to their fellows."

Vincent Van Gogh -- 1853-1890 (Dutch Post-Impressionist Artist)

"I can very well do without God both in my life and in my painting, but I cannot, suffering as I am, do without something which is greater than I am, which is my life, the power to create."

William Howard Taft -- 1857-1930 (Chief Justice, Governor General of the Philippines, Secretary of War, and Twenty-Seventh President of the United States)

"I do not believe in the divinity of Christ, and there are many other of the postulates of the orthodox creed to which I cannot subscribe."

Aristophanes -- 446-386 BCE (Greek Comic Playwright known as the Father of Comedy)

“Shrines! Shrines! Surely you don't believe in the gods. What's your argument? Where's your proof?”

Pope John Paul II -- 1920-2005 (Catholic Pope)

“Today, almost half a century after the publication of the Encyclical [of Pius IX], new knowledge has led to the recognition in the theory of evolution of more than a hypothesis. It is indeed remarkable that this theory has been progressively accepted by researchers, following a series of discoveries in various fields of knowledge. The convergence, neither sought nor fabricated, of the results of work that was conducted independently is in itself a significant argument in favor of this theory.”

Aristotle -- 384-322 BC (Greek Philosopher, Student of Plato, and Teacher of Alexander the Great)

“Men create gods after their own image, not only with regard to their form but with regard to their mode of life.”
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
“Prayers and sacrifices are of no avail.”

Larry King -- 1933- (American Television and Radio Host)

“I remember always questioning the Bible. I thought the God of the Bible was vindictive and petty -- that "smite my enemies" and "pray only to me" stuff. I couldn't accept faith blindly, which you were required to do as an Orthodox Jew. The older I got, the less religious I got.”

Thomas Edison -- 1847-1931 (American Inventor and Businessman)

"Religion is all bunk."
“There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the real labor of thinking.”
“Incurably religious, that is the best way to describe the mental condition of so many people.”
“I have never seen the slightest scientific proof of the religious theories of heaven and hell, of future life for individuals, or of a personal God.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson -- 1803-1882 (American Essayist, Philosopher, Poet, and Transcendentalist Movement Leader)

“We must get rid of that Christ, we must get rid of that Christ!”
“The religion of one age is the literary entertainment of the next.”

T.S. Eliot -- 1888-1965 (British American Poet, Dramatist, Literary Critic, and Nobel Laureate)

“Human kind cannot bear very much reality.”
“To justify Christian morality because it provides a foundation of morality, instead of showing the necessity of Christian morality from the truth of Christianity, is a very dangerous inversion.”

Thomas Paine -- 1737-1809 (English Revolutionary, Pamphleteer, Radical, Inventor, and Intellectual)

"The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is reason. I have never used any other, and I trust I never shall."
"Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and tortuous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we call it the word of a demon than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind."
"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit."

Joseph Stalin -- 1878-1953 (General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union’s Central Committee)

"You know, they are fooling us, there is no God... all this talk about God is sheer nonsense."

Jared Diamond -- 1937- (American Evolutionary Biologist, Physiologist, Biogeographer, Lecturer, and Pulitzer Prize-Winning Nonfiction Writer)

“It is often government that organizes the conquest, and religion that justifies it.”

Dr James Watson -- 1928- (American Molecular Biologist, Nobel Laureate, and Co-Discoverer of DNA)

“I don’t think we’re anything, we’re just products of evolution. You can say ‘Gee, your life must be pretty bleak if you don’t think there’s a purpose’ but I’m anticipating a good lunch.”
“The luckiest thing that ever happened to me was that my father didn't believe in God, and so he had no hang-ups about souls. I see ourselves as products of evolution, which itself is a great mystery.”
“Today, the theory of evolution is an accepted fact for everyone but a fundamentalist minority, whose objections are based not on reasoning but on doctrinaire adherence to religious principles.”

Woodrow Wilson -- 1856-1924 (President of Princeton University and the Twenty-Eighth President of the United States)

“May it not suffice for me to say ... that of course like every other man of intelligence and education I do believe in organic evolution. It surprises me that at this late date such questions should be raised.”

Richard P Feynman -- 1918-1988 (American Physicist and Nobel Laureate)

“God was invented to explain mystery.”
“You see, one thing is, I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong.”

Charles Schulz -- 1922-2000 (American Cartoonist known for ‘Peanuts’)

“And those sickly-sweet images of invisible deceased grandparents looming protectively over the kids. Oh, I can't stand that. You could get diabetes reading them, couldn't you?”
“The term that best describes me now is ‘secular humanist.’”

Sigmund Freud -- 1856-1939 (Austrian-Jewish Psychiatrist and Founder of the Psychoanalytic School of Psychology)

"Neither in my private life nor in my writings, have I ever made a secret of being an out-and-out unbeliever. "
“The rest of our enquiry is made easy because this God-Creator is openly called Father. Psycho-analysis concludes that he really is the father, clothed in the grandeur in which he once appeared to the small child.”

Salman Rushdie -- 1947- (British Indian Novelist and Essayist)

“God, Satan, Paradise, and Hell all vanished one day in my fifteenth year, when I quite abruptly lost my faith . . . and afterwards, to prove my newfound atheism, I bought myself a rather tasteless ham sandwich . . . no thunderbolt arrived to strike me down . . . from that day to this I have thought of myself as a wholly secular person.”
“I don't think there is a need for an entity like God in my life.”

Oscar Wilde -- 1854-1900 (Irish Playwright, Poet, Short Story Writer, and Novelist)

"When I think of all the harm the Bible has done, I despair of ever writing anything to equal it."
“Truth, in matters of religion, is simply the opinion that has survived.”

Emile Zola -- 1840-1902 (French Writer, and Major Figure in the Political Liberalization of France)

“Has science ever retreated? No! It is Catholicism which has always retreated before her, and will always be forced to retreat.”

Virginia Woolf -- 1882-1941 (English Novelist and Essayist)

“I read the book of Job last night — I don't think God comes out well in it.”

Tennessee Williams -- 1911-1983 (Pulitzer Prize-Winning American Playwright)

“All your Western theologies, the whole mythology of them, are based on the concept of God as a senile delinquent.”

Thomas Henry Huxley -- 1825-1895 (English Biologist and Supporter of Charles Darwin)

"That it is wrong for a man to say he is certain of the objective truth of a proposition unless he can provide evidence which logically justifies that certainty. This is what agnosticism asserts and in my opinion, is all that is essential to agnosticism."

Archbishop Desmond Tutu -- 1931- (South African Cleric, Activist, and Nobel Laureate)

"God, we know you are in charge, but why don't you make it slightly more obvious?"

Charlie Chaplin -- 1889-1977 (Academy Award-Winning English Comedic Actor and Director)

"By simple common sense I don't believe in God."

Other notable Skeptics: Alfred Hitchcock, Democritus, Marlon Brando, Fidel Castro, Jean Luc Godard, Michael Crichton, Brian Eno, Mao Tse-tung, Francois Mitterrand, Arthur Miller, Randy Newman, Eddie Vedder, Roman Polanski, Ron Reagan Jr., Larry Flynt, Billy Bragg, Katharine Hepburn, Bruce Willis, Warren Buffett, Howard Hughes, Dave Matthews, Vic Chesnutt, Billy Joel, Paul Watson, Michael Stipe, Lance Armstrong, Ani DiFranco, Bob Geldof, Adam Carolla, David Cronenberg, John Malkovich, Ricky Gervais, Ira Glass, Bob Odenkirk, George Soros, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Antonio Banderas, Richard Dreyfuss, Richard Branson, Ted WIlliams, Henry Rollins, Matthew Sweet, Rodney Dangerfield, Janeane Garofalo, Micky Dolenz, Tom Lehrer, Bruce Lee, Angelina Jolie, Howard Stern, Vincent Bugliosi, Kathy Griffin, Bjork, Dov Charney, Noel Gallagher, David Gilmour, Diane Keaton, Joe Simpson, Robert Smith, Trent Reznor, Chris Robinson, Roger Waters, Zac Efron, Bill Nye, Neil Peart, Sean Penn, Keanu Reeves, Steven Hawking, Steven Jay Gould, Winston Churchill, Matt Groening, and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on ad infinitum...

My God Your God His God Her God

2008-12-24T09:48:00.000-08:00

In response to the comment which states the belief that there is not just one path to salvation, what are the implications versus God’s commandment “Do not have any other gods before me?” Is yours the same God as Allah?

Would it sound strange to you if I said that I steadfastly believe in the gods of olympus? Would it sound strange to you if I said I still believe in the tooth fairy? Why are these any different?

There was a time when religious teachings were concrete, and one abided by them completely. Now, we make up the rules as we go along, and we fit them to our individual beliefs. They can change without notice at our whim. This, it appears to me, is why we have 35,000 different sects within Christianity. I know Christians who believe in Karma and Reincarnation when the idea suits them. Probably the most obvious hypocrisy in the ’10 Commandments’ flies in the face of “Thou shalt not kill.” Christians have been some of history’s deadliest people. During the Crusades, we annihilated Muslims, Russian and Greek Orthodox, Jews, Mongols, Slavs, Prussians, Waldensians, Hussites, and Cathars. It turned into arbitrary mass murder of ‘heretics’ and ‘pagans’ and whoever else needed to die. During the Spanish Inquisition, as many as 50,000 people were killed.

I'd also like to respond to a comment about what caused so many of us to become Christians:
American Christianity stems directly from the spread of death and destruction in the name of Jesus Christ into Western Europe where the power of the sword gave way to the annihilation of Native Americans which literally forced the dogma of Christianity on the North and South American continents down the barrel of English, Spanish, and French guns. Americans would not be having this conversation if it was not for the efficiency of the killing machine that was the Christian Empire of the Old World. It seems that a sort of historical amnesia has taken place. Since the Second Great Awakening, countless billions of dollars have been made peddling the modern idea of Personal Jesus. Nowadays, over 35,000 protestant Christian sects cherry pick from the Bible, forming ever-mutating interpretations of the Word of God. The wrath of God has been glossed over in the modern Christian movement. It’s an afterthought, a touchy subject to get into the true Word of God. So that we do not forget about which God we speak, let’s put it into perspective. Is this a righteous God of love? This is the word of the Lord:

Deuteronomy 5:9 -- “You shall not bow down to [other gods] or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me.”
Proverbs 3:5 -- “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.”
Proverbs 23:2 -- “And put a knife to your throat if you have a ravenous appetite.”
Leviticus 20:9 -- “For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him. And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.”
Sirach 22:16 -- “Masonry bonded with wooden beams is not loosened by an earthquake.”
Ezekiel 9:5-7 -- "Then I heard the LORD say to the other men, "Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity! Kill them all – old and young, girls and women and little children. But do not touch anyone with the mark. Begin your task right here at the Temple." So they began by killing the seventy leaders. "Defile the Temple!" the LORD commanded. "Fill its courtyards with the bodies of those you kill! Go!" So they went throughout the city and did as they were told."
2 Kings 2:23-24 -- “From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!" He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.”
Leviticus 20:13 -- “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”
Genesis 29:28 -- "And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also."
Deuteronomy 22:20-1 -- “But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel: Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father’s house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.”
Exodus 35:2 -- “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.”
Exodus 31:12-15 -- “The LORD then gave these further instructions to Moses: 'Tell the people of Israel to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you forever. It helps you to remember that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. Yes, keep the Sabbath day, for it is holy. Anyone who desecrates it must die; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community. Work six days only, but the seventh day must be a day of total rest. I repeat: Because the LORD considers it a holy day, anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death.'”
Numbers 31:25-35 -- “And the LORD said to Moses, 'You and Eleazar the priest and the family leaders of each tribe are to make a list of all the plunder taken in the battle, including the people and animals. Then divide the plunder into two parts, and give half to the men who fought the battle and half to the rest of the people. But first give the LORD his share of the captives, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats that belong to the army. Set apart one out of every five hundred as the LORD's share. Give this share of their half to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the LORD. Also take one of every fifty of the captives, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats in the half that belongs to the people of Israel. Give this share to the Levites in charge of maintaining the LORD's Tabernacle.' So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses. The plunder remaining from the spoils that the fighting men had taken totaled 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 young girls.”
Exodus 21:20-21 -- "When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property."
Psalm 137:9 -- “Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.”
Deuteronomy 13:7-12 -- "If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or you intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your fathers have not known, gods of any other nations, near at hand or far away, from one end of the earth to the other: do not yield to him or listen to him, nor look with pity upon him, to spare or shield him, but kill him. Your hand shall be the first raised to slay him; the rest of the people shall join in with you. You shall stone him to death, because he sought to lead you astray from the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. And all Israel, hearing of this, shall fear and never do such evil as this in your midst."
1 Peter 2:18 -- “Slaves, be subject to your masters with all reverence, not only to those who are good and equitable but also to those who are perverse.”
Ephesians 5:22-24 -- “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.”
Leviticus 21:16-23 -- “Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron that in all future generations, his descendants who have physical defects will not qualify to offer food to their God. No one who has a defect may come near to me, whether he is blind or lame, stunted or deformed, or has a broken foot or hand, or has a humped back or is a dwarf, or has a defective eye, or has oozing sores or scabs on his skin, or has damaged testicles. Even though he is a descendant of Aaron, his physical defects disqualify him from presenting offerings to the LORD by fire. Since he has a blemish, he may not offer food to his God. However, he may eat from the food offered to God, including the holy offerings and the most holy offerings. Yet because of his physical defect, he must never go behind the inner curtain or come near the altar, for this would desecrate my holy places. I am the LORD who makes them holy.’”
Deuteronomy 3:1-7 -- "Next we headed for the land of Bashan, where King Og and his army attacked us at Edrei. But the LORD told me, 'Do not be afraid of him, for I have given you victory over Og and his army, giving you his entire land. Treat him just as you treated King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon.' So the LORD our God handed King Og and all his people over to us, and we killed them all. We conquered all sixty of his towns, the entire Argob region in his kingdom of Bashan. These were all fortified cities with high walls and barred gates. We also took many unwalled villages at the same time. We completely destroyed the kingdom of Bashan, just as we had destroyed King Sihon of Heshbon. We destroyed all the people in every town we conquered – men, women, and children alike. But we kept all the livestock for ourselves and took plunder from all the towns."
Matthew 10:34-36 -- "Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man 'against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one's enemies will be those of his household'.”
Luke 19:27 -- “But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and slaughter them in my presence.”
Leviticus 26:27-35 -- “If after this you still refuse to listen and still remain hostile toward me, then I will give full vent to my hostility. I will punish you seven times over for your sins. You will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters. I will destroy your pagan shrines and cut down your incense altars. I will leave your corpses piled up beside your lifeless idols, and I will despise you. I will make your cities desolate and destroy your places of worship, and I will take no pleasure in your offerings of incense. Yes, I myself will devastate your land. Your enemies who come to occupy it will be utterly shocked at the destruction they see. I will scatter you among the nations and attack you with my own weapons. Your land will become desolate, and your cities will lie in ruins. Then at last the land will make up for its missed Sabbath years as it lies desolate during your years of exile in the land of your enemies. Then the land will finally rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. As the land lies in ruins, it will take the rest you never allowed it to take every seventh year while you lived in it.”
Leviticus 26:21-22 -- “If even then you remain hostile toward me and refuse to obey, I will inflict you with seven more disasters for your sins. I will release wild animals that will kill your children and destroy your cattle, so your numbers will dwindle and your roads will be deserted.”
Psalm 104:5 -- “You [God] fixed the earth on its foundation, never to be moved.”
Deuteronomy 23:2 -- “No one whose testicles have been crushed or whose penis has been cut off may be admitted into the community of the Lord.”
Jeremiah 18:21-22 -- “So let their children starve! Let the sword pour out their blood! Let their wives become widows without any children! Let their old men die in a plague, and let their young men be killed in battle! Let screaming be heard from their homes as warriors come suddenly upon them. For they have dug a pit for me, and they have hidden traps along my path.”
Jeremiah 8:17 -- “Yes, I will send against you poisonous snakes, Against which no charm will work when they bite you, says the LORD.”
1 Kings 20:35-36 -- “Meanwhile, the LORD instructed one of the group of prophets to say to another man, "Strike me!" But the man refused to strike the prophet. Then the prophet told him, "Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, a lion will kill you as soon as you leave me." And sure enough, when he had gone, a lion attacked and killed him.”
Ezekiel 4:12-15 -- “Each day prepare your bread as you would barley cakes. While all the people are watching, bake it over a fire using dried human dung as fuel and then eat the bread. For this is what the LORD says: Israel will eat defiled bread in the Gentile lands, where I will banish them!" Then I said, "O Sovereign LORD, must I be defiled by using human dung? For I have never been defiled before. From the time I was a child until now I have never eaten any animal that died of sickness or that I found dead. And I have never eaten any of the animals that our laws forbid." "All right," the LORD said. "You may bake your bread with cow dung instead of human dung.”
Deuteronomy 25:11-12 -- “If two Israelite men are fighting and the wife of one tries to rescue her husband by grabbing the testicles of the other man, her hand must be cut off without pity.”
Sirach 9:2 -- “Give no woman power over you to trample upon your dignity.”
Colossians 3:18 -- “Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord.”
Proverbs 25:21-22 -- “If your enemy be hungry, give him food to eat, if he be thirsty, give him to drink; For live coals you will heap on his head, and the Lord will vindicate you.”

