Monday, April 19, 2004
"In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars."
"Oh, that is well and good," Goering responded, "but, voice or no voice, the people can be brought to bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
- excerpt from "Weapons of Mass Deception" by Sheldon Rampton & John Stauber
Sometimes even the Devil can be right and tell the truth. Thinking about Goering's quote, I could hear the outrageous bantering of the right wing talk show pundits. Take Ann Coulter as a great example. Limbaugh, and Hannity also fall into Goering's role, as well as others of that ilk.
In the past couple years I've heard and read that anyone that disagrees with the President, is aiding the terrorists. Democrats are treasonous and think that the terrorists were justified in attacking America. Liberals hate America. Blah... blah... blah...
It's kept dissenters of President Bush at bay, long enough so that he could have his war with Iraq. How long until the US takes its troops out of Iraq? Never, if Bush is granted a second term. Permanent war will be America's future. Oceania will always be at war with Eastasia.
So, if Bush wants to invade Iran, North Korea, or even Canada, all he and his adminstration have to do is create a bogus story, then the right-wing media will bully any dissenters. Claim they're un-American, and unpatriotic, and ask why they hate America so much. They'll red-bait, terror-bait, and slander any that disagree with Bush's militant agenda.
If America is to remain a free society, we must get Bush and his administration out of office in November. There is no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Hitler could not be appeased with treaties. Bush will not be appeased by granting his every whim with no question. Bush and his cronies, and the right-wing media must be checked, investigated, and brought into the public eye. These vampires must be exposed to the sunlight of scrutiny.
I'm not saying that Kerry would be a saint, or a great president, but he would be a return back to normalcy. A sane, competent man is what America needs right now, not some religious kook who believes God is directing him in his policy toward Iraq or the world.
I think Kerry realizes 2+2=4, whereas Bush believes 2+2=5, or whatever he wants it to be.
If you hate Bush, register to vote, and kick the bum out in November. If you love Bush, why bother to vote, he'll win for sure, stay home and rent some movies.
----
For those that don't know, Hermann Goering was one of Hitler's henchmen in Nazi Germany. He was head of the Luftwaffe. Oh yeah, and permanent war is a tool of oppression and leads to totalitarianism. Totalitarianism is not good for freedom loving people.
"Oh, that is well and good," Goering responded, "but, voice or no voice, the people can be brought to bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
- excerpt from "Weapons of Mass Deception" by Sheldon Rampton & John Stauber
Sometimes even the Devil can be right and tell the truth. Thinking about Goering's quote, I could hear the outrageous bantering of the right wing talk show pundits. Take Ann Coulter as a great example. Limbaugh, and Hannity also fall into Goering's role, as well as others of that ilk.
In the past couple years I've heard and read that anyone that disagrees with the President, is aiding the terrorists. Democrats are treasonous and think that the terrorists were justified in attacking America. Liberals hate America. Blah... blah... blah...
It's kept dissenters of President Bush at bay, long enough so that he could have his war with Iraq. How long until the US takes its troops out of Iraq? Never, if Bush is granted a second term. Permanent war will be America's future. Oceania will always be at war with Eastasia.
So, if Bush wants to invade Iran, North Korea, or even Canada, all he and his adminstration have to do is create a bogus story, then the right-wing media will bully any dissenters. Claim they're un-American, and unpatriotic, and ask why they hate America so much. They'll red-bait, terror-bait, and slander any that disagree with Bush's militant agenda.
If America is to remain a free society, we must get Bush and his administration out of office in November. There is no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Hitler could not be appeased with treaties. Bush will not be appeased by granting his every whim with no question. Bush and his cronies, and the right-wing media must be checked, investigated, and brought into the public eye. These vampires must be exposed to the sunlight of scrutiny.
I'm not saying that Kerry would be a saint, or a great president, but he would be a return back to normalcy. A sane, competent man is what America needs right now, not some religious kook who believes God is directing him in his policy toward Iraq or the world.
