So this is going to be something of a primer for where I'm going with this blog from here on out. It also can act as a sort of glossary for some of the terms I may use that are commonly used in a religious purpose but in my case have a less theist meaning. This blog was started to focus on the awe and mystery of the universe as seen through the eyes of a secular humanist. This leads me to utilize many terms that have either been co-opted or created by the religious community. So here goes.
Miracle (miraculous)- This is often used to explain things that are done by God and lack any scientific explanation. In my use of the word I am keeping it closer to the original Latin roots. Miracle comes from the Latin word Mira which means wonder or wondrous. This is essentially what I mean. Something that is a miracle or miraculous by my definition is something that fills me with awe at the intricacies of the natural world.
God:- I don't really use this term except as an expletive. I have no love for the idea of Spinoza's God or any other deist interpretation of the divine power illusion. On this one I have to side with Einstein. Any reference to God is simply a common reference point to be used euphemistically or metaphorically for something big and influential (the quote "God does not play dice" refers not to an actual deity but to an aversion of the Universe to creation from disorder.
Holy and or Sacred-This refers to things of value beyond oneself or a place or item of reverence that is held largely as inviolate.
Reverence- A respect for something that you hold above yourself or your own immediate needs or desires by its merits or nature. (I have a reverence for the beauty of nature)
Sin- This has two different uses to me. One is essentially the same as a vice. A habit that is not necessarily healthy but is enjoyable none the less. The other is as doing evil. This generally refers doing harm to others unnecessarily or acting without any regard for the well being from others or the common good.
Thats it for now. I'll add to the glossary as I come up with more usages that might be confusing. I also encourage anyone who reads this blog to reclaim these words for their own. Commonality is the only true way to change the language.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Proof that I'm still here
I think you should be careful of people who actively try to "teach" you their religion.
-Laura Murphy (a very good friend of mine)
-Laura Murphy (a very good friend of mine)
Saturday, February 12, 2011
The Edge of Reason
So like a whole bunch of other kids, I was brought up going to church. I was raised Methodist and to be honest it wasn't all that bad. The church and church community I was raised in were pretty open and the only reference to hell I remember is the youth pastor saying he didn't believe in it. But I digress before I've even come to my point.
So like all kids being told that the fairy tale out of Nazareth is somehow more true than the ones I've heard about fairies and firbolgs (yes I knew that term as a kid) I found myself rife with questions, and having not yet realized that it's impolite to ask questions about religion of those who believe in it, I went looking for answers. The one that came back to me recently was the answer to the question, Where does God live? See I loved me some Space when I was a kid. I thought galaxies and black holes were the coolest damn thing ever. So it didn't make sense to me that the big dude could live in the sky. The answer I got was essentially God and Heaven live somewhere else. So is Istanbul, but I can still get coordinates for that.
In recent months of stumbling back across this question I think I have figured out the answer.
God lives beyond the edge of reason. (yes that means hes at the end of the credits for a terrible Renee Zellweger film)
See back in the day. We had basic observations to fuel our knowledge.
We could only experience that which was tangible. So sure there's some mountain that we can't ever seem to get to the top of, must be the home to the gods. But then we made it to the top and saw what was out there above us. So we looked up and saw stars and the sun above us and figured they lived in the sky which spun around the Earth. God lived just beyond that part of the sky in the penthouse.
Then here comes a breakthrough. The Sky is just a cloud of air surrounding us. Beyond that is Space. The Universe, All the cosmic awesomeness that at the same time humbles us and makes us so damn special. But shit. If God isn't out there where is he...Some where else. He doesn't live in the emptiness of space obviously, that would be way below his standards. He must be in another (for lack of a better term) dimension.
But now we have trouble. We are starting to see that there might be other dimensions out there. We might be in a multiverse of universes. Now if we get what's beyond the universe, where does that leave God.
The point is we put god where he needs to be to serve his purpose. God isn't a being. He is the spectre of things we have yet to understand. Those who place him closer have some gap in their understanding. Most televangelists wouldn't say that God takes their face and put's it in people living room because they understand tv cameras. They would say that God created us in his image because they don't understand natural selection enough to trust knowledge over faith. So as the general populace realizes that Olympus is just a mountain, God moves to the sky, As they see the sky is just a layer between us and space he moves to another "dimension" As we discover other universes he will run back further still. God will only cease to exist when we finally realize that our reason and knowledge can find us all these things without him. Then he moves out of our minds completely.
