Orlando Shooting Response

I would like to start with my feelings of sympathy for the victims, and their families. This is a national tragedy, and nothing we can say, or do will make anything any better, or undo the tragic events that transpired at Pulse. The shooter, was obviously full of hate towards the LGBT community, whether it was because of his faith as a Muslim, or because of a culture of hate that is maintained, and encouraged by the media, or a mix of both is unknown. We know little of his motives, only that he was extremely angry at seeing two men kissing. The attack on Pulse was obviously driven by one thing: Hate. The only way to overcome this hate is to love, not with kind words, but with action. I see a lot of profile pictures being changed on Facebook, and that is fine, show your support for the families. Don't, don't you fucking dare say that you are Orlando when mere days earlier you were bashing the entire LGBT community, your hypocrisy is not wanted, and your false sympathy is not needed. To my Christian friends who read this blog, I would direct you to Matthew 5:21-22 "Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." In other words: Murder starts in the heart, if you hate, you are guilty of murder. Show compassion, even understanding of your neighbors, whether they are LGBT, Straight, Christians, Muslims, Jewish, Atheists, Buddhists, etc... Have an inkling of humanity and try to understand what it is like to live like they do. Offer to help, be the change that you wish to see in the world.
The news traveled around the world "50 Dead in Orlando, FL Shooting". People are asking what we should do to stop the madness that has been getting progressively worse in America. A lot should be done, thorough background checks on firearms, making it more difficult to purchase assault weapons, or large quantities of ammunition. But I'll tell you what will happen America: Not a fucking thing.
We're going to mourn, and be careful not to politicize anything for the next month, until the next attention grabbing headline. We're going to forget this ever happened, like we did every school shooting, like we did every act of massive violence in the past five years. People are going to hold their guns closer to their chest, and say Big Bad Obama is surely going to take our guns away now. But I guarantee one thing, not a fucking thing will change, simply because of the fetish Americans have with their firearms.
Are the solutions proposed going to ensure this never happens again? Hell no, but it will lessen the risks of it happening. Meanwhile, Assault weapons manufacturers rub their hands together because their pockets get more and more filled. I capitalized Assault because that's what they are called, not "Self defense" weapons, or "Protection from tyranny" weapons. It is one thing for people to own firearms, hell, if it makes you tick, have at it, enjoy your handgun, hunting rifle, or shotgun. There is a reason the military has access to all kinds of weapons: they are fighting a fucking war, not because they get a boner from shooting an automatic rifle.
In other words, this society, and culture in America is one of fear and hatred. Hate those who are different, fear those who think differently. Fuck this! How about love the differences? Embrace different points of view?
Never mind, the lights are on, but nobody's home...

Random Thoughts

     Sometimes things feel relatively complex - love, life, family, all things I absolutely love. Some aspects of my work as well. But it all feels so complicated. I used to be able to compartmentalize everything, but lines have been so blurry. Sometimes I feel like I can't handle what's on my plate, but then I think of my family, my wife, kids, parents, and siblings. I think of why I'm doing what I do, and it gives me the strength to continue. I am dealing with a lot, being a minority in the South, being different than most people, dealing with anxiety, manic depressive bipolar disorder. My wife helps me through a lot of that. She is my rock, the person who keeps me centered. I don't know what I'd do without her.

     In every aspect, I should love my life. I have a great family, a house, I make a decent living. But I can't help but think I am failing. I believe it is because I can't do what I want to do; I am working on it, and this blog helps with quite a bit, but it is tough. I have written a lot out of my manic side; this is more about my depressive side. I am trying to sort things out, and am unable to understand my own mind. I have a passion for Anthropology, but I also feel ill equipped for anything I plan on doing. I need help, and my family tries to help but it is a battle I feel I have to fight alone, and it is discouraging.

   I don't know why I am writing this, but I felt like I needed this to get out. On the plus side, things are somewhat looking up, I am getting more comfortable with my moods, am slowly but surely being myself. With the support of my friends and family I feel like I can take this on.

Is Atheism The New Gay?

     I find it interesting that recently, a teenager was kicked from her home for not believing in a deity (One here, another here), and given the relative rise of acceptance of homosexuals by family members, I am trying to understand what is so revolting to those parents that they cannot bear the sight of their children, forcing them to live a life ostracized from what they know.  What makes belief in a deity a requirement to love your child? In the past, investigators have gone into "Christian boot camps" to investigate abuse (Example). While so many are about homosexuality, they are dwindling in numbers, with states banning sexual conversion therapy, I can't help but wonder if such camps exist for atheist children and teenagers.

     In Kidnapped for Christ, we see children and teenagers sent against their will in training camps where they are put back on the straight and narrow, their crime? Being different. Most were homosexual teenagers whose parents were horrified by their same sex attraction. We see it in the media today even, with the Kim Davis (or Can't do her job, whichever name you want to call her) controversy and her ever dwindling support from the majority of the population. The same people who are persecuting those who are different are playing the victim. How in the hell can't people see through that? In spite of the media rush, we see a rise in acceptance of the LGBTQ community. But what about Atheists?

     Well, according to recent polls, Atheists are still less trusted than child molesters. Yup, you read that right! as a matter of fact, we are the least trusted group in America (link here). But why the stigma? Simply because we don't believe in a deity? Are we considered immoral? Jaclyn Glenn posted an experiment on Youtube where she accepted donation for a Methodist organization, where plenty of people donated a dollar or two, and the next time, she collected for an atheist organization, where she was questioned on her motives and the few who donated were atheists and donated in the double digits. We are a generous moral bunch, but are somehow less trusted than child molester Josh Duggar. Stop America, you need to think, why are we treated with such disdain?

    I agree with the idea that Americans, and people in general, hate us because, much like the LGBT community, they are afraid they might be like us. Or even like us, because they are so insecure in their beliefs (sexuality for the homophobia) that they decide to hide behind hat, a seething pile of anger towards those who are different. It could also be because they are not taught to love, but rather to despise, and that, friends, is why religion is a danger to society in general. The very few who actually give two shits about other human beings tend to have been that way before they got religious. Let's face it, we own the moral high ground. I will conclude with a video from my favorite speech on reason, specifically about the idea of morality, it is Adam Savage at the reason rally:

Religious Freedom

    In the US, there seems to be some confusion about religious freedom as granted by the Constitution. Let me clarify some of what is not protected, not doing your job as a public official ; if your religion prevents you from performing your job, find another one which is more accommodating- Hate speech, if you want to spread that hate, go somewhere else- repercussions from civilian pushback, all too often you think private citizens are not allowed to disagree with you because religion... you're absolutely wrong, it prevents the government from interfering, unless you are interfering with the government (looking at you Kim Davis). Anyways... this is a quick jab at Ms Davis' supporters, I may be slightly inebriated, but I'm right!

The Anti Intellectual Epidemic

     Now I understand that not everybody has the mental capacity to understand everything, I don't, but I at least try, and defer to those smarter than me in the subjects I lack knowledge in. I am only the authority in speaking for me, I pride myself in attempting to know as much as possible about as much as possible, but my human capacities do not allow me to know everything about everything, and that's okay. In today's society, we have cultivated a culture of ignorance, but I would add that it is willful. We spout words about things we do not understand, or have no data on, just to say them.

     I keep asking people who say they do not like the current President why they don't like him. It is absolutely depressing that the vast majority of them state that the economy is down (it is at a 10 year high), people lost their jobs (job creation hasn't been higher since the New Deal), and he is a Muslim (Worst.Muslim. Ever. as he eats pork, lights the White House Menorah, and, hell, gave the Iron Dome to Israel). People just follow talking points, not doing their research. When I point out the metrics, they fail to understand why I challenged their beliefs. Now, don't get me wrong, there is plenty this President has done wrong, but nothing huge, worthy of calling him the worst president in history (ummm worse than Nixon? than Grant?) whatever, man.

     Another pet peeve of mine, and I have been writing about this, is the absolute hatred some people have for higher education. If one gets a degree from a legitimate university, they are evil, and indoctrination centers for liberals. Facts do have a liberal bias, simple as that. I find it absolutely hilarious that those same people who criticize universities also tell people they should get a higher education to get a better job. Where, if not at a legitimate University?

     This is one of the few countries in the world where Evolution is being debated, The US is ranked 29th in the world, compared to our neighbor in the North, Canada being 10th. In 2014, the United States ranked 70th out of 132 nations in healthcare. 70th! But American Exceptionalism tells us we're number 1! No, let's get educated, raise these horrible metrics and become who we claim to be.

