Monday, 24 December 2007
THE END... OF ANOTHER YEAR
Just a quickie here since it's that time of year - to anyone and everyone, whatever your beliefs - have a good time, have fun, and be free......
Sunday, 9 December 2007
CHURCH SHOOTINGS
The following events happened on the same day - today in fact...
THE FIRST
ARVADA, Colo. - A gunman opened fire in a training center dormitory for young Christian missionaries early Sunday after being told he couldn't spend the night, killing two of the center's staff members and wounding two others.
More than 12 hours later, a gunman opened fire in the parking lot of a large Colorado Springs church on Sunday, striking four people, authorities said. Colorado Springs is about 70 miles away from Arvada.
THE SECOND
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A gunman killed one person and wounded four others before being shot dead by a security guard at a busy Colorado Springs megachurch on Sunday, authorities said.
The shooter, who was not identified, was shot dead in the parking lot by a church security guard, Colorado Springs police chief Richard Myers said at a news conference.
New Life was founded by the Rev. Ted Haggard, who was fired last year after a former male prostitute alleged he had a three-year cash-for-sex relationship with him. Haggard, then the president of the National Association of Evangelicals, admitted committing undisclosed "sexual immorality."
COMMENT: The president of this church is a pervert and who amongst you attended his church?
This is religion?
You are "dumb lemmings"
ROFL @ Religion
THE FIRST
ARVADA, Colo. - A gunman opened fire in a training center dormitory for young Christian missionaries early Sunday after being told he couldn't spend the night, killing two of the center's staff members and wounding two others.
More than 12 hours later, a gunman opened fire in the parking lot of a large Colorado Springs church on Sunday, striking four people, authorities said. Colorado Springs is about 70 miles away from Arvada.
THE SECOND
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A gunman killed one person and wounded four others before being shot dead by a security guard at a busy Colorado Springs megachurch on Sunday, authorities said.
The shooter, who was not identified, was shot dead in the parking lot by a church security guard, Colorado Springs police chief Richard Myers said at a news conference.
New Life was founded by the Rev. Ted Haggard, who was fired last year after a former male prostitute alleged he had a three-year cash-for-sex relationship with him. Haggard, then the president of the National Association of Evangelicals, admitted committing undisclosed "sexual immorality."
COMMENT: The president of this church is a pervert and who amongst you attended his church?
This is religion?
You are "dumb lemmings"
ROFL @ Religion
Tuesday, 4 December 2007
GILLIAN GIBBONS BACK HOME FROM SUDAN
British teacher Gillian Gibbons, jailed in Sudan for letting her students name a teddy bear Muhammad as part of a writing project arrived home in the UK Tuesday after being pardoned and said she was “very upset to think that I might have caused offense to people.”
Unfortunately the fate of the teddy bear is not so clear. It might be reasonable to assume that the poor bear has since been jailed and lashed, and most probably beheaded following islamic traditions imposed upon those infidels that dare to insult the prophet Mohammed.
Gibbons said she didn’t want her experience “to put anyone off going to Sudan — in fact I know of a lovely school that needs a new Year Two teacher.”
I think if anyone has their rights wits about them they would stay well clear of the Sudan, and any other extremist regimes out there.
"The Sudanese president Al-Bashir insisted Gibbons had a fair trial, in which she was convicted of insulting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, but the president agreed to pardon her during the meeting with the British delegation, said Ghazi Saladdin, a senior presidential adviser."
How on earth can anyone claim a fair trial over a teddy bear"? The fact that there was a trial at all only serves to show how inept these people are. And worse, a mob were calling for execution? Like where have the Sudanese been for the last 10,000 years? Probably no-where, they are really just as ignorant, poor, and badly educated as they have always been.
In my own experiences in arab/muslim countries I have never experienced religious hostilities, but I did experience friction based more on the mixing of cultures - I am a westerner - I do not ride donkey's to work, I drive a car. I do not live in a tin and clay shack - I live in a brick and mortar house. I probably earn in a month what these people in Sudan and similar countries earn in a year. Does this make me the good guy and them the bad ones? Of course not - poverty DOES NOT = BAD, and it should never be used as an excuse to label people. However when you get groups of people uniting for extreme religious beliefs and acting upon those beliefs (the mob is stronger than the individual) life becomes hard for the normal guy who just wants to work and look after his family. Religious mobs terrorize the individual who is either with them or against them - and in places like the Sudan the religious mobs rule - not for their intelligence, not for their compassion or understanding, not for their outstanding community work - BUT FOR THEIR TERROR. Women in these places run by these religious fools are treated WORSE than animals.
So what is the point of this rhetoric? Fanatic religion has stunted the Sudan's growth and prosperity for centuries - and they will probably stay that way for centuries more.
The teddy bear case was not a simple mistake - the teacher Gibbons made no mistake, the teddy bear made no mistake, the school children made no mistake - what happened is that religiously motivated imbeciles demonstrated their levels of poisened hatred toward humanity - imbeciles - don't you all know yet? THERE IS NO GOD!
Many Muslim groups in the West had sharply criticized Gibbons’ arrest. On Monday, Inayat Bunglawala, a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, welcomed her pardon.
“Gillian should never have been arrested in the first place, let alone held in jail. She had done nothing wrong,” he said. “It will be wonderful to see her back in the U.K. I am sure she will be welcomed by both Muslims and non-Muslims after her quite terrible ordeal at the hands of the Sudanese authorities.”
Well said, Inayat Bunglawala, I commend your thoughts, comments, and actions regarding this case. You are a true example of a clear minded and compasionate human being in a world in which we are sadly lacking enough examples. Great actions and decisions do not come from "great religions" - they come from great people. With or without religion what Inayat Bungalawala stated was the truth - clearly and openly, and no doubt he will earn derisive comments from the more fanatical religious elements, however he is totally correct, and at a time when other british politicians were just standing around repeating over and over "we respect muslims"....
How I would like to take those politicians and plop them down a in poor market place in the Sudan and see how they get out of that one alive. Their grey suits would amass a mob of people in no time - what would they do, stand around repeating that they respect muslims?
Understand the people and "perhaps" you can reach them - focus on their religions and you will never reach them. Empty words like "we respect muslims" from politians mouths are about as meaningful as giving a kid sweet wrappers but not the sweets.
Unfortunately the fate of the teddy bear is not so clear. It might be reasonable to assume that the poor bear has since been jailed and lashed, and most probably beheaded following islamic traditions imposed upon those infidels that dare to insult the prophet Mohammed.
Gibbons said she didn’t want her experience “to put anyone off going to Sudan — in fact I know of a lovely school that needs a new Year Two teacher.”
I think if anyone has their rights wits about them they would stay well clear of the Sudan, and any other extremist regimes out there.
"The Sudanese president Al-Bashir insisted Gibbons had a fair trial, in which she was convicted of insulting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, but the president agreed to pardon her during the meeting with the British delegation, said Ghazi Saladdin, a senior presidential adviser."
How on earth can anyone claim a fair trial over a teddy bear"? The fact that there was a trial at all only serves to show how inept these people are. And worse, a mob were calling for execution? Like where have the Sudanese been for the last 10,000 years? Probably no-where, they are really just as ignorant, poor, and badly educated as they have always been.
In my own experiences in arab/muslim countries I have never experienced religious hostilities, but I did experience friction based more on the mixing of cultures - I am a westerner - I do not ride donkey's to work, I drive a car. I do not live in a tin and clay shack - I live in a brick and mortar house. I probably earn in a month what these people in Sudan and similar countries earn in a year. Does this make me the good guy and them the bad ones? Of course not - poverty DOES NOT = BAD, and it should never be used as an excuse to label people. However when you get groups of people uniting for extreme religious beliefs and acting upon those beliefs (the mob is stronger than the individual) life becomes hard for the normal guy who just wants to work and look after his family. Religious mobs terrorize the individual who is either with them or against them - and in places like the Sudan the religious mobs rule - not for their intelligence, not for their compassion or understanding, not for their outstanding community work - BUT FOR THEIR TERROR. Women in these places run by these religious fools are treated WORSE than animals.
So what is the point of this rhetoric? Fanatic religion has stunted the Sudan's growth and prosperity for centuries - and they will probably stay that way for centuries more.
The teddy bear case was not a simple mistake - the teacher Gibbons made no mistake, the teddy bear made no mistake, the school children made no mistake - what happened is that religiously motivated imbeciles demonstrated their levels of poisened hatred toward humanity - imbeciles - don't you all know yet? THERE IS NO GOD!
Many Muslim groups in the West had sharply criticized Gibbons’ arrest. On Monday, Inayat Bunglawala, a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, welcomed her pardon.
“Gillian should never have been arrested in the first place, let alone held in jail. She had done nothing wrong,” he said. “It will be wonderful to see her back in the U.K. I am sure she will be welcomed by both Muslims and non-Muslims after her quite terrible ordeal at the hands of the Sudanese authorities.”
Well said, Inayat Bunglawala, I commend your thoughts, comments, and actions regarding this case. You are a true example of a clear minded and compasionate human being in a world in which we are sadly lacking enough examples. Great actions and decisions do not come from "great religions" - they come from great people. With or without religion what Inayat Bungalawala stated was the truth - clearly and openly, and no doubt he will earn derisive comments from the more fanatical religious elements, however he is totally correct, and at a time when other british politicians were just standing around repeating over and over "we respect muslims"....
How I would like to take those politicians and plop them down a in poor market place in the Sudan and see how they get out of that one alive. Their grey suits would amass a mob of people in no time - what would they do, stand around repeating that they respect muslims?
Understand the people and "perhaps" you can reach them - focus on their religions and you will never reach them. Empty words like "we respect muslims" from politians mouths are about as meaningful as giving a kid sweet wrappers but not the sweets.
Friday, 30 November 2007
SUDAN PROTESTERS SEEK U.K. TEACHER'S DEATH
Thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and knives, protested Friday outside the presidential palace in Khartoum, demanding the execution of a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad.
In response to the demonstration, teacher Gillian Gibbons was moved from the women’s prison near Khartoum to a secret location for her safety, her lawyer said.
The protesters streamed out of mosques after Friday sermons, as pick-up trucks with loudspeakers blared messages against Gillian Gibbons, the teacher who was sentenced Thursday to 15 days in prison and deportation.
"Imprisoning this lady does not satisfy the thirst of Muslims in Sudan. But we welcome imprisonment and expulsion," the cleric, Abdul-Jalil Nazeer al-Karouri, a well-known hardliner, told worshippers.
In an editorial, The Daily Telegraph said Miliband "has tiptoed around the case, avoiding a threat to cut aid and asserting that respect for Islam runs deep in Britain. Given that much of the government's financial support goes to the wretched refugees in Darfur and neighboring Chad, Mr. Miliband's caution is understandable."
Now, however, the newspaper said, Britain should recall its ambassador in Khartoum and impose sanctions on the Sudanese regime.
The British Government this week stated "We respect Muslims" - Like WTF???
