buzzkilled

Ann Rice gives advice to new writers.

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 23:37:45 -0600

Ann Rice gives advice to new writers.

"Man is certain of nothing but his ability to fail. It is the deepest faith we have, and the..."

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 22:10:40 -0600

““Man is certain of nothing but his ability to fail. It is the deepest faith we have, and the unbeliever—the blasphemer, the dissenter—will stimulate in us the most righteous of furies. A schoolboy hates the cocky-acting kid who says he can walk the fence and never fall. A woman despises the girl who is confident that her beauty will get her man. A worker is never so angered as by an owner who believes in the predominance of management. And this anger can be tapped and used.””

- Ken Kesey via Sometimes A Great Notion

"Love and all its complicated ramifications… actually does conquer all; Love or the Fear of Not..."

Fri, 14 Sep 2012 00:18:00 -0600

“Love and all its complicated ramifications… actually does conquer all; Love or the Fear of Not Having It, or the Worry about Not Having Enough of It, or the Terror of Losing It certainly does conquer all.”

- Ken Kesey via Sometimes A Great Notion

"[Forgiveness] is a rather unfashionable subject in moral philosophy at present; but to be forgiven..."

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 17:21:20 -0600

“[Forgiveness] is a rather unfashionable subject in moral philosophy at present; but to be forgiven is something we sometimes ask, and forgiving is something we sometimes say we do. To ask to be forgiven is in part to acknowledge that the attitude displayed in our actions was such as might properly be resented and in part to repudiate that attitude for the future (or at least the immediate future); and to forgive is to accept the repudiation and to forswear the resentment.”

- P.F. Strawson via “Freedom and Resentment and Other Essays.” (1974)

Outline For Why Religion Is Bad

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:08:42 -0700

I recently got into a discussion with a fellow student in my philosophy class on the topic of religion - I guess he assumed my interest in religion was because I was religious myself. When he found out I was an atheist he was almost confused as to why I was so interested in religion. I had to stop for a moment to be able to properly explain myself to him. Since I have begun drafting why I believe religion does more harm than good with reasons and examples for every case.

Deprivation of human rights (anti-abortion, anti-gay rights, anti-women’s right in Islam and Christianity, Sharia Law…)
Violence (jihads, The Crusades, abortion clinic bombings, hate crimes…)
Child abuse (Physical: circumcision, Catholic priest sexual abuse scandal, Mental: Fear of sin and the anxieties that arise)
Fear (Sin, hell, guilt, shame, submission and other feelings of anxiety that clout the human mind prohibiting it from acting freely and reasonably)
Politically restricting (The US president has to be a confessed Christian and therefore has to be in communication with God via prayer and talking to something invisible is not considered a mental instability, tax breaks for religion, lobbying, political endorsements from clergy…)
Mis-education (Limiting science in education, Creationism vs. evolution, general ignorance on subjects too complex to understand…)
Mass delusion (prayer, afterlife, holy eucharist, speaking in tongues, faith healing…)
Removal of proactivity (Prayer instead of action, religious donations to charities, missions, the Vatican…)
Xenophobia (One more thing to divide humans into subcategories to create a sense of unity within specific groups that then creates animosity towards others who’s belief systems differ which results in this day and age in violent and sometimes deadly clashes (see IDF and others)…)

If all of this is a by-product of a moral system that the religious argue does some amounts of good then I’d rather not have the by-product. Daniel Dennett calls this the “Three Mile Island Dilemma,” in which the catastrophe of the nuclear meltdown on Three Mile Island resulted in beneficial effects like increased nuclear safety, knowledge, summit meetings on the dangers of nuclear power etc., and that even sometimes bad things can have long lasting positive effects. Christians will sometimes use this to sweep genocide under the rug as just being a side effect of the good things religion does like food banks, Bibles to earthquake ravaged neighborhoods, and pltry philanthropic deeds. The easy and most sensible rebuttal to this misconstrued logic is that just because something negative may have positive effects doesn’t mean that way was the most effective means of achieving those ends. We could have achieved the same thing about nuclear safety through a variety of other methods that didn’t entail real, tangible disaster. If all of those above are simple side-effects of religion and religion does SOME good therefore those abuses lead to good things is a legitimate argument from the religious then we have certain questions about morals and ethics that arise out of that and any religion where bad must happen in order for good things to happen has some very warped views about the state of human affairs and their goals directly conflict with those of maximizing well-being for all (regardless of their religion).

E-mail exchange with Shawn the Baptist

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 22:24:00 -0600

His name is Shawn Holes (his full name can be found openly via his website www.luketentwo.com) and he goes by Shawn the Baptist, which I’m assuming is just clever religious nomenclature for another lying charlatan. He likes to travel around the U.S. standing on his little black stool, to give him that extra 6 to 8 inches god forgot to bestow upon him, spouting things like, “woman’s place is in the kitchen,” and “gay people are going to hell”. He believes the Earth is only 6,000-7,000 years old and that evolution is an evil lie orchestrated by scientist to propagate sin and deny god. Today he was on my campus at Boise State University, it was much of the same vulgar nonsense, stuff so outrageous you really have to think he’s got to be kidding – but he’s not, and that’s the scary part. Given the heated atmosphere that isn’t conducive to just about anyone I decided to wait until I got home to address the things I wanted to address personally and privately without the whole mob scene.

