Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Vendors Tell The Tale

If you want to know what kind of people back a particular campiagn or movement, look at what the vendors selling stuff at their public events are hawking.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Being "Chosen" Not Really A Blessing

If you believe the bible…can Yahweh’s selection of the Hebrews as his chosen people be considered a curse in the same way that the Chinese consider “may you live in interesting times” a curse? Ever since Yahweh’s supposed selection of them, the Hebrews have had a pretty rough time of it. Being drafted by this deity was not a blessing.

Is Your God The Best You Could Do?

How many people have chosen a god that took the time to literally carve some important edicts in stone and encase them in a box that would kill you if you touched it; and those important and protected edicts contained, among other things, instructions on cooking goat meat but nothing about rape?

If so, is this the same imaginary creature that later, having decided to address the rape issue left out of the stone-inscribed rules, told everyone raping a women could result in making her your wife?

If so again, is this also the same god who declares himself to be jealous, angry and vengeful?

And finally, if this still describes your chosen deity, what were the other choices that you turned down in favor of this one?--was this the best you could do?

Monday, April 12, 2010

Enabler Of Religion

To respect a religion is to be an enabler, in the same sense the term is used for any addict.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

No Christian Nation

What does it say about christianity that the founding fathers, supposedly founding a "christian nation," that they opted to leave out any reference to this idea in the country's constitution? It might just mean they knew it was a bad idea on which to base a country, even for those who were individual believers.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

No Perfect Government

We may never come up with a “perfect” system of government. There is too great a tendency to concentrate power in a few people and to great a tendency by the rest to follow those people no matter what they do.

Just One Blemish Is All It Takes

Why is that some piece of clothing that is very sexy can become totally un-sexy with one small blemish--a rip or tear or stain?

From One To Zero

The largest leap in humanity's scientific mental growth may have been the jump from one to zero, while the second largest was from one to infinity.

The "Sick" Label Can Simply Be Perception

We remove those in society that do not fall within a narrow band of behavioral and appearance standards. Those outside those boundaries are "sick" and treated as such. This band of acceptance is somewhat different from person to person, and is usually wider in those who have interacted with more people. Tolerance, if that is the appropriate term, is widened by exposure to the thing--whatever it is--that is not tolerable.

But, for most, instead of becoming more tolerant to the differences of those outside of this band of acceptance, or expanding or eliminating it, we tend to push those outside of it away and pretend they don't exist, or label them as defective and, therefore, not worthy of consideration. We create institutions, neighborhoods, clans, etc. to separate these "broken" people from the rest. If someone is determined to be floating toward this "broken" group--moving outside that band of acceptance--others will try and pull them back, at first...try to "fix" them. But if the "fix" doesn't work, then the person is discarded like all the rest outside the band.

The thing that constitutes this "broken" state can be anything from new associations, changes in behavior, altered dress, mood, etc., not usually things that should be considered an ailment.

A Believer Is A Believer

If you believe there is no god, then--by definition--you are still a believer, just like a theist. If you do not believe there is a god, then you are an atheist.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Corporate Grammer Adjustment

Now that corporations have been declared "persons" by the Supreme Court, do we  have to get teachers of grammar to change their lesson plans? For example, instead of saying 'the company for which I work,' do we need to start saying 'the company for whom I work.'?

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Having Much Feeds Desire For More

What is it that makes someone with a lot of something want one more, and more eagerly than someone who has so little of it? Whether it be comic books, money, PTO time at work, power, model trains, cars, music, etc., the person with much resists giving any of it up and desires even more. Someone with little may want more, but rarely is as motivated as those having a great deal.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Capitalism and Sales People

Unregulated capitalism shouldn't be let lose on the world for the same reasons sales people are not given control of the companies for which they work.