tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91040084733847431832024-03-12T16:04:49.081-07:00Apostate XPAdventures in Apostasy. A former devout Catholic and amateur apologist turned atheist shares his thoughts.Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-35058106706913598112013-06-26T11:01:00.001-07:002013-06-26T11:01:16.121-07:00A visit from from the Jehovah's Witnesses<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I had spotted them down the block earlier so I wasn't at all surprised when my dogs barked to alert us that someone was at the door.<br />"Mormons or JWs?" I asked.<br />"We're two Jehovah's Witnesses..." <br />I should have figured since they were older men and not 20 something "elders".<br />"I'm an atheist" I explained between mouthfuls of cereal. <br />He - only one of the two actually spoke - tried to get me to briefly explain what had prompted my deconversion (so he would know where to begin his sales pitch). When I wouldn't bite except to say time and thinking, he decided to start by trying to claim that the bible actually agreed with science on creation and didn't really say the earth was created in 6 days. He pointed to some of the "information" in a professionally designed glossy booklet called "Was life created?".<br />"And why, out of all the various creation accounts and religious scriptures that exist should I consider the bible to be important?" I asked. This may have been the first time that question has come up since he was quite flustered at first. But then dragged out the standard "because I've examined the bible" type response. Again he tried to claim that the accounts in the bible agreed with science.<br />"Like insects having 4 legs, bats being birds and a talking donkey?" I asked. I glanced back at my 14 year old daughter who was watching behind me and we shared a knowing smile.<br />Unwilling to address my specific examples directly, Mr. JW reached into his bag of tricks for a smaller pamphlet "Why you can trust the bible." "<br />"Can I leave this with you?"<br />"Sure, but just so you know, I'm going to ridicule it on-line," I said.<br />"Fair enough," he replied and thanked me for my time.<br />I wished him a pleasant day and then closed the door so my daughter and I could burst out laughing.<br /><br />So can we trust the bible?<br />"Does it contradict itself? While some may claim the Bible contradicts itself, has anyone ever shown you an actual example?" <br />Yes... would you like a list?<br />"We have never seen one that could withstand scrutiny"<br />Scrutiny by credulous and indoctrinated believers is not scrutiny. Try harder.<br />"True there may *appear* to be discrepancies in certain bible accounts. But the problem usually is lack of knowledge regarding details and circumstances of the times."<br />No, the problem is that it's full of contradictions and lies. Next!<br />Cherry picked lame examples, yadda, yadda... "As more details are known" (in other words: as indoctrination progresses) "apparent discrepancies in the bible disappear."<br /><br />History and Science:<br />... blah blah, "the details differ, but the essential elements in the astronomical and biblical accounts of Genesis are the same." <br />*cough* bullshit! *cough*<br />Everyone thought the world was flat, but in Isaiah it says the world is round... amazing! <br /><br />The last section claims all the prophecies in the bible were fulfilled in exact detail so future prophecies in it can be trusted.<br />""That's just too good to be true," some may say""<br />Count me out of that group.<br />And it concludes: "By examining the evidence (that we present you, ignore what anyone else says) further, you will become ever more convinced of this."<br />No. I won't.</div>
Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-67985985489799406812013-06-21T10:54:00.002-07:002013-06-21T12:32:33.025-07:00Deodorant Disaster<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This has nothing to do with religion directly, but certainly has to do with belief.<br />
<br />
Back when I was still a believer in both religion and alternative medicine, barely aware of the concept of skepticism, I was a student in a four year Homeopathy program. Among the many different health warnings circulated and believed by some of the school's teachers was the notion that deodorants and antiperspirants interfered with the lymph nodes of the axilla and lead to cancer. In case you're wondering, they don't - see <a href="http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/AP-Deo" target="_blank">Can antiperspirants or deodorants cause cancer? National Cancer Institute Fact Sheet</a><br />
But I believed they did. So I ditched the pit stick.<br />
<br />
The first consequence was, quite obviously, that I stank. I didn't like it, and I'm sure the people around me didn't either, though most were far too polite to say anything. And since I really didn't want to stink, I looked for alternatives. I tried shaving my armpits and sponge bathing in the washroom at work. Result: razor burn, wet shirts, awkward self-consciousness and I still stank, though the odor was somewhat less overpowering.<br />
So, I went in search of "natural" deodorants that wouldn't "cause cancer. <br />
I tried a few herbal based deodorants that were, supposedly, better and safer for being "all natural."<br />
Not only did they do a poor job as deodorants, but they caused rather painful rashes under my arms. So, in the name of being healthy and avoiding the evils of artificial chemical bathroom products, I was foul smelling, ashamed of my personal hygiene, supremely uncomfortable and my underarms stung and itched as if I'd applied poison ivy to them. <br />
In the pursuit of avoiding imaginary consequences I had instead embraced real ones. </div>
Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-9253243906625821862013-06-03T20:11:00.000-07:002013-06-03T20:11:00.263-07:00Homeopathy: Vitalistic religion?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Introduction and Full disclosure:</div>
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<br /></div>
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Rather than have you try and tease out my biases while
reading this, I’ll give them to you up front.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As you may or may not know, not only was I previously a devout Catholic,
I was also very much a part of the alternative health movement to the point
that I completed a 4 year diploma in Classical Homeopathy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will admit up-front to still not being
entirely convinced that homeopathy is completely bogus for the simple reason
that I have seen things first hand that are not easily dismissed as placebo and
for which I do not have a better explanation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am, however, strongly skeptical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But the subject of this essay is not the purported efficacy of homeopathy
– there are many others who have already dealt with that subject at length and
are far more qualified than I to assess it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Rather, I wish to give a basic background on what homeopathy is, from a
former insider’s perspective, and explore the similarities – apparent to me
soon after joining the homeopathic community – between religion and both homeopathic
philosophy and the homeopathic community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If all you know about homeopathy is that it uses very dilute medicines
which cannot possibly have any of the original substance remaining left in
them, then you will find almost all of the information I present in this
article to be completely new to you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Homeopathy is, first and foremost, a system of medicine based on an
elaborate vitalistic philosophy.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Now, before I get into the meat of this essay, I also want
to say unequivocally that I have never encountered a single dishonest
Homeopathic practitioner and I would never call any of them quacks or
charlatans as those terms imply a deliberate attempt at fraud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My fellow skeptics who have only a passing
familiarity with Homeopathy often scoff dismissively and assume that homeopaths
just dispense sugar pills and bottled water willy-nilly and collect the cash to
get rich.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing could be further from
the truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only is the process of
interviewing a patient extensive, often taking one to two hours, a homeopath –
depending on their level of experience - may also spend an additional hour or
more researching which remedy to administer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Very few homeopathic practitioners can even make a living at it, let
alone get rich!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, many actually
operate at a loss, spending far more on courses, books and supplies than they
would ever be able to recoup from the minimal fees they charge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And since most patients do not have insurance
coverage that pays for homeopathy but must pay out of pocket, many small scale
practitioners end up offering their services for discounted rates or bartering
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So you can clearly see my eyes
rolling when I hear an MD refer to Homeopaths as swindlers out to make a quick
buck when the MD is the one who pulls in a six figure salary and would be lying
if he or she claimed to not be influenced in which prescriptions they give
their patients by the pharmaceutical reps and their multi-million dollar
advertising and entertainment budgets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Homeopaths
sincerely believe in what they do and they work hard at it, putting in an extraordinary
amount of study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regardless of how
effective the remedies themselves are, to impute that all Homeopaths are frauds
is rather like claiming that all Christian preachers are actually just
pretending to have faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So disagree
with them and argue with them all you like, but at least have the respect to
acknowledge their sincerity and good will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Homeopaths actually care about their patients.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Now, on to what this essay is actually about.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Samuel Hahnemann: The Homeopathic Prophet</div>
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Homeopathy was founded by Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Hahnemann">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Hahnemann</a>
, an admittedly brilliant physician who also made contributions to mainstream
medicine through his encouragement of hygiene, clean living and good diet, and
his opposition to the barbaric and dangerous treatments mainstream medical
treatments of his day such as bloodletting and the use of potent toxins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Disillusioned by these harmful practices, he
quit medicine to focus on translations work and it was while translating the
work of a fellow physician that he first began formulating his ideas about
Homeopathy after he encountered a statement that the Peruvian bark cinchona was
effective against malaria because it was bitter and astringent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hahnemann reasoned that these properties
alone would not account for its effect since many other medicines that possessed
those same properties were completely ineffective against malaria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So he tested the substance by administering
it to himself and recording the symptoms produced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The symptoms resembled those caused by
malaria itself and so Hahnemann concluded that the effect was due to their
similarity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Latin motto of
homeopathy is similia similibus curentur, often phrased in English as “like
cures like”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This idea that a substance which
can provoke a certain set of symptoms in a healthy individual will cure those
same symptoms in a sick individual is the basis of all homeopathic treatment,
and the word homeopathy itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the
Greek, Homeos = similar, Pathos = disease.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The process of human experimentation whereby a substance is administered
to a group of healthy individuals, and the resultant symptoms recorded to
create a picture of the remedy’s supposed curative properties is called a
proving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Data from accidental poisonings
was also used and later anecdotal data from patients cured by these remedies was
also added.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is important to note that
most of the historic provings were done with physically active doses of
substances, whereas modern provings tend to use homeopathic dilutions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, up until this point, Homeopathy was
actually far more rigorously empirical and scientific than the mainstream
medicine of the day, which Hahnemann called “allopathy”, a term that has taken
on a pejorative connotation that many homeopaths and other alternative health
practitioners still use to refer to mainstream medicine. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will not go into too much detail on the
further development of homeopathy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
can easily find that information in other historical resources if it interests
you as it very well documented, with a large body of historical documents to
draw from including some interesting stories about Hahnemann and others that
resemble legends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, the
origin of succussion (the vigorous hitting of the bottle at each stage of
dilution to add energy to the remedy) is said to have come about when Hahnemann
noticed that the remedies he used were more effective after having ridden on
horseback to see a patient. </div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Instead, let me just broadly paint
a picture of how this system of medicine that began with such well intentioned
scientific beginnings morphed into what I perceive to be a pseudo-religious
movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hahnemann wrote a book
outlining his philosophy and practice known as the Organon, which is for all
intents and purposes the holy scripture of Homeopathy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Organon went through 6 editions, with the
last being published posthumously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Hahnemann was known for being very possessive of his new system and
dictatorial about how he spread the practice of Homeopathy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After releasing a new edition of the Organon
which would form the orthodox methods of practice for the majority of
Homeopaths, Hahnemann and a few select colleagues would continue experimenting
with new methods and concepts that would only later be revealed to others in
the next edition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those who deviated
from orthodox practice and attempted to do their own research or try different
methods were – and still are! - treated as heretics with ostracism, public
criticism and condemnations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Organon
is divided into numbered verses known as aphorisms which are quoted by
homeopaths very much as one would quote the bible or the koran, and often with
equal if not greater weight and reverence given to these writings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though new translations from the original
German exist that some Homeopaths accept, others grant authority only to older
translations much the same way some groups of Christians accept only the King
James Bible as authoritative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Vitalism and energy medicine</div>
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In the Organon – which you can read on-line at <a href="http://www.homeopathyhome.com/reference/organon/organon.html">http://www.homeopathyhome.com/reference/organon/organon.html</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hahnemann claims that the body’s health is
regulated by the “vital force” and that diseases that affect it are energetic
states with an energetic signature which can be cancelled out by the
application of a remedy which has a similar energy signature and produces a
temporary artificial disease state, which, when it subsides, will leave the
patient in a state of health.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Now this is a very key point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any skeptic<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>encountering homeopathy will learn about Avogadro’s constant (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avogadro%27s_number">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avogadro%27s_number</a>):<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the theoretical point of dilution at which no
trace of the original substance remains, which is 6.02214X×10<sup>23</sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(You’ll note that 10-23 is the date skeptics
use to protest homeopathy).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The obvious
questions when one learns that homeopathic remedies are diluted well beyond
this point is, do these homeopaths know about this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if so, how can someone know about this
and not be a fraud?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reason that
homeopaths and their patients are not disturbed by the knowledge of Avogadro’s constant
is because of their faith in vitalism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
knew about the Avogadro constant before I signed up for Homeopathy school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Truth be told, I thought it was cool and I
was proud of this distinctive feature of homeopathy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You see, homeopathy is often referred to as
“energy medicine” alongside aromatherapy, healing crystals and others (which
are inferior and more primitive forms of energy medicine, according to
classical homeopaths).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They believe that
the process of dilution and succussion imparts an energetic signature to the
remedy and that this acts as a signal that stimulates the body’s own innate
healing mechanisms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, in
homeopathy the belief is that the greater the dilution, the more powerful the
remedy is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whereas pharmaceutical
medicine and herbs operate at a clearly physical level, reacting biochemically
in the body, homeopathy does not and even when physical doses are used that is
not the intended method of application.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At its very core, Homeopathy relies on a faith in the existence of an
invisible and undetectable vital force in the body which has innate healing
abilities (note that Chiropractic was founded on a similar philosophy and calls
their version of this healing capability ‘the innate’, but most Chiropractors
have abandoned that philosophy in favour of a more scientific and publicly
palatable approach.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also requires
faith that the remedies administered have a similar undetectable vital force or
energetic signature capable of interacting with the body’s vital force.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The obvious assumption would be that this is
a spiritual quasi-religious belief, and for many it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But others believe that these energies and
forces are very real natural energies and that one day technology will advance
enough to allow them to be detected and measured.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They may make reference to quantum physics
being the arena where these discoveries will be made, but I have yet to meet
one who actually has more than a superficial understanding of quantum physics
or any sort of reasonable hypothesis as to how that area of study might relate
to homeopathy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Miasms, suppression, and the “theory” of the origin of
disease</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>While
homeopathy is often used to treat acute concerns, which is termed therapeutics,
the focus is chronic disease, especially in modern practice where many of the
patients who come to a homeopath do so because they have tried and failed to
find relief through conventional medicine or other more popular forms of
