Quote

Peter Walker [American space physicist; researcher at Rice Univ; contractor for the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory/Space Science Div.] quotes —

“…..The supreme arrogance of religious thinking ~~ that a carbon-based bag of mostly water on a speck of iron-silicate dust around a boring dwarf star in a minor galaxy in an underpopulated local group of galaxies in an unfashionable suburb of a super cluster would look up at the sky and declare, “it was all made so that I could exist!”

I've seen this quote here and there, and can't verify whether the quote is genuine or not, but that part doesn't matter as much as the fact that it's an awesome quote.

We might be made of stardust, but we are not stars.

Reason Rally

March 24 (Saturday) is the Reason Rally in D.C., I wish I could go but instead will show some solidarity here. I wish the media would not call it "Woodstock for atheists." Woodstock was not a march or rally having to do with civil rights or any other political causes, and this event is expecting about 30,000 people rather than 500,000. In fact, please stop calling everything "Woodstock this" or "Woodstock that."

[NPR]
addendum:
[more recent NPR article without the Woodstock references

It's going to an uphill battle to get regular people to become tolerant of atheists. There are so many wrong-headed misconceptions about non-belief out there, and many (usually) intelligent and civilized people fall for them because they were told these things by people they trusted, such as parents, pastors, and whoever wrote the Bible.

1. Atheists are without morals, ethics, or even "goodness" because those things only come from God or from belief in God. Morals and ethics come from within. We learn right from wrong. We feel right from wrong. Just like everybody else. I respect life itself so much more since I became a non-believer, because I do not think that there is an afterlife. Death is very sad, because it means the end. For real. No Heaven. No Jesus, streets of gold, angels, reunions with loved ones. There is no comfort of hope for going to a better place other than getting my dust reunited with the earth. It's not a better place. It's the place I am now and always will be.

2. Atheists worship Satan or Satan is controlling them. No. Satan is another one of those myths, most religions and cultural mythologies have this character by some name or another. Atheists do not believe in Satan, much less worship Satan. Evidence for Satan's existence is not reality-based. Satanism is a religion, and has quite a few varying sects, just like other religions.

3. Atheism is a religion, or belief-system. No, it isn't. It's the opposite of those things. Next...

4. Atheists are pagans. No. It is very odd, and very incorrect for reference materials (dictionaries, thesauruses) to say that "pagan," "heathen" and "infidel" should be synonymous. Pagans have religion that goes back to the beginning of humans and culture. I have had pagan friends for as long as I can remember, and they are some of the nicest, most tolerant, most interesting and peaceful people you can imagine. They also have a battle to fight against ignorance and intolerance, just like atheists do.

There are sooo many more, but I will stop there. Facts are good things. Truth is elusive. Freedom of religion or freedom FROM religion without discrimination, well, the importance of that is self-evident, or should be.

You can't fight terror with fear

Never Forget

That’s what appears on lots of the 9/11 commemoration merchandise, and will probably be seen more these days than it was earlier, because, like all historical events, memories of it will fade as time passes.

The way the first responders charged into those buildings to save the lives of the people inside, without even considering the danger to themselves, this is something that should never be forgotten. Aboard Flight 93, the passengers sacrificed themselves to prevent the much greater disaster that would certainly have occurred had they allowed the hijackers to remain in control. These people are heroes.

There are things about the events of 9/11/01 that I wish that we would be able to forget as a nation. Remember that whole “United We Stand” theme that held most of the country, and even the world, together for about 24hours or so? We had sympathy and support around the world from practically everybody but Al Qaeda itself. The post-shock reaction was the desire to kill Osama Bin Laden by any means necessary. It's a normal human reaction.

It wasn't long before the "united" part of it became a bunches of like-minded people united against other groups of people. It became US and THEM, Patriot or Terrorist, which one are you? President Bush, addressing to a joint session of Congress on September 20, 2001 actually said, "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."This dark period in American history has shown us descending into a pit of hatred, prejudice, bigotry, intolerance, racism, and fear - allowing these elements of our culture (which have been there all but below the surface, as it had been really frowned upon to express openly) to rise up again and proudly show their ugly heads.

