This is a really enlightening Q&A session featuring Yaron Brook, President of the Ayn Rand Institute. He has some comments here that go straight to the heart of many of the problems with the ongoing war on terror. Hope you enjoy it:
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=83KIY3rZ1yw
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=avUK9dCyW4Y
Translator
Showing posts with label islam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label islam. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
A Decisive Argument Against Religion
This is a video posted by YouTube objectivist Nelapidae. He presents a stunningly clear, precise and cutting argument against faith. Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQefreiEQOA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQefreiEQOA
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Is the Koran compatible with science? Is it consistent?
Lately I've noticed an increase in claims, specifically on YouTube, but amongst Islamic advocates in general that the Koran is not only internally consistent, but that it also foreshadows modern scientific discoveries. Zealots will use carefully cultivated quotations to support these wild claims. Well, I tend to think that the psychology going on here is not unlike that which surrounds proponents of Nostradamus, astrology, palm reading, or any other of a litany of quacky half-baked pseudo-scientific spiritualist dogmas. To prove that these neo-scientific religious bigots are in fact spouting nothing but hot air, I decided to do some cursory research on contradictions in the Koran.
Here's what I came up with:
1) This site lists at least 10 issues which show that the Koran is either not internally consistent and that Mohammed had no more knowledge of astronomy than a gibbering cave-man.
http://www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/SKM/contradictions.htm
2) This site raises an interesting point. The Koran states that Allah can answer any question. It also states that he can do anything. So, can Allah ask a question that Allah cannot answer?
http://the-qurans-fatal-flaw.myblogvoice.com/?contradictions-inconsistencies-and-fallacies-in-the-koran-quran-120336
3) And here's a link to a list of a further 87 inconsistencies put together by one dedicated poster:
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?s=d981da0ad3d6d5a72b63ef7628a00c80&t=71501
4) Here, perhaps most damning of all, is a group of Muslims who concede that the Koran has inconsistencies and promotes violence, but that it must somehow be "reformed" to remove such features. My suggestion..."Become an atheist."
http://www.reformislam.org/
and here is their list of Suras that they recommend should be deleted from the Koran because they "promote divisiveness and religious hatred, bigotry and discrimination."
http://www.reformislam.org/verses.php
I wonder how much of the Koran would be left...And this raises another interesting point. If the Koran, is not the unalterable, indefatigable, perfect, and complete word of God, why then bother with it at all?
And before you say, well the Koran is consistent, unalterable and 100% true, please consider these words from a religion of peace:
O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness; and know that Allah is with those who guard (against evil).
If you would like to verify the veracity of the quotes attributed to the Koran, I recommend reading it. Nothing clears up controversy like looking at the facts. For your convenience I've also included a link to an online searchable Koran here.
Here's what I came up with:
1) This site lists at least 10 issues which show that the Koran is either not internally consistent and that Mohammed had no more knowledge of astronomy than a gibbering cave-man.
http://www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/SKM/contradictions.htm
2) This site raises an interesting point. The Koran states that Allah can answer any question. It also states that he can do anything. So, can Allah ask a question that Allah cannot answer?
http://the-qurans-fatal-flaw.myblogvoice.com/?contradictions-inconsistencies-and-fallacies-in-the-koran-quran-120336
3) And here's a link to a list of a further 87 inconsistencies put together by one dedicated poster:
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?s=d981da0ad3d6d5a72b63ef7628a00c80&t=71501
4) Here, perhaps most damning of all, is a group of Muslims who concede that the Koran has inconsistencies and promotes violence, but that it must somehow be "reformed" to remove such features. My suggestion..."Become an atheist."
http://www.reformislam.org/
and here is their list of Suras that they recommend should be deleted from the Koran because they "promote divisiveness and religious hatred, bigotry and discrimination."
http://www.reformislam.org/verses.php
I wonder how much of the Koran would be left...And this raises another interesting point. If the Koran, is not the unalterable, indefatigable, perfect, and complete word of God, why then bother with it at all?
And before you say, well the Koran is consistent, unalterable and 100% true, please consider these words from a religion of peace:
O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness; and know that Allah is with those who guard (against evil).
If you would like to verify the veracity of the quotes attributed to the Koran, I recommend reading it. Nothing clears up controversy like looking at the facts. For your convenience I've also included a link to an online searchable Koran here.
Monday, June 16, 2008
A Religion of Peace?
And here I get to complain again...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25106145/
So....how long are people going to be "tolerant" of religion? What we have here are schools which are training children to destroy the country in which they are growing up. So what should we do about this, objectively?
Well, first of all, I don't believe that government should be involved in education in any way whatsoever. And that means that I think all public schools should be privatized, but that's off topic. The government can't shut down schools just because they teach unpopular ideas. But if religious schools teach "criminal" ideas, then the government has every right to shut them down. The only legitimate use of government action is in the prohibition of the initiation of physical force in human interaction. By teaching children to break the laws of their country and teaching them that this is a moral "ideal", these fanatics are in effect inciting a generation of children to violent lawlessness. They are undermining the authority and rule of law which are the proper domain of government. But, even worse, they are committing an egregious act of psychological abuse on the minds of children. The purpose of schools is to provide students with information and skills that they can use to exist within their culture. All they are doing is setting them up to be murderers. Who could honestly say that telling a child to go kill is anything but abuse?
Anyways, I'm glad they shut this one down. But I wonder how many right-wing Christian faith camps abuse children in just the same way...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25106145/
So....how long are people going to be "tolerant" of religion? What we have here are schools which are training children to destroy the country in which they are growing up. So what should we do about this, objectively?
