June 29, 2007

Canadian Mensa Member Proves Intelligence & Insanity Are Mutually Exclusive


While checking out my subscription's videos on Youtube, I checked out member akg41470's new videos. This Youtubist does a series called "Actually...," which refutes creationist nonsense videos that are posted on Youtube. Episode 13 caught my eye, because the reality denier who was being refuted claims to be a member of Mensa Canada.

Wazooloo is a dude who is approaching 40. His videos are long, but worth watching if you like watching someone making a complete fool of themselves. Also, anyone who likes psychology may enjoy this as a case study in delusion and insanity. I watched both as I was intrigued by the fact he is a Canadian "genius." I know my atheist readers will enjoy these. His whole premise is that the bible is 100% accurate and some of his insights will make you laugh out loud.



I'm wondering if Mensa Canada is a scam. I did their 10 minute workout sample test. It took me 3 or 4 minutes, and I got all 5 questions correct. Maybe it is just that I am a Super Duper Mega Genius.



These literal biblicists think that science is just like the bible. If you can find one thing that scientists were wrong about, it means all of science is wrong.

As I've state before, the internet will cause the death of Young Earth Creationism. These fools should just keep their nonsense in their own homes and places of worship, if they want to keep their flock numbers up.

Anyway, this guy is an embarrassment to Canada and Mensa.

June 27, 2007

Two Tags In One Post

I actually got tagged three times recently, but one of the tags has to do with specific Israeli leaders, and I'm just not qualified for it. Sorry about that Hear, O Israel.

First, I will tackle the tag form Oleh Musings:

1) Name your favorite band and singer. (The singer can’t be from the band)


Favorite band is The Beatles. Favorite singer is Billy Joel.

2) Favorite historical politician (domestic)?(Historical = Dead)

Pierre Trudeau, because he was such a hippy.

3) Favorite historical politician (International)?

Abraham Lincoln, because I can't think of anything that has been said about him that was bad. Well, except from a few slave owners.

4) You’re giving a Hollywood pitch (25 words or less) about your Blog — GO


I'm the Bacon Eating Atheist Jew. My viewpoints generally disturb the majority of the world's population, even though I'm almost never wrong.

5) Other then where you live now, what city do you like?


Aruba is the size of a city, so lets say Aruba.

6) Favorite modern politician? (In office now)

Stephen Harper. He showed back bone with his stance against Hamas.

7) Are you a Wilsonian Idealist or Nixonian Realist in foreign policy?

I had to look this one up. Nixonian. You aren't gonna change people to become you, you need to deal with reality, and hope that others eventually get it.

8)Favorite obscure movie?

The Man With Two Brains is pretty obscure.

What is your favorite restaurant?

Pizza Hut.

10) Choose a music video on YouTube. Why that one?


It was the logical choice for me.


Now I will take on the tag from Atheist Hussy

* We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
* Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
* People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
* At the end of your blog post, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
* Don't forget to leave them each a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

1. I snore. Or so I've been told.

2. I think once in my life I went a whole month once without biting my nails. I clipped them instead.

3. When I dream, I usually have a full head of hair.

4. I like it when people tell me how smart I am.

5. I've actually changed my opinions about many things since starting this blog, thanks to new information.

6. I wish I was 14 again.

7. I'm not nearly as motivated as I should be. I think I should have accomplished more than I have already.

8. I'm really happy I'm not a young earth creationist. There is a sense of freedom not being wilfully ignorant about anything.


Anyone who wants to be tagged for either or both, consider yourself tagged.

June 25, 2007

Who Would A Canadian Atheist Jew Vote For In US Election?

I figure, why not get interested in the Presidential race since it takes up so much room on the cable news shows I watch daily, and also, since I don't watch baseball anymore, and the Sopranos are done.

I know for sure, I'm going to blog my ass off if one of the three stooges who put their hands up when asked if they didn't believe in evolution, ever become serious candidates.