In response to the demonstration, teacher Gillian Gibbons was moved from the women’s prison near Khartoum to a secret location for her safety, her lawyer said.
The protesters streamed out of mosques after Friday sermons, as pick-up trucks with loudspeakers blared messages against Gillian Gibbons, the teacher who was sentenced Thursday to 15 days in prison and deportation.
"Imprisoning this lady does not satisfy the thirst of Muslims in Sudan. But we welcome imprisonment and expulsion," the cleric, Abdul-Jalil Nazeer al-Karouri, a well-known hardliner, told worshippers.
In an editorial, The Daily Telegraph said Miliband "has tiptoed around the case, avoiding a threat to cut aid and asserting that respect for Islam runs deep in Britain. Given that much of the government's financial support goes to the wretched refugees in Darfur and neighboring Chad, Mr. Miliband's caution is understandable."
Now, however, the newspaper said, Britain should recall its ambassador in Khartoum and impose sanctions on the Sudanese regime.
The British Government this week stated "We respect Muslims" - Like WTF???
STOP ALL THIS WEAK "WE RESPECT MUSLIM BULLSHIT", you are dealing with ignorant animals - YOU MUST impose economic sanctions, sever all economic aid and political ties with the Sudan and let them rot away in their own religious bullshit.
WE DO NOT, AND SHOULD NOT RESPECT PEOPLE THAT BEHAVE LIKE THE SUDANESE.
The UK and US and all other FREE governments must show this NOW.
WE DO NOT, AND SHOULD NOT RESPECT PEOPLE THAT BEHAVE LIKE THE SUDANESE.
The UK and US and all other FREE governments must show this NOW.
POST your teddy bear pics and cartoons here, and perhaps it would be cool to send them to the Sudanese Embassy.
Meanwhile another Teddy Mohammed is available online - check it out here:
Wednesday, 21 November 2007
THE BEAST WITHIN
I cannot control it - the animal within - it is amazingly strong and resilient - it is a part of me from the DNA level right up to the physical level - our animal side is there. Residing in each and everyone of us are the vestiges of our evolution - the shark, the lizard, the predator, the ape - the barbarian... the animal within is not evil, it is not bad, it's just that it is not part of, nor suited to, our modern human culture. The animal within is suited to survival of the fittest on the african plains - it is suited to the male conquest of other males to win a suitable partner - it is suited to kill and eat or be killed and eaten - it is suited to violence against the females of the breed to keep them under control and free from competitors - it is suited to defending and fighting for territory.... Can you see the similarity? (Look up "reptilian cortex" on Google)
I like the series HEROS, not so much for the the acting or the screenplay but more for the idea that humans will continue to evolve and may one one day develop a characteristic that at the moment we can only regard as fantasy. Take birds for example - you might well exclaim that they are at the pinnacle of their evolution, a better example of "designed for flight" could not exist...
Well you would be wrong, what you are seeing when you consider birds is just a snapshot of evolution at this particular moment. Birds will also continue to evolve over the coming millenia and for all eternity - how birds might look in 5 million more years will be surprising - they might well develop flight characteristics that as yet no one could ever imagine. But then the same applies to all life on earth - the shark, the tiger, the monkey, the human being. You are only seeing a snapshot of this moment in time. How might a human being be in 5 million years time from now?
Can we postulate with some degree of accuracy? Lets see...
The animal inside us all will continue to diminish, so we will see less crimes of an animal nature - that means less violence, less rape, less abuse of females and abuse of female children. We will see less territorial wars, less eye for an eye aggression...
What will we see more of?
Well forget the hippy flowers and love stuff, forget religions, we will see more cooperation, more "attempts" to overcome differences of opinion, more "global awareness", more "we are the same species" outlooks...
Here is a question... why do dogs hate cats? They are not competitors... in the animal world dogs are really wolves and cats are really tigers and lions but the two groups do not even live on the same continents and are not natural enemies - yet dogs dislike and chase cats and that is "ipso facto"
We have a saying in the english language - "scaredy cat" but consider this... if you disturb a giant crocodile it will at first run to the river or nearest water and submerge itself... are they scaredy cats? Are they afraid?
No, you are mistaken with that belief - it is simply a survival tactic. And to prove it lets put you in a ring with a 1 ton crocodile and lets see who is the "scaredy cat"... You will shit your pants in the few seconds of life that you have left before the crocodile attacks. And you will loose. Would you attack the crocodile first? Lol, no way...
However much education you have, however rich your parents are, whichever thrash music group you listen to - you will loose. So once again "who is the the scaredy cat"? Well humans are is the answer...
The full answer to the above question is this - just remember that survival of the fittest and strongest is a real everyday occurance between animals on this planet and all its miriad life forms - including humans, as is the survival of the smartest - and cats are smart, crocodiles are smart, each species has it's own solution... in the future we might see less dependance on this attitude, because survival will be possible without resort to violence.
The animal within is thriving within all of us - what is needed is time, time to conquer the animal and dominate it...
How much time?
Maybe 10,000 years at least... in which case you and I will not experience this...
An unpleasant thought perhaps, but then what are you doing about it today and tomorrow that might help speed up this transition???
I like the series HEROS, not so much for the the acting or the screenplay but more for the idea that humans will continue to evolve and may one one day develop a characteristic that at the moment we can only regard as fantasy. Take birds for example - you might well exclaim that they are at the pinnacle of their evolution, a better example of "designed for flight" could not exist...
Well you would be wrong, what you are seeing when you consider birds is just a snapshot of evolution at this particular moment. Birds will also continue to evolve over the coming millenia and for all eternity - how birds might look in 5 million more years will be surprising - they might well develop flight characteristics that as yet no one could ever imagine. But then the same applies to all life on earth - the shark, the tiger, the monkey, the human being. You are only seeing a snapshot of this moment in time. How might a human being be in 5 million years time from now?
Can we postulate with some degree of accuracy? Lets see...
The animal inside us all will continue to diminish, so we will see less crimes of an animal nature - that means less violence, less rape, less abuse of females and abuse of female children. We will see less territorial wars, less eye for an eye aggression...
What will we see more of?
Well forget the hippy flowers and love stuff, forget religions, we will see more cooperation, more "attempts" to overcome differences of opinion, more "global awareness", more "we are the same species" outlooks...
Here is a question... why do dogs hate cats? They are not competitors... in the animal world dogs are really wolves and cats are really tigers and lions but the two groups do not even live on the same continents and are not natural enemies - yet dogs dislike and chase cats and that is "ipso facto"
We have a saying in the english language - "scaredy cat" but consider this... if you disturb a giant crocodile it will at first run to the river or nearest water and submerge itself... are they scaredy cats? Are they afraid?
No, you are mistaken with that belief - it is simply a survival tactic. And to prove it lets put you in a ring with a 1 ton crocodile and lets see who is the "scaredy cat"... You will shit your pants in the few seconds of life that you have left before the crocodile attacks. And you will loose. Would you attack the crocodile first? Lol, no way...
However much education you have, however rich your parents are, whichever thrash music group you listen to - you will loose. So once again "who is the the scaredy cat"? Well humans are is the answer...
The full answer to the above question is this - just remember that survival of the fittest and strongest is a real everyday occurance between animals on this planet and all its miriad life forms - including humans, as is the survival of the smartest - and cats are smart, crocodiles are smart, each species has it's own solution... in the future we might see less dependance on this attitude, because survival will be possible without resort to violence.
The animal within is thriving within all of us - what is needed is time, time to conquer the animal and dominate it...
How much time?
Maybe 10,000 years at least... in which case you and I will not experience this...
An unpleasant thought perhaps, but then what are you doing about it today and tomorrow that might help speed up this transition???
Sunday, 28 October 2007
UNDER PRESSURE
Damn it, this is a difficult month - coming to terms with my "new" identity and at the same time accepting all the events that happen in life as being "a part of" my new identity is causing an emotional crisis - a physical crisis even, as the pressure grows daily over my new found "non-beliefs" and my own actions.
Without anyone to answer to (no gods, no soul, no afterlife) I am having great problems controlling "myself". Yet as I have mentioned in my previous entry I also had an experience that goes totally against everything I am try to accomplish here. The conflict between what I have seen and what I want to be is just getting way out of control. I am moody and thoughtful and quiet one moment, and open and responsive and playful the next - it is confusing to the people with whom I work and even more confusing to me. My wife and daughter are also unsure - they are cautious and seem to avoid anything "suggestive and related" to my new idea. The moodiness comes from the fact that I am "reflecting" on recent experiences, but reflecting on them becomes mind boggling, psycho, distant, painful even, and so I bounce back as the opposite personality. I never, ever could have imagined, not with all my worldly experience (which is huge and wild - and not the norm) that I would be sitting here confessing to these problems.
Thankfully I can still maintain my objective in sight, yet the "pressure" against me to forget it all is huge - the pressure comes from the wife and daughter - "what is happening to daddy" they ask - the pressure comes from my business of which I am the owner - "why am I doing this?" - the pressure comes from the members of the public with whom I must face on a daily basis, I can see on their faces the words "this guy is a hard, mean bastard" - the pressure is there from me and directed against myself over my own actions - did I really do that? - did I really say that?
The truth is "yes I did"
It is not destiny, it is not fate, those words belong in the same category as god, religion, faith...
I have become overly aggressive - I try to remove the aggression by going to the gym and lifting weights - this seems to work but only temporally - but in the end what I am becoming is in fact a physically very strong and aggressive person... because I cannot remove the aggression. Last week I trained with weights for 3 hours outside in a heavy rainstorm as an attempt to "remove" the aggression...
Well as you guessed it didn't work - in fact it gave me a flu that I am still trying to get rid of today, some 2 weeks later. I trained again with my flu, but it didn't get rid of my flu - but I feel great physically - strong and healthy - but my mind is suffering terribly. I guess what we need is "weight training for the mind"
but since this doesn't exist yet I can only speculate about the idea.
Why "Under Pressure"?
I am surrounded by the reflections and attitudes of "beliefs, religion, dogma" etc.
My neighbours to the left are Mormons - my neighbours to the right are Catholic - both are annoying noisy and dirty hipocritical bastards that abuse their own beliefs - my working competition in this world are "god fearing" people (funny but are you afraid of the god you worship?) and over all this you have the political attitude of the country within which you live dominating attitudes... Don't believe me? Look at your country's national anthem - look at your country's major speeches (the USA - "In God We Trust" - Israel "The Promised Land") - look at what they teach you at school - Do you sing hymns? They are the worst case of religious/national/racist propaganda that exist...
Look at your traditions - Christmas - what is that really about - Easter, another... the list goes on and on and ever deeper into beliefs that are at best ridiculous...
Easter bunnies??? WTF?
Hallowean??? WTF?
Solstice??? WTF?
Friday 13th??? WTF?
Boxing Day??? WTF?
St. Patricks Day??? WTF?
April Fools Day??? WTF?
Do you acknowledge all those "events"? Do they have meaning? Are they real?
