Ok, I need to write something, not sure what. So, I am just going to hit keys and see what comes out.
I have been an atheist for about three, maybe four years now. Lately the more interesting thing I have noticed is how "Church Aware" I have become. IF anyone being interviewed on the radio or tv or in a Mag happens to mention Religion, I notice fast. I am sure I notice now more than I used too, that, or people really are talking about it more.
In the last 6 months since being on You Tube I have had the pleasure to enter into debate with several Christians. Some, just out right block the moment you say something they don't like, or more likely something that shows what a load of crap they are spewing.
It has been quite and education in debating, you really do need to be careful what you say. It seems that while most are happy to make wild assertions about who/what did this or that, and that no the bible does not really mean that, you are taking i out of context, the moment you say anything, unless you have fully verified what you said with at least 30 links and/or books references there is no way you can have a point. So, you really do need to say weather you are putting across an opinion or something you know as a fact.
Facts are another great thing, to some, if it is in the bible it's a fact. I mean how dumb is that. Is it not that obvious if someone is making it clear that they are an atheist then there is little point in quoting the bible, because, for me anyway, the bible is really just garbage, and hard to believe anyone actually reads it, let alone goes and pays large amounts of money to study it in bible school.
And unless you can prove that you have also attended a bible study college then you can not possibly understand the meaning of the bible. That is puzzling. Because when it says "Sarahrah took a sharp stone and cut off her son's foreskin and waved it in front of her husbands feet so God would spare Moses's life" (In Exodus) How can you see that as anything other than child mutilation to please God. I mean how the heck could you see that and come up with, "No, that is Gods way of showing how much his Son Jesus will love you" WTF??
And that is another thing that really gets up my goat, this disowning the God of the Old Testament when it suits. I am sorry but that God is one third of the God you pray too. The same one Muslims call Allah, man, how fast they claim NO, Allah is not the same god, well kick me with an ass (not a talking one please), it is. Very clearly is.
Which kinds of takes me on a circle back to where I started this ramble, it's amazing what Christians will disregard/ignore in an attempt to believe. And Straw man arguments, are they nuts, how do they have the stupidity to use them. Though to be sure I can pick them a lot quicker now than I used to. Easily recognised by the "WTF", ""How did you get that from what I said" feeling that runs up your back just as you are about to try and back up the stupid straw man they just tore down.
Straw man is not clever, it's dumb, why can't they see that?
I could go on for ages, but I wont, it's nice to get a bit of my chest ever now and then.
I have run out of steam. I will do this again soon. Just write what ever comes to mind. This is my blog, I can say what I like, and don't need any freak-en evidence to back it up.
Thanks AK.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Blog Update
Ok, been a few weeks, and the last post, hardly a good'n I am working on another blog on definitions, so watch for that.
I am working on my first You Tube Video, OK, I have been working on it for several months. I will get there.
I am working on my first You Tube Video, OK, I have been working on it for several months. I will get there.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Brain washing of the masses.
A growing trend, and one that certainly has roots with Dawkins, Hicthens, Harris etc... is a lumping of moderates into the same camp as the fundamentalists of their chosen faith. Why do this?
I obviously can not speak for others. But from my own point of view it's this:
Anyone who believes in an imaginary friend who is watching over them, and can do this while completely disregarding the inaccuracies, the contradictions, cruelty and down right silliness of their religious texts is a bit loopy. They are disconnected and not living in the real world.
I know that a lot of these people are harmless, doing no one harm, and in fact are helping a lot of people along the way. So why is this a problem for me, simply because I know they can do good without believing in a god. And do it in the real world.
Basically the need for religion and religious teaching is in the past. We get our morals from being educated, from being part of a working civilization. We do not harm others because we would not wish this on anyone we love or ourselves. This is what makes us who we are. We can go beyond just our family grouping to help others.
We should celebrate this wonderful instinct that is in most of us, I say most, because there are some genuine nut jobs.
Also I have lived within the confounds of a religious bound mind, completely unaware of the restraints this put on me. After the 27 years it took from when I first questioned the role of religion to when I realised there simply was no god, I still had problems with blasphemy and guilt. Yes, even as an atheist the indoctrination I had received was still at play in my mind. It really is that strong.
