The Asian Atheist

You Can't Play Because:

2010-06-16T14:51:00.002-04:00

You can't play because:

you're not the same color as me.
you're not the same sex as me.
you're don't have the same religion as me.
you're not normal as me.

Church: Softball team with gay coach can't play

Charity Defends Christian Only Hiring

2010-04-01T10:10:00.002-04:00

This is BS.

When Omar Alkalouti was hired to work with refugees at the Nashville office of World Relief in 2007, nobody asked him about Jesus.

Alkalouti knew World Relief was a Christian charity. Raised a Muslim, he never felt out of place. And he was surprised at how diverse World Relief's office was.

"When I was there it was Muslims and Buddhists and everything," said Alkalouti, now a freelance photographer in Nashville. "It was never 'Join up with Jesus.' I wouldn't have wanted to be a part of that."

Today, that has changed. New employees at World Relief have to prove they are Christians. They sign a statement of Christian faith and must get a letter of recommendation from their minister before being hired. At most workplaces, that would be illegal.

Bible mistranslated for years

2009-10-12T11:38:00.003-04:00

So last week we found that conservatives are going to re-edit the bible because current translations/versions are "too liberal". Now we find that a catholic professor, who is an expert in buy bull translations, says that the book has been mistranslated and the basis of creationism is incorrect: Click here for the story.

God is too Liberal, we need to fix the buybull!

2009-10-08T10:49:00.002-04:00

Lo and behold, the Bible has gotten too liberal, according to a group of conservatives. And it needs a little editing.

That's the inspiration behind the Conservative Bible Project, which seeks to take the text back to its supposed right-wing roots.

Yes, even scripture is not orthodox enough for the modern conservative. Not that it's the fault of the author(s), exactly. The group cites a few reasons why the Bible is too progressive: "Lack of precision in the original language ... lack of precision in modern language" and "translation bias in converting the original language to the modern one."

So how can the Bible be conservatized? The group has proposed a Wikipedia-like group editing project. Some of the ideas would only bring the translation closer to the original. But others would fundamentally change the text.

Cheerleaders’ religious signs draw fire

2009-09-29T11:16:00.001-04:00

CHATTANOOGA — Community members are rallying around Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School cheerleaders after they were banned from displaying signs with Bible verses urging fans and players to “commit to the Lord” and “take courage and do it.”

The banners — the paper ones that football players crash through at the beginning of games — have been common sights in the school’s football stadium since 2003, local officials say.

“The cheerleaders are not trying to push a religious cause, to shove religion down someone’s throat,” said local youth minister Brad Scott, who was LFO High’s class president in 2004. “The cheerleaders are just using Scripture to show motivation and inspiration to the players and the fans.”

See full story on The Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Darwin not welcome here, but...

2009-02-08T17:17:00.003-05:00

Foundation Helping the Homeless and Hungry is Kicked Out of Church... Again

2008-12-31T09:39:00.002-05:00

The FAITH Foundation which helps the homeless and hungry in New Jersey were kicked out of a church for wanting to feed the homeless before any sermons or singing of christmas carols. According to the news article, this is what happened:

The foundation held a Christmas party for about 100 homeless people at the church. Behind-the-scene tempers were short when Reilly insisted that the homeless be fed before the singing of Christmas carols and a sermon.

The Rev. Timonty Ippolito, pastor at Faith Reformed Church in Lodi, which holds Sunday worship services at the church, said the "itinerary" called for "worship, word and prayer" first, telling the food servers in the chow line to "drop" the utensils.

Reilly said she was concerned that some of the homeless had not eaten "for 24 hours."

Ippolito said he would call the police if Reilly tried to interrupt the service.

While Ippolito delivered his sermon tempers flared in the back of the room when Reilly said, "This is not what I would call a Christian service."

That riled the Rev. Leonard Masquelier, the pastor at the Hackensack church, who roared, "Robin, you're out of here!"

Whatever happened to helping the poor and hungry? Because of the actions of the church, Robin Reilly, executive director of the FAITH Foundation has been getting a lot of support, from the religious and non-religious.

