Just found this draft that I had been working before and never got around to finishing. I'll go ahead and post it as is and hope to get back to it later .....as soon as I remember which nail I was getting around to driving.
Probably the greatest aspect of our country, at least in my mind, is the stated belief that all persons are born with the inate rights of free expression of personal beliefs regardless of ones race, religion, political ideals, physical status, gender, sexual orientation...the list goes on. All are "created" or born equal!
But that's a tough one to live up to in the real world.
For purposes of this post, when I speak of some aspect, idea, cultural belief, etc as being "better" I will not mean more worthy of respect but simply easier in our society to attain success. For instance, it is "better" to be tall than to be short, at least for a man. Tall men command more respect, are listened to more, and get promoted faster than short men. Just a fact of life. Tall men are not necessarily "better" at their jobs or smarter or even more pleasing to be around. But it is "better" to be tall, all other things being equal. Even so, short folk deserve the same basic human rights and the same dignity as tall folk. Is a short man just as good as a tall man? Definitely yes! Is it just as good to be short as it is to be tall? Definitely NO!
So...the "ideal" person (the best thing to be) in our current society is a tall, white, straight male, attractive of features, having an above average IQ, BMI between 20 and 24, with moderate political and moderate Christian religious beliefs, and born of a well-to-do family.
Obviously, very few Americans meet all ten of those qualifications. (And those are only a random ten.) I don't even meet half of them. Therefore, if we want to have any kind of civilized society at all we have to learn to accept the differences of others and be willing to accomodate said differences. This does NOT mean we should be blind to our own "better" aspects or that we should try to emulate the differences of others. It means that we should first of all we willing to accept ourselves for who we are, good and bad...or desirable and undesirable if you prefer... There is no need to be ashamed of our "good" traits. We certainly wouldn't try to change them just to make others feel more comfortable. Nor should we refrain from trying to change our "bad" traits where physically possible.
Some things just are and can't be changed. Some things CAN be changed. Some things are modified by environment.
There is scientific evidence that alcoholism is a genetic trait. Some people are born to be alcoholics. That does not mean they have fewer rights than others. It just means they have to work harder to overcome their handicap. Non-alcoholics need to understand what factors make an alcoholic what he is and work toward treatment rather than condemnation. But that does not mean that non-alcoholics must embrace the behavior of alcoholics.
And just because some who abuse alcohol are genetic alcoholics, it doesn't follow that all who abuse alcohol have the same genetic trait. Many, and I would submit most, alcohol abusers abuse alcohol as a learned behavior.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Religion and Politics
I am, as previously noted, an atheist. When I describe myself politically as a republican I often get some weird looks. "How can you be an atheist and a republican?" I am asked. I usually respond by asking, "How could anyone possibly be a Christian and a member of the republican party?" Examine the teachings of The Christ. He directed that all goods are to be held in common. The very origin of the expression "From each according to their abilities; to each according to their needs" is Christian teachings. Some of our first colonies, in fact, were founded as communistic experiments; those being the Puritan/Pilgrim colonies. It wasn't until those colonies embraced the capitalistic beliefs of private ownership of property, individual wealth attained for individual effort, and the like that our country began to grow and prosper.
So I believe we should all disabuse ourselves of the notion that a person's religion can determine the person's political beliefs. It is also my belief that Christians have no business in the Republican party.
Note: this is just a stub article. My thoughts and ideas haven't been fully developed and i'm sure i will want to rephrase what I already have. I jst post this as is for now so that anyone following will get an idea where I am coming from. (Later, David! lol)
So I believe we should all disabuse ourselves of the notion that a person's religion can determine the person's political beliefs. It is also my belief that Christians have no business in the Republican party.
Note: this is just a stub article. My thoughts and ideas haven't been fully developed and i'm sure i will want to rephrase what I already have. I jst post this as is for now so that anyone following will get an idea where I am coming from. (Later, David! lol)
Friday, March 25, 2011
The Power of Prayer
WAIT! Didn't you say you are an atheist? And you are writing about the power of prayer? Isn't that just a wee bit contradictory?
Not at all, my friend. Just because I think prayer has power doesn't mean I think that power originates from a magical, supreme being. Doctors have long known that placebos work (at least to a degree greater than one would expect from random happenstance). Just as with prayer, the reason for this is not fully explainable with our current knowledge. There are several possible explanations for why prayer might work, though. I can't promise that those explanations are definitive answers to the question, but I feel any or most of the explanations make more sense that a mythical being granting your wishes.
