a continuation of my assault on religion...(UPDATED)

are we really supposed to believe this book? and use it as a guide for morality? and worse, use it as a guide for a laws in a civilized society?

the bible was written by a multitude of fearful, faulty men and does NOT contain the immutable word of god. we might as well be using The Collected Works of Shakespeare as our basis for morality. we'd probably be better off if we did. plus, we'd know the contents inside were in fact the immutable word of the bard.

UPDATE:

Here are more sites to enjoy during the extended New Year weekend:
Why Won't God Heal Amputees?
The Creation Fallacy
Evil Bible
The Secular Outpost Blog
The Secular Web
American Atheists

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

a little New Years anti-religious discussion

since i posted an article about atheism from Sam Harris before Christmas, i will do the same before New Years. here is an article just published in Newsweek & The Washington Post.

also, the catering to the religious is getting ridiculous. especially when this is the outcome. this is outrageous and should not be accepted by anyone. we must cater to a small minority of biblical literalists (who believe the earth is 6000 years old!!) so we don't hurt their delicate feelings. are you fucking kidding me? the earth IS billions of years old (just over 4 to be exact). the universe is over 3 times older than that. i cannot believe that we must suspend science, knowledge, logic and rational thought so a few halfwit creationists don't get offended. what is wrong with this country?

enjoy!

oh, and Happy New Year!

the faux moral high ground (UPDATED)

today, we're going to learn about civility, folks.

there is an odd quality in some folks where they feel they can say or do anything and not deal with the repercussions. and some even get indignant at the fact that anyone else retaliates or gets angry at what they do.

let me posit an example:
say someone (we'll call him Steve) spits in another person's face (we'll call him Mark). Mark did nothing to provoke something as insulting as being spat in the face, yet Steve goes ahead and does it. Mark, as a result, gets angry and calls Steve a name (or spits back in his face, or clocks him one). Steve suddenly gets angry at Mark for reacting; for defending himself. Steve is aghast that Mark would even be upset at being spat at.
someone like Steve would say, "i'm sorry you're angry that i spat in your face." NOT "i'm sorry i spat in your face." the difference is huge. and it's telling of Steve's maturity level. in the first instance there is no real apology, merely more insults and aggression.

Steve has no right taking the moral high ground in this situation. yet, i've seen it happen a lot: at work, i've seen it happen amongst "alleged" friends, i've even had it happen to me (and recently). most of the people in this world understand we live in a civilized society, and are not Steves; but there are still enough Steves out there to make our lives miserable. we need fewer Steves and more Marks.
dissent is fine. argument is fine. but, when ad hominem and epithets start flying, it can get ugly; yet when the one who starts the ugliness suddenly becomes indignant that the other responds in kind we have chaos.

"you're stupid."
"well, you're ugly."
"why are you calling me ugly?"
"because you called me stupid."
"i can't believe you got mad at that."
"then apologize to me."
"i'm sorry you got mad that i called you stupid."
"that's not an apology."

i'm sure you've had experiences with Steves before, too.
all we can do is call them on their arrogance and rudeness, then cut all ties. life is far too short to deal with juvenile adults. it's hard enough dealing with mature adults.


UPDATE: in the above example, let's say Steve and Mark are carpenters and Steve, before the argument and subsequent spitting, told Mark that he respects Mark's abilities as a carpenter (and it was genuine). then, suppose, after Steve spat in Mark's face he goes back to his previous comment of "respecting" Mark, further driving Steve's indignation that Mark is upset at Steve. after all, he respects Mark.

well, i for one would hate to see how Steve would've treated Mark had he NOT respected him so.

i add this update because this is an important part of the faux moral high ground. a compliment will be paid just before, or during, an insulting or derogatory action to "lessen the blow", or to set up the oncoming indignation.

aren't people just the best?

new broadsides

in today's mail, i received a package of the two latest broadsides for The Guerilla Poetics Project:

GPP007 -- My Daughter's Eyes by Nathan Graziano
&
GPP008 -- work ethic by Brian McGettrick

i'll be hiding these around the greater Salt Lake area in the next few days. with one find already logged from Utah, my passions for this project have been renewed and i hope for more finds to be logged from here, soon.

& Happy New Years, folks! be safe and have fun.

some answers this Christmas Eve

as some (or all) of you may or may not know, the wife and i are atheists. we still celebrate xmas in the same way the vast majority of the country does. we don't feel this is hypocritical as xmas is no longer a christian holiday (or, at least, an exclusively christian holiday) and is more about celebrating the previous year (as well as getting a day or two off of work). also, if jesus was a real man (something that has yet to be proven) he wasn't born in December, but in sometime in the spring. a pagan winter celebration was expropriated by the christians.

anyway, i've been reading some fine "atheist" books lately (The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, and Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris). they are tremendous books that should be read by all (atheist, religious, agnostic alike). the philosophies and arguments contained inside can help make this world a better place THROUGH the elimination of religion, not by expanding it. let's put it this way, religion has had thousands of years to eliminate pain, suffering, hatred and unnecessary death; yet it has done nothing more than increase the instances of each, in some cases unforgiveably so. the authors rationally and logically posit a case where atheism is better for a society. i agree.

so, for this xmas, here is a great little article on the 10 myths (and truths) about atheism by Sam Harris. enjoy.

Merry Christmas to everyone (in the secular way, that is, meaning a healthy, peaceful, happy and safe weekend!) and i hope everyone has a Happy New Year.
the wife and i are ready to wad up 2006, douse it in gasoline and set it ablaze. we are hoping 2007 is considerably better.

let us pray... :)