What do you think?

Fired For Telling the Truth to Children

2008-12-14T01:58:00.001-05:00

Primary school teacher who told children: 'Santa does not exist' is fired | Mail Online

While this is not in my neck of the woods, I thought that this article was interesting. Basically a British elementary schoolteacher told her class that there was no Santa Claus and that their parents were the ones giving the gifts. Parents complained that the children were "traumatized".

So this is where it begins, where we will lie to our children to make the holidays more "magical". What's wrong with telling them the truth? Why can't children enjoy the holidays and still understand that St. Nick is a myth and a custom? By continuing to lie to children, it makes them more susceptible to learning how to believe in future lies, and prevents them from learning how to think critically.

Finally.

2008-11-06T00:55:00.000-05:00

What Really Happened at the Big Bang

2008-10-30T01:35:00.001-04:00

God Loves Atheists!

2008-10-30T00:57:00.001-04:00

An Embarrassment for Tennessee

2008-10-28T13:12:00.003-04:00

Tennessee made national news yesterday when it was announced that federal authorities have arrested 2 racist skinheads who were plotting to assassinate presidential candidate Barack Obama. Apparently they were also planning to do kill 88 more people as well as behead 14 blacks at a black school before they go after Obama.

Most of the people I know have expressed shock and anger at these 2 idiots, but there are also the ones who will not denounce their actions, and will even go so far as to defend them! WTF! The mayor of the town that one of the men is from is quoted as saying “He was a nice young man when I dealt with him at the supermarket,” Craig said. “He was a quiet boy over at work.”

Lori Lipman Brown at Dragon*Con 2008!

2008-10-23T15:25:00.004-04:00

Kumusta!

Its been a long time since I posted, but I have been busy with other things. But fear not, I am back and hoping to at least make more postings as things get back to normal.

Recently my wife and a couple of friends went to Dragon*Con 2008 in Atlanta Georgia. For the uninitiated it's one of the largest fantasy and sci-fi conventions in the southeast. Besides getting an overdose of great costumes, sci-fi stuff and goodies, I got to meet Lori Lipman Brown of the Secular Coalition for America there. She was a very friendly and smart gal who is working hard for us rationalists and humanists.

Sullivan County, Tennessee Religious Wars

2008-05-08T10:04:00.003-04:00

While surfing on the web today I found this website that chronicled the current state of religious idiocy in Sullivan County, TN. For those of you not familiar with the area it is the home of the city of Bristol, where they have the Bristol Motor Speedway which attracts countless NASCAR fans every year.

From what I see on the website the local government allows the fundamental christians there to basically run the whole show, including allowing the KKK to demonstrate with cross burnings. As much as I HATE to see stuff like this happen I am interested in visiting to see how the local yokels react to an Asian atheist. Hate, indifference, animosity? I'll let you all know in an upcoming post. Until then, here's the link to the site:

http://www.sullivan-county.com/

Bible Park Being Funded by Property Taxes

2008-04-01T00:33:00.003-04:00

In Nashville there are plans being drawn up to create a "bible park" which will be funded by property taxes. From the Tennesseean paper:

MURFREESBORO — Questions still need answering before a plan to dedicate millions of dollars in tax revenue to Bible Park USA is approved, said the chairman of the Rutherford County Industrial Development Board.

The board will hold a public hearing Wednesday on a proposal to use $27.9 million in property tax dollars to pay off bonds to finance the park.

That money would be generated over the next 22 years by the 282-acre Bible Park and businesses on more than 450 acres of adjacent property in the Blackman community.

The meeting will be at 9 a.m. in the upstairs conference room of the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, 501 Memorial Blvd.

Board Chairman James Baker said the commission will listen to comments and ask questions of the developers before possibly taking a vote on what is known as tax-increment financing or TIF.

“I think from our end, there is still some more information to come,” he said. “There are some things in there that probably need verification, for instance, the number of visitors.”

attendance is an issue

An analysis completed by Younger Associates for the Industrial Development Board and released Friday is based on expected growth the development would generate.

