Some might think it a bad idea to attend something like the Reason Rally when running for political office.  After all, atheists are not generally well received, especially in the Republican party.   I certainly considered this, but in the end I decided it was worth the risk.   I really need to raise money for my campaign badly and the Reason Rally was an opertunity to see a lot of politically active people with similar concerns for the nation.   I also saw a number of people I’m acquainted with.   I handed out campaign flyers and hopefully this will translate to some contributions.

As for whether it will hurt me with the more conservative members of the party back home, that is certainly a concern.   I don’t intend to make a big deal of my attendance of the rally when I’m at more conservative committee meetings, but I certainly won’t deny it if I am asked.  I’m not going to lie to win, so the fact that I’m a non-believer is not something I can really hide.   As far as I am concerned, it’s really not a valid campaign issue.

The Good:

The rally went quite well overall.  Despite rain, over 20,000 people attended.   There were many great speakers, each of them offering a slightly different take on the importance of reason and maintaining a secular government.   I didn’t entirely agree with every speaker on every point, but most of them I could stand behind.  There were also a lot of people of different ages and backgrounds, which is great to see.  Some had traveled a long distance to make the rally.   Overall, I don’t think there’s any denying it was a huge success.

It was a very enjoyable event in general.  The speakers were great, the attendees were generally in very good spirits and it was a lot of fun to walk around and meet people from all over the country and a variety of backgrounds.   There wasn’t any bickering over who had the better seat or who might have cut in line to get refreshments or any of the other scuffles common at big public events.

There were some Christian protestors, as one might expect.  They kept to the side.   There were not many of them, perhaps a dozen.   Their presence seemed to be larger than it really was because they all had very big signs proclaiming the need to worship Jesus, obey the bible and so on.    They openly asked rally attenders to come over and talk to them and many did.   The protestors were quickly surrounded by atheists from the rally, who took them up on their challenge ton debate.

There were no incidents at all.  Some of the debates became spirited.  On occasion voices were raised.   I never heard any unrestrained name-calling, just a few arguments that got slightly loud, perhaps out of frustration.  Nobody was threatened and nothing even approaching violence occurred.  In most cases, the exchanges were entirely civil.

The Bad:

Atheists are a minority and one that is not generally well received by non-atheists, especially in the United States.  One of the biggest arguments made against atheists is that it’s out goal to forcibly take away the religious freedoms of other groups, to destroy their beliefs, burn down their churches and ban them from praying or raising their families as they see fit.   Of course, this is not true at all, at least not for most of us.  What we want is a secular government.  Secularism is not itself anti-religious, but simply religiously neutral.   We don’t want the government to endorse religion or directly support it, but we certainly don’t want to stop people from doing it themselves, on their own time and with their own money.

Being a minority whose beliefs are subject to controversy and discrimination, we’re in no position to say that others should be discriminated against or have their beliefs taken away from them.   It’s true that many atheists believe the world would be better without religion, but that’s just our personal take on it.   I’m sure most would also think the world would be better without Jersey Shore, but that does not mean we want to bomb the coast of New Jersey.

That said, it’s not uncommon for atheists to lampoon religion or point out that it can get ridiculous.   We have the right to do this and would prefer to keep it that way, but that’s a lot different than forcing it on people through the government.

Unfortunately, I found that there were times when religious intolerance seemed to rear its ugly head.   Many of the signs held up by protestors poked fun at religion, and in general they were in good humor and not overly hostile.   There was a guy walking around in a costume of Jesus riding a dinosaur, which was obviously intended to poke fun at Christianity.   A few speakers cut pretty hard at organized religion, including PZ Meyers, who stated that we should view religion “with contempt.”  In the context of his speech the comment was not overly harsh, but taken out of that context, as I am sure it will be, it can be used to make the whole movement seem as radical and militant as too many already believe it is.

I believe we need to be very cautious in this case.   Lets remember, we may think religion is stupid and useless, but we are a minority who is fighting for more respect and acceptance amongst people who already believe we’re trying to oppress them, even if we’re not.   We need to avoid giving them more ammo.   This rally is supposed to make us seem reasonable and show why secularism has value.  Lets not forget the audience is the whole country!

The ugly:

When it comes to showing the world what we DO NOT want to show them and reenforcing the stereotypes we need to get away from, there was one sign that really stood out.   As soon as I saw it I thought to myself “Oh no, this is going to be the number one sign in all the headlines and news reports on this.”   I was right.   It’s absolutely perfect when it comes to summing up the movement in exactly the way we do not want to and in exactly the way our enemies want us to be seen.   In fact, when I saw it, I actually thought “Wow, coming to this rally might have been a really bad idea.”

And… I was right.   If this was a ploy to get media attention, then it worked great, but it also really did an amazing job at making us seem like the enemy of everyone who is not an atheist.

Yep.  There it is.   It’s a reference to the fact that many religious individuals find it offensive that some of the mandates of President Obama’s healthcare bill would make religious-affiliated organizations provide coverage to things like contraception to employees, even if they are opposed to it on the grounds of what they believe.  People are hyper-sensitive to the idea that their beliefs might be somehow limited by government action, so it’s something that they get very upset about.   Others have simply felt Obama is not religious enough.