So I found this site called SelectSmart.com and here is of candidates in order of those that agree most with my answers to the quiz:

Your Results:

1. Theoretical Ideal Candidate (100%)
2. Hillary Clinton (72%)
3. Joseph Biden (70%)
4. John Edwards (68%)
5. Dennis Kucinich (62%)
6. Al Gore (59%)
7. Alan Augustson (58%)
8. Barack Obama (55%)
9. Wesley Clark (54%)
10. Christopher Dodd (48%)
11. John McCain (48%)
12. Rudolph Giuliani (46%)
13. Mike Gravel (46%)
14. Bill Richardson (45%)
15. Mike Huckabee (44%)
16. Tommy Thompson (41%)
17. Duncan Hunter (39%)
18. Sam Brownback (39%)
19. Mitt Romney (38%)
20. Elaine Brown (34%)
21. Tom Tancredo (34%)
22. Fred Thompson (32%)
23. Chuck Hagel (31%)
24. Newt Gingrich (27%)
25. Ron Paul (27%)
26. Jim Gilmore (23%)
27. Kent McManigal (23%)

As an aside, I'm noticing the David Duke fan club is really rallying around Ron Paul. He is definitely out in my books thanks to that. I'm glad he appears close to the bottom of my list. The stooges all show up on the bottom half of my list (Brownback, Tancredo, and Huckabee).

I did a post once which outlines my views: Lets Pretend I'm Supreme Ruler of Canamerica

June 24, 2007

Creation Museum Is An Embarrassment To The West


Why can't YECs (Young Earth Creationists) just be honest and admit that they don't really want to understand evolution or science and that their science book is the bible, instead of pretending that they have scientific evidence that supports their claims and that all other scientific claims that state otherwise are wrong? Why do they embarrass themselves and our education system?

I wish theists would just admit that they believe in God (or a literal bible) because they need to believe that there is an afterlife. Nothing to do with facts, but all to do with faith. Very few theists will admit this. They would rather grasp onto insane reasons to back up their need to believe, than seem too simple.

The Creation Museum is a product of insecure insane beliefs going to the extreme. It is a museum of lies and deceit. If Ken Ham actually believes all his nonsense after being directly scrutinized by many scientists, he has to be completely nuts.

This is a pretty funny short video. "Who let the Jew in the Creation Museum." LOL The sad thing is that quite a large number of Jews do not accept evolution as fact, and even more discouraging is the fact that there are Jews who think the earth is literally young as well:


I read an interesting comment today. Someone, on Youtube commented that "it isn't atheists who believe that something came from nothing, it is creationists who believe that."

Before any anti-evolutionist theists comment here, please watch this entire video first. It explains how and why evolution is fact:

June 21, 2007

Friendly Debate With Theists Is Possible, But Is It Futile?

Whenever I comment on a theist's blog, I know I will get reaction. I've been banned, I've been ganged up on by reader's who attack me as if they were bees defending their queen from wasp (I'm hardly a wasp:)). Many times things start out calm but the ongoing conversations tend to turn ugly. I know many times it is my fault that things turn ugly as I may have gotten unnecessarily insulting in the past. It is hard, because sometimes ridiculing seems so natural, but I am trying to mend my ways.

I was watching The View a couple of weeks ago (yes, sometimes I watch The View because it keeps me in touch with my femine side....no, actually I don't mind watching the Hot Topics part of the show). They were discussing the Presidential race and religious beliefs. The guest host was Sherri Shepherd . Barbara Walters, who was raised by an atheist father, was doing a fantastic job debating mostly Shepherd and Elisabeth Hasselbeck about the whether a President believed in God was relevant or not. Ms. Walters even said it was scary to think that a President may make decisions based on faith. They went on to discuss that Americans would not vote for an atheist, and somehow the topic of evolution came up. Walters asked Shepherd if she believed in evolution, to which she replied, "No." And Walters actually drilled her about it, she said something to the affect, "have you ever read Darwin's book or looked at the evidence for evolution"...the answer was "no, I believe the Bible." And she didn't stop, Walters then said that she should read it since she now has a child.
That was great TV.

I looked for a clip of the show all over the internet and I still can't find one. I did a blog search for reaction to the segment and I could only find one. In a theist's blog. A very nice theist, I might add. Singing In The Rain wrote a reaction to the confrontation in a post called "A Missed Opportunity." Here is what Rick Cavin (actually it is his wife Laurie) wrote:

"I was so disappointed. Here was an opportunity on national TV for someone to point out the dearth of evidence for evolution. The fact that hardcore evolutionists like Stephen Jay Gould even admit they have no answers for major issues such as as how life began. The fact that there are very few supposed transitional forms.The fact that all of the present day phyla appear fully formed during the Cambrian explosion. But because Shepherd had not engaged the material and was not ready with an answer, Barbara Walters was able to attempt to portray her as uneducated - although maybe in a politically correct way."