That analysis relied on the developers’ projection that at least 1.5 million visitors will come to the park annually after it is open for five years and that the number of visitors will grow to about 2.5 million annually after 20 years.

The study says the county would receive $122 million in sales and property tax revenue during a 22-year tax increment financing agreement, a more than 4 to 1 cost to benefits ratio.

Baker has said the board usually looks for a 3 to 1 ratio or better.

Opponents of the Bible Park have questioned the attendance projections.

But James Weaver, attorney for park developers SafeHarbor Holding LLC, said there has been extensive study of what attendance numbers to expect.

“It’s ludicrous to believe that you would undertake a project of this magnitude by simply pulling numbers out of the air,” he said.

Under the TIF, the local government authorizes the sale of bonds to help pay for a project. The increased property tax revenue generated by the park and inside an impact zone around it would go to pay the bond debt.

“There is still going to be some more information needed, some questions asked,” Baker said. “That’s one of the things with the public hearing is to let the public have a shot at what information is needed.”

Baker couldn’t say if the board will vote on the TIF on Wednesday or defer it for further research. And final approval of the deal would be up to the county commission.

A zoning request to allow for the park is also working its way through county committees and could be voted on by the Rutherford County Commission as early as May 15.

Contact Turner Hutchens at trhutchens@dnj.com.

The Atheist Golden Rule

2008-03-05T16:23:00.004-05:00

Click on the picture to view:

When Change Is Not Enough: Seven Steps to Revolution

2008-02-22T13:08:00.001-05:00

Although I try to blog about my experiences in atheism and being asian I do come across some insightful, entertaining and bizarre articles. The following article discusses the current state of our nation that point to a possible violent revolution in the near future. I have recently come to the same conclusions on my own.

AlterNet: Democracy and Elections: When Change Is Not Enough: Seven Steps to Revolution

Margaret Cho -- These Christian Groups Have Lost Their Minds

2008-02-16T02:02:00.000-05:00

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4nt4U7YGaI

Sent from my iPhone

Officer Suspended For Mailing 'Homewrecker' Flyers

2008-02-11T10:43:00.000-05:00

When I post articles like this on my blog, I do this to show the un-christian like behavior of certain individuals while the individual is using religion as a reason. In this case a Dekalb county police officer was suspended for using classified law enforcement computer at work to find personal information of a woman and created a "homewrecker" poster of that woman, then mailed copies to the woman's friends and family. The woman was found to have been dating the police officer's separated husband.

Included in the poster were 3 verses from the bible.

Do you think what she did was right? Tell me what you think! the full article is here.

Parasitized Ants Get Berry Sick

2008-02-06T15:52:00.000-05:00

When is an ant like a piece of fruit? When it’s infected by a parasite. Researchers affiliated with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute discovered this bizarre occurrence in Central America as they were studying the gliding ability of a certain species of ant. They found some colony members with bright red swollen abdomens. The scientists took specimens back to the lab and discovered they were full of hundreds of nematode eggs. The bright red bellies look suspiciously like the brilliant red and pink berries that proliferate in the rainforest.

Researchers think that the nematode makes the ant look like fruit to get birds to eat the ants. Birds usually keep the ants off their menu because of armor and a bad chemical taste. The birds then spread parasite eggs in their droppings. Ants forage through bird droppings for seeds. They feed the infected droppings to ant larvae, beginning the infection process all over again. The red-bellied ant is the first known case of a parasite causing fruit mimicry. One of the researchers was surprised that something “dumb as a nematode” can manipulate its host in such a sophisticated way. But evolution works no matter how dumb organisms are.

--Cynthia Graber

Exposing the Atheist (or How I Am Responsible for Youth Crime)

2008-01-16T13:14:00.001-05:00

According to this website, I am responsible for all the bad things in the world, including foot odor. OK, maybe not foot odor, but I might as well get the blame for it too!

EXPOSING THE ATHEIST at http://www.tencommandments.org/

Oregon school bans motto for religious reference - Breaking News Updates - OregonLive.com

2008-01-15T04:56:00.000-05:00

Tell what you think about this...

