Freethinker's corner

I will not go quietly into the night!

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  • Ignorance is Bringing About the Destruction of Humanity… October 1, 2017

    Religion promotes the spread of ignorance. It provides an avenue for the spread of concepts that go against the acquisition and denigrate the value of knowledge. Specifically it rails against knowledge accumulated and extracted by human intellect and favors that written in religious texts.

    It is therefore my charge that should humanity become extinct, the fault lies with religion and a belief in god and an afterlife. The environment of earth itself is being degraded because belief and religion override science in political circles.

    Religion and belief are destroying humanity and the ability of the earth to support life.

    end of the world

  • The Unknown Catalyst(s) October 1, 2017

    Much work is progressing around the world pertaining to abiogenesis. It is my hunch that we might be on the cusp of a major discovery. The beginning and the end is known, it is the middle that needs filling in.

    What elements had to come together and provide the impetus for initial formation? The thought of inorganic becoming organic by way of some intermediate is fascinating.

    Organic compounds have been found inside meteors striking the earth. Is this where the catalyst arose as well? Even so, on some distant world, or in some place something had to happen to start the journey.

    There is no place for god in these explanations. The mention of a god stops all further inquiry. Science has no need of deities.

    Was the world first an RNA world? Many scientists now discredit this thought. Then what caused the first strand of DNA to arise?

    I am no scientist, I readily admit… though I do still study biology… abiogenesis… and more. All so interesting… though more questions arise every time an answer is found.

    Was the sun the catalyst? You can be sure it was a player. Deep sea smoker vents, spewing a concoction of minerals and heat? Could be… many think life began in the sea. Our blood seems to indicate a salt water based origin.

    We can dig all we want for fossils in order to explain our past, but still need to find life’s origin.

    Did life begin here? Was the seed planted by comets, meteorites, dust? Some answers may never be found conclusively. Yet, there is no reason to resort to explanations based on religion. Religion is what our ancestors used to explain away phenomena they could not understand. Reasoning human beings need to explain phenomena, not explain them away.

  • The Daily Struggle to Understand… September 26, 2017

    I do not fail to understand why Trump does what he does. He is, after all, beholding to a great number of very rich supporters. He has a major incentive to provide massive tax cuts for not only himself but his very wealthy constituents. One could say this would be a sound reason for adding the uber-rich to the those who believe in Armageddon and the rapture as people who do not belong in public office.

    I struggle with understanding the poor and average working class person that supports Trump and his policies. Those who would suffer greatly under “Trumpcare” or if Social Security and Medicare were destroyed. These working class people whose sons and possibly daughters would suffer under the burden of the continuing war and other conflicts threatened by this administration. It makes no sense to me. Is it simply faithfulness to a party that has long abandoned them? Is it the same phenomena as those who are religious, and remain so even in the face of reason?

    I can truly say that the reactions on line from these supporters is very nearly the same as the religious whenever any resistance is encountered. Vicious, crude, and rude remarks gauged to make you cede to their point are plentiful and quick. It is no wonder the typical Trump supporter is compared to ignorant rednecks with pick-up trucks. They possess a bull-headed characteristic that could only be compared to someone standing resolutely in water that is coming to a boil, refusing to vacate less someone think they are yielding. 

    I can no longer guarantee victory for the other party no matter what Trump does. If that were possible even warmonger and liar Hillary would have won unanimously. Perhaps people just could not see such a monster as Trump coming down the road. Nevertheless, that does not explain their resolute support now.

  • Evolution or Cooperation… September 24, 2017

    Is winning all there is? Has evolution betrayed humans by making all humans competitors? Does competition produce individuals that exhibit excessive selfishness? Is this competition the source of the “me first” syndrome?

    Not only did the first humanlike anthropoid have to compete with other species for food and shelter, it also had to compete with members of its own species. It was concerned with its own survival. If it shared anything with anycaveman other individuals it was done with the expectation of later remuneration. Again, self was the object of concern. If the creature came to the aid of another it was with the understanding that the aided would render aid if in the future help was needed. If the creature were to imperil itself that action was usually reserved for offspring or mate rather than a casual acquaintance or stranger.

    Does this primal beginning as groups competing against groups render widespread cooperation among the species known as human nearly impossible? If a group were to disappear or be endangered as the result of war29cooperation while other groups benefited wouldn’t that result in rebellion? If this cooperation was necessary for species survival would not a successful rebellion doom the species?

    Is extinction inevitable? Have the struggles created by evolution’s instilled competitive instinct doomed all in the long run? At some point, for survival’s sake, cooperation must take precedence over competition. How do youhuman extinction 2 persuade a group to accept annihilation for the sake of the species?

    One answer is to make groups blend into one homogenous all encompassing group.  This seems an impossible task. The human species is extremely diverse in beliefs and mannerisms. Each group is convinced of its own superiority over all other groups. What base do you select, then, for homogenous transformation? For survival’s sake, eventually a central collection of mutually accepted beliefs and mannerisms must be developed. Even then, minor disagreements may arise when what is thought a simple basic precept conflicts even ever so slightly with some rigid structured belief or mannerism held by a significant number. At that point does the majority squash the dissenter out of existence?