The message is pretty clear:  You think Obama and the others who are more secular in government are bad?   Well, I actually do, literally, really want to take your religion away from you, burn down your churches, take your children away from you if you pray with them, forbid any public display of religion etc etc etc.  I’m an atheist and this is what atheists are all about.

You can argue that’s not the message of the sign, perhaps that it’s more that she wants a world without religion and will educate people to try to dispel their beliefs or that it’s tongue-in-cheek or a dramatic over statement.   It does not matter, because it will be taken as a literal threat and hostile to most religious people.   This sign is so clear cut, militant, hostile and to the point, it’s bound to offend even the most liberal and accepting Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and everyone else.   It does say “I” but it is going to be used as an example of what atheists are all about.

This kind of thing worries and sickens me.   It sets us back in being accepted.  It reenforces all the crap we’ve tried to get away from.

That, by the way, is Jen McCreigh who blogs at “Blag Hag.” Now I should state that I’ve disagreed with Jen quite a bit before.  I don’t like the way that she seems to find sexism in everything anyone ever says that might happen to involve a woman.   I’m not crazy about her constant taking of offense to damn near anyone who disagrees with her and usually labeling them as being a sexist, racist or otherwise bigoted.   I’m not sure I like her attitude in general.   That said, I’ve generally kept this to myself, because I respect the fact that she has contributed to the secular movement and I don’t want to spark unnecessary infighting by going after unimportant things in her arguments.

That said, this sign has done such a perfect job of illustrating everything we are not and don’t want the world to think of us, I’m just going to come out and say it…

JEN, YOU ARE A F***ING IDIOT

It should not surprise you at all that journalists have made us look bad and like fundamentalists looking to oppress others. You gave them the most perfect photo op I can imagine for that. Sure, there were others who expressed pretty hardcore intolerance, and they hurt the cause too, but none of them managed to do it in a way that was so concise and perfect for a press photo to illustrate the point.

One of the important messages of the reason rally is that it should be okay to be openly atheists and not have to defend yourself as being a good person or assure your theistic friends that you don’t hate them or want to forcibly oppress their beliefs.   Many of us would like to have it be something that is not seen with hostility or something we have to worry about being totally open about.   Those who so publicly flaunt their desire to destroy religion don’t help get us there.

(and yes, I’d think that even if you were a male.)

They may be the most hated and feared form of animal life for humans.  This is not entirely universal, of course.  Snaked do appear in a positive context in some mythology and religion, but in western religion, they tend to be seen in a very negative manner.   In the Bible, the first evil entity introduced is Satan taking the form of a snake.  Whether it’s the Biblical connotation of snakes or simply their unsettling appearance, snakes are often used as a metaphor for the sneaky, evil and dishonorable in Western society.

Yet, if you consider snakes more objectively, there’s really not much to dislike about them.   A few species of snakes are venomous, but the vast majority of snakes are not venomous at all and are quite harmless.  Of those which do have potentially lethal venom, most are shy and will try to escape if they encounter humans.  There are a few varieties of snake which might be considered to be legitimately frightening animals, because they are both highly aggressive and venomous.  But this hardly makes the entire suborder worthy of fear or dislike.

Moreover, snakes have quite a few major benefits to humans.  The number one way in which snakes benefit mankind is by virtue of the fact that they primarily eat rodents.   A population of field snakes can do a lot to keep the population of rats and mice down in an area.   Rodents, of course, do harm human settlement quite a lot.  They eat or contaminate food stocks and can be a vector for diseases like bubonic plague.   In places like Northern Europe, rats commonly sought shelter in the poorly enclosed structures built by humans.   They have historically been both a nuance and a major danger to public health.

It’s been said that Saint Patrick drove the snakes from Ireland.  To this day I’ve heard the Irish say how he did a great thing because Ireland is free of snakes.   This is rubbish, of course.  There are no snakes native to Ireland and the climate of Ireland is simply not suitable for snakes to flourish.   If introduced to Ireland, a group of snakes might make it through a few seasons, but ultimately it’s just too cool and wet for snakes to make it.  The climate of modern Ireland is what keeps it snake-free, not a saint who drove them away.

But even if he had, why would this be something worth thanking him for?   A relatively harmless animal driven from a land where people had lived largely in poverty with rodents causing far more harm than snakes.   Had Ireland had snakes, it would have been more of a benefit than a problem.  During the potato famine, starving rats consumed some of the few food stocks remaining for humans.  They also tormented those too weak to fend them off, even gnawing on those in the throws of death.   As was the case in much of Northern Europe, the rat was a source of intense misery – one snakes could have made quite a dent in.

I’m just pointing this out to show how ridiculous religious myths can be if you examine them.   St. Patrick not only did not drive the snakes out of Ireland, but if he had, he’d be more a villain than a hero.

CORRECTION:

Upon doing some additional research, I have to correct the point that the climate of Ireland is not suitable for snakes.  While it is fairly cold and damp, and therefore not the best place for many species of snakes, there are snakes in Scotland, Scandinavia and elsewhere which are capable of enduring the kind of climate Ireland has.   It seems that they simply never had a chance to migrate to the island.  It would have been far too cold and harsh during the glacial period and by the time the area had a more suitable climate for snakes, there was no way for them to migrate.  The cold Irish Sea provided a barrier.

There is no fossil evidence of snakes ever existing in Ireland.  They simply never arrived.