Oregon school bans motto for religious reference - Breaking News Updates - OregonLive.com

BLUE RIVER -- Despite the connection to the school mascot, a rural school district has banned a proposed motto for a graduating high school class because it contains a religious reference.

Some of the 90 seniors at McKenzie High School had been inspired by a Bible verse quoted at the August funeral of a classmate killed in an all-terrain vehicle accident.

The entire verse was: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles."

It was read at the memorial service for Ryan Snapp, who died Aug. 10 after hitting a tree in the alcohol-related crash.

The students deleted any references to God in the proposed motto based on the verse and the school mascot name, the Eagles.

But McKenzie School District officials rejected the motto as too religious: "They that believe shall mount up with wings as eagles."

Brianna Rux, 17, one of the seniors, disagreed with the decision and wrote a guest opinion in The Register-Guard protesting it.

She said the verse seemed particularly fitting, given the mascot name and that class members have pulled together to rise above their grief.

"Ourselves being Eagles, it seemed a good way to describe who we are that no matter what we believe in, we can overcome," she told the Eugene newspaper on Friday.

McKenzie school Superintendent Sally Storm said the owner of the company that was going to publish the high school graduation announcements recognized the motto as part of a Bible verse and called the school district office.

Storm said she called Bruce Zagar, the school district's attorney, to get a legal opinion on the matter.

"I started to run it past him and he immediately said, 'That's Isaiah 40:31,' " she said.

At that point, Storm said, she had no choice.

"My duty is to follow the law in this case -- the U.S. Constitution -- which doesn't allow public schools to either interfere with the practice of religion or establish a religious practice," she said.

Zagar told the newspaper that simply omitting the reference to God from the verse doesn't alter its origin -- the Old Testament.

In a formal opinion, he advised the district that both the U.S. and Oregon constitutions prevent any public entity from taking any action which establishes, sponsors, supports or otherwise condones a particular religion or religious belief.

McKenzie High School student body president Casey King said Friday that most members of the senior class have accepted the decision.

King said the class has adopted a replacement motto: Nothing we do changes the past; everything we do changes the future.

Mother charged in grisly deaths of her four children

2008-01-11T06:23:00.000-05:00

But it wasn't really her fault, she says it was them demons that did it!

Abstinence Only Program for Guns

2007-12-29T12:22:00.000-05:00

Holy Highway Batman! It's the I-35

2007-12-19T20:54:00.000-05:00

Why is it that religious people make up stuff just to justify what they read in their holy book?

Tuchman: Hitting the road (literally) with some faithful

DALLAS, Texas (CNN) -- If you turn to the Bible -- Isaiah Chapter 35, Verse 8 -- you will see a passage that in part says, "A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness."

Now, is it possible that this "highway" mentioned in Chapter 35 is actually Interstate 35 that runs through six U.S. states, from southern Texas to northern Minnesota? Some Christians have faith that is indeed the case.

It was with that interesting belief in mind that we decided to head to Texas, the southernmost state in the I-35 corridor, to do a story about a prayer campaign called "Light the Highway."

Churchgoers in all six states recently finished 35 days of praying alongside Interstate 35, but the prayers are still continuing.

Some of the faithful believe that in order to fulfill the prophecy of I-35 being the "holy" highway, it needs some intensive prayer first. So we watched as about 25 fervent and enthusiastic Christians prayed on the the interstate's shoulder in Dallas.

They chanted loudly and vibrantly, making many people in the neighborhood wonder what was going on. They prayed that adult businesses along the corridor would "see the light" and perhaps close down.

They prayed for safety and freedom from crime for people who lived along the interstate. They prayed that all Americans would accept Jesus into their lives.

The woman who came up with the concept of "Light the Highway" is a Texas minister named Cindy Jacobs.

She says she can't be sure Interstate 35 really is what is mentioned in the Bible but says she received a revelation to start this campaign after "once again reading Isaiah, Chapter 35."

Jacobs also points out that perhaps there is a link between the area near this highway and tragedies that have happened in history, such as the bridge collapse on I-35 in Minneapolis last August and the assassination of JFK 44 years ago near I-35 in Dallas. That's why prayer certainly can't hurt, she adds.

