I'm going to go for option #3: Spread this video around and explain why it's complete and utter bullshit.
First, no professor at any accredited college could act anything like this. He or she would be fired. Also, no philosophy professor with any kind of real degree would act like this even if she were allowed. Philosophy is about raising questions, not making absurd pronouncements and then mocking anyone who disagrees.
Second, no marginally intelligent atheist would ever claim that God cannot possibly exist. That's ridiculous. Many will say that God almost certainly does not exist, but that's a far cry from claiming that there is absolutely no chance that he does.
This story should be taken with a large helping of salt. It doesn't help the Christian cause to believe everything anyone says on an unregulated YouTube video. Seriously. You wonder why we make fun of you.
Finally, Christians in America need to stop bitching about being persecuted. Christianity is the predominant religion in the U.S. (and the rest of the world) with over 80% of the population professing some belief in the Christian God. The holidays are largely Christian, the weekends are set from Christian holy days, and blue laws are still on the books in many states. Judges and elected officials are still sworn in on the Christian Bible. It's almost impossible to be elected for any high public office if you DON'T profess belief in the Christian God. You are NOT being persecuted. Shut the fuck up about it already.
Friday, August 28, 2009
People believe this?
My brother Jesi (introduced here for the first time--some day I'll post a bit about my family--Happy Birthday, Jesi!) sent me a Facebook invitation to watch this video through the Facebook Clauses application. For some reason, I couldn't post a comment about it on the Causes site. God must have stopped the comment from going through. Anyways, I ended up posting on the YouTube video, and I'm just going to copy/paste what I said there:
I should have had this idea first
Pure genius. These guys (all certified atheists) offer to take care of pets after their owners get Raptured into heaven. The service costs $110.00 for the first pet, and the contract lasts for ten years. Each additional pet costs $15.00. That's actually a fantastic deal, if you care about your pets and sincerely believe the Rapture could happen in the next 10 years.
On the other hand, you might realize that, should the Rapture actually happen, the world will be thrown into a state of chaos (a la Left Behind) and chances are that these well-meaning atheists won't be able to follow through on their contract. Still, the potential benefits presumably outweigh the risks: even if the chances of actually receiving the service are around 20%, your beloved pet has a sizable chance of surviving the chaos following the Rapture!
My brother Joe (introduced here for the first time) once tried to sell me the Best Thing Evar. He offered it to me for the low, low cost of $10,000, but explained that there was a 99.9% chance I'd never get it. Because this item is seriously the best thing evar, receiving it holds near infinite benefit. So, the near infinite benefit outweighs the risk of losing any finite amount of money. Makes sense, right? Anyone want to bid on it?
On the other hand, you might realize that, should the Rapture actually happen, the world will be thrown into a state of chaos (a la Left Behind) and chances are that these well-meaning atheists won't be able to follow through on their contract. Still, the potential benefits presumably outweigh the risks: even if the chances of actually receiving the service are around 20%, your beloved pet has a sizable chance of surviving the chaos following the Rapture!
My brother Joe (introduced here for the first time) once tried to sell me the Best Thing Evar. He offered it to me for the low, low cost of $10,000, but explained that there was a 99.9% chance I'd never get it. Because this item is seriously the best thing evar, receiving it holds near infinite benefit. So, the near infinite benefit outweighs the risk of losing any finite amount of money. Makes sense, right? Anyone want to bid on it?
Thursday, August 27, 2009
~80 years is not enough
...to do everything I would ever want to do, even if I didn't sleep at all. Evidence: entomology classes. I'd seriously never thought I'd like to study insects, but they're awesome! Omg. Flail. This semester I'm taking one entomology class, and two labs, for a total of five credit hours JUST ABOUT BUGS.
One of the lab professors brought in the department's pet tarantula, Rosie:
She was adorable! I want a pet tarantula so bad now. I've been looking up guides to raising them--maybe I'll pick one up later this semester.
We also were issued bug collecting equipment. I'm going to try to go up to Horsetooth Reservoir this weekend and catch me some creepy crawlies.
One of the lab professors brought in the department's pet tarantula, Rosie:
She was adorable! I want a pet tarantula so bad now. I've been looking up guides to raising them--maybe I'll pick one up later this semester.
We also were issued bug collecting equipment. I'm going to try to go up to Horsetooth Reservoir this weekend and catch me some creepy crawlies.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Not So Great, Actually
I'm sitting in the basement of the office building for my apartment complex because they offer free WiFi (I'm too poor to buy my own). Yesterday I discovered that they have a coffee/cappuchino/chai machine upstairs--and get this, it's free! Wheee!
