Today's stuff

Saturday, 26 December 2009

  • A decent Christian Apologetic...from an Atheist.

    Can't say that I disagree with too much here. :)

    Harsanyi: Heathen's Greetings for Christmas

    from The Denver Post.

    By David Harsanyi
    POSTED: 12/24/2009 01:00:00 AM MST

    If I were a believer, I would have commemorated the Jewish revolt against the Greek religious imperialism of the second century B.C. this month. Fun.

    You, on the other hand, are far more likely preparing to celebrate the birthday of the one true messiah, the son of God, the King of Kings, he who died for all our sins and brings peace to all mankind.

    (Lest anyone wonder why there is an enormous disparity in membership between the two aforementioned religions, you have no need to look much further than holiday marketing.)

    Unlike many of my fellow atheists, however, I'm not a fundamentalist on the issue of nonbelief. Though my rock-ribbed skepticism is, I hope, driven by reason, my unwavering desire to avoid saying "amen" in a group setting is a real driver, as well.

    "Aren't we forgetting the true meaning of Christmas?" Homer Simpson once asked. "You know, the birth of Santa."

    Like Homer, I enjoy the birthday of Jesus — or Santa. So it pains me to witness fellow atheists acting like a bunch of irritating '80s televangelists and defeating the entire purpose of unbelief by organizing, grousing, wagging their fingers and, worst of all, proselytizing.

    Take the billboards popping up in Las Vegas this year that read "Reason's Greetings" and "Heathen's Greetings."

    The man behind the billboards claims to only want to make people think — because only atheists can really think, after all. "People that drive by who have an open mind may think to themselves, 'Maybe I should question some of my dogmatic beliefs,' " Richard Hermsen, a local atheist activist, explained.

    Granted, atheists have some reason to be annoyed by the general public. A USA Today/Gallup Poll in 2007, for instance, found that more than half of Americans would, under no circumstances whatsoever, vote for an atheist.

    No group fared lower than heathens. Not Mormons. Or even the Jews — and we probably killed Christ.

    USA Today also relayed that a University of Minnesota study taken that year found that Americans rank atheists as the most disliked minority group in the entire country, topping other groups who richly deserve such honors, like journalists, for instance.

    It's this kind of close-mindedness many atheists find most annoying. For a long time, in fact, I believed H.L. Mencken's line that, "God is the immemorial refuge of the incompetent, the helpless, the miserable."

    But then poll after poll illustrates that religious people — in the throes of ignorance, granted — are far happier, far more charitable and far from helpless.

    On an ideological front, it dawned on me long ago that though didactic Christians may attempt to limit personal freedoms, they are rank amateurs compared to environmentalist moralizers or "social justice" moralizers or economic equality moralizers of the left.

    God or no God, one of these groups generally believes in free will and the others generally believe taking is an ethical pursuit.

    Other curiosities invaded my thinking, as well. It is common, for instance, for free-thinking acquaintances of mine, ones who sneer at the very thought of Christianity, to buy into every half-baked mystic-sanctioned cure available.

    These same folks who have no compunction comparing evangelicals to the Taliban demand I demonstrate more deference to the misogynistic, homophobic and anti-intellectual theocrats elsewhere in the world. For peace.

    So while, today's nonbelievers tend to focus on the ugliest aspects of organized faith — and there is no dearth of opportunity — they ignore that this nation's tradition of liberty, economic freedom and unmatched tolerance (sure, we could always use more) was driven and tethered to Christian ideas.

    Maybe, it's not worth believing. But it's worth a holiday, at least.

    E-mail David Harsanyi at dharsanyi@denverpost.com.



    Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/harsanyi/ci_14059460#ixzz0aoHB1X4O

Friday, 25 December 2009

  • Joy to the World!

    ...from a fabulous writer, John Hayward.

    My thoughts exactly.