Many atheists reports this, I take comfort when I see this. Even though I rejected the claim for a god, and become an Atheist, I still had the brainwashing that went with it, at a guess I would say that took 2 years to clear, and a lot of reading. That being books by Harris, Dawkins and others as well as the bible.
I had to deprogram myself. I know that sounds kind of strange, but the truth is you can program your own mind. Its not actually that hard. Many training courses rely on this ability to get a message across to there trainees.
A few years back I was a forecourt attendant for a major fuel company, I did the night shift, and as such was at risk of being robbed, even worse, being robbed at gunpoint. So we were all sent on a course. On this course the simplest thing we were taught was to over the following 3 weeks say to our selves each day three to five times a day, "I survive armed robberies" and repeat it 15 times over and over.
The reason for this is when we are confronted with a new situation I brains try to find something with in them to guide us. It's an automatic response. So when a person walks into the store and points a gun at you the first thing your mind does is say "it's an armed robbery" and the brains automatic response is to say "I survive armed robberies" thereby putting you at ease right from the start.
To be fair, I never got this put into play. Which actually is a good thing, as I do not know if I would indeed survive an armed robbery. However, there is more.
While armed robberies were not a major for me, leaving the keys in my car was. Many times I would get out of my car and lock it with the keys still in the ignition. This plagued me for years. So with my new found brain programing I said to my self 15 times, 3 to 4 times a day for 3 weeks "when I leave the car I take the keys with me". I did this, It has been 15 years since I left my keys in the ignition. The power of brain programing is real, very, scary real.
So that is were the power of prey comes in. Calculate how many times you said the lord's prayer over the years. No wonder you believe. Sad but true, it really is just brain programing.
So why do I lump moderates in with fundies, actually its the other way round for me, I lump fundies in with the moderates. They are all being conned, a con that was so good, that it is still going on thousands of years after it was set up. So good that those sucked in think they are somehow even more special by making the brain programing even more effective.
Living in the real world is one of the treats of being an atheist. It is pure and wonderful. It is real. and I did not have to repeat this 15 times, 3 -5 times a day for 3 weeks to see the pure world. I just had to deprogram the "My father, who is in heaven, holy be thy name"
Peace V
AK
I obviously can not speak for others. But from my own point of view it's this:
Anyone who believes in an imaginary friend who is watching over them, and can do this while completely disregarding the inaccuracies, the contradictions, cruelty and down right silliness of their religious texts is a bit loopy. They are disconnected and not living in the real world.
I know that a lot of these people are harmless, doing no one harm, and in fact are helping a lot of people along the way. So why is this a problem for me, simply because I know they can do good without believing in a god. And do it in the real world.
Basically the need for religion and religious teaching is in the past. We get our morals from being educated, from being part of a working civilization. We do not harm others because we would not wish this on anyone we love or ourselves. This is what makes us who we are. We can go beyond just our family grouping to help others.
We should celebrate this wonderful instinct that is in most of us, I say most, because there are some genuine nut jobs.
Also I have lived within the confounds of a religious bound mind, completely unaware of the restraints this put on me. After the 27 years it took from when I first questioned the role of religion to when I realised there simply was no god, I still had problems with blasphemy and guilt. Yes, even as an atheist the indoctrination I had received was still at play in my mind. It really is that strong.
Many atheists reports this, I take comfort when I see this. Even though I rejected the claim for a god, and become an Atheist, I still had the brainwashing that went with it, at a guess I would say that took 2 years to clear, and a lot of reading. That being books by Harris, Dawkins and others as well as the bible.
I had to deprogram myself. I know that sounds kind of strange, but the truth is you can program your own mind. Its not actually that hard. Many training courses rely on this ability to get a message across to there trainees.
A few years back I was a forecourt attendant for a major fuel company, I did the night shift, and as such was at risk of being robbed, even worse, being robbed at gunpoint. So we were all sent on a course. On this course the simplest thing we were taught was to over the following 3 weeks say to our selves each day three to five times a day, "I survive armed robberies" and repeat it 15 times over and over.
The reason for this is when we are confronted with a new situation I brains try to find something with in them to guide us. It's an automatic response. So when a person walks into the store and points a gun at you the first thing your mind does is say "it's an armed robbery" and the brains automatic response is to say "I survive armed robberies" thereby putting you at ease right from the start.