Well, first of all, I don't believe that government should be involved in education in any way whatsoever. And that means that I think all public schools should be privatized, but that's off topic. The government can't shut down schools just because they teach unpopular ideas. But if religious schools teach "criminal" ideas, then the government has every right to shut them down. The only legitimate use of government action is in the prohibition of the initiation of physical force in human interaction. By teaching children to break the laws of their country and teaching them that this is a moral "ideal", these fanatics are in effect inciting a generation of children to violent lawlessness. They are undermining the authority and rule of law which are the proper domain of government. But, even worse, they are committing an egregious act of psychological abuse on the minds of children. The purpose of schools is to provide students with information and skills that they can use to exist within their culture. All they are doing is setting them up to be murderers. Who could honestly say that telling a child to go kill is anything but abuse?
Anyways, I'm glad they shut this one down. But I wonder how many right-wing Christian faith camps abuse children in just the same way...
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Defend Freedom of Speech. Reprint the Mohammed Cartoons.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24976215/
If you would like to submit to the arbitrary edicts of fanatical militants, then by all means cower in fear of their retaliation and do nothing. However, if you value freedom of speech, the time-honored right of all free human beings on the face of this earth, then do what you can. If you have a blog, print the cartoons there. If you run a newspaper, reprint them there. They can't bomb everybody. Our soldiers are brave enough to put their bodies between the extremists and us. We can at least be brave enough to preserve the freedoms that they believe they're fighting for. The alternative is to let them die in vain. How about it? Do we still value freedom?
I do.
(Also posted here)
Sunday, June 1, 2008
The Myth of Religious Moderation
For today's blog I would like to direct you to the following two news stories:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24919800/
http://www.newsweek.com/id/139433
Now, the first seems to be forewarning of growing rivalries and tensions within Islam. The second seems to be saying that there are seeds of moderation growing within Islam, that may lead it to become a more truly peaceful religion than it is today.
So, what's the point? Which view do we take seriously? Is Islam inherently dangerous and growing more internally divided as rival fundamental viewpoints wage very active and real war against each other? Or is Islam inherently peaceful, with modern Islam hijacked by a rabble of renegades harnessing the gullible with their political rhetoric?
The answer, I think is to go to the facts. And go to the source. Just as you can look at the bible to see what views Christian moderates are promoting to fundamentalists as the word of God, so too can you go to the Koran to see what views the moderates are promoting to fundamentalists as the word of God.
Well, fact #1 and the elephant in the room is that the only difference between moderates and fundamentalists is how much of their holy book they take to be the unequivocal holy word of almighty God. Moderates cut out the nasty bits. Fundamentalists take it all whole. You could almost say that the moderates are hypocrites in that they purport to follow a religion based on a text which is supposedly mandated by God, yet they have the audacity to say that they know better than their own God which parts are really really God's will and which parts are not. Because of this latent hypocrisy, fundamentalism will always have the potential to rear its ugly head. This is not because they are hijacking an otherwise peaceful religion. Fundamentalist, by definition means one who is adhering to the fundamentals of the religion. As such, the most sincere devotees of a religion must always be fundamentalist. Moderates are, for the most part, moral cowards. They are those who know well enough that the morality encoded in the literal word of their holy book makes absolutely no sense in the modern world, and yet are so terrified of their version of an ethereal boogie-man in the sky that they lack the courage to renounce their faith and set about defending and encoding a modern moral truth.
This is the kicker and it's what will cobble the efforts of anybody who seeks to negotiate their religion into supposedly "passive" forms. As long as the religion honors a text which encodes violence and immorality as ideals, then the religion will always bear the seeds of violence and immorality. So, let's check the sources and see if the Koran, and for that matter the Bible encode violence and immorality.
(Numbers 31:7-18 NLT)
They attacked Midian just as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed all the men. All five of the Midianite kings – Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba – died in the battle. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword. Then the Israelite army captured the Midianite women and children and seized their cattle and flocks and all their wealth as plunder. They burned all the towns and villages where the Midianites had lived. After they had gathered the plunder and captives, both people and animals, they brought them all to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to the whole community of Israel, which was camped on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River, across from Jericho.
(Deuteronomy 22:23-24 NAB)
Make ready to slaughter his sons for the guilt of their fathers; Lest they rise and posses the earth, and fill the breadth of the world with tyrants. (Isaiah 14:21 NAB)
The glory of Israel will fly away like a bird, for your children will die at birth or perish in the womb or never even be conceived. Even if your children do survive to grow up, I will take them from you. It will be a terrible day when I turn away and leave you alone. I have watched Israel become as beautiful and pleasant as Tyre. But now Israel will bring out her children to be slaughtered." O LORD, what should I request for your people? I will ask for wombs that don't give birth and breasts that give no milk. The LORD says, "All their wickedness began at Gilgal; there I began to hate them. I will drive them from my land because of their evil actions. I will love them no more because all their leaders are rebels. The people of Israel are stricken. Their roots are dried up; they will bear no more fruit. And if they give birth, I will slaughter their beloved children." (Hosea 9:11-16 NLT)
Now that we've dealt with the flower of Christianity, let's take a look at what the pleasant poetry of the Koran has in store for us.
And as for those who are guilty of an indecency from among your women, call to witnesses against them four (witnesses) from among you; then if they bear witness confine them to the houses until death takes them away or Allah opens some way for them.
Well, at least house arrest sure beats stoning. Let's see what else is in there...
Oh, wait a second, what's this?
And when Musa said to his people: O my people! you have surely been unjust to yourselves by taking the calf (for a god), therefore turn to your Creator (penitently), so kill your people, that is best for you with your Creator: so He turned to you (mercifully), for surely He is the Oft-returning (to mercy), the Merciful.
Oh, and this isn't so friendly:
They desire that you should disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you might be (all) alike; therefore take not from among them friends until they fly (their homes) in Allah's way; but if they turn back, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them, and take not from among them a friend or a helper.
And this:
You will find others who desire that they should be safe from you and secure from their own people; as often as they are sent back to the mischief they get thrown into it headlong; therefore if they do not withdraw from you, and (do not) offer you peace and restrain their hands, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them; and against these We have given.you a clear authority.