I think Kerry realizes 2+2=4, whereas Bush believes 2+2=5, or whatever he wants it to be.
If you hate Bush, register to vote, and kick the bum out in November. If you love Bush, why bother to vote, he'll win for sure, stay home and rent some movies.
----
For those that don't know, Hermann Goering was one of Hitler's henchmen in Nazi Germany. He was head of the Luftwaffe. Oh yeah, and permanent war is a tool of oppression and leads to totalitarianism. Totalitarianism is not good for freedom loving people.
Saturday, April 10, 2004
Religious Right: Angry about Pythagorean Theorem!
The old Pythagorean Theorem (a^2 + b^2 = c^2) has some religious leaders in an uproar.
According to mathematicians, the theorem prooves that the sum of the squares of the lengths of the sides of a right triangle is equal to the square of the length of the hypotenuse.
According to the right wing religionists, the theorem is not in accord with Christian principles. They propose that alternate teachings to the theorem should be made available to students to provide a more fair system to people of differing beliefs.
Opponents of the theorem urge the teaching of the Intelligent Angles theorem. The Intelligent Angles theorem states that because triangles are complex things to calculate, they must have been created by an intelligent angle maker, and only the intelligent maker can decide what the distances can be.
Ima B. Leever, the leader of the Christians for Fairness in Mathematics claims, "...look the theorem is just that, 'a theorem.' It doesn't prove anything. Think about it. Pythagoras wasn't even a Christian. What kind of non-Christian things do we want our schools teaching our kids? Pythagoras was an ancient Greek mathematician. The ancient Greeks favored homosexual relations. If we teach our kids the Pythagorean Theorem today, it'll only lead them to homosexuality. I'm sick and tired of all this liberal anti-Christian crap being taught in our schools. Its time for fairness in the math classes for Christian students. Its time we stood up to this liberal conspiracy!"
School boards in Georgia, Ohio, and Kansas already have measures in the works for lesson plans that incorporate both theorems. Several other states are debating the implementation of alternate theorems.
The Intelligent Angles theorem was developed by Dr. William Paley, a professor of history at Hookem Young University.
----
If you read an article like that in a newspaper you'd have thought that some Christian wing nuts have lost their freakin' minds. Not to mention states that pander to the insanity, as backwards and dimwitted. The Pythagorean theorem is a very useful theorem that has been used for thousands of years, and has proven its worth and validity millions of times over since its development by Pythagoras, an Ancient Greek scholar. Without that theorem, we could still be living in thatch huts and wallowing in our own filth.
Why do I bring up this silly story? My home state of Ohio is pandering to religious groups that are working long and hard to have the Intelligent Design Theory taught side by side with the theory of evolution. Ohio isn't the only state dealing with such backwards driven political motivations, Georgia, Kansas, and several other states are dealing with right wing Christians urging for the removal of the teaching of the theory of evolution and/or urging to have creationism/Intelligent Design theory taught side by side with Darwin's old theory as an alternative.
There's good science and there's bad science. Good science adheres to the scientific method. Theories are not pulled from someone's imagination, they are developed in a methodical process, subjected to peer review, and once accepted they become the definitive argument which explains a concept of nature, until evidence comes forth to the contrary. In the event of new evidence, the theory goes through the process of scientific analysis, peer review, and so forth.
The controversy about the theory of evolution is that it conflicts with the religious beliefs of those that literally think the Book of Genesis is factual and not metaphorical. The theory or evolution primarily indicates that all lifeforms on earth progressed from one form of life to another over a long period of time. Darwin came to this conclusion by studying the living things on islands that were thousands of miles apart. When he noticed that two very similar species of birds lived on islands thousands of miles apart, he concluded that they must have had a common ancestor at one point in time. He came to the conclusion that most living things must have evolved from one form to another, and those forms adapted to new environments, and the diversion of a species resulted.