Well for me no, I have renounced them, but all you people that still believe in that shit YOU are also the cause of my pressure - so if you come around my office trying to sell me "chocolate easter eggs" I am going to tell you directly where you can stick your silly easter eggs...
If you come here for trick or treat I am going to tell where to stick your treats...
If you come here for Xmas gratification I am going to tell you what is gratifying...
Yes I have turned into an aggressive non-religious bastard... but then why are YOU invading my home, my work, my privacy, my intelligence, my family, with your absurd bullshit?
Am I wrong?
Are you prepared to fight against this tide of dirty waters?
I am - but dammit it is hard work... the ignorant are too ignorant to know that they are ignorant... and so they are trapped in a cycle of ignorancy - don't believe me? Then just try living in a second or third world country, as I do, and you will plainly see how ignorance feeds ignorance. Fine you say, but I am from UK, I am from USA, I am from Europe, we are not ignorant... The same applies only that the ignorancy rules are more complicated and therefore more easily hidden under intellectual rhetoric...
The first world dwellers are the most ignorant people alive, and it hurts me to say that because I am one of you - I am an american/european - but I have escaped from your shores and I can look back in anger over your attitudes - I can see you from afar with a clean eye... prosperity, cultural advance, wealth, are not in themselves "bad" things - what is bad is how you use those advantages, and to be honest the first world super powers have a pretty bad record...
Enough for today - too much pressure - I cannot cope with it all...
Without anyone to answer to (no gods, no soul, no afterlife) I am having great problems controlling "myself". Yet as I have mentioned in my previous entry I also had an experience that goes totally against everything I am try to accomplish here. The conflict between what I have seen and what I want to be is just getting way out of control. I am moody and thoughtful and quiet one moment, and open and responsive and playful the next - it is confusing to the people with whom I work and even more confusing to me. My wife and daughter are also unsure - they are cautious and seem to avoid anything "suggestive and related" to my new idea. The moodiness comes from the fact that I am "reflecting" on recent experiences, but reflecting on them becomes mind boggling, psycho, distant, painful even, and so I bounce back as the opposite personality. I never, ever could have imagined, not with all my worldly experience (which is huge and wild - and not the norm) that I would be sitting here confessing to these problems.
Thankfully I can still maintain my objective in sight, yet the "pressure" against me to forget it all is huge - the pressure comes from the wife and daughter - "what is happening to daddy" they ask - the pressure comes from my business of which I am the owner - "why am I doing this?" - the pressure comes from the members of the public with whom I must face on a daily basis, I can see on their faces the words "this guy is a hard, mean bastard" - the pressure is there from me and directed against myself over my own actions - did I really do that? - did I really say that?
The truth is "yes I did"
It is not destiny, it is not fate, those words belong in the same category as god, religion, faith...
I have become overly aggressive - I try to remove the aggression by going to the gym and lifting weights - this seems to work but only temporally - but in the end what I am becoming is in fact a physically very strong and aggressive person... because I cannot remove the aggression. Last week I trained with weights for 3 hours outside in a heavy rainstorm as an attempt to "remove" the aggression...
Well as you guessed it didn't work - in fact it gave me a flu that I am still trying to get rid of today, some 2 weeks later. I trained again with my flu, but it didn't get rid of my flu - but I feel great physically - strong and healthy - but my mind is suffering terribly. I guess what we need is "weight training for the mind"
but since this doesn't exist yet I can only speculate about the idea.
Why "Under Pressure"?
I am surrounded by the reflections and attitudes of "beliefs, religion, dogma" etc.
My neighbours to the left are Mormons - my neighbours to the right are Catholic - both are annoying noisy and dirty hipocritical bastards that abuse their own beliefs - my working competition in this world are "god fearing" people (funny but are you afraid of the god you worship?) and over all this you have the political attitude of the country within which you live dominating attitudes... Don't believe me? Look at your country's national anthem - look at your country's major speeches (the USA - "In God We Trust" - Israel "The Promised Land") - look at what they teach you at school - Do you sing hymns? They are the worst case of religious/national/racist propaganda that exist...
Look at your traditions - Christmas - what is that really about - Easter, another... the list goes on and on and ever deeper into beliefs that are at best ridiculous...
Easter bunnies??? WTF?
Hallowean??? WTF?
Solstice??? WTF?
Friday 13th??? WTF?
Boxing Day??? WTF?
St. Patricks Day??? WTF?
April Fools Day??? WTF?
Do you acknowledge all those "events"? Do they have meaning? Are they real?
Well for me no, I have renounced them, but all you people that still believe in that shit YOU are also the cause of my pressure - so if you come around my office trying to sell me "chocolate easter eggs" I am going to tell you directly where you can stick your silly easter eggs...
If you come here for trick or treat I am going to tell where to stick your treats...
If you come here for Xmas gratification I am going to tell you what is gratifying...
Yes I have turned into an aggressive non-religious bastard... but then why are YOU invading my home, my work, my privacy, my intelligence, my family, with your absurd bullshit?
Am I wrong?
Are you prepared to fight against this tide of dirty waters?
I am - but dammit it is hard work... the ignorant are too ignorant to know that they are ignorant... and so they are trapped in a cycle of ignorancy - don't believe me? Then just try living in a second or third world country, as I do, and you will plainly see how ignorance feeds ignorance. Fine you say, but I am from UK, I am from USA, I am from Europe, we are not ignorant... The same applies only that the ignorancy rules are more complicated and therefore more easily hidden under intellectual rhetoric...
The first world dwellers are the most ignorant people alive, and it hurts me to say that because I am one of you - I am an american/european - but I have escaped from your shores and I can look back in anger over your attitudes - I can see you from afar with a clean eye... prosperity, cultural advance, wealth, are not in themselves "bad" things - what is bad is how you use those advantages, and to be honest the first world super powers have a pretty bad record...
Enough for today - too much pressure - I cannot cope with it all...
Saturday, 27 October 2007
THE OBJECTS IN THE SKY INCIDENT
On this blog I have publicly renounced and denounced, all my beliefs in religion, UFO's, ghosts, spirits, Gods, the after life, etc, etc.
During the month of September, 2007 something happened that was to make me question once again "Life, The Universe, and Everything"... on the 14th of September something happened - to date I am totally "Gob Smacked" (to use an english expression of speechless)
On that date - 14th September at 9:20pm - I went outside the back of my office to smoke a cigarette, as I have done many, many times, every day throughout the years. From the patio at the back of my office every star is familiar, and the night sky always looks the same, boring even, but this particular night it was not the same...
This particular night there were two stationary bright points of light hovering in the night sky that were obviously not stars - they were not there the day/night before... in fact they were so "bright" and "obvious" that I ran back inside the office and dragged a member of the public (a girl) who was visiting at the time outside to witness what I was seeing...
As we both watched these bright elements in the night sky, the upper left element faded from view - and then moments later the second object - the lower right object - faded from view - I saw it - she saw it - there is no doubt about our eyesight.... we saw it... It was a clear night with no clouds, and the view is westward out over the atlantic ocean which is about 5 miles from my office. There is an airport nearby (about 20 miles away) - it's a small airport that does accept international flights, but the habits and flight patterns from the airport are very familiar to me. The lights we saw were not aircraft - I am familiar enough with aircraft (I used to work with aircraft as a designer at the BAE Aircraft company) to know that... and they were completely stationary yet "distant" - I would have to estimate that they were "at least" 50 miles distant - there was no sound, and the points of light were just too big to be a stars or planets - and they just faded into nothing... Satelites are frequently visible from the patio, but they move across the sky and are much smaller points of light.
The witness (the girl) has changed - she is not so friendly to me as she was before this experience although she continues to be a client. I have changed also - after all I don't believe in this stuff anymore - I have publicly stated that... but this experience is causing me some pretty huge conflicts.
So what on earth happened? The image below I created using PhotoPaint to illustrate what I/we saw... it shows the relative sizes and positions of the objects from our "urban" view point, and is in fact exactly what we saw - Click the image to see it full size
During the month of September, 2007 something happened that was to make me question once again "Life, The Universe, and Everything"... on the 14th of September something happened - to date I am totally "Gob Smacked" (to use an english expression of speechless)
On that date - 14th September at 9:20pm - I went outside the back of my office to smoke a cigarette, as I have done many, many times, every day throughout the years. From the patio at the back of my office every star is familiar, and the night sky always looks the same, boring even, but this particular night it was not the same...
This particular night there were two stationary bright points of light hovering in the night sky that were obviously not stars - they were not there the day/night before... in fact they were so "bright" and "obvious" that I ran back inside the office and dragged a member of the public (a girl) who was visiting at the time outside to witness what I was seeing...
As we both watched these bright elements in the night sky, the upper left element faded from view - and then moments later the second object - the lower right object - faded from view - I saw it - she saw it - there is no doubt about our eyesight.... we saw it... It was a clear night with no clouds, and the view is westward out over the atlantic ocean which is about 5 miles from my office. There is an airport nearby (about 20 miles away) - it's a small airport that does accept international flights, but the habits and flight patterns from the airport are very familiar to me. The lights we saw were not aircraft - I am familiar enough with aircraft (I used to work with aircraft as a designer at the BAE Aircraft company) to know that... and they were completely stationary yet "distant" - I would have to estimate that they were "at least" 50 miles distant - there was no sound, and the points of light were just too big to be a stars or planets - and they just faded into nothing... Satelites are frequently visible from the patio, but they move across the sky and are much smaller points of light.
The witness (the girl) has changed - she is not so friendly to me as she was before this experience although she continues to be a client. I have changed also - after all I don't believe in this stuff anymore - I have publicly stated that... but this experience is causing me some pretty huge conflicts.
So what on earth happened? The image below I created using PhotoPaint to illustrate what I/we saw... it shows the relative sizes and positions of the objects from our "urban" view point, and is in fact exactly what we saw - Click the image to see it full size
I explained to my wife what happened and showed her the picture of what I saw and basically she told me I must have been drinking, which was not true, but then I did manage to get the witness to say a few words to my wife, but the girl doesn't seem to like talking about the subject anymore.
So I am kinda confused - these things don't exist, I don't believe in UFO's, I publically stated that in this blog... so what on earth did we see?
There must be a rational explanation, right? Well to tell the truth it's been eating away at me that I simply cannot logically explain what I saw, and it seems that no one really believes me either - kinda makes me feel like Hale Berry in the film Gothika - I can see how someone could end up turning crazy over these kinds of things. And I can't seem to forget it either - every night I go out the back to the patio I am reminded again - every time I see the girl, a client, I am reminded again... every night I look to the same patch of sky...
I get the feeling that this is going to be tough to resolve...
I HAVE CHANGED - FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE
About 3 months ago, in fact when I started this Blog as a means to "get things off my chest" as the saying goes, I never imagined that what has happened would happen. My rants and rages, mostly stupid, mostly random rage and outright arrogance is visible and certainly "annoying" to some and downright blasphemy to others...
Certainly I have made enemies and lost friends as a result of this blog - I ask myself frequently the question "Do you know what you are doing?"