A Taboo on Love?

     With the recent scandals with the Ashley Madison Website, it is hard not to see that society is somewhat biased in favor of strict monogamous heterosexual relationships. While I disagree with cheating, mainly because of deceit, I can't help but think that some people are wired differently. Simply put, it is possible to love more than one person, and, in my opinion, it is very much a viable option, so long as all partners are aware of what's going on. If a couple loves a third person, what's the harm? Society is absolutely instructing our children that it is not ok to love more than one person, unless, of course, that person is gawd!

     Polyamory (polyphilia, multiamory, if you prefer) aside, society also apparently has not fully accepted same sex unions as something to enjoy having. Let me state this: It is as enjoyable as a heterosexual union. What's not to like about people who love each other so much, they commit to remain together until the end of their lives? If you disagree with this, that is your right, a right to be wrong. History will mark these as a second civil rights movement.

     America seems so hellbent on granting personhood to cold entities, such as corporations, and increasing firearm sales, that it lost its touch on the things that matter: intelligence, love, respect, reciprocity, I could go on, but the point is, in my opinion at least, society is immoral. It respects killing, dropping bombs etc... but it does not respect natural ways in which humans engage in consenting relationships.

WTF Josh Feuerstein

    So this Facebook preacher: Josh Feuerstein. is an absolute moron... Not because of his beliefs, that's whatever, but rather because of his archaic views on gender identity. The man threw a hissy fit over the news story of a dad who let his son buy a *gasp* Barbie Doll! Someone call the police! this man is guilty of child abuse... because being a good father is child abuse apparently.

 

    But hold o, the story gets better and better. Because his way of counterattacking is to show that he teaches his kids how to use a gender neutral *toy* (his words, not mine), a gun. Because America, and Jesus, and Guns, and Freedom. Although I'm pretty sure not all of those apply. Keep in mind Feuerstein is now famous for stating that his 1st Amendment Rights are protected by the second, as a response to the Supreme Court protecting same sex marriage. Yes, allowing others to have rights is terrible, and you should bring a semi automatic gun... Way to preach dude!

On The Stupidity And Gullibility Of the Christian Right

     I have spent the last few hours reading various many Christian and Conservative news articles, and all I can say is that while the articles were vile, in and of themselves, the comments were what made me lose faith in humanity. Indeed, the vitriol directed those who dare to disagree with the "inerrant" Word of God are not only considered sinners, which, sure have at it hoss, it's your belief, but now considered a traitor to the country? We must have very different opinions of what qualifies as treason, and while mine may not be absolute, theirs is the worst kind, the very reason this nation was founded was to avoid a theocracy, not create a new one. We saw the results in Salem, and we are now worried about a new type of witch hunt. The Christian Taliban, a small, but vocal, and vital part of the Christian Right, is ignoring evidence of innocence for Planned Parenthood, they called for an investigation, but the results were not what they expected and now call foul play. They called foul play when the Supreme court upheld Marriage Equality, claiming "men in black robes" started an oligarchy, but applauded those same "men in black robes" when they upheld Citizens United, or the Hobby Lobby decision. But the key difference is that they agreed with those decisions. To them, Christianity is absolutely entwined with Corporatism, running churches like businesses, hell most churches are corporations, some turning massive profits. Of course, they oppose rights being granted to people who deviate from their standards, but applaud taking away the rights for women to obtain affordable birth control in both, the Planned Parenthood, and the Hobby Lobby cases.

     They also applaud Donald Trump for "telling it like it is" in a way which "resonates with the American People". They trust a man whose business ventures absolutely tanked, to be in charge of the Nation? They trust a man who has been married 4 times, each time divorcing his wife to obtain a younger woman, to uphold "traditional marriage" and "family values"? A man who looked at his own daughter and said, on the record, if she weren't his daughter he'd see himself dating her? Tell me he hasn't given that a thought, who thinks like that? No, Progressives and liberals are not the ones who are sheep, far from it. Conservatives, for the most part, respond to buzz words, Progressives respond to actual policies.

     Conservatives also believe that a "foul mouthed sinner", like John Oliver has no right to criticize good ole pastors, who prey on the needy, and the poor to enrich themselves. Pastors like Creflo Dollar, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, and others. They are proven frauds, but they keep believing in their crap. T.D Jakes, who was recently praised by liberals because of his sermon, preaching that the Supreme Court isn't about deciding what's biblical, their role is to decide what's legal, and constitutional, is another one of those preachers who enrich themselves. If you don't complain about your own, you're condoning it. The reason those less than human pieces of trash get away with it is because they have many, many followers.

    Oh, but the hilarity and hypocrisy doesn't end there. A recent leak of Ashley Madison's - a website for those wanting to have discreet affairs - customer information shows one of the Christian Right's champions, Josh "Traditional Marriage Values" "Anti LGBT Because they destroy the sanctity of monogamous marriage" "Child Molester" Duggar, was cheating, or looking to cheat on his wife. And people are defending his sorry ass, what in the literal fuck people? If he wanted to have an extra marital affair fine, whatever, I am not judging, but if you try to push your bullshit on other people, and tell them it is wrong, or go so far as accusing another community of destroying families, or abusing children, make sure you don't do EXACTLY what you are "preaching" against! And the morons who are supporting him need to get a dose of fucking reality! 

Unedited Honesty

As of late, some things have come to light which I have kept buried, I have gotten better at examining myself, and in doing so, my mind has never been clearer. We are all different, some are heterosexual, others are homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, some are monogamous, others are polyamorous. Who are we to judge others based on who we are? Who are we to decide what consenting adults can and cannot do? There is much hatred, and fear being propagated by people of different backgrounds. Why can't we accept those who are different than us? What threatens us so much that we feel we must prevent others from expressing themselves, from being themselves?

America has a taboo on love, and sexuality, while worshipping violence. This society ridicules intelligence and promotes ignorance. It is time to stop, stop hating, ostracizing, and making fun of people who are different. You don't like the vegan diet? Don't be a vegan. Aren't homosexual or bisexual? Don't have dates, or marry people of the same sex! Are monogamous? Don't date outside your marriage. If you can't follow these rules, fuck off! I have absolutely no time for this kind of bigotry.

Secularism, Atheism, Agnosticism, and Discrimination

     I often get the question as to why I'm an atheist, and why I do not call myself Agnostic. The answer is a lot simpler than it seems. You see, Theism and Atheism address one question, the question of belief, Theism is the position of those who believe in a deity, Atheism is the lack of belief in a deity. When it comes to Gnosticism and Agnosticism, the gnostic position is one of knowledge, one who knows whether there is a deity, or one who knows there isn't one. Agnosticism is the position that one does not, or cannot know whether there is a deity, or not. 

     Secularism in its most common, and basic definition is the understanding that religion, or religious affiliation has no place in government, and that all religion -even lack thereof- need to be hel equally under the law. This does not mean that any religious group, or atheist group  can discriminateagainst any group, simply because they disagree with the other group's creed. If it did, it would be absolute and complete anarchy. I mean, Muslims would discriminate against Jews, Jews would discriminate against Christians, Christians would discriminate against atheists, atheists would discriminate against theists, and we would have a big fat mess on our hands as no one would actually tolerate each other. 

     And then, there is discrimination. A lot of Conservatives seem to believe that they can discriminate against any group they like (the flavor of the month seems to be LGBTQ) and not have to suffer the repercussions from the very values they claim to hold dear, such as the value of the free market. Indeed, it seems Conservatives have the right to discriminate against Muslims, Atheists, people in Polyamorous relationships, and gays without having to suffer from backlash from the community when they stop frquenting the guilty establishment. They can vote with their money, but people who disagree with them shouldn't be able to. This shows the typical martyr mentality religion tends to give people. "No, sir, I will not frequent your establishment because you support <insert minority> rights. But if you stop frequenting my establishment because I stand against those rights, you are making a martyr out of me, and you are persecuting me". No double standard there. The Religious Right is rapidly dwindling, and the generations which support it are dying. More and more people are fleeing churches because the core of what is being preached is actually in direct contradiction of the younger generation's values, and morality. A morality which, by the way, is greater than that of those who claim to have the higher moral ground. Every generation tends to redefine morality, eventually achieving a rather peaceful cohabitation between people who follow different creeds. Live and let live, disagree respectfully, and let people believe what they do. The opposition is actively trying to force its version of morality down everyone else's throat. and attempting to destroy any chance we have at peace, simply because they believe they have a divine right to do so.

