The Mythology of Christianity

I'm going to make it a point, this new year, not to refer to Christianity as Christianity. But rather, the "mythology of Christianity". Everyone else should too as well.

The bible as the "Word of God" - NOT!

Christians have slung around descriptions of the bible. Like "the word of god" and "perfect". And I could talk about the hypocracy and inconsistencies of the bible. But for right now, I'd like to bring up yet another reason why the bible is none of these things.

If a deity, any deity, wants to push forth a book to the entire human race to read, absorb and live by, then it only makes sense that the deity makes sure that the book is written for the lowest common denominator. That way, EVERYONE can understand the bible and what the collection of stories is trying to convey to the reader.

Continuing on that logic, it would also make sense that there shouldn't have to be any interpretations of it's writings. I can't tell you how many times, while I was in bible school as a kid, I was told by a bible teacher or pastor that a particular passage of the bible has an interpretation. I'm told by theists even today that there are many stories in the bible that have interpretations.

I'll tell you why they use interpretations. They're trying to convert centuries-old stories and make it relevant for today. And while they're at it, they're trying to clean up old world mentalities, such as slavery and bigotry to name a few. It's a lot easier to talk about and memorize passages from the bible that don't require interpretation and sound sweet and wholesome. There's no doubt the bible has a few of those. But I don't ever recall being in bible school and the teacher talking about Samuel 18:25-27. And when you approach a theist about it, they'll defend the passage with an interpretation that is totally detached from what it really is. What is it? It's about a man who is asked to cut off the foreskins of 100 people to prove his worthiness to marry a man's daughter. And he actually cuts off 200 in a demonstration of his determination to win her hand.

I wish "christians" would remove their rose-colored glasses and look at the bible for what it really is.

Everything is All The Same

I'd like to pose this question to a Theist. If you know a Theist, which statistically you do, then I hope you'll ask them this series of questions.

1. Do you have a problem in squishing an ant?

2. Do you have a problem in catching and killing a fish?

3. Do you have a problem in killing a cat?

4. Do you have a problem in killing a dog?

I know what your immediate response is. You're saying to yourself, "Under what conditions are you talking about killing a cat or a dog?" And that, in itself, is really funny. Why are you concerned about the circumstances of a cat or a dog and not an ant or a fish? If you're a Theist, then you have been conditioned to believe that it's OK to kill an ant or a fish. The ant, no one gives a second thought about. Same goes for spiders. With a fish, yes, some people throw a fish back into the ocean purely for hunting purposes.

So why do you have a problem in killing a perfectly healthy cat or dog? Is it because they're larger in size? In comparison to the rest of the universe, that hardly makes any difference. If it's because they're cuddly and cute, then you base your reasoning on asthetics. Who wants to kill something cuddly and cute?!!? Thus, the hypocracy of humans.

Do not most Theistic beliefs dictate that all living creatures are creations of a supreme being? If so, then you shouldn't be killing that creepy spider or cockroach crawling across your kitchen counter top. Nor should you be killing the innocent tiny creatures that inhabit your body that are killed when you take hot showers on the surface of your skin. And don't claim ignorance.

What's my point in this? My point is, that this universe, with the power that supplies our world with sunlight, is the SOLE driving force of life. Therefore, ants, cockroaches, fish, cats, dogs, humans, elephants, all plant life, are a reactionary result of sunlight on our planet Earth. Everything on this Earth is equal.

Once you understand that, then you understand that humans have no special place in the universe. In fact, our planet has no special place in the universe. Nor does any other planet in the universe. They're all the same.

I haven't told people this comparison, because I know that people will cut me down for this. But frankly, there isn't any difference between us and the mold that grows on your stale bread. If you truly understand what I've said previously, then you'll understand our place in this universe. The universe will not react at all if our planet is removed from its solar system. So please disregard your ego and understand, TRULY understand, our place in the universe.

"It's A Miracle!!!"

I couldn't sleep. I've had this on my brain since I laid my head to rest tonight after several hours of drive time back from seeing my wife's side of the family for a party. I think you know how that goes.

