More than simple religious fervor?

For a long time I have reserved comment on Islam and Muslims in general. My reasons for this have been two fold. 1) I am ignorant to their faith and beliefs, so I am unable to accurately form an opinion; and 2) I assumed the ‘acts of terrorism’ to be carried out be those caught in the grasp of religious fervor (which I still believe to be true). Now however, I can no longer hold my tongue.

Abdul Rahman was charged with ‘converting from Islam’. He was not charged by his church or mosque. He was charged by his state (Afghanistan). Lets see, what would be a fitting charge for changing your beliefs…hmmm….I dunno, I didn’t think a charge should exist. But the genius’ who developed Sharia Law decided that the death penalty should be enforced when someone decides to think for themselves.

I really do mean that the authors of Sharia Law are genius. I mean think about, Muslims are born Muslims, without any opportunity to change their faith. Thus, their population can only grow (assuming a birth rate greater than death rate(and suicide rate)) and bolster their ranks. Combine this with mandatory recruitment and you have an unstoppable force.

I think that if I ever form a cult it will be based on two things; blind religious fervor, and the penalty of death for thinking independently. But I don’t think I’ll have to worry about people thinking for themselves because I will impose sleep limiting practices and near starvation conditions to keep my people subservient.

If you wish to read more about Abdul Rahmans story:

CBC

BBC

Ramblings of an Atheist - 6

To most people the thought of death and/or dying evokes feelings of fear and trepidation. People from every category or sect of life fear death; young, old, big, tall, short, stout, athletic, weak…even samurais…okay not samurais. But you get my point; most people live in fear of the shadow of death.

Why is this? Who do people fear death? Probably for the same reasons people fear most other things…because it is unknown. No one has ever experienced death and come back to tell us about (don’t you dare bring up near death experiences…that is a rant for another time). I’ve never talked to anyone who said, “You know…yesterday I decided to die for a little and it was pretty good, I think I’ll just go ahead and die for a bit more tomorrow.” If I met someone who said that to me I might end up committing myself the same day.

Death is the great unknown. There are as many ideas about death and what happens when we die as there are (I don’t know…some large quantity)….apples (?!?!?). The point is, no one knows what death is, so it is impossible to have an accurate or perhaps even reasonable idea as to what happens when we die. In the end, everyone ends up believing what allows them to sleep at night.

Whether it be: upon death you reach the pearly gates where some funny joke is made and then you enter heaven; or you get turned away from the gates and go to hell; perhaps you spend a bit of time in purgatory; or even return as a frog, or a spider, and if you were really good you may even come back as a human; some people think that when you die, you die and that’s it; others believe that your soul carries on in this world; and still others picture a plane that gets crossed upon death. Clearly the possibilities are endless. But, despite all of these comforting outcomes people still fear death.

As much as I try to understand people’s fear of death I cannot. Don’t get me wrong, I love life. In fact, I would much rather be alive than dead. But, at the same point I don’t fear death because there isn’t a whole lot I can do to prevent it (other than listen to the general surgeons warnings and perhaps avoid base jumping). I believe that after I die there is no more, the end, finito, ‘so long and thanks for all the fish.’ I’m not going to get my hopes up about some benevolent God, because if I’m dead and he doesn’t exist then I’ll never know any better, so why think about it. By the same token, if a benevolent God does exist, then I greatly look forward to holding council with him/her/it/dog/plasmatic blob after my demise. I would have quite a few questions for him;

1) Why do the Leafs continue to suck? Why didn’t you make John Ferguson fire Pat Quinn a long time ago?

2) Do you fart? If so, is that what thunder really is?

3) Do your farts smell? Do they smell by human standards, or only Godly super-deitical standards?

4) Are you the only God? If not, who is the laziest God?

5) Are female gods hot? You know, by human standards?

6) What is that thing growing out of your arm?

7) Can you shoot lighting out of your ass? I’ve always told people you could.

8) Thanks for the free-will thing. It makes for great conversations which result in the decision that free-will doesn’t exists so that we can do what ever we want.

