Category: Metaphysics

Atheist (non-theist?) Resources

Whether you’re of a religious bent or you favor a more naturalist view of the world, these resources are well worth the effort to review. For the religiously inclined, exploring supposed flaws and inconsistencies in your faith can either help you to better understand and concretize your world views or it can allow you to honestly evaluate those views against new criteria.
Those who are not religiously inclined will find that understanding some of the myriad religions, especially those prevalent where you live, gives you new perspectives. I have personally found it very enriching to actually read the bible and to be able to recognize its influences on other literature and media.

There are a few problems with using the word “atheist” to identify one’s religious affiliation. Strictly speaking everybody’s an atheist. It really just depends which god(s) you choose not to believe in. Most Christians could be considered atheists where Thor is concerned for example.

Another issue is that the word is so very charged. Every word has a degree of charge, ranging on a spectrum from Positive, through Neutral to Negative. Calling someone a “Freethinker” or a “Humanist” brings about subtle, yet important connotations versus labeling them as “atheist” even though we may understand rationally that they all imply the same things.

The other really big problem with the word “atheist” is that it defines someone, who has no stake or attaches no significance to religion, in religious terms. So the label is misleading.
Being a-theist or non-theist is very different from being anti-theist. This can be a subtle distinction, but it is one that most people get wrong.

Regardless of your religious leanings, developing your skeptical toolkit is paramount and so these skeptic resources are very useful. I believe that skepticism and religious faith can and do coexist well together. Whether traditional religions can withstand skeptical inquiry is perhaps another question, but if skepticism leaves your faith intact but not the institution representing it, well you can decide what to make of that…

Some of my favorite resources:

The Institute for Humanist Studies – Humanism, per their website, is “a philosophy of life inspired by humanity and guided by reason. It provides the basis for a fulfilling and ethical life without religion.” They have a pretty good monthly podcast if you want to keep abreast of developments or if you’re simply interested in hearing folks discuss Humanist topics. They have several links on their site that may also be of interest but I have not perused these.

The Freedom from Religion Foundation – A major objective of this group is to maintain the separation of Church and State. This is something that is in everybody’s interest as, with so MANY religions including sects within these religions, if any one were to gain authority as the state religion what do you suppose would happen to all the others? And what do you suppose are the odds that your religion would emerge victorious? No, the freedom to practice your religion, or to not practice any religion at all, rests with ensuring that no group, not even humanists / atheist / freethinkers, gets into a position to dictate how the citizens of this country may pursue their faith.
I enjoy listening to their weekly podcast – also on Air America – it can be a bit corny at times (I’m not a real fan of their brand of music) and sometimes one of the show’s co-hosts, Annie Laurie Gaylor, can seem a bit strident at times. But they do have a lot of relevant things to say.
An added bonus is that the other co-host, Dan Barker, is actually a former minister. His knowledge of the bible and Christian teachings is extensive and gives him a solid background for when he conducts interviews or offers editorials.

American Freethought – I have only recently started listening to their podcast and have not had a chance to thoroughly check out their website. The podcast seems to come out every 2-3 weeks. Right out of the gate it was professionally done and obviously carefully prepared. They seem to focus more or less on a single issue per episode and I find them to be quite appealing. The background of one of the hosts involves a fair amount of activity in this realm (non-theism) and he brings some good insights to the show. I don’t know about the other host’s background as I don’t see much about him on the site, but he is also very engaging and they make a solid duo.

There are a plethora of freethinker, humanist and other non-theist resources available. Probably you can find most of them through the links in the sites above. But, with a day job and other interests, these are the ones that I’ve had the chance to check out and would recommend.

Oh, and no list would be complete without including Mr. Deity. This video series (they are still producing new shows) pokes fun at some of the inconsistencies or perceptions of the Judeo-Christian faith and expand on them. Apparently a number of religious groups show these at their gatherings to use as talking points, so they can’t be all that offensive. But they are entertaining.

