Freethinker's corner

Yes You Do, No I don’t, Yes You Do, No…Really I Don’t ….. November 25, 2013

2013/11/24

A delusional person cannot see reality, at least where their delusion is concerned. You can tell them white is white and offer more than adequate proof that this is so, but, stubbornly, they insist it is black.

Recently, on a frequent basis, I see stories in the news and from other sources written by the religious that proclaims that even atheists believe and fear the word of god. I admit that for those newly minted atheists that this may be true, that is, that they fear using scripture negatively.

For the newly minted atheist who has seen enough to decide that things are not exactly, perhaps not at all, as the pastor of his former church has taught in endless sermons on Sunday mornings. Despite this revelation, this epiphany of thought, after years of indoctrination and having been taught to think a certain way, the thought that god is staring, ever so intently over your shoulder, is hard to shake.

Many newcomers to the world of non-belief having nagging fears of committing some blasphemous act against the god they thought they knew. Though they have through exploration reached the conclusion that the bible is a work of fiction, somehow they retain residues of respect for its pages. For some it seems so wrong to dismember and destroy this book, this book that has caused humankind such pain.

As time progresses for the atheist newcomer such reverence will fade. Some, no doubt because of deep indoctrination, will never lose this feeling that they are committing some immoral act by failing to believe. There will always be some nagging doubt. For many, however, such as myself, who never gave much credence to such beliefs, merely using the believers as a remedy to loneliness, the reverence soon fades to nothing. The book assumes a place on the shelf as fiction.

Do I wish the bible banned? No. I do, however, urge those who have one to read it carefully with reason turned on. Somewhere along the way while reading the outrageous claims found therein, I would expect a spark to ignite, eureka to be exhaled, and a new atheist born.

For those insistent religious that proclaim even atheists must believe I remind you that you are living a delusion. Those who live in a delusion cannot see the reality.
The Overbearing Ego of Humanity … November 20, 2013

2013/11/20

For much of documented history humanity gazed upon the stars and asserted that the entirety of existence held earth at its center. Religious dogma at the time insisted upon such a viewpoint.

As human beings came to understand the massiveness and arrangement of the universe the egotistical stance that held earth as the center could no longer stand. Despite the resistance of the clergy it was eventually decided that the earth must be demoted from the center, from its unique position, to mere mundaneness.

Did this demotion find human ego deflated? Of course not. There were, after all, many other ways to express an enormous ego. God, it seemed, did not die with the understanding that earth was not so unique. Life had not yet been found to exist elsewhere and has not yet been found to this day.

People who live their lives with such confidence believing some omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent being holds them in such importance that it will alter the schedule of events for them alone exhibit egos unbounded and vast. They fail to notice that such beliefs are a contradiction. To be omniscient their god would depend on a future predetermined and unchanging while omnipotence would allow unrestrained ability. Such a being is impossible.

Even now, in this millennium, religion still exists and resists the knowledge which science delivers. Education, they demand, should be controlled and directed in such fashion as would permit the continued existence of outdated, ancient, and archaic beliefs. Science, it was determined, was a threat to the maintenance of humankind’s enormous conceit.

Even those in scientific circles now seem determined to promote a position of importance for those who stand around possessing a conscious mind and a seeing eye. The observer not only exists, it is conjectured, but the fabric of existence itself is affected by the observer’s gaze.

At this point I cannot help but to reflect upon some past thoughts of my own. I often considered my own existence and in my immaturity felt that should I cease to have consciousness the whole of existence would fade and embrace oblivion. I see this conjecture that the observer has some influence upon existence as an expression of bloated human ego. I see it as immature and self aggrandizing. This concept that an observer is not only inevitable but necessary to reality’s existence is no different than my youth’s thought that the universe would vanish with my passing. Reality, I posit, would do just fine without someone looking.