    Joy To The World

    via Dr. Zero

    December 24th, 2009

    I’m not a practicing member of any congregation, but I’ve never entertained a single atheist thought. No aspect of creation has led me to doubt the existence of the Creator. I have never doubted that life endures beyond the final beat of a mortal heart. Faith and feeling lead me to hold these beliefs, but I hold them in concert with reason, not in defiance of it. I don’t believe any part of creation was put here for us to ignore, or deny.

    I don’t like the way religious people are treated by our popular culture. A search for virtue and enlightenment that has been in progress for centuries is too often judged by the sins of its past, or the oppression it is found pre-emptively guilty of wishing to enforce. A secular State that has no qualms about legislating morality responds aggressively to those who speak of transcendence. Churches are measured against a grim shade of Torquemada, entirely invisible to the happy congregations inside. Questioning the fitness of religious believers to serve in democracy is as absurd as constructing a theocracy. Ideas should be evaluated on their strengths. Far from the stereotype of thoughtless Bible-thumping drones, religious men and women – from the Founding Fathers to today – have been ready to show the philosophical homework that led them to their moral conclusions.

    People of the Jewish and Christian faiths are not the proprietors of our civilization, but it’s grossly unfair to deny their pivotal role in shaping it. It is equally unfair to plow over the true meaning of Chanukah and Christmas, and erect a thousand-watt generic monument to “happy holidays” and the Winter Solstice above them. I have never understood the increasingly common modern neurosis of taking offense at a hearty cry of “Merry Christmas!” Christians offer this wish as a gift, not a commandment. This is their season of joy, the celebration of what they believe is the most important moment in history. Joy is a flame that grows higher with kindling. It is music that bursts with the eagerness to leap from heart to heart. It is not a sacrament to be hoarded only by believers.

    Who can embrace the full meaning of the birth we celebrate in this season, without loving the sound of laughing children playing with new toys, or young voices raised in carols of sleigh bells, snow, and mistletoe? Those who don’t believe in the divinity of Christmas Day have no reason to injure the faith of those who do… and the faithful have no reason to suffocate anything that spreads joy through the world, on this day we take as proof that Heaven loves us, and wants us to be happy. Even the most confident atheist can appreciate the nobility of a “fairy tale” that says the Author of creation wrote his own son into the story, in a chapter that would end with unspeakable pain… but turn the first page of a new book, describing a world of redemption and forgiveness. If you believe Christmas is a superstition, you can at least wish that all of humanity’s superstitions were as beautiful.

    Some people doubt the sanctity of Christmas because the date was moved around in ancient times, to align with pagan festivals. With the modern understanding of reality, I wonder how the date would be measured on Mars, which takes just under six hundred and eighty seven days to orbit the Sun… or in the ribbon of light that stretches between the sisters of a binary star… or at the event horizon of a singularity. The theory of relativity tells us that it’s always Christmas somewhere. December the 25th is as good a day as any.

    Tonight, on Christmas Eve, some of us will long for husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters who serve in distant lands, and sleep beneath different constellations… but we can all share the radiant memory of a single star, that burns forever above both the humble and the wise. Distance, and even death, are banished in the calm of a silent night, and a joyous morning. Not all of the guests at our tables will be visible to the eye, but all can be felt equally in the heart. No one requires you to believe in anything, to cherish Christmas as a special day… but we can all share the courtesy, and honesty, of remembering why this day is so special, to so many. This is not a season for demands. It is for gifts, and invitations.

    I have two gifts for everyone, both simple, but heartfelt. The first is that I’ve finally found the time to put together my own website, where I’ve re-posted everything I’ve written for Hot Air, and set up a way for people to contact me. It’s rather plain right now, but I’ll keep working on making it better, and maybe do some more interesting things with it in the future. The address is http://www.doczero.org/

    My other gift is even more humble, but people have frequently asked for it. My name is John Hayward, and it has been… and will continue to be… my delight and honor to write for you.

    Merry Christmas, everyone!

