The 20th Anniversary of the Challenger disaster

I’ve always had a morbid fascination with the Challenger disaster. I think it’s the footage - its unbelievably disturbing and it goes to show how fragile our lives really are.

In recent years I’ve lost most interest in space exploration. Progress in the area seems to be very slow and I think it’s just a little messed up that people are focusing their attention on space when there are a hell of a lot of problems to be contended with down here.

Hicks was right when he talked about a global community making plans together for space. Until the world comes together as one and concentrates their collective efforts on exploration efforts I can’t really see that much progress being made.

I do hope we get out of the Solar System within my lifetime. It’s looking doubtful though. As a kid I already thought we’d be on Jupiter. Damn it!

I just found this fun article over at The Register about what Jesus would have on his iPod.

I find it slightly worrying that the majority of people who took part in this and gave a positive answer believed Jesus would listen to Christian Rock.

I do not wish to generalise, but in this case I will. I dislike Christian Rock. I think it is the most mediocre and uninspiring of all musical genres and it can only be redeemed through sudden and permanent rapture.

If I were Jesus I would actually put on some life-affirming tracks, like “What A Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong or Johnny Cash’s version of ‘Hurt’.

Y’know something with a little substance and not with the usual vague, ambigious and often bloody cryptic lyrics of the contemporary God-Rock Bands

Oh praise be to the Rock
And forth we shall rock
Unto the valley
We fall and bawl
And haul crosses
Across golden fields

Another Damn Song About Crosses by Rock-4-God

Now God the Father is another matter entirely. I get the impression He’d be into a bit of Metallica, Frank Zappa and Motorhead. Something with a little bit more testostrone.

On Monday night a meeting was held for concerned residents of the city centre in Belfast City Hall about the number of prostitutes who use the surrounding area for custom.

In recent years the centre of Belfast has undergone a huge transformation with new apartment blocks rising throughout the area.

Some of these buildings are placed within the confines of the red light district which over the years has resulted in tenants being confronted by both kerb crawlers and prostitutes.

I believe that this problem is symptomatic of our rather medieval outlook on the issue.

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I was quite surprised by how often I agreed with Dawkins through both parts of the documentary and he came across as rather sane and polite throughout, which must have been quite taxing for him considering some of the fanatics he met up with.

In saying that there were parts that I did not agree entirely with.

I disagreed with how he suggested that science had proved the claims of religion false. It’s obvious that science has disproved the Young Earth idea fronted by Christianity.

In saying that I don’t think it is fair to lump Christianity in with say Taoism which does not even consider history or politics.

The scene where Dawkins was invited to a rehearsal of a pro-life/anti-choice play was rather frightening.

I’m still trying to decide whether it was more intimidating than last week’s interview with the fundamentalist Muslim cleric who ordered Richard home to “sort out Britain’s women”.

The production (if you could even call it that) included a hard-hitting re-construction of an abortion scene which was to be shown to children as young as 10. Oh the hypocrisy! These are the same people who are constantly lobbying against games like Grand Theft Auto yet use their faith as an excuse to contradict their own morality. It’s bewildering.

It is imperative, as Dawkins rightly pointed out that children are sheltered away from religion until they reach the age of reason.

I pretty much deplored how Christianity was shoved down our throats during morning assemblies and would have tolerated it more if it was consigned to an extra-curricular activity slot.

It’s a pity it was only a two parter as it certainly was enlightening.

The You Are God Meme

This is the reason for the lack of updates recently. I present to you the You Are God Meme!

Basically it’s a little simulator which creates your own world where you are God.

To create one just enter your name in the little box below and then paste the code in your blog-site.

Should free speech be allowed no matter what harm it may be causing to others?

This is something that must be judged case by case. I think that accepting free speech indefinitately without examining the potential costs is irresponsible.

For instance should Evangelical Christians be allowed to express their beliefs to young vulnerable children who may take the visions of hell all too seriously and subscribe to a faith through fear alone?

This would surely strengthen fundamentalism and anti-intellectualism in America and Europe, which is the last thing that this world needs.

What sparked this discussion was this article from the Wisconsin State Journal concerning Fred Phelps and Westboro’s recent demonstrations outside funerals.

The author came to the conclusion that Phelps was well within his rights to protest in such a way, which I do agree with but it made me think - at what point does it all become too much?

Should bereaved families be forced to grin and bear the unequivical hate targetted towards their loved one?

Thankfully this issue seems to be, being addressed in a number of states who are placing restrictions on when and where the protestors can demonstrate. However this on its own will not be enough to stop people from being hurt.

Education will go along way to easing this and similiar problems.

By teaching people about fundamentalism and its causes I’m sure over time people will become less reactionary and more understanding of the desperation behind people like Phelp’s beliefs.

We can but hope that as time passes people will rise above it and show compassion rather than bile to groups such as this.

Will he ever quit it?

I do not understand the point of this at all. It is very angering which is the reaction that Westboro are out for I guess.

How the hell do people get like that anyway? Can people really have that much stacked on a belief? How could anyone even be tempted by the idea of a God or a Heaven who believes that protests such as their’s are righteous?

It’s hard to ignore but I think it is the best policy, particularly with organisations who refuse to listen to anything bar themselves and a 2000 year old book.

Of course it’s easy for me to say that as I am not on the front line. I do not have to put up with their hate protests.

I have the greatest respect for families and friends of the bereaved who do not retalliate as I know it is something that I could not resist.

The best response I’ve seen to WBC’s protests is the photo below which was taken at a production of the Lamarie Project at Ann Habor in Michigan.

