301. Responses to 'Gods and Earthlings' by Richard Dawkins

Comment #165925 by Lucas on April 22, 2008 at 3:38 pm

That one could derive comments such as these from the article RD wrote is simply amazing. Some people you just can't reach, no matter how simple you make it.

In my view, based on considerable lay and academic, but not professional, study of astrophysics and the cosmos, the universe is most likely both finite and infinite, both eternal and bound by time. It all kind of depends on what you mean by universe.

The difference between me and the folks above is that I base my theories on, to the best of my understanding, the actual, scientifically observable data. I make no claim to absolute truth or knowledge of reality, just a good solid guess that is ever-changing. Add a little sci-fi imagination, and there are all kinds of possibilities that are far more probable than any God of any kind. There's more likely a Galactus.

302. Pope's Views on Science Invoke Spirited Debate

Comment #165484 by Lucas on April 21, 2008 at 2:04 pm

Yikes, Darth Ratzinger is right. The guy actually kind of looks like Emperor Palpatine, especially the face he makes when he's torturing young Luke with lighting bolts. Man that's creepy.

303. Resentment Over Darwin Evolves Into a Documentary

Comment #165465 by Lucas on April 21, 2008 at 1:47 pm

Let me reiterate what someone else pointed out before: Ben Stein also was/is a supporter of Nixon and Kissinger. He really considers Kissinger to be a hero. He is bat-shit crazy. Does he actually believe all this crap? Yes. He is bat-shit crazy.

And I, for one, am done with this subject. It's over. We've beat it to death here. They've already managed to get far more attention than they deserve from us. They are pathetic and have no hope of winning this debate, so one final chuckle, and we should drop it. I won't be clicking on any more articles on this site that tell me more stupid shit about these morons. We've made a mountain out of a mole hill, and I'm prepared to bury it.

304. Mecca should become core to measure time zones: scholars

Comment #165458 by Lucas on April 21, 2008 at 1:41 pm

Okay, hey, move a line of measurement from one arbitrary place to another arbitrary place, fine. Who friggin' cares? But, if you do that, I expect to have access to this new "center of the world." I want to touch the Kaba with my own hands. I can go to Greenwich anytime, so if you move the line, I have to be able to visit that place too. Sound like a fair deal my petty psychopathic friends?

305. Evolution exhibit shows why nobody's perfect

Comment #165446 by Lucas on April 21, 2008 at 1:35 pm

Well, if the number of people that go to this exhibit trumps the number that go to that blasted creation museum, I guess that means we're winning.

306. Yoko Ono, Filmmakers Caught in 'Expelled' Flap

Comment #162672 by Lucas on April 17, 2008 at 7:59 am

1 - This guy Boyce is a prick and a bad journalist. Kudos for his retraction? NO. Shame on him for jumping to conclusions. It's odd, because many days ago we discussed this issue here and we all assumed they had used the song without permission, NOT that Yoko had sold out and colluded with these dipshits. Which leads us to...

2 - Can we stop the Yoko hate, yet? Finally? Fellas? If you love John, and I do, then show him some respect and stop demonizing the woman he loved. I know some of you are still all butt-hurt about the Beatles, but it has been a long time, and honestly, the best thing John ever did was leave that hack Paul behind. And speaking of hacks...

3 - I have little respect for the Killers, who are most likely soulless hacks. However, I don't know that for sure, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they probably have no freaking idea about any of this. Do you think they have any say over the licensing of their songs? No. Their record company does. That's what they get for signing on. Them's the brakes.

307. Victims: Pope Benedict Protects Accused Pedophile Bishops

Comment #161813 by Lucas on April 15, 2008 at 5:58 pm

CraigB - Those were my words exactly. The assumption seems to be that they are pedophiles before they are priests, whereas I've always assumed repressed sexuality might have something to do with it. Does celibacy warp one's sense of sexual taboo? Hmm.

308. British schools are falling for the pseudoscience of Brain Gym. Why fill kids' heads with nonsense?

Comment #160841 by Lucas on April 14, 2008 at 1:09 pm

TonyA - Right. Point taken. Duh. Still though, it'd be nice if it didn't say "by Guardian".