Junto

2008-12-22T22:26:00.000-08:00

Here's a friendly aim debate I had with someone who read my last post. My responses are in bold font. I'm glad that we can engage this topic without resentment or offense.

10:09 PM
i am extremely curious as to what you expect to be people's responses to your current blog
'i have faith and that's all i need' #1
'you're an asshole' #2
or #3, nothing at all

or #4 they’ll just stop listening to my band

hahaha
but why post it?
is this a dick move intentionally?
do you consider it a dick move?
well it is quite antagonistic
well my blog is meant to provoke thought
but are you provoking thoughts?
i think you are just provoking people in general
i don't understand
what’s the difference?
provoking is just to get people riled up and get a reaction
if people are on the defense, they are not going to be able to articulate their thoughts as well
therefore, giving you exactly what you want because their arguments won't be as strong
10:15 PM
heres how i see it:
christianity and other world religions are built on spreading the word
10:20 PM
so as an agnostic, i feel it is my duty to do the same
secularists represent a large percentage of our country's population
and yet we keep quiet for fear of offending believers
i just think you take things to the extreme
like, i don't know a lot of people who shout their beliefs from the mountain tops
the only crazy ones i can think of are just that.. the CRAZIES
i don't think what i said was very extreme at all
i could have said, hey all you zealots are idiots!
THAT would be extreme
in fact, it could be argued pretty well that all i'm doing is presenting logic and reason, and that believing in an invisible force with no proof is what’s extreme
uuuuugh
gravity itself is invisible
you can't see it
and i know that is a laaaaaaaaaaame argument
gravity is provable in a laboratory, and no one is debating it
thats a terrible argument
hahahaha
i know
but defending your religious beliefs is so much different than defending anything else
yeah cuz it requires a suspension of logic and reason
all you can do is say ‘i have faith’ and ‘i just know’
no, that is the thing
all you HAVE is faith
well THAT is pretty extreme
you don't know
the onus is on you
to prove god exists
and exists how you see him
hah
that's the problem with people getting upset with agnostics
if i said there was that tiny teakettle in space, and i “just know” it serves chai
the onus would be on me to reason it out
you have already used that argument with me
well, when i was a little girl i imagined God looked just like my priest at my grade school
that was how i saw him
the point is, when i proclaim something IS
its my job to support that argument with evidence
when you say ‘i doubt that’
the onus is still on me
the nonbeliever needs proof, and frankly there is a dearth of it
so it's not extreme at all what i believe or said in that blog
i am not getting pissy with the fact that you are agnostic
i am actually not the least bit pissed
we both know there is no proof
so god could be a four headed pig who lives on jupiter
i don't know the shape he takes so maybe :)
it could be a zebra floating in the kuiper belt with a sony universal remote
it could be ANYTHING, or it might not exist at all
but instead, people need and argue over answers to the minutia of the unknown
and that's why there are over 35000 sects of christianity
so you believe all possible miracles are purely coincidences?
and i am not getting all "praise the Lawd" on you
just wondering
i believe it cannot be known currently, but science is making progress on that front every single day
and one day it may be known
may be known?
isn't that doubt somewhat acknowledging a higher power?
science pushes forward to answer the questions of the unknown while religion gets pushed further and further to the fringe. this is nothing new. theologians have been struggling with this for centuries, and it’s only accelerating with the progress of scientific discovery
we used to look up to the sky and think that was heaven
we used to think that earth was the center of the universe
we used to think the world was flat
we used to think lightning was an upset god
now we don't believe any of that. NO ONE believes any of that anymore
but to suggest then what we know now was extreme and heretical
10:35 PM
religion appears to be man made
the bible was written on old-world knowledge, so its scope was too narrow to predict what science is discovering today
if it wasn’t, god might’ve mentioned something science-related in the bible
instead, its an arcane and self-contradictory rulebook of fear of hell and damnation
THAT is extreme
okay
i just think with someone as passionate as you are about the subject, are you really open to hearing people out?
i’m open to a decent and reasonable argument
obvs
but what i hear is I JUST BELIEVE
and I JUST KNOW
and I ONLY NEED FAITH
and IF WE DON’T KNOW, THEN ISN’T IT POSSIBLE THAT GOD EXISTS?
but
i still don't understand the harm in letting people believe
i am talking about your ORDINARY believers
you know the ones who accept both science and religion
i believe that modern religion, at its core, programs ignorance and closed-mindedness. its not the fault of the believer. they are victims here.
i don’t really think science and religion work together seamlessly. religion only fits in the fringes of what science hasn’t yet discovered, but that fringe is shrinking daily.
didn't you tell me you were raised catholic?
yeah and as soon as i began thinking for myself, i began doubting my faith.
i am just very curious as to how you talk to your parents about all this
you don't have to tell me
i gave my dad a book called ‘the god delusion’
you told me
he was pissed at first but then you found out he was recommending it to his friends
i told my mom that mindless regurgitation of creeds seems kinda cultish to me
i fully agree with that
but what about the pledge of allegiance in your eyes?
same thing
okay, at least you are consistent
if i said the world was gonna end tomorrow, you'd either wanna wait to see it, or you'd want a well-reasoned explanation
and if you said you didn't believe me?
well it's not your job to prove me wrong
its my job to prove myself right
get it?
i get it
i just don't really agree
but tomato tomahtoe
hahaha

hahaha
you can't disagree with that!
you can only say you refuse to engage in a logic-based debate about religion
10:45 PM
ouch
which is fine
as corny as it sounds, there are some situations where logic just doesn't fit
i can’t really see that
if you had some proof of that occurring in real life perhaps
ahhhhh
wow
matters of religion must disengage from reason
and somehow that's okay?
if nasa decided to send a ship to saturn, and on sheer faith made calculations based on belief that random sets of numbers would set a correct course, would you put your money behind it?
so if you were to be put in a really really bad situation, you don't see yourself being like "hey God, you know i haven't really been keeping up with you, but if you could maybe spare me.. that would be super"
you just see yourself accepting it and being like "well, i am fucked?"
hahaha now what you're talking about is FEAR BASED RELIGION
which is a poor reason to believe, in my opinion
which i don't have
BUT a lot of people turn to god in those situations
i call it more of the bargaining religions
but you don't see yourself being that way?
no, i don't
i’d bank my money on the non-existence of god. if he presents himself to me, i will change my mind and devote my life to spreading his word
but right now, i am devoted to science and logic and reason
perhaps you are satan on earth :)
i was joking
do you believe in zeus?
do you believe in zoroaster?
do you believe in poseidon?
do you believe in ra?
do you believe in mohammed?
before you can accuse me of anything
can't all of these gods be lumped into my God?
hahahaha no they can't
because you are a christian
so your god is the holy trinity
i know, but i acknowledge that certain people look after cetain areas
i mean.. we have our patron saints
saint anthony takes care of lost things
there is a patron saint for safe traveling.. christopher i believe
so you're saying you’re a polytheist?
noooooo
i am basically trying to keep up :)
if you haven't noticed
do you believe in witches?
like the real magical type?
yup
no
do you believe in demons?
ugh
kind of
do you believe in the river styx?
i don't know what that is
let me google it
but probably not given the way this is going
its the river of fire that flows through hell
nope
i believe hell is tailored to each person
your hell is going to be a doozy
perhaps. but what if YOU are wrong?
what do i lose by believing?
hell, the jews might be right
but i have SOME belief and i think that will get me somewhere
the heaven's gate people might've been right
but we call them crazy
heaven's gate people?
the ones who believed jesus was coming behind a comet
is this even fun for you when i am not as knowledgeable?
well that's just it
you’re just not using logic or reason
because faith is antithetical to logic and reason
i'm aware my arguments aren't valid
but you have faith
and that's all you need
i'm just curious
if you were to have kids one day.. would you let them believe in the easter bunny, tooth fairy and santa claus?
i am NOT saying believe in God is like that
but the way you are talking, i would think you would put it in the same box
it is like that tho
why is it not?
i was waiting for you to accuse me of that
i want a good reason
no no no... answer my question first
which?
about letting your kids believe in the easter bunny, tooth fairy, and santa clause
yes, i will allow that
why?
how will you be able to explain to them that those things are real yet a god isn't?
if they want to believe in god as well, thats fine
i find that really really really hard to believe
but they eventually should grow up and challenge those beliefs
"son, once you start puberty.. no more praying to God.. HE DOESN'T EXIST"
do you believe mohammed is god?
if not, why?
to his people, he is
to me, no
but i don't believe god has to have just ONE name
so what will you say to your child when he fights you on that point?
when he tells you that mohammed, not christ, is his way to eternal salvation?
will that be ok?
i am very open to most beliefs
when he doesn't want to go to church with you because he's going to the temple?
i would accept it
i am being honest
like if my husband has a stronger faith than i do, i will probably let him raise our children in that faith
what if your son gets upset that santa didn't arrive when he wakes up on his 21st christmas?
i feel like i’m shooting myself in the foot
or on his 31st birthday gets his ass kicked for being a santa believing pansy....
he puts his knocked-out tooth under his pillow in his bachelor apt...and in the morning, not a dollar, but the tooth REMAINS, bloody and gross, under his pillow
hahaha
i can't say anything to your arguments because i'm not giving very good responses
what will you tell him?
you want me to say it is time to stop believing
will you continue to try to bend around his belief in the tooth fairy?
or will you break the truth to him?
i will tell him the truth
that the tooth fairy is really really busy and relies on moms and dads to help her out
haha no
i’ll tell him that the tooth fairy does not exist
how can you say that with such conviction when you believe in god?
here you go
how do you know the tooth fairy doesn't exist, but you know god does?
because the tooth fairy never existed
and god did?
i already said this..
I don't know if God exists
heres the truth
they both exist
they exist in the hearts and minds of their believers
no.. when i was 7 i found out the tooth fairy was a sham
there is a life span on the magic 3
it is different for each kid but they eventually find out the truth
or they never believe
but you are right, with God, all i have is my BELIEF that he is real
the only difference is your parents and role models never said god was a sham
i hope you marry some super religious nut
like jehovah's witness or something
if you have blind faith and you ‘just know’ god exists, i can't argue with you
there is no argument against faith
faith defies reason and logic
so we are back at point a
it was a mighty big scenic route we took :)

Choose or Lose

2008-12-22T14:19:00.000-08:00

Below is an exhaustive but inconclusive list of sects within the world's major religions. Find yours within, and if you're up to the challenge, explain why it's the only way to eternal salvation. Obviously it'd be impossible to try each of these practices in one's lifetime, so why did you settle on your particular sect? I hope that this will prove a valuable exercise which will display the tunnel vision we experience at ground level within our religious communities and families.

Its a large world out there, and almost each of these below believe that theirs is the only way, truth, and light.

Ok, lets see how we do.