Tuesday, 22 December 2009

Saturday, 19 December 2009

  • A Video Response Updated

    Edit: I posted this at the end of September as a response in a friendly debate with one of my co-workers.
    As of yesterday Harry Reid, Democratic Senate majority leader secured the 60th vote he needs to effectively send the Senate health care bill to President Obama to sign sometime next month. We are about ready if my facts are correct (which they are) to spend at least 1.6 trillion dollars on insuring people who either don't want it, or will not use it. Please take a few minutes despite my bad delivery, to consider these facts and then act accordingly to your state representatives.
    Thank You.



    A few days ago I posted a video of Ronald Reagan sharing his thoughts on socialized medicine from 1961. The ensuing (facebook) comments sparked a friendly debate that has resulted in this video.
    :)


Friday, 18 December 2009

  • Quote of the day.

    "Science is a good piece of furniture for a man to have in an upper chamber provided he has common sense on the ground floor." Oliver Wendell Holmes

    Mr Holmes knew this way back when. Perhaps some of these quotes that have been collecting dust on our walls and in our minds need to be re-read.
    We could use their wisdom right about now.

Wednesday, 16 December 2009

  • A Gitmo by any other name...still smells.



    First I'm happy for the people of Thomson, Illinois. Small towns typically depend on companies staying put for the benefit and prosperity of their people. And generally nothing stays put better than a federal prison. (Except when it closes like this one did eight years ago. But...carrying on..)
    But it's really not about Thomson.

    It's about national security.
    It's about politics, always.

    It's about calling something "job creation" when it's not really.

    I mean seriously. If I tell you that you're getting a car and then merely transfer my problem ridden hunk of metal from my driveway to yours, that's not "car creation".

    That's a transference of problems.

    And well Gitmo has had a few recently.

    AND I have some questions beyond the concerns voiced in the video.
    Like how long is it going to take to upgrade this prison to "the most secure prison in the world"? That may take some time. So Guantanamo isn't shutting down just yet. At least it better not.
    And are they going to train locals to guard these guys or what? Maybe that's not part of the promised 3000 new jobs.
    That's not to mention apparently throwing a little sugar to your home state that will bear some fruit say...maybe around election time next year?

    I wish good things for the good people of Thomson, Illinois.

    But to take the car analogy a little further, I hope this scenario doesn't end with the realization that the heap they just bought is only held together by the paint job.

    Correction: Apparently the prison ISN'T closed and has a population of about 144 minimum security inmates. I assume these will be moved to make way for any upgrades.

Tuesday, 15 December 2009

  • Calling some Senators today to Remind them to take a minute to look out of their window and see some people who cancelled Christmas travel plans to come to DC to let them know what they think of Obama Care.
    Looking for a live blogging site.

Saturday, 12 December 2009

Wednesday, 09 December 2009

  • Supersize mmmmmm... wait a minute...

    My son (in high school) usually takes the money that I give him for lunch and goes to one of a couple of fast food joints close to his school because he hates the school food. Hating school cafeteria food is almost an American institution. Still I've felt it my parental duty to harangue him every so often about the fast food diet though he eats pretty well at home.

    That is until I read this:

    Fast Food Safer Than School Cafeteria?

    Updated: Wednesday, 09 Dec 2009, 9:49 PM EST
    Published : Wednesday, 09 Dec 2009, 9:45 PM EST

    By LILY FU

    (MYFOX NATIONAL) - People have accused KFC of using mutant chickens and McDonald's of using worm meat and cow eyeballs in their food. But as it turns out, the food served at fast food chains might be much safer than what's served at your child's school cafeteria.

    USA Today conducted an investigation in which it found that McDonald's, Burger King and Costco are far more rigorous in checking for bacteria and dangerous pathogens in their meat products than the U.S. Department of Agriculture is with the meat it sends to schools.