What Darwin lacked was modern technology. He didn't know anything about genetics. There may have been some fossil records of dinosaurs in his day, but today we have museums littered with fossils of critters and things that lived millions of years ago. We've found human/ape like skulls that are not like those of today's modern primates nor are they similar to modern homo sapiens. There is plenty of evidence to indicate that Darwin was correct in his hypothesis that all life derived from some other form of life.
Now, creationists on the other hand, follow the Bible to the letter. To them, they believe everything in the Bible is factual and undisputably true. Creationism follows the Book of Genesis, which indicates that the life, the universe, and everything was created in six days by an omniscient (all-seeing), omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent (He's everywhere at once) being named God. The problem is there isn't a speck of evidence to prove it. As a result, it can't be processed via the scientific method, and is therefore not scientific. Creationists proclaim they don't need proof, just faith in the idea that there is a God, and that God created the universe in six days as the Bible states. Creationism has been repeatedly debunked in science classes, and rejected by responsible school boards.
Recently, a mathematician came up with the Intelligent Design Theory. (Which I'll refer to as ID.) The ID theory states that life is so complex, and it so perfectly fits it's environment that it must be the result of an intelligent designer/intelligent director. That's it. The creationists and religious right are pushing hard to have this nonsense taught side by side with evolution as a valid theory and as an alternative to the theory of evolution. The problem with ID is that it doesn't hold up to the scientific method, and when subjected to peer review it falls apart. (Not saying a mathematician can't contribute to science, just he should familiarize himself with some biology before creating bogus theories. Intelligent Design is a variation of Paley's watchmaker argument.)
It's evident that promoters of ID and creationism are scientifically illiterate. Which can be understandable. Science does not deal with the poetry of life. It doesn't deal with morality and moral issues. Science exists as a tool for giving humanity the insight into how the mechanics of life, the universe and everything work. It uses available data, and analysis, then synthesizes that data with the observation of other scientists around the world. The creationist/ID promoter is fighting to protect their ideas as valid. They are living in denial of the world around them to live in a fantasy world of their imaginations. When something comes along to burst the bubble of their fantasy, they get militant, violent, and angry.
I think of it like people with drug and/or drinking problems. When you confront a drunk/drug addict about their problem, they become defensive, angry, and possibly violent. These right wing Christians that adhere to creationism and ID are living in what alcoholics call "a state of denial." A great website is posted here. (The author creates a fictional demon called Morton's Demon. According to the author, "Morton's demon was a demon who sat at the gate of my sensory input apparatus and if and when he saw supportive evidence coming in, he opened the gate. But if he saw contradictory data coming in, he closed the gate. In this way, the demon allowed me to believe that I was right and to avoid any nasty contradictory data." It really strikes home the point I'm trying to make.) Morton's Demon could also be like Orwell's doublespeak, in which a speaker can believe in and support two contradictory things. I'll add a little to the author's concept of Morton's Demon. The demon looks like and sounds like an angel to the victim.
I can't remember at the moment, but it was either Freud or Marx that claimed religion as the opiate of the masses. In this concept, and opiate would be construed as a pain killer. Like most drugs (including alcohol) there is the potential for abuse. Moderate doses of medicine/drugs are used to treat ailments and ease pain and suffering. Religion, Christianity in particular, is meant to be a mental aid to help people make sense of a chaotic and brutal reality. In small doses or quantities religion can be somewhat beneficial. Overdose on religion can breed fanaticism and create an equally brutal world, especially for "non-believers" and the "unfaithful."
With religion, belief precedes proof.
...}}}} the moral of the story? (or get to the freakin' point already?) {{{{....
My mother asked me what the importance about the theory of evolution versus creationism/ID. Why does it matter? Who cares? On one hand, it doesn't really matter. We're here. We have to deal with what we've been dealt in life. We're all stuck together in this thing called life, and we should just learn to live and let live. Be forgiving to people that are sincere in their sorrow. And as a result be as loving, patient, and compassionate to each human being as we can possibly be. (This would be a paraphrase of her philosophy of life and how to live with others, in a nutshell. She adhere's to the K.I.S.S. method of life. Keep it simple, stupid.)