medicine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hahnemann’s other well known
work is a book called the Chronic Diseases in which he ascribed all diseases
that afflict humanity to a group of what he calls “miasms”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These miasms are a sort of inherited energetic
pollution that affect the vital force and cause disease, a concept very similar
to the Christian doctrine of original sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The origin of these miasms is said to be a natural disease that was
“suppressed” in the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This notion of
suppression is another pseudo religious concept you will often encounter in
homeopathic philosophy and many other alternative medicines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It claims that the application of allopathic
medicines – particularly the toxic poultices of the past, and the modern use of
steroids – pushes the disease state further into the vital force resulting in
chronic disease rather than healing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
may hear, for example, homeopaths claim that skin diseases treated with
steroids can lead to asthma through this process of suppression.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The flip side of this is that one aim of
homeopathy is to bring these suppressed diseases to the surface, and so they will
interpret new or changing symptoms as signs that the disease suppression is
being lifted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is of particular
concern to medical doctors as interpreting symptoms as signs of healing
(sometimes termed a healing crisis), may prevent the patient from recognizing
what may in fact be serious symptoms that need attention. </div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The chief
miasm is called Psora, said to be responsible for 7/8<sup>th</sup> of all
disease, and is descended from suppressed scabies. The other ones are
syphilitic (descended from syphilis), and sycotic (not to be confused with
psychotic, and derived from suppressed gonorrhea).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To these original three Hahnemann later added
Tuberculin (descended from suppressed tuberculosis), and subsequent homeopaths
have expanded this pantheon to include miasmic versions of cancer, malaria,
leprosy and a host of others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of
these new additions are of course opposed by the Hahnemannian fundamentalists
who see any evolution of the philosophy beyond the canonical works of
Hahnemann, Kent, Hering and a few other early pioneers to be heretical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Homeopathic sectarianism<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It was
this doctrinal in-fighting that first caught my attention as a student of
Homeopathy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was everywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It didn’t take long to realize that most of
the political tensions and personal conflicts rampant within the homeopathic
community and the various small competing schools stemmed as much from differences
of opinion over doctrine and practice as they did from ego and personality
clashes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coming from a background in
Catholic apologetics where my favourite subject of study was the doctrinal
differences between Catholicism and Protestantism I immediately saw in
Homeopathy a mirror image of this religious sectarianism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much in the same way the Protestant reformation
resulted in offshoots of Protestantism centered around the teachings of
particular theologians like Luther, Calvin, or Wesley, the same thing has been
part of Homeopathic tradition since Hahnemann died and left no plan of
succession.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have probably
encountered the term “Classical Homeopathy,” which is meant to distinguish it
from unorthodox versions of the practice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The basic form of Classical Homeopathy relies on a core cannon of the
works of Hahnemann and some contemporaries such as Kent, who was a member of
the Christian mystic movement Swedenborgianism (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedenborgianism">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedenborgianism</a>
) and introduced many of its concepts to Homeopathy where they continue to
influence its practice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those who
practice his methods refer to them as Kentian, one of the sub-schools of
practice that exist within orthodox classical homeopathy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The chief characteristic of all classical
homeopathy is that only one remedy is used at a time and it is tailored
specifically to the symptoms the patient presents with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This individualization is the key reason why
homeopaths object to the methodologies of clinical trials published in mainstream
medical journals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those trials, by their
nature, tend to minimize variables and so chose one remedy to test against one
disease.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In homeopathy, remedies are not
chosen to suit the disease, or even the disease’s common symptoms, but to suit
the patient’s individualizing symptoms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, for example, you would not say give remedy x for headache.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You may say if the headache has a sudden onset
with throbbing and redness in the face, give remedy X, but if it slowly
progressive and vice-like give remedy Y.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>10 people with the same medical diagnosis may be prescribed 10 different
remedies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In homeopathy the medical
diagnosis – at least in terms of choosing the remedy – is of secondary or
tertiary importance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a very real
sense for the homeopath, the remedy is the diagnosis that the practitioner is
making, and the only other diagnosis that might aid in remedy selection would be
the miasmatic diagnosis as certain remedies are directed towards specific
miasms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Important considerations are the
patient’s state of mind and any strange rare and peculiar symptoms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remedy profiles may include hundreds of
different possible symptoms with many overlaps between remedies, and
practitioners may frequently disagree over which remedy best suits a particular
patient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In sharp
contrast to this extremely complex process of individualization, the remedies
you buy in drug-stores generally consist of combinations of ingredients of
varying low potencies labelled as a treatment for a specific condition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This shotgun approach to throwing a range of
remedies at symptoms instead of a single targeted remedy is anathema to
classical homeopathy and will often be dismissed as not homeopathic at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You may be surprised to learn that these
drug-store homeopathic remedies that are the bread and butter of sales for the remedy
makers are generally frowned upon by homeopaths themselves, not for the obvious
financial reason that OTC homeopathic remedy use allows consumers to bypass the
practitioner, but because they are heretical to basic homeopathic dogma.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Many
practitioners of Classical Homeopathy are what I would term fundamentalists,
who will not deviate from the original cannon and generally restrict the
remedies they use to the well known ones described in the old Materia Medicas
(their compendiums of remedy indications.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Other homeopaths have moved far beyond the original scope of homeopathy
and pursue new remedies and new doctrines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One such common doctrine that forms the foundation of the work of popular
contemporary homeopaths Jan Scholten and Rajan Sankaran, is the doctrine of
signatures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This doctrine states that
the natural form of a remedy relates in some way to its function.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A classic example would be Pulsatilla, a type
of buttercup flower that is very delicate, easily damaged, easily swayed in the
wind, etc. and whose symptom profile includes weepiness, changeability of
symptoms, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Patients needing Lachesis
Muta derived from the venom of the bushmaster snake are said to have snake-like
personality traits, feel as if they have a lump in their throat like a snake
swallowing prey, and so on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where most
classical homeopaths would choose a remedy based primarily on which remedy best
matches the symptoms, regardless of the source of the remedy, those subscribing
to this doctrine might first attempt to classify their patient as a plant,
animal or mineral, and further narrow down from there into subcategories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though these practitioners still fall under
the umbrella of “classical” homeopathy, they are nevertheless considered
heretics by the fundamentalist camps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
fireworks in the clashes between proponents of different methods of practice
are really quite something to observe and have resulted in schisms forming
within schools such as my own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As with
religion, there is a mainstream orthodoxy; in this case classical homeopathy
and its subsets that still fall under that umbrella.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are also numerous unorthodox
interpretations of homeopathy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The type
of homeopathy employed by naturopaths alongside herbs and other treatment
modalities is generally classical, but often limited in use and tends towards
the therapeutic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some New Age energy
healers may use homeopathic remedies chosen through forms of augury like
applied kinesiology, a dowsing pendulum, astrology, intuitive interpretations
of energy sensing or aura visualizing, or forms of Kirlian photography or other
imaging techniques that purport to create a visual representation of the
patient’s aura.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of these methods are
shunned by classical homeopathy and often considered mere quackery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other practitioners use classical homeopathy as
a basis for further experimentation and work with limited combination remedies
and other methods of symptom based remedy selection that they perceive as a
natural evolution in homeopathic thought and do not regard Hahnemann’s
doctrines as immutable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still others
seek to use historical research into Hahnemann’s unpublished work, and new
translations and interpretations of the Organon and Chronic Diseases to gain a
new understanding of what Hahnemann’s newest vision for homeopathy was just
before he died.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Homeopathy
shares many traits in common with religions:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A founder who put forth new doctrines about the unseen and the impossible
to verify.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A body of stories about him
and other important characters in its history, generally regarded with
reverence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A cannon of orthodox
literature written long ago that is studied and interpreted and provides the
doctrinal and philosophical foundations for its practice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It relies on unverifiable supernatural or
quasi supernatural explanations for natural phenomena.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, of course, its adherents can’t agree on
many points and fight ongoing battles of words over their differences.</div>
</div>
Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-21248360617739819072013-03-29T17:32:00.003-07:002013-03-29T17:32:19.318-07:00Today is the 15th anniversary of my crucifixion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today is the 15th anniversary of my crucifixion.<br />Back when I was in university and still a very devout Catholic, I was approached after mass one one evening at the cool church with the rock band. My long dark hair and goatee gave me a suitably Christlike appearance for the part of Jesus in the passion play they were planning. Would I be interested? I was. My fiancee (now wife of 14 years) took the part of Mary Magdalene. <br />I was nailed to the cross with nails that were bent with 2 ninety degree angles, so they appeared to protrude from my palms when I held them between my fingers. But they just rested loosely in the holes. Too loosely. As the band led the congregation in a lengthy version of "Were you there when they nailed him to the cross?" the blood drained from my arms as members of the audience watched me, their proxy savior, with tears in their eyes. After several verses I lost all feeling in my upper limbs, and with it most of my muscle control. Unable to muster the strength to keep my arms held against the cross beams, the nails slid out of position and I began to slouch off the cross. Luckily, the song finished and I was able to cry out "My god, my god, why have you forsaken me" and get taken down before I fell off on my own. The rest of the memory is a bit fuzzy. <br />Today is "good" Friday, the holiest day of the Christian calendar according to many. Today, usually at around three in the afternoon, which is traditionally held as the time Jesus took his last breath, Catholics around the globe stand in silent contemplation of the belief that they are so inherently sinful from the moment of conception that god had to sacrifice his only son to himself as a perfect blood offering to atone for it; to give their unworthy souls a shot at being saved from the hell set aside for Satan and his minions to be shared by those who meet death - according to Catholic theology - in a state of mortal sin. Since the list of mortal sins is extensive and a great many Catholics commit them as a matter of routine - lust, birth control, skipping mass - the odds they will be in that state and destined for hell at the moment of death are quite high. Even those who manage to be in a state of grace when they take the road to meet their maker still face a lengthy stay in purgatory suffering a lesser torment getting their souls scrubbed of the stains of their sins before they're clean enough to enter the presence of their god. But ask any lay Catholic and chances are they won't have more than a very vague and confused understanding about any of this. They are there kissing a crucifix because it's what their parents taught them to do when they were children, and that their grandparents taught their parents to do and so on back to whichever generation it was that some missionary coaxed away from the superstitions of paganism to the so much more enlightened ways of the new god. </div>
Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-59053879228054254982013-02-08T15:48:00.001-08:002013-02-08T15:48:52.392-08:00I am Eve<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This is a short story written by my 13 year old daughter.<br />She wrote it on her own without any prompting or input from anyone. My wife and I were so impressed, we asked for her permission to re-post it. We're very proud of her.<br />
----<br />
I am Eve<br />
by Janelle A.<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I am Eve, the first
woman; damned, doomed to die after a life filled with pain.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I used to live a life of
happiness and tranquility; </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">a child in the garden of Eden, innocent and ignorant. My husband, Adam,
and I had free run of the Garden, access to every pleasure. Except for one.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil”.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Eating its fruit would make you like God, knowing everything; but it
would also ensure death.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I was tired of knowing nothing; of all my memories being of lazy days in
the Garden. I wanted more.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">So, one fateful day, I crept up to the forbidden tree, plucked a ripe,
succulent fruit from the branch, and, taking a deep breath, bit into it.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Suddenly everything changed. It was as if I had been viewing the world
through a film of ignorance and lies, and when I ate the fruit, it was peeled
away. Everything was sharper, clearer. I know, and still know, things I had
never known before. I was finally awake.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I ran to Adam, but the way he was then he couldn’t comprehend the wonder
of it. Rather than try to explain, I handed him the fruit. He took one bite and
saw the world as I did.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">It was wonderful, experiencing the Garden with intelligent minds. But
that wondering was short-lived. God had heard of our disobedience, and was
furious. Especially with me; But I did not try to hide what I did. My heart
hammering in my chest, I stood and faced his wrath.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In a huge fit of jealous rage, God cursed us and threw us out of the
Garden to live in the desert until the day we die. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">That is my story. No talking snakes or clothing made of leaves and we
didn’t run and hide in shame. No. That is how God tells it to make himself feel
better. He is so egotistical that he would never let anyone know that his own
creations would deliberately disobey him. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">And so I wrote this. So that someone would know the truth.</span></span></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9104008473384743183" name="_GoBack"></a><span style="font-family: "Penshurst","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div>
</div>
Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-18940378084392040262012-11-18T11:51:00.000-08:002012-11-18T11:51:06.432-08:00Therefore (my interpretation) of god<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
I often mock Christian ‘logic’ for continually jumping to
the conclusion “therefore God,” regardless of where they start their line of
reasoning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But on the subject of
specifically addressing the question of god’s existence or non-existence, we
have to remember that they are not referring to an abstract notion of god, even
when that is what they claim to be talking about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather, they always have in mind their own
specific Christian version of god.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
same is true of Muslims and Jews when they argue for the existence of god.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To me, this is the most
insidious marketing tactic of the religions; a sort of bait and switch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They know it is far easier to convince
someone to first believe in an abstract creator of the universe and then simply
inform them that this creator is synonymous with their own brand of mythical
deity, than it is to introduce someone to a PR appropriate version of their tiny
tribal middle-eastern deity that is in fact just as arrogant, capricious, petty,
vengeful, jealous, violent and all-around flawed and morally repugnant as any character
from the Grecian pantheon and propose that this fairy tale character is
actually the progenitor and director of all existence. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It is
easy to understand how the wonder of the universe could easily inspire belief
in an all powerful creator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indeed, the
very characteristics of intelligence that make us human may also predispose us
to such belief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The real danger, the
real insult to intelligence and reason, lies in the uncalled for leap from
acceptance of the possibility of a generative force behind the universe to
submission of one’s life to an anthropomorphic character conjured from the
minds of primitives who knew nothing of the scope of the universe and our
insignificant place in it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The god of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, of the Jews and Muslims and Christians, was never a