Now, it's only fair to say most people, the religious and the non-religious alike, don't buy any of this, but none more than the owners of some of the adult businesses along I-35.

At an adult go-go club, the owner tells us he resents people trying to impose their will on others. And he says his club holds fundraisers, food drives and toy drives to help the community.

But on the side of the road, the prayerful aren't going to change their minds. Holy highways and nude clubs, they believe, are not a combination God has in mind.

Wal-Mart Buys Ornaments From a Chinese Sweatshop

2007-12-14T09:12:00.001-05:00

Wal-Mart Buys Ornaments From a Chinese Sweatshop

Is this the reason for the season? So that Christmas can be celebrated this is allowed? I don't understand how this can happen in order to celebrate the birth of a figure in christianity that represents compassion and understanding for your fellow man. Oh, wait, its ok, those kids in China aren't christians.

Golden Compass Movie

2007-12-11T21:54:00.000-05:00

After watching the Golden Compass last weekend I could not see anything that the religious could be so offended about. True, there was the "Magisterium" which supposedly represented the church, but it was so watered down there was no way get upset about it. Oh well. It was a good fantasy movie, which is what it was all about anyway. I went to the website and it gives you a chance to see what kind of daemon you have based on your personality traits. Below is my daemon, and ocelot named Thedra.

Since it's that time of year again...

2007-12-09T20:46:00.000-05:00

The Incredibly Tiny Christian Universe

2007-12-09T20:34:00.000-05:00

The Incredibly Tiny Christian Universe

Epicurus Quote

2007-12-08T14:56:00.001-05:00

Democracy Now! | “Workers Bear the Cross”: Retailers, Churches Accused of Selling Sweatshop-Made Crucifixes

2007-12-04T19:54:00.000-05:00

Since we have almost all of our cheap plastic products made in China,
why not our religious symbols? I'm sure it's ok that the workers who
make next to nothing are willing those long hours since it is for a
good cause, you know, for religion.

http://www.democracynow.org/2007/11/21/workers_bear_the_cross_retailers_churches

Sent from my iPhone

For the person on the go

2007-12-04T12:55:00.001-05:00

I came across this vending machine while I was at the Las Vegas
airport today on my way home. It's an iPod vending machine! This thing
has iPods and other accessories like headphones and external speakers.
No iPhones though. here are the photos:

Leukemia Patient Dies After Refusing Blood Transfusion for Religious Reasons

2007-11-29T18:47:00.000-05:00

This story is just so sad. Due to archaic and unreasonable religious beliefs this teenager died. check out the story here.

Car, Bus or Bicycle?

2007-11-14T22:03:00.000-05:00

Something to think about the next time you drive to work. Click on the photo zoom in.

Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial

2007-11-14T17:12:00.001-05:00

I have just watched this Nova program last night on PBS.
You can watch the full show when it becomes on November 16.

From the website:

In this program, NOVA captures the turmoil that tore apart the community of Dover, Pennsylvania in one of the latest battles over teaching evolution in public schools. Featuring trial reenactments based on court transcripts and interviews with key participants, including expert scientists and Dover parents, teachers, and town officials, "Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial" follows the celebrated federal case of Kitzmiller v. Dover School District. This two-hour special was coproduced with Paul G. Allen's Vulcan Productions, Inc.

In 2004, the Dover school board ordered science teachers to read a statement to high school biology students suggesting that there is an alternative to Darwin's theory of evolution called intelligent design—the idea that life is too complex to have evolved naturally and therefore must have been designed by an intelligent agent. The teachers refused to comply. (For more on this, see Board vs. Teachers.) Later, parents opposed to intelligent design filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing the school board of violating the constitutional separation of church and state.

"There was a blow-up like you couldn't believe," Bill Buckingham, head of the school board's curriculum committee, tells NOVA. Buckingham helped formulate the intelligent-design policy when he noticed that the biology textbook chosen by teachers for classroom use was, in his words, "laced with Darwinism."