Only NOT. I mean, it's free. But not whee-worthy. I just eagerly made myself a chai tea, with "creamy topping" and everything, and I got this horrible, frothy sludge that, at best, tastes like warm pee mixed with a brown crayon. No wonder they give this stuff away. I'm surprised they don't pay you to take it.
Only NOT. I mean, it's free. But not whee-worthy. I just eagerly made myself a chai tea, with "creamy topping" and everything, and I got this horrible, frothy sludge that, at best, tastes like warm pee mixed with a brown crayon. No wonder they give this stuff away. I'm surprised they don't pay you to take it.
Woman Gets Whipped for Drinking Beer
Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a 32-year-old Malay woman, is going to be caned publicly for the heinous crime of drinking beer. Shukarno is a Muslim, and therefore subject to sharia (Islamic) law. Weirdly, you don't have to be a Muslim in Malaysia, but if you are, the Syariah Courts get to do all kinds of stuff to you that they can't do to non-Muslims. Including caning you for boozing with your pals.
My first thought is: who the hell would subject themselves to that? Islam isn't forced on anyone, and in most states, there's no punishment for apostasy. This seems like a pretty obvious choice to me. On the other hand, I recognize that leaving the religion of your birth culture can be extremely traumatic for a lot of people--worse than getting a beating now and then. Also, only Muslims get to be classified as ethnic Malays. As far as I can tell, losing this classification doesn't disadvantage you legally, it just separates you from your birth culture a bit.
In short, you have the choice to either leave your religion (possibly causing great psychological harm) and lose some of your cultural heritage, or get beaten for things you do privately that don't hurt anyone else. Freedom of religion ftw, right?
The saddest part of this whole thing, I think, is that Shukarno doesn't disagree with her punishment. In fact, she asked that the caning take place publicly (it's usually done in a prison) so that other Muslims are deterred from doing what she did. Remember: her crime was three glasses of beer in a hotel lobby. And she believes she did a horrible thing! If only her culture encouraged people to think critically about the rules and punishments meted out by their government. Or, for that matter, the rules and punishments laid out in their holy books.
I wish there were some way I could send a letter to this poor woman. Apparently she's been dragged through the courts since December 2007, and as a result, lost her full-time job at a hospital. On top of that, she probably has boatloads of guilt for her feckless, heathen ways. Since I can't write her, I'm making a $10 donation in Shukarno's name to Amnesty International, who is pressuring the Malaysian government to revoke caning as a punishment for any crime.
My first thought is: who the hell would subject themselves to that? Islam isn't forced on anyone, and in most states, there's no punishment for apostasy. This seems like a pretty obvious choice to me. On the other hand, I recognize that leaving the religion of your birth culture can be extremely traumatic for a lot of people--worse than getting a beating now and then. Also, only Muslims get to be classified as ethnic Malays. As far as I can tell, losing this classification doesn't disadvantage you legally, it just separates you from your birth culture a bit.
In short, you have the choice to either leave your religion (possibly causing great psychological harm) and lose some of your cultural heritage, or get beaten for things you do privately that don't hurt anyone else. Freedom of religion ftw, right?
The saddest part of this whole thing, I think, is that Shukarno doesn't disagree with her punishment. In fact, she asked that the caning take place publicly (it's usually done in a prison) so that other Muslims are deterred from doing what she did. Remember: her crime was three glasses of beer in a hotel lobby. And she believes she did a horrible thing! If only her culture encouraged people to think critically about the rules and punishments meted out by their government. Or, for that matter, the rules and punishments laid out in their holy books.
I wish there were some way I could send a letter to this poor woman. Apparently she's been dragged through the courts since December 2007, and as a result, lost her full-time job at a hospital. On top of that, she probably has boatloads of guilt for her feckless, heathen ways. Since I can't write her, I'm making a $10 donation in Shukarno's name to Amnesty International, who is pressuring the Malaysian government to revoke caning as a punishment for any crime.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
House Reference in First Post = WIN
Welcome.
I feel that greeting should be accompanied with a loud, sinister laugh. Please insert it with your imagination, or listen to Hugh Laurie do it.
Anyways. Hello and welcome to The MetaSkeptic blog. I am venturing into blog writing because I feel my opinions are too important and intelligent to keep to myself. But isn't that how every blog writer gets started? In reality, I wager that less than 2% of blogs are worth the time, and I'm too realistic to believe that my blog will ever be among those select few. This is an exercise for my own benefit: I hope to improve my writing and critical thinking skills, as well as keep up with current events. I also hope to garner enough of a critical readership to challenge my viewpoints and make me defend all the shit I say.
