Nutty Christian Caller (The Atheist Experience)

The Atheist Experience is a cable access call-in show in Austin, TX. They get a lot of very very strange Christian callers. This one is probably the most brainwashed nutters I've heard.  Note the complete inability to absorb the idea that people can speak for themselves and the preacher doesn't know everyhing:

Top Ten Reasons why Religion Is Bullshit

As an American of course I do tend to focus on Christianity's idiocy, but they're all baloney.  I tried to find something less offensive than Christianity, but all the other religions fail.

1. Basis in the personal revelation of one person or a string of a few loonies.  Personal revelation can be lies, misrepresentations, migraine auras, hallucinations, delusions, or hoaxes.  Just not a reliable source of information for basing an entire lifestyle on. 
2. Precarious transmission of the "Word."  Again, lies, misrepresentations and hoaxes are possible sources of "information."  There's also scribal errors, interpolations, deletions, and organizational or personal agendas to consider.  Just because a text is "ancient" is no reason to grant it any kind of status.  Just the reverse.
3. Fairy tale explanations for the natural world.  Genesis is only one of hundreds of creation stories.  Every culture on Earth seems to have one.  This would indicate there's something innate about the human intellect that needs answers for things like the movement of the stars and why humans can talk but frogs can't.  The fact that there are so many of these stories leads to only one conclusion: they are all false.  The scientific method is showing all of them to be false, too.
4. Human qualities of "gods."  The Genesis story gets around this by saying that God made us in his image, not the other way around, but it's not very convincing if you think about it. 

5. Tribalism.  Us vs. Them.  Our group of primates wants to survive and make the other group not survive.  If we dehumanize them by making their belief systems wrong, it's easier to kill them.  They may look like us, but it's not murder if you kill someone who's different on the inside.  How do you know if they're different?  If they're our neighbors, only their gods will be different.
6. Bullshit rules.  Rules about food.  Rules about sex.  Rules about hair.  Rules about clothes.  Rules about bullshit ceremonies.  WTF?  I can see how societies might want to regulate some antisocial behaviors, but what's antisocial about cutting your hair or eating a ham sandwich?
7. Bullshit ceremonies.  Speaking of bullshit ceremonies, again, I can see how a society might want to put its seal of approval on marriages or say goodbye to the deceased (in a way that won't bring maggots into the town) but the rest...?  Christians have their cannibalistic ritual.  Hindus have magic powder that they dribble around.  Muslims stick their asses in the air five times a day.  Haitians dance around until they believe they've been possessed.  What a bunch of hooey.  I don't do any of those things and I don't think I'm missing out at all.

8. Life after Death fantasies.  This is another commonality.  Sure, we don't want to die.  We also don't want to believe that our loved ones are truly gone when they die, but this life is very likely (like 99.99999%) all there is.  Again, the fact that every culture has this fantasy and that none of them have the same fantasy is pretty good reason not to believe any of them.  Notice that when people talk about Heaven they never mention anyone but the people they knew in life as hanging out there?  And maybe their pets.  They don't think that their granny might be in Hell or that they'll be sharing praise duty with millions of babies that died from cholera and dysentery before society started cleaning up water supplies.
9. Fantasy of being able to make things go your way. This has probably been going on since before recorded history. Make it rain.  Make it stop raining.  Make the crops grow.  Make the antelope slow down.  Make the stock market improve.  Make my team beat your team.  Make the little girl with leukemia survive.  None of religion's promises to change events has ever been shown to make a difference except to give comfort and false hope to the people entertaining the fantasy.  Comfort and hope are not bad things, but do you really have to deny reality to feel better in times of stress? And doesn't it create more stress when things don't go your way despite praying or dancing or chanting for the supernatural being(s) to intervene?

10. Resistance to change.  Sure, tradition is one of the things that binds a community but religion gives people an excuse to resist positive change.  People are against marriage not because of their prejudices.  Believers who aren't prejudiced seem to handle the idea of people making a lifetime commitment just fine.  Ditto, in the old (I hope) days when it was illegal for people of different races to marry.

That's my list off the top of my head.  From what I've read about current affairs, history, and other cultures, these things seem fairly universal and they are all detrimental.  The population of the world is about to hit seven billion.  That's twice what it was fifty years ago (if that).  Our species won't survive if we allow bullshit to keep us from solving our shared problems. 

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!