     Churches are losing people, not because atheists are spreading the words of Hitchens, Dawkins, Harris, Hawking, Darwin, Krauss, and others, but because their values belong in the Bronze Age, and have no place in a civilized society. Religious values have had to change in the past to accomodate for the growing Civil Rights Movement to abolish Racial Segregation, yet seems to be unwilling to evolve in order to abolish sexual segregation, or even religious segregation. It is not about being smarter, or more knowledgeable than others, but rather about being more compassionate, and showing more empathy towards one another. Yelling at a dog simply because it is a dog doesn't make sense. Belittling a Mexican child because he isn't America is just as senseless, and cruel. Nobody asks to be who they are, they just are. Try to understand that, and try to live your life with more compassion, empathy, love, and understanding than what we see all over the World.

On The State of American World Leadership

     There are many in America who think that war is the only answer to certain issues, and that anyone who doesn't agree, whether they are an individual or a sovereign nation, is weak. Because America is know for its absolute Victories in War. Indeed,with the United States ever growing debt, and a Defense Budget (not including discretionary spending) making up 22% of the Nation's expenses, it is easy to see the rational behind the lack of willingness to go to war against the United States. 

     But what about the different issues one can take against the notion of a War Mongering American Empire, as is seen throughout the Globe? The United States, is the only Nation with Military bases on Foreign soil, including allies, such as Italy, England, and Germany? Why is there such a need to occupy other nations? The reason is simple, America, as a culture, wants to preserve its status as a World Leader, and due to its lack of competitivenes in metrics that actually matter, such as Healthcare (31st), Education (36th), Ignorance of World Affairs (2nd), and the list goes on, America has to feel empowered, and so it bullies its allies, and rivals alike. Regarding the the issue of Education, it is no wonder the US is trailing, with the absolute idiocy of Standardized tests, every year, and extreme low pay for teachers, couple with the fact that Texas sets the standards for books, and just accepted a history book mentioning Moses (yea, the Burning Bush guy) as a Founding Father. But that is a complaint for another day. Anyways, the United States try to remain a World Power, and it cannot do it with Smarts, or Innovation, it does it by bullying other nations, furthering its debts, and accelerating its downfall. 

     The second point I want to make is that the nations which are considered weaks, (including most of Europe) are those who have the most to lose, as they are close to the areas of conflict, unlike the potential aggressor, America, whose shores are thousands of miles away from conflict. It seems those who hae not seen a warzone in a long time (since the Civil War) are also those willing to start wars all over. Granted, the opposite is also true, that those who see war on the daily (I'm looking at you Israel) want the entire World involve in their silly conflict, and their constant warmongering lifestyle. It is no wonder that the two consider each other to be their closest allies. 

     Last, but not least, we can easily see the lack of foresight used in matters of overseas conflicts in the United States. Everyone, except, it seems, the politicians who send the troops overseas, can see that there is an enormous issue with the treatment of veterans in the United States. You may give your legs for your country, but that doesn't mean that your country will repay the debt it owes you, as veterans can almost forget about healthcare, with a log backed up for several years, and no funds sent to help those who fought for their country, it truly is a wonder why people still enlist, as it seems that once you've served your purpose, you are discarded, and trated like a moocher for wanting the basic commodities you sacrificed your health for.

     It is sad, because America has the potential to be a World Leader, but its population seems dead set against doing things a different way. From resisting Education Reform, to Healthcare Reform, and even going so far as to be willing to set the clocks back a few decades on Human Rights. America, you used to be beautiful, but it seems you are wanting to institute a neofeudal system, and it is goign to cause you to fall further down in the world rankings. You military might may be strong now, but will dwindle as you fall further and further into debt. Your population needs to understand how bad things are on a World Level, as you are further down in education than some 3rd World Nations, and the same for Healthcare. You are no longer a leader in Scientific, and Technological advances, you only lead in two things, Marketing, and Military. These are not the qualities of the Future, but of a dark past we have left behind several centuries ago.

Political Fuckery

     So, lately, there has been a lot of talk about the Israeli Prime Minister benjamin Netanyahu's speech in a joint session of Congress. I am about to pose a relatively unpopular opinion, especially considering my family's religious background. Benjamin Netanyahu is, undoubtedly, one of the mose arrogant, warlords in the world, right now. He is the sad byproduct of an age old religious conflict in the Middle-East. His points, are even contradicted by a leaked Mossad cable, stating that Iran is not processing enriched Uranium in a way by which they cold possibly make bombs. A lot of people applauded the Prime Minister's appearance in front of Congress, even as it was a breach of protocol, as the Speaker of The House, who invited him, did not communicate with the White House regarding the invitation. On this point, if President Obama had done as Mr. "I want to wage war against anybody who disagrees with me" Netanyahu did, there would not only be an uproar in Israel, but even here in the United States. Prime Minister Bomb everything, ask questions later, made another mistake in his appearance. He bit the hand that feeds him. Over $100 Billion in aids, and 30% of Israel's National defense Budget. The right wing fuckers who want to cut 100% of Foreign Aid, also refuse to cut funding to Israel. Their rebuttal? Well Israel has our back. Let me tell you one thing, Israel's got nobody's back but Israel. Much like Iran's got nobody's back but Iran. 

     Let's talk about nuclear weaponry, seeing as it is Netanyahu's main concern. Israel's possess between 80 and 400 nuclear warheads. Iran? 0. Israel is also one of the few countries who refused to sign the non proliferation act, a traty that even Iran has signed. We all heard of the evils of the Gaza Strip, how the Muslims in Gaza are killing jews Mercilessly. The Muslim walled Gaza Strip, let us remember is the Size of Los Angeles County. Israel fired warning shots inside the strip, bombing heavily habitated civilian areas, giving only 30 minute warning for more death and destruction. 

     Go ahead, love on Israel, keep telling people that Netanyahu is a million times the leader President Obama is, when Obama resolved several potential nuclear conflicts without resorting to military force. Mr Netanyahu know nothing outside of war. In his speech, he ever so eloquently spoke of the Holocaust, appealing to people's emotions regarding the tragic period in history where millions of his Jewish brothers and sisters were mercilessly executed. However, most people failed to see that he called for the same thing to happen to the Arabs. The leader of Israel wants war, but he does not want to fight this war, he wants a country who already provides for Israel to also fight his war for him, and commit atrocities so that his hands may be clean,

     Lastly, I will cite the military and geopolitical genius that is Mr. Netanyahu. In 2002, The Israeli Prime Minister advised that weakening Saddam Hussein's rule in Iraq would have tremendous beneficial effects in the Middle East, and weaken Iran's grasp on the region. Mr. Netanyahu is also the person who nudged the idea of WMDs being held in Iraq. Oddly enough, after a decade of war, and the death of Saddam Hussein, the Middle East is in worse shape than before, and Iran's control of the region? It has only expanded. So please, Mr. and Mrs. I will follow Israel, and believe every piece of Israeli propaganda, and everything that goes my way I see on the Internet, go ahead and follow the absurdity that is Mr. Netanyahu. His complete lack of decorum, and laughably pathetic attempts at any kind of an appeal show how little of a man he is. Anyone who agrees with him, and his words is far less human than my dogs.

The Misunderstanding of Knowledge

For most of people, knowlege is simply information memoried, but it seems too... restrictive in a sense. I havehad several discussions recently on what knowledge actually is, though not in so many words. It seems to me that it is closer to a quick analysis of facts, the use of deductive reasoning, and the methodical indexing of references and inferences, I find myself saying that the key to knowing things is to not adhere to a particular dogma, or concept, but to be open to most, and, through careful analysis of the subject matter, using deductive reasoning, coming to the most likely conclusion. Isn't it what we do on a daily basis? As we cross the road, performing complex math, while, not completely accurate, judging the speed of approaching cars, estimating the distance, and comparing it to our own speed, and the distance needed to travel? We make those decisions, and calculations in a fraction of a second, we do not overcomplicate it, though, we imply do it, with no more of a stressor than our own survival. 

This may just be the ramblings of my brain at 4 in the morning, as I am lying awake, thinking of a better way to understand who we are, and what we are doing. I have come to the conclusion that who we are is who we are making ourselves to be, nothing more. As to what we are doing, well, isn't that the biggest question of all? We are discovering ourselves, for all of us, discovering the facets of who we are, each passing year, each passing day, getting deeper in the discovery of our true self, adding layers of complexity, and removing others. Our goal in life is merely to survive, experience the world, and ourselves, and pass as much of that knowledge to the next generation, who will achieve more, know more, clutter their brains less with raw data, and acquire a means to process data, not as raw memorized items, but as an understanding of how, and what it came to be.

