Brainfart - Die! Die! Die!

There's a particular Calvin and Hobbes strip that I really like. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the picture for it but this is how it goes:
A grumpy Calvin is waiting at the bus stop for school in the pouring rain and is thinking to himself, "I wish I was dead". In the second panel he has a change of heart, obviously he doesn't really want to be dead. The last panel shows Calvin with a new deviously brilliant thought, "I wish everyone else was dead".

It's funny how depressing things can get before you get suicidal. Everyone has those bad days when they might consider fellating the business end of a shotgun. Truth is, no matter how bad things are, you'd still have way more to lose before suicide would actually become a reasonable option. Besides, taking it out on yourself is the wrong way to go. You know what would really be therapeutic? Kicking a puppy in the face. Sadness leads to frustration leads to anger leads to breaking things (preferable living things or things of value).

Which leads me to my new business venture. Who wants to invest in a gun range? Not real guns, maybe like rubber bullet, bean bag, tennis ball guns. The only difference is at this range you pay a fee to shoot some guy running around like a headless chicken in a suit. Or instead of shooting, you could just pelt him with glassware. It's like those games at the CNE where you throw balls at plates except in this instance, you're throwing plates at the guy. God dammit that would be so much more satisfying. Who needs prizes when you can just throw plates at people?

Today's track:
John Mayer - Dreaming With A Broken Heart

What is life without religion?

A question posed to me in the comments of the last post.

Is there a purpose to life without a God?
If we’re all running a race where only death awaits us, why not just stop now while we’re ahead?
These are all important and legitimate questions. I, as an Atheist and a regular Joe, dare not claim to be a prolific philosopher but do humbly offer my own answers (or in the worst case scenario offer questions for you to find your own).

It only takes one gaze towards the sky for us to realize just how small and insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things. We are to the universe like a grain of sand is to the beach. Human-kind’s existence on earth for ~200,000 years (or ~6,000 for Christians) is but a blip in the cosmic timeline. The earth has been inhabited by billions upon billions of species and life-forms that have come and gone before us. When the time comes for us leave this world, our existence like theirs will be next to negligible. The earth will continue spinning as it has done for billions of years and billions more. It may sound bleak but it is the truth that we live. What religion offers is a way out of this cycle of hopelessness. In death, we are reborn as immortals in a better world (of course to those who deserve it). Religion brings both a purpose to the life we’re living now and to one we will have after death.

It all sounds fine and dandy but the trouble I have with religion interestingly enough, is with the rewards it proposes of offer. Personally, I believe that religion and the belief in a heaven/hell and afterlife cheapens everything about the life we’re living right now. Religion is not necessary for a fulfilling life. Our motivation to live and prosper should not rest on a system of rewards and punishment; it should be genuine and intrinsic. What is more motivating and purposeful than living life expecting nothing in return when we die? I believe it would be arrogant for us to think we were entitled to enter a place like heaven if it did indeed exist. What’s more troubling is just the general idea of heaven. If such a place existed, would you even want to be there? Anything and everything that is worth living for is right here on earth and incidentally, also a sin. Given the Bible, I presume that in heaven there is no pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed or sloth. Perhaps heaven is God’s sweatshop, where we gladly work without complaining. Christians may believe there is a spiritual level of peace and happiness that transcends all the joys we find on earth but that seems like a cop out to me. That’s the thing about heaven; no one knows what it is or what people do there. Heaven is just some place dead people go and are somehow happy. How does it all work exactly? Do we just rise out of our bodies and turn into glowing orbs of thought? Or do we become thoughtless and forever euphoric, like in a permanent orgasm? People take it on blind faith that religion will handle all their problems in the end and that is the problem.

Religion is used to propagate the notion that having faith is a noble trait and quite frankly, it isn’t. In fact, religion is the only exception to this. In any other circumstance, having blind faith would be ridiculed and scoffed at. To plainly accept what is told to you without any evidence is truly ignorant. Critical thinking and skepticism is the foundation of modern technology and society. This computer that I’m using does not run on Jesus. The planes in the sky do not fly because we pray that they do not fall. How can you teach your children to not be gullible to idiotic claims yet at the same time be swindled of their common sense in the name of the Bible? There is no consistency to the Bible. There are people who believe in the literal truth of the Bible, word for word (the world and everything as we know it was created in 6 days, the story of Adam and Eve, Noah’s ark, Moses, the earth is ~6000 years old, dinosaurs were put on earth by the Devil to test our faith, crazy shit like that). I know there are more rational people who don’t believe in these things but nonetheless are still Christians. They may argue that not everything in the Bible should be taken literally but then that opens a whole new can of worms. The Bible is supposed to be the book of truths. If we start hand-picking what is real or not then who has the authority to do so and who is to say it isn’t just all lies? When you’re going so far as to claim the Bible as your guidebook to life, you simply can not acknowledge some of it and ignore the rest. While the idea of being a person of faith may seem romantic, it is not realistic.