The WORD is a powerful medium - now I can give real honest credit to that fact - even more so than pictures/images, videos, the WORD - well written, well placed - can change a nation... no... even more so.... it can change the world.
I don't have the WORD - there are many much better than me that have it - I search for it, I can see it, I can feel it, it is there - but I can't grasp it...
Damn this life - why does it have to be so painful - we all hurt, somewhere hidden away - the most famous, the richest, the poorest, the most beautiful and the most ugly - the human experience is a difficult one... I am sure that everyone on this planet has at some point asked the question "Why"
YOU who reads this - you are there, living with all these same questions, doubts, and uncertainties - I know you are there - my experiences of life from the cradle to the present time tells me you are there - can I reach out over the distances, the cultures, the attitudes, the blindness and touch you and say "Hey, you are not alone" ?
I would like to - but with human nature being so diverse "what is convenient" to you might not be convenient to me - and vice versa....
So I am left with this blog - I have changed so much since I renounced religion, UFO's, ghosts, spirits, and all the other junk - instead of saying "It is God's Will" I now say "It is our fault"
If some decision or experience in my present life turns out bad or causes me stress I now say "It my own fault"
Gone are the days when I could just brush situations away and say "It's Gods Will"
The first 3 months without religion or beliefs are/were difficult - I was without "control" - no one to answer to, no responsibility for my actions apart from myself - and myself was "greedy" - myself was "lustful" - myself was "me" - I felt I could do what I wanted and there was no "remorse" - no punishment - I felt like a predator without bounds, and all the people and situations that exist were mine for exploiting - I felt I could do what I wanted because I have no soul to worry about...
Damn it - how wrong I was....
Certainly I have made enemies and lost friends as a result of this blog - I ask myself frequently the question "Do you know what you are doing?"
The WORD is a powerful medium - now I can give real honest credit to that fact - even more so than pictures/images, videos, the WORD - well written, well placed - can change a nation... no... even more so.... it can change the world.
I don't have the WORD - there are many much better than me that have it - I search for it, I can see it, I can feel it, it is there - but I can't grasp it...
Damn this life - why does it have to be so painful - we all hurt, somewhere hidden away - the most famous, the richest, the poorest, the most beautiful and the most ugly - the human experience is a difficult one... I am sure that everyone on this planet has at some point asked the question "Why"
YOU who reads this - you are there, living with all these same questions, doubts, and uncertainties - I know you are there - my experiences of life from the cradle to the present time tells me you are there - can I reach out over the distances, the cultures, the attitudes, the blindness and touch you and say "Hey, you are not alone" ?
I would like to - but with human nature being so diverse "what is convenient" to you might not be convenient to me - and vice versa....
So I am left with this blog - I have changed so much since I renounced religion, UFO's, ghosts, spirits, and all the other junk - instead of saying "It is God's Will" I now say "It is our fault"
If some decision or experience in my present life turns out bad or causes me stress I now say "It my own fault"
Gone are the days when I could just brush situations away and say "It's Gods Will"
The first 3 months without religion or beliefs are/were difficult - I was without "control" - no one to answer to, no responsibility for my actions apart from myself - and myself was "greedy" - myself was "lustful" - myself was "me" - I felt I could do what I wanted and there was no "remorse" - no punishment - I felt like a predator without bounds, and all the people and situations that exist were mine for exploiting - I felt I could do what I wanted because I have no soul to worry about...
Damn it - how wrong I was....
Wednesday, 10 October 2007
Suspended boy shoots 4 at Ohio school
Yet another - like duh, are americans born stupid or do they just turn out that way for their bad education...
How many more die in school shootings this month Mr. President? Even your own damned useless police personnel are busy shooting and killing people - anyone over there see the message here???
I am annoyed - annoyed that these shootings continue - my anger is really directed at the perpetrators, and the seeming lack of a solution - I am not against Americans, what I am against is their gun culture that has a direct bearing on the loss of innocent lives... kids are killed whilst at school ??? What the hell is that ???
"In God We Trust" - I think you need a new god, the one you currently believe in is a twisted masochist...
To the victims and families of these kinds of crimes, I would like to express my sincere and deep horror and shock, but I feel my words would be too weak and clumsy to really and truthfully express my feelings in a way that might help...
My family are Americans... I am not, by my own decision and choice - but why is violence increasing ??? We all have more, and know more, than our parents ever did - shouldn't that make us all somewhat smarter ??? Well I guess not, and it's not just the U.S. either - reading the daily world news is more a test of "How Strong Is Your Stomach Today". Pakistan - hundreds killed and maimed by what seems 2 suicide bombers, and you can be sure that the injuries caused by those kinds of attacks are pretty horrific... damn - I have no answer....
How many more die in school shootings this month Mr. President? Even your own damned useless police personnel are busy shooting and killing people - anyone over there see the message here???
I am annoyed - annoyed that these shootings continue - my anger is really directed at the perpetrators, and the seeming lack of a solution - I am not against Americans, what I am against is their gun culture that has a direct bearing on the loss of innocent lives... kids are killed whilst at school ??? What the hell is that ???
"In God We Trust" - I think you need a new god, the one you currently believe in is a twisted masochist...
To the victims and families of these kinds of crimes, I would like to express my sincere and deep horror and shock, but I feel my words would be too weak and clumsy to really and truthfully express my feelings in a way that might help...
My family are Americans... I am not, by my own decision and choice - but why is violence increasing ??? We all have more, and know more, than our parents ever did - shouldn't that make us all somewhat smarter ??? Well I guess not, and it's not just the U.S. either - reading the daily world news is more a test of "How Strong Is Your Stomach Today". Pakistan - hundreds killed and maimed by what seems 2 suicide bombers, and you can be sure that the injuries caused by those kinds of attacks are pretty horrific... damn - I have no answer....
Friday, 14 September 2007
SOUTH WEST AIRLINES ARE SICK
"Have airline employees replaced high-school deans as the arbiters of appropriate dress, or have skimpily-clad passengers forced flight attendants to act like Mother?A second young woman has come forward to claim that Southwest Airlines Co. employees made her cover up on a recent flight."
These girls/women are dressed totally normally for our times, whoever is the decision maker within Southwest needs to be fired without pay - they are making a spectacle of themselves far worse than any of these girls/women have ever done - better yet, boycott this airline - book a flight with another airline who doesnt expect women to dress like muslims...
These girls/women are dressed totally normally for our times, whoever is the decision maker within Southwest needs to be fired without pay - they are making a spectacle of themselves far worse than any of these girls/women have ever done - better yet, boycott this airline - book a flight with another airline who doesnt expect women to dress like muslims...
Sunday, 15 July 2007
It's A Sick World - To Be Continued....
You all may remember the case a few months back in the U.S. where a teacher was accused of displaying "Porn" to some 7th graders at school? She was arrested and put in jail awaiting her trial and the U.S. legal system was ready to put her away for 40 years. (40 years is the the maximum penalty for such crimes). In other words a 40 year sentence for her would have meant "life". Well yes, they have a totally pathetic and absurd legal system there - you can kick a child in the face and cause real physical damage and the punishment would only be 20 years in jail.
But wait there is more - the teacher was finally aquitted and the charges dropped - spyware/malware on her computer was found to be responsible - did the authorities go after the makers of the spyware/malware and charge them with displaying porn to 7th graders? Of course not.
The teachers career has been destroyed, she undoubtedly has suffered stress and trauma all for nothing - were those that arrested and charged her and hauled her in front of a judge ever charged with any crime? Of course not.
What is the crime here?
Well apparently under U.S. law the exhibition of nudity to minors of age is considered such a terrible and dreadful sin that the punishments reflect this. That is to say, aggravated robbery, assault, etc. are much lesser crimes with lesser punishments.
Lets see, did those 7th graders go home traumatised, injured, hurt etc... are they all now suffering bi-polar attacks, kidney failure, migraines and suicidal tendencies? Of course not but we are told that children suffer when they see nudity and that the law is there to protect children.
Protect them from what?
In every second of everyday in every country around the world 50% of the worlds population, adults and children, of all ages, see a penis, the other 50% see a vagina. We all have one or the other. The penis and the vagina are very real objects - they are not fantasies - every animal on the planet also has one or the other. The penis and the vagina have been with us since the dawn of history. Yet to see a penis or vagina that is not yours is a crime of such terrible proportions...
LOL
So I guess those 7th graders went home and said, "Mom, Dad, guess what, today I saw a penis/vagina - now I feel so bad, I have suicidal tendencies, migraine, a backache, and I've developed Bi-Polar disorder - my future life is a mess, I will never be able to find employment, I will never be able to live a normal life, my whole life is in ruins, I am traumatised beyond belief..."
Yeah, total bullshit, but there are plenty of people in the U.S. that think like that, the law-makers tell us we should think like that. God forbid that anyone under the age of 18 should ever be so unfortunate as to see a penis or a vagina.... You can lie to a child, you can teach them absurd fantasies, you can mould and indoctrinate a child with false history and education (Creationist) - you can raise a child on misleading facts - so long as it is all in the name of a religion it is not only considered legal but encouraged - but if a child sees a nude person, a true and real object that is 100% relevant to all humanity, this is breaking the law big time - somehow our cultures seem to have such matters "in reverse" don't you think?
But wait there is more - the teacher was finally aquitted and the charges dropped - spyware/malware on her computer was found to be responsible - did the authorities go after the makers of the spyware/malware and charge them with displaying porn to 7th graders? Of course not.
The teachers career has been destroyed, she undoubtedly has suffered stress and trauma all for nothing - were those that arrested and charged her and hauled her in front of a judge ever charged with any crime? Of course not.
What is the crime here?
Well apparently under U.S. law the exhibition of nudity to minors of age is considered such a terrible and dreadful sin that the punishments reflect this. That is to say, aggravated robbery, assault, etc. are much lesser crimes with lesser punishments.
Lets see, did those 7th graders go home traumatised, injured, hurt etc... are they all now suffering bi-polar attacks, kidney failure, migraines and suicidal tendencies? Of course not but we are told that children suffer when they see nudity and that the law is there to protect children.
Protect them from what?
In every second of everyday in every country around the world 50% of the worlds population, adults and children, of all ages, see a penis, the other 50% see a vagina. We all have one or the other. The penis and the vagina are very real objects - they are not fantasies - every animal on the planet also has one or the other. The penis and the vagina have been with us since the dawn of history. Yet to see a penis or vagina that is not yours is a crime of such terrible proportions...
LOL
So I guess those 7th graders went home and said, "Mom, Dad, guess what, today I saw a penis/vagina - now I feel so bad, I have suicidal tendencies, migraine, a backache, and I've developed Bi-Polar disorder - my future life is a mess, I will never be able to find employment, I will never be able to live a normal life, my whole life is in ruins, I am traumatised beyond belief..."