I must admit, however, humanity is simply being consistent in its arrogance.
Tiny Bubbles or Where No One Has Thought Before … November 18, 2013

2013/11/17

At first the ancient peoples were content with the world. It seemed very roomy, immensely large. Though some remained convinced that it was flat and that the sun circled the world and went under it at night, many thought it round. The stars remained a tapestry for some hundreds of years; the moon an object provided by god to light the night.

Soon, though, discontent set in and looking again there were those who found it sound to think that there were other orbs besides the earth. Still, arrogant as they were, earth was the center around which all flew. Great thinkers arose who examined further still. The sun, they found, was the center of the orbits, even of the earth’s.

Great vessels plied the seas and soon affirmed, the earth was round, as round as a sphere. When they traversed the circumference of the planet, the planet shrank in size, at least in thought. They knew the land and sea was finite and came to wonder how small it really was. Again, those of greater intellect came forward and from mathematic equations were able to estimate an approximation. Though human kind pale in size when compared to the planet, the planet shrank in size, in thought, once more.

Contentment is a fleeting condition and so the thinkers began to wonder just what lie beyond the sun. Using astronomical calculations they found many other planets circling the sun above. Earth was even less unique, it seemed, and smaller still. As observational equipment grew in quality and power, soon enough it seemed the sun was being swarmed by numerous bodies. Even a band of tiny orbs was found between Mars and Jupiter. Still more discoveries, farther out, reduced the Earth to mere membership in the horde.

Planet membership grew to nine, but soon someone noticed that Pluto was merely a planetoid, being one of many outer orbs, and not even the largest. Membership now down to eight.

These blasted thinkers, why won’t they go away, thought more about what lie out further still. They came to understand the immensity, of at least what they could see, when they grew to understand that there were multitudes of stars, some bigger than our sun, out there. Billions, billions they saw, as plentiful as the sand on the beach. They were astounded at the size of the universe.

Technology, like thinkers, never rests. Soon it was clear that some of those stars were not stars at all. Astounded they discovered we reside in just one of many galaxies. Billions, they discovered, billions of galaxies. What a pinprick then, the Earth became.

Satisfaction with the status quo, not being a normal state, soon the thinkers tread softly into the unknown, the unseen. What, they wondered, was beyond the horizon, that distance to which they were restricted? Was there an edge? Did those galaxies that seemed to be fleeing the vicinity of one another merely pile up on a wall? Was there a wall at all? If there were, they scratched their heads, what lies beyond?

Was our universe merely a bubble? Perhaps it’s one of many. Bubble universes touching or not, separate and different. What are these madmen thinking? Are they trying to reduce existence to the soap-like bubbles in our bath?

Our universe, for whatever reason, favors our existence. Conditions are mild enough it seems that life can form and adapt to what is offered. These great minds speculate that though our universe may be suitable, many others may not be so friendly. Not having seen the edge of ours, I wonder, how can they know it ends? With the disparate galaxies madly fleeing in directions opposed to one another, does the bubble expand or does matter gather like some lather upon a curved wall? I think these people with their large capacity thinking organs are no different than the ancients who guessed at what produced the rain, the wind, the sky. They are way beyond the technology capable of verifying their grandiose thought. Are they very much like those that think, and think, and think to the point where even reality fades into a delusion? Perhaps their thought is stuck in overdrive?

I have always been pro-science. I will always be pro-science. Nevertheless I like at least to understand before I consider adopting new thought. There is so much science that seems more like common sense, then there is quantum physics. I begin to wonder if they are merely treading unknown thought, or if they have simply gone off the pier.
Too Rude and Crude … November 13, 2013

2013/11/13

There are many people who claim that they are outspoken, straightforward, to-the- point, or frank. They are proud of this habit of speaking without any notion of civility. If someone is hurt all the better as sometimes, it is asserted, the truth is painful. These apathetic individuals, lacking tact and manners, in their final hours wonder “Where have all my friends gone”.

