It's another miracle!

Thanks to correspondent TN who alerted me to this pathetic display of soft news reporting from British Columbia: http://www.globaltvbc.com/video/index.html?releasePID=gottKrppW8D5pgFDcr0VZDlswR2G3NNr

I'm busy today and getting ready to head to the cottage. However, perhaps someone would be kind enough to identify the Sihk holy book described in this video. I would like to get a copy, burn it in my backyard fire pit to fuel a marshmallow roast, post the video on youtube and wait for the inevitable fatwahs. I am sure that I will hear from the Canadian Human Rights Commission about this.

Oh, by the way (as TN also pondered), why save the book but allow the school to burn? I guess it is not for us to know ....

Deconstructing The Purpose Driven Life - Chapter 18

Experiencing Life Together

Before I discuss this chapter, I would again like to express my amazement at the fact that this rag has sold over 30,000,000 copies. If I had a dollar for every person who bought the book and gave up on it before chapter 18, I wouldn't have to work another day in my life.

That being said, I am enjoying the trip through one of the seminal works underlying the most recent American Christian fundamentalist revival. It gives me a window into the minds of the type of people who like to visit the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky with their kids.

I found this chapter interesting because Warren keys in on the importance of fellowship or, as he describes it, experiencing life together with other like-minded believers. He emphasizes the importance of participating in small groups and describes how fellowship allows people to experience authenticity (i.e. share their hurts, reveal their feelings, confess their failures, disclose their doubts, admit their fears, acknowledge their weaknesses and ask for help/prayer). He also praises the mutuality and empathy which fellowship engenders.

There is no doubt that a desire for fellowship is part of the human condition. Neither Christianity or religious faith in general have a monopoly on this concept. Fellowship thrives anytime and anyplace people gather for a common interest or cause - from PTA meetings to gatherings of the Klu Klux Klan.

My view is that the fellowship of group religious observances is a powerful form of reciprocal altruism favored by natural selection. Second only to the allure of life after death, fellowship is probably the strongest factor motivating people to gather and worship a deity. It's a pity they can't find more constructive reasons for getting together.

Nominate myself for best tweet of the day

AtheistMission : @Benny_Hinn: Toufik [his real name], the fact that you make bags of money preaching the gospel & healing the sick is the best proof that there is no God.

For some reason, he hasn't responded.

At last count, Benny had 4778 suckers followers.

This is too cool ...

Scientists at the Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, Illinois (part of the U.S. Department of Energy) are working to improve techniques for capturing complex visualizations like the astrophysics simulation pictured above, which seeks to discover the mechanism behind the violent death of short-lived, massive stars. The image shows entropy values in the core of the supernova; different colors and transparencies are assigned to different values of entropy. By selectively adjusting the color and transparency, scientists can peel away outer layers and see values in the interior of the 3-D volume. You can get the full explanation at: http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2009/news090730.html

If there is a "God of gaps", he/she/it is finding fewer and fewer places to fit in.

My "prayer" for the day

The sign above reminded me of a recent twitter comment by an irascible Canadian sportscaster to the effect that he "Loves animals, hates people". It was offered as a critique to my recent post about Michael Vick and what I described as the "mirage" of free will: http://www.atheistmissionary.com/2009/07/michael-vick-determinism-and-mirage-of.html

While I would never say that I hate people, there is plenty about humanity (and its cruelty to both animals and itself) that I deplore. I deplore the fact that religions around the world have practiced animal sacrifice for millennia. I also deplore the concept of human exceptionalism (i.e. the concept that human beings have a special status in nature because of our unique abilities) and the speciesism inherent in the Bible. See Genesis 1:26 (KJV): "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."

This is why I hope that there's an animal somewhere that nobody has ever seen. And I hope nobody ever sees it. Amen.

Roman Catholic Church opposes unauthorized superstitions

Texting at the wheel

Almost everyone I know would have to admit that they have occasionally (if not often) sent text messages while driving a vehicle. Well, you can now add this article to your file on "Obvious Things I Didn't Need a Scientist to Tell Me": http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/672703

My wife and kids will be relieved to hear that I have today sworn never again to send a message from my blackberry while operating a vehicle in motion. I encourage all visitors to this site to make the same commitment.

Why Burn?

Here is the flip side of yesterday's sign.

I like it. It's succint and sums up one of the central tenets of Christianity: accept salvation from God or face the eternal lake fire of Hell.

The internet is full of sites aimed at scaring the witless into believing. Here are just a couple gems: http://www.eternalhell.net/ and http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Basics/burn_in_hell.htm

"Play on my team or I will fry your ass". Is this the message we really want to be sending to our children? Why would anyone want to worship a deity that demands that you worship Him or fry?

I'm not sure this is effective marketing ....

I had to stop while passing this sign on the Trans Canada Highway in central Newfoundland to take this picture.

If you believe what the Bible says, then Bro. Gagnon is correct when he suggests that "God Made Hell". See Isaiah 45:7 (KJV): I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Why don't preachers talk about this aspect of Christianity in their sermons? God (if he/she/it exists) created evil. We're just toddlers in the minefield he/she/it created: http://www.atheistmissionary.com/2009/06/just-and-loving-god-toddler-in.html

I will post the other side of this sign tomorrow. It's even more pathetic.

Women are getting more beautiful

Add this to your file of "Explanations for things that you knew but didn't know why": http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article6727710.ece

Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

The Atheist's Prayer

If there is a God, I would like to think of this as the atheist's prayer.

90 year old says jackpot answer to her prayers

My only question is why Florence didn't pray to the slot machine .....