With that, I agree with her. Why fight with people, and why hate? Life's too short for hatred and violence. Let's work to be the best damned people we can be, and make this the best world we can for ourselves and all the people in it. Love all, serve all.
On the other hand...
We do live in a real world with politically ambitious, power-hungry, control freaks. Religion has been on of the most effective tools for manipulating and controlling masses of people to do things they would not normally do. It utlizes coercive tactics, mind games, and a warehouse full of dirty tricks in its practice of people manipulation. It creates a system of group-think that rewards its followers with ego stroking ideas and concepts. Get people to deny reality, and get them to fanatically believe in an ideal world they'll go to when they die, and you can get people to do all sorts of horrible, monstrous things.
"Well, I didn't want to kill that group of people, but since they don't believe in the power of The Great One, it all evens out. Since they're blasphemous evil unbelievers, their souls will be cast into the Microwave of Eternal Damnation. For my sacrifice to the Great One, I'll be able to go the Holy Paradise Hotel in the Sky. Where I'll be able to eat all the fattening foods I want and never gain an ounce."
Not to make light of religious fanaticism and zealotry, but its responsible for things like the Inquisition, witch hunts, the Holocaust, and as recent as the attacks on 9/11. Right wing Christians have a political agenda. Which translates into a controlling agenda. They want to turn America into a nation of church zombies. To create the American Taliban. To them, everything would work out alright if people would just read the Bible, accept Jesus as lord and savior, and pray to God in public schools.
They have a very narrow view of humanity, and a very poor concept of individuality. Not to mention, in a free society like the United States, which advocates freedom, people should have (and do have) the right to choose who or what they worship or don't worship.
Americans need to wake up, take action, and keep these bible thumpers in their place. The US is a secular state for a reason, to allow religious freedom for its ciitizens. The idea behind secularism is to allow people to live in harmony in a public forum, so that they can conduct business without religous persecution.
Religion should be like sex. Keep it to yourself. If you want to get in groups of like minded people and discuss it fine, just don't force your ideas on other people, and don't expect people to agree with you.
Live and let live. Love all, serve all. (I'd say that wraps up the teachings of the Jesus I learned about.)
Peace.
##
30
The old Pythagorean Theorem (a^2 + b^2 = c^2) has some religious leaders in an uproar.
According to mathematicians, the theorem prooves that the sum of the squares of the lengths of the sides of a right triangle is equal to the square of the length of the hypotenuse.
According to the right wing religionists, the theorem is not in accord with Christian principles. They propose that alternate teachings to the theorem should be made available to students to provide a more fair system to people of differing beliefs.
Opponents of the theorem urge the teaching of the Intelligent Angles theorem. The Intelligent Angles theorem states that because triangles are complex things to calculate, they must have been created by an intelligent angle maker, and only the intelligent maker can decide what the distances can be.
Ima B. Leever, the leader of the Christians for Fairness in Mathematics claims, "...look the theorem is just that, 'a theorem.' It doesn't prove anything. Think about it. Pythagoras wasn't even a Christian. What kind of non-Christian things do we want our schools teaching our kids? Pythagoras was an ancient Greek mathematician. The ancient Greeks favored homosexual relations. If we teach our kids the Pythagorean Theorem today, it'll only lead them to homosexuality. I'm sick and tired of all this liberal anti-Christian crap being taught in our schools. Its time for fairness in the math classes for Christian students. Its time we stood up to this liberal conspiracy!"
School boards in Georgia, Ohio, and Kansas already have measures in the works for lesson plans that incorporate both theorems. Several other states are debating the implementation of alternate theorems.
The Intelligent Angles theorem was developed by Dr. William Paley, a professor of history at Hookem Young University.