“But with me you will always know where you stand”, they claim. I doubt so much that those holding such immature stances would receive such knowledge from others as they dish out, with thanks. There’s something wrong there, inside their cranium, so full of apathy and containing so little empathy. Do these louts go about insulting those with handicaps, those with disfigurements, those overweight or too thin? Surely, some day, those who have so much apathy and speak their minds without restraint will speak the wrong word to the wrong person and achieve an early end.

The world is full of calloused people, mean people, with deep throats that issue profanities, insults, and barbs. Beyond their families I cannot see any acquaintances more secure than casual. In time of need, and in old age, such brutish people will no doubt be abandoned. Despite pronouncements to the contrary most give what they get in exchange. My hand does not reach out to save the calloused, the outspoken, the frank of speech, but instead is clasped upon the hands of those who have kindness in their bearing.

Our species survived because of cooperation, not apathetic behavior. We succeeded due to our empathy for one another not because we didn’t care.
Imagine a World Free of Religion … November 11, 2013

2013/11/10

What if religion never came to be?

Religion, it must be grudgingly admitted, was the inspiration for some great works of art, music, and architecture. Other forms of inspiration, however, guided human endeavor in the development of music, art, and invention as well. Sometimes a moment of clarity in thought, an epiphany, can give birth to new ideas, innovations.

It must be recognized that where music is concerned human procreation urges provided the platform for many compositions. Religion excites many of the same areas of the brain excited by these primitive urges and so perhaps many if not all of the great accomplishments for which religion is accredited might have transpired without the baggage religion inevitably brings.

Scientists, inventors, and other great human entrepreneurs have developed numerous incredible advances while being said to be possessed. Upon realizing the possibility of the fruition of an idea or epiphany these individuals will work, sometimes to exhaustion, finding the means by which to make the idea or epiphany a reality. This relentless pursuit of a goal was sparked not by religion but by that moment of clarity wherein an individual could see a possibility, perhaps an answer to a problem, or a new way of doing something.

The Dark Ages, undeniably precipitated by religion, was a blight upon humanity’s past. There is a gap within which technological development was nearly at a standstill. During this time most answers were not sought through scientific means but by looking to religion. There may have been a period of at least six hundred years during which humanity stagnated. This is not to say that there were not any bright spots within this period. Numerous bright individuals, having gained literacy through whatever means (the church was in charge of literacy in those times, almost exclusively), made many scientific discoveries. However, the church leaders were wary of these people and if these bright innovators crossed certain forbidden lines they were persecuted by the church, sometimes severely. What if the church were not there to stymie these advancements? What if religion were not in the way blocking thought that contradicted scripture? Would we have had 600 extra years of advancement instead of stagnation?

Certainly there would have still been many testosterone prompted conflicts, wars, which would have stymied progress. In many cases these testosterone prompted conflicts utilized religion as a means to gather and control contestants in these battles. What if religion were not there as a means of control? The absence of this means of organizing armies would make conflict more difficult, control more difficult. Still, there would be the treasures obtained by warfare available to prompt the greedy. The promise of riches, however, is not motivating to all. Many care more about making a living and supporting their families than conquest and acquisition of access wealth. There is much to risk in conquest, like life and health.

I think it can safely be said that though there would still be many wars, conflicts, they might have been fewer with the absence of religion. So then, perhaps there might have been less than six hundred years of additional progress but there could have been perhaps two hundred more.

Two hundred years, perhaps, at least, might have brought us to a level where the moon bases envisioned by many science fiction writers could have been realized. A base on Mars might even be within the realm of possibility. Other advancements in science and medicine might have eliminated disease, prolonged life to an average of 150 to 200 years by now. One hundred and fifty years might be the new fifty. Even with two hundred years I could not imagine humanity making a discovery that would make interstellar flight commonplace. That pesky light speed barrier may never be broken.

