Ouch.
"The daughters of the high priest Anius changed whatever they chose into wheat, wine or oil. Athalida, daughter of Mercury, was resuscitated several times. Aesculapius resuscitated Hippolytus. Hercules dragged Alcestis back from death. Heres returned to the world after passing a fortnight in hell. The parents of Romulus and Remus were a god and a vestal virgin. The Palladium fell from heaven in the city of Troy. The hair of Berenice became a constellation...Give me the name of one people among whom incredible prodigies were not performed, especially when few knew how to read and write."
Voltair, Miracles and Idolatry
"The solemn elevation of infallible leaders who were a source of endless bounty and blessing; the permanent search for heretics and schismatics; the mummification of dead leaders as icons and relics; the lurid show trials that elicited incredible confession by means of torture...none of this was very difficult to interpret in traditional terms. Nor was the hysteria during times of plague and famine, when the real authorities unleashed a mad search for any culprit but the real one."
Christopher Hitchens
"A mad search for any culprit but the real one",... sounds terribly appropriate doesn't it? The culprit in the end is the institutions, but we are the threat. Any of us who have defied tradition, broken rank and started questioning the institution. How many courageous individuals over the years have been persecuted for trying to bring light to a dark time. Go back through history and its quite obvious, for as many Christians that were persecuted by the Romans during the blossoming of their religion, Christianity in turn returned the favor tenfold as they stepped into infallible shoes of divine authority. I'm only beginning to understand what religion used as a weapon has done to our species. And its truly a catharsis. To go back to the roots of it all, to see it for what it really is,...its liberating. To no longer be bound by superstition, ritual, and fear, that is the meaning of true spiritual freedom.
"I appreciate the games and shit, putting on the tie and going to church and everything da da da but there is a LIVING GOD THAT WILL SPEAK DIRECTLY FUCKING TO YOU!"
Bill Hicks
Living God. That's the key, when we pore over these ancient texts and observe the rituals that existed to wow and awe an audience into reverence we are simply buying into a very sophisticated and collectively respected puppet show. Carry the bible in your right hand and you could be a hatefilled homo-phobic sadist but you've got the right puppet at your disposal, and you've got an audience. Someone will listen because you slipped on the puppet of tradition, that's the power of inanimate divinity. This symbol, this book, this name they only have power when we recognize them as powerful. The second we turn our back on these lifeless tools and relearn about ourselves and our world that is the second GOD simply becomes a manmade word.
Once we stop looking to the inanimate puppets we'd be able to see the LIVING brilliance all around us.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Questioning organized religion
"We must never forget Charles Darwin's injunction that even the most highly evolved of us will continue to carry "the indelible stamp of their lowly origin." -Christopher Hitchens
This is a theme that I've been interested in most of my adult life it all started with a simple yet disgusting revelation. "I'll never be good enough." I remember this mantra echoing in my mind after my weekly conditioning sessions in sunday school. The adult members of the church tapped to be teachers, weilding weapons of guilt and shame beat into my head and the heads of my peers this mantra and quickly it became the gut wrenching foundation that brought about much of the anger and ambition I've carried with me to this day. "We were perfect, once. And then we pulled away from God, and brought sin upon ourselves. And now its on you and me. We WERE rejects, until jesus came and gave us a second chance." What I heard and I certainly was not the only one, was quite simply we are damaged goods. And we should be seeking to be fixed, fixed by the very FORCE that made us. My question was always, why did he make us damaged then. Some people will say by God giving us freewill this excuses his callous anger and twisted logic, they will say he gave us an opportunity to remain perfect or become imperfect and because we don't act like GOD we chose the latter. Its on us not the maker.
WOW. If this isn't a perfect bating for the snob in all of us I don't know what is? "Oh I totally believe I'll be perfect and Godlike in heaven. You're damn right I'll have no any desire to do the things that made me pathetically imperfect. Cause i'll be perfect and that's definitely worth denying myself worldly pleasures because being Godlike is the ultimate state of being."
According to Genesis we got kicked out of the garden of eden for trying to be like God, we wanted to gain the knowledge of good and evil, and he didn't want us to know that. So he kicked us out, NOW he WANTS us to live like him and then he'll let us back in. WHAT?! Make up your mind!