Yeah, total bullshit, but there are plenty of people in the U.S. that think like that, the law-makers tell us we should think like that. God forbid that anyone under the age of 18 should ever be so unfortunate as to see a penis or a vagina.... You can lie to a child, you can teach them absurd fantasies, you can mould and indoctrinate a child with false history and education (Creationist) - you can raise a child on misleading facts - so long as it is all in the name of a religion it is not only considered legal but encouraged - but if a child sees a nude person, a true and real object that is 100% relevant to all humanity, this is breaking the law big time - somehow our cultures seem to have such matters "in reverse" don't you think?
By the time I was in 7th grade I had already seen several vaginas, if someone were to tell me that the owners of those vaginas had been put in prison for 40 years, now, that would have caused me trauma - the vaginas I have seen have not affected me in the slightest.
If the U.S. really wants to protect kids they should first stop their current "christian crusader" campaign and actually give their people an education, which, amongst developed nations, is currently ranked amongst the worst in the world. Since religious types seem to be achieving ever more positions of power in the U.S. it is no wonder that the U.S. legal system is becoming increasingly exaggerated and ridiculous. That the U.S. is making great steps forward in the quality of life is simply not true - freedoms of speech are being seriously curtailed, censorship is becoming the order of the day, a just and balanced society it is not, it's crime and violence levels are not so far removed from those in Iraq - yeah, how many kids were shot at school today Mr. President? Take care what you say and do when in the U.S. - someone can sue your ass off over nothing - and have you ever noticed how americans always include the "traumas" they have suffered when dealing with legal matters, the most trendy being migraine, depression, and Bi-polar disorders.... God is great when you can use him to validate a point and win even more $$$
Nudity and sexual matters in general are less of a taboo in Europe, so consequently there are much less sexually motivated crimes - also in Europe the number of religious people is much less than in the U.S. - obviously there is a link between religiously motivated people and sexual education... go figure... get your statistics from the link below.
Where does all this leave us? Can we look to, and trust in, the world's "wealthiest" nation to lead us and guide us to a new era? No, I don't believe so, they have allowed too much religion to cloud their judgement. My brother in law, an american, has been telling me for years that they, (the americans) are a sick culture, and you know what? Lately I tend to agree with him.
Religious Education - Ergo "Education USA"
Click the image and then download it to view full size on your PC
Respect Religions & Beliefs - Part 2
Continuing on from my previous post "Respect Religions & Beliefs" I keep coming up against the same question - "Why respect a persons belief in an idea or ideology that is so glaringly absurd, faulted, pious, etc., etc?
My daily job is in the public service sector, I meet and deal with dozens of people on a daily basis - now if one of those told me in all seriousness that he/she had just been returned to earth after being abducted by aliens I would tell them they are sick or crazy and in need of medical help and I would ban them from my office for being unstable, deluded, possibly drugged, or drunk, and a danger to me, my family, and the other members of the public that might be present in my office.
Now if a religious nut enters my office to tell me that I should repent and embrace the word of the lord, that Jesus loves me and I will go to heaven if I take the faith, blah blah, what do I do?
In the past I have sat there quietly, wearing a false smile on my face and saying something like well ok, maybe I'll think about it...
well NO MORE OF THIS...
The respect has gone... I am not going to "tolerate" or "respect" these idiots just because someone has decided to label all these brainless fantasies "Religion."
I am going to tell them they are sick or crazy and in need of medical help and I am going to ban them from my office for being unstable, deluded, possibly drugged, or drunk, and a danger to me, my family, and the other members of the public that might be present in my office.
The bearded old man in the sky belongs in the same place as the alien abductors - IN THE NUT HOUSE !
My daily job is in the public service sector, I meet and deal with dozens of people on a daily basis - now if one of those told me in all seriousness that he/she had just been returned to earth after being abducted by aliens I would tell them they are sick or crazy and in need of medical help and I would ban them from my office for being unstable, deluded, possibly drugged, or drunk, and a danger to me, my family, and the other members of the public that might be present in my office.
Now if a religious nut enters my office to tell me that I should repent and embrace the word of the lord, that Jesus loves me and I will go to heaven if I take the faith, blah blah, what do I do?
In the past I have sat there quietly, wearing a false smile on my face and saying something like well ok, maybe I'll think about it...
well NO MORE OF THIS...
The respect has gone... I am not going to "tolerate" or "respect" these idiots just because someone has decided to label all these brainless fantasies "Religion."
I am going to tell them they are sick or crazy and in need of medical help and I am going to ban them from my office for being unstable, deluded, possibly drugged, or drunk, and a danger to me, my family, and the other members of the public that might be present in my office.
The bearded old man in the sky belongs in the same place as the alien abductors - IN THE NUT HOUSE !
Saturday, 14 July 2007
Respect Religions & Beliefs
I have been hearing and reading this a lot, and it's usually the people with a religion or a belief that say it. I respect intelligent thoughts and beliefs - I do not respect narrow minded, blind idiots that believe in unquantifiable fantasies. I do not respect the rapist who thinks its cool to rape young girls, although he might believe he is justified in doing that. I do not respect the thief who robs although he might be able to justify his actions. And I will go even further, the people that make the statment "Respect religions and beliefs" are cowards and ignorant - afraid of true debate and facing the truth based on scientific facts. Yes the world is round, it is FACT, although it took you religious types many hundreds of years and many 1'000's of deaths of people who accepted the world was indeed round until religious doctines finally accepted that simple, scientific truth.
Muslims believe in stoning to death men or women for acts they consider aldulterous - let me ask you intelligent reader, Do you respect that? After all it is part of their religion, it is their belief that what they are doing is correct. Do you stand casually on one side and let that happen?
Have you ever seen a stoning? Do you want to see a real live public stoning? I will give you one.
http://www.apostatesofislam.com/media/stoning.htm
Go on, click the link - I dare you to watch this and then tell me you respect the people and their beliefs that did this. Look at how they are shouting and enjoying this spectacle - they are LESS than animals.
Do you think this has anything to do with intelligence, justice, or is even remotely humane? Those people died slowly, painfully, their eyes hanging out of their sockets, teeth shattered, tissue and bone slowly rent apart, bleeding to death, brain tissue oozing out of fractured skulls - watch it, and then tell me you respect this practice and the people responsible.
But no, do you turn a blind eye because it is based on "religion" and we are taught to respect religions??? Do you say "If thats what they believe then thats up to them"
If thats what you think, if you do nothing, if you say nothing, YOU ARE A DAMNED COWARD
Are you going to answer with "Well my religion doesn't teach those kinds of things"
YES YOUR RELIGION DOES
I do not advocate violence, and in fact it is my experience that "speaking your mind" about religion sparks a violent reaction from those that pretend to be religious (they kind of forget their beliefs in these moments and convert into raging monsters). I have lived in many 2nd and 3rd world countries and have witnessed many things at first hand. You might win the argument during the day but don't be surprised if a gang of machete wielding "good religious people" turn up at your door during the night. Whether they are christian, catholic, muslim, etc. makes no difference. But speak up and speak out you must - harness the power of the written word, the photograph, the video, the blog. The barbarism of the religious and their religions has been with us for 1,000's of years, so it will not disappear overnight, but when religious fanatics and idiots are a small minority and intelligent, peacful and constructive human beings dominate the world, maybe we can say that humanity has progressed and advanced.
To be continued....
Friday, 8 June 2007
Cleaning Out My Closet
One might ask, by renouncing religion and God am I also throwing a lot of other supernatural, and metaphysical ideas out the window also... isn't life real bleak and boring without any "faith?"
Good question, and yes I am throwing it all out the window, and no, life is not bleak and boring, in fact it's quite the opposite - but first, while I am cleaning out my closet, just WHAT am I throwing away by denying the existence of a god, or gods? Lets take a look:
Heaven, Hell, Satan, Devils, Angels, Jesus, Saints, Souls, The Bible, The Quran, Life After Death, Re-Incarnation, Resurrection, Miracles, Faith Healing, The Pope, The Holy Spirit, Eternal Damnation, Apocalypse, The Second Coming, Soul-Mates, Twin Souls, Cupids, Cherubims & Seraphim's, Noah's Ark, Adam & Eve, Bishops - especially the child molesting gay ones, Virgin Mary, Virgin Guadalupe, Turin Shroud, Blasphemy, Divine Water, Baptism, Fate...
Wait, there is more - also out the window goes:
Ghosts, Gnomes, Fairies, Goblins, Monsters, Elves, Unicorns, Dragons, Trolls, Witches, Black Magic, White Magic, Sea Monsters, Yeti's, Sasquatch, Chupa-Cabras, Dracula, Vampires, Middle-Earth, Santa Claus, Flying Reindeer, Zombies, VooDoo, Walking Dead, Paris Hilton, Merlin, Camelot, Runes, Werewolves, Sea Monsters, Loch Ness Monsters, Bogey Men, Sandman, Haunted Places, Exorcisms, Diabolic Possessions, Barney...
See how full of junk this closet is, and there is still yet more to throw away:
Good luck, Bad luck, DejaVu, Clairvoyants, Telepaths, Psychics, Fortune Tellers, Magicians, Astrology, Zodiacs, Tarot Cards, Ouija Boards, Uri Geller, Eric Von Daniken, Pyramid Power, Crystal Power, Aroma Therapy, Acupuncture, Ginseng, Incense, Time Travel, UFOs, Destiny, Ley-Lines, Numerology, Hippies, Tie Dye, Nirvana, Perfection, Einstein's Theory Of Relativity, Worm Holes, Black Holes, Star Gates, Number 13, Friday 13th, Number Of The Beast 666, Prophecies, Microsoft, Che Guevara, USA, Tibetan Monks...
Wow, look at all that crap I have been carrying around with me, I am going to write a note to myself and leave it in that cupboard as a reminder for the future - "There is a whole universe of possibilities out there - Explore it with an open mind and don't fill up on rubbish".
Done
Remember how it feels when you are faced with cleaning up the home - yeah you put it off and put it off, you hate it while you are doing it but once it's done, doesn't it feel good? Almost like you are living in a new home - and that is exactly my point here. Just look at all that stuff we carry around with us, it's really a perfect example of "Not Seeing The Wood For The Trees" - well, perhaps the person that coined that timeless phrase also cleaned out his, or her, closet.
Thursday, 7 June 2007
Religion - The Worlds Deadliest Cause
Throughout mankind's history, his "animal side" while controlled and oppressed to some extent, has never really been dominated. Animals are territorial - so are humans. Animals fight for superiority within their own species - so do humans - animals protect their young from threats - so do humans - animals kill to eat, well so do humans, but only humans kill for pleasure (pleasure here includes sport, sex, entertainment, money, vengeance, greed, ego, etc.) There are a lot of other things that humans do that not even animals would consider doing.
Hitler and his regime destroyed how many, 6 million Jews? and with particularly gruesome and cruel methods, not to mention the torture, abuse, live surgeries and experiments. Many people have claimed Hitler was a christian, (he was in fact born and raised a catholic) - should we care whether he was christian, catholic or whatever? No we shouldn't, Hitler is merely one of millions of examples of the human animal - predator, destroyer, dominator. At this point many catholics and christians will jump up and say, "look, isn't this proof that with religion these things would not have happened?
