When Religion Rule

What happens when religion runs free, when fanatics get to be in charge, and the priests and mullah’s get to run the show?

If you think of the dark ages you are on the right track, but this happens now in parts of the world. In the northern parts of Mali, as an example, sharia laws are been used to stone unmarried couples, and amputate alledged thieves. Any “deviant” might be singled out and hurt, tortured, or killed. In the name of religion, of course. REF

What makes these fanatics think they are right when doing these horrible things? Again, religion! Or their version of religion.

It did happen in Europe during the dark ages, and it does still happen in Africa and parts of Asia.

How about this: Stop it! Let people live in peace, even if they think different.

The Road To Hell…

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Well, I don’t believe in hell, but sometimes I think the buddhists are right: Hell is here on Earth!

In Pakistan, and other societies with a fundamentalistic muslim foundation, parents kill and maim their children (mostly their daughters) because the child has “dishonored” the family. Like in this story:

15 year old daughter held down by the mother, while the father pours acid over her. 70% of her body was burned, and still they waited around 24 hours to bring her to the hospital. Needless to sat, the girl died. Her crime? She had been seen talking with a young man…

Honor! Killing your daughter will never be a honorable thong to do. Ever! Nor will pouring acid over her be. Nor stoning her for kissing a young man on the cheek.

Actually, even if your daughter screws the football team, while streaming it online, there will be no honor in killing her! You just don’t maim or kill your daughter!!

Note: I’m not saying all pakistani, or muslim parents kill their daughters! Nor that all muslims think it’s right.

School Shooting II

I’ve written about Bryan Fisher’s stupid comments, and how angry he made me. Well, the’s not alone.

Not only are there shootings in schools because schools don’t teach the word of god, but also because they teach evolution and “how to be gay”.

I wish all the religious nutters could tear their heads out of their arses, and realize that there’s no smell of shit on the outside!!

Yes, schools teach evolution, as it is the most plausible theory when it comes to how life came to be. No, we don’t teach creationism, as the theory is not plausible!
No, schools does not teach children to become gay, but school should teach children that some people are gay, and that it is ok to be LGBT.

Sometimes, I just feel like all my faith in humanity drains out of my body!

Intelligent Design

Today, I went to the dentist to remove a wisdom tooth, and it got me thinking. What is so intelligent with a wisdom tooth? It seems to me, most people have trouble with theirs, and when I asked the dentist, he said he’d pulled quite a few over his carreer.

Intelligent design is a form of creationism, where people believe there are a “grand designer”, or an “archicect”, or perhaps an “inventor” who has made everything. You know, god. This designer has made everything, from the stars in the sky, to the mountains, the animals, the plants, and of course the humans. No believer in intelligent design thinks the theory of evolution is right, as it – to them – clearly can’t have happened since everything is designed. A common thing you’ll hear from one of these if you say you believe in evolution is: “Well, was your grandmother an ape?” Well, no – humans evolved into homo sapiens over thousands of years – tens of thousands of years – so of course she wasn’t an ape, or a monkey.

Another thing they commonly state is that Darwin dismissed the theory of evolution on his death bed. The “Lady Hope Story”, published in 1915, claimed that Darwin had reverted to Christianity on his sickbed. The claims were repudiated by Darwin’s children and have been dismissed as false by historians.” (REF)

Anyway, I’m not writing about how the intelligent design guys try to ridicule the theory of evolution. I write this to ridicule the intelligen design theory. No, not really ridicule, but I wish to write a few things that I feel doesn’t compute with an intelligent designer. Wisdom teeth for once. There’s no point having a tooth (or four) growing wildly into your other teeth, so you have to pull it. If our mouth was designed by someone intelligent, the wisdom teeth would always come out right. Not to mention the enamel. Why isn’t it strong enough to withstand whatever we eat? Why do we get cavities?

“You get cavities because you eat stuff you’re not supposed to, like a lot of sugar!” Well, yes. That’s correct, but if the tooth were designed by someone really intelligent, why didn’t they think of sugar? Or that people chew on anything. I’ve seen people chew on metal nails, breaking their teeth. Why not make the enamel really strong? Diamond strong?

Another thing that makes me unable to believe in intelligent design is the vermiform appendix. You know, the little guy sitting in your guts, where you might get acute appendictis. Something that might kill you if you don’t treat it. I’m not a doctor, so I don’t have the exact numbers on how many people’s appenixes rupture, but I do know that when it does, you’re in a hurry to get surgery.