Anchored thoughts

Marc ThinkingDo you find yourself repeatedly remembering some things via a circuitous path?

I, for instance, consider myself to have size 10 1/2 feet. If you ask me, that’s the answer that comes immediately to mind. The *reality* is that they are size 11 1/2. But in order for me to recall this I start with the immediate 10 1/2 thought which then triggers a memory of mail-ordering some running shoes of the wrong size, which then triggers a memory of getting my feet sized at a local running shop where I get the final result of being shown that my shoe size is 11 1/2. But the answer is not automatic.

Similarly, if someone asks me how tall I am, my initially triggered memory is of the doctor who measured me for my pre-university physical. He said I was 5′ 10″. If you know me, you know this isn’t at all true. I have no idea what he put on my report but that figure sticks with me to this day. But to come up with my height when asked, I start with that 5′ 10″ which triggers a memory about an acquaintance scoffing about that figure, which triggers a memory of showing an absolutely useless doctor once how she is supposed to use the height measure tool on a medical scale where I saw my 5′ 8″ height clearly represented and that is the figure I give.

In thinking about this, assuming I’m not hopelessly abnormal, it makes me wonder to what extent childhood stories and allegories muddle or slow down the thinking of folks in later life. If you’re told something is true from an early age, by an authority figure, what does that do for your recall ability when you later find that the truth is otherwise?

For example, Santa Clause. You spend the first 8 years (give or take) of your life being told there is a Santa Clause, with a lot of exciting pomp and ceremony surrounding it only to discover later that he’s just a cultural icon rather than the beneficent gift-giving elf that you formerly believed.

Admittedly, Santa’s not a huge deal and serious questions about his existence don’t come up very often. But what about other things to which we have been confidently given an answer which is now incorrect?

This applies to many areas of our life: Foods that we may have believed are good for us turn out not to be so because of new findings. Practices in diet, exercise or other skill areas become outmoded as we either learn more about how things work or as different cultural fads come in and out of vogue.

Of course, there is religion with pat and incorrect answers for just about everything, but if you’ve read my blog you already know about my opinion of that so I won’t go into it in detail here.

I suppose the thrust of my thought for this posting, is how much change can a person accept and still function effectively? Is the “anchoredness” of the original memory or thought as I express it above a normal way of recalling things? Or do we routinely discard/dissolve/destroy incorrect information and replace it with new information as it is presented to us (and we choose to accept it)? Does this explain why some older people seem to have a stake in the ground and refuse to learn anything new after that point? What does that say about the ability of people to function as our average lifespan continues to increase year after year?

I must say that the circuitous memory path above is the exception and not the rule for me. But I cannot say if it’s just that the path followed happens to be noticeable in those instances and not in others, or if I truly just pull up the information directly when I need to recall other things.

Go Kathy Griffin!

I’ve always been intrigued by the notion of a god (y’know, the one responsible for creating life, the universe… everything) that would hang around to help folks win at basketball or achieve individual [insert sport or event here] notoriety.

It was interesting to me that we have no problem listening to folks stand up at award ceremonies and thank mythological figures for their success yet we balk when someone stands up and says that a mythological figure had nothing to do with the achievement being recognized. In fact Kathy’s acceptance statement was excised from the broadcast.

I can’t say I really blame the network. They, after all, need to cater to majority opinion in order to maximize market share and profit. But I can’t help wondering if little incidents such as this tell us an awful lot about who we are as a culture.

Emphasis on the word “awful”…

Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial

Mich and I just finished watching Nova’s “Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial” on PBS.

I was very pleased to see that the ID proponents got their butts handed to them in their outrageous attempt to further dilute what is already considered to be a shaky science curriculum. We very much need to grow up, put away the fairy tales and begin to accept what life has to offer us without hiding behind our mother’s skirts.

What was very clear to me from the statements of the ID proponents was that the point of the judgment against their actions was completely lost on them. I too believe, as George W. Bush was stated to have said, that ID needs to be discussed and presented to students so that they understand these issues. But the proper forum for ID is NOT a science class. *Social Science* perhaps, for it’s relevance in society today, or mythology, for it’s quaint point of view for folks unable to grasp epochal aeons of time (check out my opinion in the 7th paragraph of this blog entry) .