309. British schools are falling for the pseudoscience of Brain Gym. Why fill kids' heads with nonsense?

Comment #160659 by Lucas on April 14, 2008 at 8:59 am

Does it say the author's name somewhere in the article, or do you guys just know it? I looked for it, but it only refers to Charlie at the end. Often there seems to be no author listed in articles here, and I think that should change. It's just nice to know who I'm reading.

Tyler - The Wii can be exercise; try doing the boxing game for an hour, nonstop, actually standing and boxing instead of just flicking the controller from the couch, with weighted wristbands.

Sadly, in the US our schools have almost done away with PE entirely, and thus, doing Brain Gym would actually probably get our fat, stupid little kids in better shape, both physically and mentally. For real.

310. Reviews of Expelled

Comment #158197 by Lucas on April 10, 2008 at 7:45 am

"In the US, agnostics/atheists/secularists/scientists are a tiny band of underfunded eccentrics in comparison to the mind-boggling financial power of the Christian Right."

Discipline - Wow are you wrong about that! Take a look at the ARIS survey. Or Mark Silk's books on religion and public life. Or maybe the USA Today map I've posted several times. Do a little math. Funding aside, the number of non-believers in the US is far, far larger than Evangelical Christians. Yes, they've managed to gather more money and political influence recently, but the latter is waning big time and the former, well: How many of these folks do you think are rich? Have you been to a megachurch? Non-believers do not lack numbers or money; just organization and focus. To some degree, we are all engaged in addressing that here.

311. Anti-evolution bill clears another hurdle

Comment #157558 by Lucas on April 9, 2008 at 9:04 am

As Jim said, "The west is the best." I live in the NE too, but the NW is the best part of the US. Especially for non-believers. Look at the stats.

http://www.usatoday.com/graphics/news/gra/gnoreligion/flash.htm

There are only about 5 or 6 states that I have never been to, and Florida is one of them. Most of the rest share a border with Florida. I really have no intention of ever going there. Some of the other states are worth going to, but I just don't see the draw in Florida. Disneyland? Rich old Jews from Long Island? Girls Gone Wild? Bah...

312. Rep. Davis: The Worst Person in the World

Comment #157534 by Lucas on April 9, 2008 at 8:35 am

It would be awesome if someone asked Mr. Obama what he thought about this, see if he'll reveal his true colors. The man is a pretend Baptist in Chicago; he must know of Ms. Davis. Can anyone out there get close enough to ask him how he feels about this woman's tirade? Will he properly defend freedom of religion and speech and denounce her, or stick with his black Baptist schtick? I mean, the guy is only half black and half Baptist. His mom was a white atheist.

Concerning Ms. Davis, there should be regulations in place that immediately remove people from positions of power when they do things like this. Period. No more public office. You cannot overtly admit (scream) to the world that you are prejudiced against a large group of your constituents. What would happen if someone said that about Baptists? Or blacks?

313. Cult leader Pyotr Kuznetsov tries suicide after realising he was wrong about doomsday

Comment #154746 by Lucas on April 3, 2008 at 4:41 pm

Richard Morgan - Is there a more appropriate response to something like this than sarcasm and derision? I'm not bearing any teeth here, I'm just not sure what you would envision as being a more humane response. This story is indeed funny. On a serious note, yes, this kind of cult behavior has a long history, and is the product of all kinds of social pressures, and likely, chemical imbalances in the brain. In one sense, I do truly feel sorry for these folks, but in another, their gullibility is laughable and it is our right, as humans, to make fun of anything we want. Nothing is so sacred as to be immune to sarcasm. Of course, this can often take a juvenile form, and that is often unenlightening. But please, if you are going to criticize, have something of substance to say for yourself. No disrespect, I'm just sayin'.

314. Cult leader Pyotr Kuznetsov tries suicide after realising he was wrong about doomsday

Comment #154740 by Lucas on April 3, 2008 at 4:32 pm

Oh, if only more religious leaders were equipped with a stump and a log. As long as they do it to themselves, we're all in the clear, right?

315. Vote on freedom of expression marks the end of Universal Human Rights

Comment #152952 by Lucas on March 31, 2008 at 6:57 pm

Never objected to hate speech, my friend. No way. Hate all you want. Everyone can shit talk all they want, just as long as they don't whine about the consequences. I would never tell a skinhead he couldn't yell the N word in Harlem, but I'd also never tell the boys on the corner they couldn't stomp his face in for it. I'm a steady believer in comeuppance. You should get that, Duffman.