Knowledge is simple, we can know everything there is to know by simply understanding the world around us, and how to get this information. That is why education is important, it is a means for us to understand how the world around us functions, it is not meant, as most people will try to get by, as a raw parrotting of meaningless data, cluttering our brains with information which does not allow us to analyze, but rather to mindlessly follow someone. Knowledge, friends, is simply understanding, and analying, the ability to process information without actually having to memorize all of it, simply memorizing the means to get to the conclusion itself.

The Idiocy and Pride of Creationist "Academics"

     Now, I may not be an expert on any other matter than my own business, but, I strongly defend the position that one who studies a particular subject is more knowledgeable than I am on the topic. This is one of the reasons I try to keep expanding my repertoire of journals to include topics which do not necessarily interest me, but are of interest to those I befriend, debate, and occasionally troll. The Creationist movement, led by many Evangelicals is fascinating to me, especially the fact that those who adopted this point of view seem to have very little knowledge of Geology, Biology, Anthropology, and even Cosmology. They claim to have better knowledge of their surroundings than those who spent years of their lives studying those topics. I have, unfortunately, encountered a ridiculous comment on a relatively famous theologian's (self appointed) Facebook page. This man holds a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages, and claims that his doctorate, in this topic allows him to have enough critical thinking to analyze complex social trends, as well as biological analyses, and be better informed on human evolution than Biologists and Anthropologists. This man, posted that people who attack him on matters of pathological issues,  and neurology have no leg to stand on because he knows how to do research, though his opponents are obviously not versed well enough in his particular brand of make belief to point out the fallacies in the subject.

     On a second point, I would also like to denounce the absolute hypocrisy held by Creationists, that they, themselves are academics, though, the entire world of academia is a perversion of study. That's right folks, the very same people whose purpose in life is to indoctrinate children (see Jesus Camp on  Netflix) and to reject the concepts proven by scientific advances, are claiming that universities (the pesky public type) are indoctrination centers. Pretty fucking hilarious, if you ask me, especially considering the amount of different opinions found in any given public campus,which, unlike religious, private (for profit) "colleges and universities" will only tolerate a single point of view: that of the school's leadership. Some of those private "schools" only require you to go there for two years to get a "Doctorate" for which the dissertation "consists of 10-15 pages with a minimum of five (5) outside sources other than the syllabus and the Bible". Seriously? A dissertation being 10-15 pages? I've had undergrad classes which required at least 20! What a crock of shit! 5 sources? are you serious? 5 sources wouldn't even fill an 8 page paper! What in the Actual fuck is going on?

     This is what we are fighting, folks, the absolute ignorance forcefully fed to these guys, as well as the illusion of the mastery in their topic. A 10-15 page dissertation! well, at least if you're going to be talking about imaginary crap, you might as well make it short, I mean, your brain can only handle making shit up for so long, especially when you are to use 5 sources, which would have to concur with your batshit insane conclusion! But, please tell me how a 150-500 page dissertation with well over 100 sources, all from reputable publications, is trumped by your awesomesauce 10-15 page pamphlet. Or at least explain how you are a master of every single subject, and no one but you is knowledgeable about your brand of batshit crazy! Creationists, so-called "Academics" who cherry pick their sources in order to embolden their cult followers, know that you are on your way to extinction. No more, will we wait for the crazy to lead us, no more will unreasonable thought processes be guiding our way, no more of your exclusion based belief shaping our society. Sure, a few will remain faithful to their religion, and that is fine, while you pray to your impotent bearded sky Tinkerbell, ask to be treated with the respect and dignity any human being deserves, and not the way you have treated those who disagree with you for centuries! But know this, those secularists, atheists, humanists, and liberals you hate so much will treat you a million times better than you have in the past. We will not hunt you down, we will not torture you until every shred of humanity which was once yours leaves your body, we will only make sure your antiquated rules only apply to you and yours, and that your limits are only imposed on you, and not those who believe differently than you do!

Lying For Jesus

      Since, apparently the dawn of Christianity, and the Rise in power of Eusebius of Cesarea, there has been a tradition of lying in order to bring people to believe in Jesus. Now this is the same type of tactics seen in politics, and used car salesmanship. Now, one might say that it is isolated to Catholicism, as the church, at the time, was... well Catholic-ish. But even Martin Luther was a big fat liar, in fact he stated "What harm would it do, if a man told a good strong lie for the sake of the good and for the Christian church ... a lie out of necessity, a useful lie, a helpful lie, such lies would not be against God, he would accept them." Interestingly enough, I believe most of the spawns of Luther's would disagree with that statement... in public at least.

     Interestingly enough, there are several instances of lying for Jesus, like ministers claiming to have been satanists during the big satanic scare of the 80s and 90s, but whose testimonies were contradicted by the actual events in their lives, interestingly enough, people have taken to claiming to have done terrible things, only to be redeemed by their faith (which they saw as a cash cow). This does bring up an interesting question, how willing are people to believe the an underdog story? My guess is extremely willing, so long as it confirms our biases.

     Another point being told, and sold, is the story of the Columbine girl, Cassie Bernall, who was allegedly shot because of her belief in God. What the authors of the book (still sold as non fiction, by the way) didn't mention, was that there were plenty of others who voiced their beliefs in God, both before and after her untimely death, and survived the horrible event. The shameless promotion of this narrative was, doubtlessly backed by good intentions, but also, by human greed. The success of the book "She Said Yes" is still successful among Christians looking for an insight of martyrdom.

     Lastly, we see some regular, run of the mill dishonesty from evangelical right wingers in the country regarding the gun violence in America. Do not get me wrong, I still stand by the rights of individuals to have guns, but there needs to be some regulations put in place. I mean seriously, we are the only nation in the developed world which has rampant gun violence, mass shootings, etc... Hell, the NRA lobbied to allow people on the terrorist watch list to buy guns, and won! Those groups are heavily supported by Christian Groups, as well as the Tea Party. We blame these mass shootings on violent video games, when every other developed nation have access to them, the difference is in the regulation on the sales of firearms, including a psychological examination for stability, criminal background check, and to make sure you aren't in the god damned terrorist watch list!!! But those against gun regulation will cite everything else for the violence, except for the only difference with other nations...

     In conclusion, liars gonna lie, douchebags gonna douche, and religious leaders gonna be hypocrites, what else is new?

A Breakdown of "God Loves Uganda"

So, it took me a while to absorb everything done in this documentary. I will address several points I saw and heard in the works I have seen in the film.

• Uganda is about 50% teenagers and younger

This is a testament to indoctrination. If you were to try and convince people that their lifestyle is wrong, what better audience than impressionable young minds, those who are uneducated and fascinated by the wealth seen in the west?

• The monetary influences of US evangelicals has become a monster

One of the points made in the documentary, by missionaries, no less, is that after the Anti-Homosexual Bill of 2009 was introduced, in its original form which held the death penalty for repeat homosexual offenders, is that the donations to churches, and missionaries in Uganda tripled. The pastor of Uganda's largest church lives in a mansion while his flock lives in poverty, yet he is being supported by American Evangelicals, what is wrong with this picture?

• The antagonism and hatred of the LGBT Community breeds some serious violent tendencies

Street preachers were seriously advocating for the murder of homosexuals in the streets, and the newspapers not only printed the names of homosexuals in Uganda, but also their addresses, adding more fuel to the violence and hatred in the country.

• Revisionist history is at its best among the uneducated masses

Scott Lively is one of the most respected speakers in the Ugandan, the man claims that homosexuals were behind Nazi Germany, I mean you'd have to be a special kind of ignorant to believe that. You know, 'cause the Third Reich never condemned homosexuality (/sarcasm).

• The hypocrisy in Martin SSempa

Martin Ssempa is one of the most prominent evangelicals in Uganda, he is famous Internet-wide for his "eat da poo poo" meme. But what most don't know, is that he exposed young children to graphic scat porn when he made that comment, showing image after image of homosexual scat porn to his congregation, perhaps some of it was from his own personal collection?

In conclusion, the documentary does well to expose the dangers of religion, as well as the influences American Extremist Evangelicals on developing nations. Extremists are pushing for regulations in developing nations because it is not acceptable in developed nations.