9) Why?

a. America

b. George W. Bush

c. Annoying guy in the Alexander Keiths Commercials

d. Crazy religious fervites

e. Not add an extra couple of inches ;-)

10) Who really is faster, Superman or The Flash

Ramblings of an Atheist - 5

Often people are shocked when they find out that I am married to a theist. Not only married to a theist, but married in a church to a theist. The shock that these people experience is due to their expectations of an atheist. Most people think of atheists as, negative, disgruntled, angry people who hate the church. The term atheist is often seen as being synonymous with ‘church hater’ or ‘Satanist’ or ‘pagan’. Which clearly has nothing to do with the definition of atheist, but, unfortunately this is how it is perceived by the public.

I am very happily married to my wife of 3 years. Both of us grew up in religious homes, and both of us understand the importance of each others beliefs. I do not think of her as being weak, or stupid for believing in the church. I feel that if she needs the church and her faith to get her through life, then so be it. I’d rather be married to someone who is happy and religious than unhappy and an atheist.

My wife accepts my atheism. Even though we disagree about faith, it is not an issue of contention. We both ‘agree to disagree’. We also don’t avoid the topic. We have open conversations about faith, and religion, and the church. Which I feel is both necessary and beneficial to our relationship.

I think the reason why this works is that we both chose our beliefs for ourselves and not because they were imposed upon us. She is not in the grasp of religious fervor so she doesn’t feel the need to convert me, or make me join the church. And I don’t despise or hate the church, so I don’t feel the need to drive her away from the church.

Kyoto Protocol All Wrong ? Never?!?!

Is it possible that the Kyoto Protocol is wrong? That it is focusing on the wrong compound? What if CO₂ wasn’t the culprit?

The Kyoto Protocol was pushed onto countries of the world by European Nations who had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Disregarding the so called ‘science’ that went into the Kyoto Protocol on still has to wonder about the ethics behind the development of the Kyoto Protocol. Anyways…that is not what I want to talk about.

New research by Vladimir Shaidurov of the Russian Academy of Sciences suggests that the observed increase in global temperatures over the past century may not be a result of carbon dioxide. Remember kids, correlation does not equal causation. Just because CO₂ levels are climbing and temperature is climbing does not mean that they are linked. It is like saying that ‘today I saw a pink car and it rained. Therefore, they are somehow linked.’ Remember….a mechanisms needs to be found as well.

Shaidurov proposes that “ice crystals at high altitude could damage the layer of thin, high altitude clouds found in the mesosphere that reduce the amount of warming solar radiation reaching the earth's surface.” Meaning that, the more ice crystals in the mesosphere, the cooler the earth is. What if….something happened to reduce the amount of ice crystals in the mesosphere thus allowing global temperatures to rise. Shaidurov believes that the Tunguska Event would have been sufficient to affect the mesosphere. In his own words “the Tunguska Event, sometimes known as the Tungus Meteorite is thought to have resulted from an asteroid or comet entering the earth's atmosphere and exploding. The event released as much energy as fifteen one-megaton atomic bombs. As well as blasting an enormous amount of dust into the atmosphere, felling 60 million trees over an area of more than 2000 square kilometres. (he) suggests that this explosion would have caused "considerable stirring of the high layers of atmosphere and change its structure.”

While I don’t know if I wholly accept his research as conclusive that CO₂ cause global warming doesn’t exist, I still find it intriguing. I also feel that perhaps using some of the trillions that will be spent implementing the Kyoto Protocol would be better spent further investigating the mechanism behind global warming, and perhaps even give Shaidurov a little bit of money to further his research.

Mr. Harper (err...Mr. Prime Minister)

What an excellent figure head Canada has elected. Not only was his first mandate to prove himself an ass to the country, he continues to do so. The Conservatives won the election by staying out of the media spotlight and doing absolutely nothing. Now he seems to be applying the same strategy in regards to the ethics probe over the appointment of the floor crossing coward David Emerson. Mr. Harper doesn’t seem to realize that the same tactics won’t work. People want answers. When the Liberal sponsorship scandal came to light, Mr. Martin was very good about welcoming an inquiry into his party and his leadership. Mr. Harper…..well let’s just say he’s not the brightest. How can you expect to be trusted by farmers, …sorry, I mean your electorate if you won’t even be upfront with them.