Of course, the content of this disappointment was extremely typical of a creationists total misunderstanding of what evolution is as I pointed out in the comment section of that blog. No matter how well I explained the misconceptions and falsities in the post, the author wound up refusing to understand what I was clearly stating. Futility.

I mentioned my "belief" that the Exodus never happened an my "theory" that Jesus never existed. This actually caused another post to be written directed at me:
Historical Jesus. Again, if you read my comments, I was extremely friendly and cordial.

Now, I will be first to admit, that my mind is pretty set now. I'm an atheist because I've concluded that science has answered almost every important question out there regarding life on earth and the history of the universe, and that I'm positive that eventually, science will answer everything in an almost certain manner. I'm also set in my conviction that Jesus was an invention of Paul at best, and perhaps a later in time invention. I'm also convinced the Exodus didn't happen. Maybe 40 slaves escaped Egypt, but that was about it. I doubt Moses existence as well. And of course the story of Adam and Eve as well as Noah's Ark are too farcical to consider.

That being said, I'm open to new evidence, but it has to be pretty hard evidence to get me to sway on any of the above myths. I know, through my readings, research and conversations with theists, that no such evidence exists to date, and I find it highly unlikely that anything will be found to change my mind. But again, I'm a realist, and I'm admitting I'm willing to change my viewpoint based on facts, reality, and evidence. Becoming an atheist is all about changing ones mind because of evidence or lack of evidence.

I also had a nice conversation with Nick Brennan, of Christianity, Religion, Atheism and so on and so forth. I actually think Nick is open to new facts, more than most theists I have run across. I had a short reasonable conversation with him in the comment section of his post "Atheists Suffer From A Lack Of Intelligence," where Nick was actually defending atheists up to a point. I pointed out that he was wrong about morality, and he seemed to take it well.

In another post, "Fidelity and Morality Linked?," I again gave him some good some facts and logic to ponder, and he seemed fine with it.

I guess this is one reason why I debate. The odd theist is open to real facts and evidence. But the main reason I leave my mark on these types of blogs is because of the lurkers. I've said this before, it is unlikely to get someone who doesn't believe in evolution or an ancient earth, or who thinks that gays are an abomination in God's eyes, to change their mind. However many people haven't really formed their opinions or are on the fence when it comes to such issues. It is those people who I hope I'm influencing.

I am having a bit of a problem with a commenter in the Fidelity post named Livingsword. Is that Livings Word, or Living Sword? Doesn't matter. Anyway, he is stating he was an ex-atheist. I know that is bull. At best he was a secular agnostic, or someone who didn't ponder the existence of God much, but he was not an atheist. Atheism doesn't come overnight. We are born agnostic, not atheist.

Here is some of the junk he stated (get ready to grit your teeth my atheist friends):

"When I was an atheist (I didn’t become a follower of Jesus till my late 20’s) anything went, all (as in every one of) my atheist friends slept around, today I know a few atheists who don’t but they are still the minority. The vast majority of Jesus followers I know are totally devoted."


"With all due respect I am very aware of my own personal previous beliefs. I recognize that there are atheists that do not go around destroying the world in a systematic manner, and that the world may categorize as “good”. Please do not think that perhaps since I am now a follower of Jesus I have given up reason and logic and have no education or that I am a fool. I became a follower of Jesus because I was compelled to by the evidence, logic and reason. It has proven to be just that in the life I have experienced, living a life built upon the teaching of Scripture is breathtaking!

One of the other logical conclusions of atheism is that if there is no “higher power” or “authority” than myself (who is everybody else to tell me what to do they are just some biological fluke as I am, even if they outnumber me they cannot tell me what to do) then I can decide on “morals”. In other words “no God then all bets are off” and it is truly “survival of the fittest”.

When I speak of the contrast between my previous atheistic life and my present Jesus following life it is simply as an example off how those around me were so profoundly touched by the genuine amazing change (by God changing me not me making the changes) that they were “blown away”.

In my life surrounded by many unbelievers, quite a few of whom are atheists I see a drastic difference in the way they choose to lead their lives. My atheist male friends generally think it is no problem to cheat on their “partners”. Whereas when I am hanging out with the Jesus following men there is a profound sense of respect for their wives and for women in general. We never (and I mean never) say anything degrading about women.

