I've noticed (a DUH! moment) that folks don't seem to like to have their beliefs challenged.

Over the past couple weeks I've been commenting on a blog started recently by an atheist. While I despise the atheist credo as much as fundamentalist faiths, I thought I'd give this chap an opportunity. I don't spend much energy online these days, as web content is not really very interesting to me. Especially the sophomoric musings of lazy wannabe intellectuals.

So I thought I'd see what this guy had to offer by poking at the places where he was just spouting atheist dogma, which is just as poisonous as radical Islamist and abortion clinic bombing fundamentalist Christian dogma. To make a short story shorter, this chap came unhinged at the following comment I posted:



So things are not fine then.

I certainly do not debate the merits of believing in oneself. I would
debate the merits of individuality in the Western sense, but I'm sure
you'll tackle that in another post.

I've been noodling over this post and wondering what the point is.
Honestly, not to be dull-witted, but I still kinda must be missing the
main point, as I do not find the stop and think about it moment here.

What I have come up with, though, is a thought about a friend of mine
from college, who I no longer keep in touch with. We called him "Sh#t
House Rat" because we determined that he was crazier than one. He
embraced this name. He was born again and incredibly intelligent. (Not
necessary mutually exclusive, you know. Einstein's downfall was his
faith, too, arguably one of the brightest minds to ever exist). He went
to naturopathic medical school in Arizona (I can't remember the name -
Southwest, I think). After two years in the program, he dropped out,
went back home to become a preacher in Pittsburgh (or somewhere
thereabouts).

When we were undergrads in San Diego, we'd often debate the merits of
the New Testament and whether things were real or mythical in the Bible.
Often times, I would make him physically ill. How, you ask? Because I
would confront his faith head on with things he could not deny, yet
clashed with his beliefs.

My point here is that obviously, our debates had no impact other than to
perhaps strengthen his resolve. The willingly deluded are not easily
swayed by the truth (have you been around since 2000? Have you been
paying attention?). In fact, when confronted with the truth, they
retreat further into their fantasy or lash out (witness abortion clinic
bombings, Pat Robertson's rantings).

I posit that scoffing only helps you feel superior, which is really
contrary to the point of trying to build community.
Let's tackle ritual some other time. I would like to show you that
ritual is very important and without it you become less human and more
robotic, which if that is your goal, fine, but I'd like to think that
you are after a more sentient reality than that.

I won't argue for dogma, because the unexamined life is not worth
living. And I think superstition is fun. Right Ganesha?

Looks to me as though the atheist is closer to my friend Sh#t House Rat than he'd like to admit.

Why are you only thankful today?

Perhaps because you have been accustomed to the daily thrashing we receive from the pseudocompassion of today's neoconservatives. Most of us aren't begrudged this day off. Hopefully you at least got the day off. Another thanks giving for a day to set it apart from the others. But don't think it's safe from the Christian Capitalist agenda. Soon paid holidays night be illegal, because it hinders competitiveness. I'm sure those eight year olds in China don't get paid holidays. Watch for the leveling of the playing field.

If I prayed to the christian god, I suppose I'd find it difficult to be thankful every day too. The thing about the idea of worshipping the god of the bile, er bible, is that you're doing it in vain if you only thank him once a year. The church I grew up in pointed out the idea that you need to be equally thankful every day. If you're not, your faith is not strong enough to move the proverbial mountain.

I, personally, look at Thanksgiving Day as a perjoritive celebration of the American genocide. Much like Columbus Day celebrates a very evil man as a hero. Again, we honor the genocide with a holiday celebration. How is this right?

The short answer, as you can probably guess, is that it is right in no way. The road to hell is paved with celebrations of genocide. As I wrestled with my issues of faith so many years ago, I took with me the teachings of my childhood church that emphasized the point that mainstream Christianity is not the church of God it portrays itself to be. Christian actions and the two thousand year legacy of death and destruction have no relevance to the teachings of Jesus. Come judgement day, the overwhelming majority of mainstream Christians were going to find themselves on a one way trip into a lake of fire.

I could not agree more today. From the evidence I have seen just this month, American Christians are rotten to the core and determined to make sure our great Nation of the People, by the People, for the People becomes a dogmatic autocracy run by the most cruel of emporers.

Be thankful for the fact that we are now looking at the resurgence of an evangelical movement of liberalism. Be prepared to suffer for your faith, as did the true believers during the last Gilded Age. Be prepared to give up your liberty, happiness and even perhaps your life in our ideological revolution. When you fight guns, money and bombs with ideas, we must be prepared to lose battles. But as the hubris of the culture of violence causes it to self-destruct, we will be there to pick up the pieces. And welcome the newly enlightened into the New Progressive Era.

