Showing posts with label atheism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label atheism. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 09, 2013
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Atheist Billboard with questionable imagery not popular with the saved...apparently.
(This happened some weeks ago. Just getting around to posting it here...)
ITEM: Probably not the best way to convert black religious people to the joys of faithlessness (Does keep your Sunday mornings relatively free...) but it is an effort. Actually, if you read the article, which I eventually did, they're not trying to. They're looking for people who have doubts about the whole communion good times after death stuff. I suppose African American humanists are more subtle small steps kind of billboard people. Some reaction from Harrisburg's right wing rag, a very conservative paper that probably represents Pennsyltucky very well.
Related: Facebook conversation featuring religious people talking about the billboard. Verdict: Not popular with the saved.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
When you think about it we're all Polyatheists....
"Polyatheism" just means there are lots of gods that you don't believe in and rightfully so. Richard Dawkins explains this concept here very well. Just to go over this: most of us don't believe in Neptune or Thor or Wotan (Wotan?) or Heracles or Apollo. And thank god we don't have to. Just take it one God further...
Monday, January 10, 2011
Friday, December 24, 2010
I hightly recommend the work of The Thinking Atheist this Holiday Season.
ITEM: I highly recommend all of the videos produced by the Thinking Atheist. These are professionally made and would appear on your tv if this was the sort of thing that was allowed on your television.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Jesus and Mo takes on the founder of the Mormon Church
Item: Yet another Jesus and Mo' toon about the founder of the Mormons or the Church of Latter Day Saints. Related: Comedian David Cross refers to Mormonism as the Scientology of its day. One of the reasons why Mitt Romney lost the GOP nomination for president is that the Republican base just couldn't buy his religion. And while I very seldom agree with the GOP's retrograde base about anything I see their point here. Mormonism would seem to suggest a radically different conception of Christianity and the fact that the founder of the religion was a thrice convicted fraudster tells you that this was made up. Mormonism is kind of a hustle, just like all religion. More Related: Mitt Romney's failed presidential run is why you're seeing these PR "I'm a Mormon" ads. Related to More Related: There is an "I'm an Ex Mormon campaign" at Youtube as well.
Earlier Jesus and Mo strip that I wrote about:
ITEM: The last three Jesus and Mo's have been about the founder of Mormonism Joseph Smith, a thrice convicted fraudster who found the con that would stick: Religion. Related: I posted this on prominent atheist Sam Harris' Facebook page because we're tight. He's researching using increased funding for education so that people could, presumably, rely on will power and reason to solve their problems instead of prayer. I wrote about possible detours and problems with that approach.
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Something that I left on Sam Harris' wall...(Prominent Atheist.)
Well, I just wanted to add something to this, although it might mean that you'll have to do research into several different topics but there it is...
1. Educational attainment has very little to do with the development of intelligence. American schools (public schools anyway) were designed to develop people who could fit in comfortably at turn of the century (1900s) factories. In other words, public schools for the poor are there to give you minimal critical thinking skills, if any, and to turn out unthinking uncontemplative drones who can only follow memorized orders. I actually think this is the job they still do very well except for the unfortunate fact that this is 2010. This is also a theory of education that isn't taught very well, even amongst the very well educated for reasons I guess are very self serving. You might find these writers and thinkers very interesting if you wanted to research this further:
John Holt
http://www.holtgws.com/johnholtpage.html
Paulo Friere
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Freire
Ivan Illich
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deschooling_Society
AS kind of an aside, as to how you could equip the populace with the critical thinking skills to see through religious bullshit, you might want to talk to Nicholas Negroponte. The last time I saw him on the television he said something about not emulating the very regimented and in all probability creativity killing South Korean educational system. Frankly, he sounded a lot like those aforementioned writers. Give a curious kid a laptop and let him roll I suppose would be his theory on intelligence creation. He did give the example of the story about a kid who taught himself how to read and write using his laptop...Related: Very good Youtube video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U
2. Right now we're kind of watching the dismantling of American public education by rapacious privatization czars. The truth of the matter is that American public education is woefully underfunded and the United States is alone, I believe, in the industrialized world of not funding their education at the national level, as opposed to a patchwork of county and state funding which produces wildly varying results between say Alabama and Washington State. So, if you doubled the education budget you might find yourself funding a lot of Catholic or religious schools or that new private for profit diploma school that Rupert Murdoch just bought.
3. And this is related to two and has to do with the politics of it all: Both parties are in the pockets of private interests that want to destroy or seriously maim public education. And its not because they want to help kids. They see education as a kind of profit center. Its also aimed at destroying the only unions left: teachers unions where its almost impossible to ship your job overseas. And no I don't know why Barack Obama and Arne Duncan are pursuing yet another way to kick the trad dem party base in the teeth. With the republicans that's always been the long term goal: third world wages for the majority of Americans.