I will throw out another matter. When I am hanging out with my atheist friends and our gay friends are not around the atheist friends often mock our gay friends, I have never (and I mean never) seen my Jesus following male friends do that when our gay friends are not around. The interesting thing is that the straight atheist guy’s act like being gay is very ok when the gay friends are around them but then say terrible things about the lifestyle when the gay friends are not around."

June 18, 2007

JOOOO PARANOID IMBECILES INTERNET CIRCUS FREAKS

I picture the average anti-semite as a blamer and a whiner who has a sense of inferiority.
What makes an anti-semite? Evolution is one cause, which I think has given humans an innate fear of those who are different than us. I've heard of white children actually being scared of black children when first being exposed to one at 3 or 4. This probably happens in rural communities these days.
But there are many educated people who look for anything remotely bad to do with Jews and buy into it, regardless of how flimsy the "evidence" is.
I mean it gets downright laughable when it comes to the conspiracies a Jew hater will embrace.
Do these people have terrible lives? Are they jealous of the success that Jews attain (in proportion to the non Jewish population)? I know success is a relative term, but you know what I mean. I'm sure the successful minority aspect is a huge contributing cause and a source of insecurity and inferiority in these people. They feel inadequate and mediocre at best. Bonding with other Jew haters, gives them a mission. Yes, the Jews are responsible for their shitty pathetic lives and lot in life.
The internet is full of these freaks. They contradict themselves constantly, but rarely notice it because they are too busy spreading hate. And they are completely dishonest in most cases too. Rarely will they let anyone try to rebut their insanity. I've had too many comments deleted on their blogs. I'm thinking that many are scared of me by now, and I mean it. Again, see my other blog, Judeophobe Watch for examples.

If you really want to see for yourselves how sick these individuals are, here are a few blogs to visit:

Patrick Grimm's Zionist Watch
He thinks that what is good for Jews is bad for gentiles and it is a zero sum game.
No proof though. He rambles and rambles about nonsense.

The Wisdom of Jayne Gardener She is a condescending liar. I've caught her in a few already.

Meta-research This guy is seriously screwed in the head. I mean insane.

Seriously, check out these blogs. And try to leave a comment if you are so inclined.

Update: I just wrote a piece on Judeophobe Watch called:
Anti-semites Strengthen Jewish Identity and Support For Israel

June 16, 2007

What Does This Guy Think A Good Muslim Is?

While checking out Youtube yesterday, I watched two new videos by the hilarious Pat Condell. Linked to one of the videos, was a video by a Youtubist named CluelesswithChrist. Of course, the name intrigued me, so I watched her videos, and I watched and I watched and I watched. Am I allowed to say she is fricken hot? I guess I can, as long as my wife doesn't read this. The likelihood she reads this though is equal to the chance she will come home from work today and immediately undo my pants and then have her way with me.....lets say it is as close to zero as anything can get.
Ok, so I go to her main page and read an absolutely disturbing comment by a guy named MuhammadFaysalNawa. I'll get to the comment soon, but first, this is how Muhammad describes himself:
MuhammadFaysalNawa
Joined: May 22, 2007
Last Login: 19 hours ago
Videos Watched: 74
Subscribers: 0
Channel Views: 1,894
salam to all

khush amdeed
I am here to clear the lies by the kuffa on youtube. This is why i do not beleif in the free speech because the peoples on the youtube are making the fun of my religion

I come to uk in 1994 and my wife is from peshwar. I do my best to be good muslima and i like to live like Muhammad PBUH this is why i do not like the lie and the cartoon they make fun of. I have my own chip shop and i like to eat chips and cola is my favourite drink

i like to play cricket in the spare time and i support pakistan. I also eat dixy chicken and play cards with brothers on the saturday.