We are imperfect, the world is imperfect and that's why it continues to evolve and change. To believe that we were perfect right from the start is to set an unattainable bar that as I stated at the beginning of the blog only results in frustration, fear, anger, and shame. The perfect ingredients to build a seeking legion of followers. We seek to be whole because we believe we can be. We are imperfect. And that's ok. We are animals that learned to lie to themselves. WE believed that the world revolved around us until one of us realized that when we die the world won't die-therefore we are simply existing in it, taking up space that will not miss us when we're gone and continue on as if we never were. AND THAT'S OK. But that's dangerous, because that means we aren't as special as we were lead to believe. That can't be right. When mankind dies the world HAS to die GOD made the world for man. Right? OOPS.
Of course the other end of the spectrum is-"Ok well fine, we're imperfect that means I'll just sit on my ass and let things happen to me, the world keeps spinning and my life doesn't mean anything when the score is added up, so since i can't change anything I'll just take up space. You can call me a turd that hasn't been flushed yet." This ridiculously selfish attitude has helped indifference balloon exponentially as more and more countries become secular we fall back on the idea that without fear of a jealous god we aren't held to any standards of ethics, other than the ones backed by the state. But this isn't the case at all. We DO have a responsibility to each other,... just because we can't be perfect doesn't mean we can grow. Growing doesn't equate to seeking perfection it simply means stretching your mind muscles and heart beyond where you are right now. Knowing there is no finish line, only bends in the road and new obstacles to explore and grow from gives me a sense of childlike curiosity about the world and about myself. The alternative, always looking over my shoulder apologizing for being me, living life with the eyes of a judge on high-weighing my every decision, how suppressive.
That's why I've come to accept it, I am imperfect. I'd never want to be perfect. That would kill all that is me. Ethically I aim to balance the good with the bad, and allow the weak to be reinforced by the strong. Living responsiblely for the wrong reasons is just as bad as living irresponsibly convinced that you are always in the right. We can and should live responsibly for sake of the whole because its the right thing to do and it just makes sense, not because we expect a reward for all our efforts.
Accepting myself for all the imperfections I have, makes me whole. Liberating me from needing a man-made GOD to make me whole.
This is a theme that I've been interested in most of my adult life it all started with a simple yet disgusting revelation. "I'll never be good enough." I remember this mantra echoing in my mind after my weekly conditioning sessions in sunday school. The adult members of the church tapped to be teachers, weilding weapons of guilt and shame beat into my head and the heads of my peers this mantra and quickly it became the gut wrenching foundation that brought about much of the anger and ambition I've carried with me to this day. "We were perfect, once. And then we pulled away from God, and brought sin upon ourselves. And now its on you and me. We WERE rejects, until jesus came and gave us a second chance." What I heard and I certainly was not the only one, was quite simply we are damaged goods. And we should be seeking to be fixed, fixed by the very FORCE that made us. My question was always, why did he make us damaged then. Some people will say by God giving us freewill this excuses his callous anger and twisted logic, they will say he gave us an opportunity to remain perfect or become imperfect and because we don't act like GOD we chose the latter. Its on us not the maker.
WOW. If this isn't a perfect bating for the snob in all of us I don't know what is? "Oh I totally believe I'll be perfect and Godlike in heaven. You're damn right I'll have no any desire to do the things that made me pathetically imperfect. Cause i'll be perfect and that's definitely worth denying myself worldly pleasures because being Godlike is the ultimate state of being."
According to Genesis we got kicked out of the garden of eden for trying to be like God, we wanted to gain the knowledge of good and evil, and he didn't want us to know that. So he kicked us out, NOW he WANTS us to live like him and then he'll let us back in. WHAT?! Make up your mind!
We are imperfect, the world is imperfect and that's why it continues to evolve and change. To believe that we were perfect right from the start is to set an unattainable bar that as I stated at the beginning of the blog only results in frustration, fear, anger, and shame. The perfect ingredients to build a seeking legion of followers. We seek to be whole because we believe we can be. We are imperfect. And that's ok. We are animals that learned to lie to themselves. WE believed that the world revolved around us until one of us realized that when we die the world won't die-therefore we are simply existing in it, taking up space that will not miss us when we're gone and continue on as if we never were. AND THAT'S OK. But that's dangerous, because that means we aren't as special as we were lead to believe. That can't be right. When mankind dies the world HAS to die GOD made the world for man. Right? OOPS.