Disconnect

     It may seem a little hard to understand for some people, but lately, I have felt rather disconnected from others, as if I were on the outside looking in, and saw things from a different perspective. It is interesting to see how people react to others, what they value, and despise. Many people react to the unknown with hatred, but what if they actually learned to embrace it? What if people accepted those who are different, without trying to change them?

     I have witnessed interesting reactions when confronting people commenting on articles from a religious publication with their hatred of homosexuals, the typical response to being confronted with questions was to attack my character, and not the arguments that I made. This, of course was followed by various insinuations , including that I was a pedophile, because I defend people who are different. It was rather insulting, to say the least, to be called "boy lover" when the principle of my life is to do no harm. The implication of the conservative hive mind did, on some level, make this disconnect possible, and may have enhanced it. I was reminded of the kings of old, and how they justified their rule with divine rights doctrine. Isn't that exactly what those against marriage equality are invoking, divine command against such behavior?

     The amount of self importance involved in the restriction of other' rights because one disagrees with it is simply and utterly despicable. The arguments brought against me involved calling universities "indoctrination center" - unlike churches, by the way- and claiming arrogance on my part. Well, clearly, I'm the arrogant person who believes they have a direct line to the inerrant source of knowledge and morality in the universe. The arrogance of stating I do not have all the answers, but I am working through it, the arrogance of questioning a book edited and replaced, as well as translated from translations of fragments of conflicting accounts? Well, I guess we have different definitions of arrogance.

Belief

     I recently had a long discussion with my wife about life experiences and the concept of belief. I carefully introduced the idea of experiencing all that life has to offer, good and bad, as I do not want to leave this short life without having embraced it fully. To quote the late great Dr. Carl Sagan, "I don't want to believe. I want to know". The topic stayed on my mind, until yesterday, when I went to church, to honor my parents' nomination as mission pastors. What I witnessed there, in that environment was far worse than I expected. Indeed all of the speeches and songs witnessed spoke of life being worthless without the christian deity. I felt as though I was sent back in time, during the days of sun worship, when everything about nature was being worshiped as a deity. It brings some feelings of despair, as well as a lower tolerance threshold for nonsense.

     In contrast with these feelings of despair, I chose to fight back and decided to redouble my efforts to understand those who follow the dictates of a Bronze Age myth, renewed in the 3rd century C.E and see why people cling to those tenets. I looked into my opposition, and attempted to start a dialogue, out of five different threads, none ended in a civil disagreement, instead ending with the other party either harassing my every post bombarding them with negative comments for simply asking a question, or posting violent threats, resulting in the poster being temporarily banned and the comment deleted. 

     The discussions ranged from a debate on Marriage Equality, to theological arguments on the nature of original sin, as well as the differences between gender and sex. It appears to me, that those who preach love from behind the pulpit, seem to be fearful, and going so far as to use hate speech from when hidden in behind the safety of the internet, where there is plausible deniability. There was one notable exception, a reverend who received many negative responses. This person made some very valid points in regards to the civil implications of marriage, which were received with the puerile response of repeating a debunked argument several times, with an increasing occurrence of capital letters. The Internet equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears and yelling. This same reasonable man also called a few article writers out in their dishonesty and did not receive the accolade one should for telling the truth, instead, his comment, including the misquoted original article, was buried under a number of negative reviews, with no positive comment.

     What I learned in this experience is that when it comes to fundamentalist Christianity and progress, they are mutually exclusive. One cannot embrace an ever evolving human race while holding sacred the tenets of an outdated religion. The leaders in churches are exploiting the followers, not only financially, living in far better conditions than the members of their congregations, but emotionally, by interpreting their sacred texts, and socially, forcing the congregation to agree with shameful altar calls. The rhetoric used in church leadership is typical of isolationist policies, and worse, they are now trying to control the political process by undermining the legal process, and doing so in complete impunity.

     It is no secret that I absolutely despise religion, as it forces us to be satisfied with not searching. Not only that, I do not believe it is intellectually honest to believe in a deity out of fear of the unknown, or even for a sense of comfort and security. The human race is capable of great things, but there are scientific advances which are stifled by religious belief, peace talks which are ruined over land rights allegedly given to a tribe of sheep herders by a deity they worshiped. One would be hard pressed to find an intellectually honest reason to believe. It is especially bad in the United States where a person attending a ministry school calls their degree a degree in theology; I'm sorry, those schools do not give degrees, they give certificates of completion for training in Christian Doctrine. Do not devalue the hard work of many students by putting your fake, third grade writing skill required, non critical thinking, parroting degree on the same level as one issued by a university. 

     With all that being said, the experience gained by visiting those fundamentalist pages would not have been inspired, if not for my wife challenging me to express why I am the way I am, as well as my visit to church. It is interesting where inspiration hits you, and how one may try to analyze the process of belief as well as its use as justification for bigotry, and even segregation. This week I learned a lot about humanity in general, as well as the process by which religious leaders manipulate their followers.

Fundamentalist Views of Marriage and Abortion

     I'm going to start this post by stating that I am not pro abortion, I am pro choice, there is a big difference. There are many ways to interpret holy texts, and apologists will flat out try and twist the meaning of the verses I will point out in this blog. Without the shadow of a doubt, god is pro abortion. Then I will also attempt to demonstrate that what we see as the traditional view on marriage is wrong, using historical evidence.

     Regarding abortions, we could start by defining when life, or personhood, starts. Most fundamentalists would argue that it starts at conception, unfortunately, that is not the biblical view on the subject as demonstrated by Leviticus 27:6. This passage clearly states that human beings have a value given to them once they reach one month of age, implying that those infants who are less than one month old, or unborn are worthless. Now there are some people who will attempt to say that I twisted their scriptures, but here's another passage Numbers 3:15-16. Having established that the Israeli deity doesn't care about the unborn or the infants, we can now go to the instructions on how to perform an abortion in Exodus 21:22-23.  The god of the Bible clearly gives instructions on how to destroy a fetus.

     Now on to marriage, most people, in today's America, is monogamous and romance based. But this was not always the case, was it? I mean in Israel's history (I'm using this as a starting point as fundamentalists choose to define it as a starting point), we see a lot of non monogamous marriages, usually at the detriment of women. Later, in history, we see a rise in monogamous marriage, but not for love, we see marriage for social reinforcement, be it of wealth, or social/political power. It wasn't until 1761 that romance marriages became somewhat accepted. So, no, including people of different perspectives DOES NOT destroy marriage, it fine tunes the definition.

     In conclusion, stop claiming your values are being destroyed, they are not. It is not an infringement on your liberties to allow others the same rights you have, no one is forcing you to do what you believe goes against your values. Though you are being dishonest in your definitions of personhood and marriage if you only take the modern definitions which are the result of centuries of cultural evolution, and are to be subjected to many more.

The Grammys So-Called Controversy

     Let's start with stating that Macklemore's performance at the Grammys was better than I expected. The mass wedding ceremony was... touching; though it is not my cup of tea, I was glad that someone took a stand for marriage equality in a worldwide broadcast - Queen Latifah: well done. There has been a lot of criticism coming from the religious right, but I fear we have only seen the beginning. A lot of hate has been expressed over this public act of defiance against a broken system of thought; I wish people would learn to mind their own damn business. To those on the religious right, or what I like to call "The Wrong Side of History": Why can't you understand that if same sex couples are allowed to get married, the only thing it will affect is same sex couples getting married? A marriage certificate is merely a symbol of legitimacy that would be shown to all, a symbol of acceptance from a society which had led to the very hatred of those people, not because of a choice, because of a slight deviation in sexual orientation. In his song, Same Love, Mackelmore speaks of understanding, and progress; why can't people who pride themselves in being wise and understanding understand the idea that love can't be wrong? It is the best tool we have to understand each other, whether we are straight, homosexual, bisexual, transgender,  whether we have the ability to love more than one person at the same time, or just one, there is no reason to judge each other on this basis, as love strives to not hurt people, and is an expression of respect, understanding, and, of course, affection. There is no war on Christianity, or Christian values; there is a war on bigotry and hate. If you do not agree with someone's love life, keep it to yourself. It's none of your business anyways; no one comes in and tells you that being straight is unnatural, or that you shouldn't have the same rights as homosexuals or anyone else. We are merely stating that everyone should be equal under the law. If you can't understand that, I believe it was Lily Allen who said it best: Fuck you, Fuck you very, very much, your point of view is medieval.

