I Wish it was 2013

A couple of weekends ago Princess and I went to see the new movie 2012. I went to see it with two things in mind.

1. They would get the science wrong.


2. The effects will probably be awesome.

I was right on both counts. They twist the science in knots in order to further the plot, but the special effects were freakin' awesome. Major geologic events culiminating in the eruption of the Yellowstone Caldera, and tsunamis of unreal proportions. Entire countries even turn into vast lava fields.

When we left the theater I wasn't disappointed, but I also wasn't wondering if what was shown could happen. In other words the effects were spectacular, but the science wasn't nearly as good as say... Deep Impact.

Still a movie is a movie. The writers and directors take a certain amount of artistic license in order to bring the viewer in (both into the theater and into the movie itself). Unfortunately, the movie itself is based upon the belief, by some, that the world is going to end on December 21st, 2012.

Last week at work we had a bit of a discussion about the movie, and one of my coworkers brought up the 2012 doomsday prophecies. If it had been just a topic of discussion I would probably have enjoyed talking about it, but this coworker had a note of worry in his voice and talked about what he'd heard as if he'd read it in Scientific American. Here's a hint. He didn't.

Oddly enough, I was able to supply more information about the prophecies than he could. He could only go by what the grapevine had supplied, but I'd actually done some reading on it. Granted, my study was out of curiosity but he actually showed a hint of fear. He brought up the "science" (and I use the quotes because the science was virtually non-existent) in the movie and I explained the reality. I debunked everything that was brought up, but by the end he was still giving the prophecies (and the movie) infinitely more credibility than they deserve, since they deserve no credibility at all.

Then yesterday Phil Plait wrote a post about 2012. In the post he links to a 2012 article by Information is Beautiful. It's a terrific article to link to if you know someone is genuinely concerned about the world ending prophecy. It takes each aspect of it and gives the believer's view and the skeptical findings.

Unfortunately, no amount of information will convince some that there's nothing to worry about. It won't be until December 22nd of 2012 that they'll breathe easier, and even then there will be another end-of-the-world scenario that'll gain attention and it will all start over again.

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Nonexistent Skin

There's an idiom about someone "having a thin skin". It refers to someone that you find "to be insensitive (or acutely sensitive) to blame, criticism, insults, etc." Recently, some people have voiced opposition to things that show their skin to be not just thin, but nonexistent.

My last post was on the CinCOR billboard and the accompanying poll. Unfortunately, there's more to the story. The billboard was originally erected in Over-the-Rhine, but the owner of the property received so many threats that the billboard company moved it to the Queensgate area. What was the wording on the billboard that allegedly caused the owner to receive threats and for 79% of those in the internet poll to feel offended?

Don't Believe in God?
You are not alone.

WOW! I can see what's got people so worked up.

Wait... no I can't.

Is it offensive for them to find out that others don't buy into their particular brand of delusion and dogma, or is it that others like me had the audacity to put such a message up on a billboard? Either way those who are "offended" seem as intolerant as they are constantly accusing atheists of being.

If the billboard had said something like

There [probably] is no God, so get on with your life!

Need God? Then you need a psychologist even more.

Theology: What happens when mythology meets gullibility.

or

Having trouble justifying your hate and bigotry? We've got a passage that'll help.

Give me about $4,000 and I'll show them something really offensive.

Just a little ways north of Cincinnati is the Butter Jesus. According to 79% of those polled I should be offended at it. However, I'm not. It's an eyesore and a waste of money that could have been better spent on other things, but it's not offensive to me.

However, AiG has a billboard that I find offensive. It shows a child pointing a gun at the camera and asks:

If God doesn't matter
to him, do you?

If they hadn't included the child holding the gun, I probably wouldn't find it offensive. It would actually make a great conversation opener.

Those who are offended by the billboard are probably offended by everything that doesn't fall inline with their particular mythol... personal philosophy. That could probably include other sects of Christianity that doesn't fit with their view of what Christianity should be. Since they seem to find my existence offensive, it may comfort them to know that I find their views depressing. Of course, they could find that offensive, too.