Some Background:

You can also read more about this by searching Google News for the numerous stories this has generated.

If you are at all involved in the skeptic, atheist or science advocacy movement, there’s a good chance you’ve received some communications from a man by the name of Dennis Markuze. He sometimes goes by the name David Mabus and has been sending out various threats, hate messages and just spam for almost twenty years. Now 36, it seems Markuze started in the early days of the internet, spamming bulletin boards and mailing lists, before the web was even established.

His targets include anyone associated with skepticism, atheism or who he believes has somehow come out against his rather twisted belief system. He’s a rather big fan of Nostradamus who he seems to believe has predicted the end of Western Society. He’s also at least something of a doomsday “end-is-near” believer. He commonly talks about events like the attacks of 9/11 as being some kind of indictment against modern society.

His spam seems to come in waves on this site. He often will send dozens of messages. Most of these are blocked by the automatic spam guards, as mentioned here. He also sporadically e-mails me and sends tweets addressed to me. He does this to almost anyone who’s email address he can get and who he associates with skeptics or atheists. This includes prominent skeptics like Phil Plait, PZ Meyers and James Randi, but also people indirectly associated with them, such as James Randi’s former office manager and people who have mentioned these individuals favorably in blog posts.

He actually started spamming me after I wrote an article which was published by the JREF in which, amongst other things, I called Nostradamus vague and unimpressive. He didn’t like that, and upon seeing that I trashed psychics and other such phenomena on my page decided to go add me to his spam list.

Markuze’s basic belief is that he is part of some kind of propaganda war with skeptics and those who dismiss prophets and psychics. He believes he is a gifted prophet who has an important role in proving that Nostradamus and others are 100% correct.   He believes those who speak ill of them are committing blasphemy and must be stopped.

What we know about him:

Markuze is 36 years old.  He lives in a  St.Laurent, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal.   Apparently at one point in the past he may have run a small business which refurbished and resold computer monitors and other computer equipment.   The website for the “Used Computer Shop” is still up but appears to be abandoned for several years.  He does not seem to have any current job and still lives with his mother.

It seems his mother, who supports him, is rather in denial about his rantings and possible mental illness.  She has been contacted before, including at least once by Michael Shermer of the Skeptic Society.   Unfortunately she not done much about it and refused to criticize his actions, remaining defensive even after his arrest.

Is he really dangerous?

It’s very hard to say whether Markuze is actually the type who would do something dangerous like strap a bomb to himself or acquire a gun and go on a rampage at a skeptic meeting or atheist convention.    Thus far, he does not seem to have actually attempted to do something like that, but his ravings are clearly those of an unstable person.   In the past, such threats and repeated messages have occurred before a violent incident and they should be taken seriously.

I personally try not to be hyper-sensative about threats, as it sometimes seems that the world has become way too sensitive to what might not necessarily be a threat.   Much of the ranting from Markuze could be taken to be more of a warning of his belief that god will punish those who are blasphemous.   So when he says “You will burn for your sins,” I don’t see that necessarily as meaning he is planning on coming and burning me.

Still, some of his messages have clearly and indisputably crossed the line from being a prediction of punishment from a divine entity to being a call to action or a direct threat to ones life or safety.

NEW GAME WITH YOU LITTLE F*CKERS – SPEAK N DIE. Come see the latest DM videos for your viewing pleasure!

…

SOON WE WILL EXECUTE THE ATHEISTS

…

WATCH YOUR BACK! YOU BURN SOON!

When the Atheist Alliance International conference was held in Montreal Markuze came to the hotel where it was being held. It was at this event that the photograph to the right was taken.   It’s not surprising that he was too much of a whimp to actually confront anyone in real life, but his actual going to the meeting was still unsettling.   As was his response to the photo, another fairly clear cut threat of violence:

believe me, the only reason the photo is available is because I WANTED IT OUT THERE….

actually it is quite a flattering photo of me:

With finger cocked and pointing, I say “And I gotta take out these idiots!”

BANG!

In this circumstance, Markuze didn’t have the guts to actually meet anyone he had threatened face to face, but what he might do in the future is hard to say. If he actually believes half of what he says he could easily resort to violence. Also, the fact that he seems to believe his rants actually are appealing to anyone or somehow defeating atheists clearly illustrates how out of touch he is with reality.
Attempts to Stop Markuze:

Over the years, complaints about Markuze’s harassment, stalking and threats have lead to him going through a number of internet service providers. He resorted to using proxies and anonymous mail accounts after his IP ranges were blocked. Email accounts have been revoked and he’s been kicked off numerous discussion forms and boards, only to come back using alternate names and IP addresses. He has also had at least hundreds of short-lived Twitter accounts.

Many of those harassed by Markuze have contacted authorities. One of the biggest problems has been jurisdictional. Markuze lives in Quebec, Canada. The majority of those he harassed are in the United States, the United Kingdom or somewhere else outside Canada. He’s harassed a few Canadians as well, although many of them were not in his province.

Going to the police has proven an exercise in frustration. There is very little the police outside Canada could do about such threats. It’s not clear whether they even have jurisdiction, but even if they did, the most they could possibly do is issue a warrant and send it to the Federal government, who would pass it to Canada as an extradition request. Unfortunately, authorities are unlikely to spend the extreme time and money extraditing someone to another country unless it’s a very serious criminal offense, especially when they’re not a citizen of the country requesting the extradition. Thus, this turns out to be a dead end.