     Some people even complained that they are being persecuted, stating that this is similar to the so-called end of days persecution Christians would endure. Let me tell you something - the morons who stated this, who live in the majority, are complaining that they are unable to persecute or torture - oh yea, some parts of the commonly used gay conversion therapy use psychological torture as well as electroshock therapy in some cases (Source). Those people swear up and down that they do this out of love. This is anything but; love is caring, attempting to prevent harm from coming to those on the receiving end. Some relatively influential preachers, and indoctrination camp president Michael Brown, even speak in favor of such harmful treatments (Source). But in countless interviews they tell you they do it out of love. This is absolute emotional masturbation, and obvious hiding of the true motives of the religious fanatics pleading for special rights, as well as working to control the political process by intimidating those in power out of their dwindling power base. What they don't know though, is that their own audience is leaving them, tolerance is prevailing, just as it did during the civil rights movement. The same bigots who claim that Martin Luther King Jr. would've been on their side, the same egotistical maniacs who spit on the grave of Nelson Mandela, those are the people who claim to be on the side of love. No, friends, they are on the side of hatred, they are on the wrong side of history. Progress can't be stopped, it can be slowed down some, but it will rise, and, as it stands, us progressives are gaining momentum. We have science and reason on our side, not the remnants of a dying archaic belief system which belongs in the history books. They liken our scientists to the leaders who imprisoned Galileo, not realizing the irony of such a statement. They tell us that we are fighting against society as a whole, and, at some point in time, they were right, but societies change, and we have succeeded at making it better. We will fight society at every turn if we need to, not only for tolerance, but for acceptance as well. I was once told that it is similar to banging a clay pot and an iron pot together. Well, the reference wasn't wrong, but it is that which we are fighting that is clay, and we are made of iron!

Live Your Life

My atheism isn't a big secret; I will tell of my lack of belief to anyone who has an ear. It's not because I believe I'm smarter than those who believe in a deity of sorts; no, it is because, in my opinion, the burden of proof hasn't been met. But why go ahead and speak out against religion? Why bother those who believe in their chosen deity, using derogatory terms such as believers in a bearded Tinkerbell? Well, it is because I believe they are misled and I am trying to shock them into reality.

    

    I use Abrahamic religions as they are the most commonly held group of belief systems in the western hemisphere. Those religions teach us that while life is worth living, if we do not reach our goals, it's okay, we will meet them in heaven/paradise. Those faiths teach us that this life, the only one we have proof of, is merely a dress rehearsal for the real party, the heavenly North Korea, in which death is not an option. It teaches us to live in complacency with a complete disregard for what matters in this world, and yet it teaches us to fight against some extremely important aspects of the heart of our humanity, including those we are allowed to love. Well, I say this needs to end.

    I recently encountered a situation where some who are close to me spoke out against something they disagreed with in a rather casual yet venomous manner. They did not know that I adhere to the ideology which they spoke badly of; had they known, I have no doubt that they would have refrained from offending me or mine, and kept their ideas to themselves. This reminded me of Stone Sour's "Through Glass" lyrics, "While you're outside looking in, describing what you see, remember what you're staring at is me". It's interesting to see what people would say to you if they thought you agreed with them, when really, they are insulting you without even knowing it. Religion teaches us that it's okay to discriminate against those who are different, simply for being different: the LGBTQ community, the polyamorist community, some sects even fight against interracial marriages to this day! Why hate those who are different than us and try to infringe on their rights to be happy? Why hate at all? After all, consenting adults are aware of what they are doing and are prepared to face the consequences of their actions, consequences which have absolutely nothing to do with you.

    It is something I have been fighting for within myself for at least 20 years, where I knew of such acts of love, and did not think anything wrong with it. Yet society, ingrained with religious dogma, teaches that those behaviors are wrong. I have sat silently for 20 years and fought internally to keep a straight focus on equality among all humans, regardless of sex, gender, "ethnicity", or sexual orientation. It is our right, as human beings to want to be happy! I was always taught that "my freedom ends where yours begins", I am free to believe, or do what I want to, so long as it doesn't infringe on your freedom to do the same. Why won't more people believe and live by this simple truth?

    We only have one life folks - why waste it on fairy tales which teach us to be bigoted and mean spirited towards those who are different? There is only one race in the human genome: Human. We come in many different shapes, sizes, and colors. The same can be said about our character; we are all different and have different inclinations. Why judge people based solely on what we are taught is right? Are we not smart enough to figure out what is right ourselves? Do we not have the capability? What about the Socratic method of learning, to question everything? I am reminded of Thomas Jefferson when he said "Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear". Those are powerful words that Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and other faiths refuse to abide by; indeed the very questioning of the existence of our deity of choice is forbidden. In Luke 4:12 Jesus flat out says: "You must not test the LORD your God", a statement that insures the unquestioning slave-like position of the followers of the Christian Messiah. It is a method we see in the Wizard of Oz: Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! In other words, be willfully ignorant and unwilling to see reason!

  A lot of apologists would use Pascal's Wager (If you believe in God and turn out to be incorrect, you have lost nothing--but if you don't believe in God and turn out to be incorrect, you will go to hell.) in which one states that the existence of god is binary. This is, of course, intellectually dishonest as it presupposes that there is only one god, and that the person posing the wager is worshiping the right one. It also insinuates that believing is a conscious act, and that an omnipotent deity would not be able to see through a hypocritical fake belief "just in case". Worst of all, Pascal also assumed one last thing, that believing in this chosen deity would not cost the believer anything. This is wrong; the most valuable thing we have is, arguably, time. Those who believe are so entranced by their beliefs that they waste their life away, not actively participating in making this world a better place, "Because why should we, it's only temporary anyway, and the sooner it is destroyed, the faster we all get to leave to meet the magical sky Gandalf who punishes gays and people who don't believe in him!" And he's supposed to love everyone unconditionally! Think of all of the good that could be done, all the problems that could be solved if believers would actively work to make this world a better place instead of sitting by complacent and content while waiting to meet their nonexistent creator...all of the wasted talent and potential!

We only have this one life, why not enjoy it, and live it as who we are, without fear of shame or guilt, cultivated in us by a society which strives to control and shape us into sheep, obediently being led to our deaths. Never be satisfied with being half the person you can be, or want to be. If society can't accept you for who you are, it is time to change society, do not let it change you. For far too long, we have felt the weight of our failing society crush us - let us rise and strive to leave this world a better place than the world we entered. Let us make this world a world of acceptance, love, and a legitimate search for truth!

The Evils of Fundamentalism

     It's no big secret that I am an atheist who has no respect for religion. Now, don't get me wrong, religious people, so long as they do not try to trample my rights or the rights of others, are fine, and deserve respect. That, fortunately for me does not include some vocal minorities such as Michael Brown, who, in his latest article mentioned a war on the unborn, supposedly waged by New York mayor Bill de Blasio. While the opinion that there is a war on the unborn seems fair to fundamentalists, it is also fair to state that those who claim to be "Pro Life" are really simply "Pro Birth", as they also tend to not care about the likelihood of survival for those families and infants who are born. Indeed, those same self proclaimed advocates for the sacred nature of life are also those who would vote for cutting of funding for lower income families as they "are lazy and living at the teat of the government". To be fair I haven't heard Brown make such a statement, but those he associates with often do.
   
     I am  pro choice, it doesn't mean that I am pro abortion, I respect life as it comes, though I also understand that such procedures can sometimes be more beneficial to the unborn, as well as to their families. It is my opinion that pro choicers are more in favor of life than their opposition as the vast majority tend to be pro birth as well, though with the caveat that those children who are born along with their families should be taken care of. Hell, welfare and food stamps are basic tenets of Christianity, but it is those same people  who advocate forced birth who oppose such social safety nets for those in need. I have asked several people as to why they are against the government being in charge, after all they like to proclaim that we are a Christian nation. I usually get the answer that it is the Church's job to take care of those in need, well, you're doing a damn fine job! How about instead of financing lavish lifestyles with numerous travels around the globe, you start fixing your communities? How about, instead of investing in extravagant building for your cults to gather in, you start a food bank, or donate to actual charities who will take care of those in need with no strings attached?