THE CANADIAN PRESS

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. — It’s been a long unlucky streak, but her prayers have finally been answered. Ninety-year-old Florence Carey admits she’s played the slot machines for a long time and never won so much as a nickel. But that changed this week for the woman from Prince Albert, Sask., when she hit a button on a slot machine at the Northern Lights Casino and bells started ringing. She’d just won almost $460,000.“It was exciting, but still I can’t believe it,” said Carey, who is a familiar face at the casino and also made bus trips to the United States to gamble. “I must have left them $400,000 or $500,000 and I never got bugger all,” she said.“I was very unlucky ... I (pray) every Sunday when I go to church.” People congratulated her and snapped photos.“ That tired me out a lot. I didn’t sleep at all that night and I had to keep taking nitro because my heart is very weak.” Carey has had her share of other bad luck in life, including heart attacks, a stroke, diabetes and cancer that made her partially blind.“I went through a lot ... I’ve had just about everything.”Poor health has affected her ability to travel, so she goes to the casino for entertainment.“ I sit where I have more room ... because I’m out of the way with my oxygen.” Carey plans to keep $100,000 to gamble with and give each of her nine children a share as well. And, of course, St. Joseph’s Church will be getting a big offering as well.

Kevin is happy but not that bright

The email reproduced below was forwarded from one of my correspondents in Rochester, NY. I think it sums up my attitude toward Christianity quite well:

Subject: Fw: God Lives Under the Bed - PLEASE read - it reminds us to stop and appreciate the little things:)
 
THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL STORY! GOD BLESS HIM!!
   
I think this is perhaps one of the BEST email 'forwards' I have ever read. I hope you will enjoy it half as much as I have!!
 
Don't start reading this one until you've got more than 3 or 4 minutes to just 'scan' over it. It deserves some time for reflection.
   
GOD LIVES UNDER THE BED
   
I envy Kevin. My brother, Kevin, thinks God lives under his bed. At least that's what I heard him say one night.
 
He was praying out loud in his dark bedroom, and I stopped to listen, 'Are you there, God?' he said. 'Where are you? Oh, I see. Under the bed...'
   
I giggled softly and tiptoed off to my own room. Kevin's unique perspectives are often a source of amusement. But that night something else lingered long after the humor.  I realized for the first time the very different world Kevin lives in.
 
He was born 30 years ago, mentally disabled as a result of difficulties during labor. Apart from his size (he's 6-foot-2), there are few ways in which he is an adult.

He reasons and communicates with the capabilities of a 7-year-old, and he always will. He will probably always believe that God lives under his bed, that Santa Claus is the one who fills the space under our tree every Christmas and that airplanes stay up in the sky because angels carry them.
 
I remember wondering if Kevin realizes he is different. Is he ever dissatisfied with his monotonous life?
 
Up before dawn each day, off to work at a workshop for the disabled, home to walk our cocker spaniel, return to eat his favorite macaroni-and-cheese for dinner, and later to bed.
 
The only variation in the entire scheme is laundry, when he hovers excitedly over the washing machine like a mother with her newborn child.
 
He does not seem dis satisfied.
 
He lopes out to the bus every morning at 7:05, eager for a day of simple work.
 
He wrings his hands excitedly while the water boils on the stove before dinner, and he stays up late twice a week to gather our dirty laundry for his next day's laundry chores.

And Saturdays - oh, the bliss of Saturdays! That's the day my Dad takes Kevin to the airport to have a soft drink, watch the planes land, and speculate loudly on the destination of each passenger inside. 'That one's goin' to Chi-car-go! ' Kevin shouts as he claps his hands.
 
His anticipation is so great he can hardly sleep on Friday nights.
 
And so goes his world of daily rituals and weekend field trips.
 
He doesn't know what it means to be discontent.
 
His life is simple.
 
He will never know the entanglements of wealth of power, and he does not care what brand of clothing he wears or what kind of food he eats. His needs have always been met, and he never worries that one day they may not be.
 
His hands are diligent. Kevin is never so happy as when he is working. When he unloads the dishwasher or vacuums the carpet, his heart is completely in it.
 
He does not shrink from a job when it is begun, and he does not leave a job until it is finished. But when his tasks are done, Kevin knows how to relax.
 
He is not obsessed with his work or the work of others. His heart is pure.
 
He still believes everyone tells the truth, promises must be kept, and when you are wrong, you apologize instead of argue.
 
Free from pride and unconcerned with appearances, Kevin is not afraid to cry when he is hurt, angry or sorry. He is always transparent, always sincere. And he trusts God.
 
Not confined by intellectual reasoning, when he comes to Christ, he comes as a child. Kevin seems to know God - to really be friends with Him in a way that is difficult for an 'educated' person to grasp. God seems like his closest companion.
 
In my moments of doubt and frustrations with my Christianity, I envy the security Kevin has in his simple faith.
 
It is then that I am most willing to admit that he has some divine knowledge that rises above my mortal questions.
 
It is then I realize that perhaps he is not the one with the handicap. I am. My obligations, my fear, my pride, my circumstances - they all become disabilities when I do not trust them to God's care.
 
Who knows if Kevin comprehends things I can never learn? After all, he has spent his whole life in that kind of innocence, praying after dark and soaking up the goodness and love of God.
 
And one day, when the mysteries of heaven are opened, and we are all amazed at how close God really is to our hearts, I'll realize that God heard the simple prayers of a boy who believed that God lived under his bed.
 
Kevin won't be surprised at all!
 
When you receive this, say a prayer. That's all you have to do. There is nothing attached. This is powerful.
 
Just send this out to anybody you choose and do not break this, please. Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive. There is no cost, but a lot of rewards.
 
FRIENDS ARE ANGELS WHO LIFT US TO OUR FEET WHEN OUR WINGS HAVE TROUBLE REMEMBERING HOW TO FLY!
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Happy Anniversary Dear

I thought that Mrs. Missionary might be inspired by an extract from St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians on our wedding anniversary:

1 Corinthians 7 (KJV)

1 Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.

2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.

3 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.

4 The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.

5 Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.

6 But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment.

7 For I would that all men were even as I myself [Paul was celibate]. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.

8 I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I.

9 But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.

Atheist Parenting continued ...

I am taking my 6 year old son to the Buffalo Bills Family Day on August 15th (they're playing the Chicago Bears in one of those meangingless preseason match-ups). I can't imagine a better formative experience for a little heathen. Maybe he will get some life lessons from Terrell Owens or the tailgater pictured above. I can only hope ...