Whaaaat?
If you think Hitler was bad, then just take a look at history and see how many people have been slaughtered in the name of religion - hundreds of millions? Equally vile and cruel deaths have been applied to everyone from grandfathers to new born babies - global slaughter that continues today even as you read this. How many native americans (not just in north america, try south america also) were slaughtered for being "heathen" - their cities and temples destroyed, churches erected on top of the ruins by christians and catholics claiming supremacy? C'mon, this history is within the last 400 years, it's not so old - how many innocent women and children were burned alive because they were thought to be witches by the "religious persecutors?" - it goes on, the Vikings, the Norsemen, the Moors, the Crusaders, the Greeks, the Romans, the Persians, the Maya, the Aztec, the Taliban, the Sunni, the Shiite, the Iraqis, the palestinians, the Jews, the Hindu...
How many millions, if not billions of people have been slaughtered throughout history in the name of religious beliefs?
Is there any religious group out there not guilty of slaughter?
I think not.
Do you expect me to become a Muslim, while daily there are executions, muslims against muslims, bombing, killing, torturing each other, killing their own women and children? They have been that way for centuries - how do you expect me to respect such a religion?
Do you expect me to become a Christian, while christians are responsible throughout history for genocide on a scale far worse than Hitler. Entire countries and peoples destroyed mercilessly in the name of "The Righteous God" - forget it - how do you expect me to respect such a religion?
Should I become a Jew, a Hindu, a Buddhist???
Forget it, forget all of them - enough of all this religious mumbo jumbo god crap - It isn't working. It has never worked. It never will work. Period.
To all the intelligent examples of our species, the human race...
SAY NO TO SLAUGHTER
SAY NO TO VIOLENCE
SAY NO TO HIPOCRASY
SAY NO TO LIES
SAY NO TO RELIGION
SAY NO TO GOD
Hitler and his regime destroyed how many, 6 million Jews? and with particularly gruesome and cruel methods, not to mention the torture, abuse, live surgeries and experiments. Many people have claimed Hitler was a christian, (he was in fact born and raised a catholic) - should we care whether he was christian, catholic or whatever? No we shouldn't, Hitler is merely one of millions of examples of the human animal - predator, destroyer, dominator. At this point many catholics and christians will jump up and say, "look, isn't this proof that with religion these things would not have happened?
Whaaaat?
If you think Hitler was bad, then just take a look at history and see how many people have been slaughtered in the name of religion - hundreds of millions? Equally vile and cruel deaths have been applied to everyone from grandfathers to new born babies - global slaughter that continues today even as you read this. How many native americans (not just in north america, try south america also) were slaughtered for being "heathen" - their cities and temples destroyed, churches erected on top of the ruins by christians and catholics claiming supremacy? C'mon, this history is within the last 400 years, it's not so old - how many innocent women and children were burned alive because they were thought to be witches by the "religious persecutors?" - it goes on, the Vikings, the Norsemen, the Moors, the Crusaders, the Greeks, the Romans, the Persians, the Maya, the Aztec, the Taliban, the Sunni, the Shiite, the Iraqis, the palestinians, the Jews, the Hindu...
How many millions, if not billions of people have been slaughtered throughout history in the name of religious beliefs?
Is there any religious group out there not guilty of slaughter?
I think not.
Do you expect me to become a Muslim, while daily there are executions, muslims against muslims, bombing, killing, torturing each other, killing their own women and children? They have been that way for centuries - how do you expect me to respect such a religion?
Do you expect me to become a Christian, while christians are responsible throughout history for genocide on a scale far worse than Hitler. Entire countries and peoples destroyed mercilessly in the name of "The Righteous God" - forget it - how do you expect me to respect such a religion?
Should I become a Jew, a Hindu, a Buddhist???
Forget it, forget all of them - enough of all this religious mumbo jumbo god crap - It isn't working. It has never worked. It never will work. Period.
To all the intelligent examples of our species, the human race...
SAY NO TO SLAUGHTER
SAY NO TO VIOLENCE
SAY NO TO HIPOCRASY
SAY NO TO LIES
SAY NO TO RELIGION
SAY NO TO GOD
Tuesday, 5 June 2007
Are You Here Or Are You There?
I first came across this analogy about 3 years ago while studying the internet for nano-technology and its possible applications for storing a human mind in a computer. Life extension was the purpose of the website, which I have since lost, however, they gave this clear, and, and for me, unforgettable, scenario about who and where we are with regard to the mind.
Imagine yourself in a locked room, you are sat in one corner on a chair, in the opposite corner is a refrigerator and on top of the refrigerator is a super- computer.
Your legs are removed, cut from your body (no pain no blood, this is imaginary) and they are placed in the refrigerator. A voice speaks out and ask you "Where are you?"
Naturally you will answer that you are still on the chair in the corner.
Next your body is removed from the neck down and placed in the refrigerator, your head sits on the chair. Again a voice asks "Where are you?" and again your answer is the same as before "I am here on the chair in the corner."
Next step, your brain is removed from your head and placed on the chair, your head is also placed in the refrigerator along with the rest of your body and once more a voice asks "Where are you now?"
Yes you guessed, you are still on the chair in the corner. You are the same person, with the same thoughts and the same emotions, the only thing that is different is that you do not have any sensory input into your brain, but apart from that you still exist, you know who you are and where you are.
Now, can we take that part which is you out of that brain and transfer it to the super-computer sitting on top of the refrigerator? If if were possible then we could put your brain in the refrigerator along with the rest of your physical body. Your body is dead but you are not.
This is where the idea begins to get complicated. You are the sum of your lifelong experiences - memories - because everything that is happening now, this split second is not yet a memory, but everything that has happened before this split second is a memory, which can be mapped and sent to the super-computer and stored on its hard drives. So we conclude this process of mapping your memories and sending them to the super-computer and again we ask "Where are you now?"
Well of course you are still in the brain on the chair in the corner - YOU are not in the super-computer, every thing about you is in the super-computer, every memory, every experience, but you are not there. So it seems we need to make one final step to get YOU out of that brain and into the super-computer.
Woah, this is where it all fails - the mind - where is it? We know it resides in the brain. The brain is part of the body, and physically at least, the brain needs the body to function, however the mind does NOT necessarily need the body to function. Steven Hawking is a fantastic example of a great mind that is alive in a mostly useless body. But if we destroy the brain the mind will cease to exist, can we say therefore that YOU, that free thinking part of you, is MORE than just the sum of your memories - even if we cloned your brain, and fed the new cloned brain all your experiences and memories and asked you once again "Where are you?" you would still be exactly where you are now, even if the cloned brain thought, acted, behaved just like you do, it would not be you.
So where does all this lead us? Not to god, neither to religion, all though many people will invoke gods and deities and magic and fantasies to explain all this, the simple and chilling answer at our moment in time is that we simply do not yet know.
The human body is certainly a marvel of biology, and its capabilities which we witness everyday in sports, dance, music, artistic achievements, etc. are truly amazing, yet it is the mind that drives the body and makes all this possible.
Science will one day understand the mind, it will not happen in the next few years though, it may take centuries - but the day will come when it may be possible to send the mind to a super-computer where it might be stored until a replacement body becomes available - perhaps some people might be happy just being a mind stored on a super-computer, the techy geeks amongst us might find that idea in itself satisfying... but is this life after death? No it is not. The body might be dead as demonstrated above, but the body is not you (it is part of you but it is not you). As long as your mind exists, you are alive.
Imagine yourself in a locked room, you are sat in one corner on a chair, in the opposite corner is a refrigerator and on top of the refrigerator is a super- computer.
Your legs are removed, cut from your body (no pain no blood, this is imaginary) and they are placed in the refrigerator. A voice speaks out and ask you "Where are you?"
Naturally you will answer that you are still on the chair in the corner.
Next your body is removed from the neck down and placed in the refrigerator, your head sits on the chair. Again a voice asks "Where are you?" and again your answer is the same as before "I am here on the chair in the corner."
Next step, your brain is removed from your head and placed on the chair, your head is also placed in the refrigerator along with the rest of your body and once more a voice asks "Where are you now?"
Yes you guessed, you are still on the chair in the corner. You are the same person, with the same thoughts and the same emotions, the only thing that is different is that you do not have any sensory input into your brain, but apart from that you still exist, you know who you are and where you are.
Now, can we take that part which is you out of that brain and transfer it to the super-computer sitting on top of the refrigerator? If if were possible then we could put your brain in the refrigerator along with the rest of your physical body. Your body is dead but you are not.
This is where the idea begins to get complicated. You are the sum of your lifelong experiences - memories - because everything that is happening now, this split second is not yet a memory, but everything that has happened before this split second is a memory, which can be mapped and sent to the super-computer and stored on its hard drives. So we conclude this process of mapping your memories and sending them to the super-computer and again we ask "Where are you now?"
Well of course you are still in the brain on the chair in the corner - YOU are not in the super-computer, every thing about you is in the super-computer, every memory, every experience, but you are not there. So it seems we need to make one final step to get YOU out of that brain and into the super-computer.
Woah, this is where it all fails - the mind - where is it? We know it resides in the brain. The brain is part of the body, and physically at least, the brain needs the body to function, however the mind does NOT necessarily need the body to function. Steven Hawking is a fantastic example of a great mind that is alive in a mostly useless body. But if we destroy the brain the mind will cease to exist, can we say therefore that YOU, that free thinking part of you, is MORE than just the sum of your memories - even if we cloned your brain, and fed the new cloned brain all your experiences and memories and asked you once again "Where are you?" you would still be exactly where you are now, even if the cloned brain thought, acted, behaved just like you do, it would not be you.
So where does all this lead us? Not to god, neither to religion, all though many people will invoke gods and deities and magic and fantasies to explain all this, the simple and chilling answer at our moment in time is that we simply do not yet know.
The human body is certainly a marvel of biology, and its capabilities which we witness everyday in sports, dance, music, artistic achievements, etc. are truly amazing, yet it is the mind that drives the body and makes all this possible.
Science will one day understand the mind, it will not happen in the next few years though, it may take centuries - but the day will come when it may be possible to send the mind to a super-computer where it might be stored until a replacement body becomes available - perhaps some people might be happy just being a mind stored on a super-computer, the techy geeks amongst us might find that idea in itself satisfying... but is this life after death? No it is not. The body might be dead as demonstrated above, but the body is not you (it is part of you but it is not you). As long as your mind exists, you are alive.
Monday, 4 June 2007
And God Created Man
The bible tells us that god created man, but that since man was bored using his right hand all the time god created a woman to play with man - and play they did. Since god was not too good on contraception the woman became pregnant and later had 2 sons. The sons grew up and also wanted to see some action, but since there were only 4 people in the world their choices were very limited - they could either hump their father, hump their mom, or hump each other. No wonder they got to fighting with each other.
People who believe the story about Adam and Eve must realize that incest is bad. Either all humanity is based on incest or the whole story is rubbish.