316. Vote on freedom of expression marks the end of Universal Human Rights

Comment #152942 by Lucas on March 31, 2008 at 6:32 pm

Something I heard once, somewhere: Never reveal your weaknesses. It's like some boxing maxim or something, like if you are being obvious about defending your left kidney or whatever, your opponent will notice and target that soft spot. I mean, of course the idea is broader and a lot older than boxing, that was just the analogy that came to mind.

So, certain particularly sensitive Muslims (notice the qualifiers everybody?) are really hurt just by words alone. Okay. That's easy. My words are weapons now? Cool, I'll never run out of ammo.

317. Vote on freedom of expression marks the end of Universal Human Rights

Comment #152930 by Lucas on March 31, 2008 at 6:11 pm

Might I suggest a massive mailing campaign to all those OIC member nations? Maybe a little cartoon or something? Seriously, I kind of feel like provoking them. What's the worst that could happen? They'd get all mad and kill some folks, then get stomped out of existence? Hey, no broken eggs, no omelette.

Chris Barnes wrote a song once that said:

I'm not afraid to speak my own mind
I don't use the first amendment to hide behind
I'm guaranteed that freedom, I'm born with that right
And for that I'm ready to fight

I like that one. I need no law to give me any right to free speech. Yes, I understand that WE all kind of need some document to sign and agree upon, but saying whatever you want is not a right or privilege or freedom to be given or taken by anyone. It is to be exercised and defended on your own. I will say or draw or film anything I damn well please. I have no fear of reprisal. Bring it.

318. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152919 by Lucas on March 31, 2008 at 5:50 pm

I promised, no more US politics, but Toad, if you're out there, I took the test and ended up in the quadrant of the compass with Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, Ralph Nader, and Dennis Kucinich. I'm really not peaceful at all, and am more inclined to support Tibetan rioting than Gandhi's approach, so something is wrong with this little test. And the Dalai Lama is a religious leader, c'mon. However, I'm pleased to be with Nader, a guy I once hated and blamed for helping Bush win. The graph of presidential candidates also is telling: all the Republican candidates are more fascist/right than McCain, and all the Democratic candidates are more libertarian/left than Obama or Clinton. Yay for the center. They're all the same. We're screwed.

...and I'm out.

319. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152880 by Lucas on March 31, 2008 at 5:01 pm

Al - Okay. We're closer than I thought then. Just sounded like you were going too far right there for a minute. So, it sort of sounds like you see things pretty much the way I do, so are you at the S? Cause if you are, I guess I was being a little unfair to Hillary: Obama is right freaking next to her. They both are opposite me right now. Tell me you've not been swept into the Obama thing. I hope he wins, really, I'll vote for him, but he's a centrist corporate shill just like the others, and a fake-believing one at that. My dream ticket was Kucinich/Paul, or Paul/Kucinich, either way. Anyway, this is getting way of topic, so no more US politics (sorry to all those who couldn't care less).

320. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152868 by Lucas on March 31, 2008 at 4:52 pm

Toad, that looks fun. I'll try it. I think it's even more complicated, though. I mean, a circle is better than a line, but a sphere is better than a circle. So, maybe the political spectrum could be plotted on more like a sphere, or, if possible, more than three dimensions. Hmm. I'm sure political scientists have done many such things.

321. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152858 by Lucas on March 31, 2008 at 4:42 pm

Wow, that's a lot of posts. Okay.

Steve, yes to everything you've said.

Nairb, pretty much no to everything you've said, but your heart seems to be in the right place. Just don't let it end up at the end of a pike.

Al-Rawandi, most of the time, I totally agree with you, but then, along with Falcon, you veer off into some weird right-wing shit. I agree with both of you so often and admire you both for your brass balls, but the Iraq/Bush/Oil stuff... dang guys. C'mon. Control of the world's oil has been the main motivation for most countries foreign policy in the past 75 years. We DID built permanent military bases in Iraq. I get this, I'm over it, I called it from the beginning. I'm about as tired of lefties whining about it as I am of righties defending it.

