FLASHBACK SUNDAY

I have nothing, and at the same time too much, for today. There's only one thing I can do, bring back the ranter.

Americans love their homeopathy. Between 2000 and 2014 the industry earnings rose 33 percent. In 2014, 1.2 billion dollars were spent on water. Confirmation bias does the trick. You drink medicinal water, and guess what, in a week or two you feel great! Must of been the magic piss water.

Various sects of christianity revel in homeopathy; scammed by myths apparently makes one receptive to being scammed by just about anything. Homeopaths know a sucker when they see one.

Every one of us knows that death awaits, except for believers of course. They will live an eternal life listening to shitty harps played by untalented fools, but for atheists we'll be gone. And here's the thing, we all know we're going to die, but none of us think it's going to happen now, today; it's always in some nebulous distant future. Yet one of these days it will be the day. For the homeopathic crowd, specifically that guy drinking piss water for his chest pain today, that day may be sooner than he thinks.

If today is your day, later bitch.

Religion kills. Christian pastors in Africa are killing children at will. Witches the young ones are, evil and worthless. "The nine-year-old boy lay on a bloodstained hospital sheet crawling with ants, staring blindly at the wall. His family pastor had accused him of being a witch, and his father then tried to force acid down his throat as an exorcism. It spilled as he struggled, burning away his face and eyes. The emaciated boy barely had strength left to whisper the name of the church that had denounced him – Mount Zion Lighthouse." A month later, he died.

"There's a scar above Jane's shy smile: her mother tried to saw off the top of her skull after a pastor denounced her and repeated exorcisms costing a total of $60 didn't cure her of witchcraft. Mary, 15, is just beginning to think about boys and how they will look at the scar tissue on her face caused when her mother doused her in caustic soda. Twelve-year-old Rachel dreamed of being a banker but instead was chained up by her pastor, starved and beaten with sticks repeatedly; her uncle paid him $60 for the exorcism.

Israel's cousin tried to bury him alive, Nwaekwa's father drove a nail through her head, and sweet-tempered Jerry – all knees, elbows and toothy grin – was beaten by his pastor, starved, made to eat cement and then set on fire by his father as his pastor's wife cheered it on."

Children outcast from family and community. When churches outnumber clinics, schools, and banks; only evil remains. Education, health, and enough money to feed your children? No thanks, we'll take religion please. The end of this atrocity is nowhere in sight, and no response from the world's "good" christians who watch in horror but take no actions. Unchecked christianity in action, disgusting, evil, and sick. Evangelical nonsense taken to the extreme, "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." 

This cannot be ignored, it is everywhere. America has a long sordid history of religious terrorists. Whether based on white supremacy, to acts of violence on government buildings, health centers, doctors; on anyone who challenges the word of god.

Here, hundreds of children have died from parents and pastors who are withholding easily accessible medical treatment. Children are prevented from getting medical attention, because faith is all they need. In 1944 the Supreme Court ruled that parents cannot interfere with a child's welfare, including for religious reasons. 38 states and the District of Columbia then created laws that protected the religious from this basic protection for children. Right to life my ass. Child Protection Services there are discouraged from reporting religious based problems and seem to turn an eye to what they see.

Religious groups who allow children to die are terrorists in their own right. 

Here's hoping that all of the clergy involved in all these, and many more, horrors leave us soon. Today should be their day, later bitches.

Muslims killing muslims, muslims killing christians, christians killing muslims, christians killing hindu, muslims killing hindu, hindu killing muslims, hindu killing christians, etc.; the list is very long. This is not a problem that is central to the Middle East or parts of the African continent, this is everywhere. 

God. God is the problem. God has always been the problem. Tribal mentality that all humans have originates with god. My god is always the real god. God is a sickness that separates humanity, for without god why would we hate our brothers? 

Tribalism is an ongoing slaughter of intellect. It tells us we are better than others, that we are superior, and that others are beneath us. It is always entwined with religion or myth, and is the primal source of conflict. God loves some of us, others he really detests. 

God's day cannot come soon enough, and we should all be happy to wish him a short farewell.

Later bitch.