NOVA presents the arguments by lawyers and expert witnesses in riveting detail and provides an eye-opening crash course on questions such as "What is evolution?" and "Is intelligent design a scientifically valid alternative?" Kitzmiller v. Dover was the first legal test of intelligent design as a scientific theory, with the plaintiffs arguing that it is a thinly veiled form of creationism, the view that a literal interpretation of the Bible accounts for all observed facts about nature. (See Defining Science and arguments for and against evolution.)

During the trial, lawyers for the plaintiffs showed that evolution is one of the best-tested and most thoroughly confirmed theories in the history of science, and that its unresolved questions are normal research problems—the type that arise in any flourishing scientific field.

U.S. District Court Judge John E. Jones III ultimately decided for the plaintiffs, writing in his decision that intelligent design "cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents." As part of his decision, Judge Jones ordered the Dover school board to pay legal fees and damages, which were eventually set at $1 million. (Hear Judge Jones read excerpts from his historic decision.)

"Judgment Day captures on film a landmark court case with a powerful scientific message at its core," says Paula Apsell, NOVA's Senior Executive Producer. "Evolution is one of the most essential yet, for many people, least understood of all scientific theories, the foundation of biological science. We felt it was important for NOVA to do this program to heighten the public understanding of what constitutes science and what does not, and therefore, what is acceptable for inclusion in the science curriculum in our public schools." (Hear more from Paula Apsell on why NOVA took on this controversial subject.)

For years to come, the lessons from Dover will continue to have a profound impact on how science is viewed in our society and how it is taught in the classroom.

If god was a Network Administrator...

2007-10-30T00:59:00.000-04:00

This is funny...

L'Animateur - The Animator

2007-10-16T22:45:00.000-04:00

I found this interesting video on YouTube. Enjoy...

The Dragon In My Garage by Carl Sagan

2007-10-10T12:22:00.000-04:00

"A fire-breathing dragon lives in my garage"

Suppose (I'm following a group therapy approach by the psychologist Richard Franklin) I seriously make such an assertion to you. Surely you'd want to check it out, see for yourself. There have been innumerable stories of dragons over the centuries, but no real evidence. What an opportunity!

"Show me," you say. I lead you to my garage. You look inside and see a ladder, empty paint cans, an old tricycle -- but no dragon.

"Where's the dragon?" you ask.

"Oh, she's right here," I reply, waving vaguely. "I neglected to mention that she's an invisible dragon."

You propose spreading flour on the floor of the garage to capture the dragon's footprints.

"Good idea," I say, "but this dragon floats in the air."

Then you'll use an infrared sensor to detect the invisible fire.

"Good idea, but the invisible fire is also heatless."

You'll spray-paint the dragon and make her visible.

"Good idea, but she's an incorporeal dragon and the paint won't stick." And so on. I counter every physical test you propose with a special explanation of why it won't work.

Now, what's the difference between an invisible, incorporeal, floating dragon who spits heatless fire and no dragon at all? If there's no way to disprove my contention, no conceivable experiment that would count against it, what does it mean to say that my dragon exists? Your inability to invalidate my hypothesis is not at all the same thing as proving it true. Claims that cannot be tested, assertions immune to disproof are veridically worthless, whatever value they may have in inspiring us or in exciting our sense of wonder. What I'm asking you to do comes down to believing, in the absence of evidence, on my say-so. The only thing you've really learned from my insistence that there's a dragon in my garage is that something funny is going on inside my head. You'd wonder, if no physical tests apply, what convinced me. The possibility that it was a dream or a hallucination would certainly enter your mind. But then, why am I taking it so seriously? Maybe I need help. At the least, maybe I've seriously underestimated human fallibility. Imagine that, despite none of the tests being successful, you wish to be scrupulously open-minded. So you don't outright reject the notion that there's a fire-breathing dragon in my garage. You merely put it on hold. Present evidence is strongly against it, but if a new body of data emerge you're prepared to examine it and see if it convinces you. Surely it's unfair of me to be offended at not being believed; or to criticize you for being stodgy and unimaginative -- merely because you rendered the Scottish verdict of "not proved."