Roman Catholic, Latin Rite, Febronianism, Lutheran, Gallicanism, Church of England, Armenian Catholic Church, Belarusian Greek Catholic Church, Bulgarian Catholic Church, Chaldean Catholic Church, Coptic Catholic Church, Croatian Greek Catholic Church, Croatian Greek Catholic Church, Ethiopian Catholic Church, Georgian Catholic Church, Greek Catholic Church, Hungarian Greek Catholic Church, Italo-Albanian Catholic Church, Macedonian Catholic Church, Maronite Catholic Church, Melkite Catholic Church, Romanian Catholic Church, Russian Catholic Church, Ruthenian Catholic Church, Byzantine Catholic Church, Slovak Greek Catholic Church, Syrian Catholic Church, Syro-Malabar Church, Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, Anglican Church in Thailand, Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Church of Burundi, Anglican Church of Canada, Anglican Church of Kenya, Anglican Church of Korea, Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea, Anglican Church of Southern Africa, Anglican Church of Tanzania, Church in the Province of the West Indies, Church in Wales, Church of England, Church of Ireland, Church of Nigeria, Church of Uganda, Church of the Province of Central Africa, Church of the Province of Melanesia, Church of the Province of Myanmar, Church of the Province of Rwanda, Church of the Province of South East Asia, Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean, Church of the Province of West Africa, Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, Episcopal Church in the United States of America, Episcopal Church of Cuba, Episcopal Church of the Sudan, Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui, Iglesia Anglicana de la Region Central America, Iglesia Anglicana de México, Iglesia Anglicana del Cono Sur de las Americas, Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil, Lusitanian Church of Portugal, Nippon Sei Ko Kai, Philippine Episcopal Church, Scottish Episcopal Church, Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church, Church of Bangladesh, Church of North India, Church of South India, Church of Pakistan, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, Finnish Orthodox Church, Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church, Patriarchal Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe, Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, Saint Catherine's Monastery, Latvian Orthodox Church, Moldovan Orthodox Church, Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), Chinese Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, Estonian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate, Serbian Orthodox Church, Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, Romanian Orthodox Church, Metropolis of Bessarabia, Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church, Cypriot Orthodox Church, Church of Greece, Polish Orthodox Church, Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church in America, Russian Orthodox Church in America, Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, British Orthodox Church, French Coptic Orthodox Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, Armenian Apostolic Church, Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Assyrian Church of the East, Sedevacantism, American Catholic Church in the United States, Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church, Catholic Charismatic Church of Canada, Catholic Church, Inc., Celtic Catholic Church, Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, Communion of Christ the Redeemer, Free Catholic Church, Liberal Catholic Church, Mariavite Church, Old Catholic Church, Old Catholic Church of America, Old Catholic Church in Europe, Palmarian Catholic Church, Philippine Independent Church, Polish National Catholic Church, Spiritus Christi, True Catholic Church, African Orthodox Church, Anglican Catholic Church, Anglican Church in America, Anglican Mission in the Americas, Anglican Orthodox Church, Anglican Province of America, Anglican Province of Christ the King, Charismatic Episcopal Church, Christian Episcopal Church, Church of England, Church of England in South Africa, Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, Episcopal Missionary Church, Free Church of England, Free Protestant Episcopal Church, Reformed Episcopal Church, Southern Episcopal Church, Greek Old Calendarists, Montenegrin Orthodox Church, Macedonian Orthodox Church, Russian Old Believers, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kiev Patriarchy), Antiochian Catholic Church in America, Oriental Orthodox, Celtic Orthodox Church, Malabar Independent Syrian Church, Orthodox-Catholic Church of America (OCCA), Moravian Church, Taborites, Unity of the Brethren, Utraquists, Waldensian-Methodist Union of Italy, Waldensian Church of the Rio de la Plata, Apostolic Lutheran Church of America, Association of Free Lutheran Congregations, Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America, Church of the Lutheran Confession, Concordia Lutheran Conference, Evangelical Lutheran Church "Concord", Evangelical Lutheran Free Church (Germany), Evangelical Lutheran Synod, Lutheran Church of Central Africa Malawi Conference, Lutheran Church of Central Africa Zambia Conference, Ukrainian Lutheran Church, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, Evangelical Catholic Church, Evangelical Community Church-Lutheran, Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America, International Lutheran Council, American Association of Lutheran Churches, Evangelical Lutheran Church - Synod of France and Belgium, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil, Evangelical Lutheran Church of England, Gutnius Lutheran Church, Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Japan Lutheran Church, Lanka Lutheran Church, Lutheran Church - Canada, Lutheran Church—Hong Kong Synod, Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, Lutheran Church of Australia, Laestadian Lutheran Church, Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ, Lutheran Evangelical Protestant Church, Lutheran Ministerium and Synod - USA, Lutheran World Federation, Church of Denmark, Church of Iceland, Church of Norway, Church of Sweden, Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church, Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, Evangelical Lutheran Free Church of Norway, Lutheran Church of Australia, Malagasy Lutheran Church, Calvinism, Canadian and American Reformed Churches, Christian Reformed Church in North America, Christian Reformed Churches of Australia, Confederation of Reformed Evangelical Churches, Congregational Federation of Australia, Dutch Reformed Church, Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches, Free Reformed Churches of North America, Heritage Reformed Congregations, Netherlands Reformed Congregations, Orthodox Christian Reformed Church, Protestant Reformed Churches in America, Reformed Church in America, Reformed Church in Hungary, Reformed Church in the United States, Arminianism, Remonstrant Brotherhood, United Reformed Church, United Reformed Churches in North America, Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, Bible Presbyterian Church, Christ Community Church, Church of Scotland, Confederation of Reformed Evangelical Churches, Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales, Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ukraine, Evangelical Presbyterian Church (Australia), Free Church of Scotland, Free Presbyterian Church (Australia), Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, Greek Evangelical Church, Orthodox Presbyterian Church, Presbyterian Church in America, Presbyterian Church in Canada, Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand, Presbyterian Church of Australia, Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia, Presbyterian Church of Korea, Presbyterian Church of Wales, Presbyterian Church (USA), Presbyterian Reformed Church (Australia), Presbyterian Reformed Church (Canada), Reformed Church of France, Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly, Reformed Presbyterian Church of Australia, Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, Southern Presbyterian Church (Australia), United Free Church of Scotland, Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa, Upper Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Westminster Presbyterian Church of Australia, English Independents, Huguenots, National Association of Congregational Christian Churches, United Congregational Church of Southern Africa, United Church of Christ, Anabaptists, Abecedarians, Beachy Amish, Nebraska Amish, Old Order Amish, Swartzendruber Amish, Apostolic Christian Church, Brethren in Christ, Hutterites, Bruderhof Communities, Alliance of Mennonite Evangelical Congregations, Chortitzer Mennonite Conference, Church of God in Christ, Mennonite, Conservative Mennonite Conference, Conservative Mennonite Conference, Evangelical Mennonite Church, Evangelical Mennonite Conference, Evangelical Mennonite Mission Conference, Evangelical Missionary Church, Evangelical Mennonite Conference, Evangelical Mennonite Mission Conference, Evangelical Missionary Church, Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches, Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, Japan Mennonite Brethren Conference, US Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, General Conference Mennonite Church, Mennonite Church in the Netherlands, Mennonite Church USA, Missionary Church, Old Order Mennonites, Swiss Mennonite Conference, African Methodist Episcopal Church, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Congregational Methodist Church, Evangelical Church (ECNA), Evangelical Church of the Dominican Republic, Evangelical Methodist Church, First Congregational Methodist Church, Free Methodist Church, Free Wesleyan Church, Fundamental Methodist Conference, Inc., Methodist Church in Ireland, Methodist Church in Singapore, Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma, Methodist Church of Great Britain, Methodist Church of Malaysia, Methodist Church of New Zealand, Methodist Church of Southern Africa, Presbyterian Church of Wales, Primitive Methodist Church, United Methodist Church, Wesleyan Reform Union, Bible Fellowship Church, Christian Baptist Church of God, Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A., Church of God (Anderson), Church of God (Guthrie, Oklahoma), Church of God (Holiness), Church of God (Restoration), Churches of God General Conference (Winebrenner), Church of the Nazarene, Evangelical Free Church of America, Evangelical Free Church of America, Harmony Society, Missionary Church, Salvation Army, United Christian Church, Wesleyan Church, Alliance of Baptists, American Baptist Association, American Baptist Churches USA, Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland, Association of Grace Baptist Churches, Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America, Association of Regular Baptist Churches, Baptist Bible Fellowship International, Baptist Conference of the Philippines, Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec, Baptist Convention of Western Cuba, Baptist General Conference, Baptist General Conference of Canada, Baptist General Convention of Texas, Baptist Missionary Association of America, Baptist Union of Australia, Baptist Union of Great Britain, Baptist Union of New Zealand, Baptist Union of Scotland, Baptist Union of Western Canada, Baptist World Alliance, Bible Baptist, Black Primitive Baptists, Canadian Baptist Ministries, Canadian Convention of Southern Baptists, Central Baptist Association, Central Canada Baptist Conference, Christian Unity Baptist Association, Conservative Baptist Association, Conservative Baptist Association of America, Continental Baptist Churches, Convención Nacional Bautista de Mexico, Convention of Atlantic Baptist Churches, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, European Baptist Convention, European Baptist Federation, Evangelical Baptist Mission of South Haiti, Evangelical Free Baptist Church, Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada, Free Will Baptist Church, Fundamental Baptist Fellowship of America, General Association of Baptists, General Association of General Baptists, General Association of Regular Baptist Churches, General Conference of the Evangelical Baptist Church, Inc., General Six-Principle Baptists, Grace Baptist Assembly, Independent Baptist, Independent Baptist Church of America, Independent Baptist Fellowship International, Independent Baptist Fellowship of North America, Interstate & Foreign Landmark Missionary Baptist Association, Landmark Baptist Church, Liberty Baptist Fellowship, Myanmar Baptist Convention, National Association of Free Will Baptists, National Baptist Convention of America, Inc., National Baptist Evangelical Life and Soul Saving Assembly of the U.S.A., National Missionary Baptist Convention of America, National Primitive Baptist Convention of the U.S.A., New England Evangelical Baptist Fellowship, New Testament Association of Independent Baptist Churches, Nigerian Baptist Convention, North American Baptist Conference, Norwegian Baptist Union, Old Baptist Union, Old Regular Baptist, Old Time Missionary Baptist, Primitive Baptist, Progressive Baptist, Progressive National Baptist Convention, Reformed Baptist, General Association of Regular Baptist Churches, Regular Baptist, Separate Baptist, Separate Baptists in Christ, Seventh Day Baptist, Southeast Conservative Baptist, Southern Baptist Convention, Southern Baptists of Texas, Sovereign Grace Baptists, Strict Baptists, Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists, Union d'Églises baptistes françaises au Canada, Union d'Églises baptistes françaises au Canada, United American Free Will Baptist Church, United American Free Will Baptist Conference, United Baptist, United Baptist Convention of the Atlantic Provinces, United Free Will Baptist, Unregistered Baptist Fellowship, United Free Will Baptist, Unregistered Baptist Fellowship, World Baptist Alliance, World Baptist Fellowship, The Spiritual Baptist Archdiocese of New York, Inc., Church of the United Brethren in Christ, Free Evangelical Churches, Exclusive Brethren, Indian Brethren, Kerala Brethren, Open Brethren, River Brethren, Brethren in Christ Church, Old Order River Brethren, United Zion Church, Brethren Reformed Church, Schwarzenau Brethren, Church of the Brethren, Conservative Grace Brethren Churches, International, Dunkard Brethren, Ephrata Cloister, Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, Old German Baptist Brethren, Old Order German Baptist Brethren, The Brethren Church, Social Brethren, New Apostolic Church, United Apostolic Church, Old Apostolic Church, Restored Apostolic Mission Church, Apostolic Assemblies of Christ, Apostolic Church, Apostolic Faith Church, Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa, Assemblies of God, Assembleias de Deus, Assemblies of God in New Zealand, Assemblies of God in the United Kingdom, Assemblies of God in Vietnam, Australian Christian Churches, General Council of the Assemblies of God of the United States, Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, Australian Fellowship of Faith Churches and Ministers Int. (AFFCMI), Bible-Pattern Church Fellowship, Calvary Holiness Association, Charismatic Church of God, Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, Christ Gospel Churches International, Christian City Churches, Christian Church of North America, Christian Congregation of Brazil, Christian Outreach Centre, Christian Revival Crusade, Church of God (Charleston, Tennessee), Church of God (Chattanooga), Church of God (Cleveland), Church of God (Huntsville, Alabama), The Church of God (Jerusalem Acres), Church of God by Faith, The Church of God for All Nations, Church of God, House of Prayer, Church of God in Christ, Church of God Mountain Assembly, Church of God of Prophecy, Church of God of the Original Mountain Assembly, Church of God of the Union Assembly, Church of God with Signs Following, Church of the Foursquare Gospel in the Philippines, Church of the Little Children of Jesus Christ, Congregational Holiness Church, CRC Churches International, Destiny Church, Elim Fellowship, Elim Pentecostal Church, The Fellowship (FGFCMI), Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas, Free Apostolic Church of Pentecost, God is Love Pentecostal Church, Holiness Baptist Association, Independent Assemblies of God, International, India Pentecostal Church of God, International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, International Pentecostal Church of Christ, International Pentecostal Holiness Church, Life Application Gospel Ministries International, New Life Churches, New Testament Christian Churches of America, Inc, Open Bible Standard Churches, Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America, Pentecostal Church of God, Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church, The Pentecostal Mission, Pentecostal World Conference, Potter's House Christian Fellowship, Redeemed Christian Church of God, Revival Centres International, The Revival Fellowship, United Gospel Tabernacles, United Holy Church of America, Association of Vineyard Churches, Calvary Chapel, Charismatic Church of God, Charismatic Episcopal Church, City Harvest Church, Faith Christian Fellowship International, Full Gospel, Jesus Army, Ministries of His Glory, Ministries Without Borders, New Frontiers, Sovereign Grace Ministries, Bible Christian Mission, Church Assembly Hall, Destiny Church Groningen, New Birth Movement, New Life Fellowship, True Jesus Church, African Initiated Church, Apostles of Johane Marauke, Celestial Church of Christ, Church of the Lord (Aladura), Kimbanguist Church, Zion Christian Church, China Christian Council, Church of Bangladesh, Church of Pakistan, Church of North India, Church of South India, Evangelical Church in Germany, Mar Thoma Church, Protestant Church in the Netherlands, St. Thomas Evangelical Church, United Church of Canada, United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, United Church in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, Uniting Church in Australia, Evangelical Friends International, Friends General Conference, Friends United Meeting, post-Christian, Christian Church, Churches of Christ, Churches of Christ (non-institutional), Churches of Christ in Australia, Disciples of Christ, International Churches of Christ, Christian Israelite Church, Church of the East and Abroad, Millerites, Creation Seventh Day Adventist Church, General Conference of the Church of God (Seventh-Day), Seventh-day Adventist Church, Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement, Branch Davidians, Church of the Great God, Living Church of God, Philadelphia Church of God, True Jesus Church, United Church of God, United Seventh-Day Brethren, Church of God General Conference (Abrahamic Faith), Church of the Blessed Hope, Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith, Primitive Advent Christian Church, Assemblies of Yahweh, House of Yahweh, New Life Fellowship, Christian Millennial Fellowship, Dawn Bible Students Association, Layman's Home Missionary Movement, Pastoral Bible Institute, British-Israel-World Federation, Church of Jesus Christ-Christian, Kingdom Identity Ministries, LaPorte Church of Christ, The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord, Revival Centres International, The Revival Fellowship, Worldwide Church of God, Associated Gospel Churches, Canadian Evangelical Christian Churches, Children of God, Church of Christ, Instrumental, Kelleyites, Christian Conventions, Two by Twos, The Truth The Way, Cooneyites, Christian & Missionary Alliance, Eternal Grace, Evangelical Covenant Church of America, Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant, Evangelical Free Church of Canada, Fellowship of Fundamental Bible Churches, Grace Movement, Great Commission Association, Shakers, Indian Shakers, Jesus Movement, Metropolitan Community Churches, Native American Church, New Frontiers, Schwenkfelder Church, Universal Life, Yehowists, Yehowists-Ilyinites, Russian Jehovists, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Church of Christ (Temple Lot), Church of Christ with the Elijah Message, Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite), Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite), Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite), Community of Christ, Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Independent RLDS / Restoration Branches, Restoration Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Restored Church of Jesus Christ (Eugene O. Walton), Apostolic United Brethren, Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Latter Day Church of Christ, The True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days, Aaronic Order, The Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ, Restoration Church of Jesus Christ, Nontrinitarianism, Apostolic Assembly of the Faith in Christ Jesus, Apostolic Brethren, Apostolic Overcoming Holy Church of God, Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ, Bible Way Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Church of Jesus Christ, Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, House of Prayer Christian Church, House of Prayer Christian Church, Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, United Pentecostal Church International, American Unitarian Conference, Australia and New Zealand Unitarian Association, Canadian Unitarian Council, Deutsche Unitarier Religionsgemeinschaft, European Unitarian Universalists, General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, Unitarian Universalist Association, Unitarian Universalist Society of Spain, Unitarisk Kirkesamfund, Socinianism, Polish Brethren, Swedenborgianism, General Church of the New Jerusalem, Swedenborgian Church of North America, Christadelphians, Church of Christ, Scientist, Christian Science, Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, Church of the Blessed Hope, Doukhobors, Jehovah's Witnesses, Makuya, Members Church of God International, Molokans, Most Holy Church of God in Christ Jesus, Subbotniks, Unification Church, Messianic Judaism, Chosen People Ministries, Jews for Jesus, Messianic Bureau International, Messianic Bureau International, Messianic Jewish Alliance of America, Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations (UMJC), Church of Divine Science, Religious Science, Unity Church, Rastafari movement, Arcane School, Ascended Master Teachings, Church Universal and Triumphant, "I AM" Activity, Shangra-la Mission, Share International, The Bridge to Freedom, The Summit Lighthouse, The Temple of The Presence, Anago, Batuque, Candomblé, Lukumí, Santería, Obeah, Oyotunji, Umbanda, Vodou, Santo Daime, Esoteric Christianity, Anthroposophical Society, Archeosophical Society, Lectorium Rosicrucianum, Martinism, Societas Rosicruciana, Masons, The Rosicrucian Fellowship, Fiat Lux, Unification Church, Moon, Universal Life, International Churches of Christ in France, Hermitage of Christ of Peace, Association for Unification of Christianity Worldwide, Concerned Christians