So like all kids being told that the fairy tale out of Nazareth is somehow more true than the ones I've heard about fairies and firbolgs (yes I knew that term as a kid) I found myself rife with questions, and having not yet realized that it's impolite to ask questions about religion of those who believe in it, I went looking for answers. The one that came back to me recently was the answer to the question, Where does God live? See I loved me some Space when I was a kid. I thought galaxies and black holes were the coolest damn thing ever. So it didn't make sense to me that the big dude could live in the sky. The answer I got was essentially God and Heaven live somewhere else. So is Istanbul, but I can still get coordinates for that.
In recent months of stumbling back across this question I think I have figured out the answer.
God lives beyond the edge of reason. (yes that means hes at the end of the credits for a terrible Renee Zellweger film)
See back in the day. We had basic observations to fuel our knowledge.
We could only experience that which was tangible. So sure there's some mountain that we can't ever seem to get to the top of, must be the home to the gods. But then we made it to the top and saw what was out there above us. So we looked up and saw stars and the sun above us and figured they lived in the sky which spun around the Earth. God lived just beyond that part of the sky in the penthouse.
Then here comes a breakthrough. The Sky is just a cloud of air surrounding us. Beyond that is Space. The Universe, All the cosmic awesomeness that at the same time humbles us and makes us so damn special. But shit. If God isn't out there where is he...Some where else. He doesn't live in the emptiness of space obviously, that would be way below his standards. He must be in another (for lack of a better term) dimension.
But now we have trouble. We are starting to see that there might be other dimensions out there. We might be in a multiverse of universes. Now if we get what's beyond the universe, where does that leave God.
The point is we put god where he needs to be to serve his purpose. God isn't a being. He is the spectre of things we have yet to understand. Those who place him closer have some gap in their understanding. Most televangelists wouldn't say that God takes their face and put's it in people living room because they understand tv cameras. They would say that God created us in his image because they don't understand natural selection enough to trust knowledge over faith. So as the general populace realizes that Olympus is just a mountain, God moves to the sky, As they see the sky is just a layer between us and space he moves to another "dimension" As we discover other universes he will run back further still. God will only cease to exist when we finally realize that our reason and knowledge can find us all these things without him. Then he moves out of our minds completely.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Morality
The term religion and God in this post refers to Abrahamic religions with an emphasis on Christianity as it is the bulk of my experience.
I just finished listening to the audio book of The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. In the book he makes several arguments, not just about the fallacy of God's existence but about the uselessness of God. He spends an entire chapter pointing out that we don't get our morality from God but rather from social and Biological evolution. After listing a sting of horrific offenses advocated by God in the Bible he states "My point is not to say we shouldn't get out morals from God (though I believe that to be the case), my point is we DON'T get our morals from God.
I think that he can take this one step further. I think it would be fair to say religious people (especially Christians) have a stronger inclination to give up their morality in the face of God. I am not even referring to the atrocities performed in His name. My point is that if people have to settle for the idea that no matter what they do, no matter how hard they try they will always be covered in icky icky sin as long as they live, all because some ancient lady got hungry for exotic fruit: then they have no need or incentive to be to good. I can't be perfect so trying is only a let down. We all like stories of how someone fought the nay-sayers and won anyway, but the truth is more than not if you have no positive influences in a situation...you're screwed. Cleansing ourselves of sin is much the same. After all if you are taught you carry someone elses mistake forever until you die, you start a step behind.
The problem get's worse when the natural byproduct arises. If God tells everyone their evil, he needs to give them hope for finding heaven. So BAM God will forgive you if you ask. Any sin. They are all the same in his eyes: Littering-sorry God-Bam forgiven; Arson- sorry God- Bam forgiven; Torture, Murder, Rape, Incest-sorry God- Bam forgiven. Now their isn't even consequence. You want in...fine apologize for pissing off God and your Golden.
This is FURTHER compounded by the idea that life here on Earth inherently sucks (yeah kinda) but that the good stuff is waiting. You're devaluing your currency here on Earth. So why try and make this shithole better when you're moving on up to that Big Deluxe apartment in the sky.