god of the universe, but of a tiny speck of humanity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was only over time and by historical
accident that as humanity began first discovering the world we began to
conceive of the notion of god as ruling over more than just the tribe or the
nation, but over all of humanity, knocking off lesser competitors along the
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally as we discovered the
universe beyond our world, we leapt to the assumption that the winning deity in
vogue at that time, who so happens to be the Abrahamic god, must be the one
responsible for it all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The concept of
god has evolved from a purely local concern to a global and finally a universal
concern just as society has evolved in its outlook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If circumstances had been different, it might
have been Taranis or Zeus that could have evolved into the one true god responsible
for the entire universe and whose myths we would now be reinterpreting to fit
into the concept of a universe creating divine force rather than just a local
terrestrial god.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What is
ironic is that even though being a big god of the entire universe seems to be a
prerequisite for being accepted as a legitimate deity these days, what many people
– principally conservatives - seem to actually want is a local deity concerned
with their local concerns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For them,
their focus is on the here and now and their place in it all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The god they deal with on a day to day basis
who is comforting them and their families through tough times and uniting
communities is really just a small god; a shared imaginary friend and personal
guardian angel on whom they heap their wishes and worries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is all they really want or need, and
there are virtually hundreds of various deities that have been honoured through
the ages that have filled that role and still could and often do in other
cultures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would probably make things
a great deal easier for these people if they could just go back to that smaller
god who loved them, but hated their enemies, who was theirs alone and not the
god of other nations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But because our
collective understanding of what ‘god’ is has come to require omnipotence and
omnibenevolence it has become necessary to reconcile this with their desire for
a local deity who favors them by appealing to such concepts as being a chosen
people or nation or religion.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Conversely,
those of a liberal bent tend to desire a more universal god who is concerned
with all of humanity and will seek to distance themselves from the smaller more
anthropomorphic and culturally limited deity and focus instead on interpreting
the Abrahamic god to fit into the philosophically determined conception of a
perfect being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some have even moved to a
belief of a more universal god beyond religious interpretations and often
retain only a tenuous and superficial link between their conception of god and
the Abrahamic deity.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What
boggles the mind is how few take a step back and realize what they are doing in
fabricating a version of a god for their own personal use.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though they will deny it, they are each
making their own personal idol, their own totem that suits them and their communities
and ideals that reflects the god they want.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When they claim a personal relationship with god, what they are really
saying is that they have invented their own personal god in their own image as
a proxy for their own ego.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
</div>
Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-17548074809123679842012-06-27T15:19:00.000-07:002012-06-28T11:43:15.767-07:00Most Catholics aren't<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As some of you know, in my youth I was a very orthodox Catholic. If the Church taught it, I believed it, I studied it, I understood it about as well as any lay person could, and I taught it to others. One thing that baffled me then and continues to baffle me now is how many people have a complete disconnect between their self-identification as Catholics, and what they actually believe. My own family did not and still does not quite understand this rather basic idea that if you're Catholic and you don't agree with what the Church teaches, you're what they call a "heretic." You know, the kind of people that used to get burned at the stake by the inquisitions if they wouldn't repent of their heresy. The kind of people that are in serious danger of going to hell (according to the Church, anyway.)<br />
<br />
A case in point is the recent high profile "conversion" of atheist blogger Leah Libresco to Catholicism (story here <a href="http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/22/prominent-atheist-blogger-converts-to-catholicism/?iref=allsearch">http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/22/prominent-atheist-blogger-converts-to-catholicism/?iref=allsearch</a> ). I highly suspect her conversion was primarily for emotional reasons (coincidentally, her boyfriend is Catholic). She claims she converted to Catholicism because she felt there must be a moral compass and authority external to us. Yet, like most Catholics in the developed world, she rejects the church's teachings on homosexuality, contraception, etc. How can she not see the obvious contradiction there?<br />
<br />
The Catholic Church has a unique place among religions, and especially within Christianity. It not only claims to be the one true faith, but also claims to have absolute and infallible authority on matters of faith and morals by tracing a direct unbroken line of apostolic succession from Peter, the "first pope" all the way to the present. While there are matters of specific theology that have evolved over the centuries, and new understandings of things, by and large Catholic doctrine has remained remarkably consistent and unchangeable. It has to, because it claims to be teaching eternal truth. Those so-called Catholics who think the Church will eventually get with the times and update its teachings to reflect the opinions of the majority of Catholics just don't get it. Even if a pope wanted to, which is highly unlikely, he couldn't officially and unilaterally change long-standing church teaching on a subject. That would be a bit like expecting a president to unilaterally rewrite the US constitution.<br />
<br />
So, not only do most self-identified Catholics disagree with their Church on important questions of faith and morals, they don't even understand the basic concept of what their Church is and how it differs from other Christian churches, and they don't realize that, according to the teachings of their own Church, they are all at risk of burning in hell. Catholicism is take it or leave it. Picking and choosing what you feel like believing - what I call Cafeteria Christianity - is not allowed (and anyone who seriously thinks they can determine what absolute truth is in such a way needs to get their head checked.)<br />
<br />
Now, the Church says it "hopes" for the salvation of all. In other words, they hope that god is a lot more merciful than the way he's portrayed in the bible, and they hope he wasn't really serious when Jesus said even calling someone a fool is a hell-worthy offense (Matthew 5:22). So, despite a long history of being very judgmental, they let god have the last word on any individual's final destination and as such have a policy to never unequivocally say any individual is in hell - not even Judas.<br />
Despite that, the basic teaching is that the salvation gained through baptism can be lost by knowingly committing a mortal sin and not repenting - ideally by going to confession - before death.<br />
Oh well, no big deal, right, most Catholics are basically good people, right?<br />
Sorry, being a "good person" doesn't cut it.<br />
Among the commonly committed "mortal" sins staining the souls of the vast majority of Catholics are:<br />
-Missing mass on a day of obligation (Sundays and holy days like Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Christmas, Easter, etc.) without a good reason.<br />
-Receiving communion without having sincerely repented of all sins. Now, for an act of contrition (that prayer said every mass where you say you're a worthless sinner and please make me worthy) to be valid, it must include the intention to go to confession as soon as possible, and sincerely resolve to try to never, ever sin again. Most Catholics I know have never even done that once, let alone before every communion. <br />
-Thinking lustful thoughts<br />
-Masturbating <br />
-Using contraception<br />
-Pre-marital sex<br />
-Extra-marital sex<br />
-Any sex that doesn't satisfy the criteria of being both unitive (strengthening the loving bond of marriage) and open to procreation. So this means, even within marriage: oral sex, anal sex, mutual masturbation, any form of coitus interuptus, or any sex where the money shot happens outside the vagina. Having sex as a duty, or anytime it's not loving and not "unitive." Marriages of convenience, for political reasons, arranged marriages, etc. <br />
-Publicly supporting mortal sins: i.e. being in favor of same-sex marriage, pro-choice etc.<br />
-Having an abortion or assisting someone in having one carries the additional penalty of automatic excommunication<br />
-Belonging to a Freemason organization, like the Shriners (there go most of the older men in my home town's parish) <br />
-Any Catholic store owners or workers that sell condoms, contraceptives, pornography, etc.<br />
-Working any job that aids or promotes sinfulness<br />
-Rejecting the Church's teachings on a subject of faith or morals. Like, for example, believing that communion is only symbolic and not actually a magical transformation into the real body and blood of Jesus. <br />
-Sins of omission: not helping others when you have the chance.<br />
-Getting divorced and re-married (with this one there's no hiding that you're "living in sin", so you're not allowed to receive communion. But if you're lucky, you can probably get an annulment that says your marriage was never really valid in the first place for whatever reason.) <br />
<br />
-And many, many more. <br />
<br />
So, if you call yourself Catholic, but what the Church teaches means you are probably going to hell anyway, why be Catholic?<br />
<br />
If you call yourself Catholic, but disagree with ANY of it's teachings, you have already basically rejected one of the cornerstones of Catholic faith: the authority of the Church. So why be Catholic?<br />
<br />
If you go to church just because you were raised to, to be part of a community, or for any other reason than truly believing ALL of it, then you are being dishonest with yourself and helping to support an organization yo don't really agree with. So why not stop pretending and stop lying and be honest. If you're not <i>really</i> Catholic, why be Catholic? <br />
<br />
If every so-called Catholic was truly honest about what they believed and left, the Church would see it's membership vanish overnight. We can only hope!</div>Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-70446345880175760762012-05-30T17:30:00.000-07:002012-05-30T17:30:11.001-07:00If we could convict 'god' of war crimes...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Former Liberian President Charles Taylor has been convicted of war crimes and handed a 50 year prison sentence for "aiding and abetting some of the most heinous and brutal crimes in recorded history" (Judge Lussik) though he never personally laid a finger on any of the victims. He has never admitted any wrongdoing. Upon reading this story, I immediately saw a parallel in the god of the Abrahamic religions who is also responsible for many of history's greatest atrocities, yet denies any wrongdoing. <br />
<br />
"You can't blame god for the evils done in his name" is a popular refrain among Christians when confronted with the brutal history of their religion. From the flood of Noah in Genesis to the genocidal cleansing of Canaan in Joshua to the wine-press in the book of Revelation, from the sectarian wars of the early Church to the Crusades to the European an early American witch hunts to the war in the Balkans, the history of Christianity and pre-Christian Judaism is soaked in the blood of millions (I won't address Islam as I simply don't have enough familiarity with Islamic history or how Muslims react to it). Yet, though much of this violence was directly commanded by god - at least according to the not-so-historically accurate biblical narrative - or carried out in his name by his appointed representatives on earth, his followers insist he bears no guilt whatsoever for any of it. If the god of the bible truly existed, the fact that he never physically touched any of the victims, but only acted by proxy, would in no way mitigate his responsibility or absolve him of the guilt for those crimes. But Christianity, true to the nature of it's central tenet, prefers a scapegoat on which to place the burden of guilt. There are three typical responses given by Christians when acting as lawyers in defense of their religion's role in historical bloodshed. <br />
<br />
For some, it is Satan himself who is responsible for all this death and destruction. Though even a cursory reading of the bible will show that god's nemesis is not big on killing humans. In fact, the only ones he ever killed were Job's children, and he did so only as part of a wager he had made with Yahweh. No, the adversary is hardly the author of Christian bloodshed, and even if he were it would only prove how profoundly impotent and powerless the grace of god and the Christian message is at guiding his people and protecting them from the temptations of the devil. <br />
<br />
Other Christians will ascribe the guilt to "man's sinful nature". Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit causing them to lose their state of grace and acquire a fallen nature. Ultimately, this gets blamed on the talking serpent - later identified as Satan - despite that it was inept Yahweh that had placed the tree in the center of the garden of Eden rather than keep it safe. If your prized possession was stolen through such willful negligence, your insurance company would rightly deny the claim and the adjusters would call you an idiot behind your back. But no so with Yahweh. His negligence in the garden of Eden myth is never addressed, unless to say it was part of his plan all along. Instead, Satan bears the responsibility for the temptation, and humankind bears every bit of guilt for every sin ever committed since - well, they get to transfer that over to Jesus in order to be forgiven, but it's their fault for doing the crimes in the first place. Christianity has a strong tendency to give credit for anything positive to god, and to lay blame for anything negative at the feet of individuals. They are taught that from the beginning of their existence they have a nature corrupted by the hereditary original sin of Adam and Eve, but even though they did not eat the forbidden fruit themselves, when they do wrong they must ask forgiveness. Yet when they do good they should not be proud of having chosen to do good, but to credit god for their own human decency. In fact, the bible only has one instance of a human thanking another human, but hundreds of instances of humans thanking god for good they have received at the hands of fellow humans.<br />
<br />
The third defense presented by Christians is to simply cast aside anyone whose actions might tarnish their reputation by claiming that the offender is not and probably never was a "true Christian." In this twist on the everything good is of god doctrine, the definition of Christian is manipulated such that by definition anyone who does wrong is, at least for the purposes of publicly acknowledging responsibility, retroactively excommunicated. This is commonly referred to as the 'no true Scotsman fallacy', but in my opinion it should be renamed as the 'no true Christian' fallacy since it is rarely used in any other context. <br />
This false and artificial division of responsibility is a shield that allows this imaginary being to continue to cast his influence over human history while dodging any sort of responsibility for negative consequences by shifting the burden of guilt away from himself, and shifting credit towards himself. He is essentially a parody of a corrupt dictator with delusions of grandeur that would be comical if not for the great tragedy that even though he is not real, his nefarious influence on humanity most certainly is. <br />
<br /></div>Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-91264056775253164122012-05-22T14:26:00.000-07:002012-05-22T14:26:38.499-07:00Musings on the future of Humanity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
This past weekend I attended the Imagine No Religion 2
conference in Kamloops, BC, Canada. It
was an amazing event and there were many very interesting and important
messages in the presentations. But I
want to talk here about something I gleaned from tying together a few snippets
from a few of the presentations that rather struck me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Seth Andrews of the Thinking Atheist reminded us of just how
recently it is that information was difficult to retrieve and often
inaccessible. Since I was born (in 1976)
we have gone from the strongest computer being the Vic 20 and the easiest way
to retrieve information being the card catalogue at your local library to
having millions of phones in the hands of average people with computing power
orders of magnitude greater than early generations of multi-million dollar
supercomputers, and with access to more information in a matter of milliseconds
than even existed for most of human civilization.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dr. Andy Tompson pointed out that we are the first
generations to be able to look into our own brains with medical technology and
understand how our minds evolved and why we think the way we do.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another presenter – I can’t remember which – pointed out
that in most fields of science there now exists a body of literature so vast
that no one scientist could even read all of it from just their own field even
if they spent their lifetime doing so.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
PZ Myers spoke of the fundamental incompatibility of science
and religion and how religion hampers science.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
David Eberth spoke about the political and social strength
of the creationist movement and how it seeks to move society away from science
and towards religion.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
August Berkshire spoke of the inherent limitations and
failings of religious morality compared to rational secular morality.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dr. Christopher DiCarlo spoke of the need to broaden our
scope when we look at problems and their solutions and gave examples of how
narrow a band of thinking goes into so many important decisions in everything
from education to hospital care. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lawrence Krauss spoke eloquently of our growing
understanding of the universe and its workings, making the “God is the best
explanation for the existence of the universe” arguments of the theists from
the conference’s opening debate seem even more arrogant and ridiculous in their
childish certitude than they had when they were presented.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These stunning indications of human progress were starkly
contrasted with reminders of the simplistic and anti-scientific mindsets of the
religious and of the continuing bigotry and backwards thinking that shackles
much of humanity to a primitive past and a mind-bogglingly egocentric lack of
self-awareness from Maryam Namazie, Matt Dillahunty and others. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Representatives of the Centre for Inquiry, atheist Alliance
International and BC Humanists told us of the importance of getting involved
and the work they were doing, and Desiree Schell taught us how to be effective
activists for change.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It seems to me that, quite contrary to the naïve perception
I had as a child that all the cool stuff had already been discovered and
explored, we are actually living in a uniquely privileged moment in human
history. Humanity is reaching
adolescence. It is growing up, and
becoming more intelligent, but still retains much of the immaturity and childishness
of its more primitive infancy. Another
