Morality is not determined by the church you attend nor the faith you embrace. It is determined by the quality of your character and the positive impact you have on those you meet along your journey
I remember studying Descartes in high school and being extremely excited about the simple statement that we can know nothing other than "I think, therefore I am."
However in the next chapter Descartes completely undermined the brilliance of his argument, by succumbing to his own weakness and need to believe.
Descartes seemed unable, or unwilling, to recognize that the concept of a perfect God was not born out of whole cloth, but rather an evolving perception that went through multiple stages before settling on what for him was an undeniable truth.
I think that was the first time that I was completely aware of how dangerous self deception could be even to those with a powerful intellect.
A humanist does not need to believe that they themselves will live forever. We take great solace and strength from realizing that the world, and the universe, will live on without us and that upon our death our essence and molecules will be reunited with the planet from which they were borrowed.
Not only are all human beings connected, but ALL life is connected, and once you remove God from the equation it allows you to finally accept your place in the universe and recognize that there is great peace and serenity awaiting you.
This 9 year old is light years ahead of many grownups on this planet and has the kind of rational thinking skills that often do not develop until well into a persons late teens.
I am of two minds while watching this:
First why is it so hard for adults to fathom the simplicity of his explanation?
And second how soon can we send this kid to Congress? Because this is exactly the kind of intelligence that we desperately need to run our country.
Damn I wish when I was nine years old and questioning the universe, and my place in it, that I had met this kid. It would have saved me years of lonely research and solitary quests for knowledge.
An asteroid half the size of a football field will give Earth the ultimate close shave this month, passing closer than many satellites when it whizzes by, but it won't hit the planet, NASA scientists say.
The asteroid 2012 DA14 will fly by Earth on Feb. 15 and zip within 17,200 miles (27, 680 kilometers) of the planet during the cosmic close encounter. The asteroid will approach much closer to Earth than the moon, and well inside the paths of navigation and communications satellites.
"This is a record-setting close approach," Don Yeomans, the head of NASA's asteroid-tracking program, said in a statement. "Since regular sky surveys began in the 1990s, we've never seen an object this big get so close to Earth."
"2012 DA14 will definitely not hit Earth. The orbit of the asteroid is known well enough to rule out an impact," Yeomans, who heads the Near-Earth Object Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. He added that the odds it will slam into a satellite are "extremely remote."
Yeah that's what they told the dinosaurs!
Okay well may THIS catastrophe will be avoided, but let's face it our time on this wonderful planet is limited. And it shouldn't take a falling rock from the heavens to remind us of how precious our lives truly are, as well as how important it is too spend them giving and receiving love, providing comfort and allowing ourselves to be comforted, and learning something new while overcoming a past superstition every day.
We may, or may not, have very long, but remember it is the life in your days that matter, not the days in your life.
Okay look I have been debating religion all of my life, and I have had some rather bizarre interpretations of the Bible and Christianity thrown at me, but I have NEVER had anybody claim that Christianity was not a religion, Never!
Now clearly O'Reilly thought this out ahead of time as he seems well prepared to offer this as his iron clad rebuttal to anything that the President of the American Atheists, David Silverman, might have to say.
However all he did was make himself look like an idiot on national television and essentially undermine over 21 hundred years of work by Christian missionaries, priests, and nuns.
Of course let's not forget that is a previous argument with David Silverman, O'Reilly defended religion with another iron clad rebuttal:
“I’ll tell you why [religion is] not a scam, in my opinion,” he told Silverman. “Tide goes in, tide goes out. Never a miscommunication. You can’t explain that. You can’t explain why the tide goes in.”
Oh yeah, he's a genius this one.
By the way, just in case there is ANYBODY out there who might be stupid enough to be persuaded by O'Reilly's argument, here is the definition of religionaccording to Merriam-Webster:
1 a : the state of a religious b (1) : the service and worship of God or the supernatural (2) : commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance 2: a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices 3archaic : scrupulous conformity : conscientiousness 4: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith
" A personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices." Gee, what does THAT sound like?
And just when I thought the people over at Fox News could NOT get any loonier!
I still remember my high school philosophy teacher with much fondness.
Mr. Lowery was a rabble-rouser who LOVED to shake people's faith and challenge their perceptions of why they believed what they believed.
My favorite days were the ones that sent some poor Bible student running for the door before they accidentally heard something which might shake the foundation of their belief system.
I took his class twice.
Today when I reflect on my experiences in that class I am always reminded of the words of the Buddha as written in the Kalama Sutta:
Do not believe anything on mere hearsay.
Do not believe in traditions merely because they are old and have been handed down for many generations and in many places.
Do not believe anything on account of rumors or because people talk a a great deal about it.
Do not believe anything because you are shown the written testimony of some ancient sage.
Do not believe in what you have fancied, thinking that, because it is extraordinary, it must have been inspired by a god or other wonderful being.