Islam
Ahlus Sunnah wal-Jamaa'h, Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki, Shafi'i, Shi'a, Ithna Asharia, Ismailiyah, Zaiddiyah, Ibadi, Kharijite, Murjite, Mu'tazili, Sufism, Wahhabism, Salafism, Ahmadiyyah, Nation of Islam, Nation of Gods and Earths, Zikri, Druze, Alawi, Babism, Yazidi

Hindu
Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, Smartism, Arya Samaj

Chinese Traditional Religion
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Buddhism
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Don't Take it from Me

2008-12-19T21:56:00.000-08:00

Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970), was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, advocate for social reform, and pacifist. Although he spent the majority of his life in England, he was born in Wales, where he also died.
Russell was an influential philosopher and commentator. He led the British "revolt against Idealism", was a founder of analytic philosophy and (with Alfred North Whitehead) wrote Principia Mathematica. His works have had a considerable influence on logic, mathematics, set theory, linguistics and analytic philosophy. He was a prominent anti-war activist, championing free trade between nations and anti-imperialism.
Russell was imprisoned for his pacifist activism during World War I, campaigned against Adolf Hitler, for nuclear disarmament, criticised Soviet totalitarianism and the USA war in Vietnam.
In 1950, Russell was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought".

Why I Am Not A Christian
by Bertrand Russell

Introductory note: Russell delivered this lecture on March 6, 1927 to the National Secular Society, South London Branch, at Battersea Town Hall. Published in pamphlet form in that same year, the essay subsequently achieved new fame with Paul Edwards' edition of Russell's book, Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays ... (1957).

As your Chairman has told you, the subject about which I am going to speak to you tonight is "Why I Am Not a Christian." Perhaps it would be as well, first of all, to try to make out what one means by the word Christian. It is used these days in a very loose sense by a great many people. Some people mean no more by it than a person who attempts to live a good life. In that sense I suppose there would be Christians in all sects and creeds; but I do not think that that is the proper sense of the word, if only because it would imply that all the people who are not Christians -- all the Buddhists, Confucians, Mohammedans, and so on -- are not trying to live a good life. I do not mean by a Christian any person who tries to live decently according to his lights. I think that you must have a certain amount of definite belief before you have a right to call yourself a Christian. The word does not have quite such a full-blooded meaning now as it had in the times of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. In those days, if a man said that he was a Christian it was known what he meant. You accepted a whole collection of creeds which were set out with great precision, and every single syllable of those creeds you believed with the whole strength of your convictions.

What Is a Christian?

Nowadays it is not quite that. We have to be a little more vague in our meaning of Christianity. I think, however, that there are two different items which are quite essential to anybody calling himself a Christian. The first is one of a dogmatic nature -- namely, that you must believe in God and immortality. If you do not believe in those two things, I do not think that you can properly call yourself a Christian. Then, further than that, as the name implies, you must have some kind of belief about Christ. The Mohammedans, for instance, also believe in God and in immortality, and yet they would not call themselves Christians. I think you must have at the very lowest the belief that Christ was, if not divine, at least the best and wisest of men. If you are not going to believe that much about Christ, I do not think you have any right to call yourself a Christian. Of course, there is another sense, which you find in Whitaker's Almanack and in geography books, where the population of the world is said to be divided into Christians, Mohammedans, Buddhists, fetish worshipers, and so on; and in that sense we are all Christians. The geography books count us all in, but that is a purely geographical sense, which I suppose we can ignore.Therefore I take it that when I tell you why I am not a Christian I have to tell you two different things: first, why I do not believe in God and in immortality; and, secondly, why I do not think that Christ was the best and wisest of men, although I grant him a very high degree of moral goodness.
But for the successful efforts of unbelievers in the past, I could not take so elastic a definition of Christianity as that. As I said before, in olden days it had a much more full-blooded sense. For instance, it included he belief in hell. Belief in eternal hell-fire was an essential item of Christian belief until pretty recent times. In this country, as you know, it ceased to be an essential item because of a decision of the Privy Council, and from that decision the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York dissented; but in this country our religion is settled by Act of Parliament, and therefore the Privy Council was able to override their Graces and hell was no longer necessary to a Christian. Consequently I shall not insist that a Christian must believe in hell.

The Existence of God

To come to this question of the existence of God: it is a large and serious question, and if I were to attempt to deal with it in any adequate manner I should have to keep you here until Kingdom Come, so that you will have to excuse me if I deal with it in a somewhat summary fashion. You know, of course, that the Catholic Church has laid it down as a dogma that the existence of God can be proved by the unaided reason. That is a somewhat curious dogma, but it is one of their dogmas. They had to introduce it because at one time the freethinkers adopted the habit of saying that there were such and such arguments which mere reason might urge against the existence of God, but of course they knew as a matter of faith that God did exist. The arguments and the reasons were set out at great length, and the Catholic Church felt that they must stop it. Therefore they laid it down that the existence of God can be proved by the unaided reason and they had to set up what they considered were arguments to prove it. There are, of course, a number of them, but I shall take only a few.

The First-cause Argument

Perhaps the simplest and easiest to understand is the argument of the First Cause. (It is maintained that everything we see in this world has a cause, and as you go back in the chain of causes further and further you must come to a First Cause, and to that First Cause you give the name of God.) That argument, I suppose, does not carry very much weight nowadays, because, in the first place, cause is not quite what it used to be. The philosophers and the men of science have got going on cause, and it has not anything like the vitality it used to have; but, apart from that, you can see that the argument that there must be a First Cause is one that cannot have any validity. I may say that when I was a young man and was debating these questions very seriously in my mind, I for a long time accepted the argument of the First Cause, until one day, at the age of eighteen, I read John Stuart Mill's Autobiography, and I there found this sentence: "My father taught me that the question 'Who made me?' cannot be answered, since it immediately suggests the further question `Who made god?'" That very simple sentence showed me, as I still think, the fallacy in the argument of the First Cause. If everything must have a cause, then God must have a cause. If there can be anything without a cause, it may just as well be the world as God, so that there cannot be any validity in that argument. It is exactly of the same nature as the Hindu's view, that the world rested upon an elephant and the elephant rested upon a tortoise; and when they said, "How about the tortoise?" the Indian said, "Suppose we change the subject." The argument is really no better than that. There is no reason why the world could not have come into being without a cause; nor, on the other hand, is there any reason why it should not have always existed. There is no reason to suppose that the world had a beginning at all. The idea that things must have a beginning is really due to the poverty of our imagination. Therefore, perhaps, I need not waste any more time upon the argument about the First Cause.

The Natural-law Argument

Then there is a very common argument from natural law. That was a favorite argument all through the eighteenth century, especially under the influence of Sir Isaac Newton and his cosmogony. People observed the planets going around the sun according to the law of gravitation, and they thought that God had given a behest to these planets to move in that particular fashion, and that was why they did so. That was, of course, a convenient and simple explanation that saved them the trouble of looking any further for explanations of the law of gravitation. Nowadays we explain the law of gravitation in a somewhat complicated fashion that Einstein has introduced. I do not propose to give you a lecture on the law of gravitation, as interpreted by Einstein, because that again would take some time; at any rate, you no longer have the sort of natural law that you had in the Newtonian system, where, for some reason that nobody could understand, nature behaved in a uniform fashion. We now find that a great many things we thought were natural laws are really human conventions. You know that even in the remotest depths of stellar space there are still three feet to a yard. That is, no doubt, a very remarkable fact, but you would hardly call it a law of nature. And a great many things that have been regarded as laws of nature are of that kind. On the other hand, where you can get down to any knowledge of what atoms actually do, you will find they are much less subject to law than people thought, and that the laws at which you arrive are statistical averages of just the sort that would emerge from chance. There is, as we all know, a law that if you throw dice you will get double sixes only about once in thirty-six times, and we do not regard that as evidence that the fall of the dice is regulated by design; on the contrary, if the double sixes came every time we should think that there was design. The laws of nature are of that sort as regards a great many of them. They are statistical averages such as would emerge from the laws of chance; and that makes this whole business of natural law much less impressive than it formerly was. Quite apart from that, which represents the momentary state of science that may change tomorrow, the whole idea that natural laws imply a lawgiver is due to a confusion between natural and human laws. Human laws are behests commanding you to behave a certain way, in which you may choose to behave, or you may choose not to behave; but natural laws are a description of how things do in fact behave, and being a mere description of what they in fact do, you cannot argue that there must be somebody who told them to do that, because even supposing that there were, you are then faced with the question "Why did God issue just those natural laws and no others?" If you say that he did it simply from his own good pleasure, and without any reason, you then find that there is something which is not subject to law, and so your train of natural law is interrupted. If you say, as more orthodox theologians do, that in all the laws which God issues he had a reason for giving those laws rather than others -- the reason, of course, being to create the best universe, although you would never think it to look at it -- if there were a reason for the laws which God gave, then God himself was subject to law, and therefore you do not get any advantage by introducing God as an intermediary. You really have a law outside and anterior to the divine edicts, and God does not serve your purpose, because he is not the ultimate lawgiver. In short, this whole argument about natural law no longer has anything like the strength that it used to have. I am traveling on in time in my review of the arguments. The arguments that are used for the existence of God change their character as time goes on. They were at first hard intellectual arguments embodying certain quite definite fallacies. As we come to modern times they become less respectable intellectually and more and more affected by a kind of moralizing vagueness.

The Argument from Design

The next step in the process brings us to the argument from design. You all know the argument from design: everything in the world is made just so that we can manage to live in the world, and if the world was ever so little different, we could not manage to live in it. That is the argument from design. It sometimes takes a rather curious form; for instance, it is argued that rabbits have white tails in order to be easy to shoot. I do not know how rabbits would view that application. It is an easy argument to parody. You all know Voltaire's remark, that obviously the nose was designed to be such as to fit spectacles. That sort of parody has turned out to be not nearly so wide of the mark as it might have seemed in the eighteenth century, because since the time of Darwin we understand much better why living creatures are adapted to their environment. It is not that their environment was made to be suitable to them but that they grew to be suitable to it, and that is the basis of adaptation. There is no evidence of design about it.
When you come to look into this argument from design, it is a most astonishing thing that people can believe that this world, with all the things that are in it, with all its defects, should be the best that omnipotence and omniscience have been able to produce in millions of years. I really cannot believe it. Do you think that, if you were granted omnipotence and omniscience and millions of years in which to perfect your world, you could produce nothing better than the Ku Klux Klan or the Fascists? Moreover, if you accept the ordinary laws of science, you have to suppose that human life and life in general on this planet will die out in due course: it is a stage in the decay of the solar system; at a certain stage of decay you get the sort of conditions of temperature and so forth which are suitable to protoplasm, and there is life for a short time in the life of the whole solar system. You see in the moon the sort of thing to which the earth is tending -- something dead, cold, and lifeless.

I am told that that sort of view is depressing, and people will sometimes tell you that if they believed that, they would not be able to go on living. Do not believe it; it is all nonsense. Nobody really worries about much about what is going to happen millions of years hence. Even if they think they are worrying much about that, they are really deceiving themselves. They are worried about something much more mundane, or it may merely be a bad digestion; but nobody is really seriously rendered unhappy by the thought of something that is going to happen to this world millions and millions of years hence. Therefore, although it is of course a gloomy view to suppose that life will die out -- at least I suppose we may say so, although sometimes when I contemplate the things that people do with their lives I think it is almost a consolation -- it is not such as to render life miserable. It merely makes you turn your attention to other things.

The Moral Arguments for Deity

Now we reach one stage further in what I shall call the intellectual descent that the Theists have made in their argumentations, and we come to what are called the moral arguments for the existence of God. You all know, of course, that there used to be in the old days three intellectual arguments for the existence of God, all of which were disposed of by Immanuel Kant in the Critique of Pure Reason; but no sooner had he disposed of those arguments than he invented a new one, a moral argument, and that quite convinced him. He was like many people: in intellectual matters he was skeptical, but in moral matters he believed implicitly in the maxims that he had imbibed at his mother's knee. That illustrates what the psychoanalysts so much emphasize -- the immensely stronger hold upon us that our very early associations have than those of later times.
Kant, as I say, invented a new moral argument for the existence of God, and that in varying forms was extremely popular during the nineteenth century. It has all sorts of forms. One form is to say there would be no right or wrong unless God existed. I am not for the moment concerned with whether there is a difference between right and wrong, or whether there is not: that is another question. The point I am concerned with is that, if you are quite sure there is a difference between right and wrong, then you are in this situation: Is that difference due to God's fiat or is it not? If it is due to God's fiat, then for God himself there is no difference between right and wrong, and it is no longer a significant statement to say that God is good. If you are going to say, as theologians do, that God is good, you must then say that right and wrong have some meaning which is independent of God's fiat, because God's fiats are good and not bad independently of the mere fact that he made them. If you are going to say that, you will then have to say that it is not only through God that right and wrong came into being, but that they are in their essence logically anterior to God. You could, of course, if you liked, say that there was a superior deity who gave orders to the God that made this world, or could take up the line that some of the gnostics took up -- a line which I often thought was a very plausible one -- that as a matter of fact this world that we know was made by the devil at a moment when God was not looking. There is a good deal to be said for that, and I am not concerned to refute it.