analogy that occurred to me is that humanity has built an incredible aircraft
that sits on the runway, ready to take us to new heights, but is prevented from
lifting off because of all the excess baggage we are carrying that weighs it
down. The heights we could achieve if we
could only rid ourselves of all the divisiveness, of all the historical
problems we have carried with us, of all the biased and intransigent ways of
thinking we have inherited from both our evolutionary and cultural forebears! The realization brings both immense hope and
crushing despair. Those heights are
attainable! They are within our grasp! But we are being prevented from reaching
them. Humanity is – as has always been
the case – its own worst enemy. But we
must not give into despair. We cannot
allow our goals to recede. We cannot
allow ourselves to be dragged back into the dark ages! We must fight against ignorance, divesting
ourselves of as much useless baggage as possible while helping improve the
aircraft of rational enlightenment and scientific inquiry that will eventually
lift us into realms we can now scarcely imagine! </div>
</div>Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-20292876159958421902012-02-29T12:41:00.001-08:002012-02-29T12:47:04.802-08:00The Christian trump card<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Unanswered prayers. Contradictions in the bible. A bizarre system of original sin and salvation through a human sacrifice. It doesn't matter what objection or question is brought forth, the Christians have a single answer to it all: The Lord works in mysterious ways.<br />
<br />
This pearl of apologetics comes from Isaiah 55:9 which states "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts". It's an easy out for anything that can't be explained rationally. It's the answer for every "Why did god do that?" and every "Why didn't he do it this way?"<br />
<br />
Christians will often accuse anyone who points out the lack of logic and the inconsistencies in god's plan as described in the bible of trying to put god in a box, or trying to understand the mind of an infinite god with our flawed and limited human perspective. It's quite ingenious, really. It's an escape route from any possible argument that effectively shuts down any questions and sounds profound, even though it's just another way for the Christian to say "I have no idea!". It's like a parent telling a child "you're too young to understand," when they really don't have a good explanation for their actions. As effective as it is at making non-believers throw up their arms and walk away in exasperation, it works even better for believers to quell any of those pesky doubts that crop up from time to time. Anytime things don't make sense, or god's "plan" isn't obvious, they just remind themselves that god is smarter than them and knows what he's doing. Just trust in his higher ways and higher thoughts. Simple. Problem solved.<br />
<br />
But to me, an argument that amounts to "you're too stupid to get it, so stop asking," is condescending in the way a bully who's had one too many concussions is when he calls the smartest kid in class stupid for winning the science fair. A leader who resorts to "because I said so," as justification for everything is no leader at all. I may not be the smartest person to ever live, but I'm smart enough to know that if god expects even little children to be able to understand his message, he should be smart enough to have a better answer for questions that even children ask than "you wouldn't understand." An omniscient god would know how we think and what questions we would ask and - if he actually cared - would have a better answer. Oh wait... his thoughts are higher, so we can't understand why he's being such a dick about not explaining things in a way that we might understand. I should have known that was the answer to my objections! My bad.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
</div>Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-79574658156567981572012-02-27T16:21:00.000-08:002012-02-27T16:21:44.513-08:00My dog is better than Jesus<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">It came to me last night, as I was cuddling with my dogs. Christians often post about Jesus with descriptions that sound an awful lot like one would describe a loyal pet. He walks beside me. He loves me unconditionally. I can lean on him and he supports me through the tough times. He is my best friend.<br />
<br />
My dogs do all that (I have 2, but I'll talk here in the singular so the comparison makes more sense). But they are also undeniably real and far more dependable than a relationship with an imaginary friend. I don't need to read a book, pray or attend a service to know my dog loves me. He shows me his love constantly - sometimes too much! When my dog doesn't do what I ask him to do, I don't have to ignore his actions or defend them by claiming he works in mysterious ways - even though I don't always understand his behavior. When my dog does do what I ask, I will "praise" him with a "good boy", but no actual worship is required. His love may not be "eternal", but it as real as it gets and I can trust in that love absolutely. All my dog asks of me is that I love him, feed him, walk him and play with him. <br />
Sure, he doesn't promise me eternal life, but he gives me far more and better "spiritual fulfillment" than I ever received from Jesus in the years I spent being a devoted Christian. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPbmbyOPSCLvsKX3lSRBY9sq5Z9VCnj91cU5Llk_M7VxFpT-sXSSScPd8VSgpsNud463tf7_rcF9khNcycbsopMw0KtvJ3B-QBYPLULr_qjtkMw10I6mfBdr4CyXhQiNDT-YJVqVIwC_w/s1600/dogprints.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPbmbyOPSCLvsKX3lSRBY9sq5Z9VCnj91cU5Llk_M7VxFpT-sXSSScPd8VSgpsNud463tf7_rcF9khNcycbsopMw0KtvJ3B-QBYPLULr_qjtkMw10I6mfBdr4CyXhQiNDT-YJVqVIwC_w/s320/dogprints.JPG" width="306" /></a></div> <br />
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</div>Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-60912878081005629612012-02-22T12:28:00.000-08:002012-02-22T12:45:01.288-08:00Abraham: The Delusional Father of 3 Faiths. Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">When we last saw Abraham in <a href="http://apostatexp.blogspot.com/2012/02/part-1-delusion-father-of-3-faiths.html" target="_blank">Part 1</a>, he has just gained a new name and lost his 100 year-old foreskin. Now, sitting in front of his tent, he gets a visit from Yahweh in the form of three men - or maybe it's Yahweh and his bodyguard angels. It's really not clear. Abe is, of course, not the least bit surprised to see Yahweh's Avatar in triplicate - perfectly natural, no explanation required or given. Christians - at least those who believe in the Trinity - will see this as foreshadowing - or maybe Jesus and the Holy Spirit have separate avatars here? Whatever the case, Yahweh and the other two are pretty hungry. Abe and Sarah rush around getting their slaves to make up something yummy, and they've got to wash Yahweh's feet, of course. Even gods get their feet dirty in the desert..<br />
While Abe is eating with them, Sarah is eaves-dropping in on their conversation. Yahweh predicts - again - that Sarah will have a child. For some reason, even though Yahweh already made this prediction to Abraham before, Sarah is surprised and laughs, saying how can I have a child now that I'm old? She must be getting senile, since she has apparently not only forgot about the previous predictions, but also that she's been barren her whole life - a good thing or she's have a bunch of pharaoh's babies! - since she's now wondering how a post-menopausal woman with a withered up old hubby will get pregnant as if that's the only thing stopping her from getting knocked-up. Yahweh says to Abraham, "why did Sarah laugh?" and he quotes what she just said. Why does he ask Abraham instead of Sarah? Maybe he thinks Abraham can read Sarah's mind? Maybe it's impolite to address a woman directly, because she's just a woman after all. Anyway, Yahweh says "is there anything too difficult for me?" (well, apparently yes, judging by the next paragraph, and his need to murder his son before he can forgive people instead of just forgiving them, and apparently getting his people to write a book that actually makes and isn't full of contradictions is also too difficult, and... well, I'd better stop there or we'll never get to the rest of the story..). <br />
Sarah is afraid, but apparently not afraid enough to stop her from piping up and lying about what she just said to this stranger that her hubby is treating like he's god or something. "I did not laugh!"<br />
Yahweh says "yes, you did laugh.".<br />
Unfortunately, they cut the story off there without going into the rest of the argument which I imagine went something like this:<br />
Sarah: "Did not" <br />
Yahweh: "Did too"<br />
Sarah: "Did not"<br />
Yahweh: "Did so. I heard you. I was right here and you were just a few feet away behind the tent flap, which isn't exactly sound-proof and I have super-hearing."<br />
Sarah: "That wasn't me."<br />
Yahweh: "It was so. Do you you even know who you're talking to?"<br />
Sarah: "No, you're just three strangers who think they can make me pregnant! Wait a minute... Abraham, what are you planning???"<br />
Abraham: "Actually dear, this is Yahweh. You know... our god."<br />
Sarah: "Oh... my bad."<br />
<br />
Then Yahweh x3, (or Yahweh and bodyguards or whatever they are), and Abraham walk together and Yahweh looks down the hill at Sodom and Gomorrah and says "Hmmmm, should I hide my plans from Abraham? Well, he is going to be the father of my chosen people, because I promised him he would, so why not tell him... Hey Abe, I've heard there's some really nasty stuff going on down there so I'm going to go check it out and see what's up." Apparently Yahweh hadn't yet gotten the omniscience power. I think he has to level up a few times before that, 'cause you know, it's one thing to create the universe, but to see what's going on in a city a few miles away... that takes some real power! So the two bodyguards head down to the cities and the main Yahweh avatar stays with Abe. Abraham apparently has a better moral compass than Yahweh and probably also remembers his nephew lives in Sodom, so he says, "Ummm, Yahweh, are you really going to kill everyone down there, good guys and bad guys? What if there's like, 50 good guys? C'mon, you're the judge of all the earth, man, do the right thing!"<br />
And Yahweh says, "OK, if there's 50 good guys, I'll spare the city."<br />
Then Abraham, smart guy that he is, starts negotiating and knows it's best to suck up first. So he says, "now that I've been so bold as to question you even though I'm just dust and ashes, what if there's only 45 good guys." <br />
Yahweh, "OK 45."<br />
Abraham: "What about 40?"<br />
Yahweh: "Ok, I'll spare the cities for 40 good guys." <br />
Abe: "Don't get angry, please...what about 30?<br />
Yahweh: "oh for the love of!... Fine... I won't blow the cities to smithereens if there are 30."<br />
Abraham: "Now that I've been so bold as to speak - "<br />
Yahweh: "You said that already, like 3 sentences ago. You're just repeating yourself now."<br />
Abraham: "Oh, sorry, ummm... what about 20?"<br />
Yahweh: "Fine, 20."<br />
Abraham: "Ok, don't be angry -"<br />
Yahweh : "If you keep repeating yourself like this I WILL get angry you little twerp!"<br />
Abraham: "What about 10?"<br />
Yahweh: "For the sake of 10, I will not destroy it."<br />
Then, negotiation apparently concluded, Abe goes home. (Gen 18)<br />
<br />
Chapter 19 doesn't have Abraham in it, so I'll save the long version of that story for another post. It's the one where the two angels (they may be the bodyguards who were with Yahweh earlier - again, it's not actually explained anywhere) go to Sodom and find Lot, the righteous guy who offers up his daughters for gang-rape. Apparently he's the only righteous dude in Sodom, so they save him and his family, and Yahweh turns the party cities into Chernobyl.<br />
<br />
Then the action shifts back to Abraham in chapter 20.<br />
Abraham, having been so successful with his "she's my sister" con job in Egypt, decides to try it again. He moves into an area called Negev and again lies about Sarah being his sister. The king, Abimelek, is apparently tired of all the hot young chicks he has and decides he wants the hot nonagenarian (that means she's in her 90s), Sarah, so he sends for her and Abraham graciously pimps her out again.<br />
Yahweh once again plays his part in the con and [pretends it's all Abimelek's fault. He shows up to Abimelek in a dream - guess his avatar is reserved for VIPs like Abraham - and says "you're as good as dead because of this woman you've taken."<br />
Abimelek said, "Whoa, how was I supposed to know she was married? That Abe guy told me she was his sister, and she told me he was her brother. Besides, I haven't touched her yet. My conscience is clean."<br />
Yahweh, as usual, takes the credit and says, "oh right, I knew that. Yeah, it was me who stopped you from sleeping with her so you wouldn't, you know, offend me or something. Now give her back to Abraham because he's a prophet, and he'll pray for you and I'll listen to him and spare your life. But if you decide to keep her... I'll kill you and and all who belong to you. Because, you know, it's your slaves' fault if you sleep with my pimp prophet's wife, so I'll kill them, too."<br />
<br />
Abimelek wakes up. Like any reasonable man, he realizes that his dream was a visitation from a god - it couldn't be just a dream or anything like that. So he summons his officials and tells them about his dream and they get scared. Then he summons Abraham and asks him, "What are you doing to me? What did I do to piss you off?"<br />
Abraham: "Well I came here and I figured since you guys were a bunch of evil heathens that aren't afraid of my awesome god Yahweh, you'd probably kill me to get your hands on my hot wife, so I told a little fib about her being my sister, Besides, it wasn't a total lie, she's actually my half-sister. And after I married her I told her, this is the deal, Yahweh tells me where to go, and I'll pimp you out by pretending you're my sister. That's how you can show how much you love me!"<br />
<br />
Even though Abraham has pretty much just explained to Abimelek that he's been conned, the "my god will kick your ass" threat does it's job and Abimelek gives Abraham a pile of money, livestock and land to make up for his "offense."<br />
Then Abraham prayed to Yahweh who then healed Abimelek and all his slaves so they could have children again. Yeah, I'm confused too, since there was no mention of Yahweh making them infertile in the first place, but apparently he did because of the great sin of having unknowingly taken in a married woman.<br />
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To be continued in Part 3. Stay tuned to hear about how the morally upstanding Abraham hog ties his own child and puts a knife to his throat. It's the bestest kid's bible story, ever! (well, except for that one where Yahweh drowns the entire planet except for the old drunk guy and a bunch of stuffed animals.)</div>Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-4796409843714379052012-02-20T23:23:00.000-08:002012-02-21T00:49:47.192-08:00Abraham: The Delusional Father of 3 Faiths. Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Abram, whom Yahweh renamed Abraham. He's the father of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Without him - whether he's historical or mythical, and the evidence points to him being an entirely fictional character - the three monotheistic faiths that came to dominate the Western World would not exist. The stories about him in Genesis are the foundational myths for the Jewish and Islamic faiths and both claim him as an ancestor. His story is seen by Christians as foreshadowing Jesus.<br />
<br />
Now, for the sake of discussion and because it's what the majority of religious people believe, let's assume that Abraham was a historical person and that he really was the father of the blood-lines of the Jews and Arabs. First off - having a man who was obviously mentally ill and morally corrupt contribute the genetic blueprint for your races is not something to proud of... but let's not go down that potentially racist road. Let's look at the legacy of his story, instead. We'll go through the Genesis account, first.<br />
<br />
Abraham was one of three brothers. One of his brothers married his own niece, by the way... totally not creepy in those days. Abraham started having his one-on-one chat sessions with Yahweh at about age 75. Now, remember, people lived a long time in those days; Abram's father Terah lived to 205. Basically Yahweh told him where to go and what to do. It doesn't say whether he was either hearing voices in his head or Yahweh was booming an audible voice out of thin air, or appearing as some spectral ghost or something. Whatever the case, I guess that was considered normal back then - either that or they edited out the accounts of his family members questioning him about his imaginary friend. Then again, maybe he was just the kind of head of household no one dared question, despite all the crazy stunts he pulled. The only one who actually calls him on his shit is the pharaoh (ever notice that the bible never actually names any of the various pharaohs it vilified?). Abram heads to Egypt with his wife, Sarai, who, despite being in her late 60s, is apparently so hot that Abram thinks anyone who sees her will kill him to get their hands on her. So he devises a plan to keep himself safe: he tells the Egyptians she is his sister and pimps her out to the Pharaoh in exchange for wealth and influence. Yeah, no moral qualms here - you know, she's just a woman, go ahead and have her. Yahweh objects for reasons that aren't explained, but instead of just telling Abram, or punishing him for being an ass, he decides to instead inflict plagues on the innocent Pharaoh. I think he just has a thing for sending plagues on poor Egypt. Pharaoh comes to the obvious conclusion that the plagues are from Yahweh because he's doing the nasty with Abram's wife, and kicks Abram out of the country, but let's him keep all his riches. (Genesis 12:10-20).<br />
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Abram got filthy rich from pimping out his wife by the time he left Egypt. So rich that he and his nephew Lot, who were traveling together, realized their respective households were too huge to have both of them living off the same land - so they split up. In a typical delusion of grandeur, Abram has another chat with Yahweh who tells him that not only will he father whole nations, but hey, all this land you see, it's yours. Go and take it.<br />
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Then there's some fighting between a bunch of Kings of different cities who just can't seem to get along. Abram's nephew Lot get's kidnapped by one side, so Abram takes a war party and rescues him. A priest comes and says some nice things to Abram, so Abram gives him a tenth of everything he owns (yep, that's that whole foreshadowing thing going on!) Since he defeated the other kings, the King of Sodom is happy with Abram. But for no apparent reason, Abram doesn't like the King of Sodom (that city isn't yet know as the birthplace of gay sex). The King says let me have the people you rescued, but you take all the loot. Abram refuses to take anything from him because he doesn't want anybody to say he got rich from the King of Sodom. Nope, better to be known as the guy who got rich pimping his wife out to the Pharaoh of Egypt by lying to him, that's much more honorable than accepting a freely given gift of loot that you earned in a fair fight. (Gen 13)<br />
<br />
The next chapter has Abram whining to Yahweh about not having a son, and more promises from Yahweh, including a prophecy about exiling his people for four hundred years. Then again, prophecy might be the wrong word here, perhaps historical revisionism might be more accurate. (Gen 14)<br />
<br />
Now starts the really fun parts. First, Abram's super hot wife is apparently sterile - it can't be Abram, since the Pharaoh didn't knock her up either - so she suggests Abram should try impregnating one of the slaves. Like any sane man, Abram thinks it's a good idea to get it on with the Egyptian slave girl and isn't about to say no to his wife. So, he makes her his wife - like she has any choice in the matter - then he gets her pregnant. Now, remember, we get morality from god's eternal law and it was acceptable then to own slaves and sleep with them, and have more than one wife so... ummm... why is that not OK now? I don't remember Yahweh ever saying "thou shalt not have a sex-slave" or "thou shalt have only one wife". Anyway, so, sex-slave Hagar becomes pregnant, and I guess she thinks that makes her something special so she starts being a bitch to Abram's first wife - her owner - Sarai. Sarai gets pissed about it and Abram says hey, she's your slave, you deal with it. So Sarai dials the bitch knob up to 11 and Hagar runs away. <br />
Yahweh appears to Hagar and says go back and obey your mistress like a good little slave and I'll make your son and all his descendants a bunch of blood-thirsty barbarians that will be perpetually at war for centuries. Hagar thinks the idea of having a "wild-donkey of a man" as a son is a good deal, so she obeys. This kid is born and named Ishmael - no, not the guy from Moby Dick, that came later. (Gen 16)<br />