While I was sitting on the couch, waiting for my wife to request my assistance with anything the party may need, her sister sat to rest and told a short story. This is what I recall from the story.

An acquaintance of hers was on a very long road trip to a Tea Party meeting. He has supposedly given up everything he has financially to support the cause. His car broke down in a small town on the way to a Tea Party meeting. He got it to a local repair shop. The repairman said that the cost to fix his car would outweigh the value of the car. In other words, it wasn't worth the cost to repair the car.

That night, he sat in his car with no where to go. He prayed to god and asked what he should do next. It began to rain. He began to cry out of desperation asking god what must he do next.

The next morning, the repair shop called him to inform him that they realized that his car could be fixed for a small cost and they could do it in a very timely manner. They were wrong about the diagnosis of his car. His prayers were answered.

When my sister-in-law told this story, I replied with, "He's lucky". She turned to me, and said, with much conviction, that "No, it's a miracle!!!". And she said it so vehemently, as to accuse me of being a non-believer in miracles; that this was an act of god.

It's a miracle? Really? OK, let's break this down...

A guy has car trouble on a road trip and takes it into a local car repair shop/garage. They diagnose it for him and tell him that the engine is hosed and will cost a ton more to fix it than it's worth.

The guy breaks down crying and starts praying to god for help in the rain. What a wus. Sounds more like a scene from a bad movie to me.

The next day, the mechanic calls him to tell him that it won't cost nearly as much to fix it and they can have it ready that day. REALLY!!!! What state was this guy in? Alabama? Did he play the banjo and look retarded? Do you think that MAYBE, this guy was being duped into believing his car was totaled so they could resell it themselves? Oh, there I go again, talking common sense again. Pardon me.

If you want my honest opinion, the guy was trying to be HAD by a couple of inbred mechanics in a small town out of nowhere. When they realized that he couldn't pay the price they were asking for, they decided that, OH! We found the REAL problem! We can have you fixed up in a jiffy for a fraction of the cost. In other words, they just wanted your ass out of here.

Miracles? No. Logical explanations? Yes.

David Kiely Should Be FIRED

Why is this even on the table? Why are people even talking about this?

David Kiely, who works for a bank, was in the background on a live TV report looking at semi-nude pictures of an Australian model. He claims he got the pictures from an e-mail. As one of his other peers at work was being interviewed, his monitor screen and the back of his head is in clear view to the camera that caught him looking at the pictures.

His employer has put him on leave until they decide the fate of his employment. Meanwhile, there is an online petition showing their support for this guy and they believe what he did was not a big deal, and he should not be fired or reprimanded over it.

YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH (Office movie quote there).

Try telling that to my employer, or most anyone else's employer! In this day and age, almost every employer that provides Internet access to their employees has an entire paragraph in the employee manual dedicated to the misuse of company resources and the misuse of Internet access. THIS INCLUDES E-MAIL! This is grounds for termination!

OK, if I were this guy, here's what I would have done.

1 - Chances are, this e-mail he got is from someone he already knows. Probably a male friend of his around his same age and he wanted to share some sexy pics with him. Since he probably already knows the sender, it would be pretty obvious to me that the attachments or graphics in the mail are NOT going to be work related. I've had this happen before to me. I simply tell my friend not to send me anything like this to my work e-mail, but to forward this stuff to my personal e-mail account. And even then, I'm not crazy about getting that kind of stuff to my e-mail.

2 - Even if this guy was checking his personal e-mail account at work, THAT'S MISUSE OF COMPANY RESOURCES AND INTERNET ACCESS! Again - most people can get fired over using the Internet for their personal use!

3 - It's not like the guy opened it and said, "OOPS! I should close this!" He actually pulls up one picture, closes it, opens another one and so on. He knew exactly what he was doing.

If I can get fired over that behavior at work, why shouldn't he?!?! GROW UP PEOPLE!!! There's a line of other unemployed and overqualified people standing in line just waiting to have his guy's job and yours as well!

Entropy - Revisited

I'm at work, and I'm staring at my snack container of dehydrated blueberries, cranberries and walnuts. How delicious! But as I look at my container of trail mix, I see Entropy at work. Entropy is a measure of the number of ways in which a system may be arranged, often taking to be a measure of disorder. I also see thermodynamics at work as well.