And do not kill any one whom Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause, and whoever is slain unjustly, We have indeed given to his heir authority, so let him not exceed the just limits in slaying; surely he is aided.
I wonder what qualifies as a "just cause"? Fighting for the glory of Allah?
Say: Have you considered if the chastisement of Allah should overtake you suddenly or openly, will any be destroyed but the unjust people?
I guess that answers that question, doesn't it?
And when We wish to destroy a town, We send Our commandment to the people of it who lead easy lives, but they transgress therein; thus the word proves true against it, so We destroy it with utter destruction.
Mmmm....peaceful......
Then We said: Go you both to the people who rejected Our communications; so We destroyed them with utter destruction.
And some even more destroying with utter destruction goodness:
And to every one We gave examples and every one did We destroy with utter destruction.
Like we need to make it dead, really really dead. Dancing on the dead, dead, hyper-deading dead dead. But, who really has time to sift through all this crap. If you would like, there is a searchable online Koran which is where I got all these lovely quotes. All you need to do is search for things like destroy, kill, etc. In all fairness, there was no mention of rape that I could find, so perhaps the Muslims do have a moral leg up on Christianity after all. But as for being a peaceful religion? No, I don't think so.
The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His apostle and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement,
O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness; and know that Allah is with those who guard (against evil).
(And in case you were wondering where I got all the juicy Bible quotes, they're from EvilBible.com. )
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24919800/
http://www.newsweek.com/id/139433
Now, the first seems to be forewarning of growing rivalries and tensions within Islam. The second seems to be saying that there are seeds of moderation growing within Islam, that may lead it to become a more truly peaceful religion than it is today.
So, what's the point? Which view do we take seriously? Is Islam inherently dangerous and growing more internally divided as rival fundamental viewpoints wage very active and real war against each other? Or is Islam inherently peaceful, with modern Islam hijacked by a rabble of renegades harnessing the gullible with their political rhetoric?
The answer, I think is to go to the facts. And go to the source. Just as you can look at the bible to see what views Christian moderates are promoting to fundamentalists as the word of God, so too can you go to the Koran to see what views the moderates are promoting to fundamentalists as the word of God.
Well, fact #1 and the elephant in the room is that the only difference between moderates and fundamentalists is how much of their holy book they take to be the unequivocal holy word of almighty God. Moderates cut out the nasty bits. Fundamentalists take it all whole. You could almost say that the moderates are hypocrites in that they purport to follow a religion based on a text which is supposedly mandated by God, yet they have the audacity to say that they know better than their own God which parts are really really God's will and which parts are not. Because of this latent hypocrisy, fundamentalism will always have the potential to rear its ugly head. This is not because they are hijacking an otherwise peaceful religion. Fundamentalist, by definition means one who is adhering to the fundamentals of the religion. As such, the most sincere devotees of a religion must always be fundamentalist. Moderates are, for the most part, moral cowards. They are those who know well enough that the morality encoded in the literal word of their holy book makes absolutely no sense in the modern world, and yet are so terrified of their version of an ethereal boogie-man in the sky that they lack the courage to renounce their faith and set about defending and encoding a modern moral truth.
This is the kicker and it's what will cobble the efforts of anybody who seeks to negotiate their religion into supposedly "passive" forms. As long as the religion honors a text which encodes violence and immorality as ideals, then the religion will always bear the seeds of violence and immorality. So, let's check the sources and see if the Koran, and for that matter the Bible encode violence and immorality.
(Numbers 31:7-18 NLT)
They attacked Midian just as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed all the men. All five of the Midianite kings – Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba – died in the battle. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword. Then the Israelite army captured the Midianite women and children and seized their cattle and flocks and all their wealth as plunder. They burned all the towns and villages where the Midianites had lived. After they had gathered the plunder and captives, both people and animals, they brought them all to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to the whole community of Israel, which was camped on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River, across from Jericho.
Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the people went to meet them outside the camp. But Moses was furious with all the military commanders who had returned from the battle. "Why have you let all the women live?" he demanded. "These are the very ones who followed Balaam's advice and caused the people of Israel to rebel against the LORD at Mount Peor. They are the ones who caused the plague to strike the LORD's people. Now kill all the boys and all the women who have slept with a man. Only the young girls who are virgins may live; you may keep them for yourselves.
OK, you may say, but that's in a time of war and we all know that war is hell, right? So how about rape about town?(Deuteronomy 22:23-24 NAB)
If within the city a man comes upon a maiden who is betrothed, and has relations with her, you shall bring them both out of the gate of the city and there stone them to death: the girl because she did not cry out for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbors wife.
Well, that seems pretty damn evil to me. But even if we just take that as hardcore justice, let's clarify what God thinks about some other stuff. How about child killing? I think we can all pretty much agree that there is nothing more evil than someone who hurts children willfully.Make ready to slaughter his sons for the guilt of their fathers; Lest they rise and posses the earth, and fill the breadth of the world with tyrants. (Isaiah 14:21 NAB)
The glory of Israel will fly away like a bird, for your children will die at birth or perish in the womb or never even be conceived. Even if your children do survive to grow up, I will take them from you. It will be a terrible day when I turn away and leave you alone. I have watched Israel become as beautiful and pleasant as Tyre. But now Israel will bring out her children to be slaughtered." O LORD, what should I request for your people? I will ask for wombs that don't give birth and breasts that give no milk. The LORD says, "All their wickedness began at Gilgal; there I began to hate them. I will drive them from my land because of their evil actions. I will love them no more because all their leaders are rebels. The people of Israel are stricken. Their roots are dried up; they will bear no more fruit. And if they give birth, I will slaughter their beloved children." (Hosea 9:11-16 NLT)
"Then I heard the LORD say to the other men, "Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity! Kill them all – old and young, girls and women and little children. But do not touch anyone with the mark. Begin your task right here at the Temple." So they began by killing the seventy leaders. "Defile the Temple!" the LORD commanded. "Fill its courtyards with the bodies of those you kill! Go!" So they went throughout the city and did as they were told." (Ezekiel 9:5-7 NLT)
And at midnight the LORD killed all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn son of the captive in the dungeon. Even the firstborn of their livestock were killed. Pharaoh and his officials and all the people of Egypt woke up during the night, and loud wailing was heard throughout the land of Egypt. There was not a single house where someone had not died. (Exodus 12:29-30 NLT)
If even then you remain hostile toward me and refuse to obey, I will inflict you with seven more disasters for your sins. I will release wild animals that will kill your children and destroy your cattle, so your numbers will dwindle and your roads will be deserted. (Leviticus 26:21-22 NLT)
Anyone who is captured will be run through with a sword. Their little children will be dashed to death right before their eyes. Their homes will be sacked and their wives raped by the attacking hordes. For I will stir up the Medes against Babylon, and no amount of silver or gold will buy them off. The attacking armies will shoot down the young people with arrows. They will have no mercy on helpless babies and will show no compassion for the children. (Isaiah 13:15-18 NLT)
Now that we've dealt with the flower of Christianity, let's take a look at what the pleasant poetry of the Koran has in store for us.
