Archive for February, 2009
50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God: Part 1 of 5
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
Dividing this into five parts, the following are part of “the fifty commonly heard reasons that people often give for believing in a god” addressed in Guy Harrison’s book, intuitively titled, 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God. The commentary after each “reason” is my own. I’ll post the remaining parts of this examination in the future. (Caveat: I haven’t read the book. If you have, feel free to place your comments in this post.)
1. My god is obvious.
This reason is often given by the short-sighted and narrow-thinking believer who charmingly assumes that since nature, the world, and the universe all exist and are so gosh darn awe-inspiring, the next leap of logic must simply be a God as creator. This is comparable to the savage who credits the “movement” of the sun as being the result of our heliosphere being towed by a magical being’s celestial chariot. The difference is that a primitive culture lacks sufficient exposure to modernity and, hence, hasn’t been told any better. The only thing that is obvious is the believer’s oblique admission that he or she lacks the same answers as everyone else, except that he or she can’t deal with that and needs to hastily tack a cheap guess onto it. Your god isn’t obvious. Your motives are.
2. Almost everybody on Earth is religious.
To approach this, terms have to be defined. If by “religious,” one means that human beings are predisposed to ritual activity or behavior — religiosity, in a sense — then, yes, almost everyone is “religious” as evidenced by prayer meetings, church attendance, rock concerts, Super Bowl parties, and political rallies, to name a few of many. Of course, most users of the above phrase probably mean to assert that everyone believes in and perhaps even worships an exteriorized God. It’s patent absurdity, but in these times of secular advancement, one needs propaganda — yea, even desperate and easily disproved propaganda.
3. Faith is a good thing.
Much of what even the most moderate God religious adherents would label as “good” acts of faith are, to me, weakness, subservience, and an invitation to being manipulated, and, of course, the “bad” acts (inquisitions, crusades, jihads, sexism, torture, genocide, etc, ad nauseam) pretty much speak for themselves. Aside from the actions that stem from faith, the very need for faith is little more than a childish desire to flee from reality. And spare me the “I know God” routine. You do not. Rather, you believe. And faith and knowledge are not the same thing, nor can they ever be. Check your dictionary. Reliance upon a rejection of facts and allowing your life to be guided by silly, archaic beliefs is a character flaw at best and a mental illness at worse.
4. Archaeological discoveries prove that my god exists.
Archaeologists discovered some artifacts that may or may not prove that a large number of uneducated and primitive desert cultists unquestionably believed the same thing you do. That does not imply or even validate divinity, and to claim this as any sort of evidence to the existence of an actual deity is deluded. Except in Indiana Jones movies, of course.
5. Only my god can make me feel significant.
Translation: “Only my creation of a concept called God and then believed to be real and, hence, bigger than myself makes me feel significant.” This is externalization of the ego (something I wrote a bit about in Bearing The Devil’s Mark), pure and simple — a position for slaves. Anyone who requires outside sources to make them feel “significant” is of actually little significance and is masking their insecurity and self-hatred with a thin veneer of Jesus, or Allah, or whatever flavor of spirituality hides the truth from themselves. Nietzsche would probably have some good advice for these lost souls — something about leaving this world to those who actually want to live in it.
6. Atheism is just another religion.
This is blatant knee-jerk reaction to the apparently threatening literature from authors such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and others. Atheism isn’t even a philosophy, let alone a religion. Atheism is a position, a stance, and nothing else. At its core, it is defined as the lack of a belief in a God, and NOT the disbelief of God. There’s a meaningful difference there for those who have at least half a brain. If some wish to project their individual compulsion to worship onto something more palatable than the God religions, such as on atheism, it doesn’t follow that something called “atheism” is requiring or even demanding that of its position holders. Another term to look up in the dictionary if this confuses you: non sequitur.
7. Evolution is bad.
Lima beans are bad. Tuesdays are bad. Movie remakes are bad. Seems anything can be “bad” if you just heap a few disparaging descriptives upon it and wish really hard that everyone buys your harsh opinions. And if you can’t qualify your claim, all the better. Of course, only children can get away with this form of illogic because they have a developmental excuse. What “bad” means here is that it inconveniently gets in the way of creationist disinformation taking root, in the same way that the Internet is bad because it might provide someone with information that might challenge preconceptions, make one examine previously held beliefs, and come to individual conclusions based on having a complete picture.