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Atheist Billboards in Cincinnati

There is an atheist billboard up in the Over-The-Rhine section of Cincinnati (video here), put up by CinCOR. There's also a poll.

Are you offended by an Atheist or Agnostic billboard?

Yes
No

Thank you for participating in our poll. Here are the results so far:

Yes 79%

No 21%

Perhaps the poll should be Pharyngulated.

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Atheist Analogy #3: Religious Experience

Due to an influx of SPAM on the original post, I had to duplicate it in hopes of clearing up my email.

This atheist analogy is about religious experience. Religious experience can take many forms for different people. For some it's just a euphoria that fills them when they are listening to their pastor or praying, for others it involves speaking in tongues, and for others it involves the use of hallucinogens.

Growing up in a rural town in the Appalachian Mountains I got to witness quite a few examples of the first two. However, the only common local drug was cannabis, and that was used for recreational purposes. Keep in mind that where I grew up the Pentecostal and Baptist religions were virtually the only regional religions for many years. In such a culturally isolated location it wasn't very difficult for the fundamentalist and evangelical churches to thrive.

There wasn't a time that I didn't go to church and see someone nearby standing, holding their hands up, and saying "Thank you, Jesus" or some other platitude. Usually this involved a slight swaying to their stance, reminiscent of seeing someone inebriated.

Speaking in tongues was also fairly normal. There were few churches in my localized area that didn't have occurences, and most had them with each service. For a few, the platitudes that I spoke of above would be replaced with an inarticulate babbling, and quite often with trembling. Others would run around among the pews and people, holding their hands up and loudly making noises similar to the babbling of the more sedate group but higher in volume.

Since I grew up with these sorts of occurences, I found them normal when attending a service. It wasn't until I in my teens, and attended a few churches further removed from my locale that I noticed that not everyone did it. Later examinations of the occurences in the churches I regularly attended seemed to show some correlation between the self-viewed "piety" of the person and the severity of their experience.

Like many others I found myself wondering why I didn't share the same experience as the others. I prayed and "listened" for any sort of response, but I never felt the euphoria that the others seemed to experience. However, I did find that other things could give me a similar experience.

Some of you may have listened to music that elicited an emotional response. It was music that caused, and causes, a catharsis for me. A song with just the right combination of tone, rhythm, and "message" can bring on that euphoric religious experience that I witnessed so often growing up. I've even found that simply standing in an isolated location with a wonderful view, which there is no shortage of where I grew up, can cause me to feel calmer and more at ease and peaceful.

In the ~20 years since my discovery I've had several "religious experiences", but none of them have occured inside of a church or during prayer. Anything that can cause a strong emotion causes the same reaction from me (minus the running around and babbling) that I witnessed in those who I attended church services with. However, I don't find it necessary to call upon the supernatural to have a religious experience. I just allow myself to experience the beauty of the world around me.

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Another Annoying Email

With the twins still not sleeping and most of my mental faculties being devoted to work, feeding, and diaper changes I haven't had much time or inclination to post. However, the coworker who sent out the Death Panel email sent me another one last week. This one wasn't about health care, though. Instead it was about evolution.

SOMEBODY'S RAISING THEIR KID RIGHT!

One Nation, 'Under God'.

One day a 6 year old girl was sitting in a
classroom. The teacher was going to explain
evolution to the children. The teacher asked
a little boy: Tommy do you see the tree
outside?

TOMMY: Yes.

TEACHER: Tommy, do you see the grass outside?

TOMMY: Yes.

TEACHER: Go outside and look up and see if you can see the sky.

TOMMY: Okay. (He returned a few minutes later) Yes, I saw the sky.

TEACHER: Did you see God up there?

TOMMY: No.

TEACHER: That's my point. We can't see God because he isn't there. Possibly he just doesn't exist.

A little girl spoke up and wanted to ask the boy some questions.

The teacher agreed and the little girl asked the boy: Tommy, do you see the tree outside?
TOMMY: Yes.
LITTLE GIRL: Tommy do you see the grass outside?