Being Atheist is not about shunning religion but more about reserving judgment in respect for the truth. Humans do not have all the answers and probably never will but one thing is certain: religion poses more questions than it answers. Religion is a setback to humanity and civilization. Every major scientific discovery has been met and opposed by religion. There was a point in time when three letters, G-O-D was used to explain anything beyond our current knowledge. Why the sun came up in the morning, why the moon rose at night, why people are born and why people die. Over the years, science has proved that the sun does not orbit the earth and that the earth is much, much older than the Bible proposes. To say God is responsible for everything is not a simple answer. God can not be the ultimate answer because we are then left to reason why and how God exists. However, science strives to reach an ultimate answer, the theory of everything. Science is ever-changing and can be written and re-written. Conversely, religion promotes narrow-mindedness and is limited to the Bible; its view on the evolving world is forever static. In this day and age, G-O-D just doesn’t cut it.

The human mind is a beautiful thing. Atheists may demand evidence but they do not need to be physical. We as humans have only been given 5 senses in order to perceive the world around us but we continue to develop new tools to enhance our ‘sight’. We have the unique ability to project ourselves outside our bodies and view things in different perspectives. There are ways of proving things that we can not see. Billions of dollars were invested into the Large Hadron Collider in order to test high-energy physics and theories of dark matter and dark energy that can neither be seen nor felt. The force of gravity that affects us everyday is not visible yet there is evidence for it all around us. Science provides answers by reaching farther than our senses allow while religion provides answers by reaching back into its own empty pockets.

Hope, motivation and the will to live should not be something you rest on the shoulders of myths and fairy tales. I find that there is more than enough motivation in all of life’s challenges, accomplishments, kinships, friendships and companionships, amongst other distinctively earthly experiences. Instead of throwing ourselves into the invisible arms of cosmic beings maybe we should look to make a habit of relying on each other. My religion is made up of you and me. Although I do not possess the power to answer all your prayers, I guarantee I will have the same success rate as God and unlike God, they will not fall on deaf ears. If you still don’t believe in the powers of humanity, I offer you this: I believe that being non-Christian is more Christian than being Christian. Only I can say I have no expectations from my good deeds. I’m not good because I believe in a heaven; I’m good simply because I am.

Today's track:
Architecture in Helsinki - Heart it Races

Faith and Scientology

Mocking Scientology is too easy, so I won't. Instead, I'm going to reason why you shouldn't either (well, most of you) and here's why.

Personally, I find it interesting how easy it is for everyday, self-professing "tolerant" people to bash other people's faith in Scientology without so much as a word of debate from their conscience. To me it proves that, like it or not, we are all guilty of being intolerant bigots. Not only are we intolerant, we are openly intolerant. I believe this is a reflection of both good and bad social behaviors.

Bad news first. No matter what the consensus is about the legitimacy or credibility of Scientology, it is a belief like any other and we've all been told before to respect them. For us to tolerate intolerance is to have herd mentality. We've all just accepted that hating on scientologists is the social norm. The irony is that most of you should know better. I think many of you (bible readers) should be aware of the phrase "let he who is without sin cast the first stone", which couldn't be more adequate. All you have to do is substitute 'sin' with 'faith'. It is absolute hypocrisy for a person of faith to slander someone else's. Honestly, what's the difference between believing in some big-headed alien God named Xenu and some eye-in-the-sky Christian God? The correct answer is about 2000 years, nothing more. This is an example of people having total disregard in critical thinking. Those whom are without mirrors should never mock other's appearances or people in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks. Supernatual is super-natural. If you're going to make stuff up it doesn't matter how fanciful you decide to get. If there's no evidence for any of it, who cares what "God" is?

The good news? Well, there is a glimmer of hope. If we can all recognize how absurd Scientology is, I'm optimistic that we can conclude the same about any other religion. If it wasn't so hypocritical, it would be great that people find Scientology an insult to their intelligence. It shows that we do value the truth and are capable of calling out nonsense for what it is. Now all you have to do is grab that mirror.

Today's track:
Claude Kelly - Disguised Devil

The Glow of Pregnancy

It is often said that there is nothing more beautiful than life and the givers of life, expectant mothers. They glow with the wonder and pride of being the carriers of little happy packages. But is it just me, or do pregnant mothers serve as nothing but walking public reminders of their past sexual congress? Am I the only one who believes that pregnant women are abhorrently off-putting? In the face of a pregnant woman, I am forced to reconcile with the fact that there are presumably lifeforms on this planet actually willing to procreate with them. Not only that, women who are pregnant for some reason believe that getting knocked up is a free ticket to the town of indiscreets-ville. Nothing is sacred when you are pregnant. No one needs to know how hard and long you and your husband "tried" to have a baby, that is so goddamn inappropriate. The fact that you are pregnant makes it that much harder for me to imagine that you have the anatomy of a cabbage patch doll and I don't need to have any more contradictory evidence. No one needs to know how sensitive and/or gassy you feel. As far as I'm concerned, if there ever was an anti-glow, pregnant women are it. A blackhole, if you will. Besides, babies are nothing but glorified slugs, just disgusting amorphous blobs of flesh. A human child is the most pathetic example of life there is on the planet. Humans may be the most powerful species to walk the earth yet they are born into the world the most helpless. Every birth is a miracle because that's what it must take for a mother to love her child.