Let us take an example. Given two college students, both are of approximately the same mental acuity. Both have the same comprehension level. Both study the same number of hours. Both approach test hour apprehensively. One prays to a god, believes that god will help him, and goes into the testing room calmly and with a certainty of his knowledge. The other is still apprehensive as he takes the test. Is it any wonder that the one who prayed might do better? Was it the hand of God? Or was it the demeanor of the student? It is my contention that while the prayer helped place the student into a "test taking" mode, rubbing a lucky stone or wearing lucky socks would have done the same thing if the person believed it would.
So "prayer" worked. It just didn't work because some magical being intervened.
Ok, that covers part of it. But what, you ask, about prayer that heals the sick?
How about this? IT JUST DOESN'T FREAKING HAPPEN! Sure, some people who get prayed for get better. But so do some people that no one in their right mind would want to get better. Attitude of the patient has much to do with cure rate. You can literally die of a broken heart. Yes, you can think yourself dead! And you can (often...or at least sometimes) think yourself well. The human body is a wonderful thing and you can cure yourself (many times) just by deciding to get better. No supreme being involved. But if that belief in a supreme being, as wrong as it might be, is a true belief, then your prayers to the (false) supreme being can be fruitful.
Confidence is a great healer. It would be, in my mind, best if that confidence is based on the knowledge of human capabilities. But even confidence based on a fallacious belief works to the same end. It would be wrong (at least to my present thinking) to remove a crutch to confidence built on a fallacy (belief in a god) without replacing it with the confidence built on knowledge. Healing is healing, even if the source of that healing is wrongly identified.
There is one other possible explanation of the efficacy of prayer. This explanation also explains to a degree why some might say divination methods such as crystal balls, tarot, or even esp might work. I will leave an in depth discussion of that and those to another post. For now, just a brief description of a, I repeat, possible! way in which prayer might be seen as working.
I think most people today are aware that the brain sends out energy in the form of brain waves. Those waves ARE energy and can be measured as energy. Can those brain waves IMPART that energy to another? Will others be influenced by the energy sent out by a strong sender?
There are people who can walk into a room and people just KNOW that person has arrived. Hey, there are used car salesmen who can sell a Ford to the local GM dealer! My hypothesis is that there really are people with such strong brain waves that they can control (at least in a limited way) the actions, thoughts, and beliefs of others. Billy Graham and Hitler are two examples. What makes charisma? Brainwaves? I don't know. But it's worth considering.
Not at all, my friend. Just because I think prayer has power doesn't mean I think that power originates from a magical, supreme being. Doctors have long known that placebos work (at least to a degree greater than one would expect from random happenstance). Just as with prayer, the reason for this is not fully explainable with our current knowledge. There are several possible explanations for why prayer might work, though. I can't promise that those explanations are definitive answers to the question, but I feel any or most of the explanations make more sense that a mythical being granting your wishes.
Let us take an example. Given two college students, both are of approximately the same mental acuity. Both have the same comprehension level. Both study the same number of hours. Both approach test hour apprehensively. One prays to a god, believes that god will help him, and goes into the testing room calmly and with a certainty of his knowledge. The other is still apprehensive as he takes the test. Is it any wonder that the one who prayed might do better? Was it the hand of God? Or was it the demeanor of the student? It is my contention that while the prayer helped place the student into a "test taking" mode, rubbing a lucky stone or wearing lucky socks would have done the same thing if the person believed it would.
So "prayer" worked. It just didn't work because some magical being intervened.
Ok, that covers part of it. But what, you ask, about prayer that heals the sick?
How about this? IT JUST DOESN'T FREAKING HAPPEN! Sure, some people who get prayed for get better. But so do some people that no one in their right mind would want to get better. Attitude of the patient has much to do with cure rate. You can literally die of a broken heart. Yes, you can think yourself dead! And you can (often...or at least sometimes) think yourself well. The human body is a wonderful thing and you can cure yourself (many times) just by deciding to get better. No supreme being involved. But if that belief in a supreme being, as wrong as it might be, is a true belief, then your prayers to the (false) supreme being can be fruitful.
Confidence is a great healer. It would be, in my mind, best if that confidence is based on the knowledge of human capabilities. But even confidence based on a fallacious belief works to the same end. It would be wrong (at least to my present thinking) to remove a crutch to confidence built on a fallacy (belief in a god) without replacing it with the confidence built on knowledge. Healing is healing, even if the source of that healing is wrongly identified.