The Prayer Experiment

While I meander my way around twitter (username: AtheistMission) I am amazed at the number of people who publicly express their prayers, ask others to pray for them and offer to pray for others. Once in a while I will reply to one of the fools and send them a link to the God is Imaginary website which offers several amusing proofs about the supposed power of prayer: http://godisimaginary.com/

Of course, my efforts to combat the irrationality of prayer are akin to peeing in the ocean. This sense of futility got me thinking about coming up with a simple prayer experiment for anyone who has even a scintilla of faith in the power of prayer. Here goes:

Decide on what you would like to pray for - we will call that result A.

We will agree that you will pray to God (or whatever supernatural being you choose) for result A to happen.

I will pray to the ghost of Michael Jackson to ensure that result A happens.

If result A happens, you will explain to me why it is more likely that God (or whatever supernatural being you chose) made it happen than the ghost of Michael Jackson or you will fairly concede that it is just as likely that Jacko did it.

If result A does not happen, we will agree that neither God (or whatever supernatural being you chose) or Jacko answer all prayers. You will then explain to me why the entity you chose to pray to selectively answers more prayers than Jacko.

Atheists - winning since 33 A.D.

Epicurus nailed it almost 2000 years ago.

Touched by the hand of God

Check out this undescribable tragedy: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2009/07/21/montreal-concrete-slab-death-funeral-engineer-report.html

If you are religious, I guess you would say that Ms. Guilbeault was touched by the hand of God ... or that God works in mysterious ways ... or that she is now in a better place. Take your pick - it's all unadulterated bullshit.

Michael Vick, determinism and the mirage of free will

I am going to make an assertion that many of you may find quite unsettling. Michael Vick should not be considered morally blameworthy for the animal abuse crimes he has been convicted of. What I mean by this is that Michael Vick should not be considered to have possessed the free will to act other than how he did. Why? Well, the simple answer is as follows: if I were to put you in Michael Vick's shoes, you would have committed the same crimes. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it.

The more complicated answer is that free will is a mirage. What do I mean when I say that? What I mean is that every supposedly free choice we make is the product of causes that determine the choice we make. That's right. While you may think that you have the "freedom" to go and buy a one-way ticket to Tahiti, the simple fact of the matter is that you are no more "free" to make that decision than a monarch butterfly is free to decide whether they will migrate south this fall or not. The only difference between you and the monarch is that you are higher functioning and there are a combination of biological and environmental factors which will influence you to buy or not buy the ticket. Heck, you might even decide to flip a coin! However, the suggestion that you made the decision free from causal factors that entirely determined your decision is an absurdity.

If you accept this argument, does this mean that Vick should not be punished for his crimes? Of course not. However, it does mean that punishment for any crime for the sake of retribution is a waste of time because the agent who acted could not have acted otherwise. Punishing people for bad behavior because you think they should be punished for making the wrong choice is just as silly as heaping praise on them for doing something good when they supposedly could have chosen to do something bad. No, the reason for punishment should be to deter the offender and others from committing the crime in the future.

If you give this concept a bit of thought, it makes perfect sense but also has some unsettling implications. As I discussed this with my wife, she asked: "does this mean that I shouldn't blame you if you cheated on me"? The answer to this question, I believe, is "no" - not in the sense that I could have made a different decision than the one I made at the time. If the spurned spouse's desire is to save the relationship, there may be plenty to be gained by trying to impose moral blame on the cheater but only insofar as that blame might cause the actor to act differently in the future. If the spurned spouse has decided that the marriage has been irreparably harmed, there is truly no point in blaming the actor for something which they did not have the free will to change.

Please note that the phrase "did not have free will" is simply meant to connote that there is no such thing as contra-causal free will. If this topic interests you (and I must admit that I find it utterly fascinating), I recommend a list of resources which you can find at the website for Naturalism.org: http://www.naturalism.org/freewill.htm and, in particular, the superb article: "Fully Caused: Coming to Terms with Determinism" by the Center for Naturalism director Tom Clark: http://www.naturalism.org/determinism.htm. I particularly like Clark's definition of determinism:

Determinism says that given a physical state of affairs, for instance the state of your brain, body and environment at this instant (time T), there’s a single possible next state of affairs at T+1 as necessitated by causal laws discovered to hold at various levels of description, atomic, chemical, and biological.

As Clark explains in his article, the fact that our actions are fully caused does not change the fact that we are active, moral and rational agents in our own right. We remain "capable of creativity, self-actualization and initiative. Taking the cause and effect, deterministic perspective doesn’t lessen human variability, nor does it undercut our capacities for self-change, innovation, or determination to get things done. It only explains where these valuable capacities come from: our biological and cultural heritage, our upbringing, education and role models."

The amusing upshot of all of this: I don't really have the choice about whether or not to be an atheist nor do theists have free will to disbelieve. However, I can continue with my efforts to exert a cause that will result in them achieving what I believe (though apparently not freely) to be the only rational course.

Deconstructing The Purpose Driven Life - Chapter 17

A Place to Belong

The sole purpose of this chapter was to impress on the reader the importance of becoming members of an organized church. Rick Warren identifies 6 reasons why you need a Church family:

1. A church family identifies you as a genuine believer. That's funny - it has always appeared to me that churches were places filled with people going through the motions.

2. A church family moves you out of self-centred isolation. Now we're getting closer to Rick's modus operandi. See #6 below.

3. A church family helps you develop spiritual muscle. In other words, not exercising the muscle in your head.

4. The Body of Christ needs you. Whatever. Why is an omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent being so needy?

5. You will share in Christ's mission in the world. Rick says that the church is God's instrument on earth, to be used to carry his love to the rest of the world. I have much more constructive suggestions on how this time could be used.

6. A church family will help keep you from backsliding. Can you spell i-n-d-o-c-t-r-i-n-a-t-i-o-n? Rick, you wouldn't want people starting to question the silliness of what you're telling them, would you?

I have always admired churches for two things: their ability to fleece their flock and their function as a community gathering place. However, with respect to the latter point, there is nothing done in the name of religion that could not be more effectively done without religion. Do congregations really need to pay a full-time social worker to conduct a 1-2 hour service every Sunday? Aside from Roman Catholic priests, I have often thought about the fact that the life of a minister must be one of the best gigs imaginable. I have a buddy who is a United Church Minister and his idea of a day at the office is going on a hike with a member of his congregation. His wife has complained to mine about how similar his occupation is to mine (I am a litigation lawyer) and how either of them managed to keep a straight face is beyond me.

