…I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.
Oh dear. It must be the season. Religious intolerance abounds - and it is ALWAYS perpetuated by the religious. Just against someone of a different flavour. Whether it is foolishness about the naming of an innocent teddy bear (mind you, bears - how innocent ARE they?), which leads to stupid acts of nose thumbing stupidity, up to the sublimely arrogant assigning, yet again, of immorality to a lack of belief in God (Roman Catholic flavour), somehow, it is indeed the season to be jolly;)
The Australian Election bought out the amusing, also:)
Oh, for vast amusement, and mind numbing intolerance and closed mindedness, I can only commend to you the excrutiatingly pathetic ‘reasoning’ of one Chuck Norris, reviewing The Golden Compass. Oh my. It must HURT to keep your eyes closed, your fingers in your ears, and keep saying “LALALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOU”. Bizarre.
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Tags: religion
…that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But it does no harm to the romance of the sunset to know a little bit about it.
Phil over at Bad Astronomy posed for the recent Skepchick calendar. His rather umm, glamorous shot is now up. That’s one HECK of a telescope:)
…as you want them to, but instead want them to happen as they do happen, and your life will go well.
Some daily events in Insanity Hall.
Saw Stardust. As magic as the book. Neil Gaiman rocks extremely lots:) The gang of teen girls agreed.
Finally got yet another (my fourth!! - I keep lending it out..) copy of my favourite ever book, Illusions. Anyone wants to understand me/my life philosophy, well, its a good start, (but no guarantees though, *I* don’t, why should you?;) )
Joined Facebook, thanks to HRH eldest daughter, (in this case, known as ‘ok, alright already, i will do it’!). And already, I have to say : is THIS what the fuss is about? I mean, it is pleasant and all, but when the novelty wears off, it will be like Jaiku or Twitter or one of the myriad other social networking sites i belong to. Not really visited, i suspect. We will see:)
…beyond our own - the compass will show the way.
The full trailer for The Golden Compass is out - and I can’t wait for the movie!!
…signifying nothing.
I seem to be back among the living. Been on a journey, and feeling alive again:) And fiesty, a tad fiesty. So, lets kick things off with a bit of religion shall we? Such a little subject. With such a lot of noise.
A post at The Thinker’s Podium got me here. Why hide who I am? I probably haven’t done the best job anyway!
So, brand me with the Scarlet Letter. I am out. I am an atheist. It is time for us all to stand proud. Discrimination, such as discussed in Bruce’s post mentioned earlier, should NOT exist. Why is it an issue to elect someone who is an atheist? Why does it matter if that fanastic educator/politician/healthcare worker is an athiest? The only time I can see it being even remotely your issue is if you want a priest;)
Click on the Scarlet Letter and find out more about us Outing our non believing selves!
…no destruction of cities and temples by the hostile forces of nature, has deprived man of so many noble lives and impulses as those which his intolerance has destroyed.
This is for the homophobes out there. Don’t know the origin, but saw it on Fark.
…and the sea is asleep, and the rivers dream. People made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there’s danger, somewhere there’s injustice, somewhere else the tea’s getting cold. Come on, Ace; we’ve got work to do!
One for me!!!!! A totally brilliant comic, and finally, understanding of my world;)
http://www.homeonthestrange.com/view.php?ID=211
…where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.
There is an intruiging article about blindly stupid decisions made in German law that claims to show you can have Multiculturalism, or Equal Rights - not both, as respecting religious differences in a multicultural society means accepting violations of normal human rights.
Now, I agree wholeheartedly that the judges in these cases have been total morons, no two ways about it. But to claim that this means you cannot have multiculturalism at all, is like the old saw: ‘Alma Cogan is dead, therefore all dead people are Alma Cogan’. It’s muddy thinking. Throwing the baby out with the bath water. Some other appropriate cliche.
Society is made up of elements, all agreed upon by society. They evolve, as societies do. Slavery is a prime example of that. It was once acceptable, even endorsed by the common religious beliefs of the time. But both the society, and the religious beliefs, evolved, matured, changed, and it was recognised as inherently abhorrent.
