Thursday, April 30, 2009

Space Alien Sex RULES!!

Hey everyone! I figured that the title of this post would get your attention. Anyway, 2 posts in one day? Lucky us!

Anyway, I had a brief debate with another atheist today. In this debate, he accused me of being religious about my atheism. (In the land of atheism, that is a bit of an insult. However, being a old, grizzled veteran, I did not take offense.) He suggested that some of my FB posts were not entirely based in reason and proper atheist etiquette. Hmmm . . . How does one respond?

After some time to reflect, I do have some thoughts on this topic. In atheism, there are many different perspectives on how to reflect our views. Rationalists tend to be very strict about sticking to all of the rules of reason. Some people are "soft" atheists. Soft atheists tend to have a live and let live when it comes to spirituality. Some atheists are militant. Militant atheists use whatever tools are at their disposal to force the issue. These tools include reason, hyperbole, rhetoric, etc. Militant atheists are willing to use them all. This is a very short list. Suffice it to say, there are many different shades of atheists. Because of this, there can be a little in-fighting among the non-believers.

I am a militant atheist. I am proud of being so. I will use anything I can to get under the skin of religion. I will use strict reason when it suits me. I will use hyperbole when it suits me. I will use rhetoric when it suits me. I will use any tool that is available to me to advance the cause. I do think that religion needs to end before humans can really reach our fullest potential. (I DO NOT advocate the abolishment of religion. I want religion to die a natural death.) My position sometimes ruffles a few feathers in the atheist community -- especially among the rationalists.

What do I make of this? Let me give you a Star Trek analogy. (Yes, I am that kind of geek.) We're all on board the Starship Enterprise. Each member of the crew represents a different form of atheism. I imagine the rationalists to be Mr. Spock. Logic is the only means of assessing the situation. The soft atheists are like Lt. Ohura they do their job, but are not involved with the dangerous missions. Militant atheist are like Captain Kirk. We tend to be emotional. We use what tools are at our disposal to get the job done. Everyone on the crew is committed to helping the cause, but we all have different things to bring to the table. Without each person carrying their weight, we all fail as a group. We fight; we bicker; we don't always agree on a course of action. However, at the end of the day, we are all part of the same team.

All that being said, my young friend who barked at me today is a rationalist. He is a Spoke. I am a Kirk. Spock is always correct when it comes to the logical conclusions. Spock is always able to separate emotion from facts. Kirk, however, gets shit done. Kirk saves the day. Kirk makes the whole crew better. Most importantly, Kirk gets laid by space aliens all the time. Spock may win the logic battles -- but Kirk gets all the glory and all the lovin'. I am proud to be a Kirk.

Rationalists are a funny breed of atheists. They tend to exist in a very sterile, academic world. They are absolutely correct in logic and in reasoning. This works great in academic settings. In the real world, however, pure reason does not always get you where you want to be. I would love to be a rationalist, but this approach does not always push the movement forward. As a militant atheist, I use the whatever strategy I can to push the movement forward. This can make me an elitist. This can make me a hypocrite at times. This can make me seem like a total asshole.

I am okay with this. I will do whatever it takes to make this a better world for my daughters. Religion is universally prejudiced against them. It wishes to, at best, hold them hostage and, at worst, enslave them. I can not tolerate this. I will NOT tolerate this. I will do whatever it takes to make sure that the world is a safer, better place for my little girls.

I love the rationalists. They are my brothers and sisters. However, I do not have time to debate these issues as a purely academic set of thoughts. I must take action and I will do so in whatever way I can. I will be a Kirk. I will get it done and I will get to have a whole bunch of alien sex along the way.

That's it for now. Catch you all later.

The Cult of Reality

In many of my debates with Xtians, they have often suggested that atheism is a cult or a religion in its own right. While this shows their obvious ignorance of what it means to be an atheist, it has given me a cool idea. I have decided to start the Cult of Reality. If they want me to create a cult to allow them to keep their currently incorrect assumptions, I will humor them.

CHARTER OF THE CULT OF REALITY

I have anointed myself the Supreme Reasoner in my new cult. As such, I get to make the rules. If you don’t like my rules, feel free to start your own cult or join an established one. The Catholic Church is always looking for more people to molest ...err... save.

These decrees are in no particular order – so don’t be getting all interpretive or anything. I write them as I think them. That is the privilege I have as the Supreme Reasoner.

DECREE #1: EVERYTHING WE ACCEPT AS TRUE MUST BE BASED UPON REASON AND EVIDENCE.

Don’t be calling anything a truth unless you can support it with evidence and it can face the scrutiny of reason. We’re not going to believe in cosmic aliens living in volcanoes, zombie Jews, or multiple armed elephant men. Nope. We’re just going to stick with things that make sense. We can find all of the truth we need in chemistry, biology, physics, or other paths of reason.

DECREE #2: EVERYTHING IS SUBJECT TO SCRUTINY.

We’ll have no sacred cows in the Cult of Reality. No Sir! Every idea, every writing, everything can be debated and put to the test of Rule #1. If you believe that any of your ideas should not be subjected to reasonable scrutiny, you can consider your idea false on its face. This also applies to miracles. Don’t be spouting off about any miracles unless you are prepared to replicate the miracle in a controlled, scientific inquiry.

DECREE #3: EVERYBODY GETS TREATED THE SAME WITHOUT REGARD TO RACE, SEX, RELIGION, AND SO ON.

You may be wondering if I have lost my mind. Nope As the Supreme Reasoner, I think that everyone, solely by being part of the human race, should be afforded the same rights, privileges, and accommodations. Even Xtians. People deserve to be treated with dignity. Stupid ideas, however, don’t deserve that respect. We should not respect their willful ignorance. We should not respect their beliefs in things that are not true. However, I will treat their person with decency at all times.