FAITH IS DEATH

We've talked many times about "enablers;" those that support religion at any cost. Liberal theists who are more accepting of reality than their conservative brethren seem to be harmless, but they take no real action to stop the more harmful elements of their chosen religion. The pacifists always back down, they have to. You cannot both be religious, yet not support the religious. There's always an area where they think all belief should be respected, which is why many think the enablers are as bad, or possibly even worse, than their more aggressive counterparts. 

The "No True Scotsman" fallacy is another way of covering up religion's crushing grip on the world. If a believer takes an action that horrifies the world, they are not a true theist. Theists refuse to take responsibility for the actions of those of faith, the actions that many times are caused by that same faith. To continue down the road of faith and madness, you really must blindfold yourself to the evils that are created by belief.

Religion  effects humans on a global scale, more so now than ever in our short history. The conflicts brought about by whose god is better than the other has always been a blight on humanity, but as technology becomes more commonplace it allows the insanity to spread quickly. What was true in the past is still true today, religion fights science in every manner conceivable. That fight is leading us to to the annihilation of our species.

Climate change is one of the biggest threats to this planet. Religions are starting to embrace the science sporadically, but as always it's too little too late. Pope Francis embraces Climate Change as a fact; that's really nice of you but you're decades late. And herein lies the problem. While the faithful fight reality, we lose our chance to take the actions that would counter the problem. Religion has us shackled with a ball and chain that slows our need to react to the world's problems.

An American problem is the foul unity of politics and religion. A Handful of republican presidential hopefuls have rebuked the science of climate change. The ones that accept the findings still have no plans on doing anything to combat the crisis, they are in the pocket of our local billionaires who make millions polluting the earth. American evangelicals who are always at the front of the anti-science movement, seem to be leaning towards the stewardship angle in the last year or so, but again, they vote for those who have stated they will do nothing to combat the problem. And even as some of the faithful decide on action, there is still a large group that states any action will bring harm to the poor while not really accomplishing that much.

Here again we see the ignorance of faith. Faith only concerns itself with what technology is available at the moment, and doesn't look forward to investing into new technology that may help. Politicians put science in the poorhouse, if you don't have the money for research, you can't help us. Life sciences are under attack in the states.

Evolution, such a center part of all the life sciences, is still debated by theists. There is no debate unless you are one of the faithful. The only reason to deny the obvious is because of god. Our lives right at this moment would be enriched if religion never came into play. We'd be living healthier and longer lives, excepting for the incredible battle that has been waged against us by the believers. Our suffering is directly related to the obtuse thoughts of the brainwashed. It is on their heads, the blood is on their hands. Disease is their gift to humanity.

We need to understand how species react to environmental changes to minimize our threat to the planet and to help save endangered species. We need to know how parasites evolve to keep us healthy. Cancer research, agricultural techniques, mutagenic substances; every part of life on this planet benefits from embracing this reality. Again though, the faithful would rather embrace death and disease than to admit their god did not create man.

In 1859, Darwin's "On The Origins of Species" was released. Sixty years ago the catholic church started to embrace that reality, even though they're still jumping through hoops trying to reconcile that thought with their god. But we're still talking almost a century before the church would acknowledge the science. A hundred years of progress restrained by belief.

The beginnings of our universe has always been a battle. As recently as in the 1980s, the pope admonished scientists against studying the moment of creation, since it was holy. Regardless of which view holds true, whether there is a true beginning of the universe, or it has always been in place, why would anyone want to stop research? It does no harm except to unprovable beliefs that restrict humans in every endeavor. 

I think Stephen Hawking replied to those who need a divine creator correctly. "What was god doing before the divine creation? Was he preparing hell for people who ask such questions?"

Exactly. Understanding the universe can only help us understand who we are. There is no need to answer why, that would be silly at best. There is no need for a "master plan" created by as savage god. There is no need for a theist's desire for "meaning," that we create ourselves. 

As long as the believers need to fight for their belief by denying reality, faith will be the death of us all. 