There is one other possible explanation of the efficacy of prayer. This explanation also explains to a degree why some might say divination methods such as crystal balls, tarot, or even esp might work. I will leave an in depth discussion of that and those to another post. For now, just a brief description of a, I repeat, possible! way in which prayer might be seen as working.
I think most people today are aware that the brain sends out energy in the form of brain waves. Those waves ARE energy and can be measured as energy. Can those brain waves IMPART that energy to another? Will others be influenced by the energy sent out by a strong sender?
There are people who can walk into a room and people just KNOW that person has arrived. Hey, there are used car salesmen who can sell a Ford to the local GM dealer! My hypothesis is that there really are people with such strong brain waves that they can control (at least in a limited way) the actions, thoughts, and beliefs of others. Billy Graham and Hitler are two examples. What makes charisma? Brainwaves? I don't know. But it's worth considering.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
WRONG AGAIN!
Let's see...where did I leave this? Oh, yes, God had just gotten P'd O (the literally correct abbreviation for what the hoi polloi call po'd) and drowned the world. Except, of course, for the most honorable and faithful Noah and family. Noah...who, as soon as he knew it was safe...got drunk and knocked up his daughters.
GOT IT WRONG AGAIN, BIG G!
God was real big on destroying His own creations. (Remind you of a precocious, self-centered two year old?)
Take a look at Sodom and Gomorrah. God decided to wipe out all them there evil folk and once again He's going to let His one faithful servant, Lot, survive. So He sends down a couple of angels to warn Lot. Lot meets them on the street and says, "Hey, cool. Come on over to the pad for a cold one and lets talk about this." The angels (who, you should remember, are immortal. As in, they're not worried about where they're going to get a hot dog or a place to sleep, and muggers just aren't a realistic concern) say they're fine on the street, but Lot insists that they drop by the house.
So, they do, being polite angels of destruction that they are. Now, seems the townspeople saw the strangers and went over to Lots demanding to know just who the heck they were; wanted them to come out and explain themselves.
So what does Lot do? Not wanting these indestructible angels to be inconvenienced in any way, Lot sends his virgin daughters out to the crowd and tells the crowd to have fun with them. Just don't bother the visitors...who couldn't be harmed by the crowd in a million years.
Ain't religion fun? How would YOU like to be the daughter of a righteous man like Lot?
GOT IT WRONG AGAIN, BIG G!
God was real big on destroying His own creations. (Remind you of a precocious, self-centered two year old?)
Take a look at Sodom and Gomorrah. God decided to wipe out all them there evil folk and once again He's going to let His one faithful servant, Lot, survive. So He sends down a couple of angels to warn Lot. Lot meets them on the street and says, "Hey, cool. Come on over to the pad for a cold one and lets talk about this." The angels (who, you should remember, are immortal. As in, they're not worried about where they're going to get a hot dog or a place to sleep, and muggers just aren't a realistic concern) say they're fine on the street, but Lot insists that they drop by the house.
So, they do, being polite angels of destruction that they are. Now, seems the townspeople saw the strangers and went over to Lots demanding to know just who the heck they were; wanted them to come out and explain themselves.
So what does Lot do? Not wanting these indestructible angels to be inconvenienced in any way, Lot sends his virgin daughters out to the crowd and tells the crowd to have fun with them. Just don't bother the visitors...who couldn't be harmed by the crowd in a million years.
Ain't religion fun? How would YOU like to be the daughter of a righteous man like Lot?
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Is God a masochist?
Does He like being hurt? Does He have a self-image problem? Is He self destructive?
Hey, now, there's a question. If God is all powerful and can do all things, can He just stop being? Can He kill himself? Would the world stop if He did?
But I digress. The reason I asked the questions at the beginning of this rambling is that it seems very strange that an omniscient, omnipotent being should fail at everything He attempts.
Take a look!
First we are expected to believe that God has always existed. Yep, He existed for quadrillions and quadrillions and quadrillions of years BEFORE He existed for another quadrillions and quadrillions of years. I guess He was just up there in Heaven walking on those streets of gold, admiring the gates of pearl, and wondering what He was going to do with that hot place down the road.
Then He got lonely; or maybe He just wanted someone or something to admire Him. So He invented angels. Made 'em immortal and all. And we know how that ended up. Revolt! Yep, these God creations who spent every day up close and personal with Him just didn't like His management style. Fully one third of them said to heck with Him and went their own way. And I wonder how many of the rest wanted to go but just didn't have the guts!