The intelligent designer should’ve also made my hair so it doesn’t fall off. I’m sure you know what I mean. I’m a guy getting closer to 40, and my hair is getting a lot thinner. I’ve also developed a blank spot on my scalp. If there was an intelligent designer, why did he put this crap in his design?

There are a lot more to this, but as I’ve pulled a wisdom tooth today, I’ll wait with the rest of my rant until I’m off painkillers. Have a great week!

Heavenly Heaven!

Many religions have a version of heaven. A place where you go after death, if you did behave a certain way while you lived of course. I mean, if you plundered, pillaged, shared you mead with the gods, and died by the sword, you’d go to Valhalla, where you could fight all day, and feast all night! At least if you lived in a Nordic country some thousand years ago. I’m not sure if today’s Asatru believers die by the sword to be able to go to Valhalla… I’ll ask my friend who is a gode (a priestess) of the Asatru religion.

This is a “familiar” heaven: A pearly gate, with a man or angel, clouds, harps, white robes, a throne with a bearded man, another throne to his right for his son, choirs singing, no pain, no sorrow, and your family and friends are there too. Yes, the christian heaven. I’ve always wondered: since I don’t believe, I don’t get to go. My mum does believe, so she’s going the second she passes. But, she’s been promised she’ll meet all her friends and family, and I’m not coming. How does this work out?
I’ve got a few theories. (Of course I do!)
Theory 1: The Virtual Me. God makes a virtual copy of me, he is after all allmighty, but a copy without the atheism. A fake me, to keep my poor old mum happy.
Theory 2: God wipes her memory. It’s like I never existed. Bad god!
Theory 3: There is no heaven.

I must admit I don’t know much of the muslim heaven. It’s also a happy place for the true believers, where everybody is the same age (around 33 years old I think), and they have banquets, and stuff. The whole 72 virgins thing is as far as I know only for martyrs, people who have sacrificed a lot, for instance through jihad. (It’s not from the Qua’ran though, but the Hadith (traditional sayings traced to Muhammad.)) Well, I suppose there are more to the muslim version of heaven, but I’ll have to read up on it. I doubt I’d get an invite anyway…

In judaism, the holy book, the Torah, doesn’t really mention an afterlife. What happens when jews die? Apparently, their soul waits patiently for the messiah. After the return of massiah, and god’s judgement, all righteous jews, both living and dead, will live in Olam Ha Ba – sort of earth 2.0. In other words, an idyllic version of earth.
There is also the story of heaven and hell, but not from the Torah, where people sit at huge banquets. Trouble is, nobody can bend their elbows. Thus, the selfish bastards in hell starve, while the righteous in heaven eat as they help each other. Funny twist, if I may say so!

To sum this up, here’s a clip from youtube. It’s a panel that discusses heaven, and it ends rather abruptly with an atheist’s statement. Enjoy!

School shooting

I don’t know where to start, I’m so angry right now!

How can a man go into a school and shoot children? How is it possible for me to understand that? The guy clearly had issues, but shooting innocent children? Nothing has ever improved by killing a child!

But, the thing that makes me even more angry, is when the pompuos bastard Bryan Fisher states that “God didn’t protect the children because he’s a gentleman!” According to Fisher, god has been told the last 50 years that he’s not welcome in schools, so he stays away when needed. “All-loving, caring, father” my ass! If god reacts like that, he’s like a five year old who doesn’t get candy for dinner!

Bryan Fisher, can you, hand on heart, tell me that you really believe these children would still be alive if the schools still had prayer? That you don’t see anything fishy with that statement? That your so-called benign god, who is “eternal” say: “Fuck it! I’m not welcome, so let them get shot!” after a mere 50 years? (The worst part is, I think he would look me straight in the eye, and say this without blinking!)

Well, if you can say that, I can say this: Fuck your god! A god like that isn’t even worth a fraction of a thought!

Skateistan – Afghanistan Girl Skaters

Afghanistan is in my mind a place of war. Some place where people kill each other because it’s what they do. Where foreign soldiers have come to either “settle a score” (like the Sovjet invasion in -79) or to “bring democracy” (like when the US and friends attacked the Taliban). No matter why people send soldiers to Afghanistan, it’s the Afghan people who suffer the most.