    I would venture that even the most complex machine humanity may develop will be inadequate to solve these problems.

    Either one or the other faction will eventually succeed in squashing all dissenters or extinction is inevitable. Even the type of faction winning will determine long term survival. Is the winning faction the one that possesses the elements necessary for surviving in the real world?

  • As Good As Your God… September 17, 2017

    A role model should be good, moral, and just. Followers of a god should expect their god to be the same. Fair, just, and good.

    god 2What did your god do during the Holocaust? The Jewish god watched. Nothing was done to save the millions of Jews gassed by Hitler’s minions. Advertised as omnipresent, omniscient, omni-benevolent, and of course all powerful, where was this god while grandmothers, grandfathers,mothers, fathers, children, were shoved en masse into gas chambers and then piled like cordwood into mass graves? Was this god watching? Didn’t he see? Why did this god not act?

    Suppose that you called the police having heard someone trying to test the strength of your door. You hide in the closet, hoping the police arrive in time before whoever, a thug perhaps, finds you. The police break in just as the creep finds you but enter silently, sneak up to your bedroom and watch as the monster drags you out of your closet and proceeds to apply deep life ending creases in your skull with the base of a brass lamp. Witnessing this atrocity, having the power to stop it all, yet taking no action, the police back out silently, reenter their cruisers and depart. What shall become of these supposed guardians? They were only acting as good as your god. They were only allowing your free will to play out. Perhaps god’s plan was for you to die horribly… if the police interfered they would thwart god’s plan for you.

    What if god’s plan for you was to have you become a booze guzzling derelict lying in a ditch? The good samaritan would have to act against god’s divine plan in order to rescue you. Wouldn’t that send the good samaritan straight to hell?

    Imagine better. The human mind can conceive of a god light-years better than that depicted in that horrid tome, the Bible. If you followed the teachings of the Bible today you would most certainly be rubbing elbows with the toughest crowd in the penitentiary.  We should be better. Isn’t that what a parent wants? For the children to be better, more well off than they?

    Humans have a great sense of right and wrong, at least most humans, and can determine the right course of action by heeding their conscience. For example, suppose the check out clerk at the local store charged you twice for the same item… you’d make sure they knew about it… but what if you got your stash home and found that they did not charge you for an item? Would you rush back to the store to correct the error? Would you say to yourself that it makes up for a past overcharge, or serves them right as they charge too much? In the first example the clerk made an innocent mistake. In keeping an item unpaid for you have committed and immoral act. It can’t be equaled by past mistakes the clerk made which they were totally unaware of. You can choose to be better. You can do the right thing.

    Every day the omnipresent, omniscient, all powerful, and all benevolent god allows things to occur that must surely give believers pause. Yet, the power of the ideology is so great that believers go to extraordinary lengths to create excuses for god’s absence. Instead of realizing it is their province to stop these acts they continue blithely hoping that god, the god that let millions of Jews be massacred, will take action on their behalf. But then, that is the nature and purpose of the religious rhetoric. The lesson of the weak. To be immobilized, paralyzed, hoping that all mighty god will not ignore their pleas… yet again, again, and again. This allows terrible actions to be taken in god’s name. War, suffering, violence, and death is the foodstuff of religion. The more suffering, the better the ideology fairs. After all, what need of god if we alleviated all that ourselves?

    Be better than your god, if he/she existed, that is what he/she would have wanted. Think of churches as monuments, monuments on a grave, where your god died a long time ago but had high hopes you would be better than he/she was.   

     

  • The God Hypothesis…

    Many scientists consider god an unnecessary hypothesis for explaining our existence. It is my claim that, far from being only an unnecessary hypothesis, god and religion are dangerous hypotheses.

    Religion has held back the advancement of humanity for many thousands of years. Who knows what affliction we might have eradicated by now. Who can fathom what technological wonders we might have at this point if, only if, ignorance had not stood in the way.

    Religion has brought humankind more death, destruction, and suffering than any other ideology. Other ideologies, even today, threaten family, men, boys, women, and the environment… but only religion holds the key to our final complete destruction. Both Christianity and Islam are death cults. They seek the destruction of this planet in order to initiate imagined events promised by their moldy, barbaric tomes. At this point in time, it appears, these factions may be winning.

    Far from being a harmless, unnecessary hypothesis, religion is in essence a dark plan of control and destruction.

    It is time to rid governments of believers of religions. They are too dangerous to be in charge. Their very ideologies cry for violence and death. Are there any good and decent people left to see this? Is it already too late?

  • Cerebral Nightmare…

    A calm veneer cloaks the rage within. Why the rage exists is a mystery. Like uncontrolled shorts within an electrical machine, the rage is such that it renders thinking impossible. An agitation without cause, an irritation without remedy. You need to know the cause to apply the appropriate remedy…. tesla-coil-huge-discharges-1

    I feel the rage. I sit quiescently. How can action be taken upon a condition that seems to have no cause?