Do not believe anything merely because presumption is in its favor, or because the custom of many years inclines you to take it as true.
Do not believe anything merely on the authority of your teachers and priests. But, whatever, after thorough investigation and reflection, you find to agree with reason and experience, as conducive to the good and benefit of one and all and of the world at large, accept only that as true, and shape your life in accordance with it.
Do not accept any doctrine from reverence, but first try it as gold is tried by fire.
2. Do not think it worth while to proceed by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light.
3. Never try to discourage thinking for you are sure to succeed.
4. When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband or your children, endeavour to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory.
5. Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found.
6. Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do the opinions will suppress you.
7. Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.
8. Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent that in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter.
9. Be scrupulously truthful, even if the truth is inconvenient, for it is more inconvenient when you try to conceal it.
10. Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise, for only a fool will think that it is happiness.
In the interest of religious tolerance I thought I would post a rather amazing teaching from the Buddha as it pertains to faith, and whom to trust for spiritual guidance.
The people of Kalama asked the Buddha who to believe out of all the ascetics, sages, venerables, and holy ones who, like himself, passed through their town. They complained that they were confused by the many contradictions they discovered in what they heard.
The Kalama Sutta is the Buddha's reply
Do not believe anything on mere hearsay.
Do not believe in traditions merely because they are old and have been handed down for many generations and in many places.
Do not believe anything on account of rumors or because people talk a a great deal about it.
Do not believe anything because you are shown the written testimony of some ancient sage.
Do not believe in what you have fancied, thinking that, because it is extraordinary, it must have been inspired by a god or other wonderful being.
Do not believe anything merely because presumption is in its favor, or because the custom of many years inclines you to take it as true.
Do not believe anything merely on the authority of your teachers and priests.
But, whatever, after thorough investigation and reflection, you find to agree with reason and experience, as conducive to the good and benefit of one and all and of the world at large, accept only that as true, and shape your life in accordance with it.
Do not accept any doctrine from reverence, but first try it as gold is tried by fire.
The same text, said the Buddha, must be applied to his own teachings.
You can read a more expansive version by clicking here.
As a rule I usually identify myself as an Atheist in the search for ultimate truth. However when pressed by people who simply insist I must choose a religion, I tend to label myself a Taoist, though I always stress that I am a philosophical Taoist, not a religious one.
However I also have a deep and abiding warmth in my heart for Buddhism. And after reading what is written above, I am sure that you can see why.
Wrapped up Anch Gov's Picnic, awesome. Now road trip to Fairbanks for farewell speech/changing of the guard. Camper full of kids & coffee... about 2 hours ago from TwitterBerry
Calling the Governor's picnic awesome is definitely a stretch. Sad, pathetic, maudlin, are probably more fitting adjectives. And by the way coffee, kids, and a cramped camper sounds like a dangerous combination.
W/kids in camper;on World's Best Rd Trip!To soar by Mt.McKinley&rushing rivers,we remember all of AK is BIG/WILD/GOOD LIFE;feel freedom here about 2 hours ago from TwitterBerry
Clearly Sarah is enjoying the wind in her hair as she tosses off the fetters of government and embraces the freedom that she anticipates awaits in the life before her. For my part I am enjoying the idea of freedom from Sarah Palin in the state of Alaska. Now I just have to get some wind in my hair and I am all set.
RdTrip7 hrs wKid Rock/Martina McBride/Big&Rich/Grtchn Wilson/Billy Currngtn/Hank/Toby/VanP/Blk I P's/Greenwd/Straight/etc&USO artists=heaven 11 minutes ago from TwitterBerry
Apparently Sarah Palin's idea of heaven is stuffed full of county western stars and seven hour journeys in a cramped camper along Alaska highways.
You know that sounds like a certain place connected to the afterlife to me as well, only my example is somewhat more sweltering and filled with tiny pitchfork wielding demons.
(By the way my Governor Palin picnic video is almost ready to post. It is a good one so stay tuned.)
Update: Okay it is going to take longer than I anticipated for my video to be ready, so I will post it in the morning. I promised Shannyn I would stop by for a celebratory drink along with her and AKM so I am headed out in a few minutes. I suggest that all of you have yourself an adult beverage to celebrate this wonderful day of independence as well. Tomorrow our great national nightmare comes to an end.
1. Wealth without work 2. Pleasure without conscience 3. Knowledge without character 4. Commerce without morality 5. Science without humanity 6. Worship without sacrifice 7. Politics without principle
By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher. (That must be why I am so philosophical)
Thou shouldst eat to live; not live to eat. (This should be written on all packages containing fatty or sugary foods)
There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance. (Truer words were never spoken)
I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance. (This is often misquoted as "All that I know is that I know nothing.")
The unexamined life is not worth living. (This is the one that directs my life. It may be one of the truest statements ever made.)
