Who's afraid of the N.R.A.?

Fuck the National Rifle Association! "You can have my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hand"?

OK! We can do that!

Look, you NRA people are all pussies and you know it. Your guns are phallic replacements for you sexually impotent cowards. You NEED guns because of your cowardice.

Democrats are weak. Tell these fucking retards from the NRA that you are going to beat the shit out of them! Again - they are COWARDS. They'll run away and shit their pants. Quit being afraid of the N.R.A.

Jet Black?

Someone please explain to me where this term comes from? I've never seen a "black jet". Maybe if I were in to conspiracies I could roll with "helicopter black", but "jet black"?

God Created Monkeys...

...in his own image!

Good News for Christians and other supporters of Prop 8

I know that the damned liberal 9th Circuit Court has once again subverted our rights to pass whatever laws we want, but there is some good news here.

I prayed about this today and Jesus answered! This is what he told me:

"Yeah, do not worry thyself. I'm down with this decision. Remember, the New Testament is a NEW covenant. You can read that baby backwards and forwards and not hear me railing against homosexuality".

"Look, you know how 'my peeps' are always going on and on about the 'New Covenant' whenever you bring up eating shellfish, wearing two different fabrics, planting more than one kind of seed in your garden, working on Sundays, yada, yada, yada? Well, they are RIGHT! But that goes for homosexuality too. If I didn't slam it - it's OK".

"I just want them to take care of the poor and the infirm, be charitable, love thy neighbors, refrain from being judgmental - all the stuff I really DID talk about. When will they GET IT"?

So, everyone relax. If Jesus Christ is cool, you be cool too.

Christian antinomianism

an·ti·no·mi·an
[an-ti-noh-mee-uhn]
noun
a person who maintains that Christians are freed from the moral law by virtue of grace as set forth in the gospel.


Have you ever been shocked, amazed, repulsed, at a Christian who you know has committed acts which you also know to be completely contrary to the belief system he (or she) espouses, while simultaneously being no less certain of his ultimate fate (heaven); as opposed to yours (hell)?

Be confounded no more!

It's very simple - "Christians aren't PERFECT. They're FORGIVEN"! Repent of your PAST sins (when you weren't a Believer), accept Jesus Christ of Nazareth into your heart as your personal Lord and Savior, and presto! As long as you stick to that belief, you are saved - regardless of whatever else you might do in life. The greatest "get out of jail free" card ever conceptualized by the minds of men.

Hocus Pocus. Humans just can't get enough magic and Christianity provides it as effectively as any religion ever created.

Unity at Verizon

Supporting these folks...

Midsummer? Midwinter?

Someone please explain to me why we use these terms for the first day of summer and the first day of winter? Seems to me that Midsummer should be somewhere around August 4 - midway point in summer, between spring and autumn.

Through these godless eyes

New vid from PhilHellenes

More on "the end of privacy"

This article is surprising to me only in that it is so close to being an everyday reality. In fact, it's been my belief for some time that the day is approaching when you will walk down the street and and more or less instantly know the identities and other relevant (or completely irrelevant) information about the people walking past you - and they'll know it about you.

I wrote more on the issue of personal privacy in a culture of advanced technologies here if you missed it earlier.

Life is but a vapor....

This guy has been on YouTube for quite a long time, but I just got clued in to his channel. He does some pretty good work.

Add this to your favorite quotes

I'm currently reading "Cryptonomicon" by Neal Stephenson and came across this one:

"Arguing with anonymous strangers on the Internet is a sucker's game because they almost always turn out to be—or to be indistinguishable from—self-righteous sixteen-year-olds possessing infinite amounts of free time."

Rap again

A year or two ago I posted an atheist rap by GreydonSquare. Guess who's back?

Most of my blogger friends are not fond of rap and were largely unimpressed. All I can say is, the guy is a lot more creative than I am. I like his songs.

How's THIS for lack of creativity?

I've been trying to change up, whip myself into shape mentally and physically, and do it whether I like it or not. Let me tell you... I don't like it. One of the tasks I've assigned myself is to put something up on my blog on a more regular basis than I have for the past couple of years.

If you're one of "The Half Dozen", as I like to call you, then you've noticed I've been tossing up videos by YouTubers who I enjoy. If I have to ride the coattails of those more intelligent and talented than myself, well, by bloody Jesus on a cross, that's better than staying in bed all day.

I'll tell you, I'm sick of hearing my opinions on things. Honestly, there's no reason on earth that you should listen to what I have say unless you are about as bored with everything as I am.

If you enjoy videos, perhaps you'll agree with my taste in them. If you do, I think I find some pretty fucking cool stuff - which would mean that you don't have to run all over looking for them. But, hey... that's just my stupid fucking opinion again.

Problem of Evil discussed

Enjoy!

"Atheist" - a video by AndromedasWake

Freedom of Speech vs. banning and blocking

One thing that is true enough about the words I write in this blog and the words I have spoken on YouTube videos - they are just another fucking opinion on the Internet. I’m not an expert in any field and I don’t have credentials to serve as a claim of authority through my deep knowledge of any subject. I suspect this is true for the majority of blogs, tweets, Facebook entries, YouTube videos and other ways we communicate with each other in the rapidly expanding, information-rich world in which we find ourselves. This is not to say there are no exceptions out there, and we should all be grateful for that fact. That we have many resources available, written by experts in every imaginable field, is enriching to all of us.

There was no real need for me to preface my coming remarks with that disclaimer. I was thinking about it earlier this evening, and it’s good to openly and honestly self-evaluate what one is doing, now and again. The fact that the above is absolutely true is not to say that my thoughts on the variety of subjects I touch upon are worthless. We all add to the discussion (or not) and thereby minutely tune the macro-society we live in. It helps clarify one’s own positions and maybe, on occasion, help others to do the same. And so, I blather on.

