Brief Thoughts On Thinking and Spirituality

I’ve been out and about traveling the past few days, doing various activities with various clients, relatives and potential clients. I had a conversation about a book I recently put on my Amazon wish list (Go ahead, buy me a present interwebs. I want an Oompa Loompa.). That book is Christopher Hitchin’s new work “God is Not Great: How Religion Ruins Everything“.

The person commenting is upset that I would want to read such a book, claiming that just by reading a “book like that” I’m denying God’s existence. Without getting into personal religious beliefs, let me say that I emphatically disagree. I believe that if you believe in God, you believe in using the gifts God gave you. These gifts include your brain. Your belief should be able to withstand logical thought, and considering the opinions of others. You didn’t get the capacity to think about alternative viewpoints without the expectation that you would use the ability.

Why do people get so frightened of an alternative thought? Why does having friends with opposing views seem so scary to some? I’ve never understood that. I don’t agree with many of my friends on religion or politics, but I can listen to their viewpoint, even debate it, without fear of my personal beliefs being shaken or losing the friendship. That freaks some people out, and I don’t understand why. Shoot, take a look at former child actor Kirk Cameron. He’s become nutty as a fruitcake, and uses his brain for some wacky nonsense now, but he got in a debate with some atheists recently and is proof positive that you can argue your point without losing your faith, if you are so inclined. (Perhaps a poor example, what with the banana argument and the crocoduck and all, but still – he held onto his faith no matter how bizarre.)

So, I read books like this one that make me think, because I believe thinking is key to forming my own beliefs and ideologies about a variety of things. I think you can’t be well-informed without being all-informed. You can’t argue your point without ammunition. You can’t even formulate the thought behind your point without a basis for it. So don’t be afraid to read outside your world view. I promise reading about other religions, ideologies, and viewpoints won’t get you kicked out of heaven if you believe in God. It might just make you more effective at convincing people of your point of view as well – a common side effect of expanding your knowledge.

As to what I believe, that’s fodder for another post, but suffice it to say I fall into the Spiritual Humanist category, and leave it at that.

Now Listening: ZZ Top Greatest Hits

Tags: Atheist, God, Spiritual, Humanist, Religion, Debate, Hitchins, Education, Kirk Cameron, ABC

Technorati Tags: Atheist, God, Spiritual, Humanist, Religion, Debate, Hitchins, Education, Kirk Cameron, ABC

Friday the 13th: The Freaky Friday Post

In honor of Friday the 13th, I thought I’d post some general freakiness for your enjoyment.

The folks over at ZeFrank: The Forum and EA have been talking about favorite conspiracy theories, all in a spirit of fun. I don’t know about you but I love conspiracy theories. I tend to “collect” them. Some of my favorite conspiracy theories mentioned so far:

• The 23 Enigma

• We never walked on the moon

• Numbers Stations

• Toynbee Tiles

Other freaky linky goodness for your Friday the 13th enjoyment:

• A fear of Friday the 13th is called Paraskevidekatriaphobia.

• Snopes, that most fantastic urban legend debunker, offers a timeline of Friday the 13th through the years here.

• A breakdown of the history and legends surrounding Friday the 13th can be found here.

• How about a dose of “do it yourself numerology” to pass the time?

Now Listening: The Cure Faith

Tags: Friday the 13th

Hate in America

This is an extension of a thread I started at EA

Today in Daily Kos is a piece titled American Fascism that just appalled me. Has our country really hit this level of hate, ignorance and intolerance (again)? For shame.

In a recent turn of events, Stop the ACLU published the home phone number and home address of the family on their website, highlighting it as the first instance of an ongoing “project” called “Expose the ACLU Plaintiff”.

Expose them to what? Why is the publication of this address and this family especially noteworthy? Because the family in question previously had to relocate due to harassment and threats against them — including oblique threats from members of the very school board in question.

How can we, as Americans observing this breakdown of tolerance, allow this to happen in our country? Is it too late to turn back this river of hate, fueled so blithely by the ignorant?

i say not. If each of us, as individuals, is willing to stand up for our neighbor, classmate, relative, or friend who is experiencing this first hand, it will be a huge step in the right direction. Anything positive is better than the current “it can’t happen to me so I’ll ignore it” mentality.