If religion were non-existent there would not be the baggage of bigotry, misogyny, and that dangerous concept of life after death. The concept that there is a better life after the one we are living lessens the value of this life and paralyzes the desire to improve it. It allows the subjugation of individuals, makes them blithely accept servitude, in hopes of an afterlife of euphoric nature. It was not Christianity that freed the slaves, indeed, it was Christianity that promoted it. By promising a rosy afterlife it allowed the masters to rule by making the population quiescently accept their lot in life. It, religion, even promised that the greater would be lesser, and the lesser greater. The lowest and most humble were promised the greatest reward.

Religion has been like a ball-and-chain. It has slowed humanity and kept it from making achievements and advancements at the rate it might have attained without it. Even today religion threatens to strengthen these chains and freeze humanity in place. Unless religion can be removed from its perch of authority humanity will never realize its potential.
Ravings of a Non-Scientist … November 6, 2013

2013/11/06

Consider a universe which arose from nothing. The catalyst for such an event can only be speculated upon as there were no witnesses. There would be many who would insert a god as a catalyst, others who might guess it spontaneous or caused by something unknown. There is no proof of any nature to substantiate that it was a god or that it was spontaneous. It must remain unknown.

If you started with nothing then the balance of what might be created would have to equal nothing. There would have to be equal quantities of matter and anti-matter so that the balance of the universe would equal nothing. Matter and anti-matter cancel each other out.

Presently we have a universe where there is a preponderance of matter and a much less quantity of anti-matter. With this discrepancy considered then the universe would have had to start with something. Convention is that this something was energy squeezed into an unimaginably dense point which exploded. Perhaps this is the case.

Suppose instead that the universe did start from nothing. Suppose there is antimatter equal to matter. We can see the universe only to a finite horizon with our limited means. Is it possible that the balancing quantity of the antimatter which need exist is coagulated in a sphere at the edge of the universe, surrounding it? Pluses and minuses it is said attract. Being opposites it is easy to speculate that they must attract. If antimatter attracts matter then this might explain the acceleration of the galaxies from one another. Surrounded by an enormous globe of concentrated antimatter the universe we know would surely rush toward the outer edge and soon become nothing once more. This sphere of antimatter may be in the form of an antimatter universe that is accelerating in as fast as our universe is accelerating out. In the beginning there may have been more of each, matter and antimatter, but that antimatter that remained within reach of matter, cancelled some of both out.

Of course this is just imagination at work. As non-provable as any god or big bang.
Atheist Detector … November 4, 2013

2013/11/03

Penn Jillette starts his book God No! with a litmus test to find out if you might be an atheist. It is in the form of a simple question: “If god (however you perceive him/her/it) told you to kill your child — would you?” He goes on to state that if your answer is no, you are an atheist. If your answer is yes, please reconsider, he requests.

If I were to take this simple litmus test I would preface it with three conditions. One, I would make it clear that the question is not a question for god to answer. Other than the commandment, he is not involved. Two, I would insist that the person who is asked knows clearly that the question is not for his/her pastor or other church leader to delve over. The question is solely for the person asked, to answer. Finally, three, the individual is absolutely sure that god is the one making the commandment. The last one is to insure that the person being tested does not say it is satan asking or some other demon. If the person states that god would not give such an order, that avoids the question being asked and answers the question of whether god would order such a killing, instead.

If the person answers no then it is obvious they do not believe. After all, god is omnipotent and cannot be trifled with. It could be a ticket straight to hell. The person who actually believes would not take such a risk. Most likely such a person is simply giving “lip-service” to belief anyway.

If the answer is yes, and if they are sincere then they are a true believer. Unfortunately, this also makes them a monster. This person would be someone you would want to avoid. The reason for this is clear… if they would kill their child for god, then they would kill a non-relation without hesitation. They might even gleefully kill a non-related person, thanking god they did not have to kill kinfolk. These are the kind of people who would force a plane full of innocent people fly into a building.

Now let’s carry this a little further, remembering the aforementioned conditions. What if a pregnant mother, totally opposed to abortion, was told by god that the unborn child must not be born. Would she obey god? Would she, being totally opposed to abortion for any reason, seek an abortion? Would she take a carving knife to her abdomen in a gesture of faith and slice herself open, spilling the contents of her womb on the floor?