Today's track:
Jay-Z vs. Coldplay - Public Speeding

The Tech Gap

If you aren't already aware of the ever-developing story of Brandon Crisp, it has been gaining national exposure. In brief, it begins with video games and then ends in death. Although some of you may find that account an offensively loose interpretation, my belief is that this is the way most see it anyways. The real story to me is that every time a tragedy occurs involving youth these days, media or video games are automatically marked as the culprit. Brandon Crisp was indeed a gamer and his fix, Call of Duty 4. When his parents observed that his academics and social life were suffering they confiscated his Xbox. Infuriated, Brandon threatened to leave and his father even helped pack his bags in an attempt to call his bluff. Three long weeks after the dispute, the teen was discovered dead in a bush not far from home.

I wonder though, how did it come to this? So far all fingers point towards the evils of addictive gaming and it producing unruly children. My problem with this sentiment is that it is misleading. There is no such thing as addictive gaming. Playing video games and computers online is not a drug. You don’t buy them in dodgey alleyways and you don’t do them in the restroom. Instead, I blame the parents and I blame the tech gap.

Whenever you hear about video games in the news they are always presented by old farts that are out-of-touch. In the last 50 years, technology has driven and changed the world. The problem is that while the younger generation embraces this change, the older generation is oblivious to it. There is a lack of understanding to say the least and parents nowadays are much too lenient. It is your responsibility as a parent to monitor and moderate your child. Call of Duty for example, is a rated M game for mature audiences aged 17 and up. How did it end up in the hands of a 15-year-old? Surely the parents had a hand in making that purchase and if not, were still aware of its existence in the household. Even if you make the executive decision to allow your kid to play the game, it’s still on you to discipline them. I’m not talking about attempting to confiscate an Xbox after the kid has logged 100+ hours in the game. I’m talking about discipline. I’m talking about hard rules. Not groundings or punishments, rules. Old folks don’t understand what they are even dealing with. What does it mean to play a game online? What is the appeal of MSN, Facebook, Second Life or WoW? Once you start seeing technology as “gadgets” and “doo-hickeys” you’ve already lost the battle. Today’s parents need to keep in touch with their children. Twenty years ago you may have shared interests by sitting around the TV as a family. Perhaps now you have to be open to gathering around the computer or Xbox.

The media has a way of spinning gamers as loners. They make it seem like video games are all made to be played in small, dark, closed-quarters, secretly hidden away from civilization. But I got news for you; kids don’t hide video games underneath their mattresses and sock drawers. Kids don’t sneak off to the park for a toke or to the can for a line. They are sitting right there at home in the family room or in their bedroom. Parents see this and blame the games. Well the way I see it, I blame the parents.

Today's track:
Dave Hollister - Take Care of Home

The Beautiful People

Being human is about the constant struggle between barbarism and civility. We humans are semi-evolved, just a step on the ladder between apes and gods. Self-righteous brains trapped in a prison of flesh and bone. We are held hostage by our conflicting interests. The problem is that we all think one way but act another. We were raised to value personality traits such as intellect, assertiveness, and conscientiousness, those that cannot be qualified physically but at the same time we idolize the beautiful. We’re told not to judge a book by its cover but we are constantly preening ourselves in order to make a good first impression. Those of us who aren’t beautiful are reminded that it is only “skin-deep”, nevertheless finding ourselves on the outside wistfully looking in. Vanity is a cardinal sin yet we persist to live in a world that is not only ignorant to it but indulges it. I believe that unless we shed our skin, we will forever be shackled to our carnal urges. Until then, beauty and being beautiful does have some importance.

Firstly, beauty in itself is something uniquely human. Nothing on this earth is beautiful unless we impose it. In this sense, beauty really is “in the eye of the beholder”. However, this statement is generally used to combat discrimination and up heave the self-esteems of the visibly deprived. Although beauty is regarded as subjective, I believe most of the time there is a general consensus. There is a line dividing this world and that is between the eye candy and the eye sores. The truth is that beautiful people live better lives. We live by these double standards everyday.

Beautiful people can garner attention from across the room without ever the need to lose sleep contriving anecdotes. Beautiful people can stare straight at strangers in the subway and instead of having to dodge allegations of being perverse, instill confidence and vivaciousness in their subjects. Beautiful people are respected without having to provide any credence. This is the world we live in and we are to blame. Being beautiful attributes nothing but drawing lucky in the genetic lottery yet we still flock like the animals that we are. I say leave chaste to the gods - to sin is to be human.

Today's track:
Ghosthustler - Someone else's ride