Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Arguing the Case

I had a little foray into a Christian chat room this evening. It went surprisingly good. Argued the fact that humans are more moral than God, the improbable nature of the speciation of dogs after the flood, and Abiogenesis with references to the Miller-Urey experiment.

It was fun and, because he was trying to refute me, the guy actually listened. I'm not sure how much he actually took home with him but, you know, not much is to be expected. Really, I was just having some fun.

Until another day.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Torture Facts

Anyone who's read my older posts knows I'm not a fan of torture.

On that thread, here's some facts about it:







































































































































Until another day.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Giant Jesus Destroyed by Lightning

Yes, you've read that title right. A giant statue of Jesus, which used to look like this:




















Now looks like this:


















It was struck by lightning and burst into flames. Not horribly surprising being that this $250,000, 62-foot tall monster is made of styrofoam, wood and fiberglass resin.

Of course, from a religious standpoint, one could see the destruction of this statue by natural forces as a sign that God didn't care for this false idol being there.

These Christians don't see it that way. Of course not. They're going to rebuild!

PZ Myers' commenter, Jerthebarbarian, puts it best:

Look, it's really simple. When a mosque or a Hindu temple or a Jewish synagogue is destroyed by lightning, that's an angry God insisting that they convert to proper Christian worship.

When a Christian church is struck by lighting, that's just Satan testing the faithful. If they didn't rebuild the statue they'd be giving into Satan, and God doesn't like that. Haven't you read the Book of Job?
Ah, now it makes sense. God's such a tricky fellow.

As opposed to spending $250,000 to rebuild the stupid thing, I wonder how many meals they could buy with that much money? What charities could benefit from that sort of money? Which of the people of their congregation could be helped with it?

Nah, forget all that. That sort of money would be better spent on building another statue.

What Would Jesus Do? Build another statue.

Link to the News story.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

For the Degradation of Life

I value life. A person's life is worth more than anything else in this world. This life we have is all there is and, in this acceptance of a very finite existence, that makes life insanely precious.

I assert that many religious people degrade the value of life with a claim of an afterlife, one which is better than real life. This life is it and to waste your time on it, preparing for another is absurd. Some even claim this is just a test often saying their cause is 'worth dying for'. They trick young people to strap bombs to their chest to end their life early (as well as the lives of others).

If you're not enjoying this life, don't just bear it. Life isn't a test of perseverance as a lead up to the afterlife. I'll repeat, this is it. When life isn't working right, change it. This isn't something to suffer. Life is to be enjoyed.

Enjoy it.

As well, there isn't a God deciding what happens to you so he can't 'test you' with hard times. Hard times will happen but only you can change them. Don't wait for him to because he can't. Nonexistent beings have this sort of limitation.

Until another day.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Pump it, Pump it, Pump it

Drive you're fancy, over-sized SUV. Make sure it's just you riding in that big 8-seated vehicle you own. That's that American way.

Drive that massive truck of your's. You know, the one with the empty, large bed and the cab with the back seat that you'll ride in alone. That's the American way.

Need to go to the convenience store two blocks away? Don't walk. The weather's too nice for that. Jump in your SUV with the A/C cranked. Leave your car running during the 10 minutes you'll be in the store. That's the American way.

For God's sake, use as much fuel as you can. Pump that stuff. Throw some on the ground, as a sacrifice to the American Gods, Haliburton, BP, Chevron and Shell. That's the American way.

Enjoy your lazy worthless life, no matter the consequences for other creatures on this planet. The less of them alive, the more resources for us, right?



















This is human oil dependence at work. That's the American way.

Cheers.

(More hideous images here.)

Religion Does Contradict Science

Ever heard someone say "Religion doesn't contradict science"? Yeah, me too.

Here's a few examples of how it does, all directed toward Christianity (since it is the one I experienced as a child and because it is by far the most common one in the United States):

1. Without sperm from a male, conception is basically impossible. I did read once (but now can't find it) that supposedly, in very rare cases, a woman can have a 'clone' like child without a male's input but it can only been a female baby since there is no male input for the y-chromosome.

In other words, Jesus being born of the virgin Mary is contrary to science.

2. The whole Earth's surface can't be covered by water, including the mountains, with the current water on the Earth. The water then couldn't have disappeared in a similarly mysterious way.

3. Water can't be 'magically' split to allow people to walk across the floor of a sea. That isn't how water works.

4. The 'soul' (I interpret that to be your personality, or your mind) is a product of the brain. When the electrical function of the brain ends, the mind ceases to exist. It doesn't 'leave the body' to continue existing as a mind elsewhere.

5. Donkey's can't speak.

6. Water can't turn into wine without the addition of fermented fruit nor can it turn into blood.

7. The Earth and Sun have been moving in the same way for billions of years. In other words, as Joshua 10:13 says: "And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day." is an idiot's concept. These massive rocks in the sky can't just stop and then go again. That's absurd.

I could go on, but I've made my point. If you're thinking "You must have 'faith'" or some crap like that, you're missing my point. In this context, 'faith' means believing things that contradict science.