The United States may be said to be 70 percent christian, but I think in light of how those people behave it is more than likely less than 10 percent in reality. Yes, I think 60 percent of the population are cherry pickers. These people give god lip-service only. This is a good thing.
The Agnostic Trap …Who Ya Gonna call? … October 30, 2013

2013/10/30

Theists seem determined to elevate a belief in a god to a universal level. Everybody, they insist, believes in god whether they admit it or not, even if it is not their god. If you leave an opening in the door, just a crack, they insist that you believe.

I have often stated that I am an atheist. It is clear to me that the concept ‘god’ is a construct of humanity, and nothing else. Theists insist that you cannot disprove the existence of god, and that no matter how little possibility that you leave for the possibility of god’s existence, that you believe.

I leave open only that it might be possible that some entity somewhere in the universe might exist that has some of the attributes we might designate god-like. I state clearly that this entity does not know humanity, that this entity did not construct the universe and instead was a product of the universe. This creature is of materials extant within the universe. Whether by technology or by unusual abilities this being might be mistaken by the less technically savvy or developed being as ‘god-like’. There is absolutely nothing of a supernatural nature about this being, though, through technology, it might cause us to think so. In other words, it is simply a being which, through evolution, has developed abilities which we might consider greater than our own. We have seen no evidence of such a being and so that is why we do not know of it and it not of us.

This is not good enough for some of these theists who insist that since there has been no disproof of god and that I leave the door open for some “god-like” being then I must believe there is a god. Also, of course, being under the spell of Christianity, these people insist that it is simply that I have not sought god in the correct way as the reason for my not knowing him.

If you leave the door open a crack, even like Richard Dawkins’ claim of atheism, theists claim you believe in god. If you claim you are 99.9999% atheist, they insist whatever is left is enough to make you agnostic.

Well, I am closing the door.

I will state it plainly. There are things and events that science has not explained. This does not in any way suggest some unknown conscious entity at work. Just because there are events and hidden answers now does not mean that the future will not provide these answers.

No one has known a god. None of the gods of man’s knowledge are real. If there were a god and it was knowable then there would not be a hundred gods. Everyone’s god would be the same without each disparate group having had contact with any other. There would be no need for evangelizing or proselytizing.

There are no supernatural events or experiences. Those claiming special events upon acceptance of certain doctrine have only their own brain to thank for creating the experience. This applies to other events and so called miracles as well. The brain is simply imperfect and fails to accurately interpret unknown phenomena.

I am now 100% atheist, even purer than Ivory® soap.
Embracing Maturity Is Not For the Weak of Heart and Mind … October 28, 2013

2013/10/27

I seem drawn toward this particular topic time and time again: Why and how does religious belief persist? In the short time I have studied different aspects of religion (since late 2007) I have seen more than sufficient information to invalidate the three major religions, the Abrahamic religions. I am sure that this information is available to everyone, in books and on the internet. Yet, these persistent believers either must be refusing to look, cannot understand, or refuse to understand, and refuse to accept. I am presently reading a book titled The Evolution of God, by Robert Wright. I bought the book thinking that it was an atheist that wrote the book. Sometimes, on my Kindle I fail to look at the cover or see the purpose of a book and read it soon making the discovery it was not what I thought. The author supports belief. With this book I read through a great number of pages before making the discovery, by looking online and seeing the cover. Up till that point the author seemed to be making an excellent point of destroying everything people believe about the Bible. He exposes the fabrication of the Christian religion, the Jewish religion, and hence the Islamic religion, from previous belief systems. On this book alone one could make the deduction that the whole shebang, the entirety of the Christian religion, was a product carefully crafted so that the rulers of different groups of people could exercise control over their people.