Ok, so angels didn't work out all that well. At least it gave Him a purpose for the hot place; He let the revolters run it. What next? Hey, how about something mortal; something that will self destruct in a few years? Might they not be easier to get to listen? Especially if I promise them immortality eventually if they do what I say? Them folk gonna be so happy! They gonna love me so much!
Oops, again! The very first two out of the chute messed up. Looks like He just couldn't get anything right.
Now what? Well, He figured if He made them work for a living maybe they'd see how great it would be to bow down to Him. So He just let them fend for themselves. And guess what! They LIKED it! Plenty of sex, plenty of fruits and nuts and animals to eat. A glass of beer every evening. Roll up a little herb and smoke it every now and then. Life was great! So He got pissed and drowned them.
Hey, now, there's a question. If God is all powerful and can do all things, can He just stop being? Can He kill himself? Would the world stop if He did?
But I digress. The reason I asked the questions at the beginning of this rambling is that it seems very strange that an omniscient, omnipotent being should fail at everything He attempts.
Take a look!
First we are expected to believe that God has always existed. Yep, He existed for quadrillions and quadrillions and quadrillions of years BEFORE He existed for another quadrillions and quadrillions of years. I guess He was just up there in Heaven walking on those streets of gold, admiring the gates of pearl, and wondering what He was going to do with that hot place down the road.
Then He got lonely; or maybe He just wanted someone or something to admire Him. So He invented angels. Made 'em immortal and all. And we know how that ended up. Revolt! Yep, these God creations who spent every day up close and personal with Him just didn't like His management style. Fully one third of them said to heck with Him and went their own way. And I wonder how many of the rest wanted to go but just didn't have the guts!
Ok, so angels didn't work out all that well. At least it gave Him a purpose for the hot place; He let the revolters run it. What next? Hey, how about something mortal; something that will self destruct in a few years? Might they not be easier to get to listen? Especially if I promise them immortality eventually if they do what I say? Them folk gonna be so happy! They gonna love me so much!
Oops, again! The very first two out of the chute messed up. Looks like He just couldn't get anything right.
Now what? Well, He figured if He made them work for a living maybe they'd see how great it would be to bow down to Him. So He just let them fend for themselves. And guess what! They LIKED it! Plenty of sex, plenty of fruits and nuts and animals to eat. A glass of beer every evening. Roll up a little herb and smoke it every now and then. Life was great! So He got pissed and drowned them.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Religion
As most of you know by now, and the rest of you will know after reading this, I am an atheist. There is a lot of misunderstanding as to what it means to be an atheist. Being an atheist has nothing to do with one's politics. No, I am not a communist! Although some communists are atheistic, and some atheists are communist, it just isn't true that all atheists are communists. In fact, if you examine how the early Pilgrim/Puritan colonies were set up, you will see that they were communistic. And no one would accuse them of being atheists. Actually, when I take one of the various tests that supposedly determine one's position on the political spectrum, I always come out as a centrist with a very slight right lean. I suppose I would vote libertarian if they didn't have so many flakes heading the party. If we could get rid of the religious nut cases in the Republican party, I'd be satisfied with them.
Nor does being an atheist mean that one doesn't believe and support moral codes espoused by "religious" people. In other words, just because the Bible says it doesn't mean it's wrong. I look at early religious leaders/prophets as the first scientists, the first social engineers, the first law givers. They were people with wisdom and insight enough to recognize actions that could either help the small, fragile society grow in a healthy direction or lead to it's ultimate destruction. For the most part they made wise decisions, decisions that applied to the times in which they lived. I just think they were wrong in not accepting that they were wise enough to draw the conclusions they did but instead attributed their wisdom and insight to revelations from some supreme being.
People ask me how I can believe something as intricate as mankind could exist without some supreme guidance in the design. I in turn ask how something as flawed as mankind could have possibly been designed by an omnipotent, omniscient being. An all-powerful God could surely have done a better job. I will explore this theme more in further posts. And feel free to leave your comments on this or other related topics. We learn through discussion. But for now I will move on to:
HELL! Come on, people! Do you really think a just god would condemn folks to an everlasting (that's a pretty long time!) punishment in fire for just not believing in that god? WOW! Would you even WANT to worship such an egotist? More on that later, also.
