Virtual Illusions

President Obama’s inauguration is coming up in just a week.  Soon after that inauguration the Boy Scouts of America will attempt to make him their honorary president.

Obama should decline.

The fact that the Boy Scouts of America discriminates is a decided question.  They were sued and changed from being a quasi-public organization to a private religious organization so they could continue discriminating.  They consider it a core function of their organization to expel members for no other reason than their religious or sexual orientation.

The fact that they discriminate against anyone should be sufficient for Obama to decline the “honor” of serving as their honorary president.

Instead he should choose to serve as the actual president of all Americans.  He should begin delivering on his promises of change and inclusion.  This small symbolic action would clearly telegraph that they he will not be party to discrimination against anyone.

It would be a welcome change.

Culture, Philosophy/Religion, Politics

There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.

From London’s Atheist Buses

Carry on.

Philosophy/Religion, Quote

Over at the Atheist Experience blog they do a wonderful comparison of the Batman Begins movie with the Sodom and Gomorrah story.  It’s a bit long but the argument that Batman Begins is a retelling of the story with a humanist twist is fairly complelling.

Culture, Media, Philosophy/Religion

I really like these T-Shirts.  Sadly I think many will misread them.

Culture, Philosophy/Religion, Politics

So when you go to google and do a search, what you searched for appears in the logs of the websites you go to from that search. There’s software that goes through the logs and brings them together, and people who run websites comb over them for their own self aggrandizement or at least to decide where resources should be expended.

I think my favorite search in February in the category I wish I had a page that answered that search is:

Biblical History vs Real History

I’m of the opinion that they have almost nothing to do with each other. A book I liked a lot on the subject is called 101 Myths of the Bible by Gary Greenberg. The subtitle is How Ancient Scribes Invented Biblical History.

This book isn’t so much a debunking of the bible but rather it is properly treats it as myth and shows the antecedent stories from which the bible was created. It takes a quick look at 101 places in the Old Testament looking at what the Bible says and what can be learned about the context and other sources to find the real story. The early myths are connected to earlier tellings of the same stories in Egyptian and other cultures. Later stories are shown to be created for political propaganda purposes. Names and groups were changed for political advantage.

A book covering similar ground for the New Testament is called The Jesus Mysteries by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy, which has the subtitle, Was the “Original Jesus” a Pagan God? Sadly I lent my copy of the book to someone and don’t even recall who anymore. The premise of the book is that Jesus’ biography is consistent with a whole series of “Godmen” before him. They shared some common traits such as:

• Osiris-Dionysus is God made flesh, the savior and “Son of God.”
• His father is God and his mother is a mortal virgin.
• He is born in a cave or humble cowshed on December 25 before three shepherds.
• He offers his followers the chance to be born again through the rites of baptism.
• He miraculously turns water into wine at a marriage ceremony.
• He rides triumphantly into town on a donkey while people wave palm leaves to honor him.
• He dies at Eastertime as a sacrifice for the sins of the world
• etc…

I recall thinking that they overstated their case somewhat, but if even a fraction of their thesis is correct it changes how we must view the Jesus story.

Even if you don’t believe a lot of the Jesus Mysteries the thing to come away realizing the lack of authentic contemporaneous evidence of Jesus:

• There is no contemporary writing about Jesus. They don’t start to appear until a century or so after he was supposed to have died.
• No first century source knows anything about Jesus, Joseph, Mar, Bethlehem, the miracles, the Trial, etc
• The Gospels don’t appear until the mid second century

That’s something at least for someone to find regarding the difference between real history and biblical history.

Philosophy/Religion

At lunch, among six logically minded non-theists, we had a discussion on the three omnis (omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent). I enjoy these discussions and I haven’t had one in a while.

This discussion really centered on the idea of omnipotence and whether it really means all powerful or if actually just means really powerful. Ultimately it comes down to the question of whether an omnipotent being/force can do logically inconsistent things.