I took to his website, www.luketentwo.com and contacted him via there.

This was my e-mail:

Dear Shawn the Baptist,

I’m so glad you came to BSU today to preach in front the mostly secular student body. As an atheist myself there’s nothing more that can help this world than the rantings of a maniacal lunatic. As I walked away, a Christian lady that was in the crowd and I started talking. She told me she never questioned her faith as much as she did today. I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart for being the uneducated and ignorant imbecile you are because you really do echo that of the teachings and readings of your faith. Thanks again for making even the faithful question their faith and I hope one day you realize that it’s people like you that will eventually make the smoke and mirrors of Christianity collapse.

Sincerely,

Daniel.

I admit in hindsight my e-mail may have been a bit crude, but pardon you if I will that the things he was saying at my school today were far cruder and far more disgusting than anything I wrote in my e-mail. Some of the things he believes from the Bible are so extreme that I got the general feeling that there were more confused Christians around me than there were converted atheists. If he came to my school to preach and to try to lead some people to the pathways of God he did a piss poor job of it.

This was his response:

Sounds to me like your religion of there being no God is getting the best of you Daniel.

Perhaps you are a backslidden atheist. In other words why should anything matter according to you. Aren’t we just a bunch of cells wired together for no particular reason and with nothing being absolute and as an atheist you must be very confused…

As far as the woman is concerned she may be confused because she was actually encountering Biblical Christianity. Paul, Peter, Jesus, Jonah, John, Jeremiah, etc, etc, all open air preached telling all men everywhere to repent! So The message today was right in line with all those men that have gone before me. Oh, and democratically speaking, many people came up to thank us for coming onto the campus today. So based on the one person you had an encounter with and the countless people that thanked us, then I guess I win! And what a marvelous day it was, I give all glory to God.

I will pray that you will get born again Daniel. Really. God can save you by grace through faith in Jesus!

I hope we can have a cup of coffee together soon. Maybe even a Starbucks on campus.

In Christ I stand,

Shawn

I drafted my response:

Dear Shawn,

Thanks for writing me back. First I wanted to mention there is no such thing as a, “religion of there being no God.” Secondly, I notice you use what we like to call in philosophy a “slippery slope” argument - in that me being a “backslidden atheist” means nothing matters to me, there are no absolutes and all of that leads to me being very confused. You’ve made a lot of assumptions/judgments there Shawn, without really knowing anything about what I actually “believe”. I do “believe” we are made up of cells (as any reasonable human would) and I do “believe” in things like absolutes (2+2 will always = 4) and I’m actually not confused about very much other than how mis-education fosters ignorance which manifests itself into religion. I find this topic to be exceedingly interesting and do more religious readings than I think you’d give me credit for.

As for the woman, you’re right, she is just one person. She doesn’t matter. Not as much as the people who actually thanked you, the ones that must’ve already subscribed to the things you believe in. I guess you do win, I’m sure Jesus would have been just as humble; although, I’m sure he would have been upset that you shaved your side burns and the beard around your face as forbidden by Leviticus law. Oh, that is unless you pick and choose which Bible verses to live by, in which case I’m sure your knowledge of God is supreme even to his own granted the Bible is the one and only true AND complete word of God.

The only thing I really left wondering today is where you got your mis-education from? Do you have a college degree? From where and in what major(s)? Can it be independently verified? I guess I’m just wondering that when a person has a sign that reads “Evolution is a lie” and then proceeds to make backwater claims about it being a “theory” (even though your definition of the word theory is FAR from accurate) why I should listen to THEM (ie. YOU) over the countless educated people who have actual, real tangible evidence (and degrees from accredited universities all over the world) to the contrary.

Lastly, you tried to insinuate that nothing matters to me because I know we’re just a bunch of cells “wired” together. This couldn’t be further from the truth. I believe in doing what’s right for the betterment of humanity and this fine piece of rock we live on called Earth. Who would the better person be; the one that lives a healthy, conscience and moral life because it’s the right thing to do for themselves and everyone else in the world OR the person who does the same for the selfish reason of an afterlife or out of fear of damnation? Everything matters to me because I’m no longer confined to the misnomers and lies that Christianity had force fed me throughout my earlier years. It matters to me because the ideas you preach are dangerous and cultivate hatred and ignorance and all of that threatens the progress of humanity.

I learned the other day that the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer repented his sins and was baptized as a born again Fundamentalist Christian before he died. If someone like Dahmer who was responsible for the abhorrent deaths of at least 14 men and boys can get into heaven then what kind of moral and vindicating God is that? I’d rather take my chances in hell!