When Taliban took over, the Afghan people stood no chance. Girls should be kept out of sight, education should be kept at a minimum, if it’s not Islam it’s evil and should be removed (like the Buddha statues Taliban blew up in 2001). Afghanistan became a theocracy, led by really fanatical people.

The operations led by the US have thrown the Taliban out, at least from most of Afghanistan, and now people are able to live a bit more free. There’s still a long way to go, as we saw not two months ago when Malala Yousafzai (14) got shot for wanting to go to school, but hopefully life will be easier for the average Afghan in the future.

Videos like the one about Skateistan helps me believe in the Afghan people! Letting girls not only go to school, but skate on skateboards! That is just awesome when you think about where the girls live! And, as an old skateboarder, and current roller derby referee, I say skating is great! It is  both a great physical and mental training, and doing something like this with other people is a great way to make friends. Education, and sound hobbies – that’s the way to go to get rid of theocracies like Taliban’s Afghanistan!

Kind of cool, kind of scary

Well, I guess I should have seen this coming. I wrote my thoughts on the “War on Christmas“, and you guys liked them. Now I need to think, and write, more to keep your attention. Because I love the fact that people actually read what I write!

This is the “difficult second post”! Don’t worry, I’ll try to make it good…

I think I’ll adress one of my pet peevee’s as an atheist. “How can you know right from wrong if you don’t believe in god?”
Well, truth be told, I learned it as a child. Just like you did. And your grandfather did. And like your children did/will. It’s quite simple actually: I know right from wrong, because somebody told me!
Somebody figured out it’s bad to steal, so we don’t steal. But will I never steal? I don’t know… My grandfather, and his brothers, were among the most lawful people I’ve ever met, good christian stock, if I can use those words. But during the war (WWII) they stole from the Germans. Did they sin? I’m quite sure they lied to the Germans as well, but I have no idea if any of my relatives killed a German. Lying, stealing, and killing is wrong, but during war it’s right?

War is different, they say, you can do stuff during war that you can’t do during peace. This might be true, but it doesn’t change the fact that these “sins” aren’t all that coherent. It’s sinful to lie, unless you lie to the enemy (who, by the way, is just as sure he’s got god on his side as you are…) Anyway, I agree – war is extraordinary indeed.

How about lying so your kid doesn’t get beaten by his father? I’m sure it has happened more than once, as there are a lot of crazy fathers out there. A quick “It wasn’t our Nate whodunit, it was some guy from his school… Pete, I think he’s called.” and Nate’s father doesn’t punch Nate’s face, because he’s now pissed at the imaginary Pete. A sin? It was a lie. I wouldn’t have thought twice before telling such a lie – because in my mind it’s a minor thing compared to a child being beaten. Does that make me less moral? White lies – without them, life would be very complicated!

I know white lies are wrong. They are lies after all. But here’s the thing: With my moral compass, I can look beyond the white lie, to see the bigger “sin” that I prevent by telling a small lie. Or I can decide not to tell the lie, and watch as the bigger sin play out in front of my eyes. Most likely, I’ll go for the white lie.

Why am I telling you this? Well, I went to school with a very religious, born-again, christian, who never lied. Ever! Problem is, he was the kind of guy that would draw a wanna-be rapist a map if said wanna-be asked what direction the single girl went alone. Once, this christian was guarding our money – the class was saving for a school trip – and somebody decided to mug him. The money was stashed in an old tin lunchbox, and the mugger didn’t see it. But, when asked if he had any more valuables our non-lying friend opened the lunchbox, and gave all our money to the mugger. His defence? “Well, I couldn’t lie to the man…” Yes you could! You could’ve said the mugger had all the valuables, and let him run off with your watch, and people would’ve felt sorry for you. Instead everybody hated you. Not that you cared: “Religious people have always been martyrs, and now I’m one too. Just like Christ!”

Morality – it isn’t rocket science. Don’t bother others, be kind and fair. Follow those guidelines, and you can do whatever you like. Don’t think you know better because it’s in a book! Everything you read is a lie! (Yeah, I know – I just wrote that…) And remember the old atheist saying: The only thing stopping a religious man from doing evil deeds is their god!