8. Our world is too beautiful to be an accident.
This is almost #1 restated, but with a slight spin. Viewing the world as merely beautiful is to deprive your naive brain of all of the turmoil, struggle, bloodshed, disaster, and other unsightly realities that flit across your TV screen but must simply be rare because they don’t happen with such relative frequency in your quiet and quaint little hamlet. Both creation and destruction comprise our world, which is more than enough proof that, were there to be a controlling deity, it would be an abomination worthy of rejection. But keep selectively looking at your world as just rainbows and daffodils.
9. My god created the universe.
Your “god” has a whole lot of competition from other “gods,” all claiming sole credit for universal design, which is one hell of a public relations problem. It also speaks to a lack of control and, in short, incompetence from your so-called “higher power,” ultimately pointing to an embarrassing absence of omniscience. Seems your god is as flawed as you are, which of course would make total sense considering your god’s creator. Hint: you.
10. Believing in my god makes me happy.
An extension of #5, to be sure. Having some sort of psychological security blanket dyed in a deep, delusional religious belief to boost its efficacy still doesn’t validate your God’s existence. Welcome to the Placebo Effect. Your happiness is an evasion, a detour from all that conflicts with your wishful thinking, and is no more valid because of the end result. If I huff a can of spray paint, I’ll get quite a rush but it most certainly will not be a revelatory experience. Except, of course, that I probably shouldn’t huff paint… in this absolutely hypothetical example. You might actually benefit from getting your face out of your own caustic fume bag of spirituality and facing the thinking world.
(to be continued…)
3 commentsApple/YouTube Linkdump: 2/26/09
Ever wonder who designed all of those lovely, lovely Macs? Why, he’s Jonathan Ive, that’s who.- Jeremy Mehrle has turned the basement of his home into a private Mac museum (and, yes, he has 53 more than I do).
- Steve Wozniak gets interviewed on The Hour about his autobiography, the beginnings of Apple, DRM, and more.
- 1977 thru 1984 – A time capsule film made for use at the Apple International Sales Meeting held in Hawaii during October 1984.
- Behind the scenes of Apple’s famous 1984 commercial, followed by the actual spot. Still gives me chills to this day.
- Before the Macintosh, there was the Lisa.
Dirt Cookies: Not So Delicious
One would think that the ongoing process of having to import dirt, buy dirt, cook dirt and then feed dirt to their offspring would sooner or later impart just enough sense to these not-so-bright women to NOT breed. Ah, but we don’t all live in a world of basic reasoning, let alone forward thinking, so the almost useless nation of Haiti brings us this story that would seem ripped straight from The Onion if it wasn’t for the lack of an intended punchline. So, enjoy the implied one, and the smiles on those darling little moppets as they gobble down sewage-soaked dirt cakes with an almost perverse glee. That’s it, kids… just pretend they’re really big macaroons. And when you grow up and discover the 500+ year-old invention of condoms, remember… USE them, don’t eat them!
1 commentQ Transmissions Interview with Magister Lang
Church of Satan Magister Robert A. Lang recently braved the somewhat tedious and occasionally projecting questions of Q Transmissions, a skeptical talk show in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. As the Great White North’s primary representative for Satanism, Magister Lang discusses the purpose of ritual, the power of the “S” word, Lesser Magic, and more. To download and listen to the entire mp3 interview, click here.
3 commentsQuotes from The Book of Satanic Quotations
“The true believer… if he is somewhat sophisticated, justifies and even glorifies his invincible stupidity as a ‘leap of faith’ or ’sacrifice of the intellect.’… Such people are, quite literally, idiots — originally a Greek word meaning an individual so isolated that you can’t communicate with him.”
- Alan Watts
“Imagine the people who believe such things and who are not ashamed to ignore, totally, all the patient findings of thinking minds through all the centuries since the Bible was written. And it is these ignorant people, the most uneducated, the most unimaginative, the most unthinking among us, who would make themselves the guides and leaders of us all; who would force their feeble and childish beliefs on us; who would invade our schools and libraries and homes.”