DECREE #4: DO GOOD FOR ITS OWN SAKE.

In the Cult of Reality we will do nothing to curry favor from some invisible, imaginary sky-god or other deity. We will do good for its own sake. We will do good because we want to make sure that we leave the world a better place. We will do good because humanity benefits from it. We will do good for its own sake.
DECREE #5: IT IS OKAY TO NOT KNOW EVERYTHING

In the Cult of Reality, we are okay with not knowing everything. We don’t have to believe in mythical creations to fill in the gaps of our knowledge. We love to learn – and if we know everything – we cannot learn anything else. Worse yet, if we believe that we know everything because we have read some dusty old book that is thousands of years old, we will never progress or advance or otherwise. This decree, however, does not condone willful ignorance. People who choose not to know are fools. In the Cult of Reality, we can not have fools. So, not knowing must be an incentive to continue learning.


That’s about it. Feel free to join. You don’t have to attend church. You don’t have to tithe. Membership is voluntary – but worth the while. Come on – drink the Kool-Aid.
Catch you all later!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Sick and Tired of Stupid!

Hey everyone!

Sorry for the delay between posts. It's been a very busy time for me recently both at work and in life. It's cut into my time to write. But, I am back, and this post will be much less gracious than any of my previous posts. If you find swearing offensive, feel free to stop reading here. If not . . . press on dear reader.

As always, I am open to debates with Christians. I love the interaction and in many cases, I learn from these debates and I wish to think that perhaps they learn something from me. Often, the people who I debate are well spoken, thoughtful Christians. Many of them are educated and have decent arguments. Although all of their arguments are flawed in some way, they can be challenging. Generally, I don't take debates with people unless they have some scientific, theological, and rhetorical acumen. I think it makes for a better discussion if my opponent has the ability to articulate and defend their position. Thus, most of my debates are against pastors, theologians, Christian scientists, etc.

I am regularly challenged to debates by lay Christians too. Up until recently, I steered clear of these discussions. However, with some prodding, I decided to accept some of the challenges. BIG FUCKING MISTAKE!! Holy shit, people, the average lay Christian is a moron -- a big fucking moron. I am simply astonished at how dumb they can be. I thought it would be interesting to get their perspectives on these topics -- instead, I got a world tour of idiocy. Here is a sampling of the idiocy I came across:

1. Lay Christians do not know the Bible to save their lives. Many do not even have a basic understanding of what is presented in the Bible. One of these people tried to convince me that the Bible was written in 1611. WHAT??? 16-fucking-11? I found myself having to give many of these idiots a basic lesson on the Bible -- and they are the ones who believe in that shit!

2. Lay Christians do not know jack shit about their own basic theologies. Again, I had to spend amazing amounts of time explaining to them what they believed. I felt like a fucking Sunday school teacher. If you cannot describe the difference between predestination and free will, then you need to head back to church school for awhile before you try to engage in a debate.

3. Lay Christians do not know even the basics of science -- yet they seem to believe that they are experts in debunking evolution. These morons would read some drivel like Ray Comfort or Lee Stroebel and start parroting those arguments. However, under any amount of scrutiny, it was clear that they did not even know what any of those arguments even meant. Dumb motherfuckers! It became impossible to even begin to debate these mouth breathers because they could not even articulate their "own" positions. These idiots are completely illiterate when it comes to basic science -- so they have no ability to even understand the basics of evolution -- let alone discuss the key nuances behind it. They have about as much scientific knowledge as the goat herders who made up the creation story had -- no wonder they believe in creationism.

4. Lay Christians have no clue what the basic rules of logical debate are. They believe that "Nuh-uh" is a legitimate counter to an articulated argument. "I don't believe that" is another favorite of lay Christians. What kind of fucking argument is that? My 11 year old is a better debater than these shit heads. You can't have a discussion if one of the parties does not even know how to form and articulate a position.

5. These fucktards actually revel in their ignorance. In some cases, they would posit the argument that they did not need to know science, or literature, or history. All they had to know is that Jesus loves them and that was good enough for them. They actually choose ignorance!! While it is true that most Christians will only read and listen to things which confirm their convictions, I never really understood what that meant until now.

Why does this bother me so much? Really, why should I spend any time worrying about this? Here are a few reasons:

1. These idiots vote. These idiots get an equal say in issues like global warming, economic policy, foreign policy and other key decisions that I do. Yet, they could not for half a second even form an informed opinion on any of these topics. Instead, these idiots wrap themselves up in the mantra: What would Jesus do? These idiots are voting in Christian idiots to lead us. We are fucking doomed if we allow these shit for brains morons determine our public policy.

2. Even more scary, these people are breeding more little soldiers for Christ at an alarming rate. Christians typically have larger family than non-Christians. Sheesh -- we're already outnumbered and it's getting worse by the minute.

3. To complicate matters, Christians are homeskooling in record numbers. So, any chance their children had to learn about the real world is gone. Instead, their science class consists of "If it ain't in the Bible, it ain't true." Their logic and argument classes consist of rebuttals like, "Nuh-uh" or "I just can't believe that" or "Logic and reason can't prove anything -- faith can."

I know, I know. I should not be so heavy handed with these retards. Wrong. This is what makes me so afraid of religion in general and Christianity specifically. They are idiots but they think they have good handle on things. The world is a dangerous enough place without these people running around.

Heaven help us . . . check that . . . reason help us.


Sorry for the rant today, I just had to get it off my chest.

Catch you all later!