I appreciate your response and look forward to the next.

-Daniel Calderon

Shortly there after (I was surprised by how quickly he was responding, perhaps he was in divination with God) he responded and I was most definitely looking forward to his responses to my questions:

Oh Daniel. Please don’t be silly. You know God exists. Repent of your sins and trust in the shed blood I Jesus. He is mighty to save.

Looking forward to a cup of coffee with you. Or maybe you don’t believe in coffee?

Let’s discuss these matters then.

In Christ,

Shawn

Here was my response:

That did not answer ANY of my questions.

Not one.

You lack proof of every kind including a diploma.

You aren’t to be trusted anymore than the next charlatan.

Sincerely,

Daniel Calderon

PS. If you ever wish to answer my questions you know how to get a hold of me.

Just like God, without proof I must believe that it doesn’t exist. Same goes for diplomas. It’s important to me that he has a diploma (I’d even like to know if he graduated from high school) because if he’s going to make grand claims about evolution and geology he best be prepared to prove it or at least prove that he’s educated in the proper fields. It’s no more apt for me to walk into a NASA meeting of aerospace engineers and start babbling things about how physics is a fraud than it is for him to walk into an educational establishment and begin making wild statements about the origin of the Earth and the creation of humans. His final adieu to our exchange was in the form of one sentence akin to something a 14-year-old girl would send a boy about a date, it read, “Well then I guess coffee is out of the question. Whevs.”

I just wanted to share that with whomever or at least get it down in my own words.

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-7-17)

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 19:00:58 -0600

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-7-17):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-7-10)

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 01:47:49 -0600

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-7-10):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-7-3)

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 06:54:08 -0600

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-7-3):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-6-5)

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:45:21 -0600

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-6-5):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

We drew each other on the iPad over this original photo.

Mon, 30 May 2011 23:33:21 -0600

We drew each other on the iPad over this original photo.

"In the beginning God created radiation and ylem. And ylem was without shape or number, and nucleons..."

Sun, 22 May 2011 17:34:10 -0600

“

In the beginning God created radiation and ylem. And ylem was without shape or number, and nucleons were rushing madly over the face of the deep.

And God said: ‘Let there be mass two.’ And there was mass two. And God saw deuterium, and it was good.

And God said: ‘Let there be mass three.’ And there was mass three. And God saw tritium, and it was good.

And God continued to call numbers until He came to transuranium elements. But when He looked back on his work, He found that it was not good. In the excitement of counting, He missed calling for mass five and so, naturally, no heavier elements could have been formed.

God was very much disappointed, and wanted first to contract the Universe again, and to start all over from the beginning. But it would be much too simple. Thus, being almighty, God decided to correct His mistake in a most impossible way.

And God said: ‘Let there be Hoyle.’ And there was Hoyle. And God looked at Hoyle and told him to make heavy elements in any way he pleased.

And Hoyle decided to make heavy elements in stars, and to spread them around by supernova explosions. But in doing so, he had to obtain the same abundances which would have resulted from nucleosynthesis in ylem, if God would not have forgotten to call for mass five.

And so, with the help of God, Hoyle made heavy elements in this way, but it was so complicated that nowadays neither Hoyle, nor God, nor anybody else can figure out exactly how it was done.

”

- Genesis according to George Gamow

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-5-15)

Fri, 20 May 2011 11:05:45 -0600

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-5-15):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

"Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins..."

Sun, 15 May 2011 21:29:15 -0600

““Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh heavier than lead, and with their wings exceedingly small. He did not, and that ought to show something. It is only in order to shield your ignorance that you put the Lord at every turn.””

- Galileo Galilei via Dialouge

Photo

Sun, 08 May 2011 20:52:12 -0600

"Blind faith can justify anything. If a man believes in a different god, or even if he uses a..."

Sun, 08 May 2011 18:24:47 -0600

“Blind faith can justify anything. If a man believes in a different god, or even if he uses a different ritual for worshiping the same god, blind faith can decree that he should die - on the cross, at the stake, skewered on a Crusader’s sword, shot in a Beirut street, or blown up in a bar in Belfast. Memes for blind faith have their own ruthless way of propagating themselves. This is true of patriotic and political as well as religious blind faith.”

- Richard Dawkins via The Selfish Gene: New Edition (pg. 198)

"Be warned that if you wish, as I do, to build a society in which individuals cooperate generously..."

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 20:44:48 -0600

“Be warned that if you wish, as I do, to build a society in which individuals cooperate generously and unselfishly towards a common good, you can expect little help from biological nature. Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are born selfish. Let us understand what our own selfish genes are up to, because we may then at least have the chance to upset their designs, something that no other species has ever aspired to.”

- Richard Dawkins via The Selfish Gene

Photo

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 20:32:23 -0600

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-4-3)

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 09:20:32 -0600

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-4-3):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-3-27)

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:28:49 -0600

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-3-27):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz