Can we Have a Moment of Silence, Please?

Nah, just kidding.

This article about a lawsuit in Florida really pissed me off.  An atheist is asking for a moment of silence to replace the city council's unconstitutional prayer.  It doesn't say why she wants that moment of silence, though.

I would like to know why a moment of silence is needed at all.  As a matter of cultural practice, it makes sense for any gathering to have a speech by a leader stating something about the shared values of the group and the purpose for the gathering.  Ritual is important, and it can set the tone for the event.  Silence is just people alone with their own thoughts - the complete opposite.

The origin of the practice is to give the religionists their moment without giving them their prayer.  It's a concession, not a suitable secular practice.  What is secular about making people shut up for a "moment?"  It's a moment for prayer for the losers.  It's a way of letting them have their prayer without letting them force their prayer on others.  It's still a moment for prayer. Prayer is what's unconstitutional, not ritual.  Instead of getting rid of the tradition of starting proceedings with a brief speech, the city should adopt a ritual that celebrates their true shared values: the democratic process that brought them together.

They could start with the Pledge of Allegiance (original version).  Or they could make up their own.  It could go something like this: 

Esteemed citizens, welcome to the monthly meeting of the city council, elected by you, empowered by you, and dedicated to the mission of protecting and serving you and your interests.  In doing the people's business, we ask all in the room to be mindful of the highest principles of democracy.

Christians who make the argument that atheists believe in "nothing" don't need to be validated by a court case that pits atheism's moment of nothing vs. religionists moment of inviting their magic fairy's intervention in the democratic process.  We don't want nothing in place of a religious something.  We (should) want something that's positive and democratic.

Silence has its place.   Being alone with one's own thoughts at a funeral for a moment is a good thing.  All the mourners have special memories of the deceased and their relationships are individual.  I want silence when I'm trying to read.  I want silence in the operating room so my surgeon and the technicians can focus. 

Silence is good, but it's not a suitable substitute for public prayer.

Don't Feed the Trolls

Actual well-read, educated, coherent believers are welcome to post here.  Trolls are not.  Move along, subhumans.

Shared Insanity Kills a Toddler

This is disgusting:  Thishttp://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110527/LOCAL03/305279959/1002/LOCAL

Sanity debated in deadly exorcism

Rebecca S. Green
The Journal Gazette

Latisha Lawson rocked slightly in her chair throughout much of her second interview with Fort Wayne police detectives as they questioned her about the death of her toddler.

And as they repeatedly pressed her on the details of how he died, her statements kept going back again and again to her belief that 2-year-old Jezaih King’s body and soul had been completely taken over by a demon named “Marzon.”

It was Marzon that made the baby act out in a way Lawson thought was uncharacteristic for his age, such as making a clicking noise with his mouth, and causing his physical appearance to change, which she compared with Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video.

And when she poured the mixture of “blessed” olive oil and vinegar down his throat in November 2009, it was Marzon that struggled to spit it out and fought against her, not Jezaih.

But it was Jezaih who died, and Lawson, 31, stands accused of murder, battery causing death and neglect of a dependent causing death concerning her son, as well as neglect of a dependent causing injury, neglect of a dependent and battery for allegedly beating and neglecting her 10-year-old daughter.

Police found the little boy’s body stuffed in a storage tote being used as a bedside nightstand in a south-side home in late December, more than a year after his death.

...

Lawson told detectives it was her roommate, Natasha Hawkins, who told her that the Lord wanted her to get rid of the demon. Hawkins has also been charged in connection with Jezaih’s death. ...
All those in the home – Lawson, Hawkins, Lawson’s two children and Hawkins’ three children – were all suffering from demonic influences, Lawson told police.

At one point, a detective asked her whether she’d consulted with a religious authority, such as her pastor or a church, about what she thought was going on.

“No,” Lawson said. “It was clear to me.”

So she and Hawkins decided to drive the demons out, making all the children drink the concoction. The older children vomited and then sat there while the two women held Jezaih down and tried to get him to drink it, according to testimony.

Lawson told police about the toddler’s reaction, which she attributed to the demon.

“A 2-year-old cannot speak tongues,” she said, which she described as a spiritual gift. “He was speaking tongues. I could not interpret it because it wasn’t of God. … I know this sounds insane, but his voice, his behavior was not a 2-year-old baby.”

As he fought, Lawson covered his mouth and nose with her hand, what she told police was an effort to keep “Marzon” from spitting the liquid back into her face.

But after a few minutes, the baby was still.

His death was ruled a homicide, caused by asphyxia due to neck compression and suffocation, according to testimony.

...
During her interview with police, Lawson said the demon Marzon told her that he was the leader of the group of demons.

When Lawson and Hawkins were exorcising the demons that November night, Lawson said she heard them talking.

“The spirits were chatting amongst themselves,” she said.
She said she believed that Marzon had completely taken over Jezaih, that the little boy no longer existed in his own body.

“At that time, I felt that we were saving Jezaih from Marzon,” she said.

A detective asked her what she would say when she stood before God and he asked her what happened to her little boy.

Lawson broke down into huge sobs.

The trial is scheduled to end today.

Remember, folks, exorcism is best left to the experts.

You do *not* have a personal relationship with Christ!

This "personal relationship" crap irks me probably more than any other variety of Christian bullshit.  It's like having a "personal relationship" with Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny  or the Tooth Fairy.

But what it's really like, to someone like me who has known schizophrenics, is schizophrenia. It's like those crackpot schizophrenics who believe they have a personal relationship with a celebrity, and wind up in jail for stalking them (or killing them). There's no relationship at all.

That guy who shot Gabrielle Giffords and a bunch of other people is considered "incompetent to stand trial." His schizophrenia renders him incapable of making sound decisions. Granted, he didn't believe Giffords was his girlfriend, but his personal grievance with her was, well, personal, making him like most other shooters of famous people.

This makes me wonder if Christians who believe they have a "personal" relationship with someone they've never met are the same ones who accuse atheists of having a personal grudge against this same non-entity. Projection is rampant in Christian attacks on atheists, though it's often masked as a tu quoque argument ("atheism is a religion too").  FYI, to any Christian lurking, no I'm not angry with your god.  I do get angry with your god's believers at times, but you can't be angry with someone that doesn't exist.  Nor do I have a personal relationship wtih Darwin.  That would be silly.

Anywho, this ruling made me think (again) about insanity and religion. Someone would be considered delusional if he believes he is Jesus Christ, but not if he believes he has a "relationship" with him. Kind of wacky in my opinion. Not to mention, if a Biblical character did the exact same thing on the basis of what God said in his head, he'd be a hero.  Actually, some Biblical characters did act on delusions and hallucinations.  That's what happens when you have a "personal" relationship with a deity -- you get permission and/or instructions to do practically anything.

 

Thanks to the internet, I know I'm not the only one with the opinion that the "personal relationship" crap is crap.   Check out these videos:

Dusty says it as only Dusty can:



And Nonstampcollector covered it too:

"Doomsday," by Rebecca Black :-p

I'd comment but I think the video speaks for itself!

Pointing and Laughing at Christians

I think after all the hype and the stupid billboards and the self-promotion that garnered millions for Camping, we deserve a day to point and laugh at his expense.  He's a foolish old man if he thought he could predict the "End-Times."

Of course, he wins either way.  He has a gajillion dollars sent in by his followers.  He's a Christian version of L.Ron Hubbard.  He created a brilliant strategy to use  religion to separate people from their money.

I feel sorry for the people who believed him and sent in their money, but I'm tempted to point and laugh at them too.  Unless they have a diagnosable psychosis, they should have seen through this nonsense.  It's not even Biblical.

If they had cracked open their own Bibles they'd have seen 1) that Christ was supposed to come before the deaths of his apostles and 2) nobody knows the date.

The people I won't point and laugh at are the children of these idiots, who are the real victims.  Like the children of parents who are deluded about other things, these kids aren't getting the parental guidance they need, and it will be very difficult for them to handle the fall-out from the failed prediction.

One of my friends is a Christian but she thought Camping was a crackpot.  Still, she had to deal with four little children who were scared to bits yesterday.  Camping wanted to scare people, but did he think about how little kids would feel after seeing billboards and news accounts threatening them with death?

After our day of pointing and laughing, Camping should be thrown into jail for child abuse, not to mention fraud.

"Sacred Way of Conscious Evolution" WTF????

The original title of this post was Stupid Stupid Stupid Stupid, but then considering how close it is to Rapture Day, you might be expecting a post about Harold Camping. 

Noooo, this post is dedicated to a whole nother form of stupidity.  There are money-grubbing opportunists who are taking advantage of people who are disillusioned with traditional religion but still want something traditional and religious, or at least spiritual.  These people become victims of New Age prophets who mix everything good and wholesome and easily digestible into one flavorless yet satisfying stew that doesn't come cheaply despite not having any substance.

I have known many New Agers, and I dabbled myself (but not in witchcraft!!!) so I am not so much surprised that such baloney exists, or that people pay for it, or that it's not illegal.  I'm just surpised at the use of the sacred  and evolution together.  It HURTS!!

New Age nonsense used to be so much simpler.  They picked out one random ancient practice, threw around words like "chi" and "energy," sold you a gizmo, and then told you how centered you were.  there are many disparate threads of stupidity interwoven to create a patchwork (pardon the mixed metaphor) ideology to bilk their marks with.