To be fair, I never got this put into play. Which actually is a good thing, as I do not know if I would indeed survive an armed robbery. However, there is more.
While armed robberies were not a major for me, leaving the keys in my car was. Many times I would get out of my car and lock it with the keys still in the ignition. This plagued me for years. So with my new found brain programing I said to my self 15 times, 3 to 4 times a day for 3 weeks "when I leave the car I take the keys with me". I did this, It has been 15 years since I left my keys in the ignition. The power of brain programing is real, very, scary real.
So that is were the power of prey comes in. Calculate how many times you said the lord's prayer over the years. No wonder you believe. Sad but true, it really is just brain programing.
So why do I lump moderates in with fundies, actually its the other way round for me, I lump fundies in with the moderates. They are all being conned, a con that was so good, that it is still going on thousands of years after it was set up. So good that those sucked in think they are somehow even more special by making the brain programing even more effective.
Living in the real world is one of the treats of being an atheist. It is pure and wonderful. It is real. and I did not have to repeat this 15 times, 3 -5 times a day for 3 weeks to see the pure world. I just had to deprogram the "My father, who is in heaven, holy be thy name"
Peace V
AK
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Born an Atheist
Often I read a criticism aimed at Christians who proclaim to once have been an Atheist and now they have found god that they were never really an atheist. Kirk Cameron the banana man's side kick is a classic example.
Now as an atheist who claims to have once been a Christian, it would be easy to claim I was never really a Christian. Now by all accounts I know I was one. Very much so.
So lets investigate the "they were never really an atheist." claim.
By default we are all born Atheists, we then are raised in our nice christian family, going to church and being told how lucky we are that Jesus loves us etc....
But what about the child not born into a religious household. How legit is their claim on Atheism?
In the USA they are currently debating the use of "in god we trust" on currency and in the court system. And the use of God in the President's pledge.
Here in New Zealand, while we are officially a secular state, (I need to confirm this) religion and god is everywhere. The first word of our national anthem is "God". In fact the whole anthem is really a prayer.
So our child from a non religious family is, from birth, being indoctrinated whether their parents are aware of it or not. Go to girl guides or scouts, and god is right there. Funerals and weddings, god is there, though there is a definite increase in non secular funerals and weddings, but even at secular events, god will creep in.
In popular media, god is mentioned all the time, in the most subliminal ways, I wonder if the journalist even knows they are doing it. I was reading an article on mobile phone companies in New Zealand and at one point the journalist asks something along the lines of "Are they really aware of the pressure of the competition that is coming, god help them if they don't".
You see so much more when the Christian goggles are taken off.
The Govenrment will perform prayer at the drop of a hat, be it a new government building, a new manager, a new vision statement and anything else they can think of.
My daughter, who is now 7 and only been in a church twice, once for a funeral and once for a school Palm Sunday service even has the god fundamentals down pat. She knows enough about god to be able to pray when she wants something to happen her way. It was not from me, or her mother, we do not practice Christianity of any type, though we are not over the top atheists at home either, in fact we are way too moderate. But I know that the best thing I can do, is what my lovely christian mother taught me to do, teach her to question everything and believe nothing without evidence.
My mother was the first christian apologist in my life, and I never knew it. She had a lot of hard questions to answer.
So was our new found christian really an Atheist? Unless raised in an evangelical atheist house, probably not.
I will return to this one again sometime, I think it is a really interesting topic.
Now as an atheist who claims to have once been a Christian, it would be easy to claim I was never really a Christian. Now by all accounts I know I was one. Very much so.
So lets investigate the "they were never really an atheist." claim.
By default we are all born Atheists, we then are raised in our nice christian family, going to church and being told how lucky we are that Jesus loves us etc....
But what about the child not born into a religious household. How legit is their claim on Atheism?
In the USA they are currently debating the use of "in god we trust" on currency and in the court system. And the use of God in the President's pledge.
Here in New Zealand, while we are officially a secular state, (I need to confirm this) religion and god is everywhere. The first word of our national anthem is "God". In fact the whole anthem is really a prayer.