What about the very premise of Christianity? The sacrifice of the innocent to save the sinners? Where is the sense in that? When ancient Indian tribes practiced this very thing (virgin sacrifice) we called it barbaric. How is it any less barbaric to believe that a man named Jesus was sacrificed to save anyone who wanted to believe He was sacrificed to save them? And what about the rite of communion? We are asked to believe that the bread (wafer, whatever) and the wine (or grapejuice for some sects) actually transmute to the body and blood of Jesus. Would that not mean that Christianity accepts and practices cannibalism? And it's supposed to be ok because Jesus is the son of God?
Friends, I think I will stop on this for the day. I have much, much more to say on the subject of religion in general and Christianity in particular. But I've swum these waters enough for the nonce. Time for a cold beer.
Nor does being an atheist mean that one doesn't believe and support moral codes espoused by "religious" people. In other words, just because the Bible says it doesn't mean it's wrong. I look at early religious leaders/prophets as the first scientists, the first social engineers, the first law givers. They were people with wisdom and insight enough to recognize actions that could either help the small, fragile society grow in a healthy direction or lead to it's ultimate destruction. For the most part they made wise decisions, decisions that applied to the times in which they lived. I just think they were wrong in not accepting that they were wise enough to draw the conclusions they did but instead attributed their wisdom and insight to revelations from some supreme being.
People ask me how I can believe something as intricate as mankind could exist without some supreme guidance in the design. I in turn ask how something as flawed as mankind could have possibly been designed by an omnipotent, omniscient being. An all-powerful God could surely have done a better job. I will explore this theme more in further posts. And feel free to leave your comments on this or other related topics. We learn through discussion. But for now I will move on to:
HELL! Come on, people! Do you really think a just god would condemn folks to an everlasting (that's a pretty long time!) punishment in fire for just not believing in that god? WOW! Would you even WANT to worship such an egotist? More on that later, also.
What about the very premise of Christianity? The sacrifice of the innocent to save the sinners? Where is the sense in that? When ancient Indian tribes practiced this very thing (virgin sacrifice) we called it barbaric. How is it any less barbaric to believe that a man named Jesus was sacrificed to save anyone who wanted to believe He was sacrificed to save them? And what about the rite of communion? We are asked to believe that the bread (wafer, whatever) and the wine (or grapejuice for some sects) actually transmute to the body and blood of Jesus. Would that not mean that Christianity accepts and practices cannibalism? And it's supposed to be ok because Jesus is the son of God?
Friends, I think I will stop on this for the day. I have much, much more to say on the subject of religion in general and Christianity in particular. But I've swum these waters enough for the nonce. Time for a cold beer.
Benbrook Lake
Today is our last day here at Benbrook Lake. Tomorrow we leave for (and arrive at) Wichita Falls, Texas. I'm really looking forward to being at Wichita Falls, not only because I anticipate doing well with sales at Sheppard AFB, but because I've seen some nice pictures of the bike trails there. Wichita Falls is host to the Hotter-N-Hell Hundred, a hundred mile bike race, every year and the looks of the trails system indicate that this is an excellent place to ride.
I haven't been getting as much riding done recently as I would like. My longest ride in the last few weeks has been just over 16 miles and I am hoping I can get back up to at least 20 miles three days out of four like I was riding last year, with at least one 30+ ride in the next month.
I'll be seeing my doctor for a yearly exam in January and I want to be down a few pounds by then. We saw the doc in Oct and for some reason I gained 10 pounds in the two weeks before that visit. I don't think she believed that I'd gained it that rapidly, so I want to show her that at least I can take it off.
Glenda' side pain has been diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome. I told her that I was suffering from irritable spouse syndrome. She wasn't pleased with that comment. Go figure! In any case, it was a relief to find that it's not something life threatening (or even requires surgery). And she's starting to feel better.
I'll be back atcha when we get to Wichita Falls.
I haven't been getting as much riding done recently as I would like. My longest ride in the last few weeks has been just over 16 miles and I am hoping I can get back up to at least 20 miles three days out of four like I was riding last year, with at least one 30+ ride in the next month.
I'll be seeing my doctor for a yearly exam in January and I want to be down a few pounds by then. We saw the doc in Oct and for some reason I gained 10 pounds in the two weeks before that visit. I don't think she believed that I'd gained it that rapidly, so I want to show her that at least I can take it off.
Glenda' side pain has been diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome. I told her that I was suffering from irritable spouse syndrome. She wasn't pleased with that comment. Go figure! In any case, it was a relief to find that it's not something life threatening (or even requires surgery). And she's starting to feel better.
I'll be back atcha when we get to Wichita Falls.
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