    The newspaper writes that it found that the USDA bought nearly 500,000 pounds of meat from one producer that had unusually high levels of an indicator bacteria called "generic E. coli." The organism indicates whether contaminants from a cattle's intestine have gotten into the slaughtered meat. Jack in the Box's standard for generic E. coli is 100 colony-forming units (CFU) per gram while the USDA's is 1,000 CFUs per gram.

    The report adds that the USDA routinely sends schools chicken meat from "spent hens," chickens that are past the egg-laying age. But even KFC won't buy these chickens to sell as food at their restaurants.

    "We simply are not giving our kids in schools the same level of quality and safety as you get when you go to many fast-food restaurants," J. Glenn Morris, professor of medicine and director of the Emerging Pathogens Institute at the University of Florida, told USA Today. "We are not using those same standards."

    However the USDA maintains that the meat it buys for the National School Lunch Program "meets or exceeds standards in commercial products." The National Meat Association, which represents meat suppliers and processors, said in a statement this week , "In recent years it has become the popular pastime of journalists and industry critics to focus their investigations and criticism on the National School Lunch Program. But what they are attacking is a solid program with a proven track record of providing safe, high-quality products to school children for more than 70 years."

    Many readers weren't necessarily surprised by the report. "The school lunch program is run by the Department of Agriculture. That's right. Not the Department of Health and not the Department of Education. The program was created so that farmers could unload food that they couldn't sell otherwise. It isn't now, nor ever was, intended as a social safety net," wrote Method of Steepest Descent on Consumerist.com .

    Others blamed budget cuts for the food quality at schools. Bishophicks wrote , "Quality and freshness costs money, so if the demand is to spend next to nothing, then of course the kids are going to end up eating the cheapest stuff someone can get away with calling food. I have no idea why people are acting surprised about this."

    Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told USA Today that it will conduct an independent review of testing requirements that the USDA uses before it sends meat to schools.

    Last year a Humane Society video made headlines for purportedly showing workers at a slaughter house abusing weak cattle by jabbing them in the eyes, shackling and dragging them, and spraying water up their noses to get them to stand. The video caused concern not only because of animal cruelty, but because of the danger of eating the meat of downed cattle.


    Sorry son. No more lectures from me. PLEASE have lunch at Taco Bell!


  • Did we Christians 'pop' the housing bubble?

    Hanna Rosin has a column in The Atlantic that tries to make the case that the blame lies not with Fannie or Freddie but with...Christians.

    I do think that I have heard it all now, although it's nothing new.

    Nero blamed the problems of the Roman government on the Christians and it does seem to be a template that is still used today. The errors of the "prosperity doctrine" not withstanding this is either another snide swipe at Christians or the result of coming up short in the "stuff to write about" category. Or both.

    The fact is that prosperity teaching has been around for at least a century. And accountability does need to be required of those that use the pulpit as a mode of wealth building. No doubt about that.

    I think most Christians would say that the following video pretty much sums up their attitude and would laugh at the sarcasm:

    Were Joseph Kennedy's shoeshine boys, taxi drivers, maids and cooks adherents of so called faith teaching. I don't think so. And yet, the crash of 1929 still happened.

    I rather think it is a misplaced faith in government (ie. Fannie, Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act) that is much more demonstrable than faith in God.


Feed Frenzy

  • Visit followfreedom's Xanga Site
    • Name: John
    • Gender: Male
    • Member Since: 9/1/2005
    • True Premium
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful you will win some false friends and true enemies; Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; It was never between you and them anyway. --Mother Teresa

Tunes

Okay. Some cuts here are only 30 seconds long due to legalities and such. If you are listening to one of these and you just have to hear the whole thing, just click the itty bitty box in the upper right corner and it will open up a new window. Or launch the stand alone player. Hit the play button and that's it! Jazz Intensive

followfreedom

  • Visit followfreedom's Xanga Site
    • Name: John
    • Gender: Male
    • Member Since: 9/1/2005
    • True Premium
ThinkExist Dynamic daily quotation