I love Dr. Pepper

For forwarding the conversation...   One of my favorite comment postings goes something like this, "Not Progress.  Man did not evolve from an ape.  If so that would mean god was an ape."  And I wonder what's wrong with that?  Of course god was an ape.  God is everything and nothing.  More pepper!

I am a denier

 I am a six-day-creation, young-Earth denier, but a denier none the less.

Phil Plait

Genius - at around 4:50... this might be where I got the idea that when you try to debunk something people replace that thought with something else.  Actually, the entire talk is brilliant.
http://vimeo.com/13704095

Andrew Sullivan

Sometimes he's brilliant.  Article about the falsehood that the US was born a Christian Nation - http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/08/the-truth-about-the-jefferson-lies.htm

Brilliant

Wine is a constant proof...

Misquoting Ben Franklin in several ways when I say, "Wine is a constant proof that Yeast loves us, and loves to see us happy."

More Andrew Sullivan Tripe

OK, it is me, or has Andrew Sullivan's Daily Beast blog become more of a religious stir pot than before his friend, and vocal atheist, Christopher Hitchens passed away?  Today's point, his posting on the psychology of armageddon.  http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/04/the-psychology-of-armageddon-1.html

He posts that many believe the end times have arrived, this in support of his statement that apolacyptic fantasy is an excuse for inaction.  Why bother recycling if the world is burning up?

Let's balance this for a minute.  Apocalyptic fantasy is nothing but fantasy.  It sells popcorn in movie theaters and it brings the inner D&D player out of otherwise normal people and invites them to an exciting game of what-if, all while munching their popcorn and enjoying the show.  Strong fantasy sucks us in.  But how any responsible social organization, such as church, let alone a religion, can preach, let alone support, the concept of an end times fantasy is unthinkable in this day and age.  We should be well matured and beyond it by now.

We all carry a bit of fantasy inside of us. It's true. That people cannot separate fantasy from the reality we live in speaks to some mechanism deep within all of us. And therefore I would caution that we choose our fantasies wisely. We must not live outside our means. We must live with what we have. We must nurture what we have left.  If we do not then we are only leaving an unthinkably poisoned ruins for those who follow in our footsteps.  And they will only look back and wonder why we acted in fantasy, or worse, used fantasy to support our inaction, when there are so many wiser actions that could have been taken.

Andrew Sullivan

Somehow I feel like Andrew Sullivan is doing more Atheist bating, since his friend Hitchens has passed on, with article such as:

1) Why Can't Atheists Organize?
2) Do Atheists need to come out?

So, basically... can we not organize? More to the point we don't have an agenda that we need to advance, so we really don't need to organize.  There are plenty of secular organizations out there, but being secular doesn't make them Atheist.

Do Atheists need to come out?  What does that even mean?  I agree that it helps you mentally to stop lying to yourself and others about your beliefs or lack thereof.  And if you can explain those thoughts to other people, so much the better.  A good honest debate can really help clear your thoughts.  But I think he's thinking that Atheists need to both come out and organize, and for the life of me I cannot imagine what that's about.

The 700 Club on Atheism

OY - I was flipping through channels and came across the 700 club this morning.  They had a segment on a science teacher who declared himself to be an atheist, but then, of course, found faith and had a happier life.

The segment was full of the tired memes that they love to poke at us, but with a new twist,  the use of a whiteboard to diagram out how he came to his atheism.  He drew what we in the business call a mind map, and central to his atheism were two things.  Science, he was a science teacher looking for answers of course, and the loss of close friends in a car accident which left him angry.

The Angry Scientist... isn't that the formula they try to stick us with?  I understand that they need to drive a wedge into us.  But most of us are quietly accepting and not angry at anyone or anything.  They try to put words into our mouths that we gave up on god because "he did something to us" that we couldn't reconcile.  Most of us just came to the conclusion that the world works perfectly fine without a big daddy in the sky, so stop wasting time and energy and enjoy life just as it is.

The scientist part is laughable as well.  They made this huge emphasis on this poor guy being a science teacher. And clearly, science is based on reason.  And reason, as Martin Luther might or might not have famously said, is the enemy of religion.  But I'm perfectly happy with what science delivers as well as what it cannot.

I am sure there are angry people out there who turn away from god.  But anger doesn't help anything.  I'd encourage you to work on your anger and keep that separate from your god issues.  A mindful meditation practice can often help you understand the roots of your anger.  I do know several mediators, and I have seen those results in them.  I myself do not meditate.

So, be of good cheer my atheist friends.  We're not at all like they paint to be.   Just be happy to be a quiet atheist and you'll be fine.  It's a beautiful world out there.  Enjoy the life you have each day!

On Faith

Faith is a form of belief.  We cannot function in the world without it.  Otherwise we would spend all of our time reasoning whether something were true, or were about to happen.  Often, we need to make snap judgements, size things up, make decisions and act.  Often there is little time for careful, thoughtful reasoning. So faith plays an important role in our day to day actions. My form of faith is that of basic optimism.  But all faiths are based on assumptions that are unproven.

There are three classifications of faith.  Of these there are the faith based on direct experience, that the sun is going to rise again tomorrow because it has risen every day preceding.  Faith based on the knowledge of those we consider experts, that the medicine will make me better.   And finally, faith in things we know to be false, but we are told that just need to have faith in, that there is a god of some form or another.  There are more of course, and I'll add to this list.

My optimism is similar to a belief in god, in that I believe things will get better, but I have no proof.  Or worse, I don't want the proof.  My fear is that they will slowly slide into the abyss. I look for signs of improvement and I see them some days.  I'm not that different from you.

Faith, belief and trust are closely linked.

Praise the Lard

Through the lard all good things happen.  Have you ever had a lard pie crust?  Orders of magnitude better than Crisco.

Maybe that's the problem with modern society.  People have turned away from the lard.

Also... remember to praise cheeses... because a little Gruyere in the crust makes it heavenly.

Questions

Who am I? 
Why am I here? 
How then shall I live?

A Deal with the Devil

Never make a deal with the Devil.  He doesn't really exist, so you're really just betting against yourself!