Local police could also contact the police in Quebec and have, but this does not seem to get very far either. It’s been suggested that they don’t see much of a danger when the person being threatened is so far away. The police in Quebec have also been contacted more directly by those who have received the threats. Both Michael Shermer and PZ Meyers had gone out of their way to contact authorities, faxing documentation to the RCMP and Montreal Police about the matter.

What finally worked and got him arrested:
Finally someone got the idea of doing an online petition. It worked remarkably well because literally thousands of people have been harassed and they all came forward to make statements about just how unstable and potentially dangerous Markuze is.

And… the police took notice.

It will be interesting to see where things go from here. Markuze probably won’t get any hard prison time. He may be sentenced to some kind of community service or probation. Personally, I’m not really concerned with Markuze being punished by the justice system. I’d just like to see him kept under control. Perhaps highly supervised probation with mandatory psychiatric treatment and restrictions on computer use would do.

I’ll be very disappointed if his mom pays a fine for him and he goes back to his previous behavior.

Apparently one woman was convinced that the end times were really near.   Due to the conflicts in the Middle East and the earthquake in Japan, she was convinced that judgment was approaching.   When preacher Harold Camping stated it was to be on the 21st of May she took it seriously.   She attempted to kill herself and her two young children.

Fortunately, she failed.   After slitting her daughters’ wrists and throat and her own, someone found the injured trio and called for an ambulance before they all bled to death.

I don’t know what else to say to this. There are some people who take even the nuttiest religious claims very very seriously.

It’s really no surprise.   Aside from a few really really wacked out fundamentalists and the commenter named “anonymous” – who pretty much believes the sky is falling all the time, it would seem that predictions of the end days are not coming true.

Now to be perfectly fair, the 21st is not entirely over and they were a little vague on what time this would all go down.   According to some sites it’s 6 o’clock PM, but others just seem to say it’s May 21.      Then there’s the little issue of time zones.   Obviously the world does not experience May 21 at exactly the same time.   In fact, as of this writing, may 21 is already over for much of the Pacific, as May 22 dawns across the International Dateline.

According to Harold Camping, the old fool who came up with this idiocy it actually will follow the time zones.

Via the Times Union (quoting Camping):

I have learned that Judgment Day will begin in one part of the world, when they arise on May 21, about six o’clock Standard Time. And then every time another city or an area of the world comes to May 21, at about six o’clock, they will be in the Day of Judgment. And so the rest of the world that has not arrived there yet will know that it is occurring, many hours before it comes to their nation. On May 21, beginning at the International Date Line, the moment that first earthquake happens, the whole world will know that Judgment Day has come. It will follow the sun, from east to west.

Status as of this writing:

• Earthquakes: A few scattered minor tremors (as there are everyday)  nothing catastrophic.
• Seas Boiling: Some boiling in isolated areas where volcanic activity exists.  Reaches boiling temperatures near hydrothermal vents, but generally does not boil due to pressure.
• Dead Rising from their graves: Bodies are occasionally exhumed, but I don’t think that’s what they are talking about.
• Fire and Brimstone: Brimstone actually means large chunks of sulfur, presumably burning.  Every once in a while some kid sets some sulfur on fire to make a stink-bomb.  Also, there is sulfur burning in coal power plants.  Otherwise no.  It does not seem to be falling from the sky to any extent either.
• Water turning into blood: If you drink it, some gets turned into blood, but otherwise, no.
• Plagues of Locusts: Agricultural pests remain a problem, but generally are kept in check by modern pest control.   They can still be a big problem in places like Africa which generally lack pest control.  No reports of major locust swarms.
• Massive nuclear war with major cities vaporized: Nope
• Evangelical Christians suddenly disappearing where they stand: Sadly no.  We can hope, though.

No word yet on how Camping and his followers have reacted.   It’s worth noting that May 21 was not predicted to be the absolute end of the world, but rather the beginning of the end times, which would be marked by plagues, disasters, death and destruction, but not actually kill off everyone left until October. So I suppose they could claim that it’s just warming up. Why they have not been transported away to heaven is another question. Perhaps they didn’t have enough faith and were not pure enough?

We’ll have to wait and see how they back peddle on this

In the meantime, everyone point and laugh.

Still, I regard all that I was taught about god and the Bible as being mythology.

But I don’t have any grudge or ax to grind with the Catholic Church.

I certainly don’t delight in the sex abuse scandal that has plagued the church in recent years.  It’s one of the most despicable and tragic things to ever happen to the Church (and this is considering that some pretty damn despicable and tragic things have happened in the past 2000 years.)  There’s been a lot of talk about why it has happened to such an extent, whether it is because priests are made to be celibate or because of a culture that draws sexually dysfunctional men into the priesthood.

I don’t know and I don’t really care.  Regardless of the reason, the Church should have immediately acted every time a priest was found to be committing abuse.  They generally did not.  It was not just once or twice either, but a massive pattern.  It’s been exposed in the United States, Canada, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Australia and elsewhere.  Almost anywhere there is a sizable catholic population, it has happened.