The point that this chapter hammered home to me is one that I have thought about for years. Church attendance is the biggest waste of time ever created by mankind. Regardless of whether there is a God or not, just imagine the impact if every churchgoer decided to stay home on Sundays (or whetever holy day they observe) from here on in and, instead, began implementing the following trifecta:

1. Week #1 - Virtue - Commit a random act of kindness for a person truly in need. This could range anywhere from cutting their elderly neighbour's grass to working overtime and sending the money to GiveWell (http://www.givewell.net/) or one of their top rated charities;

2. Week #2 - Knowledge - Start reading a book about a subject they know nothing about but have always wanted to learn; or

3. Week #3 - Pleasure - Devote the time they would have spent at Church to whatever they enjoy (exercise, sex, nap, play with kids/grandkids, etc.).

Rick Warren encourages his readers to go to church. I recommend constructive alternatives that would really add meaning to churchgoer's lives.

What a night in Albany

Catching a game at Fenway Park this weekend was out of the question because the Red Sox are in Toronto. So, for about half the cost of a Bratwurst at Fenway, my four year old and I settled for the Saratoga Phillies at the Albany Dutchmen here at Bleecker Stadium. These are all collegiate players and this is a summer development league for guys hopeful for the MLB draft.

It's a beautiful night here in Albany. If there is a more American way to spend a Saturday night, I would like to know what it is.

Highlights of the night included my snagging a home run ball in right field - not really much of a feat considering there are no more than 100 people here and we were the only ones standing in right field at the time. You have to be charmed by the modesty of a league where the visiting centre fielder asks you to throw back the ball (I willingly complied).

Oops ... we have just been asked to stand during the seventh inning stretch while they sing "God Bless America". When in Rome Albany ....

My little guy has finished his freezee and wants to head out behind the outfield to "play baseball". For Canadians who forgot to bring their gloves on this roadtrip, that means catching the ball with his hat. Life is good ...

Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

New thought provoking article by Peter Singer

For those who haven't already seen Peter Singer's article in the New York Times Magazine entitled Why We Must Ration Health Care, here is the link (I think you need to set up an account to view the article but it's free): http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/magazine/19healthcare-t.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1

I love the way Singer applies a rational approach to ethical analysis and then does not hesitate to say what needs to be said. Bravo.

The Trouble with Pascal's Wager

Pascal's Wager suggests that, even though the existence of God cannot be determined by reason, a person should wager as though God exists because they have everything to gain and nothing to lose by betting on that proposition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal

There is an insurmountable difficulty with this suggestion: If you hold a reasonable doubt in something (i.e. the existence of God or winning the lottery), there is no conceivable way that you can will yourself to believe it without being insincere. This is the reason why Pascal's Wager is useless as an argument to advocate belief in God. Even if someone were to accept the suggestion and desperately desire eternal salvation, they can't attain it (according to the tenets of mainstream Christianity) unless they accept Jesus as their personal saviour. Obviously, you can't do that unless you believe that God exists and that Jesus died for your sins.

What is the upshot of this? Well, in the unlikely event that God exists, he has forever damned all of his creations who have been unfortunate enough to be bestowed with a critical sense of reason. It is really no different than if you tell me that I will be damned for eternity unless I believe that I will win the lottery tonight or any other state of affairs that I, after evaluating all of the available evidence, consider to be improbable. Even if you could convince me that the suggestion is probable, it would still be insincere of me to believe it as a matter of faith if I am left with any measure of doubt.

Deconstructing The Purpose Driven Life - Chapter 16

What Matters Most

Rick begins this chapter by explaining that Life is all about love . He then suggests that the foundation of every command given by God can be summed up in the Golden Rule (i.e. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you). Of course, this is patently false. What does “you shall not make yourself an idol” or “keep holy the Sabbath” have to do with love? Oh, I understand. The supernatural creator demands that we express our love for him, over and over and over and over again …. We don’t even demand that kind of groveling from our pets.

To the extent that the teachings of Jesus support the propagation of the Golden Rule, they deserve to be lauded. However, the gist of that teaching obviously did not originate with Jesus of Nazareth. The ethic of reciprocity existed for thousands of years prior to the supposed birth of Christ and was present in the philosophies of ancient India, Greece, and China: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethic_of_reciprocity

I was a bit surprised at Rick’s suggestion that, while God wants us to love everyone, he is particularly concerned that we love others in his family (i.e. those in the family of believers). However, that is exactly what Galations 6:10 tells us. Rick explains that the reason for this preferential treatment is because love for each other … is our greatest witness to the world. I find this reasoning exceptionally weak. My interpretation is considerably more straightforward: the Bible is suggesting that God has established a private members’ club and members should not be overly concerned about those who don’t share their ideology. This is consistent with the following clear direction from the Bible:

That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. 2 Chronicles 15:13 (KJV) [Isn’t it funny how you can find a quote in the Bible to say just about anything!]

Rick then suggests that life without love is worthless: Relationships, not achievements or the acquisition of things, are what matters most in life. Well, we can debate what makes living worthwhile until the cows come home. The best secular answer to this age-old question that I have heard was offered by University of Miami philosophy professor Colin McGinn. McGinn suggests that a meaningful life is one spent pursuing pleasure, virtue and knowledge. Of course, the trick is in getting your proportions right.

The final point that Rick hammers home in this chapter is the fact that time is the most precious commodity we have. I certainly can’t argue with that. I just believe that my time is a whole lot more precious than Rick’s because he will have an eternity to spend with his 72 virgins or whatever he expects to find in heaven.

The End of the World As We Know It - 2

Some people attribute the drying up of the Euphrates River to the effects of global warming and human mismanagement. Others view it as a sign that the end of times are near: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/666343

Isn't Christianity great? It gets you yearning for the end of the world.