So, you may ask yourself, how can my trail mix be so entertaining? It's because there's not a lot of difference between us, the world around us, and my container of trail mix. My trail mix is still thermodynamically at work, processing oxygen and progressively getting stale. And that's exactly what happens as we get older. Our bodies progressively get stale. Although our personalities may not. Us heat transference mechanisms are always at work, aren't they?

Don't you love all the doom and gloom I blog about? I know, it sucks. All we are is dust in the wind. Wow... That might make a great song. Let us meditate over this at level 3. That's a Zardoz reference, FYI.

Prayer is Stupid

There's only 1 reason why people pray. They want something. It doesn't matter if they want something for themselves or someone else. They may want health, safety, world peace, or a new high-def television. But the person praying *wants* something.

Isn't it a sin to pray for something you want? Ah - there's a caveat. You can pray for things like world peace and it's OK to want that. I see. Seems like there's so many rules to religion and what you can or can't do. Do you think it's possible that religious leaders make this stuff up as they go? NAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWW!!!

So, let's say for example that a member of my family is dying (which nobody is right now, it's just an example). If I were religious, as most of my family is, they're going to pray that they recover. Well, if it's in "god's plan" that they die a slow and terrible death, then aren't you praying AGAINST god's will? And how do you know what god's will is anyway?

OK, I'll skip that and move on.

Let's say that family member is dying and now everyone in my family is praying for their recovery. What does god think of this? Is he/she/it saying to themselves, "Gee. I was going to kill Aunt Birtha because I was going to make that part of my grand scheme of the universe. But with all of those people praying to me and worshiping me, I guess I'll let her live and change my grand scheme of things AGAIN, just for them."

Going on that logic, what if my entire family is Atheist or Agnostic, so no one is praying for Aunt Birtha? What would god think then? "My grand plan of the universe is going as planned, and I'm about to kill Aunt Birtha. Her family better turn over a new leaf and start worshiping me, or I'm going to kill Aunt Birtha. HA! They're still not praying! OK Aunt Birtha, because you're family obviously doesn't believe in me, nor will they bow down to me, I'm going to kill you. You can blame you family for this one."

Do you really think that god becomes a "softy" when you pray to him? Do you really think he has a naughty/nice list and passes judgement accordingly?

You know, when an earthquake hits and thousands of lives are lost, they're lost because of physical injuries sustained from falling buildings. Not because it's at the hand of god. There's a reason for a reason for a reason throughout the universe. And NONE of it involves any god.

Remember that philosophical question posed about several people dying on a bridge or on an airplane? The premise is that a group of persons die together at the same time because they all have something in common which dictates that their destiny be fulfilled amongst others who's destinies are in alignment with each other. WHAT A LOAD OF BULLSHIT.

Here's the true meaning and reason for praying. People want to find reason for why the universe is so cold and unforgiving. If they can put a reason on it, then they get that warm and fuzzy feeling inside of themselves and they can continue their lives living with that crutch. They don't want to feel helpless either. The people of Haiti feel helpless, and for good reason. So the only thing they can do, beside help their neighbor, is pray. Is prayer going to lift that building up off of your family? No. Workers and heavy machinery are going to, and only when they can. So your mother may die waiting for the diggers to arrive. God didn't take your mother's life. Her circumstance did.

So if people who gather in groups to pray shouldn't pray, then what should they do? They should do everything else that most people do when they attend church. Sing as a group, but sing about something else other than a god. Laugh as a group. Tell positive stories. Hug and hold each other. Support each other. Give to each other, to the ones that need what you already have. Power in numbers, people. There is POWER IN NUMBERS. People think that they're gathering in groups for the power of prayer. But what they're really doing is collecting power in their numbers for the same cause. Power in numbers is the way anything gets done in this world, not prayer. That's where you get your TRUE warm and fuzzy feelings from. If you must have that warm and fuzzy feeling inside of you, then I hope you find it in the company of other people rather than being alone and speaking or thinking to yourself, and believing that some god can hear your thoughts.