TOMMY: Yessssss!

LITTLE GIRL: Did you see the sky?

TOMMY: Yessssss!

LITTLE GIRL: Tommy, do you see the teacher?

TOMMY: Yes

LITTLE GIRL: Do you see her brain?

TOMMY: No

LITTLE GIRL: Then according to what we were taught today in school, she possibly may not even have one!

(You Go Girl!)

'FOR WE WALK BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT'

II CORINTHIANS 5:7

Don't forget to pass this on! I love this one.
Everyone should send this to everyone they know, especially today with prayer restricted in schools. Forward if you believe in GOD!!!!

Perhaps it's the lack of sleep or just my irritation at people forwarding falsehoods, but I took a little bit of time to respond. Of course, I also have to work with this person (and share a cubicle with him) so I tried to keep it as diplomatic as I could.

Some responses:


1. E Pluribus Unum “ Out of many, one” – The original motto for the United States.


2. Biology is not being taught to 1st or 2nd graders. Evolution isn’t covered until middle to high school, depending on locale.[I found out since that it's only taught in high school]


3. The fictional teacher in the story didn’t even cover anything pertaining to evolution.


4. Any teacher in a public school would have been fired (or at least suspended) for such an act. Teachers are there to teach their classes, not to put forth their views on religion. If a student were to bring up their religion during a study of evolution, the most the teach could say is that the class is about biology not theology.


5. Matthew 6:6
   "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."


6. The only restriction on prayer in schools is that a school official (teacher, principal, etc.) cannot lead, require, sanction, schedule or suggest that any students pray. Each student is free to devote their free time (time not participating in classes) in any way that they like. However, the students do not have the right to impose prayer on others during school hours. Think of it this way. What if the teacher was a Pagan, Wiccan, or Muslim? Would you want them leading your children (or in your case, grandchildren) in prayer?

This is my blog, though, and I don't have to be so diplomatic.

Perhaps someone will eventually come up with an original theme to this glurge. I've heard variations of it before. From the violence of a Navy SEAL to a piece of unbreakable chalk. The only difference with this one is the age group. And that leads me to my next point.

The protagonists in these stories are getting younger. It used to be college students, and now they have a six year old one-upping a teacher. Their delusions must be getting stronger since the adult cdesign proponentsists lost a court case in Pennsylvania.

Also, the girl's response was fallacious. The teacher spoke in a coherent manner. In order for a person to do so takes a functioning brain. We can't see the wind, but we can see the effects that it has. The same goes for the brain. If a person is able to voice ideas and move about with purpose then it stands to reason that they have a brain. However, if they insist that there's an invisible friend watching over everything they do and telling them what to do it's questionable how functional their brain is.

It's subtle, but when you get to the end you find out what the entire email is about. It's the fear that while the children are away from the parents that the indoctrination they receive at home and in church is being undermined by our secular school system. Apparently, anyone who believes that evolution is the best natural explanation of the diversity of life on earth is a non-believer. Unfortunately, they don't realize that a number of Christians think that God is the one who authored the process.

As you may have guessed, I'm not going to be forwarding this email on to anyone. It may be some feel good superiority endorsing glurge for the believers, but for me it's an irritating lie. There are so many holes in the story that it's telling that it has went around enough to eventually make it around to my inbox (FYI, one of the people who sent the email is in the public school system). Do the forwarders and writer actually believe that is how evolution is approached, do they really think that evolution is so ingrained in schools that it's taught to primary school children, or is this just a way for them to feel superior over those who've actually followed where the evidence leads instead of a two millenia old book of mythology?

The only positive that I saw to this email, compared to others, is that it wasn't touted as a true story. Other than that it's an epic fail. It gives an "either with us or against us" message, doesn't even address the topic of the email, perpetuates the lie, by insinuation, that prayer isn't allowed in schools, and promotes ignorance over examining the evidence. The entire email is a collection of bullshit written to make evolution denialists feel better about their beliefs. After all, if a six year old can outsmart her teacher, shouldn't they be able to outsmart the overwhelming scientific consensus?

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