The Argument for the Remedying of Injustice

Then there is another very curious form of moral argument, which is this: they say that the existence of God is required in order to bring justice into the world. In the part of this universe that we know there is great injustice, and often the good suffer, and often the wicked prosper, and one hardly knows which of those is the more annoying; but if you are going to have justice in the universe as a whole you have to suppose a future life to redress the balance of life here on earth. So they say that there must be a God, and there must be Heaven and Hell in order that in the long run there may be justice. That is a very curious argument. If you looked at the matter from a scientific point of view, you would say, "After all, I only know this world. I do not know about the rest of the universe, but so far as one can argue at all on probabilities one would say that probably this world is a fair sample, and if there is injustice here the odds are that there is injustice elsewhere also." Supposing you got a crate of oranges that you opened, and you found all the top layer of oranges bad, you would not argue, "The underneath ones must be good, so as to redress the balance." You would say, "Probably the whole lot is a bad consignment"; and that is really what a scientific person would argue about the universe. He would say, "Here we find in this world a great deal of injustice, and so far as that goes that is a reason for supposing that justice does not rule in the world; and therefore so far as it goes it affords a moral argument against deity and not in favor of one." Of course I know that the sort of intellectual arguments that I have been talking to you about are not what really moves people. What really moves people to believe in God is not any intellectual argument at all. Most people believe in God because they have been taught from early infancy to do it, and that is the main reason.
Then I think that the next most powerful reason is the wish for safety, a sort of feeling that there is a big brother who will look after you. That plays a very profound part in influencing people's desire for a belief in God.

The Character of Christ

I now want to say a few words upon a topic which I often think is not quite sufficiently dealt with by Rationalists, and that is the question whether Christ was the best and the wisest of men. It is generally taken for granted that we should all agree that that was so. I do not myself. I think that there are a good many points upon which I agree with Christ a great deal more than the professing Christians do. I do not know that I could go with Him all the way, but I could go with Him much further than most professing Christians can. You will remember that He said, "Resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." That is not a new precept or a new principle. It was used by Lao-tse and Buddha some 500 or 600 years before Christ, but it is not a principle which as a matter of fact Christians accept. I have no doubt that the present prime minister [Stanley Baldwin], for instance, is a most sincere Christian, but I should not advise any of you to go and smite him on one cheek. I think you might find that he thought this text was intended in a figurative sense.
Then there is another point which I consider excellent. You will remember that Christ said, "Judge not lest ye be judged." That principle I do not think you would find was popular in the law courts of Christian countries. I have known in my time quite a number of judges who were very earnest Christians, and none of them felt that they were acting contrary to Christian principles in what they did. Then Christ says, "Give to him that asketh of thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away." That is a very good principle. Your Chairman has reminded you that we are not here to talk politics, but I cannot help observing that the last general election was fought on the question of how desirable it was to turn away from him that would borrow of thee, so that one must assume that the Liberals and Conservatives of this country are composed of people who do not agree with the teaching of Christ, because they certainly did very emphatically turn away on that occasion.

Then there is one other maxim of Christ which I think has a great deal in it, but I do not find that it is very popular among some of our Christian friends. He says, "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that which thou hast, and give to the poor." That is a very excellent maxim, but, as I say, it is not much practised. All these, I think, are good maxims, although they are a little difficult to live up to. I do not profess to live up to them myself; but then, after all, it is not quite the same thing as for a Christian.

Defects in Christ's Teaching

Having granted the excellence of these maxims, I come to certain points in which I do not believe that one can grant either the superlative wisdom or the superlative goodness of Christ as depicted in the Gospels; and here I may say that one is not concerned with the historical question. Historically it is quite doubtful whether Christ ever existed at all, and if He did we do not know anything about him, so that I am not concerned with the historical question, which is a very difficult one. I am concerned with Christ as He appears in the Gospels, taking the Gospel narrative as it stands, and there one does find some things that do not seem to be very wise. For one thing, he certainly thought that His second coming would occur in clouds of glory before the death of all the people who were living at that time. There are a great many texts that prove that. He says, for instance, "Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of Man be come." Then he says, "There are some standing here which shall not taste death till the Son of Man comes into His kingdom"; and there are a lot of places where it is quite clear that He believed that His second coming would happen during the lifetime of many then living. That was the belief of His earlier followers, and it was the basis of a good deal of His moral teaching. When He said, "Take no thought for the morrow," and things of that sort, it was very largely because He thought that the second coming was going to be very soon, and that all ordinary mundane affairs did not count. I have, as a matter of fact, known some Christians who did believe that the second coming was imminent. I knew a parson who frightened his congregation terribly by telling them that the second coming was very imminent indeed, but they were much consoled when they found that he was planting trees in his garden. The early Christians did really believe it, and they did abstain from such things as planting trees in their gardens, because they did accept from Christ the belief that the second coming was imminent. In that respect, clearly He was not so wise as some other people have been, and He was certainly not superlatively wise.

The Moral Problem

Then you come to moral questions. There is one very serious defect to my mind in Christ's moral character, and that is that He believed in hell. I do not myself feel that any person who is really profoundly humane can believe in everlasting punishment. Christ certainly as depicted in the Gospels did believe in everlasting punishment, and one does find repeatedly a vindictive fury against those people who would not listen to His preaching -- an attitude which is not uncommon with preachers, but which does somewhat detract from superlative excellence. You do not, for instance find that attitude in Socrates. You find him quite bland and urbane toward the people who would not listen to him; and it is, to my mind, far more worthy of a sage to take that line than to take the line of indignation. You probably all remember the sorts of things that Socrates was saying when he was dying, and the sort of things that he generally did say to people who did not agree with him.
You will find that in the Gospels Christ said, "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of Hell." That was said to people who did not like His preaching. It is not really to my mind quite the best tone, and there are a great many of these things about Hell. There is, of course, the familiar text about the sin against the Holy Ghost: "Whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him neither in this World nor in the world to come." That text has caused an unspeakable amount of misery in the world, for all sorts of people have imagined that they have committed the sin against the Holy Ghost, and thought that it would not be forgiven them either in this world or in the world to come. I really do not think that a person with a proper degree of kindliness in his nature would have put fears and terrors of that sort into the world.

Then Christ says, "The Son of Man shall send forth his His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth"; and He goes on about the wailing and gnashing of teeth. It comes in one verse after another, and it is quite manifest to the reader that there is a certain pleasure in contemplating wailing and gnashing of teeth, or else it would not occur so often. Then you all, of course, remember about the sheep and the goats; how at the second coming He is going to divide the sheep from the goats, and He is going to say to the goats, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire." He continues, "And these shall go away into everlasting fire." Then He says again, "If thy hand offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into Hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched; where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched." He repeats that again and again also. I must say that I think all this doctrine, that hell-fire is a punishment for sin, is a doctrine of cruelty. It is a doctrine that put cruelty into the world and gave the world generations of cruel torture; and the Christ of the Gospels, if you could take Him asHis chroniclers represent Him, would certainly have to be considered partly responsible for that.

There are other things of less importance. There is the instance of the Gadarene swine, where it certainly was not very kind to the pigs to put the devils into them and make them rush down the hill into the sea. You must remember that He was omnipotent, and He could have made the devils simply go away; but He chose to send them into the pigs. Then there is the curious story of the fig tree, which always rather puzzled me. You remember what happened about the fig tree. "He was hungry; and seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, He came if haply He might find anything thereon; and when He came to it He found nothing but leaves, for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it: 'No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever' . . . and Peter . . . saith unto Him: 'Master, behold the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.'" This is a very curious story, because it was not the right time of year for figs, and you really could not blame the tree. I cannot myself feel that either in the matter of wisdom or in the matter of virtue Christ stands quite as high as some other people known to history. I think I should put Buddha and Socrates above Him in those respects.

The Emotional Factor

As I said before, I do not think that the real reason why people accept religion has anything to do with argumentation. They accept religion on emotional grounds. One is often told that it is a very wrong thing to attack religion, because religion makes men virtuous. So I am told; I have not noticed it. You know, of course, the parody of that argument in Samuel Butler's book, Erewhon Revisited. You will remember that in Erewhon there is a certain Higgs who arrives in a remote country, and after spending some time there he escapes from that country in a balloon. Twenty years later he comes back to that country and finds a new religion in which he is worshiped under the name of the "Sun Child," and it is said that he ascended into heaven. He finds that the Feast of the Ascension is about to be celebrated, and he hears Professors Hanky and Panky say to each other that they never set eyes on the man Higgs, and they hope they never will; but they are the high priests of the religion of the Sun Child. He is very indignant, and he comes up to them, and he says, "I am going to expose all this humbug and tell the people of Erewhon that it was only I, the man Higgs, and I went up in a balloon." He was told, "You must not do that, because all the morals of this country are bound round this myth, and if they once know that you did not ascend into Heaven they will all become wicked"; and so he is persuaded of that and he goes quietly away.
That is the idea -- that we should all be wicked if we did not hold to the Christian religion. It seems to me that the people who have held to it have been for the most part extremely wicked. You find this curious fact, that the more intense has been the religion of any period and the more profound has been the dogmatic belief, the greater has been the cruelty and the worse has been the state of affairs. In the so-called ages of faith, when men really did believe the Christian religion in all its completeness, there was the Inquisition, with all its tortures; there were millions of unfortunate women burned as witches; and there was every kind of cruelty practiced upon all sorts of people in the name of religion.

You find as you look around the world that every single bit of progress in humane feeling, every improvement in the criminal law, every step toward the diminution of war, every step toward better treatment of the colored races, or every mitigation of slavery, every moral progress that there has been in the world, has been consistently opposed by the organized churches of the world. I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as organized in its churches, has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world.

How the Churches Have Retarded Progress

You may think that I am going too far when I say that that is still so. I do not think that I am. Take one fact. You will bear with me if I mention it. It is not a pleasant fact, but the churches compel one to mention facts that are not pleasant. Supposing that in this world that we live in today an inexperienced girl is married to a syphilitic man; in that case the Catholic Church says, "This is an indissoluble sacrament. You must endure celibacy or stay together. And if you stay together, you must not use birth control to prevent the birth of syphilitic children." Nobody whose natural sympathies have not been warped by dogma, or whose moral nature was not absolutely dead to all sense of suffering, could maintain that it is right and proper that that state of things should continue.
That is only an example. There are a great many ways in which, at the present moment, the church, by its insistence upon what it chooses to call morality, inflicts upon all sorts of people undeserved and unnecessary suffering. And of course, as we know, it is in its major part an opponent still of progress and improvement in all the ways that diminish suffering in the world, because it has chosen to label as morality a certain narrow set of rules of conduct which have nothing to do with human happiness; and when you say that this or that ought to be done because it would make for human happiness, they think that has nothing to do with the matter at all. "What has human happiness to do with morals? The object of morals is not to make people happy."

Fear, the Foundation of Religion

Religion is based, I think, primarily and mainly upon fear. It is partly the terror of the unknown and partly, as I have said, the wish to feel that you have a kind of elder brother who will stand by you in all your troubles and disputes. Fear is the basis of the whole thing -- fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death. Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion have gone hand in hand. It is because fear is at the basis of those two things. In this world we can now begin a little to understand things, and a little to master them by help of science, which has forced its way step by step against the Christian religion, against the churches, and against the opposition of all the old precepts. Science can help us to get over this craven fear in which mankind has lived for so many generations. Science can teach us, and I think our own hearts can teach us, no longer to look around for imaginary supports, no longer to invent allies in the sky, but rather to look to our own efforts here below to make this world a better place to live in, instead of the sort of place that the churches in all these centuries have made it.

What We Must Do

We want to stand upon our own feet and look fair and square at the world -- its good facts, its bad facts, its beauties, and its ugliness; see the world as it is and be not afraid of it. Conquer the world by intelligence and not merely by being slavishly subdued by the terror that comes from it. The whole conception of God is a conception derived from the ancient Oriental despotisms. It is a conception quite unworthy of free men. When you hear people in church debasing themselves and saying that they are miserable sinners, and all the rest of it, it seems contemptible and not worthy of self-respecting human beings. We ought to stand up and look the world frankly in the face. We ought to make the best we can of the world, and if it is not so good as we wish, after all it will still be better than what these others have made of it in all these ages. A good world needs knowledge, kindliness, and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men. It needs a fearless outlook and a free intelligence. It needs hope for the future, not looking back all the time toward a past that is dead, which we trust will be far surpassed by the future that our intelligence can create.

Chevy with a 454 in the hood, got 125 on the dash

2008-12-04T19:02:00.000-08:00

The auto industry bailout proposition leaves a bad taste in my mouth. A few weeks ago, the heads of the big 3 traveled to DC in private jets looking for federal funds to save their ailing companies. Now they're staging it, traveling from Detroit to DC in hybrids. What a transparent move. For over a decade now, Japan has been defeating the US manufacturers. Why? Because they built better cars, and they made them cheaper than us. When Toyota and Honda started building hybrids, the Big 3 built larger and larger SUVs. The result was obvious. Year after year, Ford, Chrysler, and GM lost money as fuel prices rose. For the last four years, I've been wondering when Detroit was going to realize their mistake, but they never did. Perhaps one could argue that the cost of manufacturing hybrids in the US was too much to compete with Japan. Perhaps the UAW had too much of a stranglehold on the US automakers. But it really just appears that they had their heads too far up their own behinds to give Americans what they wanted: quality, fuel-efficient cars. While Japan wiped the floor with Detroit, the Big 3 just made their cars bigger and less efficient. And now they're about to lose those behinds.

If I had terrible business practices and refused to listen to reason or to accept irrefutable facts, I wouldn't expect my neighborhood to come along and empty their pockets for me. But this is exactly what Detroit wants. They want the American Taxpayer (or at least the Fed) to just pony up for their idiocy.

This is the new paradigm.

The 11th Hour

2008-11-28T10:21:00.000-08:00

During my time off after tour, I've been exploring Google Video. Watch the 11th Hour, a feature documentary on the declining state of our natural world, produced and narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio. I imagine the few out there who continue to deny man-made climate change will not watch this film, as many didn't watch An Inconvenient Truth. As for us crazy progressives who believe the science, here's more.

The Spirit of the Age

2008-11-26T21:18:00.000-08:00

'Zeitgeist 2' is up. Very interesting. Watch:

And if you didn't see the legendary original 'Zeitgeist', make a night of it and see them both, but start here:

Saving Lives

2008-11-10T14:56:00.000-08:00

Something like 40 shows into this tour, we're grounded in Denver with a life-threatening disease of the van. For a few weeks now, we've been ignoring a leak from one of the back wheels. Eventually, the fluid was spraying around the inside of the wheel enough to thoroughly soak through the brake pads and essentially cause us to lose our back brakes. As if this doesn't seem an obvious enough sign of trouble, we also have been babying a slow air leak on the other rear wheel caused by what I yesterday noticed to be a giant gouge in the tire, like a spoonfull of rubber had been scooped out, revealing the metal mesh below. Staring down the Rockies on our trek back west, our right minds drove us to a shop.

It was there that the true extent of the danger became known. All this time, our real axle was leaking grease, drying up, disintegrating, and threatening to just rip right off the back of the van, and most likely while we were either climbing or descending one of the steep passes of western Colorado or Utah. So if doing ninety around some icy turn with a compromised tire hadn't killed us, and the front brakes held out long enough to perform double duty on the way down from Vail, surely losing two wheels somewhere up there would have been pretty hairy.