There was an excellent news story on NPR last week that you can access at the links below:
Under Suspicion at the Mall of America
Mall Counter-terrorism files ID mostly minorities
Database of Suspicious Activity

It is about private counter-terrorism programs that are working together with law enforcement, the FBI, and the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS). It sounds very well-intentioned and harmless on the surface, but it has been learned that permanent damage can be and has been done to innocent people through this program. This report is in two parts (text and audio), and I recommend the audio because there is more in it and much of it comes straight from the horse’s mouth.

This focuses on the implementation of this kind of program at the Mall of America in Minnesota, where regular, untrained citizens have been empowered to report what they see as “suspicious” activities, and as a result, many innocent people who have broken no laws (or even mall rules!) (and this is according to the authorities) are ending up with permanent incident files with the FBI and DHS. A disproportionate number of these reports are about people of color. One man was walking around and filming in the mall, making a video to send to his fiancée in another country. Taking photographs or videos could be viewed as suspicious. So can “acting nervous” when questioned as another person was doing. I think that we should all be nervous over this kind of thing.

When I was growing up, there was hardly anything more frightening than the prospect of a totalitarian regime, where you can be arrested or hauled away on a whim. The false accusation of any other person was accepted as reason enough to lock you up and throw away the key. Mass paranoia of the kind we had during the Cold War and now have again Post-9/11 is dangerous and toxic - "terror" is what terrorists want to create, because it's fear itself that will break us down, turn us against each other, and become willing to give up our freedom for what is perceived to be "security."

Many people falsely believe that those who have done nothing wrong should have nothing to fear from this kind of program. That is naïve!! They need to look closer to see what the real enemy is. The existence of these programs is letting the terrorists win. The Bushies like to say that terrorists hate our freedom. If we love our freedom, then why surrender it because of fear? Isn't this why we fight? For freedom?

Don't shove an American flag in my face because you want me to remember 9/11. The people who attacked us were religious zealots, true believers, theocrats. There is nothing more dangerous on the earth. I wish we could observe the day by being tolerant toward fellow humans, to live and let live. And we really need to to be trowing bags of money and plenty of love toward first responders - the people who selflessly charge into harm's way to save the lives of others - without thinking once about the ethnicity, political leanings, or religious beliefs of the ones being rescued and protected.

Charities helping themselves

It's hard to think of something lower than a charity scam that pops up during a crisis, just when people are ready and willing to do anything they can to help. This article is about several of those scam charities that popped up after 9/11. [see Brett Blackledge - AP]

The American Quilt Memorial raised $713,000 to create a giant quilt. Each person killed would have a decorated sheet, and they would all be stitched together and the final version would be big enough to cover 25 football fields. I am not clear on how or where the quilt was to be displayed.

The founder did create a few hundred sheets which remain in storage. About $238,000 went to him and his relatives. He has spent at least $170,000 traveling (mostly with two large dogs in tow) and continued to run up expenses, such as allowing himself $200 a week for a car, plus his rent, loans and "petty" expenses in the tens of thousands. Not only did he squander the money, he appointed an elderly priest as the chairman of the board - something that was done completely without the knowledge of the priest. [video extra]

"If I made a mistake, I made a mistake. If I did, then crucify me. I never said I was a professional at this."

Then there's the 9/11 Garden of Forgiveness at the World Trade Center site, something that never has and never will exist. Rev. Lyndon Harris raised $200,000, paid himself $126,530 (salary) and spent $3,562 in dining expenses.

Harris said he sees his charity's work as a success even if there is no garden at the site. "I saw our mission as teaching about forgiveness," he said.

How about this one:
Urban Life Ministries of Manhattan raised over $4 million for victims and first responders. Only about $670,000 was accounted for on tax forms that it did file (and taxes were not always filed). Rev. Carl Keyes admitted that they did not keep good records of how the money was spent. His accounting skills were similarly bad for his church's Katrina fund.

"You're going to beat me up in an article because we're bad managers?" Keyes said.

Another one mentioned in the article is called The Flag of Honor Fund, which raised $140,000 for a flag containing all the names of the dead, but the funds ended up supporting a for-profit business which sells the flag at Wal-Mart and only donates a tiny portion to charity.

