gdp's Comments

Reason Being : Christian Fundamentalism Encourages Ignorance

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:00:35 +0000

I have always been intrigued by Martin Luther's condemnation of reason as "Die verfluchte Huhre, Vernunft. (The damned whore, Reason). (See more of his quotes here: http://www.jesuscult.com/Luther_Anti-Reason.htm) Again, the stress of the cognitive dissonance must be horrific: modern society - including most religious people - revel in the technology that provides us with safer and more efficient cars, access to the worlds / universes of the internets, life-saving and -altering medical science, all of which are brought about through reason and logic and the scientific process, yet condemn any "knowledge" that appears as a threat to their fantastic notions about some all transcendent powerful being who hears the thoughts of every single individual and monitors their thoughts and intentions 24/7/365. Yet, while this transcendent being can't seem to communicate with us directly, can't make his purported "will" known in plain and simple terms, demands abnegation of all logic and suspension of scientific fact in order to save us from ourselves as "he" himself created us. It's poppycock. Balderdash. Hogwash. Crap. Seriously, folks, we're surrounded by insanity. Perhaps L. Ron Hubbard was onto something - perhaps Earth is an insane asylum for some sector of the galaxy! LOL!

Reason Being : Nonbeliever Nation

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 17:19:46 +0000

"I believe, as does Niose, that religion, the “culture wars” that stem from it, and the wave of anti-science/intellectualism will be defining moments of this century." I am reminded of Frank Herbert's "Dune" and his vague history of the destruction (many thousands of years previously) of computers and the technology of artificial intelligence. (I don't remember what historical name he gave it in the book, sorry.) I suppose it is rather silly to try to imagine what might happen if a theocracy ever does take control of the federal government, but I do wonder if it might not plunge western civilization (such as it is) into a new dark age. Just as the scientific and mathematical and humanistic writings of the Greek and Roman civilizations were preserved throughout the dark ages in the Arabic libraries of Spain, which when "discovered" gave rise to the humanistic facets of the Renaissance, where might the trove of current technical knowledge be discovered at the end of some new dark age? Religions are very good at destroying history through revisionism or even destruction - witness the lost religion of the Hawaiian islands. Temples stand in ruins, but the theology and lore is gone - forever! Just an idle supposing on a boring day at work. :)

Reason Being : You have the Right to Remain Stupid…

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 17:01:43 +0000

The law did pass - which is awfully sad. I don't mind people being stupid - I often feel that I'm surrounded by idiots - but I lament the fact that now, in 2012, in the United States, stupidity is being institutionalized by government.

Reason Being : The Catholic Dilemma

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 15:42:10 +0000

Loren - a prime and current example of the church *losing* power is Ireland. After the government's investigations and discovery of mountains of evidence, the Irish Prime Minister (I forget the Gaelic term), speaking as "The State" basically told the church to shut the hell up and go away. The thrust of his message was that Ireland is a sovereign state that kow tows to no one, and that the power of the church was broken. As he was speaking a minion was sent with a summons to the archbishop, ordering him to testify in further investigations: but it was never served, because the archbishop was on his way to the airport - conveniently "recalled" to the Vatican at just the right moment! Part of the agreement between the church and the Irish State to pay reparations to the tens of thousands of children that were repeatedly abused by priests and nuns and others was that the church would pay tens of millions of Euros. The deadlines came and went and no money was forthcoming from the Vatican. So the Irish State *confiscated* church property and sold it at auction! Brilliant! Not just a slap in the face, but a kick, I should think, to the Vatican's holy balls! The cumulative effect of the church's lies and cover ups and reneging is that the Irish are leaving the church in droves. The sheeple have rebelled and the Vatican's left pissing into the wind. Pretty much the same thing happened in Boston when Cardinal Law's cover ups were revealed... but he got a *very* cushy job in Rome as his "punishment". The archbishop of Milwaukee, Timothy Dolan, purportedly hid over $300 million in church funds so they could not be used to pay reparations to abused kids in that archdiocese. Further, the black kids that were abused got on average between 15% and 20% *LESS* money than did the white kids that were abused! Dolan's punishment was to be moved to New York where he's now a Cardinal - and the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops. The church, as you say, has NEVER been about the rights of the individual - unless the individual is a bishop or archbishop or cardinal who undertakes to hide the Vatican's dirty laundry. The leadership of the RC - bishops and above - are nothing more than corporate scum, 1%ers who care nothing for their followers except how to wring them dry and exploit them for money, power and political control. Scum. Filthy festering scum.