One thing I find really amazing is how many have defended the Catholic Church.   The fact that the Church committed these acts on such a large basis does not in and of itself undermine the basic beliefs of Catholicism (although I think those are BS anyway.)   It certainly does not make every catholic a bad person or a pedophile and it does not change the fact that there are many priests who would never commit such an act.

Still, while the past can’t be undone it should not be excused, downplayed or diminished.   The actions of the church were shameful and if people feel ashamed for what their church has done, then good.  There’s a place for shame in the world (as the Catholic Church does often remind us) and if you let countless children be sexually molested, that’s a pretty damn good place for shame.

But none of the defenders of the actions of the Catholic Church who I’ve seen can hold a candle to this sicko.   A Belgian Bishop had admitted to abusing children, including two of his nephews, one of whom was no older than five when it started.  One would think that after admitting something so disgraceful that someone would want to retreat from public life.   In this case, however, the Bishop seems to think what he did was no big deal, and he went on television to let the world know.

Yeah, that’s right.   The guy thinks it was a “game” and somehow normal in a family.  He thinks it’s okay because he didn’t actually have intercourse with his nephews.  He just got in bed with them and fondled their genitals on numerous occasions over several years.  Also, he seems to think that they were totally fine with it since he didn’t need to explicitly threaten them.

What the hell is with people like this?

And also, to the pope: If there was ever anyone who should be defrocked, I’m pretty sure this is the guy!

It’s from “Living Waters:”

It’s a frustrating time for atheists—they can’t blame God for tragedies, because they think there’s no evidence for God. Blaming Him would make as much sense as blaming Snow White for a snow storm.

I’m sorry I don’t see how that is frustrating. Earthquakes and snow storms just happen. I don’t feel the need to blame someone. Would it somehow be more satisfying to believe an all powerful God who we are supposed to love somehow got so pissed off at us that he decided to start causing pain for humanity?

But atheism would suggest that there is a good reason for Japan’s massive killer quake and the horrific tsunami that followed: it was nature making improvements. Everything is gradually getting better. People being crushed to death or drowned in a tsunami is just part of the work of nature.

No. Nature does not make things “better.” Nature just changes. It simply is. It has no intent or plan.

On the other hand, human civilization does often get better. It is because of this that less people died in this tragic event than would have had structures been built the way they were 50 years ago. Of course we can continue to get better, with better construction, better emergency medicine and better infrastructure. Hopefully the next time a major quake hits an industrial nation even fewer people will die.

Also, cancer, suffering, pain, and death are part of nature improving things through evolutionary change. It was evolution that improved nature when it gave the leap to the frog and the bark to the dog. It gave oxygen-enriched air to the lungs, wings to the bird, and brains to the nerd. It also gifted us with the four seasons, myriad colorful flowers, snow-capped mountains, cool running streams, music, love, and laughter. It all started with nothing, and over millions of years, here we are in this wonder called “life.” That’s evolution for you…making things better.

No. Evolution only acts on organisms, idiot.

Also, cancer and other diseases are just proof that evolution is not perfect. Evolution simply values a biological entity that usually lives long enough to pass on its genes. It does not require all aspects of that organism to function perfectly all the time. That’s why we have cancer.

Or did god just screw up while he was laying out cell biology?

So if you have tragically lost loved ones through cancer, atheism says that you will just have to deal with it because it’s all working for the good of…well…nature. It’s like a beehive, or communism. If you have to be stung to death for the good of the hive, or shot to death for the good of the State, it doesn’t really matter because you are nothing more than a tiny, insignificant cog in a huge wheel. Richard Dawkins was right when he said, “Blindness to suffering is an inherent consequence of natural selection. Nature is neither kind nor cruel but indifferent.”

No. If you lose a loved one to cancer, that’s sad and tragic, which is why a lot of people are working hard to improve cancer treatment, and have been very successful. Still, everyone dies of something someday. Loss can be very painful and nobody would argue otherwise, but it’s a face of life.

Also, the Dawkins quote is a tad out of context.

If that view sounds hopeless and depressing, it is. Evolution has left you as a nobody among billions, on a dot of a planet among trillions, waiting around for the pains of life and ultimately death.

It’s really not. Despite being one of billions, you still have the potential to do something great that changes the world. If nothing else, you can be inspired by the great achievements that science has brought us.

There’s no more smallpox, there are two autonomous vehicles sending back data from the surface of mars, the average person can afford to fly at near supersonic speeds across vast areas of the world and the weather can be predicted with a high degree of confidence for several days in the future.

Sounds pretty hopeful to me.

You don’t know where you came from, you don’t know what you are doing here, and you don’t know what happens after death.

I came from New York City.
I am writing on my blog about something stupid I read.
I will presumably rot, unless I am burned first.

But that doesn’t matter to an atheist. All that really matters is that you are free to enjoy yourself here and now by throwing yourself into fornication, adultery, pornography, or homosexuality. Anything goes, because there is no God and no Hell. Probably.

Ben?

Yeah, actually, you’re free to enjoy yourself and should do so. However, I’m not gay and although I suppose sex might be on a list of ways of enjoying oneself, I actually would have thought more about world travel, learning new things, experiencing great masterpieces and developing ones own creativity. But that’s just me.