People really do want to help when it's needed, and there are always going to be a good share of predators ready to pocket their donations. If possible, try and look them up on a site like Charity Navigator, The American Institute of Philanthropy, or BBB. I personally avoid giving to anything that has a religious source, because they have an underlying agenda that is part of their nature - they must deliver their message and are used to using donated money for that agenda - but not all scams have a religious source.

Also, people who are going through tragedy do not need ornamental quilts, flags, flowers, mythical gardens or purchased prayers. They need money, housing, food, income, and health care.

The response to Rick Prayer-y

There was a whole lotta hoopla over Rick Perry's Fringe Christian prayer meeting, but it should be known that there were protests against it. The Austin March & Rally was themed "Rick Perry: Bad for Texas, Worse for our nation" and was organized by the Travis Co. Dems. The inspiration behind this rally was mainly to start getting the word out about Perry, since it looks highly likely that he will enter the Presidential race soon. People marched and rallied under the beating sun of a day where the temperature got up to 104°F (40°C), and there were a few hundred people there.

I thought that all the speakers, who ranged from clergy to politician, were fantastic. I have long been an admirer of Reverend Jim Rigby, who is known for his activism for civil rights and social welfare. Don't be turned-off by the fact that he's clergy, he hits it out of the park (as usual). All the talks were short.

Also recorded Rep. Lloyd Doggett's talk, we really think a lot of Doggett, and are glad to be represented by him.

Another speaker (who I wished I'd recorded) was Rev. Eliza Galaher, an openly gay Unitarian Universalist minister of Wildflower Church. Her talk kicked ass too. Same for State Reps. Eliott Naishtat and Dawnna Dukes. It's events like this that we have to show the world that not everybody in Texas is a nutjob. There is sanity here, as there is in pockets everywhere.

A small selection of the signs, you will see a lot more in this TV coverage and on FB.

No Theocracy. And no TEAocracy either!!

Links:
Event
Facebook gallery
KXAN TV coverage

Disappointed?

Saw this laying on a Sixth Street sidewalk on Saturday night (the above photo is a re-creation of the actual event, and uses our patio as a stand-in for the sidewalk). At first glance it looked kind of fakey, like maybe counterfeit or something, but worth picking up.

Here it is, front and back view.

Yes, I was disappointed.

Let's Be Reasonable

Some very good points made in this article. Like many of you, I'm sure, I get tired of regional stereotypes - especially when you are being lumped in (unfairly) with a whole lot of un-like-minded folks.

Article: 10 scariest states to be an atheist

Now, to a great extent, how badly it sucks to be an atheist may not depend on the state you live in. It's sort of like the red-state/blue-state myth: cultural differences in the United States break down more along urban/rural lines than they do along state lines. Is it easier to be an atheist in New York than in Texas? Maybe... but it may also be easier if you're in Austin, Texas than if you're in rural upstate New York.

Many atheist and secularist leaders I spoke to stressed this point. According to Fred Edwords, national director of the United Coalition of Reason (the organization responsible for many of the atheist billboard campaigns), "As for the worst states to be an atheist, it doesn't generally work that way. It depends on what part of a state you are in."

That said, things that happen within the borders of a place belong to that place statistically, whether it pleases us or not. The list of places and their ranking might surprise you:

...atheist veterans marching in the Memorial Day parade were jeered, booed, insulted, cursed at, yelled at to leave, and told they were going to burn in hell. Not once or twice by a couple of fanatics... but repeatedly, throughout the course of the parade.

...and it didn't happen in the Bible Belt.

Many are convinced that goodness, morality, ethics, and just about everything positive you can think of when it comes to humanity, come from an external supernatural Being – and apparently belief in that Being is required beforehand because He’s not just giving away that stuff freely. I’ve been told, to my face and with sincerity, that morality cannot exist in an atheist. Many people who believe this way are perfectly intelligent and nice when their judgment is not clouded by superstitions and myths.

Replacing bigotry with acceptance, or at least tolerance is helped along when prejudiced folks discover that they already admire someone who they would normally have despised because of their own bigotry. Who knows? Maybe some of these Christian Right Tea Partiers will realize that their hero, Ayn Rand, was an atheist? OK, that one embraces the edges, but this whole topic is about the edges. Here's an established list of famous non-believers, and here's a more extensive one that breaks it up by category of famousness.