Now Listening: iTunes Alt/Punk 80s Radio Feed

Technorati Tags: fascism religious tolerance hate

First Your Video Games, Then Your Sporting Events

First, if you are not reading PunkAssBlog, why the hell not? For in not reading, you miss many newsworthy posts such as the one noted here, as well as many other attitude and fact soaked gems.

What PunkAssPost caught my attention today? As per usual, more than one, however; one that fits nicely with my Left Behind game blogpost from earlier this week.

Basically, PunkAssBlog showcases another wrinkle in the Dominionist Christian saga, sports.

Now, this is a case where Christians get their way simply because there are so fucking many of them, and they’ve got great experience in packing into stadium in ridiculous numbers, so why shouldn’’t team owners make a few bucks? I see the logic, and if it ended at after-show concerts and fireworks, I’d have no complaints. However, I’’d like to see if a ““Faith Night-Muslim”” or ““Wiccan Baseball Night”” would go over quietly.

I have no way to succinctly express my dismay over this sporting event and Dominionist tie-in development. I can point out that the link embedded in the quote from PunkAssBlog above leads to an article that managed to disturb me more.

Go ahead, see if you can stop clicking once you start!

Technorati Tags: Dominionist Christian Sports

The “Grand Theft Auto” for Militant Christians

… doesn’t really do these games justice. Calling this “the Grand Theft Auto for the Militant Christian Set” makes light of something that is not funny at all. Had I children I would be happier to see them playing Grand Theft Auto than the Left Behind series. At least in GTA the issues shown are easily explained and easier to then explain why they are morally or ethically questionable in a concrete, real world way. The Left Behind games are much more insidious. Created by a team of gamers with ties to Robert Warren, The Purpose Driven Life author who calls himself a stealth evangelist, the Left Behind games take place in New York, after The Rapture, and encourage children to take on the role of Christian Prosthelytizers – attempting to convert the unconverted, then killing them if they will not bend to the Christian way.

How did I hear about this? I almost didn’t. I can thank my friend Delia over at EA Forums for calling it to our attention. One of the insightful quotes my friend pulled from the Radical Congruency article about the game is below:

The idea of religious video games that celebrate the death and eternal destruction of non-adherents – worse yet, that makes their annihilation the primary task of the Christian community – raises my abhorrence for the Left Behind phenomenon to a level of utter disgust that I previously reserved only for racism and genocide.

Left Behind is to Christianity what terrorism is to Islam. Both are narcissistic and destructive distortions of otherwise (mostly) benign religions. Believing in hell or something like it does not require us to take pleasure or desire to participate in the destruction of others. If God wants to kill certain people at a certain point in history, thatÂ’s his business. And he can certainly do it himself. He doesn’t need any help from a bunch of self-righteous, overcaffeinated adolescents with bad theology in one pocket and ammo in the other.

This game has been under the radar for many, until now. Now the blogosphere is starting to fan the flame of awareness – Christian bloggers and non-Christian alike. It’s even being debated in theological publications such as The Christian Post, and secular publications such as Newsweek.

Getting back to the connection between Left Behind Games and the Purpose Driven Church:

n its corporate web site — part of its merchandising pitch — Left Behind Games touts its association with Mr. Carver, and makes clear his prominent role in Mr. Warren’s Purpose Driven Church.

To read more about the frightening “Stealth Evangelism” of Warren’s Purpose Driven Church, visit the following:

• Christianity Today

• SBC Baptist Press

• Christian Alliance for Progress

• Deception In The Church

• Let Us Reason: Community Connections

• Caller Dot Com

• Time Article on Warren

To read more about the bizarre and militant Left Behind Games, visit the following:

• Left Behind Games, Corporate Site

To read more about Dominionist Christians and their recruitment practices, visit the following:

• Talk 2 Action: Dominionsit Anthology Post

Technorati Tags: Left Behind Games Dominionist Christian Stealth Evangelism