----
If you read an article like that in a newspaper you'd have thought that some Christian wing nuts have lost their freakin' minds. Not to mention states that pander to the insanity, as backwards and dimwitted. The Pythagorean theorem is a very useful theorem that has been used for thousands of years, and has proven its worth and validity millions of times over since its development by Pythagoras, an Ancient Greek scholar. Without that theorem, we could still be living in thatch huts and wallowing in our own filth.
Why do I bring up this silly story? My home state of Ohio is pandering to religious groups that are working long and hard to have the Intelligent Design Theory taught side by side with the theory of evolution. Ohio isn't the only state dealing with such backwards driven political motivations, Georgia, Kansas, and several other states are dealing with right wing Christians urging for the removal of the teaching of the theory of evolution and/or urging to have creationism/Intelligent Design theory taught side by side with Darwin's old theory as an alternative.
There's good science and there's bad science. Good science adheres to the scientific method. Theories are not pulled from someone's imagination, they are developed in a methodical process, subjected to peer review, and once accepted they become the definitive argument which explains a concept of nature, until evidence comes forth to the contrary. In the event of new evidence, the theory goes through the process of scientific analysis, peer review, and so forth.
The controversy about the theory of evolution is that it conflicts with the religious beliefs of those that literally think the Book of Genesis is factual and not metaphorical. The theory or evolution primarily indicates that all lifeforms on earth progressed from one form of life to another over a long period of time. Darwin came to this conclusion by studying the living things on islands that were thousands of miles apart. When he noticed that two very similar species of birds lived on islands thousands of miles apart, he concluded that they must have had a common ancestor at one point in time. He came to the conclusion that most living things must have evolved from one form to another, and those forms adapted to new environments, and the diversion of a species resulted.
What Darwin lacked was modern technology. He didn't know anything about genetics. There may have been some fossil records of dinosaurs in his day, but today we have museums littered with fossils of critters and things that lived millions of years ago. We've found human/ape like skulls that are not like those of today's modern primates nor are they similar to modern homo sapiens. There is plenty of evidence to indicate that Darwin was correct in his hypothesis that all life derived from some other form of life.
Now, creationists on the other hand, follow the Bible to the letter. To them, they believe everything in the Bible is factual and undisputably true. Creationism follows the Book of Genesis, which indicates that the life, the universe, and everything was created in six days by an omniscient (all-seeing), omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent (He's everywhere at once) being named God. The problem is there isn't a speck of evidence to prove it. As a result, it can't be processed via the scientific method, and is therefore not scientific. Creationists proclaim they don't need proof, just faith in the idea that there is a God, and that God created the universe in six days as the Bible states. Creationism has been repeatedly debunked in science classes, and rejected by responsible school boards.
Recently, a mathematician came up with the Intelligent Design Theory. (Which I'll refer to as ID.) The ID theory states that life is so complex, and it so perfectly fits it's environment that it must be the result of an intelligent designer/intelligent director. That's it. The creationists and religious right are pushing hard to have this nonsense taught side by side with evolution as a valid theory and as an alternative to the theory of evolution. The problem with ID is that it doesn't hold up to the scientific method, and when subjected to peer review it falls apart. (Not saying a mathematician can't contribute to science, just he should familiarize himself with some biology before creating bogus theories. Intelligent Design is a variation of Paley's watchmaker argument.)
It's evident that promoters of ID and creationism are scientifically illiterate. Which can be understandable. Science does not deal with the poetry of life. It doesn't deal with morality and moral issues. Science exists as a tool for giving humanity the insight into how the mechanics of life, the universe and everything work. It uses available data, and analysis, then synthesizes that data with the observation of other scientists around the world. The creationist/ID promoter is fighting to protect their ideas as valid. They are living in denial of the world around them to live in a fantasy world of their imaginations. When something comes along to burst the bubble of their fantasy, they get militant, violent, and angry.