So our child from a non religious family is, from birth, being indoctrinated whether their parents are aware of it or not. Go to girl guides or scouts, and god is right there. Funerals and weddings, god is there, though there is a definite increase in non secular funerals and weddings, but even at secular events, god will creep in.
In popular media, god is mentioned all the time, in the most subliminal ways, I wonder if the journalist even knows they are doing it. I was reading an article on mobile phone companies in New Zealand and at one point the journalist asks something along the lines of "Are they really aware of the pressure of the competition that is coming, god help them if they don't".
You see so much more when the Christian goggles are taken off.
The Govenrment will perform prayer at the drop of a hat, be it a new government building, a new manager, a new vision statement and anything else they can think of.
My daughter, who is now 7 and only been in a church twice, once for a funeral and once for a school Palm Sunday service even has the god fundamentals down pat. She knows enough about god to be able to pray when she wants something to happen her way. It was not from me, or her mother, we do not practice Christianity of any type, though we are not over the top atheists at home either, in fact we are way too moderate. But I know that the best thing I can do, is what my lovely christian mother taught me to do, teach her to question everything and believe nothing without evidence.
My mother was the first christian apologist in my life, and I never knew it. She had a lot of hard questions to answer.
So was our new found christian really an Atheist? Unless raised in an evangelical atheist house, probably not.
I will return to this one again sometime, I think it is a really interesting topic.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
In the worhsip of Thor
I have been researching Thor.
What a great God, awesome God. I need to read more.
So what happened to Thor? Christianity. That's what. He was not proven to not exist, we still see his will in thunder. In fact, I am thinking the reason for the increase in electrical storms is because Thor is pissed off we don't have temples to him anymore.
From about the 8th century onwards Christians started to move into Northern Europe. This was an area of Germanic Pagan religion. Where the likes of Thor, Wotan and Frey where worshiped.
Real Gods.
How did we loose them, fundamentalism.
The Christians started to build churches and once they had established themselves they went about converting the locals, and what better way to do that than to destroy the things that represented Thor, they destroyed Temples and Statues and even cut down an ancient oak known as Thor's Oak, so who did these atrocities? Well Saint Boniface cut down the tree, and Saint Olaf had a thing for destroying statues. Oh, blessed are the Saints.
Well fuck them, I am so pissed at this, all through my study in History all I have seen is reference after reference to things destroyed by Christians, the library of Alexandria, the Inca and Mayan scriptures, the Easter Island Tablets, and now I learn about Thor among many many more.
The more I learn about Christianity the more I feel repulsed by it.
If Jesus did return, I think I would crucify the bastard again myself. Though, hang on, it was not Jesus, it was his dumb ass followers.
There is a question that often goes around, "If you could go back in time and kill someone who would it be", most often the answer is "Hitler". For me it would be sweet baby Jesus, 'cause look at all the shit that has been done in his name, then again Jesus more than likely did not exist. Who am I kidding, if not Jesus, some other drop kick would have been worshiped in his place, there was no shortage of nut jobs claiming to be messiahs or prophets at that time.
Anyway, getting back to Thor. He rocked, while I am still to confirm it, he did not wipe out cities, or cause plagues or demand child mutilation in the worship of him.
I like Thor, I really do, I think if I ever start to believe in a God again, it will be Thor.
Note: 18-06-2010
Thor has made it known he is seriously had enough of Christianity by destroying a 6 stories high statue of Jesus in the USA. Go Thor!!!!
The Young Turks Channel Report
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianization_of_Scandinavia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor's_Oak
http://www.netaxs.com/~trance/rongo2.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Alexandria
What a great God, awesome God. I need to read more.
So what happened to Thor? Christianity. That's what. He was not proven to not exist, we still see his will in thunder. In fact, I am thinking the reason for the increase in electrical storms is because Thor is pissed off we don't have temples to him anymore.
From about the 8th century onwards Christians started to move into Northern Europe. This was an area of Germanic Pagan religion. Where the likes of Thor, Wotan and Frey where worshiped.
Real Gods.
How did we loose them, fundamentalism.