FLAG THIS VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =ROXpXTYjzk4

HE SPIT ON AL QURAN AND HE SPIT ON 6 TIME WITH WINE AND TEAR THE PAGES OUT
Name: MuhammadFaysal
Age: 32
City: Bradford
Hometown: Lahore
Country: United Kingdom
Occupation: Chip shop
Companies: Chip Shop
Interests and Hobbies: Cricket
Books: القرآن al-Qur'ān
*************************************************
OK, here is what Muhammad said about CluelessWithChrist dated June 15th:

MuhammadFaysalNawa | June 15, 2007
I WOULD TIE YOU TO MY BED AND FUCK YOU ALL DAY AND KEEP YOU AS MY SLAVE

LOOK AT YOU ATHEIST BASTARDS THEY ARE ALL SLUTS AND HAVE NO MORALS AND SHAME

I HAVE NO SYMPATHY IF YOU GET RAPED OR IF PEOPLE LIKE YOU GET RAPED THEY DESERVE IT AND I WOULD RAPE YOU IF I SEEN YOU ALSO

ATHEISTS ARE THE SCUM


I'll note, that C with C doesn't state she is an atheist. In fact she wears a cross i most of her videos. It is hard to say what her beliefs are, only that she finds a lot about Christianity to be ridiculous and absurd.


Here is the video that Faysal wants flagged:

OK, I'm not down with the word F*ck, but this guy makes a lot of sense and the video goes into detail about the agenda of many Muslims on Youtube.

June 15, 2007

My Health Scare

I've been battling laryngitis for months now. I finally saw an ENT doctor yesterday:

I know I should really rest my voice, but I will have a hard time of it. For example, I made the above video which consists of non stop babbling for over 5 minutes.

In mid February I went to watch my nephew, the best goalie prospect in Canada play.
I started talking to my brother, and nothing but non comprehendable whispers came out. I dismissed it to the air in the coldish arena. When I got back home, my voice was fine.
The reason I wasn't so concerned, is the same thing happened before at the end of "discussions" about meaningless futile stupidness with my wife.
I noticed by late March that my voice would weaken considerably as the day went on. This continued to the point that I would only have a good hour of voice a day.
Those closest to me were starting to bother me about going to the doctor. I'm a man, and I need to be doubling over in pain before I see a doctor dammit. And my laryngitis was not painful. I was not spitting up blood. But I knew this wasn't normal.
I started doing lots of internet searches. And I kept telling those bugging me to see a doctor, lets wait a week. A week turned into months. Finally, at the end of April I went to a walk-in clinic. He told me to go to the hospital for a heart and lung xray. I went in 3 days, which was a Friday. Took the xray. The nurse told me, "you can go." What did that mean? Did it mean, yep the xray came out because I can see all the lumps in your lungs? I asked when will the doctor contact me regarding the results. I was told the technician won't be in until Monday.
The suspense was killing me. I waited until Thursday and since I didn't hear from the doctor's office, I decided to call. I said, "did you get my xray results." I was told they are fine. "What about the referral?" We are waiting to hear back from the referring doctor's office, I was told.
My voice got progressively worse. My internet searches got more refined. Did I have the big C. Is that why I can't speak normally at all now? Is the tumor in my throat getting bigger? I know it could be anything. But I am pessimistic by nature.
I started thinking it had something to do with GERD, because I was noticing an acidic taste in my mouth in the mornings. I started taking Rolaids extra strength tabs, but they weren't helping. I starting drinking lots of tea and cutting down on pop and coffee.
I finally got a call on Monday. A cancellation freed up an appointment slot for me Thursday (yesterday). I really didn't want to go, but I knew I had to.
Within one minute of sticking the camera up my nose to view my throat, the doctor told me my vocal cords are crossed. And this happened from misuse of my voice. WOW.
I asked if that was common, he said no. I asked about GERD, he said it is a possibility since I have ulcers that are in my vocal cords as well. He hesitantly prescribed omeprazole. But I'm starting to think the pills are helping me already.
He recommends that I go to a speech pathologist to learn to talk (and shout?) again.
Canada is great for medical. OHIP covers everything but the drugs. The drug plan I am on paid for 90% of the prescription (which would have been $77 without the plan, for 50 tiny pills).
Now about my "crossed" vocal cords. It is just starting to hit me. What the hell is that? I haven't found anything about the condition on the internet. Is it naturally reversible? If not, is my voice screwed forever? Is there an operation available to correct it (good luck convincing me to go under the knife for something like that).

During this whole process, I never once lost my faithlessness.