It must be a difficult enough time for the relatives of the soldiers without all of this. I do sincerely wish them all of the strength in the world.

The idea of Brain Synchronisation has been around for quite a while now and it seems to be steadily growing in popularity predominately in New Age circles, however public knowledge about this phenomena is gradually growing.

The technology works by transmitting sounds of differing frequencies into each ear. The brain then calculates the difference between each tone and generates that tone on its own.

So for the sake of argument if you play a tone at 40Hz into one ear and one at 30Hz into the other the brain creates a tone of 10Hz.

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The American Daily On Islam As A Cult…….

Excuse me, am I missing something here?

Is it not just a tiny bit ironic that a Christian is labelling Islam as a killing cult? Look back throughout history at the Inquisition, The Crusades and even the Holocaust and you’ll find examples of Christians who thought they killing heretics in God’s name was a righteous act.

Islam says it is a religion among world religions. It is not. It is a killing cult, nothing more.

Islam demands that those who do not convert to Islam be slain or taken as slaves. There is no third option. With the genuine world religions, they tolerate those who do not agree with their tenets.

Now I may well be mistaken here but isn’t Islam one of the most diverse religions in the world? Obviously like Christianity there are going to be people who miss the damn point.

After all the Bible itself doesn’t have a great track record in condemning murder. In fact parts of it actively encourage it.

Do all Christians take these parts of the Bible seriously? No, and thankfully not.

What happens to females who commit suicide is not known. Females in Islam are considered worth less than dung. Females are said to be conceived with ten curses, the latter defined as showing publicly one’s genitals. One of those curses is lifted if the Muslim marries; the other nine remain.

This part of the article is kinda cute in the way. I mean when did Christians earn the right to go all feminist on our asses? Have Jerry or Pat set up a pro-womens rights lobby recently? And really! What is all of this Pro-family palava about?

Once again I’d refer these people to Matthew 7:3

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but don’t consider the beam that is in your own eye?

At least if people are going to call Islam a killing cult, they could save themselves the indiginity of being pubicly outted as ignorant and hypocritical by labelling Christianity as one too.

From the Gulf Times Newspaper

Students of yet another school in Madhya Pradesh have reported seeing ghost-like apparitions.

At least 10 of the 128 students of the Government Middle School in Rewara village of Khandwa district in southwest Madhya Pradesh have fainted in the school after seeing a black apparition in recent weeks.

“At mid-day, I saw a man wearing a black dress near the water tank of our school. He had a long black beard and big teeth. He was very scary,” said Chhaya, a 12-year-old student. She fainted and came around after an hour.

Call me cynical but could it not be that this apparition is actuallly a real, if not slightly insane person stalking the corridors of the school?

By the description the children gave he looks like an old friend of mine who I haven’t seen in quite a while. This fellow enjoyed crossdressing very much, perhaps he left the country and moved to India in order to be part of a culture which boasts niftier threads?

Seriously though, it’s quite frightening how impressionable people are. Ten people have each reported experiencing the same alleged entity. It demonstrates how powerful suggestion is.

To be honest, it sounds like an idea I could have used to get out of going to school at the time. “Teacher! A flamboyant monk is parading around the school in a cape terrorising the children by flashing his wolf like teeth at them!”.

It might well have bought me time out of school, however at what cost? I’d probably still be in a padded cell by now and this was nearly 7 years ago!

New Law On Suicide Attacks Freedom

All in all this is pretty worrying. I think it’s a travesty that anyone should be denied the right to die against their wishes. As far as I can understand the decision is ours to make and if it is taken away from us what do we have left?

I personally do not want to live to my late 90’s, especially if I have no quality of life and am nothing but a burden to my family.

I can’t think of anything more morally reprehensible than an individual being kept alive unnaturally against their own wishes. I mean what is the point?

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1) And God gave Moses the tablet and etched on it were 11 Commandments. “11!” cried Moses. “I thought there was meant to be 10!” Moses was wrong. The 11th commandment is definitely the most relevant of them all (particularly nowadays) and it is “Let Wikipedia know for you.”

Where would we be without Wikipedia? Its just a fantastic resource for almost everything. I’ve been using it recently to find out a little more about the roots of Christianity and I just love how you can easily skip between topics. The Internet at it’s best.

Wikipedia

2) The Ex Christian forums are a wonderful resource for people who have de-converted from Christianity. The members are extremely knowledgable and are willing to give advice in what can be a testing time in peoples lives.

I’ve found a great number of secular sites through the forum which I now visit on a regular basis.

If you are lacking in inspiration or are just looking for more information on atheism/theism, you can’t really lose here.

Ex-Christian Forums

3) The Skeptics Annotated Bible provides much food for thought and its a must-see for people who are struggling with their faith.

Although I disagree with some of the annotations, much of the observations are spot on and the graphical key really adds to the site’s usability.

Skeptic’s Annotated Bible

4) Near-Death.com offers an archive of accounts of Near Death Experiences from people of a multitude of different beliefs and backgrounds.

The validity of many of the experiences are questionable as you might expect, however it is a pretty good read and offers definite food for thought.

Near Death

5) Now this one is a real eye opener. Pagan Origins of the Christ Myth offers a credible explanation of how early Christianity grew from Pagan roots which of course is evident through the many pagan holidays we celebrate during the year.

From POCM

“What you’ll discover here is that Christianity inherited everything from the Pagans. The core of Christianity — the worship of a dying Godman who is resurrected, ascends into heaven and brings salvation to mankind — was also the core of a number of ancient Pagan religions that began in the Near East two thousand years before Jesus.”

Pagan Origins of the Christ Myth