I think what I'm seeing here can be best described as such: there is no one more useless than a soft-hearted liberal, nor anyone more counter-productive than a hawkish conservative. I've been trying to define my position for a long time, and in reading all your posts, I'm convinced of a ring-like continuum. Take you're typical left-----right scale of politics, then bend both ends to meet each other into a circle. That puts liberals on the W point of our compass, conservatives on the E, centrists like Joe Lieberman or Hillary Clinton at N, and me, at S. I guess that means that I believe that extremely leftist ideals and morals must be enforced with almost fascistic insistence. I am directly opposite of middle-of-the-road corporate whores who embody the worst of the left and right. Somewhere between me and the W lies Steve, and somewhere between the W and N lies poor Nairb. Rawandi and Falcon are to my right, closer to the E.

So, as not to repeat anything already posted, just kind of guess where I stand on Muslims.

And Al-Rawandi, did you say you were in California? Might a suggest a bonghit? It might make you sound like less of a dick about being right. Just chill out, man. Your astute comments are absorbed by your tone a bit.

322. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152506 by Lucas on March 31, 2008 at 7:08 am

tieInterceptor - Sorry to nitpick, but actually it is not the same "S" three times on that photoshopped sign. The "S" in "say" and "Islam" is the same, both from the original "Islam", but the "S" in "is" is from the original "insult." Look at the size of the top half and the length of the tail.

Yeah, I edit text for a living, so I can tell between Verdana and Arial, etc. And I read a lot of comic books, and I consider it lazy for artists to use computerized fonts, so I often check like letters against each other to make sure they are hand-lettered. I know, I'm crazy.

As for the actual argument going on here, I really don't know what to say that hasn't been said. I will say I tend to agree with FightingFalcon most of the time.

323. 'We Make Our Own Heaven'

Comment #151376 by Lucas on March 28, 2008 at 3:14 pm

This is beautiful. I was raised this way as well, but not so deliberately. I do specifically remember my father telling me (after I told him I was pretty sure God didn't exist at the age of 12) that I would have to make the decision on my own once I felt I had enough information, but that I should wait until I was older. He was right, and so was I. I guess I took his advice pretty seriously given I eventually got my degrees in religion.

My mother is a primary school teacher and I've been advising her for years on how to provide the kids with a rounded education on world religion. She teaches at a Montessori school, so while initially a Catholic based organization, she has great freedom in what and how she teaches. She's taken no flack from her bosses, but guess what! Yep, some midwest parents aren't too keen on their kids being taught Buddhism is as valid as Christianity. She basically tells them where to stick it and continues on. There are 12-yr-olds in her class who know more about human evolution than I do.

324. Saudi Arabia Leader Calls for Interfaith Dialogue

Comment #150240 by Lucas on March 26, 2008 at 3:49 pm

Oh yeah, Abdullah, why don't you say that to my face? I would piss on your precious Ka'ba stone if you'd let me anywhere near it.

(Sorry, all. Guess I'm feeling a little salty today.)

I've been waiting for this day. I said years ago that the day the Muslim's decided to be cool and band together with the Christians and Jews would be a day of joy, for it marks a level of desperation that indicates that our victory is not far off. The will take solace in each other until they are gone from this planet. They can only afford to fight amongst themselves as long as we're not a threat.

325. Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help

Comment #150230 by Lucas on March 26, 2008 at 3:38 pm

Spinoza - I'll grant that (back in post #5), but I think willfully abandoning your child to die is worth punishment. I'm not a fan of corporal punishment, at least when it is carried out the way that the US does it, and I would rather there was no death penalty at all written into the law. However, it's times like these that I wish some vigilante was around to take care of these things. Legally, these parents should be forced to forfeit their children and stand trial for manslaughter, and not the involuntary type. They should not see green grass ever again. Morally, they should forfeit their lives. Argue if you want, but I stand by the idea that some actions are so heinous that they warrant severe punishment.

326. Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help

Comment #149726 by Lucas on March 26, 2008 at 7:28 am

Child abuse, pure and simple. These people should be hanged. They're lucky as hell that I'm so far away from Wisconsin. There is no more acute example than this that rationality and science are better tools than belief.

327. The death-of-god debate

Comment #148944 by Lucas on March 24, 2008 at 5:41 pm

What's not to love about a holiday celebrating the Zombie Jesus? I mean, it's such a beautiful image, all the folks hanging around the cave, hearing a muffled "Unnnghhh!!!" rolling back the rock, only to face a swarm of flies and a brain-hungry messiah. No wonder Magdalene had to swiftly get him and the kids on a boat to France. He was trying to eat everybody!