- Isaac Asimov
“He [the Devil] appears as the critic of the good Lord, as the representative of discontent with existing conditions, he inspires men with the desire for an increase of wealth, power and knowledge; he is the mouth-piece of all who are anxious for a change in matters political, social, and ecclesiastical. He is identified with the spirit of progress so inconvenient to those who are satisfied with the existing state of things, and thus he is credited with innovations of all kinds…”
-Paul Carus
“He who seeks equality between unequals, seeks an absurdity.”
- Benedictus de Spinoza
Want more quotes? Pick up a copy of The Book of Satanic Quotations today!
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Review: His Name Was Jason
Although the official 30th anniversary of FT13 is in May (because I’m a picky bastard that way), His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th spans all 12 movies and is largely comprised of interview “talking heads” of cast and crew, discussing their experiences with their respective installments of the series. I’ll be honest with you, it’s often a whole lot of static-shot interviews, a format that might be enough for some fans but others might be wanting more in terms of behind-the-scenes footage and shooting sites revisited. There’s some of that here, but not enough.
Director Daniel Farrands (who has also flirted with the Halloween franchise via writing and producing) dug up an impressive number of FT13 veterans, though sorely missing are at least a few notables: Steve Miner(!), Crispin Glover, and Corey Feldman really come to mind. Watching this doc, you can really feel their absence and can’t help but wonder either who dropped the ball on that or if there were protests from the absentees themselves. (I know that Glover’s always been a little weird about the subject of his involvement with FT13, so that might cover him. It certainly couldn’t have been those amazing dance moves of his or anything.) Some of the interview time is padded out a wee bit with individuals in and around the world of horror, such as Seth Green, the guy from Bloody Disgusting, and even the lead actress from Sleepaway Camp, a movie that really presents the ultimate WTF ending for an ’80s slasher movie. But, a few of these non-FT13 people were, shall we say, extraneous. That’s a $10 word for someone should have given them the ax. Or machete, if you’re a Friday The 13th purist.
Providing segues to break up the interview sets is Mr. Tom Savini, gore effects godfather who was responsible for FT13’s splatter work in the first and fourth chapters. Savini gives us a lot of spooky fun dialogue amidst slightly-cheesy FT13 re-enactments loosely performed by nameless folks. I like the guy a great deal and respect his work (and his interviews are often entertaining), so I’m a little forgiving on this one. We’ll call the segues high camp and move on.
Of course, the book is discussed. For those not in-the-know, Crystal Lake Memories is pretty much the authoritative tome on all things FT13 and is chocked full of incredible stories, including the dirt. A smidge of that was discussed in the doc, but the book really did capture a level of candor and controversy between cast and crew that the doc almost seems to avoid. Let’s say that quite a few of the FT13 actors were very restrained and tactful in this film when they could have been quite otherwise. If you want those details, read the book.
And, yes, the new “re-imagined” version of FT13 (in theaters now) is also covered, which I was okay with even if the movie isn’t strictly canon. Of this material, I was especially taken with newest Jason, Derek Mears, who discusses his outsider childhood in relation to his connection to Mr. Voorhees. You get the idea that this isn’t just some random actor who couldn’t care less about the character and just wants a paycheck, but an actual fan.
The featurette of sorts (yes, more talking heads), entitled “The Men Behind The Mask” gathers all of the actors who’ve played Jason Voorhees and relays some of their experiences taking on the role of Crystal Lake’s main predator. I would very much recommend these interview clips as many of them should have been edited into the doc itself. That is to say that I do take some issue with the editing of His Name Was Jason and, if it wasn’t for the stellar content and interviewees, I would harp on the issue a heck of a lot more. Since it’s a two-disc set, just watch the whole thing and you’ll get a more complete story that way.
Despite its flaws, His Name Was Jason will be a delight to watch for the hardcore fans of Friday The 13th and its gruesome sequels, particularly getting to see and hear from so many of the franchise’s participants all in one place. Still, a little less filler and a bit more depth might have attracted more of the casual genre fans and those curious as to why this 30-year movie series is looked upon so fondly by both its fiercest devotees from decade pasts and its growing base of newer and younger fans — a simple fact that must drive Roger Ebert utterly bananas. At least, I hope so.
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