The Real God: An Epiphany (by DarkMatter2525)
“Because I was constantly being told that I’m rejecting God, and I knew that wasn’t true, I decided to research rejection, which made me aware of its effects. My studies took me in a completely unexpected direction. The epiphany (pun intended) was rather shocking. The evidence indicates that the personal god is a manifestation of the ego, which explains a plethora of theistic tendencies, including their typical dislike of atheists, who theists subconsciously perceive to be rejecting a part of themselves. God is Tyler Durden; and the first rule of Jesus Club is you have to talk about Jesus Club. The second rule of Jesus Club is you have to talk about Jesus Club.”
Wow, this video pretty much proves that Bill O’Reilly is a moron. Only the Earth has a moon so that makes us special in this Universe and therefore must prove that god exists? Hmm. Someone didn’t pay very much attention in Astronomy class! Tsk Tsk, Billy boy.
- Mars Moons - 2
- Jupiter Moons - 63 (at least)
- Saturn Moons - 60 (some bigger than other planets)
- Uranus Moons - 27
- Neptune Moons - 13
How did *our* moon get there?
The prevailing hypothesis today is that the Earth–Moon system formed as a result of a giant impact: a Mars-sized body hit the nearly formed proto-Earth, blasting material into orbit around the proto-Earth, which accreted to form the Moon. Giant impacts are thought to have been common in the early Solar System. Computer simulations modelling a giant impact are consistent with measurements of the angular momentum of the Earth–Moon system, and the small size of the lunar core; they also show that most of the Moon came from the impactor, not from the proto-Earth. However, meteorites show that other inner Solar System bodies such as Mars and Vesta have very different oxygen and tungsten isotopic compositions to the Earth, while the Earth and Moon have near-identical isotopic compositions. Post-impact mixing of the vaporized material between the forming Earth and Moon could have equalized their isotopic compositions, although this is debated.
Ugh, that’s terrible. I guess anything he hasn’t taken the time to understand=MAGIC! At first I was going to say he sounds like a two-year-old (Why does this happen? What does that do? etc.) but that would be an insult to children because they actually want to learn something about the world.
I, for one, was never indoctrinated, and nevertheless I’m angry. I’m angry that these scams (that’s what I’ll call them) have such horrible effects on the world. I’m angry that millions of Catholic kids get permanently traumatized with visions of hell, and permanently riddled with guilt about “sins” like masturbation. I’m angry that priests, under cover of their own superior wisdom and spirituality, sexually victimize their flocks. I’m angry that mullahs are calling for their followers to kill innocent people, while other more “liberal” mullahs refrain from calls for murder but don’t decry those murders when they occur. I’m angry that thousands of Africans will die because the Pope and his priests won’t sanction condoms for their flock. I’m angry that many religions see, and treat, women as second-class citizens, stoning them, swathing them in burkas, or making them sit behind screens in the synagogue and purify themselves in ritual baths during menstruation. I’m angry at the stupid dogmatism that’s behind creationism, and behind the idea that even if evolution might have happened, God did it all. I’m angry at the faithful who dispute global warming, or environmental depredation, because they think God gave us stewardship over the earth. I’m angry at those people who oppose abortion or stem-cell research because of the absolutely stupid idea that a ball of cells is equivalent to a sentient person. I’m angry at the faithful who, on religious grounds, prevent suffering and terminally ill people from deciding to end their own lives. I’m angry that one of the greatest pleasures of being human, the act of sex, is subject to insane restrictions and prohibitions by many faiths—especially when it’s between two people of the same gender.
And I’m angry that religious people try to suppress freedom of speech when it deals with religion, trying to prevent us from calling attention to all this damage.
—Jerry Coyne, “Pigliucci calls out atheists again”, Why Evolution Is True blog (via antallan)
I generally like Ricky Gervais and this is a good article. I just watched his new special on HBO last night, however, and it was mostly unfunny and offensive. Quite disappointing.
Why do Catholics have to prop up this concept of original sin? Because Jesus’s sacrifice makes no sense if it wasn’t done to atone for a universal crime. We all must have inherited that sin, or some of us are innocent and Jesus was irrelevant to us. Can’t have that! That would mean we weren’t subject to the domain of Christianity.
Of course, even if it were true that all 6.7 billion of us were descended from just two people, that doesn’t mean the whole principle of atonement by a proxy blood sacrifice isn’t stupid and irrational. I personally don’t feel that I need redemption from some imaginary crime that my many times great grandmother committed (I’d actually say “You go, Grandma!” if I could — disobeying a psychopathic tyrant seems rather commendable to me), and even if I did, having some mysterious third party get tortured to death does not alleviate my guilt in the slightest.
—PZ Myers, Sunday Sacrilege: Cant can’t : Pharyngula
Foreskin Follies (via TheThinkingAtheist)
Ewww!
Lack of belief in gods (via QualiaSoup)
“Now that we’ve learned how to destroy all life on our planet, we can no longer afford to indulge in the comforts and rationalizations of magical thinking.”
Hands Off! (via TheThinkingAtheist)
Another episode of “Our Bloodthirsty Bible.”
If god saved the Chilean miners, he also put them down there.
This was a human achievement, stop fucking taking that away by giving credit to a non-existent being.
You want someone to thank? Thank the drillers, the engineers, the aid workers, the medics, the psychologists…. They worked 24/7 and they are the ones who deserve the praise.
Hear, hear.
Do physicists believe in God? (via sixtysymbols)
I adore the looks on their faces when asked this question :-)
On disrespecting god.
I am a beautiful, intelligent, confident, and capable 18 year old girl (or woman… fuck if I know). I have beautiful eyes and lips but my huge-as-fuck nose throws it all off. It isn’t RIDICULOUSLY huge, but having a straight and petite nose would lead me to resemble the spawn of Brangelina. I’m risking sounding like a vain douchebag so you know that I’m not a whiny and insecure bimbo looking to feel better about herself. I know I’m beautiful. I’ve been raised to believe that getting plastic surgery would be disrespectful to God. The act of getting a nose job would basically tell God, “You didn’t do a good job”. I’m on the fence between respecting God and flipping him off while on the surgeon’s table. I’m considering alternative ideologies and ways of thinking apart from the ubiquitous mythology of creation/hero/deity/whatever, that is the Bible. You are enlightened in areas that my mid-western, “aw shucks” self is not. My question is, nose job or not? Would it be worth it?
Sweetheart, there is no god. Get a fucking nose job if you want one.I know you’re just a kid, but I really can’t abide the kind of thick skulled arrogance it takes to believe that the creator of the universe would give a flying fuck whether you snip off the tip of your nose, especially considering this is the same sadistic creator from the retarded mythology where all the men are required to snip off the tips of their dicks.
Normally I’d give you a bucket of shit for all your self-indulgent god talk, but I get the sense that you’re about to start exercising your rational mind in the face of your irrational belief system for the very first time in your life, so I say again, there is no god.
That’s right. There is no invisible man in the sky with a moral objection to your vanity, which means you can’t disrespect what doesn’t exist.
Don’t worry. It’s really no big deal. Right is still right. Wrong is still wrong. You still know the difference, which is why it’s perfectly acceptable — and yes, a little bit vain — to get a nose job.
Now go be a good person, and try not to be so fucking superficial.
Brilliant! Sometimes some snark is just what’s called for…
