Most Christians do reject most of the holy books of other religion as a bunch of ancient fairy tales. One could ask for a good reason why would do one treat the holy book of one religion differently?

The simple answer is that accepting just a certain religion can make one think that the old book of that religion is something special. Still, the very same people so very often end up thinking that the holy books of any other religions are just work of humans.

I love it when complex things are simplified so that we can all understand.

• United States Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
• Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
• New debt: $1,650,000,000,000
• National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
• Recent budget cut: $38,500,000,000

Now, remove 8 zeros and pretend it’s a household budget.

• Annual family income: $21,700
• Money the family spent: $38,200
• New debt on the credit card: $16,500
• Outstanding balance on credit card: $142,710
• Total budget cuts which some politicians are proud about: $385

Stop the insanity now. Vote them out and demand a balanced budget.

Since the mainstream adoption of the Internet, I’ve been predicting that it would forever change religion – especially for teenagers and young adults. The main reason for this is access to knowledge.

My wife and I grew up protected from dissenting views of our faith. We were lied to (or not told enough information) about the origin of the Bible and the true history surrounding our religion, let alone all religions. Our parents and our churches used an age-old method used by all religions, which was to relentlessly educate us from a young age with a myopic world view – one that was severely sanitized.

That approach still happens today, but something now changes when those kids become teenagers. They gain uncensored access to the Internet.

My prediction has been that access to knowledge on the Internet will forever change the religious landscape in the US. Unlike when I was a teenager, there are now numerous resources like the ExChristian.net and Think Atheist communities, books like Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why and The God Delusion, and movies like Religulous.

Based on new research by the Barna Group, my prediction (a prediction that is not unique to me) may be coming true.

Researchers found that almost three out of five young Christians (59 percent) leave church life either permanently or for an extended period of time after age 15.

While it may take another decade to see real change in our traditionally superstitious society, I believe the demise of make believe in American society is now only a matter of time. This not only gives me hope for society, it also gives me hope for my children.

I’m not that kind of Christian
No I’m not that kind of a Lutheren
It’s not that type of a question.
I’m not that kind of a Christian.

That made me curious, so I looked at their label. It was curiously called Joyful Noise Recordings. I thought, surely they must be a Christian label – something similar to Tooth and Nail. After looking around their site, it seemed if they were a Christian label, they were doing a good job of hiding it.

I finally stumbled upon a link on their About page that enlightened me to their stance on religion. It was a link to Unfortunate Religious Connotations. It was a very simple WordPress site with only one blog entry. The entry, “On the name Joyful Noise”, explained the label’s position on its name and their relationship to religion/faith. The entry was very respectful and thoughtful, and concluded that they were in no way religious, but certainly wouldn’t be against taking on a religious group.

I would not shy away from working with a religious band, provided that they were artistically honest and aesthetically on par.

However, the reality of such a possibility came with this amazing caveat at the end of the entry.

We simply strive to be honest with our religious beliefs (which means we are basically agnostic), and we would be happy releasing an inventive Christian group alongside of Montreal’s genital draining fuckfests.

While they are certainly taking what I consider to be a high road, there’s a part of me that entertains the idea of purposefully using religious connotations in the use of organizations and movements that are not religious in nature. Mainly to show that good and morality are not exclusively held by those who are religious. Of course, there’s also the reality for some that religion is void of good and morality, but that’s a completely different blog entry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTrN2y_ueBU

“Watching people who get their first smartphone, there’s a very quick progression from having a basic phone you don’t talk about to people who love their iPhone, name their phone and buy their phones outfits,” said Lisa Merlo, director of psychotherapy training at the University of Florida.

Anyone going from a RAZR to an iPhone is going to be enamored by it. They’re moving from a phone where the most they could do beyond calls was text using numbers, to a phone that can now play games and videos, provide a full keyboard for texting and emailing, and can be used as a GPS device in your car. Of course they’re going to love the phone! As for naming their phone, nobody does that. And if they do, who cares?!

…psychologists say the love of them is becoming more like an addiction, creating consequences that range from teenagers who communicate in three-letter acronyms like LOL and BRB to car accidents caused by people who text while driving.

Using shortened text and acronyms is not an addiction. As for car accidents caused by people who are texting, that has nothing to do with smartphones, and has everything to do with stupidity.

Merlo, a clinical psychologist, said she’s observed a number of behaviors among smartphone users that she labels “problematic.” Merlo says some patients pretend to talk on the phone or fiddle with apps to avoid eye contact or other interactions at a bar or a party. Others are so engrossed that they ignore people completely.

They are using their smartphone, because the information and interactions on the smartphone are far more interesting than the people in the room. Before the smartphone, a person would stare at the TV screen at the bar, needlessly check the time on their watch, stare at their drink, leave, or grin and bear with people who annoy the living shit out of them. When you look at it like that, the smartphone is the greatest device ever made!

“The more bells and whistles the phone has,” she says, “the more likely they are to get too attached.”

This is where the psychologist, Merlo, really gets it wrong. What is a smartphone really? A smartphone is a replacement for separate, antiquated and immobile devices. It consolidates all of those devices into one tiny, portable device. Some of the things it replaces are:

• Landline phone
• Desktop computer (for email, web browsing and e-commerce)
• Calendar
• Address Book
• Stereo coupled with CDs/Cassettes/Records
• Video game system
• Wallet
• Newspaper and Magazines
• Notepad
• Camera
• GPS devices
• Alarm Clock

Of course they’re going to become attached to it, but that’s because it just replaced 10+ things in their life.

It’s too bad that the psychologists interviewed in this article are so clueless. The entire piece reeks of self-motivated job security – creating and perpetuating problems that don’t actually exist for self gain. If you focus on any human behavior without considering the full context and history of its actions, it will almost always be troubling. However, it’s the job of a counseling psychologist to cut through the bullshit, not create it.

The word “addiction” was needlessly and unprofessionally misused in this article. The reality is that everyone has an addiction to something. It may be a concentrated addiction to one thing, or an addiction to many things (which subsequently helps mask it from a clinical perspective). Addiction in itself isn’t a bad thing. It’s only bad when it interferes with your ability to relate well to others, harms other people or yourself, causes you to lose your job or not pay your bills, etc… The person who chooses to pull out their smartphone at a party they don’t want to be at is not ruining their life with their so called addiction to smartphones. What they’re doing is making the best out of crappy situation that’s full of douchebags and blowhards.

All the speakers featured are elite academics and professors at top institutions, many of whom are also Nobel Laureates.

A film by Dr Jonathan Pararajasingham