Imagine that things had gone otherwise. The dragon is invisible, all right, but footprints are being made in the flour as you watch. Your infrared detector reads off-scale. The spray paint reveals a jagged crest bobbing in the air before you. No matter how skeptical you might have been about the existence of dragons -- to say nothing about invisible ones -- you must now acknowledge that there's something here, and that in a preliminary way it's consistent with an invisible, fire-breathing dragon.

Now another scenario: Suppose it's not just me. Suppose that several people of your acquaintance, including people who you're pretty sure don't know each other, all tell you that they have dragons in their garages -- but in every case the evidence is maddeningly elusive. All of us admit we're disturbed at being gripped by so odd a conviction so ill-supported by the physical evidence. None of us is a lunatic. We speculate about what it would mean if invisible dragons were really hiding out in garages all over the world, with us humans just catching on. I'd rather it not be true, I tell you. But maybe all those ancient European and Chinese myths about dragons weren't myths at all.

Gratifyingly, some dragon-size footprints in the flour are now reported. But they're never made when a skeptic is looking. An alternative explanation presents itself. On close examination it seems clear that the footprints could have been faked. Another dragon enthusiast shows up with a burnt finger and attributes it to a rare physical manifestation of the dragon's fiery breath. But again, other possibilities exist. We understand that there are other ways to burn fingers besides the breath of invisible dragons. Such "evidence" -- no matter how important the dragon advocates consider it -- is far from compelling. Once again, the only sensible approach is tentatively to reject the dragon hypothesis, to be open to future physical data, and to wonder what the cause might be that so many apparently sane and sober people share the same strange delusion.

An Interview with God

2007-09-30T23:49:00.000-04:00

I found this at another website called thejesusmyth.com in their blog section. Please visit their site when you can.

The Interview With God

I dreamed I had an interview with God.

“So you would like to interview me?” God asked.

“If you have the time” I said.

God smiled. “We have until your alarm clock rings.
What questions do you have in mind for me?”

“What surprises you most about humankind?”

God answered…
“That by worrying about the afterlife,
they throw away their one real life,
sometimes literally by trusting prayer instead of medicine,
or flying a plane into a building full of infidels.”

“That with thousands dead from an ‘Act of God’,
they flock to churches like flies to a bloated corpse.”

“That with all their fantastic science,
and libraries full of great literature
they still think glurge like this is profound”

God’s hand took mine
and we were silent for a while.

And then I asked…
“As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons
you want your children to learn?”

“To learn that to make someone love you,
make them feel guilty for your sacrifices.
and if that doesn’t work,
make their life hell.”

“To learn to forgive by killing your own son,
but don’t forget to blame the Jews.”

“To learn that it only takes a few seconds
to kill those you love,
but three days to bring them back.”

“To learn that a rich person
is not one who works hard,
but one who knows how to make a buck
off of cheap sentimentality like this.”

“To learn that there are people
who say they love you dearly,
but really hope you burn in hell
because you have more sex than they do.”

“To learn that two people can
look at the same thing
and see it differently,
but it takes religion
to make that into a long bloody war.”

“To learn that it is not enough that they
forgive one another;
they must get a priest to do it.”

“Thank you for your time,” I said humbly.

“Is there anything else
you would like your children to know?”

God smiled and said,
“Just know that I am … only a dream.”

-Author Unknown

The FSM spotted at DragonCon 2007!

2007-09-29T19:22:00.000-04:00

DragonCon

2007-09-29T19:21:00.001-04:00

During the end of August there was a scifi and fantasy convention in Atlanta Georgia called DragonCon. This was my third time attending and this time we brought our good friends along. It was a blast because this time we saved up enough money for souvenirs and autographs. We got an autographed photo of Jamie Bamber, who plays Apollo Adama on the new Battlestar Galactica series. One of the best stars was Marc Singer of Beastmaster fame, because he was very friendly and went out of his way to meet and chat with you. He was awesome. Besides all of the costumes and characters I got to meet the Flying Spaghetti Monster! She (yes, she was a woman under the costume) blessed me with her tentacle. It was one of the coolest moments at the convention. I will post a picture soon. All in all it was a lot of fun, enjoying and knowing I can have fun with fantasy.