Oh to be a fly on the wall...

...among the true believers today.

An idea whose time has come

God's clock (in Roman numerals? Really?) says that there is some cash to be made.

Eternal Earth-Bound Pets, USA
The next best thing to pet salvation in a Post Rapture World

If you believe you're about to be Raptured, what about your fur-babies? You MUST care enough about them enough to make sure that they will be well cared-for by some nice folks who will be staying behind (atheists, you know... damned and all...). Right?

Our service is plain and simple; our fee structure is reasonable.
For $135.00 we will guarantee that should the Rapture occur within ten (10) years of receipt of payment, one pet per residence will be saved. Each additional pet at your residence will be saved for an additional $20.00 fee. A small price to pay for your peace of mind and the health and safety of your four legged and feathered friends.

Photo taken on South First St. is of painting tied to streetlight pole with an electrical cord. It does not increase the efficiency of the pedestrian-crossing button that it's attached to.

Dark Matter

Ain't it the truth? I'm really going to have to check out some more of this channel!

A "Modern Spiritual" for your Sunday

Yes, DO watch it all the way to the end to hear Lawrence Welk describe it in those words. This reminds me of something that happened in this same timeframe (around 1971). I've had more than my share of really goofy aunts, uncles and cousins.

One uncle (call him "E") was quite a strong religious fanatic of the Pentecostal variety and married a woman named Carol who was made of the same stuff. She was a real corker. There she is, on the left, and don't you worry, her hair is not cut off, it's wrapped up in a bun like the Lord commanded. She went around tongue-wagging and bad-mouthing a woman, one of her cousins-in-law, for shaming herself and being indecent. The way she had shamed herself was by wearing a pantsuit - Pentecostal women were only permitted to wear dresses (and obviously this cousin was not of that strain of Christianity and was therefore of the devil). This complaint didn't sit well with much of anybody, so one day Carol was sitting in the front yard in a dress that was a little short - and my mother (who loved to stir the shit) and a kindred spirit of a neighbor across the street started hollering as loud as possible, "I see England, I see France, I see Carol's underpants!!" The other thing Carol was famous for was showing up at potluck dinners with no food - only empty containers to take food home - that, and showing up uninvited right at dinnertime with husband and 3 kids in tow. I guess Uncle E was just as much to blame for that one, but he was never quite right so we forgave him.

Some funny things from Uncle E

Once he was stopped by a policeman for running a stop sign. He told the officer that he knew good and well that he could not have committed that offense, and the reason he knew was because he was a Christian!! As the officer wrote out the ticket, Uncle E started to pray out loud "Oh Jesus!! Come right now!!"

Another time he was looking for work and had filled out some forms with an employment agency. One of the questions asked had to do with driving experience and he was supposed to estimate about how many miles he had driven. He put down "a million miles." When he got tired of having no luck in the job hunting department, he called up the woman at the agency to yell at her, and told her that maybe she should be looking for him a job on the moon because she wasn't doing him any good down here on earth!

Uncle E once showed up at our door with a religious tabloid magazine claiming that Richard Nixon was being falsely persecuted... JUST LIKE JESUS WAS! My mother had some real giggles over that one. Neither of us could stand Nixon, and my mother liked to say "He thinks his shit smells like pineapples!" (meaning Nixon, not her brother).

One day, the phone rang. I picked it up and said hello, but all I heard was that song playing, "One Toke Over the Line" by Brewer and Shipley. I held the receiver up in the air so she could hear too, and we were both very aware of the definition of 'toke' and were giggling like mad and rolling our eyes. When the song ended, Uncle E finally spoke up on the other end. He said he wanted to make sure we got to hear that song because it was about Jesus!

I still think about that and laugh when I hear that song, and apparently Uncle E wasn't the only one who was taken in by that Modern Spiritual!

December 8

Steve Martin wrote "Atheists don't have no songs" but surely John Lennon gave us a couple of good ones with "God" and "Imagine." Can you think of any more?