I argued that for omnipotence to mean all powerful, logical inconsistency must be possible. My co-worker’s argument was that since he couldn’t imagine a square circle or divergent realities between different perceptive agents within a logically consistent framework, therefore omnipotence didn’t include the ability to create logically inconsistency.

Phrased that way, which of course is not exactly how he phrased it, it is clearly an argument from personal incredulity. An argument from personal incredulity is logical fallacy it is sometimes called an argument by lack of imagination.

Of course it was a fruitless discussion because any of these sorts of discussions are ultimately about the meaning of words. To me the idea of omnipotence means the ability to do all things not merely things which are humanly conceivable. The limitation of human conception becomes considerable when dealing with concepts of the infinite.

Unless there is way to break the premise or definition problem on what omnipotence means it is no different that people saying “Is to”, “Is not”, etc. ad infinitum and calling it fruitful discussion.

But it remains an entertaining way to spend a lunch.

Philosophy/Religion

I don’t believe in gods or the supernatural, but about a dozen years ago I had an experience that if I did believe, I’m sure I would have attributed to a religious experience of some sort. Oddly enough it is very comforting when I become long term overwrought.

I experienced Douglas Adam’s Total Perspective Vortex, though on a limited scale.

I was in college at the time being torn appart by the fact that the woman I was enamored with had indicated that I was alone in this feeling. While meditating on this while listening to suitable depressing music and staring at the bunk above mine. I began to have a scale change. I just sort of zoomed out. First all the people in the city and all of the petty connections of love, hate and indifference. Then further, the whole country and further. Earth, The solar system, the galaxy, everything.

In that moment of perfect clarity of context, I realized that my feeling toward the woman weren’t relevant. They simply didn’t even register. Too much else was happening, too much that mattered to allow this to consume me.

The Total Perspective Vortex is supposed to destroy your mind, for me I found it very freeing. I’ve never gotten the perfect clarity I had that night, but I have called upon the memory on a number of occasions and found its almost nihilistic vision very comforting.

Philosophy/Religion

So I suppose I should mention that I got a letter to the editor published in the Washington Post about a week ago. It’s sort of odd it wasn’t something I really felt strongly about, just something I sort have had written before… about 4 years ago. So type, type, type and send. They confirmed some thing and bang it appeared in the paper a couple of days later. Here is the link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/13/AR2005071301982.html

However, I expect it will stop being availible in a couple of days. I had affirm that it isn’t anywhere posted anywhere else including a personal log when I submitted it to them, but they probably don’t care once its been published so here is what was published.

=====================

Words to Live By, From a Greek Philosopher

Thursday, July 14, 2005; Page A24

Diane Ellis suggested in her July 7 letter that religious leaders and atheists get together and come up with a set of principles that both could agree are good “Rules of Living.”

I prefer the concept of principles over rules. The following were attributed to the Greek philosopher Solon, who drew them up almost 2,600 years ago:

1. Trust good character more than promises.

2. Do not speak falsely.

3. Do good things.

4. Do not be hasty in making friends, but do not abandon them once made.

5. Learn to obey before you command.

6. When giving advice, do not recommend what is most pleasing, but what is most useful.

7. Make reason your supreme commander.

8. Do not associate with people who do bad things.

9. Honor the gods.

10. Have regard for your parents.

Perhaps if elected officials want to engender good character, they should post these instead of religious texts.

I say that as an atheist; I read “Honor the gods” as “Respect what people believe” and not as a requirement to worship any god.

TODD KUSTERER

Rockville

Culture, News, Philosophy/Religion

Not sure if this will work. In theory it should.

Philosophy/Religion, Politics

To whatever degree atheists are fighting against Frist and DeLay and Bush and Joe Schoolboard in Podunk, Kentucky trying to make everyone live by their narrow religious views, i am an ally of atheists. To whatever degree atheists crusade against all religious beliefs in general and seek to demean people of faith, i am not their ally.

–Bonhoeffer, http://boards.fool.com/Message.asp?mid=22425567

Philosophy/Religion, Politics, Quote