From a December 2, 2010 interview with Christopher Hitchens on Lateline, Mr. Hitchens pulls no punches on what he thinks about the Tea Party in the US
Review of Stephen Hawking’s “The Grand Design”
November 30, 2010 By
Written for the scientific layperson, Stephen Hawking provides a high level overview of modern theories about our universe in his book The Grand Design. His analogies help make difficult concepts more comprehensible for the average reader. The degree of difficulty increases throughout the book, and peaks in the final chapter. What that means is that you wouldn’t want to start reading at the last chapter or you’d be completely lost. What it also means is that Hawking is an excellent educator, slowly feeding the reader, while steadily increasing the complexity of his argument toward a logical conclusion about the origins of the universe.
This book received a good amount of attention when it debuted, primarily because Hawking basically stated that the universe didn’t need the assistance of a god or gods to become what it is today. While other educators, like Richard Dawkins, emphasize the modern Darwinian understandings of evolution to make their case for how life and the universe exists, Hawking spends most of his time in scientific theories and laws. Referencing quantum physics, along with several other scientific branches, Hawking shows us a slightly different way of understanding the universe. All of which is congruent with our current understandings of evolution.
The last chapter is a logic trap for those who still adhere to superstitious belief. In the end, he posits the question (rhetorically), if a god made the universe, what made the god?
We are Structured Chaos
November 26, 2010 By
There are laws that make up our universe – some of which we still don’t understand or know even exist. As best we know, we’re part of a great expansion. From the big bang, we are the consequences, the results, of time and matter. Everything exists because of a natural structure to things.
If we – all – are on a continuum of a great expansion, are we simply a reaction to a stimulus? Is our existence, our thoughts, our actions, simply nature playing out its natural, violent rhythm? I think the answer is yes and no. Yes, in that everything we are and do is a result – a reaction – of a structured, lawful existence of everything. No, in that the future is unknown and un-lived.
There is a dichotomy between our existence and our behavior being predictable in hindsight, and the unknown chaotic future powered by our choices. A future that is most certainly predestined by the structured chaos of our universe, and its still mysterious properties.
For me it reinforces the meaning of life. That is, to fulfill the purpose of our existence – to live vigorously to the end.
When Should You Talk To Your Kids About Star Wars?
November 17, 2010 By
You’re watching Talking to Your Kids About Star Wars. See the Web’s top videos on AOL Video
Religion Flies You Into…
September 6, 2010 By
Science flies you to the moon. Religion flies you into buildings.
10 Reasons Why Gay Marriage is Wrong
September 6, 2010 By
- Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.
- Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.
- Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.
- Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can’t marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.
- Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britany Spears’ 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.
- Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn’t be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren’t full yet, and the world needs more children.
- Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.
- Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That’s why we have only one religion in America.
- Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That’s why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.
- Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven’t adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.
Originally published on Craigslist
6 Steps to Belief
September 5, 2010 By
The writer ExPenty – which I’m assuming is a pseudonym for Ex-Pentacostal which is a pseudonym for their real name – posed some interesting steps to belief. Well, actually impossible steps to belief, which can’t actually be answered, at least not reasonably.
- Prove that God exists.
- Prove that there is only one God.
- Prove that your one God is still alive.
- Demonstrate that God is interested in us humans.
- Show that God is in fact the Christian God.
- Show that the Christian God is worthy of worship.
They sum it all up fairly well at the end.
Let us assume for the sake of argument that the existence of God can be proven and that he can be shown conclusively to be the God of the Bible, the triune God of Christianity. Even then, why should I worship him? Even if he were real (which I do not believe, but just supposing), how is a God who would create humans knowing that the vast majority of them would burn in hell for all eternity be worthy of worship? That would make him directly responsible for the eternal suffering of billions of people. And why would a God who ordered the deaths of innocent men, women and children (read your Old Testament) be worthy of worship? Or how about a supposedly loving, caring God who makes his existence so difficult to believe – why should we worship him if his very hiddenness leads millions to hell? Even if the God of the Bible exists, he is a sadistic monster and unworthy of worship and devotion.