Deconstructing The Purpose Driven Life - Chapter 15

Formed for God's Family

This was a simple chapter and I got through it with some French red wine poured from a box at a hotel bar in Port-aux-Basques, Newfoundland.

The first point Rick makes is that your spiritual family (i.e. all believers in God - past, present and future) is even more important than your physical family because it will last forever. Now those familiar with cult indoctrination should recognize a familiar ring to this siren song. If you are ready to drink the kool-aid, it makes perfect sense. As Rick says, our physical families are temporary and fragile, often broken by divorce, distance, growing old and inevitably, death. On the other hand, your spiritual family will last forever.

I'm not sure how many Christians have pondered about the concept of forever but, let me assure you, it's an awfully long time. Why anyone would want to exist forever is beyond me but it sure seems to enthral the religious faithful. I can't conceive of anything more tedious than existing forever and, come to think of it, it may even be the definition of my personal hell. In any event, the remainder of this chapter is spent describing the rich inheritance which God has reserved for his family. What will this inheritance include? Rick lists them as follows:

1. You get to be with God forever.

2. You will be completely changed to be like Christ.

3. You will be freed from all pain, death and suffering.

4. You will be rewarded and reassigned positions of service. Just imagine - you get to be a servant for infinity!

5. You will get to share in Christ's glory.

If you like the sound of this deal, don't get too carried away. Please keep in mind that God's family, at least according to Rick, is a rather select group: only those who have faith in Jesus. That's right folks - you only go to heaven if you believe that a supernatural being who has always existed got bored and decided to create mankind in his image and everything else we see around us. He then decided to make a son (who is really him) and allowed him(self) to be crucified to atone for all the sins perpetrated by mankind. He saw to it that all kinds of miracles would occur about 2000 years ago but, for some unexplained reason, no longer performs them. He then revealed his word to a disparate group of half literate semites, some of whose writings have survived to the present day into what we know as the Bible. Unless you believe in the doctrine of infallible ignorance, all those ignorant of the New Testament are going to hell. Even if you believe in the doctrine of infallible ignorance, anyone who does not swallow this entire hocus pocus hook, line and sinker is going to hell.

I am not even half way through Rick's book and I am really hoping that he expands on some questions that puzzle me (I bet he doesn't):

1. I can understand God getting bored and deciding to create us as his playthings. However, why did he create evil? Isn't that a bit over the top? Couldn't he at least spare us the horrendous suffering caused by natural disasters? What does that have to do with sin?

2. Why is hell necessary? Yes, I know that people supposedly choose to go to hell and that it is described as an eternity away from God. But it is described in the Bible as a lot worse than not getting to go on the preferred vacation. After all, we didn't choose to come into this world. Rick tells me that God planned my arrival. So, now that I am here, why can't I just go back to my blissful non-existence at the end of my earthly reign?

3. The biggest problem: you can't will to believe something. This is the problem with Pascal's Wager. Even if you accept that argument and desire to go to heaven, you cannot believe something if you believe it to be untrue or even unlikely. That's the problem. Faith is the absolute, unconditional conviction in something that cannot be proven. If what Rick is telling us is true, God has condemned every person bestowed with a sense of reason to hell. Makes sense to me.

Deconstructing The Purpose Driven Life - Chapter 14

When God Seems Distant

Oh, he/she/it seems distant all right. Describing something that likely does not exist as "distant" is kind of like me describing my mediocre golf game as "decent".

Rick, you tell me that God is real, no matter how you feel. You then go on and make some very curious observations. First of all, you observe that God sometimes hides his face from us and that: You pray, but nothing happens. Apparently, this is a normal part of testing your relationship with God who apparently likes to play coy. But it wasn’t always this way. Rick says that: When you are a baby Christian, God gives you a lot of confirming emotions and often answers the most immature, self-centred prayers – so you’ll know he exists. That line is hilarious because it inadvertently admits that acceptance of the fundamental tenets of Christianity involves thinking like a child.

Earth to Rick Warren and the millions of suckers who have bought your book: prayer is sterile. If God exists, he/she/it doesn’t answer prayers. It’s that simple. Oh, I know the Bible suggests otherwise: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened: Matthew 7: 7-8 (KJV) However, most people who are willing to give the matter any serious thought recognize that prayer is nothing more than a lucky horseshoe: http://godisimaginary.com/i48.htm

If prayer had more power than pissing in the wind, it would be ridiculously easy for a clinical study to prove its efficacy. Pick your affliction, take two sufficiently large random groups of patients and then see if there is any discernable difference between the group which is prayed for anonymously and the group which isn’t prayed for. If there was a statistically significant difference between the survival rates for the two groups, you would have some evidence to support the “power of prayer”. Of course, there is not even one study to support the power of prayer because prayer is sterile.

Rick concludes this chapter by pointing out that God deserves continual praise for the rest of your life because of what Jesus did for you on the cross. He describes God looking away from the ugly crucifixion site as Jesus cried: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He then explains that God allowed and endured the ghastly treatment so that we could be spared ternity in hell. My reaction to this is as follows:

1. People sacrifice their lives all the time for all types of worthy causes. Why should all of humanity prostrate themselves ad finitum just because some supposedly omnipotent being decided to suffer excruciating pain for couple of days? People rush into burning buildings to save people they don't know. To my mind, it is the definition of sanctimonious (i.e. hypocritically pious) to suggest that one person could die to save the sins of the world. It is too easy, too cheap.
2. If the crucifixion of Jesus actually happened, these sound like words from a dude who had pranced around the countryside for a couple of years declaring that he was God in the flesh and, as his lifeblood began ebbing away, he realized that the jig was up. Suffice it to say that if you are calling out to God, you are not God - it's as simple as that.
3. If what Rick is telling us is true, God is one sick puppy. Just think of it. Who created evil (i.e. murder, rape, incest, genocide, decay, ugliness, hate, prejudice and war)? God did - the Bible tells us so - I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things: Isaiah 45:7 (KJV). Why didn't we ever talk about this at Sunday school? Rick, I am looking forward to hearing you address this conundrum. If I line up a hundred people, point an automatic weapon at them and then "save" them by allowing them to escape unscathed, have I really saved them? What are we - simply the product of God playing The Sims?