I think of it like people with drug and/or drinking problems. When you confront a drunk/drug addict about their problem, they become defensive, angry, and possibly violent. These right wing Christians that adhere to creationism and ID are living in what alcoholics call "a state of denial." A great website is posted here. (The author creates a fictional demon called Morton's Demon. According to the author, "Morton's demon was a demon who sat at the gate of my sensory input apparatus and if and when he saw supportive evidence coming in, he opened the gate. But if he saw contradictory data coming in, he closed the gate. In this way, the demon allowed me to believe that I was right and to avoid any nasty contradictory data." It really strikes home the point I'm trying to make.) Morton's Demon could also be like Orwell's doublespeak, in which a speaker can believe in and support two contradictory things. I'll add a little to the author's concept of Morton's Demon. The demon looks like and sounds like an angel to the victim.
I can't remember at the moment, but it was either Freud or Marx that claimed religion as the opiate of the masses. In this concept, and opiate would be construed as a pain killer. Like most drugs (including alcohol) there is the potential for abuse. Moderate doses of medicine/drugs are used to treat ailments and ease pain and suffering. Religion, Christianity in particular, is meant to be a mental aid to help people make sense of a chaotic and brutal reality. In small doses or quantities religion can be somewhat beneficial. Overdose on religion can breed fanaticism and create an equally brutal world, especially for "non-believers" and the "unfaithful."
With religion, belief precedes proof.
...}}}} the moral of the story? (or get to the freakin' point already?) {{{{....
My mother asked me what the importance about the theory of evolution versus creationism/ID. Why does it matter? Who cares? On one hand, it doesn't really matter. We're here. We have to deal with what we've been dealt in life. We're all stuck together in this thing called life, and we should just learn to live and let live. Be forgiving to people that are sincere in their sorrow. And as a result be as loving, patient, and compassionate to each human being as we can possibly be. (This would be a paraphrase of her philosophy of life and how to live with others, in a nutshell. She adhere's to the K.I.S.S. method of life. Keep it simple, stupid.)
With that, I agree with her. Why fight with people, and why hate? Life's too short for hatred and violence. Let's work to be the best damned people we can be, and make this the best world we can for ourselves and all the people in it. Love all, serve all.
On the other hand...
We do live in a real world with politically ambitious, power-hungry, control freaks. Religion has been on of the most effective tools for manipulating and controlling masses of people to do things they would not normally do. It utlizes coercive tactics, mind games, and a warehouse full of dirty tricks in its practice of people manipulation. It creates a system of group-think that rewards its followers with ego stroking ideas and concepts. Get people to deny reality, and get them to fanatically believe in an ideal world they'll go to when they die, and you can get people to do all sorts of horrible, monstrous things.
"Well, I didn't want to kill that group of people, but since they don't believe in the power of The Great One, it all evens out. Since they're blasphemous evil unbelievers, their souls will be cast into the Microwave of Eternal Damnation. For my sacrifice to the Great One, I'll be able to go the Holy Paradise Hotel in the Sky. Where I'll be able to eat all the fattening foods I want and never gain an ounce."
Not to make light of religious fanaticism and zealotry, but its responsible for things like the Inquisition, witch hunts, the Holocaust, and as recent as the attacks on 9/11. Right wing Christians have a political agenda. Which translates into a controlling agenda. They want to turn America into a nation of church zombies. To create the American Taliban. To them, everything would work out alright if people would just read the Bible, accept Jesus as lord and savior, and pray to God in public schools.
They have a very narrow view of humanity, and a very poor concept of individuality. Not to mention, in a free society like the United States, which advocates freedom, people should have (and do have) the right to choose who or what they worship or don't worship.
Americans need to wake up, take action, and keep these bible thumpers in their place. The US is a secular state for a reason, to allow religious freedom for its ciitizens. The idea behind secularism is to allow people to live in harmony in a public forum, so that they can conduct business without religous persecution.
Religion should be like sex. Keep it to yourself. If you want to get in groups of like minded people and discuss it fine, just don't force your ideas on other people, and don't expect people to agree with you.
Live and let live. Love all, serve all. (I'd say that wraps up the teachings of the Jesus I learned about.)
Peace.
##
30