I have to say that the scariest part of the show was the discussion about “The Wedge” strategy whose primary instigator seeks nothing less than a complete regression of folks’ literacy and life outlook to a more religious perspective. Let’s see… can we think of a time when that was the case?  Hmmm.. Yes, indeed, it was called “the dark ages”.

World Clock

World ClockSent to me by a friend, the World Clock is a sober reminder of the immensity of the reality of our existence on this tiny little planet. Go ahead and click the “Now” button to see these figures zero themselves out and begin counting from the current moment. If you’re like me you will be simply gobsmacked by the rate of births. Even realizing that these are merely statistical expressions (in real life you’d see periodic pauses and the occcasional great leap in the numbers) .

Of special note I’d like to highlight the deaths due to war and how disproportionately small this number is relative to a great many of the other, less popularly reported causes of death. Firearms aren’t listed but are subsumed by other categories and are far less common than the glaring media reports would lead one to believe, they are merely spectacular due to their infrequency and violence.

Traffic accidents, meanwhile, one of the most preventable causes of death (proper education, proper testing and then proper review every few years) gets a pass with a death rate (ignoring what must surely be a spectacular toll in injuries) that eclipses war, suicides, drownings, poisoning, falls or any non-disease.

This emphasizes what is surely one of the greatest ills of the American or any other government today, ignoring the practical, logical and mundane for the popular and the exciting. We can’t get our politicians to sponser and produce legislation that will simply be practical, they must forever be trying to woo us with our emotions and with whatever is simplest in order to keep their incumbencies secure.

The CO2 emmisions are interesting, but lack the global context of consumption (by plants) and destruction of CO2 by natural processes to help give a perspective – it’s a big planet relative to our conception. More relevant might be the % increase in CO2. The numbers may not be as exciting, but it would be consistent with the Earth’s temperature displayed which gives a much more useful value.

Slow Motion Water Balloon Pop

I am such a sucker for both slow motion and time lapse photography.

We have a perception of the world that is determined largely by our perception of time. To slide either forward or backward along the scale between short-lived beings such as insects or long-existing objects such as stars can dramatically alter your appreciation of reality.

The universe is a dynamic and ever changing place. If you think anything stays the same for more than an instant, think again.

God would be an atheist: Why can’t we all be Japanese?

From “The Institute for Humanist Studies”, this article titled “God would be an atheist: Why can’t we all be Japanese?” is a rather scathing critique of the impact of religion on civilized nations.

I largely agree with the assessment presented with the reservation that there are many secular influences (historical government, societal and even religious practices) that have shaped those cultures and can bear at least some of the credit / fault for the way they function today.

The portrait of Japanese as being overall better off than Americans just due to religion ignores the cultural submission to authority that seems to be much more prevalent in the Asian world than here. Further, population densities and thousands of years of civilization have helped make these folks who they are. But it also has constrained them in many ways and I do not believe it is as easy to express oneself in these rigid cultures. Indeed, a lack of cultural inertia is one of the best things that the US has going for it. Without the hindrance of centuries of tradition we are freer to explore and elucidate the world around us.
Unfortunately, religion does crop up whenever there is uncertainty, and when you are not that thoroughly grounded (only a couple of hundred years hardly qualifies as a culture) then you are just a babe and perhaps still do need your all powerful fables to help you sleep at night..

Mr. Deity

I heard about this while listening to the “Skepticality” podcast from TAM5 (“The Amazing Meeting 5”. See James Randi’s website for info on the next Amazing Meeting).

Mr. Deity is character in an interesting series of YouTube video shorts looking at god as if he were more of a Woody Allen-esque entity. So far there are 6 episodes and they highlight some of the glaring absurdities of conventional religion if examined out of context.

I thought they were pretty humorous and provide a little food for thought.