Atheists don't have these safety nets. We don't think we get some shiny penny for being forgiven. Our morality come from evolution and we rational realize that it makes sense not to fuck around in this world because it's all we have. If you only have one house that you are going to live in for the rest of your life, you keep it nice and in good repair. If you decide you're living with someone for the rest of your life, you are more inclined be nice to them. But then we don't need the safety nets. We don't some apple laden Sword of Damocles hanging over our heads. We know we can live a good and positive life if we try. So we try. We don't always win, and granted some don't try (but some Christians do). But try or not, we know we have a chance to be good, and no second chance if we aren't.
I just finished listening to the audio book of The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. In the book he makes several arguments, not just about the fallacy of God's existence but about the uselessness of God. He spends an entire chapter pointing out that we don't get our morality from God but rather from social and Biological evolution. After listing a sting of horrific offenses advocated by God in the Bible he states "My point is not to say we shouldn't get out morals from God (though I believe that to be the case), my point is we DON'T get our morals from God.
I think that he can take this one step further. I think it would be fair to say religious people (especially Christians) have a stronger inclination to give up their morality in the face of God. I am not even referring to the atrocities performed in His name. My point is that if people have to settle for the idea that no matter what they do, no matter how hard they try they will always be covered in icky icky sin as long as they live, all because some ancient lady got hungry for exotic fruit: then they have no need or incentive to be to good. I can't be perfect so trying is only a let down. We all like stories of how someone fought the nay-sayers and won anyway, but the truth is more than not if you have no positive influences in a situation...you're screwed. Cleansing ourselves of sin is much the same. After all if you are taught you carry someone elses mistake forever until you die, you start a step behind.
The problem get's worse when the natural byproduct arises. If God tells everyone their evil, he needs to give them hope for finding heaven. So BAM God will forgive you if you ask. Any sin. They are all the same in his eyes: Littering-sorry God-Bam forgiven; Arson- sorry God- Bam forgiven; Torture, Murder, Rape, Incest-sorry God- Bam forgiven. Now their isn't even consequence. You want in...fine apologize for pissing off God and your Golden.
This is FURTHER compounded by the idea that life here on Earth inherently sucks (yeah kinda) but that the good stuff is waiting. You're devaluing your currency here on Earth. So why try and make this shithole better when you're moving on up to that Big Deluxe apartment in the sky.
Atheists don't have these safety nets. We don't think we get some shiny penny for being forgiven. Our morality come from evolution and we rational realize that it makes sense not to fuck around in this world because it's all we have. If you only have one house that you are going to live in for the rest of your life, you keep it nice and in good repair. If you decide you're living with someone for the rest of your life, you are more inclined be nice to them. But then we don't need the safety nets. We don't some apple laden Sword of Damocles hanging over our heads. We know we can live a good and positive life if we try. So we try. We don't always win, and granted some don't try (but some Christians do). But try or not, we know we have a chance to be good, and no second chance if we aren't.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
I have alot of catching up to do
I try to write here once a week and have been derelict despite having some good topics (at least 4) I've wanted to mention. It's late though and I needed to get this one out quickly before I forgot.
Thank you
This Thank you is for my parents. They probably could have done some things better in raising me. Any parent could. They did however give me one thing that I will never be without. They never indoctrinated me.
Though strong liberals and possessing of very specific spiritual views, they never forced me to believe any of what they did. They never pulled out a "because I said so" or "It just is" on social, religious, ethical or philosophical matters. If I disagreed or asked why they explained as best they could the reasoning behind their beliefs. As a result I hold some very seperate views from them these days. However more so I tend to agree with them, I think that there is a tendency towards certain viewpoints in those who refuse to brainwash their kids from a young age. And that view of free thinking and self discovery is the utmost limit of the programming I received. So thank you Mom and Dad. I appreciate it and love you all the more for it.
Thank you
This Thank you is for my parents. They probably could have done some things better in raising me. Any parent could. They did however give me one thing that I will never be without. They never indoctrinated me.
Though strong liberals and possessing of very specific spiritual views, they never forced me to believe any of what they did. They never pulled out a "because I said so" or "It just is" on social, religious, ethical or philosophical matters. If I disagreed or asked why they explained as best they could the reasoning behind their beliefs. As a result I hold some very seperate views from them these days. However more so I tend to agree with them, I think that there is a tendency towards certain viewpoints in those who refuse to brainwash their kids from a young age. And that view of free thinking and self discovery is the utmost limit of the programming I received. So thank you Mom and Dad. I appreciate it and love you all the more for it.
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