I hope this is the craziest damn thing you read today

While Screaming Bible Passages, 'Ugly Betty' Actor Kills Mother With Samurai Sword (with video)

MSNBC: A neighbor told WPIX that he heard a man shouting Biblical passages "like repent, repent, repent."

Brea, 31, was later taken into custody, WPIX said.

The New York Daily News reported that Yannick Brea, 55, was stabbed repeatedly with a sword. WPIX reported that she was found decapitated.

Religion and insanity: deadly mixture.

HA HA

[LINK] the Vatican seems to think that the Simpsons are Catholic. From the Vatican newspaper:

"Few people know it and he does everything to hide it but it is true: Homer J. Simpson is Catholic"

"'The Simpsons' remain among the few programs for children in which the Christian faith, religion and the question of God are recurring themes," it said. "The family recites prayers together before meals and, in its own way, believes in heaven."

Crystal Method, Cat Version

Since Henry has asthma, I am in a Yahoo group for that ailment. There is some useful information sometimes. Asthma kitties need steroids, 2 kinds of inhaled meds, and "trigger" controls (chemicals, dust, bad cat litter, etc.).

Generally, people on these kinds of lists are pretty religious (just like the general public), and I always cringe when they insist that their deceased cats are looking down on them, and that they are angels and are now waiting for us in Heaven (so, are they watching us or waiting in Heaven, or watching us in Heaven via big brother cam?).

However, usually the people coming in with new age, homeopathic remedies, or anything that is used as an alternate to the pharms are generally firmly scolded and corrected. In the following example, though, the cat's mom is using inhalers, but also using the services of an animal communicator.

OK, I am the skeptical type but I won't say that there's no ESP because I have sort of experienced it from time to time - it's unexplained, I can leave it there - a lots of things in nature are unexplained, it doesn't mean they don't exist, doesn't mean they do either. I also always think I know what my cat and husband are thinking. Am I right? This particular cat whisperer is also doing "crystal healing." Some excerpts from one person's postings:

I've been using an animal communicator and [my cat] told her his chest feels tight all the time, even though we're giving him a lot of flovent inhaler. It occurs to me that if I gave him a little Albuterol on a regular basis that it might make him feel better.

When she does the communication she writes down everything she said, the cats response, the emotional responses, etc. This time she also did an energetic healing session and the result was DRAMATIC. I think [my cat] benefitted both by talking to her about his feelings of frustration at not feeling well as much as by the energetic healing she did.

And quoting the healer herself:

I worked on [your cat]'s energy for a few minutes. I sensed that his life force energy was degraded and low because he's been feeling badly for a long time. He didn't have any reserves left to tap into. I've been taught that our bodies have energetic crystals in a number of places, so I removed and replaced the crystals in his lungs, heartspace, and stomach, and sent soothing, healing energy to his digestive tract. OK, just going back now to send more energy and oxygen to his bronchioles and other structures inside the lungs. Low energy can come from low blood oxygen level that doesn't provide enough oxygen to the cells. I cleared out the debris from his faith, trust, hope, etc. crystals that reside in the chest area, and polished them to make them clean and sparkly. I also changed out his entire crystalline spine to uplift his life force energy, and re-oriented the crystal in his crown chakra because it seemed like his divine connection was not entirely intact. I'm not sure whether or not all of this will be enough. It feels like we will know more in the morning, after he has a chance to sleep and restore his body and spirit. I will ask angels to attend him in the night, and to stay as long as he (and you!) need them. Please let me know how he's doing when you get a chance, and we'll go from there.

(please don't itemize that stuff on the invoice. It will look silly.)

No. Really. Actually I have some friends who really believe in alternate healing methods like this, and I have to say, at least it's not dangerous (unless you go off your meds), and you aren't ingesting mega-vitamins or herbals that will have side effects. Also, I am very jealous of this cat in the video below. Can I be next in line?

The Gods of War

So the international burning of the Koran (Quran) has been postponed... {yawn}. If you are looking for a topic that will ugly up the conversation faster than politics, go for religion. The patriarchal Yahweh/Jehovah/Allah rules his subjects through the fear of his jealous wrath.