The best resource on this is Not waiting for Superman:
http://www.notwaitingforsuperman.org/Articles/20101129-karpnj
4. I tell you I'm qualified to be the fifth or sixth Horseman, who happens to be African American. If only one of the Terrific Four would recognize my gifts...Could have a book out within six months with a 5000 dollar advance. Really I could...
1. Educational attainment has very little to do with the development of intelligence. American schools (public schools anyway) were designed to develop people who could fit in comfortably at turn of the century (1900s) factories. In other words, public schools for the poor are there to give you minimal critical thinking skills, if any, and to turn out unthinking uncontemplative drones who can only follow memorized orders. I actually think this is the job they still do very well except for the unfortunate fact that this is 2010. This is also a theory of education that isn't taught very well, even amongst the very well educated for reasons I guess are very self serving. You might find these writers and thinkers very interesting if you wanted to research this further:
John Holt
http://www.holtgws.com/johnholtpage.html
Paulo Friere
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Freire
Ivan Illich
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deschooling_Society
AS kind of an aside, as to how you could equip the populace with the critical thinking skills to see through religious bullshit, you might want to talk to Nicholas Negroponte. The last time I saw him on the television he said something about not emulating the very regimented and in all probability creativity killing South Korean educational system. Frankly, he sounded a lot like those aforementioned writers. Give a curious kid a laptop and let him roll I suppose would be his theory on intelligence creation. He did give the example of the story about a kid who taught himself how to read and write using his laptop...Related: Very good Youtube video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U
2. Right now we're kind of watching the dismantling of American public education by rapacious privatization czars. The truth of the matter is that American public education is woefully underfunded and the United States is alone, I believe, in the industrialized world of not funding their education at the national level, as opposed to a patchwork of county and state funding which produces wildly varying results between say Alabama and Washington State. So, if you doubled the education budget you might find yourself funding a lot of Catholic or religious schools or that new private for profit diploma school that Rupert Murdoch just bought.
3. And this is related to two and has to do with the politics of it all: Both parties are in the pockets of private interests that want to destroy or seriously maim public education. And its not because they want to help kids. They see education as a kind of profit center. Its also aimed at destroying the only unions left: teachers unions where its almost impossible to ship your job overseas. And no I don't know why Barack Obama and Arne Duncan are pursuing yet another way to kick the trad dem party base in the teeth. With the republicans that's always been the long term goal: third world wages for the majority of Americans.
The best resource on this is Not waiting for Superman:
http://www.notwaitingforsuperman.org/Articles/20101129-karpnj
4. I tell you I'm qualified to be the fifth or sixth Horseman, who happens to be African American. If only one of the Terrific Four would recognize my gifts...Could have a book out within six months with a 5000 dollar advance. Really I could...
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Dawkins and Myers Discuss New Expelled Doc Plus Related Toon
And kind of related: Richard Dawkins and PZ Meyers discuss the new pro creationist film "Expelled".
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Its Sunday Dawkins Mania! (originally posted: November 12, 2006)
Okay, if you're into Richard Dawkins atheist mania (and who isn't?) then you need to check out this Time magazine article, which I could judge to be no more than a draw and I'm biased, this speech by Dawkins at a college at Lynchburg where the Falwell followers tried to heckle him and this short bit on Youtube.
I have also now seen both Richard Dawkins episodes of South Park and read the aforementioned Time.com debate. I wanted to comment on one aspect that appeared in both venues, and also even in the Wired article which I have yet to comment on. And that's this idea that telling people that their god given delusions are, well, delusions, isn't very nice. Or as it was so eloquently put in South Park, and I'm going to paraphrase from memory: "being a dick about it".
Well, it should be said that sensible Brights like myself were quite okay to live and let live...until it became clear that religious forces won't allow us to do this. It started for me with this overall realization that when fundamentalist Christians and fundamentalist Moslems get their hands on nukes then we're probably all dead. It started showing up specifically when these backward delusions started getting in the way of science policy--everything from the teaching of evolution to stem cell research. I'm okay with you believing that Santa Claus has a wonderful place for you after death full of virgins and hellish eternal torment for your enemies/people that don't agree with you (how Christian) but not if it interferes with the greater good in the here and the now. I think that the major religions are life hating and as Bertrand Russell has stated they are unworthy of strong independent men and women, as opposed to childlike sheep. And, frankly, while I'm uncomfortable with puncturing the delusions of believers, if rudeness is necessary to save the world then a dick shall I be...as Funky Dung can certainly attest to.
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