Sent from my iPhone

Jamie Bamber at DragonCon

2007-09-29T18:40:00.000-04:00

Magic and Atheism

2007-09-27T09:56:00.000-04:00

What does magic have to do with atheism? Well, let me tell ya...

One of the reasons why magic is a hobby of mine is because when I was a young one, I wanted to believe in miracles and the unexplained. The closest I came to anything miraculous like the bible was watching Uri Geller bending spoons on national TV. I thought, wow, this guy must be psychic and have all these special powers. Then I read a book on Houdini. In the book he was able to become famous for doing illusions that looked impossible but were in the end still illusions. They were so convincing that a lot of his audiences believed he had supernatural powers. As good a magician he was, he became a debunker of anyone who claimed real psychic or spiritual medium abilities.

After 20 years of practicing magic and illusions, I've come to the conclusion that anyone claiming to have special powers always don't. The evangelists that claim to heal the sick are fakes and liars. I would like to see one of them regrow a lost arm or leg. That's not going to happen because they can't do it! with all of the supposed omnipotence of a god he can't even regrow a simple limb.

Until I see some proof of true magic or miracles then I will keep practicing my magic tricks and rolling my eyes at religion.

By the way, for some good magic tricks, try the following websites:
Penguin Magic - Great magic supplier
Card Trick Central - Learn a card trick or 2
Ellusionist.com - the coolest tricks you'll ever see

Tranquil

2007-09-26T09:04:00.000-04:00

This is a pic of one of our hikes in the Smokey Mountains.

Real Life Vs. Politics

2007-09-25T09:50:00.001-04:00

Something I found online, enjoy!

Why Atheism?

2007-09-25T08:39:00.000-04:00

My conversion to atheism has been a long time coming. I did not become an atheist until at least a year ago, and before that I had been harboring doubts about religion. 8 years in catholic school did not brainwash me to become religious, nor did my 4 years in the Marines. While I don't regret my time and experiences I learned very quickly those were not the types of lives I wanted to lead.

I did not want to live in fear of an invisible deity, watching everything I did or didn't do. The question of whether I did good things for the sake of it or because of fear of punishment was a no brainer to me. The confusion of trying to understand faith and belief and how you have to have faith in the absence of proof was as stupid as believing in the tooth fairy.

After spending 20 years of my life reading, researching, trying to understand life, I've come to the following conclusions:

· We still don't know it all.
· What we do know is that there is no evidence that there is a God, Jesus, Zeus, or any of the countless gods in the past.
· There does not seem to be proof of an afterlife, so having the best life you can now is a good idea.
· Morality does not come from religion. Some of it is hardwired in our biology, and part of it is learned.

I have found I’ve become more compassionate and empathetic as an atheist. I’ve been more forgiving and tolerant of people suffering, but have become more intolerant of actions people take in the name of religion. More on this later.

Thanks for reading my blog, I will post more when I get the time.

Peace,

The Asian Atheist

My Pug

2007-09-24T13:37:00.000-04:00

This is one of my dogs named Pogi, which means handsome in Tagalog. I
think he has narcolepsy because when he's at a standstill he will fall
asleep, hence the drooping eyes.

The other dogs are named Bento and Saimin. One of these days I'll give
an explanation of their names. Until next post,

Blogging from my mobile phone

2007-09-24T13:22:00.000-04:00

I just found out how to blog using my mobile phone. Wow, this is too cool. Like any technology this can be used for good or evil... Hehehe! I will start to use my camera soon to give you a taste of
how I live and work. Time for me to get some sleep, so have a good
night and peace out!

Sent from my iPhone

Welcome to My Blog!

2007-09-24T02:23:00.000-04:00

Hello! Welcome to my blog. This is going to be where I put down all of my thoughts and ideas, dreams and nightmares, opinions and rants. you're welcome to come along for the ride! Hopefully it will be entertaining, thought-provoking, humorous, and fun. Enjoy!