Of course the other end of the spectrum is-"Ok well fine, we're imperfect that means I'll just sit on my ass and let things happen to me, the world keeps spinning and my life doesn't mean anything when the score is added up, so since i can't change anything I'll just take up space. You can call me a turd that hasn't been flushed yet." This ridiculously selfish attitude has helped indifference balloon exponentially as more and more countries become secular we fall back on the idea that without fear of a jealous god we aren't held to any standards of ethics, other than the ones backed by the state. But this isn't the case at all. We DO have a responsibility to each other,... just because we can't be perfect doesn't mean we can grow. Growing doesn't equate to seeking perfection it simply means stretching your mind muscles and heart beyond where you are right now. Knowing there is no finish line, only bends in the road and new obstacles to explore and grow from gives me a sense of childlike curiosity about the world and about myself. The alternative, always looking over my shoulder apologizing for being me, living life with the eyes of a judge on high-weighing my every decision, how suppressive.
That's why I've come to accept it, I am imperfect. I'd never want to be perfect. That would kill all that is me. Ethically I aim to balance the good with the bad, and allow the weak to be reinforced by the strong. Living responsiblely for the wrong reasons is just as bad as living irresponsibly convinced that you are always in the right. We can and should live responsibly for sake of the whole because its the right thing to do and it just makes sense, not because we expect a reward for all our efforts.
Accepting myself for all the imperfections I have, makes me whole. Liberating me from needing a man-made GOD to make me whole.
Monday, March 17, 2008
they said it better, so let's listen closely
Here are some great quotes I've come across that I wanted to share:
"In The Future of an Illusion, Freud made the obvious point that religion suffered from one incurable deficiency: it was too clearly derived from our own desire to escape from or survive death. ...Who-exccept for an ancient priest seeking to exert power by the tried and tested means of fear-could possibly wish that this hopelessly knotted skein of fable had any veracity?" Christopher Hitchens
"Peacefully they will die, peacefully they will expire in your name, and beyond the grave they will find only death. But we will keep the secret, and for their own happiness we will entice them with a heavenly and eternal reward." the bros. karamazov
"We must never forget Charles Darwin's injunction that even the most highly evolved of us will continue to carry "the indelible stamp of our lowly origin." Christopher Hitchens
"Reason is the devil's harlot, who can do nought but slander and harm whatever God says and does." Martin Luther
"Many religions now come before us with ingratiating smirks and outspread hands, like an unctous merchant in a bazaar. They offer consolation and solidarity and uplift competing as they do in a market place. But we have a right to remember how barbarically they behaved when they were strong and were making an offer that people couldn't refuse." Christopher Hitchens
"In The Future of an Illusion, Freud made the obvious point that religion suffered from one incurable deficiency: it was too clearly derived from our own desire to escape from or survive death. ...Who-exccept for an ancient priest seeking to exert power by the tried and tested means of fear-could possibly wish that this hopelessly knotted skein of fable had any veracity?" Christopher Hitchens
"Peacefully they will die, peacefully they will expire in your name, and beyond the grave they will find only death. But we will keep the secret, and for their own happiness we will entice them with a heavenly and eternal reward." the bros. karamazov
"We must never forget Charles Darwin's injunction that even the most highly evolved of us will continue to carry "the indelible stamp of our lowly origin." Christopher Hitchens
"Reason is the devil's harlot, who can do nought but slander and harm whatever God says and does." Martin Luther
"Many religions now come before us with ingratiating smirks and outspread hands, like an unctous merchant in a bazaar. They offer consolation and solidarity and uplift competing as they do in a market place. But we have a right to remember how barbarically they behaved when they were strong and were making an offer that people couldn't refuse." Christopher Hitchens
Friday, March 14, 2008
the forbidden fruit
"It all began with that ancient lesson from Genesis: man is forbidden to seek awareness; he should be content to believe and obey."
Michel Onfray
I've been flipping this quote around in my head for a little while and I think I may have an interesting interpretation of why the attainment of the knowledge of good and evil was such a threat to God's little paradise.
They didn't know they were naked, they had no shame, before their eyes were opened by eating the forbidden fruit. But what the writers that wrote the Bible in the past didn't know and we know now about sensory learning is that there is no good and evil there is only pain and pleasure. We've moralized pain as being bad and pleasure as being good but at the beginning they had no knowledge of anything.