And as for those who are guilty of an indecency from among your women, call to witnesses against them four (witnesses) from among you; then if they bear witness confine them to the houses until death takes them away or Allah opens some way for them.
Well, at least house arrest sure beats stoning. Let's see what else is in there...
Oh, wait a second, what's this?
And when Musa said to his people: O my people! you have surely been unjust to yourselves by taking the calf (for a god), therefore turn to your Creator (penitently), so kill your people, that is best for you with your Creator: so He turned to you (mercifully), for surely He is the Oft-returning (to mercy), the Merciful.
Oh, and this isn't so friendly:
They desire that you should disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you might be (all) alike; therefore take not from among them friends until they fly (their homes) in Allah's way; but if they turn back, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them, and take not from among them a friend or a helper.
And this:
You will find others who desire that they should be safe from you and secure from their own people; as often as they are sent back to the mischief they get thrown into it headlong; therefore if they do not withdraw from you, and (do not) offer you peace and restrain their hands, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them; and against these We have given.you a clear authority.
And do not kill any one whom Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause, and whoever is slain unjustly, We have indeed given to his heir authority, so let him not exceed the just limits in slaying; surely he is aided.
I wonder what qualifies as a "just cause"? Fighting for the glory of Allah?
Say: Have you considered if the chastisement of Allah should overtake you suddenly or openly, will any be destroyed but the unjust people?
I guess that answers that question, doesn't it?
And when We wish to destroy a town, We send Our commandment to the people of it who lead easy lives, but they transgress therein; thus the word proves true against it, so We destroy it with utter destruction.
Mmmm....peaceful......
Then We said: Go you both to the people who rejected Our communications; so We destroyed them with utter destruction.
And some even more destroying with utter destruction goodness:
And to every one We gave examples and every one did We destroy with utter destruction.
Like we need to make it dead, really really dead. Dancing on the dead, dead, hyper-deading dead dead. But, who really has time to sift through all this crap. If you would like, there is a searchable online Koran which is where I got all these lovely quotes. All you need to do is search for things like destroy, kill, etc. In all fairness, there was no mention of rape that I could find, so perhaps the Muslims do have a moral leg up on Christianity after all. But as for being a peaceful religion? No, I don't think so.
The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His apostle and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement,
O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness; and know that Allah is with those who guard (against evil).
(And in case you were wondering where I got all the juicy Bible quotes, they're from EvilBible.com. )
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Shoot the Quran. Shoot the Bible. Shoot the Torah.
Here's the link to the article which inspired my commentary this time: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24792627/
Well, it seems that once again, our leaders have to bow and plead and beg forgiveness for what should normally be a non-issue. So what? So the guy shot at a Quran? So what? It's a book. Paper, ink, glue. The man's job is to shoot people. But he wasn't doing that. He was practicing by shooting at a sheaf of paper. For this he gets sent home? While I think that there are better uses for books than shooting, a book ultimately is no more special than any other object. The only difference is the meaning that believers assign to it. And is that belief rational? Let's see, in Afghanistan they rioted and KILLED people because someone shot a book.....a BOOK!
Now, while his act MAY have been in bad taste, perhaps it wasn't culturally sensitive. But, after all, he was not a diplomat. He was a soldier. And a soldier's job is to kill. Killing is not a particularly nice job. And who is it that our soldiers are fighting? They're fighting Islamic fanatics. It doesn't take a lot to see why he may have some hostility towards the holy book that goads those fanatics on to ever more shocking displays of barbarism. So, let's be fair. Let's be egalitarian. Let's be honest. There's nothing that makes this soldier's act condemnable aside from our irrational concession to religion in general that it deserves to be treated with respect by default.
There is absolutely nothing respectable about religion. Religion has offered nothing to the advancement of mankind. Science has. Science can exist without religion. Religion is unnecessary. We should be more offended when our politicians cater to the spiritual vagaries of bigoted idealogues then when trained soldiers practice on inanimate objects. We should be more outraged when people riot and KILL in the name of their outrage, then when a man whose job is to kill quietly protests by shooting something which has no consciousness, no precious life to be snuffed out.
So, in the interest of fairness, I propose that we should line up the Bible alongside the Torah, the Quran, the Bhagavad Ghita, The Book of Mormon, and Dianetics. I say take a shot at all of them. They all have the same net value for human advancement....ZERO. If every copy of those books disappeared from the face of the earth tomorrow, the net impact on our knowledge of our existence, our universe, and the moral fabric of our society would not be shifted one iota.