Davidson Loehr: The Story of God's Birth
"The earliest Hebrew traditions show that Yahweh was a Bedouin war god from the deserts of Edom and the surrounding regions. His warlike characteristics are shown in his name: "Yahweh" is an abbreviation of his official, longer name, "Yahweh Sabaoth," which means, "he assembles armies." Yahweh's name identifies this god as primarily the military commander of his people. When he became identified with the tribe of ancient Hebrews, he kept his war god attributes, and added a “tribal chief” character.

The covenant he made with “his” people was modeled on an ancient Hittite sovereignty treaty, and was what we would expect from a war god or tribal chief. He would be their god, and they would be his people. If they obeyed him, he would protect them; if they disobeyed, he could destroy them..."

Christianity, Judaism and Islam all claim to seek and work toward peace - but the central character in monotheistic religions is an entity who does not share power or the allegiance of his followers. He is a stern, jealous ruler. There can be no peace until all humans are following the one of the those three sects, and after one is chosen, then everybody has to narrow it down to one particular brand (such as Catholic/Protestant or Sunni/Shiite). The "narrowing down" process is done partly through conversion but mostly through killing the ones who are different from you. Then, after there is just one religion in charge it has to keep a stern hand over people who choose to think for themselves.

[heresy: from the Greek hairetikos "able to choose" (haireisthai "to choose").]

Also under the thumb of the rulers are those who have broken religious laws as interpreted by the rulers, and punishment is carried out accordingly. A broken law could be as simple as cutting hair or shaving, dressing improperly, eating something you shouldn't, maybe just eating it on the wrong day, speaking to the wrong person, etc. Punishment will vary widely and might include death. This is Theocracy, and it's why it's soooo important to preserve freedom of religion (which also includes freedom from religion).

This is 9/11, and the anniversary of when the USA was attacked on our own soil. The tactics of neoconservative nation-building, being in bed with the likes of Bin Laden and the most unsavory types in the world via the CIA, World Bank, NSA, all the other TLAs (3-letter acronyms) and the long list of International corporations who want to own all the valuable resources in the world - by hook or crook - to use an old-fashioned phrase. The religious idealogy war that smolders on the surface of all the Wars the USA gets itself into just provides enough of a spark to ignite a real shitstorm like we had on 9/11 and afterward.

Seems like the best way to observe this anniversary would be to put aside ALL religious activity that has any measure of intolerance for different beliefs. Put aside nation-building, leader toppling, and war for resources conducted in other countries. This goes for everybody. Oh yeah, and hug a firefighter if there's one nearby.

Kudzu Jeezy

This was bound to happen to at least one of those power pole crosses strung together from coast-to-coast. [article]

What's next? Triffids?

Jesus loves kudzu, which has found its Promised Land.

The truth shall set you free

The truth shall set you free, but healing the damage caused by the lies is going to take some work.

The "most hated person in America" used to be noted atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair. It's somewhat interesting that now the "most hated person" is Fred Phelps, pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church, and his family and followers. They are hated because they do everything possible to spread a message of hate and fear. Madalyn Murray O'Hair's son became a Christian fundamentalist whose organization does its best to try and turn our government into a theocracy.

Nate Phelps, the son of Fred Phelps, is a freethinker and a non-believer. Read more about how he managed to endure the cruel, harsh conditions dealt out by a patriarch with more openly expressed hate-mongering than any rightwing pundit you can think of.

He escaped becoming one of the "God Hates ____" crowd, but is still dealing with post-traumatic stress and the lingering fears that are hard to purge after they've been pounded into your brain so hard. He was one of the main inspirations for the forming of this support Group, "Life After Christian Fundamentalism" (which I think I may join when I get more time to participate).

Also, check out Nate's website, and blog.

This is a topic that I feel close to, as it's a journey that I have made as well, and want to say more about it but it is just going to have to wait until work eases up on me a bit.

Not So Good Friday

Filipinos nailed to the cross for Good Friday

Hellish tradition repeated again this year.

::shudder::

Well... they are celebrating a crucifixion by crucifying themselves. There is some very sick and twisted logic in there.

I *heart* this

Found on twitter:

tonymillionaire My 1st grade daughter made this for her christian friend who told her she was going to hell http://tweetphoto.com/10921664