Yes, yes…I know the argument…’but there was no ethics inquiry when Belinda Stronach crossed the floor’. Well, perhaps there should have been, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t need one now. Mr. Harper ran on a platform of accountability, and he won’t even stand accountable for his cabinet appointments.

Perhaps Mr. Harper being elected (with a minority government) was the best thing for Canada because:

- it gives the Liberals a chance to regroup and perhaps find a leader;

- it will allow Canada to remember why we have had Liberals in office for the past 13 years; and

- it pushes off the time when Peter Mackay will be elected conservative leader (there is nothing worse than a smooth talking crook).

Mr. Harper, all I ask is that you stand accountable for your cabinet appointments.

Ramblings of an atheists -4

Todays atheistic topic is …. WATER. (Insert crappy game show music here).

I’m not quite sure how an atheist has a point of view on water, but we’ll see what happens. All ‘life’ as ‘we’ know it relies on water. Nay, it depends on water; it cannot exist without water. What if, Oxygen had been opposed to a three-way with hydrogen and hydrogen? Think about that, what if oxygen had been a selfish priss? We…..well we wouldn’t be here to think about it I guess.

Does that mean that water is here for a special reason? Is it coincidental that water exists at all? I say yes. Some, perhaps many will argue that water was made special by God to facilitate the existence of life. (This train of thought leads to an ugly can of worms that I am not going to open at this moment).

If it is coincidental, and those coincidences didn’t occur 'just so', we wouldn’t be here to even question it. Therefore, our very existence does not require the existence of some supreme holy almighty deity. It just requires the right set of circumstances. If water as we know it wasn’t stable there would be two options.

1) Life would be unable to exist at all and the universe would be a void and desolate place with no creepy crawlers to start wars.

2) Life would still exist, perhaps in a different form and not depend on water. Perhaps it would depend on gallium, or alcohol (not so different than some of the life forms currently in existence) and we would still have ridiculous squabbles.

This line of arguing harkens back to the quote (not sure from whom or where about monkey and typewriters).

‘Given an infinite number of monkeys on an infinite number of typewriters for infinity, Hamlet will be written’

Something along that line, if you know the actual quote I would welcome it.

Yet another pre-coffee rant. I really need to stop this and get my coffee before I start blabbering.

Environmental Fear Mongering

In our ‘modern era’ the hype about the environment and environmental protection borders on fear mongering. As with every section of society there are extremists, in this case, Green Peace is the first one that comes to mind. One look at where current environmental funding is heading highlights who the biggest players are: global warming and climate change.

The media loves these buzz words. They instill images of flooding, drought, fires, pestilence, poverty, and the WRATH OF GOD. Well, maybe not quite that extreme, but the media isn’t shy about hyping up their stories in order to sell them.

When it come to climate change three question really need to be addressed.

1) What is causing the increase in global temperature? The CO2 arguments are weak at best and without knowing how the causative agent is working it is difficult to change the trend.

2) Is the change anything outside of the normal trends? Global temperatures are known to fluctuate, so what should make the current increase ‘special’.

3) Would warmer temperatures be that bad? I mean, I know I wouldn’t mind a milder winter. And I’m sure the farmers up here wouldn’t mind a longer growing season.

Absence of empathy

I am cursed with an absence of empathy and sympathy; you know, those basic human emotions that allow one to understand how another feels. For whatever reason, I have a very difficult time understanding and sympathizing with others feelings. If you’re looking for a shoulder to cry on mine will be available but consolation may be lacking.

I think the root of my problem is that I rationalize too much. I tend to take the ‘human’ element out of situations and try to analyze them with cold hard logic. To me this makes perfect sense and I base the vast majority of my decisions on this type of rational thinking. What I can’t seem to understand are people who infuse everything with illogical emotion.

I’m lucky that the group of people I work with for the most part are level headed and logical. But in the past I have worked with the super-emotional-flakes that I just want to slap. They drone on and on an on about pointless illogical crap. These are generally the same people who live in their own little ignorant worlds, fully of teddy bears and anti-depressants. The same people who do nothing but cry when they get drunk…man those people piss me off.

