George Carlin: RIP

The world lost a very funny atheist. He made us think, whether one agreed with him or not. His videos on Religion and the 10 Commandments just have to make theists at least question their beliefs.
I remember him having a heart attack (it was almost 30 years ago). I looked at him as someone who knew his days were numbered, for quite a while. But it apparently didn't make him become closer to God.
I did a post on George Carlin in April of 2006. Here is a newly edited version of it:

This video is called Religion Is Bullsh@t (It contains foul language in case you are at work or there are kids in the room).


Here are some Carlin Quotes:

“Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck.”

“The only good thing ever to come out of religion was the music”

“If God had intended us not to masturbate he would've made our arms shorter”

“If churches want to play the game of politics, let them pay admission like everyone else”

“I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it.”

“Religion is just mind control”

Some more:

"We created God in our own image and likeness."

"I credit that eight years of grammar school with nourishing me in a direction where I could trust myself and trust my instincts. They gave me the tools to reject my faith. They taught me to question and think for myself and to believe in my instincts to such an extent that I just said, 'This is a wonderful fairy tale they have going here, but it's not for me."

"Religion convinced the world that there's an invisible man in the sky who watches everything you do. And there's 10 things he doesn't want you to do or else you'll to to a burning place with a lake of fire until the end of eternity. But he loves you! ...And he needs money! He's all powerful, but he can't handle money!"

"Religion is sort of like a lift in your shoes. If it makes you feel better, fine. Just don't ask me to wear your shoes."

"I finally accepted Jesus. not as my personal savior, but as a man I intend to borrow money from."

"I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death."

Ok, I might as well add this clip of George trimming down the 10 Commandments to only 2 Commandments. Again, there is some foul language:

Aboriginal Brazilian Tribes Bury Children Alive

NOTE: I was informed the following video is a recreation. Makes sense. I can't see how a cameraman could let it happen. I have a problem with cameramen who film wildlife becoming snacks as well. But I can also see them letting it happen.

The internet has lots of disturbing things on it. But this has to be right at the top of the list:

The Tradition of Infanticide

The tradition is based on beliefs that babies with any sort of physical defect have no souls and that others, such as twins or triplets, are also "cursed".

The Brazilian authorities turn a blind eye to infanticide, out of respect for the tribal culture.

Imagine if these Aboriginal Brazilians wrote a bible today. It might even resemble the Old Testament. God was OK with stonings and murder and sacrifice. The New Testament was definitely OK with Jesus sacrificing himself.

But this goes back to the fact that we evolved a susceptibility to believe in the supernatural.

Man is superstitious by nature. Our ancestors, who probably resembled the tribe in the film, couldn't explain lightning, so they had to make up supernatural causes and buy into them, in order to not go crazy. Faced with self awareness and knowledge of mortality, all sorts of weird ideas could then be put into cultural rituals to appease their God or Gods, and avoid death for at least a while, or make sure that they'll be taken care of after they die.

Surely, their God is not the Abrahamic God, yet they still have a concept of a God who can curse them and give them bad luck if they don't perform rituals that they obviously made up....well they had to make them up, unless one believes that God went to Brazil and gave them the go ahead to bury babies.

Can you believe that this stuff still goes on in the year of 2008? I do. After all, even in a progressive province like Ontario, we still have prayer in the Legislature.

Tagged Again: Atheist 13 Meme

Stardust Musings has tagged me even though she knows I detest being tagged. I actually didn't mind this one because I've been a blog slump for a while, and this one was kind of fun to do. 10 questions, and at least 10 answers.

Q1. How would you define “atheism”?

An atheist is someone who answers the question "do you believe in God?" with a no. Atheism is the acknowledgment that there is no evidence for God or any other supernatural being, therefore there is no reason to consider God as nothing more than an invention of man.

Q2. Was your upbringing religious? If so, what tradition?

I grew up as a very secular Jew. I had a Bar Mitzvah which included a crash course in Hebrew. I was brought up assuming the God, the Exodus, and the Flood were undeniably true, but these things were never discussed at home unless the movie The Ten Commandments was on TV or during our English version of Passover.

Q3. How would you describe “Intelligent Design”, using only one word?

Creationism.

Q4. What scientific endeavour really excites you?

My favourite part of science right now is discoveries of how "weird" animals became weird through evolution.

Q5. If you could change one thing about the “atheist community”, what would it be and why?

First, I admit the atheist community exists, but it is pretty much an internet phenomenon. The Atheist blogroll coupled with the Youtube atheist community have brought many atheists together.
I guess I'd like to see atheists who don't want to ruffle feathers become more vocal about their lack of beliefs.

Q6. If your child came up to you and said “I’m joining the clergy”, what would be your first response?

I'd be shocked that I have a kid. Sure, I had quite a few serious one night stands, especially in the mid to late 80's. And condoms did break, and were sometimes forgotten. But I figure I would have heard by now if I was a daddy.

Q7. What’s your favorite theistic argument, and how do you usually refute it?

Since I haven't met a theistic argument that I couldn't slaughter, I guess my favourite type of argument is one that I can overcome in a couple of sentences while hopefully making the theist "think."
It might be the "you can't prove God doesn't exist" argument. I simply say, "I can't disprove God just like I can't disprove that a Leprechaun lives in the the center of the sun and controls all the weather in the universe. But you are the one who states there is a God, so it is up to you to provide evidence."


Q8. What’s your most “controversial” (as far as general attitudes amongst other atheists goes) viewpoint?