If Newton's laws were forgotten, or Einstein's relativity ignored, or the Declaration of Independence lost to time, then we would notice the difference and severely. If the germ theory of medicine was condemned as heresy and forbidden, to be lost in the swamp of cloudy spiritualism, then we would notice the difference. There would be no condemnatory thunders of flame. The result would be no less subtle though for lack of theistic pyrotechnics. We would simply notice things stop working. We would notice people start dying in larger and larger numbers. They would die of diseases we could no longer fight. They would die of hunger because of food we could no longer grow or transport as effectively. They would die of cold and heat and exposure to an environment we had surrendered our only means of optimizing for human survival.
It's easy to talk about respecting ancient myths and fanatical ideologies when you're sitting in an air-conditioned room, with electric lighting, world-wide internet access and a TV chirping consolingly in the background. But try imagining the world ruled by those 'pleasant' myths. You would quickly lose all of those things. The engine that drives those creations, which keeps them working, and which ensures that you don't have to worry about where they come from is the human mind. Thousands of human minds working in freedom, with reason as their guide.
Betray those minds to a misguided respect of religious insanity, and they will leave you. Perhaps not immediately. The living minds are generally more tolerant than is best for them. They are forgiving. They will let us march towards darkness for quite a while. But once the line is crossed, those minds will be cut off. They will retreat, surrender. And where will all this faith leave us then?
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Yet Another Pastor Who Proves How Moral Religion Is
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24686805/
Yep, the above article is another vivid portrait of just how effective religion is at keeping our society on a moral course. I mean really, if preachers, pastors, holy men cannot be led to a path of moral righteousness by their devotion to religion, then just how is it that they expect it to keep the rest of the world on a moral footing? Isn't this just one more proof of how morality has nothing to do with religion?
Morality is a choice. It is a framework of choices built upon values. And a person's values are what make them either good or evil. God cannot save you, because there is none. Belief in god cannot make you moral. Understanding WHY something is wrong is what makes one moral. And you don't have to be religious to understand why it's wrong to solicit little girls on the internet (Baptist), rape choir boys (Catholic), or sentence rape victims to death because they commit adultery (Islam).
What you have to do to be moral is to THINK about your actions, to THINK about your values, and to THINK about what values are good for yourself in the long term. If you really think about these things then you will find that moral decisions are easy. But you will also lose the pleasant reassurance that your evil will be forgiven. Evil cannot be forgiven. The best you can do is to work to undo the damage you have done and never do it again. In the worst cases where there is no sign of rehabilitation or remorse, or where compensation is impossible, you must be removed from the company of civilized men and women forever. There is no easy way out of your responsibility. If this seems harsh, then let it be a warning to whoever would shirk the awareness of their own actions. Ignorance of morality is not a defense. Defaulting to religious doctrine to defend you is not a defense. You must KNOW whether your actions are right are wrong. And if you still do evil things then all will KNOW that you are evil.
Yep, the above article is another vivid portrait of just how effective religion is at keeping our society on a moral course. I mean really, if preachers, pastors, holy men cannot be led to a path of moral righteousness by their devotion to religion, then just how is it that they expect it to keep the rest of the world on a moral footing? Isn't this just one more proof of how morality has nothing to do with religion?
Morality is a choice. It is a framework of choices built upon values. And a person's values are what make them either good or evil. God cannot save you, because there is none. Belief in god cannot make you moral. Understanding WHY something is wrong is what makes one moral. And you don't have to be religious to understand why it's wrong to solicit little girls on the internet (Baptist), rape choir boys (Catholic), or sentence rape victims to death because they commit adultery (Islam).
What you have to do to be moral is to THINK about your actions, to THINK about your values, and to THINK about what values are good for yourself in the long term. If you really think about these things then you will find that moral decisions are easy. But you will also lose the pleasant reassurance that your evil will be forgiven. Evil cannot be forgiven. The best you can do is to work to undo the damage you have done and never do it again. In the worst cases where there is no sign of rehabilitation or remorse, or where compensation is impossible, you must be removed from the company of civilized men and women forever. There is no easy way out of your responsibility. If this seems harsh, then let it be a warning to whoever would shirk the awareness of their own actions. Ignorance of morality is not a defense. Defaulting to religious doctrine to defend you is not a defense. You must KNOW whether your actions are right are wrong. And if you still do evil things then all will KNOW that you are evil.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Michael Shermer on the Flying Spaghetti Monster
A concise, amusing, and well-reasoned excerpt from a debate on religion presented by Dr. Michael Shermer of the Sceptic Society. Enjoy:
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Religion Illustrated
Here's another brilliant lecture by Christopher Hitchens. It's accompanied by artistic imagery so it comes off as an integrated performance art piece. Check it out:
Monday, May 5, 2008
Sam Harris Strikes Again
I disagree with Sam's views on torture and on some ethical points, but his representation of Islam is spot on. And I can say this having come from an American-Islamic background.
Check it out:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sam-harris/losing-our-spines-to-save_b_100132.html
Check it out:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sam-harris/losing-our-spines-to-save_b_100132.html
Monday, April 28, 2008
A Brilliant Speech by Christopher Hitchens
Nothing I can say about this can match what he says for himself. So, just watch it and let it open your mind.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
A Response to Newsweek's Rabbi Marc Gellman (repost)
[Taken from an earlier blog of mine dated April 27, 2006. Gellman's article is old news by now, but I still run into the sentiment often enough so I thought I'd transfer it to this blog as I'm deleting the old one.]
http://www.newsweek.com/id/47164)
Dear Mr. Gellman,
Even though I am an atheist, I have often read your column. It was not in the spirit of seeking spiritual comfort or guidance, but it was more that I appreciated your frank and down-to-earth way of commenting on social malaises. More often than not, I'd find myself thinking that you made some very good points. Which is why I was particularly surprised to see this sudden and for the most part arbitrary assault upon atheists. The title of your essay is, "Trying to Understand Angry Atheists: Why do nonbelievers seem to be threatened by the idea of God?" This title proclaims two things in tandem. One, some atheists are angry and said essay documents your attempt to understand some of those angry atheists. Two, all people who do not believe in god are threatened by the very idea.