328. EXPELLED!

Comment #147730 by Lucas on March 21, 2008 at 6:57 am

Wow, I think I actually did just laugh as hard as PZ. Almost spat coffee on my computer. Who knew Richard had such ninja skills?

329. The Secular Conscience

Comment #146999 by Lucas on March 19, 2008 at 4:29 pm

Hear hear, FightingFalcon. Everything you said times ten.

Henri - I think you're a bit confused. Read this book, then tell us if you still think the same way.

330. Sci-fi guru Clarke to have secular funeral

Comment #146994 by Lucas on March 19, 2008 at 4:22 pm

Stafford and Enlightenme - "There may be some evolutionary element attached to religion." - Ah, so the elephant in this room rears its head once again... Will we run with it this time, or put it back in its box?

rod - I would have to say, actually, you have absolutely no control over your own funeral, just because once your dead, whoever's alive can do whatever they want with your body, y'know? We can only hope that we leave some family or friends behind who will do what we'd like, or some law in place that suggests our wishes be followed. But there sure aren't any guarantees. I made a pact with my best friend many years ago, and neither he or I have laid out the specifics in any legal document, but we trust each other to know what to do, or at least what not to do. Of course, whoever outlives the other will have to figure out something else.

Arthur, you were the best. Thank you for everything.

331. Jesus saves

Comment #146543 by Lucas on March 19, 2008 at 7:22 am

Yeah, read this one already, right? Maybe I said this then, but I'll say it again. Obviously, to some extent, its both nature and nurture. Why they try to argue one or the other exclusively is beyond me. And yes, Animavore, (you eat souls?!) they should do one on non-believers. I'm on it. Give me a year or two. But I can say right now, I won't be suprised if I find that people don't believe because of both their genetically inherent cognitive capabilities AND their environment growing up. How that will pan out exactly, I don't know.

332. 'Anonymous' takes anti-Scientology to the streets

Comment #144608 by Lucas on March 16, 2008 at 12:09 pm

I find it difficult to express the degree to which I'm enjoying all of this. Go Anonymous!

333. I don't believe in atheists

Comment #144184 by Lucas on March 15, 2008 at 9:29 am

post 134 - Thank you windweaver! I'm copying those quotes over for later use. They make the point clearer than any listing of facts. Awesome.

334. I don't believe in atheists

Comment #143945 by Lucas on March 14, 2008 at 5:28 pm

SilentMike - Sorry man, you're wrong. The Israelis are the primary aggressors. It is not okay to respond to rockets that kill no one by sending in drones to blow up innocent children. Period. I have no love for Hamas or anyone who resorts to violence, but shooting little kids with M-16's after they've thrown rocks at you does not make you an honorable soldier defending your country: it makes you a monster and a murderer of children. That land is not holy. Its only soaked in blood. And while fault falls on both sides, it does not fall equally. The entitlement felt by Zionists to their holy land has had disasterous consequences.

Sorry everyone else: on topic, not so much.

335. Full house captivated by atheist Dawkins' take on religion

Comment #143247 by Lucas on March 13, 2008 at 6:31 pm

Steve - Thanks. Yep, I'm interweb retarded. But my excuse is good: bacon. It distracted me.

336. Full house captivated by atheist Dawkins' take on religion

Comment #142826 by Lucas on March 13, 2008 at 6:03 am

I just spent an hour thoughtfully responding to Teratornis and Sarah95. Then it just kinda didn't post, even though it said it did, and then it was gone, and I was inexplicably logged out, and now all that was a total waste. Sometimes I hate this page. I need a cigarette.

Anyway, I'll boil it down.

Teratornis - You are absolutely right.

Sarah95 - Chill out.

337. Full house captivated by atheist Dawkins' take on religion

Comment #142588 by Lucas on March 12, 2008 at 7:58 pm

Steve Zara - You're right, there is a scale of offense, absolutely. And way at the most offensive end is, essentially, "You're a rube." I hesitate, but I'll put this in caps: NOBODY WANTS TO BE A RUBE. This basic ego-based psychological reality should be kept in mind at all times when telling believers that their beliefs are wrong. This is why they get so pissed off. Dennett put it nicely in The Four Horsemen when he said, "Well, and too, there's no polite way to say to somebody, do you realise you've wasted your life? Do you realise that you've just devoted all your efforts and all your goods to the glorification of something which is just a myth? Or have you ever considered - even if you say have you even considered the possibility that maybe you've wasted your life on this? There's no inoffensive way of saying that."