As an atheist, I realize this is my only shot at life. I thanked the doctor and sincerely meant it (because he saw no signs of cancer). I am too young (46) for The Big Sleep. Plus I am motivated to outlive my wife. I don't want to die until I can experience what it is like to be single one more time:)



I haven't posted the following video on this site yet. It does shows how bad my laryngitis is. This one is funny (at least I think so). Jews Control The World:

June 12, 2007

Rabbi Marc Rubenstein is another clueless imbecile

Rabbi Marc Rubenstein from Temple Isaiah in Orange County put out crap. He is now open for a good reaming. It is obvious that the religious world is becoming more insecure these days, as the internet with all the resources available, and most importantly, the resilience of the internet secular community when it comes to online debate between theist and non theist, believers are rightfully beginning to question their own beliefs, and most likely the religious clergy are being inundated with tough questions by many, not just a few. Brushing away things today, won't work on many, like the old days.

Here is a recent message he wrote on his Temple's web site accompanied with my comments:

THE RABBI’S VIEWS - The Daily Pilot, In Theory,
June 2, 2007 - The question put to religious leaders: Why the uptick in atheism?

Several books about atheism are topping the best-seller lists. Some observers think it's because of a growing resentment about the widening influence of religion in society. What's your take on this rising interest in atheism?


"People who are atheists suffer from a lack of intelligence. Religionists believe that a Creation demands a Creator. My temple office is in the Back Bay. If any person would find a $1,000 watch there, it would dictate that there was a designer and a craftsman who could make such a watch. Common reason illustrates that someone had to leave the watch there. So it is the case with the universe.
*******************************************************
Lack of intelligence? 65% of Americans who dropped out of high school believe the earth less than 10,000 years old and that evolution is hooey, compared to 25% of Americans who attended post secondary school. Scientists are stupid? As we know many scientists are atheist or agnostic.
Creation demanding a creator? Who created God? If you can accept that the God needs no creator, it isn't a great leap to accept the universe doesn't need one either.
A watch isn't a living being, and yes it had to be designed. But the things that make up the watch do not need a designer in their rawest of forms. And nobody says that a watch evolved from a one celled animal, or that it had a common ancestor.
Common reason requires evidence or analyzing lack of evidence. There is no evidence that God exists or created the universe.



Religion solves the question of what came first, the chicken or the egg? The obvious answer is the chicken, because God created all its creatures. Many people mistakenly abandon religion because the world is billions of years old. You don't have to accept the entire Bible to believe in God.

********************************************************
True, you don't have to accept the entire bible or any part of the bible to believe in God. You don't have to have read any part of the bible to believe in the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus either. The fact is that there is no evidence that God exists, none whatsoever.
Religion does not solve the question of who came first. It offers a theory (without any proof) of who came first, unlike abiogenesis which offers scientific theory of who came first.


Those people who don't believe in God have little meaning in life. Without a God, there is no morality or sense of social justice.
*******************************************************
Bullshit. Atheists make their own meaning just as theists do. What is the meaning of life if God does exist? Does my dogs life not have meaning, how about a fruit fly? Maybe so, or maybe not. Meaning is subjective. As far as morality and social justice goes, atheists are under-represented in jails. We evolved a sense of morality and social laws and justice represent our innate morality more or less, though some social laws are cultural and not universal.

What basis for these two principles would you follow? A sense of religion anchors you and gives you meaning. When something goes wrong with your life, you have something to fall back on.
*****************************************************
OK, now at least you admitting that religion is a crutch. You sound like a Fundy Christian offering up belief in God to give us a better life, just as they say belief in Jesus offers up eternal heaven.
Admitting religion is a drug to help you deal with problems life has to offer, does not make religion or drug addiction right, nor does it prove God.


If one accepts that there is a God, then there are only two dilemmas in life: the problem of evil and pain. These are tough questions to answer. However, without a God or sense of religion, tougher questions arise — like a purpose in life. To the atheist, life is simply an accident without any purpose. If there is no God, then one must answer all the other questions that life poses." RABBI MARC RUBENSTEIN
**********************************************
I don't accept God, and I am faced with "evil" and pain too.
Again, purpose in life is in the eye of the beholder. I still haven't heard a reasonable answer to how God gives life purpose. How does God give a fruit flies life purpose, or a cicada who lives in the ground for 17 years, and last only 2 weeks above ground just to shed and mate, if it is lucky enough to do so. Of course, lucky is also in the eye of the beholder.
So let me get this straight, you need to believe in God so that you don't have to deal with reality and answer tough questions.........that science, incidentally, has mostly answered and in time will answer.


Marc Rubenstein's argument is just Pascal's Wager, which works better on stupid people, not intelligent atheists.