My favourite thing to do when people are acting irrational is to push their buttons with more irrational things. It is awesome to watch them explode, and then calmly ask them “So, why exactly did you just freak out when I smiled at you (or someother benign action)?” That’s when the incoherent justification of someone who is about to realize how stupid they’ve been comes.

I know I sound heartless, and perhaps I am, but I sure as hell have a good time while I’m at it. Wow…..hows that for a morning…pre-coffee rant =-]

Robotic Pack Mule

This robot highlights the advancements being made in the field of robotics. This ‘pack mule’ developed by Boston Dynamics and named BigDog is dubbed ‘the most advanced quadruped robot on earth. Check out the video to see what this thing can do!! It even balances itself after being kicked.

Ramblings of an Atheist - 3

Not sure where this is going to lead but I feel like addressing the issue of atheism again.

I think there are at least two types of atheists, those who require an explanation for everything, and those who don’t. This may sound counter-intuitive initially as atheists are often branded as those who question everything and are never happy with the answers they receive. While this is true of some, if not most atheists, I’d like to think that I fall into the second category, one who doesn’t require an explanation for everything. Mind you, there is a big difference between requiring and explanation for everything and knowing that an explanation for everything exists.

I feel that those atheists who require an explanation for everything are exactly the same as the theists who invoke God to explain anything that cannot be explained. Both groups will not accept the perfectly reasonable answer of ‘I don’t know’.

Being in the field of science I am constantly flirting with the boundary between the known and unknown. Sometimes all it takes to change an unknown into a known is as simple as picking up a text book and doing a little reading. Other times the explanation is not readily available and must be worked at. And as is usual with any field, the answer leads to even more unknowns, whose answers lead to even more. It turns into a violent cascade, but that is part of the fun. Figuring stuff out! I relish the moment of understanding and insight when the ignorance disperses. And it is this that drives my thirst for knowledge and understanding.

I’d like to address the difference between ‘there being an explanation for everything’ and ‘needing and explanation for everything’.

First I will address what I feel is the incorrect outlook on life:

‘Needing an explanation for everything’

Too many people turn away from faith for what I feel is the ‘wrong’ reason. And that is ‘religion can’t explain everything I see around me so instead I will hide behind the religion of science’. And for these people science really does become a ‘religion’ instead of a tool or way of thinking.

By requiring an explanation for everything it is not possible to be content with anything. Such a person in my opinion must surely go mad…enter the stereotypical atheists.

‘An explanation for everything exists’

I believe that there is an explanation for everything, and likely 99.9% of those explanations are currently unknown by humans and will never by fully known or understood by any man/woman. To be truly content one must acknowledge this, else be doomed to a life of superstitious hocus pocus.

Should these unknowns be disconcerting? NO! These unknowns should drive curiousity and a desire for knowledge. Unfortunately the majority of people are quite content to be ignorant to just about everything around them. Although it is often said ‘ignorance is bliss’. So…”c’est la vie”.

After re-reading this I think I maybe coming across as a bit of a pompous-prick who is saying that everyone else is wrong except for me. This is not my intention at all, rather I wish people to understand how I view life just as I tried to understand how others view life.

Manic Habits

After reviewing the definitions of ‘manic’ and ‘mania’, I’ve decided that perhaps I am neither. However, I do experience what may be considered mild manic depressiveness, without the extreme negative connotation. By this I mean; ‘I experience the highs, often lasting for weeks, to a month, and are marked by excess productivity and motivation. Following these periods I experience the exact opposite, extended periods of time (weeks again) marked by laziness, sleepiness, and generally unproductive behaviour.

Currently I find myself in one of my ‘down’ periods I guess you could call it. I’m not exactly depressed, or am depressed with out the ‘depression’ part of it. If that makes any sense. I’m not experiencing the negative thoughts, and the general doom and gloom feelings that people associate with depression. I am however unmotivated and lethargic. The trick for me now is to try and find something to snap me out of it. And perhaps the fact that I am writing this is evident that I am emerging from this period of lethargy.

This cyclic, or sinusoidal pattern to my behaviour is not a new development. I have been like this since at least highschool, perhaps earlier.

Motivation …draining….need to enrich..core….coffee….

Lol…later.

Crazy Busy

Its been a crazy couple of weeks. I'll be posting again shortly.