Collins and the NIH

Francis Collins, of the Human Genome Project, is the rumored Obama appointee to head the NIH, the National Institutes of Health.

After the last eight years of science-bashing religionistas, do we really need more people who can't separate their personal superstition from science?

Pharyngula says No:
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/05/dis-appointment.php

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/05/holier_than_thou.php

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/05/more_on_what_we_can_expect_fro.php

I agree.

{BTW: Blogger is annoying....}
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But Religion Did SOME Good Things!

To which I say: "Fuck You."

If the argument that religion has done some good things for some people seems even the least bit compelling, you should consider the other side of that coin: the horrible fucking shit it has done to so many.

In Topeka, Kansas there sits a church. The Westboro Baptist Church. Home of people I have long considered evil pieces of shit, but now wonder if they aren't actually terrified slaves.

Read the speech that Nate Phelps gave at the American Atheists' Convention in Atlanta a few weeks ago. (April 2009)

Then go read his article about giving the before and after the speech and the crowd response.

In the end, religion doesn't do anything for people that it doesn't equally undo with "interest".




-or-

Displayed to EVERYONE...

Hidden, except for interested readers.
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Hate and the Art of Oppression

I learned hate. When I was a child, my mother always commented on how sweet I was; nothing unique about it, most mothers think their children are sweet- most children are, in my experience. In school, I was poor, geeky, gangly, unpopular, quiet, smart, and generally an outsider. The other children saw to it that I became intimately aware of my differences, my flaws, and my shortcomings. I was given to the wolves, and the wolves taught me rage, injustice, pain, and disgust.

This is not a unique story. Lord of the Flies, and countless other stories, songs, movies, books, and lessons, have taught us all that these are not instructions unknown to previous generations. If nothing else, we share with all other humans our indoctrination in violence and hate at the hands of one another.

Something about us seeks to defeat the different, conquer the unknown, whether it be by naming it, or killing it. There are lectures by Prof. Robert Sapolsky on the neurobiology of primate sexuality, where he talks about Composite faces. It turns out that the more individuals used to make a composite face, the more attractive the face is rated during testing. Sapolsky says we seek out others that are not so similar to us that they might be family, but not so different that they are of a different species. Our most basic instincts- to mate- are wired for "normal", "average", "sameness", why should anyone be surprised most aspects of our culture mimic that compulsive yearning?

Atheists scare people. They are seen as immoral, untrustworthy, degenerate, different, and unknowable. The majority of people in the world profess some religion- even some people that call themselves "Atheists" still speak of spirituality. The scared, mistrustful, masses react with aggression to those they see as fundamentally opposed to their "way of life".

Atheists make up as much as 12, or even 15, percent of the population (depending on how you define it and which surveys {like this or this} you look at). We are a part of this country, and we are not to be feared. Anyone who knows 10 people knows someone who would describe themselves as non-religious- whether they use a term like "Atheist", "Agnostic", "Secular", or something else.

Hate is a dangerous thing. It can be useful, spurring someone to do more than they might otherwise. Unfortunately, that can mean the difference between failure and accomplishment, or arguing and killing. Fear, biology, and tradition tell us to fear the invaders from over the hill- after all, they are who will come in the night to steal our mothers, daughters, fathers, sons, mules, and food. This fear, often without any conscious effort, easily turns into hate; hate we pass on to our children, who pass it on to their peers.

In 1984, the year Dan White was released from prison, there was a documentary about Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to hold an elected position in the United States. That Documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk is current up at HULU. It is a staggering example of what can happen when people come together, despite their differences, and the tragedy one hateful person can inflict upon a community. It is a lesson, and a warning.

For Atheists out there, pay close attention to the speech Harvey Milk is giving after Proposition 6 is voted down (at roughly 47 minutes in).


[For those who couldn't hear it, what Jerry Brown says to President Carter is "Reagan already endorsed it, so I think it's safe."]

"A lot of people joined us and rejected Proposition 6, and now we owe them something. We owe them to continue the education campaign that took place. We must destroy the myths once and for all, shatter them. We must continue to speak out. And, most importantly, most importantly, every gay person MUST come out!
"As difficult as it is, you must tell your immediate family. You must tell your relatives. You must tell your friends- if indeed they are your friends. You must tell your neighbors. You must tell the people you work with. You must tell the people in the stores you shop in.
"And, once they realize that we are- indeed- their children, that we are- indeed- everywhere; Every Myth, Every Lie, Every Innuendo, will be destroyed once and for all. And once, once, you do, you will feel so much better!"