     Christianity, along with every other religion who claim to do good in their communities, are nothing but giant corporations who care about nothing but the implementation of a political agenda designed to bypass the laws of the nations in which they reside. In the United States, I hear a lot of hate towards those who hold no belief in gods, going so far as to petition for the expulsion from the country, as we are, apparently sub par citizens. Of course, it is a small minority who feels so emboldened by their own political power that they allow themselves to betray their true position on human rights. This minority, though tends to have a lot of social power, through the tax free money they get. The rights of several groups are still being undermined by such powerful so-called "charitable" corporations. The hatred that spews from fundamentalism knows no bound, it was what kept the civil rights movement from advancing for so many years, and still does to this day. I keep calling churches corporations as it is what they are, they are the worst type of retail where they sell you merchandise which cannot be verified. They are always asking for money, and that is the first thing one notices about churches; they get members in a trance like state through songs, then pass the collection plate, then guilt trips those same members through sermons which inevitably end in a request for donations.

     The sad thing about this whole thing, is that most of the members live in poverty, most are unable to afford healthcare, and most trust that their faith will heal them. This illusion is enhanced by the biblical scholars who encourage such beliefs. I have seen well respected pastors and ministry school faculty flat out tell a family, in public, that their dead child would rise again, as their god told them that fasting and praying would be necessary. That is the worst kind of false hope you can give to a grieving family. Of course, the child remained dead, and the family worse off because of the crushed hope. Fundamentalism is evil, and should be removed from the face of the earth.

Reflections on Individuality

     Lately I have been a little depressed, I quit my job due to the inability to perform my duties because of lack of backup from my supervisors. I have had a lot of opportunities to reflect on my own personality and, while I understand the person that I am, I can't, for the life of me tell whether I like it or not. I am, for the most part a neutral person, neither good nor bad, and that is what I thought human beings are like. I have come to the realization that I do not know how to interact with people and this leads to several awkward discussions/moments. I try to plan every single interaction I have during the day, most of the time at a moment's notice. I have come to understand that most people do not try to predict human interactions and go with the flow. This causes a serious problem in my social interactions, as sometimes I do not act as quickly as I think, and my movements do not develop the way I have planned, causing some undue awkwardness. 

     

     This is giving me some issues in my life as, after nearly 30 years on this planet, I have not once come to think that most people don't act this way. This is somewhat telling of the way I see the world. I am an outsider trying to fit in. My poor attempts to understand the human mind have come to a rather unnerving conclusion that it is easily manipulated, and, while I do not indulge in the practice of mental manipulation, it scares me that people can be so susceptible to suggestions. Entire concepts can be rearranged in order to benefit one person or the next, though the earlier they are planted, the harder those very concepts are to break through, especially when reinforced by a society which does not care about the well being of its denizens, but rather in their complete obedience and the adherence to several semi religious dogmas. 

     Life, as I see it in others, is meant to be enjoyed, not feared or simply lived through. This is hard for me, as the things I enjoy are severely reprimanded by society, legal, but heavily frowned upon, to the point of social exile for those participating in such behaviors. In the past year, I have achieved my goal of leading my life in such a way that my very existence is a sin, though it came at great social cost, the impact of which I had not fully understood in my life. I had not foreseen the repercussions it would have on those few who are close to me, and how they would be affected. I had indeed been blind to the casualties of my own social sacrifice. I can easily live with being ostracized, that is not the problem to me, but my loved ones are suffering for decisions they have not made. Hell, they are suffering for decisions I haven't made about who or what I am. 

     So in retrospect, I am what I am, and to those who are offended by it, you don't have to tolerate me, you can just ignore me and act like we never interacted, no pain will come to me in that, as I value honesty above all else. If you are so small minded that my existence and my way of thinking offends you, nobody's forcing you to remain sociable with me. To those who are hurt by others' behaviors: don't let them affect you, those who are quick to offense and project their own fears on others do not need to be in your life, they do not deserve the gems that you have to offer. We all have something to bring to the table in the marketplace of ideas, some ideas and concepts, though hard to understand are easier to deal with than others, and some have more merit than others, but everybody has a right to participate. I am seemingly quick to dismiss ideas that I disagree with, though I can't say that I have completely dismissed any without careful consideration, I just expect the same respect from other members of society.

Happy Holidays

     This post is merely to wish any reader a happy holiday season. It is a season for joy and happiness, and fortunately, I am able to spend it with family, though I do feel for those who are unable to.  I see terrible things happening all around me, during the holidays especially, vicious attacks from the left and the right, politically, as well as socially. To those bigots who support Phil Robertson: GO FUCK YOURSELVES!!! The man is obviously a religious bigot, or a troll. Many Youtubers have posted the hypocrisy in his statement. To those in any minority, be it racial, sexual, social, as well as others: keep on keeping on, it does get better friends, don't let those who fear change control who you are. You have allies such as reason, and logic; those who oppose you are on the wrong side of history, and just like everything else, it will just take some time for good things to happen.
     I understand the concept of respecting ideas opposing our own as it is the very driving factor of progress. Without opposition, there is complacency, and in that state, there is no progress. Our side is about peace, their side is about separation. This season is supposed to be about charity and family; those who oppose us seek to destroy both, only providing charity in order to gain something (tax break, followers which lead to a return investment in tithes and offering, social bragging rights). We all have something in our lives we have to struggle with; some can find comfort in their family, but others who cannot, no matter what happens, no matter what the issue is, those people you chose as close allies are your family, not those who judge you for who you are, not those who only come to you when they need something. There is nothing stronger than the bond shared between individuals who help each other in their struggles.
     Anyways, this may be a little corny, but to those who struggle in their lives about who they are, or what they are, hell those who fear they will be abandoned because of features that are core to their very being: If people don't accept you for who you are, family or not, those people are not worthy of knowing you, not worthy of being given the time of day, and most importantly, not worthy of you losing parts of yourself over. They are the problem with society, not you!

The Importance of Staying True to Yourself

     This seems to be a remaining topic on this blog, so it is obvious that it is a topic that this writer struggles with a bit. It is understood that for society to function we have to inhibit some of our urges and personal quirks at our place of employment and social gatherings (to some extent). I do not believe in the world being a free for all, where one can go and tell people off willy nilly, not in our society anyways. I do, however, challenge the effect that said society has on us. people who are close to me are struggling about their own identities simply because society has taught them that it was wrong for so long to be a certain way, that their psyche has partially blocked such behaviors (be it in public of private).
     For the sake of anonymity, I will not state any personal information about this acquaintance, though I will state that they are struggling with something that is a part of them and were taught was wrong, and "of the devil" since childhood. This form of child abuse is not only to be placed on the shoulders of the parent who supports those archaic concepts, but on the society which fortifies them as well. A man or woman who is bisexual should not feel excluded from society because of the way they feel towards people of both sexes.
     For the sake of those involved, I hope that this person comes to terms with who they are and lives a fulfilled life in spite of what they were taught to be. I can be who I am in most aspects of my life, and wish it to be true for everyone. A big portion of human personality lies in sexual and emotional attachments. We are, after all, social creatures, and I as often joke, monkeys in shoes. Though it is, at best, repressed by society, as it is generally considered gross by those people we entrusted with our education.
     For what it's worth, I have hope in newer generations as they show empathy and understanding towards those who are different. I was recently painfully reminded that homosexuality was, until recently, treated with electroshock therapy and negative reinforcements. Why must we hurt that which is different? Why must we destroy that which we do not understand, instead of understanding them? That is the cost of religion and bigotry. As we fail to understand behavioral changes around us, some members of our modern civilization still look to bronze age knowledge given to sheep herders and likely molesters in the desert, supposedly by a deity who has failed to show itself since the invention of the fucking camera.
     Well, I thought I was going to make it one entire blog post (academic works aside) without cussing, but apparently I feel too strongly about the state of humanity and its dependence on archaic beliefs to restrain from actually get enraged. More importantly, when those beliefs make people feel like shit and force them to be who they are not in order to fit a cookie cutter ideal given by an archaic people, they make the world a worse place to be and that is counter intuitive to the perpetuation of the human race.

The Hellenistic Characteristics of the Christ Myth

If we were to ask any Christian about their faith, one of the things we would hear is that it is unique, the concept of a sacrificial god, born of a young woman from a patriarchal god, it seems extremely enticing. Indeed this reflects the bias of the believer, there are many sources predating the myth of Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of God similar in those qualities, take Heracles, for example, the son of Zeus born of an asexual relationship, a shower of gold, who selflessly travelled Greece in order to defend its inhabitants from the merciless toying of the gods, who even went to Tartarus -the Greek Hell-  in order to deliver Theseus from it, similar to the common tradition that Jesus went to the underworld to save the souls of the deceased before ascending into Heaven. The idea of a triune god is also not a novel concept as many gods in ancient Greece and Rome were represented by different forms such as Jupiter being the almighty god of the Roman pantheon, represented as a human, but also as an eagle, and the emperor, at least for a time was the representative of god, or Amon Ra, in Egypt being represented as the Pharaoh to the mere people. But the question is, why did Christianity prevail of those previously common myths and how did Jesus of Nazareth come out as a Savior god to the people of the Western World? Those questions are answered in the history of the composition and redaction of the texts depicting the life of the Son of God, and the politics surrounding them.