The Christian worldview is a little different. It says that when there are killer earthquakes, or tornados, or hurricanes that ravage humanity, it’s a confirmation that we live under the Genesis curse (see Genesis 1–3). When cancer kills hundreds of thousands each year, or when a loved one dies, it just confirms the truth that we live in a fallen creation.

Ah, so now we get to the cause of all the pain and suffering. And this is somehow supposed to make us happy and fufilled?

Excuse me for pointing this out, but the basic premise here is that we individually are being subjected to pain and suffering, in some cases the most horrible torture, because of the actions of other individuals and ultimately because of the actions of those who supposedly lived thousands of years ago an made the mistake of taking an apple from a tree they were not supposed to.

This makes about as much sense as the idea that it’s perfectly fine for someone to come by and beat me to a bloody pulp on a regular basis because my great grandfather, who I never met, once was convicted of petty larceny.

What kind of a sadistic, twisted and downright evil god would subject individuals he created and supposedly loves to such horrors for such completely illogical reasons?

It also confirms that God is not the smiling divine butler He’s made out to be. He is angry at humanity for all of its evil. Disease, pain, suffering, and death endorse the biblical account of both man’s sin and God’s holiness

Of all the illogical claims made to justify how a loving god would create a world full of pain and suffering, I find this one the most unsettling.   If it were true, then the god it describes represents a level of wickedness and evil completable to the most twisted sadists and mass murders in history.

It is obvious that god is not targeting the wrongdoers of the world, because good things happen to those who don’t deserve them while those who live the most honorable lives and adhere to religious customs can suffer terrible loss and hardships.   Therefore, we simply must assume that god makes no distinction between the individual and the collective.   In human history, we find that this is the same fallacy that has lead to the most unspeakable of atrocities.

If some members of a society are doing something that god does not like, he will throw a plague or natural disaster at the society.   It will impact all members, but some to a different extent than others, based on where they happen to live, how their building is constructed or just dumb luck.    The actual persons killed or injured may be the “good” ones or the “bad” ones.   God doesn’t care.

In modern warfare, it is generally expected that steps should be taken to try to avoid unnecessary damage to innocent civilians in the area of a conflict.   While some collateral damage is impossible to avoid, tactics like carpet bombing are generally regarded as unjustifiable when a few precision guided munitions will do the job.   God, of course, has the ultimate smartbombs.   Being a supernatural being of infinite power, he does not need to resort to something as messy as a tsunami.  He could strike down everyone he dislikes wherever they stand without leaving as much as a scorch mark on the ground.   He’s god, after all!

How any thinking person could accept this is beyond my understanding.

Despite our sinful rebellion, God is rich in mercy and will grant everlasting life to all who will repent and trust in the Savior. The cross of Jesus Christ is proof that the most vile of us has great worth in the sight of Almighty God. Jesus took the punishment for our sins, and rose from death to save us from Hell. He paid our fine so that we could leave the courtroom—such is the love of God.

Geez, that’s love, is it?

Honestly I’m not going to go into the details of all the reasons I find this to be ridiculous. For one thing, there’s no justice in one person taking the punishment for what another has done. For that matter, one would have to ask how such a sacrifice could actually atone for all the wrongs of mankind. Granted, spending a couple of days nailed to a cross is pretty damn bad, but is it really enough suffering to outweigh the millions who have been tortured over the course of history? (Oh wait, god doesn’t care about those. It’s the sin of homosexuality we have to atone for)

Effectively what god is telling is is the following: “I love you, and despite constantly making you suffer, I want you to come to heaven and spend eternity praising me, which is really not such a bad deal considering the alternative is burning in eternal fires of torment. However, I couldn’t do this. It was impossible for me to take you out of the flames. This is because a long time ago someone ate an apple I told them not to and also because people sometimes eat shellfish and have gay sex and stuff like that. So it was impossible for me to save you. Then I sent down my son and he was tortured for a couple of days and then died. Suddenly it became possible for me to save you from hell.”

So there you have it. You can choose to believe that nothing created everything, that you are a nobody waiting to die, and enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season and end up in Hell. Or you can obey the gospel and get right with God, find everlasting life, have a reason to live, and then enjoy “pleasures forevermore.”

It’s not a choice for me. I have to believe what the evidence tells me. To do otherwise would be delusion.

Yet even considering how bad things can get in India, I am left at a loss having read this news report.

Via the Times of India:

Astrology is a science: Bombay HC

MUMBAI: Astrology has been debunked by most world scientists including India’s renowned physicist Prof. Yash Pal. However, it is “science” in India.

The Bombay High Court reaffirmed this on Thursday when it dismissed a PIL that had challenged astrology as science.

The PIL was filed by an NGO, Janhit Manch that had sought action against ‘fake’ astrologers, tantriks, practitioners of Vastu shastra etc.

“So far as prayer related to astrology is concerned, the Supreme Court has already considered the issue and ruled that astrology is science. The court had in 2004 also directed the universities to consider if astrology science can be added to the syllabus. The decision of the apex court is binding on this court,” observed the judges.

Yeah, you read right. And I thought that law makers trying to get “intelligent design” into the curriculum were bad. Hell, at least they have been shot down by the courts. But apparently in India, the courts have ordered that astrology should be considered for inclusion in scientific instruction.