People who believe the story about Adam and Eve must realize that incest is bad. Either all humanity is based on incest or the whole story is rubbish.
No God Arguments
"If God is inside me, I hope he likes beer."
"Jesus Saves: By clipping coupons and shopping wisely"
"Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Give a man a religion, and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish."
"Science needs a restraining order against religion. Religion must stay 1000 feet away from science at all times."
More good arguments can be found at "NoGodPeriod"
http://members.aol.com/nogodperiod/arguments.htm
http://members.aol.com/nogodperiod/nogod.htm
"Jesus Saves: By clipping coupons and shopping wisely"
"Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Give a man a religion, and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish."
"Science needs a restraining order against religion. Religion must stay 1000 feet away from science at all times."
More good arguments can be found at "NoGodPeriod"
http://members.aol.com/nogodperiod/arguments.htm
http://members.aol.com/nogodperiod/nogod.htm
Who We Are
Where do we come from? Why? Is there life after death?
These and other similar questions have been pondered by every human being that has ever existed at some point in their lives. That we are the result of evolution, to me at least, is obvious. No god is needed to explain the miracle of evolution. Take the whale for example, the whale was once a bear like creature, a mammal, like other mammals, that evolved from earlier reptiles. However this bear, seemingly not happy with it's land based lifestyle, returned again to the water, and over several more million years evolved again into the creature we call a whale.
Given the many millions of years that have passed on this planet it is not hard to see how natural selection, necessity, climate change, etc. have caused the life forms to diversify, adapt and change to maintain the most important status of all - life.
From the most lowly simple cell life forms, to us the most complex, there is a common and simple ingrained characteristic - maintain life at any cost - and nature has created 1,000's of ways that the creatures on this planet can use to maintain life. Nature has also created creatures that are powerful in their methods of taking life - the predators. Yet the predators kill to eat, to survive, to protect themselves. The prey of the predators rely on size, speed, cunning, or sheer numbers to survive and protect their lives. Plants also compete to survive by growing faster, or taller, than their neigbouring plants.
In the midst of this evolucionary cocktail there was one group of mammals, apes, from which one further group was later going to develop into us. They were not powerful predators like the big cats, they were not fast, they were not strong, they were small and weak and they ate what they could find be it meat, vegetable or fruit. They were our ancestors. "The Awakening" did not come in a sudden moment as in the 2001 A Space Odyssey film when an ape discovers a bone can be used as a weapon, but several millions of years passed by and this one particular creature, though small and weak, adapted to change quickly and survived well in that aggressive world of predator and prey. Not having powerful fangs or sharp claws, this species learned over time to use rocks and pieces of wood and bone to help it find food - and thus a new predator was created by the forces of evolution - Mankind.
Early man was not of course a thinker, he was simply fullfilling the in-built need to survive, and his daily life simply revolved around finding food and a mate. However, at some point through his continuing development, he became aware of his surroundings and himself in a way we have not witnessed with certainty in other animals. The mind. With this new weapon, the world would be changed forever - the supreme predator was born.
Approximately 2 million years have passed since those moments. Man is still evolving, as are the other animals on this planet - evolution does not stand still.
Where do we come from, why, is there life after death. The questions have always been there. Do we humans need to invent gods and magic and fairies to explain all this? Seems for many people yes, they do.
"Where we come from" has been answered - Evolution - applies to all life forms on this planet.
The "why" has also been answered - Maintain life - The continuance of the species - applies to all life forms on this planet.
Is there life after death? Mankind is wrong to assume that only he benefits from this idea - if there was life after death it would logically apply to all animals also since man is as much a part of the animal world as are the animals a part of us. It is written in our genes, our DNA, our history, our skeleton, our biological makeup. No, there is no life after death. Life after death would make a mockery of evolution. Evolution, or nature if you like, needs the presence of death to function. Without the fear of death, the driving force behind the of survival of the species would be weakened - why worry about survival if there is always another life waiting for you? Evolution would fail.
Perhaps then, it is the question that is wrong. Perhaps the question needs to be rephrased. Perhaps mankind has not evolved sufficiently yet to know what he wants to know. Perhaps then, the void is filled with gods, and fairies, and goblins, and a whole heap of fantasies that make all this have a reason.
"Life" does not need a reason - it simply IS.
These and other similar questions have been pondered by every human being that has ever existed at some point in their lives. That we are the result of evolution, to me at least, is obvious. No god is needed to explain the miracle of evolution. Take the whale for example, the whale was once a bear like creature, a mammal, like other mammals, that evolved from earlier reptiles. However this bear, seemingly not happy with it's land based lifestyle, returned again to the water, and over several more million years evolved again into the creature we call a whale.
Given the many millions of years that have passed on this planet it is not hard to see how natural selection, necessity, climate change, etc. have caused the life forms to diversify, adapt and change to maintain the most important status of all - life.
From the most lowly simple cell life forms, to us the most complex, there is a common and simple ingrained characteristic - maintain life at any cost - and nature has created 1,000's of ways that the creatures on this planet can use to maintain life. Nature has also created creatures that are powerful in their methods of taking life - the predators. Yet the predators kill to eat, to survive, to protect themselves. The prey of the predators rely on size, speed, cunning, or sheer numbers to survive and protect their lives. Plants also compete to survive by growing faster, or taller, than their neigbouring plants.
In the midst of this evolucionary cocktail there was one group of mammals, apes, from which one further group was later going to develop into us. They were not powerful predators like the big cats, they were not fast, they were not strong, they were small and weak and they ate what they could find be it meat, vegetable or fruit. They were our ancestors. "The Awakening" did not come in a sudden moment as in the 2001 A Space Odyssey film when an ape discovers a bone can be used as a weapon, but several millions of years passed by and this one particular creature, though small and weak, adapted to change quickly and survived well in that aggressive world of predator and prey. Not having powerful fangs or sharp claws, this species learned over time to use rocks and pieces of wood and bone to help it find food - and thus a new predator was created by the forces of evolution - Mankind.
Early man was not of course a thinker, he was simply fullfilling the in-built need to survive, and his daily life simply revolved around finding food and a mate. However, at some point through his continuing development, he became aware of his surroundings and himself in a way we have not witnessed with certainty in other animals. The mind. With this new weapon, the world would be changed forever - the supreme predator was born.
Approximately 2 million years have passed since those moments. Man is still evolving, as are the other animals on this planet - evolution does not stand still.
Where do we come from, why, is there life after death. The questions have always been there. Do we humans need to invent gods and magic and fairies to explain all this? Seems for many people yes, they do.
"Where we come from" has been answered - Evolution - applies to all life forms on this planet.
The "why" has also been answered - Maintain life - The continuance of the species - applies to all life forms on this planet.
Is there life after death? Mankind is wrong to assume that only he benefits from this idea - if there was life after death it would logically apply to all animals also since man is as much a part of the animal world as are the animals a part of us. It is written in our genes, our DNA, our history, our skeleton, our biological makeup. No, there is no life after death. Life after death would make a mockery of evolution. Evolution, or nature if you like, needs the presence of death to function. Without the fear of death, the driving force behind the of survival of the species would be weakened - why worry about survival if there is always another life waiting for you? Evolution would fail.
Perhaps then, it is the question that is wrong. Perhaps the question needs to be rephrased. Perhaps mankind has not evolved sufficiently yet to know what he wants to know. Perhaps then, the void is filled with gods, and fairies, and goblins, and a whole heap of fantasies that make all this have a reason.
"Life" does not need a reason - it simply IS.
What It's Like To Drown
I was only around 5 or 6 years old when this happened yet the memory of the experience is as vivid today as was the experience back then.
My parents had taken me and my younger sister to an open air swimming pool during that cold British summer. I could not swim, and was generally wandering around the pool as kids do, but somehow I found myself in the deep end of the swimming pool. Whether I jumped in or fell in I will never know, but I do remember lying at the bottom of the pool on my back - I was breathing water, and the water in my lungs kept me down there. I did not struggle because the experience was amazingly pleasant - breathing water did not hurt, neither did it feel uncomfortable. I just relaxed and lay there looking up. I was mesmerized by the surface of the water some 6 feet above me, the sun was shining and gentle rays of sunlight danced through the dappled water - I remember the colors - orange, rose, and turquoise. It was so relaxing there - really peaceful. Who I was, where I was, why, etc. never crossed my mind - there was no sense of time, there was no sense of warm or cold. All this came to a brutal end when I felt I was being dragged forcefully through the water. Next thing I remember was people slapping me and shouting at me - "breath, breath", they were shouting - it was like a rude and painful awakening - breathing hurt, I was coughing, my throat and lungs hurt, I felt really cold, icy cold, and dizzy, confused. I didn't understand why these people were shouting at me and hitting me, but as my consciousness slowly returned I realized the people hitting me were my parents. I was vomiting water, it was painful and horrible, and it is there where my memory ends. I simply do not remember any more of that day, neither do I remember the rest of that year.
Of all of my childhood memories, this is one of the strongest and clearest. Some 4 years later I was to find myself in deep water once again - caught by a rip tide and washed out towards the open ocean, exhausted from swimming against the current I realized I could just give up, and breath in the water as in my previous experience, I was ready to let it happen, but this time it never did, a parent had swam out and rescued me and dragged me back to shore. In later years I was to become a regional county swimming champion, and set a record for swimming under water the furthest and fastest distance.
I love the water, I have made sure throughout my life that I have always lived close to water. Now I live in a beach resort and despite all my "incidents" with water I will always regard it as a "best friend".
The point of the above is this, did it make me religious? Hell no, if anything it taught me the opposite, but not while I was laying on the bottom of the pool, I was too young to have any concept of religion, but later in life I realized that life can be fragile - in a moment it can be gone. Accidents are accidents, they happen to millions of people everyday - this is not the "wish" of some bearded deity sitting around in the sky with nothing better to do than to dish out accidents on unsuspecting mortals - it is just part of that great force of nature, natural events - 2+2=4, but sometimes 2+2=5.
My parents had taken me and my younger sister to an open air swimming pool during that cold British summer. I could not swim, and was generally wandering around the pool as kids do, but somehow I found myself in the deep end of the swimming pool. Whether I jumped in or fell in I will never know, but I do remember lying at the bottom of the pool on my back - I was breathing water, and the water in my lungs kept me down there. I did not struggle because the experience was amazingly pleasant - breathing water did not hurt, neither did it feel uncomfortable. I just relaxed and lay there looking up. I was mesmerized by the surface of the water some 6 feet above me, the sun was shining and gentle rays of sunlight danced through the dappled water - I remember the colors - orange, rose, and turquoise. It was so relaxing there - really peaceful. Who I was, where I was, why, etc. never crossed my mind - there was no sense of time, there was no sense of warm or cold. All this came to a brutal end when I felt I was being dragged forcefully through the water. Next thing I remember was people slapping me and shouting at me - "breath, breath", they were shouting - it was like a rude and painful awakening - breathing hurt, I was coughing, my throat and lungs hurt, I felt really cold, icy cold, and dizzy, confused. I didn't understand why these people were shouting at me and hitting me, but as my consciousness slowly returned I realized the people hitting me were my parents. I was vomiting water, it was painful and horrible, and it is there where my memory ends. I simply do not remember any more of that day, neither do I remember the rest of that year.
