Thursday, January 29, 2009

What does Ray Comfort have in his rectum?

Ray "Bananaman" Comfort is a babbling idiot. You need not read a full paragraph of Ray Comfort's diatribes to find something absurd and, if other people didn't agree with him, hilarious.

Now that we have that out of the way - the point of this blog posting is to talk about the "uproar" around celebrating Darwin's birthday.

Idiots, like Bananaman, have their not-so-magic underwear (that's the silly mormons with the magic underwear) in knots because a city in Ohio wanted to declare February 12, "Darwin Day".

With complaints, the person presenting the proposal "watered" down the declaration to February being "Science Month" and added Galileo's name alongside Darwin's. That wasn't enough for Ray.

Bananaman (Rumour has it that Ray thinks a banana is the perfect shape and size to, well, shove completely up his rectum once Kirk Cameron pulls his penis out of it, hence the title "Bananaman". Sources tell me that the bananas are small ones but compared to Ray's head, it looks normal size. No matter what the truth is, I, as an atheist, have nightmares about bananas. Hey believers, don't accuse me of lying - you started it!), as promised in the beginning of this article, displays his true ability to write some of the greatest comedy pieces:

"They're trying to deitize Darwin," he said. "This is the atheist Christmas."

"It's a God-given right to be an atheist, but they need to lighten up and let us talk about creationism, too."

Let me make some points clear so as to help some people understand how absurd his comments are.
  1. Darwin, unlike Jesus, actually existed.
  2. Darwin, unlike Jesus, was born on the day we are suggesting it be celebrated.
  3. God didn't give us anything (but the value for pi (3)!!) - Darwin, on the other hand, gave us the answer to one of science's biggest questions.
  4. To argue "Because atheists are talking about something real, we should be able to make something up", is, well, typical Bananaman.
  5. Martin Luther King Jr. Day - unlike the request being made in Ohio, is a holiday, not just a declaration. Is Martin Luther King Jr. a deity now (or something greater because he gets a holiday named after him)? How many people's prayers can he listen to at one time?

With that out of the way, what is it about Darwin that upsets Ray?

Is he suggesting that if Darwin's birthday is recognized that more people might learn about him and that, in itself, is a threat to (him/belief/god/humanity/Americans)?

Critical thought has never been a threat to humanity. Science, with all of its advances, has made our lives exponentially better.

Is he concerned that by having a day declared in Darwin's name, that it makes evolution true?

Nothing is true simply because someone famous said it/proposed it/suggested it. Evolution is a fact. The theory of natural selection has been tested for 150 years and has stood the test of time - as with any scientific theory, it is subject to advancement and updating as we learn more about our world. That is the power of science and is not a weakness.

Is Ray implying that if people find out that evolution is true, they'll realize that belief in god is false?

Though many (me, too) would argue that an understanding of natural selection shows that a god wasn't or isn't necessary, there are some firm believers who know and support the theory of evolution (Kenneth Miller is a great example) which means that the final question can't simply be answered with a "definitely".

Regardless of what your beliefs are, February 12th, 2009 is the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and, for his contributions to biology via his truly awesome and eloquent theory, he should be recognized. Declaring February 12th "Darwin Day" is a great tribute to one of science's greatest contributors.

Ray "Bananaman" Comfort, on the other hand, is Christianity's greatest contribution to atheists. I anxiously await Ray's death so that I can propose a declaration in his honour (though it will likely fail as I'm sure many people are quite happy to continue to call it "April Fools' Day").

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Harry De Boer and His Imaginary Friend

Recently in a letter to the editor of the local paper, Harry De Boer supplied his commentary on peace in the middle east.

Unlike what priests and other Christians expect, I hope you read his actual original letter and don't simply take my word for it. Critical thinking involves checking sources, not valuing blind faith.

I won't take apart his letter word by word or paragraph by paragraph, I want to address the core illogicality of it.

Harry assumes that his religion is the "true" religion and, by some method, is able to logically discount other religions and claim them to be false. It is not possible that all religions are right but it is possible that all religions are wrong. Harry hopes/suggests that Muslims should "come around" and the world will be all better. Surely the Muslims believe that if Christians "came around" the world would be all better too.

How is it that someone (so many people) fail(s) to realize that religion is the problem and, even worse, pretends that their (false) religion is better than someone else's (false) religion? Is Harry being intellectually dishonest or does he lack the desire to think critically?