Madonna on toast apparition explained

I knew better than to second guess David Hume. In the case of supposed miracles, always look for a non-miraculous explanation.

My sister-in-law bought this little doo-hickie at Winners. Just imagine the outrage and boycott that will result when Roman Catholics discover that the retail darling is profiting from a Madonna on toast tool!

Finally ... a sign

Pictured above is an apparition which appeared in my son's toast this morning (can you see the Madonna?).

I am presently debating which of the following courses of action I should take:

1. Abandon my family, give away all my possessions and enter the Roman Catholic priesthood; or

2. List the toast for sale on eBay.

The Barefoot Bum packs it in

Many of you will be familiar with The Barefoot Bum who is a brilliant atheist, journeyman philosopher, political commentator and all-around rabble rouser. In any event, I was disappointed to learn tonight that he has packed in his small effort to better the world and, in a gesture of futility towards a species that appears hell bent on driving itself extinct, has decided to close his blog.

The Bum opens his closing post with a priceless quote from Richard Burton:

"The more I read about man and his maniacal ruthlessness and his murderous envious scatological soul, the more I realize that he will never change. Our stupidity is immortal, nothing will change it. The same mistakes, the same prejudices, the same injustice, the same lusts wheel endlessly around the parade ground of the centuries. Immutable and ineluctable. I wish I could believe in a god of some kind but I simply cannot."

The Bum has been demoralized by what he describes as the vitriol and blithe dismissal by atheists (and others) towards those who dare to disagree with their cherished dogma. I hope I never fall into this category. I have no dogma aside from asking others to critically examine their own.

Although I share many of the Bum's nihilistic views, I refuse to fall prey to his pessimism for a simple reason: even if our species is likely not long for this world, we owe a duy to ourselves and our children to make it a better place for as long as we are around. The world will be a much better place for our children if faith in supernatural religious beliefs is eradicated. That remains my mission.

I will miss the Bum. His archives are available at: http://barefootbum.blogspot.com/

Streaming consciousness from the One True Church

These are a few of my impressions when I attended a Catholic wedding service (which included mass) yesterday:

1. The priest wore a wedding ring. I had almost forgotten that these guys think they are married to God.

2. The priest was young, handsome, articulate and looked like he should be out playing with his kids at the park (or, I suppose, strolling along the waterfront with his boyfriend). I had an almost uncontrollable urge to run up to the alter and yell: “Give your head a f*cking shake!”

3. Before the service began, the priest made it clear that holy crackers were going to be served but that only Roman Catholics were welcome to receive them. This was the first time I ever heard this proviso at the beginning of a mass. I wonder whether it was motivated by the recent controversy involving the supposed pocketing of a host by Canadian Prime Minister Harper.

4. The statue of the Virgin Mary was standing on a serpent. Freaky.

5. Over 25 years since I last attended mass and I remembered the responses (include example) like it was yesterday. You never really escape religion if you are heavy indoctrinated (or, in my case, simply immersed) as a child.

6. At the invitation of the bride, my eight year old daughter participated in the service by bringing the wine to the priest during the mass. Suffice it to say that she was most displeased to learn after the service that she had been carrying the Blood of Christ. While she waited on the alter, I wasn’t sure if I would be struck by lightning or die laughing.

7. The priest delivered a short sermon to the bride and groom in which he implored them to regularly participate in the sacrament of reconciliation (i.e. confession). What a joke. The brother of the bride told me that he gave up going to confession after all the Roman Catholic sex scandals began coming to light and he realized that the priests were often more “sinful” than he was.

8. I was unable to explain to my daughter how, in the year 2009, a worldwide institution offers up a vocation that is only available to men.

9. I was unable to explain transubstantiation to my daughter although, if I was a betting man (and I am), I would say that the only person in the packed Basilica that believes that crap is the poor deluded soul wearing the flowing robes at the front …. and even he probably doesn’t like to give it a lot of thought.

10. Organized religion serves a very useful purpose for funerals but offers nothing of use when it comes to weddings. I just spent over an hour listen to someone drone on about the “Body and Blood of Christ” and lecture a young couple about marriage, a topic he knows nothing about. My daughter left the service thinking that both war and divorce are “caused by sin” and that both can be avoided by regular attendance at Roman Catholic mass. Makes sense. After all, it is the “one true Church”.

Thriller or Fryer?

Although I am sure you are all sick and tired of the Michael Jackson hullabaloo, I thought you would be amused by an article from today's Toronto Star which describes the current online debate about whether the King of Pop has made it to the promised land. My favorite quote from the article: Any heaven Michael heads to is a thinly disguised hell.

Here is the article in its hilarious entirety: http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/664407

Deconstructing The Purpose Driven Life - Chapter 13

Worship That Pleases God - A Contrarian View

This chapter allows me to introduce a radical notion that I present as the ultimate contrarian religion. I should also add that someone must have come up with this idea before me - I just don't know who.

In this chapter, Rick tells me that God is pleased when worship is accurate, authentic, thoughtful and practical. However, where I depart from Rick (and I mean 180 degrees) is where he suggests that worshipping God means to worship Him as he is truly revealed in the Bible. While Rick suggests that real worship is rooted in the Word, perhaps God exists and real worship is rooted in rejection of the Word! Perhaps the Bible is an elaborately conceived fraud designed to lead mankind astray from the real truth - in other words, perhaps atheism is the "religion" favored by our Creator. After all, why else would he/she/it have created a world that offers no naturalistic signs of a supernatural beginning?

It all makes perfect sense. If you can conceive of an omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent God, why would they waste time seeking worship from those which it created? Of course, they wouldn't. The Creator would be satisfied to sit back and watch their creations develop into the best they could be. After all, if you truly love something, set it free. The Creator would be most impressed by people choosing to lead good lives without the promise of life after death. Such a Creator would view atheism as the ideal worldview and the best possible way to worship.