I can’t imagine how this must play with the various professors and scientists in India who actually are seeing a court order their institutions to consider astrology a science. Despite how boneheaded this court is, there are many very learned Indians and institutions of higher learning have been growing by leaps and bounds in recent years. The frustration of having some idiot superstitious judge step in and try to undo it all must be maddening.

The judges also took on record an affidavit submitted by the Union government. The Centre had in its affidavit stated that astrology is 4000 years old ‘trusted science’ and the same does not fall under the preview of The Drugs and Megical Remedies Act (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954.

“The said Act does not cover astrology and related sciences. Astrology is a trusted science and is being practiced for over 4000 years,” said an affidavit filed by Dr R Ramakrishna, deputy drug controller (India), west zone.

“The said Act is aimed at prohibiting misleading advertisements relating to drugs and magic remedies. The Act does not cover and / or relate to astrology and / or allied sciences like Palmistry, Vaastu Shastra etc. In view thereof, a purported ban on practices promoting astrology and related sciences sought by the petitioner, which is a time tested science more than 4000 years old is totally misconceived and unjustifiable,” says the affidavit.

The (PIL) filed by Janhit Manch and its convener Bhagwanji Raiyani, along with his associate Dattaram Kumkar, had questioned the validity of predictions by many well-known astrologers.

The PIL, which ran into more than 100 pages pointed to several cases, including that of Indira Gandhi and Charan Singh becoming prime ministers, despite opposite predictions.

Representing the Union government, advocate Advait Sethna told the court that even the SC had accepted that astrology was a science and many universities had included it as a subject.

Advocate for Maharashtra government, Bharat Mehta too supported the stand taken by the Union government. Mehta submitted an affidavit filed by the food and drugs administration (FDA) department which said that necessary action is being taken against the guilty under the Drugs and Megical Remedies Act.

The PIL had urged the authorities to ban articles, advertisements, episodes and practices promoting astrology and its related subjects like vastu, reiki, feng shui, tarot, palmistry, zodiac signs and rashifal.

“Trusted science…for over 4000 years” Is that all it takes? The fact that something has been around for a long time and was trusted in ancient times makes it immune from ever becoming non-trusted?

I’ve got some news for Ramakrishna: There are lots of things that were believed thousands of years ago and are now considered hogwash. One thing about science is that it does not stand still and ideas that are found to be flawed are rejected regardless of their age. Not that this is a new thing, though, most serious scientists have rejected astrology for hundreds of years.

Maybe we should bring back bloodletting, witch burning, virgin sacrifices, geocentrism and all the other ideas that were trusted for thousands of years before we knew any better.

Finally, to the judges involved: you may want to reconsider your decision in light of your charts for the past day. Here’s your horoscope: The stress of the daily grind has been getting to you. Be careful about making big decisions. It would be better to wait until you’ve had time to relax and think them through. Now might be a good time to break from the routine by contacting some old friends and enjoying some activities you haven’t done in a while. Tonight: stay home and go f*** yourself.

The “Rapture” is an event which is supposed to happen before the end times, according to some fundamentalist schools of Christianity. It’s not in the Bible, although some believers claim that it can be inferred from various passages take together.

Supposedly before the end times, the true believers will be taken up into heaven. Not just their souls, but bodies too will be beamed up like Scotty does on Star Trek. Curiously, the process does not take clothing with it, but does take the other non-living things on the human body, such as tooth enamel, the outer layer of skin, finger nails an hair. Go figure. (Okay, there are some problems with this, obviously – like does hair also get beamed up off the barber shop floor?)

Despite the nonsensicalness of it all, some people take this all VERY seriously.

I wonder if this prank might actually make the poor girl start to re-examine her beliefs. Probably not.

On this website, you can find the logic which is used to arrive at the date of May 21 2011:

JUDGMENT DAY: MAY 21^st, 2011
We know that the year 2011 is the 7000^th year from the flood. We also know that God will destroy this world in that year.  But when in 2011 will this occur?

The answer is amazing.  Let’s take another look at the flood account in the book of Genesis:

Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

Faithful to His Word, God did bring the flood 7 days later in the 600^th year, on the 17^th day of the 2^nd month of the calendar aligned with Noah’s lifespan.  It was on this 17^th day of the 2^nd month that God shut the door on the ark,  securing the safety of its occupants and also sealing the fate of everyone else in the world outside of the ark.  They would all now certainly perish in that worldwide catastrophe.

Genesis 7:16,17 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in. And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.

Earlier it was mentioned that the church age came to an end in the year 1988 AD.  It so happens that the church age began on the day of Pentecost (May 22^nd) in the year 33 AD. Then 1955 years later, the church age came to its conclusion on May 21^st, which was the day before Pentecost in 1988.

The Bible teaches that the end of the church age would occur simultaneously with the beginning of the great tribulation:

Matthew 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

On May 21^st, 1988, God finished using the churches and congregations of the world.  The Spirit of God left all churches and Satan, the man of sin, entered into the churches to rule at that point in time.  The Bible teaches us that this awful period of judgment upon the churches would last for 23 years.  A full 23 years (8400 days exactly) would be from May 21 ^st, 1988 until May 21^st, 2011.  This information was discovered in the Bible completely apart from the information regarding the 7000 years from the flood.