My support for Israel. I seem to have to overcome the religious aspect of Israel's formation and existence, but it is easy for me, because I see Israel as a last resort to escape anti-semitism which has been an all too real phenomenon for 2000 years.
Also, many atheists are far Left to the point that they think that victim is the one who has less opportunities....they assume the Palestinians are the victims, much like many far Lefties believe that a crack addict who robs a bank is 90% a victim of society. I tend to believe that individuals should be held responsible for their own actions, and that includes being responsible for support of suicide bombings.

Q9. Of the “Four Horsemen” (Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens and Harris) who is your favourite, and why?

I find Dawkins to be the most enjoyable and entertaining of the four.

Q10. If you could convince just one theistic person to abandon their beliefs, who would it be?

Obama. Since he is going to be the most powerful man in the world (I'd rather see McCain as President btw), I don't want religious fantasy to get in his way.

Now name three other atheist blogs that you’d like to see take up the Atheist Thirteen gauntlet:

The Jewish Atheist, Gripes Of Wrath, and The Atheist Blogger.

Prayer In The Ontario Legislature Is Infantile At Best

I'm actually totally disgusted that 58 MPP's voted to continue having the Lord's Prayer at the beginning of Ontario Legislature sessions. They are mostly cowards who know better than that. Dalton McGuinty and any other MPP who declined to vote no are also cowards.

Prayer does not belong in the public sector. Especially prayer that favours one group over others. In order to have an affective government, one that embraces the right for people to believe whatever they want to believe, there needs to be separation of church and state.

Nobody is saying you can't pray. Pray at home, your place of worship, your car, the elevator, or the can. But faith is a personal matter, and very few people share EXACT beliefs. Imposing a specific religion/belief on the masses is just plain infantile and the sign of insecurity.

We are not a theocracy. If you want to live in a theocracy, move to Saudi Arabia, where it might be a hassle if you want to change your beliefs.

It doesn't matter that the majority of people are OK with the Lord's Prayer (and not an overwhelming majority). The majority of people in Canada are white. Does that mean that whites should have special preferences? Red heads are a minority. Why even let them vote?

The result now is that other faiths will also get time in the Legislature. After each Lord's Prayer, there will be a rotation of either a Jewish prayer, Sikh prayer, Muslim prayer, etc.

I would love to see the 58 MPP's have to bring a prayer rug on Muslim day.

Muslim prayer in the Ontario Legislature is perfect Karma for those Christians who demanded the Lord's Prayer stay. That is the only good thing that came out of this, as there are quite a few knotted panties in the Ontario Christian community now.


Oh, and they didn't forget about atheists and agnostics (who make up around 25% of the Canadian population), as we get to have a silent prayer. Who decided that? I don't want a silent prayer. I want something like this recited:

"Organized prayer has no business in schools, the government, or anywhere in the public sector.
We should not waste valuable time on something as ridiculous as prayer, as there is no evidence that your God exists whether the God you worship is the Christian God, the Jewish God, the Muslim God, or the Sun God, or any of the other 3500 Gods created by man.
There is plenty of time for you to pray at home, your place of worship, while having lunch, or while you are in the can. You have no right to impose your beliefs on someone who does not share your beliefs and isn't interested in listening to your beliefs.
Quit wasting time and get back to real business. The invisible fairy in the sky will understand that you don't need to pray to him, her or it.....AMEN!"

At best, prayer is infantile:


Proud

Canuck sums up my thoughts in this comment from back in April on a CBC News story:


"The very same group of people who support keeping this 'Christian' prayer in are the very same people who constantly say 'enough is enough' when it comes to allowing additional rights and religious freedoms to Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddists, etc. Gee ... I wonder why?

For those of you who say 'Canada was built on Christian values' ... do you mean the values of slaughtering the natives and stealing their lands, raping their children in residential schools and inflicting torture to prevent them from speaking their own language? Are those the values you are referring to?

You can act as pious and righteous as you want ... while Canada may not have as tarnished a history as the US ... we as a country are not 'as pure as the driven snow' as many of you like to delude yourself into thinking. We have more than enough blood on our hands too.

Nobody is saying YOU can't pray to your invisible cloud-dwelling deity in your own home or church. What we are saying is that it has no place being funded by OUR taxes. After all, you would no more wa

nt to fund my blasphemy with you taxes then I want to fund your mythical nonsense."


Read There's No Place For Prayer In Ontario Legislature

Also, Lose-Lose Situation On Prayer

Jesus Said A Lot Of Stuff He Didn't Really Mean

Youtuber ProfMTH has done a lot of very good videos. What makes his perspective special is the fact that he used to be a Fundy Christian, and is now an atheist. In other words, he really knows and understands the bible.
In the following video he points out the problem bible literalists have. For example, the NT clearly states that one could actually move mountains into the sea if he had faith. Of course, even the most Fundy of Christians dismiss this as complete allegory ("Jesus didn't really mean that"). Why? Because it is impossible to move a mountain into the sea presently in real time, no matter how much faith one has.

See, if something is written in the bible, and it can be falsified in present real time, it HAS TO BE ALLEGORICAL, but if the bible writes about a past miracle or supernatural event (like a talking snake), then to the Bible literalist, the event must be true.
Of course, science falsifies the idea of a young earth created in 6 literal days, and man being poofed here as man less than 10,000 years ago, but again, this is nothing that can be falsified in real time (unless the Fundy isn't wilfully ignorant about science, which is almost impossible).