Reason Being : The De-Humanizing Nature of Christianity

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:12:20 +0000

The epic cognitive dissonance that believers must endure makes my head spin! Subsuming one's self, one's humanity and will responsibility for choices to the "will" of a supernatural being who purportedly exists beyond all reason and evidence would, in most circumstances, be considered lunacy - madness - insanity. Yet, when such abnegations are couched in religious terms, well that's just ducky, thank you very much. How do they do it? How do they deny their humanity in hopes of some pie-in-the-sky eternal beyond? It's depressing and disturbing and just plain wrong. Well - when I get upset about it I try to pity them. Doesn't always work. Heh heh.

Reason Being : Violence, Lies, Deceit, and Catholicism

Thu, 5 Jul 2012 17:34:00 +0000

I think Loren Miller has nailed it down quite nicely.

Atheist Revolution : Reflecting on American Exceptionalism

Wed, 4 Jul 2012 22:09:11 +0000

Thank you for the insights of your experience. I agree that the greatest danger to democracy and freedom in the US comes from within. The exercise of political power in the US seems to me to have bent toward one of several extremely high risk paths to world domination - but those powers are now struggling with high debt and deficits, a suffering (bleating?) middle class and the huge cost of the technology of war. These are treacherous waters and all of the pieces required to declare martial law on a national level are all in place. Chris Hedges claims martial law can be declared at just about any time. Are we already doomed? Can democracy survive in the US? At what cost? And in what form? I am greatly alarmed - and there's damned little I can do about it.

Atheist Revolution : Catholic Official Convicted of Endangerment for Shielding Child Molesting Priests

Sat, 23 Jun 2012 14:36:50 +0000

One. Just one. Let's hope there will be many more convicted of covering up the abuse. I'd like to see it prosecuted on an international level - but the church being as powerful as it is I doubt we'll ever see that.

Reason Being : From Atheism to Catholicism

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 17:10:30 +0000

She's young - just out of college. She may change her mind again at some point.

Reason Being : Cardinal Dolan Lies and Deceives Again

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:22:45 +0000

I read about Dolan's new book and sprained my eyeballs when they rolled! It would, I think, do the Catholic Church a great deal of good if these rich pampered bishops, archbishops and cardinals would go work side-by-side with a few nuns for a few weeks. Let them see the reality of poverty and the stress of working full-time jobs without health insurance. They need to put off their priestly finery and don some common humanity for a change. ...but even that wouldn't make any difference to their magical mumbo-jumbo bull shit, alas.

Atheist Revolution : Atheists Arming Themselves for Protection

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 17:04:46 +0000

I'm atheist and also gay - and have been out for about 40 years. I've had very little trouble with being openly gay, and doubt that I'd have much trouble with being openly atheist as long as I stick to living in cities or large towns. To induce me to move anywhere in the Bible Belt there would have to be monumental advantages - a job with lots of money or (another) relationship of a lifetime - ready and waiting for me. But even then I probably wouldn't own a gun.

Reason Being : The Violence of Religion

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 15:59:17 +0000

Reading this blog entry I had this thought: When a person identifies him/herself to me as “Christian”, should I ask, “What type of Christian are you?” And when asked “What do you mean” in reply, I might say something like: "You know, I'm very confused as to just what being Christian is these days. There seems to be quite a variety of them. So, just to avoid confusion I’d like to narrow down what type of Christian you see yourself as. “Christians can be like Mother Theresa or Saint Francis, or they can be selfish hypocrites. Christians can be multicultural or they can be xeonophobes. Christians can believe the Bible is the absolute word of God or they can view it as a non-binding guide. They can be feminists or misogynists, they can be progressive or conservative. They can be for contraception and against abortion, or they can be creationists or evolutionists. So, when you say “I’m a Christian” just what do you mean by that?” And if the response is something akin to “follower of Christ”, I might ask “Just which precepts of his do you follow? Do you take his words themselves or do you follow what some priest or pastor or minister tells you?” I’m going to start doing that – you know, just to see what might happen.

Reason Being : The Evils of Cardinal Dolan

Fri, 1 Jun 2012 17:58:44 +0000

>Applause!< Again - I must say that I admire your restraint. I have called Dolan lots of nasty names and have even on occasion advocated violence against him (and that nasty Bill Donohue creature). I fantasize that there's a department buried deep within the FBI that's investigating the church and that will, soon, sweep through the acrhdioceses of America and arrest dozens of cardinals, archbishops, bishops and administrative staff and charge them all en masse with crimes against humanity - and then ship them off to live in the barren prisons of The Hague. >Sigh<

Reason Being : Freedom to Practice Religion is NOT the Freedom to Impose Religion

Fri, 1 Jun 2012 17:44:51 +0000

"...the Catholic Church is purposefully clouding this issue through its propaganda and political campaign against the HHS Mandate." Correct. What I cannot discern is the church's *purpose* in clouding the issue - other than to claim anti-Catholic discrimination... which is ridiculous. All I can think of is that the church believes it can repair the damage it's done to itself (through the sex-abuse scandals and anti-gay and anti-women campaigns) by garnering sympathy ... ? Or is it merely a distraction from some other, larger purpose? Regardless, the church makes no sense in any respect these days. It is a grievously damaged institution that seems determined to damage itself even further.