June 9, 2007

The Sopranos Finale: My Predictions


I really started getting hooked on The Sopranos around 4 years ago. I've seen every episode at least once, but mostly three times. After over 8 years it is about to end.
Everything must die and there will be life after The Sopranos. I'm sure of it.

One piece of trivia before my predictions: Me and James Gandolfini are the same age. I'm a few months earlier. Chris who got knocked out of the series a couple of episodes ago is actually 41 years old. He definitely played someone at least 17 or 18 years younger than Tony on the series.

Now for the predictions:

1. Tony will flip. He'll realize that he and his family have no future as members of the Mafia. This will sort of vindicate the shrink, as she will take credit amongst her peers for the flip. 9 years ago, Lorraine Bracco's legs were an asset to the show, but in the last few years, they have been pretty hidden by the cameras. Yeah, yeah, I know, she is 52 years old, give her a break.

2. The show will revolve around Tony and his family finding a new location far far away from New Joisey. AJ will start crying because he is going to be separated from his new crazy bimbo.

3. Before leaving, Tony makes an effort to track down the Arabs after finding out they are in town and most likely plotting a terrorist act (this will piss off the CAIR terrorist apologist organization in real life). He finds them, and kills them in a very brutal manner, in a scene that immediately follows his shrink bragging about how great her therapy was.

4. When bargaining with the Feds, Tony insists on taking Uncle June with him, but not his sister, to his new home, showing his true family loyalty.

5. Before leaving, Tony stops off at Chris' widows house to tell her he has to leave and he just wanted to say goodbye and see Chris' kid one more time. He winds up banging the hell out of her in a passionate way, of course.

6. Last scene: Tony runs into Phil at the Airport. Tony and his family are leaving and Phil and a body guard are coming back. Tony stops and says "hi Phil, how is it going" and then he smirks as Phil gives him a very "mean in a scared kinda way" look back.....OK, now for the final tune: How about The Way We Were by Streisand?


I wonder if the end of series will end my recurring Sopranos dream. I am one of his crew members, who winds up in a car with Tony, and I have no idea if he is going to kill me or continue to be my friend.

June 7, 2007

I Don't Mind Theists Like Rabbi Jonathan Ginsberg

Rabbi Jonathan Ginsberg is not a reality denier. Well, almost. He accepts evolution and an ancient earth thanks to overwhelming evidence, but I don't think he's read The Bible Unearthed yet, or chooses to ignore the fact that the Exodus never happened.
Maybe he should watch these videos. I'd love to see his take on it.

But when it comes right down to it, he is not the type of theist who is going to hinder education.

OK, so he got the 20 light years wrong and the age of the earth (not 20 billion years old). He isn't the Jewish version of Dr. Ken Miller, that is for sure. But at least he doesn't deny reality.

He has over 100 videos on Youtube. Check them out. He has lousy delivery on his jokes. I guess he realized that, and became a Rabbi instead of a stand-up comic. If you want to learn a bit about Jews and Judaism, watch some of his videos.

Here is his take on Noah's Flood. I think he'd like to believe that the story literally happened, but I think he is smart enough to know it didn't:

June 4, 2007

Lots of theists are amateur psychologists


I think just about every atheist blogger gets unsolicited emails from amateur psychologist theists. We also get mail from nasty theists as well who tell us where we are going and many tell us why there is a God, some of these theists are nasty, some aren't. What bothers me mostly about theist to atheist email is that if the theist has such great convictions, why not just leave comments on my blog?

I'm going to make this post simple. Theist email, followed by my thoughtful reply.


Dear Beaj:

Do you ever read your own stuff? I came across your blog, quite by accident. You were taking take a strip off Rabbi Gelman for saying atheists are angry. Then you spend the next four or five paragraphs telling everybody why you're pissed off. Go figure.

As a believing Catholic, let me tell you a true story.

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was walking into Westminister Cathedral to attend mass on a cold rainy Sunday morning, in the city of London. Out in front of the cathedral was a guy with a sign saying: "THERE IS NO GOD." Archbishop Sheen walked passed him and said "glad to see you believe in God." The man looked at him incredulously and said;"You damned fool! Can't you read the sign?" Sheen responded: "Of course I can read. But a true atheist would be indifferent, at home in a warm bed on this cold Sunday morning. He surely wouldn't be in front of this cathedral, holding a sign saying there is no God."