I found no anecdote to elaborate on what this sudden plague of aggressive atheism is all about. I know that I surely had not heard any whisper of atheist gangs in the streets of a foreign country blowing up people in the name of No God. In fact one doesn't hear a lot about atheists at all in the press. It must be convenient to proselytize over the heads of those who have no public forum to protest lies or ill-use in the popular media. As for number two, a non-believer is not necessarily an athiest. Agnostics are people who aren't sure yet and refuse to take a stance on the issue do to that uncertainty. Atheists are people who not only don't believe in your god, atheists actively believe that god does not exist.
Not only this, but there are a lot of different breeds of atheism, probably not as many as there are of christianity. There are atheists who believe in ghosts. There are communist-atheists. There are capitalist-atheists. There are asian, american, european, and african atheists. There are jewish atheists, like Einstein. Or perhaps I should say he was an athiest of jewish decent to avoid confusion over that issue. There are atheists who believe in new-age spiritulism, although whether they are truly atheists is a matter of sincere doubt for me. It seems to me that they merely substitute a lot of lesser deities in place of one. I, personally, don't believe in any of the systems which apologetically bow their heads over the matter of their own beliefs. So, perhaps you could call me a pure atheist.
I simply believe that no spiritual or supernatural entities exist. Period. No strings attached. And yet I still don't see where you draw the conclusion that many atheists are angry. Maybe you're just grouping us all in together. I guess I can see how that could be a little irksome. But then again, I've never heard of rampaging hoards of atheists killing each other, or rioting. That can't be said for jews, christians or muslims. That's for sure. Well, that's just what I found wrong with your title. Perhaps we should move on to the body of your essay.
As an atheist, perhaps I can help you understand us better. Perhaps, I may also be able to help you understand why atheists might occasionally be angered by religious people. In point of fact, your commentary on atheism is exactly the kind of thing that makes atheists angry. But, in the interest of being civil (particularly as you allude to atheists being mostly uncivil), I will simply expose the inflammatory rhetoric you chose to use to describe people like me.
I will admit that as an athiest, I occasionally get a little tired of the "patient sympathy" that religious people cast one's way. But as you say, everyone who has a certain belief system does that to everyone else who has a different one. They smile through their teeth at you as they think about how you will suffer in the afterlife. Except that atheists don't believe in an afterlife, so we wouldn't be thinking that. Plus one for atheist civility, eh? Or is that just a minus from religion's side? I'm not sure, especially since you didn't state exactly how it was that you came to your conclusion of atheists being uncivil.
For the most part, in my experience, atheists also "have no desire to debate or convert" religious people either. But then again, perhaps you just think it's uncivil to catch someone out in a lie. Or to be angered when you state that you "have no desire to debate or convert" atheists, but then come around and tell them how "religion must be an audacious, daring and, yes, uncomfortable assault on our desires to do what we want when we want to do it."
You claim you "don't know many religious folk who wake up thinking of new ways to aggravate atheists." I don't know many atheists who wake up thinking of ways to aggravate religious people either. And yet, here I am writing a reply to an editorial slap in the face published in a mainstream American magazine.
I suppose if I lived next door to "evangelical christians" I might be annoyed if they came over every Sunday to invite me to church. But I can't say that most atheists would become angered by their mere presence. I do find religion distasteful, in that it appears to me an arcane practice bound helplessly in the mire of superstition, ignorance, and feudal power hierarchies. But I suppose most religious people also take atheists for either being abused, ignorant, or destructive. Hence the "patient sympathy" with which we usually gaze upon each other.
Although I have to say that the guy who would shout on the university commons about how we were all going to hell only earned my disgust and contempt. There is a common bond between people, something of which we are all aware I think. Namely, that we must all struggle to come to terms with our faith, lack , and/or negations of it. It's something we all must do, and it is a distinctly private and personal journey. Which is why it is so offensive when someone tries to foist their belief onto you, or belittle it with vague rhetoric and generalization. But missionaries are different than normally religious people in that it is quite possible to live and work peacefully with people who think differently. Understanding it is a profoundly personal journey is the crucial difference between peaceful coexistence and angry bickering. The principle is that they don't preach to me, and I don't preach to them. I think most atheists are of that same opinion, which is why atheists do not have weekly columns in major papers decrying god. The one exception is when we are called on to defend ourselves. Something which is generally unnecessary unless attacked, trivialized, or summarily dismissed in a public forum.
I quote, "This must sound condescending and a large generalization, and I don't mean it that way, but I am tempted to believe that behind atheist anger there are oftentimes uncomfortable personal histories." It must sound that way because it is condescending and a large generalization. And, yes, you most certainly did mean it that way. The intent is to cast atheism as a running away from or shutting out of god. It is not. It is simply the belief that god does not exist. And there are as many reasons for a person to believe that as there are for a person to believe in god. It is a distinctly personal quest, and to generalize it as a reactionary impulse is terribly dehumanizing. It is as though we can have no benefit of cognition but by the grace of god. Whatever these "angry atheists" actually did write to you will remain a mystery I suppose, as you could not lay down one example, point, or argument to explain what made them appear so angry.
I appreciate that you would be willing to apologize for the sake of abuses of authority among religious leaders. However, it is not atheists towards which your apology should be directed. It is towards the believers who were abused and taken advantage of. Like I said before, an atheist is not an atheist because of what any man does. An atheist is an atheist because that person believes that no gods exist. To classify it as a purely reactionary belief is not civil in my honest opinion.
Once again I quote, "all religions must teach a way to discipline our animal urges, to overcome racism and materialism, selfishness and arrogance and the sinful oppression of the most vulnerable and innocent among us." I agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment. Taken by itself, there is nothing objectionable about it. However taken in the contest of your rant on atheism, it implies that atheists are racist, materialist, selfish, arrogant, and are all child molesters. I am beginning to understand why you know so many angry atheists. Or perhaps you think it's uncivilized to get angry when somebody calls you those things.