Finally, give thanks that every move made by little w brings us a day closer.

A false prophet and his lame duck

Shame is upon America. Caveat emptor, all of you who voted for Bush. Your regret will begin soon.

As I write this, the assault may have already begun on Falloujah. Expect a bloodbath. Bush has murdered an estimated 100,000 Iraqis. Maybe 10,000 more by Monday. That will just be lesson number one for you to learn about your new President: Lame Duck Bush.



What acts has Bush performed to outwardly show his faith? I know of none. He talks alot, but he is short on acts of compassion or mercy. George Walker Bush has, in his capacity as President, been directly responsible for truly unknown qualtities of torture, imprisonment, death and destruction. How dare he claim to follow the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth?

I hear him say he does a lot of praying. I used to do a lot of praying. I know what happens when you pray. Unless you're certifiably insane or on drugs, God does not engage you in conversation during your nightly prayer. Anyone who claims otherwise needs professional attention, or is a bald-faced liar and a false prophet.

When people talk directly to God, the experience changes an individual both inwardly and outwardly. Bush has never climed the mountain to talk to God, he has never spent weeks fasting in repentance, he has never sat in ashes covered in boils. He has never once talked of pounding swords into ploughshares, he has never once spoken of turning the other cheek, and he has never once hesitated to send someone to their death. This man has spoken with the devil, but he most certainly not ever spoken with God.

To hedge this bet, I must admit that bare-knuckling his sobriety probably gave him a near ecstatic experience, at the very least. But he shows no signs to prove he ever healed from his narcotic disease. In my own experience, just because someone went sober does not prove they are better.

Many sober folks still lie, cheat and steal to get their fix. The fix just changes. To truly have a healing experience, a complete spiritual cleansing must be followed by carefully refilling the self with new intentions and refocused attentions. The record shows us clearly where Bush's attentions are and what his intentions have amounted to: nothing good.

Shame on any good Christians who allowed themselves to be deceived by this wolf. His sheep's clothing has been threadbare for years, yet so many remain deceived. Your pennence is to tell everyone around you of your sin and your sorrow. And then you must join us in scorning him for his crimes.

Desecration of the Sacred

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040904/NEWS/409040342/1178

Have the corporate titans no shame? It seems to me the profane has subjugated the sacred in our never ending war for profits. We all know why - greed is the deadliest of sin.

Contaminating the Garden

CNN.com - Tribe has%A0best excuse for poor math skills - Aug 19%2C 2004

Sometimes I wonder what some folks are doing, muddling in affairs they have no business fiddling with. Maybe the counting thing is better left to the industrialized world.

I tend to think that this information might be interesting, but what happens when the Pirhana learn more math? Will it affect their culture? Will it turn them into greedy buggers like us?

Maybe that was part of what they rejected when they remained in their State of Grace with the Earth. Their ancestors may have been cognizant of what numbers and math are when they decided that they wanted no part it.

Then, teaching them math would be contaminating the culture with a terminal conceptual disease. I just hope it doesn't stick.

Otherwise, aren't the findings thought-provoking?

Biblical Archaeology Brings the Past Closer to the Future

CNN.com - Scholar says he%27s%A0found John the Baptist%27s cave - Aug 16%2C 2004

I must say, although some would disagree, the Bible is a valuable history of Judeo-Christian phenomenon. What dogma and revisionism have obscured shines through regardless of the paradigms of the authors and reauthors. The Essenes and their Dead Sea Scrolls have taught us much about the New Testament, and discoveries like this help us see clearer the world of the past and even resurrects long-dead legends.

Perhaps this is the cave of John the Baptist, or maybe it is not. What matters most are the truths we affirm, the undoubt we gain. As much as the Christ legend borrows from those who preceded him and those who followed him. A contemporary voice fill some of the void left by the lack of other early Common Era artifacts.

The Marvels of Our Backyard

CNN.com - Cassini spies%A02 new Saturn moons - Aug 16%2C 2004

We first invented tools as extensions of ourselves, to make tasks easier to perform, manipulate our world.

Many tools are extensions of our senses, observing the world and the universe in ways we cannot. We employ tools to learn, learn things that dogma obscures. We have found new satellites which orbit about Saturn, one of our closest relatives in the solar system, and perhaps a place we might find life. Stay tuned for real enlightenment and news that brings us closer to true understanding of our place in the universe.

Private Space Travel

The Race is On: Second Private Team Sets Launch Date for Human Spaceflight


Can we handle the responsibility?

I'm not sure we can, but we have the means now. Time for a deeper spiritual meaning to secular life has arrived. It actually came about a century ago.