Starting at the beginning of the Christian Myth, one can clearly see resemblances between the greek Creation myth and fall of mankind, and the Judeo-Christian one, coming from a misogynist standpoint. Indeed, the story of the fall of man coming from a woman is not a new one, as the Christian Fall story and the cursing of the Earth is attributed to Eve, the Greek story of such a curse is attributed to Pandora (Hamilton:88). When Pandora opened her box and let all kinds of evil roam the world, she closed it, albeit too late. The last thing remaining in the box was Hope (Hamilton:88), in a similar fashion, hope was attached to women in the form of giving birth to the savior of all nations.

Now onto the Christian myth, it is easy to see similarities between Jesus and Heracles, or Hercules his given Roman name. They were both born of a god, Jesus of Yahweh, Heracles of Zeus, by a human mother. Both women were betrothed to a human man, Jesus’ mother Mary to Joseph, and Heracles’ mother to Amphytrion (Hamilton:227). As I mentioned before there are several different similarities between Jesus and Heracles, including the last feat Jesus accomplished according to Christian Tradition that he went to the underworld to preach to those lost souls who had the misfortune of dying before having the chance to witness his ministry. Heracles’ parallel to this story is none other than the last of his 12 works where he was sent to the underworld in order to defeat Cerberus and freed the Athenian Hero Theseus from the underworld (Hamilton:235).

But the Heracles comparison doesn’t end there, the young demigod was well educated but also extremely prone to violent and vicious fits throughout his childhood, such as the time where he murdered his music teacher simple because he disliked musical education (Hamilton:229). Young Jesus, as depicted in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, was quite the violent child as well, murdering, cursing, sadistically resurrecting children in front of their parents only to kill them again after they confirmed his word (Ehrman:58). The temper attributed to young Jesus in this Gospel seem to show in the casting the merchants out of the Temple in Matthew 21:12 (Wells:1239). Though apologists, as well as most Christians would argue that this anger was righteous, is is highly unlikely as the practice was condoned by the Torah, and price gouging were heavily frowned upon by the Temple administrators (Aslan:6).

Other Hellenistic influences are found in Christianity when compared to the Sumerian goddess Inanna, who descended through the seven levels of hell, having an encounter at each level, only to be crucified and humiliated at the bottom of the seventh level. The Christian savior, in a similar fashion descended through the seven levels of Heaven to Earth, having an encounter at each level, only to be humiliated and crucified at the bottom of the seventh level -Earth- as well (Carrier:18). After reading on both posthumous accounts, we also see an interesting similarity, the idea concept of spending three days and three nights in the underworld, as Inanna was dead for this amount of time, and Jesus predicted that exact same time period, though we know different as tradition has the Nazarene Savior god die on a Friday evening, and his resurrection happen on a Sunday morning, leaving only 2 nights (Carrier:18-19).

To this day, in certain Christian traditions, a Pantheon has been kept, we clearly see this in the Catholic prayers to the saints, similar to the worship of lesser gods in Ancient Greece, and is a remnant of the Roman influences in  Church, as many consider their prayers to the Saints as a respectful way to approach their Savior (Brom:1). We can clearly see that the worship of ancient minor gods directly affected this early Christian Church as a means to not bother the Almighty with the trivialities of life, and the saints would intercede for the living. In the Roman Catholic culture, the saints seem to have taken precedent over Jesus, not in importance, but in the day to day activities, similarly to what happened to the worship of Hestia in ancient Greece, who was the goddess of home and hearth, and whose temple flame was most important in Greek cities (Hamilton:34), though her name is generally unknown to the general population compared to Dionysus in the modern mind.

One way in which Christianity managed to survive, and still be relevant in its early stages was the ability complete disregard for the elitism attributed to Judaism, where one is born into a religion, and in the embracing of the gentiles (Carrier:51). Indeed, in a Roman controlled world, the only way to expand one’s worshippers base is also to avoid ostracizing people, welcoming people of all walks of life into the religion. Offering redemption for virtually any sin is also a good way to earn worshippers. Hellenism in its purest form promoted the longing for immortality and everlasting life, though it was a rather unknown process in the mind of the early leaders and worshippers, Christianity, by its very nature offers a vision of life everlasting and even a purpose for such an ideal, as well as a reason for a temporary life in the known mortal World (Von Dobshutz:249).

In yet another parallel with Hellenistic traditions, we see the Judeo-Christian myth to be polytheistic to some extent as with the existence of minor deities, some benevolent as angels and all the hierarchy which comes with it, others depicted as the source of all evil in the world and having a hierarchy of their own with the first fallen angel, Lucifer, at the top (Von Dobschutz:250). Though Christianity prides itself in being a monotheistic religion, it is only so in named, after the redefinition of the term, after all, by the Christian standard of monotheism, having one supreme god reign over all others, the Greek, Roman, and Egyptian myths can be considered monotheistic as well with Zeus, Jupiter, and Amon Ra set as supreme deities.

Lastly, we see the trial a tribulation of Jesus of Nazareth as a passion, and the pinnacle of the his ministry, Dr Richard Carrier, in his lecture for the UNCG Atheist about the historicity of Jesus points out that it is a typical trait of hellenistic deities (Carrier:Video). This point is driven home, especially as I mentioned previously that the last Heraclean trial was to travel to the underworld and conquer death. The trial is one of enduring pain and lasting fight. Such a trial was rather common especially when compared to all the other previous deities encountered in the Greco-Roman world, such as Prometheus enduring pain and suffering for a seeming eternity in order to provide humans with fire (Hamilton:95).

While semantics in the Christian myth apologist conferences, and articles lean towards a unique faith based on the life and death of a truly great man, we learn through our study of history that it is not as unique as it is portrayed. From the immaculate conception to the death of a Savior god, through the enduring of a passion, and humiliation. Jesus of Nazareth, if he lived in Galilee at the beginning of the first century BCE was little more than a plagiarist of previous religions, giving hope to those less fortunate, and adapting older myths to Judaism. The life and death of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God could be a compilation of several stories given to us by Roman editors under Constantine’s supervision and a severe amount of redaction and adaptation in order to fit the story (Gonzalez:340).

If Christianity were a novel idea in any way, shape, or form, it would be in its adaptation of hellenistic elements in the Judaic faith and the expansion of salvation beyond a simple ethnicity, embracing the cultural influences of the Roman occupation in the Middle East. Though some elements are heavily resembling older Hellenist myths, it has been most successful in its expansion due to the appeal of redemption of any crime or transgression. The reinforced appeal of a benevolent god who wants nothing but good things for its creation and the explanation of the concept of ever lasting life. Jesus, as I stated before, is merely a Jewish version of Heracles and Inanna, among others, a mere compilation of previous myths which gave hope to an ever suffering population.

Works cited:

Aslan, Reza

Zealot, The Life and Times Of Jesus of Nazareth, Random House Publishing, New York (2013)

Brom, Robert (Bishop)

Praying to the Saints, Catholic.com (http://www.catholic.com/tracts/praying-to-the-saints) Accessed 11/10/2013

Carrier, Richard

Not The Impossible Faith: Why Christianity Didn’t Need a Miracle To Succeed, Lulu Publishing (2009)

Carrier, Richard

Why I think Jesus Didn't Exist Lecture March 18th 2013, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwUZOZN-9dc) Accessed 11/12/2013

Ehrman, Bart D.

Lost Scriptures, Books that Did Not Make it in The New Testament, Oxford University Press, New York (2003)

Gonzalez, Justo

A History of Christian Thought Vol. 1, Abingdon Press, Nashville (1970)

Hamilton, Edith

Mythology: A Timeless Tale of Gods and Heroes, Hamilton press, New York (1942)

Koester, Helmut

Introduction to The New Testament: History and Literature of Early Christianity, Volume 2, 2nd Ed.

DeGruyter Company, Berlin (2000)

Von Dobschutz, E.

Christianity and Hellenism, The Journal of Biblical Literature, Volume 33, no 4 (Dec 1914) pp.245-265