    Perhaps this inner turmoil has many catalysts or causes. As it is composed of many issues or problems or whatever, perhaps it isn’t possible to discern them separately, and together they have no form. How can something without form be discerned?!

    To handle even the individual conflicts, problems, issues, or whatever, you must at least be able to see them separate from the formless nightmare they present. I sit, paralyzed, unable to react to the mass of irritation, agitation, of rage, I feel.

    Rage? Against what? How can rage exist separate from the cause? Yet, there it is. Like a massive electrical emission from some Tesla device.

    Is this what drives the elderly mad? Is this what causes the senility so many exhibit? Unexplained rage? A mental clenching of fists and teeth?

    At a time when my mind should be calm that I suffer this inner storm, I find most disappointing. I am thankful that at least the storm does abate from time to time. Its recurrence, though, seems more and more frequent. How much longer will I be able to still my mind in order to put the record down, I do not know. It helps, at least, to write it down.

  • That’s Right, I’m Not Politically Correct… September 2, 2017

    I am not politically correct.

    The advantage of being a solitary figure rather than a member of a group is that you can be less affected by “groupthink”. This term seems to refer to members of a group conforming to the same views on issues, views which are not necessarily the correct views as pertains to fact.

    Members of a group under “groupthink” hold particular views and these views cannot be affected by evidence any more than the views of the religious can be affected by criticism. The members, just like the members of religious groups, will defend their point of view even in the face of conflicting fact as resolutely as any zealous fanatical believer.

    To gain a vast audience many writers will cater to these groups and try to become the unofficial spokesman of the group. The writer does not necessarily subscribe to the views of these groups but appears to for the sake of the adoration of his/her readers.

    They are politically correct.

    Conclusion: Most humans belong to groups with the accompanying ideologies.
    I am not politically correct and will not cater to unfounded ideologies.
    Therefore… my audience is small and will stay that way. It will be composed of those who are not affected by groupthink, or are solitary thinkers like myself. That’s good enough for me.

  • Present Thoughts on Fetal Development and Abortion… August 27, 2017

    What are the moral reasons that precipitate the need for abortion to be available and safe? Rape, Incest, mother’s health, and fetal development. Rape would include the qualification that if either party, male or female, were under age it would be considered rape and any baby conceived would be aborted. If the mother is physically endangered at a terminal level abortion would be deemed a necessity. If through extensive scanning it is found that the fetus is developing abnormally, defects rendering quality of life impossible, the fetus should be terminated. Perhaps other reasons will be determined deeming abortion moral in the future, but these are all that seem moral now. 

    Feminists desire total control of the reproductive process. The “my body not yours” mentality. Yet, the fetus is treated as a separate individual in cases of murder. If it were a separate individual then the fetuses body does not belong to the mother and to terminate the fetus for any other than the moral reasons stated above should be considered murder and prosecuted as such. There is no reason for demanding abortion on demand as it is tantamount to demanding murder on demand.

    Quality of life arguments cannot be used as an excuse for abortion where finances are concerned since adoption is possible and many barren mothers await to adopt them.

    Whereas a malformed fetus is grounds for abortion, that abortion should be a decision of the individual. If the mother is of such mind and does not care whether she spends all of her time caring for a newborn with disabilities, possibly a short-lived child, or even a lifelong dependence of constant attention, then she should be free to make that choice.

    These changes in my thoughts about abortion are the result of readings that suggest that a fetus may indeed have a mind… one that is subject to a high rate of development which necessarily results in the elimination of memories from life in the womb, and up to certain ages where long term memories are left untouched by rapid neural development.

  • Negative Evidence of a Designer….

    God as a concept has been described as imagining something which there is nothing greater than. This would imply total perfection. Such a god would be so perfect that it could not create anything that was not perfect as well. This perfection, if the god was perfect, would be incorruptible. It would stay perfect and never degrade regardless of circumstances. The moment it degraded is the moment that god would be revealed as flawed.

    God created everything, it is claimed. Nothing is excepted.

    Therefore, if one flaw in any of god’s work is found, that god would be revealed as flawed.

    The Christian god is claimed to be such a god, perfect, perfect, perfect. To find one flaw any where in anything would therefore disprove that god, or at the very least, prove that god less than advertised.

    The human body itself contains numerous flaws. Remember, it would take only one flaw to discount a perfect god.

    Flaws in the human body, flaws that could only transpire if evolution were the designer:

    1. The Pharynx. Unlike many creatures which obviously were more favored, humans must use the same tube for ingesting food as for breathing… leading to many deaths.
    2. The urinary tract in men passes through the prostate, leading to many problems in older men.
    3. Our lower backs are made more for four-legged walking than walking upright leading to many problems.
    4. The Blind Spot in our eyes. Didn’t see that one coming, did you?

    And many more → here

    However, we needed only one, just one, to fell the notion of a perfect god.

    Do I expect this to sway the believer? No. Desperation will find some way to explain this all away and somehow retain a perfect god making incredibly flawed things. That is the nature of faith… to keep believing when all is lost, in this case, when it is proved that your god is false. Faith to march right over the cliff because you have been told you can fly.