For Atheists and the non-religious, replace "gay"- in that speech- with the word you use to describe yourself.

Don't let the cycle continue, don't allow the fear and the hate to thrive- like they so readily do, in the darkness of secrecy: stand up and be counted. Singly we are but one or two, here or there; Together we are everyone, United we are everywhere.

I am a brother, an uncle, a son, an aspiring writer, and a person. My Name is Thomas Delaney Hand, I am an Atheist and a Skeptic.
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Misogyny/Misandry is Stupid

I oppose feminism because, though it has worthy ideals, I think it promotes genderism.

Misogyny and Misandry are both, equally, stupid.

I submit that most of these problems extend from the concept of "hierarchy"; which is not a new idea. Another idea that isn't new is that religion is where hierarchy gets its legitimacy.

Hierarchy is, basically, the idea that somethings are inherently better, or worse, than some other things. It's the idea that opinion is factual.

You like bananas more than apples? That'd be because bananas are better than apples; not just some personal preference. How could anyone not see that bananas are better than apples? Do bananas have poisonous cyanide in them? No! That's because bananas are better than apples.

Hierarchy, in my opinion, is something inherent to the human species. It's inherent to most species of mammal. Wolves resolve into hierarchal packs, so do most- if not all- primates. It's one of those things that children get without being taught. Evolutionarily it probably helped out an ass-ton. Unfortunately, it just leads to problems, now; and like selfishness- another "instinctual" behavior of children- it should be conditioned against.


Religion, however, reinforces this. Catholics think Protestants have it wrong. Sunnis argue against Shiites. Orthodox Jews disagree with Reformist Jews. Theravada or Mahayana? Shaivism or Smartha? Gardenarian or Odyssean? LeVayan or Theistic? This one or That one?

The point is that, regardless of open warfare, one says it is right and the other is wrong. It never just accepts that it's all bullshit kept over from the infancy of our species. Let me focus on Christianity and Wicca, the two I'm most familiar with.

Some denominations of Christianity do not suggest that followers of other denominations aren't going to goto heaven, or are in any way bad. However, they do disagree about translation or interpretation. Suggesting that one translation/interpretation of dubious documents is correct. That would make the others "wrong". Wrong, as we all know, is never as good as Correct.

Wicca is even easier to illustrate. Though it may have changed now- nearly ten years since I paid attention- Gardenarians were once strictly opposed to anyone who was "Solitary". In order to become a person of status inside the tradition, one had to be accepted into an accepted coven. A lot of other Traditions had their own ways of gaining internal status- the smarter ones, in my opinion, being those that recognized how often Wiccans were/are solitary practitioners.

Religion reinforces the idea that PERSONAL OPINION conveys MEASURABLE DIFFERENCE.

So does nationality, the idea of "race", and other phenomena. But which one is oldest? Religion loves to parade its age around; like being from a time when people thought farts were an indication of possession makes you fucking smart.

I ask you a different way: Which causes more strife, world wide, today? Religious Wars or Wars of Nationality or Political Wars? (Examples: Jihad against America or Germany's insane Nationalistic view which is oft cited as a reason for WWII or The Cold War, respectively) Which one, throughout history?

It's complex, sure. The Nazis were out to destroy the Jews, too. Many religious wars are fought for what seems to be political reasons. Isn't Nationalism just a form of Politics?

But it all comes back to Hierarchy. That is the problem.

Individualists, in my opinion, should fight against hierarchy. The problem is: it can be useful. Too many Generals giving different orders only leads to chaos. "Too many cooks spoil the pot".

But, there are definite time when Hierarchy is reprehensible: genderism, sexualityism, racism, et cetera.

Let's worry about how to balance usefulness with uselessness. Keep your religion private. Who fucking cares about which Political Party you support? You skin color is simply the macroscopic effect of chemicals in your epidermis. Your ancestry is only important to you, and your family, and should be shameful to discuss in public. Your nationality simply refers to where on the planet you live, which language(s) you are more likely to speak, and what political system you live under.

I say: Rail against the dying of the individual.
I say: Fight against chance and circumstance as defining forces.
I say: Be an Individual, and let everyone else do the same.

The greatest idea that has ever come out of the United States is best put as:
"The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins." - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (frmr Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States)
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