Therefore, we see that the full 23-year tribulation period concludes on May 21^st, 2011.  This date is the exact day that the great tribulation comes to its end, and this is also the most likely landing spot for the 7000 years from the flood of Noah’s day.

Keep in mind that God shut the door on the ark on the 17^th day of the 2^nd month of Noah’s calendar.  We also find that May 21 ^st, 2011 is the end of the great tribulation period.  There is a strong relationship between the 2^nd month and 17^th day of Noah’s calendar and May 21^st, 2011 of our Gregorian calendar.  This relationship cannot be readily seen until we discover that there is another calendar to consider, which is the Hebrew (or Biblical) calendar.  May 21 ^st, 2011 happens to be the 17^th day of the 2^nd month of the Hebrew calendar.  By this, God is confirming to us that we have a very correct understanding regarding the 7000-year timeline from the flood.  May 21 ^st, 2011 is the equivalent date to the date when God shut the door on Noah’s ark. Through this and much other Biblical information, we find that May 21 ^st, 2011 will be the day when God takes up into heaven His elect people. May 21^st, 2011 will be Judgment Day! This is the day God shuts the door of salvation on the world.

In other words, in having the great tribulation period conclude on a day that identifies with the 17^th day of the 2^nd month of Noah’s calendar, God is without question confirming to us that this is the day He intends to shut forever the door of entry into heaven:

John 10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

The Bible is very clear that Christ is the only way into heaven.  He is the only portal into the glorious kingdom of heaven.

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Once the door (Jesus) is shut on Judgment Day, there is no more salvation possible on earth:

Revelation 3:7 …These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;

The Bible teaches that on May 21^st, 2011, only true believers elected by God to receive salvation will be raptured (taken up) out of this world to meet the Lord in the air and forever be with the Lord:

1 Thessalonians 4:16,17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

All the rest of mankind (billions of people) will be left behind to experience the awful judgment of God, a horrible period of 5 months of torment upon earth:

Revelation 9:3-5 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.

Hmmm… I wonder, did they remember to account for the transition between the Julian and Gregorian calenders? For the fact that leap years do not occur on years divisible by 100 but not 400? And when does judgment come? Is it as soon as the 21st happens at the International dateline? Or is it staggered based on time zones? Perhaps God just makes it easy and uses Greenwich Mean Time.

But seriously, does anyone really believe this? Apparently so.

If you happen to believe this, I made a list of things you need to be sure to do:

• Blow any savings you have.  You certainly won’t need them for retirement.  No point in leaving behind money you can enjoy now.
• Take out any loans you can get, max out all your credit cards and look especially for those offers that say “no payments for 12 months,” and go for it.  After all, you know the world is coming to an end, so nobody is going to collect your debts when you’re floating up to heaven and the world is burning.
• Remember not to pay your taxes!   If you live in the US they’re due April 15, but if you don’t pay them, it’s going to be at least a couple of months before they actually get aggressive about collecting them.   Be sure to stop any automatically withheld income.   Even better, request an extension, by the time they get the paperwork done, the seas will be boiling and blood will be flowing in rivers.
• Quit your job.   What the hell do you need a job for?   Between credit cards, unsecured loans, unpaid taxes and all the other bills you’re not paying, you should have no problem financially.
• Do you smoke?   Chew tobacco?   if so, enjoy it as much as you can, as often as you can, because there might not be any tobacco in heaven.   Don’t smoke?   Well there’s never been a better time to start, because, hell, you’re not going to be around long enough to develop emphysema or lung cancer.
• Be sure not to do anything unnecessary that might cut into your limited time.   the next few months need to be spent praying and not doing stuff that won’t even benefit you.   So don’t change your oil.  Don’t water-seal your deck.  Don’t go to the dentist.  Don’t excise.  Don’t rotate your tires.  Don’t have your chimney swept.   Pretty much any preventative maintenance on anything, including your body should be avoided.   Why bother?
• Find some sucker who doesn’t realize the world is ending and sell them your house on May 20th for $500.

It should also be noted that this is not the first time that someone has claimed to have calculated the exact date of the end times. It’s actually happened many times before. The single biggest and most well known happened in 1842, when American preacher Samuel S. Snow claimed to have calculated the exact date of Christ’s return and the end of the world. He placed the date on October 19, 1844. For the next two years, Snow traveled, preaching and gaining followers.

The followers of Snow sold their possessions, quit their jobs and gathered to await the end that was to come on the 19th of October 1844. And then….. nothing happened. It would become known as the “Great Disappointment.” Snow and some of his most devoted followers would claim that the date of October 19th was based on a simple misscalculation and amended their predictions to say that the real end times were to come, and new predictions were made claiming that the world would end later in 1844 or in April, June or October of 1845. Each time, the predicted date came and went and the world continued to exist, and each time, fewer and fewer seemed to take notice.

Some of Snow’s followers would go on to form the modern Seventh-day Adventist Church. Snow died in 1870, apparently still thinking the end imminent was all the way up to his death.

This was not the first time the end times were predicted, either based on the Bible, a self-proclaimed psychic vision, astrology or something else. The current may-21 prediction won’t be the last either. We still have 2012 to look forward to as a year of pointing and laughing. Surely there will be many after 2012 as well.   No doubt, there will be more to come in to come.

The sad thing is right now, “Anonymous” is probably wetting his pants over this.