So was it a knowledge of moral good and evil, or a sensory awareness that they lacked until their "eyes" were opened? And more specifically how could it be knowledge of moral good and evil when God hadn't given adam or eve any morals yet but he did give them dominion, you own everything here. You have free rein except for these 2 trees don't eat from them, or you'll die. but what was death to them? There WAS no death in eden so how could they be in fear of something they had no exposure to. God might as well have said if you eath this apple you'll become longitude.
I believe the moral to this story is that they were numb until they began to feel. We should aspire to being numb to be more like we were supposed to be in paradise before we got ahead of ourselves and wanted to try out what it meant to be alive? And by alive i mean self aware. Once we explore our bodies and our minds and discover that we all have limitations and the ability to surpise ourselves I hope we would all come to the realization, that with life comes vulnerability and personal triumph but no one gets an extension. But then again, who wants to live in the real scary NOW when you can live for a glimmering candyland in space when you die.
Yeah that sounds sane.
Here's the other point that makes no sense to me, the snake. You're telling me that a source of power that was so omnipotent, it could create life from nothingness would not know that he set up a spoiler in the garden. Oh but I can hear the retort right now, "it was a test."
ok,...that's fucked up creating something from nothing and then giving it a nuclear weapon and saying now don't push this red button. But anything else feel free to do whatever you want with it. What a dick.
What would have happened if they had not eaten the fruit? A T-rex (oh wait God never created giant lizards,...right?) ok so a wombat would have been the next thing to tempt them? We were bound to fail, by design according to the bible. We HAD to fail because we aren't living numb and blissful,...not yet anyway. And that's apparently paradise. So its our fault. So get on your knees and repeat to yourself I am not worthy of life,...even though YOU are alive and before adam and eve ate the forbidden fruit they were not. They existed but were not alive by our evolved standards of what constitues life, anyway.
Self Awareness,...what a deliciously forbidden delight.
Michel Onfray
I've been flipping this quote around in my head for a little while and I think I may have an interesting interpretation of why the attainment of the knowledge of good and evil was such a threat to God's little paradise.
They didn't know they were naked, they had no shame, before their eyes were opened by eating the forbidden fruit. But what the writers that wrote the Bible in the past didn't know and we know now about sensory learning is that there is no good and evil there is only pain and pleasure. We've moralized pain as being bad and pleasure as being good but at the beginning they had no knowledge of anything.
So was it a knowledge of moral good and evil, or a sensory awareness that they lacked until their "eyes" were opened? And more specifically how could it be knowledge of moral good and evil when God hadn't given adam or eve any morals yet but he did give them dominion, you own everything here. You have free rein except for these 2 trees don't eat from them, or you'll die. but what was death to them? There WAS no death in eden so how could they be in fear of something they had no exposure to. God might as well have said if you eath this apple you'll become longitude.
I believe the moral to this story is that they were numb until they began to feel. We should aspire to being numb to be more like we were supposed to be in paradise before we got ahead of ourselves and wanted to try out what it meant to be alive? And by alive i mean self aware. Once we explore our bodies and our minds and discover that we all have limitations and the ability to surpise ourselves I hope we would all come to the realization, that with life comes vulnerability and personal triumph but no one gets an extension. But then again, who wants to live in the real scary NOW when you can live for a glimmering candyland in space when you die.
Yeah that sounds sane.
Here's the other point that makes no sense to me, the snake. You're telling me that a source of power that was so omnipotent, it could create life from nothingness would not know that he set up a spoiler in the garden. Oh but I can hear the retort right now, "it was a test."
ok,...that's fucked up creating something from nothing and then giving it a nuclear weapon and saying now don't push this red button. But anything else feel free to do whatever you want with it. What a dick.
What would have happened if they had not eaten the fruit? A T-rex (oh wait God never created giant lizards,...right?) ok so a wombat would have been the next thing to tempt them? We were bound to fail, by design according to the bible. We HAD to fail because we aren't living numb and blissful,...not yet anyway. And that's apparently paradise. So its our fault. So get on your knees and repeat to yourself I am not worthy of life,...even though YOU are alive and before adam and eve ate the forbidden fruit they were not. They existed but were not alive by our evolved standards of what constitues life, anyway.
Self Awareness,...what a deliciously forbidden delight.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Quote from the "Atheist Manifesto"
"Well before it was used to describe the God-denier, the word "atheist" served to codemn the thinking of the man even marginally liberated from authority and social supervision in questions of thought and reflection the atheist was a man free in god's eyes and ultimately free to deny God's existence."
Michel Onfray
Michel Onfray
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