<br />
Fast forward thirteen years. Abram, now 99 years young, is having one of his chats with Yahweh, who tells him he wants him to slice off his foreskin and then do the same to every man in his household, and then every one of his descendents should do it at the age of eight days old. Yahweh also tells him that his wife will conceive and bear a son. Abram proves he is completely insane by making his first question how is my 90 year old wife going to get pregnant instead of you want me to do what with my penis? Actually, he never questions the whole circumcision command at all, and neither does anyone else! Imagine 13 year-old Ishmael as wrinkly old dad comes home, pulls out a knife and say "C'mere boy! Our god told me to chop of the tip of your wee-wee." I think, in his place, I might protest just a bit! If I was one of the slaves, that would be the time to make a break for it! But nope. Not a word of protest from anyone is recorded. I guess they all just lined up and whipped it out for this surgery to be performed - without any anesthetic, antibiotics to prevent infection, and no choice in the matter. Great idea, Yahweh! Dude, no wonder you're a god! What wisdom to come up with such a great idea!<br />
Oh, Yahweh also told Abram to change his name to Abraham at this point, and Sarai to become Sarah. Thankfully he didn't get some weird symbol as a new name or they would have called him The-Patriarch-Formerly-Known-As-Abram. <br />
<br />
To be continued in Part 2. <br />
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</div>Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-20257418112981756542012-02-10T20:39:00.000-08:002012-02-10T20:43:00.257-08:00Battle Hymn of the RepublicansI'm not really one to comment on specific political parties, so this is quite a departure for me. I'm not even American. I'm a Canadian - though I do live only about 10 miles from Northern Idaho and visit there and NE Washington frequently.<br />
But I'm an atheist and a secularist, and I admire the principles of separation of Church and State that are embodied in the constitution of my neighboring nation. So when I see how the politics of the most powerful nation on earth, and the Republican party in particular, have become subservient to Evangelical Christianity, it scared the bejeezus out of me! <br />
<br />
A few lines of Battle Hymn popped into my head with this twisted lyrics and I just couldn't shake the muse - so I went with it. This is a parody, but since the song is now in the public domain and was itself a rip-off of an earlier song, I doubt it matters. If anyone wants to make a music video using these lyrics for YouTube, please contact me. I'd be happy to collaborate.<br />
<br />
To the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic"<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Battle hymn of the Republicans</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Mine eyes have seen the glory of us coming out in first</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We will trample out the rights of all the gays and dykes and whores;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We will topple all the Mosques with bombs and guns and war:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Our campaign is marching on.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">(<b>Chorus</b>)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Glory, glory, hallelujah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Glory, glory, hallelujah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Glory, glory, hallelujah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Our Campaign is marching on.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We will disprove evolution with intelligent design</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We will pray in all the schools, now that would be divine</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Abstinence is it, you know, and here’s the pledge to sign</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Our way is marching on.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">(<b>Chorus</b>)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Glory, glory, hallelujah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Glory, glory, hallelujah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Glory, glory, hallelujah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Our way is marching on.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Read the constitution, no - it’s such a total bore!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The damned old treaty of Tripoli is something we’ll ignore;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">This wall of separation needs a great big door!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Our Church is marching on.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">(<b>Chorus</b>)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Glory, glory, hallelujah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Glory, glory, hallelujah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Glory, glory, hallelujah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Our way is marching on</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">This is a Christian Nation, there isn’t any doubt</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The Ten Commandments in the court clearly spell that out</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">All we want is the Jesus vote, for some added clout</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Our Nation marches on!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">(<b>Chorus</b>)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Glory, glory, hallelujah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Glory, glory, hallelujah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Glory, glory, hallelujah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Our Nation marches on!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Why bother with environment? The second coming’s soon,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We hope we’ll still get raptured when we’re based up on the moon,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Global warming is BS, unless the Bible says it’s true</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Our Faith is Marching on! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Our Faith is Marching on! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">(<b>Chorus</b>)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Glory, glory, hallelujah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Glory, glory, hallelujah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Glory, glory, hallelujah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Our Faith is Marching on! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">A Christian in the Whitehouse! Nothing else will do!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And not just any Christian, just the kind that’s True,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We mean Evangelical, none of those Liberal fools!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Our vote marches on!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">(<b>Chorus</b>)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Glory, glory, hallelujah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Glory, glory, hallelujah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Glory, glory, hallelujah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Our vote marches on!</span></div>Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-26132749058968765762012-02-10T12:15:00.001-08:002012-02-10T12:19:05.356-08:00Coexist?I'm sure you've seen it, it's everywhere: the COEXIST bumper sticker with the letters made of religious symbols. The message is simple: we should all get along regardless of what we believe. It's a nice sentiment, and certainly peaceful coexistence among <i>people </i>is a laudable goal. But coexistence of religions is a condescending idea based on willful ignorance. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5q75YjoudWY2HuwCSOyQh2rIJY0GWvQ2c2d5m7RIgzr8S5rZxHj8oIp6op0_4ltJjYrALYRU0kvRVQmVbact0iKeD3kgH0cUEJvqRUy8CZ_CiwSY3jXJ3izGJQkSEgZ598FDG3jQv9wk/s1600/coexist1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5q75YjoudWY2HuwCSOyQh2rIJY0GWvQ2c2d5m7RIgzr8S5rZxHj8oIp6op0_4ltJjYrALYRU0kvRVQmVbact0iKeD3kgH0cUEJvqRUy8CZ_CiwSY3jXJ3izGJQkSEgZ598FDG3jQv9wk/s320/coexist1.png" width="320" /></a></div>You see, the message is that religions should tolerate or even respect one another. But - at least for the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam - tolerating other faiths is contrary to their scriptures and their theology. So what the coexist crowd is asking is for religious people to put the secular notion of religious freedom and religious tolerance over and above "god's law". To anyone who takes their religion seriously, that's a very condescending position.<br />
<br />
Christ commanded that Christians go and preach to all nations. He never said anything about respecting other people's beliefs, and especially not the pagans (such as Wiccans, whose symbol is included in the bumper sticker.) The New Testament is full of nasty things about pagans. The Jewish scriptures quite clearly state that anyone who believes in other gods should be stoned to death, and specifically singles out witches (like the Wiccans, and those use astrology and the like - New Agers, for example). Islam commands the beheading of "infidels," and making war against those of other faiths I can't speak for the Taoists, since I find what little I know about Taoism fairly baffling from my Western frame of reference, yet I do know that its teachings are anathema to the monotheistic religions.<br />
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One case in point is this version of the sticker which has Christian commentary added to it and demonstrates that religion's attitide towards the others (well, one version of Christianity, anyway). Note how it directs criticism at the others and then concludes with the blatantly false "Christianity is who this is directed at, but Christianity poses no threat to others."<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgybeWVSedtB2JWWiCOSKxGlzUJZqX_JAMpIZ8QzSiu_9FD0U9_zMGXLLD6zNENrLoa89dcsQjdJSNDUmaTfKQd3XSB0Ny-Zu_GtE-qdt7nDJ93Gkdc6M3VKpJodlj3xT420rHjKM_45lw/s1600/coexist_front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgybeWVSedtB2JWWiCOSKxGlzUJZqX_JAMpIZ8QzSiu_9FD0U9_zMGXLLD6zNENrLoa89dcsQjdJSNDUmaTfKQd3XSB0Ny-Zu_GtE-qdt7nDJ93Gkdc6M3VKpJodlj3xT420rHjKM_45lw/s320/coexist_front.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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Granted, in secular nations, most of the adherents of these and other faiths have, in fact, either placed such commands below the comparatively new secular principles of religious tolerance and mutual respect. Why? Well, they are perhaps ignorant of the teachings of their own religions. I know from experience that this kind of ignorance is widespread among Christians. Perhaps they have bought into the idea that religion is something private - another secular idea that no religion actually promotes in its scriptures. Some have become ashamed of the intolerant elements of their faith and have discarded them from either their personal beliefs or the teachings of their particular denomination or sect (though they rarely if ever remove these hateful passages from their scriptures. They still carry around books filled with hate-speech.). Looking at Christianity in particular, as a former devout Christian, I find the idea of keeping quiet to be stupid, anti-Christian, and selfish. If you truly believe that the fate of people's eternal souls hangs in the balance and you just keep quiet and not try to convert everyone you meet, then not only are you disobeying the commands of Jesus, but you are being extremely selfish. If someone was taking poison, I wouldn't sit back and be quiet in the name of tolerance and respect, I would stop them from drinking the poison! If a Christian truly believed people would go to hell without the salvation of Christ, shouldn't they be trying to save everyone, all the time? Christ and his apostles certainly seemed to think so, but many modern Christians find the idea of evangelizing to be downright distasteful and will actually criticize other Christians who engage in it!<br />
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Orthodox Jews will follow many of their laws so closely that they won't even flick a light switch on the sabbath, yet none of them seem to follow god's commands to stone those Jews who work on the Sabbath. In fact, I cannot recall any news stories at all about Jews enforcing any of the many, many commands of Yahweh that involve stoning people or hacking off hands, or how to own and beat slaves.<br />
<br />
Islam, being the youngest of the Abrahamic religions, and still being the majority religion in many countries and even forming theocratic governments, is the only one of the three that still actively practices (or at least does not condemn) the statements in its scriptures that command violence against those of different faiths, or those of its own who disobey or who attempt to leave. In nations where Islam is a minority, they have generally accepted the secular doctrine of coexistence.<br />
<br />
There are other variations on this sticker that have symbols for Buddhism, Hinduism, and other religions. However, none that I have seen ever include atheists, agnostics and humanists. Odd, isn't it? <br />
<br />
Aside from the hypocrisy of the religious believing in the secular doctrine of coexistence, tolerance and respect, there are reasons why the non-religious should take issue with this generic promotion of all faiths as equally good. <span class="commentBody" data-jsid="text"><span class="text_exposed_show">Even if they aren't shoving it in people's faces, the magical thinking and belief in supernatural, accepting things on faith etc. have enormous detrimental impacts on society as a whole. Our society seems to put in a protective box, shielded from criticism, anything that someone believes as long as they put it in the category of personal conviction or religion. Look around and you will see everywhere people believing whatever they like based on nothing more than how it makes them feel. We are teaching people that you need not look critically at the truthfulness of anything. As long as you call it religion, it's all good. We are teaching people that gullibility and irrationality are virtues, that completely contradictory beliefs can be compatible and equally relevant. This leaves people open to manipulation and fraud in all areas of their life, and greatly impedes rational discussion and the advancement of society. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="commentBody" data-jsid="text"><span class="text_exposed_show">Religion is a main source of conflict now as it has been throughout history. Even in secular nations where "coexist" is almost a state doctrine, we still see the religious trying to impose their values on others such as their attempts to include creationism in classrooms, quash gay-rights, restrict and de-fund important scientific research, and elect religious politicians who will subject everyone to their faith-based social agendas.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="commentBody" data-jsid="text"><span class="text_exposed_show">As long as religions continue to indoctrinate children, they harm society. The young </span></span><span class="commentBody" data-jsid="text"><span class="text_exposed_show">have religion taught to them as children - they never choose it themselves. Even if they switch to a different one later, most wouldn't do so if they didn't already have a foundation of magical thinking taught to them in childhood, and the continued societal acceptance of religion as inherently good for it's own sake. </span></span><span class="commentBody" data-jsid="text"><span class="text_exposed_show">People raised to value skepticism and rationality rarely later choose religion or other forms of magical thinking as a means of finding meaning in their lives. </span></span><br />
<span class="commentBody" data-jsid="text"><span class="text_exposed_show"> <br />
On a person to person basis, the idea of coexisting peacefully is most certainly a wonderful thing. People should learn to live peacefully. But promoting that by promoting religion, and then asking these mutually exclusive theologies that condemn each other to get along, is a bit like encouraging racism in a mixed race society.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0XAHOrcNzHl5SF71gZBUEjKP8k50IPYFreXhFSCaUkQK5O5cGmw8oQU8LpgvmwMTkRoBlJ4jugNltlyrKLNj8E0B4f682jMhaMtuEcsOa46F_wLf8nBJWHajOms6WNboGoteWyuu4cnU/s1600/cant-coexist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0XAHOrcNzHl5SF71gZBUEjKP8k50IPYFreXhFSCaUkQK5O5cGmw8oQU8LpgvmwMTkRoBlJ4jugNltlyrKLNj8E0B4f682jMhaMtuEcsOa46F_wLf8nBJWHajOms6WNboGoteWyuu4cnU/s320/cant-coexist.jpg" width="269" /></a></div>Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-42779425229842709382012-02-02T13:12:00.000-08:002012-02-02T13:14:33.148-08:00Dear Mom and DadThis is the "coming out" letter I sent to my parents a while back. It was partially well received. The were of course upset, and my Mom seems to think I've joined some sort of cult and is worried I will try to convert my siblings (even though none of them are really believers, anyway). But, at the very least, they sort of understand where I'm coming from. They acknowledge I have the right to make my own choices. And most importantly, they still love me. I can't really ask for any more than that! <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Dear Mom and Dad,</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">You may have heard through the grapevine that I’ve been posting on Facebook about being an atheist, and about my rejection and criticism of religion. As my parents, whom I love dearly, I felt it right that I tell you myself where I’m coming from. I’m using a letter instead of a phone call so I can express myself as clearly as possible since I’ve been composing it in my head and working on it for weeks now. Also because I think I might chicken out if I tried to do this over the phone. I am writing this admittedly long winded letter, on a subject many families find difficult to talk about, because you deserve to know why the child you raised in the faith has chosen to leave it. I hope you will receive it with a spirit of openness and love. I in no way want to hurt or offend you. Though I realize I will probably do both, it’s not my intent. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">I’ve been agnostic for years and atheist for some time now, but only just recently did I publicly “come out of the closet” as an atheist. I know your first question will be why.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">Let me assure you I am not angry at god, running away from god or hiding from god. I am also not rebelling against my upbringing or you in any way. In fact, I did not come to this conclusion based on any emotional reason or any event provoking a crisis of faith, but through long years of reflection and searching fervently and honestly for truth.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">I left the church long ago. First it was just difficult to attend with babies, so we went to mass less and less frequently. But that distance of not having my faith constantly reinforced let me take a step back and actually ask the tough questions and examine the doubts my faith had for so long held at bay. When I was a true believer, there were things that bothered me and questions I couldn’t answer about my faith such as the horrific atrocities, the contradictions and the historical inaccuracies in the bible. I was troubled by the “problem of evil” as it is called in philosophy - if god is omnipotent and omnibenevolent, then why is there evil, suffering etc in the world? Free will and human action can only account for some small part of it. Much more suffering comes from nature; illness, natural disasters, famine, etc. How can we thank god for answering our prayers and giving us the things we have and reconcile that with the unanswered prayers of so many who go hungry, who suffer disease, pestilence and war? How can there be any one universal truth when there are literally tens of thousands of religions, each saying different and mutually exclusive things and the single most important factor that determines which “truth” you end up accepting is simply where and when you are born? How could god really expect any mere human to sort through that conflicting mass of messages and correctly identify his one true message? These and many, many other concerns were always there in the background. I accepted the answers I was given by the church and its apologists, but they didn’t sit well. It was easy to suppress these doubts when I was always having my faith reinforced at church, by Christian friends, by books, etc. But without that reinforcement, I started to re-examine my faith, and I realized I wasn’t being honest with myself by not really truly asking these hard questions. For a long time I was in limbo – wandering the desert, so to speak.