GOD LOGIC

Every so often a nice theist joins the site. The conversations always seem to have an aura of friendliness at the beginning, but then they quickly turn into a never ending defense of belief. The arguments are not new, just rephrased to confuse. Apparently it works, since we all jump in to defend an atheist viewpoint, and it always seems to confuse us for a few days until we finally come up with the answer. We do not spend our days studying for a conversation that has no end; the infinite debate will continue with or without us. There should be an answer though, regardless of our lack of enthusiasm to engage.

For atheism to exist, there would seem to be a reason needed. Absence of belief is a fine definition for the word, but that definition would seem to require an argument; an argument that defines the definition. Speaking in circles isn't just for theists. 

For religion to exist, a network of falsehoods must exist. Lies must be told: 

According to Tm Mazur:"Immanuel Kant said that lying was always morally wrong. He argued that all persons are born with a ‘intrinsic worth’ that he called human dignity. This dignity derives from the fact that humans are uniquely rational agents, capable of freely making their own decisions, setting their own goals, and guiding their conduct by reason. To be human is to have the rational power of free choice; to be ethical is to respect the power in oneself and others… Lies are morally wrong for 2-reasons: First, lying corrupts most important quality of being human: the ability to make free, rational choices. Each lie told contradicts your moral worth. Second, lies rob others of their freedom to choose, rationally. When a lie leads people to decide in ways other than the way they would had they known the truth, you harm their human dignity… Kant believed that in order to value ourselves and others… we must avoid damaging, interfering with, or misusing our ability to make free decisions, in other words: No lying."

Certainly, that premise exists only if you give in to a theist's certainty that free will exists to some degree. Without free will, the theist doesn't have an argument on morality to make, so wasting time trying to convince otherwise might be a, well, waste of time. Might as well skip the heart and head straight to the brain. Free will's added benefit to an argument could be Kant's view regardless, so catching a theist in a lie would be the same as said theist partaking in an immoral act, and theist's arguments for god containing falsehoods become repetitive instances of evil. Case closed.

We need to clear up our arguments. It should not take days or weeks to file the bible in the fiction section. It shouldn't take days or weeks of allowing circular arguments to control the debate to exorcise the fantasy from our collective thoughts. It shouldn't take days or weeks to refute the theist's statements. Logic should be the simple answer, but the theist takes that as well and twists it into proof of god. 

Hundreds of years before jesus, Aristotle delved into how we process reason. The three basic laws of logic, though already a given, were given a more formal expression. For the purpose of creating a discussion, do these basic laws not negate religion without going any farther? Is there a need to look at all the different ways religion tries to deafen our sensibilities with arguments, that on the outside, may seem meaningful, but when deconstructed become nothing more than a cloak for faith?

Any of us that lay claim to being reasoning humans probably know the three basic laws of thought, even if we don't vocalize them. 

1. The Law of Identity.  Everything is the same as itself. Whether a thing, or a proposition, A = A. 

Without going any farther, this would seem to trash religion immediately. Asking for a definition of god should be enough to show the proposition is nonsense. 

William Lane Craig seems to be one of the focal points enlightening us with the latest ontological definition of god. The first premise usually goes like this. "God is the greatest being conceivable. If you can conceive of a greater being, then that is god." To me this states that "A" does not equal "A." A proposition is true or it is not. If "A" changes, then it is not "A", and we cannot have a reasonable discussion about "A" because "A" has not been defined. God of the old testament is different than god of the new testament, and everyone who describes god has a different definition according to his or her own biases, so god does not exist.

Even if an argument could be made that the tree in my back yard is still the same tree as it grows - like god can change and still be god - that glass doesn't hold water. Everyone has the same definition of a tree, yet all are different when it comes to god. 

2. The Law of Non-Contradiction. Nothing can exist and not exist at the same time and in the same respect; or no statement can be true and false.

Again, if the definition of god changes depending on the mind that has created him/her, then the statement describing god is certainly false.

3. The Law of the Excluded Middle. Something either exists or it doesn't exist; or every statement is true or false.

Once again, if a definition changes, then the statement is always false.

This seems simple enough, yet we get caught up in debates that should be nullified immediately.

Is there a need to go further when it comes to logic? We ought be informed, reasoned, and ready for any attempt by a theist to proselytize the site. We should be able to be courteous, informative, and respectful to the theist, but not necessarily to his ideas.

