Atheist Says What

Cinco de Meier

2007-05-06T23:46:00.000-07:00

A la Ryan's post about the "Things I Remember from Cinco de Meier", here is a list of "Things I Remember from Cinco de Meier":

Currently Reading: Born on a Blue Day - Daniel Tammet

2007-03-26T22:40:00.000-07:00

I saw this guy, Daniel Tammet, on 60 Minutes a few weeks ago. He is in his twenties, lives in Kent, and is an autistic savant - think Rain Man. The difference between Daniel and Dustin Hoffman's character is that while Daniel displays characteristics of savantism, he is not as afflicted by social anxiety as most other savants.

He experiences synesthesia, which means that he experiences numbers as shapes, colors, and sensations. "In his mind, he says, each number up to 10,000 has its own unique shape and feel, that he can "see" results of calculations as landscapes." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Tammet).

This guy is really amazing. The really cool thing about his situation is that he is one of the few savants who are capable of explaining how he does the things he does.

I would suggest checking this guy out, either by reading his book, which is very good so far, or by looking up more information about him on the interwebs. The URL for wikipedia is already listed above, and he has his own website, http://www.optimnem.co.uk/, where you can get more information about him and buy his book.

He is probably one of the most interesting people I have learned of in a long time.

Recurring Dream

2007-03-26T22:23:00.000-07:00

I have had this particular dream at least three times now, which, I believe, qualifies it as a recurring dream. In these dreams, I find myself looking at myself, although I don't think it was ever in a mirror. It was always like an out of body experience.

When I look at my face, I am pleasantly surprised to find that I have a respectable amount of facial hair, in all the appropriate places. In real life, I have a barren patch of face on each side, right where a mustache, goatee, and sideburns would connect, leaving me in the awkward position of being able to grow any three of the aforementioned face coverings, but not being able to put them together.

In these dreams I don't have a fantastic beard, but there is something, and every time I think, "Wow! This is great, I actually have a full face of hair! If I let it grow in a little more, it might look really good." I comforts me to know that even in my dreams I am reasonable.

Anyway, these are truly great dreams, for I am afraid I may never be able to connect my facial hair into a full beard. Waking is the nightmare. The last time I had this dream, which was a couple nights ago, I didn't realize it was a dream until I had been awake for several minutes, and I wandered into the bathroom to take a leak, only to glance at my bald face in the mirror.

"They" say that it will help facial hair to grow if you shave a lot, so I have been trying to shave every day, whether it looks like I need it or not. I am tempted to try Rogaine on my face, but I hesitate for fear that I will end up looking like Michael J. Fox in that movie he did, you know, Back to the Future....no wait, wrong flick.

If anyone has suggestions about how I might increase my facial hair growth, I am very interested in hearing it.

Light Beer

2007-03-23T11:29:00.000-07:00

I really like beer. While I don't exactly consider myself a beer snob, I certainly wouldn't be caught dead paying for light beer, unless of course I am playing some drinking game and pitchers of Guinness just doesn't make sense (I know, it is hard to believe, but sometimes a whole pitcher of Guinness just isn't a good idea).

I will, however, always drink a beer if one is given to me free of charge. I'll drink Bud Light, or Miller Lite, or even something as degrading as Natural Light or PBR. There are people who would tell you they even saw me drinking Milwaukee's Best Ice. It happens...

Anyway, as you would probably imagine it is not common for a guy to be given free beer, so I have very few experiences in the realm of beer flavored water, and I don't remember the last time I drank enough of it to actually become intoxicated...until last night.

This was a standard night of drinking and good times with good friends, but I realized something last night about light beer that I have never known before. It makes me so incredibly gassy! They should market this stuff as Burp Juice or something!

I am not saying this is a bad thing, I love burping as much as the next guy. Now I know that whenever I am in the mood to belch up a storm, all I have to do is crack open a frosty six pack of ___________ (insert light beer here).

Non-Religious Church

2007-03-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

I don't why I got to thinking this the other day in the car, but I think it is a great idea!

Many people say that going to church is beneficial because there is a community like a large family that one feels they belong to and can turn to in times of trouble. I know that when someone is ill many churches will include prayers for them in their services. For a long time my grandmother was in charge of sending "get well" cards to the hospitalized members of the church.

I agree that having a group a people outside of and larger than your biological family would be beneficial, but I do not see why this group must be a religious group. It is true, unfortunately, that most support groups or other welcoming communities are religiously based, but this is not inherently true.

I propose a non-religious "church". This church would welcome believers and non-believers alike, but would be 100% secular. Anyone who longs for family and a sense of belonging can come to the meetings of this church. People can discuss difficult times they are going through, and receive support from other members who have similar experiences or can help in other ways. Other people can share successes they have had in their life, ones that are of great importance to them. These people might not have any other family or friends, and needs someone to congratulate them and encourage them to do more or stick with it.

Many people turn to religion in times of hardship. Do they turn to religion because believing what is said in ancient books makes them feel better? Or is it the sense of belonging and the support of other members of the church? I would argue the latter.

Schmutz Wednesday

2007-02-21T11:52:00.000-08:00

The only reason I ever know that it is Ash Wednesday each year is that I see someone fresh from church and get the urge to walk up to them, lick my thumb, and say "Oh, hold still, you have some schmutz on your forehead" as I proceed to wipe it off.

Bless you?

2007-02-21T11:37:00.000-08:00

I have been swaying back and forth lately between saying "Bless you" and not saying "Bless you" when people around me sneeze. I NEVER say "God bless you" of course...that would be stupid.

Since I am currently working toward my teacher certification and Masters degree, I have been thinking about how things will be when I can a teacher. I certainly can't say "Bless you" sometimes and not say it other times, or students might think I am playing favorites.

I think the responsible thing for me to do as an atheist is to stop saying anything, but I am afraid people will find this to be rude. We need to come up with a new, secular phrase to use when people sneeze. Sometimes I tell people "Shut Up!" when they sneeze, but that's just plain mean.

Brownie Points

2007-02-19T19:21:00.002-08:00

So I don't believe in god, that should be obvious, but just in case He does exist it's nice to know that I have some brownie points...well, maybe.

Bri and I were in Philadelphia, and when we returned to our hotel from the play I dropped her off a the door and parked the car. As I was leaving my car, I saw an older, larger gentlemen with a cane having some trouble getting over a mound of ice/snow. I offered to give him a hand and I helped him over the mound and across a sheet of ice leading up to his car.

I guess I was in a really good mood, because I also offered to help him get all the ice off his car (it was an SUV actually, which was definitely necessary since it was just him). As I reached into his SUV to get the ice scraper he said to me, "You're gonna get something out of this, you know." And I'm thinking, "Oh my god(lol), what have I gotten myself into?" but I said, "Oh yeah?" He said, "I don't know if you're a Protestant boy or a Catholic boy." I told him that my family is Catholic and he said to me, "Well I'm a Catholic priest."

Of course the first thing I think is that I might get molested, which I chuckle at inside, but I helped him clean off his SUV and made sure he could climb up into it (an SUV is a great idea for someone who can't walk great) and I went on my way.

I would like to think that I get some points for being a good samaritan regardless of this guy's status as a priest, but if the Catholics are right then I just scored some major points.

Just an afterthought: It is interesting that an atheist, with no moral code, would go out of his way to help someone at night in the freezing cold. Just goes to show that not all atheists are depraved heathens...some of us are just heathens.

God is an Electrician?

2007-02-19T19:21:00.001-08:00

I always thought he was a carpenter!

My dad was working with a friend of his, trying to get the emergency
generator hooked up. They thought they were done, but the generator
just wouldn't start up for some reason.

My dad's friend, who happens to be a born-again christian, thought to
look for a loose wire among a few dozen. In a very short moment he
had found the wire and secured it.

While recounting this story later, my dad commended his friend for his
electrical skills, but he responded, "It wasn't me, it was god." I
don't think he was joking.

It is obvious that the reason he could find this loose wire is because
he is an experienced and observant electrician.

I don't like how many people attribute accomplishments to god because
it diminishes the greatness of some of the best advances humans have
made.

This, of course, is a trivial example, but it is good enough here to
make a point.

Young Earth Creationist Doctor of Palaeontology???

2007-02-12T22:00:00.000-08:00

On the front page of the Times today (below the fold) there was an article about a man who recently received his doctorate from the University of Rhode Island in palaeontology. The thing is, he is a young earth creationist. If you don't know what this means, I'll tell you. This means that he believes that the earth cannot be more than about 10,000 years old because of the chronology of events in the bible. What a fucking stupid idea that is!!! I wish I was joking.

Anyway, he does all this science in palaeontology under the "paradigm", as he calls it, that the earth is billions of years old...which it IS!!!! But he doesn't actually believe that! He lives his personal life under the "paradigm" that the earth is only a few thousand years old...which is utter nonsense.

The research that he performed and the dissertation he presented apparently were solidly scientific and supported by evidence, but since he doesn't believe any of the science that he spent years proving, what is he going to do with his Ph.D.? He is going to go around advocating the young earth theory, giving it the appearance of legitimacy because a Doctor of Palaeontology supports it.

There was debate in the article about whether a university should be allowed to discriminate against people who are intending to use their degrees for something which the university or the department would not want to be associated with. It is a tough debate. I want to say they should be able to deny people for this reason, but then I realize that this is discrimination based on religion, which we aren't supposed to allow.

Either way, I say fuck this guy for using his degree in science against science. Fuck him.

Gerald Ford Dead

2006-12-27T12:36:00.000-08:00

In honor of the late President Gerald Ford, watch this video:

http://gorillamask.net/fordsnl.shtml

I'm Back?

2006-12-27T00:53:00.000-08:00

I am deciding that I am going to post on here more, well, at all. However, I might change my mind tomorrow and never post again. You will have to wait and see.

Currently reading: The God Delusion - Richard "The Fucking Man" Dawkins (if you read this book and you still believe in God something is wrong)

"Therefore the sage goes about doing nothing, teaching no talking.
The ten thousand things rise and fall without cease, creating, yet not possessing, working, yet not taking credit, work is done, then forgotten.
Therefore it lasts for ever."

Christmas Shopping

2006-11-22T15:08:00.000-08:00

Well, this might sound hypocrtical, but I am very excited because I did all my Christmas shopping on Monday in about an hour. I don't believe in Jesus as the son of god and all that jazz, but it is a tradition in my family to spend the day together and exchange gifts.

I don't feel hypocritical because Christmas in my family was never really a religious holiday. I like giving gifts as much as receiving them, and plus, if anyone really gives me a hard time, I will just say that I am celebrated Newton's birthday.

Just a Rant

2006-11-19T22:19:00.000-08:00

It really bugs me when people mispronounce "modern" like "marden". This bugs me more than when people mispronounce other words. Sometimes I feel like screaming at people, "It's MODERN you idiot! Why are you saying MARDEN?!?! It's spelled M-O-D-E-R-N not M-A-R-D-E-N!!!...FUCK!!!"

from The God Whispers of Han Qing-jao

2006-06-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

excerpt from Orson Scott Card's "Children of the Mind" :

"Do the gods of different nations
talk to each other?
Do the gods of Chinese cities
speak to the ancestors of the Japanese?
To the lords of Xibalba?
To Allah? Yahweh? Vishnu?
Is there some annual get-together
where they compare each other's worshippers?
Mine will bow their faces to the floor
and trace woodgrain lines for me, says one.
Mine will sacrifice animals, says another.
Mine will kill anyone who insults me, says a third.
Here is the question I think of most often:
Are there any who can honestly boast,
My worshippers obey my good laws,
and treat each other kindly,
and live simple generous lives?"

I think this passage is extremely insightful. First of all, I think it is interesting to think of a bunch of gods existing at the same time. It seems that in real life everyone believes that the only god that exists is the one they believe in. It would make me much happier if everyone believed that no matter which god they worshipped, there were many other gods in the world. That there were other gods that could perform miracles, that could be turned to in times of great desperation. This would make the relations between the religions much more interesting, if not peaceful.

Besides this, I like it because it is basically saying of every religion that there is no one who follow the teachings faithfully and are genuinely good people, who are king and generous to others. Of course their are good people, but probably none that meet the standards of organized religions. Some people consider that being religious = being good. That is certainly not always the case, perhaps never.

Devolution

2006-05-03T00:04:00.000-07:00

This is the logo for the site anti-savior.com. I found it on Meier's blog (I think). The website has almost zero content to speak of, but I think the logo is cool. I made it my desktop background, and a couple of my roommates have asked about it, and this has made me think a little more about its meaning.

-------

Mark asked, "So is Christianity a step up?"

"No," I answered, "it is just a step forward in time."

Later, Dan asked, "We go right to chimp?"

"Yes."

-------

So, I would say that the step to chimp is not a physical evolution (duh) but a mental evolution. I can totally understand this when I think of the fundamentalists who take every word in the Bible literally; they are definitely dumber than the rest of us. By turning to Christianity in this way, people are adopting a much more primitive way of thinking, and are therefore mentally devolving in the direction of, although probably not to the destination of, chimpanzees.

Raising Kids

2006-04-22T15:46:00.000-07:00

They other night I was speaking with some friends, Jews and Catholics, about how we would raise our kids religiously. The Jewish girls said that if they married Christians, that they would allow the kids to celebrate Christmas, Easter, etc., with their husbands and their families, but would insist that the kids be raised Jewish, and go to Jewish school and all that jazz. They said it was important to raise them Jewish because their aren't that many Jews, and they want to preserve the culture. This makes sense.

They asked me what religion Bri is and how we planned on raising our kids. Bri is Episcopalian, and although she is not very religious, she did go to church growing up and still goes on holidays. I have always thought that when we had kids I would be cool with Bri taking the kids to church, as long as I could explain to them why I don't go to church with them.

Now I am thinking that it would be even better to teach the kids about all kinds of religions. There are some really great ideas to be taken from different religions, so it would be stupid to limit ideas to one source.

Honestly, I would be happy if my kids turned out like me, not believing in any religion, but getting inspiration from all religions. I think learning about different religions early on, and learning to respect them, would probably lead to this kind of mindset.

Mythos vs. Logos

2006-04-18T11:33:00.000-07:00

The reading this week for my Scholar's Seminar is the introduction of the book The Battle for God by Karen Armstrong. In this book she studies and attempts to analyze fundamentalist movements in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

She emphasizes in the introduction the difference between what scholars call mythos and logos. She says, "Both were essential; they were regarded as complementary ways of arriving at truth, and each had its special area of competence."

"Myth was ... concerned with what was thought to be timeless and constant in our existence. Myth looked back to the origins of life ... and to the deepest levels of the human mind. Myth was not concerned with practical matters, but with meaning."

" Logos was the rational, pragmatic, and scientific thought that enabled men and women to function well in the world ... Logos is practical ... logos forges ahead and tries to find something new..."

For millennia there had been a balance of power between mythos and logos, each of which had its own important role to play in our lives. In the modern age however, logos has become greatly overpowering, as we yield to and rely more and more on science. Armstrong proposes that since we have discounted mythos in favor of logos, the fundamentalists have "tried to turn the mythos of their faith into logos."

This is an interesting dilemma. By disturbing the balance of mythos and logos in the development of a science oriented culture, we have discounted the true and noble purpose of mythos in society. Mythos has recently regained much of its power, but in a distorted way.

Speaking about mythos, Armstrong says they "were not intended to be taken literally." I think there are many religious stories, and other stories from mythology, that are worth reading because they convey important ideas and can promote moral behavior. While perhaps not mythology, Aesop's fables comes to mind as an example.

It scares me a lot that in my country the fundamentalists who take their religious mythos as logos are growing more and more powerful politically. Most disturbing, I think, is the simple fact that while the majority of Americans may share the beliefs of the fundamentalists to some extent, there are many people whose beliefs are completely different, and even contradictory. I would understand the creation of laws and policies based on religious beliefs if all citizens shared these views, but it seems terribly undemocratic and perhaps immoral to do so in a country which was founded upon the principle of liberty and operates under the principle of separation of church and state.

This is how to make everyone, or at least most people, happy: Let's go back to the old balance between mythos and logos. We will venerate mythological traditions of all religions and these will help us grow morally and philosophically. What we learn from these traditions is learned on a personal level, and will guide us in our spiritual lives, and in our interactions with other people and with our environment. We will also value very highly the pursuit of logos, and the logos is what would lead us in our practical lives. The government's laws and policies will be based on the logos, and the logos will increase the quality of our physical lives.

Atheist Safety

2006-04-17T00:20:00.000-07:00

Found this on CollegeHumor.com a few weeks back. Beware the Atheist!

Easter Sunday

2006-04-16T22:21:00.000-07:00

This weekend almost everyone went home for Easter...I of course stayed here.

I find it very hard to believe that so many people, over 2 billion worldwide, believe that there was a guy who, 2000 years ago, was crucified by the Romans, was entombed, and then rose from the dead a few days later. My problem is not so much that people believe this story even though it is obviously mythology or allegory, but that they believe this while the other 4 billion people in the world don't.

There is a lack of retrospection that I find unsettling. Many Christians would look at the Hindus who worship many different deities and criticize them, or at least express the same feeling of non-understanding that I am expressing. Turn the tables, and Christians would find these Hindus wondering why the Christians fail to acknowledge the rest of the deities.

It just seems weird to me that so many different religions with different ideas about life and death can coexist in an age of fast and easy worldwide communications.