This post is dedicated to the idiocy that is (or are) the Sacred Way of Conscious Evolution
Okay, let's start with the title:

• "Sacred" ohhhh this is a religious thing
• "Way"  ohhhh this is a Taoist thing how Eastern and cool!
• "Conscious"  ohhhh this is a psychological thing
• "Evolution"  ohhhh this is a sciencey thing

*facepalm*  Well that says it all, doesn't it?  Oh wait the presenter's bio might help clarify things:

She is a Fellow of The Club of Budapest, and has received an honorary PhD in Conscious Evolution from the Giordano Bruno GlobalShift University. She has established a Chair in Conscious Evolution at Wisdom University and is a co-founder of many progressive organizations, including Global New Thought (AGNT), as well as The World Future Society. 



She is currently the producer and narrator of an award-winning, on-going DVD series entitled “Humanity Ascending: A New Way through Together.” Part One: Our Story, translated into seven languages, has been selected for the prestigious Spiritual Cinema Circle. Part Two: Visions of a Universal Humanity, now brings together cutting-edge scientific, social and spiritual visionaries to create a positive vision of our future equal to our new capacities.

Ohhhh okay.   She has an honorary Ph.D. from Globalshift University.  That means she's smart!

And here's some happy news! You can learn this crap through self-study (for a price).  You don't get an honorary Ph.D. from working through these workbooks and DVDs but you'll be so blissfully happy you won't care.  Or maybe you'll make up your own crackpot uni and give her an honorary Ph.D.  So here are the details:


http://www.barbaramarxhubbard.com/con/Gateway  Normally this crap is $265 but you can get it for the special price of $199.  Wheeeeeee  You get a workbook and four DVDs.  That's worth what?  $60.00 max?  But wait!  You also get "Online access to Recorded Gateway Calls featuring Barbara Marx Hubbard and Teresa Collins."  You can listen to a podcast!  That's worth what?  uhhh nothing?

So what exactly is conscious evolution and why is there a sacred way?  If we can will ourselves to evolve (*brain explodes*  sorry for the blood and brains and gore on your computer screen, I had to type that) then why do we need a sacred way?  Why not a scientific way?

Oh yeah, nevermind.  As an example of their approach to "science," I offer the "NOW" watch: 

Our answer is right here on "Node 8:"  http://www.barbaramarxhubbard.com/con/node/8

In simple terms Conscious Evolution takes place when we intend to grow in consciousness and use our increasing awareness to guide our actions and achieve a positive future.

I'm not sure that "simple" would be the correct word to describe these "terms."  The sad thing is, there are probably noble ideas here that are being swallowed up by the jargon and the nonsense of New Agery. 

Bela H. Banathy, author of Guided Evolution of Society, offers this additional understanding of Conscious Evolution:It is a process by which we can individually and collectively take responsibility for our future.It is a process of giving direction to the evolution of human systems by purposeful action.

So basically it's teaching people not to be douchebags.  A noble goal.  Taking responsibility for our future is a great idea for everyone, and it would be especially appealing to atheists but then we get to this:

Conscious Evolution is at the core a spiritually-motivated endeavor. Its precepts reside at the heart of every great faith, affirming that humans have the potential of being cocreators with Spirit, with the deeper patterns of nature and universal design.

Okay, so is it "evolution" or isn't it?  Is it a natural process or a supernatural one?  And which "Spirit" is this, anyway?  Is this a Deist thing?  Taoist?  Christian?  What?

The promise of Conscious Evolution is nothing less than the emergence of a universal humanity capable of its guiding its own evolution into a future of unimaginable cocreativity

Well isn't this just ducky?  Universal humanity.  I'm guessing this woman doesn't watch The News.  Capable of guiding its own evolution?  Assuming such a thing were possible, shouldn't she start by convincing humanity that evolution is a scientific fact?  How can you get people to evolve when they don't believe evolution ever happened?  "Unimaginable cocreativity"  Maybe I shouldn't blog late at night, but this sounds positively orgasmic.  Who would turn down the chance to experience this for only $199 plus whatever it costs to buy all the other crap this site sells and go to workshops?

Oh and the cost of renting a woodchipper to toss your brain into, because that's the only way this stuff could possibly sound like a good idea.

Now, here's the kicker.  They sell all this crap and do workshops all over the country, and then they have the nerve to have a donations page.  And instead of having paypal like every other clever con artist, they set it up as part of their "store" and basically sell you NOTHING... and you're supposed to do this willingly!!!!

...so in conclusion, the STUPID WON'T GO AWAY!!!!  How could people who promote "self-evolution" be such morons?  *cries*  oh wait...

Nevermind