The Christians started to build churches and once they had established themselves they went about converting the locals, and what better way to do that than to destroy the things that represented Thor, they destroyed Temples and Statues and even cut down an ancient oak known as Thor's Oak, so who did these atrocities? Well Saint Boniface cut down the tree, and Saint Olaf had a thing for destroying statues. Oh, blessed are the Saints.
Well fuck them, I am so pissed at this, all through my study in History all I have seen is reference after reference to things destroyed by Christians, the library of Alexandria, the Inca and Mayan scriptures, the Easter Island Tablets, and now I learn about Thor among many many more.
The more I learn about Christianity the more I feel repulsed by it.
If Jesus did return, I think I would crucify the bastard again myself. Though, hang on, it was not Jesus, it was his dumb ass followers.
There is a question that often goes around, "If you could go back in time and kill someone who would it be", most often the answer is "Hitler". For me it would be sweet baby Jesus, 'cause look at all the shit that has been done in his name, then again Jesus more than likely did not exist. Who am I kidding, if not Jesus, some other drop kick would have been worshiped in his place, there was no shortage of nut jobs claiming to be messiahs or prophets at that time.
Anyway, getting back to Thor. He rocked, while I am still to confirm it, he did not wipe out cities, or cause plagues or demand child mutilation in the worship of him.
I like Thor, I really do, I think if I ever start to believe in a God again, it will be Thor.
Note: 18-06-2010
Thor has made it known he is seriously had enough of Christianity by destroying a 6 stories high statue of Jesus in the USA. Go Thor!!!!
The Young Turks Channel Report
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianization_of_Scandinavia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor's_Oak
http://www.netaxs.com/~trance/rongo2.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Alexandria
Friday, April 9, 2010
Douay Rheims Version
Hey, cool I have settled on a version to read, unfortunately to buy its going to cost about US$50 which is about NZ$90 or so. So I am reading it from a TXT download. It has way more books than the NIV or KJV so makes for a wider perspective, I think I might do a blog post on the history of the bible, though if you google history of bible you will get an amazing amount of contradictory versions of the history, some are way out in the left field.
Found a new website, http://www.carm.org oh I wish they had a comment section after their verse explanations.
I might include some of their explanations in later blogs, very funny and often avoiding the point.
I looked at their explanation of Cains wife. It was his sister, apparently, which make no sense becasue the bible does not say Adam begat Cain, Able, and Molly. It clearly shows that after Cain killed Able it was 130 years before Adam new his wife eve again, a bloody long time to go without a bonk if you ask me. And that is when he begat Seth, after Seth he begat many sons and daughters.
righto then, off to read more bible.
Found a new website, http://www.carm.org oh I wish they had a comment section after their verse explanations.
I might include some of their explanations in later blogs, very funny and often avoiding the point.
I looked at their explanation of Cains wife. It was his sister, apparently, which make no sense becasue the bible does not say Adam begat Cain, Able, and Molly. It clearly shows that after Cain killed Able it was 130 years before Adam new his wife eve again, a bloody long time to go without a bonk if you ask me. And that is when he begat Seth, after Seth he begat many sons and daughters.
righto then, off to read more bible.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Which Version
I have been reading the Good News Version, I am up to Exodus 27.
I decided to go and have a gander at other versions. There is a big difference.
Gen 4:16 From Douay-Rheims
And Cain went out from the face of the Lord, and dwelt as a fugitive on the earth at the east side of Eden.
And from King James Version
And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
From the Good News Version
And Cain went away from the Lord's presence and lived in a land called "Wandering," which is east of Eden.
See the issue here?
KJV is the coolest, I mean, who would not want to go to the land of nod.
Anyways, which version? I guess I will just keep reading the good news version, I own 2 copies. Why buy another.
Basically the bible is just too stupid for words.
I decided to go and have a gander at other versions. There is a big difference.
Gen 4:16 From Douay-Rheims
And Cain went out from the face of the Lord, and dwelt as a fugitive on the earth at the east side of Eden.
And from King James Version
And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
From the Good News Version
And Cain went away from the Lord's presence and lived in a land called "Wandering," which is east of Eden.
See the issue here?
KJV is the coolest, I mean, who would not want to go to the land of nod.
Anyways, which version? I guess I will just keep reading the good news version, I own 2 copies. Why buy another.
Basically the bible is just too stupid for words.
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