I have written before about how much religion resembles in many ways a computer virus. It is much like a program, a mind washing program, presented orally and through written words. A virus capable of infiltrating the organic computers we call brains. Like computer programs that are guarded by sophisticated Antivirus programs, information that contradicts the ‘program’ is rejected. The natural inherent reasoning and logic centers we all possess are over-ridden on any information that pertains to the religious programming. Those ideas and concepts that do not pertain to the religious programming are left unfettered by the protections allowing logic and reason to prevail.

The protective ‘anti-virus’ part of this programming lies latent until needed. A believer receiving information that contradicts the actual program momentarily sees the merit of the contradictory information. Then the protective element of the religious infection breaks to the surface viciously, denouncing the contradictory information, asserting that it cannot be true, as it would otherwise invalidate the word of god. The religiously compromised individual at this point might form a cross with his or her fingers and shout “Be gone from me Satan!” After all, human knowledge cannot compare with the perfect knowledge given by god.

This protective ‘anti-virus’ quality combined with the individual’s fear of death and desire for immortality is a nearly unbeatable combination. Most of the infected remain infected for life. Yet, some do get the cure.

Those ensconced in the belief almost never make an escape. For others simple research and appropriate thought are sufficient to effect a cure. Some find release after a personal tragedy, during which, despite persistent pleading, god failed to answer. Sometimes the implantation of the programming is thwarted by a child possessing a curious mind filled with questions, questions left unanswered. The program does not like questions.

Despite escape the program may persist; it may generate guilt for its host. Thoughts that some eternal being is staring over your shoulder expressing displeasure at your chosen course may linger. The temptation to transfer your responsibilities to some imagined fatherly figure may plague you for some time. Most likely this delusion will fade with time but it may never fully go away. The maturation process is never easy, it is much easier to be the child protected by the parent and remain carefree.

I think it better to live your only life in the best possible way. It is depressing to think so many spend this only life in spiritual delusion instead.
Friendship Lost … October 23, 2013

2013/10/23

What a fine bridge it was, thirty-three years in the making. It spanned an otherwise insurmountable chasm filled with water. Though never of the finest construct it managed to provide egress and ingress. To see it now, in ruins, having caught fire and burned, provides me utmost injury.

Over the years it took for you to build it, in an effort to distance yourself from me, I did manage to provide maintenance; I tried so hard to keep the avenue open. The span stretches so very long. As the length kept growing my ability to transport the needed materials to provide for its maintenance became a tiring task. How I managed to provide at least the minimal repairs, all without your help, for so many years seems now impossible.

Even while it burned, having been ignited by some misdirected fiery breath, I continued to hurry, I continued to carry materials and flame-retardant solution, in an effort to preserve the structure. You must understand, it was so long, it was thirty-three years in the making.

Whatever prompted you to begin such a project I am at a loss to discern. Was it something I said, did, or forgot? I cannot find anything so extreme in the past that would initiate such activity. Whether it be a misunderstanding or your extreme sensitivity I cannot know. Perhaps an ego had to do with it?

How you found so wide a chasm I cannot fathom. I begin to suspect that it was gouged out by hand as you made it longer, and longer. It seemed as if every time I crossed to inquire as to how you were faring I found yet another stretch had been added. As if the stretch itself, and the deepness to which it had been dug was not enough, I woke one day to observe that the bridge not only spanned the gorge, but deep waters also. One day I even noted that the vast waters had serpents added. One misstep guaranteed added injury and delayed repairs.

Now, with the bridge all but gone, its charred remains jutting only infrequently from the troubled waters, I stand staring across the chasm, this ocean, knowing you are over the horizon; I am unable to see your form. I am so tired. After thirty-three long years of providing the maintenance to see that the bridge remained open and now seeing it in its present form I do not possess the strength to rebuild it. That fortitude which kept the bridge at least passable in the past, is gone.

My only hope now is that you can swim the chasm or perhaps find the fortitude to rebuild the bridge yourself. At this point you will have to build the structure and maintain it. I am tired. If you decide to swim the chasm please use care. Among the serpents which are yours to command I have added some of my own.