And also, earlier, he says, "I think our criticism is more barbed than that. We are telling people they are wrong but we are also telling them that they are wrong to be offended."

Of course, he follows up with saying that we must, and he's right. But we have to realize it's like saying, "Ha! Fool! You fell for the biggest con in history! Dumbass!" That kind of thing never goes over well. But they'll get over it. Or rather, they'll die, and their children hopefully won't be such rubes.

But then this also gets to the meat of the education question: are we just elitist, educated assholes making fun of people who are uneducated, or *gasp* genetically just stupid? There is a high correlation between educational opportunities and believing stupid things, y'know.

338. Full house captivated by atheist Dawkins' take on religion

Comment #142512 by Lucas on March 12, 2008 at 3:24 pm

-- Dawkins asked: Why is it that people are so offended when you insult their religion but don't get as upset if you insult the music, art or books they like?

"What is so special about religion?" he asked, noting that it's respected even by the nonreligious among us. --

When is the good Doc going to stop asking this inane question? I expect he knows the real answer, so is it just a rhetorical device? It takes about five seconds thought to discern the palpable emotional difference between entertainment tastes and ontological notions on which one bases their entire life. C'mon, right?

That said, I'll hopefully see the man this weekend, if I can get in, and I just hope he says something I haven't heard a million times already (though I will have called this upon myself by listening to or reading everything posted on this site.) If I get to ask my above question, I will.

Oh, and seeing as how there is not enough space to accommodate everyone who wants to hear him speak, might I suggest using... um... megachurches? Or meganotchurches? Some of those might be hard up for money enough to rent themselves out for a night.

339. How to abandon your God

Comment #139885 by Lucas on March 6, 2008 at 3:54 pm

There is even talk of returning to more traditional methods like mailing questionnaires and visiting respondents door to door.

The shift to wireless-only households is worrisome for the survey industry because researchers fear that this group, if uncounted, could invalidate or undermine their data.

340. How to abandon your God

Comment #139327 by Lucas on March 5, 2008 at 3:28 pm

Please, everyone read the Pew study and specifically the details of how they gathered data. If I'm not mistaken, it excluded people who didn't have landline telephones. I mean, c'mon. I want to believe the data and analysis, but the methodology just doesn't seem totally appropriate to the subject matter.

341. Hebrew University researcher: Moses was tripping at Mount Sinai

Comment #139318 by Lucas on March 5, 2008 at 3:09 pm

Big City mentioned Julian Jaynes. Indeed, anybody who is confused about why people think they hear voices, read this book. I read it just in time to explain much of what I experienced while tripping. Basically, one part of your brain has an idea, and in the process of that information being transferred to the other part of your brain, the signal gets confused and the receiving end interprets the idea as having come from outside the self. You have a "revelation" and it sounds like a voice speaking inside your head. Jaynes thinks that primitive ape and human brains worked like this, and that we've slowly evolved to be unicameral. I've always wondered if this might not explain the difference between believers and non-believers - believers brains are less developed.

Colwyn mentioned Bill Hicks. He did an act where he explained human intelligence by imitating a monkey who finds some mushrooms on a cowpie, eats them, and learns to laugh. Hit the nail right on the head there, Bill. Also, the song Third Eye by Tool starts with a Bill Hicks quote and seems to be about a heavy trip. The song (and a space heater) calmed me down significantly the time I actually, as far as I could tell, jumped into another dimension that looked kind of like the dimensions Dr. Strange goes to as drawn by Steve Ditko. "And Dr. Strange is always changing size" - Pink Floyd, Cymbaline