I quote again, "But our world is better kinder and more hopeful because of the daily sacrifice and witness of millions of people over thousands of years." If you were saying that people, regardless of belief in god or no, are responsible for staving off the encroachment of anarchy and entropy which invariably try to grapple with any civilzation; that they have made our society more compassionate; and that they have preserved that which is best and most noble through tireless work and sacrifice, then I would once again agree. But your next line states that you are referring only to people who are "called to a level of goodness and sacrifice so constantly and patiently by a loving but demanding God..." So you must once again mean that atheists have done nothing to make the world better, kinder, or more hopeful. How can such a vision not be seen as a "red flag"? According to your own words, not only are atheists inhumane monsters, but they haven't done anything whatsoever to contribute to a more humane world. Once again, I can understand why some people may take offense at that.
I would also like to take exception with your arbitrary grouping of all atheists as devotees of Camus. While Camus was an atheist, he was also an existentialist, and in many ways a nihilist. These are not automatically equivalent terms. A person can be an atheist and not an existentialist at the same time. Apparently, you do need to understand atheists better. No where is this evidenced as clearly as when you say, "I can agree to make my peace with atheists whom I believe ask too little of life here on planet earth..." If we don't believe that there is a life after the one on planet earth, just how does that imply that we don't make as much, if not more, productive use of our time here as you do? In my opinon, I am going to die and that's it. That means that if I want to get anything done, I'd better get on the ball. Mainly because there is no second chance, there is no fix-it-all solution in the sky.
The final disgusting stab, was the implication that most atheists somehow want girls to dumb themselves down to find boyfriends. I think your friend Dr. James Watson is admirable for speaking to those girls about their futures. But your final coup de grace, "Now there's an atheist I can believe in," implies that all the rest of us would rather have those girls barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. How do you get off implying that atheists have such pent-up animosity that the majority would refuse to help children find their path in life?
I hope I have explained adequately just what it is about your attitude that understandably angers atheists. Of course, it's not like these kind of lies and innuendo are anything new. In a country which prides itself on being open to all beliefs, the most casually discriminated against is atheism. All because the majority is religious. I have one final note of protest in response to the latent insinuation that religion is somehow a great civilizer and protagonist of culture. Namely, that it isn't true. Governments which contain highly religious populations tend to be statistically more chaotic, unsafe, and hostile than predominantly secular nations. If you don't believe me, look at this fine piece of statistical research done by Gregory S. Paul.
http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2005/2005-11.html
Sincerely,
An atheist who is most definitely not racist, materialistic, selfish, arrogant, and an oppressor of the most vulnerable and the most innocent among us.
(For the original article please reference this link:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/47164)
Dear Mr. Gellman,
Even though I am an atheist, I have often read your column. It was not in the spirit of seeking spiritual comfort or guidance, but it was more that I appreciated your frank and down-to-earth way of commenting on social malaises. More often than not, I'd find myself thinking that you made some very good points. Which is why I was particularly surprised to see this sudden and for the most part arbitrary assault upon atheists. The title of your essay is, "Trying to Understand Angry Atheists: Why do nonbelievers seem to be threatened by the idea of God?" This title proclaims two things in tandem. One, some atheists are angry and said essay documents your attempt to understand some of those angry atheists. Two, all people who do not believe in god are threatened by the very idea.
I found no anecdote to elaborate on what this sudden plague of aggressive atheism is all about. I know that I surely had not heard any whisper of atheist gangs in the streets of a foreign country blowing up people in the name of No God. In fact one doesn't hear a lot about atheists at all in the press. It must be convenient to proselytize over the heads of those who have no public forum to protest lies or ill-use in the popular media. As for number two, a non-believer is not necessarily an athiest. Agnostics are people who aren't sure yet and refuse to take a stance on the issue do to that uncertainty. Atheists are people who not only don't believe in your god, atheists actively believe that god does not exist.
Not only this, but there are a lot of different breeds of atheism, probably not as many as there are of christianity. There are atheists who believe in ghosts. There are communist-atheists. There are capitalist-atheists. There are asian, american, european, and african atheists. There are jewish atheists, like Einstein. Or perhaps I should say he was an athiest of jewish decent to avoid confusion over that issue. There are atheists who believe in new-age spiritulism, although whether they are truly atheists is a matter of sincere doubt for me. It seems to me that they merely substitute a lot of lesser deities in place of one. I, personally, don't believe in any of the systems which apologetically bow their heads over the matter of their own beliefs. So, perhaps you could call me a pure atheist.
I simply believe that no spiritual or supernatural entities exist. Period. No strings attached. And yet I still don't see where you draw the conclusion that many atheists are angry. Maybe you're just grouping us all in together. I guess I can see how that could be a little irksome. But then again, I've never heard of rampaging hoards of atheists killing each other, or rioting. That can't be said for jews, christians or muslims. That's for sure. Well, that's just what I found wrong with your title. Perhaps we should move on to the body of your essay.
As an atheist, perhaps I can help you understand us better. Perhaps, I may also be able to help you understand why atheists might occasionally be angered by religious people. In point of fact, your commentary on atheism is exactly the kind of thing that makes atheists angry. But, in the interest of being civil (particularly as you allude to atheists being mostly uncivil), I will simply expose the inflammatory rhetoric you chose to use to describe people like me.
I will admit that as an athiest, I occasionally get a little tired of the "patient sympathy" that religious people cast one's way. But as you say, everyone who has a certain belief system does that to everyone else who has a different one. They smile through their teeth at you as they think about how you will suffer in the afterlife. Except that atheists don't believe in an afterlife, so we wouldn't be thinking that. Plus one for atheist civility, eh? Or is that just a minus from religion's side? I'm not sure, especially since you didn't state exactly how it was that you came to your conclusion of atheists being uncivil.