This view solves the contradiction posed by those who insist that the universe must have had a supernatural beginning and the puzzling lack of any definitive pointer towards which of the thousands of world religions is the right one. Maybe they are all wrong (as atheists have long suggested) and yet the big Guy/Gal/It exists after all. The only ones going to "heaven" (whatever that turns out to be) will be the ones who relied on the reasoning which their Creator gave them to conclude that he/she/it did not exist. Just imagine ... only atheists going to heaven. Not all atheists, mind you. Just the ones who managed to live an ethically upstanding life without relying on the code of a supposed holy book. Just the good ones. All the theists would go to "hell" (whatever that turns out to be) or, perhaps, they are already there.

Now that is a contrarian viewpoint.

Canadian PM pockets communion host

This is just another example of why I am a proud supporter of the Canadian Conservative party:
http://thestar.blogs.com/politics/2009/07/good-icebreaker-for-conversation-with-the-pope.html

If Harper needs any ideas on what to do with the host, I would refer him to this post: http://www.atheistmissionary.com/2009/02/tom-flynn-loki-wants-to-help-you.html

Why the End of Faith is just its beginning - #5

[He's alive! This post has been provided by our guest columnist, the Christian missionary da, who continues with my assignment for him to read Sam Harris' The End of Faith]

I believe I have been enjoying a break from Sam's End of Faith. Although, as we know, nothing can be taken for granted, hence, maybe it wasn't two weeks after all. Maybe it was just a blink. Who knows?

Anyway, I am finally holding in my hand a real copy of Sam's book (again, maybe my nervous system is just telling me I am holding it in my hands and maybe Amazon just made me believe they delivered it to me to make me pay them 10 bucks). So, I had the pleasure to scribble my notes directly on the book instead on the computer screen. I can tell you it hasn't been fun to always wipe off my notes from the screen after reading.

Death the Font of Illusion

I am glad to see that Sam Harris has not fallen for some weird mystic belief and states that “the only thing we can be certain of in this life is that we will one day die and leave everything behind.”

Equally true, he says, that what we believe about death dictates our behavior in life.
Just a note on this thought: why not program death and systematically get rid (enjoy) all wealth up to that point? If you have lived for 21,600 days (60 years), is one extra day worth that much? Isn't it better to organize a spending scheme, waste all your money and then say goodbye? Makes sense to me, although I cannot do that because God forbids me to commit suicide. Sorry pals, I´m still going to stick around a little longer.

Ending this section, he again says something which is deeply true from a Biblical point of view: “the fact of death is intolerable to us”. True, dear Sam, actually death is not meant to be, we are supposed to live forever. This is one point where we differ from animals, animals are scared of danger and being hurt but not being eternal doesn´t pose a problem to them.

The following section is “The World Beyond Reason” in which Sam openly acknowledges his beliefs in some kind of mystical “thing” we need to search for. At footnote 18 he even states that "there may be even some credible evidence for reincarnation”. Whoops! Mr. Sam, where has your celebrated rationalism gone to?? But then you call it “fundamental openness of mind” which is compatible with “healthy, scientific skepticism”. All right … now I think you and me are not that far away anymore. I believe Darwin would be spinning in his grave hearing you … but then, an afterlife would exist. Oh my.

Now, in “Coming to Terms with Belief”, he states it would be good to ask ourselves which ideologies make mankind most capable of incredible brutality. Good question! Why not search for the answer? My suggestion is to look for radical followers of the different faiths and look at their behavior. Easy as that. If you observe pseudo-followers, you might only observe mankind’s ingenuity in covering up their true motives with some nice sounding religious cover. You shouldn’t mix these two things. Crusaders of the fifteenth century have nothing to do with the two young German missionaries who were killed in Yemen a month ago.

Despite not performing the easy exercise above, Sam is not reluctant to criticize the Bible as a work of some idiots who know nothing about the Wii or the Big Mac. Now, if it has been the work of some geeks, why was it then, the first book ever printed, translated completely into almost 400 languages, with over 5 billion copies sold since 1815? It has survived many dictatorships and is incredibly accurate from historical science point of view. You may do whatever you want, but saying the Bible has been written by some idiots does not help you in getting your points to more people than just an undergrad class of philosophy students.

Your book, by the way, has been apparently sold 145,000 times, sorry: 145,001 times. So, for one of your books, you have 35,000 Bibles. Scary isn't it? I believe it might have been translated into 3 or 4 languages (in Spanish it still isn't around!). I had a hard time trying to find it in a major 9m capital, and still couldn’t find it. Sorry, compared to the Bible, your book is just a 45 watt light bulb next to the sun.

In the same section, Sam suggests that the fact that nobody is burning witches anymore is proof that Christianity is going down. I am sorry to inform you that Christianity is the fastest growing faith worldwide. Remember, the world doesn't end at the Mexican border. Just look further South and you will have a different reality.

In the last section of this first chapter, Sam amazes me with some poor logic. This is worth citing “We must find our way to a time when faith, without evidence, disgraces anyone who would claim it”. First, if it is faith, by definition there is no evidence, get it? Second, where is your evidence for the reincarnations you mentioned earlier and which you seemingly believe in? Your quest for a mystical “thing” which needs “openness of mind” sounds very much like faith to me.
As Sam apparently tries to “save the world”, I hope he will get into more profound issues like why some people differ on their view of the supernatural? Why do Christians believe and why do atheists not? Why could a world, based on Christian principles (I mean principles, not what some power-greedy leaders interpret out of them) destroy itself, as he claims? Having glimpsed a bit of some further sections, I believe we will come to some of these issues.

Keep your sons out of sweaty locker rooms

Today's example of ill-thinking propagated by religion comes from David Klinghoffer, a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute, in an article entitled How Women Will be Hurt by Gay Marriage: http://blog.beliefnet.com/kingdomofpriests/2009/06/how-women-will-be-hurt-by-gay-marriage.html

I now know that I must keep my sons out of sweaty locker rooms because the mere proximity to other sweaty, hairy butts will set their hearts aflutter!

Thanks to PersonalFailure for alerting me to this drivel in her deliciously named blog Forever In Hell.

Imagine no religion ....