If it wasn’t in your holy book, would you do it? If there was no “Thou shall not steal!”, wouldn’t you grab whatever you could? What if the book said “Thou shall steal!” Would you steal then? You know, deep down in your heart, that it’s wrong to steal, but your god just told you it’s mandatory. Would you steal? Oh, I can feel a whole new blog post being born from this. I’ll let you ponder the question for a while: “If you were born in Germany, say in 1918 (it would make you 19 year old as WWII started in September 1939). You were a boy. Of “aryan” birth. Would you have joined Hitlerjugend as a child, and SS as a youth?”

I don’t know. Messy second post? Close enough? I guess I’ll come back and edit this in a few hours. Feedback would be wonderful!

The “War on Christmas”, and how it’s wrong

Well, I named this post “The “War on Christmas”, and how it’s wrong”, and I guess I should specify that it’s “how I think it’s wrong”. You see, I am an atheist who have no trouble with greeting people with a smile and a “Merry Christmas”. I have no problem walking past a christmas crib at the mall, outside a church, or on someone’s lawn. I have no problem with huge billboards telling me I need to shop until my wallet bleed, because it’s christmas, and that’s what you do. If I knew people celebrating hannukah, kwanzaa, or whatever, and they said “Happy Hannukah” or “Merry Kwanzaa” or what it is they say, I’d reply politely, and smile back. You know why? Because that’s the polite way to be.

That’s the way to act in a society – you give and you take. And you try to be polite while at it. We wouldn’t like anarchy, now would we? Not that I think there’ll be anarchy in the street if people had to say “Happy Hollidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”, but some people might be a bit grumpy about it.

“But, aren’t you an atheist?” you might ask. “Aren’t you supposed to hate Christmas, you satan-worshipper?” To that I’ll have to answer: “Well, no!” or “Yes, I’m an atheist, but no I don’t hate christmas. I think it’s fantastic to get some days off from work, spend them with the people I love, eat a bit different than the rest of the year, go meet friends and have a drink, and end the whole thing with fireworks on new years eve. I just don’t believe Jesus was born – or that he is/was the son of god.”

“But, we atheists don’t like having christmas showed down our throats! Let’s get rid of the whole crap!” Yes, I’ve heard atheists say this, and well… I sort of agree. We shouldn’t have to waddle through Jesus, cribs, carolers (although some of them really know how to sing!) and stuff like that if we didn’t want to, but forcing them to stop right at this moment is wrong.

Take a look at the christmas your parents celebrated as kids. Then your grandparents when they were kids. Your great-grandparents. Do you note anything? Yes, the religious aspect is falling apart. The way we celebrate christmas today, and the way they did it a hundred years ago, is so different a priest from a hundred years ago would condemn us all to hell. Church-goers and atheists!

Let me tell you a story, and see if you understand where I’m going:

I used to love meat. Beef, pork, bacon, you know – with gravy, and mashed potatoes. Hold the veg. I claimed I was a carnivoure, so I should eat lots of meat. Then I met a girl. A girl I fell in love with, who fell in love with me. We live together, and although she’s not a vegetarian, she’s quite fond of vegetables. She decided to make me eat my greens. Now, there are a few different ways she could do this. She could stop serving meat. “Sorry, only vegetarian food from today!” How long do you think I’d last before I went to the nearest junk food joint? Or, she could plant the seed (sorry, no pun intended!) playing the health card. “You know, if you eat some veg, you’ll loose a few pounds, your heart will love you, and blah, blah, blah!” (You have heard it, right? The vegetable health card!) Then she could add some vegetables to my meat, and reduce the amount of flesh.

She did the second option, and now – 5 years down the line – while I still enjoy a great steak once a while, I love cooking and eating vegetarian food! I would never have thought that five years ago.

This is what we should do with religion and christmas as well. Plant the seed. Let people change over time. It’s already happened over the last hundred years or so, so why not give it some more time to change? If we say “No! Bad christian! Stop!” they’ll (pun intended!) crucify themselves, and never move an inch.

Think about it. There is no war on christmas. Christmas is in effect a dead tradition. We use it to shop way more than we need, eat way more than we can take, drink more than we should, and argue with our family over what tradition is better right here, right now. (Watching Disney’s christmas cartoons, or doing the dishes? Or whatever else people argue over during christmas). Who got the biggest gift, who got the most expensive gift? Or even better: Who gave the most expensive gift! We don’t have time for religion anymore. No need to fight a war over christmas, because in essence, the atheists have won.

Merry Christmas from me!