Reason Being : Looking For Some Advice…

Fri, 25 May 2012 15:46:08 +0000

"Should I view my actions as a failure?" No. Absolutely and without equivocation, NO! You did what any kind person would do - you put aside your (lack of) religion and by doing that refused to exacerbate a bad situation. There's NOTHING about that which can connote failure. I feel really awful for your mother - trapped between duty and necessity. Being the youngest child of two youngest children I have witnessed this sort of situation a number of times. Your mother is depressed, she's tired, she feels unloved and used and abandoned and angry - and she has every right to feel all of those things. The sad thing - in the larger picture - is that your mother finds herself in the same situation as millions of other women - which means that there is hope. I strongly suggest that YOU contact social services in your area and ask questions. Ask how you can help your mother find alternatives for her terrible situation. Contact AARP, or the State or Federal Department of Aging. There ARE alternatives, there ARE answers, there ARE solutions to the situation. Get busy - because the longer you wait, the more damage your mother will suffer. Since you know enough to back off when you hear desperation in her voice, I ask you also to give thought to how close she is to snapping. Even the strongest and most determined have a breaking point. Help her find a solution before she gets to the point of doing something everyone will regret... and do not pass that off as a wild impossibility. Situations like your mother's are dangerous in more ways than one for everyone involved. Call around and find out how you and your sibling(s) can help from a distance... and let her pray her heart out. If it's the only thing that gets her through her days you're almost compelled to swallow your personal contempt and let it slide... just like you already have. There's nothing wrong with that: It's called mercy.

Reason Being : The Catholic Church’s War on America

Fri, 25 May 2012 15:23:00 +0000

Attendance in your family's area may not have changed, but it is tanking elsewhere. In Ireland, for example, it was reported that just one in five Catholics attend mass on Sundays, and that mass attendance is down to 4% in some parts of Belfast. Dublin Archdiocese – with its huge churches designed for another age, and which struggles financially with their up keep – pulls in a mere 14%. Sunday observance was 43% in 2006 (just after the current Pope took office) and is now down to just 20%. In some of Catholic Europe's largest dioceses in Germany, France, Italy, and Ireland, the percentage of Catholics who attend Mass regularly has slipped to as low as 20 percent, and in a few cities, like Paris, has reached as low as the single digits, according to figures compiled by the church.

Reason Being : The Catholic Church’s War on America

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:19:40 +0000

I'm having trouble trying to discern if the church hierarchy (cesspit) is like the new boss trying to run a company about which s/he knows absolutely nothing, or like the old boss who's gone mad and is trying to run a company that existed 15 or 20 years in the past. In any event, it is obvious that the cesspit is COMPLETELY out of touch with the reality of the parishoners in the pews, and that the cesspit's continual condemnation of the parishoners' beliefs and actions is tipping people out of the pews and into the streets. Combine those two things with the cesspit's inability or unwillingness to provide justice to (perhaps) hundreds of thousands of sexually abused children and I really do wonder if the traditional HRCC can survive. I hope it doesn't survive! The church's crash and burn is both deeply alarming (how can cesspit be so blind!?!?) and somehow deeply satisfying. I finally did join Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) because they seem to be in the forefront of the assault against the insanity that is the HRCC.

Reason Being : Some thoughts on dickishness.

Tue, 22 May 2012 10:53:26 +0000

It is my experience that I can say almost *anything* to someone else without repercussions - including the most heinous insults and stinging put-downs - if I laugh when I say it. Then I wink after I say it. Just as the other guy starts the "hey was that a barb thrown at me?" look is when I change the subject. Devious? Perhaps. Satisfying? Always.

Atheist Revolution : A Bible Without Christ

Sun, 13 May 2012 16:49:56 +0000

Stupid book, stupid god, stupid believers. Yawn....

: Is The Pope In It Up To His Cassocks

Sat, 12 May 2012 21:16:45 +0000

Perhaps some brave soul will throw a paper bag of shit at him... I'd LOL!