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">I spent years searching for a god I could believe in. I wanted to believe in god, in some eternal objective truth I could look to. I explored the other Abrahamic monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Islam, Ba’hai and their offshoots. I looked to the ancient monotheistic religions, reasoning that perhaps the real truth was revealed early on. So I explored Atenism, Zoroastrianism, etc. I even explored polytheistic and non-theistic religions. Then I searched for a religion based on reason instead of revelation. The closest answer would be deism, which is a useless religion. Nothing rang true.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">What does feel true and right to me, and was the only conclusion that could stand up to reason, was a naturalistic worldview grounded in science. I marvel at the vast immensity of the universe and how small we are in it. The idea that out of all the billions of galaxies in the universe, and all the trillions of stars and who knows how many millions of planets – and the odds are high that many of these as yet unknown worlds may very well also have life on them – that our tiny insignificant planet, and our very brief time on it relative to its incredibly long natural history is not only the object of divine attention, but that our very thoughts would be important to one who created all this immensity seems incredibly ridiculous. The idea that a being we conceive of as all knowing and all seeing would choose to communicate with us only through archaic books he would surely have known could be twisted and misunderstood, misinterpreted, used as a pretext for every sort of war and conflict, and which were written by prophets whose visions would be classified as schizophrenic or drug induced hallucinations were they to occur today, seems even more ridiculous. The idea that we must choose between eternal damnation or belief in an improbable story of which we are only aware because of poorly written and conflicting accounts of a Jewish prophet which were then interpreted by Saul/Paul, seems to be grossly unfair and unworthy of the being we conceive of as god. The inescapable conclusion, to my thinking, is that all religion is man-made. If there is some force that created the universe, that we might call god, it is impersonal and beyond our knowing. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I have found freedom of thought; freedom to question everything, examine evidence and change my thinking based on that evidence. I am a skeptic and a humanist. I am still a good and moral person. I love and respect others because I choose to, rather than for any hope of heaven or fear of hell. I learned from your example to be loving, caring, honest and generous. For that I am so very grateful to you! I have met many people who have told me what their own parents were like, and I have realized just how lucky I am to have had you to raise me. You were, and still are, very good parents. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">Niqi and I each followed our own journey separately and quietly. We rarely talked to each other about religion until recently, but we both ended up coming to the same conclusions on our own. We are teaching the girls our values. They do like to attend church occasionally because they like to sing, and that the old people admire them and compliment them. But they are not believers. They are free to explore as they wish and think freely, and we help them in their explorations to think critically and always search after truth and examine the available evidence. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">I know this might upset you, and I am truly sorry for any hurt it causes you. I do not want to hurt you, or offend you in any way. But I must be honest with myself and seek always after the truth, no matter where it takes me. I also cannot, in good conscience, selfishly keep this knowledge to myself in the name of misguided tolerance or a fear of offending others. To me, knowing that we need not follow the edicts of an invisible master, but can be free to truly think and be ourselves, is good news that needs to be spread. To me, knowing that many of the values humanity holds most dear such as the abolition of slavery, equality of races, women’s rights, animal rights, freedom of expression, tolerance of different ideas and religions, pursuit of technological advancement and scientific research and many more come not from the bible or any other divine or supernatural revelation, but from the rational and intellectual maturity that civilization has gained and continues to gain since the enlightenment, is good news to be celebrated. I am, as I have always been, drawn to knowledge and to sharing it. When I was a Christian I stood up for what I believed in, even when it annoyed or offended others, because I believed I had the truth and that it was worth sharing. I cannot do any differently now as an atheist and humanist with a much more mature and knowledgeable worldview. It’s who I am. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">I am happier and freer than I have ever been and my spirit is at peace. I am no longer burdened by doubt or guilt. Thank you for being such good parents and teaching me how to be a good and loving person. Thank you for encouraging in me my love of knowledge and of learning. I love you and respect you very much. But I cannot share your faith anymore. I ask that you would respect that. I am more than willing to discuss things, answer your questions, and I will not be offended if you pray for me. In fact, I would really love to sit with Mom and have a long talk like we used to when I was a teen. I miss that. We would really love if you two would come and visit us sometime. We don’t see you often enough and it’s hard for all four of us to get out to Manitoba, or Texas. We would like the girls to be able to spend more time getting to know you, and we want you to be able to experience the wonderful people they are. I hope very much that our rejection of religion will not push us away from you. We love you very much and we miss you.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">Your loving son,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 396.0pt;">Oct-Nov, 2011</div>Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-19092772774771071192012-01-27T16:44:00.000-08:002012-01-27T16:44:34.087-08:00But that's the OLD Testament!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwiymmHj1AjQTrS5DkGZL3fAP2TuAXhYttNct4zeKPYFTAY_qqsMWzb66ua9iVPj-LLj8x2BwGFuA4Tbo7HiuwDJV66C1t9RK4PY0n2l-x0HNQtSENvTlXHvzdBw-8moGSr4WO8I1azYY/s1600/olddayss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwiymmHj1AjQTrS5DkGZL3fAP2TuAXhYttNct4zeKPYFTAY_qqsMWzb66ua9iVPj-LLj8x2BwGFuA4Tbo7HiuwDJV66C1t9RK4PY0n2l-x0HNQtSENvTlXHvzdBw-8moGSr4WO8I1azYY/s320/olddayss.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
There can be no doubt that the Old Testament is full of what can only be described as atrocities. One count put the death toll of people killed either directly by Yahweh or at his command at over 2 million and that is only the ones that were numbered, not including the massive destruction of Noah's flood, the smiting of Sodom and its sister cities (while saving that "righteous" pig, Lot), the plagues on Egypt, etc.<br />
Add to that all the rules that one faithful Christian I know termed "crazy stuff." All the death sentences for minor infractions like picking up sticks on the sabbath or talking back to your parents, while endorsing things we now consider highly immoral such as slavery, or handing out rewards for crimes such as being forced to marry the woman you raped.<br />
<br />
Christians love to sweep these things under the rug and say things like the simplistic and dismissive "But that's the OLD Testament" to the attempt at theological sophistication of "Jesus paid the price, so punishment by blood is no longer necessary." <br />
<br />
One can and should point out that - at least according to the four New Testament Gospels - at no time did Jesus himself ever condemn, apologize for, or in any way indicate there was ever anything wrong with the "Old" testament, what he and other Jews call the Law and the Prophets. In fact, he said quite the opposite. In the celebrated sermon on the mount, after the parts everyone likes about blessed are the meek and such, Jesus quite clearly stated that he did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them. "<span class="woj"> For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." Matthew 5:18 (see Matthew 5:17-20 for the whole thing.) Now, last I checked, the earth hasn't dissapeared yet. But still, many will say what he meant was until his own mission had been fulfilled. That is, it applied until his death and resurrection happened. Really? So, it was especially important to say that, oh, by the way, these things are still in effect for a little while - three years tops - but after that it's a whole new set of rules! </span><br />
<span class="woj">Fine, even if we accept that rather absurd interpretation, my next question is: SO WHAT???</span><br />
<span class="woj"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="woj">Jesus was not only a devout Jew, he claimed to be the Son of Yahweh who, by his own "word" (aka the Bible), demonstrates that he is, as so eloquently stated by Richard Dawkins in the God Delusion, </span><q cite="http://quotationsbook.com/quote/45808/"> arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.</q> You can try to justify, equivocate and excuse all you like. You can tell me "who are you to question god," or whatever. But it changes nothing. I cannot escape the conclusion that Yahweh, even if one could convince me he actually existed, is a barbaric and vile deity, unworthy of our love, devotion, worship or praise. I would not expect anyone to praise a bloodthirsty dictator just because his son was somewhat more gentle than he was. Saying "but,that was the Old Testament!" is like saying "That was the OLD DAYS, Grandpa is a much nicer Nazi, now.!" An unrepentant old Nazi is still an evil man, even if he is no longer running a concentration camp. An unrepentant evil deity is still an evil deity, even if he is not currently engaged in ordering his chosen people to steal land from its native inhabitants through a genocidal war of total destruction. But he is apparently still "allowing" souls to be tortured for all eternity. Sure, he set up the system that made their suffering inevitable, but since he's not actively pushing them into hell, we'll let him off the hook, right? You can. But I won't. In fact I am ashamed to admit that I once worshiped Yahweh. <br />
<br />
<br />
I must also admit to being dumbfounded that many of the Christians making these arguments about god's atrocities all being in the past are of the variety that believe that the book of Revelation is prophetic. Have you read it? It's one of the bloodiest books in the entire bible and the things it says god will do are truly the stuff of nightmares. But he loves you...Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-50936247521957227302012-01-19T12:11:00.000-08:002012-01-19T12:11:01.822-08:00The Anti-Christ Bible<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-CA</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal">I have often reflected on the irony of Christians claiming “persecution” and “intolerance” when others question or mock their beliefs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tolerance itself is by definition anti-Christian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christ commanded – he didn’t gently suggest, he commanded! – his followers to preach the gospel to everyone, o attempt to convert the entire world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The New Testament repeatedly tells Christians to shun those of other faiths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also contains a lot of rather offensive statements about pagans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Contrary to popular belief, paganism is still around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I personally know some pagans, and, despite what the “true” word of god says, they do not worship demons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bible is full of what would nowadays be considered “hate speech.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it were written today about an identifiable group instead of an extinct one, most Western countries would rightly ban large portions of it as a reasonable limitation on free speech. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In our present culture – due to our collective history – there are certain groups that it is almost automatically “offensive” to say anything negative about; in particular Jews due to the holocaust, and African Americans due to slavery and civil rights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But you can say whatever you like about Philistines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has even become a common derogatory term for someone uneducated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why isn’t that offensive?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because the Philistines are extinct. Though it was the Assyrians who eventually conquered them, we still celebrate the deaths opf Philistines at the hands of "God's chosen people" (remember David and Goliath?).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similarly you can say whatever offensive things you like about Moabites, Ammonites, Canaanites (who the Hebrews waged a genocidal war against at Yahweh's command), or various worshipers of Ba’al.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why? Because, these groups are not real to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are so far back in history and disconnected from us that they may as well be fictional.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similarly, most people think pagans – at least those the bible talks about – to be long gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So biblical passages that speak against these groups, that slander them, vilify them, and encourage violence and prejudice against them just don’t have the same impact that they would if they were presented against a group that is still real and present in our everyday lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is why the few passages about homosexuals seem so relevant and shocking, because they are still being used to discriminate against homosexuals to this day. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Now, just imagine if those biblical passages were not about extinct groups of people, but about Christians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Here is a sample of some choice biblical passages that sound very different with the change of a single word or descriptor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, just for fun and to turn the tables, let’s change Israel to America, and God to Science and/or Reason.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know it’s ludicrous to think of giving burnt offerings to science, but let’s pretend that’s what Bunsen burners are for. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re always telling us Science is our religion, anyway!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Before we begin I must emphatically state that I DO NOT IN ANY WAY ENDORSE, ADVOCATE OR CONDONE HATRED OF OR VIOLENCE TOWARDS CHRISTIANS OR ANYONE ELSE!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is simply an exercise to illustrate a point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The very fact I have to put that disclaimer on here, while it’s in no way required for the actual bible verses I am altering, should tell you just how messed up the bible actually is!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Let’s begin with that gem of Yahweh’s divine mercy: Deuteronomy 13. Alterations to the original bible verse are in [square parenthese]. I have added bold for some particularly interesting phrases.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Verses 1-5</div><div class="MsoNormal">If a [Christian preacher], or one who foretells by [prayer], appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the [Christian preacher] says, “Let us follow [Jesus Christ]… and let us worship [him],” you must not listen to the words of that [preacher] or [that one who prays]. [Science] is testing you to find out whether you love [Science] with all your heart and with all your soul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is [Science and Reason] you must follow, and [Science and Reason] you must revere. Keep [Science’s] commands and obey [them]; serve [Science] and hold fast to [Reason].<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <b> </b></span><b>That [Christian preacher] or [person who prays] must be put to death for inciting rebellion against Science and Reason, </b>who brought you out of [Church] and redeemed you from the land of [ignorance]. That [Christian preacher] or [person who prays] tried to turn you from the way [of Science and Reason]. You must purge the evil from among you.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Verses 6-11</div><div class="MsoNormal">If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship [Jesus Christ]” [the god] that neither you nor your ancestors have known,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[the god] of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other),<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>do not yield to them or listen to them. Show them no pity. Do not spare them or shield them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You must certainly put them to death. Your hand must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people. Stone them to death, because they tried to turn you away from [Science and Reason], who brought you out of [Church], out of the land of [ignorance]. <sup>11</sup> Then all [America] will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Verses 12-18</div><div class="MsoNormal"> If you hear it said about one of the towns [Reason] is giving you to live in that troublemakers have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, “Let us go and worship [Jesus]” ([a god] you have not known), then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you, you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. You must destroy it completely, both its people and its livestock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are to gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to [Science and Reason]. That town is to remain a ruin forever, never to be rebuilt, and none of the condemned things are to be found in your hands. Then the [high Scientist and Rationalist] will turn from his fierce anger, will show you mercy, and will have compassion on you. [Science] will increase your numbers, as [Science] promised on oath to your ancestors— because you obey [Science and Reason] by keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right in [Science’s] eyes.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">More to follow later. Hope you enjoyed this first installment. </div>Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-80918709082734818042012-01-18T15:57:00.000-08:002012-01-18T15:57:38.313-08:00How Creationists sound to the rest of us<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">(This is a fake new story, in case you're wondering) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> In the ongoing search for the origins of the computer, a multidisciplinary team sought to discern how the computer was built. Brushing aside its lack of experiments, papers published in peer reviewed journals, and basic scientific literacy, the group has announced they have definitive proof that computers were designed and built by Aliens. This group has released several best selling books and videos on the subject, and regularly presents their findings at UFO rallies and other prestigious venues.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “It’s so complex,” explained team leader, Dr. Ted. H. Agard. “This component, for example, is so intricate and complicated there is just no way it could have been made by humans. Humans are completely incapable of creating such things. If they were, we would see them making things all the time! I don’t see that, do you? Besides, everyone knows that on his deathbed, Steve Jobs admitted the Aliens told him how to build a Mac.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Dr. K. M. Fort outlined the brewing controversy. “There are some scientists of lesser repute who claim that some humans somewhere must have made it, but everything they say doesn’t make any sense. It’s like they just make things up, and then do experiments to test their ideas so that the government will give them money. I mean, you never see a human, secreting computer components from special glands in their nipples. Until I see that happen, this whole “man-made” idea is just a theory. Can you imagine? Humans building computers! That’s like saying a baby stacked some blocks together and built a Boeing 747! It’s obvious to me that all the evidence points to the simple fact that Aliens did it, and they told us about it in the movie Men In Black. Have you noticed how one side of the velcro is soft and the other is grippy, and they stick together? No way some person just came up with that! It’s obviously aliens!”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Proponents of Alien Designer Doctrine (ADD for short) are in a struggle to have their theories recognized by educational institutions alongside proponents of Man-made-ism that represent the established scientific consensus. “This nation was founded on Alien values,” commented Huck McBee, school board director and supporter of ADD being taught in schools alongside Man-made-ism. “I may not know much about anything, but one thing I’m sure of is MIB is a message from the Aliens. I put my trust in that, and I think that it’s important we teach the next generation about Aliens.” </span></div>Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-5156772674216021872012-01-13T19:17:00.000-08:002012-01-13T19:17:28.132-08:00Christian hate and the impotence of the GospelI just read about the case of a brave 16 year old atheist that went to court to have a prayer banner removed from her school, and won. (see <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2012/01/11/jessica-ahlquist-has-won-her-lawsuit/" target="_blank">The Friendly Atheist</a> for details). In response, social media erupted with comments from Christians - many of them also high school students - that were full of hate, threats of violence, wishes for the girl to burn in hell and other unfortunately all too typical Christian responses to atheist activism. Followed by the inevitable apologies from the kinder Christians distancing themselves from the "haters" using the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman" target="_blank">no true Scotsman</a> argument, which should probably be renamed the "no true Christian" argument since it is used in that context more than any other. Basically, anytime a Christian misbehaves in public or does anything to show a poor example of Christian behavior, other Christians are quick to claim that the person's actions demonstrate that they are not a "true" Christian. If they were a "true" Christian, they wouldn't do that, they say. <br />