If anyone cares to play, tell us why these statements are false. 

The Planet - October 28, 2013

RELIGION

Kentucky kind of sucks, for atheists at least. When the state came up with their 2006 homeland security law, it contained the following statement: "The safety and security of the Commonwealth cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God as set forth in the public speeches and proclamations of American Presidents." This law has been overturned then reinstalled upon appeal. Twelve months in jail is a possibility for the reason crowd. American Atheists are once again trying to overturn the crazy.

For some fundamentalists, not kicking their children's ass legally is an abomination. Tea Party crazy Mark Meadows hates contraceptives and he hates protections for children. He introduced a "parental rights amendment" that has 64 supporters in congress.Compulsory education for children? No thanks. UN Convention on rights for those with disabilities? Not any time soon. The stupid hurts. 

Ted Cruz, the evangelist Canadian who was a prime mover in shutting down our government and destroying our economy, appears to be one of god's favorites. According to Ted's father, Ted has been anointed to bring about the "end time transfer of wealth," whatever that means. I don't think this action needs saintly guidance, transferring wealth from the wicked to the righteous believers would seem to be fairly subjective. If we cannot rid society of these parasites, we are doomed.

Sam Apple helps with the bible, revisions are always good. A little bit of humor for the atheist in your life.

ATHEISM

One short sound bite for atheism and morality; no thank you. An atheist group in South Carolina, the "Upstate Atheists," offered to help out at a local soup kitchen. Christians think that charity only comes with religion, and to a certain degree they are right. Preachers rely on charity, which is why they preach it. Con men, nothing more. Basically, you have to have the morals of a stone aged ignorant fuck to be allowed to help the needy. Once again, christians show that morals do not exist in their world.

HEALTH

Hey, you need some supplements to keep that body rolling? For those who eat food, no supplements are normally needed, yet this industry grows because of people's lack of reading skills; it only takes a few minutes to google nutrition. Well, if your one of those who think these natural healthy supplements to eating are good for you, then take your nice contaminated little pills. I guess rice filled, unregulated bullshit makes the delusional happy.

After you get sick from taking supplements that don't help you, you can always turn to alternative medicine. I mean, fighting illness with quackery is on the same level as taking unneeded supplements. Money money money, is there anything more important in life? About the same as twirling around three times while scratching your head and rubbing your belly all at the same time. Cured! Good luck with that.

The Healthy Farmland Diet says grow less corn, grow more diverse crops, help the nation's health and the environment. Just from that statement, this will be a no go. Healthier air, water and soil is not something that Americans want. In the first place, reading is so tedious. I mean really, you want Americans to spend ten minutes a day learning something? Get real fools.

LIFE

This story everyone has heard by now. Three boy scout leaders destroy what nature hasn't been able to do in 170 million years. I only mention this again in case you didn't catch the interview with these assholes. One gentleman said he "was saving lives." Where do we get these people? Keep the immigrants, ship out conservatives.

I stay away from talking about food choices that we make, but still, the facts can not be ignored. We destroy lives, including our own, by consuming more meat than our bodies need. Take a break once in awhile and live longer and healthier. Meatless Mondays is a campaign that is still spreading and hopefully will be good for all populations. Eat meat if you feel the need my friends, but try to get some veggies in you once in a while. Live as long and healthy as you can.

Climate Change is always in the minds of those that, once again, read and think. This article talks about extreme climate change effecting the tropics before the arctic. So long tropical plants and animals, humans have decided you need to die.

POLITICS

Politics is something that we dealt with in the past, now it's just an excuse for culture wars; I am starting to really hate the fools running my country, but, here we go.

There is actually a few good things happening. In Wisconsin, tea party Governor Scott Walker had to endure a recall election. He destroyed unions in the state while funneling money to his big money supporters. Apparently there is aninvestigation dealing with the recall election. Separate investigations convicted six former Walker aides. One county that was under investigation now has spread to five counties and it's all leading up to Walker. That would be nice. 

Continuing in Wisconsin, the Court holds state officials incontempt for enforcing anti-union laws. That's another big one. Wisconsin and many of the Great Lakes and Rust Belt states were once very pro-union. The latest crop of tea party governors have tried to destroy those unions. 