Bingo.

You're pissed, no doubt about it. I don't why, and frankly, I don't care.

I have a theory that many individuals who call themselves atheists resent believers because they lack the consolation that believers receive by their faith. They would love to have this consolation, but they find it difficult or impossible to believe. However, down deep many of them haven't totally written off God. Actually, they would be utterly delighted if He showed up unexpectedly.

Atheism is no big deal. Many Jews and Christians in our society, even those who claim to believe, are for all intensive purposes atheists. Why? Because they may identify as Jews or Christians, but they behave as if there is no God. Often, but hardly always, real atheists are better people than believers are. Yet, I get so tired hearing from atheists who are always telling us what a horrible thing religion is, especially when you consider that the worst crimes in history occurred because people no longer believed in God. As Dimitri said in the Brothers Kramazov: "If God doesn't exist, all things are permissable." Then the dumb bastard went off and killed his father, just to prove his point.

Hitler and Stalin were hardly religious. The Spanish Inquisition never murdered on the scale of 20th century man. The Nazis killed more people at Auschwitz in two days than the Inquisition killed in all its history. Yet when people talk about the sins of religion, they seem to have historical amnesia. They seem to forget all the secular murderers we've had to deal with in the last 100 years.

So, if you want to be pissed at God, go for it. I just think it's a waste of time.

As Bobby McPherin says, "Don't worry - be happy."
-M


My reply:

I'm not pissed off at God. My stance is that there is no evidence God
exists or has ever existed. There is no reason to believe in God,
other than to live a lie in hoping for an afterlife.
Sounds like you are giving me a generic letter (most of it) that you
are distributing to others. You obviously don't know much about my
views. Jews are an ethnicity AND/OR a religion. Hitler didn't ask
Jews if they believed in God or not.
If I'm angry at anything, it is what religion has caused in the name
of something that there is no evidence of, and in fact something
completely man made. Wars are fought in the name of supremacy (my God
is better than your God or my God is the only God anyone should
believe into).
As far as '"If God doesn't exist, all
things are permissible." Then the dumb bastard went off and killed his
father, just to prove his point.'goes. Atheist are under represented
big time in jail. In theory, you may say that without God, we are
free to be immoral, but the reality is that atheists are as moral if
not more moral than people who believe, thinking that they can always
beg for God's forgiveness.
Your theory is not correct. Atheists have written off the idea that
the invisible sky fairy exists (again because we know that religions
are man made, and that no evidence for God exists), but most of us
would definitely welcome God and the afterlife, but then again, we
would also welcome it if one million dollars miraculously appeared in
our jeans pockets.
Hitler was a believer in God, though he wasn't a good Christian.
Stalin grew up religious, and atheism was not the reason he was a
tyrant. Again, there are millions of atheists on the planet today.
Not too many are tyrants, or even communists.

I'm going to post your letter on my blog, but I won't use your name
and email addy, unless you want me to include it.

Sincerely,

Beaj

*******************************
I was angry at Gelman because, like this theist emailer, he tried to tell me what I think, as if he knows something.


Now for a worthwhile email:

Dear Bacon-Eating Atheist Jew,

Hi I'm a blogger with a site at: http://rjjago.wordpress.com which is maybe beside the point. I'm trying to find as many atheists as I can as quickly as I can.

The CBC is doing this 'pulse of the nation' thing on facebook. It's called 'The Great Canadian Wish List' and it allows people to submit wishes for what they want Canada to be and then vote on them.

Long story short, religious people have taken it over and we atheists are getting beaten quite badly.

I've put up a wish for an atheist Canada. Right now it's just barely in the top 50 with 52 votes. The Christian ' revival of spirituality' wish is pushing a thousand. It matters because the CBC will be doing a TV special on Canada promoting the top ten or twenty wishes and I would prefer that at least one of those were mine.

I was wondering if you could:

a. Vote for that wish?

b. Promote it on your blog?

I promise, by the prophet's beard, that if you vote for this, you will get 72 virgins in heaven.

The wish can be found at: http://www.facebook.com/sgroup/subgroup.php?sub_oid=2382939609 . To support it you'll need to register for Facebook and click 'add support' in the top right of the wish.

Best regards,
R.

****************************
If you are a Facebook member and a Canadian atheist, do the right thing:)
I would rather be voting for a totally secular Canada though. It makes more sense and might even be attainable.