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Now, it has been pointed out quite often, and by more talented writers than I, that this pretty much means there is no such thing as a "true" Christian, because everyone who claims to be a Christian believes something or does something that some other Christians will brand as not "true" Christianity. Since there are over 33,000 different denominations of Christianity, plus millions of personal and private interpretations of Christianity that don't fall into the category of a denomination, it's pretty much impossible to even define what Christianity is, let alone to identify who is and who isn't a "true" Christian.<br />
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What I would like to point out is something that all the people crying about the poser un-"true" Christians seem to miss. That is how the incredibly commonplace occurrence of Christians - true or not - showing evidence of being hateful, bigoted, unforgiving and violent throughout their history including in the present is a convincing demonstration of just how weak Christ's message of peace and love is! Now, right about this point Christians will scurry to their other go-to defense and argue that Christians are only human and they are sinful, so you can't blame Christ for what fallible humans do in his name. Fine, Christians are "sinners", too. Unless someone has been operating under the misapprehension that us heathens think Christians are supposed to behave perfectly, my response to that is "so what?" Sure they may still be subject to sin, but shouldn't they be less so, seeing as they have the grace of god helping them to be more loving and to resist temptation?<br />
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One of my favorite songs when I was a Christian was "They'll know we are Christians by our love". This was a reflection of the oft repeated biblical idea that Christians, empowered by the Holy Spirit and the grace of Jesus their Savior, should be filled with love, unlike the "pagans" who are portrayed as selfish and vile. But even as a Christian I was troubled by the obvious fact that acting "Christlike" was not only not exclusive to Christians, but isn't even that common among Christians, and not even among those of us who took our religion seriously and tried our best to be "true" Christians. Jesus' message of redemption, forgiveness and love is supposed to be a powerful motivator for goodness and charity. It's a message from god, after all, isn't it? But the evidence presented by the actions of Christians around the world now and throughout history shows us that its success rate at delivering on that is sadly pathetic. The gospels have inspired far more hatred and violence than they have love and forgiveness. This very obvious fact is evidence that there is no supernatural power or loving grace of god filling the hearts of Christians. Even as a purely human message, absent the supposed supernatural powerful to lift humankind from its sinful nature, it fails miserably at delivering peace and love among humans. Hell, it even fails at delivering peace among Christians!<br />
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Of course there are Christians who truly are good and loving people and who draw their inspiration for their goodness from their faith. Many of these people, I contend, are simply good people and could have been equally loving and charitable had they been raised as Hindus, Buddhists, or any other religion - or even as atheists. It's also equally true that some people have had their lives "turned around" by the Christian message, and it has made them better people. Again, the same can be said of both other religions as well as non-religious philosophies, or help from ordinary people, or secular organizations. This is all just human. There is no evidence that the gospel message has any power, whether supernatural or natural, that sets it apart as a superior vehicle for inspiring peaceful, loving behavior. If it really had that power, we would see unity among Christians, peaceful and loving behavior would be obviously more commonplace among them than any other group, and history, as well as current statistics, would show that areas where there is a higher concentration of Christians are remarkably more peaceful than other places. In fact, the opposite seems to be true.<br />
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This will, of course, lead to some Christians presenting the next familiar refrain: it is the influence of Satan working to counter Christ. Whatever!Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-4836577341045522982012-01-04T17:09:00.000-08:002012-01-04T17:09:17.995-08:00Where are the movies about the "power of reason"?"A heartwarming tale about the power of belief" How many movies have I just described? Dozens? Hundreds? How about a movie or TV series featuring some supernatural element, or aliens, or some other mythical element, where the scoffing skeptics are shown to be completely wrong, usually about a third of the way into the movie? Just as many, I think. Another popular plot line is of a child living in a fantasy world and those caring people trying to bring the child back to reality are portrayed negatively on a spectrum from simply misguided or not understanding the child, all the way to downright evil and abusive. <br />
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Have you ever heard a movie described as a tale about the power of reason or the merits of skepticism? I can't think of a single one, can you? In fact, most movies I can think of that featured skeptics usually have them being total dicks, and/or having some experience that opens their eyes to the "power" of belief. I don't recall ever seeing any kind of non-documentary movie or TV show that featured story-lines about believers being disabused of their false perceptions and coming to a more rational understanding of the world, but I can think of many where skeptics become believers of one sort or another. <br />
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Richard Dawkins talks about the attitude of "belief in belief". People who don't necessarily believe religious or superstitious claims themselves, but nevertheless feel that such a belief is a "good" thing in general. It's not surprising when you look at our media. The message is omnipresent, especially in children's entertainment, and even more so at Christmas time when everyone helps perpetuate the Santa Claus myth, even going so far as to have news outlets tracking the progress of Santa's sleigh via radar.<br />
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When I ask other parents why they intentionally lie to their children and present false evidence for Santa, I always get a response to do with it being a "magical" part of childhood. Perhaps, but my kids enjoy it even though they have known from the start that it's just a myth. Yet this answer, I think, points to why the desire to believe is so prevalent in our society. It's magical. Belief gives a sense of wonder, a sense that there is something greater and transcendent out there, and, perhaps most importantly, it gives hope and comfort. And because of this, many people feel it's a good thing to have beliefs, without even considering the truthfulness or potential consequences of holding falsehoods to be absolutely true. But why? Why do we have to persist in thinking that science and rationality - or even just humanity absent supernatural powers - can't give us these things? If a loved one is suffering from disease, it's medical science that offers hope. If there is catastrophe, it's real people taking action using tools made through the use of science that bring relief. In reality, science and reason are what actually accomplish what believing cannot. Yet, time after time we see depictions of science gone awry, or the limits of science. Yet, we never see movies showing when belief fails, when hope is proved false, when faith goes unrewarded. Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-85049519696965668042011-12-31T00:49:00.000-08:002011-12-31T15:32:18.989-08:00"I did not come from a monkey!""I did not come from a monkey!" is a frequent sentiment among creationists. They feel that they have been created "in God's image", and are simply superior to animals in every conceivable way. We have something they lack: a soul. I find it extremely ironic that it is among those less educated that this attitude of supreme pride is most prevalent. Scientists seem to have no problem accepting that we thinking apes (not monkeys, which are a different branch of the primate family). We are, quite simply, animals. <br />
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Even among the general more well educated population, there seems to be a prevailing perception that humans are fundamentally and orders of magnitude smarter and different from other primates. There is a memorable quote, I wish I could remember who said it or exactly how it was said. It says that humans and chimpanzees share 97% the same DNA. But in the 3%, you get language, art, music, literature... in short: civilization.<br />
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Do we really? I this where it comes from? Is it just genetics that make this seemingly gaping chasm of difference between us and chimps? Is that 3% (or 1% I think is now the more correct understanding), really what makes the difference between an animal and us? And is the difference as big as we conceive it is? Let's disregard the question of the presence or absence of a soul for the moment and instead focus on nature versus nurture.<br />
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Consider two pieces of evidence: Feral Children. Intelligence, tool use, and cultural transmission among chimps.<br />
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Numerous examples exist of children who were raised isolated from other humans. Some were living alone in the wild. Some were being cared for by other animals. Some were neglected and abused by parents and never taught even to speak. Without the benefit of learning from other humans, these children lacked all culturally transmitted knowledge and behavior. They lacked language. Most did not walk upright, or not exclusively upright. They didn't dress themselves. They behaved like animals, often mimicking the behaviors of the animals they interacted with.<br />
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Chimps live in social groups. They have social structures and culturally transmitted learned behaviors. They plan ahead. They make and use a variety of primitive tools. They excel at intelligence tests and there are even areas where they surpass humans. They resemble, to a great degree, what we know of prehistoric anatomically modern humans.<br />
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Humans have been physiologically "modern" for tens of thousands of years, possibly as long as 200,000. This means that these past humans, if they had had the benefit of being brought up in modern society, would likely have been not much different from you or I, if at all. We have had the capacity for language, art, culture and such for a very long time, but it took many many generations of transmitting learned behaviors and knowledge and developing new behaviors before we even began to evolve what we now call civilization. The examples of the feral children show us that without standing on the shoulders of our inherited cultural knowledge, we would be primitive and animal like, much like modern chimps and prehistoric modern humans. I hypothesize that if a population of humans were raised as feral children, without being taught any language or other skills, and allowed to simply live "naturally," and breed and exist for generations without any interaction with any "civilized" humans, it would take them many hundreds of generations to begin to approach a level of cultural sophistication beyond what we see in chimps. It would obviously be unethical in the extreme to carry out such an experiment. But as a thought experiment, it is rather intriguing, and would probably make an excellent sci-fi novel.<br />
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Conversely, the examples of apes learning sign language and other complex behaviors shows us just how small the gap between humans and our closest relatives is. The fundamental difference between us is, to a large degree, a matter of circumstance. Given the right environmental stimulation and enough generations, perhaps other apes could evolve civilization as well. We already know there were other branches of the human family tree that had made significant advancements along that path, such as the Neanderthals.<br />
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If, as I am suggesting, the difference between us and other apes has much more to do with the transmission of accumulated knowledge from generation to generation, than to do with genetics, or the presence of a soul this should bring us to two important realizations. Firstly, we should be proud. We should look with awe on the incredible achievements of humanity that all rest on one fundamental behavior: teaching our children. Secondly, we should be humbled. We should recognize how close we still are to our animal selves. In this lies the promise of evolutionary psychology: by looking at the behaviors of our closest cousins and knowing how we have behaved through history, we can better understand ourselves. Thirdly, we should look forward. Recognizing we are cultural animals, and not divinely created beings. Recognizing we are a young civilization only beginning to understand our own nature, not the end product of evolution. Recognizing that our history, our cultures, values and the conflicts that go with them are not a fundamental part of our nature, but learned behaviors and ideas. We can reinvent ourselves. We can do away with historical shackles. We can accept those aspects of our animal nature that are good, and control those that are harmful. We can shape the future of our species. This is of course, much easier said than done. But it can be done if we do one simple thing: teach our children. Teach them not to cling to past traditions and accepted "wisdom", but to boldly question and seek always the best answers, supported by evidence and reason.Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-89749613191892637042011-12-16T17:31:00.000-08:002011-12-16T17:41:40.482-08:00I am an arrogant atheist!I am an arrogant atheist. I am so arrogant that it is greatly offensive to some believers. <br />
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I am so arrogant that I feel that if there is a creator of the universe - which is vast beyond my human ability to comprehend - he, she or it probably did not create it specifically for me and my species.<br />
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I am so arrogant that I do not believe the creator of the universe has a plan for my life. <br />
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I am so arrogant that I disbelieve the idea that a being capable of creating the universe and everything in it revealed himself to humanity through contradicting prophets and preachers in ancient history.<br />
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I am so arrogant that I find the idea that an omnipotent being would deign to listen to my requests and complaints to be silly.<br />
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I am so arrogant that I reject the idea that an omniscient deity is concerned with my every thought.<br />
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I am so arrogant that I reject the notion that this being is particularly interested in my sex life and those of others.<br />
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I am so arrogant that I seek knowledge from a variety of sources, and do not consider any book to be better than any other ever written.<br />
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I am so arrogant that I change my mind frequently, as new evidence and better answers present themselves.<br />
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I am so arrogant that I often admit that I do not know things.<br />
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I am so arrogant that if something is unknown to science, I try to resist inserting an explanation from an ancient source as the answer.<br />
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I am so arrogant that I admit that I have been wrong in the past, I probably currently hold some erroneous views, and I am certain I will be wrong again in the future.<br />
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I am so arrogant that I believe my thoughts, actions or omissions are neither evil enough, nor important enough, to require that a deity in the guise of a perfect human be tortured and executed in atonement for them.<br />
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I am so arrogant that I believe that humanity can determine what is moral and what is not through rational thought without having to receive lists of rules from prophets claiming to speak on behalf of the creator of the universe.<br />
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I am so arrogant that I reject the idea that I can direct someone to a path that will give an eternity of infinite bliss.<br />
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I am so arrogant that I reject the notion that my thoughts and beliefs might be so vile or wrong as to merit a punishment of unimaginably excruciating torture for all eternity.<br />
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I am so arrogant that I stubbornly reject things that have no evidence to support them, no matter how nice they sound, how comforting they may be, or how internally consistent they are.<br />
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I am so arrogant that I believe I am an animal, a single member of a species in a very long evolutionary line, and that my life does not have any eternal or cosmic significance.<br />
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Yes, my towering arrogance is an affront to humble believers everywhere.Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-88729396580634382332011-12-15T17:58:00.000-08:002011-12-15T18:56:55.067-08:00Christians don't really believe in the god of the bible!One thing I and my fellow anti-religionists often encounter when speaking with Christians is a claim that we don't understand god, or Christianity, or the bible, etc. Given that most of us don't walk into these discussion without doing our research, and that most of us were former believers ourselves, this claim rings hollow. But why does it persist? I think it's because we tend to point at the bad and immoral side of faith - the biblical atrocities, the doctrines about hell, etc. The average Christian simply doesn't see those things as a central part of their faith. And neither did I.<br />