Of all of my childhood memories, this is one of the strongest and clearest. Some 4 years later I was to find myself in deep water once again - caught by a rip tide and washed out towards the open ocean, exhausted from swimming against the current I realized I could just give up, and breath in the water as in my previous experience, I was ready to let it happen, but this time it never did, a parent had swam out and rescued me and dragged me back to shore. In later years I was to become a regional county swimming champion, and set a record for swimming under water the furthest and fastest distance.
I love the water, I have made sure throughout my life that I have always lived close to water. Now I live in a beach resort and despite all my "incidents" with water I will always regard it as a "best friend".
The point of the above is this, did it make me religious? Hell no, if anything it taught me the opposite, but not while I was laying on the bottom of the pool, I was too young to have any concept of religion, but later in life I realized that life can be fragile - in a moment it can be gone. Accidents are accidents, they happen to millions of people everyday - this is not the "wish" of some bearded deity sitting around in the sky with nothing better to do than to dish out accidents on unsuspecting mortals - it is just part of that great force of nature, natural events - 2+2=4, but sometimes 2+2=5.
Sunday, 3 June 2007
There Is No God - Wake Up
That's right, and I can write those words without the fear that I am going to be struck down with a horrible illness (and if I do fall to cancer its because I smoke, and not gods will), I will not loose my job, and I won't burn in hell when I die. Whatever was the point of burning in hell anyway - what a waste of time.
However, this statement is not a spur of the moment statement, I have actually been mulling this over for some months now (well in truth I have been mulling it over all my life) but something struck me in the last few months. Why do we humans invest so many resources in a 2,000 year old fantasy tale?
Just take the Middle East - a world at war over religion - Shiites and Sunni's, Palestinian and Jew, and more lately Somalia and Ethiopia - and the Christian Americans putting their foot in it because their Christian based political system obliges them. How much money, how much bloodshed, how much suffering, how much inhumanity goes on there is incalculable - shame that all those resources are not invested in something more worthwhile.
OK, so do you believe in god? Then you must also believe in Santa Claus, he is a saint after all, and how about the tooth fairy? Maybe Spiderman and Shrek also? You can see them at the cinema or on DVD, so they must be real, right?
We also have a new Pope - not a normal man by any means, and even less representative of a normal man - he dresses in white robes and lives as a hermit - what the hell does he know about marriage, divorce and all the problems that surround human sexuality??? So why on earth is he dictating about how we should live our lives??? What the hell does he know about anything??? Actually he kinda reminds me of Michael Jackson, two people living in their own fantasy worlds that are far removed from reality - do you see the connection?
Here's another thought that struck me in a conversation with a catholic - I asked, "How does god look", " does he have two eyes, a nose, a mouth, two arms, two legs,?" "Of course" said the catholic...
Waitup, waitup.... this god has a human countenance??? Well we are, according to the bible, created in His image.... so what about all the alien life forms out there (if there are any) in whose image were they created? In whose image are the animals created? Are all the animals going to burn in hell for being non-believers?
Humans have created god in their image, this behaviour to create things in the human image is actually quite widespread, just go to any food store and you will see all kinds of packaging bearing humanized images of buns, cakes, sweets, beer, chickens, etc. - and the most famous of all Mickey Mouse - a mouse that wears clothes and talks like humans. Well fine, I accept the advertising strategies, and the entertainment value of Mickey Mouse, but I can't accept the idea of a human looking god, typically described as old looking, grey haired, and obviously a man - but dammit why a man, why not a woman??? Why old and gray-haired... and he is never depicted as chinese, or even less as black!!! But why not??? What brand of toilet paper does he use, does he eat, does he drink, do we look like him or does he look like us?
It just doesn't make sense !!!
Religion doesn't make sense, the Pope doesn't make sense, heaven and hell don't make sense, fighting over religion makes even less sense. All this crap is based on a 2,000 year old fantasy tale.
You don't HAVE to be religious to be a good person... and if any religious person thinks that non-believers are bad persons then they are truly warped by their own religious egos.
John Lennon said some very memorable words in his song Imagine - "Imagine no religion" - sadly some sick bastard killed John Lennon... but those words, in fact that whole song, was a powerful statement that was intended to show that there are alternatives.
Humans around the world tend to fall into 3 camps, there are the "religious", the "atheists" (hate that word), and there are the "unsure". Should we care ? Yes we should, put it this way, if you want to interview for a job and you tell the interviewers that you are a god fearing christian you probably stand a better chance of getting that job than if you told them you were an atheist. Why, because religious people are good, honest people.... total crap - but that's the way society tends to believe. There are just as many christian and catholic and Muslim rapists, robbers, murderers, etc as there are atheist rapists, robbers, murderers, etc.
But try telling someone that you hear voices, that you talked with god - lol, now gets you locked up in an asylum for the mentally deranged. So believing in god is ok, talking with him is loony.
"In God We Trust - God Bless America" - why should he, why can't he bless other countries? What does the word "bless" actually mean here? Do the US and other "influencial" countries make political and military decisions based on their "righteous religeous" outlooks? Then it's no wonder that the world is in a mess.
And to think that all this "religion" comes from some badly written, incomplete story on some papyrus scrolls that have been badly translated and re-translated over the years... supposedly rational intelligent human beings choose to believe in those stories, they make decisions based on those stories, they justify their actions based on those stories, and they answer the absurdity of those stories with even more absurdities.... this, is religion? Then I say to hell with religion.
Ok, lets let up awhile here, I am not writing all this just to bash the religious, I accept that my words here will probably have no effect whatever on the world - but I would like to walk down the street in the knowledge that no-one is going bother me for my color, that no-one is going to bother me for my country of origin or my language, that no-one is going to try and rob me, and that no-one is going to have problems with my mode of dressing... do we have this kind of world yet??? NO WE DON'T - and religion is certainly not capable of providing it, so why don't we all just cut out the crap and put the effort into who we really are... and WHO WE REALLY ARE is going to be my next blogging effort, and it's going to cut deep.
Relevant Sites:
http://www.antitheist.net/
Just say NO to Imaginary Bearded Sky Daddies
http://aintnogod.com/
However, this statement is not a spur of the moment statement, I have actually been mulling this over for some months now (well in truth I have been mulling it over all my life) but something struck me in the last few months. Why do we humans invest so many resources in a 2,000 year old fantasy tale?
Just take the Middle East - a world at war over religion - Shiites and Sunni's, Palestinian and Jew, and more lately Somalia and Ethiopia - and the Christian Americans putting their foot in it because their Christian based political system obliges them. How much money, how much bloodshed, how much suffering, how much inhumanity goes on there is incalculable - shame that all those resources are not invested in something more worthwhile.
OK, so do you believe in god? Then you must also believe in Santa Claus, he is a saint after all, and how about the tooth fairy? Maybe Spiderman and Shrek also? You can see them at the cinema or on DVD, so they must be real, right?
We also have a new Pope - not a normal man by any means, and even less representative of a normal man - he dresses in white robes and lives as a hermit - what the hell does he know about marriage, divorce and all the problems that surround human sexuality??? So why on earth is he dictating about how we should live our lives??? What the hell does he know about anything??? Actually he kinda reminds me of Michael Jackson, two people living in their own fantasy worlds that are far removed from reality - do you see the connection?
Here's another thought that struck me in a conversation with a catholic - I asked, "How does god look", " does he have two eyes, a nose, a mouth, two arms, two legs,?" "Of course" said the catholic...
Waitup, waitup.... this god has a human countenance??? Well we are, according to the bible, created in His image.... so what about all the alien life forms out there (if there are any) in whose image were they created? In whose image are the animals created? Are all the animals going to burn in hell for being non-believers?
Humans have created god in their image, this behaviour to create things in the human image is actually quite widespread, just go to any food store and you will see all kinds of packaging bearing humanized images of buns, cakes, sweets, beer, chickens, etc. - and the most famous of all Mickey Mouse - a mouse that wears clothes and talks like humans. Well fine, I accept the advertising strategies, and the entertainment value of Mickey Mouse, but I can't accept the idea of a human looking god, typically described as old looking, grey haired, and obviously a man - but dammit why a man, why not a woman??? Why old and gray-haired... and he is never depicted as chinese, or even less as black!!! But why not??? What brand of toilet paper does he use, does he eat, does he drink, do we look like him or does he look like us?
It just doesn't make sense !!!
Religion doesn't make sense, the Pope doesn't make sense, heaven and hell don't make sense, fighting over religion makes even less sense. All this crap is based on a 2,000 year old fantasy tale.
You don't HAVE to be religious to be a good person... and if any religious person thinks that non-believers are bad persons then they are truly warped by their own religious egos.
John Lennon said some very memorable words in his song Imagine - "Imagine no religion" - sadly some sick bastard killed John Lennon... but those words, in fact that whole song, was a powerful statement that was intended to show that there are alternatives.
Humans around the world tend to fall into 3 camps, there are the "religious", the "atheists" (hate that word), and there are the "unsure". Should we care ? Yes we should, put it this way, if you want to interview for a job and you tell the interviewers that you are a god fearing christian you probably stand a better chance of getting that job than if you told them you were an atheist. Why, because religious people are good, honest people.... total crap - but that's the way society tends to believe. There are just as many christian and catholic and Muslim rapists, robbers, murderers, etc as there are atheist rapists, robbers, murderers, etc.
But try telling someone that you hear voices, that you talked with god - lol, now gets you locked up in an asylum for the mentally deranged. So believing in god is ok, talking with him is loony.
"In God We Trust - God Bless America" - why should he, why can't he bless other countries? What does the word "bless" actually mean here? Do the US and other "influencial" countries make political and military decisions based on their "righteous religeous" outlooks? Then it's no wonder that the world is in a mess.
And to think that all this "religion" comes from some badly written, incomplete story on some papyrus scrolls that have been badly translated and re-translated over the years... supposedly rational intelligent human beings choose to believe in those stories, they make decisions based on those stories, they justify their actions based on those stories, and they answer the absurdity of those stories with even more absurdities.... this, is religion? Then I say to hell with religion.
Ok, lets let up awhile here, I am not writing all this just to bash the religious, I accept that my words here will probably have no effect whatever on the world - but I would like to walk down the street in the knowledge that no-one is going bother me for my color, that no-one is going to bother me for my country of origin or my language, that no-one is going to try and rob me, and that no-one is going to have problems with my mode of dressing... do we have this kind of world yet??? NO WE DON'T - and religion is certainly not capable of providing it, so why don't we all just cut out the crap and put the effort into who we really are... and WHO WE REALLY ARE is going to be my next blogging effort, and it's going to cut deep.
Relevant Sites:
http://www.antitheist.net/
Just say NO to Imaginary Bearded Sky Daddies
http://aintnogod.com/
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