Being an atheist parent is challenging because I don't want to indoctrinate my children into any particular belief system. I just want them to be freethinkers and make up their minds for themselves. Of course, theists will accuse me of brainwashing my children in the same way as they openly admit brainwashing their children into their preferred flavour of religion. However, there is a big difference between telling them to question what they are asked to believe and telling them what to believe.

This quandary came to mind this morning as I overheard my 8 year old daughter explain to my 6 year old son that our family "is not Christian" (which is true) and "has no religion" (which is equally true). I was quick to jump into the conversation and explain to them both that my wife and I don't tell them what to believe and that they should decide for themselves what to believe.

The truth of the matter is that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. My kids are quite likely to grow up being skeptical of religious faith while the children of theists are more than likely to grow up believing the religious claims of their parents. The difference, I believe, is that fewer children of atheists will shed their skepticism and adopt a religious faith than theist children will drop the religions of their parents. Atheism (or, more accurately, the application of skepticism to religious faith) is not a religion which one can be converted from. There are no atheist apostates. That is not to suggest that atheists never adopt religious beliefs. However, if I was a betting man (and I am), it will be far more difficult to lure one of my kids into the LDS Church [or choose any other religious faith you like and insert it here] than it will be for one of those poor young sods going door-to-door to realize that the Book of Mormon is a myth.
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

The Baloney Detection Kit

I wish this video could be shown to every high school student in the world:




The Ten Questions to detect Baloney


1. How reliable is the source of the claim?


2. Does the source make similar claims?


3. Have the claims been verified by somebody else?


4. Does this fit with the way the world works?


5. Has anyone tried to disprove the claim?


6. Where does the preponderance of evidence point?


7. Is the claimant playing by the rules of science?


8. Is the claimant providing positive evidence?


9. Does the new theory account for as many phenomena as the old theory?


10. Are personal beliefs driving the claim?



I also wish that the video could be played for Church congregations (ideally, right after the sermon).

The End of the World As We Know It?

Happy Canada Day to my Canadian visitors.

My wife and I and our wild banshees are just getting ready to embark on a three week road trip to Newfoundland. My posts will be more infrequent during this time but I will keep dropping in whether you like or not.

The issue I would like to feature today was inspired by my love for the Canadian east coast and Dan Carlin's most recent Common Sense podcast entitled A Conflict of Interest. Carlin drew my attention to an article by Johann Hari in The Independent which asks the startling question: Could we be the generation that runs out of fish? The article begins with the arresting line: "In the babbling Babel of 24/7 news – where elections, bailouts and beheadings blur into one long shriek – the slow-motion stories that will define our age are often lost." Hari then goes on to explain how the world needs to immediately ban fishing in 30% of the world's ocean area (instead of the current 0.6%) and impose strict fishing quotas on the remainder if we hope to avoid the imminent extinction of the world's wild fish stocks. Sounds straightforward, doesn't it? That's where Carlin comes back in to explain how the governments and interest groups that currently profit from the ongoing rape of our oceans are essentially biting off their noses to spite their faces by resisting the only measures that will allow the world's fishing industries to continue.

Hari's article can be found at: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-could-we-be-the-generation-that-runs-out-of-fish-1697247.html

There is a compelling argument to be made that what is currently happening with our oceans is a real-time example of how mankind is driving itself headlong into extinction. This dilemma was probably explained best by Richard Dawkins in an open letter to Prince Charles almost a decade ago:

" ...... we must beware of a very common misunderstanding of Darwinism. Tennyson was writing before Darwin but he got it right. Nature really is red in tooth and claw. Much as we might like to believe otherwise, natural selection, working within each species, does not favour long-term stewardship. It favours short-term gain. Loggers, whalers, and other profiteers who squander the future for present greed, are only doing what all wild creatures have done for three billion years.

No wonder T.H. Huxley, Darwin's bulldog, founded his ethics on a repudiation of Darwinism. Not a repudiation of Darwinism as science, of course, for you cannot repudiate truth. But the very fact that Darwinism is true makes it even more important for us to fight against the naturally selfish and exploitative tendencies of nature. We can do it. Probably no other species of animal or plant can. We can do it because our brains (admittedly given to us by natural selection for reasons of short-term Darwinian gain) are big enough to see into the future and plot long-term consequences. Natural selection is like a robot that can only climb uphill, even if this leaves it stuck on top of a measly hillock. There is no mechanism for going downhill, for crossing the valley to the lower slopes of the high mountain on the other side. There is no natural foresight, no mechanism for warning that present selfish gains are leading to species extinction – and indeed, 99 per cent of all species that have ever lived are extinct.

The human brain, probably uniquely in the whole of evolutionary history, can see across the valley and can plot a course away from extinction and towards distant uplands. Long-term planning - and hence the very possibility of stewardship - is something utterly new on the planet, even alien. It exists only in human brains. The future is a new invention in evolution. It is precious. And fragile. We must use all our scientific artifice to protect it.

It may sound paradoxical, but if we want to sustain the planet into the future, the first thing we must do is stop taking advice from nature. Nature is a short-term Darwinian profiteer. Darwin himself said it: 'What a book a devil's chaplain might write on the clumsy, wasteful, blundering, low, and horridly cruel works of nature.'

Of course that's bleak, but there's no law saying the truth has to be cheerful; no point shooting the messenger - science - and no sense in preferring an alternative world view just because it feels more comfortable. In any case, science isn't all bleak. Nor, by the way, is science an arrogant know-all. Any scientist worthy of the name will warm to your quotation from Socrates: 'Wisdom is knowing that you don't know.' What else drives us to find out? [my emphasis] source - http://www.agbioworld.org/biotech-info/religion/dawkins.html

We have the chance right now to ensure that what we see happening to our world's fish stocks is not just another step towards the end of the world as we know it. Unlike the battle against global warming, the solution is ridiculously simple. The question is whether our governments will close the barn door before the horses escape.

My hope is that my and your kids won't be reading this in 30 years time asking why we didn't do more to preserve the oceans. If you share this fear, I encourage you to email this URL to your Member of Parliament, Minister of the Environment or other like government representative. The message is clear and simple: the solution to saving our world fish stocks is easy - we just have to do it.