So needless to say, we had to cancel our Provo show for fear of death. So instead of playing music tonight and hanging out with fans and friends, we're holed up in a Starbucks, sucking down hot chocolate, wearing pajamas, having a mac party, and slowly coming to grips with the expense of new tires, new brakes, and a new rear axle.

I'm sorry, Provo. Can we make it up to you all in Salt Lake on the 21st?

The Tire Joint

2008-09-23T16:23:00.001-07:00

So the van's been breakin down of late. I think it needs new plugs, so I drove up to the zone for refreshments and and noticed the steering wheel shaking violently. Turns out one of the tires was totally chewed up. Bad alignment. Coulda died. Lets see if this new iPhone app can locate me.

Geolocate this post

Posted with LifeCast

Canada so Far

2008-09-13T16:47:00.000-07:00

backstage at our third and final canadian show, i thought i'd take a minute to reflect on my experience here. first of all, the canadian border guards treated me like a terrorism suspect. it took an hour and a half to get through, and would have taken much longer had ed harris not swooped in and cut through hours of dense red tape with a drop of his stamp. we were too thankful at that moment to opine about the ridiculousness of the preceeding ninety minutes. we were in british columbia.

vancouver had a slight eastern bloc feel to it. unoriginal and utilitarian architecture abounds, but the geography was amazing. i thought we were gonna roll up to this 'north american amsterdam' and blow into some weed cafe and suck down a carrot-sized joint each. but as it turns out, all of these cafes have been shut down. now all you can do is bring your own weed to the cafe. but my question to that is who wants to bring their weed to a weed cafe to blaze? i could think of a million places i'd rather smoke a fattie. the whole allure to the vancouver or amsterdam weed cafe is that you order your jernt like a latte. oh well.

long drives on the canadian highways were great for an american like me if for no other reason than the views on both sides are totally void of billboards. after a couple of days, we were surprised if we saw even one. the us could use a lot less of them. they cheapen the geography. i'm glad canada keeps it in check.

vancouver to calgary was arguably the most beautiful drive i've ever done. i want to live somewhere along that mountain road, though my kiwi friend here begs to differ. apparently new zealand is where it's at....

one of these days

Palin's First Major Interview

2008-09-12T08:52:00.000-07:00

WHOA. WATCH WATCH WATCH.

Earthships

2008-09-11T13:12:00.001-07:00

My brother told me about this. There's a lot more information on youtube, but this will get you started.

Damon on Palin

2008-09-11T13:10:00.001-07:00

Obama on O'Reilly

2008-09-11T13:01:00.000-07:00

2008-09-10T22:26:00.000-07:00

I'd like to take this opportunity to encourage you to read as much as you can and to gain as much experience and knowledge as possible so that you may be able to form educated and reasoned opinions. rumors and misinformation are rampant, and it's very important for all of us to do our own research to sift through all of the words and use facts to build a foundation for independent thought. this is the information age. there is no excuse for being uninformed.

READ. LEARN. THINK.

VOTE

2007-11-14T23:34:00.000-08:00

Think back upon that Lipton commercial from years ago where some girl points, without a stitch of irony, at a box of Lipton and says "I know it's specially blended for iced tea because it says so right here on the box, SPECIALLY BLENDED FOR ICED TEA."

Here's a quote from Ann Coulter that I snagged off her blog, AnnCoulter.com:

"Now, with the surge in Iraq working, Democrats are completely demoralized. Al-Qaida was counting on them. (We know the surge in Iraq is working because it is no longer front page news.)"

Michael Ware Brings It

2007-11-12T14:55:00.000-08:00

Michael Ware is on point. For anyone who needs a thorough explanation of what's going on in Iraq, he's been living there for years as a CNN correspondent, and has incredible access. This comprehensive interview is worth watching, albeit a bit old by now.

Here's Part 1 of 6. YouTube should direct you to the rest.

So I Blew Up My Moped

2007-10-05T17:24:00.000-07:00

Cruising down this long windy road through Griffith Park, I heard this rattling like there was a pebble in my engine getting thrown around in the casing. It was about four seconds from that moment until the ped shut off, leaving me doing like 40mph, lightless, screaming this down dark mountain pass in the middle of the night. In an immediate panic, I grabbed the brake handles but my eyes began to adjust and I could make out the road ahead, so I continued down the mountain toward the closest source of light that I could see. What I saw turned out to be walkway lights in a small parking lot at the base of the slope, and I coasted in so that I could get a look at my bike. Perhaps it was something simple, a taillight bulb came loose and threw off my electrical system...Perhaps I broke my spark plug--that would explain that weird rattling sound I heard just before shutdown. One thing was for certain. I was miles and miles from home with an adjustable wrench and a 10mm crescent, staring blankly at my dimly lit moped in this empty lot and facing the immutable truth that there wasn't much I could do at that moment, and I was about to walk this dead moped all the way home, when this little old man appeared next to me. After a few minutes of chatting with him ("Plugs? Electrical?"), he kindly offered to haul me and my ped home in his pick-up.

The next morning, I went out and got to work on the Puch to see if I could figure out what had gone wrong. After a few minutes of checking out the plug and electrical system, I pulled off the head and cylinder to stare at the inside of my engine. At that moment, the answer became visibly clear. A small metal shard from the back of my cylinder had broken off, got lodged between the piston and cylinder, and generally tore up the inside of my engine. And just like that, I got up, washed my hands, and ordered a whole new piston, cylinder, and head for my moped.

Huge bummer.

My Presidential Prediction

2007-10-03T21:36:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling this way for a while now, but I'm becoming even more sure now. Hillary Clinton is gonna be our next president. How crazy is that? I was really hoping Gore would have entered the race, but it certainly doesn't seem likely at this point. It's weird, the Republicans don't really have a strong candidate, and most polls I've seen reflect this. Their fundraising is well behind the Democrats, and I can't help questioning the electability of any of their frontrunners. Romney is Mormon in a party that has enjoyed a strong evangelical support, and it must be a difficult hurdle for him. McCain is boned. I thought Thompson would have brought some thunder but apparently he hasn't brought enough to outshine Giuliani, who's leading in all polls I've seen so far. Of course, the YouTube GOP debates are coming up, as are the primaries where anything could happen, but either way the Republicans aren't shining like the Dems, and Clinton's been the clear frontrunner from the very start. My prediction is that her lead will continue to widen as Obama's lesser experience and lackofhusbandwhowasafamouspresidentness will become more and more of a weight.

All of you who are screaming Kucinich and Paul into your screens right now must chill. I think they're both great and I'd be stoked to see them take the oval office, but unfortunately there's just not really a chance they're gonna get the nomination, which is why I'm not throwing their names around. I'm not talking about what I want here so much as I'm making an early prediction about the end result of the '08 race.

I think the real question at this point is not who will be our next president, rather who will be VP? Cabinet? My early assumption is that Obama's gonna get the nod for Veep. I mean, who else is gonna get it? Edwards? Biden? I dunno. Obama is very intelligent and brings thunder - a lot of people like him. He's fully a star, but he's being dominated by Hillary just like Pippen was dominated by Jordan. I wonder what Bill's gonna do. . .and Gore for that matter. It'd be nutty to think those guys aren't gonna have major sway in a Clinton administration.

My two cents. Time will obviously tell.

Gore in 08?

2007-02-26T21:29:00.000-08:00

There's been a lot of debate going on recently over the possibility that Al Gore might enter the race for the white house in 2008. The first I heard of it was months ago when I mentioned to a friend, "You know, Al Gore should run for president again. After all, he's been making such a name for himself recently with his film and his growing rock star status." She replied, "Yeah I hung out with his family a few months ago and he has every intention of running. He'll enter the race later." Naturally skeptical of that whole statement, I did my own research and found a mass of back and forth bantering on the subject. Although the horse's mouth kept saying things like "I have no plans to run for the '08 presidency," many pundits dismissed those statements as open-ended. But the more I read and heard, the more unlikely it seemed that he would actually enter the race.

But the events of last night have sent words buzzing around the world about his true intentions. Right now, the rumor mill appears evenly divided on the subject. Those on one side believe that he's too engrossed in his mission to tackle global warming to get caught up in the mud slinging of another presidential bid, and harsh attacks from opponents might put unnecessary stress on his credibility and ability to motivate people with such effectiveness in the environmental arena. But others believe that he is merely holding out until autumn, when the two main contenders, Clinton and Obama, have gotten out all of their aggression and have collapsed under the weight of their negativities. Once Obama and Clinton have sufficiently beaten each other down and the public has tired of them, Gore will enter the race as a clean candidate, an old friend, the winner of the popular vote in 2000, a tireless patriot whose effort to stop global climate change has won him an Oscar, a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, a heaping spoonful of credibility, name recognition, rock star status, and countless new fans. He will emerge, if not by his own desire to take what is rightfully his, but by the burgeoning "Draft Gore" movement under way.

I may be young to many, but I've never seen such a yearning by so many people to see their hero get in the ring. Instead of the typical 'oh i don't care who's running, they all suck' mentality, a sizeable group of americans are getting behind the draft movement to essentially petition Mr Gore to run.

One thing is for sure: a 'draft gore' movement began in '03, but he quickly and unequivocally told his supporters to stop because he was definitely not going to run. This year, the draft movement is beginning to pick up serious momentum. The rumor mill that predicted the bids of Clinton and Obama with "Are they running?" headlines are now, in the wake of his Oscar win, giving the possibility of an Al Gore candidacy the same widespread coverage as the current Democratic frontrunners.

Some things to note: He never supported the Iraq war. He's got 8 years under his belt as Vice President. He won the popular vote in the 2000 presidential election. His reputation as a stiff politician has all but vanished, and his rock star image continues to grow as he hobknobs with Hollywood A-Listers, does a heck of a job on Saturday Night Live, and wins an Oscar for his film "An Inconvenient Truth," which is one of the highest grossing documentaries in history. He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, which will be awarded in October, which is right around the time he's expected to enter the race for the 2008 presidency.

Some keen to Washington politics point to his increasing weight as a sign that he's not buckling down just yet, and when he begins exercizing regularly and toning up, that will be the sign that he's in the game.

If you would like to add your name to any or all of the "Draft Gore" petitions, please visit:
www.draftgore.com
www.algore.org
www.algore-08.com
www.electgore2008.com
www.algoresupportcenter.com
www.draftgore2008.org
www.petitiononline.com

A Breakdown of Democracy?

2006-12-13T14:34:00.000-08:00

Democratic South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson could possibly have suffered a stroke today at around 11:30am in his Washington D.C. office. He is, at the time of my writing this, undergoing a comprehensive evaluation by the stroke team at George Washington University Medical Center. While I remain hopful that he will continue his senatorial duties through 2008, a gigantic question mark looms.

If Johnson could not, for any reason, fulfil his senatorial duties, then his replacement, as specified in Article III Section 10 of the S.D. State Constitution, would be chosen by Republican Governor Michael Rounds. It is at this point that I wonder: where is the democracy in that type of system? Can the people not choose their state legislator's replacement if one cannot complete his/her term? The California State Constitution keeps the power with the people in an event such as might play out in S.D. in the coming days, as our governor would have to hold an immediate election for the people of CA to choose his/her replacement. That sounds like democracy. But that's not how it works in South Dakota.

A republican governor would obviously choose a republican senator for a replacement, and the balance of power in the Senate would shift back to the republican party.

And so I ask you: When the people of the United States of America have spoken in favor of a Democratic Senate, how can one man--the Governor of South Dakota--have te power to decide in which direction to tip the balance of power for the entire U.S. Senate, to take away that for which We the People have so strongly and nationally chosen?

Its unjust, isn't it? Well, lets all wish Senator Johnson a complete and speedy recovery so we don't have to watch this potential breakdown of democracy play out.

Questioning the Holocaust

2006-12-12T20:37:00.000-08:00

In the fifteenth century, intelligent people were skeptical about the shape of the Earth. Even after Columbus' discovery in 1492 that the world was indeed round, many remained defiant because they had not seen overwhelming evidence with their own eyes. Aristotle thought the Earth was the center of the universe, but in his time, the topic was still open for debate since no one could prove or disprove his theory with hard evidence. With advances in technology and science, documented, irrefutable evidence proves without a doubt that the Earth is indeed round and it obviously revolves around the sun.

If Aristotle was alive today, he would have to revise his theory. Thus, intelligent people can be proven wrong when an overwhelming preponderance of hard evidence is brought to light.

If i told you that the sky is not blue, or that 4+4=10, would you believe me? You wouldn't, because you could cite myriad sources to prove me wrong.

So why is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, obviously an intelligent person, attempting to deny that the Holocaust ever occurred?

You're losing me, Mahmoud. Tell me this didn't happen:

"The visual evidence and the verbal testimony of starvation, cruelty, and bestiality were so over powering as to leave me a bit sick. In one room where there were piled up twenty or thirty naked men, killed by starvation, George Patton would not even enter. He said he would get sick if he did so. I made the visit deliberately, in order to be in a position to give first-hand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations mere to "propaganda."
President Dwight D Eisenhower, shown in the last photo above, upon his visit to Buchenwald Concentration Camp, 1945
(note the skeletons of incinerated corpses in the foreground)

Genocide in Darfur: Cause and Effect

2006-12-11T04:31:00.000-08:00

Saturday, gunmen firing rocket-propelled grenades attacked a convoy of 30 civilians carrying medical aid and relief supplies in the Darfur region of western Sudan. Those who were not burned to death in the attack were shot.

This is the latest massacre in a three-year war that the World Food Program calls “a humanitarian crisis in one of the most forgotten corners of the world.” Some experts place the death toll over 400,000 with over two million displaced since the conflict began in 2003.

The attack took place as human rights groups held protests against sexual violence in Darfur, where they say thousands of women and girls have been raped by Arab militiamen known as the Janjaweed, who work under the auspices of the Sudanese government.

A full-scale, government-sponsored military operation, with support of the Janjaweed, began as a counterinsurgency. It now appears aimed at total annihilation of the African tribes in the Darfur region.

“Every day we surveyed evidence of killings,” says Brian Steidle, a photographer for the African Union, and a former Marine. “Men castrated and left to bleed to death, huts set on fire with people locked inside, children with their faces smashed in, men with their ears cut off and eyes plucked out, and the corpses of people who had been executed with gunshots to the head. We spoke with thousands of witnesses -- women who had been gang-raped and families that had lost fathers."

“Women and children bear the greatest burden. The Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps are filled with families that have lost their fathers. Every day, women are sent outside the IDP camps to seek firewood and water, despite the constant risk of rape at the hands of the Janjaweed. Should men be available to venture out of the camps, they risk castration and murder. So families decide that rape is the lesser evil.”

