god is evil

One should always question what one is told. Otherwise, history will change, fiction will become fact, and you will become a robot. One would lose ones humanity. It many many cases the past we learn in school is just a pseudo-history. There are certain world figures that nearly everyone takes for granted that they were these "all-awesomeness" beings that did no wrong. "holier than thou" if you will. Sometimes I wish there was a god, so that Mother Theresa could be tortured in hell.

Yes ... she has won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976, and the Vatican put her on the fast track to becoming a saint. Maybe the international community was right, or maybe her zeal for religious fundamentalism drove her to be a cruel fanatic. What exactly did she do to receive such lavish praise and dealings from the likes of Princess Diana, the corrupt Duvalier family of Haiti, Charles Keating (biggest embezzler in US history at the time). She founded the Missionaries of Charity, based in Calcutta, India, which let people suffer in squalid conditions with little or no medical attention. She raised millions in aid, yet the sick still were living in horrid conditions. She believed this suffering was necessary due to her religious nature. She might have pulled one of the world's greatest con jobs in PR the last century. Due to this reverence, she was never held accountable.

Most of us here in the US are born believing in Santa Claus. Hrmmm .... wonder what it would be like to raise these kids still believing in Father Christmas into adulthood? This clip of Penn and Teller's show "Bullsh-t" presents the point that the "Saint of the gutters" was no saint, and should have been thrown out into gutters instead:

I protest

The battle of religious minded people and non-religious people will battle on deep into the foreseeable future. There are about 6.5 billion people living on this planet we call Earth. There are roughly 2 billion Christians, and 1.5 billion Muslims. Yet these two groups control most of the powerful countries in the world. You may ask when the rest of the world will rise up and stand up for themselves. A "protest" if you will against authority. The word protest comes from the Protestant Movement, which was a rebellion against the authority and dogma of the Catholic Church. From there the world witnessed a Renaissance, a time when science prevailed and challenged the church. During both these times these acts where considered heresy, and they often found harsh punishments.

Religion is most likely part of our evolutionary process. It is time to recognize our need for it is over. In the beginning, man most likely created a supreme maker, a "God", because of our inability to explain the unknown and the forces of nature. Yet through the Renaissance, and the Age of Enlightenment, and our rise in our collective knowledge of science we are in the pursuit of those answers. The leaders of our government and education systems are too afraid to tackle the issue of religion in our schools. So in order to avoid conflict, schools have offered a weak and water-downed version of science and history courses.

best creature on the planet?

So whats the best creature on the planet? Most people would say humans are. If there is a god, then well .... the best "designed" creature would be the cockroach. It can go for months without eating, live weeks with missing a head, and can survive the radiation from a nuclear bomb. It even has the ability to hold its breath for 45 minutes, and slow its heart rate. Yet, we humans, consider the cockroach a pest. It is in fact a great achievement in evolution. If humans are so well designed, in the "image" of a supernatural being, then why are we designed to only use 10% of our brain power? So when our species eventually destroys our habitat we call Earth, by some combination of nuclear war, global warming, greenhouse gases, overpopulation, deforestation, and poverty .... well, the Earth will be taken over by teh mighty cockroach. Maybe the Earth will be better off then.

coming out

Being an atheist in today's religious society can be quite intimidating. I know that I am in the minority here in conservative America. I have numerous friends who come from deeply religious families and backgrounds. This leads to the obvious situations where they ask of my religion. This is also a tricky situation. Up until now, if I knew them to be religious I would always give this long sort of answer. I'd say that historically I'm Protestant Lutheran being that I'm from Sweden. Sometimes I'd say I hadn't made up my mind yet, though I realized that was the wrong route because they wanted to try and "save" you. Why is it acceptable for people to go to the ends of the earth to spread their christian views and be labeled as heroes? And yet if atheist missionaries did the same they would get vilified.

Atheism and agnosticism isn't a new concept. It has seen a resurgence as of late though. Over a century ago Nietzsche declared that god was dead. If only we could leave in that world fantasized by Lennon in his classic Beatles song. The world without religion, no heaven or hell, and one in which we just lived for today. I'm a secularist who believes int he total separation of church and state. We live in a country where the president readily admits he turns to his faith when faced with hard critical decisions involving policy. This scares the hell out of me.

I believe religion is dangerous. I believe it is a cult. Why is it going so badly in Iraq? To reduce it to simplest terms, there are two groups there. The Shiites and the Sunnies are quarreling about who succeeded the prophet Muhammad in the 7th century. I believe staying silent on religion has come to the point where it is dangerous. Religion is a dangerous cult with people living in a bubble world. These people then elect people from the same cult to run the world. It must stop. It's encouraging that atheism is now on the rise. It's only taken a century to realize that Nietzsche might of been on to something.

virginia gop mafia at work

Several news organizations (including CNN and a local nbc affliate) reported that a protestor was tackled by staffers. In fact, he was not. This man was of the press, a blogger, but nonetheless of the press. The man in questioning was in the group of reporters who were each jockeying for position to ask the senator questions. He had questioned the senator in the past, and they knew that he asked difficult questions from time to time. Well, this adds to the controveries surrounding the senator who has presidential ambitions. Just look here (macaca incident, sister's memoir, love of confederate flag, ...). In GOP circles he is a serious contender for the GOP presidential nod for 2008. But first, he must try to hold his seat which he is in a race for dear life. George Allen (R-VA) is the incumbent in the senatorial race against James Webb (D). From the latest polls it is a statistical deadheat.

Borat the Kazakstani reporter is coming to the US!

Borat Sagdiyev is a fictional Kazakstani reporter played by Sacha Baron Cohen, otherwise better known as "Ali G". Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan is a movie scheduled to be released Nov 3, 2006. It is a mokumentary comedy based character portrayed by Cohen. The character appeared regularly on Da Ali G Show.

borat checks to be a wicked movie. and no da figure skata isn't in da movie. apparently, da government of kazakhstan is not too ambient wiv da movie. da president is flyin to meet president bush and discuss da movie and it's impact among udda fings. da white ouse says it is about da war on terra, but no it is about da movie. da president as no mr biggies. so go check da documentary. peace. - Ali G

Kazakhstan launches propaganda campaign against Borat
The movie has enraged the president of Kazakhstan. The country has launched a propaganda campaign against the character and movie. They are placing "educational advertisements" in some of America's top newspapers. So if you love endless semi-arid steppe and decaying industrial cities, then travel to Kazakhstan!

Trailer G:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/borat/trailerg/
2nd Trailer:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/borat/trailer/

Clips of Borat from youtube and googlevideo:

Borat in America (30 min)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8478678283756633587&q=borat&hl=en
Best of Borat (25 min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFP-MktgOKU&eurl=

if only every kid had an uncle andy

A good resource for young men still in the dark. May this clip show you the light. The Showtime series Weeds provides the answers.