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God is love. Being a Christian is about being Christlike, being charitable, praying, forgiving, etc. The modern day vision of god focuses on a very narrow portrait of "the lord." Ask most any Christian to tell you about their faith and what they describe will resemble very much an imaginary best friend who is the most amazing friend ever! Even though I was extremely well read compared to most Christians and especially my fellow Catholics, my own focus was mostly the same. No one uses the term "God fearing" as a virtue anymore. I've actually heard sermons about how we should not fear god. Why would you fear your best friend who loves you infinitely? No, the modern god is "awesome" not because he is jealous, vengeful and wrathful even though there are literally hundreds of references to these attributes of god in the bible!. No, he is "awesome", because he's so unimaginably nice and loving. When you point out the vicious genocidal monster called Yahweh in the old testament, or the hard-nosed Jesus of the new who demands such things as the selling of all your property, and talks of the tortures of eternal hellfire, they push these to side as peripheral minor things that are easily explained away by "context."<br />
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Like them, the god I believed in was not a god who would command us to slay infants. My god would not demand death for minor offenses. My god would not rejoice in destruction and war. My Jesus was "the prince of peace." A benign dictator who was strict but fair and loving. <br />
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But that is not the god of the bible. No matter how all loving we feel his son is, we cannot dismiss the fact that this is the same god who commanded the deaths of millions, who drowned the entire world, who destroyed cities. This is the same god who demanded the stoning of women for losing their virginity before marriage. The same one who condoned slavery. This is the same god who - in the new testament book of Acts - struck dead Ananias and Sapphira because they "lied to the holy spirit" by trying to keep some of the money of the sale of all their worldly possessions instead of giving every bit to the church. This "holy" book they carry contains material which, if penned by a modern person, would be deemed hate speech in most democracies (except most of the hate speech is directed at races and tribes that have already been wiped out by the genocidal Israelites... though homosexuals and pagans are still around). But the Christians do not point to these verses and say "look how great god is that he commanded us to stone people for picking sticks on the sabbath." They do not say "our god is great because he rejoices when we conquer our enemies and dash the heads of infants against the rocks." They do not say (anymore), how great their god is for permitting slavery. No, they hide these passages, ignore them, disregard them, or - when forced to face them - they try and explain them away and excuse god by saying he had good reason, or that it makes sense in the historical context. They rather wish those things weren't in the bible. <br />
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I did an interesting experiment a while back. I went onto the Facebook page called "The Bible", where people posted their favorite bible quotes. When someone posts a bible verse that is inspirational about how loving god is, everyone "likes" it, and comments "so true!" and "amen!" etc. I simply posted this from 2 kings 2: <sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-9575">23</sup> From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!” <sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-9576">24</sup> 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 boys." I didn't get any amens, or so trues... no, I got a lecture about how it was out of context and I should do my homework about the historical context... Bethel was a center of calf worship - and how the Hebrew word doesn't really mean boys, but young men... Basically, a reinterpretation of the story as Elisha was being attacked by an angry mob of pagan youths, and he was just defending himself. I guess that poster is better at ancient Hebrew than every single bible translator out there, since some variation of "boys" appears in every translation I looked at. Other posters backed him up. All I did was post 2 bible verses. I didn't make any comment. Nevertheless, some felt it necessary to jump to the defense of the almighty lest his acts be misinterpreted. Funny, no one cries "context!" when someone posts about the loving god. And in other times they would have not felt the need to defend this verse, either, but might have seen it as proof of god's power over his enemies requiring no explanation. But morality has evolved, and the pious now squirm uncomfortably when confronted with the unpleasant parts of the bible.<br />
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So my question to bible believing Christians is this: if you really believe you worship the god of the bible, why pick and choose which parts to read? Why defend and excuse the "crazy stuff"? These are things done by or commanded by your eternal god, so shouldn't you be proclaiming them as great instead of trying to justify them, minimize them, reinterpret them, or otherwise show how ashamed you are that these things are part of the "word of god."? Shouldn't I be able to post ANY bible verse or story and get a bunch of agreement from Christians? Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104008473384743183.post-81564289203267388182011-12-12T12:38:00.000-08:002011-12-12T13:08:01.926-08:00On and on and onanismThe sin of Onan. Self-abuse. Self-pollution... Masturbation.<br />
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This is not a topic many people address openly. And that embarrassment about the subject cost me a great deal. Now, right about this point, I'm sure any people who know me personally instead of as an anonymous blogger are starting to feel a little uncomfortable. Tough. It's a normal part of life and just about everyone does it. Adults should be able to talk about this like adults instead of like giggling adolescents, or squirming prudes. So pretend it's someone else writing this or whatever you have to do. But if you have any interest in not psychologically traumatizing religious teenagers, please read on. <br />
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From a very young age I was intensely interested in sex. As a typical adolescent boy, I discovered the pleasures of self pleasuring. This wasn't much of a problem in those earlier years aside from the fact that I didn't have any idea that I was normal or that other guys did it (they all denied it... bunch of liars!). I was pretty sure it didn't cause blindness or hairy palms, since I hadn't yet developed either of those troubling symptoms. Though one friend's claim that looking at too much porn - we were checking out his dad's magazine stash at the time - would lead to a near permanent erection lasting seven years seemed to be pretty plausible. But when I was sixteen and began the path to extreme religiosity, my little habit began to become a serious problem. It never even occurred to me to talk to my parents to inquire about their opinion on the subject. Even if I had, by that time I had gotten far enough into studying the teachings of the church to realize that the average Catholic, my parents included, didn't know very much about the actual teachings and wouldn't be any help. So I did my own research and naturally found the answer that masturbation, and even more so the lust that precedes and accompanies it, are considered mortal sins that will remove one from being in a state of grace. For those unfamiliar with Catholic doctrine, salvation is a bit more complicated than the "I'm saved," you may be used to hearing from born-again Protestant Christians. Basically, if you have confessed your sins and had them absolved, or have performed an act of contrition (which is asking god for forgiveness and resolving to go to confession), then you are in a state of grace which means if you die at that moment, you will go to heaven... after a sufficient time spent in purgatory being cleansed of your sins, of course. However, if you have committed a mortal sin - as opposed to the more minor venial sins - it removes you from the state of grace. If you die in a state of mortal sin, you go to hell. On a side note, if you are in a state of mortal sin, it is an additional sacrilegious sin to receive communion, which means that pretty much 95% of the Catholic population is doomed to hell since the list of mortal sins includes such things as skipping church and using birth control... yep, right up there with murder. So, from the age of 16 until well into my twenties, I lived in a cycle of sin, self-hatred, guilt and shame followed by repentance and a test of willpower. <br />
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Before getting a bit deeper into my personal experience, let's look a bit more closely at what the Church says. <br />
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First, the bible doesn't actually say anything directly about masturbation (see <a href="http://apostatexp.blogspot.com/2011/11/incompetence-of-christian-god.html" target="_blank">my earlier post about how incompetent god is at telling us about important questions</a>). The closest it gets is the coitus interuptus of Onan in <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2038:8-10&version=NIV" target="_blank">Genesis 38:8-10</a>. This is the origin of the term Onanism. It's a pretty big leap from Onan being bad because he didn't want to provide a son for his brother, to spilling your seed in general is bad. What seemed much more relevant to me was the fact even just lusting was wrong. There are several references to lust in the bible, but there are two verses that when looked at side by side, put it in perspective. "<span class="woj">But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5:28&version=NIV" target="_blank">Matthew 5:28 </a>and <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%209:47-49%20&version=NIV" target="_blank">Mark 9:47-49 </a></span><span class="woj"> "...if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,</span> <span class="woj"><sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-24587"></sup>where </span><span class="woj">‘the worms that eat them do not die, </span><span class="woj">and the fire is not quenched.’</span><span class="woj"><sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-24588"></sup> Everyone will be salted with fire." </span> <br />
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The <a href="http://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_df75se.htm" target="_blank">1975 Encyclical Persona Humana written by The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith</a>, is pretty clear in chapter IX:<br />
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"The traditional Catholic doctrine that <b>masturbation constitutes a grave moral disorder</b> is often called into doubt or expressly denied today. It is said that psychology and sociology show that it is a normal phenomenon of sexual development, especially among the young. It is stated that there is real and serious fault only in the measure that the subject deliberately indulges in solitary pleasure closed in on self ("ipsation"), because in this case the act would indeed be radically opposed to the loving communion between persons of different sex which some hold is what is principally sought in the use of the sexual faculty. <br />
This opinion is contradictory to the teaching and pastoral practice of the Catholic Church. Whatever the force of certain arguments of a biological and philosophical nature, which have sometimes been used by theologians, in fact <b>both the Magisterium of the Church--in the course of a constant tradition-- and the moral sense of the faithful have declared without hesitation that masturbation is an intrinsically and seriously disordered act.</b>"<br />
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I hadn't directly read the whole above quote back then. But I did read the Catechism when it came out. It was one of the first things I looked up when I got my copy.<br />
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<span class="text"><b><a href="http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2396.htm" target="_blank">2396</a> Among the sins gravely contrary to chastity are masturbation</b>, fornication, <b>pornography,</b> and homosexual practices.</span> <br />
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and<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2352.htm" target="_blank">2352</a> </b>By <i>masturbation </i>is to be understood the deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure. "Both the Magisterium of the Church, in the course of a constant tradition, and the moral sense of the faithful have been in no doubt and have firmly maintained that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action." "<b>The deliberate use of the sexual faculty, for whatever reason, outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose</b>." For here sexual pleasure is sought outside of "the sexual relationship which is demanded by the moral order and in which the total meaning of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love is achieved." <br />
To form an equitable judgment about the subjects' moral responsibility and to guide pastoral action, <b>one must take into account the affective immaturity, force of acquired habit, conditions of anxiety or other psychological or social factors that lessen, if not even reduce to a minimum, moral culpability.</b><br />
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Now, despite that last sentence about the mitigating factors that turn a mortal sin into a venial one, I didn't cut myself any slack. I reasoned that, despite the presence of "acquired habit" and "conditions of anxiety," I was fully conscious of the gravely sinful nature of my action when I partook of them, so I had no excuses.<br />
Not only did I know it was wrong, I knew exactly why it was wrong and just how wrong it was. I even wrote an essay in English class (much to the chagrin of my liberal protestant teacher!) about the evils of birth control from a Catholic perspective. The theological basis for that teaching is the same as the teaching on masturbation. In the eyes of the Church, sex is reserved strictly for heterosexual married couples, engaged in it for the dual purposes of love and reproduction. Oh, by the way, this also means any married Catholics who engage in oral sex, anal sex, mutual masturbation, or basically anything but a bit of foreplay before getting down to the intercourse (without any birth control other than natural family planning, of course) are also committing mortal sins and going to hell. <br />
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So my cycle went something like this... I would go to confession and get absolved. I would strive to maintain that state of grace as long as possible. Sometimes I made it months. Sometimes just days or even only hours. Most commonly it would be at least a week or two. I would stay up late to catch whatever R rated movie with a few seconds of nudity happened to be playing on the CBC late night movie. I would get very pissed when the movies were delayed due to long-running hockey games, since unlike the majority of teenage Canadian boys, I had no interest in the sport whatsoever. Sometimes I would borrow the Sears catalogue for the lingerie section, or one of my older sister's fashion magazines for the skimpy outfits and the occasional exposed breast. And let's not forget the National Geographic topless tribal girls! On rare occasions I might somehow manage to get my hands on a porn magazine. After I turned 18, getting those was much easier, though still very embarrassing. After I went to college and got that slow dial-up internet connection that took 10 minutes to load a single nude photo, the temptation became ever present. It was simply inevitable. No matter how hard I tried, no matter how strong and sincere my resolve to quit was, no matter how hard or how much I prayed, I just could not escape the temptation. I even tried lessening the sin by trying to do it purely for the sensation, without lusting. That wasn't a great strategy either. I just couldn't help myself. This led to depression and, especially, shame. I regarded myself as a "pervert." I was constantly aware of my sinfulness and I was always keeping track of whether or not I was in a state of grace. The church taught that we are responsible for our own sins, but anything good we do is through the grace of God. So, when I managed to be good, it was God who got the credit. When I sinned, I took all the blame. After I sinned, I would sometimes decide to continue being sinful for a while. I was damned anyway. But eventually, I would always repent. If I had any porn, I would destroy it. I would soak the magazines in water or rip them up before throwing them in the trash in order to prevent myself from retrieving them later. If it was on the computer, I would erase it. If it was a video tape, I'd record over it. Then I would return to confession - I had the schedule of the Fransiscan friary memorized - tell the priest about what I'd done, do my penance (usually a few prayers, or reading a particular bible passage), and start the cycle again. I am sure I must have confessed to at least a couple dozen different priests and even a bishop or two over the years. Despite all of them having themselves been horny teenagers once, and despite having to wrestle with celibacy, not a single one of them ever told me to ease up on myself, that it was a normal part of being a young man, or anything of the sort. They told me to try sports to get rid of some of that sexual energy and things like that. I can only wonder how incredibly difficult it must be for priests to suppress their sexual appetites through the long years. I am so very thankful that I did not end up becoming a priest myself as I thought I would!<br />
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At one point, after returning home from several months on an exchange program and finding myself suffering from a great deal of culture shock, I went into a long period of being in a state of mortal sin and not having the strength to break out of it. I went to mass, but abstained from communion, to the inquiring stares of my family. I prayed as Saint Augustine did: Lord, grant me chastity... but not yet. <br />
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When I was first married, the problem continued. My wife discovered my porn. To her it was tantamount to adultery. I tried to give it up. I even started attending sex addicts anonymous for a time. There I met men who frequented prostitutes and strip clubs. It was actually a good experience to a certain extent. It normalized my own experience. Sure, I shared some features in common with these guys, but I wasn't really one of them. And looking back I think most of them probably didn't belong there, either. They just needed better outlets for their own high sex drives.<br />
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It took a very, very long time, but I have finally completely let go of that cycle. I am finally accepting of my own sexuality and no longer ashamed of it, and my wife no longer views it as adultery or something to be jealous about. Since we've bot set aside shame and guilt around the topic of sex, and focused on communication and being honest about our feelings, our marriage has improved tremendously!<br />
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I want to stress that I did not leave the church so that I could sin without guilt... the guilt over this continued long after I had abandoned Catholicism. I also want to stress that though I now loathe the teachings of the church on this subject, and I am angry at the church's perpetuation of this harmful dogma, that anger didn't lead to my atheism. Forgiveness is one Catholic lesson I learned very well, and I long ago forgave anyone who directly or indirectly contributed to my cycle. I do not blame any person but myself.. and I have forgiven myself, too. The problem lies in the deepest core of Christian teachings about sin and salvation. Though these teaching are so watered down as to be nearly unrecognizable in most Catholic households and many parishes, they are still there. <br />
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If you know any religious teens, don't let them enter this cycle. You don't even have to address the topic directly. A little hint here and there that masturbation is normal and OK will go a long way.<br />
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Peace... and happy wanking ;)Apostate XPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677586144053443528noreply@blogger.com1