Routine torture in Darfur, Sudan: Amputation of the Hands and Feet
**Warning!!! Extremely Graphic Content**
The campaign of mass killing and torture began when Darfurians, fearing that an end to the generation-long conflict in southern Sudan would divide access to the country’s resources between the ruling elite and the southerners (leaving Darfur empty-handed), accused the Sudanese government of neglect. Two local rebel groups — the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Movement — blaming the Sudanese government for oppressing non-Arabs in favor of Arabs, staged an armed rebellion in early 2003. Khartoum responded by unleashing the Janjaweed and the Sudanese military on the black African civilian population. The atrocities they have committed include ethnic cleansing; impeding international humanitarian efforts; bombing civilian targets; and murdering, starving, maiming, torturing, displacing, and raping civilians (Wikipedia).

“When asked why their villages were attacked and burned, most of the refugees said it was because of their black skin,” claims Jerry Fowler, a Washington Post reporter who went to Darfur in 2004. “They believe that the Khartoum-based government of President Omar Hassan Bashir wants to give their land to his Janjaweed allies who, like him, are Arab. Members of the black African tribes will simply have to go. Like the Janjaweed, the Darfurians are Muslims. But culturally and ethnically they retain an African identity, of which they are proud. They also tend to be more settled than the nomadic Janjaweed. Racism undoubtedly does play a part in Bashir's support of the Janjaweed, as the blacks are seen as inferior” (Jerry Fowler, Washington Post). Human rights organizations, other journalists, the U.S. Department of State, and the United Nations have also documented evidence of ethnic and racial bias in the region.

After fighting worsened in July and August 2006, the United Nations Security Council approved Resolution 1706 which called for a UN peacekeeping force to supplant or supplement a poorly funded, ill-equipped 7,000-troop African Union Mission in Sudan peacekeeping force. Sudan strongly objected to the resolution and said that it would see the UN forces in the region as foreign invaders (Wikipedia).

"Sudan has made it quite clear to the whole world that it will not accept U.N. peacekeepers," said Kofi Annan, head of the United Nations. "If the Sudanese do not give their consent, no government, not yours or mine, is going to give troops for a peacekeeping operation in Darfur. . .I have gone out and indicated to the Sudanese that if they cannot protect their people, and they are refusing to let the international community come in and assist, they will be held individually and collectively responsible for what is happening and what happens."

As of today, over 200,000 refugees have poured into neighboring Chad, carrying with them the contagious humanitarian plight. Armed Janjaweed, crossing the Sudanese border in pursuit, clash with Chadian military forces. Regional stability is threatened as Sudanese and Chadian rebel militias have built a base from which to plan an overthrow of Chadian president Idriss Deby. Hundreds of thousands of famine-stricken residents of the Central African Republic (CAR) fear for their lives as the conflict spreads south from Chad and Sudan into CAR’s northern territory, where foreign rebels have teamed up with local militias, threatening an overthrow of its government as well.

HOW TO HELP STOP THE BLOODSHED

Phytoplankton on the Decline

2006-12-09T18:34:00.000-08:00

NASA Scientists, with the help of the orbiting Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS), have been charting some distressing data since 1997. SeaWIFS has been witnessing a strong decline in global levels of phytoplankton, the microscopic base of the marine food chain which also absorbs, and converts into oxygen, about half of the planet's greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide. The tiny phytoplankton prefer cooler water, and as sea temperatures rise, they simply cannot survive. What does this all mean? As levels of carbon dioxide rise, the temperatures of the earth and its oceans rise. It becomes a vicious cycle, with phytoplankton dying off in huge numbers and becoming incapable of maintaining stable levels of o2 and co2 in our atmosphere. This causes the co2 levels, and global temperatures, to rise even more, resulting in greater losses of the crucial phytoplankton. This may not appear immediately over the whole planet. The tropical oceans will take the biggest hit, while the oceans around the poles may get greener. Consequent shifts in food for local ocean wildlife are expected to be dramatic.

Operation Elf and A Mall Bust from Santa

2006-12-09T03:03:00.000-08:00

I saw this on CNN just now, and thought you all should know. This guy here, nicknamed 'Deputy Elf,' clocked and nabbed over 150 speeders in just over two hours. Twenty motorcycle cops waited for his dispatch, and then pulled over the speeders, one by one, in Orange County, Florida. One angry person called the OC Sheriff's Dept., complaining that "it's despicable to use an icon like Santa to catch speeders."

"That's specifically why we didn't use Santa Claus," Ken Wyne of the Orange County Sheriff's Office said. "We didn't choose a nativity scene. We chose an elf. An elf is known for their impish behavior. If you're going to speed in Orange County, you never know who's going to be on the street corner."

And then this: This mall santa helps authorities tackle a shoplifter on his way out the door, and gets in a nice sucker kick as well. Hilarious.

Foley's Folly

2006-12-09T02:37:00.000-08:00

I just read the instant messenger conversations between Mark Foley and the pages. Goodness gracious, it gets pretty intense. I feel really bad for the guy. While I realize that what he did was wrong, unethical, and illegal, it's unfortunate that his instant messages are available for the world to see. Here they are if you're interested in experiencing the fall of a congressman:

Exhibit 13: Ethics Committee on Standards of Conduct

Ouch. It makes me wince to put myself in his shoes. I can only imagine how embarrassed he must be.

Israel Has Been Nuclear for Decades

2006-12-08T01:57:00.000-08:00

Who knew? And reading this just now on Reuters.com, I wasn't surprised at all. I feel like I knew this already. But did I? Obviously not, since defense secretary-elect Robert Gates, at his confirmation hearing on Tuesday, apparently let the cat out of the bag, breaching a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy which dates back to the 1960s. In his opinion, Iran might be seeking a nuclear weapon because "they are surrounded by powers with nuclear weapons: Pakistan to their east, the Russians to the north, the Israelis to the west and us in the Persian Gulf." This 'open secret' between the United States and Israel, which has existed since the Nixon administration, is seen as "a major irritant for Arabs and Iran, which see a double-standard in U.S. policy in the region," says Dan Williams of Reuters. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied the allegation.

If you're still questioning it after that last statement: next time you're caught in a huge lie, try neither confirming nor denying it.

Where are We Going? Where Have We Been?

2006-12-07T12:51:00.001-08:00

full transcript of the Iraq Study Group news conference

I get the impression that some of these reporters here have not read the commission. Perhaps they only read the first few pages? The Lee/Hamilton report is pretty specific. Why are some asking questions in this forum about specifics that are discussed at length in the report itself? It appears that all questions and answers addressed points that have already been addressed in the commission report, except this one:

Question: When you recommend something like engaging Iran, which the president has been very clear will only happen after they verifiably suspend [uranium inrichment], it seems to set up the need for the president to pull a 180. Does he have the capacity to do that, in your opinion, sir?

Baker: You know, I've worked for four presidents and I used to get questions all the time: tell me about this president versus that president or the other president. And I never put presidents I worked for on the couch. So I'm not going to answer that, because that would mean I'd have to psychologically analyze the inner workings of his mind. And I don't do that.

Obviously, he didn't answer the question, but he did raise the point that presidents look to other presidents for guidance. Hopefully, Bush will do his homework on the Cold War Era and see that diplomacy works where military offensives do not.

Some pertinent reader comments via email to CNN:

Marshall Krause of San Geronimo, California
The proposed diplomatic solution will not work because President Bush and his advisors are unwilling to make Iran and Syria real partners in the solution... I applaud the report's strong urging that Bush strongly step our effort to get a negotiated and mutually acceptable solution to the Israel/Palestine dispute. This would stabilize the entire area.

I concur with the second part. Our president needs to bring Iran and Syria to the negotiating table, if for no other reason than to show the world that he is capable of making attepts at diplomacy. And please read my post entitled "Full Text Sources for the Unbiased Truth," where I have presented a link to the 2002 Bin Laden Letter to the American People. In it, he makes abundantly clear the issue that arabs have with America's stance vis a vis the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. But the first part, I hope, is no longer true.

Stuart Shepherd of Springfield, Missouri
I feel at this point that a support role is about the only thing the U.S can do. We need to accept the fact that there is no winning this war. If we continue on the present course, this will go on and on for years and deplete our resources that could be directed towards defending our own borders and true homeland security.

It's true, from a historical perspective, that spreading our resources too thin will have grave consequences for America. For all those in disagreement with this, please read the first few pages of "The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: 1500-2000." Countries that lose their place in the global power balance do so because they squander their wealth and have too many global interests at stake which cannot all be supported to the extent necessary to sustain them.

Joe Linares of Feeding Hills, Massachusetts
I took the time to read the document. Well done, well written. Now... Bush needs to take his cowboy boots off, chew a bit on humble pie, roll up his sleeves and get to work. That is what the 2006 elections told him. I have no idea how you are suppose to work with 'your adversaries if you don't talk to them.

Well put.

Ken Salsman of Pleasanton, California
The Iraq Study Group has done a passable job, but they still leave serious questions unanswered that directly impact the viability of their recommendations. While they suggest improving the justice, oil sector and reconstruction, they fail to address how that is possible with the current situation on the ground... Though I applaud the efforts of the study group, and its non-partisan structure, I am left asking why there are no cultural experts on the panel.

Well, I got the impression from reading the document that the three above suggestions will not be plausible without implementation of a broad-reaching diplomatic offensive. I'm sure that the commission does not these goals can be acheived in a vacuum. And it appears that the first step is getting all of the players to the table for discussions. This cannot happen overnight, obviously. I agree with this person's opinion that there should have been a cultural expert on the panel. America seems to not quite grasp the fundamental interests of all players in the Middle East, or the more subtle power struggles at play. Someone who truly understands the people of the region might have added a different and beneficial element to the commission.

Dean Yorgey of Alexandria, Virginia
Any plan that indicates we should remove our combat troops while we leave others to train the Iraqi Army is an invitation for another disaster. Our remaining troops would be kidnapped and murdered. The statement that, "we will stand down when the Iraqi Army stands up," is wishful thinking at best.

This is a very good point and should not be taken lightly. As far as I understand, the U.S. provided funds and armaments to the Afghanis during their war with the Soviets. Many of the arms that we supplied are being used against us now. Given the horrendous instability of the region, we should be very cautious about the underlying interests of the people whom we are supporting

Mark Aoki of Honolulu, Hawaii
The report is dangerous and incompetent in its recommendations. Sectarian violence will not stop until the combatants are separated. Iraq needs to be partitioned into a federation of Iraqi states controlled by a central government... The police forces in such areas would be immediately effective as they would be protecting their own, and it would employ and focus the entire nation.

This is a very iteresting point. Iraq was created at the end of WWII, and it could easily be partitioned again if everyone agrees that it's the best way forward. There are obviously regional implications for both plans, but it appears that the commission, after considering that approach, doesn't think it's the best idea. They cite the Kurds' fear of being overrun by another nation, and Turkey supports the Kurdish people. I will do more research in this area.

Patrick Story of Portland, Oregon
Based on my reading of the report so far, it appears to be the same old self-serving line from our ruling elite. As for our rescue by Syria and Iran, they have every reason to continue to stand aside and let Bush's elective war and occupation run their course to complete U.S. demoralization and impending bankruptcy.

I disagree with this post. First of all, it was a bipartisan commission. And secondly, I believe that too often people don't take the past and present into account in making judment calls about our policies. While I agree that American neo-imperialism has gotten us into this mess, we cannot separate ourselves from our interests and the interests of the Middle East. The commission report addresses this. Iran and Syria both have a direct interest in the stability of Iraq if for no other reason than they ultimately want peace within their own borders; both countries share a large border with Iraq, and a spillover of the Iraq mess into their countries would be detrimental to them. Please refer to page 50 of the commission report.

Swearing on the Holy Koran

2006-12-07T02:20:00.000-08:00

in direct conflict with the first amendment of the constitution of the united states, conservative pundit dennis prager calls elected minnesota representative keith ellison's desire to be sworn in with the koran "an act of hubris ... that undermines american civilization." he continues: "insofar as a member of congress taking an oath to serve america and uphold its values is concerned, america is interested in only one book, the bible. if you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don't serve in congress." and many americans, in agreement with prager, are outraged. i've been following this story for a few days, but didn't write about it because i thought it would have disappeared quickly after these angry americans did some fact-checking on u.s. history and political science. but it hasn't. people are really up in arms about this. i'm not sure why we're even discussing this in a national forum, because the topic was addressed in amendment one of the bill of rights, ratified on december 15, 1791.

here's the first amendment, for those who are still unsure:

"congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

the establishment clause of the first amendment prohibits the establishment of a national religion by congress or the preference of one religion over another, or religion over nonreligion.

why are we debating this? just give the poor guy a koran, swear him in, and lets move on to more important issues.

Gay Rabbis, I'm Into It

2006-12-07T01:54:00.000-08:00

the jews know the deal. wednesday, leaders of the conservative jewish community announced that they will ordain openly homosexual rabbis, with the caveat that the orthodox jews may continue to oppose it. "we as a movement see the advocacy of pluralism and we know that people come to different conclusions," said rabbi kassel abelson, speaking for the 25-member rabbinical assembly committee on jewish law and standards which issued a series of advisory reports. "these ... are accepted as guides so that the gays and lesbians can be welcomed into our congregation and communities and made to feel accepted," he added. this is what i'm talking about, and it makes me instantly consider the thousands of years that jews have been perscuted for their beliefs, practcing or non-practicing. they just want to live in peace. while consevative christians spend their time freaking out over the homosexual community--the split in the episcopal church over the ordainment of a gay, and the split in the evangelical community over gay marriage, and catholics continuing to live in denial of their obviously gay priests--the jews, jesus' people, show them all up. way to go, guys. what would jesus do? well ask the jews. he was one of them.

Baker III & Hamilton Commission

2006-12-06T12:35:00.000-08:00

the long awaited iraq study group commission report by james baker iii and lee hamilton came out today. until now, president bush had used the coming of this report to buy more time in his unchanging 'plan' in iraq. he wanted to wait for it before making any decisions. well here it is:

the complete baker hamilton commission report

"the situation in iraq is grave and deteriorating," says the executive summary. "our most important recommendations call for new and enhanced diplomatic and political efforts in iraq and the region, and a change in the primary mission of U.S. forces in iraq that will enable the united states to begin to move its combat forces out of iraq responsibly. we believe that these two recommendations are equally important and reinforce one another."

i'm sorry, but does it take a commission to come up with that solution? did bush not grasp this? hopefully he will now. as of yesterday, he remained essentially the only person in the united states who believed that we were winning the war over there. hopefully today, after reading this report, his ego will allow him to be convinced otherwise.

"the iraqi people have a democratically elected government, yet it is not adequately advancing national reconciliation, providing basic security, or delivering essential services. pessimism is pervasive. if the situation continues to deteriorate, the consequences could be severe. a slide toward chaos could trigger the collapse of iraq’s government and a humanitarian catastrophe. neighboring countries could intervene. sunni-shia clashes could spread. al qaeda could win a propaganda victory and expand its base of operations. The global standing of the united states could be diminished."

again, i feel like i've been saying this for months now. if one hasn't been keeping up with the iraq war, then i could understand this lack of foresight. but our own president has either been lying to the american people for quite some time now, or he has been completely out to lunch. the report also calls for increased diplomatic relations with all countries bordering iraq. well, now is the time for bush to open discussions with iran. ahmadinejad wants to talk. lets allow the un to handle the nuclear ambitions of that country. i realize that the united states does not want nuclear proliferation in iran, but we are part of the united nations, so lets let them do their job so that we, the us, can do ours diplomatically.