The Ineffectiveness of Prayer
August 30, 2010 By
Religion masks our primal need to be safe, comforted, and to live forever, with the promise of the supernatural. However, when you strip away human nature, and the mind’s capacity for imaginative thought and limitless denial, all that is left is the reality that what you’re worshiping only exists inside your mind. Such is the case for prayer.
Prayer, like the belief in a god or gods, is a cultural and mental phenomenon. Part of my self-deprogramming from my Christian upbringing was to see what would happen if I stopped praying. While it wasn’t scientific, because it was so subjective, it did show me that nothing changes significantly in your life when you do or don’t pray. In fact, the only thing I experienced was a feeling of peace and freedom from the tyranny of having to worship and talk to an imaginary friend.
There have been several studies about prayer, most of which have been all over the place. Unsurprisingly, most studies were flawed or unduly influenced in some way. Dr. Herbert Benson, a cardiologist and director of the Mind/Body Medical Institute conducted a meta study on prayer, which concluded that there was no statistical difference between people who prayed, and those that didn’t. In some cases, prayer seemed to cause more harm than good.
A 1997 study at the University of New Mexico, involving 40 alcoholics in rehabilitation, found that the men and women who knew they were being prayed for actually fared worse.
The other interesting thing about prayer is how it affects your decisions. I was reminded of the insidious nature of prayer by a recent post, The Deceit of Prayer. Not only does prayer deliver nothing, it also promotes inaction.
it traps a person into non action, into a pattern of passive waiting, of believing they are not able to control their lives, of waiting on someone/thing else to solve problems. To the extent that some people are unable to make any decisions without first waiting on god. How many people are trapped in destructive marriages waiting for god to heal their partners, to change their personalities, to make things better. How many wait for years, praying for god to get them the right job, and not taking control and going and doing whatever it takes? How many times have we read about children dying for lack of medical intervention – while parents pray and believe god instead?
While prayer may seem like the healthiest and best thing for a person to do, it may actually be a deterrent towards living a full life – similar to the mental and emotional shackles that religion imposes on its followers.
Christian Hypocrisy
August 12, 2010 By
This cartoon was created by Tracie Harris, a graphic designer in Austin, TX. Her long, slow recovery from a rabid fundamentalist upbringing led her to the creation of Atheist Eve.
Explanation of Life ≥ Bullshit
August 7, 2010 By
Until we understand how anything could exist – the beginning and cause of matter as we know it – there is no reasonable explanation for how or why we exist.
Theology presents an imaginative fabrication of our existence, quenching our mind’s desire to never die. Our inherent superstitious tendencies attempt to accept a metaphysical meaning that has no grounding in reality. Yet, for all human cultures, there is a clinging to folklore, and a suspension of rational and logical thought for explanations that serve three prevalent desires.
- We desire to know why we exist
- We desire to know the purpose and meaning of events in our life
- We desire the ability to live forever.
The latter is experienced by all living animals, in the form of conscious and unconscious survivalism. However, when higher reasoning is introduced – present in all fully-functioning human beings – all three desires become what a psychologist might call unresolved conflict.
Religions provide the most cohesive and tangible answer to these desires. For the religious superstitious, answers provided by religions are logical and reasonable. This is true, but only when considered in ignorance of facts and history, and void of true critical thought.
Science has shown us attributes of our observable universe, and has exposed religious explanations for what they are, complete bullshit. The interesting thing about science is that it doesn’t quench our desires, it only strives to answer them. Science says that we can physically observe a universe that appears to have evolved, and was most likely started by something called The Big Bang.
Science doesn’t explain or offer any factual explanations as to why we exist. It’s not that science doesn’t want to know these answers, because it most certainly does. The reason it takes this position, is because based on our current knowledge, to provide an answer would be greater than or equal to bullshit.