In Texas, a conservative judge switches parties. He finally figured it our, the GOP is the party of racists and homophobes. Thank you for thinking sir.

Back to stupid. U.S. Representative Renee Ellmers, another fine pro gun conservative, has an AR-15 stolen from her home. She's a staunch advocate of gun owners. She thinks that gun owners should be "responsible for the use and care of their weapons." Well, after target practice, a gun was left unsecured and was stolen at her home. Nice.

Conservative leaders needed some "expertise" on the implementation of the ACA, which as everyone knows is having problems. They picked up John McAfee, well known for his anti-virus software. He's also well known as the guy who after selling the software, moved to Belize and kept himself amused with teenage girls. His neighbor complained of the noise, and was subsequently found shot in the head. McAfee fled, was grabbed in Guatemala, then sent back to the states. Conservatives always find the best of the best, eh?

One thought on the ACA website problems. I watched the same thing happen while I was with the feds. When we needed new equipment, the federal government would hire outside help, but they worked under the government's thumb. We had a new system and software worked on for over a half dozen years before it was implemented across the country. Was awesome. Then, they contracted out my whole section, and the new company's equipment and software didn't work worth shit. After four years, it still didn't work. It's what you get with small government my friends.

CULTURE

What better costume for Halloween than maybe a white dude donning some black face? Well, I can tell you. Throw some blood on his shirt then have some other dip shit wear a neighborhood watch shirt and fashion a gun with his fingers and point it at black face's head. Oh yeah, theZimmerman outfit. A lack of scruples, a lack of morality, a lack of decency; yeah, we Americans are exceptional.

When it comes to the bullying debate, Fox news has the answer. Anti-bullying policies limit conservative free speech. The only thing right about this thought is that bullying comes from the conservative parts of the country. I might finally agree with these gentlemen; you guys are right, conservatives are the bullies. Little pussies hiding behind false rage and false morals. Thanks for the heads up Fox, we know how to deal with bullies.

Apparently marijuana will become legal everywhere in the states soon. Almost sixty percent now support legalization. Finally we can get the crime off the streets, regulate who can buy, and grow our economy. I'm tired of the prohibition. Kids can buy a bag a weed on the school ground within minutes, yet can't wash it down with a beer. That's because alcohol is regulated. 

If you want some history with your Halloween, Live Science has you covered. Most of us probably know more than we need to about the pagan origins, but still fun. Apparently pagans have more fun than christians.

Rush Limbaugh, who is always talking about how liberals are making us a country of pussies, has decided to move that attack to the National Football League. Maybe it's because they wouldn't allow the racist to co-own a team, but maybe it's just because Rush doesn't have anything real to talk about. The NFL wearing pink for breast cancer awareness was too much for the old fuck. I think he may have gone too far this time. Maybe he doesn't realize that in real life, not like on his flat screen, these guys are giants. Motor mouth better start running.

In reality, if anyone is stealing our manhood, it is this clown. A bully, nothing more. He encourages people to rant and rave, to hate and deceive; he is the one who is helping the decline of morals in the states.

The Planet - October 20, 2013

A CULTURE OF RARITY

Ali gave me this thought, and it's been wading through the swamp of my brain since. The thought rests on the premise that refugees have been accepted by many in the Middle East because life survives there by helping others. That because of the environment, you need to be generous to survive. If famine effects part of the region, other parts will help; and vice versa.

Such an interesting thought.

I'm sure it's in the quran as it is in the bible, that "help your neighbor" philosophy. We see it in America from all our high profile religious politicians.

Not.

All we have to do is look at the right's desire to defund safety nets, and we understand that their motives are not based on a sound set of morals. The bible contradicts itself with every other passage, so to be religious goes against the evolutionary set of morals that we survive by.

The U.S. spreads a lot of wealth around the world, but do we do so because of a moral view on life? Usually not. We need to build some factories, we need some resources. We need an empire because only with an empire does our type of economy exist. For someone to acquire wealth, somewhere else down the line someone suffers. Biblical morality says that's good, the chosen people are meant to do well.

The bible corrupts.