342. What's the Point of the Archbishop of Canterbury?

Comment #138624 by Lucas on March 4, 2008 at 4:07 pm

power

343. Hebrew University researcher: Moses was tripping at Mount Sinai

Comment #138594 by Lucas on March 4, 2008 at 3:35 pm

Anybody ever heard of the Eleusinian Mysteries? Clearly, many of you have never ingested any serious hallucinogens. And I don't mean some ecstasy (which, by the way, doesn't even count) at a party, or a tab of acid at some Dead show twenty years ago. I mean the super heavy "the sky is made of liquid fire and I can see through time" kind of shit. Well, I have, many, many times, and while I was studying religion in college no less. Let me tell you, such an experience changes you. Unfortunately, most people react stupidly and take their experience to be some sort of evidence of some mystical reality (I'm talking to you, California hippy New Age Buddhists) instead of what it is: proof that your brain, given the right catalysts and conditions, can fabricate visions and sounds that are convincingly real, in fact, even more real than reality. Once you have a mystical vision brought on by our dear Dr. Hoffman, or any of the roots, fungi, etc that shamans have used for millenia, any rational person would be highly suspect of their own perceptions. And many of us then assume, safely I think, that a whole lot of, if not all, religious experiences are rooted in brain chemistry. And psychotropic plants are freaking everywhere, but this doesn't have to be the only explanation. Forty days in the desert will do it, too. Or meditating on a mountain in Tibet while fasting. Sam Harris has made this point, but not as strongly as I hope he will in the future. Neuroscience can help us understand how the brain creates illusions and how one little tweak of a protein can send you straight into crazy-land. Before denouncing this guy's theory, I'd suggest two things: read Entheogens and the Origins of Religion, an anthology, and eat about a quarter pound of psilocybin mushrooms while staring into the aurora and listening to Pink Floyd. If you come back from that without believing in space gods, or without thinking you ARE god, good work. You will have passed the test.

344. The coming religious peace

Comment #132177 by Lucas on February 24, 2008 at 12:20 pm

Also, I encourage everyone to take a look at the Religion and Public Life series edited by Mark Silk. There is one for each region in the US, and one for Canada. If you live in the US, go buy the book for your region, read it, and see if it squares with your experience. Even just the graphs at the beginning of each book, drawn from ARIS and NSRI, are helpful in getting a feel for the regional differences. USA Today nicely collated some of this info into a colorful interactive map, available here:

http://www.usatoday.com/graphics/news/gra/gnoreligion/flash.htm

And I'd have to agree with those here who have suggested that the religious activity we see in the world today is a last ditch effort. It really is, and it is both funny and sad. The best metaphor I can think of is the cactus in front of me right now. As one larger older limb is damaged, the cactus exerts all its energy into growing new small limbs. Any botanist knows what I'm talking about, its how plants work. You stress them, and they divert their energy in an effort to survive, but if they are stressed enough, it is all for nought.

345. The coming religious peace

Comment #132171 by Lucas on February 24, 2008 at 11:57 am

I don't know that I found anything in this article particularly incorrect, though I found nothing particularly compelling either. One thing I should note, though, is the claim that the number of atheists has doubled between 1990 and 2001 in the US. This assertion is based on the number given by the ARIS (2001) and NRSI (1990) surveys, and has been repeatedly made in articles about non-belief in the US. But there is a problem with this light reading of the data. I stated the problem thusly in my MA thesis:

"What the ARIS survey can tell us about the numbers of non-adherents is useful in constructing any future surveys. In the graph labeled Exhibit 1, ARIS shows a combined total of 29,481,000, or 14.1%, of the American population specifies no religious identification, an increase from the 14,331,000, or 8.2%, reported in the 1990 survey. This includes the 27,486,000, or 13.2% who answered "no religion" as well as those who self-identified with various types of non-belief, with 902,000 identifying as atheist, 991,000 as agnostic, 49,000 as humanist, and 53,000 as secular. An additional number of Americans refused to answer the question, and given the assumption that most believers are proud of their religion while many non-believers are inclined to hide their lack of religion, it stands to reason that a significant number of those who refused could be added to the overall category of "no religion specified," especially since the number of people that refused to answer almost tripled in size from 4,000,000 to over 11,000,000.

Curiously, the NRSI survey, though offering statistics that show that the number of agnostics decreased by almost 200,000 between 1990 and 2001 and the number of self-identified humanists nearly doubled from 29,000 to 49,000, includes no data for either atheist or secular identifying non-believers. What accounts for this lack of data is unknown, but it does explain why the overall increase in the "no religion" category seems so dramatic. It is improbable that there were no atheists or secularists in 1990, but whether there has been an increase or decrease in their numbers, or to what degree those numbers were redistributed to the existing categories of non-belief, is not determinable."