Recent events on blogs and channels I visit on a regular basis leads me to comment on the subject for which this post is titled. I won’t get into specific names of the players or the circumstances involved leading to the ideas expressed here. I don’t think it’s really necessary. If you have spent any amount of time in Internet discussions and disputes over such subjects as god, religion, Christianity, Islam, spirituality, superstition, atheism, science, politics and many more, you will have also had reason to give some thought to your position on (capitalized) Freedom of Speech, as it applies to these debates.

I have never blocked or banned anyone from posting their comments concerning what I write on this blog. Other than cases of clear and obvious spamming (usually to promote some product or other financial venture of the writer) I have never even deleted comments. Even in cases of a few commenters who, in my personal opinion, were nothing more than silly trolls attempting to get a reaction or just mindlessly venting against my point of view, I have left the commenter and their comments alone.

Despite this, I do not maintain that I am protecting them or the ideal of Freedom of Speech. Indeed, I don’t think this has any connection to the principle. I still reserve the right to block, ban and delete comments for any reason - should I decide to do so at some point. There is no connection between banning commenters and a violation of the human right to Freedom of Speech.

Hopefully you live in a country in which this human right is upheld. If you don’t, it’s unlikely that my words are even reaching you right now. If you do, then whether or not I ban you from this blog, your rights are still protected. You can post your thoughts on your own blog or other social networking site, or on the pages of other users where you are still welcome. Indeed, if you open your own blog, channel, etc. you can say whatever you want, as much as you want, whenever you choose to do so.

I can honestly report here that I have never, ever, invoked a protest of “Freedom of Speech”! when I have had a comment deleted or been blocked (usually, though not always, by a Christian channel or blog) and I never will. Do I find it telling when I come across a Christian blog that screens all comments before posting them and resolutely declines to do so whenever a non-believer makes a comment that is contrary to the point of view of the Christian blog owner? I surely do. But they haven’t violated my rights.

Imagine you are holding a dinner and discussion at your home. You have sent out dozens of invitations. It comes to your attention that one of the people you invited is a denier of the fact of the Nazi Holocaust and that this person is an advocate for Aryan supremacy. Further, this person very much intends to use your dinner party as a platform to push their agenda. You send them a note to withdraw the invitation and to tell them that people of their mindset are not welcome to come into your house and espouse those thoughts.

Have their human rights been violated? The answer should be obvious, and the analogy is a valid one.

We're ALL New Yorkers now!

Just wanted to remind some of our more conservative and/or backwards Americans what they themselves were declaring just 10 years ago!

The second most populous state in the Union now gives gay and lesbian couples the same rights as straight couples - like most of the enlightened world. New York is now the 6th state to legalize gay marriage, and California (the most populous state) will again join decent humanity, as soon as Prop 8 runs out of appeals (or its proponents are simply informed that they have no standing).

Those of you who continue to oppose this should at least be honest. There is no reason to do so, other than a religious reason. That's not good enough. If your god is against homosexuality, then your obvious action is - not to marry someone of the same sex. What others do is their business.

Science saved his soul

A friend of mine on YouTube made this video late last year. He has had a fabulous response with well over 800,000 views. I think he will eventually top one million, and thought I'd do a little to help him. Philhellenes is one of the really fine atheist channels on YouTube and I suggest you take the time to watch of few of his other videos. Some of them are even better than this - though this is damned good.

Clobbering Kalam - and William Lane Craig

If you find this interesting, you'll probably want to see the earlier video from Scott (TheoreticalBullshit) which led to Craig's weak response to a YouTuber. Actually, early in the video, Scott requests that you go ahead and watch "I Kalam like I see 'em" prior to watching this video. I don't think it's necessary to do it in that order, but however you prefer - I'll link that below this video.



I "Kalam" like I see 'em.

Looking for a new bogeyman

Almost immediately after the death of former terrorist bogeyman Osama Bin Laden, news reports started popping up all over speculating on who would replace him as the Terrorist-In-Chief. Here are a few examples. (a) (b) (c)

There is no conspiracy to keep us living in fear of terrorism. It all develops as naturally as any other public issue meme. However, it's undeniable that memes benefit some more than others. The meme of our society living under the threat of collapse due to the efforts of a relative few fanatics is of great benefit to the existing power structures; political, military and industrial power structures.

The economy of the United States is highly dependent on defense spending. For those Americans who love to chant "We're Number One", well, you can't deny that they are right - at least when it comes to advanced weaponry, computers, spy tech, personnel training and maintenance, etc. Over 40% of the world's military spending each year is done by the U.S. The second leading country in military spending is China, and they spend roughly 15% of what our country does. The 2009 U.S. budget called for nearly $700 billion in defense spending and that was before the extra $75 billion of emergency funding for the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This obscene level of spending has to be justified somehow. With the fall of communism as a viable threat to sell us on, the Nineties left a chasm that needed to be filled and "the worldwide threat of global terrorism, primarily emanating from the Middle East in the form of Islamic Jihad" provided a flimsy cover. At least at first. Then came 9/11/2001. You could almost feel the collective sigh of relief coming out of the military/industrial complex.

So now, with Osama Bin Laden an historical footnote, the search is on for a new bogeyman to haunt our dreams and allow our government to go unchallenged in spending outlandish amounts of money to insure that you don't die this year in cataclysmic attack. Feel the fear, and don't ask questions. Your life may depend on your obedient acquiescence. It would be better if you question the $1 billion spent on women's reproductive health or the half billion dollars earmarked for public broadcasting.