In a monocultural society, assimilation is expected, and, from the Wikipedia entry on Multiculturalism : ‘Assimilation implies the need for groups that fall out of the homogeneous norm to fully embrace and accept the dominant cultural paradigm as their own without concurrent adjustments from the dominant group‘. However, conversely, Multiculturalism is then about groups embracing the dominant cultural paradigm, while the dominant group makes concurrent adjustments. Its like any relationship, adjustments, compromise, workable solutions. Groups have blended in, accepted the laws and ways of the land - the first generation finds it harder, but the second and successive find it easier, while bringing the rich gifts of their cultural history. However, it was always with the proviso that the law of the land held sway, priority over formerly known laws. Again, subsequent generations had found it easier, normal, natural to follow that. Not always, there will always be elements that have trouble with that transition - criminal gangs, extreme religious factions etc. But in the majority - which, after all, is what defines society.
But a monoculture is stagnant and doomed to failure. Evolution, as with any species, is vital. However, the evolution of a society is comparable to artificial selection in much of its working, with elements of natural selection occuring as part of that process. People decide the progression of their society. Laws and rules, acceptable mores and customs change. Fashions change. Hairstyles change. Umm, where was I? Oh yes, change is VITAL, but, in societal terms, is, or at least MUST be, directed.
But while change is occuring, and this change is defined by the society, it does not mean blind acceptance of all elements of a migrating group is required for multiculturalism. Society should be grown based on the BEST elements of each culture. Pick and choose. From the Wikipedia article on artificial selection : ‘[Darwin] originally coined the term as an illustration of his proposed wider process of natural selection. He noted that many domesticated animals and plants had special properties that were developed by intentionally encouraging the breeding potential of individuals who both possessed desirable characteristics, and discouraging the breeding of individuals who had less desirable characteristics.‘
Desirable characteristics folks. It’s all about whats desirable. And I completely fail to see how retrogressive steps in human rights could be regarded by any reasonable society as desirable. So lets chuck that one out right away, shall we? Also,while it is bad for a society in its lessening of rights, it also leads to discord and disharmony when one group or another has their particular beliefs given precedence over the laws of the lands. If the majority agree the law is wrong, as with slavery, it gets changed. However, what if immigrants decided (as in the case of these women, it is not far from), that slavery is acceptable. Do we allow them to keep slaves? No, they must change their ways. Part of the concurrent adjustment to the dominant paradigm, accepting the laws of their new society. They have the RIGHT to try and influence society to change, but they MUST accept the outcome, whatever that may be. Tht is how bad laws get changed, after all.
In short, while Multiculturalism is good for a society, blindly allowing groups priority over the greater good of the community is foolish, AGAINST the tenets of multiculturalism, and dangerous. It leads to discord, racism, group against group, element against element. Immigration is nto the problem. Extreme ends of the scale are - all groups given the freedom to do as they wish, or demands they give up ALL that was good about their society, and blindly follow this new one absolutely.
And if you have read this far, it is time for a nice cup of tea. If more people did that, sat down and paused with a cuppa before being silly, dangerous, or violent, what would the world be like?:)
…a night without moon or star.
An interesting study shows that Americans, who are the MOST religious country in the developed world, are woefully ignorant about the Christian religion (and, I would bet, about other religions….).
Some of my personal favourite highlights:
- 10% believe Joan of Arc was the wife of Noah from the Book of Genesis.
- 75% of adults believe the famed Benjamin Franklin saying “God helps those who help themselves” is one of the Ten Commandments.
- 50% of high school seniors believe Sodom and Gomorrah were married.
- Only one in three Americans can name the four Gospels, while less than half can even name one of them. (Here’s a hint guys - John, Paul, George, and Ringo is wrong).
And for further fun, my much loved Cosmos, by Carl Sagan, done for Rednecks, courtesy of Family Guy.*
(*Its in Quicktime, which, yes, works nicely on Linux;) )
…not because the light fails to shine, but because people refuse to see it.
For Creationists, what the ’scientific minority’ has done for you. Lets try not to hold so tight to ignorance and superstition, mmkay?