Peace and stability has not been built with the help of religion, ever - it has been achieved in spite of religion.

Give up your bronze-aged myths - it hasn't helped in thousands of years and it sure isn't helping today.

As an "off-but-on" topic topic..
Harry asserts that Jesus is the "Prince of Peace" - which is easily derived from "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." (Matthew 10:34) ??

Hitler, Atheism & Darwin

Whenever someone chooses to discuss reasons for believing in god and decides to argue how religion makes people "good" and, thus, atheists bad, the topic of Hitler is sure to come up.

I suspect that everyone who believes in god actually reads from the same horrid book (whoops, two books since we'll have to include the bible) and regurgitates the false information passed on from those books. Otherwise, I can't explain the consistent false arguments that they bring forth.

"Hitler was an atheist" / "Darwin was Hitler's hero" - the almost-famous phrases often used.

1.) Hitler was not an atheist - he spoke only of the term atheist in negative terms (atheistic Jews, and atheist Marxists).

2.) If I am ever the hero of someone and they write an extensive collection, I hope I'm mentioned (and in a positive light). Hitler fails to mention Darwin and natural selection in the whole of Mein Kampf.

What is most amazing about a "follower" mentioning Hitler is that his is hardly a name that a believer should want in the discussion.

Hitler firmly believed that he was doing god's work and was supported by the Catholic Church. (I believe the actual quote was "I believe today that my conduct is in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator") Religion was not only a part of Hitler's success, it was a fundamental necessity.

Believers: The next time you want to discuss the good and bad of atheism, please, please, please, for the sake of saving yourself from humiliation, don't bring up Hitler. (Or, maybe, for the opportunity to have your absurd unquestioned beliefs handed back to you to digest with your foot, bring Hitler up the next time someone speaks about lack of belief in god.)

Monday, January 19, 2009

Don't Miss the Bus

The Canadian Atheist Bus Campaign has kicked off and, if donations are any indication, it is going to be a success.

I probably would have argued that Canada didn't need a campaign like this (after all, we are secular and religion isn't a big part of our society, right?) until I started talking to people about religion and, even more so, until I started this blog.

Religion is a problem in Canada. It is a problem everywhere.

As "laid back" and complacent Canadians, we are letting our economy, our education and our future slide. I think we'd benefit from the conflict (and conversation) generated by a stand-off between "pro-science" and "pro-religion" groups. It, in many ways, offers benefits not achieved by the "live and let live" attitude. It seems that the non-believers are the only ones who truly feel a "live and let live" approach is taking. The religious hope we'll live that way so they can move the yardstick a little bit further each time.

Let's bring the discussion back to the forefront. Believers should be as equally impressed with the idea - if they truly believe their faith is worth having and their god is worth worshipping.

I encourage you to take a trip to http://www.atheistbus.ca and learn more about the movement and, if you feel so inclined, to contribute.

In case you are so inclined to take the approach of "not my god", I encourage you to read my earlier blog - Not Your God. I'll also deal with the "you wouldn't dare say that to a Muslim or about Islam". Yes, I firmly state that there is almost certainly no Allah. "Allah" can be replaced with any god of your choice.

The Friendly Atheist has a more complete list of gods we don't believe in. Oddly, the list of gods you don't believe in is only one shorter!

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Friday, January 2, 2009

Give Credit Where Credit is Due

And I'm not talking about the financial crisis. I'm talking about humans acting as good human beings.

Picture this. A child goes missing, the parents call the police and alert the media. The police and the general public actively help in the search for the missing child and, happily, the child is found.

The first thing any rational parent would do is thank those who helped and remind everyone that humans are generally good and caring people.

This is how it normally plays out. "Thank 'god' our child is safe. We had faith that he would return our child to us." Sometimes followed by "and" "we'd like to thank everyone who kept an eye out for our loved one".

F#$k god - that worthless piece of sh!t was just as involved in the child going missing as he was in having the child found. He/she/it had nothing to do with it.

Why can't we simply thank the people that helped? "Thank you to the police. Thank you to my family. Thank you to the general public who called in tips and helped us locate our child. Thank you to the technology that enabled this. Thank you to humanity."

If you ever, ever, ever, ever, ever need medical assistance for a life-threatening situation and happen to survive it - god didn't do it. Thank modern medicine, thank science, thank humans - thank the doctors, nurses and ambulance attendants - give credit where credit is due.