On with the introduction.
About Me: I'm a 21-year-old college student living in Fort Collins, Colorado. I recently graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with an undergraduate degree in Philosophy, with a minor in Political Science. Currently, I'm enrolled at Colorado State University for a second bachelor's degree in Forestry, minoring in Mathematics. I was raised in a conservative Christian home, and now identify as a liberal atheist (yep, college is every bit as corrupting as the fundie parents fear). I care about too many issues to list, but the most important to me are religion, education, the environment, and human rights. In short, I want church out of our schools and government, I want every child to have the opportunity to develop into an autonomous agent, I want people to stop fucking over baby harp seals, and I want Muslim women to wear bikinis if they want. YEAH I'M A RADICAL.
Purpose of the blog: I predict that only about 10% of the content on this blog will be about my personal life. Maybe even less. My life's not that interesting. At least 60% of the remaining will be related to religion--that's my hot topic, and it's not likely to change any time soon. The rest will probably be split about equally between human rights issues (especially LGBT and women's rights), environmental stuffs, science from a layperson's point of view, random geekiness, and philosophy (mostly ethics, but I might throw in some random metaphysics shwag).
Goals: As a longtime blog reader, I know I'll be tempted to grab a lot of source material from all the other blogs I read. So my main goal is to avoid pimping awesome blogs with every post. I will not be a mindless Pharyngula acolyte (if there even is such a thing). But you should still totally check out my blog list and read these awesome writers for yourself. I will also try to post at least an average of twice a week. Finally, I will NOT apologize for not updating. I've found that's the fastest way to kill my motivation to write.
Comment Rules: Comments will be uncensored, and criticism is welcome. However, unconstructive spamming will be deleted out of respect for the other commentators who actually give a damn about having a good discussion. Disagreeing with me is fine, posting "YOUR AN IDIOT" 50 times is not.
That's about all I can think of. Real posts to come soon.
I feel that greeting should be accompanied with a loud, sinister laugh. Please insert it with your imagination, or listen to Hugh Laurie do it.
Anyways. Hello and welcome to The MetaSkeptic blog. I am venturing into blog writing because I feel my opinions are too important and intelligent to keep to myself. But isn't that how every blog writer gets started? In reality, I wager that less than 2% of blogs are worth the time, and I'm too realistic to believe that my blog will ever be among those select few. This is an exercise for my own benefit: I hope to improve my writing and critical thinking skills, as well as keep up with current events. I also hope to garner enough of a critical readership to challenge my viewpoints and make me defend all the shit I say.
On with the introduction.
About Me: I'm a 21-year-old college student living in Fort Collins, Colorado. I recently graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with an undergraduate degree in Philosophy, with a minor in Political Science. Currently, I'm enrolled at Colorado State University for a second bachelor's degree in Forestry, minoring in Mathematics. I was raised in a conservative Christian home, and now identify as a liberal atheist (yep, college is every bit as corrupting as the fundie parents fear). I care about too many issues to list, but the most important to me are religion, education, the environment, and human rights. In short, I want church out of our schools and government, I want every child to have the opportunity to develop into an autonomous agent, I want people to stop fucking over baby harp seals, and I want Muslim women to wear bikinis if they want. YEAH I'M A RADICAL.
Purpose of the blog: I predict that only about 10% of the content on this blog will be about my personal life. Maybe even less. My life's not that interesting. At least 60% of the remaining will be related to religion--that's my hot topic, and it's not likely to change any time soon. The rest will probably be split about equally between human rights issues (especially LGBT and women's rights), environmental stuffs, science from a layperson's point of view, random geekiness, and philosophy (mostly ethics, but I might throw in some random metaphysics shwag).
Goals: As a longtime blog reader, I know I'll be tempted to grab a lot of source material from all the other blogs I read. So my main goal is to avoid pimping awesome blogs with every post. I will not be a mindless Pharyngula acolyte (if there even is such a thing). But you should still totally check out my blog list and read these awesome writers for yourself. I will also try to post at least an average of twice a week. Finally, I will NOT apologize for not updating. I've found that's the fastest way to kill my motivation to write.
Comment Rules: Comments will be uncensored, and criticism is welcome. However, unconstructive spamming will be deleted out of respect for the other commentators who actually give a damn about having a good discussion. Disagreeing with me is fine, posting "YOUR AN IDIOT" 50 times is not.
That's about all I can think of. Real posts to come soon.
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