For the most part, in my experience, atheists also "have no desire to debate or convert" religious people either. But then again, perhaps you just think it's uncivil to catch someone out in a lie. Or to be angered when you state that you "have no desire to debate or convert" atheists, but then come around and tell them how "religion must be an audacious, daring and, yes, uncomfortable assault on our desires to do what we want when we want to do it."
You claim you "don't know many religious folk who wake up thinking of new ways to aggravate atheists." I don't know many atheists who wake up thinking of ways to aggravate religious people either. And yet, here I am writing a reply to an editorial slap in the face published in a mainstream American magazine.
I suppose if I lived next door to "evangelical christians" I might be annoyed if they came over every Sunday to invite me to church. But I can't say that most atheists would become angered by their mere presence. I do find religion distasteful, in that it appears to me an arcane practice bound helplessly in the mire of superstition, ignorance, and feudal power hierarchies. But I suppose most religious people also take atheists for either being abused, ignorant, or destructive. Hence the "patient sympathy" with which we usually gaze upon each other.
Although I have to say that the guy who would shout on the university commons about how we were all going to hell only earned my disgust and contempt. There is a common bond between people, something of which we are all aware I think. Namely, that we must all struggle to come to terms with our faith, lack , and/or negations of it. It's something we all must do, and it is a distinctly private and personal journey. Which is why it is so offensive when someone tries to foist their belief onto you, or belittle it with vague rhetoric and generalization. But missionaries are different than normally religious people in that it is quite possible to live and work peacefully with people who think differently. Understanding it is a profoundly personal journey is the crucial difference between peaceful coexistence and angry bickering. The principle is that they don't preach to me, and I don't preach to them. I think most atheists are of that same opinion, which is why atheists do not have weekly columns in major papers decrying god. The one exception is when we are called on to defend ourselves. Something which is generally unnecessary unless attacked, trivialized, or summarily dismissed in a public forum.
I quote, "This must sound condescending and a large generalization, and I don't mean it that way, but I am tempted to believe that behind atheist anger there are oftentimes uncomfortable personal histories." It must sound that way because it is condescending and a large generalization. And, yes, you most certainly did mean it that way. The intent is to cast atheism as a running away from or shutting out of god. It is not. It is simply the belief that god does not exist. And there are as many reasons for a person to believe that as there are for a person to believe in god. It is a distinctly personal quest, and to generalize it as a reactionary impulse is terribly dehumanizing. It is as though we can have no benefit of cognition but by the grace of god. Whatever these "angry atheists" actually did write to you will remain a mystery I suppose, as you could not lay down one example, point, or argument to explain what made them appear so angry.
I appreciate that you would be willing to apologize for the sake of abuses of authority among religious leaders. However, it is not atheists towards which your apology should be directed. It is towards the believers who were abused and taken advantage of. Like I said before, an atheist is not an atheist because of what any man does. An atheist is an atheist because that person believes that no gods exist. To classify it as a purely reactionary belief is not civil in my honest opinion.
Once again I quote, "all religions must teach a way to discipline our animal urges, to overcome racism and materialism, selfishness and arrogance and the sinful oppression of the most vulnerable and innocent among us." I agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment. Taken by itself, there is nothing objectionable about it. However taken in the contest of your rant on atheism, it implies that atheists are racist, materialist, selfish, arrogant, and are all child molesters. I am beginning to understand why you know so many angry atheists. Or perhaps you think it's uncivilized to get angry when somebody calls you those things.
I quote again, "But our world is better kinder and more hopeful because of the daily sacrifice and witness of millions of people over thousands of years." If you were saying that people, regardless of belief in god or no, are responsible for staving off the encroachment of anarchy and entropy which invariably try to grapple with any civilzation; that they have made our society more compassionate; and that they have preserved that which is best and most noble through tireless work and sacrifice, then I would once again agree. But your next line states that you are referring only to people who are "called to a level of goodness and sacrifice so constantly and patiently by a loving but demanding God..." So you must once again mean that atheists have done nothing to make the world better, kinder, or more hopeful. How can such a vision not be seen as a "red flag"? According to your own words, not only are atheists inhumane monsters, but they haven't done anything whatsoever to contribute to a more humane world. Once again, I can understand why some people may take offense at that.
I would also like to take exception with your arbitrary grouping of all atheists as devotees of Camus. While Camus was an atheist, he was also an existentialist, and in many ways a nihilist. These are not automatically equivalent terms. A person can be an atheist and not an existentialist at the same time. Apparently, you do need to understand atheists better. No where is this evidenced as clearly as when you say, "I can agree to make my peace with atheists whom I believe ask too little of life here on planet earth..." If we don't believe that there is a life after the one on planet earth, just how does that imply that we don't make as much, if not more, productive use of our time here as you do? In my opinon, I am going to die and that's it. That means that if I want to get anything done, I'd better get on the ball. Mainly because there is no second chance, there is no fix-it-all solution in the sky.
The final disgusting stab, was the implication that most atheists somehow want girls to dumb themselves down to find boyfriends. I think your friend Dr. James Watson is admirable for speaking to those girls about their futures. But your final coup de grace, "Now there's an atheist I can believe in," implies that all the rest of us would rather have those girls barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. How do you get off implying that atheists have such pent-up animosity that the majority would refuse to help children find their path in life?
I hope I have explained adequately just what it is about your attitude that understandably angers atheists. Of course, it's not like these kind of lies and innuendo are anything new. In a country which prides itself on being open to all beliefs, the most casually discriminated against is atheism. All because the majority is religious. I have one final note of protest in response to the latent insinuation that religion is somehow a great civilizer and protagonist of culture. Namely, that it isn't true. Governments which contain highly religious populations tend to be statistically more chaotic, unsafe, and hostile than predominantly secular nations. If you don't believe me, look at this fine piece of statistical research done by Gregory S. Paul.
http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2005/2005-11.html
Sincerely,
An atheist who is most definitely not racist, materialistic, selfish, arrogant, and an oppressor of the most vulnerable and the most innocent among us.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