"the united states cannot achieve its goals in the middle east unless it deals directly with the arab-israeli conflict and regional instability. there must be a renewed and sustained commitment by the united states to a comprehensive arab-israeli peace on all fronts: lebanon, syria, and president bush’s june 2002 commitment to a two-state solution for israel and palestine. this commitment must include direct talks with, by, and between israel, lebanon, palestinians (those who accept israel’s right to exist), and syria. . . by the first quarter of 2008, subject to unexpected developments in the security situation on the ground, all combat brigades not necessary for force protection could be out of iraq. . .the united states must not make an open-ended commitment to keep large numbers of american troops deployed in iraq."

it goes without saying that if we pull our troops from iraq, it will be up to the iraqi army to quell the violence on their own, which is why the baker/hamilton report calls for an increase of american troops embedded in the iraqi army to train them to support themselves.

"attacks against u.s., coalition, and iraqi security forces are persistent and growing. october 2006 was the deadliest month for u.s. forces since january 2005, with 102 americans killed. total attacks in october 2006 averaged 180 per day, up from 70 per day in january 2006. daily attacks against iraqi security forces in october were more than double the level in january. attacks against civilians in october were four times higher than in january. some 3,000 iraqi civilians are killed every month."

"iraq is in the grip of a deadly cycle: sunni insurgent attacks spark large-scale shia reprisals, and vice versa."

"in some parts of Iraq—notably in Baghdad—sectarian cleansing is taking place. the united nations estimates that 1.6 million
are displaced within iraq, and up to 1.8 million iraqis have fled the country."

"four of iraq’s eighteen provinces are highly insecure—baghdad, anbar, diyala, and salah ad din. these provinces account for about 40 percent of iraq’s population of 26 million. . .and the situation is deteriorating. . .however, most of iraq’s cities have a sectarian mix and are plagued by persistent violence."

"nearly every u.s. army and marine combat unit, and several national guard and reserve units, have been to iraq at least once. many are on their second or even third rotations. . .the american military has little reserve force to call on if it needs
ground forces to respond to other crises around the world."

"significant questions remain about the ethnic composition and loyalties of some iraqi units—specifically, whether they will carry out missions on behalf of national goals instead of a sectarian agenda."

"the entire appropriation for iraqi defense forces for for year 2006 ($3 billion) is less than the united states currently spends in iraq every two weeks."

"iraqi police cannot control crime, and they routinely engage in sectarian violence, including the unnecessary detention,
torture, and targeted execution of sunni arab civilians."

"the facilities protection service poses additional problems. each iraqi ministry has an armed unit, ostensibly to guard the
ministry’s infrastructure. all together, these units total roughly 145,000 uniformed iraqis under arms. however, these units
have questionable loyalties and capabilities. . .one senior u.s. official described the facilities protection service as 'incompetent, dysfunctional, or subversive.'"

"both iraqi and american leaders told us that as baghdad goes, so goes iraq. . . violence in baghdad, already at high levels, jumped more than 43 percent between the summer and october 2006. u.s. forces continue to suffer high casualties."

"iraq’s shia, sunni, and kurdish leaders frequently fail to demonstrate the political will to act iniIraq’s national interest, and too many iraqi ministries lack the capacity to govern effectively. the result is an even weaker central government than the constitution provides."

"as of december 2006,nearly 2,900 americans have lost their lives serving in iraq. an other 21,000 americans have been wounded, many severely. to date, the united states has spent roughly $400 billion on the iraq war, and costs are running about $8 billion per month. in addition, the united states must expect significant 'tail costs' to come. caring for veterans and replacing lost equipment will run into the hundreds of billions of dollars. estimates run as high as $2 trillion for the final cost of the u.s. involvement in iraq."

"the ability of the united states to shape outcomes is diminishing. time is running out."

"if the instability in iraq spreads to the other gulf states, a drop in oil production and exports could lead to a sharp increase in the price of oil and thus could harm the global economy."

"sixty-six percent of americans disapprove of the government’s handling of the war, and more than 60 percent feel that there is no clear plan for moving forward."

"recent polling indicates that only 36 percent of iraqis feel their country is heading in the right direction, and 79 percent of iraqis have a 'mostly negative' view of the influence that the united states has in their country. sixty-one percent of iraqis approve of attacks on u.s.-led forces."

so what should we do? the report calls for a "diplomatic offensive" in the region to ease tensions in the middle east. This call for diplomacy includes syria and iran. They cite each country's desire to quell destabilization in the region and to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe. it also suggests gaining control of iraqs borders, and promoting "economic assistance, commerce, trade" and "political support." Basically, it appears that the 79 recommendations just say 'lets clean up this mess that we've created.'

Full Text Sources for the Unbiased Truth

2006-12-05T00:26:00.000-08:00

i've decided that since there's a million places in the mainstream media to get third-party, paraphrased, and biased versions of important documents, i'm just going to link to the horses' mouths whenever possible and pertinent. that way, you can form your own opinion. it's always better that way. so here are some to chew and swallow:

the full text of defense secretary donald rumsfeld's leaked nov. 6, 2006 memorandum to the white house, calling for a major change in iraq:
the memo

full text of united nations secretary general kofi annan's interview with the bbc, before stepping down from his post at the un:
the annan interview

full text of iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad's 2006 letter to president bush, roughly translated into english:
the letter to president bush

full text of ahmadinejad's 2006 letter to the people of the united states of america:
the letter to the people of the united states of america

transcript of anderson cooper's 11/26/06 interview with ahmadenijad:
the ahmadenijad interview

and for good measure, to answer some fundamental questions, here's osama bin laden's september 2002 letter to the american people:
bin laden letter to american people 2002

more to come.

Holy Lord God on a Bun

2006-12-03T01:02:00.000-08:00

crazy crazy news. i've been keeping up with this one for about a week or so: across the country, a definite rift is forming in the evangelical community. it appears to me that we might be witnessing a milestone in religious history taking place right before our eyes. could this be compared to the east-west schism of 1054 or the first and second great awakenings? who knows, but key players in modern evangelical society have taken a hard look at the current political agenda of the church, and have decided that a big change in direction is needed. yesterday, in lake forest, ca, senator barack obama addressed a congregation of two thousand at pastor rick warren's second annual global summit on aids. "warren, best-selling author of "the purpose driven life" and influential conservative evangelical, decided amidst much fanfare last year that conservative christians had for too long ignored those suffering with aids. and he decided that was not in keeping with the teachings of jesus," say jake tapper and dan morris of abc news. obama's invitation to speak to evangelicals has angered many in the church who believe that his liberal views on abortion rights are in direct conflict with the morality of the evangelical community, claiming that putting obama behind the pulpit loans him an undue religious credential. "sen. obama's policies would nullify the right to life, and right now, that is the paramount moral issue of our day," says rev. rob schenck, head of the national clergy council. also at odds with the current tenets of the evangelical church is rev. joel hunter, the president-elect of the christian coalition of america. hunter has resigned this week before his term began because of the board's strong opposition to his desire to expand the group's agenda beyond opposition to abortion and gay marriage. he claims "they really weren't ready to risk expanding into these other areas. they were afraid of alienating the base. . .frankly, one of the ways that you provoke the most response from people is through anger and through fear. it raises a bunch of money. it raises the level of exposure." "christians have spent so much time evangelizing their politics that they've really corrupted the name of jesus," says conservative evangelical david kuo, former deputy of the white house office of faith-based initiatives. "are they so blind and possessed with such a narrow definition of life that they can think of life only in utero?" all this added to the earth-shattering resignation of superpastor ted haggard, following allegations of three-years of meth-induced visits with a male prostitute, has left many southern baptists asking 'what would jesus do?'

yeah, what would jesus do? maybe he would remind us that the bible was, to begin with, a five-hundred-year-long game of telephone from mesopotamia to europe, followed by rough translations from ancient languages. the book contradicts itself all over the place. those who choose to accept the book as literal truth face a harsh reality that they alienate themselves from mainstream science. didn't god give us these powerful brains, with which, collectively, we have, over many many generations, learned so much that would fascinate jesus today? would he say darwin was wrong? would he be a liberal or conservative? would he be miffed at the crusades and other such mass killings in his name, which, after all, are obviously the only reasons christianity even exists in america and elsewhere? have you ever wondered what religion you'd instantly associate with and follow without question if you were born in iran; india; china; ancient greece, south america, or egypt? would jesus agree with and support our president? exactly which denomination of christianity would he find to be the most in tune with his philosophy? would he be happy that an overwhelming majority of people in our country base their scientific beliefs about the origins of life off of a text written around the time of the invention of the wheelbarrow? how would he feel about these gigantic evangelical revivals on television? the mass-marketing and commercial exploitation of his name? america's lack of compassion for the sick and dying in the third world? genocide? the iraq war? gay marriage? our unabashed destruction of wildlife? who knows, but what's funny to me about all of this is that although christians the world over are biding their time until the second coming of christ, watching football and sucking down burger king, when someone emerges, claiming to be the messiah, they send in the heavy artillery and take his ass out :)

Ask, then Ask Again

2006-12-02T01:12:00.000-08:00

i'm doing my best at the moment to sift out the myriad issues in the middle east, and as an american, i believe that it is wise to make an honest attempt to understand the underlying concerns of the arab world, the u.s. stake in it, and the global perception toward our country. here are some of my questions, on all of which i have opinions but seek the truth: what is the difference between a shiite and a sunni? why is the united states so deeply embroiled in the mideast conflict? why have we largely ignored africa's recent crises? why is there a mideast conflict? can it be resolved and how? are we there specifically because of our interest in mideast oil? why do arab muslims hate america? why do they all seem to agree on nothing except that they want america out their political affairs? why does israel exist? why does america support that country in the face of such obvious overwhelming opposition? if america pulled its support of israel, would anti-american agression end? why did america invade iraq? why won't our government open a dialogue with iran? why is anti-american sentiment growing in all parts of the world? is our 'war on terrorism' really a result of manifestations of lunatic islamic jihadists' hatred of freedom and democracy? what kind of man is osama bin-laden? why is he considered a 'freedom fighter' and 'rock star' by millions of people? can the united states maintain its current position as sole world superpower and global police watchdog? when and how can we pull our troops from iraq? what kind of man is and what are the intentions and motivations of mahmoud ahmadinejad? does the arab world harbor resentment toward the american people as a whole or just the american administration? how can america resolve its bitter tensions with the people of the middle east? how can america rebuild its credibility with the rest of the world? how bad could it get if we do not? is this whole mess solely our fault? does our current administration ask and re-ask these questions? how many of us 'common' americans ask and re-ask these questions?

it's late, and i'm sure i've left many out. in reality, the list will never end. i'm on a quest, as i have been for a while, to find the naked truth at the bottom of these queries. i believe that it is the duty of the american people to ask these questions, it is our responsibility to do what is necessary to understand those with whom we share our lonely planet, and we must remind ourselves that "it is a misfortune, inseparable from human affairs, that public measures are rarely investigated with that spirit of moderation which is essential to a just estimate of their real tendency to advance or obstruct the public good. . .that the act of the convention, which recommends so many important changes and innovations, which may be viewed in so many lights and relations, and which touches the springs of so many passions and interests, should find or excite dispositions unfriendly, both on one side and on the other, to a fair discussion and accurate judgment of its merits." -- james madison, federalist no. 37

Alexis Says: Bush is No Coward

2006-11-30T00:13:00.000-08:00

and i agree. he's instead a brave man to stand at his podium every day and face the world with the baggage he carries. if i was responsible for america's lack of respect around the globe, the recent fall of the republican party, and the current calamity in iraq, all the while maintaing the audacity to lie to everyone about the situation there, i would have bowed out a long time ago with my tail between my legs. but not g dubs. that guy can stand up to some pretty harsh criticism. i've been trying to figure out how he does it.

his enduring optimism is undeniable in the face of an obvious truth surrounding his presidency -- that he may very well go down in history as the worst president the u.s. has ever (not really) elected. the only thing that i can come up with is that there is an inherent downside to being the president of the united states: that people are so busy telling you what you want to hear that you don't get the naked truth. take those horrible singers that get booted off of american idol in the first round. you know, the ones that the english guy ravages with insults about how someone should have told him/her that they have sub-zero talent? i guess their mothers have chosen blind support over honesty. and the price they pay for not wanting to let a child down? their poor, unassuming babies tie their own nooses and brutally hang themselves for tens of millions of entertained viewers to ridicule.

but g.dubs won't go out like that. he just comes back for more, like a true cowboy. and cowboys are brave.

Syllabus and the Atom Bomb

2006-11-28T22:42:00.000-08:00

i should have had a blog a long time ago. truth be told, i really know nothing about blogging so i'll just be flying blind here. since this is my first post, i thought it would be good to specify a few topics on which i'll mainly focus. in no particular order, they are: my general life and everyday experiences; news and current events (regional, national and international); government, politics, and policymaking; my car, my love/hate relationship with car ownership, and mechanics; books (mostly nonfiction because it's my first love) and music; hanging, working, and touring with my band; climate change and environmentalism; vegetarian life; crazy christians and other religious beefs; and the american problem.

i'll start on a light note writing about a heavy book i'm currently reading called 'the making of the atomic bomb' by richard rhodes. mr rhodes has really done his research here, covering in minute detail every aspect of the culmination of events that took place leading up to the invention and use of the atomic bomb. i just finished part one, which was a history of the scientific acheivements of the beginning of the twentieth century, starting with j.j. thompson, lord rutherford, albert einstein, james chadwick, niels bohr, and others, all of whom were the great forefathers of modern chemistry and physics. these guys gave us the atom. remember this from chem and phys 101? well, rhodes tells the story in eloquent prose. it reads like a novel. but i'll give you this: part one was tough to get through. i read it twice. theoretical and nuclear physics is tough to grasp, as i'm sure you could imagine. but now as i enter part two, what amazon.com calls "a sweeping epic, filled with terror and pity," i feel as if i have just spent the last month climbing the first giant hill on a rollercoaster, and now whoosh! this book is intense. i'll keep you updated. but since you're here and i think this story is rad, here's how badass these guys are: two nobel laureate friends of neils bohr, who left europe at the outset of hitler's war, left their gold nobel prize medals in his possession for safe keeping. in copenhagen, upon word that germany had invaded denmark, bohr thought of these medals and what to do to keep them out of hitler's hands. knowing that exporting gold illegally under german rule was a severely punishable criminal offense, he used his genius in a way that astonishes me. he literally dissolved the gold medals in acid, and just left them on his office shelf, like innocent bell jars filled with black liquid, until the end of the war. then he separated the gold back out and had them recast when the nazis were defeated. unreal!