God's people look forward to a dead world, to a time of revelation, to a time of death and torture for most of humankind. Every decade of every century since christianity has had the upper hand, his people have looked forward to a second coming. Many of us have stated many times that theists live for death; how can these views be seen any other way?

We know that even rats will help their kind by not causing them pain, which is seemingly the bases of evolved morality for life. How can life exist without cooperation, even if only among its own species?

Humans do not sacrifice their children to a jealous god. Humans do not readily kill children in warfare, yet god has not that problem. Humans do not slay the children of those who have led lives that conflict with societal standards, yet again, god will. God will rip open the bellies of women bearing children, god thinks a good old fashioned holocaust is the perfect way of dealing with those that piss him off; god's men lie, cheat, steal and kill to get their way; moral humans would not.

Some have said that religion of some sort has been needed for man to survive. I do not think so. To control, yes, but control is not always altruistic, especially when that control is derived from a holy book. If we used the bible as our only guide to living a moral life, man would, or could, not exist.

HALLOWED HALLOWEEN

For most of us, Halloween when young is about costumes and candy; hey, we were kids. I enjoy the sidewalks full of laughter and delight, and sometimes squeals and a little fright. There's always a few homeowners that get into the spirit enough to make their yard a nightmarish scene. 

The majority of the country will be dressed as Zombies, and with any luck maybe a few Zomneys. Doesn't matter if you're a theist, princesses and fairies, werewolves and vampires; creatures of man's imagination will be represented with glee. The fee for the entertainment is fairly cheap, just fill up the bags with sweet treats.

But fundamentalists try to ruin the fun, always worried about god getting some. Some perverted love, at least it would seem, is the only way to appease the beast.

If you haven't been introduced to those ruining the day, if this is something you haven't heard or seen, then let me tell you about Jesus Ween.

More horrible than your classic witch, almost as scary as a catholic priest, some of your neighbors have succumbed to unreason destroying this fun holiday season. Instead of candy and popcorn and toys, they've come up with a sneaky new ploy. We can't allow people to not hear about christ, so lets fill up their bags with ignorant tripe. We've got bibles and tracts, verses and jesus, proselytizing always is the only way to please us.

They know that many people have the wrong idea about jesus; when you hear what some people tell it's all about hell. But they have it right, and will educate the tikes, on what they should be doing to make everything right. 

The mission is simple, so we are up to the task; we're talking god here, don't give us any flack. We want to spread the good word around the world, making sure everyone has a drink of our swill. In the good ole USA, Canada too, global is the mission and we're going fishing. 

If you'd like to participate it can't be any easier, just say a prayer first and send us an email. The jesus ween group is calling halloween "World Evangelism Day," so I guess we can say they've declared war on this spooky day.

I'm making light if the organization, but they're actually scarier than my words may seem. This is the thought that goes behind their theme. Halloween is the only day of the year that you can freely solicit, interact and give gifts, without breaking the law. Pretty slick I think, if nothing else theists take advantage of every loophole in law they can find. On a day where the supernatural is on a child's mind, the brainwashing is easier. Their motives are not just or fair; more insidious and foul than a Halloween scare. 

They think they are preparing a child for greatness, when what is really happening is the foulest of things. They give bibles to kids to pass out as they walk, since they will be received well by families who can't turn a child down. There starts the walk into the darkness, they teach the children young to take advantage of some. They readily admit that getting kids to preach, teaches them early it's the right thing to do. It also teaches them to be bold and courageous, since it takes boldness to corner a man  and tell him about jesus.

I think it would be fun to contest their plan, I have many quotes and verses made by man. A little evolution, a little biology, a little science to open their minds. Maybe an experiment to help them in thinking, a toy that would get them tinkering. 

I find this another sleazy idea by the people that brought us jesus. They're losing ground so they take advantage of every situation. I told the tale before about the churches in Lansing, setting up haunted houses that paint a picture, of the horrors that abound created by gays, forcing children on their knees but not to pray. 

So maybe not this year, it is a little late. But now I have time to plan the debate. A little of Dawkins, a smattering of Dennet, a few little dinosaurs, pictures of space, science and technology that will take them to another place. 

Fight back. 

Jesus Ween.