Basically, just look at the graphs. The idea that the number doubled is incorrect, because the categories changed between the two surveys. I do think, however, despite this blurring of the data, that non-belief is on the rise in the US, but I encourage everyone here to read the ARIS survey and determine for themselves what they think the data means, especially Double Bass Atheist, in reference to comment #16. It is available here:

http://www.gc.cuny.edu/faculty/research_studies/aris.pdf

Anyone interested in the rest of my argument/research, just let me know and I'll email you a copy of my work. I'm not totally confident about some of the things I wrote and would welcome corrections and feedback. I hoped to get it up on this site sometime for review but have not heard back from the articles people.

346. Archbishop's 8 March centennial message: Let Sharia Law govern women's lives, Amen!

Comment #128985 by Lucas on February 18, 2008 at 12:18 pm

MaxD -

Okay, but I wasn't the one who brought up poverty. That was Goldy, with whom I mostly agree. Poverty is one of many causative factors, I suppose, but is interlinked with many other social maladies, including lack of education, etc. My only point, really, was that there seems to be a notion amongst us non-believers that religion is a cause of social malady and mistreatment between humans, and I don't think that is necessarily the case, at least not in the neat and clean way it is presented here, i.e., "Islam makes people hurt women!" I'm not sure that religion is really a cause of anything, but is rather an expression of internal psychological tendencies, tenedencies which often align with other tendencies of dominance and authoritarian dogmatism. But this is all conjecture and I have no training in psychology, so I'll just shut up now. Except to say that I was spurred to post initially because of the demonization of Islam that I am seeing, which is disturbing. Seeing it, and all other religions which reinforce bad behaviour, as an outgrowth rather than a source, I think, helps to counter this trend.

347. Archbishop's 8 March centennial message: Let Sharia Law govern women's lives, Amen!

Comment #128709 by Lucas on February 17, 2008 at 6:10 pm

Hmm. Y'know, too often I get the feeling that people around here are a little naive about third world nations and the way things work outside of rich western countries. Islam has no special claim on misogyny or maltreatment of women and children. Anybody ever lived in a village in Africa or South America? I have, and let me tell you, some Catholics like to have sex with their nine year old daughters too. Barbarism is everywhere, folks. Yes, Sharia institutionalizes this kind of culturally based abuse, but many non-Muslim cultures do this too. The particular religion matters little. Only secularism and the rule of common law stops any of this.

348. Machines 'to match man by 2029'

Comment #128706 by Lucas on February 17, 2008 at 5:57 pm

I'm surprised no one has mentioned P.I., or pseudo-intelligence, which is the most some scientists think computers can achieve. I tend to agree. A.I. is the stuff of fiction, while P.I. is far more realistic. As I mentioned in the nanotech thread today, read The Diamond Age. Everything I said in that thread applies here as well.

349. Study: Religion colors Americans' views of nanotechnology

Comment #128671 by Lucas on February 17, 2008 at 2:42 pm

On biotech - For many years now I've proclaimed openly that I hope to be a cyborg someday. I'm actually counting on scientists in various fields to make this happen, and my only goal at this point is to stay alive long enough for the tech to advance far enough. Seriously, I want to fly through space as some sort of advanced cyborg for eternity. It probably won't happen, but I sure as hell won't let anybody stop or slow the scientists from trying. I want laser eyes.

On patriotism - Everyone just calm down. It's no biggie. We are all at the mercy of corrupt governments. No matter your race, sex, nationality, or whatever, we're all on the same side against the bastards who have made our world so disappointing to people like Diacanu. Let's not bicker amongst ourselves, but rather pry their fingers from our throats together. And by the way, peaceful protest, internet board bitching, clever t-shirts, and armchair politics won't help us one bit. And neither will Barack Obama, in case anyone out there is sharing in the delusion that he is any less corrupt than his rivals.

350. Study: Religion colors Americans' views of nanotechnology

Comment #128665 by Lucas on February 17, 2008 at 2:27 pm

I can't say Diamond Age is either utopian or dystopian, as Stephenson's vision of the future is more complicated and realistic than those categories allow. Both of these types of sci-fi play to extremes in order to make a point, usually about the present. But Stephenson is not making a pro OR anti technology argument. He's just telling it like it will be, and I'm inclined to believe him.